Comments on: What shall I read?

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 22:16:58 +0000

Another book, especially in the scifi vein…”The Watch” by Dennis Danvers. Man, this is a cool book: what happens when Russian anarchist Alexander Kropotkin is snatched from his 1921 deathbed by a mysterious time traveller from the distant future and deposited into 1999 America. Really well-written, playing down the time travel and playing up the social impact on a person this could have, plus the impact Kropotkin has on those around him.

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 21:14:56 +0000

Well, don’t read Jordan if you intend on “finishing the series” any time soon. I tried to re-read it to catch up, got about 1/3 of the way through and realized I’d have to wait another 10 years for the final volume.

Gibson is good, if a bit heavy. I’d agree with Ron that Kay is really good, I’ve read all of his books and they’re really great. You may also try Sean Russell or Gregory Keyes in the Fantasy department.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 27 Oct 2003 21:18:45 +0000

Without hesitation, I STRONGly recommend “The Bug” by Ellen Ullman…a novel about programming, usability, and QA! Absolutely gripping.
Another must-read is “The Blindfold” by Siri Hustvedt…a breathtaking novel.

By: Ron Zeno

Ron Zeno — Fri, 24 Oct 2003 16:59:45 +0000

Just read one of the Jordan (WoT) books (7-CoT) after an extremely long time since reading the previous book. While I didn’t think it was as bad as many of the reviews, I find Jordan’s descriptions of places and people tedious and repetitive. It would be a much better book edited to half the length.

One author whom I recommend that I discovered when I first began reading Jordan is Guy Gavriel Kay. Don’t think I’ve ever found his books used, which is why I picked up the Jordan book instead.