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Post by relativetime on Aug 12, 2021 22:49:40 GMT
A Study In Scarlet
Second time reading this one. It’s funny; I dreaded getting to the second part until I was actually reading it. Then it became the most compelling part of the story for me. It’s almost a horror story, in fact - I was getting some Midsommar vibes in places.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2021 1:22:23 GMT
A Study In Scarlet Second time reading this one. It’s funny; I dreaded getting to the second part I was actually reading it. Then it became the most compelling part of the story for me. It’s almost a horror story, in fact - I was getting some Midsommar vibes in places. I always rather enjoy that second part. It does make it rather hard to recommend though as an introduction to Holmes for a first time reader, which being the first tale most people will swan to but regardless it is a good tale in it’s own right and the second half is a compelling tale. It fleshes out charcters and motives which is what all great stories should do
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
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Post by ljwilson on Aug 20, 2021 18:55:40 GMT
Colin Dexter's 'Death is now my Neighbour' (currently on the go) - I do love a bit of Morse and Lewis.
Alexander Frater's 'Beyond the Blue Horizon' which retraces the steps of the old Imperial Airways route from Croydon (London) to Brisbane, via luxury flying boats which stopped at 35 places and took over 2 weeks.
Yes, 50 isn't too far away.
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 20, 2021 19:34:38 GMT
I’ve been reading The Way of Kings Prime, what’s essentially the first attempt by Brandon Sanderson to write The Way of Kings and honestly it’s really weird. Like definitely worse than anything polished and published officially, this draft really feels like barely the bare bones of what Stormlight Archive would become.
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Post by grinch on Aug 25, 2021 14:20:07 GMT
Tales of the Weird (Tom Slemen)
Stumbled across my old copy of this a while back. Tom Slemen is of course well known (in some very small circles) for his Haunted Liverpool books. Now when it comes to supposedly true stories I tend to take the view that if these are indeed true, then that’s more proof of what a strange and frightening world we live in. But if not then they are entertaining stories in their own right.
And this book is certainly packed with quite a few of them!
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Aug 31, 2021 17:28:55 GMT
Murder in Mesopotamia, one of the Poirots.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2021 17:19:12 GMT
I’m enjoying The World of Jeeves omnibus.
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Post by constonks on Oct 6, 2021 0:36:07 GMT
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone “Hey, a cool little sci-fi book about time travel. And the cover is pretty.”
Little did I know.
I expected some chronology-bending shenanigans but wasn’t prepared for the emotions that came with them. Seriously, the feelings. This was one of the most engaging and lyrical books I’ve read in a long time. I savored every one of its 200 pages.
Red and Blue are soldiers, continually crossing paths as their respective species battle each other through time. The butterfly effect has been weaponized, as one side sets a series of events in motion that will impact the other side generations later, and so on, spinning timelines into various strands.
Red and Blue break protocol and use this technique to leave elaborately-crafted messages to taunt each other. It’s playfully antagonistic (and fun!) at first, then they gradually discover something deeper and intimate within the acts of sending and receiving correspondence. I don’t want to say much more, but will note that there were parts I wanted to re-read (and even read out loud) because they were so beautifully crafted.
A short read but an utterly gorgeous one. Recommended.
Thanks for the recommendation, project37 - it took ages for my library hold to come through but I just finished this book a few minutes ago and absolutely loved it. It's everything you said and more. (I also think it's safe to say, if you're on this forum because you're a Doctor Who fan, you'll probably like this one!) After this copy goes back, I will keep my eye out for a permanent copy so I can revisit it in future.
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Post by project37 on Oct 6, 2021 21:38:07 GMT
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone “Hey, a cool little sci-fi book about time travel. And the cover is pretty.”
Little did I know.
I expected some chronology-bending shenanigans but wasn’t prepared for the emotions that came with them. Seriously, the feelings. This was one of the most engaging and lyrical books I’ve read in a long time. I savored every one of its 200 pages.
Red and Blue are soldiers, continually crossing paths as their respective species battle each other through time. The butterfly effect has been weaponized, as one side sets a series of events in motion that will impact the other side generations later, and so on, spinning timelines into various strands.
Red and Blue break protocol and use this technique to leave elaborately-crafted messages to taunt each other. It’s playfully antagonistic (and fun!) at first, then they gradually discover something deeper and intimate within the acts of sending and receiving correspondence. I don’t want to say much more, but will note that there were parts I wanted to re-read (and even read out loud) because they were so beautifully crafted.
A short read but an utterly gorgeous one. Recommended.
Thanks for the recommendation, project37 - it took ages for my library hold to come through but I just finished this book a few minutes ago and absolutely loved it. It's everything you said and more. (I also think it's safe to say, if you're on this forum because you're a Doctor Who fan, you'll probably like this one!) After this copy goes back, I will keep my eye out for a permanent copy so I can revisit it in future. Fantastic! It was such a wonderful surprise of a book - I'm so glad to know that you enjoyed it! :-)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2021 4:21:41 GMT
Thanks for the recommendation, project37 - it took ages for my library hold to come through but I just finished this book a few minutes ago and absolutely loved it. It's everything you said and more. (I also think it's safe to say, if you're on this forum because you're a Doctor Who fan, you'll probably like this one!) After this copy goes back, I will keep my eye out for a permanent copy so I can revisit it in future. Fantastic! It was such a wonderful surprise of a book - I'm so glad to know that you enjoyed it! :-) *snaps fingers* That's the one. I was going to put it on the wishlist a while back, but got sidetracked by Together We Will Go. This Is How You Lose the Time War is now jotted down. Thanks for the reminder you two!
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Post by elkawho on Oct 9, 2021 13:50:15 GMT
Anyone read any A.C. Wise? I have the opportunity to go to a small discussion group with her and featuring her work tonight, but I haven't read anything. I know she wrote Wendy, Darling but I haven't read it. I might start it today.
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Post by fitzoliverj on Oct 10, 2021 15:44:06 GMT
"Sharpe's Assassin". Fifteen years, but it's like he's never been away.
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Post by mark687 on Oct 10, 2021 15:47:04 GMT
"Sharpe's Assassin". Fifteen years, but it's like he's never been away. Oh New Sharpe! Thanks I had no idea one was due Regards mark687
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Post by fitzoliverj on Oct 10, 2021 16:00:44 GMT
Oh New Sharpe! Thanks I had no idea one was due Yes, Bernard Cornwall was talking about a new one a few years back, and then this year a completely different story was published! it's set in the immediate aftermath of Waterloo, and is about the occupation of Paris. (Supposedly there's also been some rumblings about Starbuck coming back, too)
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Post by muckypup on Oct 10, 2021 16:48:28 GMT
Lucy Beaumont - drinking custard…..
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Oct 20, 2021 19:31:47 GMT
New David Stuart Davies pastiche, The Instrument of Death. Sherlock vs Caligari.
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Post by grinch on Oct 20, 2021 20:00:29 GMT
New David Stuart Davies pastiche, The Instrument of Death. Sherlock vs Caligari. For some reason, I can picture Sherlock Holmes perfectly existing in that strange German Expressionism world.
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Post by tuigirl on Oct 25, 2021 8:53:10 GMT
Just got "Watchers" (Dean Koontz) for my Kindle. I remember reading the book when I was a kid. In the German translation. Only thing I remember is that I loved the book and there is a talking dog. Decided it was time for a re-read. In the original English. Yeah, I know, there is about 50 other books on my Kindle needing a FIRST read, but that is the curse of my ADHD.
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Post by fitzoliverj on Oct 25, 2021 18:03:38 GMT
The first volume of Star Trek: Coda. (This is a trilogy bringing the twenty-year 'reboot' continuity of the TNG, DS9 & VOY novels to an end - the authors didn't want to just dump things unceremoniously like what happened with the Star Wars Expanded Universe)
Oh, and this isn't a spoiler per se, but if you're reading these you'll want to spot the in-joke yourself {Spoiler} The Federation in "Blake's 7" is confirmed as the future of the "Star Trek" universe.
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Post by relativetime on Nov 4, 2021 14:05:50 GMT
Big accomplishment for me this morning! I finally finished reading The Fellowship of the Ring!
I’ve been meaning to read it for years and I’ve just never gotten around to it until now. But now I have and I’m very determined to finish the trilogy! As soon as I post this, I’m off to make a start on The Two Towers.
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