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| Thread: Recommend books! |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 · «PREV / NEXT» |
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artu
Promising
Undefeatable Hero
My BS sensor is tingling again
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posted March 06, 2013 01:12 AM |
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Edited by artu at 01:12, 06 Mar 2013.
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Talking about military history...
Just about a month ago I was watching two historians debating about the military skills of the Ottomans on TV. One of them claimed they had none: The armies they confronted was weak anyway and if we were to talk about military skills we had to talk about creative stuff. He gave this example of Timur.
Timur faces Persians, they have a wall of elephants. To him that's something never seen before. His commanders are demoralized, they say it's impossible to pass through those beasts. Timur excuses himself, he goes into his tent, sleeps all afternoon, when he comes back, he tells his commanders to chain all camels to each other and to cover the chains with grease. He says to put the archery units behind the camels, he then burns chains connecting the camels, now camels are running mad as hell as a line of fire, the elephants are scared, they run backwards crushing their own army, the Persian troops try to run to open field to save themselves, archers start rain arrows on them.
This is a very tasteless translation, I wish you could listen to the guy narrating this like the best idea in the world with all kinds of details...
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blizzardboy
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Nerf Herder
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posted March 06, 2013 01:54 AM |
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Sucks to be a camel. Awesome tactic though.
I'm often surprised that civilizations with war elephants weren't even more successful than they were. Elephants.... are big, and you can barely hurt the damn things. It seems like the most effective tactic was always to try to scare them so that the rider(s) can't control them properly. Elephants always were too sapient to be as effectively controlled as a braindead horse. With a good, solid, dumb-as-hell warhorse you can really push the limits with what they'll do.
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"Folks, I don't trust children. They're here to replace us."
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted March 06, 2013 06:04 AM |
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Quote:
Quote:
Ok, if you like military fantasy I'd like to point you to Myke Cole and his Shadow Ops series. Two books are available, currently, and the guy has a really interesting take on magic and knows now to write. Technically it's probably the Shadowrun scenario, but without the Cybertech angle, but it comes with a twist: Magic is strictly regulated in the US, and there is even and of course prohibited Magic, like, for example Necromancy, but I don't want to spoil anything.
Pretty cool stuff.
JJ, you've got a good track record with this kind of stuff. Might give it a look.
I did get around to reading Red Country. It was pretty good but not as good as some of Abercrombie's earlier works.
Right now I'm reading The Twelve, sequel to the post-apocalyptic book "The Passage". Just like the first book it's a tome, but very enjoyable. If you liked the Stand, you'll enjoy it.
The Cole stuff is a pretty good read in-between. I wouldn't call them Fantasy (like I wouldn't call X-Men Fantasy) - it's more like a contemporary parallel world thing.
Currently started with Steve Watson's Before I Go To Sleep - after that it will probably be a toss-up between Abercrombie and the last Martin book. Don't know, though, whether I can recommend it at this stage.
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted March 06, 2013 11:14 AM |
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Quote:
The Cole stuff is a pretty good read in-between. I wouldn't call them Fantasy (like I wouldn't call X-Men Fantasy) - it's more like a contemporary parallel world thing.
There's a definition for that. It's called contemporal fantasy. 
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted March 06, 2013 12:47 PM |
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Well, yes and no. When I say "parallel world" I don't say that because there is a fantasy element existing in our present contemporary world, but instead that it's somewhat "contemporary" - but also vastly different BECAUSE of what happened earlier.
For example, the political landscape is different - there is no EU, for example.
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Minion
Legendary Hero
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posted March 06, 2013 01:40 PM |
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Edited by Minion at 13:40, 06 Mar 2013.
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Sounds like Contemporary/Urban fantasy, it doesn't matter if it not actually the exact modern day we live in.
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Zenofex
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Kreegan-atheist
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posted March 06, 2013 04:10 PM |
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Quote:
I'm often surprised that civilizations with war elephants weren't even more successful than they were. Elephants.... are big, and you can barely hurt the damn things. It seems like the most effective tactic was always to try to scare them so that the rider(s) can't control them properly.
That's not enough? Elephants can't really be taught discipline in battle conditions and that's a major weakness - in this regard the dumber horses are more reliable. Plus, the big fellas tend to go mad when hurt and I guess distinguishing friends from foes isn't really among their priorities.
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artu
Promising
Undefeatable Hero
My BS sensor is tingling again
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posted April 05, 2013 06:39 PM |
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Edited by artu at 18:41, 05 Apr 2013.
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Has anybody read the Paul Auster novel about the rivalry between Edison and Tesla? Is it any good? It was on my to do list but I totally forgot about it and now seeing this on Facebook I'm reminded of it.
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted June 14, 2013 09:02 PM |
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Started "The Black House" by Stephen King & Peter Straub.
I've read the first 100 of 600 pages (English version) and, man, what a pleasure it is to read that book - it's brillantly written, and if you don't just want the qjuick page-turner that leaves you breathless, but positively enjoy a unique and magificently executed way to tell a story, you are right.
Interestingly enough there are quite a lot of 1-star ratings at amazon's - good sign actually.
Anyway: HEARTILY recommended.
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted July 05, 2013 06:28 PM |
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Edited by Corribus at 18:43, 05 Jul 2013.
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I don't check Joe Abercrombie's website that often, so this may be old news to many fans out there, but there's a webcomic in development for the Blade Itself.
Worth checking out if you've read the book (and if you haven't).
http://www.firstlawcomic.com/
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
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posted July 05, 2013 06:40 PM |
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OH, NICE!
Finished the trilogy recently, so I'm definitely interested.
Though, I'll probably complain. It's a thing I do.
"That's not what Glokta looks like!"
"Severard is a lot cooler than that!"
EDIT: Logen's gang and Glokta look way too clean, for my liking (Glokta all clean shaven and standing upright). But I guess I am a grotesque man. On the other hand, First Law is a grotesque book.
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If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
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markkur
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Once upon a time
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posted July 05, 2013 08:08 PM |
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Edited by markkur at 20:11, 05 Jul 2013.
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Quote:
Has anybody read the Paul Auster novel about the rivalry between Edison and Tesla?
No but it could be good. I've seen a documentary on it and there is one heck of a story behind that clash. iirc some other "greats" get in the mix too.
I'll say noting about it but it changed my opinion of Thomas.
Since I'm here, anyone else read Sanderson's Mistborn?
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted January 20, 2014 01:21 AM |
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I just finished Richard K Morgan's "Altered Carbon". It strikes me as something every science fiction fan should read. JJ, in particular I think you may enjoy it, assuming of course you haven't read it already. Kind of Hard Boiled meets LA Confidential meets Minority Report meets Shadowrun.
Not only a great novel but also a great thought provoker. Highly recommended.
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted January 20, 2014 06:10 AM |
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I have it on my list, thanks.
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Adrius
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Stand and fight!
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posted January 25, 2014 01:24 PM |
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Finished Prince of Thorns and King of Thorns.
SOOO GOOD. Been so long since I had a good read that wasn't student literature.
Very refreshing fantasy universe as well, had my doubts at first but it all just wraps up so nicely.
Can't wait to get my hands on Emperor of Thorns now.
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted September 04, 2014 06:22 AM |
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After many years with it sitting on my shelf, I finally got around to reading The Grapes of Wrath. It isn't the masterpiece that East of Eden is, and the one-sided political message gets tiring at times, but it's still a compelling read, and deservedly a classic of English literature.
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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kipshasz
Undefeatable Hero
Elvin's Darkside
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posted September 04, 2014 02:08 PM |
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recently I bought some Black Company books. really cheaply, 5 euros for the first trilogy. To bad that the series is translated to Lithuanian only up to "She is The Darkness". I wonder what the prices are for english version of the books.
Really looking forward to the read, as I started the series from the middle(She is The Darkness), which is a big mistake, as the series has a lot of backstory to each character and leaves you plain confused at best if you hadn't read the earlier installments.
Regarding book purchases, So far I've learned that antique bookstores is a really good bet if you don't do online shopping. you could find absolute bargains there, and some quality literature for a very low price.
Unlike in other bookstores where in main books in fantasy/sci-fi section are twilight and Harry Potter clones. Which is not nice at all. In fact it's bloody terrible.
Even local Lithuanian fantasy publisher which had gone bust as of lately, had released books which are how should I put it... plain hardcore pornography in a fantasy setting. Khai of Ancient Khem is a good example. although the author has an interesting spin on how the pyramids came to be and such, but the whole book was ruined by really explict sex scenes, of which I doubt even the most creative script writers of adult entertainment would ever come up with.
The mentioned book by Brian Lumley was in my opinion one of the worst purchases I ever made.
But the decline of our local really liked publisher(Eridanas, google it) was also in it's quality of translation, and half finished books.
The publishing of the Dorian Hawkmoon saga by Michael Moorcock is a good example. the whole series, was published in a single tome, which is supposedly good, but the people responsible forgot to include the last part of the whole bloody saga!
Still, it seems that the publisher is being revived by some business men, who are changing it it to E-format, which is supposedly good.
Rant is over, moving on.
A good books to recommend is the Metro series. It captures a mind blowing realistic survival story in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. You have everything in it. cultists, commies, nazis, even satanists. all from the point of view from a young inexpirienced, but determined lad.
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"Kip is the Gavin McInnes of HC" - Salamandre
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior
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fred79
Disgraceful
Undefeatable Hero
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posted September 04, 2014 07:08 PM |
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speaking of erotic novels, i have a copy of "adam and eve", that was in a box of books in iraq. what a great read. 
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VOKIALBG
Honorable
Legendary Hero
First in line
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posted September 04, 2014 07:14 PM |
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fred79 said:
speaking of erotic novels, i have a copy of "adam and eve", that was in a box of books in iraq. what a great read.
Reading something like this here is considered as bad taste...
... how different are readers and publishers around the world!
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fred79
Disgraceful
Undefeatable Hero
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posted September 04, 2014 07:16 PM |
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lol, my taste is a varied thing. depends on what i feel like atm. sometimes erotica does it for me, other times, dark humor; and other times, something i could actually learn something from. 
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