Books
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Thinking about reading Name Of The Wind again. While wondering about when Rothfuss is going to get the last book finished, I came across this interview Rothfuss did with Leo Laporte. It's very long and rambling, and the connection cuts out a lot, but there's some interesting stuff about the books and his creative process.
Oh, and the answer is probably 2014, if you're curious…
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That date is by no means written in stone… Laporte asked if it would be 2015 when the next book hit stores, and Rothfuss said something like, "I don't think it will take that long, but it won't be this year either." If George RR Martin and A Song Of Ice and Fire have taught me anything, it's that projected finish dates are just a half-assed guess. IWHWIH, just like IH releases.
By the way, no love for Leo? I've had a soft spot for him since the days of "The Screen Savers" on TechTV.
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If George RR Martin and A Song Of Ice and Fire have taught me anything, it's that projected finish dates are just a half-assed guess. IWHWIH, just like IH releases.
Epic fantasy, the Columbia House of literature. I learned my lesson long ago, thank you very much Robert Jordan. (R.I.P.)
I do enjoy the TV series though.
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By the way, no love for Leo? I've had a soft spot for him since the days of "The Screen Savers" on TechTV.
I used to use his show TWiT as an example of how bad the industry was doing. ~5 minutes of sponsorship before the show, littered throughout the show, and a bunch of chumps talking cluelessly for the remainder.
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I am having a very hard time finding a book that keeps my attention as of lately, pretty frustrated yet open to suggestions
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Well, I just finished Dave Eggers' The Circle, and it was crap, so don't read that.
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I HATED A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius. I loved the first parts of the book and then it turned into a complete mess.
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If you like nerd fiction, I would recommend The Name Of The Wind and The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss; Blood Song, by Anthony Ryan and The Thousand Names, by Django Wexler.
If you like nonfiction, try American Lion, by Jon Meacham; Six Frigates, by Ian Toll; Pigeons, by Andrew Blechman and A Few Seconds Of Panic, by Stefan Fatsis.
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Tat, if you like literary fiction I would recommend anything by Don Delillo.
Couldn't agree more. You can never go wrong with Delillo, McCarthy and Faulkner
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awesome, thanks guys. For many years I only read non fiction with a few exceptions, about 5 years ago I picked up a some nerd fiction and I was hooked. i will be checking into the authors and titles gents!
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"Nerd fiction," y'all cracking me up. Does that mean fantasy, sci-fi, both?
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I don't really do scifi, but I'm Into magic-n-shit yo
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Well Imma talk about sci-fi any damn way, because I used to only read fantasy as far as the "nerd genre" goes myself.
There's a sci-fi subgenre that Snowy and I enjoy called "cyberpunk." Just replace "magic" with "neural implants" and "dragons" with "artificial intelligences."
It's dystopian and usually doesn't involve a lot of spacecraft or interstellar travel. More like a Bladerunner kind of a vibe. A near-term future where everyone is dehumanized and institutions are decaying. Corporations taking the place of nation-states. Artificial intelligences roam wild and have their own mysterious agendas.
As a starting point, I cannot recommend William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy, starting with Neuromancer, enough. This pioneered the genre, and the term "cyberspace." It's incredible in how it balances action and literary brilliance so well. This is the writer that Buzz Rickson's did their "William Gibson" line after, he's got a great eye for fashion. And unlike many "nerd fiction" writers he is literary, not JUST an imagineer/storyteller.
A more satirical take can be found in Neal Stephenson's brilliant Snow Crash. The protagonist is named… Hiro Protagonist.
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…and then there is magical realism. If you want to try this kind of magic, Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Salman Rushdie can take you there.
Not sure if it's in print anymore, but there was a brilliant Arthurian tale (four books IIRC) by an author A. A. Attanasio. It was fucking amazing. Basically, gods, angels, and demons were portrayed as beings of electromagnetic energy, and they reflected what was happening with cultures on the ground. So, as the Celts become overcome by either Vikings (the Norse gods living in their "tree" of the auroro borealis") or by Christians and their "nailed God" the intrigue above mirrored the activities below. What an imaginative tale.
