The GOT Book Club

[Prevenger17]

really enjoyed consider phlebas and player of games

Player of Games my favourite Culture novel, absolutely fantastic premise and very well written. Think there's a Consider Phlebas movie in the works

Have you read the Wasp Factory, by him ? ( non scfi - Ian Banks )

If not, make it a must read.

It`s rightly hailed as a modern classic and is possibly one of the most disturbing books I`ve ever read. ( the ending is jaw dropping. )

I have heard much about the Wasp Factory and very much intend to read. I only have Matter left to read from the Culture series, so going to close that off first.

 

[neil999]

Player of Games my favourite Culture novel, absolutely fantastic premise and very well written. Think there's a Consider Phlebas movie in the works




I have heard much about the Wasp Factory and very much intend to read. I only have Matter left to read from the Culture series, so going to close that off first.

NO WAY! always thought they could make a brilliant film if done correctly

 

[Prevenger17]

NO WAY! always thought they could make a brilliant film if done correctly

I'm not sure. It would need to find the right director to pick up all the themes and with that make the books so interesting. It's a mad universe too, talking ships with ludicrous names and basically unbeatable protagonists. It's hard to capture the meaning of it in a way that would make sense to generations who were brought up on dystopias. Consider Phlebas is told from the point of view of an antagonist too, so that might be slightly jarring to anyone who hasn't read the books

 

[neil999]

I'm not sure. It would need to find the right director to pick up all the themes and with that make the books so interesting. It's a mad universe too, talking ships with ludicrous names and basically unbeatable protagonists. It's hard to capture the meaning of it in a way that would make sense to generations who were brought up on dystopias. Consider Phlebas is told from the point of view of an antagonist too, so that might be slightly jarring to anyone who hasn't read the books

actually would be better as a tv show...but yes very tricky!

edit...here we go! https://www.nerdmuch.com/tv/154671/consider-phlebas-tv-series/

 

[gonetomorrow]

Conclave by Robert Harris .. It builds up to a finale. It's a good yarn.

 

[Prevenger17]

actually would be better as a tv show...but yes very tricky!

edit...here we go! https://www.nerdmuch.com/tv/154671/consider-phlebas-tv-series/

Ah good, that should work a lot better

 

[Deleted member 48881]

Anyone read Mercier's Night train to Lisbon? Fantastic piece of work. Recommended.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Gene Wolfe passed away last month, aged 87 - unique SF writer, a master of the form. Sad news as I've read his stuff since I was 14 - understanding nothing at the time but just being captivated by the worlds he created.

Gene Wolfe obituary

American science fiction writer whose work contained haunted, potent myths about human destiny

www.theguardian.com

Hard to describe his writing, he's sort of in his own category, but one thing he did that had a lot of impact was perfect the idea of forgotten knowledge and decay - (he's often compared with Jack Vance and his Dying Earth, although their styles are very different). You see this idea a lot with modern SF writers so it doesn't feel that special now, but Wolfe did it like no one else before or since. His masterpiece is the Book of the New Sun which is set so far into the future that mankind has invented interstellar travel, explored the universe, then largely forgotten how to do it. Resulting atmosphere of the book is amazing - very dreamlike and sad.

He leaves behind a large body of work - he was also a prolific short story writer. Not the most accessible, tbh, and quite a polarising style [he frequently takes the idea of an unreliable narrator and takes it way way past the point most authors go with it], but if it clicks for you then there's no other writer like him.

 

[random]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0765691C5

Good Book, bit different to what I normally read but very engaging all the same

 

[Deleted member 48881]

The other day started reading this, immense book, loved the author's style. Recommended.

 

[Kurt.]

Just started reading The Tatooist of Auschwitz

 

[mawders]

Just finished another Don Winslow. Isle of Joy. Not of the caliber of his more recent books but still

 

[summerisle]

I blame the plethora of Nazi puns. Hokum, but very easy to read hokum. The plot rushes by at the speed of light but it passed a couple of insomniac night's reading. The film version has a few differences and a completely different ending.

 

[random]

Just finished Gun Monkeys
very decent work of fiction about a gangster if you are into that sort of thing

 

[stony]

Player of Games my favourite Culture novel, absolutely fantastic premise and very well written. Think there's a Consider Phlebas movie in the works




I have heard much about the Wasp Factory and very much intend to read. I only have Matter left to read from the Culture series, so going to close that off first.

Well worth reading. In parts it's as funny as it is disturbing, and it is very, very disturbing.