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Post by simrion on Aug 11, 2024 6:35:18 GMT -5
Swan Song since SRG was kind enough to remind me of the title and The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. Some really hard sci-fi. Of course I have at least 12 books going at once, read from each as mood strikes. I read the same way with many books going at once. We both have that in common with Thomas Jefferson. I wish I had the room for that rotating device he used, to have 8 books going at once lol. I have tons of bookmarks and piles of books, a definite trip hazard as I get older  |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 11, 2024 8:41:50 GMT -5
Swan Song since SRG was kind enough to remind me of the title and The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. Some really hard sci-fi. Of course I have at least 12 books going at once, read from each as mood strikes. , What are your thoughts on Swan Song? |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 11, 2024 9:53:46 GMT -5
The sixth story I read was The Last Rung on the Ladder. I enjoyed this tale because it took a simple childhood activity that kids know they aren't supposed to be doing and turns it into something more horrific. It doesn't get turned into something otherworldy or supernatural but has a lasting impact on the characters in the story. Very well done. was the next story I read. A tale about a serial killer with a twist ending. Very interesting and engaging. is the eighth story I've read from the book. This is a gripping tale about a wager between a wealthy husband and the man having an affair with his wife. Of course, the ending is a twist, and the ending is quite good. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 11, 2024 10:36:33 GMT -5
Strawberry Spring was the next story I read. A tale about a serial killer with a twist ending. Very interesting and engaging. is the eighth story I've read from the book. This is a gripping tale about a wager between a wealthy husband and the man having an affair with his wife. Of course, the ending is a twist, and the ending is quite good. I just completed I am the Doorway a few minutes ago. It's a science fiction story as well as a horror tale about an astronaut that returns to Earth a changed man. How does he deal with those changes? |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 11, 2024 17:13:52 GMT -5
The Ledge is the eighth story I've read from the book. This is a gripping tale about a wager between a wealthy husband and the man having an affair with his wife. Of course, the ending is a twist, and the ending is quite good. I just completed I am the Doorway a few minutes ago. It's a science fiction story as well as a horror tale about an astronaut that returns to Earth a changed man. How does he deal with those changes? The next story I read was The Boogeyman. A father of three children suffers loss after visits from the boogeyman. So far, it seems that all over the endings are great in this collection of short stories. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 11, 2024 18:16:31 GMT -5
I just completed I am the Doorway a few minutes ago. It's a science fiction story as well as a horror tale about an astronaut that returns to Earth a changed man. How does he deal with those changes? The next story I read was The Boogeyman. A father of three children suffers loss after visits from the boogeyman. So far, it seems that all over the endings are great in this collection of short stories. was next, and I am now at 55% of the stories in Night Shift. This is more of a "normal" horror story because it is about a son visiting his cancer-stricken mother in the hospital. It does a good job of showing the thoughts of someone dealing with the realization that the end of life for someone they care for is approaching. Don't expect any supernatural or monster-related horror in this one. Good read. |
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Post by simrion on Aug 12, 2024 5:12:03 GMT -5
Swan Song since SRG was kind enough to remind me of the title and The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. Some really hard sci-fi. Of course I have at least 12 books going at once, read from each as mood strikes. , What are your thoughts on Swan Song? Everything I remember from my previous read...not real deep but fun and fast paced. Pretty horrifically descriptive too. I'm also reading A Boy's Life by the same author, a murder mystery involving pre-teen boys just living their middle-class, pre-digital age life. Reminiscent of my own upbringing (sans witnessing murder.) Very nostalgic. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 12, 2024 18:24:40 GMT -5
simrion , What are your thoughts on Swan Song? Everything I remember from my previous read...not real deep but fun and fast paced. Pretty horrifically descriptive too. I'm also reading A Boy's Life by the same author, a murder mystery involving pre-teen boys just living their middle-class, pre-digital age life. Reminiscent of my own upbringing (sans witnessing murder.) Very nostalgic. Cool! Glad to hear it held up. I've been curious about his other works and A Boy's Life seems to come up pretty often. I'm going to check it out as well. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 18, 2024 8:37:50 GMT -5
The next story I read was The Boogeyman. A father of three children suffers loss after visits from the boogeyman. So far, it seems that all over the endings are great in this collection of short stories. was next, and I am now at 55% of the stories in Night Shift. This is more of a "normal" horror story because it is about a son visiting his cancer-stricken mother in the hospital. It does a good job of showing the thoughts of someone dealing with the realization that the end of life for someone they care for is approaching. Don't expect any supernatural or monster-related horror in this one. Good read. Continuing on with Gray Matter as the next story I read. It feels like something akin to the old movie The Blob. Good but not great. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 18, 2024 9:18:23 GMT -5
The Woman in the Room was next, and I am now at 55% of the stories in Night Shift. This is more of a "normal" horror story because it is about a son visiting his cancer-stricken mother in the hospital. It does a good job of showing the thoughts of someone dealing with the realization that the end of life for someone they care for is approaching. Don't expect any supernatural or monster-related horror in this one. Good read. Continuing on with Gray Matter as the next story I read. It feels like something akin to the old movie The Blob. Good but not great. I just finished reading Battleground a few minutes ago. This is a tale of revenge against a hitman, but the form of the revenge comes from a very unexpected source. Entertaining read. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 18, 2024 16:28:43 GMT -5
Continuing on with Gray Matter as the next story I read. It feels like something akin to the old movie The Blob. Good but not great. I just finished reading Battleground a few minutes ago. This is a tale of revenge against a hitman, but the form of the revenge comes from a very unexpected source. Entertaining read. The next selection was The Lawnmower Man. This has been adapted to film and there's even a sequel, but this short story has practically nothing in common with the film at all. The two stories are so different that it's kind of jarring to realize it. The film could be reminiscent of Flowers for Algernon while the short story is something related to Greek myth. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 18, 2024 17:49:12 GMT -5
I just finished reading Battleground a few minutes ago. This is a tale of revenge against a hitman, but the form of the revenge comes from a very unexpected source. Entertaining read. The next selection was The Lawnmower Man. This has been adapted to film and there's even a sequel, but this short story has practically nothing in common with the film at all. The two stories are so different that it's kind of jarring to realize it. The film could be reminiscent of Flowers for Algernon while the short story is something related to Greek myth. I decided to go with another story that has been adapted to film twice, Trucks, as my next selection. Of course, Maximum Overdrive is the film that most people are familiar with but there is a low budget adaptation called Trucks as well. I believe the short story works best out of all the stories. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 18, 2024 19:11:31 GMT -5
The next selection was The Lawnmower Man. This has been adapted to film and there's even a sequel, but this short story has practically nothing in common with the film at all. The two stories are so different that it's kind of jarring to realize it. The film could be reminiscent of Flowers for Algernon while the short story is something related to Greek myth. I decided to go with another story that has been adapted to film twice, Trucks, as my next selection. Of course, Maximum Overdrive is the film that most people are familiar with but there is a low budget adaptation called Trucks as well. I believe the short story works best out of all the stories. I went with another story adapted to film, The Mangler. I remember not being too impressed with the movie but that was years ago. Honestly, I'd have to watch it again to make a fair evaluation. The short story has just enough detail and length to make it work really well. I believe it is best enjoyed in that form. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 24, 2024 9:51:06 GMT -5
I decided to go with another story that has been adapted to film twice, Trucks, as my next selection. Of course, Maximum Overdrive is the film that most people are familiar with but there is a low budget adaptation called Trucks as well. I believe the short story works best out of all the stories. I went with another story adapted to film, The Mangler. I remember not being too impressed with the movie but that was years ago. Honestly, I'd have to watch it again to make a fair evaluation. The short story has just enough detail and length to make it work really well. I believe it is best enjoyed in that form. Next up was Sometimes They Come Back. I remember seeing the movie years ago. Something tells me that it was a little bit cheesy, but I don't know that for sure. I enjoyed this tale about confronting childhood bullies as an adult. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 24, 2024 9:55:43 GMT -5
I went with another story adapted to film, The Mangler. I remember not being too impressed with the movie but that was years ago. Honestly, I'd have to watch it again to make a fair evaluation. The short story has just enough detail and length to make it work really well. I believe it is best enjoyed in that form. Next up was Sometimes They Come Back. I remember seeing the movie years ago. Something tells me that it was a little bit cheesy, but I don't know that for sure. I enjoyed this tale about confronting childhood bullies as an adult. I also read Quitters, Inc. this morning. If you've ever experienced the struggles of quitting cigarettes then this story will touch on that in a particular way. I know Stephen King smoked at one time and reduced his intake down to the "low tar" variety, but I have no idea if he ever actually quit. I'm sure this story has a personal connection with the author. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 25, 2024 16:31:03 GMT -5
Next up was Sometimes They Come Back. I remember seeing the movie years ago. Something tells me that it was a little bit cheesy, but I don't know that for sure. I enjoyed this tale about confronting childhood bullies as an adult. I also read Quitters, Inc. this morning. If you've ever experienced the struggles of quitting cigarettes then this story will touch on that in a particular way. I know Stephen King smoked at one time and reduced his intake down to the "low tar" variety, but I have no idea if he ever actually quit. I'm sure this story has a personal connection with the author. I read the last two short stories this weekend. I've read parts of the Night Shift collection years ago, but I never read all of them until now. I Know What You Need is a tale of a geeky, unathletic nerdy young man that can help bring people the desires they seek, but this ability comes from a sinister source. The last story I read was Children of the Corn. Most everybody knows the basic premise of the story. The first movie based on this story was pretty good. It's been years since I've seen it, but I remember enjoying it. Unfortunately, almost all of the films following that are pretty terrible. The short story and the film share a lot of similarities as far as I can remember. I recommend sticking to those two. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 31, 2024 9:00:40 GMT -5
The book I'm currently reading is The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt. Jr.; the first published book in a series I've seen numerous times on the shelves of bookstores everywhere. I've always intended to read them and now I'm starting on the series. I'm almost 10% into the book and it already seems to be a bit different from the typical fantasy offerings. Let's see where it goes...
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Aug 31, 2024 10:58:06 GMT -5
The book I'm currently reading is The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt. Jr.; the first published book in a series I've seen numerous times on the shelves of bookstores everywhere. I've always intended to read them and now I'm starting on the series. I'm almost 10% into the book and it already seems to be a bit different from the typical fantasy offerings. Let's see where it goes... I have read all but the most recent published, (reminder to check the library for them) and I absolutely loved them. If I had the talent to do it, I would love to write an OD&D version using the magic system in the books. I think it could fit really well. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 31, 2024 13:09:30 GMT -5
The book I'm currently reading is The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt. Jr.; the first published book in a series I've seen numerous times on the shelves of bookstores everywhere. I've always intended to read them and now I'm starting on the series. I'm almost 10% into the book and it already seems to be a bit different from the typical fantasy offerings. Let's see where it goes... I have read all but the most recent published, (reminder to check the library for them) and I absolutely loved them. If I had the talent to do it, I would love to write an OD&D version using the magic system in the books. I think it could fit really well. Excellent! With a 4-day weekend underway due to Labor Day, I plan on reading plenty of it. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Aug 31, 2024 15:26:32 GMT -5
I have read all but the most recent published, (reminder to check the library for them) and I absolutely loved them. If I had the talent to do it, I would love to write an OD&D version using the magic system in the books. I think it could fit really well. Excellent! With a 4-day weekend underway due to Labor Day, I plan on reading plenty of it. This is Labor Day weekend? Wow, that snuck up on me! |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Aug 31, 2024 16:35:34 GMT -5
Excellent! With a 4-day weekend underway due to Labor Day, I plan on reading plenty of it. This is Labor Day weekend? Wow, that snuck up on me! I know, right?! I'm almost another year older already.  |
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Post by simrion on Sept 2, 2024 5:27:56 GMT -5
This is Labor Day weekend? Wow, that snuck up on me! I know, right?! I'm almost another year older already. Me too! 57 tomorrow. |
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Post by simrion on Sept 2, 2024 5:28:53 GMT -5
L.E. Modesitt. Jr. is an interesting fantasy author. I've read a few of his works. Definitely has some neat ideas.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Sept 2, 2024 12:35:18 GMT -5
This is Labor Day weekend? Wow, that snuck up on me! I know, right?! I'm almost another year older already. I see the 17th of Sept. and I'm the 17th of April,  |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Sept 2, 2024 12:36:58 GMT -5
I know, right?! I'm almost another year older already. Me too! 57 tomorrow. Cool, I will wish you Happy Birthday tomorrow! Happy 57th Birthday simrion! Are you taking the day off to stretch the long weekend for your birthday! |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Sept 2, 2024 12:55:10 GMT -5
L.E. Modesitt. Jr. is an interesting fantasy author. I've read a few of his works. Definitely has some neat ideas. Yeah, I really enjoy his writing. I also liked his Spellsong Cycle a five book series. One, I did not perceive it as a "feminist fantasy," I just read it as a great story. I enjoyed the books a lot. The last two books are about the adopted daughter Secca and only the last book IMO could be described as a "feminist fantasy" but I still enjoyed the book and did not think it was heavy handed. The magic system is really awesome! Two, if you have not read the Spellsinger Cycle by Alan Dean Foster I would highly recommend it to you, it mixes a lot of humor into the story and is IMO a little tongue in cheek, the main character shares ( a little bit) vibes with the Myth Adventures series (main character Skeeve) by Robert Lynn Asprin of which I have only read the first 5 books. The Myth Adventures are noted for and popular for their whimsical nature, myriad characters, and liberal use of puns. Also multiple dimensions and a lot of world building. If you like the first book you will enjoy the others and vice versa. Three, the Alan Dean Foster's books are not shark jumpers like the Robert Lynn Asprin books (at least not by several orders of magnitude). |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Sept 3, 2024 1:54:22 GMT -5
L.E. Modesitt. Jr. is an interesting fantasy author. I've read a few of his works. Definitely has some neat ideas. I'm really enjoying the story so far. I'm already just under 200 pages in. Too bad I have to work today. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Sept 3, 2024 10:04:34 GMT -5
I know, right?! I'm almost another year older already. Me too! 57 tomorrow. Happy Birthday! |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Sept 3, 2024 15:47:11 GMT -5
OK, officially Happy Birthday! simrion |
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Post by simrion on Sept 3, 2024 18:05:03 GMT -5
Thank you for the Birthday wishes and, oh look! I made it to 1,000 posts!!! |
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