10/15/2011

10/15/2011

scribe's note: Why do I have to take fucking notes this way.. fucking shit.
Sophie - Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingbird
1. verdict: +++
2. review:
  
  Suggests everyone reads Hnger Games at least. Sooooon to be a major motion
  picture. End of the world, capitol rules Panem. Set in the poor coal mining
  district 12. Hunger Games held to control the districts, sacrifice their
  children! Battle Royale! Heroine is some crazy biotch. Doesn't want to tell
  tooooo much. Goes very fast. Young adult style. There are romantic aspects
  but it doesn't take over the whole thingy. NO SEX. Brtual but more about
  characters and plotline. Good closure.
Sophie - Most recent Laurell K Hamilton - HITLIST
1. verdict: meh
2. review:
  
  ONLY 1 GRAPHIC SEX SCENE. 150 pages long sex scene, with a were-tiger! Mommy
  dearest of all darkness dies! Liked it but not as thorough, didn't tie it up.
  Not into the lol tumblr were-yorkie. Would be devoured or turned into sex
  slave.
interlude

discussion of purchase of the LOL Polycomm. Jason & Pdex on the hangout.
Jeff - Terminal World - Alastair Reynolds
1. verdict: ++?
2. review:
  
  His attempt at steampunk.. better than expected! HAD TO READ. People live on
  giant spear/spire/sphere? Levels of technology, guys with wings on the top
  floor. Sorta like angels. IT guys live downstairs, steamville, horsetown on
  the first floor. There's a weird field, with zones. We are reminded of FIRE
  UPON THE DEEP. In the beginning of the book there's a guy with a gun, and the
  gun evolves throughout the book. Hires an escort, to get out of the city.
  Outside THE TIP, there's mad max land, with (carni)vorgs. Like zombie robots
  who suck on brains. There's an epic adventure apparently, maybe related to
  these details. There are big reveals. Aha moments. This is the guy who wrote
  House of Suns remember... what a sell-out. Huh he's still talking about names
  of stuff in here. Skullboys??? Overall he thought it was interesting.
Jeff - Surface Detail - Iain M Banks
1. verdict: ++
2. review:
  
  New Culture book. Character dies at the end of every chapter. Not like Faces
  of Death. More like Final Destination. On a quest for revenge! They are
  involved. The highlevel civilizations having a war over the concept of HELL!
  Oh well I missed some of this but it's ok because it's all spoilers for matt
  anyway.
ASOIAF Doesn't Qualify Nor Can It Be Spoken Of.
Chris - Best Served Cold
1. verdict: +++
2. review:
  
  The fullest most Abercrombie Abercrombie book. Jeff taking about the revenge
  setup in the beginning and it just goes downhill from there. Well-plotted.
  Chris enjoyed the tight pacing. Very grim character development. Some
  discussion of his new shit which is all in the same world. His new one is sort
  of a western.
behind the scenes:

For those who don't know, Eggers experienced a profound conversion and is now a
trekkie. Talking about how great the TNG cast is.. haha.
Paul - Dervish House - Ian McDonald
1. verdict: +
2. review:
  
  Lots of things that were good but not very cohesive. Near-future. Chris read
  a bit of this too. Starts pretty slow. Hugo winner? Waaay too into
  nano-tech.. alternates between, this is Istanbul in 2030! aaand THIS IS
  NANO-TECH. Terrorists and religion bombs! Brought to you by nano-tech! Such
  a Kurzweil love-fest here. Business intrigue crappiness. (Ed: I think I'm
  coloring this review a bit) Nano-drugs for traders to trade better.
  Reccommends reading it for 2 bucks. It's slow.. huh, who knew.
Paul - The Scar - Mieville
1. verdict: ++
2. review:
  
  This is a bit old but whatevs. This is the nautical one. A lot more
  satisfying than Perdido St Station to him. More streamlined and well-plotted.
  Has vampires and Lovecraft fish people, and mosquito people!!! Not quite
  everybody dies. Didn't tie up real nicely, multiple climaxes (!!).
Jason/Chad/Paul - Embassytown - Mieville
1. verdict: ++
2. review:
  
  Mieville's space-opera. Jason thought City & City was good but this is better.
  Humans live on Arakei(is), with the Hosts! The hosts have a special language
  that only expresses TRUTH! Only direct referents can be expressed! No
  symbols! Jason liked the end, because he really laid it all out. Explained
  stuff a lot better. This one is sorta classicly hard scifi. Paul likes C&C
  because of its mysterious police-procedural nature. Jason & Paul like the
  super-dry woman main-character, but I wasn't into her. I wasn't into the trite
  political allegory of the plot that sorta sacrificed any emotion.
Chad - Ship Breaker - Paolo Baciagalupi
1. verdict: ++
2. review:
  
  Liked it. Young adult novel. Fast and short. Same author as Windup Girl and
  same sort of set-up. Title is descriptive of the book. Working class focus
  equaled excitement. Werebulldog dudes are helpful to have around. Luck drives
  most of the action. Recommended and now excited to read Windup Girl!
ASOIAF mega-roundup
1. verdict: unanimously +++++
2. review:
  
  Shit I dunno if any of this qualifies except DWD. Jeff likes the naked people.
  People reading it: Adam, Megan, Chris, Jen, Nikko (tv only), Jeff, Jason (grand
  mugwump). Um so maybe that is all! Oh yeah Jeff is talking about how Tyrian
  is way hotter in the tv show than he's supposed to be. Hoder's wang is
  apparently prosthetic! Jason is off to cover the law
that's all folks!