What are you reading right now?

[NvII iS 8ulLt f0R 88C]

I still don't know what to think about him blaming Christianity. It had been maybe 10 years since I read it and for me that question is still not settled lol.

To be honest, Christians bickering over nonsense was there from the start (Arian heresy), and it made the ancient Roman tradition of infighting and took away the part when the Romans all huddle together to defeat their common enemies. Cult of Sol is also a monotheistic religion but doesn't have the bickering of Christians.

The Denial of Death

Huh, never heard of it. Seems interesting tbh.q, I have always been a Meditations guy; since Marcus Aurelius never wrote it to somebody but wrote it to himself to drill virtue into his own head. And I think that genuineness makes it the best help-self book and why it is still relevant after 1500 years.

How is your progress going? You should give us periodic updates, because that is some damn hard shit to read.

I just started because I finished the Unbiased History of Rome/Byzantium and the History of Rome podcast and still my Rome itch has been left unscratched.

Spoiler

 

[Womble of Wimbledon]

How is your progress going? You should give us periodic updates, because that is some damn hard shit to read.

I have an illustrated edition which I feel was published for reeeeally nerdy kids back in the 60s. Heavily abridged, of course. Definitely makes it an easier read but you can't exactly boast about reading that one in the same way you can if you read the full million page version.

Tax: The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa, seven short stories about cats. It's pretty good if you want some warm fuzzies in your life. Prepare to cry if you're a cat lover.

 

[Zemblan Physics]

Reading Portrait of a lady by Henry James. I know it’s retarded but every time I read something from before the 1990s I get pissed off that we have the internet now. I might go full UNA-bomber when I reread the Brothers Karamazov next.

 

[Freya]

Just finished "We have always lived in the castle" by shirley jackson. I loved the setting and am reading haunting of hill house next
really wanna get more into the gothic horror thing. would love recs

 

[ScurvyRat]

really wanna get more into the gothic horror thing. would love recs

Marie Shelly's Frankenstein, if you haven't. I'm a huge simp for Junji Ito, so check out his interpretation of it as well.

I might go full UNA-bomber when I reread the Brothers Karamazov next.

Also on my list. Would love to coordinate discussions, if you're interested.

 

[Zemblan Physics]

I loved the setting and am reading haunting of hill house next
really wanna get more into the gothic horror thing. would love recs

Try Joyce Carol Oates’ The Accursed. It’s fantastic. I’m not an Oates fan usually but that novel blew me away. For her, kinda short piece, too.

 

[glass_houses]

Just finished "We have always lived in the castle" by shirley jackson. I loved the setting and am reading haunting of hill house next
really wanna get more into the gothic horror thing. would love recs

Dracula is a classic, but Carmilla is legendary. Le Fanu is top notch in the general sense, but Carmilla is his most famous work for a good reason.

Oates is a good gothic author if you stick to her short stories. Her novels tend to moralise and drag, although I didn't mind Zombie.

Picnic At Hanging Rock is famous in my country, but it comes in two editions: one where the last chapter is omitted, and the more recent one where the final chapter is included. Up to you which one you read and how much of your own hair you want to rip out.

My favourite gothic author- and one of my favourite authors, period- is Angela Carter. I'd recommend starting with her short stories, her writing takes a little getting used to.

 

[Womble of Wimbledon]

Just finished "We have always lived in the castle" by shirley jackson. I loved the setting and am reading haunting of hill house next
really wanna get more into the gothic horror thing. would love recs

Try the ghost stories of M. R. James, my favourite is 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'.

 

[melty]

I'm reading the Brothers Karamazov, which I've seen a few people here recommend. It's pretty funny. It's like it's always sunny in philadelphia if it were set in Russia in the 1880s.

 

[Meat Target]

Rather late to this party, but I'm really enjoying the original Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. It's been awhile since I read fantasy this good!

One of my all-time favorites. Buckle up, you are in for a ride.

 

[CaseyTatumm]

Blood Meridian-liked
Neuromancer-mostly liked, but molly kind of acts like the authors fanfiction if you ask me

Blood Meridian is great! If you like McCarthy and haven’t read Outer Dark yet, highly recommend.

 

[Kamakoyn]

I've been reading Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe, aloud to my mother when I see her on weekends. Recommended years back by Charls Carroll when he used to stream old black and white movies on twitch. One of his chat mods was named after a character from the book and he would talk about it like it was the Bible lmao. Really ripping stuff though, more people should read it.

 

[More AWS-8Q Than You]

I still don't know what to think about him blaming Christianity. It had been maybe 10 years since I read it and for me that question is still not settled lol.

If it helps, Gibbon was a Proto-Reddit Moderator autistic incel. If alive now he would have been a walking fedora-tipping "M'lady" meme, so he may have been a touch biased. There were a lot of reasons for the collapse of the Western half of the Empire, Christianity simply filled a void that had been created by the collapse of Roman Virtue as the Empire became less roman. Blaming anything as complex as the fall of an Empire on a single factor is binary thinking at best.

As for reading lately, I've been on a Timothy Zahn kick, always meant to get around to his non-Star Wars work, and it's pretty good for what it is. Currently working through the Quadrail series, which has a rather novel take on FTL, but a Space Detective does need Space Trains. Nothing too particularly deep, but it's pretty clear why he wrote the best of the Star Wars novels and Disney are damn fools for not just paying him and adapting his work into movies.

 

[glass_houses]

Following rereading The End of Alice, I decided to read another Homes novel. Music for Torching was the cheapest one available. Reviews on it are very mixed, and halfway through, I can see why.

Both of the main characters are unbearable; the husband is a sociopath who is incapable of keeping his dick in his pants and isn't all that fussy about what he sticks it into. Initially the wife seems as much of an arsehole as he is, but it quickly becomes clear that she is deeply, severely, clinically depressed, and so completely alone despite being surrounded by people (many of whom are fucking her husband) that she might as well be stranded on the fucking moon.

I'm a third of the way through but it's a heavy slog for such a thin book. I could finish it in a couple hours but it's just so fucking depressing that it's like reading Russian lit.

I'm rereading The Necrophiliac as well, and started on The Desert Vet. Still rambling through Perdido Street Station.

 

[The Taco Santo!]

I just started a book about the discovery of the hobbit fossils in Indonesia.

 

[quokking]

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, a lovely little fantasy from the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I liked that book a lot, but this is much much better (no twee Gaiman-ass "faerie" bullshit, for one thing).

I can't think of a single thing to say about the story that wouldn't be some kind of spoiler so probably best to read it cold imo

 

[Reverse Ideology]

Currently re-reading the Wars of Light and Shadow series by Janny Wurts to prepare for the last book which is out in May. One of the more underrated series in fantasy, and it deserves far more recognition. I love her vocabulary and the dense, yet vivid way she writes. If you're seeking a rich and complex fantasy series, look no further!

 

[glass_houses]

Currently re-reading the Wars of Light and Shadow series by Janny Wurts to prepare for the last book which is out in May. One of the more underrated series in fantasy, and it deserves far more recognition. I love her vocabulary and the dense, yet vivid way she writes. If you're seeking a rich and complex fantasy series, look no further!

I've only read the Empire trilogy she wrote with Feist. Are her solo works similar to Empire, or are they a different beast?

 

[Reverse Ideology]

I've only read the Empire trilogy she wrote with Feist. Are her solo works similar to Empire, or are they a different beast?

Empire is much simpler in both prose and scope from what I remember. It’s incredibly hard to compare the Wars of Light and Shadow to anything else. Wurt’s prose is so descriptive that it evokes the imagery of a painting. It’s a work of fantasy that borders on the transcendent, so I would say it is an entirely different beast. If you prefer fantasy stories that are rich in detail and have intricate plotlines, then these books will probably be a perfect fit for your taste.

 

[ScurvyRat]

Empire is much simpler in both prose and scope from what I remember. It’s incredibly hard to compare the Wars of Light and Shadow to anything else. Wurt’s prose is so descriptive that it evokes the imagery of a painting. It’s a work of fantasy that borders on the transcendent, so I would say it is an entirely different beast. If you prefer fantasy stories that are rich in detail and have intricate plotlines, then these books will probably be a perfect fit for your taste.

You 1000% sold me with this description.

12 book series? Well, looks like I have some reading to do.

Also lmao @ his name. Janny? Get the fuck outta here!
Happy to hear he's cleaning up the series