What BOOK(s) are you reading?

I read a bit of Heinlein when I was a kid so I sort of equate it to pulp sci fi.

What's the best Heinlein book to read which encapsulates his writing style the best?

ThirstyMan wrote:

What's the best Heinlein book to read which encapsulates his writing style the best?

For standard SF, I'd go with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. You've got the same cast of Heinlein archetypes that are in several of his novels, but this one is the best of them. If you want to try one of his juveniles, I'd pick Have Space Suit -Will Travel. Also good is Citizen of the Galaxy.

I agree with Robert's suggestions, but my favorite Heilein is in his early short stories. They are collected in the the massive THE PAST THROUGH TOMORROW.

Started on The Two Towers so 1/3 of the way to crossing off a bucket list item.

How are you liking those books so far Mad Dog?

I just finished reading Conan: The Coming of the Cimmerian by Ronald E. Howard. Howard's prose is captivating. I liked this edition's artwork.

Tim Champlin wrote: How are you liking those books so far Mad Dog?

I've seen the movies like a gajillion times so for me the most interesting stuff is the differences. I imagine it was opposite for people who read the books first and were annoyed at having dialog moved to a different scene and such. I also know now who Tom Bombadil is and think Jackson absolutely made the right choice in omitting him. He would have fit in with Jackson's Hobbit, but would have not matched the tone of the LotR films at all.

RobertB wrote: ThirstyMan wrote:

What's the best Heinlein book to read which encapsulates his writing style the best?

For standard SF, I'd go with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. You've got the same cast of Heinlein archetypes that are in several of his novels, but this one is the best of them. If you want to try one of his juveniles, I'd pick Have Space Suit -Will Travel. Also good is Citizen of the Galaxy.

Tried to find a kindle version of this, but no joy on Amazon, only audiobook edition, which I don't want.

Moon Is A Harsh Mistress is fantastic. There was another Heinlein I really enjoyed called Between Planets.

ThirstyMan wrote:

Tried to find a kindle version of this, but no joy on Amazon, only audiobook edition, which I don't want.

Stranger in a Strange Land is good too, and available for Kindle. Or Moon for free at drnissani.net/mnissani/revolutionarystoo...IsAHarshMistress.pdf .

stoic wrote: I just finished reading Conan: The Coming of the Cimmerian by Ronald E. Howard. Howard's prose is captivating. I liked this edition's artwork.

I got like a third of the way through that several years ago and it's never left my shelf since (not because I didn't enjoy it). Need to get back to it.

I really loved the Elephant Tower story and the Ice Princess/Giant thing.

Mad Dog wrote:

Tim Champlin wrote: How are you liking those books so far Mad Dog?

I've seen the movies like a gajillion times so for me the most interesting stuff is the differences. I imagine it was opposite for people who read the books first and were annoyed at having dialog moved to a different scene and such. I also know now who Tom Bombadil is and think Jackson absolutely made the right choice in omitting him. He would have fit in with Jackson's Hobbit, but would have not matched the tone of the LotR films at all.

The big difference in The Two Towers is Helm's Deep. Remember that huge 45-minute battle in the movie?? That takes about 3 pages in the novel, if that.

I started reading The Barrow by Mark Smylie. It's a big, ol' fat doorstopper of an epic fantasy, so I'm excited. I love that shit. I read some of Smylie's Artesia graphic novels many years ago. To my knowledge, this is his first prose novel.

charlest wrote:

stoic wrote: I just finished reading Conan: The Coming of the Cimmerian by Ronald E. Howard. Howard's prose is captivating. I liked this edition's artwork.

I got like a third of the way through that several years ago and it's never left my shelf since (not because I didn't enjoy it). Need to get back to it.

I really loved the Elephant Tower story and the Ice Princess/Giant thing.

I'm now on to The Bloody Crown of Conan which is the second of this edition's three volumes of Robert E. Howard reprints.

I've liked all of the Conan stories so far, but, since this is the first time that I've read them, I want to read the remainder before deciding which of the stories is my favorite. Coming from having only seen the 80's Conan movies, I see now that those scripts combined the stories.

I especially respect these particular reprints because Howard's Conan stories are not edited and are presented in the order that they were originally published.

There are a couple of Howard's Conan stories that are very similar to each other, uninspired stuff he needed to publish just to make a living I suppose. Others where he took an idea already published and developed it further. He's still well worth the read. I have the 1 volume faux leatherette edition of his Conan, and I remember lending it to my dad who devoured it, staying up late to finish reading just one more story. Entertainment for all ages!

I am currently reading Killing Pretty, the seventh book in the Sandman Slim series. This isn't great writing, but I do enjoy it, in the same way that I enjoy a McDonald's cheddar melt on rye with a side order of fries plus a shamrock shake. James Stark, aka Sandman Slim, is an extreme tough guy who managed to escape back to Earth after spending a decade in Hell as a gladiator. Imagine the World of Darkness cranked up to an almost cartoonish degree of violence and power, and you get the mean streets of L.A. where Stark works as kind of a noir detective. Only, instead of noir, think punk rock, with lots of attitude, dark humor, and extreme behavior. Without prompting from the author, I picture Stark as an ugly cross between Vin Diesel and Ron Perlman, and his main squeeze as Pauley Perrette.

Past installments have included outrageous levels of mayhem, a zombie apocalypse, the politics of Hell, and a civil war in Heaven. By contrast, the current installment is pretty low-key so far, featuring only the attempted murder of the Angel of Death. Fans of Buffy/Angel, the World of Darkness, and similar fare might enjoy this, or might find it somewhat outrageous. Mileage may vary.