darth_librarian
Regular
Bitterwood by James Maxey... quite a good fantasy whilst i'm waiting for the next George RR. Also some Kurt V on the side and DC comics' 52.
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So...what is everybody reading now? (part Deux)
- Thread starter Mindwalker
- Start date
Chilli
High Treason Prevention Officer
Sindatur
Regular
Rereading Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson (Book 1 of the Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) in preparation for Book 2's release in October. RotE is actually emotionally a lighter read than the first and Second Chronicles, as you are inside Linden Avery's head, rather than inside Covenant's head. I expect it to get heavier as the Quadrilogy moves forward though.
hypatia
Regular
You did. But what can I say. I'm a rebel at heart
I like your kind of rebellion. Nah, I think it's a fine story, but just not on the same scale as 3001. I AM assuming you'll eventually be going on into the Final Oddessey.
Am I the only one who thinks it's a bit weird to have a thread for "what you are listening to now" and "what you are reading now" in two separate forums?
hypatia
Regular
I won't admit what I'm reading now
But next I hope to get to "Cradle" or something that I think is co-written by A.C. Clarke. I'm in a rut.
Oh yes, Chilli. That's Clarke's strong point: having plots that are actually possible scientifically.
Enjoy 3001. Then I'll have someone to talk to about it.
But next I hope to get to "Cradle" or something that I think is co-written by A.C. Clarke. I'm in a rut.
Oh yes, Chilli. That's Clarke's strong point: having plots that are actually possible scientifically.
Enjoy 3001. Then I'll have someone to talk to about it.
darth_librarian
Regular
Thud by El Tel. Very good afer only 5 pages!
Chilli
High Treason Prevention Officer
Finished 3001. So hyp can now attack me with any "questions" she might have regarding what I thought .. in general, I was not too impressed with the book. I found some of the scientific concepts fascinating (though they had been used by Clarke before) .. in general, though, the book and its conclusion made .. little sense to me.
Now reading Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book
.. in general, I was not too impressed with the book. I found some of the scientific concepts fascinating (though they had been used by Clarke before) .. in general, though, the book and its conclusion made .. little sense to me.Now reading Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book
Jade Jaguar
Regular
I loved that when I read it, when I was about 9. I also found it interesting that things, like names and concepts, were taken from it and used in Boy Scouts, and Cub Scouts.
crazyhorse
Anarchist
Chilli
High Treason Prevention Officer
I enjoy both Clarke and Dick, in quite different ways. I have read too little of Clarke's stuff to tell, though, if it is that I prefer his earlier stuff .. or if 3001 is just a solitary case of pants.
As for why I dislike it ..
SPOILERS FOR "3001 - THE FINAL ODYSSEY" AHEAD
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They defeat the monoliths - that suddenly go homocidal on earth because earth has gone homocidal (which it had been from the very beginning of their little experiment .. but hey) - with frigging computer viruses from the 20th century! AARGH! That is just SO stupid. So beyond stupid.
Computer viruses and worms work by abusing a system's weak points. By knowing how to find back doors through system's otherwise safe layout. To program a virus for a system, you've got to know a system and its weaknesses.
A worm programmed to get into systems over Outlook Express will not get to your system if you use Thunderbird, or a webmail client, or whatever.
A trojan programmed for Windows will not do shit if executed on a mac.
A virus lethally dangerous to Windows 98 will generally be completely harmless on Windows XP - not just because Windows XP will have new security features against it, but because the virus will no longer know where it is and what it is doing in the new enviroment.
But any random set of computer viruses from the 20th century will completely destroy a fleet of alien mechanisms, created over millions or billions of years, operating on 4+ dimensions (as mentioned in 2001). Er .. yeah, sure, whatever. Clarke seems to have bought in to the analogy between real viruses and computer viruses going way beyond the name. Sorry .. it doesn't.
Then there is the bit where the monoliths give Bowman (or his spirit) enough control over their mechanisms that he can smuggle the virus in. Er .. right. Minor hint: if you're contemplating to exterminate a species with your cool tools, don't give a member of that species executive control over your tools.
The rest of the book was just .. boring and pointless. The only parts I really enjoyed was the concept of the space elevators/towers, and their description. Those, however, Clarke himself admitted he borrowed from an earlier book of his own, The Fountains of Paradise. Which doesn't leave much of a reason for 3001 to .. exist.
hypatia
Regular
** ALSO MAJOR SPOILERS FROM THE BOOK 3001" ****
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Literally, talk about the end of the series here. So avoid if you don't want to read spoilers, folks.
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Had A.C. Clarke used the idea of the brain cap before?
But not a new idea, I know.
I thought the point of the monoliths is that in general the report "to date" was very bad for us on Earth. But that there was evidence the monoliths were breaking down over time. They were malfunctioning, weren't they?
It might not have been as hard, then, to fool it. Particularly if Halman was deeply connected to the whatever controlling the monoliths. Or perhaps Halman was infected first, thus his rather bad state by the time he attempts to download.
What I found shocking about the end is exactly what they did with Halman after he attempted to download himself. He saves the entire solar system, and his "reward" is to be so feared he's stored in limbo in a special vault on the moon made for extremely dangerous materials.
Although risking attempting contact/upload with Hal might just possibly have set him upon them... so you certainly can understand the fear. Especially since Halman's final state of mind is rather uncertain at the end.
But still, it just seemed so... ungrateful. And he/it/whatever was so very patient with humanity.
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Literally, talk about the end of the series here. So avoid if you don't want to read spoilers, folks.
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Had A.C. Clarke used the idea of the brain cap before?
But not a new idea, I know.
I thought the point of the monoliths is that in general the report "to date" was very bad for us on Earth. But that there was evidence the monoliths were breaking down over time. They were malfunctioning, weren't they?
It might not have been as hard, then, to fool it. Particularly if Halman was deeply connected to the whatever controlling the monoliths. Or perhaps Halman was infected first, thus his rather bad state by the time he attempts to download.
What I found shocking about the end is exactly what they did with Halman after he attempted to download himself. He saves the entire solar system, and his "reward" is to be so feared he's stored in limbo in a special vault on the moon made for extremely dangerous materials.
Although risking attempting contact/upload with Hal might just possibly have set him upon them... so you certainly can understand the fear. Especially since Halman's final state of mind is rather uncertain at the end.
But still, it just seemed so... ungrateful. And he/it/whatever was so very patient with humanity.
Chilli
High Treason Prevention Officer
SPOILERS
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You still can't execute a virus on a system you don't know. No matter how awesome a virus you write, if you copy it onto a new system, it will just be .. a bunch of numbers that it can't do anything with, because software is only dangerous if you execute it. To make executable software for a system, you need to know how a system works.
It's like trying to write a book that will move the reader to tears .. for an alien species whose culture you do not know, and who use some language you have no clue about. It doesn't matter if you're a talentless hack or the reincarnation of Shakespeare, you're not going to manage it.
It would have been somewhat conceivable that Halman could have fooled the Monoliths on his own. But the inclusion of 20th century computer viruses made NO sense.
Well .. it was more that he was possibly infected with the computer virus himself then, in my eyes .. and if a lethal computer virus would have been quite bad for a society so heavily relying on technology. Halman must have known that this might happen to him if he went with Poole's plan.
But as this was, once again, based on a completely false understanding of what a computer virus is (something that you infect by touching - "bad numbers" or something?), I found it more amusing than shocking.
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You still can't execute a virus on a system you don't know. No matter how awesome a virus you write, if you copy it onto a new system, it will just be .. a bunch of numbers that it can't do anything with, because software is only dangerous if you execute it. To make executable software for a system, you need to know how a system works.
It's like trying to write a book that will move the reader to tears .. for an alien species whose culture you do not know, and who use some language you have no clue about. It doesn't matter if you're a talentless hack or the reincarnation of Shakespeare, you're not going to manage it.
It would have been somewhat conceivable that Halman could have fooled the Monoliths on his own. But the inclusion of 20th century computer viruses made NO sense.
Well .. it was more that he was possibly infected with the computer virus himself then, in my eyes .. and if a lethal computer virus would have been quite bad for a society so heavily relying on technology. Halman must have known that this might happen to him if he went with Poole's plan.
But as this was, once again, based on a completely false understanding of what a computer virus is (something that you infect by touching - "bad numbers" or something?), I found it more amusing than shocking.
Jonny_Fever
Regular
I just discovered S.M. Stirling. I stumbled across the book at a used bookstore. Apparently he's written a ton of stuff. I started reading "Dies the fire" and I can't put it down. The premise is that this world is hit by "The Change" causing electricity, high gas pressures, and fast combustion (including explosives and gunpowder) to stop working. Now everyone has to adapt to this new world.
Sort of Jeremiah-esque and how everyone is trying to create their own civilizations and survive. Then today I found out that he's written 4 more books set in this world. I bought 2 more of them today so I know what Im going to be doing the next few weeks.
Sort of Jeremiah-esque and how everyone is trying to create their own civilizations and survive. Then today I found out that he's written 4 more books set in this world. I bought 2 more of them today so I know what Im going to be doing the next few weeks.
darth_librarian
Regular
Wow, that sounds lame, and cribbed from Independence Day ?
Chilli
High Treason Prevention Officer
KoshFan
Regular
I reread the first book of the Psi Corps trilogy today; the only one I really enjoyed, the only one I kept after selling off the rest of my B5 book stash, and, perhaps not coincidentally, the only one with Vorlons...
As I was paging through, however, I discovered a glaring plot hole! On page 44 the book quotes the Weekly World News for a rather salacious article about telepaths, dating from 2115 or so as telepaths were just discovered. But the Weekly World News folded in 2007! They wouldn't have had any articles about telepaths after going of business more than a century prior!
Naturally I was shocked and dismayed that JMS didn't forsee the failure of the world's most reliable news source (after the Onion, of course), and correctly write it in back when he was outlining the books.
As I was paging through, however, I discovered a glaring plot hole! On page 44 the book quotes the Weekly World News for a rather salacious article about telepaths, dating from 2115 or so as telepaths were just discovered. But the Weekly World News folded in 2007! They wouldn't have had any articles about telepaths after going of business more than a century prior!
Naturally I was shocked and dismayed that JMS didn't forsee the failure of the world's most reliable news source (after the Onion, of course), and correctly write it in back when he was outlining the books.
