Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler So what are you reading tonight?

How does it end?

With me saying, I haven't read a book book in several years.

I got my copy, but I'm not quite ready for it. I'm 7% into Towers of Midnight, though, so I'm getting there. There are certainly some weaker aspects to the series, but I simply want a few more great moments before it's over. No matter what, I think scope of the world, with all of its intricacies, was quite a feat.

I'm almost a third of the way through the final book, A Memory of Light. Here's hoping the end is satisfying.

Oh, I did finally finish Reamde by Neal Stephenson. I had to resort to the Audible version, because its just too huge get through on my own. So I let someone read it to me every night like a bedtime story.

Typical for Neal Stephenson its ending wasn't the best, but there are a few good set pieces along the way, and I think I laughed out loud at least three times. I still think he needs an editor that's not afraid to chop a 1000 page behemoth down to under 500 pages, but I guess wandering tangents are now his style.

Charles, you're a monster. I'm only halfway through book 12.

Recently finished Iron Coffins by Commander Herbert Werner. One of the few U-boat survivors, Werner details his account of the war from the beginnings when the Germans had a stranglehold on the Atlantic to the end with the Allied victory.

It's interesting to read history from the "other" side. Werner throws a few tidbits in their questioning Hitler and Nazi leadership while also stressing pride in his country and striving to do his part in the war for the love of his family and countrymen.

Skill and a lot of luck come into play for Werner to have survived. One of his main gripes about technological advances within the U-boat fleet is the lack of deployment for a device called the schnorkel, which is pretty much an air scoop attached to the u-boat allowing it to take in fresh air while running submerged, thus negating the need to surface repeatedly to recharge the batteries. This became particularly important after increased Allied air presence.

I enjoyed the book.

Finished The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams. Interesting take on heaven and angles. Fist Tad Williams book I've ever read. I like his writing style and will pick up a couple more.

I know I'm opening myself up to 'snarkery' but after being handed a USB with about 1000 comics on it, I've found myself becoming a fan again. The artwork, storlines and character building have come a long way since I was a kid. He had digital copies of the entire original Avengers series from way back in the 60s so I'm able to compare.

The old originals are so terrible by today's standards that they are readable only for chuckles. The stories are simplistic in comparison and very fractured. Powers get tossed around, created and changed so much it's like they just couldn't be bothered to read their own previous episodes to get the powers or costumes right. Of course it's not fair to compare artwork as they were working with what they had in the day, except to say that many modern styles are truly amazing, but they are also very varied as well. Checking out what artist worked on a book actually means something now. You may love or hate their very personal style.

Gone is most of the tongue-in-cheek humour (well maybe except for Spiderman) and in it's place are dark, troubled characters. What's kind of cool though is that although there are thousands of new choices of all genres from Star Wars to Romance, but it is still the super-heroes of our youth that are still at the height of popularity.

There are still some cheesy ones being made though and I'm not much for when they do classic super-heroes in anime style (mostly cause that brings back the over-the-topness + cheesy humour.)

I really enjoyed starting with "A Vs. X" (Avenger's Vs. X-Men) as it re-introduced all the classic heroes and villains for me and the story lines were much more complex than "Hulk Angry so Hulk Smash", so to speak. The reason for the conflict was much more intricate & personal.

If anyone is interested in reliving their youth a bit, I highly recommend the 12 book "A Vs. X" series as a good first step. Also, the "Batman Arkham Unhinged". The newest Captain Marvel will surprise you as well.

With the exception of Batman, I'm definitely preferring Marvell vs. D.C. D.C. still seems to want to run with the more old-school, fractured storlines and a lot more cheesy humor (sorry to keep using the same term but it fits). I tried to get into the new JLA and Superman but so far Batman is my only D.C. regular read.

For non-traditional titles, companies like Dark Horse Comics and Image have some very original new titles like "The Manhattan Projects" (not what you think) is really cool. "Punk Rock Jesus" is a 'what if' story about a company cloning a possible Jesus from the Shroud of Turin and grooming him not as a religious savoir but as the lead in a rock band / marketing fiasco. Sounds ridiculous but an interesting read. Some of the newer Star Wars titles are pretty good as well. "Saga" is super popular among the 'hipster on my lawn' crowd but I'm having trouble adapting to it.

If you feel like another Robert Jorden sized journey, Marvell's "Civil War" series is very good and delves deep into the personal lives of all the major heroes. However, it's 107 books long and it isn't completely it's own series. To follow the complete story, you have to branch off into a bunch of other series as it spans the whole Marvel Universe. It would be near impossible to collect all these in print now but digital copies make it easy.

As a result of all this, I've actually subscribed to a few titles electronically via ComiXology. You can get digital copies the same day new titles go into print and often 1st editions are free for older titles so you can see if you like them.

Sorry for the novel.
I'm working from home today due to the weather but I'm waiting for a call back from our help desk about my VPN so my work laptop is dead in the water.

Bill Bruford - The Autobiography.
Interesting read so far regarding the music biz and early Yes.
I was fortunate to receive a signed copy when ordered from Burning Shed.