This is the third book in the series by Dmitry Glukhovsky.
The first book in the series was amazing. It was essentially a discussion of the changes surrounding the end of the Soviet Union and the beginning of modern Russia disguised as a post-apocalyptic novel. I reread it about once a year.
The second book was garbage. There was nothing to it, a dead book so to speak. All it did was setup the back story of two characters that appear on the third book.
The third book, I am nearly done reading and it is close to, but not as good as the first book. There is more allergy in this one and towards the end we get to see behind the curtain. It manages to recapture some of the power of the original but does not succeed nearly as well.
If you liked the original you will enjoy this one. If you read the second book this one will make the effort worthwhile. If you played the video games, read the books.
Just finished Charlie Stross’ Eschaton series (Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise). Both excellent, crackerjack spy thrillers set in a post-singularity space opera universe.
I finished the Magicians trilogy, it was pretty awesome. I was really curious how the hell it could be ended in a satisfactory way given all the insanity that happens in it but everything was done up nice and tidy!
Now I’m going to go back and try to work my way through Infinite Jest again.
I blazed through the Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. For a book with maybe half an action scene, I couldn’t put it down. Politics, intrigue, machinations galore. Highly recommended, and surprisingly, there is no sequel prequel or any other kind of “quel” to this book. It’s just a book.
Currently a third through Caliban’s War, trying to gear my self up to get back in to the Prince of Nothing.
Edit; Ah @jabrams007 how did you find the pacing? I enjoyed it over but found it a little bit predictable. I kind of want to see the King go on and have to do real kinging now that he has his house in order.
I am re-reading the Culture Novels because I convinced my boyfriend to read Player of Games then fell down the rabbit hole.
I also just finished Alastair Reynolds’s Poseidon’s Children trilogy. The man uses relatively and slower than light travel for drama so well.
@Amp I thought the pacing was fine. Maybe it’s just me, but I found the book riveting. I agree that it was a bit predictable, and the main character mainly just reacted to things instead of actively doing things himself, but in the context of the book, that made sense.
And, as much as I praised the book for not being part of a series, I agree that I would enjoy a follow-up book where he actually governs.
It was an interesting world and did interest me. I don’t know maybe pacing was the wrong word to use. There was just a little something missing for me that kept it from being in the top.
I think its his passive and reactive nature that got to me really. I liked the main character but he was just so…wet. I do think a second book would really help to show if how he acts as an Emperor and how he dealt with not being able to be passive in his governing.
I just started player of games for the first time. With the insane drive to magfest, I think I’m gonna grab the audiobook, fiddle with it until I find the bit I’m at in the dead tree version and listen to hours of it when the lady falls asleep. Pretty good way to get in a good place for magfest.
Reading Give Us the Ballot, for Geeknights Political/History Book club. The biggest problem with the book so far is every time I read a bit about how racist the south was, I end up sending 20 minutes searching online for more info. Seeing particular state senators and such who said crazy stuff and seeing where they ended up.
I’m gonna guess it’s because the racism inherent in the party wasn’t naked yet. Probably even a few good eggs back then. Then again, who knows. Before my time
I have been reading Ghost Fleet. It is seriously one of the worst books I’ve ever read. I work for the Navy, and coworkers all went nuts for it, so I caved and read it. They must have a high tolerance for shitty writing when it has all the right military fan service in it.
There’s literally a plot where they have to take an old decommissioned ship and fix it up to go fight a war, so they bring back an old retired sailor as a civilian technician, but he has to work with a 20-something Asian woman scientist who can work with the right tech. Of course he becomes her protector and she falls in love with him.
How Linux Works, by Brian Ward. Really interesting reference book, sits in the vacuum between the millions of “Babies first Linux” books and books focusing on specific single topics like DNS or the init system.
I just impulse bought Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War. As a former Boston Latin student, I feel exceptionally compelled to read up on our greatest alumnus.
