Planet Rugby Forum

Floppykid wrote:Anyone have any recommendations for books about the development of nuclear weapons during and after WW2?

If you're still looking then I'm currently reading the making of the atomic bomb. Starts with Rutherford and the discovery of the nucleus and I am at the stage where it is building up towards WW2. Keeps it understandable without pandering. Enjoying it so far.

Diego wrote:

Nolanator wrote:Started American Gods. Still early days and I've no idea what's happening, besides filling in a few blanks myself; but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Somehow I've never read Gamain before. Next up is probably Good Omens (as a Pterry fanboi). What else should I stick on my reading list?
I do love reading a good book for the first time. Not something I've actually done much in the last few years.

Neverwhere, Sandman.

AG was fun. Reading Necromancer now. The 80s style steampunk visuals are great.

Fnord

For those in the know. . . . Echo's magnum opus is now less than a week away from its US release. Lucky folk in NZ and Australia will be able to get it from August, UK (where we will do a big launch) from Sept 21st and the SA and Namibia at some uncofimd date in November coupled with something called a bicycle talk at Exclusive and some lectures.

To celebrate this fine event Echo will be publishing a tatster as op-ed in the New York Times and we expect reviews to start coming in the next few months.....One major magazine review is already out.

Anyway fill your boots the book also makes a splendid Xmas present.

I'm not sure if there is a PM function on this bored anymore, but if you want to find out more, feel free to PM me. If not maybe the mods might suggest a plan.

alliswell wrote:

Floppykid wrote:Anyone have any recommendations for books about the development of nuclear weapons during and after WW2?

If you're still looking then I'm currently reading the making of the atomic bomb. Starts with Rutherford and the discovery of the nucleus and I am at the stage where it is building up towards WW2. Keeps it understandable without pandering. Enjoying it so far.

Cheers, I'll look it up!

echo wrote:For those in the know. . . . Echo's magnum opus is now less than a week away from its US release. Lucky folk in NZ and Australia will be able to get it from August, UK (where we will do a big launch) from Sept 21st and the SA and Namibia at some uncofimd date in November coupled with something called a bicycle talk at Exclusive and some lectures.

To celebrate this fine event Echo will be publishing a tatster as op-ed in the New York Times and we expect reviews to start coming in the next few months.....One major magazine review is already out.

Anyway fill your boots the book also makes a splendid Xmas present.

I'm not sure if there is a PM function on this bored anymore, but if you want to find out more, feel free to PM me. If not maybe the mods might suggest a plan.

A precis perhaps?

Always happy to support authors.

echo wrote:For those in the know. . . . Echo's magnum opus is now less than a week away from its US release. Lucky folk in NZ and Australia will be able to get it from August, UK (where we will do a big launch) from Sept 21st and the SA and Namibia at some uncofimd date in November coupled with something called a bicycle talk at Exclusive and some lectures.

To celebrate this fine event Echo will be publishing a tatster as op-ed in the New York Times and we expect reviews to start coming in the next few months.....One major magazine review is already out.

Anyway fill your boots the book also makes a splendid Xmas present.

I'm not sure if there is a PM function on this bored anymore, but if you want to find out more, feel free to PM me. If not maybe the mods might suggest a plan.

What is it? Chuck up a link.

Just finished Richard Askwith's biography of Emil Zatopek "Today we die a little".

It's a good read, very good on his early years as competitor but starts to drift pretty badly in covering Zatopek's involvement in the Prague Spring and his subsequent fall from grace when the hardliners returned to power. Askwith isn't really comfortable with anything that isn't about the running, so Zatopek's personal life isn't really investigated too throughly (Askwith himself says that he didn't want to pry too much into the private life of Zatopek which is a noble gesture but leaves a biography slightly off balance). Zatopek's political life is still hard to pin down, he seems to have remained a communist to the end of his life, albeit one who wanted people to have personal freedom.

Still Zatopek is certainly one of the greatest Olympians off all time and the book is worth a read for the parts that cover his insane training regimes and incredible ability to connect with people wherever he went.

Any David Gemmell fans on here? Just finished the Drenai and Rigante series' and started his Jon Shannow one which I'm not really getting in to. Worth sticking with?

ZappaMan wrote:Sapiens by Yuval Harari is the best book I've read in the last few months.

Two thumbs up

Harari's blurb for echo's book is just in. . . . too late for the hard-back but it will go on the soft back in 11 months or so.

"Insightful, well-written and avoiding both modern conceits and romantic fantasies, XXXXXXX chronicles how modern economics and politics have finally conquered the last outposts of the Stone Age, and how much humankind can still learn from the disappearing way of life of the most marginalized communities on earth."

OptimisticJock wrote:Any David Gemmell fans on here? Just finished the Drenai and Rigante series' and started his Jon Shannow one which I'm not really getting in to. Worth sticking with?

I thought it was a pale imitation of Stephen Kings Dark tower series (in that I read SKs version first at least)

Of Gemmells books I prefer his fantasised history novel series best - the Lion of Macedon series and the Troy series (first two books anyway, the third for obvious reasons just wasn't as good)

The way I see it echo you should either link the f*cking book or shut the f*ck up.

No one with half a brain doubts you but conversely if you're worried about your identity being raised you should probably refrain from bigging up your credentials.

RuggaBugga wrote:The way I see it echo you should either link the f*cking book or shut the f*ck up.

No one with half a brain doubts you but conversely if you're worried about your identity being raised you should probably refrain from bigging up your credentials.

I'm going to wait for the first MSM review and then I shall out myself.

blindcider wrote:

OptimisticJock wrote:Any David Gemmell fans on here? Just finished the Drenai and Rigante series' and started his Jon Shannow one which I'm not really getting in to. Worth sticking with?

I thought it was a pale imitation of Stephen Kings Dark tower series (in that I read SKs version first at least)

Of Gemmells books I prefer his fantasised history novel series best - the Lion of Macedon series and the Troy series (first two books anyway, the third for obvious reasons just wasn't as good)

Cheers, I'll maybe read them first, I got the feeling it would be similar. Finished the first one then read the next one he wrote, which is about the stones but not a Shannow book.

OptimisticJock wrote:

blindcider wrote:

OptimisticJock wrote:Any David Gemmell fans on here? Just finished the Drenai and Rigante series' and started his Jon Shannow one which I'm not really getting in to. Worth sticking with?

I thought it was a pale imitation of Stephen Kings Dark tower series (in that I read SKs version first at least)

Of Gemmells books I prefer his fantasised history novel series best - the Lion of Macedon series and the Troy series (first two books anyway, the third for obvious reasons just wasn't as good)

Cheers, I'll maybe read them first, I got the feeling it would be similar. Finished the first one then read the next one he wrote, which is about the stones but not a Shannow book.

The stones is his 'thing' recurrent in every novel he wrote

Got Sherlock Holmes: the definitive collection, Narrated by Stephen Fry on audible.

Reading Hobb's last Fitz and fool book 3. 800+ pages and it really drags at times.

Finished Neuromancer. Enjoyed it, especially the setting and feel of the place.

Change of tack to Good Omens now before back to more sci-fi.

Just finished Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.

Some of it was brilliant, some of it dull as fudge, but the brilliant bits kept me going to the end. It's billed as Russian modern classic but doesn't come close to most the classics in my opinion.

slick wrote:Just finished Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.

Some of it was brilliant, some of it dull as fudge, but the brilliant bits kept me going to the end. It's billed as Russian modern classic but doesn't come close to most the classics in my opinion.

I really liked it. Beats the hell out of Anna Karenina anyhow.

JoeyFantastic wrote:

slick wrote:Just finished Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.

Some of it was brilliant, some of it dull as fudge, but the brilliant bits kept me going to the end. It's billed as Russian modern classic but doesn't come close to most the classics in my opinion.

I really liked it. Beats the hell out of Anna Karenina anyhow.

I spent the first half loving it, then had to drag myself over the line by the end.

slick wrote:

JoeyFantastic wrote:

slick wrote:Just finished Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.

Some of it was brilliant, some of it dull as fudge, but the brilliant bits kept me going to the end. It's billed as Russian modern classic but doesn't come close to most the classics in my opinion.

I really liked it. Beats the hell out of Anna Karenina anyhow.

I spent the first half loving it, then had to drag myself over the line by the end.

Strange, I thought it gathered pace in the second half as the various narratives developed. Been years since I read it though.

Nolanator wrote:Finished Neuromancer. Enjoyed it, especially the setting and feel of the place.

Change of tack to Good Omens now before back to more sci-fi.

Good Omens is hugely enjoyable - someone else has already mentioned Neverwhere which is also excellent.

SciFi good reads over the past while - Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon series, William Gibson's The Peripheral was thoroughly brilliant.

Fantasy - Joe Abercrombie's latest series of short stories was a great read as was Jim Butcher's The Cinder Spires. If you enjoy GoT then Steven Erikson's Malazan Empire series is well worth a look. Very dense & hugely complex, but I'd argue it easily matches GoT - and there's a lot more of them.

Have altered carbon ready to go on my Kindle after good Omens.
On holidays at the moment so will probably finish the Neuromancer and altered carbon series by the end.

GO is very enjoyable. The way it's written is very reminiscent of vintage Pratchett, something I've missed recently.

JoeyFantastic wrote:

slick wrote:

JoeyFantastic wrote:

slick wrote:Just finished Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.

Some of it was brilliant, some of it dull as fudge, but the brilliant bits kept me going to the end. It's billed as Russian modern classic but doesn't come close to most the classics in my opinion.

I really liked it. Beats the hell out of Anna Karenina anyhow.

I spent the first half loving it, then had to drag myself over the line by the end.

Strange, I thought it gathered pace in the second half as the various narratives developed. Been years since I read it though.

It just always seemed to be the narratives I didn't want to develop. The one with Viktor the scientist was explosive at the end but it took an age to get there.

slick wrote:

JoeyFantastic wrote:

slick wrote:

JoeyFantastic wrote:

slick wrote:Just finished Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.

Some of it was brilliant, some of it dull as fudge, but the brilliant bits kept me going to the end. It's billed as Russian modern classic but doesn't come close to most the classics in my opinion.

I really liked it. Beats the hell out of Anna Karenina anyhow.

I spent the first half loving it, then had to drag myself over the line by the end.

Strange, I thought it gathered pace in the second half as the various narratives developed. Been years since I read it though.

It just always seemed to be the narratives I didn't want to develop. The one with Viktor the scientist was explosive at the end but it took an age to get there.

Ah, the house in Stalingrad is a good story too, iirc, and the tank commanders? I'm trying to remember the parts that really dragged but they're lost to me now.

Ah, the house in Stalingrad is a good story too, iirc, and the tank commanders? I'm trying to remember the parts that really dragged but they're lost to me now.

Those are the exact two I wished had been developed more and for longer.

slick wrote:

Ah, the house in Stalingrad is a good story too, iirc, and the tank commanders? I'm trying to remember the parts that really dragged but they're lost to me now.

Those are the exact two I wished had been developed more and for longer.

The house is based on a real event in the battle of Stalingrad (of course, much of the book is based on real events etc). I guess Grossman couldn't finish some stories because they were probably based on real people and he wanted to show that life goes on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlov%27s_House

Nolanator wrote:Have altered carbon ready to go on my Kindle after good Omens.
On holidays at the moment so will probably finish the Neuromancer and altered carbon series by the end.

GO is very enjoyable. The way it's written is very reminiscent of vintage Pratchett, something I've missed recently.

Nice!

Just started rereading Nnedi Okarafor's Who Fears Death. Which has also been picked up by HBO for adaptation. George RR Martin as exec producer. This could be fantastic.

Echo's book is reviewed in the Economist.

Added to GRs list.

Fangle wrote:Echo's book is reviewed in the Economist.

The San/Bushman review ?

It's an interesting hypothesis that could with some tweaks be applied to the clan/clann system in Gaeldom, although clearly they were in a farming rather than hunter/gatherer situation.

I may be interested in purchasing the book.

blindcider wrote:

OptimisticJock wrote:

blindcider wrote:

OptimisticJock wrote:Any David Gemmell fans on here? Just finished the Drenai and Rigante series' and started his Jon Shannow one which I'm not really getting in to. Worth sticking with?

I thought it was a pale imitation of Stephen Kings Dark tower series (in that I read SKs version first at least)

Of Gemmells books I prefer his fantasised history novel series best - the Lion of Macedon series and the Troy series (first two books anyway, the third for obvious reasons just wasn't as good)

Cheers, I'll maybe read them first, I got the feeling it would be similar. Finished the first one then read the next one he wrote, which is about the stones but not a Shannow book.

The stones is his 'thing' recurrent in every novel he wrote

Not the Drenai books.

I've read some of the Dark Tower books and they are gash.

Finished this during the week, really enjoyed it. Probably only of real interest to Dubs/Irish but it's a very well put together biography of the city. Fascinating to read how the city evolved in different areas etc. Most importantly of all, it reaffirms a sense of superiority over the rest of the country.

Most recently read : talking to the dead, harry Bingham- excellent
Blood money : Charlie Gallagher - very good read
Cold sacrifice: Leigh Russel - decent
Third rule : Andrew Barrett - a tad long but very interesting characters, and
Sports day : David John - crap

Just finished Helliconia.

Anyone read Homo Deus? Picked up a copy after listening to the author on a podcast...

Arguably the best scifi book since Dune,



I had the honor of interviewing Iain Banks before he died... Just to meet a person who is so positive of the future of (marxist) humanity was amazing

Cannot recommend this enough https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization

My holiday book for next week.