What are you reading?

[kay]

just finished. pretty fuckin good. one of those ones that starts out on a pretty average flex then gets incrediply deep epic and philosophical.

Yeah this was quite a good read.

[HRKRT]

<span>

[img]<a%20href="http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]</a></span>


just finished. pretty fuckin good. one of those ones that starts out on a pretty average flex then gets incrediply deep epic and philosophical.

Yeah this was quite a good read.

read the other book she did popco. not as good. about codebreaking n shit. not as satisfying. she has a good writing style, and makes good characters tho


no of any books in a similar sort of vein? with philiosophical elements if u get wot i mean?

[leebass]

<span>

" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]</a></span>


just finished. pretty fuckin good. one of those ones that starts out on a pretty average flex then gets incrediply deep epic and philosophical.

Yeah this was quite a good read.

read the other book she did popco. not as good. about codebreaking n shit. not as satisfying. she has a good writing style, and makes good characters tho


no of any books in a similar sort of vein? with philiosophical elements if u get wot i mean?

Try This



Some interesting ideas throughout.

[HRKRT]

<span>

<span>

[img]<a%20href="<a%20href="http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]</a>" class="smarterwiki-linkify"><a href="http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]</a></a></span></span>


just finished. pretty fuckin good. one of those ones that starts out on a pretty average flex then gets incrediply deep epic and philosophical.

Yeah this was quite a good read.

read the other book she did popco. not as good. about codebreaking n shit. not as satisfying. she has a good writing style, and makes good characters tho


no of any books in a similar sort of vein? with philiosophical elements if u get wot i mean?

Try This

<span>[img]<a%20href="http://mxilouri.files.wordpress.com/200 ... _texts.jpg[/img]" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://mxilouri.files.wordpress.com/200 ... _texts.jpg[/img]</a></span>

Some interesting ideas throughout.

shit i actually bought that time ago, got to the bit where hes crawlin thu sum maze of books n paper n shit then had to put it down cos i seriously needed to read sum stuff actually relevent to my uni course

ill dig it out n giv it a reread

[BNanni]

Only a couple of pages in, but from what I've read so far it's good.
Definitely one to read if you're interested in mental health.

[kay]

<span>

[img]<a%20href="http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]</a></span>


just finished. pretty fuckin good. one of those ones that starts out on a pretty average flex then gets incrediply deep epic and philosophical.

Yeah this was quite a good read.

read the other book she did popco. not as good. about codebreaking n shit. not as satisfying. she has a good writing style, and makes good characters tho


no of any books in a similar sort of vein? with philiosophical elements if u get wot i mean?

Not sure it's quite in the same vein, but have a look at Olaf Stapledon's "Star Maker". It has some philosophical elements to it.

[HRKRT]

<span>

[img]<a%20href="http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageT ... Img100.jpg[/img]</a></span>


just finished. pretty fuckin good. one of those ones that starts out on a pretty average flex then gets incrediply deep epic and philosophical.

Yeah this was quite a good read.

read the other book she did popco. not as good. about codebreaking n shit. not as satisfying. she has a good writing style, and makes good characters tho


no of any books in a similar sort of vein? with philiosophical elements if u get wot i mean?

Not sure it's quite in the same vein, but have a look at Olaf Stapledon's "Star Maker". It has some philosophical elements to it.

this looks good... really like in depth sci fi. hav u read any of iain banks books? the sci fi ones, particurlalry the culture novels, like Matter. the depth of his vision is amazing

EDIT: just was looking further in2 that star maker book, and wiki said that it has the first description of a dyson sphere...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

In Matter there are on a 'shell world;, which is basically a world with a series of shells surrounding it, and each shell has its own civilisation on it, with aritificial skies and suns etc. at the centre there is a very ancient alien/god laying dormant. The civililsations towards the centre are really ancient, and as u approach the otside of the shells they get more and more technilogically advanced, so as the book goes on it gets deeper and deeper.

Cant believe how the similarity in concepts... clearly this guy olaf has a lot of influence... definitly going to have to read this one

[hackman]

about to start this, looks right up my street



Set in the near future (early twentieth century), this 1894 occult novel is a tale of eternal love, albeit chaste. The protagonist, Alphonso Colono, a Mexican, is born into a family with connected with the Illuminati, here called the 'White Brotherhood.' He moves to Paris and is initiated into the occult group, where he meets the woman who is to become his soulmate: Iole. They meet St. Germain and other adepts, help a modern Napoleon unite Europe, and eventually pass beyond the mortal realm.

This novel may not have had the impact of Zanoni, which it bears superficial resemblances to. It does show that the modern complex of beliefs about the Illuminati was complete in all of its aspects in the last decade of the 19th century. The wandering eternal masters, the use of occult power to leverage political change, and the strange powers of the adepts, are present and accounted for. These concepts would later become dogma for groups such as the "I AM" Activity and its modern successors.

Garver's vision of a united Europe at peace in the 20th century, (after a period of war) was a good prediction, even if the mechanism he proposes is a bit absurd. The narrative itself is still a good read, despite the overblown period prose. This long-forgotten predecessor to the Da Vinci Code moves along nicely and has memorable characters. Not many 19th century occult fictions are half as readable.

[kay]

this looks good... really like in depth sci fi. hav u read any of iain banks books? the sci fi ones, particurlalry the culture novels, like Matter. the depth of his vision is amazing

EDIT: just was looking further in2 that star maker book, and wiki said that it has the first description of a dyson sphere...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

In Matter there are on a 'shell world;, which is basically a world with a series of shells surrounding it, and each shell has its own civilisation on it, with aritificial skies and suns etc. at the centre there is a very ancient alien/god laying dormant. The civililsations towards the centre are really ancient, and as u approach the otside of the shells they get more and more technilogically advanced, so as the book goes on it gets deeper and deeper.

Cant believe how the similarity in concepts... clearly this guy olaf has a lot of influence... definitly going to have to read this one

Star Maker's probably one of the most influential sci-fi novels out there, it's a true classic that's shaped a lot of modern sci-fi. I believe it was also the first to consider deep future concepts as well, not just a few thousand years into the future but hundreds of thousands and beyond. I'm not sure whether it was the first description of a dyson sphere in general, but it probably was the first sci-fi novel to do so.

I generally like Iain Banks' work but I think Matter and The Algebraist were slightly below par compared to his older Culture novels. On that note, shellworlds have appeared in various incarnations over the last several decades. Ultimately, if you think about it, Journey to the Centre of the Earth incorporates a similar concept as its basis.

[hackman]

about to start this, looks right up my street



Set in the near future (early twentieth century), this 1894 occult novel is a tale of eternal love, albeit chaste. The protagonist, Alphonso Colono, a Mexican, is born into a family with connected with the Illuminati, here called the 'White Brotherhood.' He moves to Paris and is initiated into the occult group, where he meets the woman who is to become his soulmate: Iole. They meet St. Germain and other adepts, help a modern Napoleon unite Europe, and eventually pass beyond the mortal realm.

This novel may not have had the impact of Zanoni, which it bears superficial resemblances to. It does show that the modern complex of beliefs about the Illuminati was complete in all of its aspects in the last decade of the 19th century. The wandering eternal masters, the use of occult power to leverage political change, and the strange powers of the adepts, are present and accounted for. These concepts would later become dogma for groups such as the "I AM" Activity and its modern successors.

Garver's vision of a united Europe at peace in the 20th century, (after a period of war) was a good prediction, even if the mechanism he proposes is a bit absurd. The narrative itself is still a good read, despite the overblown period prose. This long-forgotten predecessor to the Da Vinci Code moves along nicely and has memorable characters. Not many 19th century occult fictions are half as readable.

this book is AMAZING

[HRKRT]

this looks good... really like in depth sci fi. hav u read any of iain banks books? the sci fi ones, particurlalry the culture novels, like Matter. the depth of his vision is amazing

EDIT: just was looking further in2 that star maker book, and wiki said that it has the first description of a dyson sphere...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

In Matter there are on a 'shell world;, which is basically a world with a series of shells surrounding it, and each shell has its own civilisation on it, with aritificial skies and suns etc. at the centre there is a very ancient alien/god laying dormant. The civililsations towards the centre are really ancient, and as u approach the otside of the shells they get more and more technilogically advanced, so as the book goes on it gets deeper and deeper.

Cant believe how the similarity in concepts... clearly this guy olaf has a lot of influence... definitly going to have to read this one

Star Maker's probably one of the most influential sci-fi novels out there, it's a true classic that's shaped a lot of modern sci-fi. I believe it was also the first to consider deep future concepts as well, not just a few thousand years into the future but hundreds of thousands and beyond. I'm not sure whether it was the first description of a dyson sphere in general, but it probably was the first sci-fi novel to do so.

I generally like Iain Banks' work but I think Matter and The Algebraist were slightly below par compared to his older Culture novels. On that note, shellworlds have appeared in various incarnations over the last several decades. Ultimately, if you think about it, Journey to the Centre of the Earth incorporates a similar concept as its basis.

journey to the centre of the earth... never thought of that, ur right.

i was unsatisfied with the ending to matter. but i loved the characters... what one would u reccomend?

[leebass]

Use of Weapons is excellent, and i have The Player of Games to read yet, which is supposed to pretty good too.

[firky]

[kay]

Use of Weapons is excellent, and i have The Player of Games to read yet, which is supposed to pretty good too.

Player of Games is definitely a good one. Excession is generally regarded as the best I think, it's certainly one of my favourite books. There's also Consider Phlebas.

[slothrop]

And probably going to move onto some Stanislav Lem short stories when I've finished.

[curse]

Ya dig?

[deepfiend]

I'm actually starting to like my dissertation

[firky]

And probably going to move onto some Stanislav Lem short stories when I've finished.

Never read the entire thing, only extracts from when I studied philosophy of religion as part of my philosophy a-level. Pretty good, once you've read it or even bits of it you'll see more than a passing nod to it in many things. Dante's Inferno is worth a scan too if you're into that kind of thing.

[paolo]

Milton? Heavy stuff

Elmore Leonard - Mr Paradise

[mc wayne]