What's everyone reading right now?

[Jobydrone]

I have been thinking about wading into the Star Trek Extended Universe series of books.  Any advice on where to start?

My favorites have been the Peter David books.  I think my all time favorite Star Trek book is Q-Squared.  It might be hard to find now.  Imzadi and the sequel are both top notch as well, both by Peter David also.  There's a couple great ones:  one called Federation, and the other Strangers From the Sky, that I really loved many years ago, but have been controversial because subsequent movies have rendered them "non-canonical."  It's a shame because they are still great reads.  Dark Mirror is a great one, the first foray into the mirror universe for the TNG crew.  The first Shatner novel, titled "The Return" is also one of the best.  Any of the above would be a great way to start.

[Jen]

Jen that sounds like an interesting read. I think of the trill race as a bit like the time lord. Many bodies but the same memories that grow and grow. I'm interested about your audio book you are listening to, I've always been honest on this forum and scifi/fantasy books have never appealed bar my comic collection. My own downfall i know but i'm the same with any genre novel (though i did enjoy the few pages of chris's works ;-)). Think I'll do a search for your audio book though Jen, i gather it's best to start with volume 1.

Start with New Spring. That is the prequel novel to the Wheel Of Time, and  it successfully hooked me. :) I think you'll like it

[dataskatt]

Has anyone read "The Wheel of Time" series? It looks good, but it sooo long. I wanted opinions before I jump in.

[Bromptonboy]

Yes I have been reading that series since it first came out.  It is quite good - if a bit long winded.  The first book always reminded me of Tolkien, with a dose of Dune in the mix.
I originally read up to book 6 and then took a break for a few years.  I came back when book 10 was out, and was astounded the series had not yet been wrapped up.  Sadly, the author died before completing the final book.  His notes are being compiled and added on to by Brandon Sanderson - who will ghost write the final book(s) at the behest of Jordan's widow.

[Rico]

Has anyone read "The Wheel of Time" series? It looks good, but it sooo long. I wanted opinions before I jump in.

I loved the first several books in the series, but for me it became too long winded.  Things seemed to really slow to a crawl in the middle books so I have taken a break from it.  Someday I'll go back to it, but there are other things I want to read first.

[Ktrek]

I enjoy the WOT series but the earlier books are the best. The originality of the series starts to wane after about the 6th or 7th book, and each one is  too long, which doesn't help. That said though WOT is probably one of the best fantasy series out there after Lord of the Rings.

Kevin

[Ktrek]

[img alt=]http://api.ning.com/files/ScTnfz3lDgA2GbD4q8FaESjQkQUPYhsZaedt0EfQ029i4in1rPrpQBSQUrvKSdHGtf5Wt6wiPsiL-mWAUT6q55L3PQqloia*/universalstudiosmonsters.jpg[/img]

Yesterday I got a 25% discount coupon from Barnes and Nobles and went to see what I might use it on and discovered that this book was released this week!

Michael Mallory has done a fabulous job on this book. The layout and pictures are fantastic. It has chapters that cover all the famous monsters and also spotlight sections that focus on particular actors or subjects. Some of the spotlight sections are:

Lon Chaney
Biris Karloff
Curt Siodmak
Lon Chaney Jr.
Uba O'Conner
John P. Fulton
James Whale
Rogue's Gallery
Scream Sirens

and more!

The book is coffee table size and is 252 pages. Very well bound with good quality paper.

Anyone who loves the Universal Monster franchise would cherish this book. Amazon has it on sale right now for only $26.40. See link below:

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Studios-Monsters-Legacy-Horror/dp/0789318962/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1252174706&amp;sr=8-3" target="_blank">Universal Studios Monsters</a>

Kevin

[wraith1701]

I've switched gears a bit and started reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I was afraid that the books would read like pulp romance novels, but so far, I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm guessing that each season of the HBO series loosely follows each novel?

[billybob476]

I'm going through Star Wars: The Essential Atlas. If you're a Star Wars fan and you're into history, geography and politics this is an awesome book. It actually really made me think.
They talk about the Old Republic and how its forms of representation changed as the Republic grew. It's amazing to try and fathom an effective system of government trying to represent millions of planets equally. No wonder the Republic fell.

Of course on top of all this cool info there is beautiful art and very well done and detailed maps.

[wraith1701]

I'm going through Star Wars: The Essential Atlas. If you're a Star Wars fan and you're into history, geography and politics this is an awesome book. It actually really made me think.
They talk about the Old Republic and how its forms of representation changed as the Republic grew. It's amazing to try and fathom an effective system of government trying to represent millions of planets equally. No wonder the Republic fell.

Of course on top of all this cool info there is beautiful art and very well done and detailed maps.

Cool review.  I'm going to pick it up today. :)

[ChadH]

[img alt=]http://api.ning.com/files/ScTnfz3lDgA2GbD4q8FaESjQkQUPYhsZaedt0EfQ029i4in1rPrpQBSQUrvKSdHGtf5Wt6wiPsiL-mWAUT6q55L3PQqloia*/universalstudiosmonsters.jpg[/img]

Yesterday I got a 25% discount coupon from Barnes and Nobles and went to see what I might use it on and discovered that this book was released this week!

Michael Mallory has done a fabulous job on this book. The layout and pictures are fantastic. It has chapters that cover all the famous monsters and also spotlight sections that focus on particular actors or subjects. Some of the spotlight sections are:

Lon Chaney
Biris Karloff
Curt Siodmak
Lon Chaney Jr.
Uba O'Conner
John P. Fulton
James Whale
Rogue's Gallery
Scream Sirens

and more!

The book is coffee table size and is 252 pages. Very well bound with good quality paper.

Anyone who loves the Universal Monster franchise would cherish this book. Amazon has it on sale right now for only $26.40. See link below:

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Studios-Monsters-Legacy-Horror/dp/0789318962/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1252174706&amp;sr=8-3" target="_blank">Universal Studios Monsters</a>

Kevin

Very nice! Looks like L. Chaney Sr. as The Phantom, Jr. as The Wolfman and is that John Carradine in the upper left hand corner?
I remember reading (not in this book) about L. Chaney Sr's Phantom makeup. Evidently he had to use wires and hooks to stretch his face into shape. Many long hours of painful filming.

[sheldor]

Borrowed this book from Rico...only my 2nd Trek book.

[Ktrek]

Very nice! Looks like L. Chaney Sr. as The Phantom, Jr. as The Wolfman and is that John Carradine in the upper left hand corner?
I remember reading (not in this book) about L. Chaney Sr's Phantom makeup. Evidently he had to use wires and hooks to stretch his face into shape. Many long hours of painful filming.

Yes Chad that is John Carradine as Dracula in The House of Dracula. It's interesting that they chose Carradine instead of Bela Lugosi but even more interesting that the image of the Mummy is not Karloff but Tom Tyler, who was mostly known as a western and action star. He portrayed the Mummy in The Mummy's Hand.

Hey Rico...when are you going to do a podcast on the Universal Monsters? Or you could do a series of podcasts on each character?

Kevin

[Rico]

Might be a good idea for a special Halloween cast.

[Ktrek]

Might be a good idea for a special Halloween cast.

Yea! That's just a little over a month away!

Kevin