Finished The Twelve by Justin Cronin. Book 2 of The Passage trilogy! Finally!

It was interesting read, but too long. Too much back story and details that could have been condensed quite a bit. As it is, I didn’t like the fist quarter, second quarter was okay, third was interesting, and really enjoyed the last one.

Still one book remaining in the trilogy, but need a break, will come back to after a little while.

Read some more stories from The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft.

Now reading The Crystal Shard by R. A. Salvatore. First book of The Icewind Dale Trilogy, and The Legend of Drizzt / Forgotten Realms series (publication order).

It’s my first Drizzt, and first D&D novel and has been on my wishlist for a very long time. Just started it so can’t really say much about it, but enjoying it so far.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?


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  • penquin@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    Hmmm, not interested in that. Lol
    Is the book fantasy? Like does the whale talk or something? Or is he just talking about going whale hunting(if that’s the word).

    • ThisIsNotHim@sopuli.xyz
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      2 months ago

      There’s a chapter where Ishmael gets mad that all the whales are named wrong. He spends a while renaming them better.

      It’s a very odd book. I quite liked it, but it’s definitely in the recommend with caution group.

      • RonnieB@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Don’t forget how he asserts that whales are actually fish and he doesn’t care what scientists say because he spoke to whalemen

      • penquin@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Well, I’m glad I mentioned it here to get some feedback. Phew, it would have been a very long read, especially for me. lol

    • RonnieB@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Most of the book is descriptions of whales, whaling boats, whale skeletons etc. Some of it can be interesting from a historical perspective. I’m sure it was more interesting when people didn’t have access to pictures, but it wasn’t what I was expecting, that’s for sure.

      • penquin@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Well, I can’t say anything but thank you for saving me a possible week or two of reading something I really have no interest in. I genuinely thought the whale would end up speaking and some fantasy stuff would occur.

        • Classy@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          Hugo’s Hunchback is much the same. There is genuinely a good story, with the gypsy, the priest, Quasimodo himself, and then a good half the center of the book is just a complete history of the Notre Dame cathedral.

          • penquin@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            I actually have a habit of skipping what I call “stuffing” when I sense it’s just stuff I really don’t care to know. Saves me some good number of pages. Alexandre Dumas does this a lot in his books. When I read “The count of Monte Cristo”, I skipped all the parts where he described landscapes and ocean and all that lovey shit. Lol