What are we Reading Now: Conan the Librarian

[worktroll]

Dune:  House Corrino

I'm not a fan of Dune, but, I'll try and read this book to see if I might like it.

But, I won't get far; I'm dead tired; I went to the beach today after the hurricane.

The Anderson/Brian Herbert books show all the originality & flair of Season 7 of Game of Thrones. And for similar reasons, IMHO.

[Prospernia]

The Anderson/Brian Herbert books show all the originality & flair of Season 7 of Game of Thrones. And for similar reasons, IMHO.

I actually thought of GRRM's works, when I was reading it;  I really thought the book was going to be about the House of Corrino, not, jump back and forth to everything, happening at once.  It does have some gems, like how the Emperor makes everyone wait and his insecure-thoughts, which is good game-material, but, really a guy just walks into his court, the most powerful man in the universe, the ruler of a million-worlds,  because he's the dude at Arrakis?

[Daryk]

The "dude" at Arrakis IS the most powerful man in the universe... ;)

[Prospernia]

The "dude" at Arrakis IS the most powerful man in the universe... ;)

It wasn't him; it was, I believe, the Chief "Planetologist" or something; it was the Worm-Dude, or the future Wormporer.

[elf25s]

out on the road will not be home for at last 2 weeks so
i put some of the old stanislaw lem books on my phone
put old fave of mine cyberiad aka the robot salies and return from the stars and few pilot pirx things on...and a bit of comedy futuroligistical congress

[Daryk]

It wasn't him; it was, I believe, the Chief "Planetologist" or something; it was the Worm-Dude, or the future Wormporer.

Leto II was particularly terrifying to mere mortals... ;)

[GRUD]

Nearing the end of Shift, book 2 of the Silo Trilogy, by Hugh Howey, reading at home.  Will Probably go to book 3, Dust, once I'm finished.  The Synopsis on the Wiki for Dust seems wrong, from what I've read in Shift.  A guy that gets killed in 2 is back alive and in control in 3?   

Reading at work I'm near the end of Going Dark, book 3 of The Red Trilogy by Linda Nagata.  Need to find something else to take to work I guess. 

[Daryk]

Well, Duncan Idaho appears in just about every Dune book, so... ;)

Of course, he's never in charge... ;D

[CrossfirePilot]

look me in the eye (my life with asperger's)  by John Elder Robinson.  As a parent with an autistic son, it's offered me a bit of insight.   

[Dave Talley]

look me in the eye (my life with asperger's)  by John Elder Robinson.  As a parent with an autistic son, it's offered me a bit of insight.

Hmm gotta look this one up

[CrossfirePilot]

Hmm gotta look this one up

Yeah I am trying to be patient with him.  He is genius level IQ (got that from me;).  But he also can be really weird at times (also got that from me).  One of the things the author points out is that if someone has a visible handicap (like in a wheelchair) they wouldn't be shamed at work for not using the stairs.  But when it comes to things like Autism, you get labeled for responses that are out of "the norm."  I look back on some of my reviews: Not a team player, poor communication, etc.  I'm hoping that I can help him leverage his talent and not get shafted by those that play the political work games that he just won't see coming. 

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

One of the things the author points out is that if someone has a visible handicap (like in a wheelchair) they wouldn't be shamed at work for not using the stairs.  But when it comes to things like Autism, you get labeled for responses that are out of "the norm."

Boy is that ever the case.  Even if you've got all the appropriate documentation, far too many people don't regard it as a real disability and won't make the accommodations they're legally required to for it.

[CrossfirePilot]

Boy is that ever the case.  Even if you've got all the appropriate documentation, far too many people don't regard it as a real disability and won't make the accommodations they're legally required to for it.

Yeah when asked what my "weakness" was in interviews, I used to say "I've been told I am a bit too candid" and when asked to explain, I used to say "I don't have a filter"

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Sleep No More, which is the 17th book in the October Daye series.  Book 16 ended on a doozy of a cliffhanger, so this as been pretty exciting.  It's also a two-parter, with book 18 due in a month.

[Prospernia]

I'm started to lose interest in finishing Dune: House Corrino: it's got a few gems and it screams Battletech more than any other book(Barons, etc), but, just don't care about the plot or the characters.

That, and I'm started to get interested in the Butlerian-Jihad.

[S2pidiT]

I've been reading all the fiction I got from the BattleTech Legends Humble Bundle. I'm currently reading I am Jade Falcon, which has been interesting so far.

[Prospernia]

So, I got about half-way through House Corrino, then I returned it to the library as it was due today; it had some gems, but it was scattered; I liked how the Imerial-Bastard tried to kill the emperor and the Freman's, "Retribution", to a water-merchant (don't give me ideas I can use against my players!).


I just picked up the Dune: Butlerian Jyhad; So, the first couple of pages describes an attack on Saludas Secondus, which the Thinking-Machine's fleet could move at speeds greater than humans can thanks to not having flesh; I was like, "Great, no acceleration-compensator  needed" (From Leviathan and Interceptor).  Then, they described the various stages of machines from full on AI to human-brain in a machine and I was thinking how that applies to Cyberpunk 2020's full-borgs and AI-units in the game. I don't think the Blake Jyhad has rules for full on cybernetic-replacements, just rules for cybernetics.

[elf25s]

So, I got about half-way through House Corrino, then I returned it to the library as it was due today; it had some gems, but it was scattered; I liked how the Imerial-Bastard tried to kill the emperor and the Freman's, "Retribution", to a water-merchant (don't give me ideas I can use against my players!).


I just picked up the Dune: Butlerian Jyhad; So, the first couple of pages describes an attack on Saludas Secondus, which the Thinking-Machine's fleet could move at speeds greater than humans can thanks to not having flesh; I was like, "Great, no acceleration-compensator  needed" (From Leviathan and Interceptor).  Then, they described the various stages of machines from full on AI to human-brain in a machine and I was thinking how that applies to Cyberpunk 2020's full-borgs and AI-units in the game. I don't think the Blake Jyhad has rules for full on cybernetic-replacements, just rules for cybernetics.

i enjoyed butelerian jihad a bit more than house series
cymechs were interesting agamemnon was idealistic when he started ajax was hedonistic and afraid to die ajax joined out of boredom...and every one eventually who was titan went insane,,,it may be variety of factors prolonged life and lack of bodies and eventually treated every thing like a RPG game that he and his lover juno were fond of playing before they took over the empire of man the titans forgot how to live and be human. evermind saw everything as a game with goal to control everything but failing even with its intellect that it is impossible cognitors cutting off almost all sensory perception and could not tell what was real and treating world outside their sensory depreviation as a dream ,league of worlds pretending that they are doing something while doing nothing. erasmus is a pinochio yet failing to use what he had to become a real human choosing to instead to explore dead end paths. basically world in statis for about 1000 years...only sorceres seem to had a glimer to evolve to be more and take human kind with them yet choosing instead to play heroics instead of breeding true the traits and get rid of most promising candidates....
btw those were the impresions i got from the book that i read over 12 years back so you may get a different ine after reading it. i enjoyed second book where spice is discovered and precoursor of fremen were just group if hardy survivors....and beginings of tleilaxu are shown to have darker origins also roots of orange catholic bible show up in small things....third book was a bit dissapointing with its ending and split over harkonen and atredies was wrenching in away that it should not had happened....oth we got genesis of both the guild the mentats and bene geserits along with what eventually become choam

[Prospernia]

i enjoyed butelerian jihad a bit more than house series
cymechs were interesting agamemnon was idealistic when he started ajax was hedonistic and afraid to die ajax joined out of boredom...and every one eventually who was titan went insane,,,it may be variety of factors prolonged life and lack of bodies and eventually treated every thing like a RPG game that he and his lover juno were fond of playing before they took over the empire of man the titans forgot how to live and be human. evermind saw everything as a game with goal to control everything but failing even with its intellect that it is impossible cognitors cutting off almost all sensory perception and could not tell what was real and treating world outside their sensory depreviation as a dream ,league of worlds pretending that they are doing something while doing nothing. erasmus is a pinochio yet failing to use what he had to become a real human choosing to instead to explore dead end paths. basically world in statis for about 1000 years...only sorceres seem to had a glimer to evolve to be more and take human kind with them yet choosing instead to play heroics instead of breeding true the traits and get rid of most promising candidates....
btw those were the impresions i got from the book that i read over 12 years back so you may get a different ine after reading it. i enjoyed second book where spice is discovered and precoursor of fremen were just group if hardy survivors....and beginings of tleilaxu are shown to have darker origins also roots of orange catholic bible show up in small things....third book was a bit dissapointing with its ending and split over harkonen and atredies was wrenching in away that it should not had happened....oth we got genesis of both the guild the mentats and bene geserits along with what eventually become choam

When I first played Battletech, the mechs were similar to Cymeks (know that I've read a bit and know what they are).    I knew they were going after the shield-generators.

The opening-battle gave me inspiration for a Leviathan/Battlespace game in which, well, the point of a planetary-assault is to attack the planet; to do so, you need to your GROPOS to the surface; so, stopping to fight the enemy, defending-fleet is moot. You have two possible-outcomes; either you defeat them or they defeat you and your GROPOS; but, if you go right through their defending-ships, do a, "Fly-by", style of attack, going near full-speed, and then proceed directly to the planet, you have a better chance of success; sure, some of your vessels will be hit and so will theirs'.  After the release, you turn your entire fleet against the defenders and again, two possible outcomes, but, if you lose, at least your GROPOS will be on world, fighting while the next reinforcements show up.

[Prospernia]

Also, it's looking more like Saludas Secondus, wasn't initially resource-poor, and the soldiers were, in fact, the survivors of a post-apocalypse, of sorts on that world.  So, they turned into Dark Sun.

And, the idea of slaves coming from groups of cowards, makes perfect sense for a TOG-world, or perhaps, Kurita.

And I do like the Buddallahs.  I like my made up religions.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Making It So, Patrick Stewart's memoirs.  Not very far in but it's been fascinating so far.  Lots of stuff about his childhood.

[Prospernia]

I'm rereading Fasa's Centurion game book.  It's a nice read on the bus. Back in the day, we played Centurion once or twice, but mostly played Battletech.  There's a lot of stuff that I either missed, didn't understand or have forgotten like, grav-vehicles can only decelerate at the end, of their movement-phase: that they ground automatically if they enter a hex in which they don't have movement-points for (that is common in video-games): painting a target gives a bonus to ALL friendly-units and it acts like an Inner-Sphere C3-computer.

There was a time, when I made Mech-sheets for use in Centurion.  I used auto-cad because that was the only software I had at the time.

[elf25s]

just re read futurological congress and return from the stars and solaris
same author stanislaw lem
cant still wrap my head around how same author wrote in 3 totally differnt stylies

ohhh if any one cares look up russian movie adaptation of solaris from 1972 i think youtube may have few copies ...worth a watch will make you uneasy and think

[worktroll]

1972 version is indeed brilliant; the Clooney version is ... not.

[elf25s]

1972 version is indeed brilliant; the Clooney version is ... not.

surprised you knew this one and even more so that you were able to catch it down under and actually see it
ok try catching this one its old russian comedy direct translation into english title is world is laughing
i think mel brooks got inspired with this one when he made 12 chairs there are russian and polish adaptations including czech

[worktroll]

surprised you knew this one and even more so that you were able to catch it down under and actually see it

We're civilised here Down Under, mate - we get all sorts of movies. There's actually a TV station, SBS, dedicated to world shows - news, documentaries, sport, and yes, movies. Got Stalker, too.

And I was reading Lem in the 1970s.

[elf25s]

We're civilised here Down Under, mate - we get all sorts of movies. There's actually a TV station, SBS, dedicated to world shows - news, documentaries, sport, and yes, movies. Got Stalker, too.

And I was reading Lem in the 1970s.

what i meant is russia at the time did not export stuff past iron curtain...i caught it on 1979 in a local movie theater in warsaw where i grew up my fault should had said so in first place btw did not catch original star wars till 1981 and barely caught empire strikes back...and for return of the jedi i was able to catch it in 1985 in st lous mo in US

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

A lot of stuff got exported to both sides of the Iron Curtain via Finland.

[PsihoKekec]

And Yugoslavia. And Romania...

USSR was convinced it's culture was superior and did it's best to export it, but people of the world preferred the American popular culture.

Somewhat related, just finished the Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna, a story about machinegun platoon during the Continuation War. Funny thing, the book came out here while we were still a part of Yugoslavia, so it has a preface about how USSR was not really the bad guy when it comes to Finland during WWII. I doubt it convinced a single reader.

[Daryk]

Transparent land grabs are transparent... ::)