Castlevania Dungeon Forums
Off Topic => Off Topic => Topic started by: Ratty on July 18, 2012, 06:05:39 PM
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Just like the title says, a general "What are you reading now?" thread.
I just finished Masamune Shirow's "Ghost in the Shell" manga.
Better known in the US for the 1995 animated movie* and early oughts TV anime Ghost in the Shell is considered a classic among Otaku.
I have seen neither the film or TV series however, as I heard in the 90s the movie was just a boob fest and, having not seen the movie, didn't want to watch the TV show. Plus I just generally like manga better than anime.
I was surprised at the philosophical depth added to what is essentially just a cyberpunk action story, but I don't get all the complaints about it being psychobabbl-y or hard to grasp. The nature of life and consciousness are discussed for several pages but it never gets much more complicated than that. No, the great flaw in the book is that it feels disjointed. The more philosophical scenes read almost like they're from a different manga than the whizz-bang action and ever-present humor of the rest of the story. The characters, even Major Kusanagi, don't seem to develop much throughout. Ironically the only one who truly seems to grow is a minor character who goes from being the rookie of the team to bossing around the new rookies.
One feels like they're just seeing small snippets of these characters rather than getting a rounded picture. An example is that at the start of one chapter Major Kusanagi is being very intimate with 2 other women (for profit via a not-so-legal software manipulation we're told in the appendix) a few chapters later it's nearly a year in the future and she's had a boyfriend for months, also a government agent, who we'd never heard of, never seen before and never see again after the single chapter in which he plays a crucial part. That's just not good storytelling no matter how you slice it. The story overall at least is decent-to-very good, if preachy in points.
A good read for cyberpunk fans, if you can somehow find the uncensored edition (which contains the above mentioned 3 page color scene of Kusanagi and 2 other women, nice if not "plot essential") for under $20 it's worth a look. But, once again, Berserk remains unchallenged in my eyes as the greatest manga ever written.
*Which loudly trumpeted James Cameron's endorsement on it's initial English releases, and deals with electronic consciousness transferal like Avatar. Though at the time of his GitS endorsement he was best known for "Titanic".
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Arsene Lupin - The Teeth of the Tiger
by Maurice Le Blanc
Casual reading. About half way through now.
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Arsene Lupin - The Teeth of the Tiger
by Maurice Le Blanc
Casual reading. About half way through now.
Arsene Lupin? Ah I read the first book in that series some years ago, was good fun but (probably because of the translation) didn't enjoy it as much as the Sherlock Holmes stories. Love the one-upmanship element to the character though. "If England has the greatest detective in fiction France will have the greatest thief!" I wonder what Conan Doyle must have thought of LeBlanc avoiding copyright claims by calling his character "Herlock Sholmes" for the English editions lol.
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Knightfall
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I've got two copies of GITS, though I have yet to dive into it. Found one of the big-sized copies from the mid '90s, brought it home, found out it was censored, and then immediately ordered a more recent, uncensored copy for pretty cheap, but it's smaller in size. That's one thing I don't like about manga: the digest-sized collections can suck my wang, I'd rather have the art larger.
Off and on I've been reading various comics. Just finished up a re-read of Kevin Eastman's Roninbebop. Great collection of really good one-offs. One thing I adore about Eastman's comics is he has a way of layouting that's very cinematic; it's like you're viewing everything through the eye of a very dynamic cinematographer, and the action flows as if it were actually moving and not just still images. He's always been very good at that.
Been slowly going through Preacher and Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Haven't picked those up in a while, though.
Recently read Holy Terror. Thought it was great, don't really get why people think Miller's lost it. His art still catches my eye and the storytelling's fun.
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This may not count, but I've been re-reading the printed out copy of my fanfiction to hunt down all the errors and stuff I can find. T_T
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I finished reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer a while back, just to see how bad it was. Trust me, it did not disappoint. Now I'm hoping that The Hunchback of Notre Dame will be much better.
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I've recently finished Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Amazing book, I literally could not put it down. Edgar really has a way of making adventure seem so exciting.
I'm now reading his The Land That Time Forgot and it's really quite good with the suspense and keeping you on edge with what's going to happen next.
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Comics wise, have been reading my way through Hellblazer, DMZ, Crossed, some Warren Ellis stuff like Supergod/Black Summer/Doktor Sleepless, a ton of Marvel stuff both Ultimate and 616 universe and some of DC The New 52. Praise the lord for comic scans. I do mostly buy graphic novels of titles I read anyway, so those comic monoliths are still getting my money.
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Arsene Lupin? Ah I read the first book in that series some years ago, was good fun but (probably because of the translation) didn't enjoy it as much as the Sherlock Holmes stories. Love the one-upmanship element to the character though. "If England has the greatest detective in fiction France will have the greatest thief!" I wonder what Conan Doyle must have thought of LeBlanc avoiding copyright claims by calling his character "Herlock Sholmes" for the English editions lol.
LeBlanc actually went and tried to publish with the Holmes name, but was forced to change it.
I'm a really big Lupin fan, but sadly a lot of the books seem to be yet translated. However since LeBlanc's copyright expired in France as of 2012, all his stuff is public domain now. I presume people will be translating the rest of them in the coming years.
There is a little confusion on which books are which, since the English translation of the book simply titled "Arsene Lupin" I believe is not the first, just the first English adapted one. This is the one with Sonia and the Duke. It was the first I've also read. Unless you know French, there doesn't seem to be any real way to read them in actual order sadly.
Since then, I've read The Crystal Stopper, and The Confessions of Arsene Lupin, which are both great. The Tooth of the Tiger is actually probably my favorite so far, even though I've not finished it yet. Confessions is a really fun read, being a bunch of short stories, but there are a few links between them where you can't help but laugh at what Lupin does to set some of this stuff up. You can see LeBlanc's writing improving over the books.
So yeah, big Lupin fan here.
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I've recently finished Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Amazing book, I literally could not put it down. Edgar really has a way of making adventure seem so exciting.
I'm now reading his The Land That Time Forgot and it's really quite good with the suspense and keeping you on edge with what's going to happen next.
I was really surprised by the quality of Tarzan the first time I read it to. You gotta love old pulp stories, something about them that can't be duplicated. The second book in the series is also good and kind of closes off some of the loose threads. I've bought most of the 20 some books in the series (about $1 apiece at the flea market) and read the first 3, it really becomes a slough with "The Beasts of Tarzan" though, as Burroughs was starting to lose interest in the character. A year or two ago I started reading "John Carter of Mars" but got distracted and never finished it. Thinking I might try "The Land of Hidden Men" next.
If you like pulp style you should check out some of the great crime drama and detective stories from the period. The novels of Dashiell Hammett would be a good place to start there. On the more fantastic side of things, Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Conan) is another well-known adventure/fantasy pulp author who dabbled in many settings and genres. Though like his friend and fellow pulp author HP Lovecraft his output was unfortunately not nearly as large as Burroughs due to an overly short lifespan.
LeBlanc actually went and tried to publish with the Holmes name, but was forced to change it.
I'm a really big Lupin fan, but sadly a lot of the books seem to be yet translated. However since LeBlanc's copyright expired in France as of 2012, all his stuff is public domain now. I presume people will be translating the rest of them in the coming years.
There is a little confusion on which books are which, since the English translation of the book simply titled "Arsene Lupin" I believe is not the first, just the first English adapted one. This is the one with Sonia and the Duke. It was the first I've also read. Unless you know French, there doesn't seem to be any real way to read them in actual order sadly.
Since then, I've read The Crystal Stopper, and The Confessions of Arsene Lupin, which are both great. The Tooth of the Tiger is actually probably my favorite so far, even though I've not finished it yet. Confessions is a really fun read, being a bunch of short stories, but there are a few links between them where you can't help but laugh at what Lupin does to set some of this stuff up. You can see LeBlanc's writing improving over the books.
So yeah, big Lupin fan here.
Sounds pretty great, I'll have to remember to keep an eye out for future translations. (Here's hoping they come to archive.org or project gutenberg) In the meantime though this reminds me that a friend sent me the first volume of the Lupin the 3rd manga and I still have 3 or four stories in that to read.
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Lupin the Third has a special place in my heart. It is of course the reason I went to seek out it's inspiration, the old novels of Arsene Lupin. I have to admit I've not read any of the manga though. I hear it's really not the same as the shows, movies, and others. Monkey Punch was really hands off with the adaptations, not really caring how they did it, as long as it was "good".
I've seen all of series 1, most of series 2 (can't find good translations past a certain point), not much of series 3 (didn't really look good imo), about 60% of the movies/TV specials, and just recently followed and finished A Woman Named Mine Fujiko.
I'm trying to ration the remaining movies and TV specials, for fear of running out too quickly. They're good movie night movies with friends, so I try and keep it limited to that.
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Hahahaha, gotta love Lupin the Third! I love the music for that series, especially the opening theme. Sooooo classy:
THEME FROM LUPIN III (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHEP71Wt_I8#)
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I think they're talking about the French character Arsene Lupin, not the manga character inspired by him. :o
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I think they're talking about the French character Arsene Lupin, not the manga character inspired by him. :o
We're talking about both. actually :0)
Lupin the Third has a special place in my heart. It is of course the reason I went to seek out it's inspiration, the old novels of Arsene Lupin. I have to admit I've not read any of the manga though. I hear it's really not the same as the shows, movies, and others. Monkey Punch was really hands off with the adaptations, not really caring how they did it, as long as it was "good".
I've seen all of series 1, most of series 2 (can't find good translations past a certain point), not much of series 3 (didn't really look good imo), about 60% of the movies/TV specials, and just recently followed and finished A Woman Named Mine Fujiko.
I'm trying to ration the remaining movies and TV specials, for fear of running out too quickly. They're good movie night movies with friends, so I try and keep it limited to that.
It's been about a year since I read the little of the manga I have read, but the friend who sent it to me described the main difference being the likability of the character of Lupin himself. (Basically they made him more likable as a character for the TV shows and movies, his unlikeability being part of the original mad-magazine influenced joke.) Said friend is a huge fan of Lupin, even fan-translating one of the video games. I've liked what I've seen of the anime, enough to make me seek out the first Arsene Lupin book, and the manga was entertaining. But whenever I think of Lupin I just remember that old Lupin/Reel Big Fish amv lol.
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I was really surprised by the quality of Tarzan the first time I read it to. You gotta love old pulp stories, something about them that can't be duplicated. The second book in the series is also good and kind of closes off some of the loose threads. I've bought most of the 20 some books in the series (about $1 apiece at the flea market) and read the first 3, it really becomes a slough with "The Beasts of Tarzan" though, as Burroughs was starting to lose interest in the character. A year or two ago I started reading "John Carter of Mars" but got distracted and never finished it. Thinking I might try "The Land of Hidden Men" next.
If you like pulp style you should check out some of the great crime drama and detective stories from the period. The novels of Dashiell Hammett would be a good place to start there. On the more fantastic side of things, Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Conan) is another well-known adventure/fantasy pulp author who dabbled in many settings and genres. Though like his friend and fellow pulp author HP Lovecraft his output was unfortunately not nearly as large as Burroughs due to an overly short lifespan.
I've actually read some of Robert E. Howard's works. Mostly his Solomon Kane stuff, though I might give Conan a go one of these days.
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We're talking about both. actually :0)
Whoops. o.o Somehow missed that part of the discussion.
On the more fantastic side of things, Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Conan) is another well-known adventure/fantasy pulp author who dabbled in many settings and genres. Though like his friend and fellow pulp author HP Lovecraft his output was unfortunately not nearly as large as Burroughs due to an overly short lifespan.
I think you mean Robert E. Howard. :o Great pulp author and friend to Lovecraft, created Conan. But since you were just talking about Burroughs' work, I can understand the mistake, heh.
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Whoops. o.o Somehow missed that part of the discussion.
I think you mean Robert E. Howard. :o Great pulp author and friend to Lovecraft, created Conan. But since you were just talking about Burroughs' work, I can understand the mistake, heh.
Indeed I did, we all make mistakes lol.
Actually reminds me of one of the best lines in GitS- after Kusanagi tells Togusa to focus on the current mission: "Hey, I'm not a robot, Major."
"Hah! That's why you're still a rookie."
I've actually read some of Robert E. Howard's works. Mostly his Solomon Kane stuff, though I might give Conan a go one of these days.
I'd really like to read the Solomon Kane stuff, so far I've only read his work on Kull and a bit of Conan, but I read a snippet of a Kane story and it looks great. Like what "Van Helsing" was trying to be but less self consciously campy. I know Conan mostly through the 70s comics, which I inherited a few dozen of.
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Hahahaha, gotta love Lupin the Third! I love the music for that series, especially the opening theme. Sooooo classy:
THEME FROM LUPIN III (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHEP71Wt_I8#)
Oh yeah! Lupin never disappoints in the sound track!
ルパン三世のテーマ '80 2005 （高音質） (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhDlMCgWFOg#)
One of my top favorites from the history of Lupin music.
It's been about a year since I read the little of the manga I have read, but the friend who sent it to me described the main difference being the likability of the character of Lupin himself. (Basically they made him more likable as a character for the TV shows and movies, his unlikeability being part of the original mad-magazine influenced joke.) Said friend is a huge fan of Lupin, even fan-translating one of the video games. I've liked what I've seen of the anime, enough to make me seek out the first Arsene Lupin book, and the manga was entertaining. But whenever I think of Lupin I just remember that old Lupin/Reel Big Fish amv lol.
Ahh. I've heard it was darker than the animations. I can see that happening, given what Lupin realistically represents.
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I'd really like to read the Solomon Kane stuff, so far I've only read his work on Kull and a bit of Conan, but I read a snippet of a Kane story and it looks great. Like what "Van Helsing" was trying to be but less self consciously campy. I know Conan mostly through the 70s comics, which I inherited a few dozen of.
That's what appealed to me in the first place about it. After reading some stories, you can really tell that Howard really thought about the character. He's really dynamic and defined in his role as a Puritan.
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That's what appealed to me in the first place about it. After reading some stories, you can really tell that Howard really thought about the character. He's really dynamic and defined in his role as a Puritan.
Have you seen the official film adaptation?
Solomon Kane OFFICIAL TRAILER (2012) - U.S. Release (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mra4-jV5_0Q#ws)
Again it looks pretty badass, but I'd like to read the original works first.
Just started on "Vampire of the Mists" the first in a series of novels based in Dungeons and Dragons classic "Ravenloft" horror setting. This one deals with the darklord Strahd von Zarovich of Barovia, D&D's equivalent of Dracula. It's pretty good so far, I like the idea of having an elf-vampire as the hero. When you're already an immortal elf to start with, getting turned into a vampire has to suck (no pun intended) doubly hard.
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I've started on the first Dark Tower book. I'm finding it quite difficult, which actually is kind of nice because I'm really used to finding books easy. Last book I finished was probably one of the Vampire Academy ones. They're alright but not anything to write home about. I was reading something called Partials but I've kind of lost interest in it.
When it comes to books, I tend to multitask.
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I bought Bram Stoker's Dracula from Barnes and Noble yesterday. Looking forward to readin 8)
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I bought Bram Stoker's Dracula from Barnes and Noble yesterday. Looking forward to readin 8)
Happy Reading :) it's an old favorite.
About halfway through "Vampire of the Mists" and overall it's a bit stronger than the only book in this series I had read previously, "Mordenheim". Which was a tad too close to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein* and thus got a little boring in stretches. Plus that book all but forgot it's original protagonists, a couple of uneasy would-be necromancers in training, halfway through. The focus on the Elven vampire Jander's story keeps Mists from feeling too much like a retread of Stokers work. At least so far.
*Victor Mordenheim and his monster Adam are D&D's version of Frankenstein and his monster.
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Ive seen Solomon Kane and its pretty damn good. The look and feel of the movie is spot on. And I have Vampire of the Mists around here somewhere... I read it one time and thought it was pretty horrible. If your just gettin started with DND book you cant go wrong with pretty much any Forgotten Realms. Everything by RA Salvatore is pretty epic and I cant recommend the Heroes of Phlan trilogy enough. 3 of my fav books ever.
Ive stopped readin now I just cant get into books anymore. Maybe once I get my Nexus 7 Ill take up readin again in the form of ebooks
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Ive seen Solomon Kane and its pretty damn good. The look and feel of the movie is spot on. And I have Vampire of the Mists around here somewhere... I read it one time and thought it was pretty horrible. If your just gettin started with DND book you cant go wrong with pretty much any Forgotten Realms. Everything by RA Salvatore is pretty epic and I cant recommend the Heroes of Phlan trilogy enough. 3 of my fav books ever.
Ive stopped readin now I just cant get into books anymore. Maybe once I get my Nexus 7 Ill take up readin again in the form of ebooks
Eh, doesn't seem that bad to me. Not finished it of course. I'm planning to read the entire Ravenloft line as I'm very partial to the setting. (Though unfortunately have never gotten to play in it. If I ever take up DMing I'd like to give it a try.) I have acquired some other D&D novels though, namely the Dark Elf Trilogy and Azure Bonds, both Forgotten Realms. Not sure when I'll get to them exactly.
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Currently reading "The Kuklukan Manuscript". It's pretty run of the mill so far, but there are some possibilities for some neat storytelling later.
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Finished "Vampire of the Mists" last night, thought it was pretty good. Was genuinely surprised by it at parts. I've never read "Interview with a Vampire" (or anything by Anne Rice for that matter) and never wish to, but "Mists" obviously took some, uh, inspiration from that one. I can tell just by the bits of the movie I've seen. Still, overall not bad for a licensed novel.
Moved on to Ravenloft #2 today "Night of the Black Rose". Wherein DragonLance's evil Lord Soth finds himself transported by the mists of Ravenloft from the world of Krynn to Count Strahd's Barovia. Loved the imagination so far, any book that starts with a flying fortress of draconians and evil dragons paratrooping in to attack a white city whilst led by an undead Darth Vader analog has my attention. I might have to read the DragonLance Chronicles sometime.
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I've started reading the Watchmen comics today. Read the first part and was sincerely impressed. The characters, the dialog, everything is spot-on. And then the author throws in this prose part from "Under the Hood" by the first Nite Owl and it's really well-written and adds to the story. I've never read anything quite like it.
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Reading Kekkaishi and Rosario Vampire currently. Every year I get to read the next volume of Excel Saga and Battle Angel Alita: Last Order and Yotsuba&!. Every once in a while I visit the local library and read some of the Mythos.
If you like long Asian reads and haven't read it yet, read Bandits Of The Marsh. It's the Robin Hood-esque Chinese novel that inspired the Suikoden games. But it's Chinese classic, so it's very long winded.
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Continuing my way through Dracula. This book is REALLY good, actually...the story may be familiar, but Stoker has an excellent command of the epistolary format.
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Finished "Knight of the Black Rose" took a while because it's had to compete with the game "Jade Empire" for my attention and often lost, though it's not really a bad D&D based book. Now trying to decide if I should read "Azure Bonds" or the next Ravenloft or Dune novel.
Reading Kekkaishi and Rosario Vampire currently. Every year I get to read the next volume of Excel Saga and Battle Angel Alita: Last Order and Yotsuba&!. Every once in a while I visit the local library and read some of the Mythos.
If you like long Asian reads and haven't read it yet, read Bandits Of The Marsh. It's the Robin Hood-esque Chinese novel that inspired the Suikoden games. But it's Chinese classic, so it's very long winded.
Cool, I'll have to check that out, but it'll be a bit lower on my list. I've wanted to read "Journey to the West" and "Three Kingdoms" for a while to.
Continuing my way through Dracula. This book is REALLY good, actually...the story may be familiar, but Stoker has an excellent command of the epistolary format.
Finished it? What did you think? I made a topic about that in the main forum, you could post your thoughts there to but the topic has been dormant for a while.
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If you like Chinese, you should look up Jin Yong books. Especially The Smiling Proud Wanderer, and The Condor Heroes series.
Kekkaishi is pretty awesome, though the later parts far out does the beginning.
I began reading Monster Hunter Inc. but I quit after... the second book, when I found out book 3 wasn't about the main character... it was an okay series, but the second book was really like the first book.
Also read a lot of The Ranger's Apprentice, up to book 7 I think, and sort of dropped off there too. Book 8 has something I hate as the evil guy, so it sort of threw me off. Evil cults or organization, and fake ones at that, are something I really hate as a major player.
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If you like Chinese, you should look up Jin Yong books. Especially The Smiling Proud Wanderer, and The Condor Heroes series.
Kekkaishi is pretty awesome, though the later parts far out does the beginning.
I began reading Monster Hunter Inc. but I quit after... the second book, when I found out book 3 wasn't about the main character... it was an okay series, but the second book was really like the first book.
Also read a lot of The Ranger's Apprentice, up to book 7 I think, and sort of dropped off there too. Book 8 has something I hate as the evil guy, so it sort of threw me off. Evil cults or organization, and fake ones at that, are something I really hate as a major player.
Hm I'll try to keep that in mind, my local library is very understocked. But thanks for the suggestions in any event :)
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Understocked library? Buy a Kindle/Nook.
On MY (frankly brilliant and awesome and totally in no way a paid for product placement) Kindle Fire, I am now reading A Game of Thrones.
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Understocked library? Buy a Kindle/Nook.
On MY (frankly brilliant and awesome and totally in no way a paid for product placement) Kindle Fire, I am now reading A Game of Thrones.
Nah, I intend to resist e-readers for a lot longer yet. I just don't find reading from a screen as satisfying, and it scares me how incredibly easy censorship will become when everything is digital and changeable remotely. (Amazon or your government doesn't want you to see something? They can just change or delete all copies of it immediately.) I'll eventually get one I'm sure but for the time being I've got a surplus of unread books in my personal library anyway, and if I live to be a crotchety old man some kids going through my stuff after I die will think it's weird I still held onto physical books.
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Nah, I intend to resist e-readers for a lot longer yet. I just don't find reading from a screen as satisfying, and it scares me how incredibly easy censorship will become when everything is digital and changeable remotely. (Amazon or your government doesn't want you to see something? They can just change or delete all copies of it immediately.) I'll eventually get one I'm sure but for the time being I've got a surplus of unread books in my personal library anyway, and if I live to be a crotchety old man some kids going through my stuff after I die will think it's weird I still held onto physical books.
Well, I still maintain a large physical book collection, but now instead of picking a book or three to take on a weekend drive down to Seward, I can always pack my Kindle and be completely set. I am swapping my customized Fire for an E-Ink screen model though; it's a cute reading tablet, the Fire, but it's not as easy on my eyes or battery efficient as an E-ink screen.
Books are great, but they quickly get heavy and portability is ever a large concern of mine, so I'm big on ebooks.
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Nah, I intend to resist e-readers for a lot longer yet. I just don't find reading from a screen as satisfying, and it scares me how incredibly easy censorship will become when everything is digital and changeable remotely. (Amazon or your government doesn't want you to see something? They can just change or delete all copies of it immediately.)
That's pretty paranoid of you. You are forgetting a crucial fact in this matter. Pirates. Data is never taken down for good. A trace always exists. With piracy, censored/deleted materials can live on.
Think for a moment. Who is the most likely to be anti-government, and want to expose and spread ideas they might ban? It's the same people who provide you with your warez and assorted media copies. These are the people that run wikileaks. Anti-government, socialist, anarchists. Your books are safe.
It really all comes down to one question. Does government censoring actually work? No, especially not in this day and age. Look at China, Iran, North Korea, Egypt, Syria, etc. The people get the info. They get the outside connections. There is no stopping the internet.
Take off your tin foil hat and come out of the basement.
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With piracy, censored/deleted materials can live on.
I agree generally with this, but in reference to e-readers specifically, if you wanna pirate stuff, devices like Amazon's (or Barnes and Noble's) e-readers aren't very good, since they're proprietary and can be manipulated by the corporations remotely, from what I understand. Granted, I suppose this may be technically true for any sort of personal device, even PCs, but unless I'm mistaken it's much much harder for anyone to manipulate data inside your personal PC than it is for Amazon or whoever to fiddle with things on your Kindle or e-reader.
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iunno. About a third of the books on my Kindle were pirated at some point, and none of them are missing yet.
Seriously. Tracking down every single pirate and prosecuting is not worth time or resources. I'm not saying people shouldn't pay for stuff, but I am saying that Amazon has no cause or profit in banning you for life for nicking a totally uncensored ebook copy of Vampire Diaries from those really nice Russians you met in a chat room last week.
On a censorship note, Amazon is pretty big on unabridged, uncensored editions of just about everything, because that keeps them on good terms with the publishers who then return as customers at a later point. If word got out that Amazon was censoring their books, they'd lose money from someone, and since ebooks via their Kindle service is one of the few avenues of income Amazon has TOTAL control over, they're not willing to risk jeopardizing that channel. They'll sooner crack down on comically overpriced HDMI cables with witty reviews than questionable reading material.
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That's pretty paranoid of you. You are forgetting a crucial fact in this matter. Pirates. Data is never taken down for good. A trace always exists. With piracy, censored/deleted materials can live on.
Think for a moment. Who is the most likely to be anti-government, and want to expose and spread ideas they might ban? It's the same people who provide you with your warez and assorted media copies. These are the people that run wikileaks. Anti-government, socialist, anarchists. Your books are safe.
It really all comes down to one question. Does government censoring actually work? No, especially not in this day and age. Look at China, Iran, North Korea, Egypt, Syria, etc. The people get the info. They get the outside connections. There is no stopping the internet.
Take off your tin foil hat and come out of the basement.
You give pirates too much credit. Not something I would have expected from someone who on the other hand has insisted pretty much all criminals who are in prison deserve to be there, and that prison conditions should be as harsh as possible.
True there will always be pirates and bootleggers, but the grand age of internet piracy (or internet privacy, depending on how you look at it) is over.
As of the first of last month all of the major ISPs in the US agreed to monitor their users for suspicious activity, such as using torrents, and are implementing a graduated response system to scare most of them away and prosecute those who persist. I don't care how hardcore an anarchist is, throw them in jail for a few years and take all of their possessions then tell them if they ever get on the internet again you'll put them back, and they're probably going to live a life less connected. The government already does these internetless conditions for sex offenders who are released so not only are such restrictions possible, they're already being done. I think it's only a matter of time until such restrictions are placed on persistent internet pirates, it's a logical next step.
What's more the FBI now has the IP addresses of all the people who ever uploaded or downloaded anything on megaupload, so there's a few million people they can scare away from ever pirating again right off the bat, and a lot of people who will be going to prison/sued for all their worth as well. No doubt it's a similar story for the recently shuttered torrent site Demonoid. Once the millions of casual pirates are gone governments can do serious damage to the hardcore crowed who weren't initially scared away.
And besides, if the government or amazon wants to keep people from seeing something, I'M not going to risk anything to see it, most people won't. You don't need to completely destroy something for censorship to work, just make it so most people don't have access. Or alter it so the version most people see is the one you want them to. And with digital media they can find the people who do get access to restricted content so bonus for the powers that be. Not to mention if there were something like a revolution in a powerful country the internet could be shut off completely, though that's not likely to happen unless it was an extremely powerful country.
And please, do we really need to bring out the tinfoil hat bit again? Amazon has the power to pull anything they want, all they need is an excuse, they've done it before. With unauthorized editions of 1984 and Animal Farm, of all things. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html)
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Again I say:
Tracking down every single pirate and prosecuting is not worth time or resources.
Which do you think there are more of? Pirates who nick an MP3 here and there? Or cops? Just because they CAN track everyone doesn't mean they will. It's a waste of the money and manpower, and cracking down on music thieves is a less valuable effort than tracking down the guys with AK-47s and IEDs who want to murder us by any sane investor's logic. Plus, for each of these policies you've mentioned, there has been MASSIVE public backlash against such policies ever since January.
The war of "piracy vs privacy" is now upon us, and as it turns out, the taxpayers aren't such big fans of Big Brother taking over and taking their hard won cash to catch a few wayward copies of Born This Way.
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Which do you think there are more of? Pirates who nick an MP3 here and there? Or cops?
Like I said, once most casual pirates get cease & desists and/or warnings from their IPSs under this new plan, which was agreement between the major IPS and organizations like the MPAA with the blessing of the White House, they will stop. After that it's only a matter of concentrating on the hardcore pirates. Millions will already be getting such notices and possibly jail time/lawsuites from the closing of megaupload and similar sites. And remember it's not the government doing this monitoring, it's the ISPs themselves. No one can complain about the government misspending their resources for this monitoring, because they're not the ones doing it.
Just because they CAN track everyone doesn't mean they will. It's a waste of the money and manpower, and cracking down on music thieves is a less valuable effort than tracking down the guys with AK-47s and IEDs who want to murder us by any sane investor's logic.
Why does it make more sense to crack down on the guys with AK-47s? They aren't cutting into anyone's profit margins. A wise and ambitious politican would do well to stay on the good side of the entertainment industry. Just look what celebrity endorsements did for Obama in 2008.
Plus, for each of these policies you've mentioned, there has been MASSIVE public backlash against such policies ever since January.
Really? I haven't heard any public outcry since SOPA, most people seem to think government control of the internet was defeated with that, which is very far from the truth. Even before SOPA the US along with a bunch of other countries had already signed ACTA which is more far reaching than SOPA.
The war of "piracy vs privacy" is now upon us, and as it turns out, the taxpayers aren't such big fans of Big Brother taking over and taking their hard won cash to catch a few wayward copies of Born This Way.
Like I said, a wise politician would listen to the entertainment industry, and all politicians listen to campaign money.
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And a wise voter votes against the politicians who have shown that they can be bought by campaign donations.
Now can we get back on topic? This thread is supposed to be about books, and I'm sorry for the derailing my comment had a part in causing.
We can argue anti-piracy policies somewhere else.
On topic: Halo: Ghosts of Onyx was a pretty good videogame book.
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I just got my copies of the Marvel Masterworks series Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 and 3 in the mail today! They're collections of the X-Men comic books that take place in the main universe (Earth 616). I've read the first two stories in vol. 1, and it's pretty entertaining. I skipped vol. 2 because it's so damn expensive. I know it contains all of the Phoenix Saga issues, but damn, that's more than I'm willing to spend at the moment. I'm just now really starting to get into the X-men (well, really I have been all summer), so it's pretty fun catching myself up with things. There's a lot of material to look into.
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I just got my copies of the Marvel Masterworks series Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 and 3 in the mail today! They're collections of the X-Men comic books that take place in the main universe (Earth 616). I've read the first two stories in vol. 1, and it's pretty entertaining. I skipped vol. 2 because it's so damn expensive. I know it contains all of the Phoenix Saga issues, but damn, that's more than I'm willing to spend at the moment. I'm just now really starting to get into the X-men (well, really I have been all summer), so it's pretty fun catching myself up with things. There's a lot of material to look into.
I've got the softcover edition of the first Marvel Masterworks collection for Dr. Strange (my favorite Marvel hero) and I'm very pleased with it. I prefer original issues when possible but Strange was a back-up character during that period and the stories are short anyway.
In case you don't already know you can get the Dark Phoenix saga more cheaply, albiet in black and white, here http://www.amazon.com/Essential-X-Men-Vol-Marvel-Essentials/dp/0785120076 (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-X-Men-Vol-Marvel-Essentials/dp/0785120076) I like the "essentials" collections alright, but they are very cheaply bound so look at the pictures and make sure they're in good condition if you buy them used. I had my copy of "Essential Marvel Horror vol. 1"** come apart on me when I didn't.
Not really reading anything myself atm, though this reminds me there's an "Essential Defenders" volume I should read more of.
**Really "Essential Son of Satan / Satana the Daughter of Satan" but I guess the marketing guys didn't think that was as catchy, also it allowed them to make "Essential Marvel Horror vol. 2" which focuses mostly on Brother Voodoo.
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You give pirates too much credit. Not something I would have expected from someone who on the other hand has insisted pretty much all criminals who are in prison deserve to be there, and that prison conditions should be as harsh as possible.
Don't mistake observation of reality for praise or support. Piracy may be wrong, but it doesn't change the fact that they provide a service of good as a by product in certain situations. As much as people sometimes hate to admit, if the government ever does get out of control, the pirates will be the ones handing out the goods we need to stop it or prove the corruption. These are, after all, the people who run sites like wikileaks.
Another thing to consider is, pirates don't all live in the USA. The most prominent and effective pirates, in fact, do not.
I truly believe that I am not overestimating them and their affiliated groups, but that people greatly underestimating them.
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I got the first issue of the new Gambit comic book series. Gambit is my favorite member of the X-Men, so it's cool that he has his own comic book series' from time to time that show you what kinds of things he's up to when he's not doing X-Men things. In this issue, he goes all James Bond on a rich guy who collects technology that's left over after conflicts between Marvel heroes and supervillians. Being a professional thief, Gambit is out to see what he can get out of this, and uses his position as a teacher and bodyguard at Jean Grey's institute to get in, then the fun starts. It's really action-packed, and well-written. He does subtle things when interacting with people at the party, and it all comes together once he starts infiltrating the.. I guess it's an incredibly high-tech safe. Sort of.
I can't wait for future issues, as it really looks like this could turn out to be a great side series.
In case you don't already know you can get the Dark Phoenix saga more cheaply, albiet in black and white, here http://www.amazon.com/Essential-X-Men-Vol-Marvel-Essentials/dp/0785120076 (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-X-Men-Vol-Marvel-Essentials/dp/0785120076) I like the "essentials" collections alright, but they are very cheaply bound so look at the pictures and make sure they're in good condition if you buy them used. I had my copy of "Essential Marvel Horror vol. 1"** come apart on me when I didn't.
Well ideally I'd like to collect all the Marvel Masterworks series books, as they have all the main stories for the series in very good quality. I may settle for getting vol. 2 of Uncanny X-Men used if I can indeed get it in good condition. The "new" prices for that one are ridiculous, but I see that there are some good deals on used ones on Amazon.
I've actually finished volume 1 now, but I feel like I should wait until I have 2 before I start 3. Volume 1 had some cool bonus stuff at the end, with conceptual drawings for characters that didn't make the cut, and some artist guidelines for how future artists should draw the characters. It's really neat to read the little notes written next to them, identifying key important features like Nightcrawler's darkness around his face, and Colossus's metal form retaining the muscle shape from his normal form.
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Finished a volume of "The Essential Defenders" and enjoyed it greatly. Then moved on to "Doctor Strange: The Oath" which I've had for a long time and hadn't gotten around to reading.
I'll tell you this much- it is hella jarring to go straight from reading a story for a superhero character in the 70s to one written within the last decade.
In one story Dr. Strange is helping to defeat the Dread Dormammu's attempt to take over our universe, in the other he is dealing with the inoperable cancer of his manservant and friend Wong, and the responsibility of having a cure for all illnesses. In either case Strange rocks.
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 - Theme of Dr. Strange (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5joSpUeIw8#ws)
I was erked by the more flippant tone of "The Oath" at times but if you're going to have such solemn subject matter in your superhero story you better bring some comic relief. It was interesting to see Strange think and act as an MD since that's a part of his character that's not often explored.
I also finished the 3rd Ravenloft novel "Dance of the Dead". Twas an alright fantasy in a toned down bodice-ripper/female empowerment mold.
Thinking I might read "Showcase Presents: Hawkman" now, read part of the first story and it's delightfully goofy.
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I don't really read that much anymore because college pretty much weened it out of me.
Also, fuck the law for putting people in jail for downloading shit, and fuck this gay earth even more for harboring a species that has been to the moon yet can't stop being butthurt over copyright infringement.
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Catching up on One Piece...
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Catching up on One Piece...
I could never get into One Piece despite several attempts. Not that it's a bad series, just doesn't click with me. I need to catch up on Berserk, it's been a year and a half at least since I looked into it, Miura might have released 2 or even 3 whole chapters by now lol.
I'm a little over halfway finished with “The Daughter of Fu Manchu” the 4th of 14 volumes of sadly extremely popular and influential*, and also virulently racist, tales written from the 1910s to late 1950s.
I find reading such books an invaluable insight into understanding prejudice and popular sentiment, but it all makes me very glad to live today instead of then. It’s funny and sad that millions of people in Britain and America learned everything they knew about “the orient” from Sax Rohmer and his ilk because 90 to 100% of it is all made up.
Oh, really Rohmer, Tibetan monks are evil assassins who wear stuffy hooded camel hair robes and are dedicated to overthrowing western civilization in the name of debauchery and nihilism? Please, tell me more.
The Castle of Fu Manchu - Trailer - Blue Underground (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJH0KN_UXd4#ws)
*Aside from having countless copycat “Evil Chinese/Asian Genius” characters in every medium. As well as tons of movies from the 1920s to the 1980s where he was played by white guys, including Christoper Lee in yellowface for 5 films, the character was a big inspiration for James Bond creator Ian Fleming and the “super villain” trope in general.
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I could never get into One Piece despite several attempts. Not that it's a bad series, just doesn't click with me. I need to catch up on Berserk, it's been a year and a half at least since I looked into it, Miura might have released 2 or even 3 whole chapters by now lol.
I can kinda see that. It is something, much like Harry Potter, where it is easier to get into when you've grown with it.
If you can get to the Arlong arc then you'll be hooked though.
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I decided to pick up the TPB issues for The Immortal Iron Fist, so I've been reading through the series again.
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Just read Tommysaurus Rex by Doug TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim. Wasn't sure how I'd think of him as a storyteller, as I read portions of his more recent works (Ratfist and Cardboard) which were filled to the brim with conservative political/moral commentary, and I just couldn't see the funny in any of it. I hate political commentary in my entertainment, even conservative commentary despite myself being conservative. (Although Doug subscribes more to Sean Hannity type thinking, which is partially braindead.) It's just really trite.
But Tommysaurus Rex is great. Fantastic art/layouting, really funny moments, good story about companionship and forgiveness... Loved it so much I ordered a copy just now. (I checked out a mess of TenNapel graphic novels from the library. And when I use the term "graphic novel," I mean actual GNs, not trade paperbacks/collections of single issues.) Hoping I can enjoy more of his work, because his art is amazing and I'd hate some lame stories to spoil that.
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Im reading Worlds of Power: Simon's Quest, Im right now in the middle of the book and its as terrible as everyone is saying until now, the only cool thing is that they tried to explain better about the curse, riddles and the woman that appeared to Simon. Also they introduced a Troll in CV in this story, what only happened in SOTN in-game. Im looking forward for more interesting things to happen, since we can ever filter the bad things, pick the good ones and try to use them somewhere.
edit: I have finished reading it now, its really 95% shitty if you dislike these kind of stories made for kids with a moral in the ending. I liked it a bit, but they changed some parts from Dracula (Dracula's foot, Dracula's brain? wtf?) and jumped almost all the story, they depicted only the first mansion, also Death is called Thanatos and have a energy shied protecting him. They found a old woman and a friendly Troll in the first mansion, a dumb and friendly Giant Slime in a swamp and "Thanatos" in a forest I think.
Its so bad that the ferryman and the gypsies didnt even appeared, atleast they tried to explain why the people lies and say things in riddles, also the tornado is used to reach Castlevania's Death Tower, not the mansions. They revive Dracula there and have a boring battle.
I think that only 5% of this story can be used for something, like a fangame or fanfic or whatever else. If you hated Johnathan way, you will try to kill this children lol
He talks almost all time about chocolate and bad puns. They included some hints to the game as well, but even in that they failed. They said about throwing holy water to discover fake blocks only almost in the end, while they said some another clues that you only will use almost in the end of the game in the beggining of the book. I only recommend that you read this if you are a really hardcore fan that wants to see everything about castlevania, even the shitty ones.
I understand thats it an old book and all, but even so I didnt think that even when they launched this it are a good book for the standards of the time, but who knows?
What can be used:
-A Troll mid-boss/boss inside the first mansion.
-A Dogether inside the first mansion guarding one of Dracula's parts. (they said its a giant eye with a mouth, since they didnt mentioned a "tail" I thinks its not a peeping eye)
-A old woman with a fat cat trapped inside a room with bricks. (you use the holy water to open this place, inside there exists her room and a entrance for a dungeon, where you find the friendly Troll, since its not Super Mario we can turn the Troll in a boss.)
-A guy that have a shop anti-vampires, he sells garlic, crosses, laurels, etc. All these kinds of items. We can change that if necessary lol
-A priest in the church gives you holy water after you donate some money for the church.
-Giant Slime boss in swamp.
-Dracula's curse turning all transylvania dark, even when its not night, nights are even more darker.
-Dracula's trying to possess Simon tempting him with the seven deadly capital sins.(?)
-Linda lol. She appeared to give some hints when Simon used his gold ring or a orb/crystal in front of some signposts or a mirror in the anti-vampire shop.
-Dracula's being weak against a creampie and paper planes (now thats Im really joking about this being a good idea, but they actually made him weak to puns in this book)
Its all that I remember for now to point as useful for something.
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I've been reading "The Mask of Fu Manchu" which for what it's worth has been better written as an espionage story than "Daughter". But its misrepresentation and clear lack of understanding of even the basics of the Islamic religion are completely ridiculous and laughable. Fu Manchu attempting to get the sword and mask of a author-just-made-it-up "Islamic saint, who claimed to be God incarnate" so he can pose as said "saint" to start a revolution in the middle east being the gist of the plot.
But right now I'm drawn away from the 1932 farce of "Mask" to a book I ordered for my October/Halloween reading. "Weird Vampire Tales: 30 Blood-Chilling Stories from the Weird Fiction Pulps" so far it looks very promising. I love pulp stories and I love classic vampires. I've also got a few more books on order for Halloween. "The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men"* a fairly large short story collection and "The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published" a 900 odd page collection of short stories and novellas, with a 100 or so page bibliography of Vampire books being notables among them. Needless to say these will be enough to keep me reading long after October.
*Reprint of "The Mammoth Book of Werewolves" with an extra story. Retitled to tie-in with the 2009 "The Wolfman" movie.