The last 4 months has been awesome for reading. I went straight into George Martin’s original series (you know, not just Game of Thrones), Wild Cards.
Wild Cards is set in an alternate Earth universe. The first book introduces the story starting in the 1950s. An alien species with the same genetic makeup as humans attempt to study the effects of a new virus that will give the infected superpowers. The aliens hope that the virus will help resolve their internal civil war. The novels are about the people affected by the virus and the awesome plots that develop over the abilities the virus .
Currently, the series is running its 21st volume, soon to be 22nd, spanning over 40 years. You get to build very long and understanding relationships with the characters. It’s written very Games of Throne-y, where you get to see the mind of many of the characters involved. The story is very captivating and doesn’t drag on too much, nor do I have to suspend my belief even though the story gets a bit crazy. It’s also awesome to see what writers can do with essentially complete freedom over the storyline. Any character can exist with any ability and the story has to warp around that. My only complaint would be a little bit of plot armor, but enough shitty things happen to compensate for it that I don’t mind.
I stopped at the 10th because I wanted a change of pace.
I went straight through Fight Club, which was a decent book, though a bit confusing for me. I read Stephen King’s Carrie and then found out it was made into a movie. I read through most of The Now Habit by Neil Fiore, which gave really good tips to overcome the “I don’t want to work” mentality.
And then I got into the Dresden Files.
The Dresden Files was recommended to me. It’s about a detective slash wizard who solves mysteries laid out by other paranormal creatures, going up from other wizards to werewolves to vampires to faeries and much more. It’s a rather simple read without much complexity, but it really shines in the comedy and the wizardry. The main character loves making cheeky remarks that you can’t help but laugh at, and the scope of the world in the Dresden Files is huge, and hugely entertaining.
I read all the books out so far, which amounted to book 12. The next book is coming out before the end of 2013, so I have that to look forward to.
After I caught up, I decided to take a look at Asimov’s Foundation series.
After reading a book or so, I can see how he is regarded as one of the best science fiction writers, because his stories are awesomely complex, and more importantly, interesting. I three books of the Foundation series before realizing there’s a better order to them since they were not written in chronological order, so now I’m doubling back. His universe is amazing to dream about.
It’s actually amazing what you can do with a 2.5 hour commute downtown daily for 4 months. So that’s approximately 2.5 * 20 * 4 = 200, which is a lot of reading. I will miss the freedom when I head back to school.
Reading is great. It helps activates the more creative parts of the brain. Plus, you get to learn.