Whatcha reading redux.
- dfwmtx
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
Alternatively reading through George MacDonald Fraser's "Flashman and the Redskins" (only him and Michael Crichton do historical fiction with notes, but Fraser's Flashman is positively brimming with them) and Robert Conroy's "Storm Front" (which is not alternate history, which is odd, and WTF? I thought he was dead and "Custer in Chains" and "Germanica" were his last two books, so where'd this come from?)
"Arms are honor; slaves have neither."
"I am Chaos, I am alive...and I tell you that you are free!" -Eris Discordia
"I am Chaos, I am alive...and I tell you that you are free!" -Eris Discordia
- Darrell
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
This.evan price wrote:I've tried to read this for roughly 25 years. I have it in omnibus trade paperback. I get so far then I just can't stand it anymore and put it away. I think I got halfway through the second book and that's the farthest I've gotten.Weetabix wrote:The Foundation Trilogy. I haven't read it in many years, so I thought I'd better refresh it since it's counted as a classic. Foundation and Empire is dragging sadly.
Eppur si muove--Galileo
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
I remember reading it as a teenager. Now I probably couldn't stand it because I believe the basic premise of a math that could predict history is flawed. Way too many variables, the butter fly fart effect of Chaos theory seem to be in play. This I believe is a reason centralized control of economies fail
- Vonz90
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
Yeah this. It is basically a paean to mechanical determinism, which has pretty much been completely destroyed as a scientific concept but still holds lots of sway as a philosophical idea. Ironically many people who claim to be all sciency fall back on some measure of mechanical determinism even though the actual science of it doesn't work.toad wrote:I remember reading it as a teenager. Now I probably couldn't stand it because I believe the basic premise of a math that could predict history is flawed. Way too many variables, the butter fly fart effect of Chaos theory seem to be in play. This I believe is a reason centralized control of economies fail
Paul Krugman is an Asimov fan, that tells you right there where his ideas lead.
Last edited by Vonz90 on Fri Mar 25, 2016 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Weetabix
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
I picked up Second Foundation, read just a bit, and when warding off a cat, dropped it on the floor. I don't have enough time in my life already. I think I'll leave it there.
Note to self: start reading sig lines. They're actually quite amusing. :D
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
Weird, I remember the original Foundation trilogy as being relatively slender books that were fairly brisk reads, kind of like the three precurser novels. It was the 4th book in the 'trilogy' and beyond, where he went off the rails.Weetabix wrote:I picked up Second Foundation, read just a bit, and when warding off a cat, dropped it on the floor. I don't have enough time in my life already. I think I'll leave it there.
Anyway, Norman Friedman has done a series of design histories of different classes of US warships. I have the volumes on cruisers and destroyers and I've been rereading them in pieces now that they're no longer trapped in moving boxes.
Maybe we're just jaded, but your villainy is not particularly impressive. -Ennesby
If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
Maybe it's been too long since I read them, but I recall that the 'psychohistory' math was presented as working purely on a stochastic level. The core of the entire Foundation trilogy seems to be about unusual individuals blowing up all the math.Vonz90 wrote:Yeah this. It is basically a paean to mechanical determinism, which is pretty much the been completely destroyed as a scientific concept but still holds lots of sway as a philosophical idea. Ironically many people who claim to be all sciency fall back on some measure of mechanical determinism even though the actual science of it doesn't work.toad wrote:I remember reading it as a teenager. Now I probably couldn't stand it because I believe the basic premise of a math that could predict history is flawed. Way too many variables, the butter fly fart effect of Chaos theory seem to be in play. This I believe is a reason centralized control of economies fail
Paul Krugman is an Asimov fan, that tells you right there where his ideas lead.
Maybe we're just jaded, but your villainy is not particularly impressive. -Ennesby
If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
Edit: was a double post that I can't remove. So I'll edit.
I've also been reading David Drake's series of the Elements. He does like making use of all the knowledge he's picked up on ancient Rome.
I've also been reading David Drake's series of the Elements. He does like making use of all the knowledge he's picked up on ancient Rome.
Last edited by Greg on Fri Dec 04, 2015 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Maybe we're just jaded, but your villainy is not particularly impressive. -Ennesby
If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
I just finished reading Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood to my ten and eight year old sons. (I edited out the cursing and raping as I read it.) It held their interest and now they want to hear the other Captain Blood stories.
- Weetabix
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.
That's how I recalled it from my youth, too, but now it seems to be relatively slender books that are fairly dull reads with lots of meandering description that doesn't contribute. Excluding the first, that is.Greg wrote:Weird, I remember the original Foundation trilogy as being relatively slender books that were fairly brisk reads, kind of like the three precurser novels. It was the 4th book in the 'trilogy' and beyond, where he went off the rails.Weetabix wrote:I picked up Second Foundation, read just a bit, and when warding off a cat, dropped it on the floor. I don't have enough time in my life already. I think I'll leave it there.
From reading his introduction, it seems that he wrote the first book as a series of short stories in the pulps. His editor wanted a book, so they put the stories together and he wrote the necessary links to make it a book. Fans wanted more, so the editor pushed him into writing books he didn't really want to write. I'm guessing that's what made the second two less enjoyable. Perhaps the fans back then were starved for entertainment and didn't notice?
Note to self: start reading sig lines. They're actually quite amusing. :D