James G

Random books from my shelf

Public Notes

• more notes (32)

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  Kevin McGuinness says

  Hey James. Not bad, how's things yourself?

  Posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )

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  Eric Mackay says

  I've tried to read them too and I pushed through about halfway into Green Mars and I gave up. As far as I can tell they aren't really worth it.

  Posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )

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  Kevin McGuinness says

  Yeah, twilight wouldn't typically be my thing alright, but will definitely check it out anyway. My girlfriend is a bit of a twilight fan, so will get here to check it out too.
  
  Oh, and best of luck with the writing too mate!

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Kevin McGuinness says

  Nice, both Salt and Artifact look right up my alley, will have to check them out.
  
  Otherwise everything is going reasonably well, I suppose, considering the state the country is in and all. Still doing computer vision/machine learning research in DCU, and mostly enjoying it too. Moved a little further outside the city before Christmas too -- was getting a bit sick of the congestion and lack of parks. Reckon I'll appreciate it even more come summer. Any other news yourself?

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Kevin McGuinness says

  Yeah, the job front is particularly bad these days; hopefully you'll pick up something soon. Congrats on graduating btw!
  
  Haven't been reading too many novels recently -- been reading a lot of technical literature. Did read Dune and Joe Haldeman's Forever War series though. The first Forever War book is great if you're into hard sci-fi stuff, the other two aren't as good though. I've been reading Ian Banks' Algebraist recently, but it's going slow, so I haven't yet looked at any more David Brin novels. I'm not mad about Ian Banks' prose, he does things like write sentences that are over 200 words long, which kinda gets irritating.
  
  I think I'll try and finish up reading the Algebraist soon. Wouldn't mind reading something a bit shorter for a change. Read any good, and fairly short, books lately?

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  TJ Pyro says

  Hmm, I might have to check it out. Even if only to look up the one you wrote yourself.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Kevin McGuinness says

  Hey James, long time indeed! Hows things with yourself? Read any good sci-fi lately?

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  TJ Pyro says

  I don't think I have read any fanfiction yet. I wasn't a huge fan of Twilight either.. I still have to read the last book though. I still want to see what happens.. lol.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  TJ Pyro says

  Hey thanks. No problem, thanks for accepting :) Don't forget to add some of your favs to the list, I think you have some good ones on your shelf. Most of which I still need to read, lol.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Thomas says

  Yeah your right, horror is cliche now and what is very disturbing is how movie directors with psychopathic fetishes are making movie after movie about sick ways for people to die, no good story, just total emphasis on torture and death, these people need to be locked up. But H.P. Lovecraft who wrote in the 1920's uses little to no gore, instead with his stories he gets under your skin psychologically with dream like creepiness. Here, i'll save you money: http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/ here is most of his works, he mostly wrote short stories. I would suggest a story but thats impossiable since they are all good. But if my memory serves me right "The Moon-Bog" takes place in Ireland which i see your from and that story was creepy. Take care.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Thomas says

  Hey again, sorry It took me a month to answer with my last message, my computer had a virus and I was just too lazy to deal with it until a few days ago. I didn't like the decent because horror is my least favorite genre, unless its the kind of horror that is so bizaar and surreal that it's brilliant. Movies rarely have that kind of effect on me cause the general plot usually is crappy and undeveloped. With books, if you want to read the best horror stories, look into the author "H.P. Lovecraft." He also wrote some Sci Fi.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Thomas says

  Hey James. How are you? There is only one way to say this.....REEEEAD DUUUUNE!!!!!! It's epic sci fi. The story is so well contrusted story and a very very intricate world. Not intricate where is drives you crazy trying to remember all bunch of useless details, its perfectly balenced intricate where it makes you feel like the world of Dune is a real place becasue its so well detailed and documented that its impossiable that its fiction. The story will keep sucking you in and the tech in the story is very interesting. I dont wanna give any details of anything because I dont wanna ruin it for you, so thats why Im explaining thigns in a general sense and sounding like an over hyper kid talking about a cool video game where you blow stuff up. Thats how important this book is. Its a Sci Fi bible. Now regarding the Decent, it is not the same as that crappy movie, I actually havent read it yet but it has nothing to do with the movie. Go to amazon and read the back of the book, it sounded cool and interesting to me so I bought it. Now what are you waiting for man? Why arent you reading Dune yet? Tell me what you think about it after your done.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Kevin McGuinness says

  Hey mate. Yeah, I liked it. It gets very good in the middle, but it ended a bit abruptly I think. I kinda wanted to find out a bit more about the progenitors and galactics and that -- I guess I'll just have to read the next one :-)

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  David H says

  Hi James,
  Have you had anything published yet? What do you write (I'm guessing Sci-fi)? Novels, short stories? My partner is a writer and has established an online publishing company with an English guy. They do short stories mainly, and are always on the lookout for fresh blood. Check out her website at http://jodicleghorn.blogspot.com, or the short story compilations at http://chinesewhisperings.com you might be interested. As you have probably seen by my shelf, I have a very wide reading taste, sci-fi has always been a favourite, though I find it very hard to find good reads now amongst the mountains of poorly-written stuff. I did notice one ommission in your list, Greg Bear. He's written some awesome books, Eon being my favourite.
  Don't expect too much chatting from me, I don't often get time to sit at a computer after hours anymore. Trying to keep up with my six-year old is just to much!

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Christopher C says

  The "draft" I wrote was a bit of historical fiction and fantasy. I studied the Miwok Indians of Northern California in the early 1800's and juxtaposed it with a modern story line based in San Francisco and the greater SF Bay Area. At the end, I tied it all together and set the foundation for a second novel. It's working title was "Hidden Civilizations: The Survival Complex" and I recently found it in an old backup drive.
  
  Publishing is a bit of a nightmare, though I've only been through the non-fiction route (Military and Business). I recommend getting online and buying "The Writer's Market" which is the Holy Grail of publication with all the rules of submission, editor addresses, and any guidelines they want. This is also a great resource for writing essays, articles, and short stories. If you need to toughen up, getting ready for massive rejection, I also recommend a writing workshop where people who are not qualified rip your stuff to shreds. It really prepares you to face your own shortcomings and make you immune to critique. Good luck and keep writing!!

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Kevin McGuinness says

  No probs mate. Delivery from the book depository takes a little longer than amazon, but then again, it's free :-) I buy nearly all my books from there now -- it's almost always cheaper than a bookshop, and unless the book you're ordering costs more that 20 sterling, it's usually cheaper than amazon too.

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Henry Tarling says

  Yeah I know that feeling, im a fan of death authors, that stops them sneaking a prequel! ;)

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Kevin McGuinness says

  David Brin's uplift series looks interesting -- sounds like a similar idea to Arthur C. Clarkes Childhood's End. Just ordered a copy of Sundiver (from thebookdepository.co.uk, love that site) so should be gettin started on that shortly. Cheers for the tip!

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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  Kevin McGuinness says

  Not a whole lot, like everything else in Ireland at the moment. Research is taking cuts like crazy. Industry doesn't seem as badly effected though; still a decent bit of work out there for software engineers and the like. Hopefully it picks up soon. Much work in chemistry these days?
  
  I think I'll sneak in another, shorter, novel before I plunge into Dune so. Just finished Revelation Space last night -- thought the ending was excellent!

  Posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )