Just finished reading Ender's Game, which was both a positive surprise and kind of disappointing at the same time. It's one of those books that are captivating from page 1 and actually have quite a brilliant premise and solution. I feel like the game was described in too much detail, though, and characters were left heavily underdeveloped. Really dug the ending, though, and can't wait to pick up the next book in the series which according to a friend is even better.

Before that I had finished Dune Messiah which sadly was highly disappointing after the original book. For one it lacked the scale of the original and was quite simple and boring by comparison. What bothered me more was that the kind of things that seemed highly sophisticated in the first book bordered on being pretentious in this one and it was almost tiring to read at times. The worst thing was probably how unbelievably the characters, acted, though, even the most sophisticated ones demonstrating the naivete of children - it actually reminded me a lot of Asian cinema where characters often can't perform the simplest but highly important acts over some ridiculous abstract reasons. "No, even though I know the trap and could easily end everything now I MUST step right into it because French fries are made out of potatoes". That said, all in all it was quite ballsy and intelligent how Herbert decided to continue the saga after the original's ending, surely intentionally shattering most readers' expectations. Will gladly pick up the next book.

Now reading Revelation Space, which is so far quite impressive and certainly different from what I had expected. From everything I had heard about it it sounded like really dry "hard" sci-fi. I was expecting a book obsessively focused on descriptions of plausible future technology, meanwhile it is developing into quite an intriguing thriller of epic scale. Good stuff.

In case of Ender's game - from what I remember it's one of book for which the rating is decided by the last pages. For the most part it's just nice to read and nothing more. That's the reason I've never checked the further titles from the series. Let us know if you'll find them worth reading!

Regarding Dune series - the sequels are, obviously, below the genuine of the Dune itself, but I would not agree with your opinion. In case of Frank Herbert being less epic means always being more focused on psychology, great dialogues and complicated intrigues, which, for me, is nice and refreshing change.

Uhm..it was pretty clear why Muadib sprung the trap. No naivete in there. Haven't read the book in a while, but I still think it was pretty great. You should read the rest too.
Also disagree with it being boring and pretentious. I think it worked quite well with what Herbert intended to do. Damn I want to read the books again but my backlog is so big right now *aaargh*

Revelation Space is AWESOME. Prepare yourself for quite a ride!

On Ender's Game. I actually wanted to get the books till I got to know more about the author. But then I decided I can't always vet the author before reading his or her work. Might get the books at some point (but there are quite a few now, too....)

In case of Orson Scott Card - if your doubts are caused by his worldview or religion, just avoid Homecoming Saga, which is strongly related to some Bible themes and for me was poor literature serving ideology (I do not evaluate the ideology, it was just poor reading).

Ender and Alvin sagas are considered classics and are worth reading, regardless of your opinion about the author.

Also avoid the Shadow series (a companion series to the original four Ender books). I was okay reading his books - despite his worldview - until the third one in that series, where he turns his characters into puppets spouting his views on marriage for pages on end. Even the naive person I was back when I was reading that couldn't ignore anymore how completely that rant didn't fit the character; one of three cases where I literally threw a book across a room in frustration. Haven't touched any of his books since, for which I'll never forgive him, since I used to absolutely love Ender's Game and sequels.

Also @F4LL0UT: Be aware that the direct sequels to Ender's Game have a completely different feel and pacing to it. Yes, they're good, and about the same character, set in the same universe... but they're nothing at all alike, so don't go in expecting more of the same.

Agree - very different. Good, but you're not getting the same type of story as Ender's Game.

Thanks for the advice, people!
I was thinking about some of his extreme political views and stuff like that, but ultimately after doing some thinking and reading on the issue in general ("if you don't read a book because of its author, to stay consistent you'd need to check the background of all authors" etc.), I decided it's not about the author, but the books. So yeah, I will get to read the Ender Saga. Not reading the companion series would bring down the count of the total amount of books, so there's an advantage there. I will get the main series first though anyway.

And it sucks when something like that happens. Reminds me of the controversy surrounding Brian Herbert and Anderson continuing to write the Dune Saga (and Prequels and Interquels and...). Several years ago I was younger and just wanted more, did not even think how "old fans" viewed the series. And what they thought of how it ended. Still love Dune, though I have yet to re-read the series from start to finish.

And is the Ender's Game series finished now? Or is Card still dishing out books?

Speaking of Orson Scott Card, I'm curious if you know Pathfinder series. I know the first book in the series ("Pathfinder"). I've read the first chapter and I fell in love with characters and style. The story (and the main character's special ability) was quite intriguing, but I had no opportunity to read the next books. I suppose they may be really interesting.

When I see those book lists I'm all like "nope" :D
Anyway, it will be some time until I get around to even thinking about which series to read. Still have a few nice classics I haven't read yet (Hyperion & Endymion by Simmons and some others), so I'm going to think about it later on.

Finished "Ready Player One" and am now reading "Up in Honey's Room", by Elmore Leonard. I'm expecting to enjoy this one as much as I have enjoyed his other books I've read.

I was a bit disappointed with this book. Perhaps me and Ernest Cline have played different games being young and our nostalgia factors are just incompatible ;)

Currently I'm reading "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" by (you guess it) Arthur Conan Doyle. A nice collection of 13 short stories featuring the famous detective, published in 1905.

I'm not quite sure what to think about it, either. Entertaining enough, but it felt like a game dork's love letter to his childhood. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I think there were times when it was a bit too pointed and had references that worked better for those 'who were there', like me and my friends of the time.

But I did enjoy his love of the gaming / comics / anime stuff that we also love around here.

I've been reading the Silver Age Flash Omnibus, volume 1, which reprints a fat chunk of Flash stories from the late 50s to the early 60s. I wish I could say these are exceptions to the bland white bread stereotype people have of old DC comics, but they really are the epitome of that style.

The Flash is effectively omnipotent - within just a few issues of getting his super-speed powers, he's running faster than light speed like it's nothing and even shatters the time barrier in one issue. Because of the scale of his powers, the comics are pretty tame with respect to any real action because no one can possibly stand up to him in a fight. So the stories take the form of little puzzles in which the villain - usually a bank robber with a funny gimmick but occasionally Gorilla Grodd or alien invaders - confuses Flash somehow, and then once Flash figures out the problem, the story ends with him whisking the bad guy off to jail in one panel. There's almost no pathos or suspense. Just a super-fast guy having a good (but responsible) time being super-fast.

The stories almost always take place during the day with clear blue skies everywhere. None of that moody chiaroscuro stuff here.

Flash's civilian identity, Barry Allen, has only as much social life as required by the stories. He has a girlfriend, Iris West, who's patterned on Lois Lane in that she works at a newspaper and routinely bitches out Barry for being late to their dates (get it? Flash is super-fast and Barry's slow!). They do sort of start softening her after a while but in the early issues she's all but beating Barry with her shoe whenever she appears. Barry seemingly works alone as a police scientist. He has no boss and no coworkers who ever appear. Presumably DC's editors of the time figured the children in the target audience would get impatient with too much out-of-costume stuff.

The art is quite pleasant. Carmine Infantino was one of the best artists of the time and is particularly good at human anatomy. He's especially good with faces and his women are all elegant and gorgeous. Each issue is like an Audrey Hepburn movie with superpowers. The characters would probably be having very amusing and sophisticated times if it wasn't for the telepathic gorilla who keeps menacing the city.

So yeah, I wouldn't necessarily recommend these comics unless you have a historical curiosity like I do.