posted
I was rather delighted to discover that my favorite chapter of my current favorite book in my current favorite book series is not only available online, but rather stand-alone for being chapter 9 of a book. I think.
I'm the kind of person who gives too much information, makes everyone bored, and utterly fails at getting other people to try my favorite books and movies. This makes me sad, because I don't necessarily have bad taste, just bad people skills.
This chapter is pretty funny, and has a decent amount of exposition such that I don't think I would have to say much beyond the fact that it takes place on the planet Barrayar in the future (and is, hence, sci-fi). It could speak for itself. The downside is there are 26 characters who are mentioned at one point or another, and you miss 8 chapters of build-up that makes some of the bad things that happen even funnier.
So, reading this chapter having never read any of the books, are you totally lost? Are there any questions I could answer about the characters or provide info to make it easier. Would you read the next chapter or start at the beginning of the book? Could chapter read as a short story?
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Already read the book, so I can't answer any of your questions as I'm very familiar with Miles and his universe, family, and friends. This was one of the funniest of all the Miles books, I think.
My favorite book in the series, though, is Cordelia's Honor. It was more meaty. Miles is fun but a lot more frivolous than Captain Naismith.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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I don't bother. Nothing annoys me more than that one book a friend is always after me to read. Though you can appreciate the thought, there is too much pressure involved, and usually I either like the book and then wonder if I understand it or appreciated it more than the friend, or I don't like it, and start thinking about what the friend likes about it, and why they would. Either way, favorite books are just too much or not enough of a window into somebody's soul. When people act as if their favorite books are meant to represent their thoughts and feelings, I get uncomfortable with delving into that world to either not understand them, or alternatively, not know what I am learning about them, because their experience of the book will always have been different. So I steer clear of recommendations unless I really mean it, and even then, I don't try hard.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I thought the chapter was good, but I occasionally had trouble deciding if a character was being referred to by a less formal name or if it was a new person all together. Starting at the beginning would probably have been easier.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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In my circle of friends I have the biggest personal library, so I'm pretty used to people coming to borrow books from me. I don't have to go out of my way to get them to read the books. Although I have introduced several non-SF people to "Dune", the "Ender" series or Ph. K. Dick. For the first two it was a matter of telling my friends that the books were really good, and them hearing the same thing from other friends of mine who read the books. For Ph. K. Dick it was a case of me being certain that the person would like his style, and I wasn't wrong. At some point I guess it's just a question of telling the person "trust me, you'll like it". If they want to read it ok, if not, their loss. Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Although I have introduced several non-SF people to "Dune", the "Ender" series or Ph. K. Dick. For the first two it was a matter of telling my friends that the books were really good, and them hearing the same thing from other friends of mine who read the books. For Ph. K. Dick it was a case of me being certain that the person would like his style, and I wasn't wrong. At some point I guess it's just a question of telling the person "trust me, you'll like it". If they want to read it ok, if not, their loss. 
