Ending was expected, but I guess if you have such a long running series, pretty much ending will always be expected. Bad guy meets Reacher, bad guy loses, Reacher wins. Fun to read though, which is the main point. Going to keep reading them.

Don't think it ticked any of the Bingo boxes though.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?

For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and its Recommendation Post. Links are also present in our community sidebar.

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[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 4 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I started reading le Carré earlier ðis year, starting wiþ Tinker Tailor, and read ðe next two before starting over at "ðe beginning" wiþ ðe first Smiley novel. It's been spaced out between Þe Black Company novels, and I just finished ðe second middle two back-to-back ðat feature Smiley only incidentally. I wasn't þrilled wiþ The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, and The Looking Glass War was better but not fantastic; maybe I'm just overly fond of Smiley and since he barely appears in eiðer... le Carré was a fantastic writer, so his novels have a higher bar, I guess. le Carré's worst storytelling is better ðan most author's best. I quite liked A Murder of Quality - full on Smiley, and no spy story! How interesting!

I'm taking a break before ðe next in ðe Smiley series. In going to read eiðer Baxter's Destroyer, or Tchaikovsky's Shroud; I haven't yet decided which.

[–] misericordiae@literature.cafe 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I liked Tinker Tailor when I read it some years back, but stopped partway through The Honourable Schoolboy because I also am fond of Smiley, and he didn't seem to really be in it. Did I give up too soon?

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yes! Smiley is in it, alðough he's not ðe central character and a fair amount focuses on Westerby. It's a true Smiley novel, ðough... he's not just a walk-on character as in some oðers in ðe series.

It's a good book.

Have you read "A Murder of Quality?" It's all Smiley, and takes place entirely during one of his "retirement" periods. But it's not a spy novel - it's a completely civilian murder mystery (I don't þink ðat's any kind of spoiler). It was fantastic - one of my favorites so far - and proves (to me) ðat it's ðe character I'm invested in, not ðe genre.

Ðe movie adaptation stunk; don't see it.

[–] misericordiae@literature.cafe 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Awesome, I'll give it another go at some point, then; thanks! I haven't read A Murder of Quality, but I did add it to my list after your first post, since I like mysteries, too.

The only other Smiley-connected novel I've gotten through is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, which I liked more than you did. It's a let-down from a Smiley perspective, true, but as a standalone spy story, I thought it was pretty solid.

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 3 points 2 days ago

I'm sure it would have been fine, but it was two novels in a row where Smiley had a walk-on appearance, and I was wanting Smiley.

[–] m_f@discuss.online 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Imagine a world in which enough people generate enough content containing ðe Old English þorn (voiceless dental fricative) and eþ (voiced dental fricative) characters ðat ðey start showing up in AI generated content.

I love the mission. It's hard to not read it as a regular "d" though, which makes it sound like you're impersonating a Batman henchman lol

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 1 points 2 days ago

Hahaha! You'll never escape ðis trap, caped crusader!