There's three books in the series written by Harry Harrison himself and a fourth book that's a collaborated effort with a Russian writers Ant Skalandis and Mikhail Akhmanov. There's also a short story *The Mothball Spaceship*.
I've only read the first three.
Its a pretty good space opera, the main character has that Han Solo feel to him, he's smart, resourceful and not exactly a hero. It has just the right amount of darkness to it and adventure. I really like it, it poses certain questions you normally don't expect to deal with in these types of stories. Its a really great read.
Harry Harrison is also one of my favourite authors.
Also my personal recommendation, The Stars My Destination by Alferd Bester is one up there as one of my all time favourite reads, it is straight up space sci fi, its very dark, its extremely imaginative.
That all sounds really appealing. Dark with adventure is a lovely mix. Many thanks for the detailed recommendations. I think I'm going to have a lot of good options to hold me over the next month.
Ursula K. Le Guin does some of the best fantasy and science fiction around. It's typically about strange cultures.
A Wizard of Earthsea - Male main character in one of the coolest fantasy worlds out there. The second novel in the series switches to a female character, while the third has a different male protagonist.
Gifts - Think mutants but your power runs in the family.
The Dispossessed - Scientist/Mathematician from an anarchist planet decides that information should be free and tries to give share his discoveries with the capitalist twin planet.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Dude goes to a planet without gender as a sort of ambassador.
I might have to give Le Guin another look. I don't remember liking her stuff, but to be fair, i was 11 or something.
Gifts I've read already. Not bad.
If you liked that one, I'm going to have to counter recommend Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief series. Not sure why, but the 'taste' seems similar.
Cheers for your other picks as well!
Chronicles of the Black Company Should be everything you're looking for. Dark Fantasy, with little magic and no elves or dwarves. Reading is a bit confusing at first because its the stories of the main character as he see's them or hears them. Anything he writes down basically in their for hire mercenary group. No real good or evil, everything is very grey morality wise.
This... sounds very good. Entertaining with gray morality. Now we're talking.
I'm going to second Guy Gavriel Kay. With the exception of Ysabel, most of his novels should fit your criteria. I particularly recommend (in addition to Tiagana) The Lions of Al-Rassan. A bit of romance, but it enhances rather than detracts.
The earlier The Black Company novels from Glen Cook may be up your alley. Always found them very entertaining.
Also strongly suggest The Red Knight by Miles Cameron. Peter V. Brett's series starting with The Desert Spear. 2nd and 3rd book don't quite live up to the first, though.
There are also a huge number of David Gemmell novels to check out. Very much heroic fantasy. Romance elements tend to be cursory.
EDIT: Dammit Alric!
Haha. Multiple recommendations of the same book is a good sign! I'm keen to have a look at The Black Company. Your other recommendations sound on spot too. Thanks!
Samuil Petrovich trilogy of SF novels by Simon Morden just about ticks all those boxes.
- male lead, check
- minimal romancing (could hardly be called as such tbh, and not a major element)
- definitely injury. it's practically a theme of the series.
- serious with comedic touches.
they're not the oh wow best novels i've ever read but the first that spring to mind given your criteria. I had great fun with them and will definitely be keeping a look-out for subsequent books by the author. You can get the first 2 as a single volume for kindle. He does save a girl in the first book, but only by mistake.
Injury is a theme of the series, huh? You have my attention! ^_^
And, I'm in the market for anything that gave anyone a good time with those criteria. They don't have to be literary masterpieces, just memorable ones that are worth sharing. I like high, low, and all books in between. Thanks for letting me know about it!
