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[Herr K]

The Shining.

 

[Maklershed]

Will look into these!

Well I'm on a bit of a fantasy kick right now but I don't mind a mystery or two

Have you read The Mistborn series yet? Female lead, fantasy, cool magic system etc

 

[overcast]

Madeleine L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Frank L. Baum The Wizard of Oz
Frances Hodgson Burnett - The Little Princess
Mark Twain - The Prince and the Pauper

Thanks, a quick list. I really appreciate it. Going to do A Wrinkle in Time.

 

[jred2k]

The first two Dresden books IMO are crap. This book is awesome and sets the entire rest of the series. Even in the audiobook version Butcher gives the intro and admits that this book is where the series takes off.

I read Storm Front a few months back and I really disliked it. The way Dresden always just had enough magic in him/his utilities to make it out of peril really bugged me. I felt like none of the characters really offered me anything I hadn't read before, either. Hearing that it picks up in the third book has me intrigued, though. I did see potential in Dresden, though, so I may have to give the series another chance once I've gotten through some of the books I have ahead of me.

As a side note, does anyone have any recommendations for fictions that deals with either suspended animations or characters being in extended periods of lucid dreaming? Not like they wake up at the end and realize it was all a dream, but more along the lines living within a dream world. While typing this I realized I'm basically describing Inception, but I'd love to read a novel that is similar.

 

[Storm Chamber]

Paladin of Souls is a Hugo-winning fantasy novel by Lois McMaster Bujold that stars an older woman, the dowager queen, who sets off on a pilgrimage and finds herself in the midst of magic, mystery, and war.

It's the sequel to another novel I'm quite fond of, The Curse of Chalion, but I think it stands alone just fine. It does seriously spoil stuff from the first novel if you ever wanted to go back to it, though.

The Wee Free Men is a YA Discworld novel and has some crossover with those stories, but you don't need any prior knowledge of the world. It stars a young girl named Tiffany Aching, a no-nonsense, intelligent farm girl, who embarks on a Labyrinth-like adventure to defeat the Queen of the Fairies. It's YA, but it's also some of Pratchett's best writing IMO.

I haven't read a lot of fantasy lately, but these two stand out as excellent.

Three Parts Dead is a quick urban fantasy jaunt who's main character is a female necromancer. Not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but quite fun. Read the Amazon Look Inside for an idea of the general tone of the novel.

Have you read The Mistborn series yet? Female lead, fantasy, cool magic system etc

Thanks for all of these.

I see I've got some work to do!

 

[ampere]

I've been reading 'The Neon Bible' by John Kennedy Toole. I'm almost done, it's the first book I've read in a long time, over a year.

It's crazy that he wrote this when he was 16. I'm really enjoying it, interesting to see the perspective of a child growing up in Louisiana in the WW2 era.

 

[TTG]

This must be at least the third time I've seen praise for Wool here, looked it up and subsequently rolled my eyes at the description. Does is succeed in spite of that tired cliche premise or is it held up as some apotheosis of the subgenre(I think there are so many books/games/stuff seemingly going for the same thing that we might as well make a category out of it)?

 

[Bazza]

Finished The Well of Ascension this evening,

Spoiler

all looking very grim right now

, started on book 3 and im 30% through it already, just looked at the clock and I have been reading 3 hours straight, really hooked into the story and desperate to see how things turn out, guess im gonna be preoccupied at work all day tomorrow going over what I heave read in my head and seeing If I can guess what happens.

 

[Haly]

This must be at least the third time I've seen praise for Wool here, looked it up and subsequently rolled my eyes at the description. Does is succeed in spite of that tired cliche premise or is it held up as some apotheosis of the subgenre(I think there are so many books/games/stuff seemingly going for the same thing that we might as well make a category out of it)?

Which blurb/description did you read? I'm not familiar with the post-apocalyptic genre so I can't say whether it's that good.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Could I request recommendations for books that have female leads?

Mine has an ensemble cast but one of the main protagonists is female.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Have you read The Mistborn series yet? Female lead, fantasy, cool magic system etc

Seconded

I read Storm Front a few months back and I really disliked it. The way Dresden always just had enough magic in him/his utilities to make it out of peril really bugged me. I felt like none of the characters really offered me anything I hadn't read before, either. Hearing that it picks up in the third book has me intrigued, though. I did see potential in Dresden, though, so I may have to give the series another chance once I've gotten through some of the books I have ahead of me.

As a side note, does anyone have any recommendations for fictions that deals with either suspended animations or characters being in extended periods of lucid dreaming? Not like they wake up at the end and realize it was all a dream, but more along the lines living within a dream world. While typing this I realized I'm basically describing Inception, but I'd love to read a novel that is similar.

Agreed on Dresden. Read the first and didn't grab me. Haven't gone back. Also read the sample of Butcher's fantasy and wasn't feeling that either. Not sure what's wrong with me.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

This must be at least the third time I've seen praise for Wool here, looked it up and subsequently rolled my eyes at the description. Does is succeed in spite of that tired cliche premise or is it held up as some apotheosis of the subgenre(I think there are so many books/games/stuff seemingly going for the same thing that we might as well make a category out of it)?

Felt the same re 'not another post apocalypse book' but have it a read in January. 5/5 stars. Very well done imo and definitely changes up some assumptions.

Edit - oh shit triple post

 

[TTG]

Which blurb/description did you read? I'm not familiar with the post-apocalyptic genre so I can't say whether it's that good.

The one that talks about humanity surviving in vaults(no wait, the metro. No, no: silos!) in a post apocalyptic world. All talk of the outside is, of course, forbidden etc. etc. I can see an outline of huge parts of the plot unfolding in my mind as I read that, not a good feeling going into a book.

Felt the same re 'not another post apocalypse book' but have it a read in January. 5/5 stars. Very well done imo and definitely changes up some assumptions.

Edit - oh shit triple post

Maybe I'll take a look at it. At least go through the Kindle sample.

 

[Haly]

The one that talks about humanity surviving in vaults(no wait, the metro. No, no: silos!) in a post apocalyptic world. All talk of the outside is, of course, forbidden etc. etc. I can see an outline of huge parts of the plot unfolding in my mind as I read that, not a good feeling going into a book.

Ah, I'm curious as to what kind of story you think it is, because without going too deep into spoiler territory, I'd say Wool is conspiracy thriller.

 

[Tragicomedy]

This must be at least the third time I've seen praise for Wool here, looked it up and subsequently rolled my eyes at the description. Does is succeed in spite of that tired cliche premise or is it held up as some apotheosis of the subgenre(I think there are so many books/games/stuff seemingly going for the same thing that we might as well make a category out of it)?

Wool is very good, surprisingly so. Unexpectedly so. The sequel, Shift, meanders a bit and lost me somewhat. The conclusion, Dust, is excellent.

I think the series is very much worth reading. It didn't feel cliched or generic at all to me.

 

[FUBAR McDangles]

One thing about the Darktower: If you're you're going to read it at all, don't stop until you get to the second book. The first book has its strong points (great atmosphere, and cool setting), but it is very different from the rest of the series. King wrote it when he was in his early 20s before he was famous, and the style is so different from his normal writing that it almost feels like a totally different person at times. The second book was written much later. It is more typical of King, and much better (imo). Luckily, the first book is also very short so it won't take you long to get through it and get into the better stuff.

After that the style continues to evolve. Since the series basically spans his whole career, the books at the end are different stylistically from the books in the beginning. Sometimes the changes can feel kind of abrupt if you're reading the books very close together.

Despite these issues, I personally think the Dark Tower series is King's best work, but based on your earlier comments, you might not like the ending. People tend to either love it or hate it. I loved it, but I also liked the Salem's Lot ending just fine.

Also... For the first book, King did a slight revision on it in 2003 to bring it a little more in line with the rest of the series. That's probably the copy you want to get.

Oh jeez. My interest is skyrocketing. I also did a quick look at the wikipedia entry and without reading much I found that this series is pretty heavily connected to the rest of his books. So I look through the titles and see that not only is it connected to Salem's Lot but also to The Stand - two books I have read in the last month or two. I continued reading and I see that

Spoiler

Father Callahan from Salem's Lot becomes a main character in the Dark Tower? And the Dark Man is prominently featured for a little bit?

Now I HAVE to read it. I'll wait until summer though. I don't like reading consecutive books in a series back to back so I'll probably flip-flop between that and either all of the Bourne books I've suddenly found myself with or some Jack Reacher books. Probably both.

It surprised me with how often they strangled each other into unconciousness as a 'joke' (several times while driving) and also how often they started bar fights as an illustration of their inability to cope with boredom when not training or fighting ... and ironically their capacity to cope with it while in action or rather incredibly long periods of inactivity whilst in a state of heightened concentration ...

This I already suspected thanks to some books I have read on Delta but yeah it is a bit eye-opening for sure.

 

[Laughing Banana]

GAF, recommend me good end-of-world/apocalyptic scenario/world-scale disaster novels please.

I am at the beginning of Jose Saramago's Blindness right now.

 

[Krowley]

Oh jeez. My interest is skyrocketing. I also did a quick look at the wikipedia entry and without reading much I found that this series is pretty heavily connected to the rest of his books. So I look through the titles and see that not only is it connected to Salem's Lot but also to The Stand - two books I have read in the last month or two. I continued reading and I see that

Spoiler

Father Callahan from Salem's Lot becomes a main character in the Dark Tower? And the Dark Man is prominently featured for a little bit?

Now I HAVE to read it. I'll wait until summer though. I don't like reading consecutive books in a series back to back so I'll probably flip-flop between that and either all of the Bourne books I've suddenly found myself with or some Jack Reacher books. Probably both.



This I already suspected thanks to some books I have read on Delta but yeah it is a bit eye-opening for sure.

Yeah, the Dark Tower is basically the centerpiece of his career. Another book that connects heavily is "It".

Also, I'm a big fan of the Bourne books (at least the Ludlum ones) and Reacher books as well, so maybe our tastes are pretty similar overall. You should probably give The Dark Tower a try.

 

[WarrenMax007]

Are there any good sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll fiction novels? Not some shitty erotic bullshit, but normal proper books? Preferably set in 00s, but 80s and 90s will do.

 

[Haly]

I am at the beginning of Jose Saramago's Blindness right now.

RIP your emotions.

Are there any good sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll fiction novels? Not some shitty erotic bullshit, but normal proper books? Preferably set in 00s, but 80s and 90s will do.

This has to be the strangest book request I've ever encountered.

 

[WarrenMax007]

This has to be the strangest book request I've ever encountered.

Why?

 

[Haly]

Why?

The specificity of it is catching me off guard, particularly the combination of "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" and "Not some shitty erotic bullshit". The timeframe you're asking for also seems to conflict with the rock 'n' roll thing.

It sounds more like a research topic than a novel recommendation.

 

[Wafflecakes]

Can someone recommend me a series that is either SciFi or Fantasy to dive into?

I want something more in depth than say The Maze Runner or The Hunger Games............. yet not as involved or heavy as A Song of Fire and Ice or Wheel of time.



Honestly. I have been reading the same handful of authors for 10+ years now. Half of them are dead and most of the rest have stopped producing books I like.

 

[WarrenMax007]

The specificity of it is catching me off guard, particularly the combination of "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" and "Not some shitty erotic bullshit". The timeframe you're asking for also seems to conflict with the rock 'n' roll thing.

It sounds more like a research topic than a novel recommendation.

Ok. Let me explain. By "Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll" i meant something like Almost Famous, Detroit Rock City and Californication (not books, but it's the same theme).
And by "Not some shitty erotic bullshit" i meant not romance/erotic/female novels. Because when you go on Goodreads, and try to look for some books in this vein, all you get is some bad-boy rocker smut novels. I don't need this shit.

 

[Haly]

Can someone recommend me a series that is either SciFi or Fantasy to dive into?

Historical Fantasy: Temeraire series
Medieval Europe Fantasy: Kingkiller Chronicles (forgive me padre for I have sinned)
High Fantasy: The Immortals series
Satirical Fantasy: Discworld series
Urban Fantasy: Iron Druid series

Post Apocalyptic Scifi: Silo series
Space Opera Scifi: Expanse series
Hard Scifi: Foundation trilogy and related works
Cyberpunk: Sprawl trilogy

 

[Ceebs]

Historical Fantasy: Temeraire series
Medieval Europe Fantasy: Kingkiller Chronicles (forgive me padre for I have sinned)
High Fantasy: The Immortals series
Satirical Fantasy: Discworld series
Urban Fantasy: Iron Druid series

This is a very good list except I have never even heard of The Immortals. Temeraire is quite good but I would space them out. I burnt out trying to marathon them. Iron Druid is shockingly awesome. I did not have high hopes, but ended up[ marathoning the series in a weekend.

 

[Piecake]

Can someone recommend me a series that is either SciFi or Fantasy to dive into?

I want something more in depth than say The Maze Runner or The Hunger Games............. yet not as involved or heavy as A Song of Fire and Ice or Wheel of time.



Honestly. I have been reading the same handful of authors for 10+ years now. Half of them are dead and most of the rest have stopped producing books I like.

The Riyria Revelations by Michael Sullivan is good, fun stuff

Blood song is also excellent. Only one book out so far though.

 

[Haly]

This is a very good list except I have never even heard of The Immortals. Temeraire is quite good but I would space them out. I burnt out trying to marathon them. Iron Druid is shockingly awesome. I did not have high hopes, but ended up[ marathoning the series in a weekend.

It's written by Tamora Pierce, who is a very prolific YA fantasy auth--WAIT, BEFORE YOU THROW UP--it's not the Twilight kind of YA, but the kind that was actually good, like Ender's Game.

I don't think this series is particularly special but it fits his criterias and it was lying around in my kindle library.

(Iron Druid got boring after precisely two books.)

 

[Salsa]

is it worth reading The Martian if I got it mostly spoiled?

I assume so, with people considering it a good book

 

[Wafflecakes]

DP

 

[Wafflecakes]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will pick at least one of them up.




Anyways. More on topic.

I just read The Maze Runner trilogy in preparation for the movie this fall. The first book was pretty good, but DAMN was there a drop in the second and third books. It wasn't even that the quality of the writing dropped, but rather that the concept wasn't strong enough to sustain that many books.

I met the author a few years back and he seemed like a nice guy. So I will still keep an eye on his work.

 

[Zero315]

The last two books I read. The Fault in our Stars just destroyed me, great book. Dialogue can be a bit unbelievable at times, but whatever.

It's Kind of a Funny Story is a book I've been meaning to get to for a while. As someone who suffers from depression the beginning was kind of a tough read, but also a bit miraculous in the way that the author figured out how to put all these feelings into words that I've never been able to. I thought it would be focused more on the actual stay in the hospital, but I really liked and appreciated how in depth he went into trying to make a reader who hasn't dealt with it understand. I really enjoyed it, but the enjoyment was bittersweet knowing that the author committed suicide a few months ago.

 

[rudieboy77]

It's written by Tamora Pierce, who is a very prolific YA fantasy auth--WAIT, BEFORE YOU THROW UP--it's not the Twilight kind of YA, but the kind that was actually good, like Ender's Game.

I don't think this series is particularly special but it fits his criterias and it was lying around in my kindle library.

(Iron Druid got boring after precisely two books.)

I was kinda hoping the Iron Druid series was good.

 

[Ratrat]

Im halfway through Way of Kings and one thing is really bothering me. Why do people think this is good? It moves at a snails pace and the dialogue is pretty embarassingly dreadful. Kaladin is really the only storyline that is interesting.

Fantasy kind of sucks.

 

[Meteorain]

Historical Fantasy: Temeraire series
Medieval Europe Fantasy: Kingkiller Chronicles (forgive me padre for I have sinned)
High Fantasy: The Immortals series
Satirical Fantasy: Discworld series
Urban Fantasy: Iron Druid series

Post Apocalyptic Scifi: Silo series
Space Opera Scifi: Expanse series
Hard Scifi: Foundation trilogy and related works
Cyberpunk: Sprawl trilogy

Iron Druid over Dresden?

Although

Spoiler

Atticus would punk Dresden any day of the week

Damn, that's a bit fucked up. Although granted the first few Dresden books are a bit weak.

 

[Derwind]

Just finished feed. A great novel by a great author, it melds zombie culture with modern technology, journalism and a "house of cards"-esque political background.

I give it 4.5/5 stars. The ending hurt so bad so I take away .5 of a star because why Mira Grant WHY?!!

The true rating is 5/5!!!

Its also a great starter zombie book, I'm certainly new with zombie novels but this was an easy read to get into, not too much horror or suspense but just enough.

Currently the book I'm reading and sequel to Feed. A little too much of the CukCoo, crazies so far but with good reason. Read the first book to understand.

And finally, the finale and book ill be reading in the future... BLACKOUT..

End.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Im halfway through Way of Kings and one thing is really bothering me. Why do people think this is good? It moves at a snails pace and the dialogue is pretty embarassingly dreadful. Kaladin is really the only storyline that is interesting.

That's a pretty large, all-encompassing "one thing," wouldn't you say?

Fantasy kind of sucks.

LOL. No need to generalize or anything there...

 

[ShaneB]

Well, so much for maybe sticking in space.

Now reading..

 

[Mackenzie 92]

Im halfway through Way of Kings and one thing is really bothering me. Why do people think this is good? It moves at a snails pace and the dialogue is pretty embarassingly dreadful. Kaladin is really the only storyline that is interesting.

Fantasy kind of sucks.

you're reading the wrong fantasy bro.

 

[Jimothy]

Im halfway through Way of Kings and one thing is really bothering me. Why do people think this is good? It moves at a snails pace and the dialogue is pretty embarassingly dreadful. Kaladin is really the only storyline that is interesting.

Fantasy kind of sucks.

Fantasy authors usually seem more interested in creating universes than writing good characters and dialogue. It's a problem I've run into with most of the fantasy/sci fi stuff I've read recently; Dune being the prime example.

 

[MacNille]

Guy Sajer, Forgotten Soldier

I have really wanted to read this one for a long time. The war memoirs from a solider who fought in the Gross Deutschland division in WW II is a good read so far. That he is also half french (his mother is german so that is why he got drafted) give also a unique perspective into a Landser (what the German soldiers where called) and how he saw the war.

 

[Haly]

I was kinda hoping the Iron Druid series was good.

It's alright, it's not... mastercraft urban fantasy or anything (what is?), but middling, sitting comfortably between the extremes of Hunger Games and ASOIAF.

Now, a genuinely good urban fantasy series (that's also dead due to lack of popularity and sales) is Twenty Palaces. I was legit shook when I finished reading all the books.

Iron Druid over Dresden?

Dresden is shit, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Iron Druid is at least kind of fun for 2-3 books.

(I don't really have the inclination to "wait" for a series to pick up. It's not like manga where I can marathon 50 chapters in a single day, and I did allow Butcher two books with which to give me something worthwhile. He failed.)

 

[BriareosGAF]

The Founding Brothers is excellent so far though. It is turning out to be one of my favorite history books. It has a great balance of narrative and insight. Very entertaining and compelling/interesting.

That does look awesome, will add it to my stack. Have you ever read Thomas Paine's Common Sense anthology from the Library of America? I really enjoy just perusing the letters in it, you get this wonderful sense of how interconnected the personalities were at the time.

 

[aidan]

Fantasy authors usually seem more interested in creating universes than writing good characters and dialogue. It's a problem I've run into with most of the fantasy/sci fi stuff I've read recently; Dune being the prime example.

Read some:

Gene Wolfe
Emma Bull
Jorge Luis Borges
Elizabeth Bear
Lois McMaster Bujold
Catherynne Valente
Lavie Tidhar

Then revisit this idea.

 

[Secret Fawful]

What a brilliant, nasty piece of work. This has to be the most malevolent haunting I've ever read in a fictional story. I shuddered at so many parts of this, like when

Spoiler

Belasco turned into a horrifying warped visage of Barrett and proceeded to torment his wife

, or the various things

Spoiler

Belasco did to Florence

. Just wow. Powerful psychology at work too.

 

[ymmv]

Paladin of Souls is a Hugo-winning fantasy novel by Lois McMaster Bujold that stars an older woman, the dowager queen, who sets off on a pilgrimage and finds herself in the midst of magic, mystery, and war.

It's the sequel to another novel I'm quite fond of, The Curse of Chalion, but I think it stands alone just fine. It does seriously spoil stuff from the first novel if you ever wanted to go back to it, though.

Both books are terrific but I think The Curse of Chalion is the better book, so I'd read that one first. I haven't yet read the third book in the Chalion series. I heard that it was not as good as the first two, that put me off reading it.

 

[Piecake]

That does look awesome, will add it to my stack. Have you ever read Thomas Paine's Common Sense anthology from the Library of America? I really enjoy just perusing the letters in it, you get this wonderful sense of how interconnected the personalities were at the time.

Nope, I will put that on my list though. Thanks

 

[Chorazin]

Dresden is shit, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Iron Druid is at least kind of fun for 2-3 books.

(I don't really have the inclination to "wait" for a series to pick up. It's not like manga where I can marathon 50 chapters in a single day, and I did allow Butcher two books with which to give me something worthwhile. He failed.)

I absolutely cannot agree with any of this. In my opinion, both series are excellent, action packed thrill rides (although Dresden is admittedly beginning to wane), with smart and fun characters. If you're the person who likes only "high" fantasy it's simply not going to be for you.

That doesn't mean they're bad books, simply not books you enjoyed for whatever reason.

 

[Haly]

That doesn't mean they're bad books, simply not books you enjoyed for whatever reason.

Never said they were.

I didn't enjoy them after two books because they became too formulaic/predictable. Dresden is every noir detective cliche crammed into a typical urban fantasy setting. Iron Druid is like if someone thought American Gods was a pretty neat idea and decided to make a series about Anglo-Saxon mythology references.

 

[Empty]

Read some:

Gene Wolfe
Emma Bull
Jorge Luis Borges
Elizabeth Bear
Lois McMaster Bujold
Catherynne Valente
Lavie Tidhar

Then revisit this idea.

it's funny to see borges in this rebuttal as to me he is like the dictionary definition of someone who cares more about universes than characters and dialogue

he explodes the idea that this is always a bad thing, though few writers have his imaginative gifts and even fewer have his restraint.