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[War Peaceman]

Just finished Pinball, 1973 by Murakami. Getting back into Lolita, which is absolutely wonderful to read but really hard to read for long stretches.

I'm really trying to squeeze in as much fiction this month before its back to research.

 

[EviLore]

The final two volumes could've been combined into one 500 page novel and it would have been a great duology. The first half of both of those books is an absolute slog.

Spoiler

And this is coming from someone who likes the series.

Yep. I could have looked past a lot of the issues if anything had actually happened in the first half of books two or three.

 

[Palmer_v1]

Finished up The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi after a marathon reading session tonight. The story lost me at times, but man if I didn't love every second of it.

Now onto some fantasy with The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley.

Purchased for Kindle. I just finished Ancillary Justice and needed something else to read.

If you think of it as shounen-anime-as-fantasy-trilogy, the repetitiveness and condescension suddenly makes so much more sense.

That makes too much sense. I like his books, but mostly due to the way he writes the action, and his world-building.

 

[Dash_]

Still enjoying myself slogging my way through the Culture series. Currently 150 pages into Matter, which feels like across between the medievil setting of Inversions mixed up with Use of Weapons.

 

[Necrovex]

If you think of it as shounen-anime-as-fantasy-trilogy, the repetitiveness and condescension suddenly makes so much more sense.

Truly the finest genre in this fine medium.

 

[aidan]

If you think of it as shounen-anime-as-fantasy-trilogy, the repetitiveness and condescension suddenly makes so much more sense.

Purchased for Kindle. I just finished Ancillary Justice and needed something else to read.

That makes too much sense. I like his books, but mostly due to the way he writes the action, and his world-building.

I've probably posted this before, but here's an essay from Django Wexler (who's fairly popular on these boards for his The Thousand Names series) about epic fantasy and Shounen anime: http://aidanmoher.com/blog/featured-article/2014/07/fist-sword-epic-fantasy-anime-django-wexler/

 

[Tragicomedy]

The Black Company is always the correct fantasy recommendation if you haven't read them.

 

[Bazza]

Yep. I struggled through Devices and Desires on a friend's recommendation and gave up halfway through the second book. Great concept, just very long winded. I rarely quit a series in the middle.



Black Company by Cook.
Malazon by Erikson.
Wheel of Time by Jordan.
Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss (not finished).
Stormlight Archive by Sanderson (not finished)

Finished the Black Company myself last month and I highly recommend the series, goes very high on my favourite fantasy list, possibly top.

 

[Mumei]

I've probably posted this before, but here's an essay from Django Wexler (who's fairly popular on these boards for his The Thousand Names series) about epic fantasy and Shounen anime: http://aidanmoher.com/blog/featured-article/2014/07/fist-sword-epic-fantasy-anime-django-wexler/

You did! I really liked it.

 

[Necrovex]

Some deity hid my Kindle Paperwhite, so it must be a sign that I should really avoid reading Wizard's First Rule.

I'll be focusing on Pluto, Buddha (manga), and continue to plow through Preacher.

Ditto. I liked the trilogy (I wouldn't say I liked the series, since I found Alloy of Law borderline unreadable), but that's largely based on the whole of the first book and the good parts of the latter two.

EviLore: I'm going to recommend you not try the Stormlight Archive series. (Not that you were likely to, but hey.) If you thought Mistborn was bloated...

There's some crazy DBZ-esque fights in Words of Radiance. Let him read it!

 

[nakedsushi]

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

I finished reading half of it and didn't want to slog through the other half, so I wikipedia-ed the whodunnit and am going to put it down. I'm disappointed with the direction it went.

I really liked Harry Potter, but not sure why I couldn't get into this, considering Harry Potter is just a series of mystery novels too. The writing just seemed to be too much in this book and the characters aren't that interesting and neither is the Strike & Robin relationship.

 

[grandwizard]

About 30% into this and loving it!

 

[Woorloog]

An ironic thing about the Mistborn is that Sanderson talks about not wanting, not being able to write a basic fantasy story with farmboy and whatever else (the standard hero's journey) in his Mistborn annotations. The irony is that the Mistborn series is a perfectly good example of the hero's journey, matching it pretty much perfectly, point to point. I do not know if Sanderson is aware of this.
Anyway, i reckon most who like Mistborn like the worldbuilding and the action, perhaps the characters (i don't actually like most of them), not Sanderson's writing. At least it isn't utterly terrible, i've see so much worse writing (like in every possible way) in published books.
EDIT at least, this is how i understood it. It could be that Sanderson had no problem with writing a basic hero's journey, just with the standard farmboy setting. Either way, Mistborn follow the structure rather directly.

---

Still struggling with Blue Mars. I like the Mars trilogy quite a lot but man... the final book drags on. Perhaps i simply remember it too well, i keep skipping pages. At times it (everything after the first few chapters) feels like a too long "Where are they now?" epilogue.

---

Not sure what to read afterwards. My re-read of ASOIAF stopped in mid book 3 part 2, and i have no interest in continuing it.
I might re-read Dune yet again though i read it like once per year, ever since i was... what, 12 (ie i've read it yearly for some 12 years easily now)?
Otherwise, no ideas. If i go to a bookstore or library, i check the blurb and i'm usually instantly turned off. And if i'm not, then i start wondering about it too much otherwise, or it ends up being something i think i don't like and therefore i don't want to read it.

 

[Markitron]

This seems as good a place as any to ask for a recommendation, if y'all don't mind. I'm in the mood of a good fantasy book/series. I haven't read a lot of the genre but I loved pretty much everything I have read. This includes:

Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit etc
A Song of Ice and Fire
The Riftwar and Serpentwar Saga (and the books inbetween them) by Feist
The Farseer Trilogy by Hobb

What's the next major fantasy series I should get to? I'm gonna read the Wheel of Time eventually but I'm looking for something slightly shorter for now.

 

[TheFightingFish]

Some deity hid my Kindle Paperwhite, so it must be a sign that I should really avoid reading Wizard's First Rule.

Ok...pack it in internet atheists and theists, no need to argue any more. We have proof via the above that not only does God exist, but also that they are a loving God who desires the best for us all.

Might be too harsh perhaps, the first book or two are probably not that bad. But the Goodkind novels are one of the worst examples of the stuff that I used to read as a teenager where I would just plow through crappy fantasy series after crappy fantasy series on pure momentum. I recall the moment of dawning for me in about book three or four when I realized that I was reading 700+ pages novels of generic fantasy where their defining feature was a ever increasing amount of sexual violence being perpetrated on the main characters. My limits might be a bit higher for this stuff than others, but this series started to get really legit creepy a few books in.

 

[ShaneB]

Always get like this after I finish a novel, and I have no idea what I'm in the mood for next. Just keep scrolling through what I have on my Kobo. I'll pick something tonight and just start.

 

[aidan]

This seems as good a place as any to ask for a recommendation, if y'all don't mind. I'm in the mood of a good fantasy book/series. I haven't read a lot of the genre but I loved pretty much everything I have read. This includes:

Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit etc
A Song of Ice and Fire
The Riftwar and Serpentwar Saga (and the books inbetween them) by Feist
The Farseer Trilogy by Hobb

What's the next major fantasy series I should get to? I'm gonna read the Wheel of Time eventually but I'm looking for something slightly shorter for now.

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams is a terrific next step for you. It's a completed trilogy and pairs nicely with Robin Hobb and A Song of Ice and Fire (Martin has said that Williams' trilogy was a huge influence on his series.) It begins with The Dragonbone Chair.

Also, if you're looking for something a little different, but still in the epic fantasy mold, try the Eternal Sky trilogy by Elizabeth Bear, beginning with Range of Ghosts.

 

[Markitron]

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams is a terrific next step for you. It's a completed trilogy and pairs nicely with Robin Hobb and A Song of Ice and Fire (Martin has said that Williams' trilogy was a huge influence on his series.) It begins with The Dragonbone Chair.

Also, if you're looking for something a little different, but still in the epic fantasy mold, try the Eternal Sky trilogy by Elizabeth Bear, beginning with Range of Ghosts.

Ok thanks, that sounds exactly like what I am looking for.

 

[Mumei]

aidan, have you read The Habitation of the Blessed? I just read your review of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship Of Her Own Making, and if you haven't read it, you really, really should!

 

[aidan]

aidan, have you read The Habitation of the Blessed? I just read your review of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship Of Her Own Making, and if you haven't read it, you really, really should!

Valente's adult fiction is a big hole in my reading, and something that I always mean to get to, but never make room for. Valente's work intimidates me a lot, as a reader and as a writer, for some reason, and I always feel like picking it up requires a piece of my attention that I'm not quite ready to hand over. In a lot of ways, I consider this a huge compliment to her work!

Also, I was a huge baby at the Hugo Awards afterparty and couldn't work up the courage to introduce myself to her. She seems very lovely, though.

 

[Necrovex]

Ok...pack it in internet atheists and theists, no need to argue any more. We have proof via the above that not only does God exist, but also that they are a loving God who desires the best for us all.

Might be too harsh perhaps, the first book or two are probably not that bad. But the Goodkind novels are one of the worst examples of the stuff that I used to read as a teenager where I would just plow through crappy fantasy series after crappy fantasy series on pure momentum. I recall the moment of dawning for me in about book three or four when I realized that I was reading 700+ pages novels of generic fantasy where their defining feature was a ever increasing amount of sexual violence being perpetrated on the main characters. My limits might be a bit higher for this stuff than others, but this series started to get really legit creepy a few books in.

God is dead. I found my Kindle after all. Now I am obligated to read some shit. Being the little Leftist I am, I am prepared to vomit.

Mumei, I am really loving Pluto. I need to have more of it now.

 

[aidan]

God is dead. I found my Kindle after all. Now I am obligated to read some shit. Being the little Leftist I am, I am prepared to vomit.

One day I'll tell the story of how Terry Goodkind personally got me fired from a job.

 

[Mumei]

Valente's adult fiction is a big hole in my reading, and something that I always mean to get to, but never make room for. Valente's work intimidates me a lot, as a reader and as a writer, for some reason, and I always feel like picking it up requires a piece of my attention that I'm not quite ready to hand over. In a lot of ways, I consider this a huge compliment to her work!

Also, I was a huge baby at the Hugo Awards afterparty and couldn't work up the courage to introduce myself to her. She seems very lovely, though.

Heh. I understand. I put off reading Don Quixote for almost a decade because of that; I've put off Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell since I got it for Christmas when I was in high school and found the writing too different from the silly serial murderer and or science fiction I was reading at the time.

I don't know if you saw this description I linked earlier where she describes the central concept (first-contact / science fiction novel dressed up as fantasy inspired by the myth and history surrounding Prester John's fantastical kingdom), but it's what first sold me on her.

Mumei, I am really loving Pluto. I need to have more of it now.

<3

How far are you?

 

[aidan]

Heh. I understand. I put off reading Don Quixote for almost a decade because of that; I've put off Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell since I got it for Christmas when I was in high school and found the writing too different from the silly serial murderer and or science fiction I was reading at the time.

I don't know if you saw this description I linked earlier where she describes the central concept (first-contact / science fiction novel dressed up as fantasy inspired by the myth and history surrounding Prester John's fantastical kingdom), but it's what first sold me on her.

I hadn't, but your brief description here is reduced enough to make me feel more comfortable read it! The connection to Prester John is funny, too, considering I'm re-reading The Dragonbone Chair, which features a character with the same name.

I have her novella, Six Gun Snow White, near the top of my to-read pile, but what really interests me is Palimpsest.

 

[lightus]

Finished up The Name of the Wind by Patrick Ruthfuss today. I really enjoyed the story! I've read quite a bit of criticism of the book, but I wasn't particularly bothered by a lot of the things brought up. Main problem I had with it is that it felt anti-climatic and a tiny bit drawn out towards the end. 4/5 for me. Ordering the next one in the series tonight.

Now I'm on to...I'm not sure. Was wanting to read some light sci-fi but I don't have anything currently on my bookshelf that fills that role. I'm a bit too impatient to wait for a new book to arrive by mail (two days without a book to read? Nooo thanks). As a result I'll probably just end up yanking whatever has been gathering dust on the shelf to read.

 

[aidan]

Finished up The Name of the Wind by Patrick Ruthfuss today. I really enjoyed the story! I've read quite a bit of criticism of the book, but I wasn't particularly bothered by a lot of the things brought up. Main problem I had with it is that it felt anti-climatic and a tiny bit drawn out towards the end. 4/5 for me. Ordering the next one in the series tonight.

Now I'm on to...I'm not sure. Was wanting to read some light sci-fi but I don't have anything currently on my bookshelf that fills that role. I'm a bit too impatient to wait for a new book to arrive by mail (two days without a book to read? Nooo thanks). As a result I'll probably just end up yanking whatever has been gathering dust on the shelf to read.

Get an eBook reader!

Then, read Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Aaron!

 

[Woorloog]

Get an eBook reader!

Then, read Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Aaron!

Scifi, about a merc? Hmm. Intriguing. Need to write that down...

EDIT this is ignoring the last few new (randomly picked) scifi books i read weren't very good or just not interesting. I'm skeptical.

 

[Mumei]

I hadn't, but your brief description here is reduced enough to make me feel more comfortable read it! The connection to Prester John is funny, too, considering I'm re-reading The Dragonbone Chair, which features a character with the same name.

I have her novella, Six Gun Snow White, near the top of my to-read pile, but what really interests me is Palimpsest.

I haven't read Six Gun Snow White, either. I really need to read the Orphan Tales books, but my library only has the second one and my book-purchasing habits have been rather manga-focused as of late.

Palimpsest was very good, but it felt rather light compared to even Fairyland, honestly. Maybe I was being shallow or not thinking about it hard enough.

 

[BrokenFiction]

One day I'll tell the story of how Terry Goodkind personally got me fired from a job.

Darn right you will. Spill!

 

[lightus]

Get an eBook reader!

Never! Actually, I've borrowed my mom's Nook and I just didn't enjoy it as much as having a physical book. I'm one of those people. : P

Then, read Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Aaron!

This I could do though. I'll check it out! Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Jag]

One day I'll tell the story of how Terry Goodkind personally got me fired from a job.

Here are some great quotes from the esteemed Mr. Goodkind. If other people are curious what a self righteous prick he is.

"First of all, I don't write fantasy. I write stories that have important human themes. They have elements of romance, history, adventure, mystery and philosophy. Most fantasy is one-dimensional. It's either about magic or a world-building. I don't do either." - Terry Goodkind

Actually that is exactly what he does.

"What I have done with my work has irrevocably changed the face of fantasy. In so doing I've raised the standards. I have not only injected thought into a tired empty genre, but, more importantly, I've transcended it showing what more it can be-and is so doing spread my readership to completely new groups who don't like and wont ready typical fantasy. Agents and editors are screaming for more books like mine"

He basically copied Jordan.

Edit: Oh and I don't think this guy likes him either!

 

[Haly]

Looool, that quote.

I remember that.

What an asswipe.

 

[Skilletor]

Goodkind is terrible. Truly, truly terrible.

 

[duckroll]

Dropped by the library today and picked up:
- City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer
- Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance
- Emphyrio by Jack Vance

I've heard so much about Vance but never read any of his stuff before.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Goodkind is a humble man compared to the great Nicholas Sparks.

"If you look for me, I'm in the fiction section. Romance has its own section. I don't write romance novels. Love stories &#8212; it's a very different genre. I would be rejected if I submitted any of my novels as romance novels."

"There's a difference between drama and melodrama; evoking genuine emotion, or manipulating emotion. It's a very fine eye-of-the-needle to thread. And it's very rare that it works. That's why I tend to dominate this particular genre. There is this fine line. And I do not verge into melodrama. It's all drama. I try to generate authentic emotional power."

"Hemingway. See, they're recommending The Garden of Eden, and I read that. It was published after he was dead. It's a weird story about this honeymoon couple, and a third woman gets involved. Uh, it's not my cup of tea." Sparks pulls the one beside it off the shelf. "A Farewell to Arms, by Hemingway. Good stuff. That's what I write," he says, putting it back. "That's what I write."

Cormac McCarthy? "Horrible," he says, looking at Blood Meridian. "This is probably the most pulpy, overwrought, melodramatic cowboy vs. Indians story ever written." Even hearing a passage about a sunset in which "the mountains in their blue islands stood footless in the void like floating temples" doesn't sway him.

Asked what he likes in his own genre, Sparks replies: "There are no authors in my genre. No one is doing what I do."

"No, it's the difference between Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet," he says. "Romances are all essentially the same story: You've got a woman, she's down on her luck, she meets the handsome stranger who falls desperately in love with her, but he's got these quirks, she must change him, and they have their conflicts, and then they end up happily ever after. The themes in love stories are different. In mine, you never know if it's going to be a happy ending, sad ending, bittersweet or tragic. You read a romance because you know what to expect. You read a love story because you don't know what to expect."

Fuck off, Mr. Sparks.

Nicholas Sparks is an Asshat, by USA Today

 

[Skilletor]

LMAO. Wow @ the McCarthy diss. That's incredible.

 

[jtb]

That's hilarious. I almost want to check out one of his books from the library now.

 

[Tragicomedy]

LMAO. Wow @ the McCarthy diss. That's incredible.

"I don't like to say bad things about others." Except McCarthy? "He deserves it," Spark says with a laugh.

The dude thinks he's a better writer than McCarthy. For real.

That's hilarious. I almost want to check out one of his books from the library now.

They suck. Everything he says about romances being essentially the same story about a woman down on her luck, meeting a handsome stranger, having quirks, conflicts, happily ever after...yeah every one of his books is exactly that. I've only read one, mind you, but I've seen the movie version of 3 of them and they all follow that formula completely.

 

[kobe(beast)]

I just finished the girl with the dragon tattoo series book 1-3. Is there any similar books with the same theme and atmosphere?

 

[Haly]

I liked The Notebook

Spoiler

film

.

Don't look at me like that.

 

[Kipe]

Dropped by the library today and picked up:
- City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer
- Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance
- Emphyrio by Jack Vance

I've heard so much about Vance but never read any of his stuff before.

The last book I read was the first book in Tales of the Dying Earth. I didn't enjoy it. The world seemed interesting at least.

 

[mephel]

So I stopped reading Foundation and branched away to read a book that is a little bit out of my comfort zone

I devoured half of the book in one evening, I feel like its written for a bit younger audience, but so far I enjoy it a lot.
I actually pace myself, I can't even remember the last time I paced myself while reading a book

Goodkind is terrible. Truly, truly terrible.

It has some terrifyingly bad writing, however I've read all the books when I was younger and I still do from time to time. Nostalgia I guess.

Never! Actually, I've borrowed my mom's Nook and I just didn't enjoy it as much as having a physical book. I'm one of those people. : P

haha, for the past year or so I only read books on my Kindle. So I thought it would be nice to have a physical book in my hands. On the third page ... hmmmm I wonder what does "germane" mean.
*my finger starts pressing the paper on the word "germane"*
.....
.....
*idiot*

 

[jtb]

The dude thinks he's a better writer than McCarthy. For real.



They suck. Everything he says about romances being essentially the same story about a woman down on her luck, meeting a handsome stranger, having quirks, conflicts, happily ever after...yeah every one of his books is exactly that. I've only read one, mind you, but I've seen the movie version of 3 of them and they all follow that formula completely.

Oh, I'm well aware. More for comedic purposes than anything.

 

[ShaneB]

Well, it's not Lonesome Dove, but it should give me a taste of his writing. Have wanted to read it for a while.

Now Reading...
The Last Picture Show: A Novel by Larry McMurtry

 

[sparky2112]

Nicholas Sparks, the Kenny G of novelists.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Actually that is exactly what he does.

He hates magic so much that he dedicated what, nine books to eradicating it from his story and then as a last deus ex machina uses magic to save it. wtf?

Oh wait, that's how all of his books end. I especially liked the book set in the world created just for those people who didn't want magic to exist that, at the end, had magic in it. He truly hates magic, folks.

The dude thinks he's a better writer than McCarthy. For real.

He uses punctuation so that's a leg up right there. Sadly it's not a very big leg, though. I started listening to the audiobook for "No Country for Old Men" and it's phenomenal. I usually listen to podcasts/audiobooks at 2x speed but I turned this one down to 1x so the nuances of the narration come through. I've read the book and seen the movie but this is even better. I can't even describe how much better.

 

[lightus]

Looking over my shelf I didn't see anything that really stood out so I'm going with Red Country by Joe Abercrombie. I've enjoyed all his other books in the series, even if it went downhill a bit after the trilogy.

 

[Skilletor]

Looking over my shelf I didn't see anything that really stood out so I'm going with Red Country by Joe Abercrombie. I've enjoyed all his other books in the series, even if it went downhill a bit after the trilogy.

You think? I only disliked Best Served Cold (by far his weakest book), but think his writing has improved tremendously. The Heroes was awesome and Red Country might be my favorite book of his.

I'm reading Half a King now, and I don't like it as much as his other stuff. Everything is moving way too fast without time to build up or have a reaction to events. Don't know if I'll read the other two in the trilogy.

 

[thomaser]

Finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. What a great book! Funny and tragic, fascinating and scary, with an amazing family-chronicle set partly in New Jersey, partly in the Dominican Republic when it was dominated by the dictator Trujillo. A quick read, but very satisfying. Becomes even better if you know your sci-fi and fantasy... there's a lot of references!

Now, onto another of those books that have collected dust in my bookshelf for years and years: Alexander Pushkin: The Collected Stories. I adore Russian 19th-century literature, and Pushkin was supposedly the one that started it all. I have the Everyman's Library edition (without the nice dust cover, though), which contains most of his short stories. It does not have his best known works, though - Eugene Onegin and the plays. I'll get to those later, no hurry. Anyone here who's read Pushkin? Is he as good as they say?

 

[lightus]

You think? I only disliked Best Served Cold (by far his weakest book), but think his writing has improved tremendously. The Heroes was awesome and Red Country might be my favorite book of his.

Yeah, I mean I enjoyed all of them but none of them really "gripped" me as much as the trilogy did.

It's more so that I just really really loved the trilogy. I enjoyed all the books, but in comparison they are weaker in my opinion.