On Reading...

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mattrock

New member
Okay, so I posted a topic the other day about the black library and which of its offerings was decent. I guess I\'ll expand on that now.

I\'ve been looking for some good stuff to read from some new authors and or series\' that I haven\'t chanced into yet. I\'m big into fantasy and generally not so much into SF, but I\'ll make the occasional foray. I\'m looking for your opinions on the best books/series\' out there in the fantasy genre.

Some of my favorites:
The Malazan Book of the Fallen Series
The Kingdom of Thorn and Bone Series
The Farseer Trilogy
The Prince of Nothing series

And my all-time favorite books and in my opinion perhaps the best written series of all time: A Song of Ice and Fire

Those I dont like:
The Wheel of Time series
The Dragonlance chronicles

As you\'ve probably discovered if you\'ve read any of my favorites, I tend to be drawn to character-driven stories with a lot of depth and grit. I like to feel like I\'m reading a big boy book. The Dragonlance Chronicles felt like children\'s lit to me. (sorry if you enjoyed them). So what\'s good if you have similar tastes?

Or...expand my tastes. What would you recommend?:idea:
 
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johnboyjjb

Active member
The Belgariad?
Ender\'s Game?
Brian Jacques? - He\'s pretty childish but I like him anyway
John Marco - Jackal of Nar
JV Jones - The Baker\'s Boy
George RR Martin
 
M

mattrock

New member
Originally posted by johnboyjjb
The Belgariad?
Ender\'s Game?
Brian Jacques? - He\'s pretty childish but I like him anyway
John Marco - Jackal of Nar
JV Jones - The Baker\'s Boy
George RR Martin
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Read Ender\'s and thought it was fantastic. Also covered GRRM with the Song of Ice and Fire, again, in my opinion, the greatest series penned by the hand of man.

John Marco - I\'ve seen some of his books and the covers have aroused some curiosity in me. What can you tell me of his gooduns? Tell me a little of what you like of these guys.
 
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Evil Dave

New member
Jhereg - Steven Brust

A story about an assassin that touches on the criminal side of a fantasy world with none of your usual Tolkien fantasy creatures, No orcs, no goblins, no trolls or dwarves.

The books are relatively quick reads with very dry wit, and for so little pages seems to immerse you completely in this world. Everyone I\'ve ever loaned them to have absolutely loved them.

Not overtly deep, but you definitely notice the main character changing over the series as he questions his actions, especially as his wife an ex assassin starts to find him and his line of work distasteful.
 
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Evil Dave

New member
Originally posted by mattrock
Thanks Dave. That\'s the kind of information I\'m looking for. I\'ll have to check that one out.
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Oh, they aren\'t Tolkein by any means, but they are very original and very fun to read.

And another thing: The books are NOT in chronological order, which gives a strange sense of excitement since since the characters mention a major thing in the past that happened, and a couple books later, it\'s the story of what happened, almost kind of a \"Pulp Fiction\" like feel to it.
 
No Such Agency

No Such Agency

New member
I\'m not a big fantasy fan but \"The Lions of Al-Rassan\" was pretty cool. Not your typical fantasy either... it almost teaches you *shudder* history ;)
 
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lono

New member
I\'m not such a fan of fantasy stuff, or at least not much of it, so I\'ll throw out some alternatives.

For SF goodness I think you can\'t really go wrong with William Gibson, particularly as you say that you like things gritty and character driven. He\'s best known for Neuromancer, which is great, but I would have to recommend his more recent novels. They have been particularly good and relevant in my humble opinion. Oh, and The Difference Engine, his collaboration with Bruce Sterling is an amazing bit of steampunk writing.

You might also like Richard Morgan\'s books. I\'ve only started reading him recently, but I\'m really impressed with his skill at crafting gritty SF that\'s bursting with good ideas.

As for expanding your tastes a bit, Neil Gaiman is well worth a try and possibly my favourite author. His work certainly has a lot of fantasy elements, but tends to be mixed with real world things, fairy tales and a good serving of history and religion too. American Gods, Neverwhere and Anansi Boys are probably my favourites. His short story books are worth a look too.
 
Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
Staff member
I have to agree wholeheartedly with lono William Gibson & Niel Gaiman both brilliant writers. Although Some of Gaimans work can be a little dark and disturbing and maybe not to your Maiden Aunt Mabels taste.

I\'d also like to recomend a writer I\'ve recently discovered, Scott Lynch with \"The Lies of Locke Lamora\". A differing approach to the Fantasy genre, gritty and in places rather darkly funny.
 
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johnboyjjb

Active member
The Belgariad is David Eddings doing the standard fantasy thing. I think they are classic fantasy that almost anybody will at least be able to finish and enjoy to some extent.

John Marco wrote the Jackal of Nar which to me is a little less convoluted version of G RR Martin.

JV Jones and the Baker\'s Boy starts a series. Like the Belgariad, it\'s a boy who can do \"magic\" but doesn\'t really know it. The Belgariad is fine for kids, the Baker\'s Boy is a lot more graphic.
 
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mattrock

New member
Originally posted by lono

As for expanding your tastes a bit, Neil Gaiman is well worth a try and possibly my favourite author. His work certainly has a lot of fantasy elements, but tends to be mixed with real world things, fairy tales and a good serving of history and religion too. American Gods, Neverwhere and Anansi Boys are probably my favourites. His short story books are worth a look too.
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I\'ve read some Gaiman and I agree that he does show considerable aptitude for storytelling. I\'ve only read American Gods, but it was interesting enough that I may pick up Anansi.

Thanks for all the input guys. That\'ll give me a few places to start looking in. And I may just give some of Lono\'s SF a try. :)
 
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mattrock

New member
btw, for any of you who like a little intelligence in your reading and enjoy a little fantasy every now and then, I strongly recommend you take a look at the ones I listed above.

As I mentioned in the first post, I\'m a big GRRM fan and I mostly found the others while looking for something to read in waiting for A Dance With Dragons to be released.

The Prince of Nothing was written by a new author, Scott Bakker and has a distinctly eastern feel to it. Not very Tolkeinien but bears striking similarities in feel to GRRMs work. The greatest part is that the series is done so there\'s no waiting. The first book is called The Darkness that Comes Before.

The Kindgdoms of Thorn and Bone is a four part series, again, finished, that starts off with the Briar King. The author is an anthropologist and you can tell, as he really weaves a very believable world around his characters.

And I can\'t say enough about Erikson\'s Malazan Book of the Fallen. You can enter this series in a number of different places, but the best is probably with Gardens of the Moon. Very large cast (again reminiscient of GRRM), character driven plot and vast in scope. These books rather redefine the idea of epic. For those who read SF primarily, this would be a fantastic series to look at as it parallels more of the good SF that I\'ve read than the fantasy.

Thanks again for the input guys. Thought I\'d return the favor if any of you are in the market for some new stuff.
 
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philologus

Subgenius
Originally posted by mattrock
vonnegut? sounds like a stomach condition. Can you elaborate?
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Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Some novels by him:
Sirens of Titan
God Bless you Mr. Rosewater
Deadeye Dick
Cat\'s Cradle
Slaughterhouse Five
Breakfast of Champions

He was a social satirist who used absurd science fiction mechnisms as vehicles for his ideas. Great fun to read. His books go by quickly and leave you wanting more. I absolutely disagree with his worldview in every way but am inexplicably fond of his work.

WIKI


Read Breakfast of Champions first. It\'s a good intro to his style and the major recurring characters in all his works.
 
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Thunderhawker

New member
Vonnegut is fun, I have to admit.

For me, I love SF and fantasy, but there is one book out there written by a spanish author named Paulo Coelho.
The Alchemist
I am also a fan of Max Brooks\' World War Z and anything in the black library that Dan Abnett wrote.
 
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Legacy Account

Active member
Seconded on Vonnegut, Gibson and Banks.

Try Irvine Welsh, Chuck Palahniuk, John Fowles, Anthony Burgess, Hunter S Thompson, Bret Easton Ellis and Joe R Lansdale.
 
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Jazz is for losers

New member
CHeck out THE ETCHED CITY, very good book.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Etched-City-K-J-Bishop/dp/0330427105/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200508770&sr=8-2
 
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