Justin G
Member
I soldiered through all three books in that trilogy and was not impressed at all.
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- Thread starter Rakosh
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I soldiered through all three books in that trilogy and was not impressed at all.
Yippee38
Living the dream!
I found this page: http://www.glencook.org/index.php/Instrumentalities_of_the_Night
Thinking of the religions and countries as medieval religions and countries makes it much easier. I was going to create a map for reference.
I did find that after getting through the first few chapters, the book reads really easily, and is compelling.
BenMech
student of the d'eh
Although I'm reading the Bill Bryson book . . room by room, I am about 40% through the audiobook of Gaiman/Pratchett's Good Omens in the car, and really enjoying it. The library also has The Graveyard Book, but should I try to find anything else by Neil first? (for the car).
Btw, love this book so far.
Btw, love this book so far.
Justin G
Member
DarkOne
Black Belt in Sarcasm
I've always checked this thread now and then, but over the last few days I actually read it (all 35 pages) in its entirety. When you read it en masse there are a few observations that jumpt out at you:
* We (the PP community) read a lot of books. Glenn reads a sh#@&oad of books.
* I've read a good number of the books in the thread, so I think I was able to pull some good future recommendations from the thread.
* I realize how gunshy I've become to starting yet another HUGE and convoluted series. I think The Wheel of Time burned me out, and I gave up on that after "Crossroads of Twilight" when I realized that I would have to reread the series for a 3rd time to figure out what the heck was going on. Well, that and RJ spent 700 pages per book talking about women smoothing out their skirts. I have no desire to finish the series, even though I love Sanderson. I've been able to tackle series with a finite number of books (Simmon's Hyperion quadrilogy, Mistborn trilogy) or 'lighter' reads (Hobb's Assassin/Fool/Ship series), but couldn't bring myself to get back into the huge ones open-ended ones. I'll rectify that now
* Because of this burnout, I have both "A Game of Thrones" and "The Lies of Locke Lamora" sitting on my bookshelf. I've heard raves about both. I need to decide which series to tackle. I have tons of other books to read, but I'll start one of those as well.
* Pellaz thinks almost every author is "a nice guy/girl". Except Mercedes Lackey. Oh, and he has received a lot of recommendations from Kirk Hammet. Of Metallica.
* People here should check out Paperback swap. http://www.paperbackswap.com
In case you haven't heard of it, it's a place to swap books through the mail. I've been using it for a I've been using it for 2 years now and I'm really impressed. It's free, and you can find a lot of good things on there. If you sign up and use me as a reference, I get a book credit. (PM me for link). However, even if you don't use me as a reference, I think it's a great site for getting new books cheaply, and more importantly for helping you to get rid of all the books sitting on your shelf once you've read them.
Thanks for all the recommendations!
Oh, and I'm currently reading China Mieville's "The Scar". He is a recent discovery for me, and I loved Perdido Street Station. Hopefully this second one (for me) holds up as well.
Steve in Philly
* We (the PP community) read a lot of books. Glenn reads a sh#@&oad of books.
* I've read a good number of the books in the thread, so I think I was able to pull some good future recommendations from the thread.
* I realize how gunshy I've become to starting yet another HUGE and convoluted series. I think The Wheel of Time burned me out, and I gave up on that after "Crossroads of Twilight" when I realized that I would have to reread the series for a 3rd time to figure out what the heck was going on. Well, that and RJ spent 700 pages per book talking about women smoothing out their skirts. I have no desire to finish the series, even though I love Sanderson. I've been able to tackle series with a finite number of books (Simmon's Hyperion quadrilogy, Mistborn trilogy) or 'lighter' reads (Hobb's Assassin/Fool/Ship series), but couldn't bring myself to get back into the huge ones open-ended ones. I'll rectify that now
* Because of this burnout, I have both "A Game of Thrones" and "The Lies of Locke Lamora" sitting on my bookshelf. I've heard raves about both. I need to decide which series to tackle. I have tons of other books to read, but I'll start one of those as well.
* Pellaz thinks almost every author is "a nice guy/girl". Except Mercedes Lackey. Oh, and he has received a lot of recommendations from Kirk Hammet. Of Metallica.
* People here should check out Paperback swap. http://www.paperbackswap.com
In case you haven't heard of it, it's a place to swap books through the mail. I've been using it for a I've been using it for 2 years now and I'm really impressed. It's free, and you can find a lot of good things on there. If you sign up and use me as a reference, I get a book credit. (PM me for link). However, even if you don't use me as a reference, I think it's a great site for getting new books cheaply, and more importantly for helping you to get rid of all the books sitting on your shelf once you've read them.
Thanks for all the recommendations!
Oh, and I'm currently reading China Mieville's "The Scar". He is a recent discovery for me, and I loved Perdido Street Station. Hopefully this second one (for me) holds up as well.
Steve in Philly
Justin G
Member
Read A Game of Thrones if you want to read one of the best fantasy novels ever, but if you're burned out on long-running, convoluted series, that is definitely not one to pick up. It's like beginning an abusive relationship.
I would sugest anything by Guy Gavriel Kay if you want high-caliber fantasy without a long committment. I think he's probably closest to Martin in terms of intelligence and real emotion in his storytelling.
I would sugest anything by Guy Gavriel Kay if you want high-caliber fantasy without a long committment. I think he's probably closest to Martin in terms of intelligence and real emotion in his storytelling.
booB
Señor Member
The Scar is a less-interesting story, but it is better-written than Perdido Street Station. PSS is, quite obviously, the product of a young and inexperienced writer, whereas The Scar shows much improvement in China's writing skill.
I used to be a rather voracious reader, but I'm in a slump right now -- I'm in the middle of something like five or six books right now and haven't finished one in months. I'm not sure what brought this on, but it's really frustrating.
Some of the books I started reading and put down for one reason or another:
Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali
The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson
annnnd Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh.
Anyone have any remedies/suggestions for which book to trek through first? I'll never progress through my endless "to-read" list at this rate.
Seconded - everything else I've read from him so far hasn't really been able to measure up.
I'm not sure what brought this on, but it's really frustrating.Some of the books I started reading and put down for one reason or another:
Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali
The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson
annnnd Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh.
Anyone have any remedies/suggestions for which book to trek through first? I'll never progress through my endless "to-read" list at this rate.
Seconded - everything else I've read from him so far hasn't really been able to measure up.
Just finished Black Dhalia by James Ellroy. A fantastic book. It is my first foray into crime fiction and I found it to be quite rewarding. I'm not sure how other books are, or how Ellroy's other books are, but this one becomes as much of an exploration of character as it is about the actual crime itself. Highly recommended.
Pellaz
Tigron of Immanion
No kiddin'. Where does he find the TIME?!?!
'Cause they ARE! Well, except maybe for Richard Pini.
In fairness to "Misty," she was a guest at Dragon*Con this past summer and there were NO reports of secret assassins lurking about, NO reports of tantrums and NO reports of membership badges being thrown around. Apparently, she "got better."
Oh, and he has received a lot of recommendations from Kirk Hammet. Of Metallica.
Forever and a day ago, nowadays, but Kirk batted a thousand with his book recommendations. (Summer of Night, Boys' Life and one or two others.) Praise be to the bookworms!
Truer words were never spoken. Damnit, I'd realllllllllly like to know how that story ends.
+1
I'd also suggest Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, Thorn series, which begins with The Dragonbone Chair. Great books...and I'm still kicking myself for not getting those cover illustrations from Michael Whelan when I had the chance. (Missed them by no more than a week; all sold out.)
DarkOne
Black Belt in Sarcasm
Thanks.
I've read Kay's "Tigana" after much hype. I thought it was pretty good, but perhaps not worthy of all of the praise. I've also read the (very large) Tad Williams series you reference. Pretty good, but not breaking any ground.
Steve in Philly
I like GGK, but he has a lot of hits and misses. I liked Lions of al-Rassan the best, but Last Light of the Sun was so boring I couldn't finish it, and I didn't particularly like the Arthurian trilogy either. With regard to Tad, MST isn't my favorite series from him - it's Otherland. (Most people discovered him with MST; my first was Tailchaser's Song when I was a kid.)
Greg Keyes has a good (and complete!) quad out that starts with The Briar King - not groundbreaking either, but a very satisfying read with good prose.
Justin G
Member
Just got an ARC of the new Matt Taibbi book Griftopia, about the financial collapse. I loved his articles in Rolling Stone, and I expect this to be just as good.
Pellaz
Tigron of Immanion
I'd have suggested Otherland, but I thought the OP was looking for high fantasy-types series.
Otherland was great -- and completely not what I was expecting after reading the blurb on the back of the first book. (And it was STILL great.
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