The Books/Reading Thread

[Death Aflame]

I just finished House of Leaves (finally) and started reading Beyond Good and Evil as well as Tolkien's Children of Hurin. Honestly, I wish I was reading more this summer, but alas I have not had as much free time as I have had in the past.

 

[wandering_taco]

Same here, I havent really read at all this summer, so today I began reading The Jesus Incident by Herbert(author of Dune) and some other guy.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

i thought he was talking to the person reading the WOT series

Nah, my name ain't Jeremy. That's just some kinda stupid american name. I have an awesome finnish name, that is also an anagram for evil.

 

[unknown]

I'm going back and forth between these two:

 

[Einherjar86]

I just finished House of Leaves (finally)

What did you think of it?

 

[Cythraul]

Currently reading Utilitarianism: For and Against by J.J.C. Smart and Bernard Williams. Utilitarianism can suck my balls.

 

[Winter.]

Still reading The Unquiet by John Connolly. Haven't done much reading lately.

 

[Vacant_Planets]

I just finished the Republic.

 

[Black Friday]

I'm looking for some good dark fantasy. Any of you have any recs?

 

[no country for old wainds]

steven erikson is the fucking ultimate in dark, gritty epic fantasy, total genius. start with the first in the series 'gardens of the moon', which is good, then go on through the awesomeness of 'deadhouse gates' and 'memories of ice' and you'll fall in love with the series

also try glen cook's 'the black company', which was arguably the first of many modern novels to actively pursue a new level of ambiguity and grit in dark fantasy

 

[Einherjar86]

I'm looking for some good dark fantasy. Any of you have any recs?

no country already said one good one. Steve Erikson is a very good writer, and his Malazan Book of the Fallen series is great gritty fantasy. It's realistically violent without seeming forced. The story is somewhat over the top, but it's still a fun read.

Personally, I would recommend you the following authors as well.

George R.R. Martin
His Song of Ice and Fire series is a fantastic story as well as an example of phenomenal writing. He's very post-modern, but writes in a third person limited style that makes the story more engaging and believable. His characters are realistic and very developed, and they continue to develop through the series.

R. Scott Bakker
His Prince of Nothing trilogy is an awesome gritty fantasy about a holy war. But it's not only about a holy war; there's a lot more to it. The characters in this story are realistic and extremely tragic. There is no perfect person. The story is incredibly epic. It will be continued in the upcoming Aspect Emperor trilogy.

steven erikson is the fucking ultimate in dark, gritty epic fantasy, total genius. start with the first in the series 'gardens of the moon', which is good, then go on through the awesomeness of 'deadhouse gates' and 'memories of ice' and you'll fall in love with the series

also try glen cook's 'the black company', which was arguably the first of many modern novels to actively pursue a new level of ambiguity and grit in dark fantasy

I'm halfway through Deadhouse Gates. It's very good, but almost too much at times. Still, the narrative and storyline are very cool. I bought Memories of Ice, so it's waiting.

Either Glen Cook or Joe Abercrombie are next. I've heard great things about both.

 

[Black Friday]

Alright I'll be checking out all those names on my next trip to the library.

 

[no country for old wainds]

scott bakker is great, definitely check him out. as i've said before i don't like george r martin (based on one book), he's been the most popular fantasy author of the last few years though.

honestly i don't think people tend to properly get into erikson until the end of deadhouse gates, or even the middle of memories of ice. personally i think his best one is book 5 of the series midnight tides, but i love everything from deadhouse gates onwards - DHG is better on the re-read. my fave character isn't even introduced 'til book 4. i seriously couldn't live without erikson despite his various faults, he's had an absolutely massive impact upon my worldview, far more than any other artist ever has i think

 

[S<issors]

Erikson is fun, but his world is full of so much flamboyant magical stuff and ridiculous names that it's difficult to ever take it seriously, at least for me. He also breaks out some pretty overwrought prose on occasion.

One of Martin's best traits is that he keeps all the intrigue rooted in a mostly realistic, albeit medieval, setting; his most stereotypical fantasy moments (the stuff with the invading ice dudes, particularly) are his weakest- although I do like the Dani storyline, dragons or no. He's not perfect, either, though- at least shit happens in Erikson's fiction, A Feast For Crows was the fictional equivalent of water-treading.

 

[Crimson Velvet]

steven erikson is the fucking ultimate in dark, gritty epic fantasy, total genius. start with the first in the series 'gardens of the moon', which is good, then go on through the awesomeness of 'deadhouse gates' and 'memories of ice' and you'll fall in love with the series

Both Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice had me crying like a girl...

 

[S<issors]

I didn't like how Erikson pulled his punches, though. Yeah, a main dude dies, but some birds resurrect his soul or some shit... and magical healing crops up later in the series to ill effect.

Either Glen Cook or Joe Abercrombie are next. I've heard great things about both.

I read the prologue to Abercrombie's first book and did not dig it whatsoever. Admittedly, prologues often suck (see George R.R. Martin...), but Abercrombie's "ACTION!" scene thing was just very lame. I hear good things in general about the man, though.

Glen Cook is entertaining. He's the king of weird-ass pacing, but I find it kind of charming (at one point in his first Black Company novel, after the characters have been marching for pages, they take a city in a sentence). There's also an obnoxious antihero protagonist guy with a dumb name, but fortunately he is not the main character/narrator.

 

[tagradh]

steven erikson is the fucking ultimate in dark, gritty epic fantasy, total genius. start with the first in the series 'gardens of the moon', which is good, then go on through the awesomeness of 'deadhouse gates' and 'memories of ice' and you'll fall in love with the series

also try glen cook's 'the black company', which was arguably the first of many modern novels to actively pursue a new level of ambiguity and grit in dark fantasy

Toll the Hounds needs to come out ffs. I'm normally not that into fantasy, unless its sci-fi/fantasy kinda stuff, but this series owns.

I read Tim Severins Viking series the past few days and thought it was pretty great. Anyone know if his non-fiction stuff is worth reading?

 

[waif]

Reading list for next week, which will be spent in a cabin in the adirondacks:

Barack Obama - Faith Of My Fathers
John McCain - Dreams From My Father (I might have gotten those 2 wrong, something about fathers)
The Thirteen Gun Salute (one of those Jack Aubrey books, I don't read 'em but it was given to me so what the hell...)
PD James - The Murder Room - don't usually read mysteries, but this was for my birthday, so I'll give it a go.
Susanna Clark (I think) - Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell vol 1-3 (this was given to me for my birthday by a friend who says it owns.)

 

[tagradh]

Over the next few days I'm gonna prolly go through:

Alastair Reynolds - Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days
David Weber - Off Armageddon Reef
Dan Simmons - Ilium (read it not so long ago but was mostly when drunk and things so I'm sure I missed out on alot)
Philip K Dick - Dr Bloodmoney (and prolly re-read a load of his other books as he is one of the greatest authors eveeeeeeer)
Peter Benchley - Island

 

[S<issors]

Susanna Clark (I think) - Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell vol 1-3 (this was given to me for my birthday by a friend who says it owns.)

I almost bought this book, but some creepy bearded guy appeared behind me in the bookstore and whispered "Don't waste your money..." while I was debating whether or not I should. I opted to follow his advice on the grounds that he was a creepy bearded guy.