'Sup fellow bibliophiles

[MrIndigo]

We have had Book threads in the past.

I'm sampling a whole range of old and new stuff at the moment.

I recently finished Book 1 of the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. While I'm not a huge fan of fantasy, Sanderson has become one of my favourite writers simply because he is very technical and knowledgable about the art of writing.

For example, he defined "Sanderson's First Law": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanderson's_First_Law - and his understanding of the concept shows in Mistborn. He goes to great efforts to weave details about the rules and limitations of his magical system (which is strangely scientific) into the plot, and it makes a big difference to the drama of the story.

I've just started reading the first Richard K Morgan "Takeshi Kovacs" book.

My favourite author is Iain M Banks, and if you have any interest in science fiction whatsoever you should absolutely get into his work. He is the best post-humanist science fiction author I have ever read (and I've read many). IMO, his best is "The Player of Games", but "Use of Weapons" (followed by "Surface Detail") is also very popular.

Also worth mentioning, since you Americans probably haven't encountered him, is Greg Egan. He writes science-fiction that's very heavy on the SCIENCE side. His latest, "The Clockwork Rocket", is an exploration of a universe in which the speed of light is not constant and production of light creates negative energy. It's explored from the perspective of amoeboid scientists, who discover their universe's equivalent of Einstein's General Relativity.

If you're into just-weird-but-awesome, you need Mark Z Danielewski's House of Leaves (still the best book I've ever read for sheer avante-garde prowess and creativity). Also mention David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest". Wallace is probably one of the greatest American writers who ever lived, and Infinite Jest is his opus.

EDIT: Also for the strange/abstract/conceptual tastes, Haruki Murakami is worth reading. He's basically Japanese Kafka (no seriously, all of his books read like Kafka).

EDIT 2: I really, really struggle with EPIC Fantasy and Scifi series. A Game of Thrones I just struggled to get into. I enjoy the TV show, but I couldn't sympathise with any of the major characters in the first book and couldn't get through it. I've read the first Dune, and struggled to get into the second one. I enjoyed Wheel of Time up until Book 4, then read Book 5 and 6, realised that Robert Jordan was stringing everyone along to get more mileage out of his series, declared to all my friends that he would die before he finished it because he had no intention of wrapping it up before he got every last penny out of it, and was promptly proven right, thus vindicating my decision to give up on it.

 

[Trax]

I've been enjoying the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett; the mix of comedy, historical references and fantasy (put together by a very intelligent author) makes for a great read.

On the topic of Battle Royale

 

[kittenmay]

If We was the inspiration for Orwell's 1984, I'm certainly going to have to look into it. 1984 is one of my all time favorite books.

Leviathan is great. It is a bit dense but its worth the work.

I just also finished the first book of the Mistborn series. I like Sanderson although the Mistborn series hasn't really appealed to me. I love his stand alone book Elantris. Have you read it?
Thanks for the recommendations for sci-fi, I will certainly look into them!
I love a Game of Thrones, but the first book was quite slow. I've never read Dune, but I've heard great things about it. And I really cannot stand the Wheel of Time series. There are whole books of the characters doing nothing at all, and its just absurd.

Terry Pratchett is a name that comes up a lot in my writing forums. Is that the best series by him, you think?

 

[X5Dragon]

No I haven't read Ender's game, I should check it out. I'm also into religious comparison and stuff like that, mainly Abrahamic ones.

 

[Trax]

Terry Pratchett is a name that comes up a lot in my writing forums. Is that the best series by him, you think?

It's basically his only series, there are nearly 40 Discworld books by him -- there are several series within the series though and a few stand alone stories that happen in the same universe but do not link up with the others (Small Gods for instance is virtually stand alone).

Wikipedia has a pretty good list -- what that table calls "groups" are basically the sub-series. You kind of need to read in some vague order for things to be fully clear (though I read Men At Arms first and it made perfect sense, however the Wizards/Witches/Death/Rincewind plots require a bit more background as they rely more on the discworld setting) however I do note that the first few books, while good, are a far cry from the best of the series.

 

[kittenmay]

What do you mean by religious comparison? I could probably help you out there.

Thanks for the help. I was unaware that it was just one large series. I'll certainly give it a shot!

 

[Myzozoa]

If We was the inspiration for Orwell's 1984, I'm certainly going to have to look into it. 1984 is one of my all time favorite books.

Leviathan is great. It is a bit dense but its worth the work.

I just also finished the first book of the Mistborn series. I like Sanderson although the Mistborn series hasn't really appealed to me. I love his stand alone book Elantris. Have you read it?
Thanks for the recommendations for sci-fi, I will certainly look into them!
I love a Game of Thrones, but the first book was quite slow. I've never read Dune, but I've heard great things about it. And I really cannot stand the Wheel of Time series. There are whole books of the characters doing nothing at all, and its just absurd.

Terry Pratchett is a name that comes up a lot in my writing forums. Is that the best series by him, you think?

Other than Good Omens there isn't much from him that falls outside of the Discworld. You have to read until you get to the witches. The witches are the best part of Discworld.

You guys who like Brandon Sanderson should check out The Wheel of Time, which is the best fantasy series I've ever read. It's 13 books long and each book is about 500-1000 pages, but it's so worth it. You won't even notice the length.

 

[kittenmay]

The Wheel of Time is the most moronic series ever. See above opinion

 

[Myzozoa]

Mr. Indigo's opinion is moronic. Do you really believe that authors don't write for money? All I can say is that the series is fantastic and anyone who bothered to look into the series knows that Robert Jordan actually put a lot of effort into writing the books. He was crafting an extremely detailed plot line that involves more characters than you can remember. So if taking the time to craft a realistically complicated universe is 'milking it' than yeah, he milked that shit hard.

 

[Cherub Agent]

Well, look at my username and guess what my favourite book series is...

Anyway, I've recently read Imperium and Lustrum by R. Harris, which I found extremely cool, especially since I've studied Cicero in Latin. It's not some boring-ass Latin story either, it's about a politicians rise to power in ancient Rome. OK, that may sound dull, but I assure you that it's a fascinating story. The last book ought to come out some time this year.

I really love fantasy book. Bartimeus, Star Wars, stuff like that is awesome. Read the Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, etc.

 

[MegaBuddha]

I've never been too into books.. There are few I've read and enjoyed.. Most of them are non-fiction: DMT: The Spirit Molecule, The 48 Laws of Power, How To Build A Dinosaur, A Brave New World.. When I was younger I read all of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings books.

 

[Nightmare Jigglypuff]

I don't consider myself a frequent reader of books, i just read them really quickly is all. One book that i finished today was Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Anybody else read that yet? The guy did a really good job of making it feel like a biography. He's also really good at tying up everything in a neat little bow, so to speak. Other than that as well as the hunger games series (the book is better than the movie,) i haven't actually been reading a lot of books lately, i should probably get back into that.

 

[Pernicious]

i haven't had much time to read lately, but i really love all of Nicholson Baker's novels. they are difficult to describe...Baker is at turns sheepish, obsessive, funny, perverted, meticulous, grandstanding, morose. The Anthologist is great for anyone interested in poetry or literature, and I'm halfway through The Fermata and loving it -- about a man who can stop time at will (mostly to take off women's clothes) , but, as most of Baker's work is, it's not really about the narrative. the best compliment i could give it is that i enjoy reading it and learning new things from it, i.e, it is now a tower into itself that is to reach to the heavens and be praised by critics, it is a conversation between the speaker and the reader. just ten minutes ago i was told that Gerard Manley Hopkins supposedly hypnotized a duck by drawing parallel lines of chalk in front of its beak. amazing.

 

[coolbiz]

HUNGER GAMES BOOOKKKKKKKSSSSSSSS, horrible(jk). I like those books with alot of pictures and that are funny like Diary of a Wimpy Kid.tehe

 

[Tayla]

I might be in the minority, but I didn't like The Hunger Games at all. It bored me, even with the deeper meanings behind it. I'm generally not a fan of teenage romantic melodramas wrapped up in "flashy" plots.

The last book I finished was Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik. It's her latest in a series called Temeraire. It's basically historical fiction of the Napoleonic wars, with air forces of sentient dragons. It's an amazing series, and anyone who likes authors such as Anne McCaffrey will probably adore it. Her personification of the dragons is incredible. The earlier books drag a bit, but it's well worth hanging on past the bumps.

 

[Hipmonlee]

I'm currently working my way through all the Discworld Books in order, because my flatmate has them all. My plan had been to alternate more serious books and Discworld books, but, having classes and homework means my reading time has been more biased towards easier reads, which the discworld books are great for, so I have been doing more like one serious book then 8 discworlds.

I am up to the last hero, but I cant find it on the bookshelf, so I need to find my flatmate and ask him about it.. He is kinda reclusive..

Anyway, if you want a starting place, I think Going Postal might be a good intro. I like the Ankh Morepork setting, it's pretty late in the piece and it is the start of a new series, so you dont miss much in the way of introductions, though there are of course some characters whose backstory might have been fleshed out more in previous books (the patrician is all I can really think of though, it was a while since I read that one).

 

[Trax]

Anyway, if you want a starting place, I think Going Postal might be a good intro. I like the Ankh Morepork setting, it's pretty late in the piece and it is the start of a new series, so you dont miss much in the way of introductions, though there are of course some characters whose backstory might have been fleshed out more in previous books (the patrician is all I can really think of though, it was a while since I read that one).

You miss the explanation of the golem situation too, not that it's a giant piece of the plot or anything.

 

[MrIndigo]

It's basically his only series, there are nearly 40 Discworld books by him -- there are several series within the series though and a few stand alone stories that happen in the same universe but do not link up with the others (Small Gods for instance is virtually stand alone).

Wikipedia has a pretty good list -- what that table calls "groups" are basically the sub-series. You kind of need to read in some vague order for things to be fully clear (though I read Men At Arms first and it made perfect sense, however the Wizards/Witches/Death/Rincewind plots require a bit more background as they rely more on the discworld setting) however I do note that the first few books, while good, are a far cry from the best of the series.

I should add that Discworld isn't so much a "series" as it is a collection of books set in the same world. There's a (loose) chronology involved, and several recurring characters and settings and so forth, but most of the books can be read independently; some are set up in triplets.

Mort - Hogfather - Reaper Man is a good trilogy (focused on Death).

The Nac Mac Feegle set of Wee Free Men, Wintersmith, A Hatful of Sky, I Shall Wear Midnight are also worth reading together.

The first two parts of the Moist Von Lipwig trilogy, Going Postal, Making Money (and coming soon "Raising Taxes") are excellent, among my favourites.

The first one that I read completely when first getting into the series was "Night Watch", which is one of the most popular of them and I would say the best one thus far (I would also recommend starting with this one before the Moist Von Lipwig set - it does a better job of introducing the city of Ankh-Morpork, it's history, and Lord Vetinari [my absolute favourite character]).

I also liked Small Gods, one of the earliest; and Monstrous Regiment is a good standalone one, particularly for female readers because of it's take on female protagonists.

There's a bit of a difference between the early and late Pratchett books. Initially, his stories were all humorous parodies of existing fantasy tropes, but over time his universe developed so much that the stories really became parodies of real life, transported to this fantasy setting. For that reason, I much prefer the later Pratchett books. The level of social critique (especially in Ankh Morpork) is really first-rate.

 

[MrIndigo]

Mr. Indigo's opinion is moronic. Do you really believe that authors don't write for money? All I can say is that the series is fantastic and anyone who bothered to look into the series knows that Robert Jordan actually put a lot of effort into writing the books. He was crafting an extremely detailed plot line that involves more characters than you can remember. So if taking the time to craft a realistically complicated universe is 'milking it' than yeah, he milked that shit hard.

You know what he could have done? Finished the fucking narrative, and then worked on the expanded universe. You know, like plenty of other successful authors. The beginning and end points of books 4 through 6 or 7 had all of the main characters in virtually the exact same place as when the book began. Most of the time was spent introducing new characters who had little relevance to the primary narrative and simply didn't need to be there. That's just bullshit writing. It wasn't so much 'milking' as it was 'padding'.

I'm not against artists making money from their work - but if their game is to wring me like a towel, I don't have to play.

Entertainment - be it books, drama, TV/film, video games, whatever - is a service industry these days, not a product industry. It is not at all good service to start your entertainment, and then be told "Actually, bro, just wait here for the next decade while I do some other shit that's not really related, but I'll pretend it is so I can keep billing you."

 

[Snorlaxe]

a pretty awesome website for bibliophiles is shelfari. it allows you to keep track of what youre reading, what you have read, and what you want to read. if youre a voracious reader like i am, then this is pretty fucking sweet!

 

[kittenmay]

Bartimaeus is great! No one knows that series and it makes me sad.

A Brave New World is most certainly not non-fiction.

Its okay, I really disliked the Hunger Games also, but it was more by virtue of her writing. The premise was interesting, but it made me feel like she was writing to 11 year olds and it really bothered me!

Also, i really have to agree with MrIndigo about this. There is literally no point continuing this specific story plot. Wrap it up and make another one in the same universe. Its just silly and painful to deal with all of these unnecessary books.

EDIT: Yeah, I like ASOIAF even though there are some really irritating parts of it!
I honestly hated the Inheritance trilogy, especially the last one. It was dreadful imo.

 

[Danmire]

Yay, Kittenmay, you read ASOIAF <3333
Those are one of my favorite books. I'm a huge sucker for fantasy.

I've read Eragon, and though some reviews on it are pretty bad, I never had a problem with it. I've actually enjoyed the first 3 books, now I'm reading the last one. Pretty good Dragon stuff. Tolkien is one of my favorite authors, man. I've already read the Hobbit and The Fellowship Of The Ring, and I can't express how much I love these books.

A good friend of mine is telling me to read the Hunger Games series, so I'm gonna check it out.

 

[Ivan_Starr]

Last two books I read were I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne and Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir by Dave Mustaine. I Am Ozzy was a surprisingly good read, I read it for the Black Sabbath stories in the 1970's but I enjoyed it overall, even the post-Sabbath stuff. Mustaine's book was cool too.

 

[darkie]

my aunt bought me a kindle touch a couple of weeks ago, so since then i've read the hunger games trilogy, which was pretty awesome if you get past the awkward choppy writing (i just attributed the style to the character in my head which made it easier for me to dislike her, but also easier for me to like the story); michael j fox's most recent book, which was a pretty good read; and i'm 87% through fight club.

 

[kittenmay]

I honestly cannot understand how people read on Kindles. They bother me so much D: