Fred the Barber Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 The Ocean at the End of the Lane is beautiful. Definitely read it. There are a handful of amazing fantasy authors I can't recommend enough: - Scott Lynch. There's a lot less magic in Scott Lynch's works than in a lot of fantasy, but there's also a lot more style. His heroes are not magicians: they're the best con men you'll ever hear about. His quantity of output is definitely a little iffy (I think he had several years of writer's block), and his only series is incomplete, so if you don't like reading incomplete stuff, maybe don't go for him... But if you can accept that you're not getting the whole entire story right now, nor for a large number more years (maybe not ever), you should go start reading The Lies of Locke Lamora right now. - Brandon Sanderson is the king of modern fantasy, IMO. His world-building is bettered perhaps only by Terry Pratchett, but unlike Pratchett, his works are serious (which I don't say as a negative - just a difference). Putting magic into the world, and making it systematic and believable, is his forte - it may not sound like much, but if you see it in action you'll probably appreciate it. He is also ridiculously prolific, so if you like what you read, there's a hell of a lot more out there. Mistborn is a good starting point to see if you like his style. My favorite is probably his novella The Emperor's Soul, which you can easily read in a few hours. - Brent Weeks has one complete series (The Night Angel trilogy) and one nearly-complete series (Lightbringer) under his belt. I've talked about The Night Angel earlier in this thread, but basically, it's extremely compelling (he just pulls you through the pages), and it's the only series I can recall reading that gets better with every chapter. The ending is gorgeous. I just finished the first Lightbringer book yesterday, and it's looking like it will be even better than the Night Angel series - I think he's picking up some of Sanderson's influence in terms of systematizing his magic, because Lightbringer does a way better job with magic than Night Angel did. Kenshin_sama 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenshin_sama Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Thank you very much as well. Gosh, I'm seriously excited to read these. I'll try going to the library sometime this weekend to see if they have any of them (they probably will). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getsuya Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I just started up the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. This is my first foray into historical fiction and man am I loving it. My favorite thing so far is one of the crooked officers keeps saying 'says so in the scriptures' to back up the most horrendous things. Anyway the books are set around the Napoleon era and are about a hapless private in the British army. I assume he at some point becomes a hero and goes on to have all kinds of adventures and battles but for now he's at the absolute bottom of the heap, barely managing to hang on to his life (more because of dirty army politics than because of enemies trying to kill him). It's exciting, gritty, real stuff. I keep finding excuses to go out for long walks so I can listen to more of it (I'm listening to the audiobook version, highly recommended). The strange thing is, the last book on tape I listened to where the reader had a heavy British accent was Alice in Wonderland, so it's kind of a shock going from an innocent children's story to an incredibly bawdy and dark war story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Bought the whole The Maze Runner quadriology in a box set (even though I know another prequel is in the works), though I'll finish up Graham Priest's Logic: A Very Short Introduction first. I have decided to drop Dan Simmons' Hyperion for the time being. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B0X0R Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Been reading Lost on Planet China. I am fairly entertained by it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Still reading Logic: A Very Short Introduction. I finished the first Maze Runner book, and I also borrowed two more A Very Short Introduction books from the school library: Particle Physics and Socialism. I'll also borrow Capitalism somewhere down the line. I'll go "one Maze Runner- One Very Short Introduction- one Maze Runner" and so on. I want to read a grand space opera, so I am planning to restart Hyperion after I go through all six books (three in Maze Runner, three in VSI). Also Isaac Asimov is a fucking GENIUS. (Just read The Last Question) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uni Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Is it ok to ask for recommendations based off light novels? Was just looking for a book with similar characters and dialogue from Gekkou, cynical/sarcastic characters with some mystery thrown in there. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Finished Logic: A Very Short Introduction. Moving on to The Scorch Trials (The second book of The Maze Runner). I borrowed Mostly Harmless (by Douglas Adams) from the library today, so that's what I'll be doing after I finish Socialism: A Very Short Introduction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arakura Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 The Name of the Wind. Read it! Everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suikashoujo Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Lately, after reading Fight Club, I've been reading everything by Chuck Palahniuk that I can get my hands on. Right now I'm reading Lullaby, which is pretty interesting ,to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Lately, after reading Fight Club, I've been reading everything by Chuck Palahniuk that I can get my hands on. Right now I'm reading Lullaby, which is pretty interesting ,to say the least. IIRC he has a book about a woman who fucks 600 men consecutively on camera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arakura Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 IIRC he has a book about a woman who fucks 600 men consecutively on camera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 ....................... Anyone read House Of Leaves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Anyone read House Of Leaves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suikashoujo Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 IIRC he has a book about a woman who fucks 600 men consecutively on camera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExtraMana Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 still reading the resident evil novels. Its not high art but my days of reading acceptable literature are long gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 That he does. Haven't gotten to it yet, but I have to admit I'm curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Finished The Scorch Trials, then went and binge-read The Death Cure in two days. SC was nearly as good as I remembered, 8.5/10. DC was disappointing, 6/10. Also, the prose was VERY annoying: *X happens* Thomas: "OH SHIT NO X HAPPENED" End of chapter: "X had happened". Annoying, but I guess that is what I deserve after diving into YA books after trying to read Hyperion. Started Socialism: A Very Short Introduction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suikashoujo Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Finished The Scorch Trials, then went and binge-read The Death Cure in two days. SC was nearly as good as I remembered, 8.5/10. DC was disappointing, 6/10. Also, the prose was VERY annoying: *X happens* Thomas: "OH SHIT NO X HAPPENED" End of chapter: "X had happened". Annoying, but I guess that is what I deserve after diving into YA books after trying to read Hyperion. Started Socialism: A Very Short Introduction. That's why I've pretty much stopped reading YA fiction at this point. All of them feel the same to me, and the writing is so dry compared to other books out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 That's why I've pretty much stopped reading YA fiction at this point. All of them feel the same to me, and the writing is so dry compared to other books out there. I have read Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Lord Of The Rings (Favorite part being the Appendices at the end of RotK), Foundation, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep and Dune over the last year (not only those). All of them had damn good prose. (Though LotR and DADoES were a bit slow for me) Now I can't go back to YA, I just can't. I like their over-the-top stories, full of action, etc. but the prose is SOOOOOOO BLAAAAAAAAAAAND. I can tolerate it if the story is real good (The Hunger Games blew my mind in sixth grade, maybe Battle Royale to an extent(not sure if this counts as YA), The Knife Of Never Letting Go was uniquely amazing, GONE (by Michael Grant, look it up, great series, changed my life when I found a fan group related to it on Facebook in sixth grade) is superb, etc.), but when the story is slow this simplicity of the writing sticks out, and painfully so. I am almost completely ignorant as to what communism/capitalism/socialism are (though I just did a little research on Reddit), hence why I am reading a book on introduction to socialism (and will later read a book from the same series for capitalism). To be frank, I am not sure I am understanding half of what I read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 I forgot to mention, but I'm a big fan of mystery. Mostly Agatha Christie works, specially the ones including Poirot. And Then There Were None (also goes by two other archaic names) is definitely one of my favorite mystery/thrillers of all time. Took quite a while to get started, but once it picked up... man... That's why I've pretty much stopped reading YA fiction at this point. All of them feel the same to me, and the writing is so dry compared to other books out there. They are all very similar. :/ I completely agree. Once the Hunger Games hit the shelves dozens of copycats popped up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suikashoujo Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 And Then There Were None (also goes by two other archaic names) is definitely one of my favorite mystery/thrillers of all time. Took quite a while to get started, but once it picked up... man... Oh yeah, I read that not too long ago for the first time. I would second your recommendation; it was a lot of fun to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Oh yeah, I read that not too long ago for the first time. I would second your recommendation; it was a lot of fun to read. I read the comic book adaptation of that (foolishly), it was pretty damn good even in that format. The ending man, the ENDING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 I read the comic book adaptation of that (foolishly), it was pretty damn good even in that format. The ending man, the ENDING There's a comic book adaptation? *googles furiously* I even enjoyed the old black and white movie. Parts of it were a drag, but they switched up the ending a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autumn13 Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 I haven't read a novel in a while. Though my favorite series when I was younger was the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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