|
If you want westerns, start at the beginning. Read Shane and The Virginian.
|
| # ¿ Jun 15, 2012 19:01 |
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 21, 2013 07:33 |
|
|
Doomsayer posted:Okay, I need some new recommendations for work. My job entails sitting around until a customer pulls up, I give them a brief speech, then I go back to reading. The problem is that thee interruptions make reading deep books hard, as I lose my place and get distracted. Anyone have recommendations for some good, light, adventure-y stories? Something maybe with some big drat heroes who slay the villain. Just something to kill time on work days where I don't have to think too terribly hard. Fantasy or sci-fi would be a plus, but I'll read anything. I don't want to have to re-read John Dies at the End again If you haven't read Dresden Files, read Dresden Files. If you have read Dresden Files, try maybe Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber, Robert Asprin's Myth series (first five or six books only), maybe some Terry Pratchett. Hell, go back to the source and read Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories. Gil's All-Fright Diner Johannes Cabal the Necromancer Jim Hine's Goblin Quest books The Misenchanted Sword by Lawrence Watt-Evans Bridge of Birds
|
| # ¿ Jun 25, 2012 18:49 |
|
(mostly because I already did yesterday)
|
Wrecking Ball posted:
The Clan of the Cave Bear series maybe? I haven't read them since I was like twelve but they're the Big Thing in pre-historic fiction I think.
|
| # ¿ Jun 28, 2012 12:03 |
|
|
Kneel Before Zog posted:I am looking for a book about an atheist who dies and it turns out there actually is an after life. Something like him ending up in hell or some sort of other variation of the afterlife. Ghormengast is basically a huge technical case study in Setting. If you really like the idea of a book that's entirely Setting, you'll like Ghormenghast. It's the sort of book that most readers probably wouldn't like but literary critics, professional writers, literature professors, etc., are going to find really interesting. It also has a lot of really, really esoteric words in it. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at Jun 29, 2012 around 13:38 |
| # ¿ Jun 29, 2012 13:34 |
|
|
Dr. VooDoo posted:So this is an odd little question but are there any books that feature a super-scientist like main character or protagonist? Like Dexter's Labortory style super genius. I'm guessing there isn't but I figured I'd ask just to see if any thing is out there like that The first thing that springs to mind is Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, but he's a necromancer, not a scientist. Similar Sooopergenius vibe though.
|
| # ¿ Jul 1, 2012 20:17 |
|
|
Do the two characters have to be male and female? Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is about the relationship between two British magicians, who find themselves enemies, friends, etc., and brought together and chased away from each other by turns as their relationship changes over time. Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin is definitely "two main characters brought together by circumstance on a quest." Sortof laurel & hardy meets fantasy wizards.
|
| # ¿ Jul 6, 2012 15:49 |
|
|
wheatpuppy posted:Elizabeth Moon writes a lot of female protagonists, mostly scifi but The Deed of Paksennarion is fantasy and a real standout. On the YA/fantasy front, almost anything by Robin McKinley would qualify. The only problem with the Deed of Paksenarrion is that if you've ever read a 1st edition D&D sourcebook it's a bit predictable: she even gets her magical warhorse when she hits fourth level, etc. It's otherwise a good book just very much "this is the story of my D&D character". It's hard to find explicit "warrior women" that aren't "chicks in chainmail" or "strong female characters". Most strong female characters in fantasy end up being magicians or some variant thereof. For fantasy I'd recommend the second volume of Ursula K. Leguin's Earthsea trilogy, The Tombs of Atuan, any of Terry Pratchet's witch series (Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Carpe Jugulum, several others) or Tiffany Aching series (basically a YA version of the witch books). Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones has a strong female protagonist also. Some people really like Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey but it's full of dominatrix "sex magic" or something so I haven't read it. Lois McMaster Bujold's The Spirit Ring is a neat little one-off about a female apprentice magician in a sort of fantasy renaissance europe setting. Guy Gavriel Kay's Lions of Al-Rassan has several strong female characters; it's a fantasy/historical fiction novel set in a version of reconquista-era Spain, with very light magic. Main protagonist is a female physician. The absolute classic stand-alone though for Female Fantasy is going to be The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It's a retelling of the King Arthur stories from the perspectives of the female characters, very much for adults. I've read it, it's a masterwork, probably one of the pillars of modern fantasy, everyone should read it, I'll never read it again because it's so full of estrogen.
|
| # ¿ Jul 12, 2012 13:32 |
|
|
Danger Mahoney posted:Are there any really good western horror books out there? I mean western as in "American frontier 1800-1900", not "let's criticize western medicine". The best I can think of is actually Stephen King's Gunslinger book, plus a couple short stories. But that's not precisely on point of course. There's also a "Deadlands" RPG book that's kinda neat reading if you're into that sort of thing.
|
| # ¿ Jul 13, 2012 00:34 |
|
|
Danger Mahoney posted:Thanks! I've read The Gunslinger series about four times, but that Goodreads thread is giving me some material. If you like Gunslinger that much and haven't read it, make sure to find the "Little Sisters of Eluria" short story; it's set before the first book.
|
| # ¿ Jul 13, 2012 16:52 |
|
|
Kharmakazy posted:The last books I really enjoyed were the dresden files series. I didn't like any of butchers other books though. I also enjoyed all of neil gaiman's books, chuck palahniuk's books, and terry pratchet. My current "what to read after Dresden" series is the Rivers of London books by Ben Aaronovitch. First book is titled "Rivers of London" in England and "Midnight Riot" in the US. Imagine Dresden files crossed with Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and you wouldn't be too far off. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at Jul 16, 2012 around 18:02 |
| # ¿ Jul 16, 2012 17:55 |
|
|
MadcapLily posted:I'm looking for easy to read novellas, or short stories, in Spanish. I have just finished taking four semesters of the language and I wish to continue on learning it on my own. I have had people recommend me to read children stories, but I would like to have more interesting stuff to keep me busy during my days off! The obvious choice if you like Camus and Kafka would be Borges. Look up "The Library of Babel" and if you like that grab a copy of his complete short stories in Spanish. I dunno if he's "too hard" or whatever (I read him in english translation) but he's a great short story writer. EDIT: I think this is "The Library of Babel" in spanish: http://www.literaberinto.com/vuelta...otecaborges.htm Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at Jul 17, 2012 around 19:14 |
| # ¿ Jul 17, 2012 19:11 |
|
|
Robokomodo posted:drat iPhone keyboard. I meant good, not goof. Goof gladiator fiction should be a genre though!
|
| # ¿ Jul 30, 2012 14:47 |
|
|
If you're going to read Sherlock Holmes I'd recommend starting with The Sign of Four.
|
| # ¿ Aug 2, 2012 02:49 |
|
|
Doomsayer posted:Okay, I'm in the mood for something a little different this time. I'm tired of all these "enjoyable" and "competent" books. I want some terrible, bad, bizarre books that I can enjoy laughing at. Ideally fantasy or sci-fi, as that tends to make the best awfulness, but I'm open to anything. The Sword of Truth series is already on my list. Look for recent books by Piers Anthony.
|
| # ¿ Aug 2, 2012 18:10 |
|
|
Doomsayer posted:Therree we go. You don't want to mess up and read any of his "arguably decent" stuff. Go straight for that Bio of a Space Tyrant stuff right there.
|
| # ¿ Aug 2, 2012 20:44 |
|
|
Doomsayer posted:Sounds like a plan! Is his arguably decent stuff worth a read? I've heard the name, but I can't remember in what capacity. He got famous for the Xanth series and wrote a whole bunch of books. His early books were entertaining in the way that only 1970's/1980's shlock fantasy could be, but the longer he kept writing the more wrong his books got, finally devolving into, well, fairly pedo-tastic horrors. Most of his stuff ends up falling into that category where it's not bad if you read it as a thirteen year old boy but if you re-read it as an adult it's creeeeeeeepy.
|
| # ¿ Aug 2, 2012 21:00 |
|
|
Doomsayer posted:I was hoping more bad content-wise than writing-wise. I teach English and get more than my fair share of poor writing, haha! It's that sort of "my god how did this trash get published?" goodness that I'm after. There's also this classic: quote:The Eye of Argon is a heroic fantasy novella that narrates the adventures of Grignr, a barbarian. It was written in 1970 by Jim Theis (August 9, 1953- March 26, 2002) and circulated anonymously in science fiction fandom since then. It has been described as "one of the genre's most beloved pieces of appalling prose",[1] and has subsequently been used as part of a common science fiction convention party game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_Argon
|
| # ¿ Aug 6, 2012 12:31 |
|
|
Raneman posted:I'm a really bad reader when it comes to authors beating me to death with their thesaurus, so can anyone recommend me a book where they do exactly that, extremely poorly, so I can practice figuring out what the hell is going on? Anything by China Mieville. He's a really brilliant fantasy author in a lot of ways but he writes like he's paid by the syllable.
|
| # ¿ Aug 11, 2012 02:02 |
|
|
littleorv posted:Can someone reccomend me some funny/satirical novels? My favorite book is Catch-22 if that helps. Try almost anything by Kurt Vonnegut (start with Slaughterhouse Five).
|
| # ¿ Aug 29, 2012 14:18 |
|
|
I'd actually go to more classical sources. Decline and Fall is immensely long, really dry for large sections, and has a lot of theorizing in it that's outdated by modern standards. So I'd read either something much newer or much older. Suetonius' Lives of the Twelve Caesars is a pretty bloody read. When I'm on a Roman kick I usually read Robert Graves' I Claudius and Claudius the God or other historical fiction. The fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay did a neat fictionalization of a fantasy version of Byzantine Rome in his "Sarantine Mosaic" series.
|
| # ¿ Aug 30, 2012 18:41 |
|
|
I just read You Can't Win by Jack Black and Junkie by William Burroughs. What more books can I read like that? Basically "true crime from the inside" type novels written matter-of-factly and without remorse or moralizing of any kind?
|
| # ¿ Aug 31, 2012 21:51 |
|
|
Old Janx Spirit posted:Well I am very well read in the drug memoir genre, but it doesn't sound like that's your focus. Burroughs' Queer is very similar to Junkie in style and also quite good, being gay was of course as much a crime then as being a junkie. Thanks, I'll check those out (and the other suggestions as well, thanks everyone). I shouldn't have said novels, autobiography is fine and perhaps even preferred, electronic editions strongly preferred (sadly Girlvert seems to be hard copy only).
|
| # ¿ Sep 4, 2012 13:10 |
|
|
WeaponGradeSadness posted:Honor Harrington are also based off of Horatio Hornblower, which do go into a lot of detail in its Napoleonic-era naval battles, so those'll be worth checking out too. I only read one, whichever one it was that was published first, and thought it had some of the most exciting battle scenes I've ever read. If you want period naval battles with lots of detail the place to go is the Aubrey/Maturin series.
|
| # ¿ Sep 5, 2012 13:40 |
|
|
WeaponGradeSadness posted:Really? I had always heard that they were mostly about life on a ship in that time period, with the battles being dealt with pretty quickly. Never read one, though, so I'll take your word for it, I had just always kind of avoided those novels when I wanted naval warfare fiction, so I feel like a dumbass now. They're 20 volumes. They're about everything. There's period naval battles, there's period intrigue, there's period science, there's period romance, so on and so forth. It's all done well though. For the battles the author draws really, really, really heavily on the direct british naval records of each battle (most of the battles are based on true historical battles with his protagonists either subbed in for the actual commanders or somehow just ending up on board at the right time to witness). There's a great Aubry/Maturin thread here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3393240 The main stumbling block is that the author gives exactly ZERO fucks about how well you understand his incredibly detailed depictions of period nautical language and so forth, so you have to just dive the gently caress in and let it roll over you till you understand it, kinda like learning a second language. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at Sep 6, 2012 around 01:37 |
| # ¿ Sep 6, 2012 01:29 |
|
|
Mung Dynasty posted:I'm looking for stupid, fun, entertaining, violent, guilty pleasure horror fiction that I can buy for Kindle. I really liked Gil's All Fright Diner but it's more comedy than straight horror.
|
| # ¿ Sep 7, 2012 04:08 |
|
|
Steiv posted:I'm looking for funny travel writing. For reference, one of my favorites is Bill Bryson, for his ability to combine humor and history in his writing. I'm not particular about the location, as long as the stories are entertaining, though I am interested in the Arabic-speaking world. Suggestions? The funniest travel writing of all time is Three Men in a Boat, but it's extremely Victorian so it may not be what you're looking for.
|
| # ¿ Sep 10, 2012 16:04 |
|
|
Zola posted:I have the flu and am looking for recommendations for light fiction that doesn't take too much effort to read but is fun. Any genre is fine, although admittedly I tend to go for science fiction /fantasy or murder mysteries. Bridge of Birds, Barry Hughart. Light hearted fantasy based on Chinese mythology and history. Everyone's favorite book. A blessing and salve. Dresden files series. If you've read those, the Rivers of London series. If you've read those, The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. If you've read that too, you've read this forum extensively already and I have nothing to suggest. A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. A pastiche medley narrated by Jack the Ripper's dog. Magic Kingdom for Sale, Sold! by Terry Brooks. Pure fluff. Not bad if taken for what it is. Jig the Goblin series by Jim C. Hines. Comic fantasy, especially if you've ever played D&D. Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin. One of the real classics of comic fantasy. 13 books or so in the series, but don't take more than the first six or so Asprin !  (the series falls off horribly about halfway through).Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. edit: Seconding the "Deathworld" recommendation and the A. Lee Martinez rec's below. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at Sep 17, 2012 around 02:13 |
| # ¿ Sep 17, 2012 00:56 |
|
|
Word of warning about the two sequels to Bridge of Birds: they would be good books if they weren't sequels to Bridge of Birds. But since nothing else could be as perfect as Bridge of Birds, they suffer in comparison. Another one I'll add to the list: the Ethshar series by Lawrence Watt-Evans. Nothing in the series is going to blow your mind or anything, but they're like ten or so books now, and they're all just nice, solid, workmanlike, enjoyable little books with intelligent, psychologically realistic characters just trying to live their lives in a "high magic" fantasy world. Start with The Misenchanted Sword. A scout is trapped behind enemy lines; a wizard makes him a magic sword to help him get safely home; the spell has a problem. What I really like about it is that instead of playing it for slapstick, the character's just a completely normal joe who's stuck trying to figure out how to live a normal life despite everything. It's like the inverse of a standard fantasy novel. My other favorite in the series is probably Ithanalin's Restoration. A wizard gets a spell wrong (sense a trend?) and spreads his personality out over all the furniture in the room, all of which runs away and has to be recaptured by the apprentice. I love it because it's exactly the sort of thing you could see happening in the background of a standard fantasy novel; the Epic Hero sees someone chasing a rug down the street when he first enters town -- this is the story of that rug chase! Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at Sep 17, 2012 around 15:37 |
| # ¿ Sep 17, 2012 15:31 |
|
|
Echo Cian posted:I'd like some suggestions for books featuring fun trickster-types, characters who use wit and intelligence over brawn, preferably while being hilarious doing it though I don't mind a more somber tone as long as I can be impressed by the character's cleverness. I'm just a-gonna pull my "Bridge of Birds Lever" yet again!
|
| # ¿ Sep 26, 2012 20:39 |
|
|
Mordiceius posted:Dishonored coming out in a week has put me into a major steampunk mood. Anyone have any good steampunk recommendations for someone who has never read a real steampunk book? My top of the list for steampunk would be Mieville's Perdido Street Station and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore. Anything by Tim Powers is great. With Verne and Wells they aren't so much "Steampunk" as they are "SF written so long ago that people put them on Steampunk lists."
|
| # ¿ Sep 30, 2012 23:05 |
|
|
Doomsayer posted:There's a good chance that such a thing does not exist but I figured I'd take a shot: are there any good zombie books? Probably not really, it's more suited for films and games I think, but I thought I'd ask. I've already read World War Z and Zombie Survival Guide, are there any other good zombie stories? If not, eh, no big loss, just kinda got a zombie itch and a couple of long travel times in front of me. There's Gil's All-Fright Diner. Also the seventh book of the Dresden Files series, Dead Beat, but I wouldn't advise reading Dresden out of order. Neither are really straight up zombie horror, though. Maybe the I Am Legend graphic novel?
|
| # ¿ Oct 5, 2012 19:24 |
|
|
Nick Cage posted:Hey guys thanks for the recommendations they are pretty much 100% on target for what I was looking for and I look forward to getting through them both A couple more recommendations for you if you want to get a background in literary criticism: Terry Eagleton's Literary Theory is the place to start for a rundown of modern literary theory schools. The only problem with it is that Eagleton is a crusading marxist, so while he does a good job of listing the pros and cons of every other school of criticism, he puts Marxism at the end and then says it's great and the whole book turns into why Marxist critiques rule and all others drool. Still, as long as you're aware of that bias, it's a good text. Frederick C. Crew's The Pooh Perplex and it's sequel are great parodies of literary theory that will give you a decent grounding in the approaches it's parodying.
|
| # ¿ Nov 8, 2012 15:31 |
|
|
Mr.Drf posted:I'm interested in Retro futurism, mainly the style you would find in like 1930e-1950s but I don't want to read pop drivel from the 40s. Maybe something like the Lensman series, but more recent, or maybe even a scholarly study on the genre. Only thing that springs to mind is "The Night Land" by William Hope Hodgson but I don't think it's precisely what you want.
|
| # ¿ Nov 20, 2012 16:06 |
|
|
Sears Poncho posted:What about Shardik by Richard Adams? It gets called fantasy sometimes, but there is no magic or anything like that (subject to interpretation to a certain degree). It's about a hunter and a bear that may or may not be god, or something like that. Why not just start with Watership Down if you're going to be reading Richard Adams? Shardik is good, but Watership Down is one of the best books written in the 20th century, and equally an adventure story. Other suggestions: Count of Monte Cristo, Treasure Island, She or King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard.
|
| # ¿ Nov 26, 2012 05:48 |
|
|
TheWorldIsSquare posted:Are there any good books set in a fantasy world going through an industrial revolution? Think the game Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. China Mieville's stuff if you want a literary take. The Shadows of the Apt series if you want something pulpier. Also The Iron Dragon's Daughter, forget author.
|
| # ¿ Dec 10, 2012 17:56 |
|
|
voting third party posted:Is there anything else out there that comes close to as good as Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun? I know I'm probably asking for an impossible recommendation here since it has both excellent writing and a fairly unique setting for science fiction. I'm open to other genres. There's very little out there that compares to Gene Wolfe other than Gene Wolfe's other books; he's a really unique writer. If you want other "Dying Earth" genre books, there's The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson or the Cudgel the Clever stories by Jack Vance. Parts of The Night Land are written extremely well.
|
| # ¿ Dec 22, 2012 17:57 |
|
|
nessin posted:I'm mostly a Fantasy/Sci-Fi type person, but I'm up for just about anything that fits the condition as long as it's fiction. I'm looking for one of two things: Hrm. How about Johannes Cabal the Necromancer? Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October is narrated by Jack the Ripper's Dog! Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw is a Jane Austen novel where all the characters are dragons fighting over an inheritance. There's a small subgenre of revenge-plot fantasy and SF, like Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination, Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at Jan 5, 2013 around 03:40 |
| # ¿ Jan 5, 2013 03:38 |
|
|
Red Garland posted:Not really asking for a recommendation but I didn't feel this question would deserve it's own thread. It's very, very, very preachy. Like "forty five page long speech" preachy. If you want to read Ayn Rand, read The Fountainhead instead. It has most of the same core ideas in it, with the advantage of actually having a story that's written relatively well. Depending on your personal moral makeup you'll either find it deeply abhorrent or deeply attractive, but at least it has a story and something approximating characters who move through arcs. Atlas Shrugged is just a thousand pages of ranting. I would not actually recommend either. If you want a crash course in capitalism / libertarianism, read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein instead. It's actually got a good plot and interesting characters and is written well.
|
| # ¿ Jan 14, 2013 00:39 |
|
|
Blade_of_tyshalle posted:I want to read the very best of cyberpunk. I've read Neuromancer, and I thought it was pretty good, but where do I go from here? I'd like to stick to the old stuff which created the genre, at least to start; I have a feeling modern works depend a lot on the reader's knowledge of previous work. There are two "sequels" in Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy (Neuromancer, then Count Zero, then Mona Lisa Overdrive). I somewhat prefer his "Bridge Trilogy" (Virtual Light, Idoru, All Tomorrow's Parties). You could also try Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash or The Diamond Age. If you want to get really old-school try the ultimate pre/proto-cyberpunk novel, The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester. Has everything except the internet! 50 Years ahead of schedule!
|
| # ¿ Jan 15, 2013 19:47 |
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 21, 2013 07:33 |
|
|
ToxicFrog posted:I read the Mardrus & Mathers version growing up and rather liked it, but as the only version I've actually read I don't know how it compares to other translations. I really like the Mardrus and Mathers translation, it has a sort of luxuriant decadence I haven't found in the others I've read. The problem with it, from what I understand, is that Mardrus added a lot of risque details and basically sexed it up in a way that only the French can. Burton's translation is more textually accurate but also more explicitly racist and misogynist (not that any version of the Nights is free of such things). Here's an article making a comparison: http://www.corpse.org/index.php?opt...id=55&Itemid=34 From what I've read the Lyons version is probably the "best" but I like Mardrus and Mathers (partly because I'm a fan of E. Powys Mathers generally, ever since I read the quotations from his works in Steinbeck's Cannery Row).
|
| # ¿ Jan 17, 2013 16:04 |
|
