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Guy A. Person posted:So I am looking for recommendations on basically any fantasy that is either a single book or so self-contained that I could read the first book in a series without needing to immediately go into the next part. Try Dave Duncan's The Gilded Chain. It's fast paced and witty sword and sorcery with some very good characters. It's the first novel in his Tales of the King‘s Blades collection, but it is standalone, as are his other King's Blades novels. http://daveduncan.com/books/book_details.php?id=16 That's a link to the author's website. edit: Also, you can't go wrong with any of Joe Abercrombie's standalones. My favorite of his is Best Served Cold, which is a gritty fantasy revenge caper with unique characters, good dialogue, and dark humor. savinhill fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Jun 17, 2013 |
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Jun 17, 2013 23:05
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ZerodotJander posted:That was Promise of Blood, by Brian McClellan. It was a pretty good book too, especially for a debut novel.
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Jun 20, 2013 22:05
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Axel Serenity posted:
I really liked both American Gods and Neverwhere, while not liking Anansi, so I'm going to have to listen to you and read his new one real soon.
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Jun 24, 2013 09:44
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McCoy Pauley posted:Can anyone recommend any books like "Declare" by Tim Powers? Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins might be something you'll like. It's a fantasy thriller set in an alternate earth totalitarian communist Russia. http://www.wolfhoundcentury.com/
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Jun 29, 2013 04:42
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Hedrigall posted:Can I get a goonsensus on why I should avoid Ilium and Olympos by Dan Simmons? I remember there being a reason people don't like them but I can't remember what it was and I'm hearing great things about it on another forum. And I love the idea of posthumans recreating the Trojan war on Mars. It sounds loving awesome. I'm really enjoying The Terror by Simmons so far, and Hyperion will be the next book of his I tackle, but I'm wondering why people say stop there. You should definitely read them. The Trojan War stuff is awesome, and the other plot-lines can be slow at first but get interesting too. The second book wasn't as good as the first for me, but I think most of it had to do with a lot of the mysteries in the series already being revealed, and a large part of the appeal was trying to figure out how all the different elements in the separate plots tied together.
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Jul 8, 2013 02:56
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muike posted:People really really exaggerate how overtly political mieville's work is. Yeah, it's there, because that's the lens he sees the world through. His fiction is not the same as his paper on international law and marxism or whatever. He's a marxist who likes cool rear end monsters and strange fantasy worlds. Yeah, I agree. fritz posted:I think the background level of support for libertarianism and capitalism in the genre is so incredibly high that any amount of heterodoxy will really stand out. I also find this is an exaggeration too. Sure, there's some authors with extreme right political views, but I think people focus on them so much to complain about them that it seems there's a higher percentage of them in the genre than probably actually exists.
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Jul 15, 2013 03:25
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I just finished House of Suns, before that I read Terminal World as I wanted to try out some of Alastair Reynold's non-Revelation Space novels. I liked both of them a lot. What are peoples' opinions of his other non-RS material? Also, are there any authors that are similar to Reynolds? I really enjoy his style of writing. He's great at establishing some dark, creepy and unsettling atmospheres and situations.
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Aug 1, 2013 22:47
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Ferret posted:
I've seen these books before and thought about getting them but wasn't sure how the quality would be, glad you posted this, I'm going to check them out now. Also, thanks for the sci-fi recommendations, I'm probably going to read Ship of Fools first, I'm really intrigued by it's description. Vernor Vinge will be the next sci-fi author I read after that. I've already read Leviathan Wakes. I liked it a lot, wish the second book was as good as it, shouldn't have left Miller out of it, he was their best character.
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Aug 6, 2013 05:44
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Cardiac posted:I've been enjoying Paul McAuley and his Quiet War series as well as his other books. I read the first of these, and besides a couple of slow parts with a ton of description, it was very good. Are the sequels just as good as the first one?
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Aug 6, 2013 18:30
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Geek U.S.A. posted:Anyone know any good sci-fi about the discovery of a big unidentified object and that's not written by Clarke/Reynolds/Niven? I have no idea of it's quality, but while looking around on Amazon, I came across this novel's description that sounds like what you're looking for: http://www.amazon.com/The-January-Dancer-Michael-Flynn/dp/0765357798 Oh, it's name is The January Dancer, and it's by Michael Flynn.
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Aug 11, 2013 04:47
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Paulo Bacigalupi wrote two YA novels, Ship Breakers and The Drowned Cities, that are pretty good. They're future dystopian sci-fi where most of the earth's resources are depleted.
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Aug 28, 2013 05:45
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coyo7e posted:I'm putting forward the idea that the majority of people who complain so vocally about this are American and raised christian or were heavily influenced by christian values on sexuality, so they get uncomfortable, regardless. I always just attributed it to being the internet and people like acting like somethings are way worse than they really are. Joe Abercrombie's sex scenes are hilarious and fit the tone of his books perfectly.
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Aug 31, 2013 00:27
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Haerc posted:Has anyone read River of Stars? I'm about half way through and not enjoying it as much as I did Under Heaven. I enjoyed it although I felt some POV characters were much more interesting than others and wished the book focused on just them.
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Sep 2, 2013 04:08
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fritz posted:It's basically schlock, and not even very good schlock. Better than SM Stirling's schlock?
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Sep 14, 2013 22:38
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Megazver posted:Because his series was cancelled because of sales and all publishers refused to buy his new series because of midlist death spiral. Being "published" is hardly the ticket to gravy train a lot of people think it is. Yeah, even being published and being super talented is no guarantee that an author can actually make a living writing. I hope this guy's successful with his Kickstarter and more authors in his situation can use it in the future.
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Sep 19, 2013 22:51
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House Louse posted:
I never thought Vance intended for the reader to root for most of the Dying Earth characters, or think that their goals were admirable in any way. I always thought they were poking fun at how hosed up all the characters and world were, especially the wizards, and how they would use their powers in pursuit of some of the stupidest poo poo.
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Oct 1, 2013 14:57
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I don't remember this... I'll stop defending him now. I didn't suggest Rhialto because one of the stories is about the wizards stopping an uppity witch who's trying to turn them into women, and the wizards say things like "the Murthe must be thwarted if we are not to witness the final triumph of the female race!"
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ManOfTheYear posted:my criteria is that it shouldn't be pure entertainment. Well written and exciting is all fine, nothing wrong with that, but I want books that in one way or another make me think. Like if the books have some interesting philosophical stuff or the theme is morally or otherwise (for example it's about political or racial issues) interesting. Well written is a huge plus. If the books are adult and mature fantasy, that would be fun. Try R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy. They're very well written and fit all your criteria, especially concerning religion and philosophy.
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Oct 14, 2013 01:12
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General Battuta posted:I would disrecommend those - I loved them a lot as a teenage boy but his writing peaked and then started to slump, and while he's decent at philosophy his science research is awful. If you want to read books about rape and all the ways that labiaplasty is like female genital mutilation by an author who 'writes with male readers in mind', I guess go for them; I don't actively regret reading his books, but if you're looking for sophistication I don't think they will hold up. I've never understood this attitude where people feel the need to "disrecommend" something. Also, I find "If you want to read books about rape and all the ways that labiaplasty is like female genital mutilation by an author who 'writes with male readers in mind', I guess go for them;" pretty insulting. You yourself may have some problems with his books, but acting like anyone who reads them is doing so for "rape" and "labiaplasty" is just being a jerk.
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Oct 14, 2013 03:51
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Cardiovorax posted:They can be organic enough to have sex with the crew. That's not something I ever needed to know. Gary Gibson's Shoal books had something like this, it led to some funny scenes in it.
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Jan 25, 2014 00:58
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BrosephofArimathea posted:I just finished Blood Song, by Anthony Ryan last night. It's a bit Rothfuss (kid goes to school/monastary, develops mad skills and battles both politics and hidden dark powers which we slowly learn as he narrates the tale to a scribe), but if that's the kind of thing you are looking for, it's one of the best. The characterisation is good, the plot is pretty tight, the action scenes are well written, the world and it's history are nicely developed and he *just* stays on the right side of Fantasy Name Syndrome. Yeah, it was very conventional fantasy with a lot of standard tropes, but the author's an awesome storyteller and I couldn't put this down til I was finished. Really looking forward to what this dude writes in the future.
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Jan 30, 2014 01:35
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ravenkult posted:Can you guys recommend any books that feature wilderness survival? Think Jack London. I just started reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Shaman and it seems like a major focus of it will be surviving off the land in prehistoric times.
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Feb 3, 2014 01:54
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TOOT BOOT posted:Why is the cover art for most genre novels so bad? The illustrations in a dungeons and dragons manual or on a magic card are way better than most cover art. I hate the current trend of boring covers that are just a picture of some model posing dressed up as a character from the book.
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Feb 8, 2014 20:02
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anathenema posted:That place is still around? Try Robert VS Reddick's Chathrand Voyage series. It's fun, has a ton of awesome adventure, and it also has a large scope with world building and history that has a lot of impact on the greater story and plot. Megazver posted:I believe there's already a place for that, the comments section of Requires Only That You Hate. Going to be as productive, too. Yeah, I agree.
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Feb 20, 2014 07:28
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Lowly posted:
I read that series too. I loved the first book but thought the second was kinda boring and didn't enjoy it that much. I read the third and final book in the hopes that it would return to the form of the first, and while it did have some things I liked a lot, it also had some of the same problems that made me dislike the second. I didn't have strong feelings about how it ended really because I became disinterested with it as a whole and wasn't invested enough with it anymore. I think one of my major problems was that he killed/abandoned some of the more interesting characters/settings too soon and the stuff he replaced them with just didn't measure up. Also, yeah, Corinn was a great character. If more of the story arcs in this were anywhere near as good as her's, this would've been a much better/popular series.
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Feb 22, 2014 02:33
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I didn't mind the magic in Red Knight at all. Anytime that the author went into detail about it's workings, it seemed it was used more for character development than establishing a rulebook, which is better imo. Other than that, it made for some great scenes in the huge battles and sieges.
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Mar 10, 2014 03:39
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Sometimes I like a pulpy series that has the magic system as it's main focus and driving force, but in general I do prefer when it's just one of many cool elements in the setting and doesn't have all it's mechanics meticulously mapped out. I'd say Sanderson falls into the magic system pulpy fantasy category, it's enjoyable but isn't gonna break any real new ground writing wise.
savinhill fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Mar 12, 2014 |
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Mar 12, 2014 21:14
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I liked Under Heaven and River of Stars better than Al Rassan because they had less of Kay's tendency of withholding someone's identity, or some other detail, during pivotal scenes so that it can be revealed later as a twist or surprise.
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Mar 17, 2014 22:33
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thecallahan posted:And you won't have to wait too long to read the sequel to Blood Song if you like it as it comes out in July! I'm really hoping the quality at least stays the same. I've been burned plenty of times by a first time authors follow up book. The last year or two has had some good first time fantasy authors. Just off the top of my head I can think of Ryan's Bloodsong, Cameron's the Red Knight, Luke Skull's Grim Company, Peter Higgin's Wolfhound Century and Brian McClellan's Promise of Blood. There's more too that I just can't think of right now.
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Mar 28, 2014 01:26
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Didn't Half Made World end on sort of a cliffhanger?
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Apr 3, 2014 19:46
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coyo7e posted:Most of the way through this book, it was longer than I expected from the battle tempo which picks up early and never lets off. In Audio version it's pretty easy to keep up with the scene changes mid-chapter due to the "X Location - Y Character" perspective intro each time it switches. I'm looking forward to the next books in this series because it's a rollicking good time involving dudes in heavy armor killing monsters and each other for about 1/3 to 1/2 of the total pages, with a decent muddying of the morality waters from all sides along the trip. Cameron does write some great, really fun battles and action/adventure. I've seen some people complain about his descriptions and the words he'll use for different armor and arms, but I think this type of stuff does a good job of reinforcing the highly chivalric medieval setting he's built. I read an interview that Cameron did and Arthurian was one of the words he used to describe it, the second book also makes some of those parallels clearer.
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Apr 8, 2014 20:57
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TOOT BOOT posted:I'm like the only one that enjoys Sanderson's dadhumor. The only non-WoT thing by him I've read is Warbreaker but I liked the funny character in that.
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Apr 29, 2014 06:01
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Bread Set Jettison posted:I mean I have liked gritty fantasy novels but I don't necessarily need a 'gritty fantasy' book. I'd just like a good fantasy book with good characters and maybe a cool world. From what you describe I'd probably not want Malazan because Fantasy cliches aren't all that appealing to me. I am looking for a fantasy novel so I guess some tropes come with the territory. Abercrombie's really good. His books are gritty and all that but they have a lot of dark humor and the characters are great.
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Apr 29, 2014 16:42
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The three main characters in the Warded Man series did suck, their sidekicks were so much better.
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Apr 30, 2014 00:38
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RisqueBarber posted:Can anyone shed some light on whether or not to read The Fell Sword by Miles Cameron? The reviews seem vastly mixed. I loved the Red Knight but what I loved was the fast pace of it, and I hear The Fell Sword is very slow. I liked it almost as much as the first one. I didn't find it slow, but it did introduce new characters and places and the action was more spread out amongst different locations than it was in the first one, so I can see how some people might have a harder time getting into it as fast as the first one. It's definitely less self contained, so if you don't feel like getting caught up in a series and having to wait for the sequel, then I'd just wait on reading it.
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May 15, 2014 20:50
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People should read TC McCarthy's The Subterrene War series if they wanna read well written military scifi that has a very large focus on the moral and ethical implications of war, with it taking a very heavy toll on the characters' psyches and lives.
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May 17, 2014 01:30
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Amberskin posted:Man, THANKS a lot for this suggestion. I finished Germline yesterday, and it has been one of my greatest reads in the last years. Not an easy one (the writing is heavy in slang and it is sometimes difficult to follow for a non-english speaker), but both the battle/war descriptions and the inner world of the character are well developed and written. It is quite predictable sometimes, but great anyway. I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, it is a dark novel, it had the same sort of bleak and cynical vibe as some Vietnam War books that I've read. Also, each book is pretty self-contained and told from a new and different POV, so you won't have to worry about remembering every little detail just to follow the plot when you start the next one.
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May 22, 2014 20:09
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I'm about halfway through Brian McClellan's second Powder Mage book, Crimson Campaign, and it's really good so far. I like it even more than the first one.
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Jun 5, 2014 22:54
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holocaust bloopers posted:I'm reading Germline right now. It's utterly fantastic and heavy as hell. Yeah, I love that book. The next one might be even darker as it's told from the POV of one of the Germline girls.
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Jun 11, 2014 02:11
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Cardiac posted:So I'm reading Bloodsong by Anthony Ryan, which is good but pretty predictable sofar. Check out the Sunsword series by Michelle West. It's huge in scope like Malazan as well as sharing some other similarities with it.
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Jul 9, 2014 00:46
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Cardiac posted:Looks kinda interesting. I'd say characterization is one of the stronger points of West's writing. There's some archetypes(it is fantasy), but she does put a strong effort into giving lots of character development beyond whatever role a character fills in the plot. There's a lot of magic but iirc, it isn't overexplained and systematized like Sanderson's stuff, it's explained enough that you understand what's going on during a battle, or if its important to the ploy or whatever, but lots of it's left mysterious. While this series is huge in scope, it had some great battles, especially some told from a small military squad's POV like Malazan. I remember there being good, complex political intrigue and it had a cool race of some demon creatures. It was like ten years ago that i read it, so maybe some of the story beats, etc. have been done a lot since then, but I remember it being very good and unpredictable.
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Jul 9, 2014 22:16
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