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A Nation of Laws posted:It's not exactly what you're looking for, but have you ever read any weedpunk? This genre of punk literature is peppered with nuggets of fantastic writing. Really good stuff that is also fun to read. Some more pedestrian readers consider the genre nothing more than a bad parody, but weedpunk is one of the few, perhaps the only, subgenres of punk lit that is simultaneously meta-commentary on the punk lit scene as well as enjoyable in its own right. For some reason I can't currently access http://www.weedpunk.org/ but if you are able to it's a good starter (maybe check tomorrow). Good luck and happy reading. Yeah I agree, weedpunk is pretty sweet. My favorite weedpunk novels are John Christopher's "No Blade of Grass" and Ward Moore's "Greener than you think".
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Jul 21, 2009 07:04
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Skutter posted:If you want good urban fantasy, try China Mieville's books. His Bas Lag universe is a mix of that plus some steampunk. They're very good. The only really good ones I've found so far have been Philip Reeve's Larklight series, which are hilarious pseudo-Victorian space fantasy. Marketed at kids, but don't let that stop you - they're awesomely good fun. e: come to think of it you can read the first chapters of all 3 at http://www.larklight.com/larklight.htm and see if they're for you. Stephen Baxter's Anti-Ice and Colin Greenland's Harm's Way are decent too, and I'm just about to start George Mann's The Affinity Bridge, so I'll report back on that one. Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 09:23 on Jul 21, 2009 |
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Jul 21, 2009 09:12
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I've found myself in a mood of deliberately paced, depressing drama with a slight science fiction twist after reading Let the Right One In and The Road. Does anyone have anything along these lines they'd recommend?
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Jul 21, 2009 09:19
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feedmyleg posted:deliberately paced, depressing drama with a slight science fiction twist I was going to copy the synopsis from Bruce Sterling's introduction to the book, but frankly it's a bit of a mess and over-sells the "prophetic" similarities between Junger's vision and modern robotics. He does, however, claim "the Glass Bees combines the icy insights of Stanislaw Lem with the reactionary rancor of Céline", which should be enough for anyone. Here's the blurb anyway: quote:In The Glass Bees the celebrated German writer Ernst Jünger presents a disconcerting vision of the future. Zapparoni, a brilliant businessman, has turned his advanced understanding of technology and his strategic command of the information and entertainment industries into a discrete form of global domination. But Zapparoni is worried that the scientists he depends on might sell his secrets. He needs a chief of security, and Richard, a veteran and war hero, is ready for the job. However, when he arrives at the beautiful country compound that is Zapparoni's headquarters, he finds himself subjected to an unexpected ordeal. Soon he is led to question his past, his character, and even his senses....
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Jul 21, 2009 09:58
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Does anyone have any suggestions along the line of Blink, the Undercover economist, Freakonomics and Mumbo jumbo? Easily digested facts combined with some humour and a lot of interesting examples. A book perfect for a day in the sun and for those of us who doesn't really like fiction.
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Jul 21, 2009 17:42
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Can anyone tell me if William Shatner's TekWar books are any good? I'm about to go hit up the bookstore and I'm thinking about getting the first one.
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Jul 21, 2009 18:15
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markehed posted:Does anyone have any suggestions along the line of Blink, the Undercover economist, Freakonomics and Mumbo jumbo? Easily digested facts combined with some humour and a lot of interesting examples. A book perfect for a day in the sun and for those of us who doesn't really like fiction.
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Jul 21, 2009 19:12
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juliuspringle posted:Can anyone tell me if William Shatner's TekWar books are any good? I'm about to go hit up the bookstore and I'm thinking about getting the first one. Yes I can. No they are not (well, maybe the others are, but I barely made it through the first one).
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Jul 21, 2009 20:44
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Any books in the vein of Vernon God Little that you guys can recommend? Also, what are some good books taking place in Japan (pretty broad, but I dunno what I'm looking for, maybe some horror or whatever)?
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Jul 22, 2009 07:11
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Eight Is Legend posted:Also, what are some good books taking place in Japan (pretty broad, but I dunno what I'm looking for, maybe some horror or whatever)? The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Murakami gets thrown around a lot as a recommendation. Personally, I loving hated it, but I'll sell you my copy for a dollar or something. It's sitting in a stack of books to get tossed at the moment.
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Jul 22, 2009 15:14
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markehed posted:Does anyone have any suggestions along the line of Blink, the Undercover economist, Freakonomics and Mumbo jumbo? Easily digested facts combined with some humour and a lot of interesting examples. A book perfect for a day in the sun and for those of us who doesn't really like fiction. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini. It's a great analysis of modern persuasion and sales techniques and why they work on you, written by a behavioral psychologist who gives the science behind each technique.
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Jul 22, 2009 16:19
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Eight Is Legend posted:Also, what are some good books taking place in Japan (pretty broad, but I dunno what I'm looking for, maybe some horror or whatever)? If you want a good series that's heavily based on Japan, try Hearn's Tales of the Otori. There are three books, plus a prequel that I didn't bother with. I also enjoyed The Legend of the Five Rings series, which is based on a tabletop RPG that's also based on Japan. I loved it, but it's out of print now and may be very hard to find. It took me months to track down the fourth book.
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Jul 22, 2009 22:22
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epoch. posted:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Murakami gets thrown around a lot as a recommendation. Personally, I loving hated it, but I'll sell you my copy for a dollar or something. It's sitting in a stack of books to get tossed at the moment. If eight is legend doesn't want it I would totally buy it from you for a dollar.
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Jul 23, 2009 01:36
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Eight Is Legend posted:Any books in the vein of Vernon God Little that you guys can recommend? Also, what are some good books taking place in Japan (pretty broad, but I dunno what I'm looking for, maybe some horror or whatever)? We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver - It concerns a fictional school massacre. It is written from the perspective of the killer's mother, Eva Khatchadourian, and documents her attempt to come to terms with her son Kevin and the murders he committed. The novel won the 2005 Orange Prize, a UK-based prize for female authors of any nationality writing in English. A very compelling read, one you start and can't put down. Recommend this to generally anyone - also a very chilling read, you could loosely say it is a horror novel as well.
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Jul 23, 2009 02:09
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Eight Is Legend posted:Also, what are some good books taking place in Japan (pretty broad, but I dunno what I'm looking for, maybe some horror or whatever)? Number9Dream by David Mitchell. Been a while since I read it, but I recall enjoying it quite a bit.
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Jul 23, 2009 04:50
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epoch. posted:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Murakami gets thrown around a lot as a recommendation. Personally, I loving hated it, but I'll sell you my copy for a dollar or something. It's sitting in a stack of books to get tossed at the moment. Sure, throw it my way - email me at christian dot otte at gmail dot com. The rest of you, thanks for the recommendations!
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Jul 23, 2009 05:04
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Epée posted:We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver - It concerns a fictional school massacre. It is written from the perspective of the killer's mother, Eva Khatchadourian, and documents her attempt to come to terms with her son Kevin and the murders he committed. That sounds pretty cool and I might actually pick it up, but I was looking more for books with the kind of humor in Vernon God Little. Thanks anyway  .
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Jul 23, 2009 05:06
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Eight Is Legend posted:Sure, throw it my way - email me at christian dot otte at gmail dot com. Email sent. Sorry colonelsandy.
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Jul 23, 2009 05:25
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Morlock posted:The only really good ones I've found so far have been Philip Reeve's Larklight series, which are hilarious pseudo-Victorian space fantasy. Marketed at kids, but don't let that stop you - they're awesomely good fun. e: come to think of it you can read the first chapters of all 3 at http://www.larklight.com/larklight.htm and see if they're for you. I haven't read Larklight yet, but Philip Reeve wrote an earlier series of steampunk books: Mortal Engines, Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain. I read them in high school and they are completely and totally AWESOME. Moving cities, Himalayan mountain fortresses, an underwater city of thieves, an enormous war, salvaged WMDs from the past, and lots and lots of aaaaairships :iamafag: I doubt I'll ever read any steampunk that tops them. (I also tried Court of the Air and forced myself to the last page. What a complete loving mess of a book.)
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Jul 24, 2009 04:41
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I'm currently reading Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and am really enjoying it. Looking for some similar contemporary character driven stuff, not hard boiled detective thrillers or twisty-turny serial killer stuff. Are any of the other authors who worked on the Wire worth investigating? I've read Clockers but I think that's about it.
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Jul 24, 2009 13:48
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Hello Pity posted:Are any of the other authors who worked on the Wire worth investigating? David Simons' Homicide is quite good.
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Jul 24, 2009 16:39
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Can anyone suggest a book (or even tell me the proper term) for whatever the opposite of alternate-history fantasy/sci-fi is? I'm thinking that all the main historical points up to now are the same, but the details are different--Hannibal crossed the Alps on Dragons, or WWII with laser rifles, or the Apollo moon landing actually involved enlisting the aid of the god Apollo. Something that explores how the more things change, the more they stay the same, or that, at least politically, escalation would assure similar outcomes whether with atomic bombs or magical plagues. I read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and liked it quite a bit. I am not looking for a book where the protagonist has the magical/alien nature of our history revealed to him (all the tech advances of modern times where from the Roswell crash all along!), I want it to be general knowledge, and not "what if the conspiracy theories were true".
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Jul 24, 2009 17:53
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The Aphasian posted:Can anyone suggest a book (or even tell me the proper term) for whatever the opposite of alternate-history fantasy/sci-fi is? I'm thinking that all the main historical points up to now are the same, but the details are different--Hannibal crossed the Alps on Dragons, or WWII with laser rifles, or the Apollo moon landing actually involved enlisting the aid of the god Apollo. Something that explores how the more things change, the more they stay the same, or that, at least politically, escalation would assure similar outcomes whether with atomic bombs or magical plagues. I read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and liked it quite a bit. Have you read the Temeraire series? It's the Napoleonic wars with dragons.
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Jul 24, 2009 18:00
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The Aphasian posted:Can anyone suggest a book (or even tell me the proper term) for whatever the opposite of alternate-history fantasy/sci-fi is? I'm thinking that all the main historical points up to now are the same, but the details are different--Hannibal crossed the Alps on Dragons, or WWII with laser rifles, or the Apollo moon landing actually involved enlisting the aid of the god Apollo. Something that explores how the more things change, the more they stay the same, or that, at least politically, escalation would assure similar outcomes whether with atomic bombs or magical plagues. I read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and liked it quite a bit. I don't know if this is exactly what you mean but I love Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove. I'm thinking about getting his series where the WW2 superpowers put aside their differences and join forces to fight spacelizards or something like that/
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Jul 24, 2009 18:15
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Isurion posted:Have you read the Temeraire series? It's the Napoleonic wars with dragons. juliuspringle posted:I don't know if this is exactly what you mean but I love Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove. I'm thinking about getting his series where the WW2 superpowers put aside their differences and join forces to fight spacelizards or something like that/ I guess I did want alternate history after all. Stupid me. I guess it's like "reverse-racism" still just being racism. I didn't know if it was supposed to be "parallel history" or something. I'll check these out.
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Jul 24, 2009 18:22
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Looking for some WWI fiction. I just finished Dan Simmons' Lovedeath (one of the best goddamned things I've read all year, btw), and the last novella in it, The Great Lover, got me hungry for more. Already familiar with the Hemingway, and Remarque is next on my list.
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Jul 24, 2009 18:34
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The Aphasian posted:Can anyone suggest a book (or even tell me the proper term) for whatever the opposite of alternate-history fantasy/sci-fi is? I'm thinking that all the main historical points up to now are the same, but the details are different--Hannibal crossed the Alps on Dragons, or WWII with laser rifles, or the Apollo moon landing actually involved enlisting the aid of the god Apollo. Something that explores how the more things change, the more they stay the same, or that, at least politically, escalation would assure similar outcomes whether with atomic bombs or magical plagues. I read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and liked it quite a bit. I don't think either of these go any further than looking at a single point in time but Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle is a kind of alternative Joan of Arc in a world a step removed from outs. There's also J Gregory Keyes Age of Unreason series which is set in an alternate world where Issac Newton's dabbling with alchemy starts all sorts of magical goings on in motion.
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Jul 24, 2009 21:36
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Hello Pity posted:I'm currently reading Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and am really enjoying it. Looking for some similar contemporary character driven stuff, not hard boiled detective thrillers or twisty-turny serial killer stuff. George Pelecanos is pretty good. I've read The Night Gardener and his "DC Quartet" (The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever and Shame The Devil) Edit: David Simon also wrote The Corner, a really good non-fiction read that follows a year in the lives of several residents in an Baltimore neighborhood. Encryptic fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Jul 24, 2009 |
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Jul 24, 2009 23:30
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Can any one give me some good mind numbing/or not urban fantasy/paranormal romance since they seem to be just about the same thing these days? I've read the Sookie Stackhouse books, Kim Harrison's books, and quite a few others. What is at least an entertaining read, please help me book barn, your my only hope!
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Jul 24, 2009 23:33
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I'm looking for some interesting non-fiction titles about late-medieval to late renaissance warfare, specifically on hand-gonne and arquebus tactics. Think around 1400-1660, give or take a few decades. Got anything? I've been reading Norman Cantor's The Last Knight, which is a biography of John of Gaunt that has a chapter or two on the military of the late medieval period, but I'm looking for something a little bit deeper.
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Jul 25, 2009 00:19
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Ballsworthy posted:Looking for some WWI fiction. I just finished Dan Simmons' Lovedeath (one of the best goddamned things I've read all year, btw), and the last novella in it, The Great Lover, got me hungry for more. Already familiar with the Hemingway, and Remarque is next on my list. Take a look at Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel and Stratis Myriveles' Life in the Tomb. Dos Passos' U.S.A. Trilogy is not just World War I, but is a lot better than Hemingway in my opinion.
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Jul 25, 2009 01:43
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Isurion posted:Have you read the Temeraire series? It's the Napoleonic wars with dragons. Took the words out of my mouth, except I was going to add "but it sucks." Can anyone recommend me some fantasy where people cross from our world into the fantasy world? Obvious choices are the Narnia and His Dark Materials series, and I've also read Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame and have Stephen King's Dark Tower series on my TBR pile. Anything else?
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Jul 25, 2009 02:21
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freebooter posted:Took the words out of my mouth, except I was going to add "but it sucks." The aforementioned The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. He's a narcissistic, self-pitying leper. He rapes a girl in the first book. And he's the hero. Her Majesty's Wizard is fun, if completely stupid. Has some good poetry in it though. Good light read, should be able to devour it in a few hours. Poems are magical spells in the alternate world, and the better the poem, the more powerful the spell (no Ogden Nash that I can recall, sadly). The hero is an English major, so it's quite masturbatory. Maxwell's Demon is a supporting character, which is cool.
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Jul 25, 2009 02:36
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Hello Pity posted:I'm currently reading Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and am really enjoying it. Looking for some similar contemporary character driven stuff, not hard boiled detective thrillers or twisty-turny serial killer stuff. Lush Life by Richard Price. He wrote Clockers, and this is his newest one. It revolves around the murder of a white guy in a gentrified section of New York, but it;s really all the stories of the cops, killers, and the guy's co-workers caught up in the murder and how it affects their lives. It's one of my favorite recent novels.
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Jul 25, 2009 02:54
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The Aphasian posted:The aforementioned The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. He's a narcissistic, self-pitying leper. He rapes a girl in the first book. And he's the hero. Seconded. The description is pretty spot-on but it's a fantastic series if you can get past the fact that Covenant is pretty unlikeable (which is the point). One of the greatest anti-heroes ever. Also, The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe is really good as well.
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Jul 25, 2009 05:57
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Fallorn posted:Can any one give me some good mind numbing/or not urban fantasy/paranormal romance since they seem to be just about the same thing these days? I've read the Sookie Stackhouse books, Kim Harrison's books, and quite a few others. What is at least an entertaining read, please help me book barn, your my only hope! The Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn is fairly good, as well as the Kate Daniels series by Illona Andrews. Bareback (Benighted in the US) by Kit Whitfield is also worth a read.
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Jul 25, 2009 11:16
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Fallorn posted:Can any one give me some good mind numbing/or not urban fantasy/paranormal romance since they seem to be just about the same thing these days? I've read the Sookie Stackhouse books, Kim Harrison's books, and quite a few others. What is at least an entertaining read, please help me book barn, your my only hope! Not my native genre but I asked an expert in the field. Apologies if some of these are repeats. Here's the list: Patricia Briggs - Mercedes Thompson series (first book: Moon Called) Rachel Caine - Weather Warden (first book: Ill Wind) and Morganville Vampires series (first book: Glass Houses) [Actually, I did read the first one in this series and it was a lot of fun - KPtN] Carrie Vaughn - Kitty Norville Series (first book: Kitty and the Midnight Hour) Tanya Huff - Vicki Nelson Series (first book: The Blood Prince) and Summon the Keeper Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series (first book: Guilty Pleasures) Emma Bull - War for the Oaks: A Novel Maria V. Snyder - Study Series (first book: Poison Study) Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel series (first book: Kushiel's Dart) Juliet Marillier - The Sevenwaters Trilogy (first book: Daughter of the Forest) Cecilia Dart-Thornton - The Bitterbynde series (first book: The Ill-Made Mute) Elizabeth Haydon - The Symphony of Ages series (first book: Rhapsody: Child of Blood)
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Jul 25, 2009 16:29
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Thanks for the urban crime recommendations. Added to the list. Will certainly give the new Richard Price a look. I'm considering rereading Clockers first. It's been a long time and even though I enjoyed it then I think I'd like it more now.freebooter posted:Can anyone recommend me some fantasy where people cross from our world into the fantasy world? Obvious choices are the Narnia and His Dark Materials series, and I've also read Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame and have Stephen King's Dark Tower series on my TBR pile. Anything else? The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay fits the bill. It's been a long, long time since I read it but I remember enjoying it at the time. The Barbed Coil by JV Jones also fits, this I haven't read and I think is supposed to be fairly romance heavy. Another classic of the genre is The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. I think it's about ten novel, but each is pretty slim. You can get an omnibus edition of all ten books. Definitely worth checking out.
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Jul 25, 2009 22:01
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King Plum the Nth posted:Not my native genre but I asked an expert in the field. Apologies if some of these are repeats. Here's the list: Patricia Briggs - Mercedes Thompson series (first book: Moon Called) Have read these books and they were entertaining. Rachel Caine - Weather Warden (first book: Ill Wind) and Morganville Vampires series (first book: Glass Houses) [Actually, I did read the first one in this series and it was a lot of fun - KPtN] The Weather Warden series was great I started and finished every book in it last week. The Morganville Vampire series is teen lit and ~200 pages for 7-8 bucks is a bit hard for me to see it worth it I'm going to check have price books for them. Carrie Vaughn - Kitty Norville Series (first book: Kitty and the Midnight Hour) The kitty Norville series is a lot of fun. Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel series (first book: Kushiel's Dart) I haven't read the Kushiel books but Saint Olivia was a great read. Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series (first book: Guilty Pleasures) I hear scary things about this series and how the main character goes and becomes a whore for anything supernatural and gets really creepy. I'll look into the other series though thank you.
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Jul 25, 2009 23:52
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freebooter posted:Took the words out of my mouth, except I was going to add "but it sucks." Neil Gaiman's books in general, Neverwhere (really fun read), Stardust (another fun read), and American God's fit this. A lot of urban fantasy would also hit that but instead of going from real world to fantasy world its more like learning the real world as they know it is not all their is.
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Jul 25, 2009 23:57
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