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nate fisher posted:It sounds like you have ran into the same problem I have with horror. Since it was one of my first loves as a reader I have read most of the classics or must reads. Now almost anything I read is a derivative of something I read before. Also tons of garbage out there. I just reread the Books of Blood because of a lack of new horror worth reading. I remember enjoying Horns and Heart Shaped Box although I can't remember much about them now. I agree that his stuff isn't all that scary but he tells a good story (sort of like his father's later works, although Hill has his own voice). I'll check out Birthing House, haven't read that, thanks! And yeah, sounds like you're in the same boat as me. So much stuff out there is either horrible, feeding off the cliche of the year, or just gross-out stuff without a good story behind it that it's hard to find the worthwhile nuggets. But nothing captures my attention quite like a really good horror novel. Ornamented Death posted:Try Laird Barron, Simon Strantzas, Thomas Ligotti, Joe Pulver, and Caitlin Kiernan. Or pick up one of Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the Year and/or Stephen Jones's Mammoth Book of Best New Horror anthologies. Thanks to you as well -- I know I've read some Ligotti and Pulver, but now that you mention their names, I'm also sure I haven't exhausted their catalogs. I'll check out the others too.
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Jun 27, 2012 21:52
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I know this forum's pretty big on sci-fi and I've recently been meaning to give it a try. There's a couple things I'm looking for, if you have any recommendations I'd really appreciate it. Apologies in advance, I'm new at science fiction so my only real sci-fi experience is in video games, so I'll be using those for reference more than anything else. Sorry if that complicates things any. First off, what I'd be most interested in is some good cyberpunk novels--or at least novels with that cyberpunk aesthetic, even if it doesn't have all the themes and such necessary to be considered cyberpunk. I'm aware of Gibson, but I'm not sure how well it fits into what I'm looking for, though I'll definitely be willing to give him a try if he does. What I'm most looking for is something like Deus Ex (especially Human Revolution), the new Syndicate, or the upcoming Watch Dogs--something with a good deal of action, a noir sort of feeling, and fits in thematically with the games I've listed. I've also read about the first third of Ian MacDonald's River of Gods and enjoyed it, I just set it aside because it was long and I didn't have that kind of time. Basically, what's the book most like Deus Ex, is what I'm asking? Also, I just beat Mass Effect 3 with the new, unfucked ending, and something similar to that series would be nice too. Huge battles, larger than life characters, a well-fleshed-out universe, and so on. For both of these things, I'd prefer if it was a single volume rather than a series or trilogy (though that's just a preference, I'd be fine with a series, I'd just rather not. If it's the kind of series where all the books are set in the same universe and reference each other but they stand on their own as well, that's perfectly okay) and if it wasn't a hard sci-fi. "Ship A's laser beam was blocked by Ship B's shields" is good enough for me, I don't need paragraphs explaining how the laser beam and shield works. Thanks in advance, everyone.  edit: ooh, one last thing, it would be great if it was on the Kindle as well. Punished Chuck fucked around with this message at 04:02 on Jun 28, 2012 |
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Jun 28, 2012 03:49
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I finished Leviathan Wakes recently, and really enjoyed it. It is a trilogy (book 2 just came out) but I think each book can be read as a stand alone. Right now I am reading Nexus: Ascension which was recommend to me here, and I'm really enjoying it. You might also enjoy Old Man's War, Ender's Game, Starship Troopers, or Dune (my favorite of these books). These are probably the most popular answers in relation to getting into Sci-Fi. I read all of these and I find myself better for it. Also my first Sci-Fi book ever was Martian Chronicles, but might not be what you are looking for. I know I am forgetting some, but these are the first that come to mind. Edit: Just reread your post and these are not cyberpunk. I never could get into Gibson. Snowcrash might be a great place to start for you. It is one of my all-time favorite Sci-Fi books, but not sure how it holds up today. nate fisher fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Jun 28, 2012 |
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Jun 28, 2012 05:14
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nate fisher posted:Right now I am reading Nexus: Ascension which was recommend to me here, and I'm really enjoying it. Awesome, that was me recommending it (probably ... I haven't seen anyone else on this forum suggesting it). Be sure to tell us what you think when you're done. I was surprised to find out that the book has been out for like 7 years or something. I thought it was an up-and-coming sf book that would get a lot of praise, but if it's been around for a while then it truly has slipped under the radar 
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Jun 28, 2012 10:58
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Hello book people! I am looking for stories about survival. Would be nice if it did NOT have to do with zombies. Realistic type stories. Even if it's just sort of tales about how people just went and made a life out in the woods or something. When I was younger I read stuff like Call of the Wild, White Fang (Jack London), Wild Trek, Fire Hunter (Jim Kjelgaard).. etc. I liked The Road as well, even if it wasn't necessarily the same theme. Post apocalyptic is alright. But pre-modern era is preferred. (cave people, settlers).
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Jun 28, 2012 12:54
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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.
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Jun 28, 2012 13:03
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Wrecking Ball posted:Post apocalyptic is alright. But pre-modern era is preferred. (cave people, settlers). Earth Abides (which is kind of the godfather of modern post-apocalyptic stories) deals realistically with problems that a small community of disaster survivors would face- dwindling resources, loss of literacy, transition to a hunter/gatherer lifestyle, etc. Kind of what you're expressing a preference for, only in reverse. World Made By Hand covers some similar territory. For real-life survival, Skeletons on the Zahara is good, and for some more tangential reading you could try The Wordy Shipmates (life in Puritan New England colonies) or Lies My Teacher Told Me (some discussion of life in North America prior to European settlers- there are probably better books for this, but I can't pull them at the moment). VVV WGS, based on what you said, Snow Crash is definitely a book you should check out. VVV funkybottoms fucked around with this message at 14:03 on Jun 28, 2012 |
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Jun 28, 2012 13:53
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nate fisher posted:I finished Leviathan Wakes recently, and really enjoyed it. It is a trilogy (book 2 just came out) but I think each book can be read as a stand alone. Right now I am reading Nexus: Ascension which was recommend to me here, and I'm really enjoying it. I just looked up Leviathan Wakes and it sounds exactly like something I'd be interested in, thanks! I'll buy it as soon as I finish my current book. All the others sound good, too, I'll add them to my wishlist. Thanks again!
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Jun 28, 2012 14:00
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:I just looked up Leviathan Wakes and it sounds exactly like something I'd be interested in, thanks! I'll buy it as soon as I finish my current book. All the others sound good, too, I'll add them to my wishlist. Thanks again! I'll go ahead and suggest the sequel, Caliban's War, too. I'm almost finished with it, and it's compulsively readable and just as good, if not better, than Leviathan Wakes. It's a lot tighter and the concurrent stories are much more focused, and I feel like the characters are more real and less off-the-sci-fi-trope-shelf than in Leviathan.
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Jun 28, 2012 15:56
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:First off, what I'd be most interested in is some good cyberpunk novels--or at least novels with that cyberpunk aesthetic, even if it doesn't have all the themes and such necessary to be considered cyberpunk. I'm aware of Gibson, but I'm not sure how well it fits into what I'm looking for, though I'll definitely be willing to give him a try if he does. What I'm most looking for is something like Deus Ex (especially Human Revolution), the new Syndicate, or the upcoming Watch Dogs--something with a good deal of action, a noir sort of feeling, and fits in thematically with the games I've listed. I've also read about the first third of Ian MacDonald's River of Gods and enjoyed it, I just set it aside because it was long and I didn't have that kind of time. Basically, what's the book most like Deus Ex, is what I'm asking? Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan has a bit of a Deus Ex vibe. It's very gritty/noir, has some identity stuff (I didn't ask for this) going on and loads of corporations, corruption, guns and violence. There are more books with the same character but it's fine as a stand-alone and not too massive or anything. I always recommend John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar whenever anyone asks for cyberpunk. One of my favourite SF novels and an absolute classic. It's aged very well, which given that it's a horrible dystopia is unfortunately not a good thing.
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Jun 28, 2012 16:27
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:First off, what I'd be most interested in is some good cyberpunk novels--or at least novels with that cyberpunk aesthetic, even if it doesn't have all the themes and such necessary to be considered cyberpunk. I'm aware of Gibson, but I'm not sure how well it fits into what I'm looking for, though I'll definitely be willing to give him a try if he does. William Gibson's original Sprawl trilogy is this; it's what Syndicate/Deus Ex/the whole Shadowrun thing/etc. is basically 100% derived from. WeaponGradeSadness posted:Also, I just beat Mass Effect 3 with the new, unfucked ending, and something similar to that series would be nice too. Huge battles, larger than life characters, a well-fleshed-out universe, and so on. Roger Zelazny's "Lord of Light," maybe Cordwainer Smith's Rediscovery of Man cycle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rediscovery_of_Man
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Jun 28, 2012 16:58
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nate fisher posted:It sounds like you have ran into the same problem I have with horror. Since it was one of my first loves as a reader I have read most of the classics or must reads. Now almost anything I read is a derivative of something I read before. Also tons of garbage out there. I just reread the Books of Blood because of a lack of new horror worth reading. What do you guys classify as horror? Haunted House stuff? Or do creatures also count? I read the Birthing House but hated the ending. I enjoyed FG Cottam's House of Lost Souls a lot more. Another decent haunted house type horror novel was Adam Nevill's Apartment 16. Nevill is a British author that does a lot of Lovecraftian type 'unnamed horror' novels which work quite well. Two kind of left field Horror novels that I really enjoyed were Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman and The Cypress House by Michael Koryta. Both novels are set in around the same period, depression era US, but Buehlman's has a slow and lazy build up with a huge pay off. Koryta's is a lot more like supernatural noir but I enjoyed it immensely, I actually stayed up late on a weeknight to finish it. I haven't been able to say that about many books in a long time. If you haven't read Douglas Clegg I would check out his short story collection The Nightmare Chronicles which contains one of my favourite horror short stories of all time, White Chapel. We should do a horror thread in the book barn, I'm always looking for good horror recommendations because there is so much dreck out there.
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Jun 28, 2012 17:20
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Wrecking Ball posted:Hello book people! The Hunger Games.
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Jun 28, 2012 20:11
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Poutling posted:What do you guys classify as horror? Haunted House stuff? Or do creatures also count? It can be either to me. I am just looking to be creeped out. It does seem like my favorite horror novels are stuff like Salem's Lot, The Shining, and Haunting of Hill House. So maybe I do prefer a haunted place as a central character. I did just ordered The Nightmare Chronicles and Those Across the River (also picked up Caliban's War) off Amazon for dirt cheap (used). So thanks for the suggestions. Edit: Which reminds me has StarkRavingMad read any Dan Simmons (I am willing to bet he has)? Summer of Night (very It like but I liked Summer of Night better) I really enjoyed, and The Terror. nate fisher fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jun 28, 2012 |
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Jun 28, 2012 21:05
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Poutling posted:What do you guys classify as horror? Haunted House stuff? Or do creatures also count? Similar to what nate said, for me it doesn't have to be anything specific like a haunted house or a creature or a ghost just so long as it's sufficiently creepy. I guess horror is hard to define in that I'd characterize some stories without much supernatural influence as fitting in -- some of King's short stories/novellas slot right in there for me, and some of his best ones like Survivor Type and the Bachman Books. Horror is a weird genre when you try to break it down and differentiate out "Thriller" or "Psychological Horror" or "Suspense" or what-have-you. Another reason it's so hard to dig through it. And then on the flip side there's stuff that wants to be horror and ends up a step above police procedural or something. (I'm looking at you, Dean Koontz). Thanks for the other suggestions, Poutling, I'll add them to my list. nate fisher posted:Edit: Which reminds me has StarkRavingMad read any Dan Simmons (I am willing to bet he has)? Summer of Night (very It like but I liked Summer of Night better) I really enjoyed, and The Terror. You win that bet, lots of Dan Simmons, yeah. Drood, The Terror, and Carrion Comfort all jump to mind. Can't remember if I read Summer of Night or not, I'll have to check the description and grab it if I didn't.
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Jun 29, 2012 00:40
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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. Edit: Actualy on the other hand This sounds really boring and whatever is recommended I probably won't read. That being said the Gormenghast thread has gotten me interested in reading it. Its described as 'gothic fantasty'. Amazons reviews describe the book as having little plot but having an awesome setting with 'images that never leave you' being mentioned in multiple reviews. I think I'll check it out. Kneel Before Zog fucked around with this message at 04:39 on Jun 29, 2012 |
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Jun 29, 2012 04:27
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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. David Eagleman's Sum
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Jun 29, 2012 04:58
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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 14:38 on Jun 29, 2012 |
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Jun 29, 2012 14:34
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Any recommendations for books in the same vein as The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien? I love the fragmented narrative style, I think it's the same reason I enjoyed Dubliners so much. Doesn't have to be a book about war, just the same kind of story telling/fiction style.
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Jun 30, 2012 02:58
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Darwin Divider posted:Any recommendations for books in the same vein as The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien? I love the fragmented narrative style, I think it's the same reason I enjoyed Dubliners so much. Doesn't have to be a book about war, just the same kind of story telling/fiction style.
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Jun 30, 2012 18:17
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Darwin Divider posted:Any recommendations for books in the same vein as The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien? I love the fragmented narrative style, I think it's the same reason I enjoyed Dubliners so much. Doesn't have to be a book about war, just the same kind of story telling/fiction style. I recently read and enjoyed Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio and Faulkner's The Unvanquished which are both in that style.
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Jul 1, 2012 00:20
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Do they have to have same basic characters like The Things They Carried or would something like The Martian Chronicles qualify? Which reminds me what are some books that do the Canterbury Tales style of story telling? I remember Dan Simmons using it in one of the Hyperion books
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Jul 1, 2012 00:32
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If I liked Ready Player One, what else would you guys recommend?
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Jul 1, 2012 01:10
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Capsaicin posted:If I liked Ready Player One, what else would you guys recommend? Also, I really liked The Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens. Light scifi, funny characters and a quick read. edit: I wrote this with the thought that you liked the scifi elements of the book. If it's the pop culture references you liked, I'm not sure what to recommend.
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Jul 1, 2012 06:11
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Capsaicin posted:If I liked Ready Player One, what else would you guys recommend? Tad Williams has a big series half set in a virtual world and half set in a near-future corporate dystopia. Can't remember the name of it.
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Jul 1, 2012 17:04
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Hey, just wanted to thank everyone who responded to my question. I've bought Neuromancer, with Altered Carbon and Leviathan Wakes at the very top of my to-buy list. I'll probably read all the others as well, but those three in particular seem to be exactly what I wanted. Thanks again!
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Jul 1, 2012 17:34
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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
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Jul 1, 2012 18:30
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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.
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Jul 1, 2012 21:17
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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 I haven't read Max Barry's Machine Man, but it sounds like it may fit your tastes.
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Jul 1, 2012 23:47
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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? There's Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible, which follows super-villain-scientist-genius Dr. Impossible's nth attempt to take over the world. It's full of super hero comic book tropes, though.
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Jul 2, 2012 16:43
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Gravy Jones posted:Tad Williams has a big series half set in a virtual world and half set in a near-future corporate dystopia. Can't remember the name of it. You're thinking of Otherland. It's good although it does get a little crazy towards the end.
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Jul 2, 2012 20:11
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I'm looking for something similar to Don Winslow's Power of the Dog. Kind of a cross between a spy novel and a crime novel, with large scale politics and grounded in realism.
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Jul 3, 2012 04:43
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zoux posted:I'm looking for something similar to Don Winslow's Power of the Dog. Kind of a cross between a spy novel and a crime novel, with large scale politics and grounded in realism. Hugh Laurie's (yes that Hugh Laurie) The Gun Seller might be something for you. It's funny, though doesn't lose itself in jokiness and is reasonably realistic as far as spy novels go. That's to say: It's not Roger Moore era Bond.
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Jul 3, 2012 18:44
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zoux posted:I'm looking for something similar to Don Winslow's Power of the Dog. Kind of a cross between a spy novel and a crime novel, with large scale politics and grounded in realism. Olen Steinhauer's Tourist series. Jeremy Duns's Free Agent
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Jul 3, 2012 19:16
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I'm looking for two specific books I had checked out from the library months ago without getting very far. 1) Set in medieval times, about a brother and sister who are traveling in a boat with the relics of a saint. The protagonist is possibly a monk traveling with them, and there's, like, a mysterious air of mystery around the siblings, like they're not who they say they are or something. 2) Set in Victorian London, the main character is a young prostitute who starts working for a mysterious man who may be robbing graves to steal corpses for his studies. It was published a few years before The Crimson Petal and the White, and just like The Crimson Petal, the first chapter of the book is narrated by the book itself, telling the reader to pay attention to this girl. The book was written by a woman with three names (like "Marion Zimmer Bradley"), and I think her last name begins with a G or H. Gillman? Hellman? Hiller? Something like that? These two books might be written by the same person.
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Jul 3, 2012 19:26
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I'm looking for some good conspiracy fiction, preferably where the conspiracy is some ancient and powerful Deus Ex or Assassin's Creed type group, Knights Templar secretly controlling a modern or futuristic world for instance.
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Jul 4, 2012 00:59
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Davos posted:I'm looking for some good conspiracy fiction, preferably where the conspiracy is some ancient and powerful Deus Ex or Assassin's Creed type group, Knights Templar secretly controlling a modern or futuristic world for instance. I'm interested to see what others recommend you, I'd like to find some more of those as well. For me, I'd recommend maybe William Dietrich's Ethan Gage series, starting with Napoleon's Pyramids. It's actually a historical series, set in the late 17- and early 1800s, so it doesn't really fit the "controlling a modern of futuristic world," but it's about the main character, a Han Solo-style charming rogue American expatriate living in France, who gets caught up in the struggle between the Freemasons and the Egyptian Rite (the Freemasonic Rite of Memphis-Misraim, who in the books splintered from the Freemasons) in a very Assassin's Creed style battle to collect artifacts left by some kind of early civilization. It's actually really similar to the Assassin's Creed games because of that, and because of its emphasis on its hero getting mixed up in all kinds of historical events and working with historical figures. I really enjoy them.
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Jul 4, 2012 01:13
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I'm looking for an in-depth history on pre-Roman, pre-Christian European civilization, with an emphasis on Anglo-Saxon, Nordic, and Germanic Paganism. Something archaeologically focused like the Cambridge History series but also including anthropological and cultural subjects as well.
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Jul 4, 2012 18:41
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Davos posted:I'm looking for some good conspiracy fiction, preferably where the conspiracy is some ancient and powerful Deus Ex or Assassin's Creed type group, Knights Templar secretly controlling a modern or futuristic world for instance.
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Jul 4, 2012 19:04
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I'm looking for more stuff like Peter Watts' Blindsight. That book was just gripping, and I love the way the author introduces his ideas about consciousness and free will. Are there any other books at all like this?
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Jul 5, 2012 21:58
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