Something to read

[shilar]

Hey everybody just giving one of my favorite online authors a little plug. Check out this story it is incredible. If I were to do a magic school this is how I would do it, not that Hogwarts ain't cool. Be warned it does tread into adult content, but the characterization and geek inside jokes(my favorite is the WP classes) make it so worth it. Here's the link to the first chapter.

http://mutales.livejournal.com/21889.html

:DOk got to go back to being a good little MU refresh monkey now:D.

[Farcaster]

Thanks, Shilar. Good fiction is always welcome. That got me wondering though, with such a collection of fantasy and science fiction lovers here, what is everyone else reading as of late? And, if you were going to recommend a novel or series to someone looking for new fiction, what would it be?

As for me, I actually just finished up reading the Cormyr Saga (Forgotten Realms) by Ed Greenwood and Troy Denning, circa 1996. What I noticed though was that it had a much different feel than the newer Forgotten Realms books. It had a palpable feeling of stepping back into an older Dungeons and Dragons. By comparison, the newer books feel far too . . . quantified, like all of 3rd edition. That's the only way I can easily describe it. Even Salvatore's Forgotten Realms books have felt more mechanical. Compare the writing of the Sellswords trilogy to the Demon Wars saga, and I think you'll see a significant difference.

And the Demon Wars would be my personal recommendation for a good series, if you haven't read it already. It has a very gritty feel to it, with the overbearing and oft-corrupt church that dominates the land especially. Just don't get too attached to any of the characters ;)

[Digital Arcanist]

I think you opened Pandora's Box Farcaster.

I agree that the newer FR books are a little watered down from the older. I too enjoyed the Corymr Saga. Have you read Evermeet yet?

I personally would suggest The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher as well as Codex Alera. The Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine, The Women of the Otherworld books by Kelley Armstrong, and books by Kim Harrison are also great reads. My favorites though are the Nightside books by Simon R. Greene.

You can always read stuff by Laurel K. Hamilton but they are a little trashy for me. I usually skip whole sections to bypass the gratuitous sex scenes.

Charles deLint holds a special place on my bookshelf for his darkly whimsical faerie tales. There is an interesting series of books about modern dragons by Alan F. Troop. Patricia Briggs has a few good skinwalker (Native American coyote changelings) books. Laura Anne Gilman has some great contemporary magic books and C. E. Murphy has books with a great take on the modern-day Shaman.

Some of the modern-day stuff like the Diane Tregarde series by Mercedes Lackey is good. If you like her stuff then try Tanya Huff and M. R. Sellars who move into the horror genre some.

I have a bunch more, but I'll let someone else have a go first.

[grimwell]

I've been working on the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory%2C_Sorrow%2C_and_Thorn) trilogy as of late. It's BIG but very good. Best anti-paladin moment I've ever read. Yes, I jumped in late on this one. :)

[PhishStyx]

I've read 3 of the Dresden Files books, but they're a bit too bland and formulaic for my taste. On the other hand, my wife is reading the 2nd one now directly after finishing the 1st, so she must like them pretty good.

I so like de Lint's work a lot, however.

Currently, I'm reading Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.

Some of my other favorites:
Walter Jon Williams' Conventions of War trilogy and Hardwired and Aristoi novels,
Terri Windling's "magic-punk" Borderlands anthology series, (I would love to put a game together for this!)
Roger Zelazny's Amber series (of course) as well as This Immortal and the Unicorn Variations anthology,
Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash,
It Came From Schenectady an older anthology of Barry B. Longyear's short work,
Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint (notable as having a homosexual protagonist if you'd prefer to avoid that sort of thing),
and one of my favorite novels that I ever read for a class, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.

[Digital Arcanist]

Neal Stephenson is a great writer and his stuff is very entertaining.

Someone else that should get some notice is Neil Gaiman. I like American Gods and Anansi Boys. The Neverwhere books are great and of course The Sandman graphic novels.

I understand your thoughts on the Dresden Files Phish. I think you may feel that way because of the "case" style of the books. Try reading the Codex Alera books and see if you like them. They have some great ideas and I like the characters very much....of course I'm glued to the TV when Avatar airs on Nickelodeon.

By the way, the common theme in the Dresden Files is that Harry gets the person/thing he needs, loses it, gets it again, and loses it, only to get it in the end. In the later books, Harry actually realizes that happens and starts to wonder if someone if screwing with him.

[starfalconkd]

A friend convinced me to read The Wheel of Time series. I've been going through them slowly, as I'll read one and then go off and read other things before coming back and reading another. I'm reading Knife of Dreams now.

Digital Arcanist: I was saddened when Laurel K. Hamilton's books (Anita Blake series specifically) devolved into total sexcapades. I didn't mind reading a little gratuitous straight sex, but now that's all her books are about.

[Digital Arcanist]

Starfalconkd: Yeah it was a downer. The last three books are killing the series. Its odd that all the sex is killing the Anita Blake series but actually works in the Meredith Gentry series and Hamilton writes them both. I'm looking forward to reading Lick of Frost when it finally comes out this month.

[shilar]

It really depends on how sex is used. Gratuitous sex is bad. Sex that makes sense can move a story along.

[starfalconkd]

It really depends on how sex is used. Gratuitous sex is bad. Sex that makes sense can move a story along.

While I agree with that, the Anita Blake books have come to a point where gratuitous sex is the only thing that moves the story along. It's kind of silly.

[Digital Arcanist]

Even so, we must all ponder as men the age old addage:

"Like pizza, when sex is bad, it is still good."

[Zane]

A friend convinced me to read The Wheel of Time series. I've been going through them slowly, as I'll read one and then go off and read other things before coming back and reading another. I'm reading Knife of Dreams now.
Have you heard about Robert Jordan's untimely death then? Very sad an unfortunate event. The slight silver lining for his fans (even though I feel like an @$$ saying this - I just can't seem to find a tactful way to do it) is that he had finished about 1/2 of the final book and apparently made enough notes for the rest that it will still be able to be published and cap off his deeply involved series.

[Digital Arcanist]

I felt the same way about AI until I saw the travesty that Spielberg turned the ending into, in my opinion.

There has to be more recommendations than just these few? Apparently I read too much...


Any graphic novel readers out there? I just picked up the Sandman Library books again. They are spectacular in their story and the artwork is pretty good for the time.

Being a fan of the spandex community I also recommend Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis. There are also some awesome books by Alan Moore that are mind-bending although children should never read them.

[starfalconkd]

Have you heard about Robert Jordan's untimely death then? Very sad an unfortunate event. The slight silver lining for his fans (even though I feel like an @$$ saying this - I just can't seem to find a tactful way to do it) is that he had finished about 1/2 of the final book and apparently made enough notes for the rest that it will still be able to be published and cap off his deeply involved series.

Yes I had. I held off starting book the second to last book until I found out the series would be completed. It's sad he passed away before he could see his masterwork finished.

[PhishStyx]

Just graphic novels or TPB's too?

I have Fray and liked it a lot, but I liked Planetary even more.

Right now, I'm in the middle of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon graphic novels, and I'm enjoying it a lot. There is a much greater sense of power, and the visual nature of the books makes it easier to center on the flashy elements of the wuxia story.

A couple other non-graphic novels that I have enjoyed:
George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire

Rudy Rucker's White Light

[The Wandering Bard]

Farcaster the Cormyr series is great, I completely agree. It has that aged flavor to it. It seems to have more of a sense of character than the base- plot- solve that the new books have.


on another note. I saw Laurel K. Hamilton in San Diego, she has several more books that she is working on.

I have never read any of her things but the people there seemed to really like them, one thing she did mention though was that the fans seemed to really like the Sex, and prefered more of it. But i did here a few complaints that she needs to go back to a story line and less sex, so you guys aren't alone.

[greenbadge]

I have started to read some of the Warhammer books, they are fun reads.

Gotrek & Felix: The First Omnibus (Warhammer)
Gotrek & Felix: The Second Omnibus (Warhammer)
Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium