What books are you reading?

[Lainie]

The Game of Thrones trilogy might suit your tastes, and would certainly keep you occupied for a while. I'm not much of a fantasy fan myself, but I'm enjoying it.

[Chloe]

Ooh, yes! Seconded! It's more than three, though.

[Lainie]

At the rate I'm going, it may keep me occupied for a few years. I'm a fast reader, but I keep having to put it down occasionally and switch to something lighter. Last night I picked up Clash of Kings after one of those breaks and the second chapter I read included the "green dream" of Bran and Rickon being killed.

[musicgeek]

Had to share this! (I think it's been on the boards before.)


Anyway, during this busy season I usually stick to either light-and-fluffy - something I can polish off a chunk of quickly before bedtime, or if I want some more quality literature, I go for short story anthologies. I just finished "Rickles' Book," which reads more like a quick magazine article, and before that I read the 2008 edition of The Best American Short Stories, edited by Salman Rushdie. Lots of good ones in there.

[Atlanta Jake]

Thank you for the quick replies! I am heading to Amazon for a quick peek at a synopsis of Game of Thrones.

edit: is the set actually called "A Song of Ice and Fire"? With "A Game of Thrones" being the first book?

[Lainie]

Yes, that's it.

[Cure the Blues]

I’ll third Song of Ice and Fire. Faster, George, faster! Just...umm...don’t kill my personal favorites while you’re at it.

Since you also mentioned SF, I’ll keep up my personal SF evangelism and recommend Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga. Miles reminds me of Tyrion if he had grown up in a sci-fi universe and with a vastly more supportive family structure. Hmmm...there’s also another character who has a more Tyrion-like upbringing but that verges into huge spoilerdom. I’d recommend going in internal chronological order, either starting with Shards of Honor (focusing on Miles’ parents) or with the first Miles book, The Warrior’s Apprentice. Personally, I’d pick Shards to start with, but most of the books have Miles as the central character and WA introduces that hyperactive git’s quirks. Falling Free is in the same universe but takes place 2 centuries before the other novels and can be read right before Diplomatic Immunity.

Oh, and I read Brandon Sanderson's first Mistborn book a while ago and quite liked it. He surprised me by killing off 2 characters who I thought no way he'd kill them off until book 3. Guess they had that Emperor's New Plot Armor instead.

[Chloe]

Yes, we should warn you not to get overly attached.

[Dropbear]

Atlanta Jake this page has some good suggestions for where to start with Terry Pratchett.

Dropbear

[Atlanta Jake]

Thanks for the help everyone! keep em coming!

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

I'm honestly not a Martin fan in the least.

But, then again, I tend to gravitate towards female sci-fi/fantasy authors or sci-fi/fantasy books with strong, positive female main charterers.

On a more sci-fi front, I'd recommend most anything by Sherri Tepper, Octavia Butler, or Connie Willis. Robin Hobb is a MUST read fantasy author. I've not found one series by her that I disliked. The Temeraire Novels by Naomi Novi were quite fun as well.

Much of my other stuff is less mainstream, heavily post-apocolyptic, or falls under YA, so I'll refrain from those lists. The stuff I've recommended above is more mainstream.

Oh, crap. How could I forget Tad Williams' Otherland series! Pure GENIUS!

[Twankydillo]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Jake

I have seen much love from Snopesters for Terry Pratchett, and I have wanted to delve into the Star Wars universe for years. Both of these seem to have a huge number of stories, and I wouldn't know where to begin.

With Terry Pratchett, I'd recommend you not start at the beginning, though that can help to see how the world has progressed. I could be wrong to suggest that, as I've been told before by at least one Pratchett fan that I'm odd for being a fan for near 20 years and yet preferring the recent books. However, I'd also recommend you read by type, not date. So read the Witches books together, or the Nights Watch books. I'd personally recommend my favourite - The Tiffany Aching books. However, I think you should have a grasp on the older witches before you do.

For other books, I'd recommend Robin Hobb, Patrick Rothfuss (there are two books out, of what will be a trilogy), Ben Aaronavitch, Alan Garner, Mark Charan Newton ... Hmm, I'm just listing off from my bookshelf, so I'll stop. I do want to mention two relatively unknown Australian fantasy authors that I've only recently read, Glenda Larke (a bit more well known) and Rowena Cory Daniells.

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

Robin Hobb is a MUST read fantasy author ... The Temeraire Novels by Naomi Novi were quite fun as well ... Tad Williams' Otherland series! Pure GENIUS!

Can I have you shipped and posted to me, so I can meet you in person and talk about fantasy with you? It's probably a vanity, but I like your tastes as they seem to mirror mine!

[Aud 1]

I suggest Neil Gaiman. American Gods is wonderful if you also like contemporary/urban fantasy. He wrote a book with Terry Pratchett, Good Omen, which is hilarious.

My favorite SF series is Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Nothing else has quite left so many pieces of it swirling around in my head years later.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by Twankydillo

Can I have you shipped and posted to me, so I can meet you in person and talk about fantasy with you? It's probably a vanity, but I like your tastes as they seem to mirror mine!

LOL! I've always wanted to visit England! Or, alternatively, you could take a vacation in the great state of Colorado. It's beautiful here. And then you could see my stacks. Even though they were reduced by about half with the recent move, I kept most of my genre fic.

[Twankydillo]

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

LOL! I've always wanted to visit England! Or, alternatively, you could take a vacation in the great state of Colorado. It's beautiful here. And then you could see my stacks. Even though they were reduced by about half with the recent move, I kept most of my genre fic.

One day a short stranger will appear, enquiring after your genre fic stacks. Do not be alarmed, except to worry how I found you.

[Chloe]

Don't be alarmed when it emits sounds like "Ecky thwmp," and "Ee, you're a mardy one."

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by Twankydillo

One day a short stranger will appear, enquiring after your genre fic stacks. Do not be alarmed, except to worry how I found you.

You'd be welcome! The dog LOVES random visitors.

[kit_n_caboodle]

Originally Posted by Aud 1

My favorite SF series is Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Nothing else has quite left so many pieces of it swirling around in my head years later.

Me too! To the point where, a couple of years ago, I thought up a plot that I was really excited about that i was going to use for NaNoWriMo, then I was in the bookstore and saw a copy of Hyperion and then I was like .

Ever since then I've been terrified that I will one day plagiarize some famous book without realizing it.

[Auburn Red]

Originally Posted by musicgeek

Had to share this! (I think it's been on the boards before.)


.

Yeah two geeks singing at me would get me to write faster.

As for you Jake, how do you enjoy the works of Ray Bradbury? Those are some of my favorite science fiction/fantasy works. Among my favorites are Fahrenheit 451, Golden Apples of the Sun/R is For Rocket, and From the Dust Returned. Dust is actually his most recent work (or most recent that I've read). It's about a strange Gothic family sort of like the Addams Family where everyone has unusual abilities such as an uncle who can fly, a daughter who can astral project into peoples' bodies, and other things and most of his works are short stories so they shouldn't take long to get through before you move onto the next book.

[Atlanta Jake]

Gonna check out Hyperion (Thanks Aud and Kit) and Auburn Red - I have read much Bradbury, but think I will check out From the Dust Returned. Thats one I have not read.

Pratchett still intimidates me with the sheer volume.... but I did read Mort. Think I might need to see the witches books next.

Thanks, for the ideas everyone! I will be laid up for a while yet. so I'd love to hear more of them.

(on a side note... thanks to netflix I am finally getting into full swing on Doctor Who. It's been years since I actually FOLLOWED a story line as opposed to catching random episodes).

Jake