New books....

Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 5:18 pm

Just wanted to give a heads-up to fans of Kvothe, Patrick Rothfuss' 2nd novel in the series, The Wise Man's Fear, is out now in hardcover.
The good news is it's huge, the bad news is...it's expensive. $30 off the shelf at B&N, ouch. Good thing I've got a birthday coming up! Cool

Question, has anybody read much of Steven Erikson and his apparently massive ongoing series Malazan Book of the Fallen? Looks like the 10th book just came out recently and I'd like some opinions before I commit to diving into it (after Rothfuss and GRRM get read, of course!).

Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 6:52 pm

I have not, but I'm desperately looking for something new to read! I've read everything by: Martin, Card, Zelazny, Saberhagen, Heinlen, Doc Smith, Stirling, Niven, Haldeman, Gaiman, Gemmell, Bujold, Salvatore, Drake, and of course the classics Herbert, Tolkien, and Howard. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others... not to mention my massive comic collection. anyone got a suggestion along those lines?

Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 7:00 pm

Get Rothfuss' first book, The Name of the Wind. You won't be disappointed. IMO!

Since you've just come back recently, you can dig up some of the other "good book" threads on here, and probably find a bunch of stuff to take up your time! I'd also suggest Sean Russell's Swans War trilogy, and Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy. A lot of guys like Glen Cook's stuff as well, althought I've had a hard time getting into it.

Advanced Master Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2003 Posts: 313

_Buri_ wrote:

I have not, but I'm desperately looking for something new to read! I've read everything by: Martin, Card, Zelazny, Saberhagen, Heinlen, Doc Smith, Stirling, Niven, Haldeman, Gaiman, Gemmell, Bujold, Salvatore, Drake, and of course the classics Herbert, Tolkien, and Howard. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others... not to mention my massive comic collection. anyone got a suggestion along those lines?

Jack Vance - Lyonesse Trilogy - good fantasy IMO - quick reads

Robert Lynn Asprin - Myth-ing Series
Another Fine Myth (1978)
Myth Conceptions (1980)
Myth Directions (1982)
Hit or Myth (1983)
Myth-ing Persons (1984)
Little Myth Marker (1985)
M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link (1986)
Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections (1987)
M.Y.T.H. Inc. in Action (1990)
Sweet Myth-tery of Life (1993)
Myth-Ion Improbable (2001) chronologically set between Myth Directions and Hit or Myth (IMO skip this one- he was trying to recreate the series after a layoff)
Something M.Y.T.H. Inc. (2002) - just to close the cliffhanger - note I can't recommend anything past this one - haven;t read them

have heard good things about his Thieve's World series....

How about Asimov? Read these 9 in this order:
The Caves of Steel
The Naked Sun
The Robots of Dawn
Robots and Empire
Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Second Foundation
Foundation's Edge
Foundation and Earth

Dan Simmons has excellent stuff
- The Terror (historical fiction about ships stranded in the nw passage - with a twist)
- Carrion Comfort
- Hyperion series (4 books)

Advanced Master Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2003 Posts: 313

and for something a little different - Steven Pressfield writes awesome historical fiction:

I've read all of these, but would strongly recommend Gates, Virtues and Afghan - Tides bored me to tears, and Last of the Amazons was ok

Gates of Fire, about the Battle of Thermopylae (1998)
Tides of War, A Novel of Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War (2000)
Last of the Amazons, in which Theseus, the legendary King of Athens, sets sail to the north coast of the Black Sea inhabited by a race of female warriors (2002)
The Virtues of War, about Alexander the Great (2004)
The Afghan Campaign, about Alexander the Great's conquests in Afghanistan (2006)

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2966

I'd recommend Saga of Seven Suns by Kevin J Anderson. 7 novels, space opera, written in a similar style as Song of Fire and Ice in that each chapter focuses on one character.

First one is Hidden Empire. I recently finished the fourth book and I'm enjoying it immensely.

Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 7:55 pm

_Buri_ wrote:

I have not, but I'm desperately looking for something new to read! I've read everything by: Martin, Card, Zelazny, Saberhagen, Heinlen, Doc Smith, Stirling, Niven, Haldeman, Gaiman, Gemmell, Bujold, Salvatore, Drake, and of course the classics Herbert, Tolkien, and Howard. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others... not to mention my massive comic collection. anyone got a suggestion along those lines?

Jack Vance, if you can find him. Some of his older paperbacks are expensive and somewhat rare now. He wrote the Dead Earth series, among other things. Have a dictionary nearby when you read this guy; he is a master of the English language. Fluid and articulate; an excellent author; one of my all-time favorites. Of course, you're read Ursula Leguinn's Earthsea series, right?

Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 8:32 pm

_Buri_ wrote:

I have not, but I'm desperately looking for something new to read! I've read everything by: Martin, Card, Zelazny, Saberhagen, Heinlen, Doc Smith, Stirling, Niven, Haldeman, Gaiman, Gemmell, Bujold, Salvatore, Drake, and of course the classics Herbert, Tolkien, and Howard. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others... not to mention my massive comic collection. anyone got a suggestion along those lines?

Some of my favorites, not already mentioned

Fantasy:
Eddings, Feist, Weis and Hickman, Watership Down, Kurtz, and Hobb

Science Fiction:
Bradbury, Wells, Zahn, Chalker

Probably some others I'm forgetting, and Buri's list is mostly great.

Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 1:39 am

Stik wrote:

Get Rothfuss' first book, The Name of the Wind. You won't be disappointed. IMO!

Since you've just come back recently, you can dig up some of the other "good book" threads on here, and probably find a bunch of stuff to take up your time! I'd also suggest Sean Russell's Swans War trilogy, and Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy. A lot of guys like Glen Cook's stuff as well, althought I've had a hard time getting into it.

The Name Of The Wind is the best novel of this type we have ever read. (And we read a LOT.) The 2nd book in the series is now out. Wise Man's Fear. (This is The Kingkiller Chronicle series - Day 1 and now Day 2)
Although it is in hand, we have not read book 2 yet, as we are in the process of rereading the Martin "A Song Of Fire And Ice" 4 book - so far - series.

Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 3:06 am

I just read 2 great books by Scott lynch .... Lies of llocke llamora and the follow up..... Red skies, red death. Very character driven a la Martin.

Any book by Dave Duncan. He wrote a ton ... Kings blades series , kings daggers series etc ... I have read about 12 books by Duncan now.. All were top notch.

I am on book 3 of a wonderful series now ... Won borders best fantasy book of 2010 award .. Writer is Ken scholes .... Series is called psalms of Isaack Books so far include Canticle , lamentation , and antiphon.

I can dig for more if you find you enjoy any of those.

Floyd

Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 8:59 am

I highly suggest the Hunger Games trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.

They're YA lit, so they're not super-long, but they're good postapocalyptic stuff. The series is being made into movies, as well.

Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 11:07 am

Andarus wrote:

I highly suggest the Hunger Games trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.

They're YA lit, so they're not super-long, but they're good postapocalyptic stuff. The series is being made into movies, as well.

We will echo that these are good. Read 'em before the movie comes out late this year.