Fiction recommendations (please add yours)

[Scott A. Roush 18]

Just finished 'Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel' by Susanna Clarke. Very cool book about a re-interpretation of English history.. one in which magic was once part of the world and then disappeared. The book is about two men who bring it back. It's set in the 1800s. Sorcery without the sword.

[LeeO 0]

Being a huge Gemmell fan,

Trying to find writers that can get you as interested has been hard up till the last couple of year's,

but of late the writer's I've been happily reading and looking forward too are,

Peter V Brett,

the painted man series',

listed as the warded man in the states,

Brent Weeks

Lightbringer series,

Joe Abercrombie,

Read three or four, all good,

But one or two of the gems has to be,

Anthony Ryan,

Bloodsong and Tower Lord,

definitely gives you the Gemmellesque, chill's and tear in the eye feeling,

The name of the wind books already mentioned are excellent,

Also another great book, Merchant Navy orientated,

Peanut,

by John Cecil,

jewel of a book, set in the real world, read it in between a handful of the above and easily held it's own as an enjoyable read,

[Scott A. Roush 18]

The Worm Ouroborus!

[Alan Longmire 2,822]

Not bad, but I preferred The King of Elfland's Daughter. The first paragraph alone is worth trying to find it. If you like early fantasy, that is. Speaking of which, Scott, I may have found the inspiration for the Hall Sun last time I was in London. I thought of it and you, anyway, it's a big bronze hanging lamp with nine (I think) wicks, found in the Museum of London. Kept meaning to send you a pic via PM but you weren't online and I keep forgetting, thus the public admission here.

[Collin Miller 136]

Has anyone added the original "Peter and Wendy" By J.M. Barrie? It is much different than all of the versions that Disney has made. I also read the Brom retelling, "The Child Thief" and Gerald Brom definitely did a good job of capturing Peter's darker side, that was clearly hinted toward in Barrie's original story, but Brom did it all without ruining Peter's childish spirit and his loyalty toward his friends. I can't say this about many things, but I liked Brom's version even more than the original.

I have been trying to get a Gemmel book (Winter Warriors) from the library for a number of months, without any luck, and I was dissapointed to see that my library has NONE of William Morris's writings. I'm going to try to reserve a different book from David Gemmel, haven't decided which one yet.

[Scott A. Roush 18]

Not bad, but I preferred The King of Elfland's Daughter. The first paragraph alone is worth trying to find it. If you like early fantasy, that is. Speaking of which, Scott, I may have found the inspiration for the Hall Sun last time I was in London. I thought of it and you, anyway, it's a big bronze hanging lamp with nine (I think) wicks, found in the Museum of London. Kept meaning to send you a pic via PM but you weren't online and I keep forgetting, thus the public admission here.

I started the King of Elfland's Daughter but I got distracted. It didn't grab me the way Ouroborus did. But I'm going to try again. I'm going through the Tolkien Society's 'Tolkien inspiration' reading list right now.

 

Ha.. I kind of forgot about my brief obsession with the Hall Sun. It's funny though.. Just saying that gives me a nice sense of nostalgia for that story. I will have to re-read that at some point. I'd still like to own my own version. Well if you ever find the picture send it my way...

 

(I'm going to go check the first paragraph.. Maybe I was half asleep when I started that book.. )

Edited December 17, 2014 by Scott A. Roush

[Scott A. Roush 18]

Has anyone added the original "Peter and Wendy" By J.M. Barrie? It is much different than all of the versions that Disney has made. I also read the Brom retelling, "The Child Thief" and Gerald Brom definitely did a good job of capturing Peter's darker side, that was clearly hinted toward in Barrie's original story, but Brom did it all without ruining Peter's childish spirit and his loyalty toward his friends. I can't say this about many things, but I liked Brom's version even more than the original.

 

I have been trying to get a Gemmel book (Winter Warriors) from the library for a number of months, without any luck, and I was dissapointed to see that my library has NONE of William Morris's writings. I'm going to try to reserve a different book from David Gemmel, haven't decided which one yet.

Collin.. Most of Morris and Eddison are free e-books and PDFs if you have a reader...

[Alan Longmire 2,822]

And here are the artifacts mentioned earlier:

 

 

 

so it's a bit later and only has seven wicks, but if it was on display somewhere I can see Morris being intrigued by it.

[Scott A. Roush 18]

And here are the artifacts mentioned earlier:

 

lamp.jpg

 

lamp label.jpg

 

so it's a bit later and only has seven wicks, but if it was on display somewhere I can see Morris being intrigued by it.

Thanks Alan.. yeah I can see something like that combined with colored 'roman glass' being the Hall Sun.

[Alan Longmire 2,822]

I forgot to mention the size, sorry. It's about 15 inches tall and about 8 inches across at the wicks.

[Collin Miller 136]

Thanks, Scott, I should have thought of that. I'm now in the third chapter of "The Wood Beyond the World" and really liking it.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Collin Miller

[Scott A. Roush 18]

ughh.. I'm in a phase where I can't find anything to read. I hate not having a book. Typically when this happens I go back to Tolkien. I just finished re-reading the Silmarillion and I forgot how awesome it is. My favorite moment is when Fingolfin challenges Morgoth to a duel at the gates of Angband. And now I'm back in the Lord of the Rings for what must be somewhere in the thirties for re-reads.

[Caleb Harris 51]

Children of Hurin could work

[Collin Miller 136]

I tried to read The Children of Hurin one time, and for some reason I could never get out of the first chapter, and ended up returning it to the library, then began reading a different book instead, I think it was Beowulf. If I remember right, It wasn't actually written by Tolkein himself, I could be wrong though

I'm almost through "The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend." By David Gemmell. I have to admit, I expected more. The characters and the plot line just seem kind of average and cliche from my point of view, I'll have to read some of his other works before I can say, "I don't like Gemmell." but I wasn't impressed by the one I'm in now, too predictable. The next books I'm going to to read is the "Mistborn" series by Brandon Sanderson. From what I've read about them, they sound really awesome. Like, everything I wanted to write in a book of my own, was summarized in the description of Mistborn, I'll be sure to tell you guys if it's good or not, after I read it.

[Caleb Harris 51]

With Children of Hurin, it's kinda tedious and boring until after Turin has left home, after which it gets very interesting very quickly.

[Scott A. Roush 18]

I've read Children of Hurin twice.. and enjoyed way more the second time for some reason.

 

Poor Turin... a very tragic fellow. :-)

 

One day I'd love to make Gurthang....

 

A small aside... one thing I got out of my recent reading of the Silmarillion: I wasn't all that impressed with Beren. I mean.. Luthien pretty much carried the guy through the whole deal. I respect his spunk, courage and determination..but he really wasn't up to tackling Morgoth. :-)

[Collin Miller 136]

That makes sense, I guess I never got past that part. It kind of gave me the feeling of reading Old Testement chronology. You know it has to have some significance, because it was put in there, but they're lists of names that we all know aren't pronounceable!

[Jesper 0]

oh god.. i made a long list.. and then the computer bluescreen,,

[Wes Detrick 488]

I feel your pain Jesper.

 

I know most people are talking about Fantasy and what not here, but if you love space, and hard science then please read "The Martian" by Andy Weir. I seriously cannot suggest it enough.

[Scott A. Roush 18]

Space: Starship Troopers and 2001 A Space Odyssey of course.

 

I haven't started it reading yet but when I'm desperate I do random walks through the library stacks grabbing at titles and cover art that grab my eye. Today I found 'The Princes of Ireland' by Edward Rutherford. It's basically a novel that spans the time from the Irish Chieftains to the Viking invasions and.. to the actual founding of Dublin town. Seems to have good reviews and also seems to be relevant to the interests of folks here. Sorry if somebody mentioned it somewhere above already...

[Wes Detrick 488]

2001 for hard science fiction, most certainly. Arthur C. Clarke was awesome for hard science. If you like your science fiction hard, then "The Martian" fits the bill.

 

"Starship Troopers" for military science fiction. If you like that, then "Armor" by John Steakley is a must.

[Phil Ullrich 22]

I highly recommend:

 

Between Two Fires by C Buehlman.

 

"The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found an orphan of the Black Death in a Norman village....."

 

http://www.amazon.com/Between-Two-Fires-Christopher-Buehlman/dp/0425256901

[Dave Stephens 428]

2001 for hard science fiction, most certainly. Arthur C. Clarke was awesome for hard science. If you like your science fiction hard, then "The Martian" fits the bill.

 

"Starship Troopers" for military science fiction. If you like that, then "Armor" by John Steakley is a must.

 

"Starship Troopers" is one of my favorite novels of all time. If you've seen the movie, but not read the book, believe me when I tell you that the movie has almost nothing in common with the book. The movie was Beverly Hills 90210 meets Star Trek, or as a friend of mine once put it "Melrose Space." The novel is gritty, and filled with some pretty insightful philosophy on the nature of democracy and concept of sacrifice in service of protecting the species. It's short. You can knock it out on a long flight or an idle Sunday, and it's worth the read.

 

In fact, I have a quote from this book that is printed and framed and has sat on my desk for almost 20 years. I can quote it from memory: "The basis of all morality is duty: a concept with the same relation to the group as self interest has to the individual." It takes a bit to unpack that concept, but it's worth a ponder.

 

Great recommendation, Wes!

 

Dave

[Dave Stephens 428]

Has anyone added the original "Peter and Wendy" By J.M. Barrie? It is much different than all of the versions that Disney has made. I also read the Brom retelling, "The Child Thief" and Gerald Brom definitely did a good job of capturing Peter's darker side, that was clearly hinted toward in Barrie's original story, but Brom did it all without ruining Peter's childish spirit and his loyalty toward his friends. I can't say this about many things, but I liked Brom's version even more than the original.

 

I have been trying to get a Gemmel book (Winter Warriors) from the library for a number of months, without any luck, and I was dissapointed to see that my library has NONE of William Morris's writings. I'm going to try to reserve a different book from David Gemmel, haven't decided which one yet.

 

i recommend the Gemmel book "Sword in the Storm." It's the first of the Rigante series, and in my opinion, the finest thing Gemmel ever wrote (although I have read everything I can find of his and loved them all). I envy you getting to experience them for the first time. i wish I could leave a stack of books on the coffee table with a note to myself saying "Read these" and then selectively erase my memory so I could read them again fresh.

 

Winter Warriors is my favorite one-off book of his, though.

 

Luck!

 

Dave

[Wes Detrick 488]

"Starship Troopers" is one of my favorite novels of all time. If you've seen the movie, but not read the book, believe me when I tell you that the movie has almost nothing in common with the book. The movie was Beverly Hills 90210 meets Star Trek, or as a friend of mine once put it "Melrose Space." The novel is gritty, and filled with some pretty insightful philosophy on the nature of democracy and concept of sacrifice in service of protecting the species. It's short. You can knock it out on a long flight or an idle Sunday, and it's worth the read.

 

In fact, I have a quote from this book that is printed and framed and has sat on my desk for almost 20 years. I can quote it from memory: "The basis of all morality is duty: a concept with the same relation to the group as self interest has to the individual." It takes a bit to unpack that concept, but it's worth a ponder.

 

Great recommendation, Wes!

 

Dave

 

Thanks Dave! I loved it for the very reason you mentioned; Heinlein did a great job of talking about duty and morality during war. Not a fan of his later stuff though... "Stranger in a Strange Land" is potentially one of the most over rated books ever. I loathed it.

 

I have never read any of Brom's books, but I love his art and have for a very long time. I know most people around her are enamored of Tolkien and High Fantasy where the good are good and the evil twirl their mustaches, but I love my fantasy how I like my coffee; dark and stabby. Elric instead of Elrond, and Logen Ninefingers instead of Aragorn. Brom does a wonderful job of doing this in his paintings. Dark Fantasy at its best.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Wes Detrick