EPTRecommend me a book! - Page 3
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fusionsdf
Canada15390 Posts
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Augury
United States758 Posts
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Smorrie
Netherlands2923 Posts
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Divinek
Canada4045 Posts
On July 27 2009 22:02 samachking wrote: The Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Dune by Frank Herbert Foundation Trilogy by Issac Asimov Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card All scifi though, I dont read much fantasy. I also heard really good stuff from TL on Song of Ice and Fire. If you want general book reccomendations and not constrained to Fantasy/Sci Fi I would gladly help out with more books. If you havent read those you have to right now | ||
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ShadowDrgn
United States2497 Posts
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Mortality
United States4790 Posts
On July 28 2009 04:46 ShadowDrgn wrote: It may be better to hold off on reading A Song of Ice and Fire until the series is actually finished, or else you're going to join the rest of us dying in anticipation of each book. So true. Lately a lot of fans have been worried too, because like with Robert Jordan (who died before completing Wheel of Time), GRRM seems to be taking longer and longer to release each door stopper and he has 3 left to go. Every time he gives a tentative release date on his most recent book, the date gets suddenly pushed back. People are projecting that he won't finish until around the time he turns 75, but he's overweight, so there are some serious concerns that he might die before finishing. That's the guy right there: + Show Spoiler + ![[image loading]](http://www.midamericon.org/photoarchive/05conq005.JPG) However, yes, Song of Fire and Ice is good. Damn good. But I do think it's overrated. It didn't have me jizzing in my pants or anything. I saw someone mention Simon R Green. Warning: extreme your mileage may vary. I absolutely hated, HATED Something from the Nightside. The book could have been good, but we had a know-it-all protagonist explain, explain through dialogue exactly how we should think and feel about characters/places/events we haven't seen before. At one point a character is introduced and our main character spends three pages telling his client exactly how he feels about the man and exactly how she should feel too. I was also left terribly unsure of whether Green was trying to write the story as a comedy or as a horror, but all I can say is that he utterly failed at both. Stick with Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman; it's infinitely better. Edit: I'll leave a general suggestion that I think may help. When looking for books, go on Amazon.com and check out the reviews. Ignore the positive reviews; I've seen a lot of utter crap get absolutely glowing reviews. Urban fantasy/paranormal romance in particular is notorious for having inflated ratings. If T.H. White's The Once and Future King only gets 4/5 stars, then I don't see why any urban fantasy at all deserves a 4.5 or 5 out of 5. Anyway, check out the negative reviews, particularly the 1/5 star reviews. Some people just post retarded and uninsightful comments like "this was crap," but some people will give you detailed comments telling you exactly why they didn't like the book that can help you make your decisions. For instance, I really don't like when I feel that an author is shoving his/her political ideals down my throat. Everyone obviously has their own political opinions and these opinions are likely to be reflected in an author's work, but some authors tell a story and let you formulate your own ideas while others get rabid. For instance, a strong female character in a medieval society? Cool. Taking actual historical male figures and gender-bending them left and right so that virtually every major hero in real life history is now a woman? Anvilicious and detestable. A story that features different ethnicities with fantastic racism themes that somewhat mirror real life (realistically portrayed...)? Cool. A story that turns a fantasy species into noble savages and then portrays the humans as industrialist warmongers, raping and pillaging wherever they go? Anvilicious and detestable. You find out these kinds of things if you read the bad reviews. | ||
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m4gdelen4
United States416 Posts
DUNE - FRANK HERBERT | ||
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Slaughter
United States20254 Posts
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fusionsdf
Canada15390 Posts
On July 28 2009 04:43 Divinek wrote: If you havent read those you have to right now eh foundation was good, but none of the books are anywhere near the best books I've read. You probably won't be disappointed, but the books arent really all that amazing to be honest | ||
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NukezaFlyin
United States10 Posts
Pretty good book, and I think people who read lots of fantasy would like it. try it out! | ||
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m4gdelen4
United States416 Posts
DENIS JOHNSON - i discovered this guy recently after reading 'Nobody Move', which is a recent bestseller. i really like his 'prose' or the way he writes, and the dialogues of his characters. Nobody Move - about some dude who owes some mobster money, kinda reminds of no country for old men for some reason. the main character meets up and gets involved with a woman who is getting the bad end of a divorce. two lonely people with problems that get caught up together. Jesus' Son - a collection of stories narrated by one person. it's about the americans you don't know much about. we make fun of these people all the time, the "white trash", the "filth of society" and "trailer-park hillbilly" kind of people. gives you a perspective of the "american" life that people dont really talk about - loneliness, hitchhiking, bars, crime, etc. PHILIP ROTH- remember today when you were talking about that director that did all the movies about New Jersey? this is the twin of that director, but in writing. Philip Roth writes alot about Jews living in New Jersey, specifically in a city called Newark, but he writes about New Jersey just in general. this guy writes those era type books, more serious. not horror like stephen king. it doesn't really say anything, but philip roth is an award winning author just throwing that out there Portnoy's Complaint - hilarious book about kid's sexual frustration. alot of masturbation in this book haha. book is about jewish life back then i guess. Indignation - really interesting book about Jewish life in the 50's. about an overprotected jewish son who is the first in his family to attend college, his father's anxiety over him "entering" the adult world, and problems he encounters while he's at school. not really spoiling anything, but the book is pretty much about how he gets pissed off (book is called indignation by the way) because nobody understands him, says two words, and gets screwed in the end. you'll see. STEPHEN KING Duma Key - about a man who gets hit by a car, gains some crazy talent in painting, and weird shit happens Lisey's Story - a power of love kind of story, sounds cheesy but its good Hearts In Atlantis - sad story about the effects of 'nam on america in the 60's, with some fantasy/scifi kind of stuff.... kinda. If you ever get the time/patience, take the time to read King's Dark Tower series. It really is his "masterpiece." The series pays homage to lots of other famous books by other authors, and a huge number of King's books are connected to it somehow. For example, Hearts In Atlantis, The Stand, The Shining, It, Lisey's Story, and others you may have read. See the link i attached. Black House and The Talisman - two more novels very closely related to the Dark Tower series, very good. Cell - one of his newer books. there's this popular trend among horror/thriller writers right now (one's that i've read are Infected by Scott Sigler, and Hater by David Moody) that copy this book or are copied by this book, i have no idea. but this one is good. the basic storyline for all of these is a strange endemic of perfectly normal people suddenly becoming crazy murderers. Also read Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo - about a vietnam soldier who's so disabled he's basically a human trunk. no arms no legs, no jaw, no eyesight, no way out. not even suicide, and he can't communicate. he finally learns to communicate somehow and what he says makes no sense, he's crazy. enjoy | ||
MasterOfChaos
Germany2896 Posts
On July 31 2009 02:40 m4gdelen4 wrote: If you ever get the time/patience, take the time to read King's Dark Tower series. It really is his "masterpiece." The series pays homage to lots of other famous books by other authors, and a huge number of King's books are connected to it somehow. For example, Hearts In Atlantis, The Stand, The Shining, It, Lisey's Story, and others you may have read. See the link i attached. I started with the first volume and found it rather tedious to read. Does it get better later on? By Robin Hobb I liked the two farseer trilogies(forgot the official name of the second one) but could't really get into the liveship traders trilogy. Robert Jordan is an interesting case. I like the world and the basic story a lot, but it gets a bit lengthy when he tells rather uninteresting sideplots with annoying characters. For me a lot depends on the last volumes. They need to give a good reason for why the evil characters behaved as they did. | ||
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m4gdelen4
United States416 Posts
[QUOTE]On July 31 2009 02:40 m4gdelen4 wrote: If you ever get the time/patience, take the time to read King's Dark Tower series. It really is his "masterpiece." The series pays homage to lots of other famous books by other authors, and a huge number of King's books are connected to it somehow. For example, Hearts In Atlantis, The Stand, The Shining, It, Lisey's Story, and others you may have read. See the link i attached.[/QUOTE] I started with the first volume and found it rather tedious to read. Does it get better later on? Well, if you didn't enjoy the first book, you probably won't like the rest of the series. There is no speeding up of the momentum of the storyline, etc. until maybe the last book. The 4th book Wizard and Glass is even a break from the main storyline..... | ||
Daigomi
South Africa4316 Posts
On July 31 2009 04:53 MasterOfChaos wrote: By Robin Hobb I liked the two farseer trilogies(forgot the official name of the second one) but could't really get into the liveship traders trilogy. The chronology is actually Farseer > Liveship > Fool, and the fool books build somewhat on what happened in the Liveship series. I actually enjoyed the Liveship traders the most, for some reason, although the series is epically slow and long. I think I read the whole series in 8 days, which is the most I've ever read in that period of time (the three books together are about 2.5 times longer than the LotR trilogy, they're really massive). I dunno why, but I really got into the Liveship series. Her new series is pretty much one of the strangest pieces of fiction I've ever read. It's not that bizarre in terms of plot, but the characterization is extremely strange. It has the typical Hobb focus on characterization and development and internal struggle, but basically, the protagonists core issue is that he has gone from being a handsome cavalier to someone weighing 200kg (literally). So you have massive trilogy focusing on a character that is the exact opposite of any kind of hero. He can't fight, he can't run, he can't be stealthy, and he's depressed all the time because he's fat. That said, if you get behind the strange protagonist, I actually enjoyed it tremendously. I have read as interesting a book in a while, where so many of the typical fantasy conventions are broken. And the protagonist's internal battles didn't feel staged or set-up, but you could actually imagine fighting them yourself if you were in his situation. I thought it was a really good read (except for book 1, which is a bit strange and confusing). Either way, if you have lots of time to spare, maybe give Hobb a try again. She's definitely one of my two favourite fantasy writers (with R Scott Bakker). | ||
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GogoKodo
Canada1785 Posts
It also got me back into reading somewhat. I'm also listening to the audio book of it right now for a refresher and it's really good. | ||
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Chuiu
3470 Posts
Book might be hard to find right now as its been out of print for a while (you could get lucky at your local Barnes or Borders) but if not a new hard cover will be released in a couple months (see my sig). EDIT: You might be able to find an online copy. He had an html version of the book on his website for the longest time but took it off when it was scheduled for re-release. | ||
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captainwaffles
United States1050 Posts
Recommend me a book! I like scifi, psychological books (kind of like fight club), and books that deal with problems in modern day society (...again like fight club). Anyone have any suggestions? | ||
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YPang
United States4024 Posts
+ Show Spoiler + unless ur a girl or u wanna jack off to dirty parts | ||
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captainwaffles
United States1050 Posts
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DivGradCurl
United States30 Posts
In all seriousness though, it's probably the most complex and accomplished work of science fiction I've ever read. It's just one of the books that I think everyone should read... There's a lot to be gained from reading it, it's art, it's wisdom, and it's entertainment. EDIT: I haven't read much fantasy besides LOTR, but other science fiction books that I've enjoyed a great deal that have been recommended in this thread: Hyperion (although the sequel was just "okay") and Ender's Game | ||
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