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On October 21 2013 05:31 Nouar wrote:
Finished A Dance With Dragons. (spoiler : George RR Martin : FUCK YOU. Sincerely.)
Problem : I'm 2 weeks into a 4months business trip, and from december to february I will have NOTHING to do except read (and work), being in a refugee camp, and I'm already out of books. T_T
Any good fantasy series, not black and white (Eddings I despise you), more like the Death Gate cycle (or GoT) ?
Is the Wheel of Time worth it ? (Yeah i'll have THAT much time)
Didn't read past the word fantasy. Go read everything that tolkein ever wrote.
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On October 21 2013 06:36 packrat386 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 05:31 Nouar wrote:
Finished A Dance With Dragons. (spoiler : George RR Martin : FUCK YOU. Sincerely.)
Problem : I'm 2 weeks into a 4months business trip, and from december to february I will have NOTHING to do except read (and work), being in a refugee camp, and I'm already out of books. T_T
Any good fantasy series, not black and white (Eddings I despise you), more like the Death Gate cycle (or GoT) ?
Is the Wheel of Time worth it ? (Yeah i'll have THAT much time) Didn't read past the word fantasy. Go read everything that tolkein ever wrote.
And everything by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Robin Hobb is good too (her Fitz series + Liveship series).
& if you're into urban fantasy, try some Steven Brust.
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On October 21 2013 05:52 Nyxisto wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 05:22 sam!zdat wrote:
that project implodes itself. which is why the break from the early to late ludwig (if you are of the camp that such a break exists). I'm not really in a camp yet :D just read it for the first time and I'll probably need to read it a few times more. If you start to get what he's really talking about the book offers quite a lot i think , but i don't like that it's basically written like a calculus-script as he is kind of inventing his own school of thought just on the fly, which makes it really hard to grasp.
Wittgenstein basically admits that the "project implodes itself" at the very end. Unless you're satisfied with his ladder metaphor.
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On October 21 2013 06:50 babylon wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 06:36 packrat386 wrote:On October 21 2013 05:31 Nouar wrote:
Finished A Dance With Dragons. (spoiler : George RR Martin : FUCK YOU. Sincerely.)
Problem : I'm 2 weeks into a 4months business trip, and from december to february I will have NOTHING to do except read (and work), being in a refugee camp, and I'm already out of books. T_T
Any good fantasy series, not black and white (Eddings I despise you), more like the Death Gate cycle (or GoT) ?
Is the Wheel of Time worth it ? (Yeah i'll have THAT much time) Didn't read past the word fantasy. Go read everything that tolkein ever wrote. And everything by Guy Gavriel Kay. Robin Hobb is good too (her Fitz series + Liveship series). & if you're into urban fantasy, try some Steven Brust.
While I loved the first two books in the Fitz series I felt the third one was an amazingly dull conclusion.
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On October 21 2013 05:52 Nyxisto wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 05:31 Nouar wrote:
Finished A Dance With Dragons. (spoiler : George RR Martin : FUCK YOU. Sincerely.)
Problem : I'm 2 weeks into a 4months business trip, and from december to february I will have NOTHING to do except read (and work), being in a refugee camp, and I'm already out of books. T_T
Any good fantasy series, not black and white (Eddings I despise you), more like the Death Gate cycle (or GoT) ?
Is the Wheel of Time worth it ? (Yeah i'll have THAT much time) I read the majority of the Wheel of Time series a long time ago. I think the series is quite okay as long as you don't expect an intellectual challenge, as the series is quite 'light' and not as complex as ASOIAF. The First Law trilogy is really good, as long as you don't have a problem of reading point of view characters that you can't really sympathize with. But if you're a fan of darker fantasy written in a nice self-ironic/cynical style you're probably gonna like the series a lot. The Jim Butcher novels are also fast-paced and a lot of fun, but of course in a different category than GRRM and Abercrombie. Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 05:22 sam!zdat wrote:
that project implodes itself. which is why the break from the early to late ludwig (if you are of the camp that such a break exists). I'm not really in a camp yet :D just read it for the first time and I'll probably need to read it a few times more. If you start to get what he's really talking about the book offers quite a lot i think , but i don't like that it's basically written like a calculus-script as he is kind of inventing his own school of thought just on the fly, which makes it really hard to grasp.
Thanks, I'll have a look at Abercrombie first, then. Ok, no Wheel of Time for me, I want my brain to have to work.
On October 21 2013 06:36 packrat386 wrote:
Didn't read past the word fantasy. Go read everything that tolkein ever wrote.
Thank you for the other answers, but of course I've read all Tolkien (as well as Lovecraft), and while I thoroughly enjoy quality writing, I tend to like less and less "good vs evil" as time goes.
On October 21 2013 06:50 babylon wrote:
And everything by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Robin Hobb is good too (her Fitz series + Liveship series).
& if you're into urban fantasy, try some Steven Brust.
I tried the Royal Assassin (6books) like 10 years ago by Robin Hobb, wasn't impressed.
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On October 21 2013 05:31 Nouar wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 06:36 packrat386 wrote:
Didn't read past the word fantasy. Go read everything that tolkein ever wrote. Thank you for the other answers, but of course I've read all Tolkien (as well as Lovecraft), and while I thoroughly enjoy quality writing, I tend to like less and less "good vs evil" as time goes.
when you say "all of tolkien" are we including Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, Lost Tales, Lays of Beleriand, etc. ? I literally mean everything that tolkein ever wrote 
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On October 21 2013 14:30 packrat386 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 05:31 Nouar wrote:On October 21 2013 06:36 packrat386 wrote:
Didn't read past the word fantasy. Go read everything that tolkein ever wrote. Thank you for the other answers, but of course I've read all Tolkien (as well as Lovecraft), and while I thoroughly enjoy quality writing, I tend to like less and less "good vs evil" as time goes. when you say "all of tolkien" are we including Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, Lost Tales, Lays of Beleriand, etc. ? I literally mean everything that tolkein ever wrote
Of course it does, by "all" I mean "all", including Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth and songs/poetry :-) I kinda like most The Children of Hurin I've gotta admit.
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Netherlands19141 Posts
Steven Erikson is so much better then any of the suggestions on this page I've read so far. Plus, Wheel of Time is just a guilty little *cough huge ass* pleasure to read :D.
Interestingly enough I like everything from Joe Abercrombie except his First Law trilogy (Best Served Cold, the Heroes, Red Country). It was fun and all but the plot is way too straightforward for my personal tastes. Plenty of good stuff though.
edit: And once you've gone through everything good you can always entertain yourself with Glen Cook or try out R.Scott Baker and Patrick Rothfuss for some fun and interesting stuff.
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@Nyovne, you have beautiful taste
Edit: Except on First Law. Thing with Abercrombie is characters and not story. First law was good because it was a traditional story, but only consisting of anti heroes.
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Finally got around to reading the LotR trilogy (or one part depends on which way you look at it ) and also read the Hobbit twice now. So glad I finally took the time since they were all really great, I expected to be more into the trilogy and not so much into the Hobbit but it was the exact opposite and that's why I read that one twice. Best fiction book I've read so far, but I typically just spend reading time studying so not to much fiction. I also got a few of the other books Tolkien wrote with funky names but don't think I'll be getting around to them anytime soon, got my fiction-fix for the time being. Can't wait for the 2nd Hobbit movie though!
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Canada5565 Posts
The characters are what make Abercrombie's books worth reading. The main plot is a bit weak in all 5 of his books that I read. The character-focused subplots are great, though. The Heroes is probably my favorite.
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On October 21 2013 19:49 Xxio wrote:
The characters are what make Abercrombie's books worth reading. The main plot is a bit weak in all 5 of his books that I read. The character-focused subplots are great, though. The Heroes is probably my favorite.
Agreed on everything. The Heroes is also my favourite. I'm about to finish Red Country in english (not my first language).
Glokta is at least on level with the small Lannister
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Netherlands19141 Posts
Glokta rules so hard haha. DAT CRIPPLE.
And yeah Lungic, it was refreshing though but somehow it really annoyed me at certain points in the story while others were really good. All in all I read it all and had enjoyed it but I can't find myself in the enthusiasm that most people show when writing about it. Guess I''ll give it a reread and perhaps I can enjoy myself more without my earlier expectations of the series. I agree with the Heroes being the best of the stand alones but Best Served Cold is a close second. Red Country was.... interesting but was lacking something. Especially with regards to the First Law character it ends up following. The reveal scene (for the guy he was fighting in the "arena" in the book) made me cackle out loud though.
Just reread Passage at Arms by Glen Cook and I keep enjoying my yearly reread of the book (along with the likes of the Hobbit, Dune etc, which I all read once every year/every two years  ). Never sure what to make of The Dragon Never Sleeps by the same author.
The Bauchelain and Korbal Broach short stories by Erikson are just amazing. So funny and the not so suble critique on modern day society, culture and events in the world keep cracking me up or giving me food for thought. Plus it's just hilarious.
edit: Anyone else finding Esslemonts writing (Finishing up the loose ends of Eriksons writing) to be increasingly disappointing? I love Night of Knives, Return of the Crimson guard was pretty good but Stonewielder and Blood and Bone had the most potential of them all regarding the subject matter and hand and in my opinion he totally blew it in both books. I kinda hate him for it since I always enjoyed the mystery with regards to certain characters and locales that Erikson created to have them absolutely destroyed by Esslemont in my humble opinion. Really wish I hadn't read those last two and I dread with what he's going to do with Assail. Guess I'll read that anyway now -.-. But my gentle heart shivers in the cold uninspired breeze of his writing.
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Didn't expect to find this thread here!
On January 15 2013 22:16 iNbluE wrote:Reading ![[image loading]](http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/8/c/a/2/event_107316002.jpeg) A very addictive book, oniric, sensible. Has some kind of a David Lynch feeling to it
Read Wind-up Bird!
Just finished Kapuscinski's Imperium and his Soccer War... Both quite profound. You can't rightly call yourself a Marxist without having read those two books.
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On October 21 2013 17:14 Nouar wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 14:30 packrat386 wrote:On October 21 2013 05:31 Nouar wrote:On October 21 2013 06:36 packrat386 wrote:
Didn't read past the word fantasy. Go read everything that tolkein ever wrote. Thank you for the other answers, but of course I've read all Tolkien (as well as Lovecraft), and while I thoroughly enjoy quality writing, I tend to like less and less "good vs evil" as time goes. when you say "all of tolkien" are we including Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, Lost Tales, Lays of Beleriand, etc. ? I literally mean everything that tolkein ever wrote Of course it does, by "all" I mean "all", including Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth and songs/poetry :-) I kinda like most The Children of Hurin I've gotta admit.
I'm liking you more and more (and I need to get around to reading all of Lost Tales >.<)
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On October 21 2013 22:02 Space Invader wrote:
You can't rightly call yourself a Marxist without having read those two books.
shit
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On October 22 2013 02:48 sam!zdat wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 22:02 Space Invader wrote:
You can't rightly call yourself a Marxist without having read those two books. shit
It's ok Sam. You can get an exception I'm sure.
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Reading Marx obviously doesn't count, you silly boy.
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On October 21 2013 13:24 intothewhite wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 06:50 babylon wrote:On October 21 2013 06:36 packrat386 wrote:On October 21 2013 05:31 Nouar wrote:
Finished A Dance With Dragons. (spoiler : George RR Martin : FUCK YOU. Sincerely.)
Problem : I'm 2 weeks into a 4months business trip, and from december to february I will have NOTHING to do except read (and work), being in a refugee camp, and I'm already out of books. T_T
Any good fantasy series, not black and white (Eddings I despise you), more like the Death Gate cycle (or GoT) ?
Is the Wheel of Time worth it ? (Yeah i'll have THAT much time) Didn't read past the word fantasy. Go read everything that tolkein ever wrote. And everything by Guy Gavriel Kay. Robin Hobb is good too (her Fitz series + Liveship series). & if you're into urban fantasy, try some Steven Brust. While I loved the first two books in the Fitz series I felt the third one was an amazingly dull conclusion.
I agree that Hobb has some issues with closing out her books. I actually really liked the ending of her first Fitz series, though; it struck a perfect, bittersweet note with me even though I had a lot of issues with her pacing throughout the rest of the book, which tends to drag.
On October 21 2013 14:22 Nouar wrote:Show nested quote +On October 21 2013 06:50 babylon wrote:
And everything by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Robin Hobb is good too (her Fitz series + Liveship series).
& if you're into urban fantasy, try some Steven Brust. I tried the Royal Assassin (6books) like 10 years ago by Robin Hobb, wasn't impressed.
Read her Liveship series!
I also had to try 2-3 times over the past few years to finish Hobb's first Fitz trilogy. I don't like her writing style, and she also smacks a little bit too much of "idiot plot" (Fitz is quite dumb for being an assassin, methinks). The other issue with her Fitz books is that they're all constrained to Fitz's POV, which I feel hides one of her greatest strengths in writing, i.e. her characterization, which is wonderful in the Liveship trilogy.
For people interested in character-focused, somewhat brutal/dark fantasy, also check out the Rai Kirah trilogy by Carol Berg.
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(If only Pratchett could have like 10 new books on the shelves like right *now*, I'd die of bliss.)
Thanks for the further suggestions, I'll look up all those.
And people, you've gotta try The Death Gate cycle by Weis&Hickman. It's... unusually interesting. Main character is supposedly a bad guy, but they are all shady anyways. There's a lot of good ideas on how people could evolve in different worlds, too.
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EPT
