posted
I have been reading OSC's books since 1985, and he has been my favorite author overall. I have read some books by others, but very few capture my attention or keep my interest as much as the way Card writes. Unfortunately when he has nothing new to read, I struggle to find another book or author. Does anyone else feel the same? If so, what other authors do you enjoy as much as OSC?
Posts: 6 | Registered: Jun 2012
| IP: Logged |
posted
Try Neil Gaiman. His novels are entertaining, well-written, and easy to read. My favorites of his are Neverwhere, American Gods, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
Posts: 2054 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by DustinDopps: I love OSC's books, but strongly disliked "American Gods." It turned me off of ever reading anything else by Gaiman.
May I ask what put you off about it? I've recently considered picking it up.
Posts: 1080 | Registered: Apr 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
While a lot of it is pretty badly dated (glaring sexism and tech extrapolations that haven't aged particularly well), I've enjoyed most of what Niven has put out solo, and quite a bit of what he's put out with writing partners.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Logan Cale: I have been reading OSC's books since 1985, and he has been my favorite author overall. I have read some books by others, but very few capture my attention or keep my interest as much as the way Card writes. Unfortunately when he has nothing new to read, I struggle to find another book or author. Does anyone else feel the same? If so, what other authors do you enjoy as much as OSC?
Which of Card's books are your favorites? If you were to have to sum up in a single sentence what it is about Card's stuff that so hooks you, what would you say?
Once I know that, I can do a bit better job of tailoring recommendations to your particular taste.
Posts: 1087 | Registered: Jul 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I've read almost every book OSC has written, and like you, I found myself looking for other authors as my "goto" source.
I recommend trying out Brandon Sanderson. He's now well-known in his own right, but his first claim to fame was that he was the guy Robert Jordan chose to finish the "Wheel of Time" series.
I'd probably start with the novel Warbreaker. It's a great general intro into Sanderson's style, and it's a standalone story (until he writes a sequel, anyway). Maybe go to the Mistborn trilogy next, and then tackle Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. I really liked Elantris, too, but I don't think it's the novel you want to start with.
Fair warning, though: Sanderson is more of a "slow burn" author than OSC. He builds up mountains of character and plotline development throughout the book, and then you get a few "apocalypse" chapters near the end where everything is resolved in a dramatic climax. He also loves doing multi-volume series, which I kind of like, since it automatically gives me something to read next.
Another interesting little quirk of Sanderson's writing is that all of his novels are set in the same universe, though all on different worlds. (Hearing this before I ever read a Sanderson book, it kind of misled me about what to expect... there's no space travel or, really, sci-fi of any kind in his works. The worlds are just all in the same universe, but on different planets. Also, he has a character or two that appears in multiple books without any explanation (... yet...) as to how or why they got there.)
Another thing he's noted for is creating interesting magic systems, which are different in every book, but which all have scientific "rules" and underpinnings that guide them. (Personally, this is the part I found most fascinating when I figured that out.) He also creates a set of annotations for most books, which is a cool "behind the scenes" look as what was going through his mind as he wrote each chapter.
At any rate, Sanderson is definitely a differently-paced writer than OSC, but I've come to really appreciate his works. He seems like a really fan-friendly kind of guy, which I always appreciate. (And I'll say this... he spends forever on building the story, but when he pays it off, he really pays it off.)
Posts: 124 | Registered: Jun 2013
| IP: Logged |
May I ask what put you off about it? I've recently considered picking it up.
I've been sick the past couple of days, so I apologize for the delay.
Instead of trying to explain why I disliked it, I'm going to paste in some reviews from Amazon that I agree with. Hopefully that will suffice.
"...cannot recall the last time I've been unable and unwilling to finish a book. It was beyond a disappointment, it was a frustration which even months later upsets me. It was boring, unenlightening, dismal, dreary, depressing, and pointless. Though the idea is great, it went nowhere."
"This book is well written. The author is obviously talented, but the whole story never " jelled" . By page 350 I was trudging through it expecting the last 100 pages to be so phenomenally plot twisting, to make the first 300 pages worth it. But it never happened. It fell flat on its face. Usually when i read a good author I crave to try more of his stuff. I will avoid Gaiman, if only because of the book."
Is that too harsh? I only made it about 2/3 of the way through, then decided to read a 'Cliffs Notes' version online to see if it ever paid off. The reviews I read said there's no satisfying ending, so I gave up. Also, it was vulgar and gritty and full of swear words for no real reason. And I don't know anything about Gaiman, but I got the impression he thinks religious people are stupid.
Posts: 298 | Registered: Sep 2011
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Jake: Which of Card's books are your favorites? If you were to have to sum up in a single sentence what it is about Card's stuff that so hooks you, what would you say?
Once I know that, I can do a bit better job of tailoring recommendations to your particular taste.
My favorites are the entire Ender series and Pathfinder series (November can't arrive fast enough!). I have read most of his other works, books and short stories, and enjoyed them all except for The First Formic War and Empire. I tried both books but lost interest midway. I was surprised since I have enjoyed all his other fiction.
I wish I could describe what about OSC's writing clicks. Unfortunately I will need to think about that some more.
Other series/authors I have completed and enjoyed were the Rama series, but in that case, I discovered that it was Gentry Lee that I preferred, and not Clarke. Philip Pullman won me over for his His Dark Materials but not as much for his older stuff.
Posts: 6 | Registered: Jun 2012
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'd say authors who have a similar effect (but not identical, since no one is identical in writing or personality) as OSC for me are:
Megan Whalen Turner, "The Thief" series. YA, but very sophisticated YA. Robert A. Heinlein (mostly his earlier stuff, like Citizen of the Galaxy) (Trying to think of non-YA comparisons...) The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin - different style, but similar focus on community and moral psychology
Posts: 428 | Registered: Nov 2006
| IP: Logged |
quote:He also loves doing multi-volume series, which I kind of like, since it automatically gives me something to read next.
Another interesting little quirk of Sanderson's writing is that all of his novels are set in the same universe, though all on different worlds. (Hearing this before I ever read a Sanderson book, it kind of misled me about what to expect... there's no space travel or, really, sci-fi of any kind in his works. The worlds are just all in the same universe, but on different planets. Also, he has a character or two that appears in multiple books without any explanation (... yet...) as to how or why they got there.)
I don't think Brandon Sanderson writes any more multi-volume series than most other authors. Warbreaker, Elantris, Legion, The Rithmatist and The Emperor's Soul are stand-alones though The Emperor's Soul is set in the same world as Elantris and there's another Legion book coming out but the stories are still stand-alones.
An important point to understand is that while most of his books exist in the same universe (called The Cosmere), you can still read the different books and series without having to know the connections and not miss out on much. Piece the connections in a second reading if you so desire (if not caught during the initial reading). I frankly concentrate on the story at hand the first reading without worrying about catching the common character or hints at The Cosmere.
Posts: 134 | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
