I want something to read. The book you think is the best of them all. Preferably long. May be a series, though in that case I'd prefer it to be finished.
I'm in the fantasy mood right now, but if you know something great non-fantasy, post anyway.
And remember - recommend only books which you fell in love with and couldn't stop reading. I don't want a so-so book.
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There's this one book I loved, what was it...Ender's Game, I think. It's the first of a couple of series, but at least one of those is mostly finished. Posts: 1163 | Registered: Jan 2005
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Do you mean why someone should read Idlewild ???? If so I think the more correct question is why shouldn't someone read Idlewild. Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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You can't have too many book recommendation threads.
I just read "The Time Traveler's Wife," and though I can't say that I fell in love, I liked it enough that I read it in a couple days.
I must also recommend Robin Hobb, as I did get my Hatrack SN from the main character in her first and most recent trilogies. Starts with the Assassin trilogy, then there's the Liveship Trader trilogy, and finally the Tawny Man trilogy.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Kama, I suggest "The Eight" or "The Magic Circle" by Katherine Neville, if you want a Davinci Code type of book. They are pretty much off the radar, but I loved them.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I would suggest Lyndon Hardy's Master of the Five Magics (and also Secret of the Sixth Magic and Riddle of the Seven Realms), but they are out of print. Fun books, though.
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jan 1999
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The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold. It's part of a long series. I'm not sure if the series is finished or not. I like it because it's very good writing. It's part of the genre known as "space opera" but I wouldn't classify it as fluff any more than I would classify Ender's Game as fluff. It's very real. It's not melodramatic even though if a lesser writer were writing it would be. It's hard for me to explain why I like it without citing examples from the books, so I'll stop there.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote: Think Herbert, Tolkien, Martin, Zelazny, Le Guin.
I'm thinking "Herbert": "The Jesus Incident", "The Lazarus Effect" and "The Ascension Factor". There's a book that's kind of related to them - before the action in TJI - and it's called "Destination Void". If you loved "Dune", you'll also love these. Another story set in difficult surroundings, bringing out the best - and the worst - in humans, and not only.
"Destination Void" is quite apart from the rest but it's very interesting in what concerns characters. Some quotes from "Destination Void":
quote: There must be a threshold of consciousness such that when you pass it you acquire godlike attributes. -Raja Lon Flattery, The Book of Ship
The power to be sane is also the power to go mad. -Raj Flattery
We're not conscious. We're not awake. -Bickel to Raj Flattery
"God times zero," she said. "Why not?" -Prudence Lon Weygand to Raja Lon Flattery
The Chase has fascinated humankind from the beginning, and with good reason. What many failed to understand, however, was that there could be the excitement of the chase even where the only thing you were chasing was an idea, a concept, a theory. As awareness developed, it became apparent that this was the most important chase of all, the one upon whose outcome all of humankind survives or fails. -Raja Lon Flattery, The Book of Ship
We're more than our ideas. -Prudence Lon Weygand, M.D.
Of course now you're gonna tell me you already read those.....
I'd also recommand Greg Bear's "Eternity" for a strange mix of adventure & technology. It has everything from the strange aliens to the "meaning of life" question. Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Kama, I was just wondering: did you see any translations of Romanian SF books in Poland?
Oh, and another very interesting author is Clifford D. Simak. His "Way Station" is an excellent story and also (very) character oriented.
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I really liked Gene Wolfe's There are Doors. It's fantasy, but not in the dwarves and sword maidens way. It's basically about real life, but weird, with some mental illness and mythology stuff thrown in. The front cover even quotes OSC saying "It may well be Wolfe's perfect story."
I thought it was great.
Gene Wolfe's other series are cool in a more fantasyish way. I read the Long Sun trilogy... or... quadrilogy. It was cool, but not as good as There are Doors.
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I am very glad to see you have read Wolfe, Annie. Few writers come close to his skill and mastery of different styles and techniques.
Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun (4 volumes plus a sequel) is his best work, IMO. It's my favorite series. Some consider it fantasy, others disagree. It's hard to classify.
Other novels with fantasy elements by Wolfe: The recently released The Wizard Knight, 2 volumes. I bought the 2nd volume 2 weeks ago in hardcover (which I very rarely do) and I am already on my second read, so you can tell I like it. A complicated yet concisely explicated fantasy world with dragons, knights, elves, angels, gods, pirates, giants, etc. Well thought out and planned, I enjoyed both volumes.
Soldier of the Mist--greek soldier fights against Perisans circa 400BC. Has gods and goddesses, magic, prophets, etc. Latro, the main character, has anterograde amnesia (sad patient histories of ant. amnesia sufferers), like the guy in Memento: he cannot lay down new memories in long term mempry, anything that happened yesterday is just gone--except what he writes down in his scroll diary. Latro's scroll is the novel. Original idea, well executed. Plus sequel, Soldier of Aretes.
Castleview--Modern day rendition of the Grail legends, set in 80s Illinois. Various magic. Most writers would be proud to write a book this good, but Wolfe has done better. Read The Book of the New Sun!!
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I love Katharine Kerr's Deverry series, it's 4 books then goes to the sequel series the Westlands Cycle also 4 books, and the third series i think will be 5 books and is still being written... very realistic fantasy if you can say that I started reading these around the same time as OSC's books and am still reading them...
Posts: 46 | Registered: Dec 2004
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Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon (called Outlander in the States). It's the first book in a series of five about a British woman who goes back in time to 18th century Scotland. Kylie recommended it to me in New Zealand, and I loved it. I'm on the second book in the series now.
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Don't avoid that series, Goody - it's truly wonderful! She is a highly educated author that amuses, captivates, and inspires. Well-researched, well-written, hmmmm -
But don't take my word for it - I find the series far better than that rip off book "The Time Traveler"
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I really liked Warrior in the Mist, by Wolfe. I didn;t like a lot of his stuff, but that was a really concept and it was well written.
Personally. I really like Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay. His first job as a writer was helping Chris Tolkien edit the Silmarillion, and then he began writing with The Summer Tree, first in a trilogy.
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Julian May is a great author. She also used the phrase "bosky dingle" at least once, I think in The Many-Coloured Land. She wrote 3 series that are loosely intertwined Saga of the Pliocene Exiles: The Many-Coloured Land (nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards) The Golden Torc The Nonborn King The Adversary
The Intervention: The Surveillance Metaconcert
Galactic Milieu Trilogy: Jack the Bodiless Diamond Mask Magnificat
All very good, the emphasis is on ESP and mental powers as powerful forces driving human history. Plus there are several kinds of believable aliens. A plot summary isn't easy. She can be a very poetic writer and has a gift for dialoge and character.
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Corwin, I don't think so. There may have been something long ago, but not recently. Any non-English stuff is mostly Russian.
Posts: 5700 | Registered: Feb 2002
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I don't think anyone in the genre was translated into English, except for Lem. Too bad, there is some extremely good stuff.
If you want something different, there is a trilogy by Henryk Sienkiewicz, a 19th century writer - a semi-historical account of knights, wars and love set in 17th century Poland. The parts are: "With Fire and Sword", "The Deluge", "Pan Wołodyjowski".
You could also try Bruno Schulz, though I admit I didn't read him since high school. I really enjoyed it then, though.
I can't really think of anything else I like that was translated.
Or you could try the Nobel price winning poets: Wisława Szymborksa and Czesław Miłosz.
[ February 11, 2005, 04:01 AM: Message edited by: Kama ]
Posts: 5700 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Solaris boring?! Hmm... I didn't think so when I read it... Now the first movie has its boring parts but there are things in there that are better than in the latest version, the one with George Clooney.
Also, Annie, if you find anything else by Lem you'll see his other books are kind of different from Solaris, filled with irony and humor.
As for Romanian novels, as Annie said, "that's too bad"...
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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