|
Mars4523 posted:So here's a tough one. A Game of Spies by John Altman seems to match these criteria. It's about a German sleeper agent agent during WW2. It's been some years since I've read it but I remember it being a decent airport thriller kind of fare. I'd highly recommend John le Carre's stuff if you are interested in spy novels, even though it might not be exactly what you want.
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2014 13:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 01:20 |
|
|
Authors with books similar to the Cthulhu mythos about the darker shades of humanity and forbidden lore. (Been playing a lot of Secret World lately.)
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2014 18:41
|
|
|
ShadowMoo posted:Authors with books similar to the Cthulhu mythos about the darker shades of humanity and forbidden lore. (Been playing a lot of Secret World lately.) Charles Stross "Laundry" series isn't totally grimdark, but is based around the idea of a scrappy secret agency trying to contain the multifarious evils of other dimensions so they don't disrupt the rush hour commute. I enjoyed them all.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2014 18:59
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Charles Stross "Laundry" series isn't totally grimdark, but is based around the idea of a scrappy secret agency trying to contain the multifarious evils of other dimensions so they don't disrupt the rush hour commute. I enjoyed them all. Also every book is apparently a pastiche of some other author/genre, which I totally didn't pick up because I mostly read terrible fantasy novels.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2014 06:26
|
|
|
I read Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca in high school. I enjoyed it, but that's been a long time ago (and the English teacher who assigned it had us read the first chapter last). I noticed that the local library had several of her other books on the shelf. Is anything else decent?
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2014 07:13
|
|
|
After Rebecca, Du Maurier's second-best-known novel is probably Jamaica Inn, which is a nice little suspenser.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2014 16:53
|
|
|
Mars4523 posted:So here's a tough one. Daniel O'Malley's The Rook if you don't mind the Urban Fantasy setting. Great female protagonist and interesting setup. Tim Power's Declare, if - again - you don't object to the setting that includes supernatural things, and also the Forties and Sixties. The main character is a man, but a woman features very prominently as ally/antagonist/rogue element. Unfortunately there isn't much to find in terms of female protagonists in vanilla spy fiction (or I haven't found it yet), so I'm only left with the supernatural stuff recommendation.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 07:36
|
|
|
Mars4523 posted:So here's a tough one. Go read Len Deighton's Spy Sinker. Spy Sinker is the culmination of Deighton's Bernard Samson series(a 3 decade story about the rise & fall of the coldwar war with Russia). No preaching politics, limited romance, female protagonist. technical details are mainly glossed/horribly dated/used to fill plot holes from the earlier books. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 13:51 on Jun 11, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 13:49
|
|
|
Mars4523 posted:So here's a tough one. If you are willing to stretch your definition of what a spy is a little, Bleeding Edge by Pynchon. The main character is an unlicensed fraud examiner but that just means she is investigating a large tech startup prior to 9/11 all while packing heat in her purse. Stravinsky fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Jun 11, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 17:19
|
|
|
It's that time of year again, and I was wondering if you kind goons could help me with a fresh crop of dad books. My dad is into military history and novels, but I'd like some variety apart from that and don't want to go maximum ghoulish. Any suggestions, folks?
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 20:54
|
|
|
Darth Walrus posted:It's that time of year again, and I was wondering if you kind goons could help me with a fresh crop of dad books. My dad is into military history and novels, but I'd like some variety apart from that and don't want to go maximum ghoulish. Any suggestions, folks? Why not scour ebay for a copy of The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 BC to the Presentby Ernest R. Dupuy & Trevor N. Dupuy. "Present" being circa 1980's-mid 1990's depending on which edition you find. This book is drat good resource for anyone interested in military history, either as a hobby or real-life job.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 21:09
|
|
|
Looking for a good primer on postcolonialism (and/or postcolonial theory). It's a term I'm seeing bandied about more and more these days and I know next to nothing about it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 02:26
|
|
|
Could anyone recommend me good books with unreliable narrators? Whether they're insane or hiding some messed up past, throw 'em at me!
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 08:50
|
|
|
Boner Calhoun posted:Could anyone recommend me good books with unreliable narrators? Whether they're insane or hiding some messed up past, throw 'em at me!
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 09:05
|
|
|
Boner Calhoun posted:Could anyone recommend me good books with unreliable narrators? Whether they're insane or hiding some messed up past, throw 'em at me! I love unreliable narrators. A few pages back someone asked for recommendations as well, I think, so it's worth checking. Anyway: I Am the Cheese, by Robert Cormier. It's a kids/YA book but don't let that put you off; it's a simple but very powerful story. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov. The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster. The three stories each center on detectives. If you enjoy American Psycho, I also loved Ellis's Lunar Park. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, if you want something quick and easy to read. Indian Killer, by Sherman Alexie. The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 10:09
|
|
|
What are some really good Chandler-esque/noirish detective stories with genre & weird elements? I've read Miéville's The City & The City twice, it's great. I just finished Gun, With Occasional Music by Lethem and loved the poo poo out of it. I'm going to read Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? soon. What else is there? I'd prefer books that lean a little more to the literary, so please don't recommend recent pulpy urban fantasy crap like Jim Butcher.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 10:26
|
|
|
Warren Ellis' Gun Machine seems like it would fit.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 12:59
|
|
|
Adib posted:Looking for a good primer on postcolonialism (and/or postcolonial theory). It's a term I'm seeing bandied about more and more these days and I know next to nothing about it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 13:00
|
|
|
Boner Calhoun posted:Could anyone recommend me good books with unreliable narrators? Whether they're insane or hiding some messed up past, throw 'em at me! Code Name Verity is an very good example of an unrelieable narrator done well.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 13:24
|
|
|
Boner Calhoun posted:Could anyone recommend me good books with unreliable narrators? Whether they're insane or hiding some messed up past, throw 'em at me! Here's some of my faves or recent reads: What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller The Virgins - Pamela Erens The Lifeboat - Charlotte Rogan The Farm - Tom Rob Smith - this one is a good book about unreliable narrators because it really plays with perception and how the truth can change from one person's view to another dependent on the information that's given. Fall - Colin McAdam The Turn of the Screw - Henry James - great spooky book, should have recommended it to the last person who was looking for unreliable narrators but I just thought of it now.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 16:56
|
|
|
Boner Calhoun posted:Could anyone recommend me good books with unreliable narrators? Whether they're insane or hiding some messed up past, throw 'em at me! James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner and Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire are a couple good ones that haven't been mentioned yet!
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 17:32
|
|
|
Hedrigall posted:What are some really good Chandler-esque/noirish detective stories with genre & weird elements? I would consider The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester a Chandler-esque yarn that takes place in a very Philip K. Dick-like future where murder is all but impossible to commit. Highly recommended!
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 18:33
|
|
|
Hedrigall posted:What are some really good Chandler-esque/noirish detective stories with genre & weird elements? Also give Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn a look sometime. It's another detective story, though not sci-fi like his earlier GWOM so it might not be exactly what you're looking for at the moment. Still, it's not quite a straight-laced detective novel because the hook is that the narrator has Tourette's and he doesn't have the background of a traditional gumshoe. It's actually my favorite of Jonathan Lethem's work so you'll probably like it as well if you enjoyed any of his other works. Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union is good if you like alt history with your detective fiction. Definitely bump Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to the top of your list if you want a fantastic sci-fi detective novel, it's probably your best bet for what you're looking for.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 00:26
|
|
|
Adib posted:Looking for a good primer on postcolonialism (and/or postcolonial theory). It's a term I'm seeing bandied about more and more these days and I know next to nothing about it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 07:46
|
|
|
moot the hopple posted:Also give Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn a look sometime. It's another detective story, though not sci-fi like his earlier GWOM so it might not be exactly what you're looking for at the moment. Still, it's not quite a straight-laced detective novel because the hook is that the narrator has Tourette's and he doesn't have the background of a traditional gumshoe. It's actually my favorite of Jonathan Lethem's work so you'll probably like it as well if you enjoyed any of his other works. Seconding these two recommendations, and now I want to read The Yiddish Policemen's Union.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 09:53
|
|
|
Any recommendations for something like ASOIAF, but without the dragons, just Machiavellian politics and warfare? Doesn't have to be medieval, I'm interested in seeing something with a more contemporary setting.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 18:04
|
|
|
Sam. posted:Any recommendations for something like ASOIAF, but without the dragons, just Machiavellian politics and warfare? Doesn't have to be medieval, I'm interested in seeing something with a more contemporary setting. Shogun is wheels within wheels of political machinations and scheming set in a historical fiction feudal Japan. It's super good.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 19:36
|
|
|
Shogun is a great suggestion. Dune would also probably work for you too.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 21:12
|
|
|
The Count of Monte Cristo is also chock full of scheming, but there are zero battles and an uncharitable reader could in all fairness call it an unrealistic revenge fantasy featuring an infallible Marty Stu. Fun read nevertheless.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 23:07
|
|
|
Which is a better Umberto Eco book to start with - Foucault's Pendulum or The Name of the Rose? Second, is The Tunnel by William Gass any good? And lastly, please recommend me some books! My list is similar to a lot of people's in this thread, but hey!
I know that's a pretty disjointed list. I'm really looking for something like Infinite Jest, meets Neal Stephenson, if possible. Right now I am reading 2666 and enjoying it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 23:15
|
|
|
regulargonzalez posted:Shogun is wheels within wheels of political machinations and scheming set in a historical fiction feudal Japan. It's super good. I'll look into that. Anything like that set in 20th/21st century?
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 01:04
|
|
|
Can anyone recommend a comprehensive, relatively up-to-date book that rebuts the common global warming denialist arguments?
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 01:17
|
|
|
Jimferd posted:Which is a better Umberto Eco book to start with - Foucault's Pendulum or The Name of the Rose? I think Foucault's Pendulum is the better book but The Name of the Rose is probably the better starting point, though I read the former first. They're both pretty dense but given the other books you mentioned it shouldn't be a problem. Jimferd posted:And lastly, please recommend me some books! My list is similar to a lot of people's in this thread, but hey! - The Magus by John Fowles (I recommend this basically every page, I feel like) - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (has a hippy-dippy reputation but it's legit good. If you like Heartbreaking Work I think you'll like this, despite the fact that they have little in common aside from an unquantifiable feel) - Blindness by Jose Saramago (based on your interest in The Road. Similar tone, similar idiosyncratic style (although differing vastly in execution)) - House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski Sam. posted:I'll look into that. Nothing comes to mind as being precisely what you're looking for. That said, perhaps some of Tom Clancy's books that have a more political setting would work? Maybe The Cardinal of the Kremlin. But even his more politics-oriented novels are firmly in the world of spycraft-y stuff. regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Jun 14, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 02:22
|
|
|
Sam. posted:Any recommendations for something like ASOIAF, but without the dragons, just Machiavellian politics and warfare? Doesn't have to be medieval, I'm interested in seeing something with a more contemporary setting. James Ellroy's Underworld USA books have Machiavellian scheming and politics from the Mafia, government agents, politicians, businessmen and all other types of crooks & shady characters; and while they don't have actual battles in wars, they do have mob battles, guerrilla warfare, terrorism and assassinations. It also has great characters and dialogue and is probably the closest you'll get to ASoIaF in a modern setting.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 03:16
|
|
|
Jimferd posted:Which is a better Umberto Eco book to start with - Foucault's Pendulum or The Name of the Rose? Foucault's Pendulum. I've never been able to get more than twenty pages into The Tunnel, and my list is remarkably similar to yours, so take that for what it's worth. It seems like it would be good, but I think Gass might just be one of those writers that rubs me the wrong way.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 14:18
|
|
|
Boner Calhoun posted:Could anyone recommend me good books with unreliable narrators? Whether they're insane or hiding some messed up past, throw 'em at me! I know you've had a bunch of suggestions but I gotta recommend We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 05:48
|
|
|
pizza cat posted:I know you've had a bunch of suggestions but I gotta recommend We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Oh yes this one. Merricat is the greatest.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 06:03
|
|
|
mdemone posted:Foucault's Pendulum. I'm gonna disagree and say Rose. Foucault's Pendulum has the modern setting so it's a little more understandable on that front, but I think the overall story of Rose is more accessible. Plus, with Rose, if you hit a big chunk of incomprehensible medieval history or theology, you can just skip that section and keep reading for the story. With Pendulum the crazy is more integrated into the story so you have to read it. The thing with Rose is to keep in mind that Eco deliberately wrote the cathedral door scene to intimidate readers who weren't "ready" for the book. As long as you can make it past that doorway, one way or another, you can finish the rest of the book pretty easily. edit: scrolling back and looking at the original question, I'm probably wrong after all. If you can handle Gravity's Rainbow you can jump straight into Pendulum with no worries at all. Either book is more accessible than most of the stuff on your list.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 06:04
|
|
|
savinhill posted:James Ellroy's Underworld USA books have Machiavellian scheming and politics from the Mafia, government agents, politicians, businessmen and all other types of crooks & shady characters; and while they don't have actual battles in wars, they do have mob battles, guerrilla warfare, terrorism and assassinations. It also has great characters and dialogue and is probably the closest you'll get to ASoIaF in a modern setting. Eh, I'm a fan of Ellroy's older stuff, but I couldn't get into American Tabloid or The Cold Six Thousand at all.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 14:42
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 01:20 |
|
|
savinhill posted:James Ellroy's Underworld USA books have Machiavellian scheming and politics from the Mafia, government agents, politicians, businessmen and all other types of crooks & shady characters; and while they don't have actual battles in wars, they do have mob battles, guerrilla warfare, terrorism and assassinations. It also has great characters and dialogue and is probably the closest you'll get to ASoIaF in a modern setting. I just finished American Tabloid and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for the recommendation.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2014 00:47
|
|