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It's positively amazing compared to its sequel. Reading books based on games you liked is a bad idea, folks.
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Feb 13, 2015 16:20
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SquadronROE posted:Is the Sharpe's Rifles series good? Do I need to start with the first? I have been reading a bunch of Hornblower and want to find some similar stuff. Not necessarily Nautical fiction, but persistent characters in a military career. Like Aubrey or Gaunt's Ghosts or whatever. The Sharpe's Rifles series is more entertaining than Hornblower but not as good or as well-researched as the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, which is where I'd really recommend going after Hornblower. Another good choice might be the Flashman series by George Fraser. EDIT: Oh you've already read Aubrey/Maturin ok then. The Sharpe series isn't bad at all. Oddly I recommend reading it in series chronological order, NOT order written -- he pretty clearly plotted the whole drat series out start to finish then wrote the books in a somewhat random order within that chronology, so if you read them in written order, you'll get spoilers for earlier books, etc. So you can read it in whatever order but I'd recommend starting with the first one in chronological order, where Sharpe's in India as a private or whatever. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 16:31 on Feb 13, 2015 |
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Feb 13, 2015 16:27
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Actually it looks like the book came out 5 years before the game, but that is the book I was looking for. Thanks.
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Feb 13, 2015 16:30
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Cornwell's Saxon/Uthred series is good too if you're interested in reading about vikings and Alfred the Great. The rising through the military parts are a lot less formal though as the militaries were a lot less structured at the time.
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Feb 13, 2015 16:39
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anilEhilated posted:It's positively amazing compared to its sequel. Reading books based on games you liked is a bad idea, folks. :ook at this n00b who has never read the Halo novelisations.
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Feb 13, 2015 16:54
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The Metro 2033 book is quite good for the genre. It has the right amount of creepiness, glimpses of fascinating postapocalyptic cultures, a commentary on modern Russia and a rather I am Legend-like plot twist. It's no Canticle for Leibowitz, but it's a good read.
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Feb 13, 2015 18:31
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:The Sharpe's Rifles series is more entertaining than Hornblower but not as good or as well-researched as the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, which is where I'd really recommend going after Hornblower. I tried to read Flashman but he was too much of an rear end in a top hat for me. I mean he hit a woman for not having sex with him in the first 20 pages or something. I will pick up the first Shape's novel, Sharpe's Tiger. Will see how that goes. And the overall Goodreads reviews are positive on 2033, so it is on the list.
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Feb 13, 2015 20:03
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SquadronROE posted:Is the Sharpe's Rifles series good? Do I need to start with the first? I have been reading a bunch of Hornblower and want to find some similar stuff. Not necessarily Nautical fiction, but persistent characters in a military career. Like Aubrey or Gaunt's Ghosts or whatever. If you're willing to dip into fantasy, you might enjoy Naomi Novik's Temeraire books -- basically Hornblower with dragons instead of ships. Science fiction options include David Drake's RCN series (which the author has explicitly compared to Aubrey-Maturin). David Weber's Honor Harrington books have a lot of fans but I've never read them myself. If you prefer to stick to real-world historical, maybe Arthur Kent's Bolitho novels will be what you're looking for. They're very similar to Hornblower.
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Feb 13, 2015 21:52
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Gonna re-ask: I'm looking for some non-traditional fantasy (though it doesn't necessarily have to be middle ages stuff) with a focus on characters and soul searching. Optional: with a somewhat poetic style, something like Earthsea. Anyone have any reccs.? EDIT: I know that the above in full basically describes Earthsea, I'm reading and enjoying them but I like to have books on the backburner.
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Feb 14, 2015 03:11
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Sex Beef 2.0 posted:Gonna re-ask: Among Others by Jo Walton A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle The Habitation of the Blessed and The Folded World by Catherynne M. Valente The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick And try other stuff by Le Guin, like The Beginning Place
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Feb 14, 2015 03:41
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CestMoi posted::ook at this n00b who has never read the Halo novelisations. I read the first couple of these and they were not at all terrible; I kind of liked them.
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Feb 14, 2015 09:18
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Time Cowboy posted:Among Others by Jo Walton You'd recommend Fine and Private Place over The Last Unicorn? If you don't mind SF, I'd suggest Harm's Way by Colin Greenland (sort of a neo-victorian Spelljammer type setting). Also try Lud in the Mist by Hope Mirrlees. For poetic prose style, read Lord Dunsany. Start here: http://landsofdream.net/wanderers-tales/idle-days-on-the-yann/ quote:So I came down through the wood to the bank of Yann and found, as had been prophesied, the ship Bird of the River about to loose her cable. LeGuin's writing style owes a lot to Dunsany, to the point that she wrote a big essay on him: http://www.ursulakleguin.com/UKL-Review-Joshi-LordDunsany.html Maybe also check out Jack Vance. http://www.litmir.me/br/?b=120937&p=1 Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 09:58 on Feb 14, 2015 |
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Feb 14, 2015 09:43
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:You'd recommend Fine and Private Place over The Last Unicorn? That's right I would. Nothing against The Last Unicorn, which is deservedly a classic of the genre, but A Fine and Private Place just works better for me.
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Feb 14, 2015 15:31
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Sex Beef 2.0 posted:Gonna re-ask: Another possible suggestion: Tanith Lee's "Tales from the Flat Earth" (Night's Master et al.)
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Feb 14, 2015 16:03
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Thanks, I'll check those all out.Hieronyamous Alloy posted:http://landsofdream.net/wanderers-t...ys-on-the-yann/ This was a really good read. I think I have The Last Unicorn laying around here, I remember liking the animated movie when I was younger. Never got around to reading it though. Sex Beef 2.0 fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Feb 15, 2015 |
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Feb 15, 2015 05:00
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Guy Gavriel Kay's books are pretty good for the soul searching characters.
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Feb 15, 2015 05:03
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savinhill posted:Guy Gavriel Kay's books are pretty good for the soul searching characters. I was going to recommend the Fionavar Tapestry, but that's as traditional as traditional fantasy gets, and Sex Beef 2.0 asked for non-traditional. But I'll use this opportunity to ask, after Fionavar, where should I go next with GGK?
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Feb 15, 2015 05:05
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Time Cowboy posted:I was going to recommend the Fionavar Tapestry, but that's as traditional as traditional fantasy gets, and Sex Beef 2.0 asked for non-traditional. But I'll use this opportunity to ask, after Fionavar, where should I go next with GGK? I honestly think Fionavar is genuinely *bad* because it's just so painfully generic. His Lions of Al-Rassan and Tigana are brilliant, though. The first is set in a fantasy version of Reconquista-era Spain, the second in a fantasy version of Renaissance Italy.
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Feb 15, 2015 05:06
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After reading god knows how many books about people realising that they are gay and then have a huge angsty coming out journey, and so I would like some recommendations for queer fiction that doesn't involve any of that, or only involves a very minimal amount of coming out angst.
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Feb 15, 2015 14:07
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Sex Beef 2.0 posted:Gonna re-ask: "Little, Big" by John Crowley.
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Feb 15, 2015 14:55
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Transistor Rhythm posted:"Little, Big" by John Crowley.
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Feb 15, 2015 17:07
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What should I read of Ishmael Reed?
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Feb 15, 2015 19:43
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I just finished Women by Charles Bukowski. I'm about to start Hollywood. Any other books that read like his work?
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Feb 15, 2015 23:49
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Food Guy posted:After reading god knows how many books about people realising that they are gay and then have a huge angsty coming out journey, and so I would like some recommendations for queer fiction that doesn't involve any of that, or only involves a very minimal amount of coming out angst. You could try reading Forbidden Colours by Yukio Mishima.
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Feb 16, 2015 06:03
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Time Cowboy posted:I was going to recommend the Fionavar Tapestry, but that's as traditional as traditional fantasy gets, and Sex Beef 2.0 asked for non-traditional. But I'll use this opportunity to ask, after Fionavar, where should I go next with GGK? I loved the two-part The Saratine Mosaic, which is Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors.
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Feb 16, 2015 17:52
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I would like to read some novels set in, and dealing with, small town American life. For example I liked the bits of 11.22.63 by Stephen King where your man lived undercover in some tiny town. I read a book about a high-school footballer and his girlfriend and how they grew up in their hometown once as well, and enjoyed that too. Pretty much any genre would be great, with the exception of Mills & Boon-esque romance. I appreciate that this request is quite vague, but I'm not entirely sure how best to describe what I'm after, as a godless Euro-commie, I've no background in this particular area of fiction, so even if a book seems obvious to you, I've probably not read it! My sincerest thanks in advance.
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Feb 18, 2015 01:12
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Check out John Steinbeck's books. Much of his works are kinda rural rather than the small town setting that you're exactly looking for, but they still capture this living sense of a particular time and place in America. I'm really big on Steinbeck because there's always a celebratory and triumphant note to his simple, salt of the earth characters despite the otherwise elegiac and heartbreaking tone of his books. They're really amazing if you want an exploration of quintessential America IMHO. The Grapes of Wrath is his opus, but you could maybe start off with his earlier The Red Pony to get your feet wet. I think even Travels with Charley, his travel memoir, is worth it for his personalized look into changing America.
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Feb 18, 2015 02:05
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The Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers, A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury are all great stories where the small town setting adds to the experience.
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Feb 18, 2015 05:17
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Probably on the level of the above suggestions but a book of this type I really liked was A Quiet Belief In Angels by R.J. Ellory. It's a murder mystery wrapped in a narrative of a young man growing up in a small rural American town in the forties and it gives a lot of care of describing the environment - to the point where the crime element becomes secondary to the setting.
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Feb 18, 2015 07:10
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Can someone recommend a Charles Dickens novel that has a lot of funny, snooty aristocrat characters? Not Bleak House or David Copperfield though.
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Feb 18, 2015 13:29
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snoremac posted:Can someone recommend a Charles Dickens novel that has a lot of funny, snooty aristocrat characters? Not Bleak House or David Copperfield though. Pickwick Papers? Great Expectations probably has his snootiest characters overall.
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Feb 18, 2015 15:53
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snoremac posted:Can someone recommend a Charles Dickens novel that has a lot of funny, snooty aristocrat characters? Not Bleak House or David Copperfield though. This is kind of tough because in Dickens the aristocracy is never a real threat and, for the most part, it's not worth his time to poke fun at them. Like the threat is always perversions of middle-class dreams: Mr. Dombey, Mr. Boffin's "transformation," Mr. Murdstone, Uriah Heep, Gradgrind, and on and on. You get characters who are extremely successful but then poo poo on the poor, or you get greedy poor people who aspire to be middle-class but do it in a really greedy or not-okay kind of way (Wegg, Heep, Magwitch, etc.). Like, the best true aristocratic character I can think, who's consistently absurd (minus a bit at the end of the novel) and who isn't just in and out in a single scene, or is actually just a really rich member of the middle-class, is Sir Leicester, from Bleak House, or Mr. Turveydrop who thinks he's an aristocrat... also from Bleak House (uh sorry). A Tale of Two Cities has a few excesses of the aristocracy on display, but the Marquis isn't really very funny. I suspect the best examples would be his early stuff like Pickwick or even a selection here and there of Sketches By Boz. (E.g. A Parliamentary Sketch?) If rich middle class vs. actual aristocracy is too pedantic a distinction, then I'd go with Little Dorrit. It's got all sorts of pomp and veneer and excess from all ends of the spectrum (actual rich people, poor people trying to get rich, scam artists pretending to be rich, idiots who don't understand finances and conducting themselves as though they're rich -- everything!) Though the early stuff would probably be funnier overall.
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Feb 18, 2015 16:34
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Thanks. I'll check out Little Dorrit and The Pickwick Papers. I guess it's not too important that the characters are aristocratic. I moreso wanted to see how he ridicules gluttonous or greedy people.
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Feb 19, 2015 01:44
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Thanks very much for all the suggestions, I'll be book shopping tomorrow! Cheers!
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Feb 19, 2015 14:32
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Anyone know of good books (or articles, theses, dissertations, whatever) on the psychology of online dating (in general and/or specifically to do with gay male dating/hookup sites)? I'd love to read something on the topic that is a bit more in-depth and serious than the typical jokey/sensationalistic/gimmicky pop psychology stuff while not being totally inaccessible to a layman. The more recent, the better, of course. Thanks
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Feb 21, 2015 15:28
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What's a good book on the history of ancient Rome? I realize that's a very broad swath of history, but I'm just looking for a good starting point. It's a total blind spot in my history knowledge (Years ago, I switched high school history teachers at semester, because of schedule issues, and I completely missed learning anything about it,) but I've been playing Rome: Total War, and now I'm curious about the actual history.
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Feb 22, 2015 03:53
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I'm looking for some well written suspense and/or mystery to read on the beach. I'm reading Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon now, which I love. I don't necessarily want something as weird and postmodern as that, but I want to avoid airport fiction.
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Feb 22, 2015 18:53
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DrankSinatra posted:What's a good book on the history of ancient Rome? I realize that's a very broad swath of history, but I'm just looking for a good starting point. It's a total blind spot in my history knowledge (Years ago, I switched high school history teachers at semester, because of schedule issues, and I completely missed learning anything about it,) but I've been playing Rome: Total War, and now I'm curious about the actual history. I'd suggest Robert Grave's I Claudius. Historical fiction but well done.
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Feb 22, 2015 19:08
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martinlutherbling posted:I'm looking for some well written suspense and/or mystery to read on the beach. I'm reading Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon now, which I love. I don't necessarily want something as weird and postmodern as that, but I want to avoid airport fiction. The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon, maybe?
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Feb 22, 2015 19:10
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martinlutherbling posted:I'm looking for some well written suspense and/or mystery to read on the beach. I'm reading Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon now, which I love. I don't necessarily want something as weird and postmodern as that, but I want to avoid airport fiction. The Name of THe Rose by Umberto Eco is very good
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Feb 22, 2015 19:14
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