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Edmond Dantes posted:Here's a weird one: I think there is also an RPG sourcebook +- maybe titled Weird West? Thread will probably be trundling home soon so please add to your bookmarks, or come visit in Book Barn!
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Jun 6, 2016 22:22
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Thanks all for the Western suggestions. RPGs are off the table (no pun intended) unfortunately, my role-playing friends are married, with kids or both and we haven't cast a die since the mid 2000s  I'll check the rest of the suggestions, there's bound to be something that catches my eye. Thanks again! 
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Jun 6, 2016 22:26
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Edmond Dantes posted:Thanks all for the Western suggestions. Ok, a real suggestion then: Last Call by Tim Powers Also The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
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Jun 6, 2016 22:31
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Ok, a real suggestion then: Last Call by Tim Powers Thanks! Also, you just reminded me I still have Declare on my to-read list.
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Jun 6, 2016 22:34
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Edmond Dantes posted:Thanks! Also, you just reminded me I still have Declare on my to-read list. It's real good.
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Jun 6, 2016 22:36
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Tim Powers is an excellent author, and his Last Call/Expiration Date/Earthquake Weather trilogy is the primary inspiration for the roleplaying game Unknown Armies, a game of magic and obsession where weirdos, freaks, power junkies, and unfortunate bystanders compete for scraps of arcane power or a spot at the big table of 333 cosmic archetypes which, once fully populated, will end and remake the world in their collective vision. A new edition just got Kickstarted so that's cool too.
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Jun 6, 2016 22:43
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brainwrinkle posted:On the Beach by Nevil Shute Came to recommend this
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Jun 6, 2016 23:25
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There's an awesomely hilarious set of stories and novels called Caverns n Creatures by Robert Bevan about a group of slacker friends who get sent to the RPG game world they're playing when they piss off the new mega-goony alpha nerd dungeon master by not taking the game seriously enough and making fun of the cape that he wears to look "cool" for the ladies. It's chock full o dick jokes and great over the top gross out humor. I haven't played DnD or any other tabletop RPG in decades but these are still my favorite current humor reading.
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Jun 7, 2016 00:09
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Transistor Rhythm posted:I liked Feinstein's book a lot. I highly recommend this one too: https://www.amazon.com/American-Pop...tal-text&sr=1-1
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Jun 7, 2016 03:35
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there wolf posted:St. Olivia by Jacqueline Carey. It's an alt history/distopia? book, and it is a unicorn because not only is the heroine's romance with another woman, but it's a well developed romance with an arc and plenty of page time. Thanks, I just finished this, it was cool. Wasn't sure what I expected going in but 'post-apoc Rocky starring a wolf girl' wasn't it.
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Jun 7, 2016 14:15
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Okay, seeing as I just finished a book (Deliverer by CJ Cherryh, it was really good!), and before this thread leaves Trad Games, I've got a general request. One of my favorite things to do is read the fluff in these books - World of Darkness' crazy short stories and even crazier worlds, Nobilis (all of it), Shadowrun's elaborate timelines - I am a sucker for reading about weird/interesting settings more than I'm into reading about people in those settings. What are the best setting-focused books to read? They can be RPG books or novels or anything, I don't care - I want to read about weird places. If the writing's good enough, I'll even read about weird places in the real world, too!
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Jun 8, 2016 10:26
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A short book by an RPG author which is really worth checking out is 'stomping the world round' by Jenna Moran. You can get it from drive thru fiction for pretty cheap and its really good
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Jun 8, 2016 11:17
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StrixNebulosa posted:Okay, seeing as I just finished a book (Deliverer by CJ Cherryh, it was really good!), and before this thread leaves Trad Games, I've got a general request. Probably the best modern fantasy novel of setting is Perdido Street Station by China Mieville.
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Jun 8, 2016 12:50
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StrixNebulosa posted:Okay, seeing as I just finished a book (Deliverer by CJ Cherryh, it was really good!), and before this thread leaves Trad Games, I've got a general request. Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, as the name suggests, contains forty short-short-stories detailing a different afterlife (God is really thousands of tiny dumb creatures, an afterlife where you exist in limbo as long as your name is remembered on Earth, etc.). The only real characters are you and a version of God (sometimes not even that). Stephen King's big three do this well: 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, and IT. I feel like The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson does this well, but it's still very character-driven (with only 5 characters?). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series always had a lot of weird funny world-building (universe-building?) chapters, same with Discworld.
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Jun 8, 2016 14:09
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StrixNebulosa posted:Okay, seeing as I just finished a book (Deliverer by CJ Cherryh, it was really good!), and before this thread leaves Trad Games, I've got a general request. The first things that come to mind are M. John Harrison's Viriconium and P. C. Hodgell's God Stalk and sequels. Of course, there's also Dune if you haven't tried it. There's also the Malazan Books of the Fallen, which are big on complicated epic histories, with the usual caveat that there's zero exposition and they're very much love-it-or-hate-it books.
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Jun 8, 2016 14:12
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Tim Lebbon's Noreela books have one of my favorite weird settings/ worlds that's a combination of dark fantasy, Dying Earth, creepy hosed up horror and a little bit of scifi. It's not a chronological series of books, but mainly stand-alones set in different times and places of the setting, but you learn more about the world through each book and events from previous books will still have an impact on other's, even if they're set hundreds of years later. Bakker's Prince of Nothing and Aspect Emperor series have one of the most detailed and fleshed out settings in modern fantasy. Tons of great world building, deep and complex history, mythology and metaphysics to the world, and it all has a huge impact on the plot, as well as the characters and their motivations. A lot of it is revealed in novel, complex ways too and leaves the reader to put things together themselves. It also has a Encyclopedic Glossary at the end of the first trilogy that gives the reader a chance to find out more details about the world and adds even more layers to an already hugely developed setting.
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Jun 8, 2016 15:38
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As the campaign draws to a close, it's time for the BookMobile to hang up its adventuring gear and return to Book Barn lands. Welcome home. 
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Jun 8, 2016 15:53
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Welcome back gentle thread
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Jun 8, 2016 16:09
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This was an amazing experiment and I'm glad to have seen it happen.
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Jun 8, 2016 21:33
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Probably the best modern fantasy novel of setting is Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. I've tried it and didn't care for it, go figure. The writing was solid, but I didn't like the characters or the excessively gross quality of the people in the setting. Thank you, though! (By the way, I tried VALIS and it was incredible but also so viciously dark I set it down before it impacted my mental health. It was incredibly weird but also - strangely - very readable. Going to pick it back up when I can do so safely!) Franchescanado posted:Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, as the name suggests, contains forty short-short-stories detailing a different afterlife (God is really thousands of tiny dumb creatures, an afterlife where you exist in limbo as long as your name is remembered on Earth, etc.). The only real characters are you and a version of God (sometimes not even that). Sum sounds amazing! - So, naturally, my library doesn't have it. I'll pick it up when I can, thank you! As for the rest - I've read Stephen King but not those three and he was a pretty good author, worth looking at again. The Haunting sounds great for reading in Fall, so I'll definitely grab that, and I've already been through Hitchhiker's and bounced off of Discworld. (Criminal, I know, but Guards, Guards, didn't click with me? And neither did Rincewind? I'm letting them sit before I try again.) Selachian posted:The first things that come to mind are M. John Harrison's Viriconium and P. C. Hodgell's God Stalk and sequels. Of course, there's also Dune if you haven't tried it. I've got Viriconium in my hands right now, and migod the writing is marvelous. I can just picture this fading city so well, it's a delight! God Stalk sounds like I at least need to flip through it, and my library system has exactly one copy of it, so I'll pick it up. As for Dune - it's been years since I last read it, and it's clearly due a revisit. Malazan! Intriguing books, but my god they're so grueling. The siege in Memories of Ice was some Warhammer 40k-tier violent bleakness, and I'm still working up the stomach to continue. Thank you all for the recs!
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Jun 8, 2016 22:59
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quote:The poets have muddied all the little fountains And we're home! Thanks to all who helped out with this experiment, I'm really happy with how it went.
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Jun 8, 2016 23:42
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StrixNebulosa posted:Sum sounds amazing! - So, naturally, my library doesn't have it. I'll pick it up when I can, thank you! I've recommended it a number of times, but if you're in a place where PKD's existential dilemmas are doing a number on you, you might want to hold off on Sum until you're in a better mood... I mean, it's not on the same level, but if you're prone to anxiety about the nature of existence, it might not be the best thing. As far as books with a real focus on interesting settings, there's Tad Williams' Otherland series and maybe goonfav House of Leaves. I feel like I should have a few more but my dog is bugging me really hard about going out, maybe I'll add some back in.
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Jun 9, 2016 00:20
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StrixNebulosa posted:I've tried it and didn't care for it, go figure. The writing was solid, but I didn't like the characters or the excessively gross quality of the people in the setting. Thank you, though! (By the way, I tried VALIS and it was incredible but also so viciously dark I set it down before it impacted my mental health. It was incredibly weird but also - strangely - very readable. Going to pick it back up when I can do so safely!) Ok, that's making it complicated. Good setting AND likeable characters is a tough find because if it's focused on setting it tends to not be focused on characters and vice versa. I'd try Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, maybe.
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Jun 9, 2016 01:02
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mcustic posted:Nabokov's Pale Fire is approachable, hilarious and very weird. Nabokov was a modernist. Zas posted:I'm really into Thomas Bernhard, but I've read all his books, what should I do? Check out Elfriede Jelinek for more misanthropic Austrians who hate Austria
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Jun 9, 2016 01:19
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funkybottoms posted:I've recommended it a number of times, but if you're in a place where PKD's existential dilemmas are doing a number on you, you might want to hold off on Sum until you're in a better mood... I mean, it's not on the same level, but if you're prone to anxiety about the nature of existence, it might not be the best thing. This is true. The ideas can be heavy, and it really plays with what it means to exist. However, most of the stories remain optimistic, there's humor, and the majority of them are 2-3 pages long at most, so it's easy to pick up/put down. Also, it's about 100 pages total. Readers beware.
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Jun 9, 2016 01:35
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funkybottoms posted:I've recommended it a number of times, but if you're in a place where PKD's existential dilemmas are doing a number on you, you might want to hold off on Sum until you're in a better mood... I mean, it's not on the same level, but if you're prone to anxiety about the nature of existence, it might not be the best thing. House of Leaves is 50% interesting, and 50% drivel, in my opinion. Overall I enjoyed it, but it's such a slog in so many sections. Franchescanado posted:This is true. The ideas can be heavy, and it really plays with what it means to exist. However, most of the stories remain optimistic, there's humor, and the majority of them are 2-3 pages long at most, so it's easy to pick up/put down. Also, it's about 100 pages total. Readers beware. It's not so much the ideas that were too heavy in PKD, but in VALIS, the human element of a character repeatedly destroying his life and spending time in a mental institution/with the cancer patient - that hit too close to home. In a sense, if I could have excised Horselover Fat's life from the book, I may have been able to read it all - but at the same time, that removes the weight from scenes such as when he talks to the doctor, or the initial emptiness when that suicidal friend calls. Which is to say, I'm still interested in Sum, especially given its brevity. Hieronymous Alloy posted:Ok, that's making it complicated. Good setting AND likeable characters is a tough find because if it's focused on setting it tends to not be focused on characters and vice versa. It's not so much that I need to like the characters, and more that they need to not be too intrusive, and I found myself disliking the personal plight of the main character in Perdido Street Station, along with Lin's particular fate. I'm sorry, I'm very picky.  I have Tigana by that author already on hand - would it also be a decent place to start with him?
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Jun 9, 2016 01:46
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I'm glad the thread found its way back home. What a long strange trip it's been.StrixNebulosa posted:It's not so much the ideas that were too heavy in PKD, but in VALIS, the human element of a character repeatedly destroying his life and spending time in a mental institution/with the cancer patient - that hit too close to home. In a sense, if I could have excised Horselover Fat's life from the book, I may have been able to read it all - but at the same time, that removes the weight from scenes such as when he talks to the doctor, or the initial emptiness when that suicidal friend calls. Cool, then enjoy! It's one of the most interesting books I've read this year.
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Jun 9, 2016 01:53
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StrixNebulosa posted:
Yes. His thing is basically writing historical fiction novels set in fantasy versions of historical places and times -- byzantium, reconquista spain, etc. Tigana is one of his better novels so dive in, basically set in Fantasy Renaissance Italy. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Jun 9, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 02:06
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savinhill posted:Tim Lebbon's Noreela books have one of my favorite weird settings/ worlds that's a combination of dark fantasy, Dying Earth, creepy hosed up horror and a little bit of scifi. It's not a chronological series of books, but mainly stand-alones set in different times and places of the setting, but you learn more about the world through each book and events from previous books will still have an impact on other's, even if they're set hundreds of years later. I somehow missed this in my scrolling, whoops! Creepy messed up fantasy/sci-fi is my jam, so I'll definitely check out Tim Lebbon (alas, my library also doesn't have his stuff, but I'll get my hands on it!) - and I'm already reading through The Warrior Prophet slowly - I blitzed the first one some months back but haven't gotten into the second one quite the same way, so I'm slowly picking through. I do find I have to do the Warhammer 40k thing of not caring too much about the characters, or else I just get depressed for everyone in the setting. Hieronymous Alloy posted:Yes. His thing is basically writing historical fiction novels set in fantasy versions of historical places and times -- byzantium, reconquista spain, etc. Tigana is one of his better novels so dive in, basically set in Fantasy Renaissance Italy. Excellent, I'll take a whack at it tonight!
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Jun 9, 2016 03:53
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StrixNebulosa posted:
If you like that, I'd recommend trying out some of the big names in actual historical fiction as well. Mary Renault (The King Must Die), Robert Graves (I, Claudius), Patrick O'Brian (Master and Commander). Sometimes the best way to really dive into a setting is to pick a historical setting. O'Brian is especially good for this because he dives so deeply into the world of napoleonic-era wooden ships that it's probably more distant from most modern readers than the average fantasy story. Complete with unique language; I have a special dictionary of 18th century nautical terminology I just use for reading his books.
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Jun 9, 2016 04:32
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StrixNebulosa posted:I've tried it and didn't care for it, go figure. The writing was solid, but I didn't like the characters or the excessively gross quality of the people in the setting. Thank you, though! (By the way, I tried VALIS and it was incredible but also so viciously dark I set it down before it impacted my mental health. It was incredibly weird but also - strangely - very readable. Going to pick it back up when I can do so safely!) Try Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher (best known for the webcomic Digger). It's a 150-page humour novella in which a squad of goblins in a war against basically every other fantasy race gets magically transported behind enemy lines and have to find their way home. Deals a lot with the problems of the setting that caused the war. Might only be available on Kindle, unfortunately, but it's a really good book.
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Jun 9, 2016 07:09
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Hey guys, looking for a new series to binge-read over the Summer. I'll go ahead and list the books I've read that I've really, really enjoyed reading. They are: - Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles (I just loving love Kvothe) - Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive and Mistborn series (I've read the Mistborn trilogy maybe 4 times over?) - Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series (this is alright so far, I'm not majorly into it like I was the other books, but it's worth a mention I suppose) - Peter V Brett's The Painted Man series (I loved the first book, but the latter books took a nosedive in quality imo, especially the last one!) - Brent Weeks' The Night Angel Trilogy (this was fantastic and is easily in my all time favourites, along with the top two series I wrote down) as well as his Lightbringer series (I loved the first two books, the third wasn't that great) - Scott Lynch's The Gentlemen Bastards series (this is a phenomenal series, if you guys could find me another one like this to read, I would be elated) - David Farland's The Runelord series (I loved the beginning books in this series, it was fantastic, but later books dragged on and I ended up losing interest. The initial concept [taking people's attributes to strengthen your own] was fantastic) - Michael G Manning's Mageborn series (Oh my god I've read this series so many drat times, I loved it from start to finish, if you could recommend another series like this I would be ridiculously happy as well) That's pretty much it, guys. There were some things I've read but I've left out because - whilst I enjoyed them - they didn't really leave a lasting impact. Oh, and everyone is always recommending I read the Wheel of Time series, but every time I've tried to get into it, I get bogged down with all the Aes Sedai (spelling?) stuff and I just get thoroughly confused and end up getting bored and giving up. I got about 20% through The Eye of the World. PS: I'm currently reading Centyr Dominance by Michael G Manning, really can't wait to get into it (I just bought it thanks to making this post). I'm also reading Sharpe's Triumph alongside it. Whilst I'm editing this, I forgot to mention I love Conn Iggulden's books, especially the Genghis Khan ones. Qubee fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Jun 9, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 18:46
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StrixNebulosa posted:Okay, seeing as I just finished a book (Deliverer by CJ Cherryh, it was really good!), and before this thread leaves Trad Games, I've got a general request. the "Gormenghast" books, the setting IS the main character.
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Jun 9, 2016 19:07
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Loopoo posted:Hey guys, looking for a new series to binge-read over the Summer. I'll go ahead and list the books I've read that I've really, really enjoyed reading. They are: I hate to say it but. . . honestly . . you'd probably really like A Song of Ice and Fire. I'd also say try to get to the halfway point with Eye of the World. If you can't that's fine but it's right in the wheelhouse of everything else you've listed.
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Jun 9, 2016 23:37
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I hate to say it but. . . honestly . . you'd probably really like A Song of Ice and Fire. Ah poo poo, I forgot to put it down. I'm basically waiting on the last book George R R Martin is releasing. I'll give Wheel of Time another (third) go. Thanks for your reply man  Song of Ice and Fire was a good call, if I hadn't read it already, it would have been an awesome read.
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Jun 9, 2016 23:53
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Loopoo posted:Ah poo poo, I forgot to put it down. I'm basically waiting on the last book George R R Martin is releasing. Well, there is sortof a curve with WoT. Some people stop in the first half of the first book. Some people stop after book six. Some people bog down around book ten. All of these are valid choices. Another suggestion would be the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. Oh, and since you list Sharpe, the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, but it's even more historicaly than Sharpe; get ready for lots of very specific period terms -- you either have to read with a dictionary in hand, or accept that you aren't going to understand about one word in five on your first read through.
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Jun 10, 2016 00:10
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Loopoo posted:Hey guys, looking for a new series to binge-read over the Summer. I'll go ahead and list the books I've read that I've really, really enjoyed reading. They are: Try the In Search of Lost Time series by Marcel Proust
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Jun 10, 2016 02:16
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I read the forever war because of this thread. Fantastic. I need more real Sci-fi with relativistic science and war and spaceships and a deep good character development/inner struggle. That poo poo was just perfect. Any recommendations? I've read starship troopers which was good. I read one book (I can't remember the name or author) in the series about ships that would shoot weapons that took months to hit their targets, which I would read again if I could just figure out what series it was.
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Jun 10, 2016 02:31
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Well, there is sortof a curve with WoT. Some people stop in the first half of the first book. Some people stop after book six. Some people bog down around book ten. All of these are valid choices. I stopped WoT after finishing the first book. I hate leaving books unfinished, though series are another matter.
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Jun 10, 2016 03:38
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Blind Rasputin posted:I read the forever war because of this thread. Fantastic. I need more real Sci-fi with relativistic science and war and spaceships and a deep good character development/inner struggle. That poo poo was just perfect. Any recommendations? I've read starship troopers which was good. I read one book (I can't remember the name or author) in the series about ships that would shoot weapons that took months to hit their targets, which I would read again if I could just figure out what series it was. CJ Cherryh, specifically her Chanur series and/or Downbelow Station and/or almost any of her other sci-fi. All of her ships take days to get anywhere when they aren't in the FTL jumpspace, and while she does more with merchanting and diplomacy, there are ship-to-ship fights and other fascinating dangers in her works.
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Jun 10, 2016 03:41
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