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Ms Adequate posted:I, too, come to beseech the wise and learned goons for recommendations for my Christmas list. I am always especially interested in sci-fi as a whole (The household already has a decent collection of genre classics so more off-beat, overlooked, etc. novels would be best), but am currently feeling an urge for cosmic horror, and I have always had a fascination for stories of mysterious, lost, or dead places; or the process by which those states of being come about. So, sci-fi as a whole, with an emphasis on Lovecraftian, Dying Earth, and apocalyptic fiction. You might want to look into M. John Harrison, particularly Viriconium or The Centauri Device. Or Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy. Or if you want to go really old school, have you read Clark Ashton Smith?
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# ? Dec 10, 2023 07:04 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 09:03 |
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Ms Adequate posted:I, too, come to beseech the wise and learned goons for recommendations for my Christmas list. I am always especially interested in sci-fi as a whole (The household already has a decent collection of genre classics so more off-beat, overlooked, etc. novels would be best), but am currently feeling an urge for cosmic horror, and I have always had a fascination for stories of mysterious, lost, or dead places; or the process by which those states of being come about. So, sci-fi as a whole, with an emphasis on Lovecraftian, Dying Earth, and apocalyptic fiction. Dunsany's Pegana books were hugely influential on Lovecraft and still rule today even as proto-fantasy You'll love basically anything by Michael Cisco You might enjoy the Malazan books. There's a big emphasis on mysterious, lost or dead places. Valancourt's re-releases of Robert Westall's horror fiction. The Vampire Hunter D novels City Under The Stars Piranesi The House On The Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
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# ? Dec 10, 2023 11:51 |
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tuyop posted:For fiction: Thank you, these all sound great! I bought him Radicalized and am noting the others to tell him to put on his list.
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# ? Dec 10, 2023 13:12 |
boquiabierta posted:Thank you, these all sound great! I bought him Radicalized and am noting the others to tell him to put on his list. I apologize in advance for the rage some of the endings will enduce! In a good way
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# ? Dec 10, 2023 14:57 |
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Selachian posted:You might want to look into M. John Harrison, particularly Viriconium or The Centauri Device. Or Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy. fez_machine posted:Dunsany's Pegana books were hugely influential on Lovecraft and still rule today even as proto-fantasy Awesome, thank you both! A couple of things here I'm familiar with but much I'm not, and thank you for reminding me about Clark Ashton Smith, I have always meant to read him but never got to it!
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# ? Dec 10, 2023 23:00 |
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Opopanax posted:That would be the aubrey maturin books Selachian posted:David Cordingly's Under the Black Flag is a really good history of the Golden Age of Piracy in the Americas if he might be interested in that sort of thing. tuyop posted:Oh man, I think Empire of Blue Water might be perfect for this. It’s about the rise and fall of captain morgan, including harrowing land expeditions to attack Spanish cities and stuff. Gnoman posted:Hard to go wrong with the classic Bounty trilogy by Nordhoff.. The middle book, Men Against The Sea, in particular sounds fitting. yaffle posted:Eric Newby's "The last Grain Race" might suit. At 16 (18 maybe?) he signs on as crew on the sailing ship Moshulu to bring grain from Australia back to Europe in 1938. He might also enjoy "Love and War in the Apennines" which take up where The Last Grain Race leaves off (more or less) and is about Newby's experiences during the war. Khizan posted:Maybe mountain climbing stuff like Into Thin Air? It’s a similar kind of non-fiction adventure story, and the kind of thing I definitely think of as prime dad lit. rollick posted:I liked the Thor Heyerdahl books about the Kon Tiki and Ra expeditions -- building boats with pre-industrial technology and sailing across the ocean. Tim Severin also did something similar, retracing famous voyages. escape artist posted:Sounds like he might be into Nathanial Philbrick's nonfiction Thanks all for the great suggestions for dad books. I ended up going with The Last Grain Race, but the other recs gave me ideas for books for my mom and sister. (my mom and I loved The Wager, another true story at sea book from the author of Killers of the Flower Moon)
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# ? Dec 12, 2023 01:10 |
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Also, any suggestions similar to Bad Blood, in the sense of Silicon Valley fraud in this modern age of techno-grift? Crypto, Musk, NFTs, all fair game, just as long as its well researched and entertaining.
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# ? Dec 12, 2023 01:13 |
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Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux just came out and sounds exactly like that sort of thing
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# ? Dec 12, 2023 01:20 |
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Looking for recommendations for anything similar to Joe Abercrombie’s First Law books.
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# ? Dec 12, 2023 10:31 |
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RCarr posted:Looking for recommendations for anything similar to Joe Abercrombie’s First Law books. What do you like about them?
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# ? Dec 12, 2023 12:59 |
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The battle scenes, the fantasy elements (without going full on LoTR), etc
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# ? Dec 12, 2023 13:27 |
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RCarr posted:Looking for recommendations for anything similar to Joe Abercrombie’s First Law books. The Lies of Locke Lamora. No large battles, but a group of thieves get in over their heads and having to survive assassins, the law and other gangs means plenty of knifework. It has kind of a fantasy Ocean's Eleven vibe, with a focus on planning heists, taking place in fantasy Venice. Just humans, very little magic, but plenty of small fantasy elements. The sequels are enjoyable as well, though not as good as the first book. Alternatively; The Traitor Son Cycle. Mercenary company, hired to defend a fortress during a siege. Sieges, large scale battles, but more fantasy stuff than First Law. More magic, more races, paladins, people ascending to sainthood, etc. BioTech fucked around with this message at 14:09 on Dec 12, 2023 |
# ? Dec 12, 2023 14:04 |
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Just chiming in that this thread is a fantastic resource for gift-giving suggestions, you're doing wonderful work here!
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# ? Dec 14, 2023 03:32 |
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RCarr posted:Looking for recommendations for anything similar to Joe Abercrombie’s First Law books. Glen Cook's The Black Company books
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# ? Dec 14, 2023 04:56 |
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Forgot to say thanks for the book ideas for my dad, scooped up something by Edward Rutherford for him.Hieronymous Alloy posted:Going slightly afield though Michener and James Clavell both wrote similar stuff set in Asia and the Pacific that probably matches better in tone. Check out _Shogun_, boomer dads will love it. I would have loved to have gotten him a copy of Shogun, but Hulu is putting out a Shogun miniseries early next year. Which owns except for the fact that now everyone is rushing out to buy copies of the book and they seem to be sold out all over the place
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# ? Dec 14, 2023 05:07 |
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Just finished Chaos by Tom O'Neil and it's a must read for anyone who ever thought "Helter Skelter" was a neat read. What other exposes are out there in a similar vein? The Devil's Chessboard is already on my list. Anything like the graphic novel The Department of Truth would be rad too
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# ? Dec 14, 2023 08:45 |
C-Euro posted:Forgot to say thanks for the book ideas for my dad, scooped up something by Edward Rutherford for him. The Rutherford pick is good too but clavells _Tai Pan_ is his second best book after Shogun.
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# ? Dec 14, 2023 09:53 |
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Need a non-cliche crime thiller from an author who doesn't write a thousand books a year. A never ending bibliography is a huge red flag for me. Something that has a good character arc/development rather than just bodies with hasty backgrounds to serve a pristine plot. But also something with strong plot structure. Gimme
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 14:22 |
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malnourish posted:Just finished Mort today and rightly enjoyed it The audiobook or the dramatization? I listened to the latter from audible recently, it was my first intro to prattchet and I liked it too. As an American I delight in regional English accents and dramatizations are a good way to enjoy that.
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 15:08 |
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caspergers posted:Need a non-cliche crime thiller from an author who doesn't write a thousand books a year. A never ending bibliography is a huge red flag for me. Something that has a good character arc/development rather than just bodies with hasty backgrounds to serve a pristine plot. But also something with strong plot structure. Gimme Given the assignment, I'll suggest The Night Manager by John le Carre. It's a book about a guy going undercover to try to disrupt an arms smuggler. It also seems structured as a negative of James Bond, which to me makes the path to the ending and the ending itself very interesting, but I don't want to spoil anything. I found several of the characters quite engaging, and the arcs go places (that may or may not be where one wanted them to go). The book has a different ending than the show, whose ending seemed to me a bit cliched.
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 15:21 |
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caspergers posted:Need a non-cliche crime thiller from an author who doesn't write a thousand books a year. A never ending bibliography is a huge red flag for me. Something that has a good character arc/development rather than just bodies with hasty backgrounds to serve a pristine plot. But also something with strong plot structure. Gimme You might want to look into James Ellroy, Patricia Highsmith (particularly The Talented Mr. Ripley), or Jim Thompson.
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 15:30 |
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caspergers posted:Need a non-cliche crime thiller from an author who doesn't write a thousand books a year. A never ending bibliography is a huge red flag for me. Something that has a good character arc/development rather than just bodies with hasty backgrounds to serve a pristine plot. But also something with strong plot structure. Gimme The strongest plotter in crime fiction was Donald Westlake/Richard Stark but his characters don't really develop (except for his Mitchell Tobin series) and he wrote a book a year. His books are always a joy to read however. The Wire writer's room had a bunch of authors in the vein you're looking for: George Pelecanos Richard Price Dennis Lehane If you don't mind comics, Ed Brubaker's work is amazing The Martin Beck novels Stanley Ellin Charles Willeford Chester Himes
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 21:34 |
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caspergers posted:Need a non-cliche crime thiller from an author who doesn't write a thousand books a year. A never ending bibliography is a huge red flag for me. Something that has a good character arc/development rather than just bodies with hasty backgrounds to serve a pristine plot. But also something with strong plot structure. Gimme Maybe they're just following Ray Bradbury's advice that it's impossible to write 52 bad novels in a row
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 21:42 |
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deep dish peat moss posted:Maybe they're just following Ray Bradbury's advice that it's impossible to write 52 bad novels in a row Odd, how come I never heard of the 8-ish good books he wrote before Fahrenheit?
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 21:48 |
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Magnetic North posted:Odd, how come I never heard of the 8-ish good books he wrote before Fahrenheit? And nobody ever talks about Farenheit 1-450
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 22:18 |
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caspergers posted:Need a non-cliche crime thiller from an author who doesn't write a thousand books a year. A never ending bibliography is a huge red flag for me. Something that has a good character arc/development rather than just bodies with hasty backgrounds to serve a pristine plot. But also something with strong plot structure. Gimme There's a few of them by now, but I read Slow Horses earlier this year and it was good, and definitely a bit of a unique take on spy/crime stuff
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 22:43 |
caspergers posted:Need a non-cliche crime thiller from an author who doesn't write a thousand books a year. A never ending bibliography is a huge red flag for me. Something that has a good character arc/development rather than just bodies with hasty backgrounds to serve a pristine plot. But also something with strong plot structure. Gimme Friend,, you should definitely read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 22:59 |
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fez_machine posted:The Wire writer's room had a bunch of authors in the vein you're looking for:
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# ? Dec 16, 2023 23:10 |
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Still mad at Lehane for completely spoiling a previous book in one of his novels. I bought them both and read them in the wrong order. There was absolutely categorically 100% no reason for him to spoil the plot of the older work, but he did. I hate him. I will give him the finger if I ever see him. e: So mad right now. "Väkjuu" Mr. Lehane!
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# ? Dec 17, 2023 14:40 |
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Azhais posted:And nobody ever talks about Farenheit 1-450
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# ? Dec 17, 2023 17:31 |
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I'm stupid enough I legit thought I came up with this joke and I said on stage at an open mic. It did pretty well but it felt so hacky I had to drop it. As opposed to my totally non-hacky tight five E: thanks for all the recommendations fellas caspergers fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Dec 17, 2023 |
# ? Dec 17, 2023 18:27 |
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I'm in need of a good sci fi book for a book club for ladies who have never read science fiction before. I was thinking maybe of Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, but I'm worried that they will look it up ahead of time and I feel that one is best if you read it without knowing anything about it. I don't trust those bitches! Any ideas? I love science fiction but I guess I'm trying to think of something more entry level but also just a good read.
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# ? Dec 18, 2023 02:31 |
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Bookish posted:I'm in need of a good sci fi book for a book club for ladies who have never read science fiction before. I was thinking maybe of Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, but I'm worried that they will look it up ahead of time and I feel that one is best if you read it without knowing anything about it. I don't trust those bitches! Any ideas? I love science fiction but I guess I'm trying to think of something more entry level but also just a good read. R.U.R.
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# ? Dec 18, 2023 02:39 |
Bookish posted:I'm in need of a good sci fi book for a book club for ladies who have never read science fiction before. I was thinking maybe of Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, but I'm worried that they will look it up ahead of time and I feel that one is best if you read it without knowing anything about it. I don't trust those bitches! Any ideas? I love science fiction but I guess I'm trying to think of something more entry level but also just a good read. Four Ways To Forgiveness by Ursula Le Guin Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
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# ? Dec 18, 2023 02:39 |
Bookish posted:I'm in need of a good sci fi book for a book club for ladies who have never read science fiction before. I was thinking maybe of Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, but I'm worried that they will look it up ahead of time and I feel that one is best if you read it without knowing anything about it. I don't trust those bitches! Any ideas? I love science fiction but I guess I'm trying to think of something more entry level but also just a good read. The Infinite and The Divine by Robert Rath. It's a very fun book about the millennia-spanning feud between two immortal beings trapped in super powerful robot bodies. There's a lot of space ships and such but it's always anchored by these two very well-realized characters and their extremely human desires and bickering. It merges space opera and odd couple style shenanigans shockingly well.
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# ? Dec 18, 2023 04:34 |
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caspergers posted:The audiobook or the dramatization? I listened to the latter from audible recently, it was my first intro to prattchet and I liked it too. As an American I delight in regional English accents and dramatizations are a good way to enjoy that. Drama. Finished Equal Rites and onto Wyrd Sisters now, so far, so good! tuyop posted:Friend,, you should definitely read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk Having just finished that book myself, I'd instead recommend Peace by Gene Wolfe. It scratches a very similar itch and I found the story much more emotionally resonating, the writing better, and it was quite simply scarier in hindsight. malnourish fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Dec 18, 2023 |
# ? Dec 18, 2023 05:00 |
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caspergers posted:Need a non-cliche crime thiller from an author who doesn't write a thousand books a year. A never ending bibliography is a huge red flag for me. Something that has a good character arc/development rather than just bodies with hasty backgrounds to serve a pristine plot. But also something with strong plot structure. Gimme Tokarczuk was recommended earlier, you should also give Blackwater by Kerstin Ekman a try
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# ? Dec 20, 2023 17:56 |
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Hey, just looking for some books my mom would like. Last year she asked for these 4 books: Two Nights in Lisbon, by Chris Pavone Trust, by Hernan Diaz A World of Curiosities, by Louise Penny A Twist of the Knife, by Anthony Horowitz I looked for new stuff by those authors but no luck. Can anyone give me suggestions based on those? She often likes thrillers and mysteries, especially bestsellers. She reads a lot, so she might have already read the most popular ones.
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# ? Dec 22, 2023 21:41 |
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The Morning star by Knausgård might do it, from the top of my head
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# ? Dec 23, 2023 18:25 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 09:03 |
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Got a craving for some military historical fiction and was going to look at Sharpe and Aubrey-Maturin. Is it best to start them at the start? Or is there a better jumping off point for a first timer?
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# ? Dec 24, 2023 16:21 |