|
joelcamefalling posted:It's neither of those things. This is not true, it's both of those things. It's pretty directly those two things, Douglas Adams humor mixed with inventive Horror spoofs and actual scares.
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2013 14:12
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 18:32 |
|
|
Can anyone recommend any good fantasy short stories?
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 04:16
|
|
|
Radio! posted:I'd also say skip the very first books- "not really Discworld yet" is a great way to describe them. Wait, should I read Discworld? This after a lifetime of feeling like I just didn't get it because I was badgered into reading Color of Magic & Light Fantastic and couldn't bring myself to keep going.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 05:48
|
|
|
dream owl posted:Wait, should I read Discworld? This after a lifetime of feeling like I just didn't get it because I was badgered into reading Color of Magic & Light Fantastic and couldn't bring myself to keep going.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 07:46
|
|
|
Can we just make it official that Guards Guards is THE starting book for Discworld?
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 12:45
|
|
|
I just finished Ready Player One and I LOVED it. Everything about the science fiction, steampunk-esque world meeting some sort of virtual world is enticing. Then it's matched with all sorts of great characters and emotions and growth. Seriously loved it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 19:21
|
|
|
dream owl posted:Wait, should I read Discworld? This after a lifetime of feeling like I just didn't get it because I was badgered into reading Color of Magic & Light Fantastic and couldn't bring myself to keep going. I quite enjoyed both, but as others have said, they're a parody of swords-and-sorcery fantasy that isn't really Discworld yet. Start with Guards! Guards!, or perhaps Mort, Small Gods, or Interesting Times.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 20:26
|
|
|
noirstronaut posted:I just finished Ready Player One and I LOVED it. Everything about the science fiction, steampunk-esque world meeting some sort of virtual world is enticing. Then it's matched with all sorts of great characters and emotions and growth. Seriously loved it. What's steampunk-esque about the world of RP1? Radio! posted:I'd also say skip the very first books- "not really Discworld yet" is a great way to describe them. Everyone I know says to start with Guards, Guards, since it's late enough to be "really Discworld" and is also the introduction to the best set of characters in the whole series. Yeah, the first two are sort of proto-Discworld. Small Gods is a nice standalone start, but I'm with the crowd that says the Nightwatch books are the best.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 21:16
|
|
|
PeterWeller posted:What's steampunk-esque about the world of RP1? I guess the imagery seemed very Steampunk in my head when thinking about the virtual world, the amount of armor they had to wear, the different styles of people, the various different weapons and their functions. The locations in the beginning of the book seemed steampunk-esque as well when talking about the housing arrangements and the people flying in and between buildings.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 21:20
|
|
|
People like to slather the word "steampunk" with spit and chuck it at anything to watch it stick these days.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 21:33
|
|
|
noirstronaut posted:I guess the imagery seemed very Steampunk in my head when thinking about the virtual world, the amount of armor they had to wear, the different styles of people, the various different weapons and their functions. The locations in the beginning of the book seemed steampunk-esque as well when talking about the housing arrangements and the people flying in and between buildings. Dystopian sci-fi != steampunk. But yeah, it was a fun book, well paced and enjoyable. Not Great Literature but who cares? It's ok for books to be just plain entertaining.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 22:12
|
|
|
Clayton Bigsby posted:Dystopian sci-fi != steampunk. It was more of the imagery that made me lump it together with steampunk. I guess it doesn't fit the perfect idea of what steampunk is or what it's like. It would've been better to compare to it the settings in Total Recall.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2013 22:19
|
|
|
I've always been pretty fascinated by people living off the grid. So I'm looking for a pretty wide range of books, but all centering around a central theme of survival outside of society. Survival in the wild, being homeless, backpacking cross-country, books with just tips and advice, really anything do to with the reality of living off the grid. An example is John Krakauer's Into The Wild, but I'm not necessarily looking just for story-based novels alone. Textbooks on these related topics work too. I've already found a few books myself, but wanted to see if anyone else here shared my interest in these subjects and could recommend something. Esroc fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Feb 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 04:57
|
|
|
Esroc posted:I've always been pretty fascinated by people living off the grid. So I'm looking for a pretty wide range of books, but all centering around a central theme of survival outside of society. Survival in the wild, being homeless, backpacking cross-country, books with just tips and advice, really anything do to with the reality of living off the grid.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 11:22
|
|
|
I loved Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but Clarke is taking her sweet time with a follow-up. Is there anything sort of similar? I don't usually like fantasy, but I really enjoyed the tone of JS&MN and somehow magic that isn't guys in robes throwing lightning bolts at each other is more palatable.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 12:43
|
|
|
Hedrigall posted:Can we just make it official that Guards Guards is THE starting book for Discworld? Pratchett himself recommends it as the starting point, which is about as official as you can get.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 12:48
|
|
|
Loucks posted:I loved Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but Clarke is taking her sweet time with a follow-up. Is there anything sort of similar? I don't usually like fantasy, but I really enjoyed the tone of JS&MN and somehow magic that isn't guys in robes throwing lightning bolts at each other is more palatable. She wrote a book of short stories in the same world if you haven't read it. Most of them are good.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 15:02
|
|
|
Was the general consensus on 1984 & Animal Farm? Are they like books you read in high school because you have to or are they enjoyable? Also, does anyone have any recommendations for a great series of books? I'm going to try and tackle The Hunger Games trilogy along with Game of Thrones if time allows.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 15:07
|
|
|
noirstronaut posted:Was the general consensus on 1984 & Animal Farm? Are they like books you read in high school because you have to or are they enjoyable? I think 1984 holds up, but it has kind of permeated pop culture enough that it might feel a bit familiar to an adult reading it now. Animal Farm is one that I liked a lot when I was younger and figured out what it was about, and I think Orwell was very clever in using the farm and the animals to make his point, but if you already know what the story is an allegory for, well, you might not get as much pleasure out of it. As for The Hunger Games, I'd recommend skipping it. If you liked Ready Player One and want something kind of light and fun, I really dug Simon Morden's Petrovich Trilogy and Charles Stross' Laundry Files, and Snow Crash is pretty obvious if you've never read it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 15:28
|
|
|
noirstronaut posted:Was the general consensus on 1984 & Animal Farm? Are they like books you read in high school because you have to or are they enjoyable? 1984 is a great book. But it is soul-crushingly depressing. Do what I did and read it along with Aldus Huxley's Brave New World. Then you get to play the fun game of seeing who got their predictions correct.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 15:51
|
|
|
schwenz posted:1984 is a great book. But it is soul-crushingly depressing. Do what I did and read it along with Aldus Huxley's Brave New World. Then you get to play the fun game of seeing who got their predictions correct. The lovely downside to that game is the growing realization that both worlds have deeply significant parallels to 21st-century America.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 15:57
|
|
|
schwenz posted:Do what I did and read it along with Aldus Huxley's Brave New World. Then you get to play the fun game of seeing who got their predictions correct. I kind of get the sense that the only Huxley people read is BNW (and maybe Doors of Perception) which is a shame given how thoroughly the dude owned.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 16:21
|
|
|
Hmm. I'm looking for something that's a bit more fun to read. I honestly can't think of a bunch of books that I've enjoyed, but over the past month, I've read Coraline, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, and Ready Player One. I'm looking for something that's outside of those genres, but still has the same first-person story telling, the long fight for something, the ending triumph, a few splashes of deception and mystery thrown in the middle. I think I'm going to read Snow Crash next until I find a book similar to that description.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 16:28
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:She wrote a book of short stories in the same world if you haven't read it. Most of them are good. Yeah, I read that too. Ladies of Grace Adieu is the title if memory serves. Good stuff for the most part, but I'm really looking for something novel-length. Thanks though!
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 16:38
|
|
|
noirstronaut posted:Hmm. I'm looking for something that's a bit more fun to read. I honestly can't think of a bunch of books that I've enjoyed, but over the past month, I've read Coraline, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, and Ready Player One. I'm looking for something that's outside of those genres, but still has the same first-person story telling, the long fight for something, the ending triumph, a few splashes of deception and mystery thrown in the middle.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 22:20
|
|
|
noirstronaut posted:I'm looking for something that's outside of those genres, but still has the same first-person story telling, the long fight for something, the ending triumph, a few splashes of deception and mystery thrown in the middle. The Lighthouse Duet and Collegia Magicka series by Carol Berg. Maybe Rai-kireh too, but I liked the others better.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 22:59
|
|
|
I just finished The Second World War by Antony Beevor. I didn't think I'd gain much from the book considering I spend most of my free time reading about and gaming WW2. However, it really helped me develop the timeline of events in my head and I have a much clearer understanding of the war because of the book. I was really impressed and walked away satisfied. Now my question is, is there a similar book on WW1? I've read The Guns of August and while it is perhaps my favorite history book it obviously focuses more on the cause and lead up to the war and then sort of glosses over the next 3 1/2 years. What I'd ultimately like to read is a narrative in the same vein as Beevor's The Second World War. I want a better understanding of the war as a whole so in the future I'll be able to pick aspects which interest me and read about those. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 23:05
|
|
|
I just finished George R.R. Martin's "The Hedge Knight" and its two sequels. Is there anything else like this, stories of a noble knight where the characterizations aren't garbage and the people aren't caricatures?
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 23:11
|
|
|
Friend of mine showed me this today. It's a graphic containing 100 classic novellas, in case some of you wanted to intersperse smaller works in between the bigger stuff (I didn't embed the image because it would have stretched the page)
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2013 23:25
|
|
|
noirstronaut posted:Was the general consensus on 1984 & Animal Farm? Are they like books you read in high school because you have to or are they enjoyable? They're both important books, but I found 1984 quite dull. Animal Farm, on the other hand, is both important and hugely entertaining and easy to read and relatively short. George Orwell's non-fiction is also worth reading - I actually prefer it over his fiction, especially Down and Out in Paris and London.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 01:15
|
|
|
Mr. Squishy posted:I kind of get the sense that the only Huxley people read is BNW (and maybe Doors of Perception) which is a shame given how thoroughly the dude owned. I've read both of those, and Brave New World is one of my favorite books. What book(s) would you (and others) suggest next from Huxley?
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 04:05
|
|
|
Loucks posted:Yeah, I read that too. Ladies of Grace Adieu is the title if memory serves. Good stuff for the most part, but I'm really looking for something novel-length. Thanks though! There's also Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton but it's kindof weird. It's basically an Austen or Trollope novel where all the characters are dragons.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 04:10
|
|
|
Any books like Neverwhere from Neil Gaiman? I've read all of his so far and I really enjoy his style of writing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 04:11
|
|
|
Ugh, I'm having the hardest time choosing a new book to read. I've finished Coraline, Mr. Penumbra, and Ready Player One. then, I tried reading Snow Crash and pretty much hated it. I hated the narrative of this disgruntled pizza delivery guy and someone telling his story as if he's this world renowned badass. Does anyone have any recommendations for first person fiction novels about things that are either placed in the future and pretty much stories in those times, things that aren't too wild like Mr. Penumbra's, or just some crazy fiction story like Coraline. Hell, anything is good right now, but the disappointment I'm feeling is really getting me down.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 04:11
|
|
|
noirstronaut posted:Ugh, I'm having the hardest time choosing a new book to read. I've finished Coraline, Mr. Penumbra, and Ready Player One. then, I tried reading Snow Crash and pretty much hated it. I hated the narrative of this disgruntled pizza delivery guy and someone telling his story as if he's this world renowned badass. Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, though it's not 1st person POV. Any particular reason you want that?
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 05:17
|
|
|
Heisenborg posted:I've read both of those, and Brave New World is one of my favorite books. What book(s) would you (and others) suggest next from Huxley? I'd stay away from Crome Yellow. There just wasn't much in the book to find particularly interesting (it's nothing like BNW). It's basically a gathering of different personalities in the countryside for a period of time and the goings-on there. It's also his first novel. For disclosure sake, I thought Brave New World was only ok. I appreciated everything before John the Savage comes to modern society. Not much of a fan of the Savage's character. I've read Doors of Perception/Heaven and Hell, and I enjoyed them, especially since I've never taken a psychoactive drug. noirstronaut posted:Was the general consensus on 1984 & Animal Farm? Are they like books you read in high school because you have to or are they enjoyable? Animal Farm is really a lay-up read. If you actively set aside time to read, there's no reason to not knock it out in a day or two. Very accessible. 1984 is definitely one of those books that shouldn't be taught in school. What a waste that is (nothing like having an authoritarian system educate you on authoritarian systems). For some people, the ideas put forth in 1984 are already well understood before they read it, so there can be a let down. I personally think everyone should read 1984 for the education and humility it imparts, despite its incredible grimness. There's nothing quite like identifying with Winston Smith over the course of the novel. As far as Orwell's other stuff goes, I'd stay away from Coming Up for Air, as it's mostly midlife crisis material. Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a tough read, but I always appreciated it in retrospect, if that makes any sense (and it's where I get my SA avatar name from). I've had Down and Out in Paris and London on my shelf forever, just haven't got around to it yet.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 08:13
|
|
|
Happy Hedonist posted:Now my question is, is there a similar book on WW1? I've read The Guns of August and while it is perhaps my favorite history book it obviously focuses more on the cause and lead up to the war and then sort of glosses over the next 3 1/2 years. What I'd ultimately like to read is a narrative in the same vein as Beevor's The Second World War. I want a better understanding of the war as a whole so in the future I'll be able to pick aspects which interest me and read about those. Not a book, but if you want a clear linear presentation of how the war unfolded, the classic BBC documentary series The Great War is the best I've seen. It was made within the lifetime of those who fought too, so it's able to draw fairly extensively on eyewitness testimonies.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 09:17
|
|
|
Heisenborg posted:I've read both of those, and Brave New World is one of my favorite books. What book(s) would you (and others) suggest next from Huxley? Well he started out writing really mean satires, with Those Barren Leaves probably being the best. If you like Waugh's stuff, it's worth checking out. A favourite of mine is Point Counterpoint, which is again fairly mean, but both stylistically innovative and just a there a tad of empathy. After that, he gets a bit weird. Imagine that "New Sincerity" stuff that was going around ten years ago, but wedded to physiognomy. Eyeless in Gaza, possibly his third most famous novel, dissects irony as a defence mechanism but still holding out that modern life is awful. It's a good read, but prepared to be annoyed at the final chapters where a saviour pops up. His utopia novel Island is crowded out by this smug chap with all the answers, and reads a bit like the Watchtower to my mind.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 12:07
|
|
|
Mr. Squishy posted:His utopia novel Island is crowded out by this smug chap with all the answers, and reads a bit like the Watchtower to my mind. That brings up an interesting point: the only utopia novel I've ever read is Atlas Shrugged. Are there any good utopia novels?
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 12:50
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 18:32 |
|
|
elbow posted:Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, though it's not 1st person POV. Any particular reason you want that? I think the narrative in Snow Crash might've been what made me hate it so much since it gets such high praise practically everyone. I'll check out Neverwhere, though. Thanks.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 13:14
|
|