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If you liked ASOIAF but are finding yourself unsatisfied with a lot of fantasy, you might check out various works of plain ol' historical fiction that feature political machinations and intrigue. I'm gonna throw out Jack Whyte's Camulod* Chronicles, which is an historically plausible (well, you know) retelling of King Arthur, but beginning a few generations before his birth, roughly concurrently with the Roman withdrawal from Britain (Arthur's great grandparents or something are former Roman legates). It doesn't have any magic. It's not Mary Stewart. In fact, if I remember correctly, I was turned onto ASOIAF by a friend because we were both reading and enjoying the Camulod Chronicles (also called A Dream of Eagles), way way back in high school. * read: Camelot
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Apr 21, 2013 16:32
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Are there any good heist/caper novels? I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora, a fantasy novel about bizzaroVenetian thieves and really enjoyed it.
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Apr 23, 2013 19:04
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dongsbot 9000 posted:Are there any good heist/caper novels? I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora, a fantasy novel about bizzaroVenetian thieves and really enjoyed it. There's a sequel to Lies called Red Seas Under Red Skies. The consensus is that it's not quite as good as Lies, but its still a fun read.
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Apr 23, 2013 20:03
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And the third has been announced / is coming out soon, which is good news because the author has crippling depression/anxiety and people were worried that the series wouldn't be continued.
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Apr 23, 2013 20:34
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Does anyone have a favorite novel about ancient Rome? I could swear I read a recommendation here for a series about the crisis of the republic, but I can't remember what it was. Thanks!
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Apr 25, 2013 02:03
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PatMarshall posted:Does anyone have a favorite novel about ancient Rome? I could swear I read a recommendation here for a series about the crisis of the republic, but I can't remember what it was. Thanks! I, Claudius. It has a sequel, Claudius the God.
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Apr 25, 2013 02:15
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PatMarshall posted:Does anyone have a favorite novel about ancient Rome? I could swear I read a recommendation here for a series about the crisis of the republic, but I can't remember what it was. Thanks! Augustus by John Edward Williams is really good.
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Apr 25, 2013 02:32
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Thanks guys! I see things have changed since I last posted here; Hieronymous seems to have lost his green spaceman and WGS traded in M.I.A. . .
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Apr 25, 2013 03:00
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I, Claudius. It has a sequel, Claudius the God. That's not about the crisis of the Republic, though, as it is set in Imperial times. The remembered recommendation might possibly be for Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, starting with The First Man In Rome which deals with the struggle between Marius and Sulla, and is pretty nifty. Later volumes go on to cover the career of Julius Caesar and then Augustus.
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Apr 25, 2013 10:58
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Argali posted:Is this book actually any good? As far as I know Gene Wolfe hasn't published bad fiction in his life.
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Apr 25, 2013 17:30
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Any recommendations along the line of Ben Aaronovitch's Midnight Riot and the rest of that series? I know Dresden Flies is the big one, but I read the first book of that ages ago and honestly hated it enough that I have no desire to read any of the other books. I'm already thinking about giving the Felix Castor series a try, but is there anything else I should look into?
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Apr 25, 2013 21:49
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Radio! posted:Any recommendations along the line of Ben Aaronovitch's Midnight Riot and the rest of that series? I know Dresden Flies is the big one, but I read the first book of that ages ago and honestly hated it enough that I have no desire to read any of the other books. Paul Cornell's _London Falling_. Very similar but darker.
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Apr 25, 2013 22:50
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Groke posted:That's not about the crisis of the Republic, though, as it is set in Imperial times. The remembered recommendation might possibly be for Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, starting with The First Man In Rome which deals with the struggle between Marius and Sulla, and is pretty nifty. Later volumes go on to cover the career of Julius Caesar and then Augustus. I fully agree with this - I had a ton of fun reading these books, and they're really well-researched. However, the author has kind of gone off the rails a bit in recent years - there was a whole bunch of child sexual abuse cases on Pitcairn Island, and she basically said that it was Polynesian custom to have sex with 12-year-old girls ("break them in" was the way she put it). They're still good books, just get them out of the library if that Pitcairn Island quote makes you feel uncomfortable.
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Apr 26, 2013 01:09
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Radio! posted:Any recommendations along the line of Ben Aaronovitch's Midnight Riot and the rest of that series? I know Dresden Flies is the big one, but I read the first book of that ages ago and honestly hated it enough that I have no desire to read any of the other books. The previously-mentioned London Falling is great. I'd also recommend giving Dresden another shot, but start at book 3; the first two are pretty rough, but the series really takes off with book 3. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley might also interest you. My advice is to avoid Felix Castor unless you like reading stories about a guy that will, at literally every single opportunity, cut his nose off to spite his face. I'm not even joking here, if Castor can find a way to make a situation harder on himself, he will invariably do so, and it gets loving tiresome after a while.
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Apr 26, 2013 02:23
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ZakAce posted:I fully agree with this - I had a ton of fun reading these books, and they're really well-researched. However, the author has kind of gone off the rails a bit in recent years I've started to think that I should actively avoid learning anything about the private lives and opinions of authors whose books I like.
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Apr 26, 2013 06:13
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Groke posted:I've started to think that I should actively avoid learning anything about the private lives and opinions of authors whose books I like. TBH, this can also extend to people who aren't book authors. For example, Scott Adams (who wrote Dilbert) is a bit of a misogynist, Doug TenNapel (who was involved in Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood) is a homophobe and Stephen Fry has a few dodgy views himself. I can forgive some unusual opinions, but anything involving sexual abuse of children? 
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Apr 26, 2013 08:49
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Plese never inform me about what's wrong with Stephen Fry. (Who is also, incidentally, a book author as well.) Knut Hamsun was a Nazi. 
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Apr 26, 2013 08:57
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Yeah what the hell is wrong with Stephen Fry?  I mean apart from the credit card fraud when he was 17.
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Apr 27, 2013 03:12
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I spent some time tonight watching the documentaries "The Killing of America" and "Bowling for Columbine". Are there any documentary-style books that go into topics like that? A sociological analysis of America and Americans inasfar as crime, violence, shocking events... I already read The Corner.
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Apr 28, 2013 07:29
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rotinaj posted:I spent some time tonight watching the documentaries "The Killing of America" and "Bowling for Columbine". Are there any documentary-style books that go into topics like that? A sociological analysis of America and Americans inasfar as crime, violence, shocking events... I already read The Corner. Bill James wrote an interesting book about crime and America called Popular Crime which might be up your alley. Also, Dave Cullen's Columbine does a good job at pointing out where Michael Moore went off-track with his movie.
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Apr 28, 2013 15:12
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barkingclam posted:Bill James wrote an interesting book about crime and America called Popular Crime which might be up your alley. Also, Dave Cullen's Columbine does a good job at pointing out where Michael Moore went off-track with his movie. Columbine is good, as is Gang Leader for a Day. People seem to love or hate it, but I really liked The Culture of Fear, too. Tangentially, there is Schlosser's Reefer Madness and two memoirs I enjoyed, Makes Me Wanna Holler and The Other Wes Moore (although they both have serious flaws, the look at the "bad side" is pretty compelling in both). VVV Ah, okay- I was mostly thinking of The Corner when I responded. Yes, the book you linked is what I was re(e)ferring to. funkybottoms fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Apr 28, 2013 |
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Apr 28, 2013 15:45
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Reefer Madness looks good(Is that the right one?), but the other stuff is a little too gang-focused. I've spent my time reading Gang Leader for a Day and the Corner, I'm not really looking to get into that aspect of what I'm trying to describe. I want a book either more focused on America's gun culture and how it turns us into violent people like in the Killing of America, or more of a sociological look into why these shocking events happen. Popular Crime looks good, I think I'll get that. Any other suggestions?
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Apr 28, 2013 18:45
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Are there any good books like Fatherland by Robert Harris? That one takes place in a hypothetical 1960s Nazi Germany, but any sort of behind the iron curtain historical fiction.
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Apr 30, 2013 21:41
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TopherCStone posted:Are there any good books like Fatherland by Robert Harris? That one takes place in a hypothetical 1960s Nazi Germany, but any sort of behind the iron curtain historical fiction. Alt-history's a very popular genre (and they're all about Hitler winning), though the only ones I know are PKD's The Man in the High Castle (America after the axis won) and Orwell's 1984 (England under the Soviet Union, but you knew that already). That might not be what you're asking for though. Anyway, what's a good Carlos Fuentes book to start off with?
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May 2, 2013 15:28
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Mr. Squishy posted:Alt-history's a very popular genre (and they're all about Hitler winning), though the only ones I know are PKD's The Man in the High Castle (America after the axis won) and Orwell's 1984 (England under the Soviet Union, but you knew that already). That might not be what you're asking for though. 1984 isn't alt-history. It's science fiction. Orwell believed that there was a real danger England would turn into the projected State . . . . by the year 1984.
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May 2, 2013 16:13
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Did he? Literally? I thought it was agit-prop to both protest against the USSR and to disabuse the complacent British public of the notion that there'd never be another revolution after Cromwell. And the 1984 thing was just a far-flung-sounding spoonerism of it's year of publication. Anyway, I loving hate genres me.
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May 2, 2013 16:16
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What are some good layman's books on basic economic theory? As in, "assume I know nothing about economics" basic.
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May 2, 2013 16:49
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How does everyone feel about "Imajica" by Clive Barker? I was looking for some good, solid fantasy with LGBT themes and was told that was the best one for a myriad of reasons, but before I make the jump on a 830-page book I'd like to know I'm not wasting my time. For the record, I am plowing through Abarat right now and have only read "Books of Blood" and "Hellraiser" by Barker before.
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May 3, 2013 02:42
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Lord Hydronium posted:What are some good layman's books on basic economic theory? As in, "assume I know nothing about economics" basic. Just to say that I'd be very interested in this too: my local library seems to have failed me.
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May 3, 2013 07:54
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SlenderWhore posted:How does everyone feel about "Imajica" by Clive Barker? I remember liking it quite a bit when I read it, although that was way back when it was recent. And I'm damned if I can remember much about the book now.
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May 3, 2013 09:09
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Mr. Squishy posted:Alt-history's a very popular genre (and they're all about Hitler winning), though the only ones I know are PKD's The Man in the High Castle (America after the axis won) and Orwell's 1984 (England under the Soviet Union, but you knew that already). That might not be what you're asking for though. I tried reading The Man in the High Castle but couldn't get into it. I guess the closest thing I've read to Fatherland would be the Gorky Park series, and that's not even totally close
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May 3, 2013 17:31
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Lord Hydronium posted:What are some good layman's books on basic economic theory? As in, "assume I know nothing about economics" basic. I enjoyed Hayek's The Road to Serfdom. It's pretty much a bunch of examples of how central economic planning erodes R FREEDOM.
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May 4, 2013 00:15
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Mr. Squishy posted:Anyway, what's a good Carlos Fuentes book to start off with? The Crystal Frontier is a good start as it's made up of connected short stories that kinda hit a lot of Fuente's themes.
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May 4, 2013 00:24
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SlenderWhore posted:How does everyone feel about "Imajica" by Clive Barker? I was looking for some good, solid fantasy with LGBT themes and was told that was the best one for a myriad of reasons, but before I make the jump on a 830-page book I'd like to know I'm not wasting my time. For the record, I am plowing through Abarat right now and have only read "Books of Blood" and "Hellraiser" by Barker before. If you are plowing through Abarat and enjoying it then I would say you'll enjoy Imajica as well. He touches on spirituality, sexuality, God, and everything in between in Imajica and it's really good in my opinion. I don't know what version you are thinking about getting, but I know there's one that has illustrations and an appendix that is apparently helpful in coming to grips with the world he creates. I own it in two paperbacks and they don't feature any of that and sometimes it was a slog trying to keep track of everything as there is a lot going on.
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May 5, 2013 03:10
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TopherCStone posted:I tried reading The Man in the High Castle but couldn't get into it. I guess the closest thing I've read to Fatherland would be the Gorky Park series, and that's not even totally close I can't really fathom anyone not liking The Man in the High Castle because I love PKD's work so much, but even as a non-PKD fan I'd recommend giving it another shot. The book really picks up towards the end and PKD's views on fascism and eastern culture are really unique. He doesn't strive for accuracy or anything but it's engrossing nonetheless.
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May 5, 2013 04:21
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barkingclam posted:Bill James wrote an interesting book about crime and America called Popular Crime which might be up your alley. Also, Dave Cullen's Columbine does a good job at pointing out where Michael Moore went off-track with his movie. Actually, I just finished Columbine and Cullen mentions the movie exactly once in his book. He spends a lot more time pointing out how the general media, particularly the Denver Post, got so much of the story wrong.
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May 5, 2013 17:05
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John McCain posted:As far as I know Gene Wolfe hasn't published bad fiction in his life. I tracked down an old copy of Peace, which is very highly reviewed on Amazon, and found it shockingly boring as gently caress and borderline unreadable. And I loved The Book of the New Sun series.
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May 5, 2013 17:07
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Captain Amerikkka posted:I can't really fathom anyone not liking The Man in the High Castle because I love PKD's work so much, but even as a non-PKD fan I'd recommend giving it another shot. The book really picks up towards the end and PKD's views on fascism and eastern culture are really unique. He doesn't strive for accuracy or anything but it's engrossing nonetheless. It was weird to me because I quite like PKD, especially Radio Free Albemuth. I'll give it another shot, it should still be on my kindle. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind at the time.
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May 6, 2013 01:11
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I'm looking for a funny/charming, adventure-y book. I haven't read much fantasy since grade school so the only references for the style I'm aiming for are Howl's Moving Castle or Ella Enchanted. I just finished Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore which was fun, if a little too pat. Maybe along the lines of The Mummy if it was a book?
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May 6, 2013 18:38
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taco show posted:I'm looking for a funny/charming, adventure-y book. I haven't read much fantasy since grade school so the only references for the style I'm aiming for are Howl's Moving Castle or Ella Enchanted. I just finished Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore which was fun, if a little too pat. Maybe along the lines of The Mummy if it was a book? Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.
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May 6, 2013 18:47
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