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OK, my dad's a big-time military buff, and I need a book or two for Father's Day. It can safely be assumed that he's read most of the big-name military history and fiction books out there, so can you guys think of any good-but-more-obscure works he might be interested in?
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Jun 15, 2013 13:54
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Check out The Great Big Book of Horrible Things by Matthew White. It was recently released in paperback with the title Atrocities.
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Jun 15, 2013 14:32
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funkybottoms posted:Check out The Great Big Book of Horrible Things by Matthew White. It was recently released in paperback with the title Atrocities. I dunno, bit too ghoulish. Anything else?
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Jun 15, 2013 14:52
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Darth Walrus posted:I dunno, bit too ghoulish. Anything else? It's written with a fairly light touch and a dry wit, so it's not as gloomy as the title(s) would have you believe. Unfortunately, my knowledge of non-big-name military books is poor and he's likely to have read both Matterhorn and With the Old Breed, which are two of my favorites. Not military, but two of my other go-to dadbook recommendations are George R Stewart's Names on the Land and John Vaillant's The Tiger.
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Jun 15, 2013 15:11
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Darth Walrus posted:OK, my dad's a big-time military buff, and I need a book or two for Father's Day. It can safely be assumed that he's read most of the big-name military history and fiction books out there, so can you guys think of any good-but-more-obscure works he might be interested in? The War of the Triple Alliance was a crazy clusterfuck where in 1864 landlocked Paraguay declared war on Argentina, Uruguay, and Brasil. Simultaneously. I read Christopher Leuchars's 2002 To the Bitter End: Paraguay and the War of the Triple Alliance and really enjoyed it, although cheap copies of the book are hard to come by. Also tough to find in real book form is George Thompson's 1869 The War in Paraguay, by one of the participants of the war—it is available in the public domain in digital form, if your dad has a kindle. Some other books I've enjoyed about non-WWII, non-USA wars: Robert L. O'Connell - The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic Jonathan Sumption - The Hundred Years War: Trial by Battle Orlando Figes - The Crimean War: A History William Dalrymple - Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42 Pierre Berton - The Invasion of Canada: 1812-1813 Alessandro Barbero - The Battle: A New History of Waterloo James Reston Jr. - Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade
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Jun 15, 2013 16:28
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Probably too late for Father's Day but anyone who likes dokmo's list above would get a huge kick out of 1453. It's about the sack of Constantinople by the Ottomans and it's an incredible page turner. My favorite moment is when the author details previous sieges of the city and one emperor had been under siege for over a year so he reached out to the besieging army and told them that he'd yield Constantinople if they gave him all of their remaining food and burnt the fields they'd set up. Somehow they go along with this and as soon as their fields are burnt and the emperor has all their food, the emperor decides he'd rather not give up Constantinople. And why would he? He's got plenty of food.
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Jun 15, 2013 16:46
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Since I thought it would be polite to respond, it turned out that (a) Matterhorn and The Tiger seemed just what I was looking for, and (b) he had neither read nor heard of either of them. Much obliged, and I'll keep the rest of the suggestions in mind for the next time I need to get stuff for him.
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Jun 19, 2013 13:40
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I'm looking to expand my reading horizons. I've mostly read Fantasy and Scifi, with a smattering of the texts they force upon school kids. I've already written down 1984 and Lovecraft's Necronomicon as things to get, but want to know what you guys would consider 'essential' reading for anyone - classics of any genre that you feel everyone should read.
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Jun 19, 2013 16:21
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Darth Walrus posted:Since I thought it would be polite to respond, it turned out that (a) Matterhorn and The Tiger seemed just what I was looking for, and (b) he had neither read nor heard of either of them. Much obliged, and I'll keep the rest of the suggestions in mind for the next time I need to get stuff for him. Oh, that's great to hear! The Tiger has a little bit of everything- anthropology, Russian history and economics, sociology, and ecology, all framed by a revenge story that's straight-up Hollywood. Yes, I hand-sell the poo poo out of it. If he digs Matterhorn, keep the follow-up, What it is Like to Go to War, in mind- it's kind of the non-fiction sequel to the thinly-fictionalized novel. funkybottoms fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Jun 19, 2013 |
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Jun 19, 2013 17:38
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I need some philosophy. From any school. I have a very little background in stuff that can be applied to lit crit (Greenblatt, Said, Campbell, Jung, Freud, hooks, Foucault, Aristotle) and that's it.
chernobyl kinsman fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Jun 19, 2013 |
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Jun 19, 2013 18:02
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Could somebody suggest some books about tomb raiders or treasure hunters? Something in the vein of Indiana Jones or Uncharted?
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Jun 19, 2013 18:29
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Illegal Move posted:Could somebody suggest some books about tomb raiders or treasure hunters? Something in the vein of Indiana Jones or Uncharted? Haggard's King Solomon's Mines is the archetypal treasure hunter story. I think it's in the public domain and available on Gutenberg.
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Jun 19, 2013 18:36
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End Of Worlds posted:I need some philosophy. From any school. I have a very little background in stuff that can be applied to lit crit (Greenblatt, Said, Campbell, Jung, Freud, hooks, Foucault, Aristotle) and that's it. Read In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki. Its an essay on Japanese aesthetics and is a really quick read but very beautiful if you are at all interested in art, design, or just the way different cultures develop a different aesthetic sensibility.
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Jun 19, 2013 19:54
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Can anyone recommend me a fantasy series? Preferably, I'm looking for there to be at least 3 books in the series (or 3+ books planned if the author is still workong on it). More is always better, at least in this regard. I'm looking for strange beasts, ice golems, giant creatures roaming the earth and wreaking havoc, preferably creatures that are a little more off the beaten path than usual. I want some grandiose storyline, and a good magic system is a big plus. More or less, what I'm looking for is if someone turned some of these images into a series of fantasy novels:    That's probably a ridiculously vague way of asking for a recommendation, but I'm hoping someone kind of understands what I'm looking for. I've been reading the Malazan series which I've been enjoying a lot, and it's probably been the closest to what I've been looking for so far.
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Jun 20, 2013 08:01
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I want to read a novel set in medieval times. Knights, castles, swords. I love Ivanhoe and I'm basically looking for something like that but written by whichever modern author is the go to guy for medieval fiction. I'm looking for something well grounded historically, something that can help me understand all the nuances of the time period. I always feel like William Gibson does a great job of that in his books but I don't think he has one in that setting. I want something with some action and adventure, and would actually prefer if the setting could delve into the supernatural. Something dark and spooky like facing down a vampire or some monster or something. I'm currently reading the amazon excerpt of the first Cadfael book, but I think I could get to the heart of the matter by saying something like "I want something like the W40K book Eiesnhorn but set in carefully researched medieval Europe. EDIT-Oh and I hate it when characters in historic settings have a bunch of hand made gadgets of their own devising that turn them into modern commandos/spies. Sort of like what Van Helsing seemed to do in the movies based off the trailer I saw.
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Jun 20, 2013 11:29
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Jack B Nimble posted:I want to read a novel set in medieval times. Knights, castles, swords. I love Ivanhoe and I'm basically looking for something like that but written by whichever modern author is the go to guy for medieval fiction. I'm looking for something well grounded historically, something that can help me understand all the nuances of the time period. I always feel like William Gibson does a great job of that in his books but I don't think he has one in that setting. The ultimate midieval-era historical fiction is Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, but it's a murder mystery set in a monastery, not knights and fighting. If you're willing to get slightly fancy you could try Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood; it was the first systematic treatment of the Robin Hood ballads and legends in one volume, and the author spent a lot of effort getting his details and everything as historically accurate as possible, BUT it's written for 1900's-era children so not really a modern novel. Still good though. Be sure to get an edition with illustrations, they're still used as teaching material in art history classes today. Guy Gavriel Kay writes fiction set in alternate-history fantasy versions of medieval Europe' Lions of Al-Rassan is basically reconquista era Spain as a fantasy novel. His The Last Light of the Sun is basically Fantasy Alfred the Great. For pure history, I'd try Terry Jones (of Monty Python's) Medieval Lives. Based on what you've said though your best bet is probably Bernard Cornwell's Saxon stories -- straight up Alfred the Great historical fiction, with swords. First one is the Last Kingdom I believe? Unfortunately I haven't read them myself so I can't confirm whether or not they're any good.
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Jun 20, 2013 15:26
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:The ultimate midieval-era historical fiction is Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, but it's a murder mystery set in a monastery, not knights and fighting. Adding to this I've heard of the popular Pillars of the Earth series which from the little I've read seemed to be fit pretty closely with medieval historical fiction. I'm about to go on a 15-20 hour train ride and plan on sneaking booze on board. Whats a good genre to read on a train?
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Jun 20, 2013 17:08
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Nf3 posted:
John Le Carre- you'll be looking at everyone funny after a few hours.
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Jun 20, 2013 17:16
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The Dark Wind posted:Can anyone recommend me a fantasy series? Preferably, I'm looking for there to be at least 3 books in the series (or 3+ books planned if the author is still workong on it). More is always better, at least in this regard. I'm looking for strange beasts, ice golems, giant creatures roaming the earth and wreaking havoc, preferably creatures that are a little more off the beaten path than usual. I want some grandiose storyline, and a good magic system is a big plus. Perhaps you should read The Way of Kings since it contains Chasmfiends (huge, crustacean-like creatures), references Thunderclasts (giant golemns) and the series is likely to contains a lot more giant creatures we just haven't seen yet. It's by Sanderson, which is renowned for his great/detailed magic systems and has the added benefit of actually being a good book. The only reason why I'm hesistant to recommend it to you is that, while those beasts are important and heavily influence the behaviour of the personages, the story doesn't really revolve around them. Note that it's just the first book in a long series, the 2nd probably coming out early 2014.
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Jun 20, 2013 17:47
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Jack B Nimble posted:I want to read a novel set in medieval times. Knights, castles, swords. I love Ivanhoe and I'm basically looking for something like that but written by whichever modern author is the go to guy for medieval fiction. I'm looking for something well grounded historically, something that can help me understand all the nuances of the time period. I always feel like William Gibson does a great job of that in his books but I don't think he has one in that setting. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. It doesn't have vampires, but it does have zombie knights (which are way cooler than vampires anyway).
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Jun 20, 2013 19:52
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Jack B Nimble posted:I want to read a novel set in medieval times. Knights, castles, swords. I love Ivanhoe and I'm basically looking for something like that but written by whichever modern author is the go to guy for medieval fiction. I'm looking for something well grounded historically, something that can help me understand all the nuances of the time period. I always feel like William Gibson does a great job of that in his books but I don't think he has one in that setting. Suggested above, but George R. R. Martin's's A Song of Ice and Fire is good because it began as an historical thing about the War of the Roses, but he wanted bigger set pieces and magic. That said, Jack Whyte's Camulod series might be closer to Walter Scott, in content and tone, but doesn't have elements of the supernatural.
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Jun 20, 2013 20:29
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Walh Hara posted:Perhaps you should read The Way of Kings since it contains Chasmfiends (huge, crustacean-like creatures), references Thunderclasts (giant golemns) and the series is likely to contains a lot more giant creatures we just haven't seen yet. It's by Sanderson, which is renowned for his great/detailed magic systems and has the added benefit of actually being a good book. The only reason why I'm hesistant to recommend it to you is that, while those beasts are important and heavily influence the behaviour of the personages, the story doesn't really revolve around them. Note that it's just the first book in a long series, the 2nd probably coming out early 2014. I just started reading this yesterday, while I'm only about 50 pages deep or so, it already seems almost exactly like what I'm looking for. Thanks! I think this book is gonna be pretty amazing.
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Jun 20, 2013 20:49
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DirtyRobot posted:Suggested above, but George R. R. Martin's's A Song of Ice and Fire is good because it began as an historical thing about the War of the Roses, but he wanted bigger set pieces and magic. I'd absolutely agree with you if I wasn't insistent on something based on "real" history. I mean I'm sure the war of the roses is well represented in spirit, but I want something that I can read and go "Oh so that's what Antioch was like at the time of the crusades. Oh so that's how that famous dude I'd heard of acted". Something like the HBO show ROME but set in the age of chivalry and a series of novels. I'll probably go with go with the first of those Saxon books. Actually I might find that without the antiquated writing of someone like Sir Walther Scott that I don't have as much fun but thanks for the suggestions.
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Jun 20, 2013 21:42
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Jack B Nimble posted:I'd absolutely agree with you if I wasn't insistent on something based on "real" history. I mean I'm sure the war of the roses is well represented in spirit, but I want something that I can read and go "Oh so that's what Antioch was like at the time of the crusades. Oh so that's how that famous dude I'd heard of acted". Something like the HBO show ROME but set in the age of chivalry and a series of novels. If you're interested in knights, ladies, and chivalry try reading a few of the medieval romances like Le Morte d'Arthur or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. They're pretty enjoyable.
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Jun 21, 2013 00:34
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Jack B Nimble posted:I'd absolutely agree with you if I wasn't insistent on something based on "real" history. I mean I'm sure the war of the roses is well represented in spirit, but I want something that I can read and go "Oh so that's what Antioch was like at the time of the crusades. Oh so that's how that famous dude I'd heard of acted". Something like the HBO show ROME but set in the age of chivalry and a series of novels. Didn't Steinbeck write a novel about the Knights of the Round Table? That might be worth looking into.
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Jun 21, 2013 02:16
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barkingclam posted:Didn't Steinbeck write a novel about the Knights of the Round Table? That might be worth looking into. The acts of king arthur and his noble knights - it was one of my favourite books as a kid. But Steinbeck died before finishing it. It's based on the abovementioned Le Morte d'Arthur. There is also Tortilla Flat, which uses the Knights of the Round Table as allegory, but it's a post WW1 story about Spanish Americans set in California. Probably well off the mark for what you want, but it's a really good story.
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Jun 21, 2013 04:02
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Jack B Nimble posted:I want to read a novel set in medieval times. Knights, castles, swords. I love Ivanhoe and I'm basically looking for something like that but written by whichever modern author is the go to guy for medieval fiction. I'm looking for something well grounded historically, something that can help me understand all the nuances of the time period. I always feel like William Gibson does a great job of that in his books but I don't think he has one in that setting. Gene Wolfe's Wizard Knight series.
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Jun 21, 2013 05:55
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Having just finished Who Goes There? And Parasite Eve, does anyone have any recommendations for novels on parasitism/symbiosis?
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Jun 21, 2013 06:01
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The Dark Wind posted:That's probably a ridiculously vague way of asking for a recommendation, but I'm hoping someone kind of understands what I'm looking for. I've been reading the Malazan series which I've been enjoying a lot, and it's probably been the closest to what I've been looking for so far. Well obviously you'd want to read the Malazan - oh gently caress. To contribute meaningfully: You might enjoy some of China Miéville's stuff, specifically Perdido Street Station and the other books in that world (The Scar and The Iron Council). This is mainly based on the request for strange creatures and weird poo poo.
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Jun 21, 2013 08:00
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Illegal Move posted:Could somebody suggest some books about tomb raiders or treasure hunters? Something in the vein of Indiana Jones or Uncharted? Definately check out the Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase series by Andy McDermott. He's a goon and posts here too. (Payndz or something) The books all have an absolute Indiana Jones vibe to them, lots of explosions, evil bad guys wanting ancient artifacts to rule (or blow up) the world, big deadly traps in pyramids, awesomeness, intrigue and betrayal, everything. I think it is as close to Unchartered and Indiana Jones as you can get in book form.
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Jun 21, 2013 13:34
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Hasseltkoffie posted:Definately check out the Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase series by Andy McDermott. He's a goon and posts here too. (Payndz or something) Seconding this, and I'd also recommend the Sigma Force novels by James Rollins, starting with Sandstorm. Both book series seem very similar to each other, and seem to be exactly what you're looking for, though I've only read the first book of each series. Sandstorm is about a team of US Special Forces scientist-soldiers working for DARPA whose mission is to make sure the US maintains its technological edge. A mysterious explosion at the British Museum's Arabian exhibition causes Sigma Force and a pair of the museum's Arabian anthropologists to search for the Ubar, the "Atlantis of the Sands"--and also the focus of Uncharted 3, so there's that connection. It's got treasure hunting, ancient puzzles, evil mercenaries racing them to the ancient power of Ubar, and all that stuff you'd expect from the genre. Like I said, I haven't read further into the series, but Sandstorm at least is good fun.
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Jun 21, 2013 17:36
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AARP LARPer fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Jan 22, 2016 |
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Jun 22, 2013 00:01
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carrionman posted:Having just finished Who Goes There? And Parasite Eve, does anyone have any recommendations for novels on parasitism/symbiosis? Greg Bear's Blood Music.
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Jun 22, 2013 02:19
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carrionman posted:Having just finished Who Goes There? And Parasite Eve, does anyone have any recommendations for novels on parasitism/symbiosis? Scott Sigler's Infection
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Jun 22, 2013 02:22
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So I need a good summer book, something entertaining and well-written but not necessarily "heavy." I've been reading a string of dense, depressing or dystopian/post-apocalyptic stuff and I could use a break.
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Jun 22, 2013 15:17
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Argali posted:So I need a good summer book, something entertaining and well-written but not necessarily "heavy." I've been reading a string of dense, depressing or dystopian/post-apocalyptic stuff and I could use a break. There's appears to be a rule in TBB that Bridge of Birds must be recommended at least once a week (but there's a good reason why it happens to be recommended so often) and I guess it's again the perfect book to recommend here. If you're not interested in a fantastic adventure in a China that never was, also in the same category of well-witten, uplifting and easy to read books are To Say Nothing of the Dog, The Alchemist (by Paulo Coelho) and The Princess Bride.
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Jun 22, 2013 19:43
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All of the Ian Fleming James Bond novels are $1.99 on Kindle at the moment. I've heard some of them are pretty fun reads. What's the best one, or best one to read first? I'm sure someone here has probably read them before.
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Jun 23, 2013 20:44
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I read Casino Royale and it was decent. They do read a lot like pulpy fiction type books if your into that kind of thing. I would have read more but I couldn't find any more book in the series at the time and moved on to something else, I will more than likely read more James Bond in the future though.
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Jun 24, 2013 00:49
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Kairos posted:All of the Ian Fleming James Bond novels are $1.99 on Kindle at the moment. I've heard some of them are pretty fun reads. What's the best one, or best one to read first? I'm sure someone here has probably read them before. I read all of them, but that was about 20 years ago. I remember Casino Royale being kind of crazy (although that might have been because I was 16 when I read it). I also remember that Moonraker was wildly different from the film version. So if you've seen all of the films, that one would definitely be the most "new" to you. I don't know that I can recommend any particular one, but bowmore is correct in saying they are fun pulpy fiction kind of books.
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Jun 24, 2013 14:29
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Have some time to kill, would like to read something weird, like the "library of the dead" (Glenn Cooper).. As an alternative, a good crime novel, Michael Connelly style. Please? ^_^
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Jun 24, 2013 22:50
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