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Project1 posted:Since maturing and doing a Literature degree, I can't enjoy the usual fantasy any more. Is there any fantasy that would be good enough for a litfag? Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe - funkybottoms beat me to this obvious choice, but to summarize, it's Jack Vance meets Jorge Luis Borges in a strange, dreamlike narrative where a thousand moments that don't initially appear to make sense turn out to have a hidden order. Arguably science fiction, but much of Wolfe's other work is unambiguously fantasy and just as literary, though his use of language in New Sun is unique. Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake - Surrealist fantasy about an enormous yet depopulated gothic castle, the first of a trilogy that unfortunately was not finished before the author's death but remains very well-regarded 50 years later. Little, Big by John Crowley - A novel about the slow slide from the rational and mundane of "the City" into the irrational and fantastic world of faerie. Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link - This is a collection of short stories and so hard to summarize, but they're strange, sometimes surreal, stories that always allow a surface reading only to disrupt and undermine it before the end, forcing the reader to dig further to figure out what they really mean. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - A novel about magic in the 19th century written in a pastiche of the 19th century novel. Obviously that style will be a turn-off for some but it's amazing how well it ends up working. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin - Not shelved under genre, but since I consider magical realism to be a subgenre of fantasy, this is a magical realist story about a thief in love, a magical horse, and a Victorian New York City that is on the brink of either destruction or transcendence.
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Jul 21, 2013 13:04
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What, no Catherynne Valente, folks? She's one of the more recent go-tos for literary fantasy.
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Jul 21, 2013 13:45
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Darth Walrus posted:What, no Catherynne Valente, folks? She's one of the more recent go-tos for literary fantasy. Yeah, she really deserves to be recommended more.
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Jul 21, 2013 14:02
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Project1 posted:Since maturing and doing a Literature degree, I can't enjoy the usual fantasy any more. Is there any fantasy that would be good enough for a litfag? In addition to the above mentions, I'd suggest Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton. It's a reimagining of regency romance novels where all the strange sexual conventions make sense because all the characters are dragons who literally prey on each other. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. A far-future colony planet is ruled by a cadre using extremely advanced technology to set themselves up as hindu dieties; serve the State well and you get reborn into a better body, etc., quite literally. One of them goes rogue and sets himself up as Buddha to counter their influence. Arguably sci-fi but it's very much in the "sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic, or maybe even theology" school. St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Katherine Russell. Anything by China Mieville. Sad because the books you're reading contain too few ten-syllable words? Do you long for fantasy peppered with words like "liminal" and fantasy Marxism? You've found your man! Seriously he's a good writer but his books are what happens when fantasy writers read waaay too much lit-crit.
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Jul 21, 2013 16:31
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Project1 posted:Since maturing and doing a Literature degree, I can't enjoy the usual fantasy any more. Is there any fantasy that would be good enough for a litfag? - At the Mouth of the River of Bees - The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break
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Jul 21, 2013 22:06
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Project1 posted:Since maturing and doing a Literature degree, I can't enjoy the usual fantasy any more. Is there any fantasy that would be good enough for a litfag? YMMV, but Lies of Locke Lamora is perfectly passable and could be great fun if you manage to control your impulse to critique the prose, which is merely good. The construction is great, so you can appreciate it on that level. (I only make this remark since I've recently finished it, and it wouldn't be unreasonable if you had already considered this and decided it wouldn't measure up.) The Wolfe recommendation is certainly on point, though. Definitely put that on your list.
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Jul 22, 2013 03:36
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Any really good police procedurals (is there a proper plural for procedural or is firefox autocorrect mistaken, by the way?) along the lines of David Simon's Homicide: a Year on the Killing Streets? I can't think of a book that has captivated me so much. I'm also a pretty huge Michael Connelly fan, both for the procedural stuff and his writing style. Any recommendations would be awesome, since he's the only mystery writer I familiar with.
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Jul 22, 2013 03:55
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Lex Talionis posted:Plenty. Depends a little bit on what you mean by literary, so it would help if you were more specific about what you like than just "literature degree", but the genre has something for everyone. It was only an undergraduate degree, so I'm not an expert critic, but it's definitely given me more of an appreciation for good writing. Outside of fantasy/SF, I like Victorian/Regency, surrealist, and the older fairy tales where the Fair Folk are to be avoided because of how they treat humans. So there's quite a few suggestions above that combine those with fantasy, which is good.
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Jul 22, 2013 04:51
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You will absolutely love the crap out of Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell, then. Regency alternate history/fantasy in which the creepy, malevolent denizens of Faerie play a pivotal role in the plot. Critically acclaimed and longlisted for the Booker Prize to boot.
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Jul 22, 2013 11:27
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Project1 posted:It was only an undergraduate degree, so I'm not an expert critic, but it's definitely given me more of an appreciation for good writing. Outside of fantasy/SF, I like Victorian/Regency, surrealist, and the older fairy tales where the Fair Folk are to be avoided because of how they treat humans. So there's quite a few suggestions above that combine those with fantasy, which is good. Wiki posted:The Iron Dragon's Daughter is a 1993 novel by writer Michael Swanwick that combines fantasy and science fiction. The dark and nihilistic tale follows Jane, a changeling girl who slaves at a dragon factory, building part-magical, part-cybernetic monsters that are used as jet fighters; until she crosses paths with an old, rusted dragon named Melanchthon and escapes. His prose and ideas are top notch, while the subversion of fantasy/folkloric tropes makes these two books very unusual.
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Jul 22, 2013 11:39
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Does anyone have recommendations for ethnographic/undercover/investigative books? I'm looking for stuff similar to: Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America" Robbins's "Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities" Venkatesh's "American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto". Basically, I want to go undercover and learn more about lifestyles and people with which I'm not intimately familiar. Thank you, as always, for your amazingly accurate recommendations!
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Jul 22, 2013 19:44
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There's always Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly. It's ~100 years old now but an archetype of undercover journalism exposes.
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Jul 22, 2013 20:00
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U4RiiA posted:Basically, I want to go undercover and learn more about lifestyles and people with which I'm not intimately familiar. If you liked "American Project" you should probably try Sudhir Venkatesh's Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets. Also Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore's Eastern District by Peter Moskos, Wallraff: The Undesirable Journalist by Gunter Wallraff.
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Jul 22, 2013 20:18
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Can anyone recommend me some good contemporary Southern Gothic? Emphasis on contemporary so not the likes of William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy. Say what you will about Anne Rice, but I haven't found anyone that conjures up the vivid imagery of decaying architecture and dark atmosphere with its deeply flawed, disturbing characters quite like she does.
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Jul 22, 2013 21:06
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I've been reading non-fiction for a while and want to give fiction another try. Does anyone have any recommendations for LGBT-relevant science fiction or fantasy that doesn't absolutely suck garbage? Someone had a thread about it a while back and I read most of the recommendations, but I only liked two of them. Most were pretty mediocre. One was one of my most hated books of all time. But hate would maybe also be okay, anything to feel again. Iron Council was great though, more like that. If it's out there.
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Jul 22, 2013 22:38
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Panda So Panda posted:Can anyone recommend me some good contemporary Southern Gothic? Emphasis on contemporary so not the likes of William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy. Say what you will about Anne Rice, but I haven't found anyone that conjures up the vivid imagery of decaying architecture and dark atmosphere with its deeply flawed, disturbing characters quite like she does. You might like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. Published in 1994, it's supposedly non-fiction, which always blows my mind. You could also try Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell.
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Jul 22, 2013 22:40
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McCarthy isn't contemporary? Anyway, Woodrell is a good recommendation and you could also look into William Gay, Ron Rash, Donald Ray Pollock and maybe Robert Goolrick. Might also want to check out Kent Wascom's recent debut, The Blood of Heaven.
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Jul 22, 2013 22:53
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HelmetCheese posted:Any really good police procedurals (is there a proper plural for procedural or is firefox autocorrect mistaken, by the way?) along the lines of David Simon's Homicide: a Year on the Killing Streets? I can't think of a book that has captivated me so much. Ed McBain is the gold standard for police procedural detective thrillers. For more non-fiction try Blue Blood by Edward Conlon about his experiences in the NYPD.
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Jul 22, 2013 23:02
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Pick posted:I've been reading non-fiction for a while and want to give fiction another try. Does anyone have any recommendations for LGBT-relevant science fiction or fantasy that doesn't absolutely suck garbage? Someone had a thread about it a while back and I read most of the recommendations, but I only liked two of them. Most were pretty mediocre. One was one of my most hated books of all time. But hate would maybe also be okay, anything to feel again. Was Ellen Kushner's Riverside series on that list? The first book is Swordspoint, which has a slow start but is more than worth it. The sequels have better pacing. I'll assume the Nightrunner series was on there. Beyond that I don't really know and I'm interested in this too. Wouldn't mind a link to that thread if it's still up. What's the one you hated, out of curiosity?
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Jul 23, 2013 08:55
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Pick posted:I've been reading non-fiction for a while and want to give fiction another try. Does anyone have any recommendations for LGBT-relevant science fiction or fantasy that doesn't absolutely suck garbage? Someone had a thread about it a while back and I read most of the recommendations, but I only liked two of them. Most were pretty mediocre. One was one of my most hated books of all time. But hate would maybe also be okay, anything to feel again. I can only think of mediocre books about LGBT-themes, but if you're also interested in feminism, you should give The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood a try. Mostly because it's really good and won ton of awards. It's a disturbinghly plausible dystopian novel about a nation which is completely based on the bible.
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Jul 23, 2013 09:48
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Pick posted:I've been reading non-fiction for a while and want to give fiction another try. Does anyone have any recommendations for LGBT-relevant science fiction or fantasy that doesn't absolutely suck garbage? Someone had a thread about it a while back and I read most of the recommendations, but I only liked two of them. Most were pretty mediocre. One was one of my most hated books of all time. But hate would maybe also be okay, anything to feel again.
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Jul 23, 2013 10:11
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Pick posted:I've been reading non-fiction for a while and want to give fiction another try. Does anyone have any recommendations for LGBT-relevant science fiction or fantasy that doesn't absolutely suck garbage? Someone had a thread about it a while back and I read most of the recommendations, but I only liked two of them. Most were pretty mediocre. One was one of my most hated books of all time. But hate would maybe also be okay, anything to feel again. Vellum by Hal Duncan has been compared to Miéville for its verboseness, and has gay main characters. Not sure how good it is myself though.
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Jul 23, 2013 11:35
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Pick posted:I've been reading non-fiction for a while and want to give fiction another try. Does anyone have any recommendations for LGBT-relevant science fiction or fantasy that doesn't absolutely suck garbage? Someone had a thread about it a while back and I read most of the recommendations, but I only liked two of them. Most were pretty mediocre. One was one of my most hated books of all time. But hate would maybe also be okay, anything to feel again. The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan may be a fantasy novel relevant to your LGBT interests. Also has a sequel out if you're into longer series.
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Jul 23, 2013 17:31
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Pick posted:I've been reading non-fiction for a while and want to give fiction another try. Does anyone have any recommendations for LGBT-relevant science fiction or fantasy that doesn't absolutely suck garbage? Someone had a thread about it a while back and I read most of the recommendations, but I only liked two of them. Most were pretty mediocre. One was one of my most hated books of all time. But hate would maybe also be okay, anything to feel again. Have you checked out Melissa Scott's work?
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Jul 23, 2013 18:06
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Echo Cian posted:Was Ellen Kushner's Riverside series on that list? The first book is Swordspoint, which has a slow start but is more than worth it. The sequels have better pacing. quote:I'll assume the Nightrunner series was on there. Beyond that I don't really know and I'm interested in this too. Wouldn't mind a link to that thread if it's still up. What's the one you hated, out of curiosity? Haha, the Nightrunner series.  They're pretty bad but for some reason I read them all  .The book I absolutely reviled was The Steel Remains. Walh Hara posted:I can only think of mediocre books about LGBT-themes, but if you're also interested in feminism, you should give The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood a try. Mostly because it's really good and won ton of awards. It's a disturbinghly plausible dystopian novel about a nation which is completely based on the bible. Chas McGill posted:Pantomime by Laura Lam was a very interesting young adult (in the sense of Pullman rather than Meyer, I'd say) SF/F novel that came out this year. It isn't all about LGBT themes, but it's unusual in actually having LGBT characters in prominent roles. It's set in a far future scenario that reminds me a little of New Sun seen through a lens of Victoriana, too. Also, I'm not familiar with Melissa Scott's work--are there any specific recommendations among her range of titles? Thanks!
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Jul 23, 2013 18:46
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Pick posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for LGBT-relevant science fiction or fantasy that doesn't absolutely suck garbage? Kim Westwood's The Courier's New Bicycle. Alexes Razevich's Khe. Malinda Lo. Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles. Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself. Jacqueline Carey's Santa Olivia. James Tiptree. Nicola Griffith. Julia Karr's XVI. Kathleen Winter's Annabel. Not SFF, but great recent LGBT reads: Julie Anne Peters' Luna. William J. Mann's Object of Desire.
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Jul 23, 2013 18:54
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Pick posted:Also, I'm not familiar with Melissa Scott's work--are there any specific recommendations among her range of titles? Thanks! I think just about anything she writes is LGBT friendly. You might try Point of Hopes and the other books in the series. Five Twelfths of Heaven, Silence in Solitude and The Empress of Earth are more mainstream but are still good. The Kindly Ones is good and has a main LGBT character. The thing with Melissa Scott is that even though she has a reputation as an LGBT author, it would be more accurate to say that she writes characters who possess a wide range of sexual preferences.
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Jul 23, 2013 23:38
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I'd like recommendations for books like Into The Wild or The Road. I don't mean post-apocalyptic or wilderness adventures particularly, but books with few humans and a sense of loneliness, adventure, and survival. Basically, I'm too busy to do much hiking this summer and am tired of the loving city and being surrounded by tons of people all the time. So, while I'm crammed into a heaving, sweaty bus like the ninth member on a chain of anal beads, I'd really like to read about places where everyone but the protagonist is all but loving dead.
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Jul 25, 2013 06:47
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Noni posted:I'd like recommendations for books like Into The Wild or The Road. I don't mean post-apocalyptic or wilderness adventures particularly, but books with few humans and a sense of loneliness, adventure, and survival. Basically, I'm too busy to do much hiking this summer and am tired of the loving city and being surrounded by tons of people all the time. So, while I'm crammed into a heaving, sweaty bus like the ninth member on a chain of anal beads, I'd really like to read about places where everyone but the protagonist is all but loving dead. I've heard a lot of good things about The Tiger by John Vailant. Wikipedia excerpt: The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival is about a man-eating tiger incident that happened in the 1990s in Russia's Far Eastern Primorsky Krai, where most of the world's Amur tigers live. It is a mixture of investigative journalism, social history, geography and natural writing. It apparantly won a bunch of rewards and has been in this thread quite often before, but haven't got aroun to read it myself.Since it's set in siberia and is about the hunter tracking the tiger it should meet all your criteria easily. My first idea was to recommend Life of Pi, but altough it's mainly about a boy that's trapped on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for 227 days (no idea why both recommendations are about tigers) a big part of the story is about the protagonist growing up in India and exploring spirituality, so that may not be what you are looking for. edit: or just read more books from Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian in particular. Walh Hara fucked around with this message at 11:00 on Jul 25, 2013 |
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Jul 25, 2013 10:57
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AARP LARPer fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Jan 22, 2016 |
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Jul 25, 2013 15:05
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Can someone recommend me a book about how the future of America/the world is hosed? This looked interesting, but the negative reviews have me skeptical.
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Jul 25, 2013 17:52
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Redkist posted:Can someone recommend me a book about how the future of America/the world is hosed? This looked interesting, but the negative reviews have me skeptical. After the Empire by Emmanuel Todd.
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Jul 26, 2013 01:00
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Walh Hara posted:I've heard a lot of good things about The Tiger by John Vailant. Wikipedia excerpt: The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival is about a man-eating tiger incident that happened in the 1990s in Russia's Far Eastern Primorsky Krai, where most of the world's Amur tigers live. It is a mixture of investigative journalism, social history, geography and natural writing. It apparantly won a bunch of rewards and has been in this thread quite often before, but haven't got aroun to read it myself.Since it's set in siberia and is about the hunter tracking the tiger it should meet all your criteria easily. Ooh those are some great suggestions that I not considered. I tried Blood Meridian, but McCarthy's lack of quotation marks had made everything but The Road an annoyance that I didn't want to bother with. I'll try again, though. Thanks! Do Not Resuscitate posted:To the White Sea or Deliverance by James Dickey hit all those points. Thanks! To the White Sea looks quite interesting.
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Jul 26, 2013 01:01
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DirtyRobot posted:
Seconding this recommendation wholeheartedly. Such an under-appreciated book.
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Jul 26, 2013 06:09
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I'm looking for books with an Alice in Wonderland/Hitchhiker's Guide/Narnia/Harry Potter type storyline where a regular person is pulled into some crazy magical world. Really detailed and vivid descriptions of surroundings, nature, weird architecture, etc. would be a bonus. I did like Diana Wynne Jones' The House of Many Ways, but I'd prefer something non-young-adult.
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Jul 26, 2013 11:38
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Torpoodo posted:I'm looking for books with an Alice in Wonderland/Hitchhiker's Guide/Narnia/Harry Potter type storyline where a regular person is pulled into some crazy magical world. Really detailed and vivid descriptions of surroundings, nature, weird architecture, etc. would be a bonus. I did like Diana Wynne Jones' The House of Many Ways, but I'd prefer something non-young-adult. Tad Williams Otherland series, Gordon Dickson's Dragon Knight series, Grossman's The Magicians, Mieville's Kraken, Gaiman's Coraline and American Gods, Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, King's Dark Tower series Noni posted:Ooh those are some great suggestions that I not considered. I tried Blood Meridian, but McCarthy's lack of quotation marks had made everything but The Road an annoyance that I didn't want to bother with. I'll try again, though. Thanks! Although it doesn't quite match up with what you were looking for, The Tiger is one of my favorite non-fiction books and you should totally read it. Vailant references a number of books that sound more to the point- if you look at the "customers also bought" on the book's amazon page, you'll be spoiled for choices. You could also check out Stewart's Earth Abides, a favorite of mine, Jordan Fisher Smith's Nature Noir, or Slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World.
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Jul 26, 2013 12:13
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I've been kind of on a Star Wars kick so I'm wondering if there are any good EU novels? I read the Jedi Academy trilogy and I think a series called The Corellian Trilogy when I was a kid. I've also read I, Jedi. Is there anything else I should read? I've heard most of the EU stuff is crap but I don't even know where to start.
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Jul 27, 2013 02:36
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I remember liking the Bounty Hunter series when I was younger. There's one that's basically a series of short stories about the bounty hunters who've been assigned to go after Han, so you get to read more about Bossk etc.
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Jul 27, 2013 02:53
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Daric posted:I've been kind of on a Star Wars kick so I'm wondering if there are any good EU novels? I read the Jedi Academy trilogy and I think a series called The Corellian Trilogy when I was a kid. I've also read I, Jedi. Is there anything else I should read? I've heard most of the EU stuff is crap but I don't even know where to start. Check out Timothy Zahn's trilogy.
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Jul 27, 2013 03:10
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Daric posted:I've been kind of on a Star Wars kick so I'm wondering if there are any good EU novels? I read the Jedi Academy trilogy and I think a series called The Corellian Trilogy when I was a kid. I've also read I, Jedi. Is there anything else I should read? I've heard most of the EU stuff is crap but I don't even know where to start. Aaron Allston does some good stuff. I especially liked Mercy Kill, it's the only time someone has done an engaging spy story in Star Wars.
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Jul 27, 2013 19:19
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