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Disenchanted by Robert Kroese was pretty good. A fate worse than dragons was pretty decent as well. By John Moore. I've been reading a lot of Tom Holt lately, and while it is sort of pratchett-esque it's not really fantasy per se. It's more of an urban fantasy. A Lee Martinez has some great fantasy books. Some are fantasy settings, some are "fantasy but set nowadays". All are pretty great. I wasn't a fan of Chasing the Moon though.
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Jan 31, 2014 16:54
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I've been reading a lot of Tom Holt lately, and while it is sort of pratchett-esque it's not really fantasy per se. It's more of an urban fantasy. If by that you mean it's the same book written twenty times, yes. Who's Afraid of Beowulf? is still a pretty funny read, mind you, but it's dated horribly.
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Jan 31, 2014 17:05
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He does tend to redo the same story a lot, but if I can handle Eddings and his rehashes, I can handle Holt and his  I've been reading the J.W. Wells series, and it's decent so far. Little weird, but mainly I've just been laughing at the fact the main character guy dies multiple times in every book it seems. Doughtnut and When it's a jar were both fairly good. Beowulf was pretty decent, but yea, pretty dated. Ye Gods was kinda decent, but I thought the greek mythology hero quest fantasy/humor stuff was done better in Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest.
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Jan 31, 2014 17:32
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Gonna recommend Robert Rankin again, urban fantasy full of injokes and silliness.
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Jan 31, 2014 17:51
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systran posted:Speaking of Blindsight, I can't wait until the new book in that universe comes out. what what whaaaat
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Jan 31, 2014 18:02
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:A Lee Martinez has some great fantasy books. Some are fantasy settings, some are "fantasy but set nowadays". All are pretty great. I wasn't a fan of Chasing the Moon though. His three best books, in no particular order, are: Gil's All-Fright Diner Divine Misfortune The Automatic Detective I think my favorite of the three is Automatic Detective, but it's pretty close.
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Jan 31, 2014 18:14
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Forgall posted:Recommend me some good lighthearted non-depressing fantasy. Something like earlier Pratchett. I really enjoyed Lawrence Watt-Evans' earlier books, The Misenchanted Sword and a few others. It's been awhile since I've read them but I remember they were similar. Though may be hard to find.
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Jan 31, 2014 18:26
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I started reading Robin Hobb's Assassin trilogy and I'm getting to the end of the first one. I'm enjoying it a lot, the last book I read was Best Served Cold and this is definitely different but I still really like it even without real actiony sequences. That being said, poor Fitz and his dogs, man, what the gently caress is up with that? I'm sure more bad poo poo will happen to him but I really hope I don't have to get attached to another dog character and then have it killed.
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Jan 31, 2014 18:26
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Forgall posted:Recommend me some good lighthearted non-depressing fantasy. Something like earlier Pratchett. The first five or so Myth books by Robert Asprin and almost anything by Lawrence Watt-Evans (start with Misenchanted Sword)are your go-tos. Pratchett dominates the field of comic fantasy but those two were just about the best available before he came along. Also of course Bridge of Birds. The Goblin Quest series by Jim C. Hines is pretty great as well, basically a straight-up AD&D parody.
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Jan 31, 2014 18:31
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Anybody read Terminal World by Reynolds? I picked it up on a whim at a bookstore recently, haven't cracked it open yet.
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Jan 31, 2014 18:51
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andrew smash posted:Anybody read Terminal World by Reynolds? I picked it up on a whim at a bookstore recently, haven't cracked it open yet. Yes. It's probably his single worst book.  I wouldn't discourage you from reading it now that you've got it, but man.
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Jan 31, 2014 18:56
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General Battuta posted:Yes. It's probably his single worst book. Ugh great. I should have gotten the stats textbook I was looking at instead.
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Jan 31, 2014 19:00
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Forgall posted:Recommend me some good lighthearted non-depressing fantasy. Something like earlier Pratchett. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard and its sequel made me laugh a lot. Juxtaposes the humor with the serious moments perfectly.
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Jan 31, 2014 19:02
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Echo Cian posted:Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard and its sequel made me laugh a lot. Juxtaposes the humor with the serious moments perfectly. Seconded, loved all three so far.
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Jan 31, 2014 19:58
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ukrainius maximus posted:I started reading Robin Hobb's Assassin trilogy and I'm getting to the end of the first one. I'm enjoying it a lot, the last book I read was Best Served Cold and this is definitely different but I still really like it even without real actiony sequences.
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Jan 31, 2014 20:07
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I think you may be on to something, hopefully she's worked through it fully by now and I won't have to deal with that again.
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Jan 31, 2014 20:09
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taser rates posted:Haven't read the other one, but Ancillary Justice I enjoyed a lot. Really interesting take on AI, transhumanism and imperialism. See, i didn't find AJ's points on any of those topics terribly arresting, but i did still think it was an interesting examination of culture and language against a kinda generic sci-fi backdrop. Tony Montana posted:I had no idea, I've not read it. I'm interested now though, can you give a non-spoiler, brief description of this race? About all you can say without spoilers is that they have nothing in common with spiders, and a fair bit physically with jellyfish because Watts has a degree in marine biology or something. Blindsight is very interesting. Somewhat unfortunately, because of the nature of the questions it asks, it has something of a reputation for being existentially horrifying as put best by a SF critic; "Whenever I find my will to live becoming too strong, I read Peter Watts."
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Jan 31, 2014 20:11
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Last year there was an anthology showcasing the work of authors eligible for The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, an award given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous calendar years. This year there's another one, and it's huge: http://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/2014/01/announcing-2014-campbellian-anthology.html 860,000 words of fiction from 111 newly published SFF authors, all free.
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Jan 31, 2014 20:19
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General Battuta posted:Yes. It's probably his single worst book. I would actually discourage you from reading it. It's that bad.
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Jan 31, 2014 20:20
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Crisco Kid posted:Last year there was an anthology showcasing the work of authors eligible for The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, an award given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous calendar years. I'll plug them here too: if you're planning to vote, please consider Benjanun Sriduangkaew and Brooke Bolander! Neither of them are me.
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Jan 31, 2014 20:38
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Crisco Kid posted:Last year there was an anthology showcasing the work of authors eligible for The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, an award given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous calendar years. Oh, excellent. Last year's anthology was a joy to read, great stories. I can't wait to check out this year's!
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Jan 31, 2014 20:42
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vuk83 posted:So i just read Abbadons gate from the caliban war series. I think i liked the first two better because of the focus on the solar system. Any thing to recommend if im looking for sometjing more in that vein. I also just finished it, and I'm not sure why but I enjoyed the first two more than the third as well. The books strike a great balance (for me) between completely inane fluff and super-hard sci-fi. Anyway. If you want to remain on the solar system, but want to make it much more hard sci-fi, I'll have to say Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series. They're heavy but do present a completely plausible vision of our solar system in the future. I read them a couple years back, but needed to take breaks between the books .
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Jan 31, 2014 20:50
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KSR also did 2312 which is more about the solar system in its entirety than Mars.
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Jan 31, 2014 21:10
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Forgall posted:Recommend me some good lighthearted non-depressing fantasy. Something like earlier Pratchett. L. Sprague de Camp is the author you're looking for. The Fallible Fiend is as good a place to start as any.
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Jan 31, 2014 21:39
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ManOfTheYear posted:I wonder how I can put this in words: Can you guys recommend sci-fi books that have alien and/or robot characters who function like a sentient being that's not human? For example I liked in Mass Effect the alien races having their own cultures and worlds but in the end most of them are just re-skinned humans, with the exceptions of krogans going on and on about war and the asari talking about philosophical lifestyles because they live a thousand years. The Geth were the only actually different race. I'd like to read a book with intelligent life forms who are psychologically completely unlike humans. Bonus points if the life forms is based more or less on an real thing, like an ant colony or something like that.
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Feb 1, 2014 01:26
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andrew smash posted:Anybody read Terminal World by Reynolds? I picked it up on a whim at a bookstore recently, haven't cracked it open yet. Well I started reading this despite advice and it's like a fluff novel for a painted minis game.
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Feb 1, 2014 03:42
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calandryll posted:I really enjoyed Lawrence Watt-Evans' earlier books, The Misenchanted Sword and a few others. It's been awhile since I've read them but I remember they were similar. Though may be hard to find. Read the first three Ethshar books, and the sixth, and then you might as well stop. They should be in print from one small press or another, but you'll probably have to get them online or at a used book store.
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Feb 1, 2014 05:34
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Tony Montana posted:I had no idea, I've not read it. I'm interested now though, can you give a non-spoiler, brief description of this race? I really can't without spoiling it. Everyone talks about the one big trait, but there is a bunch of other stuff that is almost completely alien (like, split away from our branch of life while we were still single celled, confirmed only through work on deep sea vents and the archaeological evidence of microbiological activities levels of alien) that is part of them and core plot points. "invisible hive mind" is not part of it The guy was a marine biologist with a focus on neurology and microorganisms who did most of his scientific work studying the impact of climate change on populations. It informs a lot of his work. mdemone posted:what what whaaaat One border guard, one trial, one flesh eating disease, one marriage, and 3 editors later he finally finished Echopraxia. It is due out August 28th this year. The trial and surgery kept him out of work, but the real hold up was the editing issue, he had 2 books come out since then while he was getting the run around on editing Echopraxia. There are some blog posts discussing it (and excerpts from Echopraxia, including a diagram of the space ship) on his blog Fried Chicken fucked around with this message at 06:53 on Feb 1, 2014 |
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Feb 1, 2014 06:47
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ukrainius maximus posted:I started reading Robin Hobb's Assassin trilogy and I'm getting to the end of the first one. I'm enjoying it a lot, the last book I read was Best Served Cold and this is definitely different but I still really like it even without real actiony sequences. She writes some of the finest angstfic on the market, I think. Makes me feel like a teenager again.
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Feb 1, 2014 09:07
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Fried Chicken posted:I really can't without spoiling it. Everyone talks about the one big trait, but there is a bunch of other stuff that is almost completely alien (like, split away from our branch of life while we were still single celled, confirmed only through work on deep sea vents and the archaeological evidence of microbiological activities levels of alien) that is part of them and core plot points. From what he posted on the two editions he was quite unhappy with the original and has not expressed the same level of dissatisfaction with the second. He described the level of discomfort he felt with it as being comparable to what he felt with Blindsight. Hopefully that means the ending isn't quite as rushed (I actually didn't mind the ending and thought it was okay, but going by general sentiment). The first editor he had sounded flakey and weird as hell.
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Feb 1, 2014 11:50
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ukrainius maximus posted:I started reading Robin Hobb's Assassin trilogy and I'm getting to the end of the first one. I'm enjoying it a lot, the last book I read was Best Served Cold and this is definitely different but I still really like it even without real actiony sequences. Don't worry, soon you'll just start sighing and wanting to slap Fitz upside the head every time he does something stupid.
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Feb 1, 2014 16:37
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andrew smash posted:Well I started reading this despite advice and it's like a fluff novel for a painted minis game.
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Feb 1, 2014 16:41
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Book bundles, like its computer game counterpart, seems to be gaining popularity, selling books from known and lesser known authors for a reasonable price. Even the Humble Bundle have had a few runs, where they sell ebook bundles and currently have an audio book bundle for the next 3 days, though theirs is usually a mixed bag of genre and non-genre books. The latest sci-fi/fantasy bundle, as far as I have seen, is the BookBale Bundle. It's run by Phoenix Pic/Arc Manor, and the Pay What You Want starts with a minimum of $2.99 for these 6 books:
Does anyone know any of these books and care to comment on them?
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Feb 1, 2014 17:49
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Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert are poo poo writers. The only book I've read by Robert J. Sawyer (Red Planet Blues) was a weak 3/5.
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Feb 1, 2014 18:09
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Every sequel to Feist's Magician is just so, so bad Jimmy the Hand will save us while smirking like an rear end in a top hat!
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Feb 1, 2014 18:16
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Now I've my exam out the way (hopefully for good) I've bit more time to read. I picked up what turns out to be the second Corum anthology Corum: The Prince with the Silver Hand and I am thoroughly enjoying it as I have all of the odds and ends of Moorcock I've read over the years. It feels a lot different to the Elric and Hawkmoon stories, possibly because the setting is almost as unfamiliar to Corum as it is to me. Must track down the first anthology when I've cleared some of my backlog. I can't find any previous mention of Moorcock which is a shame as he's been a hugely influential writer in his time and has genuinely grown as a writer. Yes Elric has become a cliche but the The Dancers at the End of Time was a beautifully strange little series.
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Feb 1, 2014 19:49
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Fart of Presto posted:Book bundles, like its computer game counterpart, seems to be gaining popularity, selling books from known and lesser known authors for a reasonable price. My thoughts about Alien Influences on Goodreads: quote:Kind of a weird, depressing novel about abused children who become abused adults, oh and there's some aliens in there somewhere. Actually, for a book called "Alien Influences" I wish there'd have been more aliens. The Dancers are the main exospecies of the book but, after the first 20% or so of the book, they only get talked about (rather than actually appearing). There are allusions to many other species but this book hardly explores alien biology, society, etc, at all. Yeah I wouldn't really recommend it, sorry.
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Feb 1, 2014 23:51
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Megazver posted:Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert are poo poo writers. The only book I've read by Robert J. Sawyer (Red Planet Blues) was a weak 3/5. And L. Neil Smith as far as I know is a crazy libertarian type (even for an SF author).
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Feb 2, 2014 00:50
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Didn't L Neil Smith write The Probability Broach?
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Feb 2, 2014 00:54
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I haven't read Ivory, but I like Mike Resnick from reading his Starship series. It looks like it's settings is future Africa though instead of uh, space, so that pretty much squashes any interest I had.
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Feb 2, 2014 01:21
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