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I'd recommend Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, but I don't know how likely it will be to be in your bookstore.
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Oct 12, 2015 17:55
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freebooter posted:And age 12 is definitely about the right time to start getting into Terry Pratchett. The Johnny books are YA ones he wrote in the '90s, but more modern ones you'll be likely to find in a store are the Tiffany Aching series - haven't read them myself yet, but people I trust rave about them. (And if you can find them, I absolutely adored the YA Bromeliad trilogy - Truckers, Diggers and Wings.) Do children actually like Tiffany Aching? They seem to go down well with long-established grown-up fans of the series, and I've enjoyed the one's I've read a lot, but there's a Prestigious-YA-Award-Bait feel to them which would have been a huge turn-off for me had I encountered them as a kid. They're also significantly more "adult" than most of the adult Discworld's (the opening stretch of I Shall Wear Midnight where an abusive father attempts to hang himself after beating his pregnant pre-teen daughter so badly she miscarries is the darkest sequence, if not in conception, then certainly in execution, Pratchett has ever written). Johnny Maxwell's adventures, or Guards! Guards!, or Witches Abroad strike me as far better entry points for younger readers.
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Oct 13, 2015 06:23
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Looking for some Science Fiction Horror that isn't hackneyed around "scary monsters," poo poo that just scares the gently caress out of you as a concept. One example I can think of is Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions and of course I have No Mouth and I Must Scream
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Oct 13, 2015 07:14
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Kvlt! posted:Can anyone recommend some good crime/horror books? Like a detective novel but with more horror/dark elements. Can be supernatural or not. You might like Paul Cornell's London Falling. It's about London police getting too deep into investigating a supernatural crime.
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Oct 13, 2015 07:42
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William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel and Arturo Perez-Reverte's Club Dumas would fit the bill too. Both really good books.
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Oct 13, 2015 09:32
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I am hankering for some fantastical painting of places/situations/people, not so much for a story set in them. In the sort of way that P.K. Dick, Stanislaw Lem or even Mervyn Peakes Gormenghast trilogy work, somewhat irrelevant stories existing mostly to elaborate on an interesting idea and setting. Does anyone have some more contemporary examples? Despite the Gormenghast example I rather prefer short and sweet to giant tomes for this sort of thing.
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Oct 13, 2015 10:26
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How about China Miéville's stuff? Perdido Street Station definitely fits your bill, although it's pretty long, his other books are shorter and more focused but he creates amazing settings.
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Oct 13, 2015 12:18
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Cybernetic Vermin posted:I am hankering for some fantastical painting of places/situations/people, not so much for a story set in them. In the sort of way that P.K. Dick, Stanislaw Lem or even Mervyn Peakes Gormenghast trilogy work, somewhat irrelevant stories existing mostly to elaborate on an interesting idea and setting. Does anyone have some more contemporary examples? Despite the Gormenghast example I rather prefer short and sweet to giant tomes for this sort of thing. Maybe try Pavane by Keith Roberts, if loosely connected stories depicting an interesting setting is what you're after.
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Oct 13, 2015 13:47
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Kvlt! posted:Can anyone recommend some good crime/horror books? Like a detective novel but with more horror/dark elements. Can be supernatural or not. I'm currently reading Paul F Wilson's The Tomb, it's pretty good.
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Oct 13, 2015 17:55
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Has anyone read MZD's The Familiar? I read and enjoyed House of Leaves and Fifty Year Sword but thought that Only Revolutions was unreadable. My fear is that MZD is a one hit wonder. I found an interesting review which noted that House of Leaves was his take on film, Fifty Year Sword was a take on the campfire story and Only Revolutions was a takr on music. The Familiar is apparently a take on the television show.
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Oct 13, 2015 18:08
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TommyGun85 posted:Has anyone read MZD's The Familiar? I couldn't get into it. My girlfriend is maybe halfway through it, but I think she stopped reading it a few weeks ago. /shrug Oh, and we both loved HoL
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Oct 13, 2015 18:27
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worlds_best_author posted:Thanks. Also, are there any good tank combat novels out there? Preferably tied to a historical conflict. Harold Coyle's Team Yankee was really good, maybe my favorite military fiction novel. It's not historical, though, it's an 80s "Cold War goes hot" scenario. I think it's out of print but I didn't have any trouble finding a copy for <$1 plus shipping a few years back. Fake edit, just took a look at Amazon and apparently they made a kindle edition a few months ago
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Oct 13, 2015 18:59
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Thanks guys for the recommendations. I think I'll go with Pullman.
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Oct 13, 2015 19:56
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Twerkteam Pizza posted:Looking for some Science Fiction Horror that isn't hackneyed around "scary monsters," poo poo that just scares the gently caress out of you as a concept. One example I can think of is Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions and of course I have No Mouth and I Must Scream *sincere goon voice* Blindsight
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Oct 14, 2015 02:18
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Twerkteam Pizza posted:Looking for some Science Fiction Horror that isn't hackneyed around "scary monsters," poo poo that just scares the gently caress out of you as a concept. One example I can think of is Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions and of course I have No Mouth and I Must Scream I'm sure you've read it, but I suppose Cat's Cradle would count. Certainly the climactic moment sent a shiver of horror down my spine.
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Oct 15, 2015 17:39
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Any good non fiction about the relationship between linguistics and intelligence, or linguistics from a neurological/evolutionary perspective?
Elderbean fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Oct 16, 2015 |
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Oct 16, 2015 04:16
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Elderbean posted:Any good non fiction about the relationship between linguistics and intelligence, or linguistics from a neurological/evolutionary trait? I just ordered Why We Talk on recommendation from some friends who've gone through a number of books on the topic, but I can't praise or condemn it yet myself.
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Oct 16, 2015 04:38
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Elderbean posted:Any good non fiction about the relationship between linguistics and intelligence, or linguistics from a neurological/evolutionary trait? The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker is pretty goddamn excellent. NB: It's from 1994 so I don't know how up-to-the-minute the science is. But still a great read. "In this classic study, the world's leading expert on language and the mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about languages: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it envolved. With wit, erudition, and deft use it everyday examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution like web spinning in spiders or sonar bats. The Language Instinct received the William James Book Prize from the American Psychological Association and the Public Interest Award from the Linguistics Society of America." Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Oct 16, 2015 |
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Oct 16, 2015 04:58
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Pinker's kind of a hack? But I can't immediately think of anyone better that writes as accessibly so if you read him be aware that he's one side of a huge debate as to whether language as language is innate and his personal perspective on it has way more criticisms than support imo
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Oct 16, 2015 09:10
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Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but Metaphors We Live By by Lakoff and Johnson is a really good book. It lacks the neurological side but makes very good connections between language and (especially social) thinking.
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Oct 16, 2015 09:55
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Elderbean posted:Any good non fiction about the relationship between linguistics and intelligence, or linguistics from a neurological/evolutionary perspective? Saussure's Course in General Linguistics. Get a good translation though.
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Oct 16, 2015 10:40
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I really enjoyed the first of Naomi Novik's Temeraire books, but have been increasingly disappointed in the series and skipped large swathes of the last one I read- number six, where they're in Australia- and that's something I almost never do. So, for anyone familiar with the series, does it get better, or does Novik continue to send them to different places to have wacky adventures with cultures that have different views on dragons than western Europe?
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Oct 16, 2015 13:51
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funkybottoms posted:I really enjoyed the first of Naomi Novik's Temeraire books, but have been increasingly disappointed in the series and skipped large swathes of the last one I read- number six, where they're in Australia- and that's something I almost never do. So, for anyone familiar with the series, does it get better, or does Novik continue to send them to different places to have wacky adventures with cultures that have different views on dragons than western Europe? I stopped after book five, feeling like the series was struggling a bit and reviews I saw of #6 were not promising. I'm also curious if things pick up or am I better off cutting my losses here.
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Oct 19, 2015 11:51
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A sci-fi story or novel set in the medium-term future on an earth where technological advancements more or less stagnate. No space travel, no nanotechnology, transhumanism or AI. Where society is gradually slipping into a dystopian dark age. Not post-apocalyptic though. This might sort of border on the cyberpunk genre, just with less...cyber. Also, a soft scifi story that closely examines changes in culture in the future. Bonus if it's combined with the above concept too.
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Oct 19, 2015 20:57
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Gibson's Pattern Recognition? Doesn't go too hard on the dystopian slip you seem to be itching for but you can see the seeds of it in the corporate interests subduing what's regarded as art - definitely hits the pre-cyberpunk vibe.
anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Oct 19, 2015 |
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Oct 19, 2015 21:16
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:A sci-fi story or novel set in the medium-term future on an earth where technological advancements more or less stagnate. No space travel, no nanotechnology, transhumanism or AI. Where society is gradually slipping into a dystopian dark age. Not post-apocalyptic though. This might sort of border on the cyberpunk genre, just with less...cyber. Stand on Zanzibar, perhaps? It does have one AI, but it's mostly irrelevant to the story.
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Oct 20, 2015 00:21
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:A sci-fi story or novel set in the medium-term future on an earth where technological advancements more or less stagnate. No space travel, no nanotechnology, transhumanism or AI. Where society is gradually slipping into a dystopian dark age. Not post-apocalyptic though. This might sort of border on the cyberpunk genre, just with less...cyber. Couple stories that hit somewhat close to the mark Robert Silverberg - Sailing to Byzantium Damon Knight - The Dying Man (also been published as Dio) I'm blanking on another that fits the bill almost perfectly. Without giving too much away, vaguely religious feel with priests who remember things for society, ring a bell for anyone? E: A Canticle for Leibowitz regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Oct 20, 2015 |
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Oct 20, 2015 04:44
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Along those same lines, does anyone have a recommendation for a more or less definitive "all time greatest" Sci Fi compilation? Most everything I see on amazon is either "2014s Best Sci Fi" or an omnibus for a specific author. Looking for something with, ideally, as many stories from (for example) this list as possible: http://scifilists.sffjazz.com/lists_short_stories.html E: available on kindle regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Oct 20, 2015 |
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Oct 20, 2015 05:00
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There was a five-book anthology series (four volumes, but Volume II was divided over two books) called The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, which includes stories and novellas selected from Nebula award winners by the SFWA. It only goes up to 1974, but for that era it's pretty definitive and it includes a lot of the stories on the list you posted. Unfortunately, it's not on Kindle, but you can get old copies dirt cheap. Selachian fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Oct 20, 2015 |
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Oct 20, 2015 06:15
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anilEhilated posted:Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but Metaphors We Live By by Lakoff and Johnson is a really good book. It lacks the neurological side but makes very good connections between language and (especially social) thinking. That book was may more enthralling than I thought it would be, thank you! I'll be moving onto the other recommendations next.
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Oct 20, 2015 07:45
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anilEhilated posted:Gibson's Pattern Recognition? Doesn't go too hard on the dystopian slip you seem to be itching for but you can see the seeds of it in the corporate interests subduing what's regarded as art - definitely hits the pre-cyberpunk vibe. I've always thought of Gibson as an author with a simultaneously optimistic and pessimistic outlook on the future. Mona Lisa Overdrive is one of the few future depictions of London I can think of in which it's not a dystopian ruin, and although I haven't read it yet, a lot of people said The Peripheral depicts a future which in certain ways is horrific but in other ways is a paradise. Which I think is probably how someone from the 1800s would view the modern world.
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Oct 20, 2015 08:32
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Alright, I've just finished the Dark Tower Series (meh) but would like to go back to something along the vein of The Wheel of Time/The Sword of Truth, bonus points if it's a complete series (I have read Tolkien, also Sanderson's Mistborn, which wasn't great IMO). I know there is tons of fantasy out there so any direction would be appreciated. I'd also be interested in a good historical fiction series, my two main forays in the past were the Shaaras' CW Trilogy (less fiction) and the Gingrich/Forstchen CW trilogy. I'm a U.S. Civil War historian, of sorts, so that piques my interest (also WWI) but I'd be glad to get into any good series (Turtledove need not apply). I have to insist on an e-book format as I can't easily get away with physical copies. Much obliged.
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Oct 20, 2015 16:24
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Selachian posted:There was a five-book anthology series (four volumes, but Volume II was divided over two books) called The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, which includes stories and novellas selected from Nebula award winners by the SFWA. It only goes up to 1974, but for that era it's pretty definitive and it includes a lot of the stories on the list you posted. This collection is the single best sf anthology available, especially the first few volumes.
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Oct 20, 2015 19:18
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B!G_$W@NG@ posted:Alright, I've just finished the Dark Tower Series (meh) but would like to go back to something along the vein of The Wheel of Time/The Sword of Truth, bonus points if it's a complete series (I have read Tolkien, also Sanderson's Mistborn, which wasn't great IMO). I know there is tons of fantasy out there so any direction would be appreciated. Patrick O'Brian is the best historical fiction out there but he's naval and British. If you can handle wheel of time you can handle the length, but may not be available in eBook legally. Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series might be a good pick too. Read them in internal chronological order, not order written.
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Oct 20, 2015 19:20
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Fantasy epic series? Try Steven Erikson.
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Oct 20, 2015 19:26
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Quinton posted:I stopped after book five, feeling like the series was struggling a bit and reviews I saw of #6 were not promising. I'm also curious if things pick up or am I better off cutting my losses here. Interestingly enough, I've talked to two people about this series since my post (there was a local writer's group at my work the other night) and they both stopped after book six and felt the same way about the series. I guess I'll pick up the later books if I ever see them used, but will otherwise not worry about it. B!G_$W@NG@ posted:Alright, I've just finished the Dark Tower Series (meh) but would like to go back to something along the vein of The Wheel of Time/The Sword of Truth, bonus points if it's a complete series (I have read Tolkien, also Sanderson's Mistborn, which wasn't great IMO). I know there is tons of fantasy out there so any direction would be appreciated. My lady is a big fan of Tad Williams and it looks like all of his stuff is available in an electronic format. I've only read Otherland, which I enjoyed despite a few hundred extra pages, and I know she's reread Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn twice during our relationship.
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Oct 21, 2015 13:39
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Tad Williams is a lot like Stephen King in that he's an outstanding world-builder and absolute poo poo when it comes to endings.
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Oct 21, 2015 16:09
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B!G_$W@NG@ posted:I'd also be interested in a good historical fiction series, my two main forays in the past were the Shaaras' CW Trilogy (less fiction) and the Gingrich/Forstchen CW trilogy. I'm a U.S. Civil War historian, of sorts, so that piques my interest (also WWI) but I'd be glad to get into any good series (Turtledove need not apply). The century trilogy by Ken Follett might interest you. The first book takes place during WWI (2nd book is WWII, 3rd is the cold war). Other historical fiction series I've enjoyed are the Cromwell series by Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall/Bring Up the Bodies/The Mirror and the Light) which are about Thomas Cromwell et al during the reign of Henry VIII. The third book is not actually out yet, so you may want to wait until the trilogy is complete. I Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves are also among my favorite historical fiction series. I believe you should be able to find all of these in an e-book format.
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Oct 21, 2015 20:11
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mcustic posted:My daughter's 12th birthday is coming up and I want to get her a book that I can read aloud for her. The goal of the exercise is to have fun, but also to improve her English (not our first language). Daryl Gregory's Harrison Squared is perfect for your situation, it's a great story that adults can very much enjoy also, and actually reminds me of Harry Potter in a lot of good ways, although it's concept/setting is very different and awesome(teen kid and his mom move to a creepy Lovecraft-inspired New England town, where all types of weird stuff is going on, perfect with Halloween season being here too) Cybernetic Vermin posted:I am hankering for some fantastical painting of places/situations/people, not so much for a story set in them. In the sort of way that P.K. Dick, Stanislaw Lem or even Mervyn Peakes Gormenghast trilogy work, somewhat irrelevant stories existing mostly to elaborate on an interesting idea and setting. Does anyone have some more contemporary examples? Despite the Gormenghast example I rather prefer short and sweet to giant tomes for this sort of thing. Peter Newman's The Vagrant is a very recent fantasy novel that fits this to a t Ramrod Hotshot posted:A sci-fi story or novel set in the medium-term future on an earth where technological advancements more or less stagnate. No space travel, no nanotechnology, transhumanism or AI. Where society is gradually slipping into a dystopian dark age. Not post-apocalyptic though. This might sort of border on the cyberpunk genre, just with less...cyber. Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch, awesome book, very well-written and is like custom made for your requirements Also, the Spademan novels by Adam Sternbergh Oh, Soft Apocalypse by Will MacIntosh is another that fits very well, and there's always TC McCarthy's Germline Series, although it's more of a "all of earth's natural resources are being depleted and dried up and the world/society/governments are getting hosed/changed cuz of it" than a total stoppage and deterioration of technological development, but the series is so good that you can never go wrong reading it, everyone should savinhill fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Oct 22, 2015 |
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Oct 22, 2015 20:02
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Pork Pie Hat posted:Saussure's Course in General Linguistics. Get a good translation though. Is the one by Wade Baskin a good translation?
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Oct 23, 2015 19:26
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