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Aurora is the only KSR book I've ever managed to finish. That's because it's a great book. I just finished "The Quiet War" by Paul McAuley and started on the second book of the trilogy. It's quite good if you're into hard sci fi that takes place within the solar system. My only complaint would be the first book has sections that are a bit too much of a biology info dump. I can forgive that though since he's actually a biologist and tones it down a bit as the series goes on.
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Jan 13, 2016 09:10
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Decided to give the whole of Feist a try, seeing as I got one of the books in hardcover for 35 cents. Should I read it in publication order or chronologically? I'm leaning towards publication but having the books reference past poo poo makes me feel like I'm skipping ahead.
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Jan 13, 2016 09:18
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Decided to give the whole of Feist a try, seeing as I got one of the books in hardcover for 35 cents. I'd go with the order listed here (http://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/reading-order/alternate), which is what I plan to do for a re-read when I get around to it.
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Jan 13, 2016 10:32
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Is there any series where reading out of publication order is widely agreed to give the best experience? Stuff like 'don't read Consider Phlebas first' doesn't really count.
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Jan 13, 2016 16:17
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Junkenstein posted:Is there any series where reading out of publication order is widely agreed to give the best experience? Stuff like 'don't read Consider Phlebas first' doesn't really count. I've been told that both the Vorkosigan saga and the Discworld novels can benefit from an order other than just published though I haven't read any Vorkosigan and not enough Discworld to make suggestions about the process. I guess the 1632 series technically is also read somewhat out of publication order but it seems like if one reads all the books with the same year in the title before the next year it will work out. Max Gladstone's Craft sequence is intended to be read non-sequentially as one prefers, but they are also not linked stories.
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Jan 13, 2016 16:24
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Junkenstein posted:Is there any series where reading out of publication order is widely agreed to give the best experience? Stuff like 'don't read Consider Phlebas first' doesn't really count. Malazan
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Jan 13, 2016 16:32
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Discworld, Vorkosigan and (arguably) Malazan are just cases of the first (or couple, in case of Discworld) books being not quite up to the standard set by the rest of the series. I also really wouldn't recommend reading Gladstone out of sequence - you need to have read 1 and 2 to understand the plot of the third one and book 4, while a prequel, gets a lot more interesting when you know what the characters are going to turn into. When in doubt, go with publication.
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Jan 13, 2016 17:00
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The issue with the first couple of Discworld books is that PTerry hadn't quite decided what he wanted to do with the setting so the whole thing is just kind of generic fantasy satire.
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Jan 13, 2016 17:12
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WarLocke posted:So I'm reading City of Stairs and Sigrud is the most ridiculous badass. Am I right in suspecting he's the long-lost king of the Dreylings as has been hinted at a couple times? I thought City if Stairs was very good but didn't much care for the thing in the second spoilers - the idea is old hat now and I was hoping for sonething more oroginal. Extremely sick book on the whole though.
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Jan 13, 2016 17:15
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the_homemaster posted:You can't judge a book by what you wanted it to do. Aurora is basically perfect, screw the naysayers. It's not a bad book, just not my cup of tea.
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Jan 13, 2016 17:26
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Junkenstein posted:Is there any series where reading out of publication order is widely agreed to give the best experience? Stuff like 'don't read Consider Phlebas first' doesn't really count. Only one I can think of is Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, because he plotted most of the series out first, then wrote them out of order based on what he thought would sell best. Of course that's historical fiction not fantasy.
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Jan 13, 2016 17:31
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I'm listening to the Three Body Problem audiobook and just got to a part where I listened to the narrator read out morse code for about a full minute, which was hilarious. "Long long long short long long short short long long long long long long short" ad naseum
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Jan 13, 2016 17:32
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Only one I can think of is Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, because he plotted most of the series out first, then wrote them out of order based on what he thought would sell best. Horatio Hornblower jumps around after the first few, but I don't know if that was intentional or not. Is there a consensus on Redwall reading order?
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Jan 13, 2016 17:35
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Need some guys who know their literature to weigh in on how to get through Goosebumps too thanks
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Jan 13, 2016 17:58
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anilEhilated posted:Discworld, Vorkosigan and (arguably) Malazan are just cases of the first (or couple, in case of Discworld) books being not quite up to the standard set by the rest of the series. Discworld contains multiple sequences of novels that can for the most part be read singly or together. I Shall Wear Midnight after Carpe Jugulum after Moving Pictures is probably required, though.
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Jan 13, 2016 18:06
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Jedit posted:Discworld contains multiple sequences of novels that can for the most part be read singly or together. I Shall Wear Midnight after Carpe Jugulum after Moving Pictures is probably required, though.
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Jan 13, 2016 18:37
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Junkenstein posted:Is there any series where reading out of publication order is widely agreed to give the best experience? Stuff like 'don't read Consider Phlebas first' doesn't really count. I'd maybe put Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books in there, because they are published out of chronological order. On the other hand, the author insists that this is intentional and the books should be read in publication order.
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Jan 13, 2016 19:53
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He's right. Part of the fun of the series is allusions to past things, then four books later you finally get to see what actually happened back then.
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Jan 13, 2016 20:35
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http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Out-Of-This-World/dp/1880448130
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Jan 13, 2016 22:11
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Beef Hardcheese posted:Is there a consensus on Redwall reading order? yes, Don't
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Jan 13, 2016 22:12
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corn in the bible posted:yes, Don't  I think someone's constructed an elaborate Chronological Order list for Redwall, but you should really just read the first one, then decide if you want to read the same thing over again in different formats. Continue reading the series in publication order until the answer is no.
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Jan 13, 2016 22:18
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So a while back someone recommended I read Passage at Arms by Glen Cook. I haven't been able to get my hands on it yet, but some googling indicated it is a fourth book (or takes place after, anyway) Cook's 'Starfisher Trilogy'. I started on Shadowline and it seems kind of plodding. All about ancient mercenaries and telepathic ravens and some Frog dude mining on a tidally locked planet (thus the eponymous shadow line). I hope it gets better, it's feeling pretty meh so far.
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Jan 13, 2016 22:26
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I'm not intending to read any of the Redwall series, but I am wanting to put them in order for the catalog of the library where I work. (It has a thing where a patron can request a series, and it'll send the books to them in order). I usually stick with publication order unless there's a really strong reason not to, especially if the author is still alive and might write more prequels/midquels/sequels. If I can find that chronological listing I'll see what it says.
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Jan 13, 2016 22:32
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Beef Hardcheese posted:I'm not intending to read any of the Redwall series, but I am wanting to put them in order for the catalog of the library where I work. (It has a thing where a patron can request a series, and it'll send the books to them in order). I usually stick with publication order unless there's a really strong reason not to, especially if the author is still alive and might write more prequels/midquels/sequels. If I can find that chronological listing I'll see what it says. Here you go!
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Jan 13, 2016 22:37
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WarLocke posted:So a while back someone recommended I read Passage at Arms by Glen Cook. If you aren't enjoying it, just skip to Passage at Arms. Reading the earlier book is in no way required for understanding and enjoying passage.
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Jan 13, 2016 22:56
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less laughter posted:Malazan
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Jan 13, 2016 23:10
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Huh. Why? Seems just as confusing no matter which way you read it. Unless you mean you should start with the latter ones because they're better? Yeah pretty much, Gardens of the Moon is choppy compared to the later novels. Personally I don't think it's that bad a book, it definitely got me hooked onto the rest of the series.
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Jan 13, 2016 23:12
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The Ninth Layer posted:Yeah pretty much, Gardens of the Moon is choppy compared to the later novels. Personally I don't think it's that bad a book, it definitely got me hooked onto the rest of the series. I can see an argument for reading Deadhouse after Memories of Ice. Means you don't have to deal with two introduction books in a row. Some of the twists won't work, but stuff like Heboric and Fener work in both directions.
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Jan 13, 2016 23:42
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darthbob88 posted:That's a new one on me. Explain? I know about the Witches/Watch/Death/Rincewind groups, but why those three? Carpe is the culmination of two interlocking character arcs, and the later Tiffany books damage the story of Carpe if you read them before it. You should also read Guards! Guards! and Men At Arms before any of the later books set in Ankh-Morpork to keep the development of the Watch at a steady progression.
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Jan 14, 2016 00:32
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Beef Hardcheese posted:I'm not intending to read any of the Redwall series, but I am wanting to put them in order for the catalog of the library where I work. (It has a thing where a patron can request a series, and it'll send the books to them in order). I usually stick with publication order unless there's a really strong reason not to, especially if the author is still alive and might write more prequels/midquels/sequels. If I can find that chronological listing I'll see what it says. Please put the books in order of publication. That's what everyone will expect, and it will cause a lot less confusion. If someone is knowledgeable enough to differentiate chronological order from publication order, they'll look it up themselves and make sure they read it how they want.
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Jan 14, 2016 00:57
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blue squares posted:I have a hardback of Aurora that I drove 17 miles to buy and then let it sit on my shelf for a month while I kept buying and reading other books, because I have a problem I have this same problem
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Jan 14, 2016 02:23
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Decided to give the whole of Feist a try, seeing as I got one of the books in hardcover for 35 cents. Riftwar -> Empire -> Krondor -> Prince of the Blood/King's Buccaneer -> Serpentwar and stop imo. Skip Krondor too unless you're especially in love with it. The later stuff is really bad (I gave up at Flight of the Nighthawks where he forgets whole characters he wrote in the last book, but even before that he was copy-pasting whole sections and leaving them unedited).
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Jan 14, 2016 08:44
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muscles like this? posted:The issue with the first couple of Discworld books is that PTerry hadn't quite decided what he wanted to do with the setting so the whole thing is just kind of generic fantasy satire. Eh, they are still pretty great. I have always seen the Discworld series as a bunch of stand-alone books with a common framework. With the exception of some of the latter books, almost every book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone book. They are in general composed of a story that is developed and ended within a single book, which imo is one of the better parts of Discworld. Sure, there is a certain sense of progression between the books, but that is hardly the reason for reading the series. The Ninth Layer posted:Yeah pretty much, Gardens of the Moon is choppy compared to the later novels. Personally I don't think it's that bad a book, it definitely got me hooked onto the rest of the series. I started with Deadhouse, so guess how fast I got hooked.
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Jan 14, 2016 12:13
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Finished Traitor Baru. While I suspected her endgame ever since that second interlude, it still hit pretty hard. Loved most of it unconditionally - I don't think I've read intelligent fantasy on that level since Malazan (not sure how the author feels about that, but it's meant to be high praise). Eagerly awaiting where this can go next, that book shows some drat creative imagination and storytelling.
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Jan 14, 2016 16:02
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Thanks! I met Steve Erikson in Saratoga Springs recently, and he was just the nicest guy. He insisted on finding my book in a bookstore, he introduced me to some booksellers, absolutely a class act.
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Jan 14, 2016 16:15
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Neurosis posted:I thought City if Stairs was very good but didn't much care for the thing in the second spoilers - the idea is old hat now and I was hoping for sonething more oroginal. Extremely sick book on the whole though. Yeah the final outcome was kind of underwhelming. I was kind of expecting more since the book made it a point to point out how each Divine had its own distinct geographical 'area'. And everyone in that area worshipped that Divine, there was no overlap or people going 'you know what, nah' or anything. It felt like it was going to go somewhere else and/or deeper than where it did.
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Jan 14, 2016 21:08
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Neurosis posted:reynolds used the phrase 'of course' about 150 times in redemption ark.
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Jan 15, 2016 01:12
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how ocme every fantasy book has the word "of" in the title?
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Jan 15, 2016 01:38
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Strom Cuzewon posted:I can see an argument for reading Deadhouse after Memories of Ice. Means you don't have to deal with two introduction books in a row. Some of the twists won't work, but stuff like Heboric and Fener work in both directions. I went GoM > MoI > DHG and don't regret it. I did it because I was not that invested in the series at that point and when DHG started off with all these new people I said "gently caress it, I don't care about these people, I want to see what Whiskeyjack and them are up to". MoI hooked me and then I went back to Deadhouse with enough patience to go through the second introduction.
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Jan 15, 2016 01:46
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blue squares posted:how ocme every fantasy book has the word "of" in the title?
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Jan 15, 2016 02:36
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