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Radio Talmudist posted:I'm reposting this from a separate topic I made in the forum, not realizing that there was a topic already devoted to recommendations: There's a really good (and old) series of collections called The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes by Hugh Greene that should be dead easy to get hold of and collect detective stories from ACD's contemporaries - plenty of weird and gimmicky crimes and detectives in those. If you like conundrums go for John Dickson Carr (aka Carter Dickson)'s books, his Gideon Fell books are full of locked-room mysteries and how-did-he-do-that? stuff. Ditto GK Chesterton's Father Brown stories. More eccentric detectives: Edmund Crispin's Gervase Fen books - [b]The Glimpses of the Moon[b] is my favourite, and has a wonderfully lunatic supporting cast as well; and Gladys Mitchell has a wonderful mad-old-bat heroine in her Mrs Bradley mysteries - Mrs Bradley is an elderly, ugly and terrifying consulting psychiatrist who enjoys scaring the crap out of people. She's the kind of old lady I want to grow into. (These were filmed with Diana Rigg in the starring role, who is a terrific actress and looks amazing in 20s fashions but was terribly miscast.) Sarah Caudwell wrote 4 books about a firm of lawyers and their old tutor who keep getting themselves into ridiculous situations involving murders - eccentric, funny and recommended.
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Jul 2, 2009 14:40
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Epée posted:I have recently read Oryx and Crake and Never Let Me Go by Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro, respectively, enjoyed both immensely. "A Canticle For Liebowitz" is one of the few straight science fiction books I really enjoy, and I think it could definitely hold its own with the two books you mentioned. Also check out "Bear v. Shark" by Chris Bachelder. There are some sci-fi elements but they aren't the crux of the book in anything like a dorky or overbearing way. "Time's Arrow" by Martin Amis, definitely, and maybe some of Jonathan Lethem or Michael Chabon's more fantastic material- "As She Climbs Across the Table" and "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" might be good places to start, although Lethem's short story collection "Men & Cartoons" has some bearable science fiction pieces in it. Oh, how about "Cold Comfort Farm"? Hysterical comedy of manners, but also set in the future (well, 1946), which a lot of people don't realize. G.K. Chesterton's "The Ball and the Cross" gets pretty out-there, culminating in an air-ship ride with Satan, and Voltaire wrote one of the first and funniest science fiction novellas I've ever read, "Micromegas". Is it fair to call Italo Calvino's "Cosmicomics" science fiction? I don't know, but any pretense to read it is probably for the best. Hope some of these help-- I don't read/know much about genre fiction in general, but I can vouch for all of these individual books as phenomenal. Edit: Oh and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, "Infinite Jest". Lots of interesting near-future stuff to chew on if that's your thing.
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Jul 2, 2009 17:20
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recently i picked up and drilled through the entire dresden series set (first sci-fi series i really enjoyed). i'm looking for pretty much the same thing (urban setting, fantasy, etc), but amazon seems like a convoluted mess, so i'm turning to you guys. what else is out there that's like Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files?
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Jul 4, 2009 05:43
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Does anyone have any suggestions for some sort of a survival novel? As a kid, I loved reading Hatchet, and I've been addicted to shows like Survivor man and I love the outdoors/camping. I would love to read some fiction sort of dealing with the subject.
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Jul 4, 2009 23:25
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Aero737 posted:Does anyone have any suggestions for some sort of a survival novel? As a kid, I loved reading Hatchet, and I've been addicted to shows like Survivor man and I love the outdoors/camping. I would love to read some fiction sort of dealing with the subject. An extremely entertaining non-fiction read is Emergency by Neil Strauss. Essentially a journalists 'journey' to learn how to be a survivalist and his political views as to why. If you're looking for a polished survivalist though this is not the way to go, but great book nonetheless.
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Jul 5, 2009 14:08
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So I just finished reading Old Man's War and Ghost Brigades (John Scalzi) and I'm looking for other awesome sci-fi books about soldiers in space. Books I already read: Starship Troopers and The Forever War edit: yeah it's War not Man 
CliffyBMine! fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Jul 6, 2009 |
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Jul 6, 2009 07:03
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CliffyBMine! posted:So I just finished reading Old Man's War and Ghost Brigades (John Scalzi) and I'm looking for other awesome sci-fi books about soldiers in space. I'm guessing you meant to write "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman. I suggest "Armor" by John Steakley.
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Jul 6, 2009 18:09
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CliffyBMine! posted:So I just finished reading Old Man's War and Ghost Brigades (John Scalzi) and I'm looking for other awesome sci-fi books about soldiers in space. Greg Bear has a novelette called Hardfought which is pretty good. The plot, which centers on adolescents who are trained under pressure in order to battle aliens, slightly reminds you of "Ender's Game" which was published a few years later. However, "Hardfought" is bleaker, more sophisticated, and it mercifully stayed a novelette instead of spawning a thousand crappy sequels.
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Jul 6, 2009 23:37
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I'm looking for a few things: 1. I've been struggling to find pulp that engages me. I used to be really into Wheel of Time, A Song of Ice and Fire, hell even Star Wars books. As the first two are stalled for the foreseeable future, I've been wanting to find a new series to read *just for fun* when I feel like some light reading, but I've tried Malazan Book of the Fallen, Absolution Gap and now the first Dresden Files book, and none of them have given me that amazing sugar rush kind of feel that really good pulp used to give me. All of them have left me feeling cold--the writing was just a little too cornball to ignore (Dresden Files) or the world/characters felt flat and uninteresting (Malazan, Absolution Gap), something didn't click. This doesn't explain what I want really, I know. I was thinking that something along the lines of Neil Gaiman's work might be better--somewhat literary but clearly a genre book? I guess I'm looking for some combination of "interesting world with unique concepts" and "good writing." I really enjoyed American Gods, and the urban fantasy trope does a lot for me. I was also thinking about Max Berry's Jennifer Government or even Battle Royale as examples of genre books that are a little notch above for me. Alternatively, I also still enjoy Terry Pratchett's work a lot--pulp that doesn't take itself too seriously is nice. Basically, what pulp book would you recommend to someone who doesn't like pulp? Bonus if it's Space Opera or High Fantasy. 2. I'm looking for a book about creative writing or writing creative nonfiction. I've read a book on both now, Building Fiction and Tell It Slant, respectively. I've noticed that there isn't really an agreed on *best book* for either of these, and I was hoping someone could suggest books that they felt were helpful on learning how to construct stories. 3. With that in mind, short story or essay collections that you've enjoyed, specifically literary fiction and not genre fiction. I'm reading Girl with Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace right now, and it's great, but his stories are all so idiosyncratic that it's hard to glean anything useful from them on the art of writing or constructing fiction from them. My library has two editions of The best American Nonrequired Reading, which seems like a good place to start, but I was hoping you guys would have other suggestions. Thanks!
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Jul 7, 2009 05:45
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Got a seven hour car ride comin' up and I was hoping someone might provide a great Audiobook recommendation. I reckon the Audiobook can also be up to fourteen hours long given I've a return ride soon after. Fiction is probably the genre I am looking at, though if it's a great reading of a sci-fi/fantasy novel or a brilliant non-fiction reading, those may suffice. Historical fiction like James Clavell would be cool because I can see that being entertaining, but hell, I'll take Patrick Stewart reads Confessions of a Shopaholic if that's good too. I have never listened to an Audiobook if that helps.
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Jul 8, 2009 00:29
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Archyduke posted:Edit: Oh and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, "Infinite Jest". Lots of interesting near-future stuff to chew on if that's your thing. I've purchased a ebook version of Infinite Jest for my Sony reader and started on it. That first chapter, with the kid being interviewed regarding a tennis scholarship is so well written, funny and bizarre...really compelling reading. Let's see how I go with the other 2000 pages.
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Jul 8, 2009 01:08
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What are some good contemporary collections of short stories of Science Fiction? I've been burning through collections of guys like Dick, Lem, and Asimov, which I love, but I'd like to see where the general tone is nowadays as everything I've been reading lately is characterized by the Cold War, fears of nuclear accidents, civil rights struggles, and robots controlling society.
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Jul 8, 2009 16:03
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The Year's Best Science Fiction is a collection that's been published every year for the last 25 years or so. It's usually a mix of well-known and new authors and fairly varied in scope and subject. I'd start with the most recent edition of that.
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Jul 8, 2009 16:13
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Alec Eiffel posted:Got a seven hour car ride comin' up and I was hoping someone might provide a great Audiobook recommendation. I reckon the Audiobook can also be up to fourteen hours long given I've a return ride soon after. Fiction is probably the genre I am looking at, though if it's a great reading of a sci-fi/fantasy novel or a brilliant non-fiction reading, those may suffice. Historical fiction like James Clavell would be cool because I can see that being entertaining, but hell, I'll take Patrick Stewart reads Confessions of a Shopaholic if that's good too. Max Brooks World War Z is probably the best audiobook I've ever listened to (cast includes Mark Hamil, Henry Rollins, and Alan Alda to name a few), highly recommend it. Also Murakami's Wind Up Bird Chronicle is amazing as well.
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Jul 8, 2009 22:42
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indigi posted:What are some good contemporary collections of short stories of Science Fiction? I've been burning through collections of guys like Dick, Lem, and Asimov, which I love, but I'd like to see where the general tone is nowadays as everything I've been reading lately is characterized by the Cold War, fears of nuclear accidents, civil rights struggles, and robots controlling society. Seconding Hello Pity's reccomendation, and I've also been enjoying the Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, another annual collection that started in 2007. I haven't picked up this year's volume yet, but the last two have been great.
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Jul 8, 2009 23:49
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I would like to read an adventure(fantasy/sci-fi/whatever) type book with a hero who has almost no limits. Violence, prostitutes, fair maidens, everything is fair game. I would like the hero to be extremely clever, almost godlike cleverness. Grand conspiracies or mysteries would probably be the ideal setting, but whatever is works. I like only one primary character, no teams or constant switching of PoV. Clever dialogue would be nice. He can also not be clever, might just be incredibly lucky or unlucky, but just involved in some kind of grand conspiracy. Also, the sex part is unimportant overall, I wouldn't mind if it wasn't there. Is that too much? I grew up reading Gu Long; and he writes several stories of this ilk, I was just wondering if there was anything similar in English. Femur fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Jul 9, 2009 |
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Jul 9, 2009 03:18
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Femur posted:I would like to read an adventure(fantasy/sci-fi/whatever) type book with a hero who has almost no limits. Violence, prostitutes, fair maidens, everything is fair game. I would like the hero to be extremely clever, almost godlike cleverness. Grand conspiracies or mysteries would probably be the ideal setting, but whatever is works. I like only one primary character, no teams or constant switching of PoV. Clever dialogue would be nice. He can also not be clever, might just be incredibly lucky or unlucky, but just involved in some kind of grand conspiracy. Also, the sex part is unimportant overall, I wouldn't mind if it wasn't there. I'd recommend you two books by Roger Zelazny: Lord of Light The protagonist is a god, sort of, and is in a grand scheme to topple the other god-humans from 'heaven', using a new religion, murder and trickery. There is some sex in it too. One of my favourite sci-fi/fantasy books. Chronicles of Amber The protagonist in this is also almost a god, in a way, and has the power to alter reality. He schemes against some of his brothers, and there is a sense of grand-conspiracy. Some sex in this as well. Read the first series of books (five in all), they are quite short. Both of these are told from the POV of one character, and have sci-fi and fantasy elements.
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Jul 9, 2009 06:28
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To those looking for literary horror/dark fantasy/fiction that gives you the existential willies: I saw a few of you throughout these five pages, so maybe I can lend a hand. Thomas Ligotti is a genre unto himself, but he usually attracts readers who are looking for something a bit more substantive and lingering than your average King/McCammon/Barker/whoever. In the realm of pulp horror, Ramsey Campbell probably comes closest to an analog, but even that's a stretch. Ligotti is considered an heir to Lovecraft, though he's not as ... nerdy, I guess, and he likewise doesn't overwhelm you with detail. His own cited influences are Poe, Kafka, Nabokov, Borges, Bruno Schulz, E.M. Cioran, and the aforementioned HPL. He writes mainly short stories, though poems, vignettes, and one short novel have turned up over the course of his career. (And his interviews can be just as good as his fiction.) Granted his stuff can be hard to find, but everything is worth tracking down, imo. Anyway, most of his stories are told in the first person, and deal heavily with the flimsy nature of the human psyche -- or perhaps the flimsy nature of reality itself, that can be for you to decide. Usually these protagonists encounter some sort of malevolence, whether being, entity, or force, and the resultant revelation tends to be of the "we're all doomed" variety. A better way to say this is that Ligotti is a supreme nihilist whose pessimism pervades his every printed word, and even though the form is fiction, the message is philosophical. His most "famous" quotation is something like, "It's a damned shame that organic life ever developed on this planet;" his stories reaffirm this belief. (Also he suffers from a massive anxiety disorder, so not only do his stories drip with dread and dis-ease, but fellow sufferers usually find in him a sympathetic voice.) Be forewarned, though: reading Ligotti can be exhausting and depressing over time. He's my favorite writer, yet I can only immerse myself in his world once or twice per year. An excellent resource is Thomas Ligotti Online. Have at it.
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Jul 12, 2009 05:32
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I read Critical Space by Greg Rucka and really liked it - which book by him is considered his best, and if it's Critical Space, which should I pick up next, then?
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Jul 12, 2009 18:14
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I'm interested in books about money; fiction or non, but not how-to. Specifically, I'm looking for books about how money or the lack of money affects and influences a person's life. The book should have financial and/or class standing as a pervasive theme. Books I've read and liked, for example: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Nickle and Dimed, The Working Poor, Random Family, No Shame in My Game on the poverty end of the spectrum, and American Psycho, Martin Amis' Money, on the affluent end. The more specific detail, the better (like the tin-can bank in Brooklyn). The book doesn't have to have much literary merit as long as it's interesting and personal. Similarly, I'm interested in true crime where money/greed heavily influenced the criminal(s). Anything from Mob stories to crooked day-traders, to elaborate schemes to steal millions from corporations.
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Jul 13, 2009 02:15
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I remember Barbarians at the Gate is about RJR Nabisco being pretty interesting. It covers the leveraged buy out of Nabisco and RJ Tobacco Company, which was basically a move designed to make a lot of money for a few people who didn't really deserve it. I recently read House of Cards and found it good and very personal, it's very much about the personalities at play in Bear Stearns throughout the life of the firm. Both are non-fiction obviously.
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Jul 13, 2009 02:37
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KitschCraft posted:I'm interested in books about money; fiction or non, but not how-to. Specifically, I'm looking for books about how money or the lack of money affects and influences a person's life. The book should have financial and/or class standing as a pervasive theme. Confessions of an Economic Hitman, this book will change your life. When Genius Failed <-- Fantastic blow-up of the worlds 'smartest' traders which resulted in a massive bailout that would have broken the worlds financial system if ignored
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Jul 13, 2009 03:35
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KitschCraft posted:I'm interested in books about money; fiction or non, but not how-to. Specifically, I'm looking for books about how money or the lack of money affects and influences a person's life. The book should have financial and/or class standing as a pervasive theme. Middlemarch by George Eliot includes a wonderful portrait of a recently married doctor living above his possibilities in a very class-conscious provincial town. It also features a spendthrift character who expects to repay his debts once he inherits his uncle's state. The novel has many themes; money is definitely one of them.
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Jul 13, 2009 06:55
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KitschCraft posted:I'm interested in books about money; fiction or non, but not how-to. Specifically, I'm looking for books about how money or the lack of money affects and influences a person's life. The book should have financial and/or class standing as a pervasive theme. I think Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of The Vanities would be right up your alley. It features a wealthy bond trader working on Wall Street in the 1980s who sees himself as one of the most powerful people in the world, a Master of The Universe. Issues of class and money and how they affect peoples lives and New York are definitely at the heart of the novel. I would also recommend Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis even though it tends to get rather mixed reviews. It is also set in New York, but the book takes place during the peak of the Dot-com bubble and the main character is portrayed as an almost unrealistically wealthy multi-billionaire. The novel tries to capture contemporary culture very broadly, but a large portion of the book is about making and losing money.
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Jul 13, 2009 07:29
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TorpedoFish posted:I'm looking for (I think) psychological or supernatural horror/suspense. My two favorite horror authors are Lovecraft and Poe. I also greatly enjoyed House of Leaves - I guess one of the elements I like is when it becomes apparent that something is deeply wrong, whether with a person or a place or a thing, and just being along for the ride. Stephen King is kind of hit-and-miss for me; some of his short stories are good, others just don't do it for me. I love the sense of unreality in most of Neil Gaiman's works. I don't think I'm looking for anything in the 'thriller' genre, but more of a subdued 'is an engaging but kind of uncomfortable read, and then a week later you wake up at 3AM unable to stop thinking about being entombed alive because of it' stuff. This poster wants the exact kind of books I am looking for, I did not see a response to him. Are there any books/authors of this nature that we would enjoy?
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Jul 13, 2009 07:43
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Timelord posted:This poster wants the exact kind of books I am looking for, I did not see a response to him. Are there any books/authors of this nature that we would enjoy? I thought I posted a response (in which I didn't quote anyone, oops), but it may not have been what you're looking for.
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Jul 13, 2009 08:10
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Timelord posted:This poster wants the exact kind of books I am looking for, I did not see a response to him. Are there any books/authors of this nature that we would enjoy? I think Arthur Machen was recommended earlier; him too. The White People and The Novel of the Black Seal are two of his best short stories - his short stories are best; his novels don't do much for me (except The Three Impostors, which is a sort of metafictional fix-up with embedded short stories). e: f, spelling. e2: vvvvv Enjoy! vvvvv Runcible Cat fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Jul 13, 2009 |
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Jul 13, 2009 11:43
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Thanks! It's always great to find something new to read!
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Jul 13, 2009 12:04
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Timelord posted:This poster wants the exact kind of books I am looking for, I did not see a response to him. Are there any books/authors of this nature that we would enjoy? These may or may not be what you are looking for, but these are great books anyway... Some more psychological/Literal horror: By Peter Straub: Ghost Story Koko By Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House We Have Always Lived in the Castle By Henry James: The Turn of the Screw By Joyce Carol Oates: The Collector of Hearts: New Tales of the Grotesque (shorts) By Richard Matheson: Hell House
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Jul 13, 2009 15:05
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Can someone who has read the Watch series (Night watch/day watch/the other two) Tell me are the books worth reading or atleast of quality writting?
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Jul 14, 2009 20:25
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colonelsandy posted:Max Brooks World War Z is probably the best audiobook I've ever listened to (cast includes Mark Hamil, Henry Rollins, and Alan Alda to name a few), highly recommend it. Also Murakami's Wind Up Bird Chronicle is amazing as well. I decided to try A Wild Sheep Chase, having read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and I got about seven minutes into it before realizing that Audiobooks are absolute dreck. Problem solved!
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Jul 14, 2009 21:57
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Anus Dei posted:To those looking for literary horror/dark fantasy/fiction that gives you the existential willies: Thanks, have read two of his short stories since your recomendation, and really liked his writing. Will look for more of his work.
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Jul 15, 2009 02:12
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Hmm. Tried to post this a minute ago, but it would appear to have been eaten. Forgive me if there's some kind of time-delay, I'll check back in a bit. Dear Litnerds, I was reading Luciano Berio's "Remembering the Future", a set of lectures/essays on late-20th century Music Aesthetics, and I began to stumble a bit when he moved from talking about how the greatest critique of a symphony is another symphony into him talking about reading music heuristically as "texts". Since Berio was a good friend of Umberto Eco, I thought it appropriate to read up on semiotics and other fun lit theory ideas, but I don't know where to start, and am intimidated by the primary literature. Any good primers you can suggest are greatly appreciated.
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Jul 16, 2009 18:09
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Turbo Fikus posted:Hmm. Tried to post this a minute ago, but it would appear to have been eaten. Forgive me if there's some kind of time-delay, I'll check back in a bit. I haven't read it, but Eco did write a book called Theory of Semiotics which is where he established his ideas for it. It might be worth just tracking down that and seeing how easily you understand it. Also, if you feel you have troubled with in-depth explanations, you could always browse their Wikipedia pages and see if you "get it" from that.
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Jul 16, 2009 22:41
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Ridonkulous posted:Can someone who has read the Watch series (Night watch/day watch/the other two) Tell me are the books worth reading or atleast of quality writting? I really enjoyed the night / day / twilight / final watch books. Its not brilliant literature, but its a enjoyable light read. Go for it.
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Jul 18, 2009 13:25
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Rob Filter posted:I really enjoyed the night / day / twilight / final watch books. Its not brilliant literature, but its a enjoyable light read. Go for it. So you think the last book is decent enough? I enjoyed the original trilogy, but wasn't sure if I should pick that one up since I had never heard of it.
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Jul 18, 2009 23:33
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timeandtide posted:So you think the last book is decent enough? I enjoyed the original trilogy, but wasn't sure if I should pick that one up since I had never heard of it. Final watch is just as good as twilight watch, so if you enjoyed that one then go for it. The books don't have as many oh poo poo moments, but the expanding mythology and pseudo moral dilemmas more than makes up for it. The reveal about the seventh layer of the twilight was pretty bloody cool.
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Jul 20, 2009 03:41
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GrandpaPants posted:Looking for urban fantasy along the lines of Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lint, Glen Cook's Garrett PI series, Dresden Files, etc. If you want good urban fantasy, try China Mieville's books. His Bas Lag universe is a mix of that plus some steampunk. They're very good. Can anyone recommend any good steampunk novels? I've read Whitechapel Gods, Clockwork Heart, a few others that I can't remember right now and I'm currently working on The Court of the Air.
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Jul 21, 2009 03:07
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Skutter posted:Can anyone recommend any good steampunk novels? I've read Whitechapel Gods, Clockwork Heart, a few others that I can't remember right now and I'm currently working on The Court of the Air.
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Jul 21, 2009 03:30
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Skutter posted:Can anyone recommend any good steampunk novels? I've read Whitechapel Gods, Clockwork Heart, a few others that I can't remember right now and I'm currently working on The Court of the Air. Moorcock's The Warlord of the Air. Proto-steampunk zeppelin warfare; really good stuff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlord_of_the_Air As far as actual steampunk, I've been pretty disappointed in almost all the stuff I've read. J. Gregory Keyes has a sort of alchemical steampunk alternate history series called The Age of Unreason--starring Ben Franklin, Voltaire, Blackbeard, et al--that's a half-decent read, but nothing to write home about.
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Jul 21, 2009 05:33
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