TBB Book Recommendation Superstation !!

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Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

What are some good swashbuckling adventure books? I've got The Princess Bride and Stardust in mind as reference points, but I may be interested in anything in that approximately-renaissance-adventure mold.

Feel free to just throw titles at me, I'll look things up on my own time.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2018 00:35

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# ¿ May 8, 2024 07:07

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Uprooted is pretty folksy.

# ¿ Feb 20, 2018 23:34

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Zkoto posted:

I have a bit of weird one, sorry if its been talked about, but I recently finished reading Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons and found I really enjoy reading about the rise and fall of a business or corporation and all the weirdness that goes on. Helps that I'm a big D&D nerd as well.

I've also read The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company so I enjoy a more political based history as well.

Any thoughts on interesting focused histories like that?

One of my favorites is Expedition to Disaster: The Athenian Mission to Sicily 415 BC by Philip Matyszak. Its a nice breezy accounting of the very obscure, very stupid war that ended up setting up ancient Athens for its eventual downfall.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2022 20:26

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

HenryJLittlefinger posted:

Can I please get some book recommendations?

I mostly read sci-fi or sci-fi adjacent stuff lately. I'm waiting for my library's e-book copy of Children of Dune to come available in 8 weeks.

What I'm after most at the moment is something like Douglas Adams, Tom Holt, Terry Pratchett, Christopher Moore (but his latest stuff is not great), Jasper Fforde. Amusing, quirky, clever, and somewhat mindless.

Stuff I don't want right now: difficult to read, understand, deal with writing or subject matter (I save that stuff for winter); Philip K Dick, Margaret Atwood, Harry Harrison (although I love Bill the Galactic Hero and the West of Eden trilogy), or hard scifi.

Dungeon Crawler Carl might be perfect if you can look past the trashy genre and fantasy trappings. Combine Running Man with Evil Dead and a lovely MMO and you've got close to an idea of what Dungeon Crawler Carl is about.

# ¿ May 12, 2022 10:27

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

There's a fair amount of post-apocalyptic litRPG stuff. I read about half of Shadow Sun Survival, and it seemed solid. I only stopped because post-apocalye lit isn't really my bag.

# ¿ May 30, 2022 07:56

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

bltzn posted:

Anyone have recommendations for non fiction that takes place in greece, or even fantasy inspired by greek mythology, for someone that has already read Song of Achilles and Circe?

Expedition to Disaster: The Athenian Mission to Sicily 415 BC by Philip Matyszak is a great little history of an extremely dumb war.

# ¿ Dec 5, 2022 02:49

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Kvlt! posted:

i'm looking for a rec for a Christmas present for my brother. His favorite book is Between Two Fires, he's a big fan of fantasy but less traditional wizards and elves and dragons style and more "realistic" style (though that doesn't mean it can't have magic or creatures etc). He also likes the Black Company series if that helps.

Bonus points if it's a series but one-off books are great too.

I recommend The Goblin Emperor and it's sequels.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2022 21:24

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Chas McGill posted:

Looking for detective/mystery novels set in non-english speaking countries and preferably not in Europe. I really enjoyed Keigo Higashino's stuff, for example. Bonus if the "foreign" (to me) setting plays a big role in the novel.

The Name of the Rose is set in a medieval Italian monastery, and leans very hard into the setting. Dense as gently caress, though.

The Judge Dee novels are famous, although I haven't read them myself.

Haystack fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Dec 9, 2022

# ¿ Dec 9, 2022 04:34

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

hallo spacedog posted:

I have a sort of odd request: please recommend to me your favorite books under 300 pages.

Mother Night and Slaughterhouse Five

# ¿ Dec 9, 2022 23:04

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Anno posted:

I’ve been out of the fantasy novel game since book two of the Stormlight Archive (so….2014?) but want to get back in. Sanderson stuff aside, any suggestions on books that have come out since then? Especially if they’re of the “epic fantasy” series sort.

The Mage Errant series is fun. The basic premise is "outcast kid goes to mage school and discover awesome magical powers and also the power of friendship," but it's well executed and it goes interesting places.

# ¿ Dec 19, 2022 01:06

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

StrixNebulosa posted:

Thread, I want zombie survival novels. Zombie books. Books about zombies.

What I've read/heard of:

- World War Z (fascinating, fun, deeply flawed)
- Lilith Saintcrow's Roadtrip Z (platonic ideal imho)
- Mira Grant's zombie novels
- Girl with all the gifts
- White Trash Zombie series by Rowland
- Zone One

Specifically I'm in the mood for generic "zombies are breaking out / have broken out, and now we must survive!", hopefully with a theme of humans teaming up. I'm down with series, kindle unlimited, anything, as long as it's cool zombies. (I'm also down for less generic stuff, but not as much?)

I'm also listening to Zombies, Run! on my iphone as a fitness app, and I adore zombie games ala Project Zomboid, State of Decay 2, Days Gone, and so on.

Novelty option: Red Harvest, a goddamn Star Wars zombie novel. It's set in a sith academy in the Old Republic, and goes way the gently caress harder than you'd expect from a Star Wars publication. More of a horror book than a survival book, though.

Haystack fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Jan 22, 2023

# ¿ Jan 22, 2023 14:19

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

I also prefer lighter fiction, so here are some of my recommendations:

The Goblin Emperor. A nice, sedate book about personal growth amid court politics in a low-fantasy setting. Standalone, with disconnected sequels in the same setting.

Fortune's Pawn . A neat mashup of Firefly, HALO, and steamy romance novel. First book in a three part series.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. Also Firefly, but more about found family. Stands on it's own, but has sequels.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2023 17:40

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

deep dish peat moss posted:

Hey TBB, can anyone point me in the direction of any notable fiction books that are almost exclusively world-building, instead of character-focused stories?

I'm an artist and I have a fictional setting I've been developing and iterating on for years, but ultimately I don't know what to "do" with it. I'm far more interested in developing the world itself than telling stories set within it about the characters that fill it up which has made it difficult to package into a thing that can be delivered to an audience in a fun way (like a novel or graphic novel or whatever). So I'm looking for examples of storytelling that primarily tell you about a place, rather than telling you a chronological linear story set within that place, if that makes sense. Ideally something that's completely standalone as opposed to e.g. The Silmarillion which fleshes out the world that existing stories are set in, but I'm up for that stuff too because I just want some inspiration for ways of delivering a story that consists of pure world-building rather than character-based narrative.

e: The Codex Seraphinianus is one of my all-time favorite things, for what it's worth, and I'm familiar with the Voynich Manuscript, but I'm particularly interested in more traditional storytelling rather than surreal art cryptography stuff.

King of Sartar

# ¿ Jan 31, 2023 13:16

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Just to name some things off the top of my head...

Treasure Island stands up remarkably well for its age. Then there's The Hobbit, which is great for that age range. Oh, and pretty much anything by Diana Wynne Jones should be perfect. Theres also the Phantom Tollbooth, the various works of Roald Dahl, and maybe The Wizard of Earthsea.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2023 05:20

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Smiling Knight posted:

Hello thread,

I am leaving for a vacation, and would like to stock up my e-reader with good books. Will be reading while traveling, so nothing too too cerebral. Generally, I enjoy the same fantasy/sci fi as the general forum consensus (Abercrombie, Gideon the Ninth, Gene Wolfe), noire-y mysteries with a focus on bureaucracy/the system (Six Four, All She Was Worth), and well-researched historical fiction (Mary Renault, Tom Holt). Anyone read something in any of those categories recently they want to evangelize?

Well, if you haven't read Bridge of Birds, read Bridge of Birds. And if you just want something pulpy and fun, Will Wight's Cradle series is good times.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2023 04:00

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

sbaldrick posted:

So I�m really tired of the grim dark, rapey turn fantasy has taken recently (GRRM, Abercrombie, the Malazan books, I�m currently reading the most recent Kagen book and if he talks about rape in the creepy way he has again I�m going to throw my phone across the room).

What are some good less creepy fantasy novels, assuming I�ve read most of the major stuff.

The Goblin Emperor, Mage Errant, Piranesi, and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell are all good and not at all rapey.

# ¿ May 3, 2023 04:11

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Kenning posted:

I'm looking for fiction that is set in a particular time and place, that gives a good feel for that time and place, where the action and narrative voice is tied to that time and place. Examples of this that I've enjoyed include The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and Kidnapped by Robert Lewis Stevenson. I'd love to find more things situated in China, or even something out there like ancient Sumeria or something, but really any time and place is of interest. I prefer non-aristocratic characters as a rule, since I find regular people more interesting and relatable.

The Name of the Rose is very much this.

# ¿ May 7, 2023 00:24

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

StrixNebulosa posted:

Weird request time! I'm looking for unnerving novels like House of Leaves. Specifically, I want one or two elements: 1) books involving weird architecture. Places that change, shouldn't exist, etc. The titular house, the myhouse.wad thing from Doom, backrooms, etc. and 2) Puzzle books that make you go back and forth with pages and thinking and so on. My favorite example here is Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavic, as it's literally a dictionary, and going through it requires jumping around. A small bonus 3) books with large amounts of footnotes, e.g. Discworld, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

Is there anything out there containing this stuff? I'd prefer horror or mystery but any genre will do, if it features that stuff strongly.

Piranesi.

# ¿ May 19, 2023 20:50

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

As far as history goes, I really enjoyed Expedition to Disaster: The Athenian Mission to Sicily 415 BC by Philip Matyszak. It's a fun, easy to read accounting of a very interesting, very dumb war that you'd never hear about otherwise.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2023 02:37

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

feedmyleg posted:

Amusing/silly/goofy historical fiction? Something that might be a literary companion to Our Flag Means Death or Blackadder or Jack of All Trades. Or, I suppose, the Monkey Island games. Maybe "Terry Prachett without the magic' kind of vibes?

To Say Nothing of the Dog.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2024 16:40

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Given that list, you'd probably also like he Earthsea Cycle and The Goblin Emperor. They've born got that sense of weighty tranquility that LoTR has.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2024 22:15

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2024 00:08

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

I'm in the mood for some good edifying non-fiction about the sciences. Ideally about a topic that isn't terribly depressing (eg, no climate change). I'd even consider a good, well-written textbook. Any recommendations?

# ¿ Apr 7, 2024 15:51

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Thanks for the recommendations. I should note, I'm fine with social sciences as well.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2024 20:17

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# ¿ May 8, 2024 07:07

Haystack: Jan 23, 2005

Jimbozig posted:

Anyone have recommendations for British boarding school fiction that is NOT cozy. Anti-cozy, even. Hazing, bullying, nasty teachers, neglectful parents, etc.

Will also accept recommendations for memoirs/non-fiction on the same topic.

The Scholomance, if you're fine with fantasy. I know, I know, that's pretty unlikely.

# ¿ May 6, 2024 00:02

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