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specklebang posted:I want to recommend something obscure. This would be for fantasy people rather than SF but I thought it was great. It's only on Kindle. Last time I bought a 3 dollar self published book that was hyped in this thread I got Blood Song so I am willing to give this a shot.
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Jun 21, 2013 13:35
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Mandragora posted:I read it in one sitting today. With the caveat that I've been a huge Gaiman fan since I was a mopey teenager and stumbled into Sandman, I think this might be his strongest novel yet. It isn't broad and sweeping like American Gods and that's really to its benefit, it's an extremely intimate and personal tale and I love how it's told from the perspective of a child, but by that child as an adult reminiscing. Short read but totally worth picking up if you've enjoyed any of his previous work. It's equal parts whimsy and horror, and since it's approached from a childlike perspective I found that the horror had a lot of weight to it (that crushing sense of absolute helplessness you get when you're a kid and you know no one is going to take you seriously on something), but so did the sense of wonder and awe and acceptance at all the fantastic stuff happening over the course of the story. This review captures it perfectly. I also read right through it in less than a day and I thought it was pretty amazing.
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Jun 23, 2013 15:27
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Victorkm posted:Last time I bought a 3 dollar self published book that was hyped in this thread I got Blood Song so I am willing to give this a shot. Re: From Hell by Ian Fraser: I'm about halfway through now and I would seriously recommend against this book. The writing itself is decently done but the content is pretty dumb. So far there has been projectile explosive diarrhea used as a life saving device, male on male rape treated tongue in cheek contrasted with male on female gang rape treated seriously, and a male character who has changed himself to female and is exploring lesbianism. All in all, it's the last bit that has been the most exasperating. It smacks of author self-insert wish fulfillment. I'm going to end up finishing the book but I would not recommend it to others.
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Jun 26, 2013 21:25
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specklebang posted:Sorry. I thought it was hilarious and I bought a number of other books by the same author. That's why it's difficult to make recommendations - peoples tastes vary wildly. I don't hate the book but I could see where others would be very frustrated or turned off by it. I mean, I have read most of the Xanth books unironically but I wouldn't tell others to read the one where the 13 year old seduces the 20 year old dude and changes into an 18 year old version of herself in order to have sex with him. In fact, to highlight something I really enjoyed about this book: The personification of the two magic spells the queen cast at the beginning. The first spell backfires and the author described the actions of the magic as being performed by an elderly former British general projected into this plane as a ball of lava.
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Jun 28, 2013 13:54
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Megazver posted:You got most of them, really. Here's a few more: If the prior poster liked the Patricia Briggs books they may also like the Rachel Morgan/The Hollows books by Kim Harrison. They are basically a female Dresden in a slightly more fantasy version of the world, with a little bit more romance. Also Pixies and Faeries are badass infiltrators/assassins, and one of the main characters is a Pixie.
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Jul 8, 2013 00:47
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General Battuta posted:Someone tell me if there's a quick way to tell whether a book is self-published or not. Blood Song was self published. And it was awesome. I haven't finished From Hell yet but I can assure you it is not awesome. See my comments on it in the last couple pages.
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Jul 8, 2013 18:46
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The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks sounds like it is about your speed. It's about a lowly thief who wants to become a super powered assassin. Victorkm fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Jul 17, 2013 |
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Jul 17, 2013 17:17
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BlazinLow305 posted:That's interesting. It has a 4.44 rating on goodreads, although I know to take the ratings there with a grain of salt sometimes. I think I may give this series a go first. It does a lot of things wrong and cribs a bit from wheel of time in places but you said you liked forgotten realms pulp so I thought you might like it.
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Jul 17, 2013 17:56
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Kalenn Istarion posted:Feist is moving on to a new series when this one's done. Must have started a new D&D campaign. Anyway, I started Feist with the Serpentwar Saga and then went back and read the Riftwar saga and I was happy with that. No one mentioned the Demonwar Saga yet but thats because it wasn't all that good. Neither is the latest trilogy.
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Jul 18, 2013 11:18
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systran posted:They should cast a goon to play Kvothe. Rupert Grint could play Kvothe and Emma Watson Della.
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Jul 19, 2013 17:56
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Paul Bettany. Or Robert Webb.
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Jul 19, 2013 18:17
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calandryll posted:Same thing happens with Modesitt's Recluce series, but I love the ever poo poo out of those books.
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Jul 22, 2013 20:40
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calandryll posted:I haven't read his other stuff but man I wish he'd release another Recluce book. I really like both that I mentioned before.
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Jul 23, 2013 00:37
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andrew smash posted:Haha, my mom read dean koontz novels when i was a kid and i stole some of them. They're basically proto-twilight. Horrible romance novels with bad sex scenes and dumb sci-fi themes such as time-traveling nazis (seriously). gently caress you! Lightning was awesome.
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Oct 14, 2013 23:50
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Mister Kingdom posted:I actually bought that entire series. In hardcover. Those books were kind of fun to read back when I was too young to know any better. edit: Some brave fool should do a Let's Read of those.
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Feb 13, 2014 01:11
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Hedrigall posted:As well as The Expanse (SF series by James SA Corey), SyFy is now turning Lev Grossman's The Magicians into a TV series! Exciting times That sounds awful and depressing.
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May 1, 2014 13:36
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Just wanted to add my endorsement for the Daniel Faust series of urban fantasy novels by Craig Schaefer mentioned earlier in the thread. The first book is The Long Way Down. I really enjoyed it and the sequel, Redemption Song. It is set in an alternate Las Vegas (He changed the name of the casinos and restaurants but they are based on real life versions) and stars a sorcerer with a questionable moral compass who is backed up by the rest of the sorcerer community of Vegas. The second book was even better than the first.
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Jul 27, 2014 16:24
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Street Soldier posted:It's almost as if he's being facetious or something. Gladstone spotted.
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Jul 28, 2014 03:41
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less laughter posted:Khaleesi is an increasingly popular baby name these days Which bothers me to no end as it isnt even her actual name! Daenerys is such a better name than Khaleesi.
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Aug 7, 2014 19:15
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I just finished 2 self published (I assume) books, translated from Russian by someone named D. Rus called "Alterworld" and "The Clan" in a series called "Play To Live" where the main character is a person who is dying of cancer who has taken advantage of a "bug" of Full Immersion Virtual Reality technology that causes some people to be permanently downloaded into the world of whatever Massively Multiplayer game they play too much. I ended up rolling my eyes a lot at both books - The translation took some getting used to as well as the author's habit of including tons of statblocks and quest text in the game whenever the main character called up what an item did or accepted a quest. Also, the theme was pretty much wish fulfillment World Of Warcraft/Everquest self insert fan fiction. He picks the hardest to manage race/class combo then immediately begins excelling to a convenient level etc. Anyway, I enjoyed them - Its better than a lot of the self-published stuff I've read since picking up Kindle Unlimited.
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Aug 28, 2014 05:38
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Over the last few months I have read a lot of "D&D players get sucked into game" fantasy, and I gotta say the Critical Failures series had me laughing pretty hard. It's pretty much sophomoric humor but it's pretty god damned funny. I've been reading these books, and am up to the third now. They are pretty goddamn funny at times, but what fascinates me about them is how the author went with the concept to a very literal point. The world they get sucked into still operates on the same rules of D&D Third Edition (though renamed) and most of them are aware of the rules and end up taking advantage of stuff in clever manner. Unlike something like the Guardians of the Flame series by Joel Rosenberg, where they just end up in fantasy world, in this series they end up in live action D&D with real consequences. Also, one of the characters, Cooper, made his game character a half orc with a charisma of like 4. This manifests itself in his character being unable to control his bowels or bladder and constantly defecating or urinating all over the ground in front of people, among other things.
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Sep 3, 2014 14:10
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Daniel keeps ignoring the fact that he owes the one dude for his awesome car and gun. I wonder if that will be a catalyst for the plot of the next book.
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Sep 22, 2014 04:08
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Eh, he's Jennifer's friend or at least business associate. I'd think that might earn him a little leeway in the "might be magical" department. Worst case Daniel has to do the jail job, which would at least make for an interesting read as well. Yeah I figure it's one of the only unresolved plot threads so it would make sense for that to be the lead in to the next set of stories.
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Sep 22, 2014 14:59
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Kalman posted:Bruce Bethke's Headcrash might be up your alley. I love you for bringing this book up. You might be the only other person I've ever heard of who has read it. I need me some infonuggets and khyberpunks. I'd also like to use this post to rehype for the Daniel Faust urban fantasy series by Craig Schaefer. The conclusion of the first trilogy just came out a month ago or so. It starts with "The Long Way Down" and is about a sorcerer who makes a living pulling heists who suddenly gets embroiled in the upcoming apocalypse. Victorkm fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Nov 1, 2014 |
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Nov 1, 2014 04:19
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Craig Schaefer's new book is out in the Daniel Faust series. A Plain-Dealing Villain. I'm about done with this and I have to again hype the series. Daniel Faust is what you would get if Donald Westlake had a brain baby with Jim Butcher. Dortmunder's ingenuity and planning, Parker's ruthlessness and instincts, and Dresden's magic powers and urban fantasy politics. This book was fantastic.
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Jan 24, 2015 20:52
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:All I could think of when I got to the end was "You.... magnificent bastard If he keeps up his pace, the next one should be out in about 3 days, so no big deal.
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Jan 24, 2015 21:52
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Twenty Palace series by Harry Connolly Highly seconding these, especially Faust which were 4 excellent books that only got better as you went on, but London Falling is exactly what you are looking for if you want Rivers of London but serious. I haven't read the other 3.
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Jan 28, 2015 15:03
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Chairchucker posted:Apparently someone quietly made and aired a pilot for a TV show of Wheel of Time. I find it weird that I am really enjoying this.
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Feb 10, 2015 15:45
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Khizan posted:Modesitt has this weird thing going where I'm pretty sure that I'd willingly read a 500+ page book about some dude doing nothing but making barrels or or chairs or horseshoes, but I'd be completely unable to tell you why I bothered to do it at the end of it. I'm with you on these. The Imager books are really enjoyable too. The first 3 are kinda reclusey but the next 4 are really rather epic and seem to matter much more to the history of the world.
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Mar 27, 2015 14:19
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The Guardians of the Flame series by Joel Rosenberg has the normal people brought into fantasyland and using their knowledge to their advantage, though it should come with a trigger warning iirc, though not so much in the first book. I can't exactly attest to quality, though. Also I think you might be referring to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
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Jun 24, 2015 21:25
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There's the River of the Dancing Gods books I think also by Stasheff? I think that counts. The Wizardry series by Rick Cook about a programmer named Wiz who is transported to a land where he finds magic can be programmed. Also the Well of Souls books are sort of portal fantasy/sci fi.
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Jun 25, 2015 02:27
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Regarding the LitRPG genre that is leaking out of Russia, mentioned earlier on the last few pages: I cannot get enough of them. I am not sure what that says about me though. I've read all 4 Play To Live books by D. Rus, all 3 End Online books by D. Wolfin, the first Way of The Shaman book by Vasily Mahanenko, and even the serialization/fanslation of Legendary Moonlight Sculptor out of Korea. I just finished the most recent release, Way of the Clan, boook 1 of World of Valdira, by Dem Mikhaylov. I swear to god this dude just translated the book with Google Translate, there are so many typos and incorrect words etc. And for some reason all dialogue was printed as its own paragraph with a dash in front of the start of it, with breaks in speech barely even punctuated so its hard to tell what is descriptive text in between speech in those sections. Even so, the story still roped me in somehow. What I have noticed about all these LitRPG books is that they all have a similar wish fulfillment plot hook - Even Ready Player One which I'd say counts. The main character finds a secret class/quest/skill through virtue of doing some menial task that no one else who isn't incredibly masochistic would do and it leads them to some kind of power that puts them on a higher footing than most other players.
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Jul 24, 2015 17:14
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angel opportunity posted:Thanks! I haven't read either. Was looking at the Reborn books this morning and to be honest the length was a total turn off. Since I have kindle unlimited I will likely read them anyway. I didn't know the second book was in the genre but I'm going to try it out. Alter world is definitely my favorite but for amount of material, Legendary Moonlight Sculptor probably takes the prize. As well, a lot of the action sequences and real world stuff are better in that series. Collected here:http://royalroadweed.blogspot.co.il/2014/11/toc.html Edit: I really liked Way Of The Shaman as well. I think it was actually better written than most including Alterworld. The only downside is there is only 1 out so far. Victorkm fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Jul 24, 2015 |
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Jul 24, 2015 21:11
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CaptainScraps posted:We have an original one now, too. The Bathrobe Knight. I'm pretty sure that Ready Player One counts, too.
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Jul 25, 2015 04:31
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG Jesus christ what is wrong with you Craig Schaefer! So many books so fast. Is this 5 in 2 years in just this series alone?
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Aug 1, 2015 19:18
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THE NEW DANIEL FAUST BOOK IS OUT AND ON KINDLE UNLIMITED
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withak posted:Posting this without a warning is mean. Someone might buy it and read it. yeah, still not worth the price.
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Aug 2, 2015 19:40
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The real definitive answer is yes. But stop if you start to hate it at any time after book 4.
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Sep 15, 2015 11:58
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Jerkface posted:Now what should I read next? I'm looking for Sci-fi or fantasy. With black company done I've now read: malazan, black company, expanse, culture, mieville, asoif, raven's shadow series, alastair reynolds bibliography, mongoliad, dan simmons, patrick rothfuss's bullshit, bernard cromwell, a bunch of 1 offs The Revanche Cycle by Craig Schaefer is 3/4 books complete now. Its pretty decent and if his release schedule lately is any hint the fourth book could be along by June or earlier. I have enjoyed the first 3 books starting with Winter's Reach even though he doesn't do a great job at representing distance between major locations in the books in the later entries. If you like Urban Fantasy at all, he has 2 other series set in the same world of demons and magic - the Daniel Faust novels which have 5 or 6 entries and are great heist/revenge stories and the Harmony Black series which only has 1 book so far but follows a witch working for the FBI who is introduced in the Faust books. The second book in Harmony Black comes out next month or so and the first one released in the last month. He's a good author to follow if you like having 2-3 books a year from them.
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Jan 25, 2016 11:58
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Kesper North posted:Yeah, A Civil Campaign is great. I'd totally read more Bujold space romance novels. Another endorsement of A Civil Campaign from me. That book was space "The Importance of Being Earnest" basically.
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Feb 4, 2016 03:45
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Anyone recommend Firefly by Piers Anthony? edit: poo poo! Missed the Anthony mention earlier.
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Mar 14, 2016 22:31
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