I need books

[thorgrim29]

hey, my birthday is coming up, and I was thinking I could try a few authors out, and I appeal to the boundless wisdom of the playgrounders for council, after I tried Pratchett and more then a few other books on recommendation from the boards

-Having read Good Omens, I would like to read more Gaiman, do you guys have any suggestion?

-Also, sci-fi, I started reading the foundation novels, but thought second foundation was rather weak, should I go for the robot novels? I'm also hearing good things from the honorverse books, any thoughts?

-Finally, dresden files, I loved the series, and I hear the novels are much better, is there some sort of omnibus edition to sink my teeth in?

[Semidi]

Gaiman: American Gods and Neverwhere are good.

Dresden: Start at Storm Front and continue on. I think they start to get really good around 4 books in.

[Vaynor]

My favorite Gaiman books are Anansi Boys and American Gods. Both good reads.

[Innis Cabal]

Song of Ice and Fire series. Amazing series.

[BRC]

-Finally, dresden files, I loved the series, and I hear the novels are much better, is there some sort of omnibus edition to sink my teeth in?
You watched the series but have not read the Books!

Shame Shame Shame!


Yeah, get those. You can start anywhere (I started at Dead Beat), but things may make a little more sense if you read from the beginning. Also, I recommend you forget everything about the series.

[comicshorse]

The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. A really gritty fantasy with excellent action and well drawn and exceddingly nasty characters.

'Weaveworld' by Clive Barker. An old one but still one of my favourites for the depth of the world and the way he interweaves the fantastic elements and the real world.
( What is Clive Barker doing these days anyway ? I don't remember seeing any of his stuff for years)

[Closet_Skeleton]

( What is Clive Barker doing these days anyway ? I don't remember seeing any of his stuff for years)

He made a overhyped crap video game (as opposed to his earlier game which was supposedly better but nobody heard of it).

[Vaynor]

'Weaveworld' by Clive Barker. An old one but still one of my favourites for the depth of the world and the way he interweaves the fantastic elements and the real world.
( What is Clive Barker doing these days anyway ? I don't remember seeing any of his stuff for years)

!!!!
Also, The Great and Secret Show, Everville, the Abarat series... pretty much everything by Clive Barker. He's a fantastic author.

His most recent novel is Mister B. Gone. Pretty good.

Also, he's working on The Scarlet Gospels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Gospels) right now, and I'm fairly certain Disney bought the film/theme park rights for Abarat, so I have high hopes for a movie in the near future.

[MeklorIlavator]

For the Honorverse books, if you start them make sure you start at On Basilisk Station, as its the first book. Though I might suggest checking out other books by David Weber first: some good choices would be Off Armageddon Reef(his new series) and Crusade(an older series he started with Eric Flint, also called The Stars at War).

[MisterSaturnine]

Another vote for American Gods, and the Sandman series if you haven't read it. Followed by Smoke and Mirrors. Gaiman is awesome.

Also, not sci-fi or fantasy (though there is some magical realism), but Everything is Illuminated is easily my favorite book. It's one of those books that's just so amazing you're sort of in this state of shock for about a week after reading it, and every time you discuss it. It changes the way you look at the world.

EDIT: I'm a Barbarian now! Woo!

[Dode]

Hyperion parts 1 and 2.
All you need.

[bosssmiley]

^ +1 what Dode said. "Ilium" is also good.


Song of Ice and Fire series. Amazing series.

S'alright. "Memory, Thorn and Sorrow" is better (and complete).

Gaiman: read "American Gods", then ignore "Anasi Boys" (it's a soap opera version of "American Gods" sans the scope, scale or drama)

You also need to read any and all Neal Stephenson and China Mieville that you can get your hands on. :smallcool:

[Sir Enigma]

-Also, sci-fi, I started reading the foundation novels, but thought second foundation was rather weak, should I go for the robot novels?

The robot novels are a good read, although of a very different style to the Foundation; there's less galactic economics and more detective work. I agree with you on Second Foundation, so don't let it put you off.

[AKA_Bait]

A few suggestions that others haven't mentioned:

Anything by Connie Willis. Seriously, anything. She may be my favorite living non-satirical writer and that's actually saying a whole lot. I particularly recommend Passage, The Doomsday Book and Bellwether. These are just my favorites though and some think she has other better ones; To Say Nothing of the Dog, for exmple, won a Hugo where the others did not (although Doomsday Book tied for one and Passage was nominated).

Last Call, Expiration Date, and Declare by Tim Powers. Although you really can't go wrong with anything by Powers. Some stuff can be pretty hard to find though. This guy is the kind of writer that makes creates a strange world so believably similar to our own that you look over your shoulder on the way home.

Camoflauge and Old Twentieth by Joe Halderman. This guy is another fantastic writer. I'm just starting in on Foreverwar now, which is supposedly his best work.

The Uplift War by David Brin (the first three books in the Upliftverse are all fantastic. The three that are offically a trilogy... not so much).

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Wizards in Victorian England. Good read.

Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer. He has several other good books as well, like Calculating God.

Snowcrash by Neil Stephenson. Wacky distopic future America at it's best. Cryptonomicon was also good.

Lord of Light by Robert Zelazny. Zelazny has also written a number of other good books, like the Amber series.

Protector and Ringworld by Larry Niven. Fantastic Scifi writer. Personally though, I think his best work is Inferno which he wrote with Jerry Pournelle. Sadly, it seems to be out of print and can be tough to get a copy of.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer. This is the first in the Riverworld seires. It's a good seires but loses something in the last book. Not that different from Amber in that respect.

I could go on, but bettween suggestions above (all of which are good, but stay away from Song of Fire and Ice if you get attached to characters easily) and these you should have plenty to read.

[Lord Seth]

Dresden Files is great, but be warned that there's a drop in quality in book two. It's not bad, it's just not as good as the previous or the next one (the third was a really big jump in quality). I definitely recommend them.

I mean, it mentions The Evil Overlord List. What more can you ask for?

[greenstupor]

Smoke and Mirrors (Neil Gaiman) changed my life (only a slight exaggeration :smallsmile:). It automatically launched Gaiman into the pantheon of my favorite authors. Anyone who hasn't read it needs to (it is a bit, well.... porny at some parts, though. Not for the faint of heart :smallbiggrin:).

The A Song of Ice and Fire series (George R. R. Martin) is insanely good. Insanely. A deftly woven tale of fantasy and medieval politics that'll keep you engrossed at every page (I should write cover blurbs...).

And although I'm sure that almost everyone here has read it, it must be said: Watchmen.

[Cristo Meyers]

Seconded for both American Gods and The Dresden Files.

I would add Idlewild, Edenborn, and Everfree by Nick Sagan. The third isn't nearly as good as the first two, but it's a really interesting post-apocalyptic trilogy.

[Occasional Sage]

Last Call, Expiration Date, and Declare by Tim Powers. Although you really can't go wrong with anything by Powers. Some stuff can be pretty hard to find though. This guy is the kind of writer that makes creates a strange world so believably similar to our own that you look over your shoulder on the way home.


YES. Powers is what Gaimen ought to be, and would be if he could fulfill the scope of his vision without images. Although his early stuff, like Dinner at Deviant's Palace and... Crown of Fire (if I remember the title correctly) are early and... poor. Especially compared to the rest. On Stranger Tides is similar to Pirates of the Caribbean, but better.

Also, I'll +1 the votes for China Mieville, GRR Martin, and Dan Simmons (of Illium fame).

Also also, look for Barry Hughart. He writes comedic fantasy mysteries set in a slightly-skewed historical China. Very good, and I believe there is an inexpensive compilation of all three books which recently became available.

[thorgrim29]

Thanks all, I bought watchmen and sandman volume one, a few gaiman books and some others (princess bride and storm front)

[WalkingTarget]

Thanks all, I bought watchmen and sandman volume one, a few gaiman books and some others (princess bride and storm front)

As for Sandman, the first trade paperback (Preludes and Nocturnes) is the most "horror story" of the lot and, in my opinion, has the weakest art (the Absolute edition helped this somewhat a lot with the color correction/improvement). Not to say that it's bad, by any means, but I think they only get better from there. Enjoy!

[Ashtar]

I just finished reading Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff. Shame it's short but the plot is good and recounted in an interesting way.

[AKA_Bait]

YES. Powers is what Gaimen ought to be, and would be if he could fulfill the scope of his vision without images. Although his early stuff, like Dinner at Deviant's Palace and... Crown of Fire (if I remember the title correctly) are early and... poor. Especially compared to the rest. On Stranger Tides is similar to Pirates of the Caribbean, but better.


Well yeah, although some of his still pretty early stuff is among my favorites. Anubis Gates and (less so) The Drawing of the Dark and The Stress of Her Regard were all solid good reads. I liked all three more than Earthquake Weather to be honest. I dont' really think of his early work that much though, since they aren't really in distribution anymore and it might take some effort to find it. The only reason I've even been able to read much of it was because my dad is as big a geek as I am and they were in the large box of old but generally pretty good paperbacks he keeps in the hall closet.


As for Sandman, the first trade paperback (Preludes and Nocturnes) is the most "horror story" of the lot and, in my opinion, has the weakest art (the Absolute edition helped this somewhat a lot with the color correction/improvement). Not to say that it's bad, by any means, but I think they only get better from there. Enjoy!

I agree. The first volume is much more comic-bookie so to speak and was when they were still attempting to establish an audience for the series and felt more constrained by convention. From the second volume on it gets much, much, much better.

[Jorkens]

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Wizards in Victorian England. Good read.
Georgian, actually. :smalltongue:

But yes, I'd definitely second this, it's one of the best fantasy novels I've read in years. You have to be happy with a gentle pace - she likes to give the plot time to breathe - and a deliberately slightly archaic style, but the atmosphere and the setting are brilliant and the subtlety and believability of the characterization is second to none.

[SilentNight]

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville is a great new take on fantasy and blends it with sci-fi. I also recommend Lamb by Christopher Moore as one of the funniest books ever written. Although you might want to avoid the latter if you have delicate sensibilities and/or are christian and easily offended.