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Re: Books!

#31
Science-fiction is a genre that is notorious for not aging especially well. Certainly the science part often becomes dated within decades (and occasionally even within years) of a work being written.

Still, I find it interesting that no one has mentioned works by Fredrick Pohl, Jack Vance, Poul Anderson, Philip K. Dick, Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny, Robert Silverberg, et al. Many of the better-known books by these authors are littered with anachronisms from a present-day perspective. Regardless, novels like Pohl's Gateway, Vance's Dying Earth and The Demon Princes series, Anderson's Flandry cycle, anything by Dick but especially Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, Zelazny's Lord of Light, Moorcock's Cornelius chronicles and Robert Silverberg's Nightwings are all well worth the effort.

M John Harrison and Gene Wolfe are two of my favorite writers currently active in both the science-fiction and fantasy genres. Harrison's Viriconium sequence and Wolfe's Book of the New Sun are not necessarily easy reads, yet in my estimation, they are well worth the effort.
I know not what life is, nor death.
Year in year out-all but a dream.
Both Heaven and Hell are left behind;
I stand in the moonlit dawn,
Free from clouds of attachment.
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Re: Books!

#32
To Pohl, Vance, and Anderson, I would add that you can't go wrong with anything by Harry Harrison.

His SF isn't so much about the S -- it's just the setting for some great writing -- so it doesn't age too badly. His "Bill, the Galactic Hero" and "Stainless Steel Rat" series are pretty much required reading. The quality of both series dips slightly in the middle (as is the case for many series), but even those are still a lot of fun.

And if you're open to something truly crazy, Harrison's Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers is worth finding. In some ways it reminds me a little of the early Venture Brothers (a good thing).

To stop for now, I also can't recommend Julian May's "Saga of Pliocene Exile" highly enough. The only bad thing I can say about it was that each book ended too quickly. The whole thing is one of most energetic, creative, funny, sad, exciting, thoughtful, and absorbing tales I've ever read.
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Re: Books!

#33
I'm still working through my copies of Foundation by Isaac Asimov. Covered the original trilogy and now working on Foundation's Edge and the extended books. I'll have to go back and read them through chronologically again as opposed to me reading them now based on date of publication. Some items seem antiquated for a Galactic Empire of that scale and age but it's sci-fi anyway...and like someone said, "it ages badly". :D
In Josh we trust.
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Re: Books!

#35
HowSerendipitous wrote:Well, I've finally got a copy of the Eye of Argon.

If you know what it is... Well... Wish me luck! :twisted:
Reading The Eye of Argon aloud has been made into a game, as described by SF critic Dave Langford in SFX magazine: "The challenge of death, at SF conventions, is to read The Eye of Argon aloud, straight-faced, without choking and falling over. The grandmaster challenge is to read it with a squeaky voice after inhaling helium. What fun we fans have." Strict rules also include not laughing and reading all mistakes exactly as written. Making it through three-quarters of a page is considered an extraordinary accomplishment.

-Wikipedia, on "The Eye of Argon"

Oh well. I just finished reading through "Little Brother" and " Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town" by Cory Doctorow. I gave up on his "Eastern Standard Tribe" after about 2 chapters, and "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" after about half the book. "Little Brother" was pretty good, though.

While bored at work, I read "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass". Profoundly weird read, really.

Right now, I'm reading "The Improbable Rise of Singularity Girl" by Bryce Anderson, which is pretty good considering it's his first novel. About 100 more pages to go. Well, not sure what to go for after that. I prolly should finish reading "Water Margin". The last one has been sitting on my Nightstand for at least 5 years, simply can't get into the mood to finish it. It's got a downer ending, and amusingly enough, I've modeled many a pirate organization after the Liangshan Bandits.
Hardenberg was my name
And Terra was my nation
Deep space is my dwelling place
The stars my destination
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Re: Books!

#36
Speaking of The Eye of Argon (which is every bit of what they say it is), there are a few now-almost-forgotten classics that the serious reader of fantasy might want to try:
  • The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison
  • Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright
  • Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
  • Silverlock by John Myers Myers
Each of these is not going to be to everyone's taste. But if you're the kind of person who finds delight in exploring deeply realized worlds (or, in the case of Silverlock, enjoys MST3K-like reference hunting), you stand a good chance of loving at least one of these books.
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Re: Books!

#37
Flatfingers wrote:Speaking of The Eye of Argon (which is every bit of what they say it is), there are a few now-almost-forgotten classics that the serious reader of fantasy might want to try:
  • The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison
  • Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright
  • Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
  • Silverlock by John Myers Myers
Each of these is not going to be to everyone's taste. But if you're the kind of person who finds delight in exploring deeply realized worlds (or, in the case of Silverlock, enjoys MST3K-like reference hunting), you stand a good chance of loving at least one of these books.
I would opine that of the four the Gormenghast trilogy stands out qualitatively (and for timelessness). Interestingly, it has found some traction in pop culture. I suppose that the BBC television series might be partially responsible for such resonance though, given its length and style, even its limited popularity is still somewhat unexpected (at least to me).

I wonder if anyone else on these forums has read all four of your recommendations (I mean besides you and I).
I know not what life is, nor death.
Year in year out-all but a dream.
Both Heaven and Hell are left behind;
I stand in the moonlit dawn,
Free from clouds of attachment.
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Re: Books!

#38
Gormenghast was definitely the one of the four I thought some folks might have heard of, precisely because of the BBC version.

I watched part of it and thought it was well done, but maybe nothing truly could capture the uniquely intense weirdness of the first two books. (I don't think it's too outrageous to suggest that the third book, while worth reading, lacked the impulsion and place-specific strangeness of the first book.)

I'd agree that Islandia lags a little behind Gormenghast qualitatively. Today we might say it resembles fanfic. On the other hand, I think it's more approachable than Gormenghast, and in its own way it's quite a deep evocation of a distinctive place and people.

I'll defend Ouroboros as the equal of Gormenghast, though. :) It's no quirkier in its novelistic structure than Gormenghast (which had structural tics to spare). Its characters (except for Brandoch Daha) aren't as sharply drawn as those in Gormenghast, but the action is more energetic -- the characters do more. Gormenghast is a claustrophobic pressure cooker; Ouroboros is an avalanche of epic. Different, certainly, but not lesser IMO.

Silverlock is just fun. :)

There are other classics; these are just some that came to mind. I'm looking forward to seeing the other entries in this thread. Tom, what would you recommend of a kind similar to the suggestions above?
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Re: Books!

#39
Of a kind...? Hmm, not entirely certain I can, Flatfingers. I thought that the works you picked fit uniquely well together as curios these days. ;) 8-)

As far as works that I find interesting that are now far out of the mainstream (perhaps lost, misunderstood, or ignored) I can mention a few.

Avram Davidson's alternate history/universe works are worth a look.

Some of L. Spargue de Camp's Harold Shea stories (under such collections as The Incomplete Enchanter, The Compleat Enchanter and The Complete Compleat Enchanter, etc...) are real gems (though they are dated to be sure) and his Lest Darkness Falls is one of the better time travel tales (even if one is called upon to overlook the occasional over exuberance of the author). De Camp has also written enjoyable historical fiction (such as The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate).

Staying with another author whose origins trace back to pulp, Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tales are quite a bit of fun.

Among more contemporary writers, I would single out Gene Wolfe's works for notice. Wolfe is uncompromising, which is good from a qualitative perspective even if they make his books difficult reads at times. The Book of the New Sun is superlative. It is, however, written in stream of consciousness and thus full of ambiguity, which apparently does not work for many readers. :)

M. John Harrison's Viriconium sequence and his Kefahuchi trilogy (especially its first installment, Light) are favorites of mine as well.

Finally, Moorcock's Gloriana, or The Unfulfill'd Queen is something of an homage to Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast. Along with Behold the Man, Gloriana stands as proof that Moorcock is about so much more than simply churning out sword and sorcery novels.
I know not what life is, nor death.
Year in year out-all but a dream.
Both Heaven and Hell are left behind;
I stand in the moonlit dawn,
Free from clouds of attachment.
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Re: Books!

#40
Since Flatfingers mentioned fantasy I feel compelled to bring up two of my favorite series by David Eddings, The Belgariod and The Malllorean. Two five book series in the same world separated by about ten years. Eddings has a nice fluid writing stile and the story lines move along fairly steadily. It may just be time to sit down and read them again. It's been a while.
Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I have seen, it seem to me most strange, that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.
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Re: Books!

#41
Ah, the Belgariad. :) I happily concur with that recommendation -- it's truly excellent. (The Malloreon lost a little steam, I thought, but it's also very good.)

The world-setting is interesting, and the plotting is well-done... but it's the characters, and the ways they talk with each other, that really make this one memorable. Belgarath and Polgara are a hoot; and Silk... he may be one of the most enjoyable characters in all of fantasy literature.

Since I sort of diverted us onto fantasy fiction, I think I have to add to the list Steven Brust. He's written some good standalone stuff, but he'll unquestionably be remembered for his "Dragaera" novels -- by which I mean the ongoing Vlad Taltos stories as well as the Khaavren novels. Vlad is another of the truly memorable characters, but the plots in these novels are honed like a fine blade, and always with a sharp twist at the end. And if you ever enjoyed the courtly swashbuckling of an Alexandre Dumas or Raphael Sabatini novel, the Khaavren prequels are astonishingly good; they satisfy every requirement of that genre while describing a wholly original universe.

I like this thread. :) It's always a pleasure to be able to share good stuff with other people.
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Re: Books!

#42
Well if you're talking about Eddings, don't forget the Elenium! It's a bit grimmer than his first two series, but I kinda' prefer it. It has the same sort of dialogue between the characters but is a little bit more political. But still has decapitation, so that's fine. :squirrel:
Image
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Re: Books!

#43
I don't read a lot (as little as possible) but i used to do it a whooooooooooooole lot. In fact one year of my life i did little else than reading, then ext i did reading and gaming. Now i p much only do gaming, but when i do read it's something i can get through quickly, when it comes to manga my favorites are Sun-Ken Rock and Berserk, both are very adult/mature themed and don't hold back anything in the "explicit" and "graphic" content departments. Another favorite is Claymore.

When i did read though it was mostly mainstream series, which i loved including things like Artemis Fowl, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Eragon and the Shamer Chronicles. I think those were my favorites back in my reading days. Nothing fancy i guess, but i really did like the Shamer Chronicles. I also glanced at Broken Sky and liked it but didn't get very far because of limited availability for it in Iceland.
This is where the cat is from and yes you should definitely watch that.
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Re: Books!

#44
I'm an Eddings fan, but if you read enough of his books, all his series start to run together, and you realise he only ever had the one idea/formula, that he re-wrote and re-wrote for thirty years straight:

There's some good gods and evil gods, who've been enemies for millennia, but have never really done much about it until our protagonist came along.

Our hero has to go fight the evil god's cult followers to find a mystical power gem that holds all the power of the universe, because prophecy. To do so, he will need a diverse team of characters, each with their own skills and quirks, usually each from a nation that only seems to have the one industry or export. The bad guys will try to stop him, even though they have their own gem or book or widget that is supposedly just as powerful. He will get help along the way from some gods in disguise, and learn the secrets of sorcery which will only add to his previous skills of thievery, knighting, or being a lost prince secretly raised as a farmboy.

There will be a showdown or two with the enemy, which seems a lot like all the other showdowns with the enemy that Eddings has ever written. Characters will lampshade the similarities, but they'll be explained away as history repeating itself because gods, magic, prophecy, prophecy, time travel, technobabble, magic!

In the conclusion, the bad guys will be defeated easily because they've always been so powerful they forgot to learn how to actually fight or something. Insert moral about good guys winning because they have friends, and bad guys losing because they rely too much on one powerful agent acting alone, conveniently forgetting about the bad guy's vast, vast armies of redshirted goons. The End, rinse, repeat. :lol:
- The Snark Knight

"Look upward, and share the wonders I've seen."
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Re: Books!

#45
The whole of the Dune series. :shock: :o :wtf:

If you are not biased against the additional books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson it is a monumental work of literature and destined to keep you occupied for a long time.

The next book MENTATS OF DUNE is slated for release in March 2014

There is a list available which shows the books in chronological (reading) order:

http://www.wordfire.com/images/stories/ ... nelist.pdf
Rabcor wrote:I don't read a lot (as little as possible) but i used to do it a whooooooooooooole lot.
Audiobook. I have all the Dune titles on audio CD but it's amazing what you can download nowadays.

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