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Fantasy/Sci-Fi Book Thread


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14 minutes ago, bcl05 said:

I love the Dresden files, but they started to feel a bit repetitive after 10 or so...

 

Some more favorites:  The Bas-Lag series by China Mieville.  What amazing world-building.  I also really like the Warded Man series by Peter Brett - a great character with super action and intensity.  Also the Locke Lamora series by Scott Lynch - more of a swashbuckling funny/adventurous type...  

 

Tons of great stuff out there.  Also, I need to read more from that Halo of Mushrooms guy.  That was a good read...  

Shh... Don't let the mods see this ;)

but there's MORE (and I'm waiting on Baen to see if they will buy the next one. Should be getting a response any week now.)

 

https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Stock-Andrew-Hiller-ebook/dp/B01N5US02T/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504120074&sr=1-1&keywords=A+Climbing+Stock

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6 minutes ago, visionary said:

Jim Butcher also did the Codex Alera series and Aeronaught's Windlass which I loved.

I read the first few of Butcher's Dresden series. I really liked the way he merged gumshoe with fantasy tropes and mythology. It was fun stuff. Good light reading.

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15 minutes ago, Destino said:

Sure, if you stop after the second book.  The last two are the first time I've seen an author try to undo his best efforts.  

 

Disagree.  I love Endymion.  Simmons crushes at every narrative form, including the swashbuckler.  He's my favorite genre fiction writer.  His prose is a cut above most.

 

I really liked Illium and Olympos too.  Those were wild.

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49 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

Disagree.  I love Endymion.  Simmons crushes at every narrative form, including the swashbuckler.  He's my favorite genre fiction writer.  His prose is a cut above most.

 

I really liked Illium and Olympos too.  Those were wild.

I don't question his writing ability, I just thought this his choice to basically write off all inconvenient bits from the first two novels as lies, misremembering, or embellishments was shockingly lazy and somewhat insulting.  Also "choose again" was so bad I laughed out loud.  i felt like I got suckered into reading someone's poor attempt at crafting their own religion by mashing up a bunch of existing ones.  

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12 hours ago, BornaSkinsFan83 said:

Huh. Must be a sign... Just decided, literally last night, to get into science fiction for a bit.

 

 

PS I still strongly believe that Steven Erikson's Malazan series is the greatest fantasy series of all time. By far. It's huge and complicated and it doesn't hold your hand at all so not everyone will be able to make it but it's at least a must attempt for everyone, and especially for those tired of the whole Nordic setting that the fantasy genre drowns in, for whatever reason. 

Nice!

 

Yeah, Malazan is just ridiculous (in a good way!)... nice description.  I really can't argue with it being the best series of all time.  

 

Of course, others offer different things - the stories of no name individuals becoming heroes (Hobbs, Eddings, Jordan, etc.) fast paced, action packed page turners, incredible magic elements (Mistborn), gritty realism (Abercrombie), astonishing use of the writing/language (Rothfuss), military (Cook, Cameron), etc.  I would argue, however, that Malazan features all of those at a high level. 

 

I think Cameron's Traitor Son series is my second favorite series.   Military style fantasy (knights, men-at-arms) with a fresh view of magic, creatures, etc. and good world building.  Interesting how he builds it as an alternate version of Western Europe of the 1300s(ish?) with kings, priors, abbeys, hillmen/drovers, etc.  

 

Someone mentioned Locke Lamora... I enjoyed it.  Very different type of read.  

 

KJ Parker is a trip.  Relatively simple reads, though a lot of writing prowess comes through.  Heroes tend to be deeply flawed, brainier types that don't become super.  Multiple stand alones, plus the Engineer series (and one other I'm blanking on).  Loved everything I've read.  Got my wife to read one and she dug it... and she hates even the idea of reading fantasy, lol.   

 

 

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2 hours ago, visionary said:

Of course if someone likes classic fantasy it's always worth checking out Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance series and R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt series and other Forgotten Realms stuff.

Was just coming here to rec both of those after not seeing them yet. I really enjoyed the main Dragonlance series (Chronicles series, legends series, the 3 lost tales that fit into chronicles timeline, 2nd generation, dragons of summer flame and war of souls). Never really read the off shoot ones not by Weis and Hickman. 

 

Its a shame Shroud of the Avatar(MMO) is kind of a trash can because Tracy Hickman is the writer on that game.

 

Im also a huge fan of Sandersons Mistborn series of books and am waiting for the 7th and final one. After getting burned on Martins ASOIAF and almost on Wheel of Time, I'm waiting for a few more releases before I start Stormlight series by Sanderson.

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On 8/30/2017 at 2:56 PM, shakinaiken said:

 

His short story "story of your life" was adapted into a movie called Arrival, which was excellent. Probably received a nice check for that 

 

my contribution to this thread: Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Fantastic.

 

Dan Simmons had a great run for a while. Hyperion is excellent, I would also recommend The Terror. But somewhere around Drood it seemed like he was just trying to make his books as big as possible. 

On 8/30/2017 at 4:04 PM, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

I really liked Illium and Olympos too.  Those were wild.

 

Those two are my favorite books of Simmons. I do wish he would've continued the story from there. 

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So I finally found the time to finish Assassin's Fate.  I looked up and realized it was almost 6 am, and that I had lost an entire nights sleep.  That should say enough about how much I enjoyed it.  If that's the last book in the Eldering Universe, and after 16 books this one does feel like the last one, I'm certainly going to miss it.  The first one was originally published in 1995.  What a ride.

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  • 1 month later...

https://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Anniversary-Kingkiller-Chronicle/dp/0756413710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507158930&sr=8-1&keywords=name+of+the+wind+10th+anniversary

 

Quote

This deluxe, illustrated edition celebrates the New York Times-bestselling series, The Kingkiller Chronicle, a masterful epic fantasy saga that has inspired readers worldwide.

This anniversary hardcover includes more than 50 pages of extra content!
• Beautiful, iconic cover by artist Sam Weber and designer Paul Buckley
• Gorgeous, never-before-seen illustrations by artist Dan Dos Santos
• Detailed and updated world map by artist Nate Taylor
• Brand-new author’s note
• Appendix detailing calendar system and currencies
• Pronunciation guide of names and places

 

my copy came in today, bad idea because now I want to read it again

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

Quote

Set in the world of the popular fantasy series by Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicle will follow a pair of wandering performers on their adventures through the unique and startling world of Temerant, immersing audiences in a universe of unexpected heroes, mystical places, and terrifying dark forces. It is a world that has delighted readers and critics alike, selling more than 10 million copies in 35 languages across the globe. The television adaption is a subversive origin story set a generation before the events of the trilogy’s first novel, The Name of the Wind.

 

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"Subversive origin story?"  I'm hoping that doesn't mean heavy handed political themes.  Fantasy and sci-fi is subversive when done right, simply by the diverse cast and challenging topics.  But when they try to be political it can be a little nauseating.  Like "The Mist" series, which deploys its political themes with the subtly of a guilty teenager.  

 

I wonder what this new show does for Doors of Stone.  Push it back another five years?

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3 minutes ago, StillUnknown said:

the fact that its a prequel surprised me

 

although Rothfuss said Lionsgate signed on tv & film. maybe they're saving Kvothe for the big screen

 

I'm not sure I could see Rothfuss on the street and not shout at him at this point.  Just give me the books!  

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On 8/31/2017 at 1:10 PM, visionary said:

Of course if someone likes classic fantasy it's always worth checking out Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance series and R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt series and other Forgotten Realms stuff.

 

Yeah, I recently read RA Salvatore's Homecoming trilogy and it is among the best fantasy I have ever read. You can always tell you're

reading a GREAT book when your environment seems to dissappear around you and you can't put the book down. I read the entire

series in three weeks -- each book is 350 pages long so I was basically reading, eating and occasionally sleeping, nothing else.

Highly, highly recommended. The books will blow you away. 

 

Also, to all the kids out there, if you haven't read Micheal Moor****'s "Elric of Melnibone" series, check it out, some of the best fantasy ever written. (Actually I would highly recommend the audiobook version of the orginal book. A truly stunning rendition). 

 

And yes, my handle "Mournblade" is taken directly from that epic fantasy series.

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27 minutes ago, Burgold said:

Really liking Robert Bennett’s City of Stairs series and Fran Wilde’s Updraft series. 

 

City of Stairs was just the right amount of weird and the setting was great, sort of a post standard fantasy.  It was set after the big bad was defeated and oppressed were now in charge.  

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