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General => Off Topic => Topic started by: Bookwyrm on June 05, 2013, 01:25:51 PM

Title: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 05, 2013, 01:25:51 PM
As those of you that have looked at my profile name may have guessed, I love books. I have been a voracious reader since elementary school and have always had unrestricted access to all Libraries wherever I have gone to school and/or lived.

Saying that, I am by far and away most well read in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Genre.

What I am looking for here is a discussion on your favorite book/series of books.

My favorites? Fantasy would have to be The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. This is an incredible trilogy that has had some solid stories added to it in recent years.

SciFi would have to be Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. It stands up quite well for a science fiction book written in the 60's.

So what are your favorites or what do you think about my choices?
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: gimlet on June 05, 2013, 02:21:52 PM
My all time favorite fantasy series is The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan (Brandon Sanderson)

http://www.dragonmount.com/Books/index.php (http://www.dragonmount.com/Books/index.php)

In fact now days any book by Brandon Sanderson (Especially the way of kings series)
are my favorites!
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 05, 2013, 03:19:51 PM
My all time favorite fantasy series is The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan (Brandon Sanderson)

http://www.dragonmount.com/Books/index.php (http://www.dragonmount.com/Books/index.php)

In fact now days any book by Brandon Sanderson (Especially the way of kings series)
are my favorites!

I was incredibly pleased with the way Sanderson stepped in and handled the rest of the series. It was a huge relief to finally be able to finish a series that I started reading when I was a Freshman in High School. Have you read Sanderson's Mistborn series? They are excellent as well. And he has a couple of standalones that we also quite good.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: TrailMyx on June 05, 2013, 03:41:39 PM
I started reading that series back when the moon was 2x closer to the earth!
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 05, 2013, 03:55:30 PM
I remember slogging through those 2-3 books in the middle of the series where the 900 page monster covered less than a full week of the story. It was murder. If I had not been so heavily invested in that series I would have walked away from it.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: gimlet on June 05, 2013, 05:00:14 PM
I have read all of Sandersons book - except for the one I bought brand new last week. - Boy can that guy pump out the books!
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 05, 2013, 05:35:46 PM
Not to mention that the last I had heard he was still a Professor of Lit at BYU.
Only author I can recall hearing of that put out more than him was Asimov. But Asimov was just a freak and did nothing but write from the time he got up until he went to bed.

By the way Gimlet. What did you think of the Alloy of Law. I have not read it yet. (I was put off by the premise of moving the timeline to an industrial age).
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: gimlet on June 05, 2013, 07:59:07 PM
Its different from the 3 mist born books since it takes place a lot latter. I think however you will really like it once you start but realize that mist born no longer exist (ie people with all the powers) - I really liked it.
And it is more like a western than an industrial society.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 06, 2013, 04:02:57 AM
And it is more like a western than an industrial society.
Wouldn't be the first book with misleading copy on the back. I will give it a try then.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Alpha on June 06, 2013, 05:48:24 AM
Ok.. a Topic I could post on and not stop typing for a day!

Mist Born (Alloy of Law).   I've read them all & if that's the one where a guy slows down time around him it was pretty good... OK so lemme think by auther for a minute...

Jordan- WoT.  Definately up there on my list bc I was also reading that series since highschool, but I'm no longer sure it's my #1 Favorite.

Sanderson.-  Way of Kings looks like it will be amazing!  I'm excited though it's supposed to be a huge series and I makes me sad to think of how long It might take to be written.   B-Ass Bride Runners FtW !

Brent Weeks (Night Angel Trilogy)   This one is high up there for me.  I flew through all 3 600? pagers in like 2 weeks & definitely enjoyed them.  Think of this series as similar to Mist Born except they are extra special Assassins called "Wetboys"...   The Main experienced Assassin character Durzo says...
Quote
"That's why assassins have targets. Wetboys have deaders. Why do we call them deaders? Because when we take a contract, the rest of their short lives is a formality."
-Durzo   

Peter F Hamilton--  I've read all of his stuff and I'd say for a stand alone book I really do love
"Fallen Dragon" (Marines in Biotech Suits doing what they do best).  Nights Dawn Trilogy (Actually 6 books though) is VERY good and honestly just read his stuff in order bc it always builds upon stuff you read previously but the VOID Trilogy is my all time Favorite of his.  Hard Science Fiction Space Odyssey Stuff is how I would describe it.

OK...   I know I know...   but...

John Ringo --   They are basically "Smut Books" for guys, but they are soooo dang entertaining..   Advanced Alien Tech handed to Earth to help us survive the Ravening Centaur / Crocidile Alien hordes...  Marines in Mech suits .. aka
Polseen War (4 Books)..    With LOTS of additional books in the same universe.. TROY Rising (3 Books) are My other fav's in this series...

SM Stirling-- (Alternate history stuff..  What if???  No power, No High-Energy Chemistry / pressure stuff).   Castles & Swords it is!

*Nantucket Series -- Quite Good & linked with
*Emberverse Series.. Still Reading this one actually on bk 12?  I think.

David Weber --

*Honor Harrington...  These are entertaining, but I'd save them for a "if you run out kinda series which is what I did heh."

*SafeHold ..  Reading these currently still and VERY good.  I love the premise.

Steven Erikson--

*Malazan Books of the Fallen -- Bk. 6 Currently and this is EPIC Fantasy...  The First 5 Books Barely overlap characters or places but they are building together and it's honestly more of an EPIC Fantasy than even WoT ..   Good stuff and great Characters.  You have to be in for the long haul & ready for the development though.

Ok...   That's enough for now lol.   I just peeked in my Audio Book Folder.. which is BY FAR the smaller ones...   Ebooks has a ton more.. and just a few favorites mentioned ..



Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: gimlet on June 06, 2013, 07:09:50 AM
OH- I also have 2 great books (so far) to suggest!!

This is called "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss - fabulous!!!!

http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/books.asp (http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/books.asp)
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Alpha on June 06, 2013, 09:05:01 AM
Yea... Kvothe is a great character....    I like how they set the tuition for school etc.. & he just comes up with the HUGE sum no promblem heh.    I'm patiently awaiting Day 3.... of the story arc which should be "The Doors of Stone" sometime in 2014...
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 06, 2013, 09:19:03 AM
Odd isn't it? Perfect opportunity for the more junior members to pad their post count and yet what do we hear from them? *crickets* :'(
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: TrailMyx on June 06, 2013, 09:52:55 AM
They are too busy looking for scripts to read to them so they don't have to.  lol
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Masscre on June 07, 2013, 02:52:49 AM
Books :)

Terry Brooks : Shannara Series ... Original trilogy was Sword of Shannara, Elf Stones of Shannara and WishSong of Shannara but has been built on multi tier now.

The Word & Void trilogy The Word & Void trilogy consists of Running with the Demon, A Knight of the Word, and Angel Fire East and is predominantly set in present-day Illinois. It follows Nest Freemark, a girl with magical abilities who has no known relationship to any Shannara character. Before the publication of Armageddon's Children it was unclear whether this trilogy existed within the Shannara universe. It has since been revealed as the "ultimate prequel" to the Shannara novels.

The Genesis of Shannara trilogy The Genesis of Shannara series consists of Armageddon's Children, The Elves of Cintra and The Gypsy Morph and connects the Word/Void series with the Shannara novels.

Legends of Shannara duology The Legends of Shannara series consists of Bearers of the Black Staff and The Measure of the Magic and continues to connect the Old World with the world of the Four Lands.

First King of Shannara This is the prequel to the Original Shannara Trilogy.

The Original Shannara Trilogy Also published as The Sword of Shannara Trilogy by Del Ray Books, these were the first three published Shannara novels (The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, and The Wishsong of Shannara)

The Heritage of Shannara Tetralogy The next four books consist of The Scions of Shannara, The Druid of Shannara, The Elf Queen of Shannara and The Talismans of Shannara. These books are known as The Heritage of Shannara, are set 300 years after The Original Shannara Trilogy.

The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy consists of the books Ilse Witch, Antrax, and Morgawr.

High Druid of Shannara trilogyThe High Druid of Shannara trilogy includes the novels Jarka Ruus, Tanequil, and Straken.

The Dark Legacy of Shannara trilogy Terry Brooks has planned another trilogy to take place 100 to 120 years after the events in Straken. The first two of the three scheduled books, Wards of Faerie & Bloodfire Quest, were published on August 21, 2012 & March 12, 2013 respectively, with the last book, Witch Wraith scheduled for July 16, 2013.

Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 07, 2013, 02:57:40 AM
Oh so you're the one who keeps the Shannara series going ;).

I read the first series years ago and while I enjoyed The Sword of Shannara the others seem too forced to me. I did not care for the way he developed his characters later on in the series either. I found that I enjoyed Brook's other series to be much more fun. The Landover series was a fantastic read and continuously brought a smile to my face.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: manwinc on June 08, 2013, 03:52:28 AM
Sword of Shanara was the hardest for me to get into.... The others  came pretty easy.

Favorite Book Series.... Man, that's a tough choice.... It would have to be a tie between The DragonLance Series(Pretty much all the books... I really liked the Kender Race) and The Deathgate Cycle. I read both when I was 12, but I can still remember a lot of the Places, scenarios, races, names etc. Which is pretty good for someone who can't even remember peoples names that he went to school with.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 08, 2013, 08:42:00 AM
Which is pretty good for someone who can't even remember peoples names that he went to school with.

Ditto
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Alpha on June 08, 2013, 09:45:59 AM
Hmm..... Favorites eh?    Well it's probably just because there are so many good memories attached but Drizzt (all the books) will always have a place in my heart.  I used to roll the D20 and pull all night gaming sessions from probably 8 grade through the Middle of College.  The Drizzt books were always being avidly devoured by someone in our group of 6-7 people so it was natural that we all ended up reading them.  Too many fond memories  of hanging out on my friends 2nd story deck on a nice sunny day while his mom catered snacks / coke & we all rolled the dice.   I was always one to squeeze in a page or 2 of a book if the action wasn't focused on me.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Catryonna on June 10, 2013, 05:25:42 AM
While I would love to say I have something new to add, I don't.  My favorite series of all times are the Dragon Lance Saga, and the Wheel of time series.  Amazingly enough ,even though I read all the time - I had never managed the wheel of time series...I think I just assumed I had read it......And we all know what assuming does!  So I started reading them a few months ago on a cross country trip.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up on some reading.  And that as they say - is the rest of the story - I cant put them down, I take a book or e-reader wherever I go.  I can't imagine WHY or HOW I managed not to read them years ago.....
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 10, 2013, 06:22:15 AM
Anyone read the Dragon Prince series by Melanie Rawn? It is magnificent.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Alpha on June 10, 2013, 09:08:34 AM
Quote
Anyone read the Dragon Prince series by Melanie Rawn? It is magnificent.
No I haven't personally, but I semi recognize the cover art which at least means I've looked at it in the past before.   I'm a big one for browsing the new release section in Barnes and Noble & then I just pull out my phone & take a quick pick of anything NEW that I'm interested in.  If I don't do that I quickly forget and often times don't remember until I see the book come out in paperback heh.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: gimlet on June 10, 2013, 10:13:51 AM
I might also mention I like some of Orson Scott Cards books.
Enders game and Enders Shadow are two of the best books I ever read.


Also I like the early works of Raymond Feist (ie Magician etc - Rift war)
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on June 15, 2013, 10:35:50 PM

Enders game and Enders Shadow are two of the best books I ever read.

So do you have high hopes for the Ender's Game movie coming out or are you anticipating a disaster.
Personally I feel Ender's Game is a very fine piece of fiction and worthy of much praise. But I could not get behind any of the follow-up books. They just did not click with me.

Kinda like the movie Jumper. The book by Steven Gould is fantastic and there have been a couple of very good sequels to it. But the movie was, in my opinion, crap.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Endless Night on October 07, 2013, 12:38:47 PM
So many books so hard to choose...

Discworld serries +  by Terry Pratchett,  great wit and humor in a fantasy vein. (http:// http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_19?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=terry+pratchett+discworld+series&sprefix=terry+pratchett+dis%2Cstripbooks%2C146&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aterry+pratchett+discworld+series)

Radix  by A-Attanasio (http:// http://www.amazon.com/Radix-Book-1-A-Attanasio/dp/0553254065)

Schismatrix Plus  by bruce sterling (http://www.amazon.com/Schismatrix-Plus-Complete-Shapers-Mechanists-Universe/dp/0441003702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381177903&sr=8-1&keywords=bruce+sterling)

Snow crash by Neil stephenson (http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Crash-Bantam-Spectra-Book/dp/0553380958/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381177808&sr=8-1&keywords=snow+crash)

helliconia trilogy by  Brian W. Aldiss (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_15?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=helliconia+trilogy&sprefix=helliconia+tril%2Cstripbooks%2C144&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Ahelliconia+trilogy)
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: gimlet on October 07, 2013, 01:12:05 PM
Also another of my all time favorites


http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/books.asp (http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/books.asp)
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Alpha on October 07, 2013, 01:31:20 PM
Kvothe is awesome... Now I have to check if the last "Day" is out to read yet.. good stuff though.
Title: Re: Now for something completely different...
Post by: Bookwyrm on October 07, 2013, 06:01:08 PM

No I haven't personally, but I semi recognize the cover art which at least means I've looked at it in the past before. 

I have several of those prints (by the incredible Michael Whelan) hanging up in my house.