What are you reading? Options

[The Metal Mallet]

I'm actually on my way to finishing up the Ender series. I agree with Wolfie about "Ender's Game" so far being the best of the series. The other books are much more philosophically based and focused on developing a lot of characters rather than just a few. Still an interesting read, it's just that I think "Ender's Game" panders to a bit of a different audience than the rest of the series.

[Lord Revan]

I have read Ender's Game but none of the others in the series. In my abscence I've read the entire Twilight series (I'm a guy by the way) and the latest book of the Inheritance (Eragon) series. I probably sound like a fantasy junkie right now.

Presently, my attention is on House to House: A Soldier's Memoir, an account on the war in Iraq by Staff Sergeant Bellavia. The events documented occured in 2004.

[The Metal Mallet]

Well this is a forum about a fantasy-type game. I wouldn't be surprised if fantasy novels are the preferred genre of fans of this game. For the most part, all I usually read is fantasy though recently I've been checking out popular sci-fi books as well.

[seerauna]

Well this is a forum about a fantasy-type game. I wouldn't be surprised if fantasy novels are the preferred genre of fans of this game. For the most part, all I usually read is fantasy though recently I've been checking out popular sci-fi books as well.

Fantasy is almost all I read too, but I do read some others. I've read Twilight and the Inheritance series. I loved them, especially Twilight .

[jack cloudy]

I used to be a fantasy junkie in my early days, though nowadays that has been pretty much fully replaced by sci-fi junkiness.

For example, I've recently come into the situation where I can buy books as I please. With moderation, although I've thrown over a hundred euros at it by now. Err...am I becoming addicted? Then again, those hundred euros are spread out over more than thirty books and some of it went into education books.
And I guess my personall motto is also to blame.
"If it's a good book, better buy the whole series in one go before some sneaky honoured user runs off with parts 3 and 5."

I swear though, it's amazing what kind of stuff you can find in the used section. Books from all the great ones and the more obscure ones. Often even in pristine quality! By comparison, the brand-new section is just filled with Star Wars novels based on the last film, the last (and only the last) book in the Wheel of Time series and the latest reprint of Lord of the Rings. All that, fills half a rack. The used section barely makes it to two racks. One of those racks is filled with nothing but the older reprints of Tolkien. The guy even gets his own section. Man, I know that he's been pretty influential but I think that it's now getting a bit too crazy.

Anyway, the closest to fantasy in my personal library would be the John Carter of Mars series. I got the first three books in the series for the price of one. Awesome. I think it's sword and sorcery to be more specific.

Now getting back on topic. I have not yet started reading, but am planning to read: Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. I've read the sequel to it years ago in the library and while confusing as heck, it did have its share of moments that made me go "HOLY CRAP, THAT'S AWESOME!" I've also read Endymion which is supposed to be the sequel to the Hyperion series, but that one only managed to confuse me. Still, it was nice to see the Shrike, aka 'the bad guy' from Hyperion turn into the totally awesome silent saviour and stuff.

Speaking of which, I remember a conversation I had a few years ago with some friends. Basically, we were trying to decide on the greatest badass in sci-fi. For a while, Darth Vader led because of his calm and ruthless behaviour, and his awesome mask. But when we moved onto less well known badasses, we eventually settled on the following. The Shrike is the ultimate badass ever, period.

I mean, we're talking here about a three metres tall...thing made out of nothing but indestructible beyond razorsharp spikes, blades, barbed wire etc. Add in four arms (I think, the covers only ever show two), two creepy red glowing eyes, bullet-time that makes Neo go "That's impossible!" and a habit of standing still just long enough to catch a grenade to the face, just so it can watch people crap their pants when they realize said grenade didn't do a damn thing.

Oh, and then there is the gigantic tree-version of itself which it uses to impale its victims on. The victims never die and are doomed to suffer for eternity. So yeah, he's either badass, or some sort of god of hell. Your choice. It kind of makes me wonder how Simmons ever came up with it.

[canis216]

Heh, I don't read fantasy at all. A lot of Ed Abbey's awesome anarchistic wilderness-centered non-fiction and novels, a fair brace of "nature writing" non-fiction (Aldo Leopold, Craig Childs, Terry Tempest Williams, etc.), and a passel of Tony Hillerman's southwest-centered mysteries, but no fantasy (or sci-fi, for that matter). I think I'm a bit of an anachronism on TES-related forums.

Currently re-reading Abbey's Black Sun, by the way. As he writes in the Preface:

Black Sun is a novel about love. And about sex, and the forest, and love under the sun in the forest, and about disappearance. The vanishing of a loved one. About mystery, that is, and the bewildering grief of death. Like most honest novels, it is partly autobiographical, mostly invention, and entirely true. I wrote this book in four weeks, hacking away on a borrowed typrewriter, at night, after work, in a strange place in Arizona.

Yes, and I have spent many a summer in what the Forest Service calls a "fire lookout". A tower in the woods. Far away from all that sustains sanity. The voice that speaks in this book is the passionate voice of the forest, that sound the wind makes wailing through the yellow pines. You'll see what I mean. The madness of desire, and the joy of love, and the anguish of final loss--so much, and no more, was my modest ambition in the creation of the book Black Sun.

[Wolfie]

So, bought and read Feist's "Rides a Dread Legion" the other day, and I gotta agree with Alex... good book, but something seems lacking compared to the earlier ones. One thing I was glad to see is that there wasn't any further retconning of multiple trivial to semi-important events. And I'll definitely say that there was certain events at the end of the book that had me double checking to make sure I hadn't mistaken what I just read.

[Olen]

Well I finished he Stand which took me longer to read than any other book I think. It was excellent (barring the ending), well realised from its principal and well done. But I think the uncut edition was madness, King simply waffled too much for my tastes and I got bored at points. Still generally very good, especially towards the end once it was done with milling around. The end itself was a bit disappointing I thought, it wasn't that satisfying and then drew out a bit to far after the main conflict was done with.

Now I'm reading Iain M Banks, Consider Phlebas. Banks is my favourite author, at least when writing as Iain M Banks - ie SF, when he writes as Iain Banks I find him a bit too obscure. Its quick moving and, like all his books, is full of really cool ideas. I'm enjoying it so much I think I'll follow it with all the other 'culture' novels.

[Kiln]

Yeah its odd that I'm reading anything, I usually don't have time to sit and turn a few pages these days but I'm reading a book inspired by Halo...yes the video game. I know I'm a dork but "The Fall of Reach" has really captured my attention.

[Channler]

Currently I am reading (or have recently finished)...

Fighting Techniques of the Napoleonic Age, 1792 ~ 1815: Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (for the 3rd time)
Paradise of the Blind
Gates of Fire
A three part biography on Theodore Roosevelt
A biography on Ronald Reagan
The Prince
The Art of War
and...
Fredrick the Great's Order Letters (or something like that)

Btw thats Clausewitz's Art of War, no Sun Tzu's

[Lord Revan]

I've recently finished a soldier's memoir of the war in Iraq called House to House. And started reading Band of Brothers.

[Colonel Mustard]

I'm currently working my way through The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Officially my favourite book ever.

Even more so than the Mr Men saga.

[Olen]

Well I finished Consider Phlebas a while ago so its safe for me to say something about it now without raving overly. It's good, a bit dark which isn't everyone's thing but is exactly what I like. Like all his books there's some quite original stuff there. The plot is slightly annoying but it gets away with it, and some of the things are slightly far fetched but are cool enough to make them allowable. Its the first SF book Banks wrote and its a good one, more action filled than other books he's written and less about the past, though I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Overal I'd definatly recommend it, though perhaps not quite so highly as Against a Dark Background which is another by Banks but in a setting he only used for it - Consider Phlebas is the first 'Culture' novel he wrote.

I'n now reading The Player of Games which is the second culture novel and, after a slow start, is shaping up well.

[seerauna]

Just started Jurassic Park by Michael Crighton. I've seen the movie but will probably get a few surprises along the way, because the movies never stick to the book do they? Anyways, I think it will most likely be a good book.

[Wolfie]

Just bought and read Dan Abnett's Brothers of the Snake recently, a series of interconnected short stories follwing the exploits of a squad of Iron Snakes pace marines, and more specifically the sergeant of the squad, Priad. Great read, if you're into that sort of thing... which I am
Reading Heinlein's Starship Troopers now, but since I've read it so often now, it's more a read a page or two when bored than actively trying to get it finished kinda thing. Fantastic book though

[Romanian_Dude2563]

Hey this is like my first post here! Time sure has past.

Ok, I've decided to focus my attention for the following year exclusively on urban fantasies or modern fantasies. I'm curently writting three short stories in this theme so I want to get in it as much as I can. One combines Sherlock Holmes with The Master and Margharita and Memento in early 20th century Moscow. One is placed in modern New York, I'm not sure about the theme yet, but I've got most of the main characters shaped up and it has the dark goth feel of World of Darkness. And the last one is in 1921 Bagdad, the theme is the story of Alladin backwards in which a genie (I don't know how to shape him up yet) searches for his master. I might change the location to somewhere in China to stay true to the Arabian Nights, but I want to use ancient arab folklore in the story, so I'm using Bagdad during the british rule.

I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan, so I've read Neverwhere, American Gods and Graveyard book. Then there's The Master and Margharita that did a great job at combining fantasy with 20th century Moscow making it funny without overdoing, but the last 100 or so pages nearly ruined the whole book for me. I guess I could add Good Omes in this lot, but the book doesn't take itself seriously so it doesn't count. I'm going to go through Nine Princes in Ambers soon. And I'm planing on buying a China Mieville soon.

What other books focus on old folklore like American Gods does? And what other urban fantasy books should I read?

This post has been edited by Romanian_Dude2563: Apr 22 2009, 09:32 PM

[Colonel Mustard]

Just read a sample of Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener's comic, Atomic Robo.

It's good to see some good old superhero action after so many years without reading any comics. I feel just like a kid again.

[milanius]

This

[saqin]

I have soon finished reading "The wounded land" by Stephen Donaldson, and is thinking of which to read next, as I have got quite a selection of books.

[Olen]

Almost finished Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's the vampire classic and it is very good. It has an unusal format (written entirely in letters and diary entries of the characters) which works well for it though does cost it some tension and immediacy. It was written a bit over 100 years ago though so is in a style of English which had almost died out and which I greatly like. It also has some inadvertant humour in some of the old ideas it contains (a good example is ).

The spoiler above is only a very mild one but I included the tags just in case.