Looking for new material...

Remove all ads!

I haven't been able to read Crimson Guard yet but Night of Knives was definitely not up to the usual Malazan standard imo.

Silence of the Lambs was an awesome read.

I'm on a Murakami streak myself right now but it's not exactly light reading.

I'd recommend Iggulden's Genghis Khan books. Haven't tried his more popular 'Emperor' series about Caesar yet but his Khan stuff is pretty good.

 

Glen Cooks Garret Files are good too. They're very easy to read and witty enough to stay interesting. If you pick the right ones.... Forgotten Realms books can be easy to read and fun.

 

Hijacking thread a bit. Doesn't make much sense to make another topic with exact same name, albeit a different preference.


Preferably in fantasy setting, but any decently alien-ish type would do. Dense/complex/convoluted/huge is more a plus than not. Biggest plus of all is a bit of a mind**** (funny, you can't hidden-link URL's with censured curse words).

Throwing out a few favorites for very rough orientation. Something along the lines of Scott Bakker's mind delving, perhaps Joe Abercrombie's alignment twists, Brandon Sanderson's overall quality,
I think i may be skipping out on Moorcock, he seems mentioned a lot and i think i've only read one book from him, can't remember the title though. What would be a good start with him?


So far, i'm getting Death Gate along with Return of the Crimson Guard (mentioned too many times above), Neuropath (Scott Bakker), Warbreaker (Brandon Sanderson) an early version of which is actually offered, as *.pdf for free on his webpage. For Paul S. Kemp, Erevis Cale triology seems like a good place to start, so that's on the list as well. The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham will have to wait it seems, no paperback release for 4th book yet

On a hunt for more and wishing for a few recommendations

 

Moorcock is great. His worlds and characters (Eternal Champions and the Multiverse) are fantastic. The writing in his earlier stories is a bit straightforward but still enjoyable (he used to write a lot and quickly) but his later books are finely written.

I could suggest pretty much everything he wrote but mainly:

-Elric of Melniboné, the anti-Conan, he is the greatest sorcerer of his world and deals with demons on a daily basis. His sword Stormbringer drinks the souls of his victims. Try to read the stories in sequence (not as they were published since Moorcock wrote prequels much later).

-Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Köln. A man living in a postapocalyptic Europe (the Tragic Millennium) rife with mutants and fighting the terror of the Dark Empire of Granbretan (as evil as they get).

-Corum Jhaelen Irsei. The last of the Vadhagh fighting the Mabdens. The story bears many similarities with Celtic mythology and it's breathtaking for any fantasy fan.

-Ulrich von Bek, the War Hound. Set in Europe at the time of the Thirty Years' War. Draws a lot on Moorcock's mythology and cosmogony.

There are many cross-overs in Moorcock's stories and that make them really interesting as a whole. I left out Erekosë, the Eternal Champion doomed to remember all his previous lives, Jerry Cornelius the English Assassin or Konrad Arflane from the Ice Schooner.

Moorcock is a very prolific author.

Just start with the hero and the setting that you find the most appealing.

 

Elric it is!
To start with at least, i've a very very hefty stack already for now. While the other descriptions actually sound more interesting, i figure Elric is likely the safest way to get to know Moorcock, since i checked the book i read and thought was from him and it actually wasn't. And it'd be a shame to miss such an genre influential work.
I hesitate to get a big load from any one author despite widely spread adoration ever since i ordered 3/4 of David Gemmel's books a few years back. Don't get me wrong, i really like his writing, but it's also very similar. After a few books, you're starting to feel on really familiar grounds.

Now, if i understand correctly, it's a 6 book saga beginning with
"Elric of Melniboné" and going on to
"The Sailor on the Seas of Fate"
"The Weird of the White Wolf"
"The Sleeping Sorceress"
"The Bane of the Black Sword"
ending with "Stormbringer"

I hope i got this right. If not please correct, i absolutely abhor getting stranded with incomplete series.

 

Mostly, you left a few books out, it's in that order:

Elric of Melniboné
The Fortress of the Pearl
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
The Weird of the White Wolf
The Vanishing Tower/The Sleeping Sorceress
The Revenge of the Rose
The Bane of the Black Sword
Stormbringer

The Fortress of the Pearl and The Revenge of the Rose were published much later and I find that the writing is much better (not that earlier stories are not enjoyable or badly written).

You're in for a treat Gothmog.

 

Mary Stewart's
The Crsytal Cave
The Hollow Hills
The last Enchantment

 

Why 3 out of 5-book series?
Unworthy successors? (i see you there Gormenghast!)

Elric's amazon.de stock proved to be slightly dissappointing. I've hunted down 7 out of the 8 you mention Caradhras. Some are released under different titles, names, etc. Quite the tracker training. I'll just have to skip the one. They're missing The Bane of the Black Sword.

So now i've got...
Elric (almost complete)
Starship troopers - (seems too much of a classic to miss out on.. despite the straightforwardness of the movie)
Dancers at the End of Time - another Moorcock
Return of the Crimson Guard
The Drawing of the Dark - Tim Powers
Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
The Wizard & The Knight - Gene Wolfe
The Book of the New Sun (both halves) - Gene Wolfe
Banewreaker & Godslaying (1&2 of the Sundering) - Jacqueline Carey
Mistborn 2&3 - Brandon Sanderson (rectifying my idiocy of only buying the first book last time)
Enemy of God & Excalibur (2&3 of A Novel of Arthur: The Warlord Chronicles) - Bernard Cornwell. Despite owning first book for 2-3 years (same story as with Mistborn) i never actually got down to reading it. I can't be a disappointment with all the praise people sing and the theme being close to my heart.
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson
Broken Sword - Paul Anderson
Prince of Nothing 2&3 - bought the first... few years back.. you know the story...
Neuropath - Scott Bakker
The Erevis Cale triology - Paul S. Kemp
Gormenghast 1&2 - 3rd installment is by all accounts, a letdown. How dare author die before finishing it!
Winter Birth - Brian Ruckley
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
The Once and Future King - TH White
A Cavern of Black Ice (Sword of Shadows) - JV Jones
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever: "Lord Foul's Bane," "The Illearth -War" and "The Power That Preserves" - Stephen Donaldson
Night Watch - Terry Pratchett
Death Gate cycle - Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman (i do hope it's an upper tier of Dragonlance... while very decent, i'd hesitate to buy original Dragonlance again)


That's it for now... and probably for a year or two as well
Still open for "god-will-stomp-a-baby-in-the-ground-if-you-dont-read-this" suggestions

 

Gothmog, just an FYI....There are alot more than just 3 books involving Erevis Cale. I beleive the "Sembia" books are about the family that Cale is hte butler for, which he is a part of, but bot the main character. Possibly a lnice lead-in to the Cale trilogy though. Then the Cale trilogy kicks in. Then another 3 books with Cale and friends, forget the name at the moment. Cale and friends gain power throughout the books though. I like a dark and brooding hero. Cale captures it.

 

Yes, it's a real pain. Try and get The Bane of the Black Sword if you can find it elsewhere, it's a very important part of the series and a personal favourite of mine.

 

Wow, lotsa new books.

I liked the Anubis Gates. It was better than Drawing of the Dark imo.

And I thought Banewreaker and Godslayer were awesome as well.

The Broken Sword I found a bit too... predictable maybe? But maybe that's what he was going for.


Night Watch is the best of the Discworld novels, bar none.

 

Erevis Cale. It's just that decision of depth you're going in to. Series more loosely tied, with each installment well capable of being standalone work, not leaving you puzzled or frustrated at the end i'm fine only taking the peak of the storyline, especially if it's an author i'm not familiar with, like Paul. S. Kemp.

It'll most likely end up on the next order (along with Bane of the Black sword ;() with me beating myself over the head with a brick for making the same mistake of getting only a part of the whole yet again
On the other hand i could end up not liking it, making it a wise decision... the depth problem yet again. Like shooting in the dark with a number of voices telling you where the target is. It's helpful, it clarifies things a bit, but it doesn't really tell you what you need to know in order to be sure whether you'll like it or not. Unavoidable i guess, in books business.


Yeah, Night Watch selected specifically cause of that. I've first three Rincewind novels (Color of Magic,..) and while i appreciate and see the quality of Pratchett's writing, it just isn't me. Same with Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. Clearly high quality, but just not my flavor. So Night Watch to taste the best before i put it high in the shelf under "great, but rarely reread" label.

 

People of the Mist

If you haven't read anything by Henry Rider Haggard try the titled book. If you enjoy this one he wrote 69 other books. His omnibus is a Kindle download for 79 cents for all 69 books. Such a deal !!!!!

 

I think Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber might be just what you need. The plot gets a wee bit hard to follow when all the schemes start, but the author's writing style is very clear and detailed, making the scenes described easy to imagine. If you are perchance into philosophy, you will also enjoy the way Zelazny plays with Plato's conceptions. But, in case you decide to read it, I shall cease the spoiling . *goes off, humming 'Hold thy peace, I prithee hold thy peace, thou knave!*

 

Good Series

The Second Ship by Richard Phillips is the first book of his trilogy (The Rho Agenda) . While I'm not a fan of the Roswell Area 51 themes, THIS ISN'T, it is set in the New Mexico Los Alamos area. It moves right along with good character development. This book ends abruptly but makes a must read of the second book in the series, Immune. Advances the story into the current time and problems, politics,economics,and current industrial problems. This reads at a really fast pace. The only problem with this trilogy is we have to wait for his last book, Wormhole, to come out.
fastfritz