(no subject)

[reldnahkram]

Thank you all for your reading suggestions. Without a book, I took yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine section (there's no way I could justify taking today's at 7 AM) - the section with the comics and puzzles in the back. I got the crossword mostly done on the way in, but got stuck with a few things. I got the four jumble words on the way in, but coudn't get the pun until the return trip. On the return, I also worked on the cryptogram, but didn't get very far. This seems a perfectly good option for something to do, though I should also get a book.

Lest folks get carried away, I'm not terribly interested in fantasy things these days (I believe Wheel of Time and GRRMartin fall into this category, but I could be mistaken). I'm not sure when I really started to be, well, disenchanted, but the only fantasy I've felt compelled to read in the last several years was LotR (again) and associated works after the movie came out, the first few books of Earthsea (I liked the first two more than the third), the first Discworld book (no thanks), and Patricia McKillip's Riddlemaster trilogy. Discworld just wasn't for me. I liked Earthsea because it was a pleasant change from high fantasy - the characters primarily were questing to understand themselves, not to do things in the world. I suspect this is why I didn't like the third one as much, as it felt like more questing rather than self-discovery. LotR doesn't fit this pattern, but is understandably good. The Riddlemaster, which I first read many years ago, has a decent amount of questing, but it's always motivated by one character or another trying to figure out what is going on. It's a reasonably quick read, but one of my favorites.

Comments

[tirerim.livejournal.com]

I will note that the first Discworld book is pretty bad, but the later ones are much, much better. fiddledragon will have the best recommendations, but I would suggest Hogfather, for example.

[tirerim.livejournal.com]

(Oh, and the later ones are also different in that they're not just parody -- they continue to have parodic elements, but they're also funny in their own right, and they have serious bits, too.)

[nautiluspq.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I'm reading Hogfather now, and it's excellent; I'd suggest starting with the first in the Watch series (Guards! Guards! or Men at Arms) or the Death series (Mort or Reaper Man). The Watch books are the most serious (although still hilarious) and, in my opinion, the best.

hogfather's a bit late

[lula-vampiro.livejournal.com]

I'd say Wyrd Sisters is the first really great one in the series. personally I'm a fan of going through in order, but that's one of the best-written and best-constructed ones.

[sylvansafekeepe.livejournal.com]

What about Science Fiction? Do you group that in the same category as fantasy? If not, I suggest Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series if you want light reading, and David Weber's Honor Harrington series for something deeper.

[reldnahkram.livejournal.com]

I'm hot and cold on SF. I tend to like things that establish a world without trying to explain a lot of things and then do stuff in it. I'd rather the author let me figure out things about the world, or leave them for granted, rather than tell me what makes it tick.

[ajacs.livejournal.com]

...or, smoke whatever sylvansafekeepe is smoking. The Vorkosigan books are far more character driven and politically interesting, especially the later ones. Read them in order of publication, not strict chronological, and things build nicely. The Honor Harrington books are also fun, and more tactical (sort of like Horatio Hornblower in space, as creed_of_hubris once said), but Weber just doesn't have the chops Bujold does.

Speaking of the Horatio Hornblower series, I gather they're also good, and that it's better to read them in publication order rather than character chronology as well. I'm currently reading the Aubrey / Maturin books by Patrick O'Brien, and enjoying them tremendously. These are both Napoleonic era fighting sail series.

I agree with everyone that Discworld gets much better; there are several sets of main characters, and Rincewind is largely considered the weakest. The guards are my favorite, but Small Gods, which is a "standalone" in that it doesn't star any of the main groups of recurring characters, is a tremendously good book, can be read out of order without any repercussions, and is extremely demonstrative of the Discworld style. If you like it, keep reading, and if you don't, don't.

C.J. Cherryh has some fun series, including several Hugo and Nebula winners. Downbelow Station is a great book, and the Foreigner series is tremendous. Lots of fun for linguists, which I'm not, but really well written. Cuckoo's Egg is one of my favorite books of all time; read it, and if you like it, read more of her stuff, and if you don't, then you won't like her, so don't bother.

The Song of Ice and Fire is technically fantasy, but it's more like Guy Gavriel Kay than, say, Robert Jordan (or some other Forgotten Realms style high fantasy). SoIaF is basically the War of the Roses with the serial numbers filed off, and some other twists as well, but it's much more about the characters and intrigue than about fantasy. I have a very high threshold for fantasy; Martin, Kay, Bujold, and Cherryh are about the only ones who ever make it over.

[aryky.livejournal.com]

If you like Patricia McKillip books (admittedly, I have only read the first Riddlemaster novel), I would recommend The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, if you haven't read it already. Very much not a quest fantasy - the point of the novel is the protagonist's development. And I love McKillip's writing style. It's not going to last long though - fairly short book. I'm not sure whether it was originally marketed as a children's novel or not, but I think it probably was.

[reldnahkram.livejournal.com]

I get the impression that Riddlemaster and Forgotten Beasts are more kid-oriented, but I'm not sure. It's the book that Amazon suggests as the companion to the new all-in-one Riddlemaster edition, but I've not gotten around to reading it, but I'm definately interested. McKillip has more books out recently, but I think they're all stand-alones - I read one or two many years back, but don't remember anything about them.