Book Recommendations

**Zeddicus** · November 16th, 1999, 03:57 PM

I'm always on the lookout for something good to read. Does anyone here have any good recommendations?

**Dragon** · November 16th, 1999, 04:19 PM

I would suggest checking out Legends edited by Robert Silverberg. It has short stories from 11 authors that give you an insight of their style of writing and a peek inside the worlds they have created. Also one of the first sci-fi novels that I read was called The Battle Circle by Piers Anthony. I've passed it along to a few of my friends and they all liked it also. I am currently starting book 2 of the Runelords and find this series pretty interesting.

**Zeddicus** · November 16th, 1999, 05:35 PM

I have read the short story by Terry Goodkind in Legends, but I didn't get a chance to read any of the others. Which ones really stand out in your mind?

I haven't read any of Piers Anthony's books as of yet.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[This message has been edited by Zeddicus (edited November 16, 1999).]

**Dragon** · November 17th, 1999, 05:58 AM

The standouts in my opinion are:

Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Raymond E. Feist, Orson Scott Card, George R. R. Martin.

There were a few that I didn't like at all and they were:

Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Tad Williams.

The rest were ok.

**Zeddicus** · November 17th, 1999, 06:14 AM

I thought the Terry Goodkind story was pretty well done also. Have you read any of George R.R. Martins' books? I thought they were quite a change of pace from what I'm used to reading.

Looks like I'll have to take a trip to the 'ol library to pick up legends again.

**Mordeth** · November 17th, 1999, 06:20 AM

Read Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time; you will not regret it. The plot is immense and pulls you in, while each person in the huge cast of characters adds to the story and no two people are alike. Jordan has created a world that few authors can even begin to envision. This series is awesome and will leave you screaming for the next book.

Here's a list of all the books so far, in their correct order:

The Eye of the World
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven
Lord of Chaos
A Crown of Swords
The Path of Daggers

[This message has been edited by Mordeth (edited November 17, 1999).]

**Zeddicus** · November 17th, 1999, 08:30 AM

Yep, read those and they are very good. I'd also recommend them to those who haven't read them yet.

**Dragon** · November 17th, 1999, 09:27 AM

The Hedge Knight in Legends takes place about a hundred years before the first book of " A Song of Ice and Fire " series. I went to the bookstore and picked up book one and started to pre-read a little. It was a little different than I exprcted and wasn't sure if I liked it so I put it back. Still might go back to it though. I don't really like stories that are too politically motivated. I can handle it if it's mixed in with good old bood, guts, magic and monsters though. Would you suggest that I go ahead and check it out? This is all I know about Martin.

**Pax** · November 17th, 1999, 10:52 AM

I would definitely check out Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire if you haven't yet. While I like the political maneuvering myself, there's still plenty of blood, gore, magic, and monsters to satisfy any bloodthirsty fantasy fan. Particularly in the second book (A Clash of Kings) - there's an incredibly sweet battle scene near the end.

Pax

**Zeddicus** · November 17th, 1999, 02:38 PM

Dragon

The title of the first book says it all. The first book isn't what you would call "classic fantasy" i.e. Tolkien, Brooks or Jordan etc. The plots or political schemes kind of take center stage here. There is very little visible magic in the first book, but there are some good battle scenes. As for monsters, I think you'll enjoy "The Others"(<---monsters). I'm kind of like you and lean toward reading books that fall into the classic fantasy category, but I did thoroughly enjoy A Game of Thrones.

If you want to read something that's a little different then I would definitely recommend you read it. Martin is a very talented author and for sure never boring.

**Dragon** · November 18th, 1999, 02:15 AM

OK, thanks Pax and Zeddicus. I'm gonna go ahead and put it on my list of books to read. Looks like Goodkind and Jordan will be awhile getting their next books out. I need to read the second book of The Runelords and then I'll be free to venture into something new. I'm thinking about reading Lord of the Isles by David Drake. Anyone familiar with this?

**Zeddicus** · November 18th, 1999, 12:09 PM

If your anything like me, you'll read quite a few before the next Goodkind and Jordan books come out.

**Dragon** · November 18th, 1999, 01:53 PM

So tell me, what type of magic spell are you using to create those spiffy little smiley faces?

**Pax** · November 18th, 1999, 02:05 PM

I like to call it the Cone of Col'on'Brac'ket... namely, a ":" followed by a ")". Sans quotation marks, of course.

There's a whole pile of other smileys, most of 'em variations on the colon-letter combination. I'm far too lazy to type them out here though.

Pax

**Zeddicus** · November 18th, 1999, 03:20 PM

Dragon

You can find the answer to your question plus answers to a lot of other questions in the faq located at the top right of the page. It's called UBB code and is similar to html.

This link will take you straight there.
http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/faq.html

If you type : ) without the space in between, it will automatically turn into

after you hit the submit reply button.