The New and Improved Recommendation - Fantasy / Horror

[syon]

heya, would like to have some advice on wich books i should buy now aswell xD
to be honest, i never liked to read that much till about 7/8 months ago and only recently started to read more intensivly (im 20 now), so i guess im really new to this ><
the books i have read so far are few:
-hearts in atlantis, bag of bones from stephen king
-the 3 books from inheritance (eragon, ..)
-percy jackson series
-1st book of sword of truth
and im currently reading game of thrones.

i intend to get the next books of sword of truth, and to keep reading song of ice and fire (130 pages into the book, and im liking it)

do you guys got any ideas?
from the books i said, i liked percy jackson simply because of the mithology part even thought it's for a younger audience, and inheritance because i found the idea of dragon/rider interesting).
and if possible, a mention of a serie that doesnt start with a guy who's a nobody and that for some reason becomes special and has the world to save... but instead, that starts as a "important evil person".

sry for long post, anyway... ty in advance
cumps

[NickeeCoco]

Can anyone point me in the direction of a fantasy/horror novel which is loosely based on Greek myth? Now, I'm looking for something specific.

Things I Would Like to see:

- Romance - and no, not a story about someone falling in love. More of an romantic, soft, ethereal type of atmosphere.

- Something with a female protagonist.

- Poetic prose.

- Magic

Things I Would Not Like:

- The actual Olympians or heros running around. I don't want gods/heros as characters, unless in the form of a dream, or religious ritual of some sort.

- Stories set in Greece. I want it loosely based.

I know. It's specific, but it's something I've been looking for in a book for a long time. Thought I'd give it a shot.

[Seak]

Nickee,

I don't really know and I'm only going on hearsay, but The Age of Misrule by Mark Chadbourn is supposed to hit a lot of those points you want and I don't think any of the points you don't want. It takes place in Britain I think and I don't know a lot more.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Evil Agent]

heya, would like to have some advice on wich books i should buy now aswell xD
to be honest, i never liked to read that much till about 7/8 months ago and only recently started to read more intensivly (im 20 now), so i guess im really new to this ><
the books i have read so far are few:
-hearts in atlantis, bag of bones from stephen king
-the 3 books from inheritance (eragon, ..)
-percy jackson series
-1st book of sword of truth
and im currently reading game of thrones.

i intend to get the next books of sword of truth, and to keep reading song of ice and fire (130 pages into the book, and im liking it)

do you guys got any ideas?
from the books i said, i liked percy jackson simply because of the mithology part even thought it's for a younger audience, and inheritance because i found the idea of dragon/rider interesting).
and if possible, a mention of a serie that doesnt start with a guy who's a nobody and that for some reason becomes special and has the world to save... but instead, that starts as a "important evil person".

sry for long post, anyway... ty in advance
cumps

Game of Thrones = one of the best.

Sword of Truth = one of the absolute worst (the first book was the best, the rest go downhill... quickly).

[NickeeCoco]

Nickee,

I don't really know and I'm only going on hearsay, but The Age of Misrule by Mark Chadbourn is supposed to hit a lot of those points you want and I don't think any of the points you don't want. It takes place in Britain I think and I don't know a lot more.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I checked it out. It's on my list of "possibilities". It's set in modern times and, generally, I don't really go for fantasy set inmodern times. There are exceptions to this rule, such as Neil Gaiman's work and I really enjoyed Eric Nylund's Mortal Coils. I'll be reading the second book when it comes out. About that, anyone know when that's supposed to happen?

At any rate, when I finish the batch of books I've just received in the mail, I might very well check it out.

[Corporal Blues]

Hey all, what can you tell me about these books:

Doctor Rat by William Kotzwinkle

Watchtower by Elizabeth A. Lynn

Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea

Bridge of Birdsby Barry Hughart

what I DO know is that they are all World Fantasy Award winners, but I'm wondering in general what some of you think of them, what is the writing style like, etc.

thanks.

[Walt]

Hello,
Just like some of the other posts in this thread, I'm new around here and joined the community to get ideas on what I should begin reading next. I'm fairly new to the genre and really have no idea where to go after I'm finished with the series of books I am currently working on.

On the advice of a friend, I picked up Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodking and began reading the series. At the moment I am working on book 8 (Naked Empire) and have enjoyed what I have read so far. The only exception being Books 3 (Blood of the Fold) and Book 7 (Pillars of Creation).

With the series growing closer to a close, I'm looking for suggestions on what to read next. I've gotten some random suggestions to check out Wheel of Time and a Story of Ice and Fire. I looked into picking up the first couple of books for one of the series, but I've come to learn they are not complete.

I would like to move into another series that is finished so that I don't find myself waiting for the last book(s) to be published. Any book that I pick up to follow the Sword of Truth series doesn't necessarily have to be a series, a single book would be just fine as well.

Being that the Sword of Truth Series is my only experience with this genre, I should probably make a couple of notes on what I've liked and disliked, so that suggestions would be easier to make.

I'm kind of torn on the lack of races in the book. I've loved movies with Elves, Dwarves, Humans, etc, but at the same time I didn't miss them in this series. I like that the story is fairly straightforward and easy to follow, but I wouldn't mind more twists along the way.

I often feel like the author thinks that his readers may have memory problems. The non-stop reminders of things in past books are not required and I would happily do without. While I can read through a couple of paragraphs detailing a rape in progress, I'm seeing it so often in these books I'm becoming numb to it.

Some books that I have enjoyed outside of the Wizards and Magic arena have been Velocity by Dean Koontz, the three Hannibal books by Thomas Harris (Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal), and a handful of Stephen King novels from back in my High School days.

While I'm unsure if any of this will help you make suggestions on my next book purchase, I look forward to any direction you may have on where to go from here. Even though I am a little ways out from finishing the series (3 Books and a Novella), I've been reading about a book per week and like to order things in advance so that I don't have to sit around and wait for the USPS/UPS/Fed-Ex truck to arrive with my order.

Also,
Almost forgot to mention it. Someone recommended that I read Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward. On a whim I ordered it with the last of the Sword of Truth series. I haven't read it yet, but would like to know how it compares, if at all, to what i am currently reading.

Thanks
-Walt

Hiya Walt,

I've nothing on Eve Forward. Concerning finished series, there are several by many authors. You might try David Eddings (series: Belgariad, Malloreon, Elenium, Tamuli), Terry Brooks (various Shannara series) and Raymond E. Feist (numerous series set in the world created first in Magician).

Other finished series, darker and more grim in content, would include: R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy, Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and Brian Ruckley's Godless World trilogy.

Its been a little while since my post, but I've managed to read a few books that were recommended to me as well as a few others picked up on a whim. I thought I would post a few thoughts to guide the next recommendation.

In the order that I've read them

Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
Wrapped up the series as well as Debt of Bones. Overall I was happy with having read it.

Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward
Interesting story with the bad guys being set in the role to save the world. Being a stand alone novel, I felt it was a bit short and the pace of the story seemed to jostle around. At times, the pages seemed to fly by and at others they seemed to be grinding to a halt.

The biggest drawback for me was the way magic was portrayed. I didn't mind the hand gestures and incantations, but the all encompassing power was a bit much. On a whim a wizard character could simply teleport around the world. I like when limitations are set so that the story has an added bit of realism.


Belgariad by David Eddings
I thought this was a sort of happy-go-lucky kind of story which put a smile on my face on more than one occasion. Because of how innocent it seemed overall, I struggled to read more than a couple of chapters at a time before setting the book down.

Towards the end of series I couldn't wait to be finished with it. I found myself loosing interest frequently throughout the series.


The Child Thief by Brom
Thought The Child Thief was excellent. The story had a dark element to it that held my interest from start to finish. The pace of the story seemed fast, which i liked. At times it became frustrating because there were few times along the story that I felt I could set the book down and take a break without missing something important on the next page.

This is a book that I will certainly re-read somewhere down the road.


Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Thought the first book was fantastic and read through it in just a couple of days. By the end I was a little concerned with the remainder of the story because of how powerful Vin became.

The second novel took me weeks to get through. The story was interesting but I just found it difficult to read more than a chapter at a time. My major issue was the detail of allomancy. During an action scene my eyes would glaze over as I read how Vin dropped a coin and pushed, then pulled on a window hinge across the street, followed by pushing on the armor of an unsuspecting soldier down below, and on and on and on.....

When I finally did finish the second book, I took a break from Brandson Sanderson and moved to a single novel before heading back.


The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind
It was like someone pressed the fast forward button after the Sword of Truth was finished and we jumped a couple thousand years into the future, to present day.

The story became very predictable at times but the pace was good. Goodkind didn't seem as preachy in Law of Nines like he did in Sword of Truth (perhaps because it was a single novel versus twelve).

Ultimately, I thought it was a good change of pace and I enjoyed it. I managed to finish reading in two days.

---

Right now I'm back to Mistborn and about 150 pages into the last book. The story seemed a little slow to start but it is picking up some steam now. I'm still not thrilled about the details of pushing and pulling during action scenes and it is the only negative aspect of the book that I have run into.


I currently have the following, waiting to be read

• Malloreon by David Eddings
• Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
• Shannara Series by Terry Brooks (not sure which series it is)

Based on what I have mentioned above, do any new recommendations come to mind? Should I shy away from anything I have listed above, as waiting to be read?

Thanks
-Walt

[PeterWilliam]

I currently have the following, waiting to be read

• Malloreon by David Eddings
• Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
• Shannara Series by Terry Brooks (not sure which series it is)

Based on what I have mentioned above, do any new recommendations come to mind? Should I shy away from anything I have listed above, as waiting to be read?

Thanks
-Walt

Walt,

The Malloreon will be more of the same. Its just Belgariad, part 2. Farseer would be a better pick to head into, imo.

I recall that you prefer a completed series, and in that case, I would recommend the numerous works surrounding The Black Company, by Glen Cook. Its definitely an adult, hard bitten and salty series about a veteran mercenary company.

[Seak]

Walt,

The Mallorean is pretty much the exact same thing as The Belgariad just to warn you. It even comments on how things are happening the same way. So, if you want more of the same, go for it.

A Song of Ice and Fire is amazing, but not finished, but might still be worth it.

If you liked Mistborn, I thought Warbreaker was really good and it's stand-alone.

A series that'll blow your mind, that is massive in scope and magic, will be finished this year, and is one of my favorite ever is the Malazan Book of the Fallen starting with Gardens of the Moon.

If some of the more traditional series are getting old, you might try that.

[Seak]

Walt,

The Malloreon will be more of the same. Its just Belgariad, part 2. Farseer would be a better pick to head into, imo.

I recall that you prefer a completed series, and in that case, I would recommend the numerous works surrounding The Black Company, by Glen Cook. Its definitely an adult, hard bitten and salty series about a veteran mercenary company.

Dang, you beat me and now I look like a copy-cat.

[PeterWilliam]

Dang, you beat me and now I look like a copy-cat.

Great minds, brother.

[mshnd06]

Robin Hobb is the best in the genre for genuine emotion and characterization. I found the prose to be a bit spare for my tastes but it isn't really a detriment to the story and its emotive power.

[The K]

I&#180;m searching for a book with the same amount of sex and violence as in A Song of Ice and Fire. I think there is the perfect balance there.

Joe Abercrombie&#180;s work has nice fighting scenes but the sex scenes are horrible.
Scott Bakker&#180;s female characters have no aspect that is not sexual.
Steven Erikson only uses sex as a shadow in the background.

I have read Tigana a few weeks ago and thought that it matched my taste. Are all of Kay&#180;s books written this way? (I&#180;m going to read them anyways)

I want to read a book where sex is discribed, but not just to give the reader a break from all the bloodshed. It should be a part of ordinary live just like death.

[hawkwind]

The K, you should read Jacqueline Carey's Kushial series. I think its exactly what you want.

[Corporal Blues]

I ran across some Dan Abnett books at the used bookstore the other day...I've heard good things about him but I have a few questions:

1. Where to start?
2. Is his stuff SF or fantasy or a blend?
3. I read that his book Triumff is meant to be funny...is all his work like that?

Thanks