Recommendations Thread

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Trevor I would say anything by Peter F Hamilton. I've only read a bit but really enjoyed it. There is the Night's Dawn trilogy, and then the Commonwealth books which I believe have to series set in the same universe but thousand years apart.

I don't believe any space opera list is complete without Peter f Hamilton

[Trevor]

Lancer wrote: "Trevor I would say anything by Peter F Hamilton. I've only read a bit but really enjoyed it. There is the Night's Dawn trilogy, and then the Commonwealth books which I believe have to series se..."

Thanks Lancer, I am slowly collecting his books even though they are massive tomes :)

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Yes, if anyone ever breaks into your house and you find yourself weaponless, just grab a Peter f Hamilton book and beat them with that.

[Wayland, Ernest Scribbler]

For space opera, I'd recommend the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. The worlds, cultures, and characters are great. The first few books, the battle scenes bog down a little, reading like a technical manual, but that thins out as the series goes.

[Lafayette]

Does anyone know of any fantasy books where women have equal power to men?
Not equal power to men but more power : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
But I can't recommend it as I didn't read it. (I read the sequel : In the mother's land, that I didn't like)

[Trevor]

Wayland wrote: "For space opera, I'd recommend the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. The worlds, cultures, and characters are great. The first few books, the battle scenes bog down a little, reading like a t..."

Thanks Wayland, I picked up a Honor Harrington book yesterday so I'll see how I get on with it.

[Ryan]

Hybrid Creature (devours books instead of brains) wrote: " has a polyamorous society where families have many husbands and wives all in the same group. However, the women pick what men marry into the family and politi..."

I just finished God's War by the same author - a far future science fantasy, with a lot more fantasy than science. It is violently feminist and the protagonist is one of the most relentless characters I've read.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

It may be out there but I would love to read a far future almost dystopian setting where the world has had to revert to an almost medieval lifestyle. But where they know that they had it and lost but because they used it all up they are in the situation they are in.

Or something along those lines. Perhaps where there are a few guns left but they are very few and far between, or maybe just no guns at all. Maybe throw some kind of magic in there.

OK now I'm rambling but you get my drift.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Lancer wrote: "It may be out there but I would love to read a far future almost dystopian setting where the world has had to revert to an almost medieval lifestyle. But where they know that they had it and lost ..."

Some good books out there for that, Dune kind of goes down that path, not really medieval though.

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

Lancer, have you read Mark Lawrences Broken Empire or Red Queen books. The setting is pretty much a distant future where the world has reverted to a medievil feudal system but with remnants of our age such as buildings and nuclear silos.
There is magic all alongside this but I can't remember any guns. Some of the people are vaguely aware that something got badly screwed up along the way

[Jeff]

Rinn wrote: "Okay as I was talking to someone on Twitter about this last night...

Does anyone know of any fantasy books where women have equal power to men?

Because I swear every fantasy series, if it's based..."
Try the malazan book of the fallen by erikson.The women are just as powerful as the men,and have major roles.

[Kristofer]

Rinn wrote: "Okay as I was talking to someone on Twitter about this last night...

Does anyone know of any fantasy books where women have equal power to men?

Because I swear every fantasy series, if it's based..."

The Wheel of time series by Robert Jordan is rife with powerful women. Magic is used by Channelers, who at the outset are all women only, as the male side of their "magic" drives men insane. Robert died before he could finish the series, so Brandon Sanderson carried the torch for the last two books. Also did a damn good job of it too. He also has lots of matriarchal-type societies.

[proxyfish]

Rinn wrote: "Does anyone know of any fantasy books where women have equal power to men?"

Long time since I read it but The Black Jewels Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop is pretty much a female dominated world. I absolutely loved it when I first came across it. There are certainly strong male characters throughout the narrative but the women hold all the power.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Lafayette wrote: "Does anyone know of any fantasy books where women have equal power to men?
Not equal power to men but more power : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1......"

The Age of Five Series by Trudi Canavan starting with Priestess of the White

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Thanks for the recommendations! I will have to check them out.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

So on further examination I have read Prince of Thorns a couple years ago, I enjoyed it at a 3.5 stars or so. Does the series improve quite a bit?

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

I think it does. Emperor of Thorns got quite a bit of critical aclaim and his new series is set in the same world and is really good

[Shawnie]

Lancer wrote: "It may be out there but I would love to read a far future almost dystopian setting where the world has had to revert to an almost medieval lifestyle. But where they know that they had it and lost ..."

I think The Passage has the aspects you're describing here. I really enjoyed book 1 and haven't yet moved on to #2 The Twelve.

[Andrew]

Lancer, parts of Stephen King's Dark Tower series takes place in a world very much like this.

It jumps around in time, and even into parallel worlds. The first book, book 4, and a later released "book 4.5" take place when "the world has moved on", and is a mix of old west and Arthurian knights and dark-supernatural. The main character of the entire series, Roland, is from this world, and the juxtaposition of himself with people from worlds more like our own can be quite funny at times.

Other parts of the series take place in different levels of the world "moving on" from the way it once was, yet also not how Roland is used to either.

I rather enjoyed the series, but the first book is a bit slow and meandering. The second is amazing, one of my favorite King books ever, and the third is almost as good. The 4th, which is mostly a flashback of Roland's life, is also very good. 5-7 get into very deep levels of bizarre, but I still found them good enough to read.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Thanks for the recommendations! The passage looks really good.

I have read the Gunslinger and though I liked it I never read any further in the series. I picked book 2 up for a buck at a book sale and haven't read it yet. May just have to do so.

Also has anyone read The Stand by King? I have it as well but have yet to read it.

[Kristofer]

I have always wanted to read it. Loved the miniseries that came out way back when. Something to look into.

[Wayland, Ernest Scribbler]

I enjoyed the Stand. It's LONG and there's a lot to keep track of, but I think it was nicely done.

[Andrew]

The Gunslinger was good. Mysterious loner in a mysterious land. Slow and dark--and weird as hell at times. I'm quite fond of the passage where the Gunslinger meets with the Man in Black and he explains about the incomprehensible nature of size in the universe(s).

But The Drawing of the Three is just so much better. It's quite different, but if you enjoy King you should like it. I think its biggest drawback is that it is the best of the series, and the books gradually gets worse (or perhaps just TOO weird, while still being very good) as it goes on.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I'm not a fan of the Dark Tower series, to me it's nothing special and I found the ending to be annoying.

[Tom]

for me the gunslinger was one of the worst fantasies I've read, I heard it gets better for the next couple of books but I doubt I'll ever pick them up after that first one

[Trevor]

Tom wrote: "for me the gunslinger was one of the worst fantasies I've read, I heard it gets better for the next couple of books but I doubt I'll ever pick them up after that first one"

That was my experience of it too

[Lel]

I couldn't get through the first book.....

[Andrew]

lol Yeah Gunslinger is notoriously hit or miss with people, being very meandering and weird as hell in parts. The second book is completely different and far superior. I think the second book could be a standalone series in itself.

Another big complaint in the series is how book 4 (and 4.5) are almost entirely flashbacks to Roland's youth.

I always assumed that a big-or-small-screen adaptation would more wisely deal with both of these issues. Edit and/or punch up the events of book 1, and intersperse Roland's youth as a secondary but connected story in flashbacks (like virtually every episode of Lost--which also had quite a few Dark Tower references btw!).

Sony has slated the release of the first movie for 2017. Early reports had stated the possibility of it being one cinema movie, one season on tv, on movie, etc. Wondering how it all will play out, and looking especially forward to book 2's adaption :)

[Jenn]

I have a weird request. Does anyone know of any books where the villain wins? Or least the hero is so much of an antihero they're essentially bad? The only one that it seems like everyone knows is 1984.

[Cupcakes & Machetes, Hybrid Creature]

Adrian wrote: "I have a weird request. Does anyone know of any books where the villain wins? Or least the hero is so much of an antihero they're essentially bad? The only one that it seems like everyone knows is ..."

I would say that Vicious is like that. Also, Prince of Thorns. Both were very good in my opinion. If I think of any others, I will let you know.

[Kristofer]

Adrian wrote: "I have a weird request. Does anyone know of any books where the villain wins? Or least the hero is so much of an antihero they're essentially bad? The only one that it seems like everyone knows is ..."

Like graphic novels? The Walking Dead is just one long story about anti-heroism and survival. The Walking Dead, Book One I would recommend the actual books too.

Also The Governor is a REALLY bad dude and has his own novel series that I recommend: The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor.

Aliens Omnibus: Earth Hive / Nightmare Asylum / The Female War is great if you are a fan of the Aliens movie. The Aliens win big in that book and reading about them taking over Earth is devastating.

So many anti-hero type books I could go on and on. Or I should say so many books where the hero loses.

[Jenn]

Thanks, these look good.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Adrian wrote: "I have a weird request. Does anyone know of any books where the villain wins? Or least the hero is so much of an antihero they're essentially bad? The only one that it seems like everyone knows is ..."

By the end of the Thomas Convenant series I was really hoping Convenant would lose, though I would not really want to recommend anyone that series. I actually love "The Land" but don't like any of the characters in the series, actually I do like Saltheart Foamfollower, but that is about it.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

I'm posting this because I need a recommendation for sci-fi month.

I do have it narrowed down to a few different books. Dune, The Foundation Trilogy, The Mechanical, and possibly either the third book of the Han Solo Trilogy or the first book of the Thrawn trilogy.

I have never read any of them so any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

Probably won't help too much but my plan for scifi month includes the following - Only You can Save Mankind by Pratchett , I Robot by Asimov, Gods of Mars by Burrough Rice, Golden Son , Press Start To Play ( an anthology of game related scifi) , We Can Build You by PKDick and Conquest by John Connolly and Jennie Ridyard. A bit of a mix of old and new .

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

I think for me Dune is the front runner at the moment

[Lafayette]

You won't be desappointed with Dune.

[Dawn]

Adrian wrote: "I have a weird request. Does anyone know of any books where the villain wins?"

Try the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. There are a lot of the characters you are looking for. The main hero is a bad guy trying to be good and characters you think are totally good/bad end up surprising you. The ending totally fits with your request.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Red Country by Joe Abercrombie is amazing but won't have the same effect if you haven't read the first law books first

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Lancer wrote: "I think for me Dune is the front runner at the moment"

As Lafayette said, you will not be disappointed, I like almost all of the dune books...even some of them written by his son (shhh, don't tell anyone...)

[Tom]

I like all the dunes except the second one messiah, it's half the size of the other books but somehow felt twice as long

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

It's been on my shelf at home forever, one of my longest waited to reads. I've always thought I would enjoy it but somehow have never gotten to it. So I am quite excited for it.

[Jeff]

I have read the 1st 6 dune books at least 5 or 6 times.All time favorite.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

So I'm about 50 pages into Dune and so far there is a literal shit ton of info and words made up for stuff and I am constantly flipping to the appendix to look up definitions and stuff. Does it get a little easier to understand as you go?

Don't get me wrong this happens in a lot of books and it doesn't bother me, I'm more just curious if I will be spending a lot of time flipping back and forth.

[Jeff]

It will get easier.keep on going.I didnt use it much,but once you get them down it shouldnt be bad.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Right on, it looks like it's gonna be a great book.

[Andrew]

I read Dune last year. I gave it 4 stars, as it is undeniably masterful writing, and had some aspects in it I enjoyed. I probably copied down some quotes from it at a higher rate than many other novels. But frankly for my personal "I had a good time" taste, it was perhaps 3-3.5 stars.

It reminded me of my least favorite parts of The Wheel of Time, highly condensed into one long novel. I'm just not a fan of the meandering minutia of politics and culture--and civilizations entirely obsessed with both. I appreciate the genius behind crafting them, and I understand other people just eat that type of thing up. Just not for me.

In a way I feel that something like Riyria Revelations or Ketty Jay is the antithesis of Dune. Some people complain about the sparse details there, but I love it that way. Let the characters and story take the front seat, and explain to me things on a need-to-know basis.

An undeniable classic that I'm glad I took the time to read. Brilliant selection of quotes to be found. Just overall not for me, and I have no plans on picking up the sequels.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Even though I'm only a little bit in I think you hit the nail on the head andrew.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

I've been meaning to read Dune for about 25 years now. Many of friends weren't as crazy about the sequels, which I think has made me procrastinate it.

I liked Riyria Revelations because it was just FUN.

[Jeff]

I usually prefer character driven novels.For me,the Dune books (all of them as a whole) are some of the best world building I have seen in any genre period.I enjoyed the philosophical aspects as well.What really impressed was the sense of history attatched to the story,the vastness off time and space.It is one of my all time favorites,and I dont think it is viewed properly when only read as a single novel.That would be like only reading the fellowship of the ring.