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Recommendations for a picky reader?
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Hrm.
Have you tried the usual suspects yet?
Mistborn Trilogy, First Law series or maybe The Gentlemen Bastard series?
eta: also, I've only read The Lions of al-Rassan by Kay, but really enjoyed it.
Have you tried the usual suspects yet?
Mistborn Trilogy, First Law series or maybe The Gentlemen Bastard series?
eta: also, I've only read The Lions of al-Rassan by Kay, but really enjoyed it.
Am I the only person on earth who utterly loathed Perdido Street Station? Not to say he wouldn't like it. Most people do. I just feel a bit out of place on it.
He may like Juliet Marillier or Patricia McKillip for atmospheric woods, but I would guess that picture is more prevalent in YA. I will second Lions of Al-Rassan. Fabulous. I will also recommend Sharon Shinn, Dave Duncan, Greg Keyes, Tom Dietz (OG urban fantasy), and N.K. Jemisin. Maybe Elizabeth Bear. These are only technically epic fantasy and all more immediate than expansive. Sorry I can't give you more, GR is really slow for me atm.
Ala wrote: "Hrm. Have you tried the usual suspects yet?
Mistborn Trilogy, First Law series or maybe The Gentlemen Bastard series?"
He said he had flipped through The Blade Itself at a bookstore, but was ultimately turned off by this bit in the blurb: "But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules." (It should be noted that he's from the "frozen North" and that's probably why he's tired of seeing it as a trope all the time. :p)
I did show him The Lies of Locke Lamora, but I'm not sure if he found it appealing or not. Mistborn: The Final Empire sounds like it would be his type of thing, and it's actually on my personal TBR list, but I just showed him the page and he went "ehhh" at it.
However! He does like Patrick Rothfuss quite a bit - he hasn't finished The Wise Man's Fear yet, but he says he likes that everything doesn't go in a straight, smooth line for Kvothe all the time. So if there are books that have more of that, then that'd be good. :D (OMG YAY I FIXED THE BORKED CODE -faints-)
![Ed [Redacted] (ed__)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1429513592p1/3968676.jpg)
The album cover or whatever reminds me of The Road or World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War or The Day of the Triffids I don't know, something bleak and post-apocalyptic.As far as the second, probably The Black Company or something similar. Abercrombie really does sound right up his alley though. Try to get him to try Best Served Cold. It was my introduction to Abercrombie and I now own everything he has ever written.
These books don't completely stick to your criteria, but they are books that I found to be enjoyable and to not be completely stereotypically boring/conventional. There might have been some use of the conventions but the authors were in many cases having fun with them or gently sending them up. Or even doing something that was new or felt new.Dreams Underfoot
Midnight Riot
Flora Segunda
Jhereg
The Last Hot Time
The City & The City
His Majesty's Dragon
The Anvil of the World
The Curse of Chalion
War for the Oaks
Tam Lin
Moonshine and Sunshine - vampire books that I thought were, well, respectable and didn't make me want to throw them down a well.
new_user wrote: "He may like Juliet Marillier or Patricia McKillip for atmospheric woods, but I would guess that picture is more prevalent in YA. I will second Lions of Al-Rassan. ..."
I was only familiar with Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy, which I had suggested but he turned down because retellings tend to bore him, but the summary for Wolfskin seems pretty good - I'll see if I can convince him to look into that, since her prose is really beautiful.
I was also considering recommending him Shinn, though I've only read Archangel - I only found it okay, but the world-building was a highlight, so I'll pass that onto him. I can't say I'm familiar with any of the other authors you've listed, though I really need to read some McKillip...
I'd recommend:The Coldfire trilogy by C.S. Friedman
The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan
Night's Master by Tanith Lee
The Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust
Denae wrote: "Am I the only person on earth who utterly loathed Perdido Street Station? Not to say he wouldn't like it. Most people do. I just feel a bit out of place on it."You're not the only one. I can't comprehend why people like it myself. All icing, no cake. But then I know people who eat just icing and skip the cake *shudder*.
I understand the picture example. Its not a literal representation he's looking for, but a feeling it generates. C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy will fit the bill there. I'll also add in her Magister series. Third book is due out later this year and IMO is even better.
I'll second Brandon Sanderson. The Mistborn series should also fit into what he's looking for.
Might also try some Carol Berg. The Lighthouse Duology is very good. There are Fae, mostly in the second book, but they are very integral to where the story is going.
Valerie wrote: "new_user wrote: "He may like Juliet Marillier or Patricia McKillip for atmospheric woods, but I would guess that picture is more prevalent in YA. I will second Lio..."
Yep, I would recommend one of Marillier's other series. I can understand his hesitation for retellings. I'd never heard the swans tale myself. Re: Shinn, I would recommend her Houses series instead: Mystic and Rider. I couldn't get into the angels, and the characters were interesting in these.
From what you're saying about him liking characters not in a straight line, I think he'd like Greg Keyes better out of those I listed and maybe GGK.
Denae wrote: "Am I the only person on earth who utterly loathed Perdido Street Station? Not to say he wouldn't like it. Most people do. I just feel a bit out of place on it."
I read the entire thing and was bored to tears.
I read the entire thing and was bored to tears.
Ala wrote: "Denae wrote: "Am I the only person on earth who utterly loathed Perdido Street Station? Not to say he wouldn't like it. Most people do. I just feel a bit out of place on it."I read t..."
It wasn't only boredom, although that was there. It felt a bit like swimming in a very dirty river. A bit like the one in the Discworld books, actually. I'm anything but squeamish, normally, but there was something so incredibly hopeless and pointless about the whole thing. I was fairly angry with the person who recommended it, because he really should have known me better. Well, or at least that was my thought at the time, now I know he didn't. Anyway, it just makes me tired and a little sad to think about. And I think it was very poorly written.
Denae - I started to read PSS but didn't get very far. The setting and story just seemed squalid. I'm not a sunshine-and-rainbows-all-the-time person, but ... yeah. It was a bit of a downer.
Squalid is exactly the right word
Butcher's Dresden Files: urban fantasy, all monsters plot integral, realistic worldbuilding.
Denae wrote: "Ala wrote: "Denae wrote: "Am I the only person on earth who utterly loathed Perdido Street Station? Not to say he wouldn't like it. Most people do. I just feel a bit out of place on it..."See, and I think this is exactly the type of thing he likes! Another book he read and loved was Let the Right One In, and he felt it was effective mostly because of the setting - when he heard that the American remake of the movie would have it set in a small town as opposed to a gloomy suburb, he thought that it'd take a lot away from the story.
@Genia, I've suggested Dresden Files before, but after a bit of discussion I don't think he'd get on with Harry as a main character at all.
Thanks for the recs, everyone! I'm adding several of these to my own TBR pile, haha.
Just my two cents, but I think Perdido Street Station has exactly the feel of the picture. The city and its inhabitants really do have that dark woods sort of feeling, and the people in it may be aliens but their motivations are very human, so I was on their side even though they might take ill advised actions. And I liked the main characters, too. However, this is clearly not for everyone, and the setting is really dark.
Okay, how about Gaiman? American Gods or Neverwhere.
Has he tried horror instead of fantasy?
Colleen's question reminds me that Feed might be a good rec. It was just nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. There's also One Bloody Thing After Another (another nominee), as long as he has no objection to non-linear narratives.
Thieves' World has good world-building, not too many cases of fantasy tropes used without reason, and I've heard that the collected volumes are back in print and easier to get hold of now.Swords and Deviltry is also a fantasy series with a good world around it.
If horror's an option, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War slowly reveals a well thought out world in five page narratives.
Seconding World War Z - I should have remembered that one.
I would recommend you picking up Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb, I just loving everything she writes. It is kind of like Song of Ice and Fire where people are always fighting for the control of the throne.
Are you new to Hobb, Kevin? For some reason I had thought you had read her before and weren't impressed... Maybe I'm mixing you up with someone else though.
Dawn wrote: "Are you new to Hobb, Kevin? For some reason I had thought you had read her before and weren't impressed... Maybe I'm mixing you up with someone else though."I am not as impressed with her main characters as I am with her writing where she is clearly, easy, and fun to read. The problem is that they always have a guiding force.
If the mystery genre is an option, Snow Angels and Jar City are pretty dark and depressing. (I don't know enough to say if a bent toward the depression is characteristic of Scandinavian authors and settings, but I am starting to think maybe. It should be noted that my sample size is pretty small.) Both have sequels.
Maybe try something completely different (like not exactly fantasy, but futuristic), like Kim Stanley Robinson. The Mars trilogy might be more detailed than desired, but you could try the California books, which are not a trilogy and can be read in any order, but my preference is "The Wild Shore", "The Gold Coast" and then "Pacific Edge". Worlds are created, but they are future worlds for southern California. Wonderful books. I also LOVE his other trilogy, "Forty Signs of Rain" is the first one. Takes place in very near future USA and involves global climate change. Other ideas -- John Varley's Titan/Wizard/Demon books, Titan being the first, and they are much more fantastical than sci-fi except right at the beginning. My whole family love Guy Gavriel Kay's "The Lions of Al-Rassan" -- it is one that my husband recommends to everyone. You could try John Scalzi, "Old Man's War" or David Brin's "Uplift" series. Has your SO read Coyote by Allen Steele? Not fantasy, but definitely world building and exploration on another planet. How about Little, Big by John Crowley? Definitely fantasy. Charles de Lint's Newford books are my all time favorite.
Denae wrote: "Ala wrote: "Denae wrote: "Am I the only person on earth who utterly loathed Perdido Street Station? Not to say he wouldn't like it. Most people do. I just feel a bit out of place on it..."I agree. The book had a hopelessness to it that pervaded everything. And I never really understood the main characters incredible drive to do the right thing and destroy the moths. Where did that come from given the setting?
The Jeff VanderMeer books set in Ambergris (City of Saints & Madmen, Shriek, an Afterword, and Finch) are likewise set in a very dark and ruined city but the motivations of the characters are much more understandable and the outcome not so pointless.
Another optionI've created a "discussion" topic for all you folks who want to advertise your new SF/Fantasy book (or found a new one you want to promote).
Please read the rules in the first post.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...
Maybe this will help people looking for new things to read.
So, authors and publishers: go there to announce your new book.
Readers: go there to see what's new in SF and Fantasy.
I've started it off. Now it's your turn.
Goodreads wrote: "Sorry, that group is secret."Either that, or your link is broken. Or both?
Sorry. The GR editor chopped off the last few characters of the address. I fixed the post. And just to make sure, here it is again.http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...
Someone already mentioned The City & The City but I wanted to second it - my favourite fantasy book of recent reading, while being almost not a fantasy book at all...
Yeah, out of everything recommended he's REALLY interested in the "New Weird" authors the most. :) As for those recommending horror books: I can see where you're coming from, but he's really not fond of the zombie trend at all. I've tried pushing American Gods on him a few times - I still think it's something he'd really enjoy. For now, he's still busy with The Wise Man's Fear and plans on checking out Perdido Street Station and Kushiel's Dart afterwards. :D
The New WeirdThere's at least one New Weird anthology. (I tried to read it and discovered that I didn't particularly care for New Weird. >.> It seemed like a decent anthology, aside from that.)
I highly recommend Among Others by Jo Walton. There are fairies, but they are kept to a minimum, and are integral to the plot.I'll add my voice to the recommendations for Mistborn: The Final Empire. Do you have any e-readers? If your SO could read the prologue to Mistborn, I'm betting they'd be hooked!
Ditto for the Dresden recommendation - I've read 9 books in a row. They're wonderfully addicting!
Old Man's War is more of a space opera, but it is incredibly well written, with excellent characters and plenty of adventures.
I would also recommend The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I haven't met a single fantasy fan who has disliked the series!
Valerie wrote: "...I was only familiar with Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy, which I had suggested but he turned down because retellings tend to bore him, but the summary for Wolfskin seems pretty good ..."Sevenwaters is hardly a 'retelling' rather a magical adaptation of a myth, almost unknown in Western civ unless one happened to grow up in Ireland.
If Sevenwaters has a feminine bent, and I think it does, than Wolfskin and Foxmask are strongly masculine and done elegantly by Juliet. Where Sevenwaters is more mythic fantasy, The Light Isles is an historical fantasy about a Viking migration to the Orkneys and discovery of the Faroes .
Perhaps your SO needs a bit of spoonfeeding to combat cynicism :BIG WINK::BIG GRIN:
IMO, Juliet Marillier is one of the greatest modern fantasy writers. I'd also highly recommend her Bridei Chronicles an historical fantasy about the Scottish highlands.
I agree, Kernos, although I would say that all her novels are feminist. She always writes very strong female characters.
new_user wrote: "I agree, Kernos, although I would say that all her novels are feminist. She always writes very strong female characters."I'd still say feminine rather than feminist. I don't feel the feminist agenda is being pushed on me by Marillier which annoys me no matter how liberal I am.
Wolfskin has one of the best descriptions of a male coming of age ritual I have ever read. She writes string male and female characters.
LOL. What fantasy have you read that pushes that agenda on you? I can only think of the fantasies with women in power and subjugating men, e.g. Black Jewels, Exiles or Amberlight.
How about Katharine Kerr's series on Deverry? It builds a fascinating world, but maybe you'd consider it too much of an epic.
The Amber series by Roger Zelazny is a pretty interesting world: Nine Princes in Amber
The Guns of Avalon
Sign of the Unicorn
The Hand of Oberon
The Courts of Chaos (there are 5 others)
And it has a bit of that darkness about it that might interest your SO. Might also try "Lord of Light" by the same author.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Wolfskin (other topics)Foxmask (other topics)
Mistborn: The Final Empire (other topics)
Among Others (other topics)
Old Man's War (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Juliet Marillier (other topics)Robin Hobb (other topics)
Clive Barker (other topics)
Juliet Marillier (other topics)
Patricia A. McKillip (other topics)
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My SO wants to like reading. However, he's having a really hard time finding books that pull him in. I'll try to divide this into two sections:
1. He's looking for a book that captures an atmosphere that, represented pictorially, is something like this. Doesn't matter which genre.
OR
2. A fantasy novel/series that has a strong focus on setting/world-building without being too epic/expansive (like GRRM or Erikson). Other criteria include:
- No bonus vampires/demons/werewolves/faeries - if they're absolutely integral to the plot, then that's fine, but the current trend of adding supernatural creatures to a story that doesn't require them makes him rage. (He recoils in horror every time he reads a Cassandra Clare plot summary.)
- Something that doesn't give into too many fantasy tropes, including but not limited to: dragons, elves, dwarves, etc; character names sprinkled with apostrophes; "There will be a great battle in the North"; organizations with shady names that want to conquer the world; etc
I've posted this elsewhere, and out of the recs received there, he's most interested in Perdido Street Station. Another book that's piqued his interest is Lifelode by Jo Walton. I also think he might like Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books, and though I haven't read anything by him yet, Guy Gavriel Kay sounds up his alley (apart from The Fionavar Tapestry). Does anybody here have any recommendations?