SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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Mike (the Paladin)
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Dec 28, 2013 02:42PM

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While in Bangor, I visited Acadia National Park and enjoyed some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. You are fortunate to live so close.

I mostly read sci-fi or epic fantasy, but the truth is that I would enjoy reading (almost) anything!
I've checked the group's bookshelf and, sadly, I've read only ten books. So... Big reading challenge for me!
Hope to "see" everyone around group discussions :)

Thanks for the welcome!


I'm Ove from Stavanger, Norway. I have been a scfi reader most of my 36- year old life. Right now I am into Greg Bear and Anvil of Stars after having finished Forge of God. My favourites includes Peter Hamilton, Ben Bova, Robert Heinlein, John Scalzi and of course the big ones Ray Bradbury, Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov.


live west of the mississippi with a great lady and two of the most awesome cats in the world.


I'm looking for a good sword and sorcery fantasy novel. Suggestions? (No Terry Brooks, George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, Terry Pratchett, J.R.R. Tolkien, or Robert Jordan, please.) It should be written for young adults or older, but I would prefer it if the main character was not a teenager. Picky, aren't I?
If you are an author with this genre of book available free online, I'll look at it but won't promise I'll read it all the way through. Be forewarned: I'm difficult to please and can be harsh in my reviews when I find faults--which is almost certain.

Hi R....is that pronounced "are" or "ur"? Well anyway...
:)
Have you read (and all my friends know what I'm going to suggest here) The Deed of Paksenarrion ? It's a trilogy in one volume made up of Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance and Oath of Gold.
It's the story of a young woman who wants to be a soldier (in a fantasy world) and follows her from signing on with a mercenary company throughout her growth. This is one of my all time favorite books.
For basic Sword and Sorcery of course there are the Conan the Barbarian books by Robert E. Howard (and the lancer paperbacks are pretty good to).
Give us more of an idea what you like. I'm sure we'll overload you with suggestions.



When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.
Desiderius Erasmus

As for what I'm looking for :
Very little or no graphic violence. Images of splattered brains and oozing entrails make me ill.
Sex needs to be of the PG-13 or milder variety. I'm not looking to share the author's personal intimate fantasies, thank you; nor do I need anatomy lessons.
I want something that is wholly set in a fantasy world. No beginning in a mainstream setting then switching over to a magical world by means of an enchanted roll of toilet paper or some such object. (I'm just not in the mood for that type of story at the present time.)
It should not begin with a) a description of the weather (unless it's a Thraxas novel) or b) the main character waking up.
While it may have dark moments, it should not have me reaching for Prozac before I'm done reading.
The author should understand humor and use it the way a gourmet chef uses spices: to enhance and complement.
The main characters should grow and develop throughout the novel.
No deus ex machina. I like surprises and plot twists, but everything should make sense and be explicable within the parameters of the world established by the author.
I prefer a novel that has been professionally edited, however I can overlook minor flaws if the author has writing talent, well defined characters that draw me in and an intriguing plot.
I'm okay with series (isn't everything a series now-a-days?) but story arc should be well thought out and naturally span all novels. Some stories are one book stories, period. When the author tries to wrench and squeeze a sequel from his brain the work is always diluted like tea from an overused teabag and just as enjoyable.
Some of the books I have enjoyed in the past are:
The Hobbit and LOTR (disappointingly predictable of me, I know)
All of Martin Scott's Thraxas novels
The Warlock in Spite of Himself by Christopher Stasheff
A Bad Spell in Yurt by by C. Dale Brittain
Harry Potter, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th books
The Sword of Shannara -first book in the series only- by Terry Brooks. Note: this book could be improved by omitting the word "wordlessly" throughout the text.
The Earthsea Triology by Ursula K. Le Guin
Most of the Night Watch novels by Terry Pratchett

I like the Christopher Stasheff Warlock Inspite of Himself books. have you read his Wizard in Rhyme books? The first is Her Majesty's Wizard and frankly they get better after that one. Still the same type humor and so on. You might also like the Magic Kingdom of Landover books, also written by Terry Brooks I like them far better than his Shannara books.
You might also like the Amber books by Roger Zelazny..the first series (first 5) anyway. Great series with plenty of magic and a bit of humor.
I haven't suggested any Urban Fantasy as they mostly take place in versions of the "real world" that have magic elements "most people don't know about" (a bit like harry Potter I suppose). There are a couple of those I'd also recommend if you're interested.
Hope this helps.

Cheers,
James.

Butcher takes a very "real" approach to his fantasy that is refreshing; Harry Potter is basically transported to a different world by going to Hogwarts (I never really felt any danger for the Muggles) whereas Harry Dresden is a professional wizard IN Chicago and he takes it very personally when monsters cause mayhem in his city.
Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy is definitely more fantastic and aimed toward a younger audience, but it was one of the first times I've laughed out loud while reading. The footnotes are to die for, and the interactions of Bartimaeus the djinni with others are always amusing.

I've been a member of goodreads for a little while now but have only recently bothered to take the time to update and actually integrate myself into the GR community.
Some of my favourite authors are; Jim Butcher; Raymond E. Feist; and, Garth Nix.
I'm not a huge fan of the Young Adult books that have been coming out recently -they all seem a little juvenile and the characters all seem a little too one dimensional, so I tend to read books my dad has gathered since he was a teenager (Fiest, Erikson, etc.) but I've really been trying to get into more modern books.
I love getting suggestions on what to read so if you can think of anything I would love to hear it.

I am a prolific reader of many genres but focus on science fiction, fantasy and horror. Urban Fantasy being a particular favorite in the fantasy realm at the moment. I also am heavily into collecting with a library of over 11,000 books at the moment. Most of which truely have been read. Lol.
As with Thomas, I highly recommend Butcher. His Dresden books are amazing. Along with him you also must read Simon R Green's Nightside series. A completely different take on the "urban magician" theory.
Also among my favorites are Rachel Caine (Weather Warden series) and Patricia Briggs (Mercedes Thompson series).
Finally for something a bit different. If you enjoy mystery/suspense with a bit of otherworldly tossed in, you HAVE to read John Connolly's Charlie Parker series.
In science fiction I tend towards hard sci-fi, Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction and vast world building themes.
Examples;
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series.
Alastair Reynolds - Pushing Ice
Greg Bear- The Forge of God
Lucifer's Hammer by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
SM Stirling - Dies the Fire
Speaking of Stirling. I am currently reading/re-reading all his 'Changes series' and related stories. Stirling is a master and this series is well worth reading.
There are tons, literally tons of other books I could recommend, but will end with one (maybe 2) last novel I believe deserves to be read by anyone interested in science fiction.
Incandescence by Greg Egan
Ringworld by Larry Niven.
I was reminded of Ringworld tonight when watching the film 'Elysium'.

I've been a member of goodreads for a little while now but have only recently bothered to take the t..."
Heya Joshua, Glad to have you here. You can be sure to get a lot of good recommendations. People here are really cool and helpful.
I will give you a list in no particular order. I won't say anything about them, just let you take a look and make up your own mind.
Urban Fantasy Authors;
Jim Butcher
Rob Thurman
John Ridley
SJ Day
Patricia Briggs
Rachel Caine
Ann Aguirre
Justin Gustainis
Pure Fantasy;
Charles de Lint (well, not all pure fantasy)
Ursula K. Le Guin
Tad Williams
Elizabeth Moon
Andre Norton (also sci-fi)
I do have to mention a few of my absolute favorites in Fantasy;
The Belgariad series by David and Leigh Eddings
The Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey
The Black Company series by Glen Cook
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber
The Eternal Champion series by Michael Moorcock
The Amber series by Roger Zelazny
Lastly I HAVE to mention HP Lovecraft. Now he is considered to be a horror author. One of the masters of horror in fact, but he also created a horror fantasy mythos that is still read today. His 'Cthulhu Mythos' is a 'world' where writers actively write of today.
I know, I know, this is a sci-fi/fantasy group, but I feel HPL fits into the fantasy genre in a small way.
Just my opinion for what it's worth.

I remember you duh-duh-duh"
Lol. uh oh

Some of my favorites of the past were Hyperion and Foundation. Since coming back I've discovered Sanderson and his, somewhat predictable yet interesting books, and Scalzi's Old Man's War series. In the past year I've also read the Dresden books and Wool series.
I never joined a book club on Goodreads, so thought I would give it a try. I saw Fuzzy Nation on the list along with the Gaiman novel. That grabbed my attention as I really like everything I've read by Scalzi, so far, and the only book I've ready by Gaiman, American Gods, I hated.
Anyways...not sure what, if anything, I'm looking for here just dropping in for chances discover anything new.


Welcome to. We'll all be more than willing to suggest more books than you can ever get through.
:)





Same with zombies. lol"
I would be interested. I have read a lot of these but a new great read would be awesome! Thanks Brett!

No I haven't read these but I right now have had Amazon to send me the samples. Thank you for suggesting them!

Colour me green with envy! Everything I know about Tolkien (which is a reasonable amount) I learned on my own. I won't complain about uni (college), though, since it gave me my loves of Shakespeare and feminist literature.

Apocalyptic and Post-apocalyptic novels.
The Survivalist: The Nightmare Begins – Jerry Ahern
Phoenix Without Ashes – Edward Bryant & Harlan Ellison
After Things Fell Apart – Ron Goulart
Double Planet – John Gribbin & Marcus Chown
The Day the Earth Froze – Gerald Hatch
Final Blackout – L Ron Hubbard
Masters of the Fist – Edward P Hughes
A For Anything – Damon Knight
Afterwar – Janet Morris (Editor)
Emergence – David R Palmer
Population Doomsday – Don Pendleton
Jake Strait-Bogeyman: The Devil Knocks – Frank Rich
Alongside Night – J Neil Schulman
The Muller-Fokker Effect – John Sladek
On the Beach – Nevil Shute
O-Zone – Paul Theroux
The Azriel Uprising – Allyn Thompson
The Last World War – Dayton Ward
A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M Miller Jr
Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman - Walter M Miller Jr
The Snowfall Trilogy – Mitchell Smith
1. Snowfall
2. Kingdom River
3. Moonrise
Alas, Babylon – Pat Frank
Z for Zachariah – Robert C O'Brien
After the Flood – PC Jersild
When World's Collide – Philip Gordon Wylie & Edwin Balmer
After World's Collide - Philip Gordon Wylie & Edwin Balmer
The Burning World – JG Ballard
The Drowned World – JG Ballard
The Chrysalids (Re-Brith) – John Wyndham
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
The Night of the Triffids – Simon Clark
Dhalgren – Samual R Delany
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K dick
Down to a Sunless Sea – David Graham
The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula K Le Guin
Logan's Run – William F Nolan & George Clayton Johnson

Brett wrote: "okay.... Theresa. Here is a list for you (and anyone else interested). These are books I own and have read. They are wildly various views of the end and some may be hard to find. Others are fairly ..."
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