No job this year, so I'll have plenty of free time over break to do some reading.

Any suggestions? I'm partial to post-apocalypse stuff, as well as blatant Tolkien ripoffs with a lot of magic and a map in the front.

12/3/2005 4:20:43 PM

Quote :

"map in the front"

haha, that always used to do it for me

12/3/2005 4:22:19 PM

12/3/2005 4:22:25 PM

More like hypercrap.

Neal Stephensons Quicksilver

Susana clarks Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

And, anything to do with the underdark, in the forgotte realms series.

12/3/2005 4:30:46 PM

what are you talking about? The Hyperion Cantos is about as good as science fiction gets.

12/3/2005 4:32:14 PM

elizabeth haydon's rhapsody series is pretty good...has the requisite magic and map

12/3/2005 4:32:47 PM

Quote :

"Neal Stephensons Quicksilver"

YES. And the other two books of the Baroque Cycle, The Confusion and System of the World, which I'm currently reading. Kind of genre-defying--it's like historic-sci-fi-action-fiction. Come to think of it, I haven't read anything I don't like by Stephenson.

Also VERY highly recommended by me is the Death Gate cycle, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. 7 books that I couldn't put down. Try it out.

12/3/2005 4:51:50 PM

12/3/2005 4:55:54 PM

george r.r. martin's song of fire and ice series is interesting (i knew i forgot another good series).

not traditional epic fantasy...seems more real than some others because you aren't sure which characters you should like...line between good and evil is very blurry

12/3/2005 4:56:30 PM

There is a map in the front and everything!
The whole series (Sword of Truth) is amazing.

12/3/2005 5:47:01 PM

"Neal Stephensons Quicksilver"


Cryptonomicon is better

12/3/2005 6:36:13 PM

Robert Jordan's wheel of time series will eat up about a month in the blink of an eye. a little bit of sci-fi is included which you'll pick up on as you read along (also kind of post apocalyptic but i don't want to spoil anything)

LE Modesitt's series are fairly good, some have a nice mixture of sci-fi and fantasy (recluse saga)

the shannara books (terry brooks) were good as well, although the original ones were the best. the newer ones are just getting kind of old and stale.

I have to agree with george R.R. martin's fire and ice series, excellent books. the way he breaks up the chapters for each character is really engrossing. you'll find yourself flipping through the book just to read certain chapters for your favorite characters.

Robin Hobb is also an excellent choice both of her series are good and she just started a new one.

so many others, but thats a good start.

12/3/2005 6:57:46 PM

Fforde

12/3/2005 7:26:54 PM

Stephen Colbert’s Alpha Squad 7: Lady Nocturne: A Tek Jansen Adventure

12/3/2005 7:34:32 PM

wizards first rule is pretty good, as you get deeper into the series, gets darker. i like it, its pretty good, sometimes has some descriptive instances that go over the top though

12/3/2005 7:45:53 PM

Sci:
Gibson's works that are good reads:
-Neuromancer
-Burning Chrome (short story collection, but it's good stuff)
-Count Zero (actually liked it a bit more than Neuromancer, but it's much less popular for most people, I guess)

Fantasy:
-Glen Cook's Black Company series is a personal favorite on my end. It drops the wise old wizards and noble hero cliches. Sadly, it's a downhill ride as the first 3 books are the best of the series.
-Heard good things about Fire & Ice, though I haven't read it yet.

Also, I dunno where this would fit, but King's Dark Tower series is tolerable fun. Post-apocalypic, fantasy, western, scifi. If I forgot a genre that it at least touches upon, please let me know.

12/3/2005 7:51:18 PM

The Thomas Covenant series of books

12/3/2005 9:07:15 PM

Stephen R Donaldson's Gap Series

12/3/2005 9:12:56 PM

Neal Gaiman. Sort of fantasy-ish.

12/3/2005 10:26:03 PM

^American Gods is good

and i hear Good Omens is good but i havent read it yet

12/3/2005 10:31:36 PM

^good omens is irreverent....but hilariously so

12/3/2005 10:34:22 PM

dune

its got a map and a glossary.

i'm on page 32.

12/3/2005 10:41:48 PM

read some Lovecraft

12/3/2005 10:49:16 PM

I'm personally a big fan of George R.R. Martin, and will be going to B&N as soon as I'm done with my CH 315 final this Friday to pick up his new book, A Feast For Crows.

12/3/2005 11:06:46 PM

The Foundation series by Asimov is great.

And I don't like science fiction all that much.

Also, The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut is like my 2nd or 3rd favorite book ever. If you don't like it, you suck.

12/3/2005 11:30:41 PM

Stephen King's Dark Tower series (in case you havent already read it). Post-apocalyptic, some magic, some sci-fi, lots of cowboy.

12/3/2005 11:37:27 PM

George RR Martin's series "Song of Ice and Fire" is fucking ridiculous

he's really one hell of a writer

12/3/2005 11:45:46 PM

Ender's Game
MAgic The Gathering series. If you've ever liked MTG you'll probably like the books there. Antiquity Wars etc is really good. You learn why MTG is so popular, the back stories are insanely good.

There are several trilogies there, and a bunch of fan work but that's more obvious.

I didn't like Hy-boremetodeath-on.

If you're into more realistic sci-fi, Red Mars, Blue Mars and the Rama series is very good.

12/3/2005 11:48:42 PM

omg omg omg omg.

Read Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. I've ready every other book suggested by these n00bs, but I've never loved a book as much as the Kushiel series.

ANd is has a map in the front.

Goodkind's books are good, but you'll find the women in them rather 2-d. I'm reading Martin's books, and I've read most of Robert Jordans, but neither series is finished, and Jordans is really bogging down.

Btw, I have an extensive library if you ever wanna borrow something from me

[Edited on December 4, 2005 at 12:07 AM. Reason : sd]

12/4/2005 12:03:26 AM

lol. kurt writing fantasy. the same man tha wrote slaughter house 5, the childrens crusade about a massive wipeout of humans? kinda switch in writing styles

12/4/2005 12:14:10 AM

I, Claudius by Robert Graves. Not fantasy or post-apocolyptic but I've never met anyone who read this book and didn't like it.

12/4/2005 12:40:36 AM

I've read most of the basics, Dune, Asimov, ect

I like some "hard" sci-fi, Larry Niven in particular. However I don't like the crazier stuff (Greg Bear)

Recently I discovered Dean Koontz, read his Frankenstein series this summer. I thought it was awesome, and apparently that guy is a prolific writer. If anyone can recommend a book or series of his that would be great

12/4/2005 12:45:18 AM

Quote :

"lol. kurt writing fantasy. the same man tha wrote slaughter house 5, the childrens crusade about a massive wipeout of humans? kinda switch in writing styles"

Are you joking? First, The Sirens of Titan is sci-fi. Second, he started out, and pretty much continued to throughout his career, writing books that at least had elements of sci-fi (outer space, time travel, taking place in the future, et cetera).

12/4/2005 12:49:19 AM

How did I forget the Dark Tower series? A masterpiece.

12/4/2005 1:10:31 AM

those who can't do science write science fiction

12/4/2005 3:58:21 AM

John Barnes "The Timeline Wars" is awesome. It is really three books in one...two and three are entitled "Washington's Drigible" and "Caeser's Bicycle"

12/4/2005 6:11:33 AM

Anything written by Jeff Noon.

12/4/2005 2:31:24 PM

The Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony is one of my favorite sets of books. 7 books, starts with "On A Pale Horse". It's set in a modern world like ours, but people use magic as well as technology.

Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series is good too, but made for a younger audience.

12/4/2005 2:51:14 PM

Hey, never heard back from that person about the redneck festival. Anywho, I have thousands of books like that. So, I can definitely loan you some. Kevin's mom and I trade off a lot.

12/4/2005 5:35:51 PM

Georges fire and ice series is badass, start with "a game of thrones"

Quote :

"Robert Jordan's wheel of time series"

Only read the first four books. It goes downhill like a wheel, too

12/4/2005 6:21:37 PM

To OP:

A dark and somewhat apocalyptic fantasy series is an oldie, but goodie: Michael Moorcock's "Elric of Melnibone" set. Easily read over a break period.

12/4/2005 9:37:56 PM

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a good, standard, classic, post-apocalyptic sci-fi.

As for Tolkienesque fantasy, I'd recommend any of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber. Actually, I don't know if "Tolkienesque" is appropriate; many of the stories actually predate LOTR, and they're not as epic as LOTR (most of them are short stories; there's only one novel, Swords of Lankhmar, and I actually haven't read that particular one). They are, however, "swords and sorcery"; in fact, Leiber is the one who actually coined the term "swords and sorcery".

Actually, my favorite fantasy series (possibly my favorite books, period) is the Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake. It's not "swords and sorcery", it's more of a surreal fantasy set in a huge castle isolated from the rest of the world and immersed in bizarre arcane rituals. I've heard some complain they are slow going, but what really makes the books for me are the surreal atmosphere and the bizarre, memorable characters. Peake's a great writer, I recommend them highly. (The first two are essential, the third is quite a bit different--worthwhile in my opinion, but not essential. More Gormenghast novels were planned, but Peake died after writing these three).

12/4/2005 10:08:20 PM

Can Sci-Fi writers just write ONE book these days?
Or do they have to write series?

'Wow, these characters really made me a mint. LETS DO A SEQUEL'

12/4/2005 11:50:01 PM

The very antithesis of Jeff Noon.

12/5/2005 12:05:25 AM

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Definitely very Tolkienesque and a pretty good way to waste a few months. I've been reading pretty hard since the summer on the series between work and home stuff and I just started on book 7 this weekend.

12/5/2005 6:11:25 AM

I have to go with Terry Goodkind's Sword of truth series
thats the most fun i've ever had while reading a book

12/5/2005 6:18:42 AM

Just thought of a couple more that might be interesting.

The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll. I don't really want to give anything away, but it reads like a lost Twilight Zone episode. It was out of print and pretty rare up until it was reissued a few years ago.

Probably the best book I've read recently is Flicker by Theodore Roszak. It's not post-apocalyptic, more pre-apocalyptic, about a cult that's been inserting subliminal images into movies since the silent era. Worthwhile if you're a movie buff.

It (somewhat) builds on Siegfried Kracauer's premise (in his book From Caligari to Hitler) that one catalyst in the Nazis rise to power was all of those freaky expressionist movies the Germans were watching between WWI and WWII, like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Metropolis,....

12/5/2005 6:39:37 AM

The Vlad Taltos novels by Steven Brust are excellent and can be funny as hell in some parts.

There are several novels out and while there is continuity between them, each book is a self-contained story.

12/5/2005 1:41:24 PM

Quote :

"Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Definitely very Tolkienesque and a pretty good way to waste a few months. "

I read through the first two or three books and found them so rife with cliches that I had to stop reading. I mean come on... the hero (who doesn't realize he's The Chosen One) from bumfuck has to save everybody? That's why I can't stand Harry Potter. It's just a synthesis of all the fantasy cliches.

I recommend George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, which is the first of his Song of Ice and Fire series (as recommend by someone else). It is a fantasy book but magic plays only a small role. There's a lot of political intrigue and every chapter switches to the point of view of different characters, including the "Bad Guys." If you're sick of the same old fantasy bullshit then read this series.

[Edited on December 5, 2005 at 2:02 PM. Reason : .]

12/5/2005 2:00:44 PM

i have no clue about anything that has come out since i was in hs.... so sorry there.

robert jordan - lots of big 700 pg books to read... with maps the first 6 imo are better than the later ones. was my absolute favorite fantasy series.

margaret weiss and tracy hickman - death gate cycle. my second favorite series ever. they have a new one out too that might be worth a try.

terry goodkind - when he came out i thought he was kind of a r. jordan wanna be but he is pretty good.

terry brooks - shannara series is ok... other stuff was pretty crappy

david eddings - has several books that are EASY reads but are entertaining. belgarad, sparhawk series (diamond throne, etc)

cs lewis - since CoN - lion, the witch, and the wardobe is coming out, re-read (assuming you have before)

le modesitt - wizards first rule, and the rest of that series is entertaining. easy reads as well.

orson scott card - ender's game (re-read cause i assume you have before). quick read. but entertaining.

12/5/2005 2:07:01 PM