Your favorite book/book series?

[Poetic Nova]

The Hyperion books although I did forgot the autor sadly, everything by Tess Geritssen and the writers duo Preston&Child. Hard to pick one of them

 

[The Funslinger]

The Sword of Truth seres - can't really pick only one book out of it. A close second would be Sword Art Online, not the anime but the books, which are much better.

Would it be better to read the sword of truth series chronologically, or the order the books came out?

Do yourself a favor and don't read the Sword of Truth series at all. I've read the entire thing, and I can tell you it is the series I've most regretted reading. I continued to read it mostly because I kept getting them for my birthday from people who didn't know better, so I felt semi-obligated to continue.

If you must read it, read only the first 3 or 4 books. I'd hesitate at that, because the first few books might convince you that I'm wrong and that maybe the series is worth reading after all. After that, it turns into an extremely thinly veiled rant against socialism / communism, in which the socialists are an endless faceless army of serial rapists. Speaking of which, you'd better like reading rape and torture scenes, because rarely do a few chapters go by without some village or caravan being raped to death.

Anyway, the author's political motivations are ridiculously transparent. Just as an example, he has the main character drop what he's doing and get yanked, through plot construct, to the heart of the socialist empire, where he takes up a trade and then builds up an enormously successful business while showing everyone the limitless power of capitalism. This is an actual part of a book series that was previously all about beheading villains and using magic to fight satanists.

The last book of the series is literally just a bunch of pseudo discussions about socialism being a soul-crushing system, with the socialists essentially throwing up strawman arguments for the capitalists to demolish. The ending is a ridiculous hole to sweep the remainder of the plot into. At this point, it's not even offensive. Just lazy and uninspired.

Also, the socialists enslave and demonstratably out-evil the satanists.

Just WTF.

TL;DR Don't read it.

On topic, for fantasy, most recently I enjoyed Tigana, Way of Kings, and Book of the Long Sun. For more science-fiction stuff, I loved Neuromancer and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. These are just the books I've read most recently, I'm sure I could dredge up more favorites.

I get what you mean. I don't feel as strongly about it, and I might as well finish them at some point. But seeing the Socialist parallels come through was a worrying process. But yes, writing a convincing character holding a belief that runs against his own is a skill Terry Goodkind sorely lacks.

Shame. Those first few books were amazing, if grim.

OT: The Dark Tower series. Love me the genre hopping adventures of the Gunslingers.

I'm on the second book of Wheel of Time, too, but nothing will usurp Dark Tower.

 

[The Funslinger]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, without a doubt.

If A Song of Ice and Fire is half as good as I keep hearing it is, I'm sure that will be right up there too when I finally get around to reading it this summer.

Ironically, ASOIAF is big enough to carry you into next winter.

And yeah, it's a brilliant book series. One of my favorite. What it does is really focuses on the finer details of the plot. The result is something that is really taking ages to go anywhere, but I never once felt like it was a bad thing.

 

[Fijiman]

My favorite book series would have to be the Bartimaeus trilogy. It beats many of the other book series that I've read(or a least read most of) even if only by a small margin, though I'm currently reading the Ranger's Apprentice series and loving it so that may change. As for a favorite book, hmm...Blarg! Too many good ones to choose from.

 

[Croaker42]

I thoroughly enjoyed the Black Company series by Glen Cook. Its what I believe to be the perfect meshing of military and fantasy.

At this time, I am finally reading I Jedi and dig it for the most part.

I am also a huge fan and am eagerly waiting for the series release of Gladstones School for World Conquerors. Its the perfect blend of Hairy Potter and Teen Titans.

 

[TeapartyTokyo]

You must read Joe Abercrombie! Seriously, all of you, you are going to love his books. His best work, if you ask me, is "Best Served Cold" ~~ but that novel makes a bigger impact if you've already read his fantastic trilogy, "The Blade Itself". I can not recommend him enough

Also, two of my more recent favorites are "Ready Player One" and "World War Z"

 

[Nocenious]

I am really into the Horus heresy series at the moment. Something about reading about the most turbulent period in Warhammer 40k is appealing.
If you like history, the Penguin series does a good job at it. Been reading about British history, and does a good job at taking a balanced view of it.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I can't pick one for either category. How could I? There's so much. The best contenders though:

Favourite series:
- The Dresden Files. For pure fun and the fantastic character development.
- Terry Pratchett's Watch and Death sub-series. They have my favourite characters of all Discworld novels.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Though they go downhill I still love them.
- Song of Fire And Ice. Only been reading the first one but I already know I'm going to love it all.
- The Kingkiller Chronicles. They're just so damn atmospheric.

Favourite individual books:
- Dune. It's just so damn gorgeous.
- The Wayward Bus. Also gorgeous. So damn engaging.
- 1984 Just a fantastic story.
- Good Omens. Pratchett and Gaiman together, what's not to love.
- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. It's just so beautiful.

I could honestly go on and on and on.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

snip

I can agree with what you say about the portrayal of the Roman military. But I can forgive him there, Pressfield is significantly better at writing battle scenes and describing the military. It's pretty difficult to do properly, in an accurate, informative yet exciting manner. I'm aspiring to become a fantasy/historical-fantasy author myself, and the fight scenes are some of the hardest things to put to paper. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to properly describe an entire battle with many individual fronts and all kinds of unit tactics going on.

I wasn't aware he had other historical fiction, though it could be his other historical fiction work is from times I'm not interesting in. I'm pretty shoehorned in when it comes to history. I'm only truly interested in periods encompassing the bronze age through to around the early middle ages (the Battle of Hastings is where I see my cut-off point). So that could be why.

I read your review of that, seems quite bad indeed. I do remember reading about one author who has a series of Roman Legion books, and he was widely panned as well. History seems to be a very hard thing to write about, especially since there are many passionate knowledgeable people of history who can jump on any inaccuracy. That's what is happening galore on forums about the upcoming Rome Total War game.

 

[TheRookie8]

The Dresden Files- if you like crime drama mixed with fantasy, this series will give you that and so much more. It truly is one of the best book series out there.

The First Law Trilogy- A very rare fantasy trilogy where nearly every character possesses a flaw that would normally make you hate them, yet strangely you want to see what happens to them next.

And if you enjoy the First Law, be sure to read "Best Served Cold", "The Heroes", and "Red Country", as they take place after the trilogy and add some perspective to events.

 

[synobal]

The Sword of Truth seres - can't really pick only one book out of it. A close second would be Sword Art Online, not the anime but the books, which are much better.

Would it be better to read the sword of truth series chronologically, or the order the books came out?

Better not to read them at all. The first book is good but better to stop there. Pretty soon the author well he starts using the storys as a mouth piece for his beliefs and it's just not enjoyable.

 

[Julius Terrell]

The Wheel of Time (Currently reading a memory of light)
The Cavern of black ice J.V. Jones (I don't know what the series is called)
Tales of the black company

Individual books
Anatheirm(sp?)
A enemy reborn

I've read other fantasy novels, but these really stood out for me.

Edit: I forgot about the Saga of Recluce! It's such an excellent series! I've reread "The Order War" and "The Fall of Angels" a few times. Will reread the series in the future.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Definitely The Beach by Alex Garland. Think Swiss Family Robinson with Vietnam and videogame references, and drugs. I love it for the way Richard is written, he's so easy to relate to because he's so well characterised. Unlike far too many fictional protagonists he has a whole heap of human flaws and doesn't always do the right thing, but he does the thing that you would probably end up doing.

And the film was shit.

 

[Worldbreaker]

Currently re-reading The Wheel of Time (favorite series), won't get Memory of Light translated here before October, so I'm taking the chance to remind myself of all the events and characters (I have bad memory which is great when I want to read a book again, not so good for my grades though...)

 

[Harley Q]

I had to think long and hard about this one. As a series, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple series. They are consistently good, and are a worthwhile read. I considered Harry Potter, but then all I could think of was of how terrible Chamber of Secrets was.

I tried to read the chronicles of Narnia, but I got to the fifth book and just lost all interest. I'm on the penultimate Sookie Stackhouse book, I'm losing interest in it. I'm only continuing because I hate not finishing things.
I really want to get my hands on A Song of Ice and Fire though.

If you ever get the chance. the Lucifer Box novels are hilarious!

 

[SckizoBoy]

I can agree with what you say about the portrayal of the Roman military. But I can forgive him there, Pressfield is significantly better at writing battle scenes and describing the military. It's pretty difficult to do properly, in an accurate, informative yet exciting manner. I'm aspiring to become a fantasy/historical-fantasy author myself, and the fight scenes are some of the hardest things to put to paper. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to properly describe an entire battle with many individual fronts and all kinds of unit tactics going on.

That's the thing... you can cater to military historians (e.g. me) but you kind of alienate everyone else. For example, most authors of fiction don't know the difference between tactics and strategy, and so use the words interchangeably. The problem with trying to portray battlefield tactics and campaign strategy (and even more difficult, operational command), is that it's terribly dry, and most readers don't care much for it because it appears excessively text-book-ey, if you get my meaning. There needs to be risk, emotion, flash of inspiration associated with it. And in wars, it's only about the battles, rarely about anything else. Now, Kingdom of Heaven was a good example wherein the narrative explicitly showed the shortcomings of the Crusader army in its ability to supply itself with water. Yet the viewer doesn't care for such a statement except 'what are they doing trundling along thirsty'... *shrug*

My approach to it is consequential (i.e. horrors of battle, emotional impact and the trauma that it can provoke).

I wasn't aware he had other historical fiction, though it could be his other historical fiction work is from times I'm not interesting in. I'm pretty shoehorned in when it comes to history. I'm only truly interested in periods encompassing the bronze age through to around the early middle ages (the Battle of Hastings is where I see my cut-off point). So that could be why.

Well, his other hist-fic is set in the States (one's CivWar, the other's pre-Rev, I think...). Anyway, I'm rather strange, insomuch that while I like studying most history, the ones I zone in on are mid-Republic Rome and Europe 1700-1871... or thereabouts... -_-

I read your review of that, seems quite bad indeed. I do remember reading about one author who has a series of Roman Legion books, and he was widely panned as well. History seems to be a very hard thing to write about, especially since there are many passionate knowledgeable people of history who can jump on any inaccuracy. That's what is happening galore on forums about the upcoming Rome Total War game.

Well, with R:TW, it's interactive, so you tell the story and you tell it how you like. Granted, some anachronisms will be inevitable, but the gameplay is the experience, not the setting. But when it's told to you, you need the realism for the story to educate you. Hence, it's all about the setting.

Not sure if you feel differently...

 

[Milanezi]

I really enjoyed Clive Barker's Coldheart Canyon, it felt extremely glamorous albeit dirty and and sexually cheap, it hit just the spot for the book's horror/fantasy mood. It's about a Hollywood actor who's not very good with acting, but looks handsome enough to be adored, however he is getting old, and his movies aren't as big anymore, the answer? Plastic surgery, only nobody is supposed to know so he and his bandaged face goes to a mansion at "coldheart" canyon in order to rest; only the house is filled with old spirits such as that of its first owner Katja Lupo, a depraved Romanian actress of the old days who installed a very strange room with very strange properties at the very underground of the mansion. Fantastic book.
I currently started the Dark Tower series (wonderful), Starbuck series (Cornwell) and some random Forgotten Realms...

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Well, with R:TW, it's interactive, so you tell the story and you tell it how you like. Granted, some anachronisms will be inevitable, but the gameplay is the experience, not the setting. But when it's told to you, you need the realism for the story to educate you. Hence, it's all about the setting.

Not sure if you feel differently...

No, I feel more or less the same, except I aim more for authenticity, rather than full-on accuracy. As long as it feels right, then I'm okay with it, which is why I did ultimately like Pride of Carthage. While there were historical inaccuracies, some of them vast, it still felt authentic and researched. It is a fictional narrative after all, rather than a historical document or biography. There is much room for artistic liberty and change to fit the author, in my opinion at least. Most historical fiction authors would, I assume, be the first to tell you NOT to treat their work as education or information, much like what the director of 300 said.

However, I guess that can falter when the subject is real events including real people. The historical fiction I intend to write all involve fictional characters taking part in fictional events, just in a historically authentic setting. I guess the context is relevant here.

 

[SckizoBoy]

No, I feel more or less the same, except I aim more for authenticity, rather than full-on accuracy. As long as it feels right, then I'm okay with it, which is why I did ultimately like Pride of Carthage. While there were historical inaccuracies, some of them vast, it still felt authentic and researched. It is a fictional narrative after all, rather than a historical document or biography. There is much room for artistic liberty and change to fit the author, in my opinion at least. Most historical fiction authors would, I assume, be the first to tell you NOT to treat their work as education or information, much like what the director of 300 said.

Well... it would end up in that old argument of historical fiction: when does it stop becoming dramatic licence, and when does it start becoming disrespecting history?

I guess you have a point there in that the feel of the story and the setting should be there from the off and that should be as real as possible, but I find that with certain periods, such as the Second Punic War, details are sketchy or debated a lot of the time, to the extent that even if the author makes a distinct and overt effort to make it as 'true to history' as possible, there is still a hideous amount of leeway that can be exploited. Of course, the further back you go, the easier it is to do this. It's a reason why fictionalising real (& famous) people from, say, the Second World War, is generally viewed with contempt, since the modern historian has literally shit-loads of materials to go from to the extent that fiction authors have to tow a very fine line.

Now, with Hannibal, a few biographies were written of him... and unfortunately, the good ones are all lost and Cornelius Nepos' one is possibly the least researched of the lot. Thus, we know next to sweet diddly-fuck all about him as a man. Because he is largely a blank slate, I suppose we can do a lot with him. My problem is the concept of 'informed conjecture', whereby one uses what he knows of what he did and what little we know (or think) he said, to form a picture of his personality. Doing that well is generally rare since authors don't really go out of their way to analyse historic dynamics... *shrug*

However, I guess that can falter when the subject is real events including real people. The historical fiction I intend to write all involve fictional characters taking part in fictional events, just in a historically authentic setting. I guess the context is relevant here.

Quite so... I can't seem to think of ideas for fictional people doing their fictional things with a historic backdrop without them directly interfering, since it kinda messes with (un)due credit. Ah well... we each have our ways & preferences, I guess... -_-

 

[Church185]

The Dark Tower series, but then again I've always been a Stephen King junkie. *shrugs*