Jump to content

Book Recommendations


Recommended Posts

Here's a place to recommend your favorite, non-Brandon books to everyone!

What was my favorite book before reading Mistborn was a book called The Meq.  It's about this group of kids who, once they turn twelve, stop aging.  They develop mentally, but not physically.  They are the Meq.  They know little of where they come from or what they are supposed to be doing, but they have clues in the form of relics of their people and five mysterious Stones with mystical powers, powers to match their own unique abilities.  You see through the eyes of Zianno Zezen, a Meq who is just now learning of his powers after the death of his parents, leaving him ignorant of things he needs to know about himself, and follow him as he meets others of his kind, some good, others not so good, as they make their way through a world populated by the Giza, the other people.  The world is rapidly changing at the dawn of the twentieth century, and the Meq's old ways have to change to accommodate, but with radical characters such as the Fleur-du-mal, a psychotic and extremely dangerous Meq, about in the world, will they even survive?

I love, love, love this book, along with its sequel, the first two parts of a trilogy (with the third part being released at an unknown time), because it has an interesting take on history, told with some truly realistic characters.  It takes real advantage of the characters' immortality, often making time jumps of several years, but not in a way that breaks the flow of the story.  Check it out if your looking for a good historical fantasy.

What about you guys?  What are your favorite books that you think other people will like?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

steven erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen.

by the way...its not a book, its a ten book series with an average page number of about 1000.

Read the first one. Took 200 pages for anything to happen that I really cared about, and then a bit longer to get to any character I could care about. The end was greatly unsatisfying as well. It was hardly an endorsement for me to pick up the second, although I do have it and will eventually read it.

I've been devouring anything by Jim Butcher lately. I finished all the current Dresden books, and I've almost finished Codex Alera. I dread when I do because then I have to wait until later this month for anything new.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The series I read and enjoyed even though it was very Arthurian was the Sword of Truth series by Goodkind.  I've also heard that the Runelord series is quite amazing, that's on my list to read after I finish up some of other Brandon's stuff. Another author worth picking up is Dan Wells.  Of course you can't miss the two series that got me into fantasy: Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time. Both series have truly withstood the times ( ok WoT book 6-11 were a little hard but eh he was sick).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I second this!  Also for a bit of a light read try The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

And I'll second that.

I just finished it last week (on the recommendation of Erik Holmes, who I met at a book signing), and immediately put the second book on hold at my library. Can't wait until they get it in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Time Master Trilogy by Louise Cooper

Stole this from Amazon.. good teaser:

The seven gods of Order had ruled unchallenged for centuries, served by the adepts of the Circle in their bleak northern castle on the Star Peninsula.

But for Tarod-the most enigmatic and formidable sorcerer in Circle's ranks-a darker affinity had begun to call. Threatening his beliefs, even his sanity, it rose unbidden from beyond time; an ancient and deadly adversary that could plunge the world into madness and chaos-and whose power might rival that of the gods themselves.

And though Tarod's mind and heart were pledged to Order, his soul was another matter...

This is a series that I read many years ago and still something I remember with fondness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

steven erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen.

by the way...its not a book, its a ten book series with an average page number of about 1000.

Read the first one. Took 200 pages for anything to happen that I really cared about, and then a bit longer to get to any character I could care about. The end was greatly unsatisfying as well. It was hardly an endorsement for me to pick up the second, although I do have it and will eventually read it.

I have to agree with this stance. I read like 75% of the first book and had to stop. It was so painfully slow and boring, i just couldn't take it anymore. Certainly didn't prompt me to want to continue any further in the series.

Anyways, i recommend Infected by Scott sigler.

Really great horror/dark sci-fi novel. The sequel is awesome too.

Also, most of his work is offered as a free podcast book over at podiobooks.com, so you honestly have no reason NOT to check it out, unless you don't like the genre, of course.

In fact, i recommend ALL of his works. They're great. Infected is a good starting point, though, if you ask me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another of my favorite series would definitely be Animorphs by K.A. Applegate.  It's marketed as middle grade, but it really is more YA.  The books are short but there are TONS of them.  The characters are fantastic, both heroes and villains, with the emotional baggage that comes with being a bunch of kids fighting a secret alien invasion being very present.  It was my first SF series, but it's one that really has lasting quality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another of my favorite series would definitely be Animorphs by K.A. Applegate.  It's marketed as middle grade, but it really is more YA.  The books are short but there are TONS of them.  The characters are fantastic, both heroes and villains, with the emotional baggage that comes with being a bunch of kids fighting a secret alien invasion being very present.  It was my first SF series, but it's one that really has lasting quality.

I read this in junior high/high school, and enjoyed it immensely.

It's one of those series that's far better than the premise would suggest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss.

Awesome book!

I totally agree, Doxedon! I heard about this from Brandon and it's now one of my very favorites! You won't be disappointed. (Well, you might be if you're a very hard to please person. But read it anyway!)

Also, if you can get your hands on a copy of Phantastes by George MacDonald it's well worth it. More proof that fantasy novels for grown-ups existed before Tolkien (love him too, btw!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll second the Malazan books, though with a couple of words of caution. First of all, it has a steep learning curve, and it is difficult to care about the characters at first. I've heard a lot of people complain that they didn't like the ending of the first one. I thought it was fairly good, and listened to the urgent promptings of a couple of my friends to continue through at least book 3.

About halfway through book 2, I was very suddenly hooked. I finished the rest of the book in one sitting, and it was intensely awesome. Memories of Ice, book 3, is still my favorite book I've read to date.

The other books are sometimes a little difficult to get into. Some aren't. Just casually read through them until you get to what interests you. Depending on your tastes, different books in the series will grab you more than others. Personally, I loved books 5, 8, and 9, but I've heard others say they felt these were particularly weak volumes. When you get to something that you really do like, though, chances are that it's done better than you've seen most anyone do it before. Erikson is very good at what he does.

I will also strongly endorse Scott Lynch, though personally I feel Lies of Lock Lamora is better than Red Seas Under Red Skies. If you don't like when characters swear, this is not the series for you. I felt like it wasn't excessive, but I've had friends try to read them and tell me they couldn't get through more than a couple of chapters before the swearing was too much for them.

As mentioned, Name of the Wind is the awesome. I've read that one five times since it's release, the most of any one book I own.

The first three Sword of Truth books were good, but everything after that degenerates into Goodkind's ramblings about life and philosophy while essentially repeating the same story. That's without the remarkable number of similarities that start showing up to the Wheel of Time. He even does this a bit with the first couple books. Of his books, Wizard's First Rule is without question the best, and is definitely worth reading. I just won't ever recommend this series as a whole to anyone.

Wheel of Time is, of course, awesome, and probably takes top honor for most time invested into reading it for me (though admittedly, only because I started WoT about three years before I started Malazan).

Now for stuff that other people haven't mentioned......

Servant of a Dark God by John Brown was a little difficult to get into, but I really enjoyed it once I did. When I say a little difficult, I mean it took a good 70 pages or so before I cared what was happening at all.

Anything and everything by Jim Butcher. Though come to think of it, this has been mentioned. Codex Alera is better in the early books than later on, and Dresden Files can sometimes seem a little repetitive, but most if not all of Butcher's stuff is worth reading.

The Psalm of Isaak series by Ken Scholes. The first book, Lamentation, was a little slow for me (though I have a friend who says it had him from page 3), but was interesting, so I kept going. Canticle was a fantastic read, and sold me on Scholes. Just recently finished Antiphon, and I'm liking Scholes better all the time. There are still a few random quirks within the books that occasionally annoy me, but overall I like the story and the writing is good.

I've also really enjoyed the stuff by Guy Gavriel Kay that I've read, some more than others. Tigana is my favorite of his so far.

Abercrombie is good if you like dark fantasy. If not, probably not for you. I personally really enjoyed the First Law trilogy, though I haven't yet gotten around to Best Served Cold.

That's pretty much it from me, for the moment. Mostly I'm just throwing names around that all of you have heard before.

EDIT: I'm ashamed of me! I forgot to even mention Ian C. Esselmont, who also writes in the Malazan world. I like his stuff better than most of Erikson's, though I doubt I would if I hadn't read Erikson's stuff first.

Also sadly lacking a presence here is Terry Pratchett, whose books are so full of win it's amazing.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll second the Malazan books, though with a couple of words of caution. First of all, it has a steep learning curve, and it is difficult to care about the characters at first. I've heard a lot of people complain that they didn't like the ending of the first one. I thought it was fairly good, and listened to the urgent promptings of a couple of my friends to continue through at least book 3.

About halfway through book 2, I was very suddenly hooked. I finished the rest of the book in one sitting, and it was intensely awesome. Memories of Ice, book 3, is still my favorite book I've read to date.

The other books are sometimes a little difficult to get into. Some aren't. Just casually read through them until you get to what interests you. Depending on your tastes, different books in the series will grab you more than others. Personally, I loved books 5, 8, and 9, but I've heard others say they felt these were particularly weak volumes. When you get to something that you really do like, though, chances are that it's done better than you've seen most anyone do it before. Erikson is very good at what he does.

Yeah, Malazan is... hard to get into. At present, I've only read the first book, and honestly have had no real desire to move on to book two, despite numerous people saying it was one of the best novels they have ever read. I'll get to it, eventually, but the series itself has yet to grab me. The characters I liked in Gardens of the Moon didn't get enough screen time, and many times I was left wondering why I should care about what I just read.

Personally, I wouldn't say it has a steep learning curve - it has a steep caring curve.

I will also strongly endorse Scott Lynch, though personally I feel Lies of Lock Lamora is better than Red Seas Under Red Skies. If you don't like when characters swear, this is not the series for you. I felt like it wasn't excessive, but I've had friends try to read them and tell me they couldn't get through more than a couple of chapters before the swearing was too much for them.

It's hard for me to decide which one I liked better, although I have to say the ending of Red Seas was one of the most satisfying I have read in years. I put that book down at just stared in wonder for ten minutes straight, and it alone was enough to re-affirm to me that I want to be a writer some day.

As mentioned, Name of the Wind is the awesome. I've read that one five times since it's release, the most of any one book I own.

Agreed. 'Nuff said.

The first three Sword of Truth books were good, but everything after that degenerates into Goodkind's ramblings about life and philosophy while essentially repeating the same story. That's without the remarkable number of similarities that start showing up to the Wheel of Time. He even does this a bit with the first couple books. Of his books, Wizard's First Rule is without question the best, and is definitely worth reading. I just won't ever recommend this series as a whole to anyone.

The first one was the most tolerable. I wouldn't say it was good, but it was tolerable and a fairly entertaining, if very derivative story. I never made it past book five, though. Sword of Truth was the series that made me abandon my 'any series I start, I finish' rule.

Wheel of Time is, of course, awesome, and probably takes top honor for most time invested into reading it for me (though admittedly, only because I started WoT about three years before I started Malazan).

Now for stuff that other people haven't mentioned......

Servant of a Dark God by John Brown was a little difficult to get into, but I really enjoyed it once I did. When I say a little difficult, I mean it took a good 70 pages or so before I cared what was happening at all.

Servant of a Dark God was good, but not great. I don't care particularly for the authors writing style, but the ideas are great. I think with this book, the ideas behind it were far better than the execution. I have high hopes for Brown, though, and as this was his first book, his writing can only get better from here.

Anything and everything by Jim Butcher. Though come to think of it, this has been mentioned. Codex Alera is better in the early books than later on, and Dresden Files can sometimes seem a little repetitive, but most if not all of Butcher's stuff is worth reading.

I know I've said this before, but yes. Jim Butcher is one of my favourite authors. That sense of satisfaction I mentioned with Red Seas Under Red Skies? Every single one of Butcher's books has given me that feeling. The Dresden Files and Codex Alera are among the best books I've read this year, if not the last five years. I disagree that the later books of Codex Alera aren't as good as the earlier - I felt the entire series just got better and better. Even more so, though, it ended at just the right place.

The Psalm of Isaak series by Ken Scholes. The first book, Lamentation, was a little slow for me (though I have a friend who says it had him from page 3), but was interesting, so I kept going. Canticle was a fantastic read, and sold me on Scholes. Just recently finished Antiphon, and I'm liking Scholes better all the time. There are still a few random quirks within the books that occasionally annoy me, but overall I like the story and the writing is good.

I've also really enjoyed the stuff by Guy Gavriel Kay that I've read, some more than others. Tigana is my favorite of his so far.

Abercrombie is good if you like dark fantasy. If not, probably not for you. I personally really enjoyed the First Law trilogy, though I haven't yet gotten around to Best Served Cold.

That's pretty much it from me, for the moment. Mostly I'm just throwing names around that all of you have heard before.

Of these guys, the only one I've read is Abercrombie, and he's great. His books are a little hard to get into, but the writing itself and the characters are brilliant and were more than enough to hook me. Best Served Cold, which I am about halfway through right now, is fantastic.

And now, so I'm not merely responding to Andrew here, I'll leave a few recommendations of my own.

Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valente is beautifully written and a work of pure brilliance. It's hard to describe (Elitist Book Reviews does a good job with it) but definitely worth the read. A bit of a warning - if you don't like sex in your literature, you probably won't like this. There's a lot of it, all integral to the plot, but a lot of it nonetheless.

One of my favourite series of all-time is The Saga of Tiger and Del, by Jennifer Roberson. I read these in high school, and I was hooked by the third line of the first page of the first book. There are six total in the series, and I devoured them in five days. It's rather classic sword-and-sorcery fantasy, with more of an emphasis on the swords than the sorcery, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I just finished up Gardens of the Moon, the first in the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

I liked it, but I also felt completely lost and confused for basically the entire book, and I don't think that re-reading would help all that much. Will I be even more confused if I read the rest of the books?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just finished up Gardens of the Moon, the first in the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

I liked it, but I also felt completely lost and confused for basically the entire book, and I don't think that re-reading would help all that much. Will I be even more confused if I read the rest of the books?

Supposedly things begin to click into place by the second or third, but I've had no desire to read them after finishing Gardens of the Moon. I found it to be a vastly unsatisfying read, and that generally does not give me impetus to continue with the series anytime soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It gets better, I promise. My reaction went something like this:

First half of Gardens: "I am so incredibly confused....my head hurts."

Second half of Gardens: "I'm still really confused, but this is pretty fricking awesome (when I understand, anyway)"

First half of Deadhouse Gates: "I'm still confused, but now it's a good kind of confused."

Second half of Deadhouse: "No more confusion. Side note, this has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. In a good way."

End of Deadhouse: *Sobs*

Memories of Ice: "Who are all these random people? I'm now slightly confused again."

About halfway through Memories: "I GET IT!!!!"

End of Memories: "Holy. Fricking. Crap."

That pretty much was how it went. The first book is the most confusing. After that, things do start to make more sense. You should have a good portion of the magic and other important world aspects figured out by about a third to halfway through Deadhouse Gates. Memories introduces a bunch of new information, but since you already have a basis in the world, it's not nearly as hard to follow. The rest of the series goes essentially the same way - introduce new info, but since you already have a basic handle on the world it's not hard to get your bearings.

Read through Memories of Ice. If you don't like it and/or Deadhouse Gates, you probably won't like the rest of the series. If you do, though, you'll probably enjoy the rest as well. Though, admittedly, I still think those two are the strongest of any of the malazan books.

Also, rereading Gardens after having finished the series once - everything makes so much sense. It's amazing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a series I've been dying to get into, just need to find them at the library first. I have a rule never ever buy a book from an author who I've never read a book from first. I did the same thing with Brandon and have since bought every single book of his and have duplicates of the majority of them in hardback and softback. Only if the Mistborn hardbacks weren't so hard to find and expensive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It gets better, I promise. My reaction went something like this:

First half of Gardens: "I am so incredibly confused....my head hurts."

Second half of Gardens: "I'm still really confused, but this is pretty fricking awesome (when I understand, anyway)"

First half of Deadhouse Gates: "I'm still confused, but now it's a good kind of confused."

Second half of Deadhouse: "No more confusion. Side note, this has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. In a good way."

End of Deadhouse: *Sobs*

Memories of Ice: "Who are all these random people? I'm now slightly confused again."

About halfway through Memories: "I GET IT!!!!"

End of Memories: "Holy. Fricking. Crap."

That pretty much was how it went. The first book is the most confusing. After that, things do start to make more sense. You should have a good portion of the magic and other important world aspects figured out by about a third to halfway through Deadhouse Gates. Memories introduces a bunch of new information, but since you already have a basis in the world, it's not nearly as hard to follow. The rest of the series goes essentially the same way - introduce new info, but since you already have a basic handle on the world it's not hard to get your bearings.

Read through Memories of Ice. If you don't like it and/or Deadhouse Gates, you probably won't like the rest of the series. If you do, though, you'll probably enjoy the rest as well. Though, admittedly, I still think those two are the strongest of any of the malazan books.

Also, rereading Gardens after having finished the series once - everything makes so much sense. It's amazing.

Agreed.  just watch out for Midnight Tides if you get that far, its dense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It gets better, I promise. My reaction went something like this:

First half of Gardens: "I am so incredibly confused....my head hurts."

Second half of Gardens: "I'm still really confused, but this is pretty fricking awesome (when I understand, anyway)"

First half of Deadhouse Gates: "I'm still confused, but now it's a good kind of confused."

Second half of Deadhouse: "No more confusion. Side note, this has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. In a good way."

End of Deadhouse: *Sobs*

Memories of Ice: "Who are all these random people? I'm now slightly confused again."

About halfway through Memories: "I GET IT!!!!"

End of Memories: "Holy. Fricking. Crap."

That pretty much was how it went. The first book is the most confusing. After that, things do start to make more sense. You should have a good portion of the magic and other important world aspects figured out by about a third to halfway through Deadhouse Gates. Memories introduces a bunch of new information, but since you already have a basis in the world, it's not nearly as hard to follow. The rest of the series goes essentially the same way - introduce new info, but since you already have a basic handle on the world it's not hard to get your bearings.

Read through Memories of Ice. If you don't like it and/or Deadhouse Gates, you probably won't like the rest of the series. If you do, though, you'll probably enjoy the rest as well. Though, admittedly, I still think those two are the strongest of any of the malazan books.

Also, rereading Gardens after having finished the series once - everything makes so much sense. It's amazing.

Ah, okay.

*scurries off to library*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...