What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?
Moderator: I'm Murrin
- deer of the dawn
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 6758
- Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:48 pm
- Location: Jos, Nigeria
- Contact:
As I gushed about in GD, I'm beta reading a fantasy novel by a former student of mine. So far it is EXCELLENT. I really hope it finishes that way, and that he can find a publisher.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. -Philo of Alexandria
ahhhh... if only all our creativity in wickedness could be fixed by "Corrupt a Wish." - Linna Heartlistener
ahhhh... if only all our creativity in wickedness could be fixed by "Corrupt a Wish." - Linna Heartlistener
- peter
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 11567
- Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:08 am
- Location: Another time. Another place.
- Been thanked: 6 times
Alan Moore's Jerusalem. See elsewhere for details, but I'm on pretty safe ground describing it as fantasy to satisfy the requirements of this thread. He'll - it's by Moore! What else could you expect!
(It's genre busting really. )
(It's genre busting really. )
The truth is a Lion and does not need protection. Once free it will look after itself.
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
- deer of the dawn
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 6758
- Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:48 pm
- Location: Jos, Nigeria
- Contact:
After several years I'm reading The Fellowship of the Ring again... Lost count of how many times I have read LOTR. It's just as awesome as I forgot it was.
The beta read was fantastic!
The beta read was fantastic!
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. -Philo of Alexandria
ahhhh... if only all our creativity in wickedness could be fixed by "Corrupt a Wish." - Linna Heartlistener
ahhhh... if only all our creativity in wickedness could be fixed by "Corrupt a Wish." - Linna Heartlistener
- peter
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 11567
- Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:08 am
- Location: Another time. Another place.
- Been thanked: 6 times
Just hearing that you are reading this makes me want to as well deer! I love how TLOTR starts out so simply and just builds in force and richness until the text reaches levels of almost biblical power in places. Rightly does the work rank amongst the greatest achievements of literature and storytelling.
The truth is a Lion and does not need protection. Once free it will look after itself.
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
- CovenantJr
- Lord
- Posts: 12608
- Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2002 9:10 pm
- Location: North Wales
For quite a while I've struggled with mustering the mental energy to read as much as I'd like, so I'm trying out short stories to see if I find them more easily digestible.
Right now I'm dabbling in Into the Shadows, which is a compilation of Shadowrun stories. Cyberpunk plus magic! And the cover shows a dragon breathing fire at a helicopter. Must be good, right?
Right now I'm dabbling in Into the Shadows, which is a compilation of Shadowrun stories. Cyberpunk plus magic! And the cover shows a dragon breathing fire at a helicopter. Must be good, right?
- CovenantJr
- Lord
- Posts: 12608
- Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2002 9:10 pm
- Location: North Wales
- Zarathustra
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 19635
- Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:23 am
I saw some young kid (okay, he's probably in his 20s) with a Youtube fantasy novels book review channel. He recommended Scott Lynch's LIE OF LOCKE LAMORA, so I though what the heck, I haven't read a fantasy novel in years, I'll get back into it and see what's "new." (It was published in 2006, I believe). Turns out I haven't been missing much. This book was horrible. The main character and his nemisis have exactly the same motivation: revenge for loved ones killed. And we're supposed to care which one wins? Why? Because one has better quips than the other? I don't really care that Locke is a lying, murdering thief. He's too much of a cartoon to take seriously, much less take offense. He and his story are simply too bland to matter.
What exactly makes this fantasy? The fact that they have a few glowing alchemical balls that they use for light instead of electricity? I guess there was one mage, who could confuse you or force you to do things like almost kill your best friend. But this was just about the most boring rendition of magic I've ever read.
The dialog was ok, even funny at times. I liked the cons. I just wish they'd mattered. Locke would have made a good side kick in someone else's story, perhaps.
What exactly makes this fantasy? The fact that they have a few glowing alchemical balls that they use for light instead of electricity? I guess there was one mage, who could confuse you or force you to do things like almost kill your best friend. But this was just about the most boring rendition of magic I've ever read.
The dialog was ok, even funny at times. I liked the cons. I just wish they'd mattered. Locke would have made a good side kick in someone else's story, perhaps.
Joe Biden … putting the Dem in dementia since (at least) 2020.
- peter
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 11567
- Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:08 am
- Location: Another time. Another place.
- Been thanked: 6 times
Forewarned is forearmed Z! Will avoid it like the plague now (for sure I'd have been caught by some fancy artwork cover oy lying blurb comparing it to "Donaldson at his best!")
Good fantasy is a joy to immerse oneself in, but bad fantasy is a blight on the world!
Good fantasy is a joy to immerse oneself in, but bad fantasy is a blight on the world!
The truth is a Lion and does not need protection. Once free it will look after itself.
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
- CovenantJr
- Lord
- Posts: 12608
- Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2002 9:10 pm
- Location: North Wales
I've started reading Stephen Lawhead's Empyrion. I've read his Pendragon Cycle more than once, but didn't get along with Hood when I tried to read that, so this one could go either way.
So far so fine, though it did make me flinch when he referred to something displaying 'in the corner of the oval screen'. *twitch*
So far so fine, though it did make me flinch when he referred to something displaying 'in the corner of the oval screen'. *twitch*
- Avatar
- Immanentizing The Eschaton
- Posts: 61740
- Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Has thanked: 15 times
- Been thanked: 21 times
I never could get into his Pendragon books...or anything else by him either IIRC.
I on the other hand am re-visiting the world of the First Law and Logen Ninefingers, in Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged (having already finished The Blade Itself over the weekend).
Once again I recommend these to everybody for some very atypical fantasy and an unusual anti-hero. Really great books.
--A
I on the other hand am re-visiting the world of the First Law and Logen Ninefingers, in Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged (having already finished The Blade Itself over the weekend).
Once again I recommend these to everybody for some very atypical fantasy and an unusual anti-hero. Really great books.
--A
- CovenantJr
- Lord
- Posts: 12608
- Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2002 9:10 pm
- Location: North Wales
The first one in the series was a struggle. I'm surprised I persisted. It gets much better once Merlin/Myrddin is born. (As an aside, I've been learning Welsh over the last few months, and as a side effect I can now pronounce the various names that are in those books. )Avatar wrote:I never could get into his Pendragon books...or anything else by him either IIRC.
I have strict orders from another absentee member to read His Dark Materials, so that'll be next after Empyrion.
Douglas Adams is both highly entertaining and a rather comforting escape from reality at the moment. I've been re-reading the complete Hitchhiker's series in tandem with The Stand.
"You make me think Hell is run like a corporation."
"It's the other way around, but yes."
Obaki, Too Much Information
"It's the other way around, but yes."
Obaki, Too Much Information
- Avatar
- Immanentizing The Eschaton
- Posts: 61740
- Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Has thanked: 15 times
- Been thanked: 21 times
Well, let's see...I finished Best Served Cold, then read Red Country which is kinda a look at how they all ended up, then Sharp Ends which are short stories (sorta) which are also sometimes origin or different POV stories for stuff in the actual series. Very good all of it.
Now, I'm re-reading The Name of the Wind which is a bit annoying, because I don't have Wise Man's Fear, so I will prob have to get that...
--A
Now, I'm re-reading The Name of the Wind which is a bit annoying, because I don't have Wise Man's Fear, so I will prob have to get that...
--A