Subject: Hmm... what have I been reading recently?
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Posted on: 2015-06-21 05:44:00 UTC
*points emphatically at the Miles Vorkosigan books*
The protagonist is of the same character archetype as Moist von Lipwig.
I have not finished them myself, yet, so do not give me spoilers. But I've gotten a ways in (currently on Mirror Dance) and they're quite good. :)
Okay, I admittedly have a personal ulterior motive for this, but I don't personally recall many of these having happened in the past, so let's see what everyone can bring to the Board table as far as book recs go!
(For those of you wondering 'but what about goodfic recs?' don't you worry; incidentally, there's also a Rec Center on the wiki for creating and maintaining your own goodfic rec list for others to check out!)
Basically, don't feel worried about making off the wall suggestions or such, as long as you think it's a genuinely enjoyable book, or even series. If someone posts something you were going to suggest as well, chime in with why it's enjoyable! Or more about it!
I'll start off with a suggestion:
My suggestion (which I've been telling everyone who's willing to listen) is Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton.
It's about dragons.
Not only is it about dragons, it's about dragons in Regency-Victorian era equivalent culture.
Basically, it is Pride & Prejudice, but with dragons. In the place of people. Everyone is a dragon. Sheep are muttons. The story is great, Jo Walton hits all the right beats and copies the feel and tempo without making it feel like a poorly done mimicry of Austen. If you like dragons or Austen, or even both? You really ought read it.
But I refuse to not participate, even though we're on the second page now!
Fiction
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: This is fun because in spite of being grouped with all those stodgy old English stories, WH is filled with surprisingly cruel and rude attitudes, which makes it feel a lot more modern.
Stories of Hawai'i by Jack London: A group of short stories based on London's time spent in Hawai'i. Interesting for its time period in that native Polynesians and Asian immigrants are by and large the protagonists, while white folks are ignorant tourists at best and malevolent abusers at worst. An interesting historical look at early twentieth century Hawai'i, but also entertaining stories.
Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon: It's been years since I read this novel, but the story is still fresh in my memory, it's so exciting and complex. It's a little hard to explain without giving away the plot, but it's essentially different events a boy experiences in his home town after witnessing someone drown. The drowning mystery is the backbone, but the novel has many other stories going on, too. Some of it is fantastical, some of it is mundane, but they all feel real enough to have happened. Just generally well-written.
Deprivers by Steven-Elliot Altman: Sort of an X-Menish world, but where all the powers involve influencing the senses of those the deprivers interact with. The world-building is good enough to ignore the "another superhero world"iness of it. Been trying to design a depriver as a PPC agent, but no luck yet.
God's Country by Percival Everett: A Western about a black man's and a young girl's journeys, but told through the narration of an awful man who doesn't deserve their company. I honestly don't remember the plot too well, but the writing is powerful.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: Yeah, one of the generic "classics," but it really is that good. It's written in a hilarious way, but still shows the futility of war and the hypocrisy of the politics behind them.
The Mouse That Roared by Leonard Wibberley: Pretty much the same as above, but much less manic in its humor.
Skin by Ted Dekker: A "stranded in remote location" murder mystery, but it's a lot more complex than that. There's a twist that is delightful in it's sheer, glorious, out-of-nowhere, never-guess-that-in-a-million-years-ness. I forget the meaning behind the title, but I'm pretty sure there weren't any sex scenes.
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston: Scientists working on a supercollider fall under siege by a religious group. The overall plot isn't quite that cut-and-dry; there's also a murderer among the staff, and they're worried they really have accidentally discovered something of spiritual significance, but are afraid to admit it to the outside world. Probably the weakest suggestion on this list, but I feel the very last page makes reading the rest worth it.
From a Buick 8 by Stephen King: One of the King's lesser known novels, I think it's his best I've read so far. I won't even describe the plot or antagonist, because the story is really about how the protagonists react psychologically to what's happening. It also contains some of King's best descriptive passages of bizarre things. "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back."
Non-Fiction
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester: The history of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, but better than it sounds. Aside from giving fun trivia about different words, it describes the lives of the teacher who headed the project and the single greatest contributor of definitions, who resided as a permanent resident of a mental institution.
Revolutionary Characters by Gordon S. Wood: An interesting series of short essays about the U.S. "founding fathers," describing them as people, and explaining their political views in an easy-to-understand way.
If not, I'd like to throw in my lot and suggest the works of Erin Hunter, but most of all her Warriors series. (There's a Wiki page for that, and a mission, but I haven't looked into that too much). I've gotten only halfway through "The Prophecies Begin" story arc (the first one), but I really enjoyed it, "Said Bookism" notwithstanding (though to be fair, they characters are cats, and I don't recall cats saying much).
Basically, it's cats. A lot of cats. Cats in four clans that conflict with each other. Cats that experience treachery and the occasional civil war from within their own clan. Cats that deal with a racism of sorts (i.e. "kittypets" running wild and feral) and its social implications. CATS THAT EXPERIENCE LEGITIMATELY HUMAN EXPERIENCES AND EMOTIONS. CATS. CATS.
I am seriously considering becoming a cat person doing a Warriors mission in light of my newfound interest in this series...
Well, then, I have a one-word recommendation for you: Temeraire. It's basically the Napoleonic Wars with aerial (dragonback!) combat. Awesome, right?
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
After years of only knowing the anime, I finally got around to reading the light novel and I loved every second of it.
Seriously, Kyon is such a first-person smartass. It's great.
I've been reading ever since I was a little kid.
Some things I recommend are The Sands of Time, for Redwall fans (it's more modern than Redwall, but it's got the same mouse-world premise), A Song of Ice and Fire (because my god it's amazing), Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and one or a thousand more I'm forgetting.
If you want to stretch the definition of "book" a bit, I've also got nonfiction and manga recs. For nonfiction, Ben Thompson's Badass books and the Cracked De-Textbook are both hilarious and informative. For manga, I always recommend Monster Musume (yes it's a harem series, but there's a lot more to it than that), but some more I suggest are The Enigma of Amigara Fault (for your horror fix), Nurse Hitomi's Monster Infirmary (for if you want monster girls without the ecchi fanservice), the works of Kiyohiko Azuma (for your feel-good needs) and Shaman King (this one's nostalgic; it got me into manga).
Sorry if I got a bit wordy here.
Have you read any of the novels?
They're not on the Kindle store, and I don't have anyplace nearby I can get them.
*points emphatically at the Miles Vorkosigan books*
The protagonist is of the same character archetype as Moist von Lipwig.
I have not finished them myself, yet, so do not give me spoilers. But I've gotten a ways in (currently on Mirror Dance) and they're quite good. :)
1.Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series and his short stories especailly those in To Hold the Bridge.
2.Ray Bradbury's work is very clearly a large influence on Neil Gaiman as the style is somewhat similar.
3.Stuart Hill's Icemark books are quite good if you like medievalesque settings with magic and fantasy creatures.
4.Earthsea.
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina, and its sequel are just stunning. It's like the Hunger Game and Divergent except just better. GO READ IT.
It is amazing. And dragony. :D
How about a little thought experiment. What kind of book would you get if you managed, through some peculiar contrivance, to have Dickens, Austen, and Defoe seated around a writing desk and had them knock together an urban fantasy novel based on their own contemporary lives?
Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell is that book exactly. It combines the wonderful Austenian comedies of manners with an almost Pratchettian gift for the superbly weird throwaway joke. For example, in a short passage concerning the ability of magicians to talk to trees, mention is made of Wulfric the Tartar, who enjoyed playing chess against mushrooms and lived a long and happy married life with a signpost, and whose son managed to acquire the good favour and hand of his beloved by removing her husband's entrails with a sponge, a process that is not detailed at all but reputedly took the gentleman seventeen years. And that's the thing about this book. Magic is actually bloody magical.
There's a fairly common trope in fantasy called The Magic Goes Away (Link to a TV Tropes page; you have been warned) in which, well, the magic goes away. At the end of the story, the magic drains off somewhere else, and the wonder leaves the world. JS&MN poses the question: what happens when the magic comes back?
The answer is that England once more has magic, and magic is strange and sometimes terrifying and sometimes uncontrollable and always, always a thing of unparalleled wonder.
I love how... magical the book feels. I can't not love it. And given your own recommendation, I think you will too. =]
Well, recently I picked up Pennyroyal Academy, by M.A. Larson. I have not gotten too far into it (redoing my roof has taken up almost all my time) but so far, I am enjoying it. Penyroyal Acadamy is a school for young men and women to become knights and princesses. These princesses are not however, to dress in poofy dresses and balance books on their head. hey are battle-princesses, ready to help the knights slay dragons and witches. Or just slay them themselves. Whatever.
Second, a book I have read many times, is Feed by M.T. Anderson. Have you ever wanted to have a computer chip in your head, where you could access the internet in you mind? This book shows you what would happen if that was done, with all of it's hilarious, and horrid, side effects. Now, it is loaded with swearing, and immature brats being immature brats. But that is the point. I can see why many would not like it, but I loved it. If you do pick it up, I would actually recommend the audiobook before reading it. I don't want to spoil it, but some of the effects the book was going for works much better in audio. You'll see.
I wrote a long review advocating his work, but then my Internet derped and all of it was deleted, so...
He's known for great magic systems and world building. I would recommend the Mistborn trilogy first; it'll give you a good idea of what he's like. It follows the adventures of Vin, a street girl, learning how to use her Allomancy and attempting to overthrow the immortal Lord Ruler. It has a great plot and, of course, a beautiful magic system. He also has a knack for taking old things and making them work in new and fresh ways, which makes his works feel like they've never been done before.
My personal favorite is the Stormlight Archive, which has two books so far, each a thousand pages. Again, great magic system and world building, with a large cast of memorable characters and a beautiful, huge world to explore.
Anyway, heartily recommend him, go check him out!
The first, the best, the only! An octalogy (eight books saga), the pride of my country, and a series which inspired three video games, with the last one released a month ago.
I've mentioned it somewhere before, but I'll do it again because this series deserves it.
The Witcher is a fantasy series of short stories and novels about Geralt of Rivia, the titular 'witcher'. In Sapkowski's books, "Witchers" are monster hunters who (through special training, mutation, and body modification) develop supernatural abilities at a young age in order to battle deadly monsters roaming the Continent.
In my opinion, the author brought back the spirit of Slavic tradition in these books. Many monsters (such as a drowner, a water hag, or a leshen) were inspired by actual beliefs of Slavic tribes, and the locations are taken from old Polish legends, and even some wildly known fairy tales (i.e. princess-turned-bandit lived with her group of seven gnomes... Snow White anyone?).
They are not appropriate for all ages, just want to toss that disclaimer out as well. But I recommend it as well. The Last Wish was thoroughly enjoyable.
Never played them, but they sound fun. Do you think they represent the books well?
They do sound like good books. Admittedly, I have never really looked at Polish myth and legend. Care to share a short legend with us? In return, I'll share a native Alaskan story.
The games are more like an un-official sequel. Although the author of the saga did not disowned the games (like he did with a terrible, terrible movie from 2001), I don't think he claims the games to be canon - which is a shame, if you ask me.
A legend, hmm? I guess, I'll tell you the most famous one - The Dragon of Wawel (pronounced Vavel). It comes from the XII century:
During the reigns of great king Krakus, a dragon made its lair was in a cave at the foot of Wawel Hill on the bank of the Vistula River. Each day the dragon would beat a path of destruction across the countryside, killing the civilians, pillaging their homes and devouring their livestock. The King certainly wanted to put a stop to the dragon, but his bravest knights fell to its fiery breath. In desperation, the King promised his beautiful daughter's hand in marriage to anyone who could defeat the dragon. Great warriors from near and far fought for the prize and failed. One day a poor cobbler's apprentice named Skuba accepted the challenge. He stuffed a lamb with sulphur, nightshade, wolfsbane, and fool's parsley, and set it outside the dragon's cave. The dragon ate it and soon became incredibly thirsty. He turned to the Vistula River for relief and drank and drank. But no amount of water could quench his aching stomach, and after swelling up from drinking half the Vistula river, he exploded. Skuba married the King's daughter as promised, and they lived happily ever after.
Never knew it was Polish. Well, the more you know.
As promised, one Alaska Native tale. Athabaskan, to be precise.
This is how Raven stole the Sun and Moon.
A long time ago, when the world was younger, there was Raven. Raven was smart, a clever mischief maker, who has watched over the world since he remade it from the great flood.
In the early days of the new world, there was no Sun, nor Moon, as they had been washed away by the great waves. The people were thankful, but could not survive without the light. They could not hunt, nor fish. When they went out to find wood to burn in their fires, they had to crawl around in the forest feeling with their hands until they found something which might be wood. Then they would bite it to make certain that it was indeed firewood.
Raven saw how the people lived, and promised them he would bring back the Sun and Moon. For you see, as he was so clever, he knew where they had gone. They were swept into the sea, and now held by a great sea chief. This chieftain found the light they gave to be beautiful, and so hung them in his great house. He also had a single daughter, young and beautiful, his pride and joy. Raven knew he would do anything for her. So, he devised a plan, should simply asking fail.
He went to the great sea chief, and asked for the Sun and Moon. The chieftain refused. "They fell into my sea! They belong to me!" Again Raven asked, pleading for the people of the land, yet still, the chieftain refused. Raven left, knowing he had no choice but to follow his other plan.
Raven watched how the sea chieftain's daughter would leave the sea for a small stream to collect fresh water every morning. Raven watched, until he knew where she would always travel, and when. At last, when ready, Raven turned himself into a small fish, and fell into the water. So small was he, the girl did not see him, and so consumed him when she drank the water. When inside, he turned himself into a baby, and made the girl pregnant.
Soon after, the sea chieftain's daughter gave birth to a beautiful child, who was truly Raven. The child aged rapidly, far faster then any human child. The chieftain was proud of his grandson, and would do anything he asked.
One day, the boy asked the chieftain, "May I play with those?" pointing towards the Sun and Moon.
The chieftain, who would do anything to please his grandson, smiled and said, "Of course! Just be careful, for they are fragile, and can easily break." The chieftain then handed the child the Sun and Moon.
As soon as he had the Sun and Moon in his hands, the boy turned back into Raven, who laughed as he flew to the sky. The chieftain screamed, as he watched his prized possessions fly away, and cursed Raven for his trickery.
Raven was pleased with how he tricked the sea chief. However, in his haste to fly away, the Sun was held lightly in Raven's beak, and eventually fell to the ground. Raven cried in dismay, as the Sun shattered into many pieces. He was relieved to see most of the Sun remained intact, and put the largest and brightest piece into the sky. The smaller pieces, Raven swept into his wings and scattered across the sky, making the stars. The people cheered, as light was brought back into the world. They promised forever, that they would never kill ravens, because of what Raven did for them.
However, Raven felt sorry for his trick he pulled on the sea chief and his daughter. In apology, Raven made it so the Sun and Moon would return to the sea once a day, though not at the same time, so there would always be light for the people on the land.
And so, that was how Raven stole the Sun and Moon.
((If you have heard this story before, you may remember it differently. This was the version I was told as a child, by a native storyteller in school. I may have misremembered details, but the core story is there.))
I've heard good things about the video game series, and bought the first two recently. I like the idea of incorporating actual cultural beliefs into the setting, especially less common ones.
They are really enjoyable to read.
She's possibly my favorite author, and definitely the one that's had the most influence on my personal writing style. If you like J. K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, or Terry Pratchett, you'll probably enjoy her books. Her best-known series are the Chrestomanci books and Howl's Moving Castle, but I would really recommend that you look at some of her less-famous books. My personal favorites are Dark Lord of Derkholm, a deconstruction of the typical fantasy setting; its sequel, Year of the Griffin, which should speak to a lot of college students; and my personal favorite, Deep Secret, which is set at a sci-fi convention.
As for other writers, if you like the Victorian era, mysteries, or Egyptology, Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody books are also brilliant; they're funny, tense, and expertly researched, with a memorable heroine.
Personally, I like the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher; Harry can be a little irritating sometimes, but I like the noir flair the books have, and the world-building is really interesting.
And if you like horror stories, I enjoyed Another, by Yukito Ayatsuji. Given that it was originally written in Japanese, the writing style might not appeal to everyone, but the story itself is great.
Overall, the licensed Pathfinder novels are very high-quality and well-written. My favorites are the ones by Dave Gross, Prince of Wolves and its sequels. The main characters, Radovan and Varian, have a great friendship, with almost a Holmes and Watson vibe. (Though sadly, the internet has yet to turn up any slash fic about them.) The Death's Heretic series is also pretty cool, and does a good job of going into the different Planes, a part of the setting that I think frequently goes unexplored.