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virtuadept
 
(frozen)
| | #1 posted June 13, 2009 at 10:30am (EST) |
This topic had many older posts which were moved here:
http://gametz.com/forum/Books/topic/265750.html
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SmarmySir
  
| | #2 posted June 13, 2009 at 10:30am (EST) |
Shaggy speaks truth. Reading Star Trek, Star Wars, Mass Effect, and mass produced crap, etc are all cheapifying your taste for GOOD reading.
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vDub
 
 
| | #3 posted June 13, 2009 at 11:55am (EST) |
hey now, I've read good fantasy before, but A Game of Thrones isn't it.
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Feeb
 
| #4 posted June 13, 2009 at 11:58am (EST)
edited June 13, 2009 at 11:59am (EST) |
Hmmm, I would agree that it's great fantasy, the last one is the 4th best fantasy book I've read in the last 2 years!
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SmarmySir
| | #5 posted June 13, 2009 at 2:56pm (EST) |
Blackthorne wrote:
> hey now, I've read good fantasy before, but A Game of Thrones isn't it.
>
>
Your opinion on anything ever is never to be taken seriously again, Dublet. Never.
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sgtshaggy
 
| | #6 posted June 13, 2009 at 4:30pm (EST) |
Blackthorne wrote:
> hey now, I've read good fantasy before, but A Game of Thrones isn't
> it.
What do you consider good fantasy? Don't say Tolkien, that's a given  .
shags
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nihon
 
| | #7 posted June 13, 2009 at 6:57pm (EST) |
Od Magic by Patricia McKillip is an excellent fantasy novel. The Mistborn series by [[Brandon Sanderson is quite good, too.
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sgtshaggy
| | #8 posted June 13, 2009 at 10:37pm (EST) |
I've yet to read anything by Sanderson, but I've read his writing style is similar to Robert Jordan's. I hope so, anyway, he just signed the contracts for books 13 and 14!
shags
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vDub
| #9 posted June 14, 2009 at 12:06am (EST)
edited June 14, 2009 at 12:08am (EST) |
Some examples of what I find to be good fantasy are the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett (even though sometimes I end up confused reading them), the Green Rider trilogy by Kristen Britain and the Nightside series by Simon R. Green.
I'm not a hardcore fantasy reader like some of you guys, but I try to enjoy whatever I read. Some books I find to be dull (like A Game of Thrones) or decent (the Shannara series), and some I find downright exciting (the Nightside series).
I'm open to checking out new stuff and expanding my horizons, but I won't always enjoy the same stuff you guys have. Yesterday, I stopped at my local library because they had a book sale going on and I bought the following fantasy books:
Catch the Lightning by Catherine Asaro
Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz
When True Night Falls by C.S. Friedman
Starshield: Sentinels by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
The Outlanders by David B. Coe
Eagle-Sage by David B. Coe
Crown of Shadows by C.S. Friedman
and today I received Rules of Ascension by David B. Coe from someone on PaperbackSwap. I've never read anything by any of those authors before, so it'll be something new & different for me.
Edit: I have tried to read The Wheel of Time & Redwall series when I was younger, but they never really interested me. That's not to say I won't like them now because I had a problem getting into the Shannara series as well when I was younger, but now I own all the books and have read them all.
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sgtshaggy
| | #10 posted June 14, 2009 at 12:25am (EST) |
I absolutely adored the Sword of Shannara when I was in junior high. Fell in love with that tattered little library paperback. However, I recently revisited it, and couldn't stomach it. Not sure why, the writing seemed too amateurish or something, like he was trying too hard, I don't know. Couldn't put my finger on it. Not sure if I'll go back to it, we'll see.
I've read a lot less fantasy than some of the other peeps lurking about. I tend to bounce around a lot, but I do enjoy a good fantasy novel. Personally, I thought A Game Of Thrones was the single best fantasy novel I've read in years. Just his writing, the dark, realistic tone, all of the great characters, it was a breath of fresh air, and I've avoided the book for years because of the terrible cover. Silly me. Awesome book, Dubbers, I hope you make it back to it one day. Sometimes they're better when you revisit them...sometimes worse, lol.
I need to read the Discworld books myself, one day (loved the game).
shags
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SmarmySir
| | #11 posted June 14, 2009 at 12:29am (EST) |
George R.R. Martin is an EXCELLENT writer. Terry Pratchett (did he do the Shannara series?) is a TERRIBLE writer. Whoever did the Shannara series.
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sgtshaggy
| | #12 posted June 14, 2009 at 12:34am (EST) |
Terry Brooks is the Shannara writer. And I agree, it's terribly written. So...stilted. Maybe the other books get better?
shags
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SmarmySir
| | #13 posted June 14, 2009 at 12:49am (EST) |
Oh ok. Terry Brooks is an awful writer. I picked up the first "Sword" book at the thrift store because I recognized the name and couldn't get past the first 40 pages... terrible.
Same thing happened with Eragon, except I got a little farther...
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sgtshaggy
| | #14 posted June 14, 2009 at 12:52am (EST) |
I made it to about the 150 page mark in Eragon. Pretty awesome that he wrote it so young, but not good.
shags
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vDub
| | #15 posted June 14, 2009 at 2:06am (EST) |
I thought the Shannara series was decent enough to read, but it got to be so mediocre and redundant. It's like Terry re-used the same clichés over and over again
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Feeb
| | #16 posted June 14, 2009 at 12:51pm (EST) |
I liked Eragon and Eldest, didn't read the last one yet.... totally unoriginal and crapty, but enjoyable....lol. |
nihon
| | #17 posted June 14, 2009 at 5:10pm (EST) |
sgtshaggy wrote:
> I've yet to read anything by Sanderson, but I've read his writing
> style is similar to Robert Jordan's. I hope so, anyway, he just signed
> the contracts for books 13 and 14!
The last news was that he was splitting the "final" book into three parts. I like Sanderson's writing better than Jordan's, though, so I may actually read the final books in that series (I gave up on the Wheel of Time series after the first book).
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nihon
| | #18 posted June 14, 2009 at 5:14pm (EST) |
I've been told by several people that later books in the Shannara series are much better than the first book (Sword of Shannara). My favorite books by Brooks, though, are in the Magic Kingdom For Sale: Sold! series. Not deep reading by any stretch, but they are "popcorn books" (like a "popcorn movie", only a book). Enjoyable books, but not likely to win any awards.
I love Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. His humour (he's British after all, so you need that "u") is excellent.
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sgtshaggy
| | #19 posted June 14, 2009 at 6:28pm (EST) |
nihon wrote:
> The last news was that he was splitting the "final" book into three
> parts.
It seems they're selling it more as three separate volumes now. They were originally going to share a title and have differing subtitles, or something like that, but it seems they're just touting them as three separate books now (Gathering Storm is Book 12, then Books 13 & 14). However many it takes to finish it up, I suppose...apparently his notes were exhaustive! No surprise, considering the original plan of seven volumes has already exploded into 11 1/2 volumes, and still counting. Glad to hear Mr. Sanderson is up to the task, I'll have to check out some of his original stuffs.
shags
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vDub
| | #20 posted June 15, 2009 at 11:49pm (EST) |
Finished "Just Another Judgement Day" last night....moving onto "Holder of Lightning" by S.L. Farrell
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Amethyst
| | #21 posted June 16, 2009 at 2:37pm (EST) |
Just finished all of The Pack series by Karen Whiddon, have to wait on the 7th book in the series... lol.. These are romance novels... about werewolves... :) They are a nice quick easy read... |
CoachMcGuirk
 
| | #22 posted June 22, 2009 at 7:53am (EST) |
Just finished The Da Vinci Code. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I made the mistake of looking up reviews and wikipedia pages regarding it, and now I'm torn. Apparently a lot of the 'facts' in the book have been meticulously picked apart by a number of people.
Black Hole Brew pub is open for business! Drunken ramblings encouraged! |
Feeb
| #23 posted June 22, 2009 at 12:56pm (EST)
edited June 22, 2009 at 12:57pm (EST) |
CoachMcGuirk wrote:
> Just finished The Da Vinci Code. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I made
> the mistake of looking up reviews and wikipedia pages regarding it,
> and now I'm torn. Apparently a lot of the 'facts' in the book have
> been meticulously picked apart by a number of people.
>
It's fiction= An imaginative creation or a pretense that does not represent actuality but has been invented.
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nihon
| | #24 posted June 22, 2009 at 4:45pm (EST) |
Yeah, I find it oddly amusing how many people try to pick apart the "facts" in the book when it's very clearly a work of fiction and is not claiming to be the truth. 
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nihon
| | #25 posted June 22, 2009 at 6:02pm (EST) |
Just finished Lucky Star volume 1. Fun stuff. If you like off-the-wall non sequiturs and such (similar to Azumanga Daioh, but with more otaku content), you will like this one.
-- Apple/Mac Forum -- |
Yaverot
| | #26 posted June 22, 2009 at 6:05pm (EST) |
Class Dis-Mythed.
-
A good audience should be captivated, not captive. |
sgtshaggy
| | #27 posted June 22, 2009 at 7:23pm (EST) |
nihon wrote:
> Yeah, I find it oddly amusing how many people try to pick apart the
> "facts" in the book when it's very clearly a work of fiction and is
> not claiming to be the truth.
But it does purport to be based upon "facts", even fraudulent facts, melded with fiction, which makes it fun to speculate, question what you really believe, and was half the attraction in the first place IMO, if all of the Primetime specials and such are any indication of why the novel was so popular. It makes people wonder and think, which is great, most people seem to have lost touch with both  .
shags
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Feeb
| | #28 posted June 22, 2009 at 7:45pm (EST) |
sgtshaggy wrote:
> nihon wrote:
>
>> Yeah, I find it oddly amusing how many people try to pick apart
> the
>> "facts" in the book when it's very clearly a work of fiction and
> is
>> not claiming to be the truth.
>
> But it does purport to be based upon "facts", even fraudulent facts,
> melded with fiction, which makes it fun to speculate, question what
> you really believe, and was half the attraction in the first place
> IMO, if all of the Primetime specials and such are any indication
> of why the novel was so popular. It makes people wonder and think,
> which is great, most people seem to have lost touch with both .
>
> shags
>
>
Those people are called conservatives.... |
sgtshaggy
| | #29 posted June 22, 2009 at 9:01pm (EST) |
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GOSH
| | #30 posted June 22, 2009 at 9:24pm (EST) |
I just finished reading Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. I bought the book on a whim a couple of days ago, recalling thumbing through at a copy when I worked at the library a while back, because it had apparently won a Pulitzer. It's a beautifully written book about a dying 72 year old minister who is writing his "begats" to his 7 year old son, writing on certain aspects of life, spirituality and family history in a truly moving way. The spiritual questions he raises are not just simple reliance on doctrine or love of religion (he's not close-minded), but rather questions based on things more universal -- the meaning of life, accepting the limitations in our understanding of something larger than our collective selves, whatever it may be. In the middle of all this is a compelling narrative about the speaker's dying best friend and his estranged son who returns to Gilead, Iowa with a heavy revelation.
It's a slow-moving book that appreciates and celebrates simplicity, and one that embraces curiosity and questioning, even (and especially) when there's no clear answers. Read it, trust me. |
vDub
| | #31 posted June 27, 2009 at 3:35am (EST) |
While on vacation, I managed to read Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast by Aaron Allston and Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Omen by Christie Golden.
Between those two, I found a copy of New Spring by Robert Jordan and have been reading that in order to start into the Wheel of Time series.
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SmarmySir
| | #32 posted June 27, 2009 at 12:51pm (EST) |
You are disappointing, dublet.
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vDub
| | #33 posted June 27, 2009 at 11:15pm (EST) |
well, to be fair, I did manage to pick up quite a few books from the Great Smokies Flea Market while I was down there. Managed to get most of the Wheel of Time series, as well as Redwall & Mariel of Redwall. I bought Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman from Barnes & Noble, and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss from a local Knoxville book seller called Carpe Librum
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SmarmySir
| | #34 posted June 28, 2009 at 12:31am (EST) |
That works.
You were in the South?
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vDub
| | #35 posted June 28, 2009 at 6:07pm (EST) |
ya, I went to Gatlinburg, TN. We go there for vacation every summer and have been doing it for 15 years now (according to my dad).
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ndrake
| | #36 posted June 28, 2009 at 7:57pm (EST) |
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life Volume 1 |
therainstormlord
| #37 posted July 16, 2009 at 9:35pm (EST)
edited July 16, 2009 at 9:35pm (EST) |
School ended and I opted for a trip down memory lane, Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. Currently re-reading Harry Potter and the HBP before seeing the movie.
Like American Football? Like MMOs? Click here to find out about Goal Line Blitz! |
nihon
| | #38 posted July 16, 2009 at 9:59pm (EST) |
The next book I plan to read is Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber. I haven't read any books in this series yet.
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vDub
| | #39 posted July 16, 2009 at 10:03pm (EST) |
I've been plugging through The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, but because it's so damn long, I've been taking breaks from it to read other stuff.
Right now, I'm having one of those breaks and reading Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz
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nihon
| | #40 posted July 16, 2009 at 10:09pm (EST) |
That book is very slow (Eye of the World).
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