Book Recommendations?

CaptainCrowbar wrote:
Malor wrote:
NathanialG wrote:

Has anyone checked out Ann Leckie's fantasy book, The Raven Tower?

Very pleased with this one.

Just finished it myself. I can totally endorse everything Malor said. Truly excellent, and I can only wonder what Leckie is going to astonish us with next.

Let me add one more voice approving of this one. Great stuff.

I think the high point was when

Spoiler:

the Myriad asked the Stone: have you considered not being a rock, but taking another body to see more of the world, and got the answer yes, I have, and I will just stay a rock

DudleySmith wrote:

BlackSabre: They get bigger and better. If you like Sanderson they're a true feast.

Yeah, you weren't kidding. Just finished book two, Words of Radiance. Pretty damn epic. On to book 3!

Though I thought for some reason it was only a trilogy. Apparently there's a fourth on the way and he's planning 10 books for this series. Sheeeeeeeeet, gonna be reading this forever.

I am glad to hear Leckie’s new book was a winner. Her sci-fi series started so high and ended so low.

What about _Provenance_? I snagged a copy last time I was at the used bookstore, but I don't know much about it. I guess it's set in the same universe as the Ancillary Justice series, but I was under the impression it's a standalone book. Or is it the one that disappointed you, Michael?

It was the Ancillary series, which blew me away in the first book, left me on the fence with the second, and disappointed with the ending. It had such promise.

Michael wrote:

It was the Ancillary series, which blew me away in the first book, left me on the fence with the second, and disappointed with the ending. It had such promise.

I'm glad to hear it wasn't just me after the universal acclaim of the series. The first book was incredible, and I loved the ideas being explored. I just found the 2nd book to be rather wandering and decided to pass on the third.

Hangdog wrote:
Michael wrote:

It was the Ancillary series, which blew me away in the first book, left me on the fence with the second, and disappointed with the ending. It had such promise.

I'm glad to hear it wasn't just me after the universal acclaim of the series. The first book was incredible, and I loved the ideas being explored. I just found the 2nd book to be rather wandering and decided to pass on the third.

I didn't necessarily agree that the first was incredible for me. It was OK, but the second definitely has not inspired me to finish the trilogy.

So I just went back and finished off an older trilogy, the Grimnoir Chronicles. It had a mildly interesting premise: superheroes in the 1930s. The whole superhero trope is getting pretty darn old, now, but these started coming out in 2010, nine years ago, so I'm inclined to give it a pass on that score.

This is an alternate-history 1930s, where magic first showed up in the world in the 1840s or 1850s. At first a few people started showing supernatural powers, and then it gradually became more frequent. There's two basic types, Passives (which are only mentioned a tiny bit in the books), and Actives, which seem to be about one person in a thousand. Actives typically have one power. Very talented Actives seem to be able to pick up weaker forms of closely related disciplines.

There are two main characters, Jake Sullivan, a Heavy, and Faye Vierra, a Traveler. Heavies have the ability to manipulate gravity, and typically have the reputation of not being the brightest candles on the cake. They're considered, generally, one of the weakest of the Active types, as manipulating gravity isn't that generally useful. They have an easy time finding work as laborers (since they can lift enormous things very easily), but tend to be pigeonholed into doing exactly that.

Jake, of course, is different: he's an extremely powerful Heavy, and has branched out a little into mass and density manipulation. He's also incarcerated in a maximum security facility, and has been stuck breaking rocks for several years when the book opens. But then J. Edgar Hoover shows up, and offers him a job....

Faye, being a Traveler, can teleport, much like Nightcrawler in the Marvel comics. Traveling is extremely dangerous, because most Travelers end up teleporting into things like tree branches or simple insects, and killing themselves. Faye's different: she's got a high-quality mental map of the space around her, and an extremely agile mind. She's also an uneducated hick growing up on a farm in Central California, so her lightning-quick brain hasn't gotten as much exercise as it might. Her tale begins when her ranch is invaded by a bunch of superpowered thugs, who kill her adopted Traveler grandfather and steal something he's been guarding.

The books, overall, are a bit... odd. They wander. Perhaps the author wasn't quite sure where he was going with the series. It feels like he started out with a couple strong character images, set pen to paper, and watched what happened. Each book is done well, but they change a great deal from volume to volume. Interesting characters and plot threads are mysteriously dropped, while other characters stay present throughout all three books, but as drab wallpaper, without ever feeling real. The pacing's a bit weird, too. The overall plot ends up being fairly satisfying, but it feels strange, all throughout. It's like the author starts out with A to B to C, but then jumps to L, M, N and then to Q, R, S. Characters die and the main characters barely notice, but other characters die and they're kind of devastated, when in plot and development terms, the non-grieved character was much more interesting.

The 1930s setting came out a bit awkward. It was arguably necessary to set up the political conflict he wanted (which centers around the US versus an expansionist Japanese Empire). But other than that part of the setting, and the general acceptance of nations just taking territory because nobody was in a position to stop them, the 1930s aspects were barely important. There are so many anachronisms that it could have been set almost anytime without an issue. Now, it makes sense for this world to have developed a lot faster than ours, particularly because one type of superpower is being a Cog, a super inventor, but that whole aspect of the setting rang a bit false. He'd sometimes throw in 1930s words, but for the most part the dialog felt weirdly modern. There's an old saying to 'write what you know', and I get the strong impression that Mr. Correia doesn't have a deep familiarity with the real 1930s. I should point out, however, that I definitely don't have a deep familiarity with the 1930s, so I could be calling that entirely wrong.

Yet, for all the oddities in the books, there's some really interesting ideas in them. One is a genuinely good explanation for why magic suddenly showed up in the world, and the eventual consequences of it doing so. (not at all good.) And Faye's character arc is pretty interesting, one of the better superhero stories I've read, though reminiscent of many others. I particularly liked her combination of intelligence and ignorance; that was very well handled, and often quite amusing. Jake starts strong, but he sort of stalls out, and stops developing on a character level, and other characters show up and take a fair bit of 'screen time' without all that much payoff. It's just... kind of haphazard.

So is it worth reading? Yeah, probably. They're definitely not bad books, just don't go in expecting too much. I guess I'd rate these as B-grade. I don't think they entirely succeed at what they're trying to do, but some parts are a lot of fun.

Just picked up The Fifth Season for $2.99 on Kindle. Looking forward to trying this one out finally.

Redherring wrote:

Just picked up The Fifth Season for $2.99 on Kindle. Looking forward to trying this one out finally.

I actually just finished this trilogy and you're in for a treat. I really enjoyed it.

Phades wrote:
Redherring wrote:

Just picked up The Fifth Season for $2.99 on Kindle. Looking forward to trying this one out finally.

I actually just finished this trilogy and you're in for a treat. I really enjoyed it.

I second this, I'm two books in and loving it.

You people made me get the first book. I mean, $2.99 is a great price!

Just finished Thin Air, by Richard Morgan. It's not in the same series as Altered Carbon, etc., but it sure feels like that series in tone. Kind of a cyber-punk/noir thriller with a lot of subterfuge, corruption, and twists. While there's no transfer of personality between bodies, there are definitely enhancements made to certain individuals.

The main character Viers is a former corporate enforcer, indebted to the company by his mother pre-birth. So he's raised and enhanced with military style implants from birth. He's eventually kicked out of the roll he was enhanced to do, and ends up stuck on Mars. He gets pulled into the story so that he can get sent back to earth as his payment. There's government corruption on Mars, Earth Oversight audits, Martian police, mobs, etc. all working to get Viers to push things to help their causes.

If you didn't like the Takeshi Kovacs books, you probably won't like this. It's very close in a lot of ways. But if you want more of that, Morgan's got you covered.

Have you read his Thirteen? Sounds kind of similar, thanks for posting as I didn't know he had a new one.

LeapingGnome wrote:

Have you read his Thirteen? Sounds kind of similar, thanks for posting as I didn't know he had a new one.

I thought I had, but don't have it logged in Goidreads.

Read Kings of the Wyld awhile back from the library. Never posted about it, as it was a fun read, but nothing earth changing. But if you're looking for a monster fighting fantasy book structured around parties called "bands", that are written like rock band analogues, this one's for you. Instead of mining 80's geek references for this like Ready Player One or Wizarding 2.0 style books, this brings to mind hair metal and punk bands. There's a lot of heavy handed comparisons between bands doing what they love vs later corporate style music.

Overall, enjoyable. And $3 on Kindle today (or free from Overdrive at your library, if that's your thing).

Seeing this reminded me I need to read the sequel.

Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best, the most feared and renowned crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld.

Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk, or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help--the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.

Killing Commendatore was predictably very Murakami from the weirdly detached sex scenes to the loose wrap up of third act magical realism. Five stars

Reading Dead Men's Trousers right now and yup its a Welsh book. Which is what I wanted.

MannishBoy wrote:

Read Kings of the Wyld awhile back from the library. Never posted about it, as it was a fun read, but nothing earth changing. But if you're looking for a monster fighting fantasy book structured around parties called "bands", that are written like rock band analogues, this one's for you. Instead of mining 80's geek references for this like Ready Player One or Wizarding 2.0 style books, this brings to mind hair metal and punk bands. There's a lot of heavy handed comparisons between bands doing what they love vs later corporate style music.

Overall, enjoyable. And $3 on Kindle today (or free from Overdrive at your library, if that's your thing).

Seeing this reminded me I need to read the sequel.

Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best, the most feared and renowned crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld.

Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk, or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help--the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.

I really liked it too!

MannishBoy wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

Have you read his Thirteen? Sounds kind of similar, thanks for posting as I didn't know he had a new one.

I thought I had, but don't have it logged in Goidreads.

It's sold as Black Man outside of US. I'm interested in this as well, Black Man was pretty good.

The Buried Giant - something about this book shredded my emotional armor more easily than any novel since The Road. Really just struck home in a way that will stay with me. I had to force myself to get past the first few chapters, but I'm really glad I did.

boogle wrote:

Killing Commendatore was predictably very Murakami from the weirdly detached sex scenes to the loose wrap up of third act magical realism. Five stars

I’m reading KC right now and loving it. :).

We soon head back to the hospital - again - to start over my son’s leukemia battle after a few cells popped up in his CSF. We’re confident and hopeful and bla bla bla, but honestly I’m just wanting to turn my brain off as we’re already at our wits end, the kid’s so special seeing him hurt makes me want to rip my own eyes out, and induction the first time around nearly consumed me. I certainly want to be there to comfort him and be present during the moments he needs me, but otherwise I just need to protect my sanity and do some good old-fashioned emotional and mental checking out.

Can anyone recommend a series to get completely, hopelessly lost in for about a year and a half? I’m talking irresistible character-driven page-turning escapist insanity. I don’t want real life, I want to disappear from it.

NormanTheIntern wrote:

The Buried Giant - something about this book shredded my emotional armor more easily than any novel since The Road. Really just struck home in a way that will stay with me. I had to force myself to get past the first few chapters, but I'm really glad I did.

Kazuo Ishiguro is really good about shredding emotional armor.

I finished up The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler over the weekend, and I just love his writing so much. When I first read The Big Sleep, I was fascinated by how similar the prose seemed to the Calvin & Hobbes Tracer Bullet strips. Now that I've ready nearly all of his novels (in order), I don't see such a strong comparison anymore. It's still there on occasion in a bit of dialog or scene description, but otherwise his writing is on another level.

At some point I'll have to skim The Big Sleep again to see if his writing style has changed or if it's just a difference in how I read and perceive his books at this point.

Started Radicalized by Cory Doctorow. Enjoying it so far, though I'm still in the first novella "Unauthorized Bread," which is basically a Black Mirror episode written by a better writer.

Good stuff!

WizardM0de wrote:

Can anyone recommend a series to get completely, hopelessly lost in for about a year and a half? I’m talking irresistible character-driven page-turning escapist insanity. I don’t want real life, I want to disappear from it.

First, you'll want to read all of Terry Pratchett's books. Even if you've read them before. After that, read everything written by P.G. Wodehouse. Follow up with a gear change and read all of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, and finish off with the All Creatures Great and Small series (4 books) by James Herriot.

All good stuff for the soul. All gently written, with absurd and sometimes subtle humour, and lots of great characters.

The Goldfinch was fun. Want to read The Idiot now but trying some Guin will do for now.

WizardM0de wrote:
boogle wrote:

Killing Commendatore was predictably very Murakami from the weirdly detached sex scenes to the loose wrap up of third act magical realism. Five stars

I’m reading KC right now and loving it. :).

We soon head back to the hospital - again - to start over my son’s leukemia battle after a few cells popped up in his CSF. We’re confident and hopeful and bla bla bla, but honestly I’m just wanting to turn my brain off as we’re already at our wits end, the kid’s so special seeing him hurt makes me want to rip my own eyes out, and induction the first time around nearly consumed me. I certainly want to be there to comfort him and be present during the moments he needs me, but otherwise I just need to protect my sanity and do some good old-fashioned emotional and mental checking out.

Can anyone recommend a series to get completely, hopelessly lost in for about a year and a half? I’m talking irresistible character-driven page-turning escapist insanity. I don’t want real life, I want to disappear from it.

Ilona Andrew's Kate Daniels books are delicious sugar covered cheese. It's a world where you have alternating waves of magic or tech, as magic is on the rise and tech is on its way out. The action is great, and the characters are fun. Don't be turned away by the romance style covers, just embrace the ridiculousness.

Coldstream wrote:
WizardM0de wrote:

Can anyone recommend a series to get completely, hopelessly lost in for about a year and a half? I’m talking irresistible character-driven page-turning escapist insanity. I don’t want real life, I want to disappear from it.

First, you'll want to read all of Terry Pratchett's books. Even if you've read them before. After that, read everything written by P.G. Wodehouse. Follow up with a gear change and read all of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, and finish off with the All Creatures Great and Small series (4 books) by James Herriot.

All good stuff for the soul. All gently written, with absurd and sometimes subtle humour, and lots of great characters.

Maybe the chronicles of the Black Company? It’s an interesting style of book, as you’re purportedly reading a historical telling of their exploits, and the narrators change throughout the series. The characters are there, but somewhat muted due to this style. I found them really enjoyable. Only four compendiums and easy reading — won’t last you a year.

WizardM0de wrote:

Can anyone recommend a series to get completely, hopelessly lost in for about a year and a half? I’m talking irresistible character-driven page-turning escapist insanity. I don’t want real life, I want to disappear from it.

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series about the Royal Navy in and around the Napoleonic Wars. It's the sort of thing that isn't necessarily to everyone's taste, especially the details about ships and sailing, but if it registers with you, you'll grow a new space in your brain dedicated to them.

Maybe not escapist as O'Brian really puts his characters through the wringer, but they are such great characters.