Book Recommendations?

That list does remind me that I need to finish Brian Staveley's Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series...I read the first two books and really enjoyed them, but they are both pretty long and dense so I've been waiting on the third for quite a while now. The 2nd book I mostly listened to as an audiobook when I had to do 20 hours of driving round-trip alone in one weekend, and I've kind of been waiting for some similar period in my life to recur, but thankfully that hasn't happened...

re: The List

I'll just say that Bleach ends with an absolute whimper, never again reaching the heights of the Soul Society Invasion arc.
Brent Weeks makes a fun and interesting world in the Shadows series then spends the second book raping and killing most female characters he's created.
And speaking of atrocities, Terry Goodkind is on there, too. Ugh.
The Furies series sees Jim Butcher take the loose premise of Ancient Rome and Pokemon and run with it for 6 books.
And Tigana is wonderful and I think everyone could enjoy it.

Grenn wrote:

The Furies series sees Jim Butcher take the loose premise of Ancient Rome and Pokemon and run with it for 6 books.

It's way better than it sounds. Butcher was teaching a writing class and said that a good writer could make a good story even from two bad ideas. A student responded "what about the lost roman legion and pokemon" and here we are.

I liked Tigana ok, but it's just about my least favorite GGK book, having read all but the two most recent ones and a Song for Arbonne.

Yeah, “The Furies” is a pretty good series.

Tanglebones wrote:

There are some absolute turds in there too, like Terry Goodkind's series

Hey, isn't that guy a jackass?

ColdForged wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

There are some absolute turds in there too, like Terry Goodkind's series

Hey, isn't that guy a jackass?

There might actually be a whole thread somewhere about how awful he and that series is.

Yonder wrote:
Grenn wrote:

The Furies series sees Jim Butcher take the loose premise of Ancient Rome and Pokemon and run with it for 6 books.

It's way better than it sounds. Butcher was teaching a writing class and said that a good writer could make a good story even from two bad ideas. A student responded "what about the lost roman legion and pokemon" and here we are.

So a good writer can do it, but Butcher also managed to pull it off?

It's actually done well, although, like many, I really doubt that Ascheon could have promoted his Pikachuus to Raii Chuus in the time given. The Legion should have been more conservative that way, even with the officers Pocketusii tracking their rank in status. But that's just, you know, arguing with the author...

Do I need to specify that I enjoyed the series? I just find their origins hilarious.

I liked reading the series as well despite having no clue about the Pikachu part. It's been a while, but I think my only issues was that it seemed they were always covered in blood and there was kind of an unhappy non-resolution of a (non-romantic) relationship that didn't really leave me with the degree of closure I like. But overall, I was interested and enjoyed them all the way through!

Maybe I’m in the minority here but Furies of Calderon was pretty firmly in the “turd” category for me.

chixor7 wrote:

Maybe I’m in the minority here but Furies of Calderon was pretty firmly in the “turd” category for me.

Mostly the same. Specifically the initial premise as I read it

Spoiler:

with the main character being magic-less and thus having to rely upon his wits and plans to succeed

being not at all what it was by the end

Spoiler:

where the main character is a secret prince and the reason he was magic-less was because his magic was too awesome and badass to show up early

.

It was a decade ago that I read it, though, so that's about all I remember of the story.

I like those kinds of stories. If you can justify you power creep, then thumbs up from me!

I've read 24 of those 50, though some (like A Wrinkle in Time and Dragonflight) were a very long time ago.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I've read 24 of those 50, though some (like A Wrinkle in Time and Dragonflight) were a very long time ago.

27, and I've got about a half dozen more of them on my to-read list.

bnpederson wrote:
chixor7 wrote:

Maybe I’m in the minority here but Furies of Calderon was pretty firmly in the “turd” category for me.

Mostly the same. Specifically the initial premise as I read it

Spoiler:

with the main character being magic-less and thus having to rely upon his wits and plans to succeed

being not at all what it was by the end

Spoiler:

where the main character is a secret prince and the reason he was magic-less was because his magic was too awesome and badass to show up early

.

It was a decade ago that I read it, though, so that's about all I remember of the story.

I would have preferred

Spoiler:

that the main character had remained magic-less or hindered in some non-uber-powerful way

but I still enjoyed the series overall.

chixor7 wrote:

Maybe I’m in the minority here but Furies of Calderon was pretty firmly in the “turd” category for me.

You may in the minority but you are not alone.

I just don't like anything Jim Butcher has written that I have read. I keep trying though, maybe the next book is where it gets good for me since a lot of people who have similar taste to me like him. I just cannot for the life of me figure out why.

Tanglebones wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

I've read 24 of those 50, though some (like A Wrinkle in Time and Dragonflight) were a very long time ago.

27, and I've got about a half dozen more of them on my to-read list.

20 or maybe 21 out of 50 for me. I read one of the McCaffrey Dragon books a long time ago; I suppose its impact on me can be judged from the fact that I can't even remember which one it was.

I think I'm at 34 of the 50. Of the ones I've read, I'd agree the only real turd is the Goodkind, if we defined turd as books we would actively encourage other people not to read. There are a few others that I would be more in the "meh" category for.

Just finished By Demons Possessed, the 9th Kencyrath novel by PC Hodgell. As a longtime fan of the series, I enjoyed it a lot, although I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point. Protagonist Jame finally returns to Tai-Tastigon, the baroque fantasy city where her adventures began way back in the first book. The dead are walking, gods are turning into monsters, lynch mobs are forming a queue for Jame's neck, and as usual, somehow this is all her fault. Most of the characters who survived her first visit to the city are back - along with several who didn't, this being that sort of apocalypse - and at least one interesting new one. Secrets are coming out of the woodwork wholesale; we don't learn the full truth about the Three-Faced God yet, but there are some revelations that point in a very unpleasant direction.

Some of us have been following the series since it began with God Stalk in 1982. For a while we were waiting many years between volumes (GRRM? Piker!), but more recently Hodgell has been reliably turning out a new instalment every couple of years. On her blog, Hodgell has indicated that the series is nearly done now, with possibly only one more book to go.

Just picked up Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games after hearing good things about Iain Banks in here over the years. Both on sale for $2.99 for Kindle on Amazon.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:

Just picked up Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games after hearing good things about Iain Banks in here over the years. Both on sale for $2.99 for Kindle on Amazon.

Hoo-boy you're in for a ride.

I didn't like Consider Phlebas but I can see why Jonman would enjoy the tale of a poly-amorphous adventure.

"Consider Not Phlebasing"

I think it's the worst Culture book, but I read it first and then read only Iain Banks for 6 months.

Excession is the worst one I've read so far. Player of Games is one of the best.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:

Just picked up Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games after hearing good things about Iain Banks in here over the years. Both on sale for $2.99 for Kindle on Amazon.

I’ve been looking for a deal on Phlebas! Thanks!

(I’m collecting my reading based on a reading list for a science fiction great course. Just finished Green Mars today.)

I really liked Excession, but I've always been particularly fascinated by the Minds and Ships of the Culture.

Most of the Novelette shortlist for the Hugo awards are available free online. (I've only read one of them, but that's easily fixed.)

The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly (Tor)

The Thing About Ghost Stories By Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny magazine. Audio edition)

When We Were Starless By Simone Heller (Clarkesworld magazine, audio edition)

If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again By Zen Cho (B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog)

Nine Last Days on Planet Earth By Daryl Gregory (Tor)

And the only one not freely available:
The Only Harmless Great Thing By Brooke Bolander (Tor)
Buy on Amazon
You've probably seen this title before, as it won the Nebula.