So Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel is now a BBC miniseries. The first episode is available free from Amazon (even without prime), and it is remarkably good. It so deftly captures the collision between Austenite social comedy and ominous, almost horror-like magic that made the book special. Also, although it is pretty faithful so far, it is much faster paced than the book.
I enjoyed the first episode, and I have tried to read the book twice but the beginning is so slow that I couldn't get very far.
The first episode might have convinced me to give it another try.
If you make it to the part of the book where Strange goes to fight in the Peninsular War and you still don't like it, then you should put it down. The war parts of it are just really, really outstanding but if they don't grab you, then it's probably not a book for you.
Looking to start a new fantasy series. Prince of Thorns, or Blood Song, or Half a King. Which is best?
Prince of thorns is a dark series. The protagonist isn't a good person. I really liked the series, but lots of bad things happen in it, mostly caused by the main character.
Looking to start a new fantasy series. Prince of Thorns, or Blood Song, or Half a King. Which is best?
Prince of thorns is a dark series. The protagonist isn't a good person. I really liked the series, but lots of bad things happen in it, mostly caused by the main character.
It really is a great series though. His Prince of Fools is set in the same world, but with more humour and less...grim.
Read the Southern Reach. Compulsively readable and superbly well-written. Like most series, the density of gee-whiz notions in the first book is a lot higher than the following two, but I thought Vandermeer did a good job introducing new ideas throughout. The third book is definitely the weakest, with some noticeable retconns and a distinct lack of the dread that powered the first two. Also, having read City of Saints and Madmen previously, there were some authorial ticks that jumped out at me. Over and over, we meet characters who ruminate endlessly about their unhappy childhoods and dysfunctional - usually alcoholic - parents. Even so, it was excellent.
Reading list does not have To Kill a Mockingbird. This needs corrected!
On slightly less firm ground, what does the thread think of some HP Lovecraft? I know he drowns in purple prose and has some problematic attitudes as hilariously revealed in the inspiration behind Innsmouth, but I really enjoy The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and At the Mountains of Madness, the former for the mystery and the latter for the sheer atmosphere he conjures.
"problematic" doesn't even begin to cover it in a lot of cases (not just Innsmouth)
that said I love me some Lovecraft. My favorite is Shadow out of Time followed by At the Mountains of Madness.
Colour out of Space sin't too problematic and it very good too
Colour out of Space and The Thing on the Doorstep were the only stories of his that I found creepy. The rest were just too much "this is so horrible I can't even describe it!"
The Thing in particular because it dealt with actual human monsters and has pretty much nothing to do with the Mythos apart from the usual namedropping.
Colour Out of Space is interesting in that it's classist instead of racist
a refreshing change
I think I like that one best as it's a really interesting and eerie story and while there are elements of otherworldliness, it's more about the people in the story than about the eldritch unknowable
I also quite like the Dunwich Horror but fully acknowledge it's a really gross story in general.
So I've been reading the Black Company Books. I do not know why I didn't read these like 10 years ago.
Just finished Dreams of Steel.
Hooooo Fuck. I saw the first twist at the end coming, but only had nigglings about the second.
I just finished the second book last night. I really enjoy the writing style. Probably going to read through the rest of the series. Is there other good fantasy series that is written in a modern style(I guess thats the best way to put it?)
I like Malazan a lot more though. Black Company slips as the series goes on. Malazan takes a while to get going, and Erikson loves to keep you in the dark, but the writing really appeals to me, he has so many memorable characters, and does character interactions well.
Colour Out of Space is interesting in that it's classist instead of racist
a refreshing change
I think I like that one best as it's a really interesting and eerie story and while there are elements of otherworldliness, it's more about the people in the story than about the eldritch unknowable
I also quite like the Dunwich Horror but fully acknowledge it's a really gross story in general.
The Shadow over Innsmouth is my favorite Lovecraft story. There's a lot of icky stuff, as well, but the central core of the story is amazing effective - lone traveler ends up in isolated small town and slowly realizes that things are not well.
The one thing that lessens the sting of Lovecraft's racism a bit for me is that the man seemed to find the bulk of humanity horrifying, alien and probably corrupted. I like to imagine him as this alien, possibly cyclopean and lugubrious, creature surrounding by all the horrible tribes of ape creatures.
Robert E. Howard is the pulp that can really creep me out with his racism. Pigeons from Hell would be a masterpiece of horror, if it wasn't also so damned racist.
The malazan books are pretty relentlessly depressing
I originally read a song of ice and fire as a break from the malazan books because they were too depressing
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
edited June 2015
Finished off Middlesex by ol' whatshisname Eugenides over a trip. It's a very contained tale with very small, human dramas but for whatever reason it comes together into something really quite fascinating.
The change in voice between the old male narrator and the young female narrator is incredibly clever. You can tell it's both the same person and that they have changed in some pretty significant ways.
Similarly the charting of the passage of time as you go from freshly arrived immigrants down the generations is very well handled. Things change little by little and suddenly the characters change from Greeks living in America to Americans with Greek relatives.
Is the rest of his stuff as good? I seem to remember liking the virgin suicides
Mojo_Jojo on
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
The malazan book of the fallen is heavily influenced by the style of the Black Company.
The bridgeburners are basically The Black Company v 2.0
They are clearly heavily influenced by it but they are really nothing alike. Malazan is purple like a priest during Lent and Black Company is like the exact opposite.
Both go to shit over time though, although Malazan kinda goes up first, then down.
From the half of the first book I read Malazan has nowhere to go but up.
So last week or so I posted I finished Stephenson's Seveneves and was generally ambivalent about it. I moved on to Stross's Glasshouse and the difference is fucking amazing. Glasshouse has a bunch of Big Ideas while still ultimately being a very human story. Just how different it is from Seveneves in ambition is staggering.
Speaking of challenging fantasy, I would really like to see R. Scott Bakkers Prince of Nothing series in the recommended reading list.
Have we talked about how his editors are yanking him around now? His next novel has been given to the publisher for over half a year and he hasn't heard anything.
From the half of the first book I read Malazan has nowhere to go but up.
It gets better with the next two, then the 4th is kinda eh, then the 5th feels like it's a return to form and then it just falls off a cliff.
I should probably finish it at some point but Toll the Hounds was aggressively bad.
Bonehunters was the best book on reread for me.
Toll the Hounds on, Erikson does end up getting a bit excessively wordy, and book 9 is even more of a slow burn than usual because it's setting up the next book, too. But the climaxes of 8-10 are goddamn amazing.
Also, while I do think that Malazan can be depressing, I dont think it's exclusively so - if there's an overarching theme for that series, it's compassion.
So I've been reading the Black Company Books. I do not know why I didn't read these like 10 years ago.
Just finished Dreams of Steel.
Hooooo Fuck. I saw the first twist at the end coming, but only had nigglings about the second.
I just finished the second book last night. I really enjoy the writing style. Probably going to read through the rest of the series. Is there other good fantasy series that is written in a modern style(I guess thats the best way to put it?)
My preferences are Known, I suspect, but:
Joe Abercrombie - start with The Blade Itself
Mark Lawrence - start with Prince of Thorns OR Prince of Fools
Ian Tregillis - Bitter Seeds (kind of), and The Mechanical
Django Wexler - The Thousand Names ; this one's probably the closest to the Black Company, for me, in subject.
Brian McClellan - Promise of Blood; this one feels a bit more traditional, but it's still got all the grime rubbed in, and the setting is very clever.
So I've been reading the Black Company Books. I do not know why I didn't read these like 10 years ago.
Just finished Dreams of Steel.
Hooooo Fuck. I saw the first twist at the end coming, but only had nigglings about the second.
I just finished the second book last night. I really enjoy the writing style. Probably going to read through the rest of the series. Is there other good fantasy series that is written in a modern style(I guess thats the best way to put it?)
My preferences are Known, I suspect, but:
Joe Abercrombie - start with The Blade Itself
Mark Lawrence - start with Prince of Thorns OR Prince of Fools
Ian Tregillis - Bitter Seeds (kind of), and The Mechanical
Django Wexler - The Thousand Names ; this one's probably the closest to the Black Company, for me, in subject.
Brian McClellan - Promise of Blood; this one feels a bit more traditional, but it's still got all the grime rubbed in, and the setting is very clever.
...might do for a start?
Garrett P.I., also by Glen Cook -- change of pace, but some similar charm to it.
I sat out the last thread because it was nearing the end, but as this is pretty recent I'll stick my head in and say that I started reading Hyperion last week, and I'm really enjoying it. If I'm through it fast enough (not the speediest reader and I don't always make much time), I'll be able to read something else before The Unnoticeables comes out near the end of next month, which I'm looking forward to.
So I've been reading the Black Company Books. I do not know why I didn't read these like 10 years ago.
Just finished Dreams of Steel.
Hooooo Fuck. I saw the first twist at the end coming, but only had nigglings about the second.
I just finished the second book last night. I really enjoy the writing style. Probably going to read through the rest of the series. Is there other good fantasy series that is written in a modern style(I guess thats the best way to put it?)
My preferences are Known, I suspect, but:
Joe Abercrombie - start with The Blade Itself
Mark Lawrence - start with Prince of Thorns OR Prince of Fools
Ian Tregillis - Bitter Seeds (kind of), and The Mechanical
Django Wexler - The Thousand Names ; this one's probably the closest to the Black Company, for me, in subject.
Brian McClellan - Promise of Blood; this one feels a bit more traditional, but it's still got all the grime rubbed in, and the setting is very clever.
...might do for a start?
Garrett P.I., also by Glen Cook -- change of pace, but some similar charm to it.
I sat out the last thread because it was nearing the end, but as this is pretty recent I'll stick my head in and say that I started reading Hyperion last week, and I'm really enjoying it. If I'm through it fast enough (not the speediest reader and I don't always make much time), I'll be able to read something else before The Unnoticeables comes out near the end of next month, which I'm looking forward to.
Hyperion is wonderful. People will be along shortly to tell you the sequel (which is really more of a conclusion than a sequel) is only ok but they are wrong, it is just slightly less wonderful.
I've been finally reading Wheel of Time, and it's been kind of disappointing. Currently getting close to halfway through the fourth book.
It's much more generic epic fantasy then I expected. From all the praise I've heard, I was expecting something more like ASoIaF, but so far Wheel of Time's only distinction from other genre fiction seems to be its length.
I've been finally reading Wheel of Time, and it's been kind of disappointing. Currently getting close to halfway through the fourth book.
It's much more generic epic fantasy then I expected. From all the praise I've heard, I was expecting something more like ASoIaF, but so far Wheel of Time's only distinction from other genre fiction seems to be its length.
Someone praised WoT to you? Who? Who could hate you this much? For the love of God, stop now. You have already passed the high-water mark. You have no idea of the depths of tedium and repetition that await you in the next 10,000 pages. There is one entire book that consists of recounting one day - a single day - from the previous book, except from the PoV of every other character in the series.
Do not be like me, trapped in a period of adolescent weakness, thereafter doomed to read the whole shitty thing because of a sunk-cost fallacy. I am a broken man. There is still hope for you.
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If you make it to the part of the book where Strange goes to fight in the Peninsular War and you still don't like it, then you should put it down. The war parts of it are just really, really outstanding but if they don't grab you, then it's probably not a book for you.
Just finished Dreams of Steel.
Hooooo Fuck. I saw the first twist at the end coming, but only had nigglings about the second.
Prince of thorns is a dark series. The protagonist isn't a good person. I really liked the series, but lots of bad things happen in it, mostly caused by the main character.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
It really is a great series though. His Prince of Fools is set in the same world, but with more humour and less...grim.
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
Of those? I'd go with Blood Song.
Started reading Foundation, which I love the scale of
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
Colour out of Space sin't too problematic and it very good too
The Thing in particular because it dealt with actual human monsters and has pretty much nothing to do with the Mythos apart from the usual namedropping.
a refreshing change
I think I like that one best as it's a really interesting and eerie story and while there are elements of otherworldliness, it's more about the people in the story than about the eldritch unknowable
I also quite like the Dunwich Horror but fully acknowledge it's a really gross story in general.
Uncanny Magazine!
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I just finished the second book last night. I really enjoy the writing style. Probably going to read through the rest of the series. Is there other good fantasy series that is written in a modern style(I guess thats the best way to put it?)
The bridgeburners are basically The Black Company v 2.0
The Shadow over Innsmouth is my favorite Lovecraft story. There's a lot of icky stuff, as well, but the central core of the story is amazing effective - lone traveler ends up in isolated small town and slowly realizes that things are not well.
The one thing that lessens the sting of Lovecraft's racism a bit for me is that the man seemed to find the bulk of humanity horrifying, alien and probably corrupted. I like to imagine him as this alien, possibly cyclopean and lugubrious, creature surrounding by all the horrible tribes of ape creatures.
Robert E. Howard is the pulp that can really creep me out with his racism. Pigeons from Hell would be a masterpiece of horror, if it wasn't also so damned racist.
I originally read a song of ice and fire as a break from the malazan books because they were too depressing
The change in voice between the old male narrator and the young female narrator is incredibly clever. You can tell it's both the same person and that they have changed in some pretty significant ways.
Similarly the charting of the passage of time as you go from freshly arrived immigrants down the generations is very well handled. Things change little by little and suddenly the characters change from Greeks living in America to Americans with Greek relatives.
Is the rest of his stuff as good? I seem to remember liking the virgin suicides
They are clearly heavily influenced by it but they are really nothing alike. Malazan is purple like a priest during Lent and Black Company is like the exact opposite.
Both go to shit over time though, although Malazan kinda goes up first, then down.
So last week or so I posted I finished Stephenson's Seveneves and was generally ambivalent about it. I moved on to Stross's Glasshouse and the difference is fucking amazing. Glasshouse has a bunch of Big Ideas while still ultimately being a very human story. Just how different it is from Seveneves in ambition is staggering.
It gets better with the next two, then the 4th is kinda eh, then the 5th feels like it's a return to form and then it just falls off a cliff.
I should probably finish it at some point but Toll the Hounds was aggressively bad.
There were a few quite strong entries, with some great characters
But it does get pretty stuck up its own ass
Have we talked about how his editors are yanking him around now? His next novel has been given to the publisher for over half a year and he hasn't heard anything.
Bonehunters was the best book on reread for me.
Toll the Hounds on, Erikson does end up getting a bit excessively wordy, and book 9 is even more of a slow burn than usual because it's setting up the next book, too. But the climaxes of 8-10 are goddamn amazing.
Also, while I do think that Malazan can be depressing, I dont think it's exclusively so - if there's an overarching theme for that series, it's compassion.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
https://rsbakker.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/in-the-shadow-of-summer/
My preferences are Known, I suspect, but:
Joe Abercrombie - start with The Blade Itself
Mark Lawrence - start with Prince of Thorns OR Prince of Fools
Ian Tregillis - Bitter Seeds (kind of), and The Mechanical
Django Wexler - The Thousand Names ; this one's probably the closest to the Black Company, for me, in subject.
Brian McClellan - Promise of Blood; this one feels a bit more traditional, but it's still got all the grime rubbed in, and the setting is very clever.
...might do for a start?
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
Garrett P.I., also by Glen Cook -- change of pace, but some similar charm to it.
Just make sure you stop around Red Iron Nights.
Hyperion is wonderful. People will be along shortly to tell you the sequel (which is really more of a conclusion than a sequel) is only ok but they are wrong, it is just slightly less wonderful.
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Just like the gypsy woman said!
It's much more generic epic fantasy then I expected. From all the praise I've heard, I was expecting something more like ASoIaF, but so far Wheel of Time's only distinction from other genre fiction seems to be its length.
Someone praised WoT to you? Who? Who could hate you this much? For the love of God, stop now. You have already passed the high-water mark. You have no idea of the depths of tedium and repetition that await you in the next 10,000 pages. There is one entire book that consists of recounting one day - a single day - from the previous book, except from the PoV of every other character in the series.
Do not be like me, trapped in a period of adolescent weakness, thereafter doomed to read the whole shitty thing because of a sunk-cost fallacy. I am a broken man. There is still hope for you.
The other two aren't just bad they dedicate themselves to undoing everything good from the first two books