What are you reading ?

Finishing Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollack. It's a collection of short stories taking place in rural southern Ohio dealing with various manners of depravity, desperation, hopelessness, dysfunctional families (with a capital D) and usually substance abuse. The stories are somewhat connected, definately dark and by no means uplifting. Yet it is a compelling read, especially if you have ever spent time in a rural area. This is not to say all rural areas are like the one in the book, but it helps with understanding the setting.

I have a weakness for dark fiction for example work by Chuck Palahniuk, Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell, some work by Bret Easton Ellis, so this was right up my alley. I'm looking forward to reading his novel "Devil All the Time".

Started reading IQ84 yesterday, and already it seems really good. Not very far in and I'm hoping it just gets even better!



-Carn

just some magzine

Any good fantasy books with rogue/assassin as main character?

Also, are there any good fantasy books that are not full of tolkish cliches (fuuuu Eragon).

Originally Posted by bloodlover
Any good fantasy books with rogue/assassin as main character?

Also, are there any good fantasy books that are not full of tolkish cliches (fuuuu Eragon).

The "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser" stories by Fritz Leiber surely fulfil both requests. Mouser however is is more a rogue/thief then a rogue/assassin. Fafhrd is the typical barbarian.

They are good examples of the pre-Tolkien phantasy of the "Conan" area.

The Mistborn series is good for rogue/assassin types, with a healthy dash of magery thrown in. I was quite surprised by how good it actually was.


-Carn

IQ84 was interesting, not sure everyone would enjoy the style the writer employed. Overall, I think it could have done with some more editing. Now I'm finishing up The Devil All The Time, by Donald Pollock. Very gritty, quite disturbing, and totally engrossing, I've barely been able to put it down.


-Carn

Originally Posted by bkrueger
The "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser" stories by Fritz Leiber surely fulfil both requests. Mouser however is is more a rogue/thief then a rogue/assassin. Fafhrd is the typical barbarian.

They are good examples of the pre-Tolkien phantasy of the "Conan" area.

+1 on Leiber although I am not very certain on his appeal on younger audiences…

Also, are there any good fantasy books that are not full of tolkish cliches (fuuuu Eragon).

Also an all time favorite, are the Wizard of Earthsea books by the much respected Ursula Le Guin… For newer fare people might want to check out the Farseer, Tawny man and Liveship traders trilogies from Robin Hobb, great stuff. The new one is also good supposedly but I have not started on it yet.

If you are into more young adult fare (the good ones, not crowd pleasing pastiches ala Harry Potter )I could recommend Garth Nix's Abhorsen Books (a personal favorite).

I am currently reading the last book of Tad Williams Shadowmarch tetralogy. I would not hesitate to recommend any of his books (I love him as much as Robin Hobb from the Contemporaries) but free from Tolkien influences he is not…

Originally Posted by Carnifex
IQ84 was interesting, not sure everyone would enjoy the style the writer employed. Overall, I think it could have done with some more editing. Now I'm finishing up The Devil All The Time, by Donald Pollock. Very gritty, quite disturbing, and totally engrossing, I've barely been able to put it down.


-Carn

I'm going to finish Stephen King's latest then read Devil All the Time. Carn you will probably enjoy Knockemstiff if you haven't read it already.

Yeah I read Knockemstiff a while back, and prerfer this one even more. Neither is for the squeamish, lol!



-Carn

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Yeah I read Knockemstiff a while back, and prerfer this one even more. Neither is for the squeamish, lol!
-Carn

Cool, I can't wait then!

I recently finished 2 from Daniel Woodrell:

Outlaw Album: a collection of short stories. Not as gritty as Donald Ray Pollack, but enjoyable and at times disturbing. I read it after Knockemstiff and it paled in comparison to the latter. After while the stories seemed to run together and as a result some were not memorable. A Winter's Bone was much better than Outlaw Album.

Give Us a Kiss: A Country Noir: I enjoyed this one, about an academic with a checkered past returning to his roots and ultimately his destiny (imo, I am no book critic and rarely look beyond the surface of the prose— I did enough of that in college). I have family in northeast Arkansas and spent a lot of time there until I was 20. While they thankfully were nothing like this family in the novel, having spent time there really helped understand the setting. I look forward to reading more Woodrell.

Started reading Jane Eyre today. Mother of god, this book is epic!!!!!!!!!

Btw, anyone with an account on Goodreads?

If you like Jane E, you might enjoy The Magicians and Mrs Quent by Galen Beckett AKA Mark Anthony whose other books are also worthwhile reading.

Of course, anything by Modesitt will be well worth your time and effort!!

Originally Posted by bloodlover
Btw, anyone with an account on Goodreads?

I do - txa1265

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_Adventure

quite good so far.

Anyone have any good "space opera" sci-fi recommendations? Especially stuff kind of like Star Trek where it involves space exploration, planetary adventures and dealing with alien cultures? Or the kind of stuff that might have inspired the game Starflight? My sci-fi reading experience has been pretty limited as I've largely stuck to fantasy over the years. But I'm really in the mood for some good space opera sci-fi lately.

As for what I've been reading - mostly I've been listening to audio books as that is all I've had time for - I can listen while I work. Been listening to "The Dying Earth" by Jack Vance which is brilliant imaginative stuff. I can really see how Vance influenced D&D / Gary Gygax. Also listened to "Swords and Ice Magic" by Fritz Leiber. I'm a long time fan of Leiber's Fafrd / Gray Mouser stuff - always fun to read.

Originally Posted by Myrkrel
Anyone have any good "space opera" sci-fi recommendations? Especially stuff kind of like Star Trek where it involves space exploration, planetary adventures and dealing with alien cultures? Or the kind of stuff that might have inspired the game Starflight? My sci-fi reading experience has been pretty limited as I've largely stuck to fantasy over the years. But I'm really in the mood for some good space opera sci-fi lately.

Ian M. Banks the culture novels ofcourse

Edit: If you have no problem to veer a bit outside the Space Opera subgenre I could also recommend Grass by Sheri S. Tepper (classic) or if you want clever sci-fi with a fantasy veneer Celia Friedmans Very good Coldfire Trilogy

Been Reading the Highly entertaining Anansi Boys from Gaiman. I think I'll switch to some comics (I just got the Walking Dead Compendium 1) for a change of pace after I finish it… Although those Rivers of London from Aaronovich seem awfully enticing too… Choices choices…

I'm reading The Invisible Man right now. It's kind of boring tbh and I don't see what's the big deal with it.

Originally Posted by JonNik
Ian M. Banks the culture novels ofcourse

Edit: If you have no problem to veer a bit outside the Space Opera subgenre I could also recommend Grass by Sheri S. Tepper (classic) or if you want clever sci-fi with a fantasy veneer Celia Friedmans Very good Coldfire Trilogy

Thanks! I'll check those out. Looks like they have the Iain M. Banks "Culture" stuff on Audible. Is the first one, "Consider Phlebas" a good place to start?

There are a few novels on the X series out there, but I fear that they haven't been translated yet.

http://www.amazon.com/X2-01-Nopileos…0602976&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/X3-Wächter-der…0602976&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/X3-H�ter-Hel…0603128&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/X-Farnhams-Leg…8&sr=8-1-fkmr2


Nopileos is an imho highly entertaining and highly creative book, with several twists and incredile turns.
The story as such is a bit … "uninteresting", though. What makes it so interesting is that everything appears to be indeed "alien". The things surrounding the main story, that's the interesting part, imho !
Apart from that book I haven't read the others yet.