The things one finds...

[sholio]

oh my god, this commercial is so, so, SO wrong on pretty much every level that I cannot stop laughing at it (at least partly in horrified amazement that it's an actual commercial and not an SNL parody commercial). The shaved cat! THE TULIPS.

You know what I need, I think? A new series of books to be hooked on. It was so lovely to sink into the new Dresden Files book, but it was all over so quickly and now I have to wait for the next one. *chews nails* My reading has been falling off lately -- I'll start books and then abandon them -- and I think a lot of it is because what I really want right now is to fall in love with some characters and spend a lot of quality time with them. Most of what I've been reading lately have been stand-alone genre and literary-type books, but I'm finding them harder to get into. Since I'm not really following any TV shows avidly at the moment, I think that I need to find me some good, escapist brain candy to satisfy my mental sweet tooth.

Recommendations? I'd prefer books with SF or fantasy elements, but I'm open to anything else, too, if you know of something that's good. If you've been reading my journal for any length of time, you probably know what I go for: ensemble casts with relationships more complicated than just "boy meets girl, love at first sight", strong friendships, quality world-building. I like to be surprised and to have a story take me places I'm not expecting. I like genre-mixing (steampunk SF, mystery fantasy). I'm very character-focused; I like to follow the same characters over years and watch them grow and change. I am an absolute sucker for ambiguous and flawed heroes, ambiguous and likable villains, and enemies forced to work together for the common good. I like explosions, and as much as I adore solid world-building, I get bored with infodumps and florid writing very quickly.

A few of the series that are the sort of thing I'm looking for right now:

- Death Gate (Weiss & Hickman)
- Dark Tower (King)
- Discworld
- Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books
- Coldfire (C.S. Friedman)
- Tobias Buckell's Xenowealth books

I've tried both Lynn Flewelling and Janny Wurts and just couldn't get into either one (sorry, xparrot!). I also haven't tried George RR Martin because I'm scared XD, though I have the first Song of Ice and Fire book sitting in my to-read pile in case I manage to get over the fact that everyone keeps telling me these books will rip my heart into a million shreds and dance on the pieces.

Comments

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

I'm currently reading the Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb, and am loving it. And it's part of a series, so: bonus. If you haven't already read it, I recommend it - I've ordered the rest of the trilogy and haven't finished the first one yet. Reviews more useful than mine are here (http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Apprentice-Farseer-Trilogy-Book/dp/055357339X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239740968&sr=8-1), but skip the editorial summaries - they're spoilery for things I've enjoyed finding out in little chunks. The first couple of reviews at time of posting won't spoil you.

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, I am so behind the times! Uh, thirded?

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Heh, no worries! The fact that I said "Hey, rec me books!" and three separate people said "Assassin trilogy!" probably means I should be reading these books. *g*

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

You're not the first person in this thread to recommend those, so I think I'm going to need to check them out. :D I have a couple of hours to kill in town today between dropping off my husband at the airport and a required meeting at work (otherwise I don't have to work today at all, but it's not worth driving all the way home and then all the way back), so I was planning on spending that time at the library. And I have a ton of stuff to look for now!