sholio: (Books)
Sholio ([personal profile] sholio) wrote2009-04-14 11:09 am
Entry tags:

The things one finds...

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, [livejournal.com profile] 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.

[identity profile] lawrence520.livejournal.com 2009-04-14 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Nice icon!

Well, on a not very similar vein at all (except that I really like them), you might also try the Guardians of the Flame series, by Joel Rosenberg. Takes what could be a very fluff premise - RPG group trapped in the fantasy realm of their game - and makes it gritty, dangerous and real. I confess, I've mostly fallen out of love of the later books, but the first three - The Sleeping Dragon, The Sword and the Chain, and The Silver Crown - are great.

I'd also recommend the Door series, by Diane Duane, but I'm not certain what the reprint status is right now. If you can track them down - The Door Into Fire, The Door Into Shadow, and The Door Into Sunset - they're most excellent.

[identity profile] dragon-within.livejournal.com 2009-04-14 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
you might also try the Guardians of the Flame series, by Joel Rosenberg.

I remember those! Like you, I really enjoyed the first three books and then sort of grew away from them.
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[identity profile] friendshipper.livejournal.com 2009-04-15 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh, I haven't heard of the Rosenberg books! I'll keep an eye out.

I read the first few of Duane's "Wizard" books but was kind of lukewarm on them and lost interest after awhile. I was vaguely aware that she had other books but didn't know anything about them.