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

[jimandblair.livejournal.com]

Charles De Lint... start with Moonheart

So you're no’ familiar with Kurtz. Well, you mentioned solid world building which she has down in spades. There is some -- cough cough -- exposition. Man, she's fond of her characters clothes. But that besides she tells a good tale.

Katherine Kurtz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Kurtz) writes two series I think that you might be interested the Adept Series (with Deborah Turner Harris with subsequently significantly less floridness) and the Deryni Series.

Adept
When I read the first book of the Adept series, when I reached "the end" I simply re-started the book. Set in the present age, it's about an adept of the magical persuasion in Scotland and his fight against satanic nazis. I liked his sidekick, an artist called Peregrine. The characters are a lot of fun, even if the Adept is a little too perfect.

Deryni
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deryni_novels
Set in an AU mediaeval Wales, England, Cornwall and Brittany, this tells the tale of the Deryni who are mages/psychic. The author draws parallels with the pogroms against Jews and the treatment of the Deryni, against a rich tapestry of Catholic religion and royal politics. Kurtz continues to write this series over the duration of her career, and the style, quality, content, varies depending on the date. You really have to start with the first book (following the publication order rather than the historical order)"Deryni Rising" and this one reads as an intelligent Young Adult book, but it will only take you a couple of hours to read and then you can get onto the nicely chewy stuff. The Chronicles of Dernyi trilogy remains my favourite.

[sorry about the repeat; I really miss the edit comment function]

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

Deryni sounds familiar ... I think I've heard them mentioned. This all sounds very good. More books! Wheeeee!