Authors

Hey I know this is a game forum but does anyone here read books? If you do ever read Terry Brooks,Pier Anthony, or David Eddings? They are fantasy books really sweet.

 

I'm betting that 99% of the people here read. I always have a book to read. Out of the authors you listed, I've read Piers Anthony Xanth books a long time ago when I was a kid. Other than that, I'm not much of a fantasy guy. Terry Pratchett is about it. In the past, I read the main Dragonlance books and some of the Icewind Dale books.

 

Yeah I just started the Dragonlance books and so far they are pretty good. But I think you should read Terry brooks books for they are just plain wow!

 

Maybe... I'm not a huge fan of fantasy. No offense to those who enjoy the genre, but it all seems kind of the same to me after a while. I know that there's more to it then I'm giving it credit for, but there's so many other books out there to read. Right now, I'm re-reading Catch-22 for the 25,000th time. Then I'll probably catch up on some other books that I should've read but never got around to. Litrachewer, you know. A friend of mine forced me to read Crime and Punishment a while back, and it ended up being one of my all time favorites. Ever since then, I'm making an effort to read the classics, taking occasional breaks for lighter stuff.

 

So you like murder books? Or mystery thats cool. Its just I can't help myself but read somthing in a fantasy world it just well... It takes me to a world were I don't have to worry. Hmm RPG games give me the same feeling.

 

No, I'm not a big fan of mystery, either. But like fantasy, there are a few that I like. I'm mostly into fiction.

And be fair, now. Crime and Punishment is a little more than a "murder book". It's deservedly considered a classic. You should check it out if you have the patience to read a bible sized book with a lot of russian in it. It's rough going at first, but once you're done, you'll be so glad you stuck through it til the end.

 

I just picked up Anne Rice's Blackwood Farm, and Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers. I find myself reading one before bed, and the other on the shitter, works out pretty well. The HBO mini-series , based on Ambrose's book is really well done, I would encourage everyone to rent it.

 

I must admit I'm a huge fantasy fan. Sure, most of the characters have been done over and over again, but it's always good to see what plots, predicaments and heroic acts abound. David Gemmel is good, although the timelines in his books are pretty confusing, and I'm also a big fan of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series.

Apart from fantasy, I've been known to read pretty much all of the John Grisham legal thrillers (or so they're called), as well as a few James Patterson's, but I really don't tend to like those modern day fiction female authors - all they deal with is the trials of growing up and shit like that. It's all the same and none of it very good.

 

I like fantasy and adventure very much. My only gripe is that some of it is very poorly written and stupid. Luckily, I don't seem to pick these books... I select what I'm going to read carefully. I study its every move... then ... when it's least expecting it... I SPRING! .... Sorry, I got a bit sidetracked. I also read a lot of historical fiction. The Stalking Horse is an excellent historical fiction/mystery. I recently finished Carnival of Saints, a novel about renissance Italy. It was great! I'd really recommend it. Hilarious-some stuff in it was completely priceless.

 

If you're up for historical fiction, with a great (if confusing at times) story, then you really can't pass The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco. I know I've plugged this book before, but it really is good if you can get past the latin terms and the occasional boring passage. The ending is really fantastic.

 

Menion, are you reading the Shanarra series from Brooks or the Landover books? The original Shanarra series were some of the first fantasy books I really got into. I lost interest after he wrote the 6th book or so, but I just checked out the Voyage of Jerle Shanarra books the other day and I might give them a try.

Eddings I liked for the Belgariad and the Mallorean, but his formula got REALLY dull after that. All his books have the same basic plot and character relationships. He also uses the phrase "sort of" several times in every dialogue, and once you have noticed it, it sort of jumps out and punches you in the face every time.

I've not read a whole lot of Piers Anthony. Some Xanth books when I was younger, which I enjoyed immensely at that time in my life. Also some of those Serpents's Silver (whatever) but they didn't make a big impression. I heard his sci-fi is where he really shines, but I've never gotten around to it.

Now it's time for my usual Gemmell plug. If you like heroic fantasy, read anything by David Gemmell. The Drenai series is especially good, and the Shannow books are a great meld of post-apoc, western and fantasy, but anything by him is good.

 

Sounds interesting already... when does it take place? ^_^ Latin terms and occasional boring passages don't sound like so much of a deterent. After all, I do take latin, and boring passages are easily skipped and okay if there are only a few.

 

I've noticed the same thing. While the Elenium and Tamuli were good series' they had their moments but it was just more of the same, but less of it.

For me, the phrase that I kept on noticing was set my teeth on edge and it's variants. Couldn't he come up with something else? Also, while the humour was funny at times, at others it was just the same old gag repeated ad nauseum.

Snowmane, The Name of the Rose is set in Italy, not sure of the time period but it's definitely medieval-like...I think it's somewhere around the Inquisition period (because events like that are mentioned from time to time in the book) but I'm not sure. It's definitely a medieval-like time period though.

Oh yes, and with this post I become the mightiest warrior in the land. I now officially top the post count list. My not-so-secret, not-so-important not-really-desired desire has been realised today...

 

Name of the Rose = Excellent (of course, as a Medieval historian, I'm biased!). Set in 1320's, northern Italy, old Benedictine monastery. Main character (William of Baskerville) is a Franciscan friar, complete with scribe sidekick (Adso of Melk).

Cannot recommend this book highly enough! Movie is very well done, also.

I'm a fan of Morgan Llywelyn (Red Branch was unforgettable), and Patricia McKillip's older stuff (The Forgotten Beasts of Eld). I don't read alot of fantasy anymore - it's gotten very dry and repetitive, although I do still like Raymond E. Feist and a few others. Lawrence Watt-Evans is good for humor.

I like crime/trial dramas and historical fiction, though the latter is not often well done (aside from Eco, another who does this genre extremely well is Gary Jennings).

 

Shannara got annoyingly repetitive after a while, and Landover wasn't all that great to begin with.

Some fantasy that falls outside the good old Tolkein model:

Jan Siegel, "Prospero's Children" - heavy description, good plot, bordering on campy but pulls it off

Terry Goodkind, "Wizard's First Rule" - follows the basic setup (lowly beginnings, rise to power, yada yada), but goes at it from a very unique angle. The Confessors are cool, but the Mord Sith are kick ass.

Terry Pratchett (Anything) - humor. Kind of HGttG-ish.

Anne McCaffrey (Anything) - she's unique because her books have no plot. It is fully possible for a lady to write about fifty books about Nothing In Particular, apparantly.

Ursula K. LeGuin "A Wizard of Earthsea" - amazing. A fantasy book with no monolithic evil to topple! The main character spends most of the book wrestling with his own demons. Literally. Well worth the try.

Marion Zimmer Bradley "Mists of Avalon" - a good book, albeit a bit slow-moving. A very interesting take on Arthur; gets a bit repetitive.

 

WIzard of Earthsea was a stunning trilogy. I've not read her later addition that turned it into a quartet, yet. I keep meaning to, but it only seems to be sold as a quartet and I already have the first three.

Luchaire, Patricia McKillip is way underated. Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a great read. It has so much more original character than most. The Riddle Master series is still her best, I reckon.

Feist took a wrong turn somewhere. He managed two major series and several other related works, all set in the same world, that were all absolutely amazing. The latest series was written in support of video games and it shows. The plots are too simplistic and generally involve something akin to his characters running around on fed ex missions and encountering rather contrived combat situations. I read Betrayal in Krondor but won't be picking up the other two unless I get desperate or hear something good about them.

 

Huh? What are you talking about? I can't even read!

 

I'm actually the only really large bookworm in my class. :sad:
I'm a big fan of the tolkien series, has read lotr 17 times, have read the first two books sword of truth series. All of the shanara books translated to norwegian, all the harry potter books. I think i have read the feist books but i have forgotten what books he wrote. Also i heav read the wheel of time books wich are pretty okay and all the books by Terry Prattchet. Also i have read the norwegian king sagas, even though these are not fantasy they are great.
Anyone else here read the sven hazel books or Nothing New From The Western Front?

 

As for my favorites, I think it's pretty obvious that Don Quixote by Cervantes is among them.

I also absolutely LOVE Joseph Heller's Catch 22, I've read nearly everything Heller has written, and still think Catch 22 is his best, bar none. I love Heller's dark, satirical wit. Kudos to Milo for also appreciating him.

Oddly enough for a nanotech physicist, I don't reach much (or any) sci fi. I don't really get much into fantasy besides the Tolkein staples. I'm mostly a classics reader as well (Oh and Milo, if you like Dostoevsky you might want to read "Notes from Underground" - it's a quick read) Underground made a huge impression on me since I was going through a similar hermit-esque/misanthropic period at the time. I'm also a huge fan of Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre (his philosophy, but also his fictional work) as well, partly because of that period in my life, but it has stood the test of time.

Little lesser known about me, is that I'm beholden to the philosophy of Objectivism. Which means that I'm an atheist with a bible. And that bible's name is "Atlas Shrugged." I've read everything Ayn Rand has ever published - From Anthem to The Fountainhead to The Romantic Manifesto etc.

I must point out though, that although I agree with the framework of Objectivism, I'm *not* part of the inane cult that has developed around Ayn Rand, the author, herself. ;-)

Lately, though, school and research takes up most of my time, so I'm not currently reading any fiction. I mostly read journal articles relating to my research, my textbooks (higher physics and math stuff) and every now and then, when I have the time, I do enjoy reading Richard Feynman's stuff. His writing is absolutely wonderful, if any of you get around to it. I highly recommend his "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynan!" and especially "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out."

 

I have read all the Terry Brooks books. Both of the series. Anyone into the Dragonlance books? :-? I just started them.