@Th3solution I haven't read those but like most large series there is usually a dud in the crowd. The first book was initially written as a script for a movie I believe. It seems to turn people off, the book just drops you in the middle of the action and your kind of left to figure it out yourself.
No hand holding in this series but I personally loved it and am now reading all the books outside the main ones!
@Th3solution In LotR Frodo and company have just left the house of Tom Bombadil and run into a barrow-wight, summoning Tom through song to help them in their plight riveting stuff, and that isn't sarcasm, well, I'm enjoying the book anyway. I thought the barrow-wights were quite a cool creation
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
I think this is my favorite fantasy series of all time, along with R. Scott Bakkar's The Prince of Nothing series. Love the realistic writing by Erikson,. He writes it for adults, it feels like. That's what makes me like this more than, say, Wheel of Time or any of the Sanderson stuff. Malazan is GRITTY!
@MightyDemon82 I think I read the first two Malazan add-on ones he wrote. I prefered Erikson's style, though. I thought Esslemont's had a bit more action, but Erickson's were a little deeper.
I go through different stages of what I want to read, and for whatever reason, I've bounced back in to more Science Fiction lately. Not sure if you're familiar with Neal Asher, but I've mowed down about 3 of his in a row recently, and currently about 3/4 of the way through Fall, or Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson. I like both of these guys, and have read everything Stephenson has written, most twice. Don't know if you are here in the States or Europe, but I would have read everything by Asher, too, if they were easier to find over here.
@LordSteev I'm in the UK . Will keep those authors in mind as I do fancy some sci-fi after several fantasy books in a row. I'd even like to read some shorter one and done books, but I seem to be drawn to multi book stories with huge page counts.
@MightyDemon82 I'm with you on huge page counts. Not only do I seem to seek out fat multi-volumes, but usually older ones that are already finished, so that I can binge read the whole saga rather than waiting years between books.
If you're looking for a break between epic sagas, one book I think will blow your mind is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It's got a razor sharp modern Cyberpunk vibe to it, and just expanded my mind at every turn with great ideas. It's only his second book, so it's pretty old now, not sure how easy it'd be to find. If you've got a good used book store near you, keep your eyes open for it. I'd never presume to tell you I'm sure you'll like it, but I'd say there's a great chance!
@MightyDemon82@LordSteev As well as the M Banks books, I quite enjoyed the Revelation Space trilogy by Alistair Reynolds.
It’s pretty much a continuation of the same story with the same narrative effect of each book having two separate stories that come together at the end. I was just left a little disappointed how the final book finished but they’re well worth a look.
@LordSteev I'd give anything to visit a real book store/comic shop at the moment. As I have my birthday coming up at the end of the month I've added Snow Crash to my basket on Amazon as I know I'll get vouchers for that!
@Thrillho I'll add those to my list as well cheers, I'm also interested in the 3 Body Problem series from the Chinese author that wrote the book that The Wandering Earth was adapted from. Anyone read those?
Still reading LotR @Th3solution@LieuetenantFatman They have just left Tom Bombadil's company and are now in the territory of the Bree-folk; Men and Hobbits, and have received a most unwelcome welcome from the gatekeeper. Trouble afoot, perhaps
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@Thrillho I do books like most people do games. That is, I have a huge backlog! I've bought the first book of the Revelation Space series, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Thank you for the recommendation, I'll move it up on my list!
My bad, I forgot how bad Covid still is in the UK. How are vaccinations coming along?
If you were interested in Neal Asher as well, The Skinner is a good one to start with. Amazon is probably the way to go for books. I'm still a bit of a luddite when it comes to buying things online, so I didn't even think of it.
I think we're doing pretty good hopefully the majority of adults will have been vaccinated before the end of the summer.
I'll look into him as well, at this rate i'll have enough entertainment to keep me going through retirement if i ever get that far. I do tend to go the online route for buying stuff these days but i do enjoy going to a book store and discovering new titles (to me) and new releases, I can spend hours at a time deciding what i'm going to pick up!
@MightyDemon82 Well, you're only about ten years or so from the halfway point. Live it up!
Our new President is saying there will be enough vaccine for everybody by the end of May now, but that sounds a bit overoptimistic to me. The news still shows people waiting in long lines only to get rejected and told there is no vaccine available. The whole thing's a mess, but hopefully by the end of summer the world returns to normal and all this ends up in the rearview.
Some of our stores are open here, but when you go in one, all you see are worried eyes peeking out over the tops of masks, and people being too scared to talk to each other. Reading and Gaming are nice and all, but I'll be happy and maybe even a little bit more appreciative to be able to spend more time outdoors.
Dan Simmons wrote a great set of 4 novels I'd recommend to anyone, Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion, Endemyon, Rise of Endemyon.
For big Space Opera with some fantastic futuristic ideas, Peter F. Hamilton is great, maybe a bit wordy, but not in a bad way. His best (or at least my favorite) is probably The Night's Dawn Trilogy: The Reality Disfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, and The Naked God.
If you want a bleak dystopian future world Hugh Howey's Silo Trilogy is awesome. (Wool, Shift, Dust)
These are just a couple that come to mind. I've read so many that I try to steer away from the more generic ones. All books are listed in order. I'd say they are all must reads. Let me know if you need more!
I'll give you some feedback on Revelation Space, but it might be a few months!
@LordSteev Cool, thanks. I looked into Hamilton and read the following on Reddit that put me off;
If you don't want to hear what sounds like a nearly virginal old man awkwardly describe his sexual fantasies about teenaged girls, you are going to really dislike Hamilton.
The rest of their post is actually positive about him but that sounded a bit galling.
@Thrillho Hmm, can't say I remember any scenes quite like that, but I read them a long time ago and was impressed by all of the creative ideas he had. If I had to hold my nose through a couple of awkward Scientist sex scenes, it wouldn't have been the first time, lol.
@LordSteev@Thrillho Haven’t read Hamilton yet (I bought the Night’s Dawn trilogy and one of his standalones Fallen Dragon and just never have gotten around to reading them) and hadn’t heard of Howey (sounds like I need to check him out) but I can endorse the Hyperion books by Simmons. Excellent writer. The constructed world is pretty interesting and the story is good, but what I really enjoy is his writing style. He has a really deep command of the written word without being too gaudy. I read him after Stephen R. Donaldson and found his style a refreshing alternative to Donaldson where I felt like I was reading the Oxford Dictionary half the time.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
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