A collection of books I've had recommended to me.
Thanks to everyone for the book recommendations on my previous post. I've gone through the post and brought them together in one handy table, along with comments on them.
I'm currently making my way through "One Trillion Dollars" by Andreas Eschbach, which isn't nearly as good as The Carpet Makers (which I really liked). Once I'm done with that, I'll pick something off of here to read next.
Book Read? Comments Flex Yes Enjoyed this - and read it to Julie over the course of a couple of weeks. Didn't blow me away, but it was solidly good, with some nice ideas and good characters. Would recommend to others, and I'm looking forward to the sequel. Greg Egan Yes Read several of. Prefer his shorts to his novels, but it's all been worth reading so far (although I don't remember loving Teranesia). Guy Gavriel Kay Yes I liked the Fionvar Tapestry, and am led to believe his other stuff is better. Haruki Murakami Yes Loved Norwegian Wood, and Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Somewhat enjoyed Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Should read more. Rivers of London Yes Thought this was ok. I'd probably have liked it more as TV than I did as a book. Didn't feel there was much to it. Suspect I'd have liked it a lot more 20 years ago. Stephen Fry Yes Loved The Liar and The Hippopotamus. Liked Making History. Didn't really enjoy The Stars' Tennis Balls. The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Yes Loved it. If you have any interest in 40s comic-book history then you should absolutely read this. And even if you don't, it's still a marvellous book. Zelazny Yes Loved "Lord of Light", felt the Amber books were a complete mess. Keep meaning to read more. Lucifer Box Partial Bounced off of 1/3 in. Don't remember why, except vaguely wanting to slap both the main character and the writer. Peter F Hamilton Partial I read the first half of The Reality Dysfunction about 18 years ago. Can't remember what stopped me carrying on, to be honest. Ready Player One Partial Got about 20% of the way in, and it felt like awful pandering to "WEREN'T THE 80'S GREAT? I MEAN, EVERYTHING IN THEM WAS AWESOME, AND IF YOU WERE THERE, OR LIKED THEM, THEN YOU'RE AWESOME TOO!!!!" And I was, and now is better. Should I go back to it? The Quantum Thief Partial I gave up halfway through (I think) because although there were lots of the buzzwords I usually like in SF, I didn't care about any of the characters, and all of the sensawunda ideas were so opaquely drawn that I wasn't getting any wunda out of them. Brandon Sanderson Not read I've heard that if you like big blocks of fantasy, he does a very good job Christoper Brookmyre Not read Have had him recommended repeatedly. Deverry series Not read Sounds familiar, but don't think I've ever read any of it Faction Paradox: The Book Of The War Not read Have been meaning to read this for aaaaaaaages. Largely due to Andrew Hickey raving about it a lot. Gone-Away World Not read How to survive in a science fictional universe Not read I've fancied this for ages. Jhereg cycle Not read Not read, heard lots of good things Kraken Not read China Mieville is clearly brilliant. I should really read some of his books. Laundry Series Not read I've liked a chunk of Stross' work, but our senses of humour are different. (I loved Accelerando, and am dying to see what happens with Palimpsest if it gets extended into novel form.) Long Earth series Not read I didn't get to this because I was terrified to read Pratchett after Unseen Academicals. And the reviews weren't amazing when they came out. Moby Dick Not read Hadn't considered it - or ever heard it described as “hilariously funny”. Moonwise Not read Sounds like hard work, but rewarding Scott Westerfield Not read Seveneves Not read I loved Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle. Was vaguely disappointed by Anathem. Haven't got to Reamde or the latest one yet. Feel guilty for doing so, but nobody has told me that they're staggering works of genius, so not too guilty. Also, still annoyed at Stephenson over Kickstarter stuff. The Expanse Not read The First Law trilogy Not read GRIM. DARK. (But apparently very good.) The Goblin Emperor Not read Lots of good reviews and recommendations The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet Not read Not heard of, but reviews look positive The March North Not read Not even heard of The Pendragon Protocol Not read The Silmarillion Not read Well, kinda. I read the opening chunk back when I was about 15. I might be able to make it further in now? Three Parts Dead Not read Highly recommended, and the description looks very inviting Uprooted Not read Vorkosigan Not read Not read, heard lots of good things White Jazz Not read I've been meaning to read Elroy since I saw LA Confidential. I should really get around to it. Worm (Fanfic) Not read Looks good - shame it doesn't have an epub, but it's apparently great. The House of Niccolò series Not heard of A Key, An Egg, and an Unfortunate Remark Not heard of A Tale for the Time Being Not heard of Birds Without Wings Not heard of Ceasar's Women Not heard of Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox Not heard of Death and the Penguin Not heard of Harlot's Ghost Not heard of Kage Baker's “Company” series Not heard of Kate Griffin/Claire North/Catherine Webb Not heard of Life After Life Not heard of Louise Welsh Not heard of Michael J. Martinez's “Daedalus” series Not heard of Name of the Wind Not heard of On Such a Full Sea Not heard of Riddley Walker Not heard of Roadside Picnic Not heard of Looks fascinating though Starlight (Stella Gibbons) Not heard of The Invisible Library Not heard of The Last English King Not heard of The McAuslan Stories Not heard of The Name Of The Wind Not heard of The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet Not heard of The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books) Not heard of The Summer Prince Not heard of Original post on Dreamwidth - there are
comments there.
I'm currently making my way through "One Trillion Dollars" by Andreas Eschbach, which isn't nearly as good as The Carpet Makers (which I really liked). Once I'm done with that, I'll pick something off of here to read next.
Book Read? Comments Flex Yes Enjoyed this - and read it to Julie over the course of a couple of weeks. Didn't blow me away, but it was solidly good, with some nice ideas and good characters. Would recommend to others, and I'm looking forward to the sequel. Greg Egan Yes Read several of. Prefer his shorts to his novels, but it's all been worth reading so far (although I don't remember loving Teranesia). Guy Gavriel Kay Yes I liked the Fionvar Tapestry, and am led to believe his other stuff is better. Haruki Murakami Yes Loved Norwegian Wood, and Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Somewhat enjoyed Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Should read more. Rivers of London Yes Thought this was ok. I'd probably have liked it more as TV than I did as a book. Didn't feel there was much to it. Suspect I'd have liked it a lot more 20 years ago. Stephen Fry Yes Loved The Liar and The Hippopotamus. Liked Making History. Didn't really enjoy The Stars' Tennis Balls. The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Yes Loved it. If you have any interest in 40s comic-book history then you should absolutely read this. And even if you don't, it's still a marvellous book. Zelazny Yes Loved "Lord of Light", felt the Amber books were a complete mess. Keep meaning to read more. Lucifer Box Partial Bounced off of 1/3 in. Don't remember why, except vaguely wanting to slap both the main character and the writer. Peter F Hamilton Partial I read the first half of The Reality Dysfunction about 18 years ago. Can't remember what stopped me carrying on, to be honest. Ready Player One Partial Got about 20% of the way in, and it felt like awful pandering to "WEREN'T THE 80'S GREAT? I MEAN, EVERYTHING IN THEM WAS AWESOME, AND IF YOU WERE THERE, OR LIKED THEM, THEN YOU'RE AWESOME TOO!!!!" And I was, and now is better. Should I go back to it? The Quantum Thief Partial I gave up halfway through (I think) because although there were lots of the buzzwords I usually like in SF, I didn't care about any of the characters, and all of the sensawunda ideas were so opaquely drawn that I wasn't getting any wunda out of them. Brandon Sanderson Not read I've heard that if you like big blocks of fantasy, he does a very good job Christoper Brookmyre Not read Have had him recommended repeatedly. Deverry series Not read Sounds familiar, but don't think I've ever read any of it Faction Paradox: The Book Of The War Not read Have been meaning to read this for aaaaaaaages. Largely due to Andrew Hickey raving about it a lot. Gone-Away World Not read How to survive in a science fictional universe Not read I've fancied this for ages. Jhereg cycle Not read Not read, heard lots of good things Kraken Not read China Mieville is clearly brilliant. I should really read some of his books. Laundry Series Not read I've liked a chunk of Stross' work, but our senses of humour are different. (I loved Accelerando, and am dying to see what happens with Palimpsest if it gets extended into novel form.) Long Earth series Not read I didn't get to this because I was terrified to read Pratchett after Unseen Academicals. And the reviews weren't amazing when they came out. Moby Dick Not read Hadn't considered it - or ever heard it described as “hilariously funny”. Moonwise Not read Sounds like hard work, but rewarding Scott Westerfield Not read Seveneves Not read I loved Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle. Was vaguely disappointed by Anathem. Haven't got to Reamde or the latest one yet. Feel guilty for doing so, but nobody has told me that they're staggering works of genius, so not too guilty. Also, still annoyed at Stephenson over Kickstarter stuff. The Expanse Not read The First Law trilogy Not read GRIM. DARK. (But apparently very good.) The Goblin Emperor Not read Lots of good reviews and recommendations The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet Not read Not heard of, but reviews look positive The March North Not read Not even heard of The Pendragon Protocol Not read The Silmarillion Not read Well, kinda. I read the opening chunk back when I was about 15. I might be able to make it further in now? Three Parts Dead Not read Highly recommended, and the description looks very inviting Uprooted Not read Vorkosigan Not read Not read, heard lots of good things White Jazz Not read I've been meaning to read Elroy since I saw LA Confidential. I should really get around to it. Worm (Fanfic) Not read Looks good - shame it doesn't have an epub, but it's apparently great. The House of Niccolò series Not heard of A Key, An Egg, and an Unfortunate Remark Not heard of A Tale for the Time Being Not heard of Birds Without Wings Not heard of Ceasar's Women Not heard of Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox Not heard of Death and the Penguin Not heard of Harlot's Ghost Not heard of Kage Baker's “Company” series Not heard of Kate Griffin/Claire North/Catherine Webb Not heard of Life After Life Not heard of Louise Welsh Not heard of Michael J. Martinez's “Daedalus” series Not heard of Name of the Wind Not heard of On Such a Full Sea Not heard of Riddley Walker Not heard of Roadside Picnic Not heard of Looks fascinating though Starlight (Stella Gibbons) Not heard of The Invisible Library Not heard of The Last English King Not heard of The McAuslan Stories Not heard of The Name Of The Wind Not heard of The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet Not heard of The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books) Not heard of The Summer Prince Not heard of Original post on Dreamwidth - there are
comments there.