Recommend me some books and I shall do the same

[m_mcgregor]

Being rather ill lately has made me want to curl up with a good book (or audiobook, thanks to migraines), but the problem is I tend to have a hard time finding a book I can really get into. For the last two years I've asked all of you out there to recommend TV shows to me, and I've gotten into some great shows because of that - Avatar: The Last

Comments

Recommendations

[rudyhenkel]

Hmm... tall order

Re: Recommendations

[m_mcgregor]

Foundation, I've read bits and pieces of. I liked his Robot stuff better, particularly Positronic Man.

As for Terry Pratchet, well I've just never seemed to get into his stuff, despite being quite the fan of Lizbeth Marcs.

I'll take a look around at the rest of your recommendations though, thanks.

Re: Recommendations

[rudyhenkel]

Though I understand where you are coming from, as a lot of the Discworld books by Pratchett *are* rather silly, I cannot stress enough how different the Tiffany Aching books are from the rest of his stuff. If you enjoy HP, as you said, and enjoy characters that are heroes based on their character traits, rather than because of super-magical-powers and destiny, etc., then it's basically impossible for you to not like The Wee Free Men.

Discard "Night Watch", and the other Discworld books as you like but, for your own sake, I *beg* you to reconsider reading The Wee Free Men. After reading Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time, the Dealing with Dragons books, the same story twice courtesy of The Belgariad and The Mallorean, The Book of Words, Mercedes Lackey, and about another 50 fantasy books, the Tiffany Aching books are my favorites, and will leave an impression on me long after I've forgotten the rest.

*sigh* Alright, I've said all I can. If that doesn't convince you, then I will mourn your loss, and move on.

Re: Recommendations

[m_mcgregor]

Whoa, hey, whoa! I didn't say I wasn't going to read them. I know quite well how an author can write utter crap with one story and write a true gem with another. I was planning to look at those books at some point. I was even going to try Discworld again someday, because I know sometimes my mood at the time can color whether or not I can get into a book.

So take a deep breath. In. Out. You sound like me trying to convince someone to watch Firefly. Any book that can get that kind of reaction out of someone is something I will absolutely give a try.

More recommendations

[rudyhenkel]

I didn't even know there *was* a character limit until today.

Anyway, almost done:

I heartily recommend Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, but I'm not sure if you'd call it sci-fi or not, so... It involves (unsurprisingly) cryptography, hacking, and information theory, but it's all real technologies, in the real world, so it depends on your definition of sci-fi.

In any case, the book was absolutely brilliant. I can barely give it words. It's some 900 pages, but that's because it's basically the complexity of a trilogy put into a single book. Another reviewer's opinion:

http://www.sfsite.com/05b/cry57.htm

Or the general handpicked (and obviously filtered) praise on the book's website:

http://www.cryptonomicon.com/praise.html

Ok, that's it. Definitely, definitely pick up The Wee Free Men. The others, read some reviews, see if they sound interesting.

Re: More recommendations

[francis_eugene]

Yeah, this was a great one! The crypto-talk is generally rock-solid (and the playing card encryption scheme was developed by a real cryppie).

But to me, the highlight had to be the business plan! Absolutely nailed it, and all the more funny for that.

Re: More recommendations

[m_mcgregor]

Cryptonomicon I will absolutely look at, because I really liked his The Diamond Age book. That one's going on the short list of books I'll be looking for sooner rather than later.

[m_mcgregor]

Hmm...

I will perhaps check it out sometime, but remember my skepticism about non sci-fi/fantasy tales.

[draconin]

Ah... I always like it when people ask for recs! :-) As requested:

• Butcher, Jim - The Dresden series
  
  This is a series oriented around a wizard/private detective. Made into a TV
  series which, IMHO is not remotely a patch on the books whichare fantastic.
  First few titles are: Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril...
• Cooper, Susan - The Dark is Rising series
  
  Apparently now made into a film that is, from what I hear, not too good. Like
  the Narnia books, a classic and one well worth reading despite being
  purportedly a children's series. First few titles are: Over Sea Under Stone,
  The Dark is Rising...
• Feist, Raymond - Riftwar Saga series
  
  Simply brilliant and I've lost count of the number of times I've re-read it.
  Some of the later ones were not as good but the first three, Magician,
  Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon were amazing, as was the
  parallel series that begins Daughter of the Empire.
• Fforde, Jasper - The Eyre Affair
  You have to read this to understand it. Explaining it just doesn't work. One

[m_mcgregor]

Whew, that's a lot of books. I'll refrain from commenting on all of them, but I will say I read The Curse of Chalion and I think I read some of its sequel as well. Definitely good, and I'm planning on jumping into her Warrior's Apprentice (or whatever the official title is, Barrayar?) series someday due to how much I enjoyed it.

And since I did enjoy one of David Weber's books, The Excalibur Alternative, I'll probably take a look at some of his other stuff too. The Merlin series you mention sounds interesting too, as Merlin always seems to intrigue me, but I've hardly ever found a decent story/series that lived up to the potenial I thought was there.

A few recommendations

[vincentursus]

Flint, Eric. I enjoyed the Belisarius series and the Ring of Fire series. But then I've developed a taste for Anachronistic fiction. (Which is what I've decided to call the genre that started with 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.')

Perry, Steve. The 97th Step. Neat martial arts action and better characterization than the other books in the series. His 'Venture Silk' series isn't bad either.

Smith, Cordwainer. Anything he's written.

Stirling, S. M. The Dies the Fire series. Sort of anachronistic fiction from the other side.

Re: A few recommendations

[m_mcgregor]

Anachronistic fiction, I like that. I also like the genre itself and have been looking for a list of good ones, so I'll be looking at all of these stories. Thanks.