What are you reading?

Jacen

I, Jedi is a standalone book, and you can read it without reading any other Star Wars book. I've always advised though that Shadows of the Empire is an excellent first SW book to read, as it takes place between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and completely nails the feel and atmosphere of the movies.

I, Jedi is an excellent SW book, but it's also very unique in the Star Wars Expanded Universe: It's one of only two books I can think of ( and I have 85+ books ) that is written in the first person. So while it's easily my second favorite book in the EU, its not really an example of what's out there. But all that being said, it isn't dependent on any other books in the slightest, so feel free to pick it up and give it a go.

For the absolute beginner, I would recommend starting with Shadows of the Empire, then reading the Thrawn Trilogy, then the Hand of Thrawn Duology. Those books are the core of the EU, and really establish the setting of Star Wars that you don't get to see in the movies.

Kyriella

Berenene said:

Just started the new Tamora Pierce book, Battle Magic. Been looking forward to this one, been dying to find out what happened to Briar and Rosethorn during the war.

That's one of the few things I am actively disappointed not to have gotten from my Christmas list. I'll be ordering it as soon as I get back to Boston and devouring it ASAP!

Anaidiana

my brother got me the Game of Thrones box set for Christmas. I now feel somewhat prepared in case I get put on bed rest

Trevize

The only star wars book I've read was The Bounty Hunter Wars (compilation of three books, actually) - great book.

Trey

Trevize said:

The only star wars book I've read was The Bounty Hunter Wars (compilation of three books, actually) - great book.

Hell yes for Boba motherlovin' Fett.

Averi

Berenene said:

Just started the new Tamora Pierce book, Battle Magic. Been looking forward to this one, been dying to find out what happened to Briar and Rosethorn during the war.

Omg. It's out? Time to read books again!

Jurixe

Just finished The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, Part I.

The amount of detail and lore that he crafts for his kingdoms is so crazy. I only write about Achaea, and that lore is already preset by the admin - he makes up entire histories, languages, cultures, mannerisms - and somehow manages to weave them into one single, almost seamless whole. It's really insane. I love his style and I think I try to unconsciously adopt it when I write.

I finished this book in one day, and my head is throbbing but I still want to read book 2.

Riley

Jurixe said:

Just finished The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, Part I.

The amount of detail and lore that he crafts for his kingdoms is so crazy. I only write about Achaea, and that lore is already preset by the admin - he makes up entire histories, languages, cultures, mannerisms - and somehow manages to weave them into one single, almost seamless whole. It's really insane. I love his style and I think I try to unconsciously adopt it when I write.

I finished this book in one day, and my head is throbbing but I still want to read book 2.

I liked how he picked up the pace when he took over the wheel of time, I have the way of kings and mistborn books waiting to be read

Ruth

@Jurixe: Not sure if you've read Warbreaker from him yet, but that's a good book as well!

Also am taking suggestions on what's a good fantasy/fiction book to pick up. I've already picked up most books by Tamora Pierce, George R.R Martin, Terry Goodkind, Trudi Canavan, Carol Berg, Brandon Sanderson, Marianne Zimmer Bratley.

Jurixe

I haven't, but I keep meaning to. Civ 5 keeps eating my time Maybe I will this weekend though.

Fitz

Ruth said:

@Jurixe: Not sure if you've read Warbreaker from him yet, but that's a good book as well!

Also am taking suggestions on what's a good fantasy/fiction book to pick up. I've already picked up most books by Tamora Pierce, George R.R Martin, Terry Goodkind, Trudi Canavan, Carol Berg, Brandon Sanderson, Marianne Zimmer Bratley.

Newer Authors that I've liked that aren't in your list: Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles, Peter V. Brett Painted Man books, Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series.

Older authors: Robin Hobb's been mentioned a few times in the thread, she's excellent in all her books, though the Soldier Son trilogy was not as good as the book sets set in the her Realm of the Elderlings Universe. S. M. Stirling, sort of a sci-fi/alternate history/fantasy writer, the Emberverse novels beginning with Dies the Fire are all excellent, as is the Nantucket and Draka Series.

Rayn

kinda old, and a bit kiddish, but Im totally in love with "skullduggery pleasant" ((the series by derek landy)) great pro/antagonists. flips, twists, skeletons! just a lovely series altogether

Berenene

Ruth said:

@Jurixe: Not sure if you've read Warbreaker from him yet, but that's a good book as well!

Also am taking suggestions on what's a good fantasy/fiction book to pick up. I've already picked up most books by Tamora Pierce, George R.R Martin, Terry Goodkind, Trudi Canavan, Carol Berg, Brandon Sanderson, Marianne Zimmer Bratley.

Tamora pierce is one of my favourite authors.

Hyperlith

Finished "The Handoff" by John Tournour, aka "JT the Brick" (sports talk radio).  Very touching story about friendship and loss (of his friend Andrew Ashwood), as well as his career progression.

Fen

Fitz said:

@Jurixe: Not sure if you've read Warbreaker from him yet, but that's a good book as well! Also am taking suggestions on what's a good fantasy/fiction book to pick up. I've already picked up most books by Tamora Pierce, George R.R Martin, Terry Goodkind, Trudi Canavan, Carol Berg, Brandon Sanderson, Marianne Zimmer Bratley.

Newer Authors that I've liked that aren't in your list: Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles, Peter V. Brett Painted Man books, Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series. Older authors: Robin Hobb's been mentioned a few times in the thread, she's excellent in all her books, though the Soldier Son trilogy was not as good as the book sets set in the her Realm of the Elderlings Universe. S. M. Stirling, sort of a sci-fi/alternate history/fantasy writer, the Emberverse novels beginning with Dies the Fire are all excellent, as is the Nantucket and Draka Series.

Can't believe neither of you mentioned R.A. Salvatore or Robert Jordan. They're the top of the mainstream for a reason.

Darktalon

Just read Deathwatch, Siege of Castellax, Architect of Fate - all set in the Warhammer 40k universe, re-read The Gunslinger by King, House of Suns by Alistair Reynolds,  and the Bhagavad Gita the Hindu text. Need to grab a new set of books for this week, going to dig through the thread for ideas!

Jovie

Darktalon said:

Just read Deathwatch, Siege of Castellax, Architect of Fate - all set in the Warhammer 40k universe, re-read The Gunslinger by King, House of Suns by Alistair Reynolds,  and the Bhagavad Gita the Hindu text. Need to grab a new set of books for this week, going to dig through the thread for ideas!

I love the Gunslinger. Have you read the entire Dark Tower trilogy?

I didn't really like books 4-7.5. I realized it was meant to be this epic journey of love and loss and contemplating but I felt like I was held in suspension for too long. Like every book was just cliffhanger after cliffhanger. But I love to re-read the first book.

Gunslinger was my very first introduction to Stephen King. I've been meaning to read a lot of his other books but I feel like when he's good he's REALLY good, but then when he's not good... he's... not fun to read.

I just finished Old Man's War, I started the second book, it's all right. It's a fun sci-fi book. I read Life of Pi not too long ago and I think I'm going to re-read either World War Z or tackle a new Joyce Carol Oates book called Zombie.

Darktalon

Jovie said:

Darktalon said:

Just read Deathwatch, Siege of Castellax, Architect of Fate - all set in the Warhammer 40k universe, re-read The Gunslinger by King, House of Suns by Alistair Reynolds,  and the Bhagavad Gita the Hindu text. Need to grab a new set of books for this week, going to dig through the thread for ideas!

I love the Gunslinger. Have you read the entire Dark Tower trilogy?

I didn't really like books 4-7.5. I realized it was meant to be this epic journey of love and loss and contemplating but I felt like I was held in suspension for too long. Like every book was just cliffhanger after cliffhanger. But I love to re-read the first book.

Gunslinger was my very first introduction to Stephen King. I've been meaning to read a lot of his other books but I feel like when he's good he's REALLY good, but then when he's not good... he's... not fun to read.

I just finished Old Man's War, I started the second book, it's all right. It's a fun sci-fi book. I read Life of Pi not too long ago and I think I'm going to re-read either World War Z or tackle a new Joyce Carol Oates book called Zombie.

Yep, read them all. I liked most of them, felt the ending got weak like you said though. Last book was my least favorite. I re-read the Gunslinger a couple times a year, probably my favorite book of all time. Not a huge fan of most of King's other work, agree with you about it being highly hit or miss.

Trevize

I actually liked the last book. I think I may be the only person.

Antonius

I seem to be doing a lot of re-reading lately, right now I'm about a third of the way through Mockingjay (the last book in the Hunger Games trilogy) for the second time. I have about six books that I got for Christmas that I should probably read but physical books just aren't as convenient as my kindle.

Darktalon

Just spent another 192 bucks on Amazon for books. Hopefully worth it! Elara always asks me why I don't go to a library...I never have a good answer other than I am lazy and it takes 2 days for Amazon to deliver. Grabbed a few that were suggested in this thread, then a Judge Dredd Case File collection and a few more Warhammer books. Kind of addicted to Warhammer lately even though the last couple I picked up were blah at best. Architect of Fate I do not recommend if you are a Warhammer fan.

Berenene

Just started book 1 of the Hellhole trilogy, which I didn't know at the time of purchase was a trilogy, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

Vansittart

Fitz said:

@Jurixe: Not sure if you've read Warbreaker from him yet, but that's a good book as well! Also am taking suggestions on what's a good fantasy/fiction book to pick up. I've already picked up most books by Tamora Pierce, George R.R Martin, Terry Goodkind, Trudi Canavan, Carol Berg, Brandon Sanderson, Marianne Zimmer Bratley.

Newer Authors that I've liked that aren't in your list: Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles, Peter V. Brett Painted Man books, Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series. Older authors: Robin Hobb's been mentioned a few times in the thread, she's excellent in all her books, though the Soldier Son trilogy was not as good as the book sets set in the her Realm of the Elderlings Universe. S. M. Stirling, sort of a sci-fi/alternate history/fantasy writer, the Emberverse novels beginning with Dies the Fire are all excellent, as is the Nantucket and Draka Series.

Patrick Rothfuss and Scott Lynch can't be pimped enough.  I just finished the latest Gentleman Bastards book and it's the best yet - the arc is finally coming together.  And Rothfuss is just astoundingly good - best new fantasy author for a long while IMO.

Ugh though Peter Brett and Brandon Sanderson just leave me totally cold.  They both read like they were put together by a committee of people who've read a lot of fantasy books but don't actually like them very much.  Hate.

@Blujixapug You've read Anathem though right?  Much as I liked Snow Crash, Anathem (and Cryptonomicon) are just streets ahead of anything else he's done.  Anathem is stupendously, gloriously good.

Blujixapug

@Fancytart No I have not read Anathem. Thanks for the recommendation. Snow Crash was one of the best things I've ever read, but I keep hearing vague, disparaging things about Neal Stephenson's other works. I have heard recommendations for Cryptonomicon, but never Anathem. I will check that out.

Right now I'm reading The Tournament, the new Matthew Reilly one. It's confusing because everything else he's ever written is instant, continuous action, with anything superfluous ruthlessly edited away. Almost all of his other main characters have been soldiers, or bounty hunters, or treasure hunters, generally working against nefarious government black ops divisions or whatever. The Tournament is set in the 15th century, the main character is the 13 year old future Queen of England, and it's kind of a detective story. It took about a hundred pages to get to the point, but it is finally starting to get interesting. The dialogue is hilariously cringey in places though. Here's an example:

'One of these wrestlers caught my eye. He was a gorgeous man, with a square jaw, huge chest and bulging arms. He looked me up and down, then nodded approvingly.'
'My goodness, Elsie, what did you do?' I leaned forward.
'What do you think I did?' Elsie said tartly. 'I winked at him, then guided him over to an empty bed of cushions and let him occupy me beautifully for the next two hours. He took me in every way, Bessie, every way, but his massive body always moved with a gentleness, a slowness that was designed to heighten the extraordinary pleasure of our copulation. My body just thrilled at his ministrations.'
I gasped again. Till then, I'd not heard sexual congress described so openly or sensually. Back home in England, such talk was repressed; it was just not done. But Elsie, quite clearly, found the act of copulation - and the memory of it - exhilirating.

Hilarious. Fortunately (unfortunately?) these nacho-cheesy romance scenes are infrequent.

Vansittart

Quicksilver and the other books in that series are *hard going* no doubt.  Totally worth it, but a lot of effort.  Anathem though is just a glorious romp, as is Cryptonomicon.   Is Matthew Reilly historical fiction?  I have an abiding loathing of historical fiction.  Why would you give me knights and busty maidens if you aren't going to give me dragons and magic?  Waste of my time.

Bluef

I'm reading Wave by Sonali Deraniyagla. It's about her experiences before, during and after the Sri Lanka tsunami. She lost her parents, her husband, and her two sons in the tidal wave. I can only read the book in small portions because it breaks my heart.

I am really going to need something uplifting after this. Suggestions?

Anedhel

Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett! Can't feel bad after reading that.

Anaidiana

Just finished A Game of Thrones, continuing onto A Clash of Kings. The one perk of 'moderate bed rest'. 

Berenene

Anedhel said:

Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett! Can't feel bad after reading that.

My favourite quotes from that book:

"Real children don't go hoppity-skip unless they are on drugs."

She'd become a governess. It was one of the few jobs a known lady could do. And she'd taken to it well. She'd sworn that if she did indeed ever find herself dancing on rooftops with chimney sweeps she'd beat herself to death with her own umbrella.

Trey

Fen said:

Fitz said:

Ruth said:

@Jurixe: Not sure if you've read Warbreaker from him yet, but that's a good book as well!

Also am taking suggestions on what's a good fantasy/fiction book to pick up. I've already picked up most books by Tamora Pierce, George R.R Martin, Terry Goodkind, Trudi Canavan, Carol Berg, Brandon Sanderson, Marianne Zimmer Bratley.

Newer Authors that I've liked that aren't in your list: Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles, Peter V. Brett Painted Man books, Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series.

Older authors: Robin Hobb's been mentioned a few times in the thread, she's excellent in all her books, though the Soldier Son trilogy was not as good as the book sets set in the her Realm of the Elderlings Universe. S. M. Stirling, sort of a sci-fi/alternate history/fantasy writer, the Emberverse novels beginning with Dies the Fire are all excellent, as is the Nantucket and Draka Series.

Can't believe neither of you mentioned R.A. Salvatore or Robert Jordan. They're the top of the mainstream for a reason.


Robert Jordan and R.A. Salvatore are overrated. Salvatore can write a mean fight scene, but it's the definition of trash fantasy (not that that's bad. I love me some trash fantasy, it's just not superb writing)