Books or Lit-r-cha Recommendations

Have you read much of Neil Gaiman's stuff? I haven't read The Night Circus yet (although I plan to) but some of his stuff seems similar to what you're describing. Perhaps The Graveyard Book would be a decent starting point.

I've only read Neverwhere so far, unfortunately, though The Sandman and others of his are already on my booklist for unrelated reasons... I think you're right in that it was similar in some ways, though, so I guess that's a reason to push it a bit higher on the schedule. :)

(A caveat about The Night Circus - I don't mean to praise it too effusively or anything. <_< It is very, very exceptional, for a first publication.)

I'm looking for something with the funniness and Genre Savvy -ness of Discworld, and the mindgames and intelligence of Monster by Naoki Urasawa.

edited 7th Jan '13 3:47:21 PM by CDRW

...is that one request, or two?

Hmmm, anyone know any good, novels set in the turn-of-the-century, Steampunk, fantasy or otherwise?

Any good not-YA Urban Fantasy for a Dresden Files fan?

...is there something special about the turn of the century you're interested in? Leviathan is set during the Great War, as I recall...

Something From The Nightside. :D

Good non-YA urban fantasy, hmm. I like Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock books. Also Ilona Andrew's series starting with Magic Bites. They both have some romance, but it isn't the focus of the books, unlike similar sounding paranormal romances that are so popular now. These are both nice action packed fluff like the Dresden files, not requiring more brain power than I can bring to bear for reading in odd moments and before sleep.

Charles de Lint will give you a more literary ride that's also good, but I haven't read anything of his in years, so I can't say what's new that's good. I can say the same for Elizabeth Bear's Promethean Age books, they are beautiful, and just a bit more work to read than I've had the energy for lately, but I can tell they're good. I also like Nina Kiriki Hoffmann's books that start with The Thread that Binds the Bones, it is less action packed than the Dresden books, but beautifully written. Also, not so much work to read as the previous two writers. Emma Bull's War of the Oaks is good, but it's a single book, and also not too complex.

Turn of the century can be difficult for me, Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate books are the ones that come to my mind, though I know there are others. These have a wry touch that amuses me, and plenty of action. Plus Lord Akeldama is hilarious. One Elizabeth Bear that I read and enjoyed very much was New Amsterdam, set in an alternate US and about a forensic sorceress and a vampiric detective. With dirigables!

Oh yes, the Nightside books are great fun, I love the interesting monsters Green comes up with. Treat them as travel books though, and don't worry about the plot too much.

edited 15th Jan '13 10:18:44 PM by Lightningnettle

I have two requests for fantasy novels. Intended audience - children, teens, adults - is irrelevant.

1) Novels that feature the Norse gods, either as main characters or part of the supporting cast. Loki, in particular, would be awesome.

2) Novels that feature the Egyptian gods. (Aside from The Kane Chronicles, which is already on my "to read" list.)

Well there's American Gods, if you haven't already read that.

Similar to American Gods is The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. The focus there is Norse...

Norse Code was pretty good, about a modern day Ragnarok.

The Iron Druid books aren't to my taste, but do have all kinds of gods in them Norse and Celtic are the ones I particularly remember from the first book.

I don't know that they particularly mention the pantheon, but Elizabeth Boyer's books are based on Norse mythology. She's old and possibly out of print, also quite on the light-hearted side.

And if you are interested in a very odd take on Norse Myths you could try Elizabeth Bear's All the Windracked Stars. I read it mostly because I do like much of her other work. It's a love it, hate it, or be befuddled by it book. I'm in the last catagory. It's about the last surviving Valkyrie after Ragnarok, on a world where magic and tech mix.

edited 16th Jan '13 9:41:20 PM by Lightningnettle

C0mraid, Noaqiyeum, Lightningnettle: Thanks for the recommendations.

I read the first book, and didn't like it. My family keeps trying to get me to read farther since Thor shows up later. So far my dislike of Atticus outweighs my love of Norse mythology.

If he was the protaganist, I agree, he was annoying.

I'm rather hoping that someone recommends some Egyptian based fantasy, I don't recall any myself. There were some mysteries I read a while ago, but since I can't remember anything more than the feather of Maat from them I conclude they weren't particularly good.

Yes, Atticus is the protagonist. And, yes, he is annoying.

I can think of two: The Kane Chronicles and the Dragon Jousters series. And the gods aren't really characters in the Dragon Jousters books. They're just part of the setting. It's a shame that so few writers seem to use Egyptian mythology. It could make for some interesting stories.

Bit late on this, but thanks. The fact that it's fantasy is even better.

Any more recs for books with increasingly unsympathetic protagonists are welcome.

For Egyptian historical fiction The Egyptian is a masterpiece. Since it bothers with historical accuracy there are naturally no active gods or the like but it's still very much worth the read. The English translation for it isn't apparently very good but maybe you'll luck out by understanding one of the other languages its translated to.

Edit: Oh and if someone feels like recommending, I'm always looking for books where the main character gets ahead by being Smart and Clever and the writer is Smart and Clever enough to actually write him/her that way (rather than it just being an informed ability or just dumbing down the rest of the cast. Think Miles Vorkosigan but not limited to that style.)

edited 21st Jan '13 6:20:15 AM by GabrieltheThird

I'm looking for the book-equivalent of an indianna jones movie. Set between the wars, exploration, bounty-hunting and loot-grabbing a must. Do not mind a a little steampunk, especially flying machines, or some occult shennanigans. Preferably both! Any suggestions?

Looking for a good book, any good book. Long series are preferable, since I read 1800 WPM and finish books quickly.

A brief list of what I've gone through recently?

A Game of Thrones, Animorphs, Dragonriders of Pern / Harperhall, Crown of Stars, Dresden Files, Artemis Fowl, Book of the New Sun, Book of the Long Sun, Stainless Steel Rat, Vorkosigan Saga and associated books, Gentleman Bastard, Percy Jackson, Thrawn Trilogy, Sword of Objectivism (I got bored of it and quit sometime after Richard defeated Straw Communism with a statue), Chronicles of Amber, Hunger Games, Codex Alera, Neuromancer, Pretty much all of the Orson "Douchenozzle" Card books, Mistborn, Honor Harrington, and Lensman books.

I'm also open to suggestions of good history books.

edited 25th Jan '13 7:49:47 PM by RosaVernal

I generally read shorter series, but these might interest you:

• The Queens Thief series
• The Bartimaeus Trilogy
• His Dark Materials
• The Old Kingdom trilogy

Any preferences as to genre, etc?

I will say that I love Magnificent Bastard / Guile Hero types. Pretty much any sort of speculative fiction. Obviously, I like softer sci-fi, but really, anything goes.

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. I'd especially recommend the Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokonksy translation.

Eee, someone else who's read the Chronicles of Amber :D

Have you read the Myst books? (The Book of Ti'ana, The Book of Atrus, The Book of D'ni, in that order.) Less Guile Hero than Science Hero, but it and Amber are the only two books in their category that I know of.

What about the Dragaera series?

Can't be a proper SF geek if you haven't read Amber!

I know mostly fantasy, so my suggestions are mostly in that genre. Have you read Name of the Wind? The Lies of Locke Lamora have a guile protaganist. Elizabeth Moon's Vatta books are decent space opera. Liz William's Detective Inspector Chen books are fun police procedurals set in a fantasy future Singapore and involve the supernatural. Marion Zimmer Bradley has a long series of books set on a world called Darkover and fit the science/fantasy intersection. Cherryh writes both SF and Fantasy, you'd do well to start with the Chanur books; she writes a lot of books in that universe. She hasn't written nearly enough, but I also recommend Janet Kagan's Hellspark, very nice soft SF. Oh and you should try Walter Jon Williams if you haven't, he's written a lot of books; I've read the series starting with The Crown Jewels. It's a very silly book about an Allowed Burgler, where you are allowed to steal as long as you do it with Style. It's set in a future where the human race has been conquered by aliens who are fascinated with Elvis.

I don't read a lot of history, but I really enjoyed The Great Influenza by John Barry.

edited 27th Jan '13 9:22:25 AM by Lightningnettle

He's read Locke Lamora - he listed it as Gentleman Bastard.