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Variable Savior
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"Book recommendations?" , posted Sun 24 Apr 06:45post reply

I'm looking for a new book to read and can't seem to find anything that piques my interest. So I'm wondering what you guys would recommend. Essentially, I'm looking for something in the fantasy/scifi genre but with a foot in reality (more unusual circumstances in a normal world then monsters in a magical world or aliens from Gamma quadrant 12).

Anybody have any suggestions?





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Hungrywolf
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"Re(1):Book recommendations?" , posted Sun 24 Apr 09:29post reply

quote:
I'm looking for a new book to read and can't seem to find anything that piques my interest. So I'm wondering what you guys would recommend. Essentially, I'm looking for something in the fantasy/scifi genre but with a foot in reality (more unusual circumstances in a normal world then monsters in a magical world or aliens from Gamma quadrant 12).

Anybody have any suggestions?



The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a great book, though I wouldn't catogorize it as fantasy as the term is generally used. It's my favorite.

Other suggested reading from Burroughs: A Princess of Mars, this is the first book of the Burroughs' Barsoom series and it's wonderful. At the Earth's Core, this is the first book of his Pellucidar series.

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time book series is good, but each book is long and the series still isn't finished. Book one is The Eye of the World.

The First Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen is good. It's followed by the second and third books, and then by the books of lost swords.

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings is good. It's the first book of the Belgariad.

Of course, these are all series, I know. But The Outlaw of Torn is a standalone book and is one of my absolute favorites and I highly recommend it if you can find a copy.







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"Re(1):Book recommendations?" , posted Sun 24 Apr 09:52post reply

Michael Marshall Smith writes amazing books set in worlds similar to our, but with surrealist elemnts introduced. Only Forward is his first published work, and a great read for anybody that loves smart writing and film noir-esque stories going surreal. I strongly recommend that one to everybody.





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"Re(1):Book recommendations?" , posted Sun 24 Apr 11:09post reply

I just got done reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. If you're in to his work and spiritual fiction then I highly recommend it. I loved it.

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Mog
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"Re(1):Book recommendations?" , posted Sun 24 Apr 12:27post reply

Both William Gibson and Neal Stephenson do a good job writing science fiction that manages to maintain some connection with the modern world. While I can't single out a book by Gibson to start with, Snow Crash is probably the best intorduction to Stephenson's work.





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"Re(1):Book recommendations?" , posted Sun 24 Apr 13:21post reply

Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Murakami Haruki





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Variable Savior
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"Re(2):Book recommendations?" , posted Sun 24 Apr 14:52:post reply

I've read American Gods (excellent) and just finished Gibson's Idoru so I'm glad to see that your suggestions are along the lines of what I'm looking for.

If I might ask, what are The Outlaw of Torn and Only Forward about?





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[this message was edited by Variable Savior on Sun 24 Apr 14:53]

Hungrywolf
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"Re(3):Book recommendations?" , posted Sun 24 Apr 15:33post reply

quote:
I've read American Gods (excellent) and just finished Gibson's Idoru so I'm glad to see that your suggestions are along the lines of what I'm looking for.

If I might ask, what are The Outlaw of Torn and Only Forward about?



The Outlaw of Torn is about an English prince who is kidnapped at a very young age by a master swordsman named Sir Jules de Vac, who was wronged by the king. He raised Norman (the boy) to be an incredible swordsman and to hate the English. He also raised him to be French. This was his revenge, because he raised Norman to fight against his own family. But that is very little of the actual story. I'd hate to ramble and give away too much of it.







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HAYATO
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"Re(4):Book recommendations?" , posted Mon 25 Apr 06:14post reply

Try "Journey to the West", the legendary tale of Sun Wu-Kung and Tripitaka. I haven't finished it yet, but it's really worth reading. If you like fantasy books you shouldn't miss Stephen King's " The Dark Tower" series, definitely one of my favourites.





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"Re(5):Book recommendations?" , posted Mon 25 Apr 06:59post reply

Friedman's Coldfire series, starting with "Black Sun Rising," had a very clever setup in that its world was constantly trying to become more like normal Earth. The scenario was just that settlers sent from Earth awakened from cold sleep in a lonely planet whose seismic energy interacted with people's minds (fears, emotions) to give birth to monsters, and that the inhabitants were seeking ways to make it more like the tame home Earth of their ancestors, through religions and otherwise. Great characters and dialogue, too, and unique.

Goodkind's series that started with "Wizard's First Rule" was another great and fairly realistic scenario, though the word is that it's sort of stalled out the same way Wheel of Time did. But it's a very human, realistic, and often moving fantasy up through the first four or six, at the very least.





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"Re(1):Book recommendations?" , posted Mon 25 Apr 08:24post reply

Gene Wolfe is hailed as one of the greatest living authors by those both inside (Gaiman, Le Guin) and outside (NY Times) the speculative fiction field. His <i>Book of the New Sun</i> is likely the crowning achievement of 20th-century science-fiction/fantasy (Asimov and Tolkein's work doesn't hold a candle to it). You really can't go wrong with any of his sci-fi/fantasy series, however, though his latest works aren't of the quality of his older ones.

Glen Cook's <i>Black Company</i> series is also good for a quick read if you're into dark humor and gritty fantasy.





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"Re(2):Book recommendations?" , posted Mon 25 Apr 13:06post reply

A sci-fi book that is rooted in modern day and somewhat realistic is "Red Thunder" by John Varley. It's about a bunch of young adults who build a spaceship to beat everyone to Mars using a revolutionary propulsion system. I love this book and would recommend it, but I don't know if its what you're looking for.





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rid
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"Re(3):Book recommendations?" , posted Mon 25 Apr 20:04:post reply

quote:
If I might ask, what are The Outlaw of Torn and Only Forward about?

A nice, spoiler-less review of Only Forward here: http://www.scwu.com/bookreviews/h/SmithMichaelMarshallOnlyForward.shtml

Also, check this review of Spares, another (more popular, I think that Dreamworks bought the rights to make a movie and then forgot it) book by the same writer: http://www.sfsite.com/02b/spar27.htm





[this message was edited by rid on Mon 25 Apr 20:14]