Books: Out goes 2007, in comes 2008
I wrapped up my reading list for 2007 a few days early so I can prepare to open 2008 with Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy. I did fairly well trying to meet my 25-books-in-a-year goal with 24 books. There was a period of a few months where I did no recreational reading because I spent all of my extra time working on my graduate thesis.
I was a little surprised by the amount fantasy in my list this year, mostly attributed by Harry Potter, Watch trilogy, and the Dresden Files. Although I always read science fiction, I had never considered myself a “fantasy” fan beyond the few classics before I went through the Harry Potter kick. I really liked the Watch trilogy, so maybe I like vampires and witches more than fairies and unicorns? The Dresden Files are detective/mystery novels first with magic as a secondary device. I am still a little wary of fantasy-genre recommendations (perhaps I just need guidance) and tend to gravitate towards books in the classics, science fiction, and social sciences genres. In the end, I will read anything that is good regardless of genre.
Any suggestions for 2008?
Well if you’re getting into fantasy, I’ll be sure to scare you off again, wheel of time series. Quite good. But also rather heavy reading.
That said, it’s a really good idea with the 25 books list. I think I’ll go write my own up.
Zeerak
Gormenghast? Are you a glutton for punishment or what? Reading Gormenghast is like trying to wade through a river of treacle in full plate armour. Have fun with that.
I’d recommend George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series; it’s fantasy-ish, but more gritty and realistic than you’d expect. It’s good stuff. On the sci-fi front, Charlie Stross’ books about Bob Howard (The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue) are excellent.
I would recommend Raymond Feist, Midkemia Saga and R.A. Salvatore, The Icewind Dale Trilogy. Both great pieces of Fantasy literature.
I second the Gormanghast comment. Its a very very heavy book to read.
If you feel yourself leaning towards fantasy then I have to suggest you start checking out anything by the author “Terry Pratchett”. A superlative comedic fantassy writter who is hugely popular all over the World. Just google his name and within a few clicks you should be eaasily able to find a sampling of his style and even a few of his sort stories. I’d also suggest Anne McCaffrey, another fantastic fantasy/Sci-Fi writter famous for her “PErn” series of books and her “rowan” series. Lastly their is of course, “David (and Leigh) Eddings, famed for their “Belgariad” and “Mallorean” series of books. All three are well worth checking out as primers for fantasy writing.
My personal favourite fantasy/Sci-Fi book is “Cities in Space” by James Blish. It’s the book I’d take to a desert Island if I could only choose one.
Oh yeah, ignore Stuart, the Gormenghast triology is fantastic reading.
As one of my favourite fantasy series, I can recommend the «The Farseer Trilogy» by Robin Hobb :).
Good fantasy is pretty tough to come by. And of course what’s “good” is very subjective.
If you’re ok with a certain hard edge to the writing, try :
“Hart’s Hope” by Orson Scott Card. One very harsh take on magic.
The “Black Company” series by Glen Cook, or his excellent standalone novel “The Tower of Fear” which just came back in print — one dynamite book. Gritty, edgy, full of tough characters.
“The Dragon Lord” by David Drake. Arthur the King done a little differently.
“A Scattering of Jades” by Alexander Irvine. Fantastic 19th century alternate history/weird history/weird magic Aztec stuff.
I second the recommendations of Charles Stross and Terry Pratchett. Lois McMaster Bujold is also great, whether you read her sf or fantasy. Elizabeth Moon’s _The Deed of Paksenarrion_ trilogy is one that I’ve recently read and can recommend from the fantasy side.
Incidentally, a common theme on the rec.arts.sf.written newsgroup is that there’s no strict dividing line between fantasy and science fiction.
Seems like the fantasy thing is, so I’ll throw some other ideas out there:
A Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Brian Greene (science fact)
Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution by Glyn Moody
All have served me well :)
A Happy New Year to You.
I recommend Terry Pratchett’s discworld series, skip the first few books though they were written before Terry became a good author (and the series doesn’t need to be read in order) My personal favourites are Small Gods, Hogfather and Making Money.
I’d also recommend Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark, its very hard to describe, Jane Austin meets magic realism is what I usually say, it also goes against, well pritty much all Tolkinistic fantasy by being about its (incredibly well done) characters rather than their “quest”; its slow going and a huge book but its amazingly well written truly worth a read.
I third the Terry Pratchett suggestion. Any of his Discworld series books written in 2001-2007. “Soul Music” and “Hogfather” are two of my favorites, although there are a lot of good ones to choose from.
As for sci-fi, I’m a fan of Orsen Scott Card. “Ender’s Game” is a classic, and the sequels are amazing too.
Good luck with your reading in 2008! :-)
Some good fantasy books are Terry Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” series, starting with Wizard’s First Rule. There are 12 books in the series.
I agree with PoeticJaffaCake about “The Long Walk to Freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela”
Excellent book.
Also worth checking out are:
Garbageland- Elizabeth Royte
Dune- Frank Herbert
Black Like Me- John Howard Griffin
Ghandi- An Autobiography
Twinkie Deconstructed- Steve Ettlinger
Enjoy! Keep up the reading!
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There are 5 books in Watch series. I read 4 of them, waiting for Nokia N810 to read fifth
Have to 2nd (or 3rd?) Terry Pratchett.
I’m presently enjoying the Japan-inspired semi-fantasy series by Lian Hearn, that begins with Accross the Nightingale Floor. It’s got fantasy, but it’s secondary to plot and characters. Very good read so far!
http://www.amazon.com/Across-Nightingale-Floor-Tales-Otori/dp/1573222259
Also, for a light, easy, but fast paced action read, try Matthew Reilly. He’s a young Australian author who writes characters that are sort of like Dirk Pitt on steroids.
http://www.matthewreilly.com/
Actually Cussler graces our shelves in that department too… you could almost call them fantasy (not terribly realistic science, anyway)
Have fun.
best hard sf book ever: inherit the stars by james hogan,
can be difficult to find
Thanks everyone for your feedback! I’ve gotten a lot of (non-blog) recommendations for Terry Pratchett along with Neil Gaiman, Dan Simmons,Orson Scott Card, and Philip Pullman. There were also some good suggestions of non-science fiction/fantasy books I will also check out.
I didn’t realize there were five books planned for the Watch series. It also seems that the fourth book isn’t released in the U.S. until later 2008.
There is a film adaptation for Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising series so I may reread that. It has been a while since I read the books, but I could tell from the movie trailers that there are more changes to the story than just “modernization”.
For those of you with comments against the Gormenghast trilogy, I’m enjoying it so far (I am about halfway through Titus Groan). It is certainly heavier than something mass market such as Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, but the story is rich and detail oriented.
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