Recommend me some books!

AliBee16

Not fantasy but fills the thriller aspect, is Child 44 and Girl on a Train. I'm making notes about all the good fantasy books though because I love it.

GalaxyStar

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is awesome. Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Room by Emma Donoghue are also very good

Ames

onlyroz wrote: »

I'm sorry, but there are far better fantasy novels than the Wheel of Time series. It might have started out being original but it meanders on and on, none of the lead characters are remotely likeable, the story is highly derivative and it follows all of the fantasy stereotypes going.

Modern fantasy authors like Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch beat Robert Jordan into the dust.

Having said the above about Robert Jordan, I do quite like Brandon Sanderson. I recently read the first Mistborn book and it was pretty good. The dialog was atrocious but his magic system is unique enough to make me want to read a few more.

Angry_Bear wrote: »

I was just about to suggest Joe Abercrombie. I've been enjoying his "The First Law", and find myself liking/rooting for some of the most descpicable characters in spite of myself - always a sign of a good book

I've got The Blade Itself, (I hope that's the right title), I started it a while ago but had to put it down after a chapter or two to read something for book club. I think I'll bump it back up to the top of the list.

GalaxyStar wrote: »

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is awesome. Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Room by Emma Donoghue are also very good

Every Emma Donoghue book I've read has been great.


If people like humorous fantasy I recommend Ben Aaranovitch's Rivers of London series.

onlyroz

Ames wrote: »

I've got The Blade Itself, (I hope that's the right title), I started it a while ago but had to put it down after a chapter or two to read something for book club. I think I'll bump it back up to the top of the list..

You should definitely give it another try.

I don't do much actual reading these days but I listen to a lot of audiobooks. As above, the Joe Abercrombie audiobooks are fantastic - the narrator is one of the best I've heard.

My current favourite author is Scott Lynch - his debut, "The Lies of Locke Lamora", is brilliant. Think Oceans Eleven but set in a world a bit like Medieval Italy. He's quite a slow writer but book four is due out in September and I can't wait. Again, the audiobook narrator is really very good indeed.

I've tried a few other new fantasy authors which I didn't think were up to scratch. A lot of people go on about Patrick Rothfuss - I tried his first two books. They were OK but he does waffle on, and by the end of the second book hardly anything had happened. I also recently went back to Raymond Feist. I loved him as a teenager but these days he doesn't really stand up favourably against modern gritty fantasy authors like Abercrombie, George Martin etc.

I'm currently having a go at a bit of space opera. I tried Iain M Banks but didn't really get on with him. I've now found Neal Asher's Spatterjay books on audio and I'm giving them a go - I'm enjoying them so far.

Ames

I also have the Lies of Locke Lamora on a shelf somewhere... If I can find it I'll bump that back up the list too.

I have a lot of 'new' books bought last month in Hay on Wye, and I'm trying to alternate between new (usually heavy none fiction) and old (usually good fiction).

marlasinger

I Am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes
The Stand - Stephen King
Only Ever Yours - Louise O'Neill
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
The Mangle Street Murders - MRC Kasasian
Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood

These are some of my faves.

tesuhoha

The Passage Trilogy by Justin Cronin is pretty good. However, I don't think the third book is out yet. Having said that, they stand by themselves

The Dune Trilogy by Frank Herbert

Also Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake is an amusing read.

Children of Men

gettingtheresometime

The Wool Triology

In the Darkest Corner (though this does deal with the effects of DV)

And my all time favourite Girl with all the Gifts


As a side issue, with all the new forums that MSE keeps adding and bearing in mind recommendations for books get asked frequently could we not have a book forum?

tesuhoha

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

The Wool Triology

In the Darkest Corner (though this does deal with the effects of DV)

And my all time favourite Girl with all the Gifts


As a side issue, with all the new forums that MSE keeps adding and bearing in mind recommendations for books get asked frequently could we not have a book forum?

In the Darkest Corner is chilling.

Ames

marlasinger wrote: »

I Am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes
The Stand - Stephen King
Only Ever Yours - Louise O'Neill
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
The Mangle Street Murders - MRC Kasasian
Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood

These are some of my faves.

I love his books! We've had a few Twitter exchanges. Have you read the most recent, Death Comes To Saturn House?

I also agree about just about any Margaret Atwood books. I saw her speak last year about her Onyx and Crake series - it was truly scary how it was all based in fact and not imagination.

tesuhoha wrote: »

The Passage Trilogy by Justin Cronin is pretty good. However, I don't think the third book is out yet. Having said that, they stand by themselves

The Dune Trilogy by Frank Herbert

Also Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake is an amusing read.

I'm waiting eagerly for the final Passage book.

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

The Wool Triology

In the Darkest Corner (though this does deal with the effects of DV)

And my all time favourite Girl with all the Gifts


As a side issue, with all the new forums that MSE keeps adding and bearing in mind recommendations for books get asked frequently could we not have a book forum?

I've yet to read a Hugh Howey I don't like. The Wool Trilogy is amazing, what a concept.