Looking for books to read!

  • Thread starter Thread starter LP
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Song of Ice and Fire got me in the mood to look for more grim, gritty fantasy. I found some really good stuff.

First up, The Black Company series by Glen Cook. It's a big fantasy epic, but instead of following the VIP's around you get the story from the perspective of the mercenaries on the front line.

Here's the best review quote I can find.

"With the Black Company series Glen Cook single-handedly changed the face of fantasy--something a lot of people didn't notice and maybe still don't. He brought the story down to a human level, dispensing with the cliché archetypes of princes, kings, and evil sorcerers. Reading his stuff was like reading Vietnam War fiction on peyote."

Tor printed four omnibuses:

Chronicles of The Black Company
-The Black Company
-Shadows Linger
-The White Rose

The Books of the South
-Shadow Games
-Dreams of Steel
-The Silver Spike

Return of the Black Company
-Bleak Seasons
-She is the Darkness

The Many Deaths of the Black Company
-Water Sleeps
-Soldiers Live

Another good one for ya. The First Law series, by Jon Abercrombie. His character Logen Ninefingers would be right at home in George R.R. Martin's world.

Found a good description of this one too.

"[A] highly readable fantasy that isn't going to scare off mainstream readers or newcomers to the genre....a whole banquet of violent action and intrigue."

No omnibus for this one yet:

The First Law Series
-The Blade Itself
-Before They are Hanged
-Last Argument of Kings

That'll keep you busy for a while. :P
 
Le_Bello said:
If you're into rushed, disappointing endings, then sure, read the Hunger Games trilogy.

Obligatory mention goes to the Song of Ice and Fire series because it's just THAT good.

Would also recommend "The Book Thief", which I need to re-read now, and also "His Dark Materials" trilogy (Philip Pullman) for some easy, but interesting reading.

Also, Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is a good, thought provoking tome.

Others include:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time
Cloud Atlas
Shades of Grey (Not the porny "50 Shades of Grey" one) is one my boyfriend says to read. It sounds pretty interesting.
Anything by Terry Pratchett, if you've got an off-kilter sense of humour.
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Just because mockingjay sucked didn't mean the whole trilogy did! Catching fire was an amazing book.

Has anyone read the Artemis Fowl series? That was a great series too.
 
The_Landslide said:
Cloud Atlas is such a fun read. Props for mentioning that one.
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Admittedly I'd forgotten about it until it was mentioned earlier. But yes, it's a superb book, once you get into it.


EternalArcadia said:
Just because mockingjay sucked didn't mean the whole trilogy did! Catching fire was an amazing book.
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Catching Fire was the best of the three, for sure. And yeah it was a good book, it's just that in the case of a series, I find rating them individually somewhat belies their nature. Hunger Games is ok, Catching Fire is fantastic, Mockingjay made me almost regret reading the previous two. To be honest, were it not for Finnick, Johanna and Haymitch, I'd likely not have read on.
 
Le_Bello said:
Catching Fire was the best of the three, for sure. And yeah it was a good book, it's just that in the case of a series, I find rating them individually somewhat belies their nature. Hunger Games is ok, Catching Fire is fantastic, Mockingjay made me almost regret reading the previous two. To be honest, were it not for Finnick, Johanna and Haymitch, I'd likely not have read on.
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I wasn't disappointed by Mockingjay. I still couldn't put it down. I agree the expository ending didn't seem written with the same personality as the rest of the books, but I was satisfied with it.

I was disappointed by The Amber Spyglass though. I read it before the days when I could have just gotten on the internet and learned about what Pullman was trying to pull. So I, as a Christian, read the first two and was enthralled, then read the third one and felt like I had been tricked. Like someone handed me a sucker and upon putting it in my mouth I found out it was dirt-flavored.
 
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