Decent Books

Hi everyone, just after peoples recommendations for books to read.

Im currently half way through A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin and i love it! Its a monster at nearly 800 pages, and is the first in a series of 7 (some of which aint been wrote i believe) but it certainly gets my imagination running.

So post away with your recommendations.

Cheers

Zog

I read the "Dark Elf Trilogy" and "Icewinddale Trilogy" by R.A.Salvatore when I was younger and I loved it. It's more or less a classic I think. I don't know if I would enjoy it as much now, but back then I breathed "Dark Elf Trilogy" I read those books before going to sleep, after waking up, first thing in the morning (forgetting breakfast) and during my lunch breaks at school.

Definitely something I would recommend to our younger members. These are the books of the first trilogy ("Dark Elf Trilogy"). It's set in the "Forgotten Realms" world, and tells the story of a dark elf (or "Drow") named Drizzt who, unlike his kin, is not evil, but has a good heart. So eventually he gets sucked up into conflicts with the other dark elves (in the underground city "Menzoberanzan", reminiscent of a late antique rome, where murder, intrigue and political power are closely connected) and has to flee to the surface. There he lives all kinds of adventures, not without having to hide from most "surface-folk", because of his drow origin.







Oh, of course, how could I forget about Drizzt's faithful companion Guenhwyvar, the black panther (a FEMALE panther!).

Hey,

I just wanted to give some props to my personal favorite book:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

That book is a monster... but so educational and well written

peace

Don't forget the novels of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, especially "A Wizard of Earthsea" and "The Tombs of Atuan"... very nice fantasy world and good characters! I liked it a lot.

R.A Salvatore's triology is nice. I read it like.. 8 years ago. In fact there is a second triologgy with the same character, I believe.

JohnYoung wrote:

there is a second triologgy with the same character, I believe.

Icewind Dale Trilogy.

And there is one after that, but I just recommend the first 2. I think they are better.

I'm currently going through all the Drizzt stuff. Quite enjoying them even if they can be a little silly sometimes.

I'm a massive fan of the Wheel of Time books (Alas for Robert Jordan!) and for the Malazan book of the fallen series. Both are fantastic sets, if yet unfinished. They're both very complex, the 20 to 30 different storylines going on in Malazan is just insane, brilliant though.

Boy did you ever open up a can of worms with this one. This is just a Very select list, much more could follow, if any interest is shown.

David Eddings: The Belgariad & The Mallorean Both of these five book novels are excellent, the first set, The Belgariad is somewhat better than the sequel, The Mallorean. Highly Recommended

Sanctuary/ Theives' World: this is a series of short stories/novellas set in the city of Sanctuary, which is the vilest, most dangerous, God awful place; worse than Mordheim & the South Bronx combined. It's written by quite a variety of authors. Recommended

Terry Prachett's Disc World series, Good Omens, and anything else with his name on the jacket; these are all humorous [VERY] takes on fantasy. If you need a good, hardy chuckle, as in laugh until your sides hurt these are for you. Very Highly Recommended.Reaper Man, Mort & Good Omens are personal favorites

David Gammell's The Drenai Saga & The Stones of Power Cycle: David Gemmell's forte is action fantasy novels of the sort that keep you on the edge of your seat. Not High Fantasy but a good, rip-roaring read. Highly Recommended.

There, that's about twenty or so books, AND I'd gladly expand on the list. Consider yourselves warned.

DeafNala wrote:

I'd gladly expand on the list.

Please do!

I haven't read a good fantasy book in YEARS (appart from Pratchett novels, but I consider them to be somewhat of a class for itself). So I am happy to read any suggestions.

I liked your little descriptions too. Makes it easier to pick one.

Okay Tom, here are a few more. I'd like to preface this by apologizing to my non English speaking friends; I'm language impaired and only speak/read/write/think[sometimes] in English. I'm not sure if all of these are available in translations. So here goes take Two:

L.E.Modesitt, Jr.: The Saga of Recluse [14 books so far] & The Spellsong Cycle [5 books & I love alliteration]. Nicely written, imaginative world setting(s) with a unique take on magic. Modesitt can be a bit repetious at times in his descriptions & the "trials of love" thingy, but generally a good read. It's not really necessary to read all of The Recluse Saga, they cover a loooooooooong period of fantasy time & are often one off stories that share the same setting. Recommended.

Gene Wolfe: The Book of The New Sun [tetrology]: this is sci-fi/fantasy; it follows the adventures of a Torturer [how's that for a hero?]. It written in a somewhat archaic manner &, at times, is difficult to follow, but well worth the effort His Soldier of the Mist is also an excellent read: an ancient Greek warrior who records his daily experiences as he forgets them each day. Highly recommended

T.H.White: The Sword In The Stone & The Once & Future King; The musical Camelot was based on these books. They are & deserve to be classics of fantasy. They are unique in the genre in that their philospohical message is an abhorrence of war. White was a conscientious objector during the Second World War; in part these books reflect his view of war & explain his reactions to his experience of war. On a purely personal note: I feel he demonstrates courage of a different sort. I CAN NOT TOO HIGHLY RECOMMEND THESE BOOKS., excellent reads.

More may come: consider yourselves warned.

I just finished "The Farseer Trilogy" by Robin Hobb:

-Assassin Apprentice
-Royal Assassin
-Assassin's Quest

A very good story about a young boy trained to be an assassin for the King. Nice ideas, especially about politics at the court (secret negotiations, treasons, etc...) all set in a fantasy world. Do NOT read it in french: translation is horrible.

Tortiou wrote:

I just finished "The Farseer Trilogy" by Robin Hobb:

-Assassin Apprentice
-Royal Assassin
-Assassin's Quest

A very good story about a young boy trained to be an assassin

Ah! Thanks for recommending it Tortiou! I was hesitating to buy these 3 for years. You made up my mind
Will also look in to T.H.White, thanks Deaf!

Tortieu, The Earthsea Trillogy ( now I hear there are 6 books?) was great, I read it in Highschool after reading the Lord of the Rings, It was a breeze after that! Too bad the Harry Potter books stole so much from her!

I recommend the following authors:

William Gibson, especially Neuromancer, cyberpunk at its best

Neal Gaimen: especially American Gods, not an altogether original idea but a definite page-turner.

Is anyone reading Warhammer books?
The only fantasy i read in about 3 years were:

Forgotten Realms

27 books about Drizzt and Kederlli
4 books about Forgotten Realms gods (Dale of Shadows; Waterdeep etc.. )
2 books about Eliminister

Warhammer
Empire Emisary
The Knights of Death
Hammers of Ulric
The Mark of Chaos

Warhammer 40k
The Inquisition trilogy
Reivenor
The trilogy about Ultramarines
a lots of books about Space Wolves
Grey Knights
2 first books of Horus Heresy

I'm reading the books in russian translation and sadly we don't have the books about Gorek and Felix (because of the license problems )
But i want to read them very very much

I would recomend to read The Inquisition trilogy and Reivenor trilogy and Books about Drizzt

BtW how much time do You need to read 1 book? I read it about 2 weeks.

Lord Archaon wrote:

27 books about Drizzt and Kederlli

I thought he was spelled "Cadderly". I started reading the Cadderly trilogy a long time ago, but it never enticed me as much as Drizzt's story did (of which I devoured the books when I was little )

Lord Archaon wrote:

BtW how much time do You need to read 1 book? I read it about 2 weeks.

Depends on how much time I got and how interesting I find a book... I'm not a very fast reader, so usually 2-3 weeks (also depending on the length). If I have a lot of time and the book is fascinating, I can finish it in 5 days. I loved the book "La Bataille" by P.Rambeau, so I read it in a week.

@ Gotrek and Felix: why don't you just order it via amazon in english?

Quote :

I thought he was spelled "Cadderly".

I don't know how his name is spelling. All because of the translation from English to Russian.
The name Drizzt is transleted like"Dzirt"

Quote :

Gotrek and Felix: why don't you just order it via amazon in english?

Yeah i should. Do You know what is the 1 books of the series?

Gotrek and Felix novels (in order):

1) Trollslayer
2) Skavenslayer
3) Daemonslayer
4) Dragonslayer
5) Beastslayer
6) Vampireslayer
7) Giantslayer
8 ) Orcslayer
9) Manslayer
10) Elfslayer

Thanks Admin Tom!

The lord of the rings trilogy or the hobbit are nice books

Axel wrote:

The lord of the rings trilogy

Y'all can call me a heretic but this is in fact the most boring book I have ever ever read.

Only good thing is that I borrowed it from my father back then and thus knew it before all the kids went watching it in the cinema.

I agree that The Fellowship of the Ring (i.e. LotR Book 1) is terribly boring at the beginning.

However as the story went on I thought it got better and better. The Return of the King had me even laugh out loud and almost crying towards the end (I also read it well before the movies were announced).

A depth in characters and universe that Warhammer novels will never... my god, why am I even comparing these. Please accept my appologies Prof.Tolkien! Rest in peace.

So yes, Cianty, in that respect you are a heretic. But a very nice heretic to have on one's forum

[EDIT]: Yeah, the whole LotR mania makes me puke. That is why I don't like the GW LotR game. It's just merchandising incarnate... horrible.

Lord Archaon wrote:

Thanks Admin Tom!

Not at all, it's a pleasure to help.

Admin Tom wrote:

A depth in characters and universe that Warhammer novels will never... my god, why am I even comparing these. Please accept my appologies Prof.Tolkien! Rest in peace.

Well, I don't think the Warhammer world is any less detailed than Tolkien's. With 25 years of Warhammer, many editions, almost as many Armybooks for the major races and various source books for the Warhammer Roleplay Game they did develop a very detailed picture of the Warhammer world. The numerous characers are only as deep as the respective authors of the many fiction books make them and I don't think all of them fail. It's like comparing Tolkien's work with that of an entire army of authors.

Admin Tom wrote:

So yes, Cianty, in that respect you are a heretic. But a very nice heretic to have on one's forum

Awh, thank you very much, my Lord!

Admin Tom wrote:

[EDIT]: Yeah, the whole LotR mania makes me puke. That is why I don't like the GW LotR game. It's just merchandising incarnate... horrible.

I also used to think so for a long time. But recently I learned to embrace it for a number of reasons. The most important one being that this gave GW the opportunity for some out-ofthe-box thinking and thus to create a new tabletop game without having to stick to the boundaries of the Warhammer system (which was the case with Mordheim e.g.). So they developed a brand new tabletop game which - in my unworthy opinion - is much better, clearer and offers more tactical options than Mordheim (now I'm being a heretic!). Granted, LotR is not really meant to be a skirmish game but the rules are perfect for using smaller armies (let's call them 'warbands' ) and they have been very successfully adopted for the Legends of the Old West and Legends of the High Seas games (of which I will talk more in another thread sometime soon!).
So yeah, LotR is a big cash machine for GW but at the same time it has meant the biggest step forward for GW in years.

has anyone also read the hobbit??
thats a fun book too.

Quote :

Yeah, the whole LotR mania makes me puke. That is why I don't like the GW LotR game. It's just merchandising incarnate... horrible.

I dont know I like the game

Quote :

has anyone also read the hobbit??

Yeah i read it when I was about 7 years old.