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Author Topic: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?  (Read 4397 times)

Cuppsworth

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #30 on: June 13, 2011, 11:25:42 am »
Quote from: Logical2u on June 12, 2011, 11:18:05 am
Harry Turtledove does a lot of alternate history stuff, whether or not you'll think it's good is a different question!

Damn you! That was my suggestion.

If you count comic books as regular books I have a number of suggestions. I personally liked Lord of the Rings, although I liked the Hobbit more. Currently reading the Silmarillion and have read the Children of Hurin. Silmarillion is fairly good but it's kinds dry most of the time, and there's a countless number of names to remember along with locations and the second edition comes with an inadequate map. Children of Hurin shares the name and dryness problem, I'm not even sure it has a map, but comes with some very good paintings of events in the book.

Read Tolkien.
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jester

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #31 on: June 13, 2011, 11:54:16 am »
3rded on harry turtledove.  David gemmel has some decent stuff as well, its not hard reading at all but his Jon Shannow series is great
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Bohandas

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #32 on: June 13, 2011, 02:07:28 pm »
"Songs of Distant Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke is a good one.
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Vector

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #33 on: June 13, 2011, 04:06:07 pm »
Quote from: kinseti on June 13, 2011, 04:20:23 am
I support this recommendation. Neuromancer and Snowcrash, specifically, are the crash course in cyberpunk.  Very good books both, but I would personally recommend Stephenson as generally awesome.

I'll add my favorites--Cryptonomicon and Diamond Age.

Especially Diamond Age, surprisingly enough.
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Levi

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #34 on: June 13, 2011, 05:40:19 pm »
Quote from: Vector on June 13, 2011, 04:06:07 pm
Quote from: kinseti on June 13, 2011, 04:20:23 am
I support this recommendation. Neuromancer and Snowcrash, specifically, are the crash course in cyberpunk.  Very good books both, but I would personally recommend Stephenson as generally awesome.

I'll add my favorites--Cryptonomicon and Diamond Age.

Especially Diamond Age, surprisingly enough.

Diamond Age gave me so much rage.  It was such a great book, but the last few hundred pages felt like the author hit a deadline and rushed through without tieing up all the loose ends.  I hate it when fantastic books have unsatisfactory endings.
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Vector

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #35 on: June 13, 2011, 05:42:04 pm »
Quote from: Levi on June 13, 2011, 05:40:19 pm
Diamond Age gave me so much rage.  It was such a great book, but the last few hundred pages felt like the author hit a deadline and rushed through without tieing up all the loose ends.  I hate it when fantastic books have unsatisfactory endings.

Actually, I agree with you completely--but that is one of Stephenson's stylistic problems in general, I think.  He can't write a solid ending.  I didn't rage, though.  I was just pretty disappointed.

I really loved the first part of the book, however.  It was pretty magical.
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Levi

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #36 on: June 13, 2011, 05:42:58 pm »
Quote from: Vector on June 13, 2011, 05:42:04 pm
Quote from: Levi on June 13, 2011, 05:40:19 pm
Diamond Age gave me so much rage.  It was such a great book, but the last few hundred pages felt like the author hit a deadline and rushed through without tieing up all the loose ends.  I hate it when fantastic books have unsatisfactory endings.

Actually, I agree with you completely--but that is one of Stephenson's stylistic problems in general, I think.  He can't write a solid ending.  I didn't rage, though.  I was just pretty disappointed.

I really loved the first part of the book, however.  It was pretty magical.

Totally.  I seriously could not put that book down. 
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DJ

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #37 on: June 14, 2011, 07:35:25 am »
Neuromancer was OK, but as the series went on the author kinda lost the thread. I quit halfway through Mona Lisa Overdrive.
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blackmagechill

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #38 on: June 14, 2011, 03:51:04 pm »
Homie P. LoveCraft

H.P. LoveCraft had some Sci-Fi and weird horror stuff that was pretty good. Call of Cthulu was the one most people know, but Barnes and Noble has a nice, huge collection of unabridged works in one book if you go to one of the stores.
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Greiger

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #39 on: June 14, 2011, 08:52:11 pm »
Naomi Novik's Temeraire Series had me interested for some time.  Haven't finished the series yet though, don't have the next book.

Naturally it has dragons.

It has dragons, during the Napoleonic Wars.  Big dragons.  Like 10 people strapped to a harness while shooting guns while riding a dragon big.

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Vector

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #40 on: June 14, 2011, 09:08:34 pm »
HOW DID WE MISS A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE ?!

Go read it.  Read it now.
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Bohandas

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #41 on: June 14, 2011, 09:12:17 pm »
Oh! Just thought of a good suggestion. Don't know why I didn't remember these sooner:

The Spellsinger novels by Alan Dean Foster!

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Willfor

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #42 on: June 14, 2011, 09:42:19 pm »
Quote from: Vector on June 14, 2011, 09:08:34 pm
HOW DID WE MISS A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE ?!

Go read it.  Read it now.
It's actually the top series on his "has read" list.
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Vector

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #43 on: June 14, 2011, 09:43:06 pm »
Quote from: Willfor on June 14, 2011, 09:42:19 pm
It's actually the top series on his "has read" list.

brb dying

I... am so embarrassed.  Dearie me.
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"The question of the usefulness of poetry arises only in periods of its decline, while in periods of its flowering, no one doubts its total uselessness." - Boris Pasternak

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Willfor

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Re: Good Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Alt. History Books?
« Reply #44 on: June 14, 2011, 09:44:17 pm »
Don't be embarrassed, it's good to recommend it to people who are reading this threat who are not him, and yet have not read it.
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In the wells of livestock vans with shells and garden sands /
Iron mixed with oxygen as per the laws of chemistry and chance /
A shape was roughly human, it was only roughly human /
Apparition eyes / Apparition eyes / Knock, apparition, knock / Eyes, apparition eyes /
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