(Part 2) Best action & adventure fiction books according to redditors
We found 8,540 Reddit comments discussing the best action & adventure fiction books. We ranked the 2,256 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
Brian's book is just one of the novels in the Orbit Cyber Monday sale. All are $2.99 and a list of the fantasy titles is provided here:
Title|Author|Book #|Series|Rating | # Ratings
:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:
The Fifth Season | N.K. Jemisin | 1 | Broken Earth | 4.31 | 34,271
The Black Prism | Brent Weeks | 1 | Lightbringer | 4.24 | 68,494
The Last Wish | Andrzej Sapkowski | 1 | Introducing the Witcher | 4.20 | 58,433
Blood of Elves | Andrzej Sapkowski | 1 | The Witcher | 4.23 | 32,039
The Shadow of What Was Lost | James Islington | 1 | Licanius Trilogy | 4.16 | 9,656
Sins of Empire | Brian McClellan | 1 | Gods of Blood and Powder | 4.47 | 3,727
Promise of Blood | Brian McClellan | 1 | Powder Mage| 4.16| 26,245
The Blade Itself | Joe Abercrombie | 1 | First Law | 4.14| 111,811
Theft of Swords^1 | Michael J. Sullivan | 1 | Riyria Revelations | 4.21 | 38,525
The City Stained Red | Sam Sykes | 1 | Bring Down Heaven | 3.68 | 1,088
The Red Knight | Miles Cameron | 1 | Traitor Son Cycle | 4.12 | 10,607
Skyborn | David Dalglish | 1 | Seraphim | 3.92 | 1,010
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^1 In full disclosure - this is a book that I wrote.
At over 10,000 pages, this is probably the longest, most complex, richest fantasy series ever written. Tons of characters, god, cultures, and plot lines with some of the most detailed world building ever created. It’s a monumental journey to read all 10 books, as they’re not light reading, but if you’re up for it, they are almost universally acclaimed.
The Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HL0MA3W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_f-Z4CbPE4RZ6G
I've done something similar a while ago and used books on amazon marketplace is your best bet. It's actually easy to find them there if you know how.
Go to amazon.com, search for Color of Magic, the first book of the series, and look at the list of used books.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0062225677/ref=tmm_mmp_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&sr=8-1&qid=1394908702
In there, you will find some users with insane numbers of ratings (300k and more). Those are used book shops and they often have entire series available, but list every book individually on amazon. So click on one of them and search for "discworld" in their user shop. The "DailyDeal USA" shop seems to have almost, if not all of the books.
Then you can either add them all to your cart (annoying) or you can try e-mailing them. They might even give you a discount.
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, by Douglas Adams is a book from the much beloved Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Well worth a read.
not in the US, at least
http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Dragons-Song-Fire-Book/dp/055338595X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
amazon lists its release date as October 29, 2013
Hamlet as a Choose Your Own Adventure book.
By the guy who does Dinosaur Comics, the co-edits of the Machine of Death series, and writes the Adventure Time comic.
Edit: I accidentally a word.
The consensus will be for the "Disc-world" series. That's a handy link to a recommended reading order. Here is a link to the first novel .
Neverwhere
Stardust
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is a great novel, intense and clever. Quite different and much better than the movie. 📚
Totally the Dragonlance Chronicles:
Often sold as a big trilogy.
omnibus
Enjoy your island
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Malazan-Book-Fallen-ebook/dp/B00HL0MA3W
So I have a friend in jail that I regularly send books to. This doesn't cover every situation, but I assume the circumstances will be similar.
He says that the (meager) prison library is very skewed towards religious books, classics, GED materials, and low-difficulty grocery store novels. Anything other than that will be appreciated. The books most requested are thick fantasy books, activity books (sudoku, physics workbooks, etc), science non-fiction, and coffee-table books or magazines with lots of pictures. These will be swapped with other inmates so that anyone interested has a chance to read.
Some things to keep in mind:
Books that have gone over well and can be found in cheap forms:
Here's a few that won't get mentioned since it seems like people are only putting down books they had to read for school.
Shantaram - Fictional but based off author being an escaped Australian convict who joins the Bombay mafia.
Catch Me If You Can - Read this years ago. It's supposed to be true but apparently a lot of it is just tale tales. Don't care, most fun I've had reading a book.
Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter - Finally, a smart book about video games that won't insult your intelligence. All gamers who care about the games they play should read this. It also does a great job on showing where the industry is failing creatively. God I loved this book.
Anything by Chuck Klosterman - He's funny, smart and writes on deep philosophical/sociological ideas by talking about Saved By The Bell and other pop culture ideas.
You're a good friend! Here are some ideas for you that could fit a variety of budgets:
Volume 1: Men & Magic
Volume 2: Monsters & Treasure
Volume 3: Underworld & Wilderness Adventures
Supplement I: Greyhawk
Supplement II: Blackmoor
Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry
Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes
I hope this helps. Of course peeps also recommended great dice bags and dice, etc. It depends on your friend and his taste. Good luck!
edited for formatting
Have at it:
https://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Douglas-Adams-ebook/dp/B000XUBC2C/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3SREMW9J62KC6&keywords=hitchhikers+guide+to+the+galaxy&qid=1554482965&s=gateway&sprefix=hitch%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-2
My vote:
It's that start of Chris Claremont's 16 year run on X-Men, and it's worth a read all the way through.
Maybe buy a book on Kindle to go with it. May I suggest the phenomenal Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.
I have to mention that anyone who liked Jade Empire, or even likes the idea of stories set in a fantasy pastiche of ancient China, should check out the novel Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart. It's a wonderfully entertaining and underrated fantasy novel, just a joy to read, and it and Jade Empire pull from many of the same sources in Chinese lore.
The first novel I read was [Jurassic Park] (https://www.amazon.com/Jurassic-Park-Novel-Michael-Crichton/dp/0345538986/ref=tmm_mmp_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=). It created in me a love for reading solid captivating novels that has lasted over the last 25 years.
By Neil Gaiman:
Stardust
Neverwhere
And His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.
Shantaram
When the Borders near me was going out of business, in the first round of store closings before the entire company went bankrupt, they had some (apparently) deep discounts. 30% off the list price on some books I was looking for! That's pretty good.
I guess I'll just check Amazon to see what they have it for... oh, 31% off the list price. And that was the normal price, not some crazy special going out of business stuff.
And at this point I don't even buy physical books any more, unless I have a really good reason to (like say delicious illustrations or it's a reference book of some sort). There's no point when the ebook reader experience is basically as good, and I can fit a thousand books in something that's only a bit bigger than my phone - and I don't buy my ebooks from a physical store.
The Witcher series... the kindle edition of the 1st book in the series - The Last Wish is currently on sale at $2.99
There are also the 3 games in the Witcher series on Steam and on sale..best buy is probably the GoTY Edition of Witcher 3 for $19.99
Agreed. I'm a fan of Gaiman but American Gods was just 'okay.' I highly recommend Neverwhere or Stardust if you want to try something else. Both are much more vibrant (not quite the right word for Neverwhere but it will do) and better paced I felt.
BRIDGE OF BIRDS by Barry Hughart.
From the Amazon review: "Set in 'an Ancient China that never was,' it stands with The Princess Bride and The Last Unicorn as a fairy tale for all ages, by turns incredibly funny and deeply touching. It won the World Fantasy Award in 1985."
You should check out REAMDE! It nailed the whole ransomware phenomenon before it was on most folks' radars. Pretty incredible, and more fun and less technical than a lot of Stephenson's work.
Yeah Ready Player One is one of the biggest Sci - Fi novels written in the last decade. This is legit stuff but I'm usually more optimistic when I see a book is being made into a TV series or mini-series.
For another MMO related mainstream SCIFI novel, check out ReamDe by Neal Stephenson. You can probably find Ready Player One and ReamDe in your local library if you live in the USA.
Google Play - 1, 2
,3
Amazon - 1, 2, 3
The order is not the actual release order of all of the books, but jut the three that have been translated from Polish. The first one is standalone, though I've heard that the second one is one part of an arc, and I have no clue about the third.
The Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie beginning with Ancillary Justice deals with all of these issues from a unique, very interesting and alien perspective. The amazon page claims it is the only novel ever to sweep the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards.
Number Ten Ox and Master Li from Bridge of Birds. Perfect mix of the innocent and the picaresque, and a delicious undermining of the the mythical "guru" or sage figure.
http://www.amazon.in/Words-Radiance-Stormlight-Archive-The/dp/0765326361/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414878030&sr=8-1&keywords=words+of+radiance
?
January 2014
I am officially back stateside, and in the last 24 hours I have successfully fixed the water softener, shoveled a fine collection of oak logs, leaves, live plants, and raccoon shit off the roof, made bank tutoring o-chem, and taught the Verizon employee how to connect to their own 4G network. I was unaware the name of their APN was such a secret. Also, that 4 tiers of escalation would be so damn useless. I ended up guessing the name like some sort of movie cracking and then went back and made the guy write it down because I can't be the only person ever to have that problem and it was seriously a 10 second fix. See also: was feeling smug.
I also got a lot of reading done in the past month, apparently. Finished The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Name of the Wind, Matched, Graceling, Sapphique, Assassin's Apprentice, the first Circle of Magic book, and started a bunch of others.
If we're running out of discussion ideas, another book recommendation/rant/rambling thoughts thread might be fun.
Friends still have my MS and are being slow readers and I can't bug them about it because they have real work to do. Argh. I'm planning to cover my office in sticky notes and reorder some scenes that way while I wait on them.
It's here:
Malazan Omnibus
Vin from Mistborn fits some, but not all, of your criteria. She's more of a rogue, but still a powerful fighter, especially late in the series.
Winter Ihernglass is pretty much perfect; she's a female soldier in the Shadow Campaigns, starting with The Thousand Names.
Velas Jaldin in my own Stealing Sorcery is the archetype you're looking for, but my books are very high magic, so I'm not sure if that's what you'd want. It's not Tolkienesque - they're more JRPGish.
Stealing Sorcery is the second book in the series, so you might want to read the first book first. Lydia in the first book, Forging Divinity, is a competent fighter, but she's more of a defensive magic/sword fighting hybrid. Velas in the second book is much more of a front line bash your face in type, which is what I think you want. (They're both pictured on the covers of their respective books if you want to take a look; the art is pretty indicative of their style.)
Oooo check out Stardust!
It's an awesome adventure with action, humour, love, and more! And it's written by Neil Gaiman, who's just awesome.
Thanks for the contest!
Based on your comment, I have determined you may be interested in REAMDE by Neal Stephenson.
I'm surprised no one has recommended the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks yet. Definitely fits the bill. https://www.amazon.com/Night-Angel-Complete-Trilogy/dp/0316201286
Whole lotta reading recommendations in this thread. May as well throw my two cents in.
The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. If you're into Guts' introspective-man-of-violence-looking-for-his-place-in-the-world-thing I'd think you find Logen Ninefingers to be an interesting character. If you're into audiobooks then I highly recommend checking out the audiobook versions. The guy reading them is practically a voice-actor.
The original trilogy:
The standalone novels (available as a single volume in The Great Leveller):
And the most recent Sharp Ends (short story collection).
The Witcher books by Andrezj Sapkowski. Already spawned a popular video game franchise (I've only played the third one and enjoyed it tremendously, but still prefer the books). They're planning to adapt the books into a Netflix series within the next few years.
Short story collections:
The novels:
If anyone wants to start reading The Witcher novels I made a guide over on the "Featured Character" comment section that I'll repost here:
Short stories:
Novels:
Overall:
The short stories are a must-read before the novels because they introduce many characters and plot points for the main saga. There is also a prequel story called Season of Storms which hasn't been officially translated into English yet, but there are fan translations if you can't wait. I haven't read it myself, but I hear that it is best read after the others. If you want to know more about The Witcher lore there is always The World of the Witcher^UK which will give you more backstory and details.
Here's a few recent books, all good or very good:
Last Plane to Heaven, Jay Lake (short story collection)
The Adjacent
, Chris Priest
On the Steel Breeze, Alistair Reynolds (Book2 in series)
The Causal Angel, Hannu Rajaniemi (Book3 in series)
Strange Bodies, Marcel Theroux
The Martian, Andy Weir (recommended!)
ShipStar, Benford-Niven (Book2 in series)
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
A Darkling Sea, James Cambias
The Disestablishment of Paradise, by Phillip Mann {I've just started this one, so can't say yet if good or great or crappy, but it's started off very good).
...And if you have not yet discovered The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanDerMeer, you should probably check it out.
For such speculative questions, it is often useful to turn to speculative fiction.
There is a very good recent Hugo Award winning science fiction novel out called Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie, it depicts a genderless, space faring society.
Unlike earlier feminist Sci-Fi, like for example Ursula LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness which depicts a biologically hermaphroditic society, in Leckie's universe, the people in this society still have the same range of physical bodies as the physical bodies that we see on Earth today, but their culture does not apply differentiated gender categories to them. There, however, still social categories. All citizens are citizens, all non-citizens are non-citizens. There are still rich and poor, powerful and powerless, there are still 'human' and 'sub-human'; but sex and romance are discretionary, a person wears whatever clothes are fashionable and pleasing to them, they can romance and have sex with whomever consents, their career paths are mostly determined by social rank, family lineage, personal contacts, and to some extent merit, but never gender.
What's interesting, also, about Leckie's universe, is that even though gender and gender oppression are completely absent from this society, it is still for other reasons horrendously dystopic (and trigger warning: it deals with issues of colonization, cultural subjugation and slavery in very graphic and harrowing ways).
nevertheless, I would highly recommend it.
Some personal favorites:
> What's wrong with Kender?
Instead of letting others answer this for you, you should read the Dragonlance books. They're actually pretty ok. :)
I recommend Ryan North's retelling of Hamlet in a choose your own adventure style: To Be or Not to Be.
My list of authors with first books:
Elizabeth Haydon: Rhapsody; Child of Blood
Elizabeth Kerner; Song in the Silence
Elizabeth Moon: The Deed of Paksenarrion
Kristian Britain: Green Rider
Sara Douglass The Wayfarer Redemption
Robin Mckinley: The Blue Sword
Robin Hobb: Assassin's Apprentice
Mercedes Lackey: Arrows of the Queen
Anne McCaffrey: The Dragonriders of Pern
Meredith Ann Pierce: Birth of the Firebringer
Katharine Kerr: Daggerspell
24% people who view this, go on to buy the Assassin's Apprentice ebook, which costs $0.00.
Agreed, except we really aren't overpopulated. The entire world population could live in individual 1000 sq ft apartments inside the state of Texas (so a family of 4 in a 4000 sq ft place); that leaves a whole lot of unoccupied space around the rest of the world, even if some of it was devoted to food and energy production. The current estimates are a peak population around 9 billion, before it levels off and may even reduce, due to the falling birth rate in modern countries.
The real problem is resource scarcity; or more specifically, people don't live within their local ecosystems. And some of the very wealthy capitalize on this for their own benefit (and have for centuries), to the detriment of others not in their immediate nepotistic circle.
I think a reputation based economy, after resource "scarcity" has been solved; is the real direction humanity should, and will go. It's projecting waaay into the future, but like The Culture.
A closer idea on the possibilities of how "virtual reality" will incorporate our reputations into our daily interactions and society are in two recent books, REAMDE and Ready Player One.
It is not quite what you ask, but it was an interesting read regarding gender roles. I guess it was Sci Fi and not fantasy, so maybe you won't like it at all.
Ancilliary Justice by Ann Leckie, completely removes gender roles from the character. There is no romance from the main character Breq but one of the supporting characters does make several advances on the main character. Breq rebuffs them all to get on with his/her/its mission. There are a number of situations where you might think gender roles would get involved, but there is always some mitigating circumstance.
Try Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.
I don't think I can say it was definitively the best, as I didn't read all this year's great books, but I loved [Words of Radiance] (http://www.amazon.com/Words-Radiance-Stormlight-Archive-Book/dp/0765326361) by Brandon Sanderson. Great epic fantasy book (#2).
Not in any particular order.
Excellent book yes. But the most undeservedly overlooked book in my opinion is Shantaram, which is one of the best books written in English in the past 50 years.
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie!
Sequel to the renowned Ancillary Justice and second in the trilogy.
Very stoked!
Sigh. This is the same kind of shit that led to people bitching about Ancillary Justice.
Use 'he' as the default, and nobody minds. Use 'she' as the default, and some people suddenly flip their shit.
Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart.
One of my top three favourite books of all time. Out of print for decades - I used to scour secondhand bookshops for copies to give to friends. Also one of Neil Gaiman's recommended books, which is possibly why it's back in print.
And, given your recommendation, I guess I'd better try this game...
(Edit: There are two sequels, The Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen, but they're not quite as sublime as the first, and thus have remained out of print.)
I love Terry Pratchett, and Good Omens was a fun read.
I lend:
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Songmaster by Orson Scott Card
and Still Life with Wood Pecker by Tom Robbins
According to Books-a-Million it's August 28: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Dance-Dragons/George-R-Martin/9780553385953
Edit: Amazon has it listed for the same date: www.amazon.com/Dance-Dragons-Song-Fire-Book/dp/055338595X/
The first set of Dragonlance books are really good. I think there are 3? Maybe 4. They follow the seasons.
https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Autumn-Twilight-Dragonlance-Chronicles/dp/0786915749
The Last Wish: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0010SIPT4/
Sword of Destiny:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0316389706/
The last story in SoD describes how has Gerald and Ciri met, and there's one about her parents.
Also, short stories are better IMHO.
Hmmm... paranormal/supernatural tween reads with strong girl characters (not that Twilight had a strong female lead in it, but you may as well steer her in a better direction).
You really can't go wrong with the Hunger Games. Or you could get her the Japanese novel Battle Royale. It's also a dystopian novel about teenagers forced to battle each other to the death.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is worth checking out. It starts to lose some oomph towards the end, but is still a solid read with actual substance to the storyline. I'd get the hardback - the photography in it is just genius. Male lead, but there's a pretty cool chick who throws fireballs.
I enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood. It's a bit like Supernatural, only with one male ghost hunter as the protaganist. He falls in love with a ghost, but she's a homicidal maniac.
The Rise of Renegade X - a boy raised by his evil supervillain mom discovers that he's the product of her one-night-stand with a superhero. That was pretty enjoyable...
Poison Study is a great book about a girl who's been sentenced to death and is offered a reprieve if she becomes the king's food taster. Her handler ends up subjecting her to a litany of poisons so that she can build up immunity. Didn't read the sequels, but the first book was pretty good.
Graceling is set in a world where certain people are born with random talents - the ability to hold their breath underwater for long periods of time, musical or dancing abilities, cooking the best food imaginable, etc. The main character is born with the talent to kill & becomes her uncle's assassin.
Stardust - Neil Gaiman... really nuff said, eh?
Howl's Moving Castle - A girl is turned into an old woman by an angry witch & takes refuge in the mysteriously moving castle of an "evil" wizard.
Okay. I'll stop now. :)
And if you get the book, make sure you get the fully illustrated edition.
Stardust was originally published as a fully illustrated graphic novel, with illustrations by Charles Vess, and it's really well done.
They later decided that the story was good enough to release as a standard novel without the illustrations, and while good, is nowhere near as awesome as the illustrated version. Both are still in print and you can find either in bookstores.
EDIT: And if you're ordering online and want to be able to tell the difference, the easiest way is that the illustrated edition is published by Vertigo, whereas the non-illustrated one is HarperCollins.
Amazon link for non-illustrated edition
Illustrated Edition
Alan Rickman with a goofy smile.
Also:
Protege of Alan Moore, wrote one of the best comic series to come out of the industry, then did some books, including one co-authored with Terry Pratchett. Has a writing blog that's worth a look, too.
Shantaram by Gregory Roberts.
I've been reading through this book for a few years, but it so beautifully depicts Bombay that I so desperately want to visit.
It's also a lovely book.
I've been saying this a lot on reddit lately, but read this book mate: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. It's about a guy who was forced to do this. probably the greatest novel I have ever read.
Some quality suggestions in here
After reading the first law trilogy I jumped into Michael J Sullivans Ryria Revelations trilogy which I really enjoyed. Im currently reading the first book in Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy which I am enjoying so far.
The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. FANTASTIC series. Here's the link to the amazon page:http://www.amazon.com/Night-Angel-Complete-Brent-Weeks/dp/0316201286/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370922107&sr=1-1&keywords=the+night+angel+trilogy
The Night Angel Trilogy. You can buy it pretty cheap in one big book here - https://www.amazon.com/Night-Angel-Complete-Trilogy/dp/0316201286/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488307839&sr=8-1&keywords=night+angel+trilogy
I came to RR after I finished NAT. IMO it's the perfect fit for RR fans.
It's not sci-fi, it's fantasy (think GoT but a bit more magic, less politics, less dragons, much more action), and MUCH darker than RR. Like, quite a bit.
Many of the themes are the extremely similar in the book - starting from a nobody, transforming into a hero with the help of others, infiltrating a "higher society" than your birth right, scaling out to focus on bigger scopes of the world with each book, etc.
I will say that RR is faster paced and has more action overall, but NAT goes deeper into the characters getting very dark at times. In RR you feel like you're friends with a lot of the Howlers. In NAT you get to know characters inside and out, so your feelings towards a character will change over time and are often conflicted.
Both are among my favorite fiction series.
Favorite fantasy series is The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. It has a decent hard magic system, but the story telling is what makes it for me. Huge world he paints for you, and characters you love/hate throughout the story.
He has another series in progress called The Lightbringer Series, with a more interesting magic system based on color and light. Again, amazing characters and story telling.
Brent Weeks has so far, been the only modern fantasy series I've found worth the hype my friend talked about. I've read the first Percy Jackson, the Artemis Fowl series, and the Summoner series' first book based on recommendations, but I love Brent Weeks the most. Happy hunting!
Agreed..... both can be had for $10.18 USD.... get both, and enjoy the updates, they enhance the game greatly. you will not regret your decision to get the game.... though you may regret decisions made in the games.
Also... get the books... The fan translations and the ones on kindle/amazon (The Last Wish, Blood of Elves, The Time of Contempt )
For the correct order in which to read:
Witcher Wiki
Times of Contempt, the next book that is to be translated is still up for preorder....
It's been up for preorder for almost two years now. It was supposed to have to have released in May last year. Got pushed back to October. Then May this year, then November... OOPS JUST KIDDING WE MEAN August.
The publisher needs to set a god damn date.
I recently bought one of the newest reprints for Blood of Elves and on the back it said it was coming on December 2012.
Amazon also has it for pre-order with the release date set to December 4, 2012.
back to the beginning
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Bridge of Birds by Barry Hogart. I can't come up with a description that will do it justice... it's just a really fantastic and wonderful book.
Sean Russell's Initiate Brother duology is very good.
Also the sublime, Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart...This one is out of print, but available on Kindle (And I note that my hardcover copy is apparently worth ~300 bucks. Lol.). There are three stories in this volume, the first of which The Bridge of Birds was recently re-printed, and is available in paperback.
Jurassic Park is a great read! I'm sure he'll love it.
Because none of the others include it, either?
I love the Kingkiller Chronicles! Have you read The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson? If you're looking for something to keep you occupied, it's a long book and the beginning of his Stormlight Archive series. The second book just came out Tuesday, and I'm hoping to begin it soon! Another series by Sanderson that I like is the Mistborn trilogy. I also like the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. In terms of things I've read recently that weren't epic fantasy, I liked The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker, The MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood, NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, and everything by Neil Gaiman.
I'm reading The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel right now, but I'm not loving it.
Given the books you've listed and the fact that you're posting in /r/fantasy then I would like to recommend one of my favorite, (scratch that) my all time favorite, fantasy series - The Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy.
http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Autumn-Twilight-Dragonlance-Chronicles/dp/0786915749/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407581025&sr=8-1&keywords=dragonlance+chronicles+trilogy
That up there ^ is the first book of the trilogy. It's a classic and is simply amazing. After you finish that trilogy give the second trilogy a shot - Legends Trilogy.
http://www.amazon.com/Time-Twins-Dragonlance-Legends-Volume/dp/0786918047/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1247M4J05AVSEACM71A7
^ there's your first book in that. That completes the holy 6 of books in the dragonlance series.
Well, I own this one!
http://www.amazon.com/To-Be-Not/dp/0982853742
It is a rather amusing take on Hamlet. Not only do you choose your own adventure, but you choose your own character. I don't know if this is quite the genre you're looking for though.
I think you'll enjoy this.
http://www.amazon.com/Go-Go-Girls-Apocalypse-A-Novel/dp/1416552251
If you like sci-fi at all, I recommend John Scalzi's series that starts with "Old Man's War."
I haven't read them, but I've heard good things about Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy and Tad Williams' Otherland series.
In no particular order:
I just finished the Farseer Trilogy, which starts with Assassin's Apprentice. I enjoyed it, and thought there were a lot of similarities there. Starts with the protagonist as a parent-less child who has some untapped magical abilities, told from the perspective of the main character looking back and telling his story as he grows up.
Robin Hobb - The Farseer Trilogy
Thank you for the contest!!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, one of the greatest and most hilarious books ever written. Get the actual book and completely ignore the movie of the same name.
Malazan Empire All in One Kindle Edition
There you go!
>It's a risk either way.
You're saying that the risk that someone is lying or woefully mistaken is acceptable. That if one is not provided a promised good or service their only response should be to self-flagellate for believing it would come.
It's okay to mislead the audience. Gotcha.
>My point, however, is that if someone considers it a risk to their reading experience that the series may not be completed, that is a risk they accept when they start reading.
There are risks and there are risks. You specifically mentioned the author dying unexpectedly. That is an acceptable risk. The author losing interest is not an acceptable risk. Him abandoning the project tomorrow after continuously promising its completion would make him an asshole.
>People are blaming GRRM for not getting the experience they expected or were hoping for
THAT HE PROMISED AS LATE AS 3 WEEKS AGO.
>when no such thing was guaranteed
Not guaranteed, just promised over and over and over and over...
>certainly not included in the price they paid
"Don’t miss the thrilling sneak peek of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Six, The Winds of Winter"
>They did not pay for a complete series. They paid for individual books, priced like individual books.
Most on the understanding that the author had pledged to complete the series.
>transfering the risk regarding their reading experience to the author.
This is the reverse of what actually happened. George has constantly, consistently repeated his promise of a) the books, b) a series of [x] length, and c) a conclusion to the series "no matter what". He created the expectation, not the audience.
>Yet, that is how people are acting when they're saying "I bought the book expecting a whole series".
That is what was explicitly promised to most readers during their purchase. And the promise existed for the remainder regardless of their knowledge.
>Is there anything to suggest GRRM does not intend to finish ASOIAF?
His continual announcements of working on other projects in light of his own admittance that working on other projects stymies his work on ASOIAF.
>Again, on the premise that you would only read completed series
Rejected. That's your premise. Not mine, not /u/lichtbogen's. I already clarified this in my first comment and now you're bringing it back.
>No, he's enticing you to buy it
>>And you can still refuse.
And lying is still wrong. And failing to deliver on a promise is still failure to deliver on a promise.
>Simplifying things, if the expected value - given some means of evaluating it - is positive, then the risk is acceptable. If the expected value is negative, then the risk is unacceptable. That is, in the economical sense.
Then we're not talking about the same thing and your original comment was equivocation or, at best, vague. Clearly this isn't Keynes. An acceptable risk is one external to GRRM's will. An unacceptable one is reliant on GRRM's will.
>When you say that GRRM getting bored is an unacceptable risk (or previously, slowing to snails pace or giving up), it does not seem like you're making an economic judgement. Rather, it seems you're talking morally. You object on an ethical basis to GRRM not putting effort in to complete the book. Is that a fair interpretation?
There's no point in answering this question as you already know the answer from my first comment, judging by the way you continue on.
>In which case, by what moral right do you have to dictate what GRRM should work on?
That of a person to hold another to their given word.
>I never said people should not try to keep their promises. I think they should.
And what should happen to those who willfully fail to do so? Because I highly doubt you'd support any social punishment for it, nor even people crying "bullshit" at every subsequent GRRM promise.
>But I also think people on the internet have no right (or privilege) to demand that someone they don't know, likely will never meet, nor have any other direct dealings with, should write the book they please, when they please.
Not any book. Just the ones they promise to write. And no one is picketing GRRM's house or demanding that he be held in contempt of court. Just maybe, possibly asking if we could collectively consider him what he is: someone who has continuously failed to deliver on a promise that he keeps reiterating.
>Regardless of whether or not that someone has promised to work on that book... which, it appears, he actually is doing, albeit not as fast as we or indeed he himself had hoped.
Not "regardless". This is the issue. I have compared this situation to that of Half-Life 3. Half-Life 3 was never explicitly promised. The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring are explicitly promised. He is not working on them as fast as is warranted.
>Firstly, none of us, individually, made ASOIAF anything.
Quite. That's why I said "we", not "I" or "you". This is why marketing exists. To determine the desires of large groups of people. The largest group of GRRM readers were reading ASOIAF, which is why Wildcards and stand-alone novels stopped being written. Unfortunately, he just pivoted towards more lucrative ASOIAF material.
>Secondly, even if we did collectively make ASOIAF hugely successful, why would that give us any privilege?
See above. It's his bread and butter.
>You, and others, are demanding GRRM do very specific work.
That he promised to do.
>I, on the other hand, am not demanding GRRM do very specific work. I hope he will. I hope he will live up to his promise, for our sake and his own.
A promise means nothing if the only consequence for breaking it is that the people you made it to flog themselves for believing you.
>But I do not fool myself into thinking I am entitled to anything. I have no bought a guarantee. I have not received a binding, precise promise which has been broken.
GRRM incurred a social debt when he repeatedly traded on the promise of TWOW and ADOS. That you personally are unwilling to ever call it due does not eliminate it for everyone else.
>I am merely impatient for another instalment in a series I love; this gives me no privilege, but some discomfort.
Hmm. Due you, perhaps, feel entitled to that feeling of discomfort based on the promises that have been made yet unfulfilled? Might you, perhaps, voice that discomfort - say, on an internet forum?
>Accepting the premise of that statement a moment, can you show me were he reneged on that promise, exactly?
The promise is that he's hard at work on TWOW. The breaking of it is him working on other projects and admitting that these other projects distract him from TWOW.
>The book series has gained him fame and fortune because he is really fucking good at writing.
The social debt refers to those works created after ADWD, including the TV show. Those are what brought him fame and fortune. And he continues to trade on the idea of a finished series to get attention for his other projects. It's why he consistently talks about "working hard" on TWOW and ADOS in every interview about the prequel shows.
>And he will remain really good whether he completes it or not.
Remains to be seen. I'm not a prophet and neither are you. I do know that The Silmarillion is still primarily referred to as "the incomplete encyclopedia of Middle Earth".
>No, actually, I'm not even sure if that's true. Arguably, a lot of his fame and fortune is down to the stuff he had already written being so good it became a sensational TV-series.
Surely nobody invested their eyeballs in the TV series (or continued to do so after it passed the book material) under the distinct impression that further books would come out. "I just want to see how this compares to what George will eventually write" definitely wasn't a major sentiment going into seasons 7 and 8 around here.
>Not once have I heard someone say "yeah, I started reading ASOIAF/watching GOT because GRRM promised to complete the series".
Meaningless. Assuming that's true, the fact that you've never heard an idea only means that you have never heard it. It has negligible effect on the prevalence of the idea. We both know that I could find a non-zero number of people who have expressed it. In fact, that was the very sentiment you attributed to /u/lichtbogen above, so I know you believe some people hold to it.
>Except that people like you keep implying it in threads like this.
No, that was you erroneously.
>As if you started reading the first book because he promised he would finish the damn thing, rather than the first book - on its own - being a really enjoyable read.
If you believe that a significant number of people wouldn't have waved this series off knowing what they'd know now about its publication schedule you're crazy. Plenty of people ask things like "I watched the show, is it worth it to start reading these books even though they aren't finished?" on this very forum. The honest answer is "only if you're okay with a series that won't be finished".
>As if you started reading the first book because he promised he would finish the damn thing
Implicitly everyone did. GRRM has consistently promised a continuation, a book count, and an ending.
>See, this is the entitlement that people need to get over. This absurd idea that GRRM owes them anything.
Not anything. Just what he keeps promising. I'm picturing you next George and every time he says "Winds is coming!" you say "not that you should expect it to based on that statement".
>You're on here, wasting your time writing like I am, so presumably it was all worth it and then some.
More likely we're all idiots.
>But here's the final question: Why is it that I can love the books so much and accept that GRRM will do what he will, when he will, whereas you feel entitled to demand he do what you want, when you want?
Ingrained sycophancy vs. objective skepticism?
O.O wowwwwwwww I love this contest. My name is Corinne, and I'm a bookaholic. I've been wanting a Kindle Fire so bad, but I'm too poor to buy one for myself right now. I love books, and I always have at least one in my purse so I can read whenever I want. But I can't imagine anything more magical than having HUNDREDS OF BOOKS at my disposal in my purse--I'm seriously all shakey and excited just thinking about it hahaha. Guaranteed, if I am the lucky winner of the Kindle, it will be taken EVERYWHERE I go :D
The ebook I'd really like is A Dance With Dragons, because I am dying to know what happens next in the saga! I'm so annoyed that there were no Tyrion or Dany chapters AT ALL in A Feast for Crows--they're my favorite characters!! However, that's one of the more expensive ebooks, so I 100% understand if you'd rather gift me I, Iago :) I'd love to read that because one of my favorite types of books is a retelling of a classic tale from a different point of view--and it doesn't get much more classic than Othello!
Seriously, thank you so much for this contest. Whoever wins is so lucky! You're so sweet to give this away instead of selling it or returning it or whatever. The generosity of this sub never fails to astound me.
I found out about Brandon Sanderson from this sub and really enjoyed these two series:
Mistborn
The Stormlight Archive
I also can't recommend Jon Krakauer enough.
Wow, you weren't kidding!
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Malazan-Book-Fallen-ebook/dp/B00HL0MA3W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467310482&sr=8-2&keywords=malazan#navbar
This is pretty fantastic.
If you have a kindle, let me direct you here. Such a great deal to grab the whole trilogy at that price.
I love the idea for this contest and just know that you will make one lucky person happy. :)
I haven't read it yet but if A Dance with Dragons is anything like the others in the series, I know it will be one of my top favorites. I finished the other four books and I'm just dying to see what happens next.
Edit: >.> I forgot to tell you my name. It's Elizabeth. :) I was going to try and be all witty and say, "Hello. My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." But I fear, I'm not bad-ass enough to pull it off.
Thank you so much. And good luck to everyone!
I might suggest The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. It's been a while since I've read it, but I feel like the chapters might be a bit long if you wanted to read one or two over a lunch break (depending on how long you have to read on a break). It's not quite as fun of a read as Kingkiller, I would put it between Kingkiller and A Song of Ice and Fire, but I do highly recommend it regardless. Also by Brandon Sanderson I highly recommend the Mistborn Series. Warning about the way of kings, it is part one of a planned 10 part series, with the second part only coming out hopefully next year, so that might be a turn off for you.
I myself have just started reading The First Law series, and while I can't quite recommend it yet, it seems to read and feel very similar to The Way of Kings, but with shorter chapters. I am expecting good things from it, and the lengths of the chapters seem very suitable to a lunch break.
Links to kindle editions to take advantage of the reading samples:
Way of Kings
Mistborn
First Law
I think he's talking about this version. The page count isn't a reliable number, just make a decision based off the reviews, none of which complain about missing content.
I have bought that exact version from your second link here. I can confirm that it is all three books in one file, with nothing missing.
I don't know whats up with the pagecount, it is definitly more than just a 1000 pages.
So I would primarily use it for reading, but it doesn't hurt there it can be used for Movies/TV Shows/Comics as well.
The book it would want is A Dance With Dragons I've been working on the series for a while and this is the one book I don't have yet.
Forwarned... This is an expensive book and it's gotten more expensive since I bought it a the end of January (about $60 then, more than $80 now -- And a really strange price at that)
Kindle Link
Search for "The Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen" at your favorite ebook store.
Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. Honestly some of the best fantasy I have ever read!
Hard copy - Scott Pilgrim volume 2 (in color!) I fucking love Scott Pilgrim, it's one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. I picked up the first volume of the colorized version, and it's gorgeous! The coloring is perfect and the binding is even better if that's possible.
Kindle book - Mistborn Trilogy! I adore adore adore high fantasy, and hear consistently good things about this series. It seems a good length and plot, and I really want to get sucked into something like this.
If I were a book, I hope that I'd be a great one.
I don't know what country you're in. I know things were wonky when I lived in Canada despite having access to Amazon.com and amazon.ca, issues would pop up.
Here's the link on Amazon.com, I bought this just a few weeks ago: The Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HL0MA3W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_rA.PzbAVQF7JZ
If you are willing to go a little heavy in your non-fiction you could try the Malazan Book of the Fallen, it's a series of 10 books and it is really well written. But it can be a harder read than Discworld. Author is Steven Erikson, https://www.amazon.ca/Complete-Malazan-Book-Fallen-ebook/dp/B00HL0MA3W
I'm absolutely the right person to ask!
There are 5 books in the series, out of a planned 7:
Fair warning, each book seems to take more and more years to be published. The 5th book came out in 2011 and ends on a huge cliffhanger! There are number of fans who are seriously concerned that the 6th book may never come out, or that it may not come out until the author George R R Martin dies and it is then published by another author.
If you get through these and want more, George RR Martin has also published a short story collection about some tertiary characters called Dunk and Egg in 2015 (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), as well as an encyclopedia for the entire history of the world in which that the series takes place (A World of Ice and Fire).
Some fans of the television show therefore may argue that it's not worth reading the books until the series is finished, or ever. I personally recommend them, they add a lot of depth to the show, and are just well-written pieces of prose on their own. The Dunk and Egg collection is also fun. I've not read the encyclopedia yet but I'll get to it some day.
This is an incredible contest!! Thanks for your generosity!!
A Dance With Dragons book 5 of ASOIAF. I have the first 4 in paperback. My name is JJ! Well, everyone calls me that, but I'm a Jennifer on paper.
It's a book by Neil Gaiman. They made it into a movie and it's actually pretty good, and imo, one of the few cases where the movie is better than the book. Still a decent book though, fun quick little read if you like the high fantasy fantastical fiction worldsy stuff with romance.
I would recommend Neil Gaiman. Stardust may be something you would like.
In 900 years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important
A few years ago, I got a spotting scope for birdwatching. It is not a high-powered one, but as my first scope, it's perfectly adequate. That same week, I got my first pair of glasses. This will be important to the story later.
That week, I heard on the radio that the planet Saturn was going to be especially visible to people with small telescopes. Saturn has been my favorite planet, save Earth, since I was a little kid. I didn't have a telescope, but I had that spotting scope. 'How different can they be?', I thought.
So late that winter night, sporting my new glasses, I went out onto my front stoop and set up my spotting scope. Trying to ignore the cold, I started looking for Saturn. When I saw a promising celestial object, I looked through the spotting scope at it. But my glasses got in the way. I couldn't figure out how to use both glasses and the scope at the same time. So I took off my glasses, placing them carefully on the steps behind me.
I looked through the scope at the golden, glowing object. There, like a perfect jewel in space, was Saturn! Its rings were perfectly obvious and striated. I felt elated and incredulous. I could see Saturn! Then, I noticed a few steadily shining pearl-like objects near the planet. They were its moons! Titan! Rhea! It was like meeting celebrities. I couldn't believe it. I was freezing, but I wanted to keep watching. So I bolted back into the house to get a hat and some gloves.
CRUNCH. My glasses, directly in my footpath, were now flattened against the concrete. My joy at seeing Saturn abated somewhat, but I was so happy that I didn't really mope. I went and got my warmer clothing so I could watch Saturn a while longer.
TL;DR: Saturn broke my glasses.
I have the book Stardust on my books wishlist. I haven't read it, but it has "Star" right in the title! Thank you for the contest!
In teen fiction or adult? I don't think I've read any adult books recently (published in last two years) that would be appropriate for a 13 year old.
Stardust: Quirky, fun and Neil Gaiman. His writing and stories are very strange so people either like them or they don't (I don't). However, my friends swear by this book.
Kingkiller: Badass hero, epic journey, epic story. Ultimately along the same difficulty as Sword of Shanara/LOTR and is probably super boring for a 13 year old.
Let me think: Game of Thrones is neither appropriate nor well written. Lackey is still amazing, but has strong homosexual and relationship themes. I think I waited to read her old stuff until I was 13, but her new stuff is just as -- well, her... Terry Brooks has a new series, but it is more political than Rothfuss. All the modern mystery/suspense is very sexual. I'm reading Abercombie right now, but don''t feel confident recommending it since I'm not done. Keyes reminds me of old-school high fantasy -- really, really dense and hard to digest for a 13 year old.
 
Popular
 
Divergent, as he already read, was quite good. Hunger Games and Maze Runner are in the same genre, but both are quite a bit darker than Divergent (stupid mind control and very Lord of the Flies-esque).
I think my best modern recommendation is:
Rick Riodran: Generally awesome teen male fiction. I've read the greek (percy) and egyptian series. They are fun and very similar to harry potter in tone.
Other
Throne of Glass: Not super popular, but definitely good! I haven't had the chance to read the sequels, but the first stuck with me.
Mistborn: water-downed Trudi Canarvan. Poor girl becomes a magician/assassin who totally kicks butt. Some almost-rape scenes (2 I think).
Intisar Khanani - I got a chance to read her newest book before it was released. She is the modern equivalent of Tamora Pierce and definitely someone to watch in the future. Great - Great author, but doesn't have an established series.
If he ends up liking the Dark Elf Trilogy -- The forgotten realms are STILL making books.
I'd say that Mortal Instruments (Girl meets demon hunter -- kind of a less cool version of Bleach), anything John Green writes (watered down Nicholas Sparks), Tiger's Curse (awesome epic adventure, but kinda creepy), and the Iron Fey series are too girly.
I recently read a free kindle book that would be awesome. It was a watered-down, less rape-y/fetishy version of The Sword of Truth. I can't find it. I'll have to get back to you on that. It had dragons and magic and bad-assery in a generic fantasy way. There was also another one with lots of dragons and he had power over them... hmmm... I might be losing my mind.
Here is what I have been reading lately. How about you?
The Malay House: Rediscovering Malaysia's Indigenous Shelter System
The Designer's Eye
Invisible Cities
A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams
Stardust
REAMDE is is an extremely enjoyable experience
You're doing this wrong. If you approach books as a task for self-edification that you view as a duty, you're going to hate it. Read whatever you want, for entertainment. Read funnystuff. Read thrillers. Read fantasy. Read weird science fiction. Heck, read history, economics, and science.
TL;DR: Read whatever the hell you feel like, and I guarantee you you will feel better about yourself than you would have by forcing yourself through Ulysses or War and Peace.
Don't get me wrong, he's talented and I've never failed to get through one of his books (I'm looking at you Stephenson - odd, I usually love his novels but that I could not get through). I do find myself thinking "Oh, get on with it. Let's have some more story already" quite often.
Because you're an unlettered boor who has never read the Discworld Series? Have no fear. It's never too late to pick up the books.
Lol. If you really don't like reading maybe you should try some different books. My first suggestion for anyone who wants to try something new is Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic
http://www.amazon.com/Color-Magic-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0062225677/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413836312&sr=1-1&keywords=the+color+of+magic
It's the start to his absolutely amazing Discworld series. If you like comedy, amazing worlds, fantasy, sci-fi, and interesting characters, you really need to try it!
Have you tried .. every "pop" fantasy book ever?
The Shannara books are pretty popular. https://www.amazon.com/Sword-Shannara-Trilogy-Terry-Brooks/dp/0345453751
So are the Discworld books (a bit more tongue in cheek).
https://www.amazon.com/Color-Magic-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0062225677
Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is really good. https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-First-Rule-Sword-Truth/dp/0812548051
If you want to branch out into fantasy that isn't swords and wizards, you can move into things like The Deathgate Cycle. https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Wing-Death-Gate-Cycle/dp/0553286390
All of these have pretty interesting worlds with a hero that saves the day.
I've been purchasing the reissued mass market paperbacks one at a time as I finish them (currently reading small gods ). I'm pretty sure they are the only ones I've found to be a complete matching set. So far so good.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062225677/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486628973&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=discworld+collection&dpPl=1&dpID=51chrfXHMNL&ref=plSrch
Shantaram. Actually, I think it would be better as an HBO/Showtime series since I don't think they could condense the whole movie into 120 mins.
I wasn't too keen on White Tiger - it just came across as a bit pretentious - very makey-uppy. But I can see how it would shock and awe the non-Indian readers as a lot of stuff that Indians can gloss over could be positively disturbing to average Western reader.
I am currently reading (nearly finished) Shantaram by Greogry David Roberts. I don't know how much of that is fact, and how much fiction, but man, I am stunned by the international dimension of Mumbai underworld. I had heard of names like Chotta Rajan, Shakeel, Dawood Ibrahim etc, but I could have never guessed how diverse the activities of the Mafia are. Drugs and narcotics seems to be just the tip of the iceberg, if you read this book. I would seriously recommend this to other desi readers.
This is pretty random, but if anyone has read the book Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts...This is pretty much how I imagined Prabaker was almost all the time.
Also, if you haven't read that book and you want to read an engaging, albeit LONG story, it is quite worth it. 10/10 would read again!
Shantaram
Pappillion
Give The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks a shot. By far one of my favorites. Though not an epic like GoT, it's still a very entertaining read.
I came in here knowing I'd see an assortment of DBZ characters and Comicbook heros. So I'll go with one that I know most people in here won't know. Though he is extremely badass in his respective fiction:
Durzo Blint
or
Kylar Stern (more description of his body is defined in the book than Durzo, but they are nearly identical)
For those who don't know the series it's called the Night Angel Trilogy. The first book is incredible. Then much like the Matrix the following 2 are lackluster. But the first book is worth the read by literally anyone who likes badassery.
You can read the first chapter on Amazon as the first chapter is pretty awesome.
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Angel-Complete-Trilogy/dp/0316201286/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414860981&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Night+Angel
Just in case you think about buying them
https://www.amazon.com/Night-Angel-Complete-Trilogy/dp/0316201286 This is for the entire trilogy
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Shadows-Night-Angel-Trilogy/dp/0316033677 And this is for only the first one.
You're welcome! If you're curious about more in depth reviews I would check them out here:
Heroes Die
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001MYA38W?cache=214b96e6bb0303b211d60770e71c3bca&qid=1412089263&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1
And
Night Angel Trilogy
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0316201286?cache=214b96e6bb0303b211d60770e71c3bca&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1412089345&sr=8-2#ref=mp_s_a_1_2
Enjoy man! I really do hope you like them!
The ones that have been officially translated are all available on Amazon:
The Last Wish: Introducing The Witcher
Blood of Elves
The Times of Contempt
There are also some unofficial translations around for the other books.
Sure, a couple notes while I'm downloading BaW :)
The book order is thus:
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny
Blood of Elves
The Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of the Swallows
The Lady of the Lake
There's no official english translation of the last book yet, but the one I've linked is the best fan translation I've found. It's the one I read, and I honestly would have had no idea it wasn't a "real" edition if I didn't know better. Fantastic work.
There's also A Season of Storms, which is sort of a midquel for the series. But it was written in the last two years, has no bearing on any of the game's canon, and contain some minor potential spoilers for later books since he expected his readers had finished the series at this point. I recommend you ignore it for now, and if you decide you want to read it down the road pick it up after the series.
The first two books are a short story collections. The series is in chronological order, but the actual novel arc doesn't begin until the third book. Definitely don't skip the first two though, they set up important characters and events in Geralt's life prior to the novel arc beginning.
Lastly, if you really can't be bothered to spend a bit on the amazon paperbacks here's a link to all of them in epub format. I can't vouch for the quality of the fan translations in this pack, nor do I recommend this format. Buying the books supports the author and reading a book is still easier than reading on a tablet in my opinion.
Good luck on your journey into the Witcher!
P.S. - Oh, here is the Witcher 1 recap video I mentioned. DO NOT WATCH THIS until after you finish the books. It will spoil the climax of the series and ruin your reading. You can buy the game dirt cheap if you can handle a playthrough on PC, but you really won't miss a ton of important info if you skip it. I don't want to spoil the end of the books either, but essentially the second and third game don't rely on the first one at all aside from knowing cursory details of the first game.
Then read them in English? Assuming you're American:
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/
http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Destiny-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316389706/
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Elves-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/031602919X/
http://www.amazon.com/Time-Contempt-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316219134/
http://www.amazon.com/Baptism-Fire-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316219185/
http://www.amazon.com/Tower-Swallows-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316273716/
Or
http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Last-Wish-Audiobook/B00HWBTIFI/ etc.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Time-Contempt-Witcher/dp/0316219134
Try The Quantum Thief a hit-tech, high-energy adventure.
Also,
> .. books aren't sexist or racist but not about those issues ...
Ancillary Justice which folks might not suggest because of its well-known take on gender, but it's not about that at all. It's pace is pretty moderate, though.
Right now, I'm on a tour of Space Opera; Ancillary Justice before sleep, Abaddon's Gate during commute, and The Sundiver on my laptop during downtime at work. Between those 3, Abaddon's gate is the most interesting one, although it requires you to read the first two books.
Bridge of Birds.
Buy it. It's apparently only eight bucks on amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Birds-Novel-Ancient-China/dp/0345321383
Bridge of Birds has a very Gaimanvibe.
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart - best book I ever read. Better than The Princess Bride.
If you don't like this book check your pulse you might be dead.
I had enormous success once, stealing the setting and plot of Barry Hughart's "Bridge of Birds" for a game I ran.
One thing that worked well was that the setting, mythological China, drew on different sources than the more common western European folklore that backs most fantasy (no elves or dwarves, but it's got emperors and alchemists) so it felt fresh and new to the players. But the best part was that over the course of nearly 2 years I manged to run the group through almost the exact plot of the story without making them feel particularly railroaded. It helped that the story has at all points a driving motivation (saving the children) and that scheming by the Gods is completely appropriate to the genre. And it was also essential that none of the players had read the book.
(But if you haven't read it, go do so. Now. Really.)
I always recommend "Bridge of Birds" (a novel of ancient China that never was) by Barry Hughart. There's two good sequels but the first one is IMHO the best.
(edited to add link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345321383?ie=UTF8&tag=wishease-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0345321383)
This is a lovely way to remember your mom :) She sounds like she was a lovely person and raised a lovely child :)
My Mom is always cool and calm, and always ready for a laugh. She takes shit from nobody, and doesn't give a rats ass what you think about her. I strive to be more like her :)
this book is about dinosaurs and I haven't read it yet :) Used, please!
"Hey Bean!"
Sounds like a plan! I can't remember what got me hookedon reading. It may have been the Percy Jackson series that make me looove books.
And if you haven't read it, I highly recommend Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Greatr ead. Currently my favorite book.
This Lost World edition is from 2012, and is probably the newest one. Amazon's stupid review system seems to have mixed it up with Doyle's Lost World though, haha.
Here's a similar edition of the first book.
Right. I get all that. I was just pointing out that there are many books where you see things like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Played-Fire-Millennium/dp/0307949508/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373500736&sr=1-3&keywords=girl+on+fire
http://www.amazon.com/Jurassic-Park-Novel-Michael-Crichton/dp/0345538986/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373500809&sr=1-1&keywords=jurassic+park
Michael Crichton; he does a lot of books like The Martian. His books are based on real scientific points that blur into fiction to make it more realistic. I like to describe them as "approachable science fiction."
He's most famous for his books-turned-movies: Jurassic Park, Timeline, Congo, and 13th Warrior.
But he also has great approachable ones like Andromeda Strain, The Terminal Man, and Next.
I would use the $2500 for my trip to New York in July. I'd splurge and stay in a fancy hotel on the Upper West Side and spring for the nice seats to a few choice Broadway shows. I would definitely bring a book to read for the plane ride.
I'm currently planning the trip alone, but would love company! My best friend Mindy is my go-to travel partner, but I'd welcome the company of /u/chronos42 since we've been toying with the idea of a New York meetup.
Yeah I meant in the US. http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Dragons-Song-Fire-Book/dp/055338595X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
I would suggest preordering the paperback version off of amazon.
Hello, this post was removed because it was promoting a link to Amazon with an affiliate tag in it.
You may repost this offer with a link directly to the Amazon deal:
You can pre-order it now.
Unfortunately it did get pushed back a bit.
http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0765326361
I'll grab a tissue for you
I don't know if you are from the U.S. but I believe that is the U.S. Cover. Is this link any good for you? http://www.amazon.com/Words-Radiance-Stormlight-Archive-Book/dp/0765326361 sorry for the lack of formatting I'm on my mobile.
One series will keep him occupied for ages. DRAGONLANCE! There's something like 30 books in the series. Start with the book called Dragons of Autumn Twilight
RA Salvatore's recommendation for Drizzt: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10152944925124811&id=54142479810
Read the Dragonlance Chronicles: https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Autumn-Twilight-Dragonlance-Chronicles/dp/0786915749
Most people agree those are the best of the Dragonlance series so start there.
Dragonlance Chronicles! Actually based on D&D :D
There are dozens of books. I'm already at my 10th or so book.
Start with theses ;)
http://www.amazon.de/Dragons-Autumn-Twilight-Dragonlance-Novel/dp/0786915749/
http://www.amazon.de/Dragons-Winter-Night-Dragonlance-Novel/dp/0786916095/
http://www.amazon.de/Dragons-Spring-Dawning-Dragonlance-Novel/dp/0786915897/
Dragons of Autumn Twilight. took me 4 months to get through it all, but led to me reading so much more.
http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Autumn-Twilight-Dragonlance-Chronicles/dp/0786915749
Ryan North's Hamlet adaptation does this.
https://www.amazon.com/Be-Not-Ryan-North/dp/0982853742
I read The Magic of the Unicorn as a kid, purchased it for my own children and was surprised at how enjoyable I've found it as an adult. The reading is not difficult, but the story is unpredictable and the fantasy world is vivid.
I will read To Be or Not To Be soon (saving it for a snowy night).
Just have these few off the top of my head
Lucifer's Hammer
Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse (pretty funny too)
The Afterblight Chronicles pretty good and there are spinoffs in the same universe with other authors
Try Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. Definitely a B-movie type book and surprisingly good.
I'm currently reading Go-go girls of the apocalypse by Victor Gischler.
So far I'm enjoying it. I would say that it's more similiar to the fallout universe than perhaps "The road by Cormac Mccarthy" (Great book, read it!) and the Metro series. It's not necessarily an ultra-realistic shot at what the world would be like after the nuclear holocaust, but then again neither is Fallout. Despite that I'd say it's a rather believable world, atleast so far as I've read. As for the quality of his writing I'm afraid I'd be a lousy judge. Yet I'm enjoying it immensely.
Link for the lazy: http://www.amazon.com/Go-Go-Girls-Apocalypse-A-Novel/dp/1416552251
Assassin's Apprentice If you like fantasy books this one is great. There is a lot of magic and intrigue.
Trudi Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy fits this criteria, and Robin Hobb's The Farseer series.
Happy Friday. Apparently I really need to read this book
This isn't a series, and isn't so much pew-pew as BOOOM and "oh god, the several centuries of ramifications of that boom" but A Canticle for Leibowitz is my absolute favorite book. Sadly there's no Kindle version, but if your library has it, check it out.
For books that have a Kindle version, have you ever read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Absolutely hilarious.
As for fantasy, one book I've read recently that I thoroughly enjoyed was The Corpse-Rat King. Bonuses for being a cheap Kindle book and for being an indie author! It reminded me of my favorite D&D campaigns in all the right ways.
I'd say get in at least a few young adult fiction, as they're full of saccharine and angst ridden metaphor:
• The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
• Looking For Alaska
A few historical fictions:
• Wolf Hall
• Memoirs Of A Geisha
Comedy:
• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
• Good Omens
Stephen king (just because he's a favorite)
• 11/22/63
• IT
And finally, some objectively "bad" books, to learn what not to do.
• Wild Animus: A Novel
• The Da Vinci Code
• Moon People
All of these books are personal favorites for one reason or another, and some may fit into multiple categories (see: looking for Alaska under YA fiction and "bad,").
That said, this should at least keep you busy for a bit.
Happy reading, and good luck on your novel!
https://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Douglas-Adams-ebook/dp/B000XUBC2C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502710247&sr=8-1 no excuse now :p
> Think Witcher (of the video game series)
I can't tell if you're aware, but The Witcher is based on a series of books. The first two books are The Last Wish (which I'm currently reading and enjoying) and Sword of Destiny, which are collections of short stories. The first of the novels is Blood of Elves. The novels all take place prior to the first game. I think all but the last novel have official English translations (though it looks like the final official translation is due out in a few months).
EDIT: Here's the kindle link for Last Wish: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010SIPT4/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Also, it looks like Blood of Elves for Kindle is on sale for $2.99 right now.
Last Wish, too.
Here are a few in a good variety of genres:
Ahora que aunciaron a serie de Netflix
If you get this one, it's actually a deal on Amazon US right now for $2.99 for the Kindle edition, then you can buy the audiobook for $11.99 whispersync deal. I remembered seeing it on the /r/ebookdeals subreddit earlier today. Depending on how much you pay for your credits (and whether you have any interest in the Kindle edition too), this could be a good deal.
Here is the link to Amazon. The books were created first then CD Projekt asked to create the game and it went over like crazy in Poland.
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Andrzej-Sapkowski-ebook/dp/B0010SIPT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420836986&sr=8-1&keywords=witcher
Loved the movie, want to see how much better the book is!
Frank and Beans!
Stardust by Neil Gaiman is a GREAT vacation book!
Read Stardust!
https://www.amazon.com/Stardust-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0061689246
In my wishlist Books
TGIF
While it wasn't Seattle-centric, Neal Stephenson's Reamde had a scene or two in Seattle. Some of the other locations in the book are in British Columbia and the wilderness between BC and Seattle.
Ream.de by Neal Stephenson. My favorite living sci fi author. It’s not his best ( I preferred Snow crash, cryptonomicon, anathem, seven eves and the baroque cycle, and put this on par with Diamond Age and Rise and Fll of Dodo (which he co-authored)), but it is very very good, and one of the few with no true “sci-fi” elements (as in, it takes place today and there is nothing supernatural and all technology in the book exists and is in use). It’s a crazy story involving a crypto virus, the Russian mob, and terrorists - I won’t say more because that would be giving it away. If you like techno thrillers, I recommend it highly. Even though it is among my “least favorite” of his works, we are talking about literally my number 1 favorite living writer. Ream.de is better than all Tom Clancy novels combined - and I’ve read a ton of those - he basically slam dunked the entire genre in a single book and then moved on. For any other author it could easily be a fitting magnum opus, but so much of the stuff Stephenson has written is so insanely creative, compelling, mind blowing and expertlt crafted - I mean how many people can keep you on the edge of your seat for 900 pages of a story about a cryptolocker virus? That’s ream.de, and like I said, it’s among his less compelling works. His first major novel, Snow Crash, is on par with neuromancer as an all time sci-fi greatest hit. It’s “cheesy” but it is so much fun and alarmingly - alarmingly - prescient.
Anyway, yeah. He is good.
I'm going to throw in REAMDE by Neal Stephenson.
Reamde by Neal Stephenson link
A young man steal credit card numbers for the mob. The middle-man in the deal got his computer hijacked by a virus relating to an insanely popular MMO that the yourn man's girlfirend's uncle owns and develops. They then have to track down the hacker to get the computer virus removed to save them from the mob.
It is a really interesting book and a great, fun read.
I'm 63 years old, and I was involved in the Internet before Tim Berners-Lee invented the WWW. My son is currently a PhD candidate in Comp Sci, and will go to work for Google next spring. I have some familiarity with the Internet. Let me tell you a couple of things about it. First, it can't be "cleaned up". Second, it shouldn't be "cleaned up".
By all means learn security. Learn how to keep people's data safe. That is a skill that will be in great demand from here on out. Forget about this whole "justice" thing though. There is no justice. There are just people who don't want to get fucked over, and people who want to fuck them over.
Addendum: If you haven't already, you should read Reamde.
My goal for the year is to read 50 page a day. I've been on or ahead of pace for every day except two so far this year. I go through books quite quickly and I'm itching to read a long book. May I offer Reamde? I read his Anathem this year already. It is one of the few long books I've read that held my interest. It has renewed my faith in reading longer novels. Sadly, it is not much cheaper used.
If I may, the next book I would like to read is the sequel in the Thursday Next series. Just finished the first and I can't wait to start the second. This is another rarity as I generally dislike series. This book can be purchased much cheaper used ;)
Would be really interested in a game that plagiarizes the economic system in Reamde, which was otherwise a mediocre novel: http://www.amazon.com/Reamde-A-Novel-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0062191497
Basically all money and other resources need to be 'mined' in-game first, like Bitcoin, before it exists. There's a finite (but large) amount of resources in the world. There's no need to spawn players with money if they have some kind of capability that other players might find useful.
Boomerang
Thanks for the raffle!
So I'm not the best book snob out there, but what I got from your post is that you want an honest book with none of the fucking whiney bullshit that so many books have, and you want to avoid the shitty cliches that many authors use to just follow trends and try to cash in.
I'm not sure how interested you are in fantasy/sci-fi, but I would check out Terry Pratchett's Discworld, here is the first book in the series.
I love Pratchett, I feel like his stories are genuine, and are also both thought provoking and comedic. If you're fed up with stuff like Catcher in the Rye, Pratchett is an excellent reprieve from whiny bullshit.
Quick warning, his writing style is unique. Some don't like it, some do. I absolutely love it.
If not that, check out George R. R. Martin's other books that aren't GOT. Specifically, check out 'Fevre Dream', 'Windhaven', or 'Tuf Voyaging'
Shameless plug : Also, I'm a new author. Normally I wouldn't suggest my book unless I think someone might like it.
The book, 'Failure', deals with mature themes such as community vs. individuality, the moral boundaries of science, and insanity. HOWEVER, no one waxes poetic or has angsty meltdowns. There are meltdowns, but more of the insane kind because their consciousness is literally being ripped in two. Check it out here
*ps - I'm not sure if I'm allowed to recommend my own books. I found this sub a bit ago, but just lurked until now cause usually I don't comment/post cause social media is intimidating to me.
https://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Johnson-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199538336
https://www.amazon.com/Color-Magic-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0062225677/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1550233194&sr=1-1&keywords=DiscworldI highly recommend both of these.
Mortal Instruments is fantasy, right? Does she dig humorous books? If yes, the Discworld series is perfect. The first couple set the world, but I much prefer the witches or Night's Watch series.
LOL..no worries, probably jsut different than what you like.
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (awesome satirical sci-fi series.
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Classic about the Civil War -- very graphic and humanizing!
I think you should start reading the Discworld series, but I'd love to see your dog wearing this, because just looking at the pictures made me laugh out loud.
Check out my WL and feel free to get what you like if you like my suggestions.
If he doesn’t have much in the way of 3rd party content, I’d get him the [Tome of Beasts](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1936781565/ref=mp_s_a_1_1 ie=UTF8&qid=1523552464&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=tome+of+beasts&dpPl=1&dpID=61%2BwXcuEGfL&ref=plSrch) from Kobold Press. It’s full of enemies that are lacking in the Mm and VGtM, like high CR monsters and Fey.
Alternatively, if he likes reading, get him Matt Coville’s book [Priest](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0615512151/ref=mp_s_a_1_1 ie=UTF8&qid=1523553476&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=priest+matt&dpPl=1&dpID=41ZD3imHCkL&ref=plSrch). I haven’t read it, but I’ve heard nothing but good things. There’s also the Drizz’t series by R.A. Salvatore starting with Homeland, the Dragonlance series by Weis and Hickman, Discworld by Terry Pratchett, etc.
If he’s more into games, you could get him Divinity: Original Sin 2 on Steam. It’s basically DnD the game, if I had to describe it in a sentence.
All the books are normally around $6-10 dollars, and both the Tome Of Beasts and the game go on sale for around $30 fairly often.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.
It's an investment of time (i.e 944 pages) but the first line is:
"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."
It's a (slightly fictionalized) account of an escaped convict who creates a new life in Bombay. One of the few books that I deeply regretted finishing.
Shantaram
and The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber
Shantaram, just started but its great. About an australian guy that escapes prison and becomes a criminal in India (I think so far). I think about 50% or more is true: http://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-Roberts/dp/0312330529
Check out this book http://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-Roberts/dp/0312330529
It is basically GTA Mumbai.
Read the book Shantaram, It's about a foreigner who discovers India and it's Good, Bad and ugly side!
I'm sure you'll enjoy it
Try the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks.
As already mentioned by other posters, the Lies of Locke Lamora will probably also be right up your alley, and Perdido Street Station is amazing.
Try the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. Fast paced action, super original magic system, amazingly well done characters, and lots of little scenes that make your jaw drop.
Hm, here are some recommendations of my favorite Dark/Gritty Fantasies that immediately come to mind:
Joe Abercrombie is one of my favorite new authors, his books are incredibly gritty dark and original, but the characters are simply amazing. The best starting place is The Blade Itself, but you can read his two other books that aren't part of the trilogy and can be read without losing too much, though they are in the same world and there's more to like about it if you already read the First Law Trilogy. Out of his two stand alone books I'd recommend Best Served Cold which is a Fantasy revenge story in the vain of Kill Bill.
One really good book I read recently is Daniel Polansky's Low Town which is a really cool gritty noir fantasy novel. Where the main character is a former detective for a Fantasy city, but at the beginning of the book he's a drug dealer. Then when murders start to occur, he gets drawn back into the politics of the city, resulting in a great story and multiple plot twists and revelations.
One of my favorites books I've read recently has to be Brent Week's Black Prism. It has some really unique world building, where the magic powers are based on light/colors, and the different magic users have different really unique powers based on their color wavelength. His previous work, the Night Angel Trilogy is also great and it's a little more gritty, with the main character being an assassin.
Next I'll go a little indie here, with the author Jon Sprunk's Shadow's Sun. It features an assassin with slight magical powers and the conscience of a beautiful invisible woman (a real imaginary friend) that is always following him around. There's a lot of things to like in this book, even if they are a little shallow.
Two books from different authors (both of which I really loved) that have kind of similar settings featuring thieves running amok in the underbellies of fantasy cities with a decent amount of grit (without being too dark) are The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and Doug Hulick's Among Thieves.
There's also Ari Marmell's [The Conqueror's Shadow] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Conquerors-Shadow-Ari-Marmell/dp/0553593153/ref=la_B001JSDH98_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1340785404&sr=1-20), the main character is a former evil warlord who gave it all up to live a mundane life with a woman he kidnapped. He then has to put back on his fear inducing armor, when someone else is out in the world impersonating him. There is no evil force in this book, and there's a lot of interesting stuff here, the guy actually has a demonic amulet as a partner that provides him with magical abilities, and the demon is hilarious.
The next series isn't too gritty but it's awesome, so I'd still recommend the author Michael Sullivan, a DIY author that was so successful Orbit picked up his 6 book series to release as three larger books (he's also done some great AMA's on Reddit), the first of which is Theft of Swords. The characters in his book are absolutely superb. It's about these two master thieves that are brought into the conspiracy that they wanted no part of, but will see it to the end no matter what the cost.
Robin Hobb technically isn't real gritty, but she is one of my favorite authors, and in her books serious and horrible things can happen to the characters at times, but the endings of some of her trilogies are some of my favorite endings I've ever read. You could start with her first book about the bastard son of a king (that can bond with animals) being trained as an assassin, Assassin's Apprentice, or my favorite trilogy of her's set in the same universe but a different continent, Ship of Magic that has some awesome pirate settings, talking ships, and dragons. I also love one of her other trilogies set in a different universe than the rest of her books, Shaman's Crossing, the first book has kind of a Harry Potter-esque academy setting without the magic, and the rest of the trilogy gets into some really interesting stuff that's too weird to attempt to explain.
I think that's all I got, and you wouldn't go wrong reading any of these books, all of the pages I linked to are the book's Amazon page, so you can read further descriptions that I'm sure are better than mine. :)
Linky
I've owned about a quarter of these books since high school, and I read two to three books a week, so your math isn't far off! I'd say I'm closer to maybe two thousand books, maybe 2500. I want to get an accurate count at some point! I also want to catalog them so that I can tell what I own without having to call home and have my SO tell me if I've forgotten (I forget pretty often). Just haven't gotten around to doing that yet. But someday!
Ready Player One is set in the near future, in the year 2044. It's a dystopian novel that deals with a virtual reality world. The guy who created the world died, and whoever solves his puzzle gets ownership. The puzzle is solved through a bunch of easter eggs hidden in the world, all of which involve 80's pop-culture and video game references. The first couple of chapters are kind of slow, but by about a quarter of the way in, it just sort of hooks you. I finished most of it in one night before passing it off to the SO. He's not a big reader, but he practically inhaled the book. We've been buying copies from my store when they come in, and just handing them out to friends ever since.
Indy is surprisingly graceful. He corners on a dime! My SO actually nicknamed him "Indy 500" because of his speed, although I'd say the cornering ability is more akin to that of an F1 car. Scott, on the other hand, has some slight brain damage and is pretty derp. He doesn't know how to retract his claws all the way, so they stick to the area rug in the living room as he walks across it. And his tail throws him off balance a lot when he flails it around, so he falls off the furniture when he's excited. Aw, dog! What's his (her?) name? What kind of dog? Also, dog tax.
So jealous of your weather right now! Mid-seventies is perfect. It's been in the forties and fifties this past week. 38º right now, but that's because it's five AM. Sleep is totally important! I don't do mornings. At all. Like, if I'm awake before noon, it's because someone's paying me to be. (Side note: maybe the military isn't the best idea for someone who likes to sleep in late, dude.) Field training should be interesting, if nothing else! Accepted for what?
Pressure cookers can be fun! Slow cookers might be what you're after, in the beginning. Pressure cookers can lead to accidents like this if you're not careful though. Slow cookers don't have, y'know, pressure, so they cook slower (hah, words), but it's the same principle. I've got a slow cooker, but I'm a little nervous to pick up a pressure cooker just in case! Don't want to lose my security deposit on this apartment so spectacularly. XD You should totally ask him! I bet he'd love to teach you. What kind of food does he make?
Yeah, dude, it was a pretty sad thing to watch. The guy stole a book that we paid $100 for, which we priced at $400 (Sex, by Madonna-- unopened, still in the mylar wrapping, and in perfect shape), and he got $20 for it at a pawn shop. I checked online and it doesn't look like the guy has any more convictions after that one (this was in 2013), so there's hope. His defense attorney gave a story about how the guy was abused by his father, made to steal just so he could eat... I don't doubt it. Coming from that sort of background, it's no wonder he'd turn back to theft whenever times were tough.
Jesus, our government sounds kind of like my store. We've spent so much money replacing the broken, leaky AC units that half our computers are still running WinXP while connected to the internet. Thankfully, with PCI compliance, at least they're not the POS terminals! Those are running Win7 and have no internet access. Hooray for F-35s?
Oh man, I've heard so many good things about The Witcher series! I've been meaning to pick them up, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm re-reading Discworld because SO is supposed to start them soon and I want to refresh my memory a bit. Next on my list is The Blood Mirror, by Brent Weeks. It's the fourth book in the Lightbringer series and it's a really well-done fantasy series. You should check out the Night Angel trilogy by the same author; it's good, and it's finished so you don't have to wait.
Holy crap I'm watching DS9 right now too! I'm halfway through season six! The SO and I started watching it together a few months ago, but I've been on leave because of my hysterectomy (I go back on Friday, woo!) so I powered ahead of where he last saw. Been trying to catch him up this past week. We also just finished Stranger Things, which was phenomenal. Highly recommended, especially if you liked The X-Files at all, or suspense-type stuff. After that, I don't quite know what we'll end up watching. Maybe we'll pick up Voyager? Or we might go back and actually finish TNG. I've seen lots of bits and pieces, but we never watched like, full seasons in a row. The SO grew up watching it with his dad, and has the science officer badge tattooed on his chest! I'm trying to catch up to what all he's seen, I guess.
all 3 in one book
For (currently) free Kindle books, David Weber's On Basilisk Station is the first book in the space-opera Honor Harrington series. The second book The Honor of the Queen, is one of my favorites in the entire series. Eric Flint's 1632 turned into a massive and awesome alternate-history series. If you'd like to delve into Alaskan-based murder mysteries, give Dana Stabenow's A Cold Day For Murder a try as the first in the some eighteen book Kate Shugak series.
For paid Kindle books, there's Hugh Howey's Wool Omnibus is the beginning of the dystopian Silo series; the followup Shift Omnibus is actually a prequel trilogy that I haven't gotten yet but is very readable. Naomi Novik's first novel in the alt-history Temeraire series, His Majesty's Dragon, is currently $.99.
In print, Elizabeth Moon's military fantasy The Deed of Paksenarrion is available used for a very affordable price and is an epic series. The Cage was my introduction to a fantasy universe written by SM Stirling, Shirley Meier, and Karen Wehrstein. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander is a sort of alternate history/light romance series set in Scotland that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Brent Weeks' assassin-based (excuse me, wetboy) fantasy Night Angel Trilogy was recently released as an omnibus edition. Empire from the Ashes collects Weber's Dahak sci-fi trilogy into an omnibus edition. Weber and John Ringo co-wrote March Upcountry and the other three novels in the sci-fi Prince Roger quadrilogy. If you haven't tried Harry Turtledove's alt-history sci-fi WW2 'Worldwar' series, In the Balance starts off a little slow plot-wise but picks up good speed. EE Knight's sci-fi/futuristic fantasy Vampire Earth starts off with Way of the Wolf. Mercedes Lackey wrote the modern-fantasy Born to Run with Larry Dixon, and the rest of the SERRAted Edge books with various other authors. Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk and slightly dystopian Snow Crash is hilarious and awesome. Maggie Furey's Aurian is the first of a fantasy quadrilogy that I enjoyed many years ago.
If you're at all familiar with the Warhammer 40k universe, the Eisenhorn Omnibus is Dan Abnett's wonderful look into the life of an Imperial Inquisitor. He's also written a popular series about the Tanith First-and-Only Imperial Guard regiment starting with The Founding Omnibus. He also wrote the first book in the Horus Heresy series, Horus Rising (I highly recommend reading the first three novels together as a trilogy and then cherry-picking the rest).
... and if you've read all that already, I'll be impressed.
Edit: Why yes, I do read a lot. Why do you ask?
It's really weird it is translated so slowly, cause in Poland it's like the most famous saga and personally i think that what Andrzej Sapkowski created is genius. Interesting fun fact: The Witcher (game series) take off where the books have ended and are officially approved by the author.
Anyway, you're in luck!
Ok, so i'll try to give You some help, whether You like it or not. Sapkowski first started to publish The Witcher stories in a magazine between 1986-1990. Then they've been assembled in books. So, to this day there have been 7 stories compilations released (In Poland), but what we're interested in are the following: The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny in that order (these 2 are the introduction to The Witcher world)
THE WITCHER - INTRODUCTION
But no worries, you already know what is going on and You're ready to jump in The Witcher Saga! (ok, you'll lose some of the flow, since there's a bunch of characters introduced here that later appear in The Blood of Elves.)
THE WITCHER SAGA
Well, with Witcher 3 coming soon and with the hype around it i guess they will continue the releases. I highly recommend it to everyone! Also it gives a better perspective on the game series, its characters, plots, etc.
There's also one Witcher story (The Spellmaker) in this: The Polish Book of Monsters
You can read the Witcher series: [fantasy]
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Elves-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/031602919X/
http://www.amazon.com/Time-Contempt-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316219134/
http://www.amazon.com/Baptism-Fire-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316219185/
There are few that are not published yet, so, yes, we have to wait :/ But these four are really great.
If you're interested, here's the chronollogical order of the books (with links to buy them on Amazon):
--------
Season of Storms is an upcoming book set in between the short stories of The Last Wish. It will be released in English on March 2018.
The translation of the next book (the Time of Contempt) comes out in August. Source
Got them individually off of Amazon Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316029181/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316219185/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316219134/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031602919X/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316273716/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316389706/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Ancillary Justice
http://www.amazon.com/Ancillary-Justice-Imperial-Radch-Leckie/dp/031624662X
You can have an alien or an animal or a monster be your main character, but the secret is that you have to make them human. In order for your reader to identify with them, they have to have some human qualities.
Essentially, your hivemind is a single entity, a single personality. It just happens to be able to inhabit multiple bodies simultaneously. It's more common in SF than fantasy. The case that immediately comes to mind is Ancillary Justice.
Gotta spread it out. I almost want to say Don't worry about your readers not quite understanding all of the backstory for a particular reference when it would first be relevant, or even before it would be relevant. Go ahead and let them have some mystery. If they don't know the precise why of how a reference is meaningful to the characters, that won't necessarily turn them off, especially if you make it clear that the reference is meaningful to the characters.
An example I would give because I've been reading it recently is Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. There is a ton of backstory, world-building, expository information, etc etc etc, that one could ladle out in the first chapter. It's a very complex world with a very complex history. And instead of being bogged down and bored by getting it all up-front, Leckie layers it through the narrative. It's a good two or three chapters before you get the element of exposition that makes it clear why the main character is reacting the way they are. You're more than half-way through the book before you know anything at all about an element of the universe's world that winds up being essential to understanding the entire driving force of the plot. She does a remarkable job of slowly slipping the world-building in in tastes and drips and awesome moments. At the end of the day, do you understand exactly every aspect of what the hell is going on in the first chapter? No, of course not, you lack the context for a lot of what is going on. But you're intrigued enough by what's going on that you want to find out what that context is, and so you keep reading.
New Star Wars on Friday! Rapscallions, rebels, and rogues! The Rebel Alliance (or Resistance, I guess? Force Awakens is weird) has some murky goals… Andrew helps Greg understand Star Wars backstory through real world history, and Greg wonders why nobody in the Galaxy knows how to read.
Recommendations:
X-Wing Series by Michael Stackpole
Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn
Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie
Music courtesy PANDAS
If you buy any of our recommendations from the list above, we may receive a small commission.
If someone tells you no for non-fiction and it has to be fantasy, check out Bridge of Birds - it's one of the funnier books I've read. Very light hearted and quick to get through. It's about ancient China, there's a disease that's going around and it's putting children into comas and killing off silk worms.
It's cheap too!
https://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Birds-Novel-Ancient-China/dp/0345321383/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485462192&sr=8-1&keywords=bridge+of+birds
Seconded.
I came into this thread with the express purpose of recommending this book. Light, funny, engaging, any superlative will do. I reread this book yearly.
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Birds-Novel-Ancient-China/dp/0345321383
See, the trouble with this is that you spend too much time trying to think of a book title that makes you seem interleckchewal... well, I do anyway. :)
But I've now decided not to bother. So I'll just say Bridge of Birds.
Book!
My son doesn't need this, but he would love to read it. He loves the movies. Thanks for the offer.
This one. Although, I can't seem to find the exact edition I read. It had a different cover.
It's where the movie came from. I would recommend it. It gets more into the science part of the science fiction than the movie does, and it's also more graphically violent. Plus, there are several pretty epic parts that didn't make it into the movie, and a lot of the characters are more fleshed out.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0345538986/ref=tmm_mmp_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1540518292&sr=8-18
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0345538986/ref=tmm_mmp_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1540518292&sr=8-18
I actually have the Kindle version of it on my device. I've got all Crichton novels. I've just never got around to reading it for some stupid reason.
YOU AND YOUR KIDS ARE SO ADORABLE!
This is on I believe page 4 of my books list and used is always fine! I've got the first 4 and now I need that one! I prefer a physical copy!
Thank you for the contest!
I'd like some butterbeer!
I'm missing book 5 of A Song of Ice and Fire. Granted, paperback hasn't come out yet. I suppose that's why.
I haven't heard Harry Potter, either, but I told my wife that once the little one is old enough, I'll make it his bed time stories. We'll read it together.
Thanks for the contest!
The American paperback of ADWD has not been released. GRRM has promised a preview chapter in it when it does come out, but the publisher keeps delaying it because the hardcover is still selling very well.
Check again. Here is the french amazon prices for that book.
http://www.amazon.fr/Dance-Dragons-Song-Fire-Book/dp/055338595X/ref=tmm_gpb_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1405463932&sr=8-1
and the american
http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Dragons-Song-Ice-Fire/dp/0553582011
The US has cheaper prices across the board, from hardback to paperback to audiobook to kindle edition to library binding.
It is in some areas, in fact, you get get it from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Dragons-Song-Fire-Book/dp/055338595X/ref=pd_sim_b_4
it's 1050 pages long with small letters. nothing hard to imagine actually.
see here : http://imgur.com/a/PcUhp
and here is the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Dragons-Song-Fire-Book/dp/055338595X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1344982900&sr=8-1
Game of Thrones
I'm in the middle of book 4, having book 5 ready to go would be great!
Imladris
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/055338595X/ref=tmm_pap_new_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1344365548&sr=8-1
Well Amazon says it doesn't ship until March of 2013. But that sounds a little late. Personally I just gave up and bought the hardcover. But maybe one day I'll will own all the fancy hardcover ones. It costs WAY to much but you do get nicer maps, pretty little gold inlay, and it just looks better imo.
If you want me to pitch you something, I'd way recommend The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson instead. It's only 2 books in so far (The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance), but they are seriously just so good that I can't even do it justice giving you a synopsis, but here goes: There are a few different POVs, but mostly it focuses on Kaladin, a slave who gets assigned to this bridge crew in the military where they have to carry these giant, heavy bridges around so the assault troops can cross these giant chasms to fight the Parshendi--creepy bastards with shell-like armor that grows out of their skin. Eventually Kaladin finds out he can suck in stormlight from certain stones and do some neat magic stuff with it (don't want to give too much away here). There are also these knights called shardbearers who can summon these giant blades from thin air, which cut through just about everything like a lightsaber through butter, and if they cut through a person, their eyes burn out and their soul dies. The book is just so imaginative and awesome--it's unlike most other fantasy books I've read--plus, it has artwork every few chapters detailing the creatures, plants, etc.
Wheel of Time on the other hand, supposedly really bogs down in the middle (before the original author died and the series was taken over by Brandon Sanderson). But basically it starts out as a kind of Lord of the Rings clone, where these 3 kids from a small village set out across the world after it turns out they're the only ones who can stop the Dark One, who sends trollocs (basically orcs) and Myrddral (basically ringwraiths) after them, and they've got an Aes Sedai witch along with them to keep them from dying. It comes into its own by the 2nd book, and I've really been enjoying it so far (I'm only on book 4/15), so if that sounds at all interesting to you, check out book 1, The Eye of the World (link to the first half of the book, free on tor.com).
There're plenty of good recommendations over at /r/Fantasy, and many people (myself included) have asked your same question there.
It's on Amazon now too: http://www.amazon.com/Words-Radiance-Stormlight-Archive-Book/dp/0765326361
January 21 to be precise...
... For now
ooh man, what? stormlight book 2
Do you like the fantasy genre at all? If so, I highly recommend Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series. Absolutely amazing.
http://www.amazon.com/Words-Radiance-Stormlight-Archive-Book/dp/0765326361
I'd also recommend The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis. It's been a million years since I read them, but I vividly remember enjoying them. :)
Here are some fantasy/sci-fi books that I liked at that age, or would have liked had they been published. A couple of them have some sexual content, but nothing overly detailed.
DEFINITELY "The Dark is Rising" series. They're short, but excellent. Also The Hunger Games is a good bet (never read the sequels, but that first book is great). Other suggestions: The Name of the Wind, Waylander, Rose of the Prophet, 1984, To Your Scattered Bodies Go, The Strain, any of the Dragonlance books (I would start at the beginning, with Dragons of Autumn Twilight), or nearly anything by Stephen King.
No problem.
https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Autumn-Twilight-Dragonlance-Chronicles/dp/0786915749
Why not start with the Dragonlance series? Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a pretty good start - an epic type story. Or The Cleric Quintet by R.A. Salvatore - story about a young cleric on an epic quest. These might be exactly what you are looking for. You might also check out Gotrek & Felix series for more hardcore fantasy. Well, anything Warhammer is awesome :) - especially if you'd like to check out the WH40K universe - The Horus Heresy series is just amazing.
You can. http://www.amazon.com/To-Be-Not/dp/0982853742
Well, my favorite thing I've purchased from Amazon is To Be or Not To Be by Ryan North for 22 dollars. It's a choose-your-own-adventure version of Hamlet and it's hilarious.
Thanks, it's been a while, and I was confused.
To show my thanks, I hereby recommend a book. To Be or Not to Be. It's a plot-your-own, choose-your-own-adventure kind of book. You can be the ghost of Laertes, Hamlet, or Ophelia (a science genius). You know how Hamlet basically makes every decision wrong and you want to slap him the entire time? Play Ophelia, and you can. Or play Hamlet, and get him to do the right things.
Fun, fun book. Here. No, I'm not getting money for it, and I don't know the author, but it is one of the best books I've read in the past year.
What about choose your own adventure books?
Here is the mobile version of your link
Got you covered :)
Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse
http://www.amazon.com/Go-Go-Girls-Apocalypse-A-Novel/dp/1416552251
Its light, and funny as hell, and there's even some deeper issues hidden in this tale of the rebirth of civilization.
Good book for cleansing your palate after "The Road".
Other books to explode your brain with awesome.
Crooked Little Vein http://www.amazon.com/Crooked-Little-Vein-Novel-P-S/dp/B003F76I1K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314238590&sr=8-1
Kiss Me Judas, Penny Dreadful, and Hells Half Acre http://www.amazon.com/Phineas-Poe-Judas-Penny-Dreadful/dp/159692151X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314238655&sr=1-2
Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse http://www.amazon.com/Go-Go-Girls-Apocalypse-Victor-Gischler/dp/1416552251/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314238751&sr=1-1
These are just some of my favorites.
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse.
http://www.amazon.com/Go-Go-Girls-Apocalypse-A-Novel/dp/1416552251
I don't believe this is what you're looking for but it put me in mind of this:
http://www.amazon.com/Go-Go-Girls-Apocalypse-A-Novel/dp/1416552251/
Yeah I'm sure it's pretty unheard of I'm always getting books and things form friends, if you enjoy that one THIS is simply a masterpiece.
There's this post-apocalyptic Mad Max style novel called Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse, and the main character holes up in a bunker to wait out the end of the world much like you describe. He decides to burn all the pornography soon after entering hibernation after he realises he's spent nearly 10 days in a row doing nothing but masturbating.
Rico Slade Will Fucking Kill You
Probably anything by Carlton Mellick
And one of my favs... go-go girls of the apocalypse
Just got off of work and working out so a little late on the reading schedule, but here it is for the first book of the end of the year series, Assassin's Apprentice (which is free from the library and only $2 off amazon for the free Kindle app)
October 3rd- read chapters Prologue-4
October 10th- 5-9
October 17th- 10-14
October 24th- 15-18
October 31st- 19-end
The posts for the Assassin's Apprentice will not be with the Literature off topic, but rather their own stickied post at 6:00pm
/u/carluun is helping me out with this, so if it is not up at that time PM him and he will make sure it will be up
On this note
https://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Apprentice-Farseer-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B000FBFMG6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1488123779&sr=8-3&keywords=robin+hobb
On special. Couple of bucks atm
Looks like all of her first in series are on sale in the US, except Fool's Assassin.
Assassin's Apprentice - Book one of the Farseer Trilogy $2.99
Ship of Magic - Book one of the Liveship Traders Trilogy $2.99
Fool's Errand - Book one of the Tawny Man Trilogy $2.99
Dragon Keeper - Book one of the Rain Wild Chronicles $3.99
Fool's Assassin - Book one of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy $7.99
Just to belabor the point, I've noticed a huge difference in the words I use in everyday speech when I'm reading fantasy novels or other fiction. Don't worry about books they make you read in English classes, any modern non-YA fiction will do.
If you like fantasy, I recommend Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice and the other books in the series.
The Farseer Trilogy Book 1, Book 2, Book 3 Total Cost $17.97
And the Mountains Echoed $10.99
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy $10.00 & The Hobbit $6.98
All of the above books are from ebooks over $10
The Threshold Child book 2 $2.99 on $5-$10 ebooks list
Here's a sneak peek of /r/ebookdeals using the top posts of the year!
#1: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams -- Kindle ($2.99) | 1 comment
#2: Hyperion by Dan Simmons / $1.99 on Kindle | 5 comments
#3: The Scorching by Libbi Duncan - FREE ebook for Cyber Monday | 0 comments
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I've been meaning to read this book.
Ah I've seen your comment below. read maybe:
Joe Abercrombie - Best Served Cold
Max Berry - lexicon
Dürrenmatt - Suspicion
Gaiman - Good Omens
Kafka - The Trial
Sillitoe - The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide ( no way you haven't read that - but who knows )
Branderson - Way Of Kings
Libba Bray - The Diviners
Nietzsche - Thus Spoke Zarathustra ( there is a really ugly bible style translation - beware!!! )
Lynn Kurland - Star Of The Morning ( your sex and age is of interest )
Schwab - Vicious
Bakker - The Darkness That Comes Before
Robert Thier - Storm and Silence
Eco - Name Of The Rose ( no way you haven't read it but u know the drill ) + Foucault's Pendulum
Lord Of The Rings ( duh )
Sanderson - Mistborn
Sanderson - Alloy of Law
Harris - Hannibal
Rothfuss - The Name Of The Wind
Bukowski -Ham on Rye
Burroughs - Running With Scissors
Wong - John Dies at the End
It's from Douglas Adams' Hitchiker's guide to the galaxy.
Douglas Adams has that dry, sarcastic, self-deprecating British humor down. He basically wrote a fun book, or perhaps even a series, around the idea that "What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything" is a malformed question.
does this count?
thanks for the contest! aliens have always been interesting we actually almost went to the area 51 exhibit thing while i was over in vegas pretty big stuff :)
Great: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher-ebook/dp/B0010SIPT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523567240&sr=8-1&keywords=introducing+the+witcher
The first book.
The kindle book: The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher is on sale for $2.99 today.
The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010SIPT4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_74T-BbF0ZVYTF
I'm reading through the first one and it's decent. You'll recognize some events from the first game. It appears to be a collection of not-really-related vignettes. As far as fantasy fiction goes, it's interesting subject matter that's passably written. But it's about Geralt so it's interesting.
Annihilation (first in the trilogy) - a great mind-bender in the "new weird" category. Plus it's a quick read!
All-time greatest epic fantasy series (IMO blows away GRR Martin and Tolkien): The Malazan Book of the Fallen - 10-book compilation
I'd love to pick up The 11th Hour CISSP Study Guide :)
cheers, and happy Monday!
Go for the complete collection...
The Malazan Empire
Amazon US links:
The Last Wish - $2.99 - Goodreads page
Blood of Elves - $2.99 - Goodreads page
Jeez Entire series for 90 dollars only on Kindle. Thanks for the recommendation, but I need to find an inexpensive way of reading this.
I would like The Thin Red Line by James Jones or The Last Wish by Andrzei Sapkowski.
Lately I have been listening to a lot of Blind Pilot and Dirty Heads but Tom Petty has always been my favorite musician.
rock out
Is this version any good?
https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00HL0MA3W/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1CAJXJO6ETUHE&coliid=I2RIJR9JTLGD5
I wanted them all in one ebook - they have that on the amazon store in the US and I wondered if I could buy it in the UK
this is what I mean
How is including a "boxed set" style eBook lazy? Especially when you can also find eBook versions of each one individually?
The Malazan Book of the Fallen is the main series with 10 novels written by Steven Erikson.
The Novels of the Malazan Empire are the side novels written by co-author Ian C. Esslemont (ICE for short) and are complementary to the main series (though Erikson says they hold just as much weight to the series as his own)
On the Amazon Kindle store, there is the Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen that has all 10 of the main novel series. Otherwise, there's no box sets or anything, each book is bought separately.
There is an ultimate reading order that includes ICE books and other Erikson novellas as an option. But I suggest only reading the 10 novel main series first because it's really long and a re-read is awesome.
If you have a Kindle, you can download the Fictionary for the Malazan series which is a custom dictionary for Malazan universe words.
Read this author's preface if the version you buy doesn't have it, to know what Erikson's intention and ambition for writing the series.
It's a huge world with a lot of characters and events happening all over the world. You'll feel like you just got attached to a group of characters and then forced to jump to a new set of characters. Happens every novel, sometimes several times per novel. Don't sweat it or feel stressed. It's necessary for the large scope of the series. But as large as the scope is, there is still a story everyone can follow. Enjoy it for what it is: an awesome Fantasy series!
I had this same dilemma when I started. Got the first two books in paperback because a) well I just like the feel of the book, and b) felt like a series like Malazan would need flipping back and forth etc.
But ever since I finished DG, I've read the rest off of my Kindle and it's been great!
Common in fantasy genre: Example ¹ Example ²
I JUST BOUGHT THE TRILOGY E-BOOK ON AMAZON, WAT.
The trilogy separately is $20 something or rather. Together, here, they are $5.75.
Here is my review of the first book on Good Reads. Looks like I was correct in my review! Friend me if you're on Goodreads!
Here's the link to it. Still only $5.75. It is an all in one omnibus deal.
Happy Birthday! I hope that your day is the best day.
I would love this or this
He gifted me those three, and intro'd me into the Mistborn series by Sanderson. My husband had recommended I read them, but I never got around the getting them...and now I have a love for Sanderson's books. The Mistborn Trilogy is another you should read, if you haven't already. Highly highly highly recommend it.
You need this. NEED.
When I need to get happy, when I've had a shitty day, I read. This trilogy is what I'm reading now, and it is SUPERB. As in, top-ten series of all time.
Also, I eat chocolate, play with my kitty, and watch shitty TV on netflix.
Given that I can't sell or lend ebooks, I'm not willing to buy them until they cost significantly less than their physical counterparts. I mean at least 50% less than the paperback. I don't find any of the other advantages (portability, accessibility, etc.) to be worth the expense.
Some current pricing examples on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003YL4LYI/ref=mp_s_a_2?qid=1310401118&sr=8-2
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
I have been on a reading marathon and just finished book 4 of A Song of Ice and Fire. I'm so excited to move on to the next book, A Dance of Dragons but it's the only book I don't have on my kindle. Still, I'm elated to be finally so far in the books after Season 1 of Game of Thrones hooked me. It's shaping up to be one of my favorite fantasy series ever.
We both have this book Match!
Also I have Miss Peregrine's on my list, but the 2nd book. I've read the first and it's delightful :)
The only way to read ^_^
Guys! This isn't the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! This is from the Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett!
You should definitely read the book if you like this kind of humor.
There are so many I have no idea how someone can not be aware of them.
Just go through the wikipedia article and follow the references that interest you.
To skim over it a bit. We could accidentally put in a gene that damages the soil, put in something that messes with the soils bacteria ecosystem, put in something that kills an insect that is an important part of the ecosystem, create an invasive species that becomes impossible to control, accidentally leak GMO material into non-GMO plants which is happening to a lot of corn in the United States, cause the plant to produce an allergen it wasn't producing before, it goes on and on.
Which is how you know that anyone who thinks there's nothing to worry about with GMOs is either completely ignorant about science or a shill. This unexplored territory and we should use caution as we explore it instead of economically exploiting it as quickly as possible like idiots.
This is a very common theme in Michael Crichton's books about the recklessness of capitalism with scientific discovery. This is stressed in the book version of Jurassic Park, read that if you don't understand the general risks that come with any new technology.
To Be or Not To Be by Ryan North (of Dinosaur Comics fame)! It's a choose-your-own-adventure version of Hamlet, in which you can play as Hamlet, Ophelia, or Hamlet Senior's Ghost! It's hilarious as well as logically consistent! Highly recommended for all grown-ups. :D
I really can't recommend "Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse" by Victor Gischler enough. It's an awesome post apocalyptic novel that revolves around a man who became a hermit and comes back to "civilization" after it has crumbled, and in it's place a new post-apocalyptic society has formed.
It's VERY fun & funny. Action-packed and pretty crazy. Recommend it 100%
Direct link
when truth stranger than fiction
I generally don't read manga. If I want to go whole-hog words-on-paper, Brandon Sanderson just released a sequel to The Way of Kings and I found a new author with a semi-interesting generic action shounen to read through.