(Part 2) Best fantasy books according to redditors
We found 11,479 Reddit comments discussing the best fantasy books. We ranked the 3,035 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.
By the way, in case you are not aware, the Cradle: Foundation ebook (which is the first 3 books of the series in a single ebook) is free for the next few hours, be sure to get it before the deal ends, so you can see for yourself if it's for you without having to spend a dime. Here are the links:
Some of my favorite books available on Kindle Unlimited:
They Mostly Come Out At Night and Where the Waters Turn Black by Benedict Patrick
Paternus by Dyrk Ashton
Danse Macabre by Laura M. Hughes
The Half Killed by Quenby Olson
A Star Reckoners Lot by Darrell Drake
Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe
Jaeth's Eye by K. S. Villoso
Here are some that I haven't read, but have heard mostly positive things about:
The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes
Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan
Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher
A Warrior's Path by Davis Ashura
Valley of Embers by Steven Kelliher
Faithless by Graham Austin-King. He also has another series, The Riven Wyrde Saga, beginning with Fae - The Wild Hunt
Ours is the Storm by D. Thourson Palmer
Path of Man by Matt Moss
Threat of Madness by D.K. Holmberg
To Whatever End by Claire Frank
House of Blades by Will Wight
Path of Flames by Phil Tucker
The Woven Ring by M. D. Presley
Awaken Online: Catharsis by Travis Bagwell
Wolf of the North by Duncan M. Hamilton
Free the Darkness by Kel Kade
The Cycle of Arawn Trilogy by Edward W. Robinson
Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw
Benjamim Ashwood by AC Cobble
The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson
The Queens Poinsoner by Jeff Wheeler
Stiger's Tigers by Marc Alan Edelheit
Rise of the Ranger by Philip C. Quaintrell
Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron
Devil's Night Dawning by Damien Black
Here are some older fantasy and sci-fi books that I enjoyed:
Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany - African inspired S&S by an extremely talented writer.
Witch World as well as other good books by Andre Norton
Swords and Deviltry The first volume of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber - Many of the tropes of the rogue/thief came from this legendary duo created by Leiber. And it's worth noting that Leiber actually coined the term Sword & Sorcery. This collection contains 3 stories, two average origin stories for each character and the final story is the Hugo and Nebula winning novella "Ill Met in Lankhmar" detailing the first meeting of Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser.
Swords Against Darkness - A '70s S&S anthology. It has few stinkers, a few mediocre stories, and a some really good ones. Poul Anderson and Ramsey Campbell both have awesome stories in this anthology that are well worth checking out. For some reason, there were quite a few typos in this book, it was slightly distracting, but may have been fixed since I read it.
The Best of C. L. Moore by C. L. Moore. I read this earlier this year and I absolutely loved it. The collection is all sci-fi and one Jirel of Joiry story, which is her famous female Sword & Sorcery character. I was suprised by how well her sci-fi stories held up, often times pulp sci-fi doesn't age well, but this collection was great. Moore was married to the writer Henry Kuttner, and up until his death they wrote a bunch of great stories together. Both of their collections are basically collaborations, although I'm sure a few stories were done solo. His collection The Best of Henry Kuttner features the short story that the movie The Last Mimzy was based on. And, if you are into the original Twilight Zone TV series there is a story that was adapted into a memorable season 1 episode entitled "What You Need". Kuttner and Moore are two of my favorite pulp authors and I'm not even that into science fiction, but I really enjoy their work.
Spoilers for Revelation Space series of books
In the Revelation Space books by Alistair Reynolds, there's a race of machines that wipe out all sentient life whenever that life becomes advanced enough to trigger them. In order for the trigger to happen, the Inhibitors, as they are called, leave traps all over the galaxy in different places and forms where only an advanced space-faring race could find them. When triggered, the Inhibitors wake up from their sleep-state and destroy that race completely before going back into hiding and waiting.
It is revealed that they do this because in a few billion years the Andromeda (or other) galaxy is going to collide with the Milky Way and the resulting collision period will pretty much pose a threat everything. The Inhibitors, actually very much fond of life but not sentient life, "Inhibit" the sentient races and keeps places of life constrained to single solarsystems. This way they can move or shield or otherwise protect these areas of life when the collision comes.
As has happened many times in the past, any time a race spreads out (or, very rarely, more than one at a time) they become too far spread and too unwieldy to protect, potentially endangering this future rescue operation and therefore must be dealt with.
All that said, you can kind of see why the reveals for ME and ME2 were a little less powerful of a hit for me.
They are awesome books that I completely recommend and can be had for cheap (or even try a library).
It is very simply the smartest, best written, and darkest fantasy series out there. There is no competition.
It's also intentionally unsettling and rather dense, but all of that comes with the territory in my opinion.
Here's a portion in which one of the magic-users has reason to be very very upset and completely lets loose against a bunch of rival magic-users. For this sample, all you need to know is that "tears of god" are a kind of artifact that kills magic-users on contact, and "Analogies" is a word for the kind of magic they're using.
I've altered some of the words to eliminate the risk of spoilers.
>Vengeance roamed the halls of the compound—like a God. And he sang his song with a beast’s blind fury, parting wall from foundation, blowing ceiling into sky, as though the works of man were things of sand.
>And when he found them, cowering beneath their Analogies, he sheared through their Wards like a rapist through a cotton shift. He beat them with hammering lights, held their shrieking bodies as though they were curious things, the idiot thrashing of an insect between thumb and forefinger . . . Death came swirling down.
>He felt them scramble through the corridors, desperate to organize some kind of concerted defence. He knew that the sound of agony and blasted stone reminded them of their deeds. Their horror would be the horror of the guilty. Glittering death had come to redress their trespasses.
>Suspended over the carpeted floors, encompassed by hissing Wards, he blasted his own ruined halls. He encountered a cohort of [soldiers]. Their frantic bolts were winked into ash by the play of lights before him. Then they were screaming, clawing at eyes that had become burning coals. He strode past them, leaving only smeared meat and charred bone. He encountered a dip in the fabric of the onta, and he knew that more awaited his approach armed with the Tears of God. He brought the building down upon them.
>And he laughed more mad words, drunk with destruction. Fiery lights shivered across his defences and he turned, seething with dark crackling humour, and spoke to the two [mages] who assailed him, uttered intimate truths, fatal Abstractions, and the world about them was wracked to the pith. He clawed away their flimsy Anagogic defences, raised them from the ruin like shrieking dolls, and dashed them against bone-breaking stone.
>He was free, and he walked the ways of the present bearing tokens of ancient doom.
You can ready the first chapter or so on Amazon. Click the book's cover: http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-that-Comes-Before-Nothing/dp/1590201183
It's not for everyone, but it's the best.
No legit sellers? Amazon sells it themselves ("Ships from and sold by Amazon.com"), or you can buy it from a bunch of other sellers through them.
https://www.amazon.com/Darkness-that-Comes-Before-Nothing/dp/1590201183/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1506711028&sr=8-2
But you'll have to buy it one book at a time - the publisher does not offer it as a single volume or as a set.
http://www.overlookpress.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?q=bakker&x=0&y=0&p=1
Try The Riyria Revelation by Michael J Sullivan. Great, fast paced series with two of the best protagonists in fantasy. Starts a bit trope-y, and some of the tropes don't go away, but he has a way of turning many on their heads, and taking others and doing them really, really well. The first book is fun, but as the series progresses it gets better and better and the scope goes from small scale to worldwide in a very natural way. And the series is considerably shorter than something like WoT, not taking forever to get going.
Also, The Emperor's Edge books by Lindsay Buroker are absolutely delightful. Another quick, not crazy deep series, but with wonderful characters that feel like real people. Seriously, it's almost impossible not to fall a little in love with the main character as the series progresses. Fun action, witty dialogue, etc...They're great. Also, the first book in the series is free on Amazon.
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon is a good trilogy with a female paladin being the main character. Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson also has a good lead female role throughout it and is also a great read.
I strongly recommend checking out the Brothers' War - it is a fantastic fantasy novel and I recommend it to friends who aren't even into Magic.
First of all, there's the excellent Salvation Wiki, which is probably the most complete resource you're going to find.
There certainly are books. In the past, each fatpack came with a book and after they stopped doing that, they tried doing less frequent books, which led to Agents of Artifice, The Purifying Fire and Test of Metal. They also gave block novels a shot, but these ended up mostly disappointing and after a planned novel about Liliana was so bad it never made it to print, they axed the book line.
With Return to Ravnica, they tried another experiment: e-books. The first one, The Secretist (in three parts) did well enough that we can expect another e-book for Theros on April 1.
Apart from the books, the Creative team also publishes a short story each week. These vary in quality a lot (but tend to be enjoyable) and give nice little looks in the worlds we visit. With each set (but mostly with the first set of the block), they also give out something called a "Planeswalker's Guide" which is an edited version of the style guide they use for building the plane.
On the main site, you can also find some webcomics, focusing on the planeswalkers which I personally find very interesting. Unfortunately, they stopped making them because they were too expensive.
There are also older comics, but they can be hard to find. There's also a newer line of comics, featuring the thief-planeswalker Dack Fayden, but though they follow the planes we visit, they don't really impact the main storyline.
Finally, you can learn a lot from the online community. I personally hang out here, but the Storyline forum on Salvation is also good (although they're a bit too serious for my taste). Both of those forums have the most knowledgeable person on Magic: The Gathering lore, so any question you have will probably be answered. You could also try just asking here, or on /r/mtgvorthos (although the latter subreddit is a bit dead). Whatever you do, don't visit the official forum, it's a wasteland.
Okay, I think that's all.
Here are links for each platform;
I'll update the link when iBookstore goes live. ibookstore is a bit "pickier" about the epub format and I REALLY struggled to get it "just right" I'm still waiting to hear from Shawn if there are other "nits to fix" but at this point I think the version I have to him should be in relatively good shape.
Also for those interested in the "line-up" here are the stories in the book:
I've bought a fair amount of ebooks on Amazon recently and I think most of them are books that a lot of people here would enjoy (heck I heard about most of them through here!).
The Preorders:
Underlord - The sixth book in the Cradle series which is described as a Western Xianxia series. A lot of people here don't really like the Xianxia genre and I agree with their criticisms of how many main characters are very villainous, under-developed enemies and female characters, the economies of cultivation aren't logical, poor scaling in conflict as you go from one city to interstellar in scope, and awkward prose. But I bring up all of these flaws to say that the Cradle series completely avoids all of the typical flaws in Xianxia and has a very smart character who sets out to cultivate smartly instead of bullheadedly.
And the sixth book is coming out in March! (Get the box set. It has the first three books and is cheaper!)
Exhalation - Who here hasn't heard of Ted Chiang, the master of short stories that perfectly appeal to the r/rational crowd? The same guy that we literally use as an introduction to rational fiction. Well, if you enjoyed his first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, you'll love hearing that the second collection is coming out in....May! (Ugh....really May? I don't think I can wait that long!)
The books you can read right now!:
The Beginner's Guide to Magical Licensing - Has a similar start to Unsong where a magical college-graduate, minimum-wage, sweat-shop worker stumbles on a powerful spell and sets out to start his own business competing with the powerful. The parts of the story that follows afterward makes a whole lot more logical sense than Unsong however. (Used to be online for free, but now you'll have to pay the price for your ignorance if you want to read it! (Nah, I lied.))
Six Sacred Swords - If you liked the Arcane Ascension series, but wished there was more dungeonnering and less of school shenanigans, then look no further! In some ways it's a lot like reading a very good DnD session played by really savvy players who never follow the 'standard' way to solve problems.
The author of Six Sacred Swords made a recommendation for The Ruin of Kings. He said that it reads like a Locke Lamora-esque rogue protagonist, telling the story in a style similar to Kvothe, in a setting similar to Game of Thrones. I haven't bought the book yet, but the review was interesting enough that I wanted to include it in my list of recommendations.
Senlin Ascends - I haven't read this yet either, but skimming through it, I see some fair bit of social manipulation/combat that I think people here would like. Plus the Tower of Babel setting is something that appeals very strongly to me.
Polyglot: NPC REVOLUTION - A lot of people here seem to really like LitRPG and Artificial Intelligence, but almost no one seem to ever question the implications of the NPCs in LitRPG stories having human-level intelligence.
Small Medium: Big Trouble - It's by the same author who wrote Threadbare that people here really liked. Similar to Polygot where the NPC is the main character who needs to deal with players, but smaller scale in scope. There's a lot of fast-talking to convince selfish sociopaths to do what you say.
Q is for Quantum - I was going through my older ebook orders when I found this one. It's the single best introduction for quantum mechanics that I have ever read (not that I've read too many of those). It focuses on building an intuition for the subject and once you've read through the book, you will understand on a gut level what superposition means. Note that it's meant as an introduction for the subject, so don't expect it to cover everything, just what's need to get started learning about quantum mechanics. But I'd still recommend it to experts if only for a better way to explain their subject to their peers and laypeople.
Hey folks, I'm Phil Tucker, author of The Chronicles of the Black Gate and The Godsblood Trilogy. I'm thrilled to be here, and thanks to Mark and Dyrk for putting on this AMA!
Since the top /r/scifi post right now is about Alastair Reynolds, maybe you can try his books. I think his books are one of the best in the Space Opera genre, and written very well.
You can start with his most popular series, Revelation Space, but his other books are stellar (ha) as well, like House of Suns, or Century Rain.
Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen
Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn
Brandon Sanderson - The Stormlight Archive
Peter Brett - The Demon Cycle
R. Scott Bakker - The Second Apocalypse
Joe Abercrombie - The First Law
Scott Lynch - The Gentleman Bastard
Patrick Rothfuss - The Kingkiller Chronicle
All excellent. Some slightly more excellent than others.
Looks like The Emperor's Edge (the number 1 upvoted book on this list) is free on Amazon!
Alastair Reynolds, astrophysicist, dark hard sci-fi author. Start with Revelation Space
I completely understand. Some characters rub me the wrong way as well! Thanks for giving my work a try. And I'd encourage you to keep giving indie writers opportunities. There are some great works out there. I'd recommend Phil Tucker's The Path of Flames, Timandra Whitecastel's Touch of Iron, and Benedict Patrick's They Only Come Out at Night.
It's been a while since I read the books but...
The Powerstones were a big part of the world. The Thran were a society that didn't have access to mana or magic. The powerstones were a mysterious source of energy that powered their society, and were quite strong. The powerstone spike which Yawgmoth used to lobotomize Dyfed was potent enough to incapacitate a pre-mending 'walker.
Yawgmoth did poison Glacian to get to Rebbec, but kept Glacian's consciousness alive in a powerstone. He later used this powerstone to open his gate to Phyrexia. When Rebbec realized Yagmoth's schemes, she was forced to destroy the powerstone which held her husband's mind, splitting it in two. Those two halves became the mightstone and the weakstone, the stones which Urza and Mishra used to war on each other, and which eventually became Urza's eyes when his spark ignited.
Everyone needs to read the Artifacts Cycle. Great fantasy on it's own, even knowing nothing about Magic.
http://www.amazon.com/Artifacts-Cycle-Magic-Gathering-Omnibus/dp/0786953055
For those unfamiliar with Mr. Bakker, he wrote one of my personal favorite trilogies in Fantasy, and is working on a second one. The place to start is here, if curious:
http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Comes-Before-Prince-Nothing/dp/1590201183/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313006327&sr=8-1
Two series I can recommend off the top of my head, both of which I couldn't put down during the first readthrough and never get tired of re-reading:
And if you want a single book to tide you over while searching, the 832-page The War of the Flowers (also by Williams) was a riveting read.
*edited for linkage
Elizabeth Moon's The Deeds of Paksenarrion Also, Moon's Vatta series and Serrano seris are sci-fi with strong female leads.
http://www.amazon.ca/Gnomes-Deluxe-Collectors-Edition-Huygen/dp/0810998467
The Strike at Shayol Ghul details Lews Therins attempt to shut the bore.
Speaking of the Strike at Shayol Ghul, there is The World of Robert Jordan's a Wheel of Time also known affectionetly as the Big White Book (BWB) or Big Book of Bad Art (BBBA). It delves into a lot about cultures, features write ups of each forsaken, pokes fun at the covers and includes the entire text of Strike.
There was a short story called New Spring included in Robert Silverberg's Legends, this was later expanded into the novella New Spring
The short story about Bao is not considered connanical and is included in the short story collection Unfettered
Eye of the world was re-released for a YA market in two parts with a new prologue Ravens
The Interview Database, just click a topic that looks intresting and prepare to lose a day or two
The Wheel of Time FAQ back in the mists of time (late 90's early aughts) this was the best resource for all things WoT related. It hasn't been significantly updated since about book 10 (i mean, yes there were updates, but nothing on the scale and detail that it used to get). Gives great insight into what the fandom was pulling its hair out about during the two years+ between books. Also, some of the info is evergreen like historical references etc.
There was a terrible video game that has almost zero to do with the series.
There was a d20 based D&D rule set released and a adventure that explained how Taim got to Rand in time to rescue himat Dumai's Wells. RJ later came out and said that this was completely made up by the authors of the module and had nothing to do with the series, which was a BIG clue about Taim's allegiance.
I feel like im missing something, but I can't put my finger on it, so I will leave you with a random fact that you should know
Tar Valon is a vagina
If money is no object I'd say: Go for it, of course. ;)
You will have a hard time finding the Anniversary Collector's Edition at a reasonable price I'm afraid.
It was a limited edition, sold out at all official retailers by now, all you will find are copies sold by resellers at insane prices.
Amazon - New
Amazon - Used
You could try your luck on Ebay but chances aren't high.
Personally,..... if at any time, after collecting all books for Spice & Wolf, Wolf & Parchment and the manga I will probably direct my attention to figures.
Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen (all by Garth Nix) are pretty spectacular if you're into fantasy.
Juliet Marillier also writes a lot of fairy-tale retellings that have female protags, if that's your cup of tea. The Sevenwaters Trilogy is pretty good.
Edit: Ooh, also The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon (this is epic fantasy, but she also writes a lot of female protags in her space operas) and Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold. Those two are fantastic, don't know why they didn't spring to mind right off!
Edit 2: For less spoilery linkage.
Barnes and Noble does not carry them in store. They would be sourcing them from the same online sellers, the same as other sites like Amazon. The books are quite old now so that makes sense.
Definitely start with The Brother's War. You can read the original or pick it up in the Onmibus along with it's prequel The Thran.
Here are all the books, in chronological order (also my recommended order, other than saving The Thran for very last):
The Thran (Or Artifacts: cycle 1 Omnibus)
The Brother's War (Or Artifacts: cycle 1 Omnibus)
Planeswalker (Or Artifacts: cycle 2 Omnibus)
Time Streams (Or Artifacts: cycle 2 Omnibus)
Bloodlines (Or Artifacts: cycle 2 Omnibus)
Rath and Storm
Mercadian Masques
Nemesis
Prophecy
Invasion
Planeshift
Apocalypse
The Thran is not available for kindle, unfortunately. It is however in the Artifacts cycle omnibus, which I highly recommend. It has the story of the thran and then the story of Urza Vs the Phyrexians.
http://www.amazon.com/Artifacts-Cycle-Magic-Gathering-Omnibus/dp/0786953055
http://www.amazon.com/Artifacts-Cycle-II-Gathering-Omnibus/dp/0786953063/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=15M4GBD41KKZJWQTVT90
Tad Williams' "Otherland" series.
The Emperor's Edge series has a female protagonist I liked a lot. It's a fun light read and the first book is free on Kindle.
[Taylor Varga] (Low Quality)
[Iron Wood] (Low Quality)
[Defiance of the Fall] (Low Quality)
[He Who Fights With Monsters] (Low Quality)
[A Hero's War] (Low Quality)
[The New World] (Low Quality)
[Azarinth Healer] (Low Quality)
[The Gam3] (Low Quality)
[The Arcane Emperor] (Low Quality)
[The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound] (Low Quality)
[The Land] (Low Quality)
[Daniel Black] (Low Quality)
[Savage Divinity] (Low Quality)
[The Wheel of Time] (Low Quality)
[The Tutorial Is Too Hard] (Low Quality)
[Metaworld Chronicles] (Low Quality)
This list is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.
Cradle currently has a promo until end of Thursday. The first 3 books are free as a box set which is gonna save you some money if you dont have kindle unlimited. I cant stress enough how ridiculously good this series is. I’ve reread it many times. Book 7 is coming out in October
I'm not well-read in the genre so I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but Will Wight's Cradle series sounds as though it might interest you. The series isn't complete, but there are five completed novels in it.
Amazon link for the first book, Unsouled
Amazon link for the first three as a package deal.
I would recommend it if you're a fan of cultivation, spiritual techniques, and the zero to god journey. It also has a more western style prose that for me was more enjoyable to read.
Did you know there are actual books?
http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Atrus-Myst/dp/0786881887
I read it, and do NOT recommend it.
Book is too meh, relies too heavily on common tropes we've seen done time and time again better. The writing style is too slow and ponderous for my liking, while still managing to be imprecise. It's like they wrote it relying more on the ideas and topics then the actual story; it's the kind of thing that if was a movie you'd think was made by committee.
You want a good Steampunk book series? Myst; yes after the game. There are three, and they chronicle the fall and aftermath of a civilization from the perspective of a family. (Grandparent, Mother, Husband, Son, etc...)
Sounds like you might enjoy Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. I think Snow Crash is meant to be in the same universe - it's hilarious but not as dense. You might also like his Cryptonomicon, though it's not technically Sci Fi.
Tad Willams' Otherland Series is Epic Sci Fi with a huge amount of detail. Might be right up your alley.
Dune, Neuromancer and The Enderverse if you haven't already read those.
The Emperor's Edge
Brood of Bones
The Corpse King
The Book of Deacon
The Secretist: Part One
The Secretist: Part Two
The Secretist: Part Three
Have you read the short story about him in the Unfettered short story book? It gives a little bit more insight into what he was doing, or how he came about to achieving what he did, and maybe who that girl was in relation to him.
Paging /u/whydobabiesstareatme about the short story too.
In case you haven't done so already, you should give the space revelation triology from Alastair Reynolds a chance. It presents a detailed, yet broad outlook on humanity, taking place in the next couple of hundred of years. Alastair has a lot of interesting ideas and presents them in a great way.
I've finished the big 5 novels and am currently reading the short stories and even though there's not a lot of time for the story to unfold - I'm still sitting on the edge 'cause it's so exciting.
http://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Space-Alastair-Reynolds/dp/0441009425/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1394833904&sr=8-3&keywords=alastair+reynolds
Metro 2033 - Dmitry Glukhovsky.
One of my favourite scifi/horrors. Slow burn, but very moody and well built universe.
LOL The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. It's a low magic fantasy novel.
And their dirt cheep on amazon too!
The Book of Atrus ~ Myst, Book 1
The Book of Ti'Ana ~ Myst, Book 2
The Book of D'Ni ~ Myst, Book 3
Here's the Path of Flames link : https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DTTO9MI/
Pro tip: there's an Audible-produced audiobook of POF coming REALLY soon, and grabbing the cheap ebook now should let you take advantage of the reduced price audiobook thingy that Amazon tends to offer if you already have the ebook.
Ascend Online by Luke Chmilenko
Chronicles of the Black Gate by Phil Tucker
The Aching God by Mike Shel
The Castes and the OutCastes by Davis Ashura
Paternus by Dyrk Ashton
​
I could keep going all day, but here's some starters, ha!
Good list of recommendations.
Personal highlights include all books by Andrew Rowe (especially War of the Broken Mirrors), Phil Tuckers Chronicles of the Black Gate, Paternus and A Star Reckoners Lot.
/u/esmerelda-weatherwax has an awesome blog where she reviews lots of indie books - Most of them are part of KU.
If you're Canadian and reading this, it's free on Amazon.ca too!
https://www.amazon.ca/Cradle-Foundation-Collected-Book-ebook/dp/B076G8DVN6/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=Cradle+series&qid=1567468886&s=gateway&sr=8-8
Just a few updates.
Been playing Everquest's TLP server with my brothers. Really fun. My brother just got crack, so we're all happy.
Dark Souls remastered is a bit silly. I'm running my SL 20 sorcerer that can only have +5 weapons through to get Dark Bead and blow up some lowbies. Basically just have to down Four Kings and Artorias. Shit is hard. The online community is huge right now. It's seriously the best its ever been in any Souls game because it actually fucking works for once.
New Path of Exile league comes out Friday. I took Monday off and am working from home on Friday. Doing some 10 hour shifts so I can get off work earlier, too.
Will Wight's new book also comes out Friday and the first three books in that series will be free on Amazon. If you like Wuxia at all, you should read it.
Phil Tucker's Chronicles of the Black Gate series is in KU and quite good.
Here's the link to Amazon, if anyone is interested!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DTTO9MI
Let me know if this breaks any rules!
I'd keep them all intact. Hopefully by the end of the month we'll have more information.
According to Amazon the second print isn't shipping till November, so you'll have time to request a refund or cancel if you're stuck with the second edition.
If you're extremely lucky and hit the jackpot with 2-3 first editions, then consider selling at cost to those who missed out. I'm sure it will be easy to offload any additional copies.
GTA IV, as I'm sure you might have heard, was a pretty terrible port for PC, meaning it doesn't properly utilise awesome PC hardware, however it should run great on your rig, even with ICenhancer and texture mods, especially with a GTX 780!
Metro is definitely more than a benchmark. It's quite story-driven and is based on the books by Dmitry Glukhovsky. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which, due to nuclear war, the citizens of Moscow have been forced to take to the sewers for protection.
Good luck building it, I hope you have fun!
I just finished Myst: The Book of Atrus last night - this immediately reminded me of Katran's First Age.
Dominaria has perhaps the *most* lore associated with it, given that it was the primary plane for most of Magic's history (pre-'mending'). There's a ton of books from those blocks (some are even good). I always thought the Rath and Storm anthology was the best MTG story/book money could buy, back when I was into that sort of thing. The Dark Horse graphic novel Gerrard's Quest covers the same ground and is also acceptable (and a much quicker read).
After that you can probably be forgiven for skipping the Mercadian Masques books (though I will defend the Nemesis book to my dying breath), but the 3 Invasion cycle books leading to the Apocalypse event were exciting as hell.
The Thran and Brothers War stories are worth checking out just to get the proper appreciation for Urza as a character (though the writing contained within the books aren't especially good).
​
This'll get you started, I suppose: https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Dominaria_(plane)
I've read a bunch of them (read: over a dozen) and some of them are good, some are utter crap.
Most of the rest of the books are garbage and you should stay away from them. I keep having faith in Wizards but they always let me down with some crap books and bad writers.
If you happen to be Dutch, you can probably buy it here. It's made by two Dutch artists, but apparently was also translated to English under the name "Gnomes", which you can find here . Hopefully this is what you were looking for! I loved those books as a kid, and I still browse them sometimes.
It's an Italian TV show (very poorly dubbed into english, mine adult ears now tell me), based off of an [awesome book] (http://www.amazon.com/Gnomes-Deluxe-Collectors-Edition-Huygen/dp/0810998467 ) originally published in The Netherlands. I think it aired on Nickelodeon during the 80's but it's on Amazon Prime now, woo!
Think of it as a multiverse. There are an obscene amount of 'verses or planes, and we jump to new or old ones each year (or each battle when you look it at in a certain regard).
The game has been going on for a good two decades. There have been numerous novels and comics which flesh out a bunch of the story, and their quality really does vary quite a bit.
Wikipedia at least orders the massive plots in chronological order.
EDIT: The wikipedia link doesn't make mention that the novels have continued to have been published as ebooks.
Nook Book link
Non-mobile Amazon link
Really looking forward to this, the list of authors on here is amazing.
I would recommend The Land by Aleron Kong and Daniel Black by E. William Brown. Daniel Black can get a little raunchy, if that is not something you are looking for you might want to skip it. Both book series are excellent and worth a read.
If you want some space opera that has a lot of roots in hard sci-fi, give Alastair Reynolds a shot. Reynolds is an astrophysicist, so the series has a fair bit of hard science in with its fantastic futurism. The best example is the lack of Faster than Light travel in his spacecraft. I'd suggest starting with Revalation Space.
Interesting! I am reading something similar: The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living by Fr. Gallagher. I am also reading Fire Within by Thomas Dubay.
...and The Dark Elf Trilogy because it was recommended by a friend and given to me for free on the Kindle. I am on the third book of the trilogy now and hope to finish it within the week so I can move on to another fiction series.
There are 2 books that are a great start to the book series artifact cycle 1 and artifact cycle 2. They are the first 5 books in the whole series. The first one is the Thran and the brothers war. The second one is Planswalker, time stream, and bloodlines. They are a good read if you can find them for cheap.
The artifacts saga vol 1 (The Thran and the Brothers War) is around $13 used.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0786953055/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all
I just finished the Theros e-book and I was about to make post a synospis/review anyways! First off, I enjoyed the book a whole lot and heartily recommend that anyone with $1.99 to spare Buy the E-Book from Amazon, especially if you are interested in learning the specifics of the stories of Elspeth, Xenagos, Daxos of Meletis, and Polukranos. I was personally disappointed with The Secretist e-book for the Return to Ravnica block, but I believe Godsend is shaping up to show that e-books can really shine as a method to deliver Magic's lore.
That said, spoilers from the e-book Theros: Godsend Part 1 below. Again, the e-book is cheap and small and well-written, so I do recommend people with even a little more than passing interest buy it and read it themselves.
The book starts following Lydia, a young Meletian mother who has left her polis and taken her sickly son Daxos to be cured by an oracle of Athreos in the distant blasted wasteland ruled by Erebos. She realizes too late that she has been tricked. Her son is not ill at all; rather he is an oracle, someone with the gift to speak for and with the Gods. Athreos attempts to claim him for his own use, but Lydia gives her life in exchange for Daxos's freedom.
After helplessly waiting under a tree for days, Daxos meets a young Elspeth, who has only recently begun planeswalking. The two share a need for food and water, and Elspeth helps Daxos up a mountain and to a clean spring. Daxos can see the sky of Nyx above, even during the day, and sees a bloody and gruesome duel between Heliod, who fancies himself the head of the pantheon, and Purphoros, who has forged a sword capable of damaging the fabric of Nyx itself.
Purphoros slices out Polukranos from the constellation's resting place in the night sky, and the hydra falls to the Earth, becoming corporeal. Heliod and Nylea work together to imprison it, and Kruphix, god of Time and Horizons and the oldest of the gods, punishes Purphoros by limiting his memory and cognition. Purphoros drops the nyx-bane sword and it lands on the mountaintop where Elspeth and Daxos rest. Heliod appears before Daxos, searching for the weapon, but frightens the young Elspeth, who grabs it and planeswalks away.
Years later, Elspeth has returned to Theros after fleeing Mirrodin, now New Phyrexia. She still carries the sword from all those years ago. She seeks a place to rest; a home that is incorruptible, and she believes that the Gods may make Theros a prime candidate for that. She works as a mercenary near Akros, and makes trips to visit various temples, although she has put off seeing Heliod's.
Meanwhile, Xenagos, under the title 'King Stranger' (I remember hearing that that is a rough translation of what the word 'Xenagos' means in Greek) rules over the Satyrs and misguided humans of the Skola Valley, who spend their days relaxing and their nights in bacchanalia. Xenagos has ignited his spark and is disdainful of the gods; he openly resents and mocks them, to the shock and fear of his subjects. From a poet he hears that Polukranos has begun to stir from the caves that Heliod and Nylea sealed it in, and Xenagos prepares a plan.
Heliod notices that something is awry. His vision, which should be omnipresent, is lacking and faltering (likely due to Xenagos's scheming). He consorts with Thassa about this, but the two mostly end up bickering and fail to find a solution. He blames Purphoros, but Thassa reminds him that ever since their previous bout, Kruphix has forbidden all gods from fighting each other, lest he enact a Silence that banishes them to Nyx.
Visiting an oracle of Phenax and seeking guidance, Elspeth allows the mindreading priest to discover her planeswalking abilities and the fact that she holds the lost sword. This fact quickly finds its way back to Phenax, who shares it with Thassa. Thassa then communes with Purphoros, who in his addled state was unable to catch Xenagos stealing his golem and crafting partner, Petrios. When Thassa arrives Purphoros constructs a metallic chimera that can seek out the sword. Thassa enters it and then launches away to find Elspeth.
Elspeth, at the advice of the oracle of Phenax, finally decides to visit the temple of Heliod. She begins to pray just as Thassa arrives, and Thassa's attempt to grab the sword is interrupted by the arrival of Heliod himself. He believes Elspeth to be a thief (and he's technically right about that) and attacks her with blisteringly hot rays. Elspeth uses her planeswalking power to cast a reflective spell that protects her however, and that inspires Heliod. He takes her blade, naming it Godsend, and transforms it into a spear before giving it back to her. He then asks her to travel to Meletis, to become his champion and meet with his oracle.
His oracle who happens to be our good friend Daxos. Although he was chosen by Heliod as an oracle, Daxos has the unique ability to speak with all of the gods, including Nylea, with whom he appears to have started a bit of a romance with. Daxos, with his god-sight, sees that Polukranos is freeing himself, and warns Nylea of this, before he is addressed by Heliod to set out and meet Elspeth on the road between Akros and Meletis.
Nylea seeks out Polukranos and finds evidence of magical intervention. Although Polukranos was awoken by the return of Elspeth's blade, it appears he has been baited into lumbering towards the polis of Meletis. She tracks the source of this magic and it leads her to Skola Valley. There she confronts Xenagos and eventually attacks him, revokes her protection of the valley and leaving it a rotting, lifeless husk, before leaving. Xenagos is unfazed, almost happy that he has insulted a god in person, and begins using his magic to regrow the valley undeterred.
Elspeth returns to Akros only to find that foreigners are being rushed out of the city as it prepares for war against a massing minotaur horde. She is given a job escorting a teenage daughter of an Akroan estate in a caravan from Akros to Meletis and sets out immediately. After a few days of travel and alternating friction and friendship between Elspeth and the girl, named Nikka, the caravan is attacked by servants of Erebos. Escaping, Nikka and Elspeth make it to the see on a small boat.
At this point arguments and fighting between the gods have reached a fever-pitch. Heliod and Purphoros blame each other for the empty spots in their vision, and Heliod wrestles with Thassa to maintain protection over Elspeth and the sword. Oceans boils, forests quiver and shake, and storms throw lighting bolt after lightning bolt into poleis. Thassa conjures an enormous wave which reaches up from the see to grab the spear Godsend from Elspeth. After she is overwhelmed by water, the Sun's Champion nearly gives up hope and drops the spear.
That is when Kruphix intervenes. He pauses time and makes good on his promise to suspend the pantheon in Nyx. Nylea desperately tries to stop him, to warn her siblings of the true danger to the world that Xenagos poses, but fails and is restricted to Nyx like all the other gods.
Elspeth and Daxos meet each other on the steppes outside of Meletis and instantly recognize each other. Their touching reunion is unfortunately ruined when Polukranos appears however, and Elspeth sends Nikka to Meletis to warn the guards. After an arduous and deadly battle, which only Daxos and Elspeth survive, Elspeth ultimately defeats Polukranos, and limps with Daxos back to Meletis.
I really enjoyed this story and hope that part two keeps up the great quality. Their are a few typographical, grammatical, and formatting errors here and there, but nothing too worrisome and overall I enjoyed the writing a whole lot. I left out plenty of details though so I recommend one last time that everyone drop the two dollars on the e-book from Amazon.
If you want more on the Jace/Bolas/Ravnica storyline, I guess the next steps would be Agents of Artifice (summary here) and then the Return to Ravnica novels (summary here).
It is part of the book "unfettered" which can be had on Kindle for a few $
https://www.amazon.com.au/Unfettered-Terry-Brooks-ebook/dp/B00DJJIR6S
Do you mean hardback copies? As far as I know, the individual novels only come in paperback. There is the Collector's Edition, which combined first 17 volumes in one hardback monster of a book, but it isn't really recommended for casual reading. If you just mean physical copies, those should be pretty widely available.
And good luck avoiding the spoilers, since they are pretty much on all the promotional material and even on cover of some of the later volumes (vol. 17 especially). I wouldn't worry too much about them though, as the story doesn't rely on spoilers too much.
I just received confirmation that the copy I ordered on September 1st is guaranteed to be a numbered edition. If you have questions about yours, you should also include references to the numbered (first print) and unnumbered (second print) on amazon.com, it will make the process much easier.
Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds - this is a /r/scifi favourite but in this case, at least for this book, it's a very similar setting to the original Alien
This sounds very similar to a something in Revelation Space. I started reading this trilogy because it sounded like it had a similar plot. I've made it through two of the books and I really enjoyed them. Maybe this is kind of a reference to that?
> The sun killer arrives twice every generation looking for our people.
Could this possibly work as the first line? This line coming first might set up the impending sense of demise that your great, last line "I think again about how it’s likely the three of us will die." works towards. I think it might make for nice bookends to this piece.
Also, and this isn't any fault of yours, but I just got through reading Revelation Space and there is a nefarious "character" called Sun Stealer that is used all through the book as a malevolent force. Your entity called Sun Killer really reminded me of this since they seem a little bit similar. Might be something to think about since the book is quite famous and other sci-fi fans might also be aware of a slight similarity.
I guess the only other thing I noticed was that you start off with some descriptive action but then as it continues we get some back story that's hard to feel the weight of given that all we have experienced so far is a rock slide. I suppose what I'm not feeling is the power of the sun killer because we're only being told about it, and not shown.
"Show, don't tell" is the #1 rule of writing. Any chance you get to show something and not tell us about something is where the writer earns his paycheck. By showing us you are letting us, the readers, do the work of imagining the events and characters of the story. But when we are told we are forced to have to just sit in the passenger seat and not be allowed to let our imaginations run with your words.
EDIT : Show, don't tell is a really hard rule to abide so don't sweat it too much since you will have to tell from time to time and depending on the story - it's just something to be aware of.
Still though, I really like the blunt and heartfelt last line "I think again about how it’s likely the three of us will die." There is such an inevitable finality to this and if you can link this up tighter with the character and the power of the sun killer then you'll have gold here.
He's honestly closer to Tavi, from Codex Alera
(OOC: Have you read Codex Alera? Similar premise (monster control is a part of society), well-thought out, great story.)
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, starting with Furies of Calderon might fit the bill, it follows a magic-less protagonist in a society where magic is so common place it's used to turn on lights and faucets, and strength of magic is almost directly proportional to your place in society. He definitely depends on his wits, but doesn't really have the dry sense of humor though.
I loved Soldiers in the Shadows: Unknown Warriors Who Changed the Course of History
Fiction:
Furies of Calderon. 5 parts. The good guys fight roman style but with magic based on the elements. The bad guys varies from book to book.
Harald. Very different language style in the book. Medieval type warfare without magic or monsters. Pretty good.
http://www.amazon.com/Furies-Calderon-Codex-Alera-Book/dp/044101268X
Each book gets better and better. It has a different twist on fantasy with the "born with a 'fury'" thing going on. Tons of political intrigue that is actually interesting compared to blah blah skip a page in other fantasy books....IDK
Highly recommend this!
ugh i've finished everything worthwhile in my local library been reading e-books but running low on those as well
heres some off the top of my head.. be warned these are more character driven then anything else... I hate books with a giant cast of characters ( though malazan was an exception )
Old Shit:
The Fionavar Tapestry (fantasy)
http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Tree-Fionavar-Tapestry-Book/dp/0451458222/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279523697&sr=1-2
Farseer Trilogy (fantasy)
http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Apprentice-Farseer-Trilogy-Book/dp/055357339X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279523843&sr=1-1
New Shit:
First Law Trilogy (fantasy)
http://www.amazon.com/Blade-Itself-First-Law-Book/dp/159102594X/ref=pd_sim_b_1
The Name of the Wind (fantasy)
http://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicles-Day/dp/0756405890/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257193424&sr=1-1
Codex Alera (fantasy)
http://www.amazon.com/Furies-Calderon-Codex-Alera-Book/dp/044101268X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279524012&sr=1-1
Here's the first book on Amazon, it has the rest of them on there too. I'm sure you can just pick them up at the library, but Amazon does a good job of giving you a preview and some reviews and stuff.
The only problem I have with the series is the cover art on the first couple books. They don't resemble characters in the book at all. Heck, they hardly even resemble scenes in the book!
Other than that, Bluemoonflame got it right. It also happens to be a "rags to riches" story following the main character Tavi.
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera is a wonderful bit of fantasy. Magic is set up in a pretty novel way, slightly akin to Avatar or Legend of Korra, with a lot more nuance. LOTS of political posturing and backstabbing, very much in the vein of aSoIaF. And if you've ever read Jim Butcher, he is occasionally funny as hell.
almost my entire "paper books" WL is things i want used copies of, including this one. i need this book because it's constantly recommended as an older fantasy novel that doesn't get enough attention AND as a strong female protagonist.
Buying a book is not about obtaining a possession, but about securing a portal.
The Deed of Paksenarrion: A Novel
Definitely try The Deed of Paksenarrion, then. Might take you a week to read. :)
The Deed of Paksenarrion is a wonderful series. Follows a woman from farmhand to hero in a wonderful way that feels...just different, but familiar. If you've ever played DnD it actually feels a lot like a really well written campaign. All three can be found in a single book here
Ishmael (and the rest of the series) by Daniel Quinn opened my eyes in my senior year of high school.
It's about a Gorilla, who has lived beside man for a number of decades and teaches a pupil through stories and analogies about how we are already at the cusp of civilization collapse. It's about a lot more than just that, namely the relationship of humans, animals, the planet, and how humans have a unique, egotistical view of themselves where we deemed ourselves rulers of the planet.
Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins is an eye opener as well.
Other great reads:
Magicians of the Gods by Graham Hancock.
Necronomicon
UFO's by Leslie Keen
Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
I also really enjoyed the Myst series by Rand & Robin Miller (the books the game is based on). It's about worlds within worlds and an ancient race of authors creating worlds through magical ink and books (sci-fi/fantasy).
Myst - The Book of Atrus Serene.
could it be The Book of Atrus? https://www.amazon.com/Book-Atrus-Myst/dp/0786881887
The Brothers' War by Jeff Grub
Its not a summary, its a pretty detailed account of the events that led up to the biggest conflicts and events in the mtg universe.
The Ravnica books are fun. Each one isn't as good as the one before it, but it kicks off as this high-fantasy detective procedural, very noirish and colorful, very reminiscent of Sam Vimes from Discworld.
If you're okay with e-books, you can get The Brothers' War for $5 on Kindle, Nook, or Kobo.
The Brothers' War: Artifacts Cycle, Book I https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786911700/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_7ErZDbV3FN96Q
Lately I've been ruminating on the Dark Elf Trilogy. I read it years ago, but I liked it a lot. If I recall, I once saw u/mistborn at The Dragon's Keep, and he liked that trilogy too.
I hope sci-fi is okay. Most of the time it's fantasy set in a different era.
no Dark Elf trilogy?
You can find physical copies of most older books on amazon for like $4.
Half price books, abebooks, thrift stores and shopping around for ebooks are all also options.
If you are looking for specific books there are some pretty reasonably priced compilations out there.
The Belgariad volumes one and two can be gotten for around $14.
All ten volumes of The Chronicles of Amber can be purchased for about $12.
All three volumes of the Dark Elf Trilogy can be purchased for around $12.
If you look around there are some pretty great deals out there.
The Magic Artifacts Cycle 1 and Artifacts Cycle 2 are great, just skip the Thran novel in cycle 1 to read once you finish Brothers war and cycle 2. Brother War in cycle 1 is probably my favorite book.
First off, get the two Artificat books, it is a collection of the stories from Urza's Saga.
Book 1
Which covers the Thran who were 3000 years before Urza and the growing up of Urza until he becomes a planeswalker.
and
Book 2
Which covers Urza as he travels the multiverse, realizes the threat that the Phyrexians really are, and starts his defense against them on Dominaria.
Then, read the Ice Age trilogy by Jeff Grubb.
Ice Age Cycle
Which covers what happens during the Ice Age on dominaria while Urza is away on his exploration. There are a lot more stories out there, but these should really grab you into the awesomeness that the story used to be.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=4774046&postcount=52
This is order that I'm using to read the books. I'm also going to go with the crowd and say that The Brother's War is a very good book, and the best place to start. It was recently reprinted in the Artifacts Cycle I omnibus, but don't read the first book until much later.
I believe it's in this one which is the re-print of the one I had as a kid.
The Otherland series by Tad Williams might be what you're looking for. There's four books in the series, and it deals mostly with a futuristic virtual reality game world. Can't tell you more than that without spoiling it.
Believe it or not there are quite a few good sci-fi books exploring these ideas already. Here is an incomplete list you may want to check out:
[This is the first sci-fi series] (http://www.amazon.com/City-Golden-Shadow-Otherland-Volume/dp/0886777631) I read as an adult. I remember enjoying it but it was almost 15yrs ago.
Other works of fiction that contain the concept of a metaverse;
Books
Anime and Manga
Film
----
I know I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the genre, because if there's one thing humans are good at, it's writing fucktons on what we like.
So feel free to comment additions to this list, or opinions on what I've currently included. I have by no means read/watched all of these, so having someone with actual experience with each of these weigh in would be nice.
Here is the new collection. You can buy them in hardback or paperback and apparently it also includes a map of the grounds!
The Emperor's Edge by Lindsay Buroker is about a group of bantering outlaws trying to do good. Like a fantasy A-Team if you will. The first book is even free on Kindle.
Lindsay Buroker is awesome. Her Emperor's Edge series is one of my favorites from the last few years. The first one of that series is free on Amazon if you want to try it. [Linky] (http://www.amazon.com/Emperors-Edge-Lindsay-Buroker-ebook/dp/B004H1TDB0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1420050103&sr=1-1&keywords=emperor%27s+edge)
I love this thread idea, though I feel like it's already mostly covered by the "What did you read this month?" thread. Still, far be it from me to not shove my preferences in everyones face.
Anything Lindsay Buroker puts out. Most known for her Emperor's Edge books. First one is free, just try it. Steampunk, bit of romance, fun cast of characters. It's nothing revolutionary, honestly, but I just have so much fun reading her stuff and I can't even tell you why. I'm just an absolute addict and she provides the crack in a timely manner. You think Sanderson writes like a machine? This woman must have self-triplicated somewhere along the line. 5+ books a year.
Next up would be J.S. Morin's Twinborn books. It's not exactly unknown on here, but it still needs a mention. Two series, one building on the other. Excellent work-building, cool characters, can't wait for what the author does next. It's mostly traditional Fantasy as you can get, but featuring Pirates, Magic, Empires, Demi-Gods and as of the 2nd series Steampunk, bit of SF and Transhumanism. Excellent stuff.
I also greatly enjoyed the short, fun read that was Larkspur. Not unknown on here either as the author frequents /r/fantasy relatively often, but still. MORE DAMN YOU!
Also, [Fae - The Wild Hunt] (http://www.amazon.com/Fae-Wild-Hunt-Riven-Wyrde-ebook/dp/B00IWOW2Y8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417986097&sr=1-1&keywords=graham+austin+king) by Graham Austin-King. He has a promo thread for the 2nd volume up on here right now anyway, but who cares? I loved the first book. Dark fairy-tale, novel approach to multiple POV story-telling. Can't wait for tomorrow. (2nd book release)
Lastly, [Book of Deacon] (http://www.amazon.com/Book-Deacon-ebook/dp/B0036FTF4S/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417986518&sr=1-1&keywords=book+of+deacon) by Joseph R. Lallo. Counting by the Amazon reviews it isn't exactly obscure, but I never saw it mentioned on here. Quite traditional "chosen one, save the world" Fantasy, but what makes this series is the diverse cast. There's a human magician and there's a fox and a dragon and... I'll just shut up now. Traditional in many ways, not so much in others.
Try these:
Zero Sight
Emperor's Edge
It's one of the last few novellas before they discontinued magic fiction in paperback. There's one novella for each expansion.
https://www.amazon.com/Return-Ravnica-Secretist-Part-One-ebook/dp/B009MYB82Y
Return to Ravnica: The Secretist, Part One https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009MYB82Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_PE0IBbHQ2GW1C
The source comes from the Creator. Hahahahaha, but seriously, here's the Kindle, and Nook versions of Unfettered. It's an anothology, so you'll be getting more that just River of Souls (Demandred's tale).
I left out where the story was in my first comment but I guess I could have posted a link too http://www.amazon.com/Unfettered-Terry-Brooks-ebook/dp/B00DJJIR6S
Could be wrong but I remember something in the short story in Unfettered
Stories with a similar feeling:
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/throne-of-magical-arcana/
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/a-sorcerers-journey (warning, not as good as the other 4)
but if you want kingdom building, then you really gotta read https://www.novelupdates.com/series/release-that-witch/
I would also suggest reading the daniel black series since it seems a lot like something you would enjoy...
Just remembered Fimbulwinter: Daniel Black Book 1. No Qi but the MC's goal is simply to survive the end of the world. Collects a merry band of follwers along the way. It is a good read and somewhat fits.
My bad, I was thinking of "Necromancer Awakening"
Have you looked into the "Play to Live" series? Its quite a bit darker than LMS but its one of my favorites. http://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-Play-Live-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00LYJOII6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421864024&sr=8-3&keywords=play+to+live&pebp=1421864028692&peasin=B00LYJOII6
Most people who start it end up finishing the entire translated series in several days.
If you like Savage Divinity and don't like MMO-ish rulesets, you might considering checking out Xianxia. I'd consider it kind of a LitRPG-adjacent genre, I guess? Clear stages of power progression without any sort of Game Mechanics or blue boxes at all. There a quite a few web novels translated from Chinese you might like, but the starting point I recommend is Coiling Dragon (on the web here or on KU here), and if you like it you have a TON of web-based reading material ahead of you my friend. If you want an English-native take on the genre /u/Will_Wight is doing a great job with his Cradle series.
D. Rus' Play to Live series has pretty epic battles centered around capturing and protecting player guild castles starting from book 3 on.
If you can ignore the occasional typos, the World at War series contains nice large scale virtual reality battles, but with guns instead of magic. The MC's company/guild does try to earn the top spot from an underdog position though.
The Spineward Sectors series isn't really virtual reality or fantasy, but sci-fi, and the battles are with starships, but from what I recall I would call them large scale where the MC has to try and hold his spot as Admiral.
For those interested in reading Will Wight's Cradle series (xianxia) the first 3 books are free until Thursday.Link.Edit: dead
U.S. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Path-Flames-Chronicles-Black-Gate-ebook/dp/B01DTTO9MI/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1504539676&sr=1-2&keywords=path+of+flames
some of the more popular ones:
Cradle: journey of a young man as he grows to become ever more powerful, first 3 books are free on Amazon right now:
https://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Foundation-Collected-Book-ebook/dp/B076G8DVN6
​
Riyria Revelations, starting with Theft of Swords, follow the adventures of a warrior and an assassin with a mysterious past.
https://www.amazon.com/Theft-Swords-Revelations-Michael-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B005N6MDBA
​
If you like RPG computer games, there is a whole section of fantasy and SF books categorized as litRPG or gameLit which are easy to pick up and are fun to read. Some examples:
-Awaken Online
-Limitless Lands
-Everybody Loves Large Chests (can also be read for free online)
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/8894/everybody-loves-large-chests/
Will Wight's "Cradle Foundation." Free on Amazon today. https://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Foundation-Collected-Book-ebook/dp/B076G8DVN6
The Spice and Wolf Anniversary Collector's Edition that I got weigh 6.7 pounds/4 Kg.
Update: New Amazon.com listing is up for the second run, but it's still saying not available, and is furthermore not being sold on the international sites at all (page 404s). Very odd developments…
I'm seriously considering it to get the translation done (I'd be willing to pay for the book since I'd ultimately keep it). I'll have to do some more looking into what that would cost and the logistics of it.
Edit: Unfortunately the more I look into what a translation would take, the less I think it's something I'll be able to get done. Since getting it translated would be my ultimate goal, I'm a lot less inclined to try to purchase the book myself.
Regarding organizing a fan translation: Logistically, getting a fan translation of a book is incredibly difficult to do; it takes a very, very long amount of time and oversight to get done right (having been a close follower of many fan translations or attempted ones from Japanese novels). There also has to be a significant following of the books to have the human resources to get it done which, unfortunately I don't think the portion of our sub interested in it can offer compared to other fan-translated books of say, Japanese Light Novels. I considered reaching out to some anime fansub groups that I've followed for a while about interest (or independent Japanese LN translators I've spoke with in the past), but they're so strapped with what they already do on top of their IRL jobs that it would just be insensitive to ask and would take an indeterminable amount of time for one person to do even if they wanted to (we're talking not within a year for an estimated ~200 pages). Even if I tried to organize such a thing the timing is really bad for me now (which is why I wanted to look at hiring out a translation) since I'm in the middle of finishing law school finals, then prepping full-time for my Bar exam, then transitioning into a full-time career.
Doing it any other way, such as paying someone to translate it, just isn't practical and is much more costly than I would have ever anticipated. Standard rates appear to be ~$0.10 minimum per word to do which, assuming the book is somewhere around 200 pages would bring the cost to over $5k USD. That seems to be more than I'd be able to raise if I tried, and frankly it's more money than I'd want to manage via crowdfunding even if I could.
If i can grab one of these on auction for around $150 USD on auction I'll probably go for it and see if I can get some kind of translation organized in my free time, but we'll just have to see. I'm not too keen on spending more for a book I may never be able to read than I did for a hard-bound, professionally translated anthology of books a couple weeks ago. Sorry all. Also, apologies for the wall of text, I didn't want people thinking I was just talking out my ass when I mentioned trying to make a translation happen - I really did look into it and it's just not practical as someone who can speak/read only enough Japanese to get around as a tourist.
That thing weigh like 5 pounds and the text is both tiny and has 2 normal pages as one page, separated by a blank column and is like $400
But seriously. All 20 books plus Wolf and Parchment are on Amazon so with Prime shipping it doesnt really matter if you buy them all separately or not.
When I made the plunge from anime to mangas and LNs. It snowballed hardcore after I got one touch of the stuff. I started out buying the Spice and Wolf Anniversary Collector's Edition of the light novels and it quickly devolved from there.
Since that purchase about 3 weeks ago I have bought many intro manga volumes and LNs.
I'd say I'm pretty deep at this point.
I have all the LN + the special summary.
Just wanted the summary, cause it's a nice collectable.
This one: https://www.amazon.com/Spice-Anniversary-Collectors-Isuna-Hasekura/dp/0316469920
And got it for free, cause Amazon was incompetent with shipping the thing from UK to GER
Yup! All 18 Volumes tightly packed into a Collector's Edition!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spice-Wolf-Anniversary-Collectors-Ayakura/dp/0316469920/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=AGW8BEN4P90Y9BY1409C
Yesterday according to this. I have literally no idea anymore.
The Revelation Space series by Alistair Reynolds. It follows a cast of characters who are investigating the disappearance of an ancient alien race on a planet several light years from Earth. People, pigs and primates all work together to avoid certain deeeath.
Sounds like a weapon from Relevation Space.
[edit] For those who don't know what that is, it's a great SF book. There is a space ship containing dozen of mysterious kida evil half-self-aware doomsday devices built by advanced human race which is no longer around. SLAM seems to fit right in :P
Here is the first book of the series on amazon
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, starting with Furies of Calderon and going from there. I really enjoy the character development and the interesting use of magic.
One of my favorite series...I'm getting ready to read it again soon.
You really have to start from the beginning. The second trilogy is almost impossible to keep track of if you don't read them one on top of the other.
Jim Butcher my mistake. I've been fatigued as hell all week.
I would love love LOVE a Kindle...I want one so badly, as it would mean I would no longer need to lug round a heavy bag of books whenever I go on a long trip (Which is quite regularly) and I would also be able to read much more comfortably as I often read laying down on my side aha! Here is the E-book I would love, I've heard great things about it and stupidly I've never got around to purchasing it to read :/ Thank you for this contest btw :)
Try Metro 2033. It's about a post-apocalyptic Moscow, where all remaining civilization exists in the subway tunnels.
https://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/0575086254/ref=bseries_primary_1_0575086254
I'd say they are just different editions with no different content between each other. It also might be the handbook version. So I'd say they have nothing different between each other, but if you want the one with the original cover it is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/0575086254/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368129050&sr=1-3&keywords=metro+2033 ;)
Read The Deed of Paksenarrion and you will no longer wonder what a Paladin is.
As for their real-world inspirations, look to the court of Charlemange and the Holy Roman Empire. See Paladin and Palatine.
I'll throw in The Deed of Paksenarrion. It has some shortcomings, but if you get into it you're in for a treat. Some suspension of disbelief is very practical when reading fantasy :)
If you haven't already... and was asoiaf really your first fantasy? Anyway, if you haven't already, check out Pratchett's Discworld books.
You have so much wonderful reading ahead of you! I am almost a tiny bit jealous. :-)
Try Tamora Pierce's novels for sure. They are all good, but her earlier books are geared more towards young readers than some of her newer ones. Personally, I would start with the [Protector of the Small] (http://www.amazon.com/First-Test-Protector-Small-1/dp/0375829059/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407034954&sr=1-1&keywords=first+test) series. If you like it, you can go back and read the two earlier Tortall series (the Song of the Lioness series and the Wild Magic series). If you like it but find it a little juvenile, read the [Daughter of the Lioness] (http://www.amazon.com/Tricksters-Choice-Daughter-Lioness-Book/dp/0375828796/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407035106&sr=1-1&keywords=tricksters+choice) series and the [Beka Cooper] (http://www.amazon.com/Terrier-Legend-Beka-Cooper-Book/dp/0375838163/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407035135&sr=1-1&keywords=becca+cooper) series instead.
For the Arthurian element, definitely consider the Mists of Avalon, which is the Arthurian myth retold from all female POVs, including Morgaine (aka Morgan Le Fay).
However, without a shadow of a doubt, my all time favorite fantasy novel with a female POV is the Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon. It's actually a trilogy published as an omnibus edition and is one of my all-time favorite books. I have read it a million times and I still feel the same sense of joy when I get ready to start reading it again. Honestly, I can't really describe the impact this book has had on me, especially as a woman who loves fantasy and sci-fi. I hope you will give it a try!
*edited to add links and fix a few embarrassing typos!
I finished The Deed of Paksenarrion (it's a three book trilogy released as one) by Elizabeth Moon this summer and I adored it. Lengthy character build-up, a beautifully described world setting, and really enjoyable if you're looking for a fantasy novel with a female main character.
Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion is quite good.
And while not female centric, de Lint's Newford books manage to represent strong and believable female characters well.
It used to be a video game! Or, is a video game, one of the oldest to use computer generated environments, puzzles, and the authors released the books behind the events of the game, or leading up to it.
https://www.amazon.com/Book-Atrus-Myst/dp/0786881887
You started with Exile? Not such a great introduction to the story. Start with the original game and play it as if you're actually there. Try to what you'd actually do if you were stuck on an island full of strange machinery - poke around, read things, and try to find a way out. Finishing the game is well worth your patience.
Also, if you're interested you might read the game's backstory beforehand. Things will make much more sense if you do.
Yep. They're written (mostly) by Rand Miller. I think Robyn helped with one of them, but Rand did the others. I may have that backwards, but it's one of those ways. ANYWAY.
There are three books. You can get all three in one novel now called the Myst Reader. The first book, Book of Atrus is/was out of print and is harder to find, so the Myst Reader is a great resource if you want all three.
The books are The Book of Atrus: about his childhood, his meeting of Catherine, and his relationship with his fucked up father, Gehn, and his grandmother, Ti'ana; The Book of Ti'Ana: goes back in the past to show what happened to the D'ni, the people who created and perfected the Art of Writing Books (they're all capitalized in the books as well for a reason); and The Book of the D'ni: takes place after the first two and falls sometime after Riven, but before Exile. It's about Atrus and Catherine trying to rebuild what is left of the D'ni people and culture.
If you like Myst, the books really do flesh out what happened in the games much much more. Things click better. And, it makes the games more haunting, I feel. The only thing that isn't mentioned is the full extent of what Sirrus and Achenar did. I don't even think it's mentioned at all, actually.
Also, there's supposed to be two new books coming out sometime, but there's no information on when that might occur.
Wow, no kidding on the "next to nothing" claim. You can get the paperback of the first one for 15 cents (plus ~$4 shipping) on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Atrus-Myst/dp/0786881887/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500427093&sr=1-2
Here are some links:
http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Urza
http://www.amazon.com/The-Brothers-War-Artifacts-Cycle/dp/0786911700/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397226055&sr=8-1&keywords=the+brothers+war
This is my absolute favorite MTG Lore book. The Brothers' War is so crucial to the Lore I seriously recommend it, it's incredibly good!
I'd been having some problems getting into reading in elementary school. It's not that I couldn't do it, it's more that nothing I had was interesting to me. Then I found my brother's copy of Homeland by R.A. Salvatore. It was the first book in a three book series. I read the entire series in three days. I did nothing but read for three days. I wasn't hungry, I wasn't tired, all I wanted was to read. There were times I wasn't consciously aware of what I was reading. . . but the narrative formed in my mind none the less. It was fantastic.
Just looking around a bit, I found these three possible novels:
Although, all of these have differences to what you described.
---
These are in a similar vein, but are missing important details, so I doubt they're what you're looking for. Figured I'd mention them anyway:
I've probably not been much help, but hope you got something useful/enjoyable out of this!
:)
RA Salvatore -- the Dark Elf Trilogy
Excellent stories, wonderful protagonist and fantastic writing
Oh man, he absolutely looks like a Rocko.
Or maybe a Ted?
good luck naming him though! Beautiful animal.
I would definitely read this to my dog, she's spoiled and needs to be tucked in for bed.
But this is just for me.
Hey man, browsing through top posts so sorry for replying 2 months afterwords, but this art is specifically for Magic the Gathering, which has an incredibly unique magic system, both the game and the lore of the myriad of planes it takes place in.
There are some books about this, I've read one called the Artifact Cycle I (which is actually 2 stories in 1 book) and I loved it. Also at the MtG website lots of articles about these planes get posted.
So if you just want to delve into all of this amazing magic, there you go, or it's a great place for inspiration if you are creating your own stuff.
On a quick note, this book is truly awful. The plot is a convoluted mess, the characters are shallow, flat, or completely unrealistic, and the language switches from 'overly verbose English major' to 'under medicated pre-teen'.
If you're looking for good Magic novels, go for the Artifacts cycle of books.
If you want something more recent, I would recommend the recent Planeswalker novels.
This reminds me of one of Rien Poortvliet’s illustrations in the 1970s “Gnomes” book.link
More on the fantasy lane, but who doesn't like gnomes? If you haven't read or browsed this classic, you're missing out. It's beautifully illustrated with intricate and often hidden details and reads like a field guide to the hidden world of gnomes, trolls, and other fantastical creatures.
Fucking hell, Wizard alt-right. That is fucking terrifying. You're amazing. Is the "Rookie War" something your timeline has happening currently?
I know you said in another post that you've considered writing a book but that you find it easier to write history and backstories rather than action and adventure. Have you considered writing it as a history textbook?
Or maybe a coffee table book. Something similar to Gnomes by Wil Huygen and illustrated by Rien Poortvliet, but doing it as a history of the magical world instead of an anthropological look at Gnome culture.
Just collecting the posts you've made here would be about 75% of the writing.
Ok, possibly secret nugget of awesome: Tad Williams' Otherland series. Starts off fairly slow but when it gets going, you're in for a good, long ride, as there are four books in the series, each with nearly 1000 pages.
Also, Connie Willis has a clever, almost frenetic writing style that I really enjoy. I particularly liked To Say Nothing of the Dog but she has a number of novels that involve her own particular take on time travel.
An older classic that not everyone reads, Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. Like Frank Herbert, Wolfe definitely writes for adults, and also like Herbert it's hard to say whether what he has to say is really significant or if he's just pulling philosophy from his ass.
I can't believe no one has said the "Otherland" series by Tad Williams.
I think it's his best work.
Only one of the major characters doesn't know he is in a virtual reality but almost all of the characters visit multiple virtual worlds and try to discover it's secrets. There is an amazingly diverse cast of wonderfully real characters. check it out
There’s a really nice set that came out last year for the 20 Years - if you’re in UK it’s the new edition covers and the art is really good. Here’s a link - box set on amazon
Edit - which, incidentally, after looking at the post you linked to, is the set they have in the top left corner
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Potter-Box-Set-Collection/dp/1408856778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496783077&sr=8-1&keywords=Potter+book+set
If you want the exact set that is in the picture, you'll need to get the British versions.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Potter-Box-Set-Collection/dp/1408856778/
whats so special about this edition over lets say the originals like this one? : https://www.amazon.ca/Harry-Potter-Box-Set-Collection/dp/1408856778
They came in a box set that my Ex got me for Christmas, I think they're from 2014
https://www.amazon.de/Harry-Potter-Collection-Joanne-Rowling/dp/1408856778/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=1KBUMXR8KVPFT&keywords=harry+potter+b%C3%BCcher+englisch&qid=1571857524&sprefix=harry+potter+b%C3%BCcher%2Caps%2C213&sr=8-1
That's one of the few books that shaped the way I think after reading it, then really gave me deep philosophical insights I hadn't considered before.
Another good example of this was The Prince Of Nothing series by R Scott Bakker. You really reconsider what true strength and power are, and how human interaction is all about leverage on every level.
I've just finished The Windup Girl, which I had been putting off for some time. It was, quite simply, the most astounding and breath-taking science fiction book I've ever read. I loved it.
However, my problem is that I buy books compulsively. Mostly hard copies, but recently I bought a Kindle and buy the odd e-book or two. I have literally hundreds of books on my "to read" list.
One near the top is A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. I recently read her phenomenal Wolf Hall and was blown away by her skills as a story teller. I'm a bit of an armchair historian, and I'm particularly interested in the French Revolution (amongst other things), so I'm very excited by the prospects this book holds. If it's anything like Wolf Hall then I'm in for a very particular treat.
Also near the top lies Quantum - Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality, Manjit Kumar's much lauded recent history of the emergence of quantum mechanics. I very much enjoyed other tangentially related books on this topic, including the wonderful The Making of the Atomic Bomb and The Fly in the Cathedral, so this should be good fun and educational to boot.
Having read and loved Everitt's biography of Cicero, I'm very much looking forward to his biographies of Augustus and Hadrian.
I'm listening to an audio-book version of The Count of Monte Cristo on my iPod, which I find rather enjoyable. I've only got through the first half dozen chapters and it's already taken a few hours, so this looks to be a nice, long-term and periodic treat for when I have time alone in the car.
Cronin's The Passage keeps piquing my interest, but I was foolish enough to buy it in that lamentable format, the much cursed "trade paperback", so the thing is a behemoth. The size puts me off. I wish I had waited for a regular paper-back edition. As it is, it sits there on my bookshelf, flanked by the collected works of Alan Furst (what a wonderfully evocative writer of WWII espionage!!) and a bunch of much recommended, but as yet unread, fantasy including The Darkness that Comes Before by Bakker, The Name of the Wind by Rothfuss and Physiognomy by Ford.
Books I have ordered and am eagerly awaiting, and which shall go straight to the top of the TBR list (no doubt to be replaced by next month's purchases) include Orlando Figes's highly regarded history of The Crimean War, Rosen's history of steam The Most Powerful Idea in the World and Stacy Schiff's contentious biography of Cleopatra.
A bit of a mixed bunch, all up, I'd say.
https://www.amazon.ca/Darkness-That-Comes-Before/dp/1590201183/
On Amazon Canada.
The Prince of Nothing series is pretty much one big journey. Book 1 is The darkness that comes before
Books not mentioned so far that I like:
Lev Grossman's Magicians Trilogy (not 1st-person, otherwise follows your criteria, Harry Potter-esque, some people dislike the protagonist but he's intentionally kind of a tool), starting with The Magicians.
R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy (not 1st-person, magic is seriously powerful and the protagonist is an already-accomplished practitioner, mythology is complex, I don't recall it having a huge amount of characters), starting with The Darkness That Comes Before.
If you're willing to step outside of prose works, I like The Books of Magic a lot; it's a comic book miniseries.
Hello,
For some reason, the links for these books were not working for me from the article, so here are direct links to them on Amazon:
Hopefully, that will be of use to people wondering where to download these from Amazon.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
A Planeswalker is one who walks between planes. There are an infinite number of planes in the Multiverse (which is where the entirety of Magic takes place). Planes can vary from a single landmass (like Innistrad) to an entire world with orbiting suns (like Mirrodin). The ability to move between planes is incredibly rare, and is what differentiates Planeswalkers from regular mages. All the Planeswalkers we've seen have had at least some ability to perform magic, but I'm not sure if it's a requirement.
If you want more lore, there are lots of places to get it. The MTG Salvation Wiki is a great starting point, since all the lore is in one place. Outside of that, the lore comes in a bunch of different mediums. For a long time, Wizards of the Coast published novels. Then they switced to doing short, online comics. For the most recent set, they released a series of 3 e-books, called "The Secretist" (Book 1, on Amazon, is here).
You also get a lot of lore from just playing the game. The card art is fantastic, and many cards have "flavour text", which is just italic text at the bottom of the card to give you a better sense of its flavour.
Yep, in the little-publicised eBook that accompanied the Return to Ravnica series, entitled "The Secretist". Not actually a terrible read.
The actual books of course you have to buy, but the short stories are usually on the mtg story page for free.
In 2005-6 original Ravnica had a three book cycle named after the sets: Ravnica, Guildpact, and Dissention. In 2012-13 Return to Ravnica had a three book series called the Secretist Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash, and Dragon's Maze. For this set there will be a War of the Spark book, and some time in June or so there will be a series of short stories that probably will be released on the MTG site.
There's also a Story section to their site that has short stories for each one of the recent blocks. The most recent stories are at the top, and if you scroll down you can open stories for previous blocks back to at least Tarkir.
Unfettered
I just tried searching amazon for this (never heard of it) and all I found was this: http://www.amazon.com/Unfettered-Terry-Brooks-ebook/dp/B00DJJIR6S/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1409916955&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=river+of+souls+brandon+sanderson
is it the same thing? I'm really interested in finding this!
Ah, yes. You mean the "In Favour with their Stars" story in the Unfettered collection, I think.
https://www.amazon.com/Unfettered-Terry-Brooks-ebook/dp/B00DJJIR6S/
Haven't read that one yet, though I might have $3 for the eBook. I hadn't expected more than a whimsical Temeraire dream about flying around in space. So I'm surprised by your description.
"She didn't go in to the particulars of how dragons did (or did not) reshape history extensively by their presence."
I can understand that. I suspect that is why she ended the series where she did, historical points were about to start diverting greatly and without a team of historians, she'd would be spending far more time figuring out how each dragon shaped ripple changed the future and the series isn't popular enough to justify spending that much time on it.
"it actually became hugely maladaptive to be a heavyweight or even middleweight dragon, as they were expensive to feed and mechanical work was more easily accomplished by machines."
That was my outlook as well, though I suspect Novik was a bit optimistic/kind in her view. I can imagine the matter becoming quite nasty with rationing and taxes being levied on dragons as well as population control.
And I could also see anti-mechanical racialists on the dragons side who destroy any machines that could replace them. We've seen how taxi drivers panicked when Uber came out. How are dragons going to feel when the only things they can do is being replaced by machines. Dragons will feel the same about machines in the 1900's as humans do about about robots today.
And what happens when dragons start rioting?
Congrats on finishing! WoT really is a wild ride, no other series has left me with a feeling even close to what I felt when I put down AMOL for the last time...
As for your reread, I just want to let you know there are some other books and stories that can help expand your reread. New Spring is an awesome prequel book to the series, I would recommend starting the reread with that first!
Also, if you want to get alllll the info you can on Randland, the WoT Companion book is an awesome encyclopedia of it all while The world of RJ's WoT is almost like a mini textbook describing much of the land and nations. Lastly, there is a very very short story about Bao the Wyld, it's basically a deleted scene. I'm not sure of the ways to access it besides getting the Unfettered anthology though that one is pretty cheap and has a lot of other very good stories from varying authors.
Either way, enjoy the reread! I'm doing my first reread now and I'm having a blast catching all the foreshadowing and hidden gems :)
The Daniel Black books are pretty good. Unfortunately there are only three at the moment.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Fimbulwinter-Daniel-Black-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00KZ41LHM
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22500562-fimbulwinter
It's about a man who has a string of bad luck and at his bedside at the hospital a goddess from another world appears and offers him a new life if he will become the guardian for her last priestess and keep her alive in the apocalypse.
I like how he uses magic in the universe, always experimenting and coming up with new inventions.
I love this type of stuff too so I have some suggestions for you!(Read the real descriptions for the books, these are just quick ones I put together.)
[Books]
Fimblwinter
This is about a man who, when down on his luck, made a deal with a goddess to protect her last follower in another world.
Schooled in Magic
This is a story about a girl who was abducted from her world because she was a Child of Destiny...problem is her mother is named Destiny, is it a fluke?
Portals of Infinity: Book One: Champion for Hire
One day William walked through a portal in the woods into an entirely different world and after staying a while decides that this world might be better for him.
[Manga]
Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari
One day our protagonist Naofumi is browsing a bookstore and finds a book that sucks him into another world as a hero! The thing is though, everyone looks down on him because he is the Hero of the Shield which people think of as weak.(Only 7 Chapters so far)
[Light Novel/Web Novel]
Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou
A class of highschoolers are transported to another world and become Heros, among them is Hajime, our protagonist, who received an artisan class and mediocre stats. This is his story of fighting through hardships and persevering.
Mushoku Tensei
A 34-year-old NEET otaku was chased out from his house by his family. This virgin, plump, unattractive, and penniless nice guy found that his life was heading towards a dead end. He recalled that his life could actually become much better if he can get over the dark history of his life.
Just when he was at the point of regret, he saw a truck moving at a high speed with 3 high school students in its path. Mustering all his strength, he saves them but ended up getting run over by the truck, which kills him.
The next time he opens his eyes, he had reincarnated to a world of swords and magic, as Rudeus Greyrat. Born to a new world and a new life, Rudeus declared, "This time, I'll really live my life to the fullest with no regrets!" Thus begins the journey of a newly made man
Log Horizon
Just read the description on the site. It has the basic premise of SAO, but it is very different than SAO.(Has an anime also)
These are the only one I can think of at the moment.
Edit: formatting
Series. One of my favorites. First one is called Fimbulwinter.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/10073/the-wandering-inn
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/14396/the-snake-report
https://www.amazon.com/Unsouled-Cradle-Book-Will-Wight-ebook/dp/B01H1CYBS6
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/5701/savage-divinity
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/15935/there-is-no-epic-loot-here-only-puns
(guilty pleasure)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KZ41LHM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
I tend to like stories that make me laugh and make me think. Here are a couple recs that met that criteria.
The closest I can think of that has the same feel as the land is the "Play to Live" series by D Rus. Crunchy, covers almost every subgenre of LitRPG, including lots of base building, and a not so beloved MC.
https://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-Play-Live-LitRPG-Book-ebook/dp/B00LYJOII6
https://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-Play-Live-LitRPG-Book-ebook/dp/B00LYJOII6
so side colors and spring log is in the main series? (the one with 1-17 books), also took a look at Amazon but they dont seem to have Parchment and Wolf, (i asusme its the one with daughters) nor can i find info where to buy via online unless its actually called Spice and Wolf: New Theory, either way they are both missing on amazon it seems.also i found this https://www.amazon.com/Spice-Anniversary-Collectors-Isuna-Hasekura/dp/0316469920/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491817640&sr=1-2&keywords=spice+and+wolf does this give me all 17 books?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spice-Wolf-Anniversary-Collectors-Ayakura/dp/0316469920/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480771351&sr=8-1&keywords=spice+and+wolf+collectors+edition
Is this the second edition? I thought only the international edition was being sold outside North America?
Biggest height? 11”...
https://www.amazon.com/Spice-Anniversary-Collectors-Isuna-Hasekura/dp/0316469920
Sounds interesting. And is available for dirt cheap.
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
So long as we're suggesting books, give this a try.
You went to Verblijf Op De Boerderij in Malempre, Belgium for some pancakes and ice cream (because Belgian pancakes are fancy.)
This is my book. :)
If you need something that you can mention at a party or in an interview that'll make you feel smart, I'd suggest Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. It's the kind of book you can bring up to make yourself seem smart, but unlike Atlas Shrugged it's actually interesting to read and has some (largely) insightful ideas about technology.
Alternatively, if you need something more fun to read, I would suggest Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series. It's a pretty fun fantasy romp that is largely enjoyable to read if you want to turn off your brain.
I would recommend The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher - here’s the first book in the 6-book series!
The whole series is one I can read over and over and absolutely love it every time. Thanks for the contest! 😊
GOOD IF YOU LIKE "EPISODIC" STORIES RATHER THAN EPICS. I ACTUALLY LIKE THE FURY SERIES BETTER THAN DRESDEN.
The Realmwalker Chronicles are very Avatarish, but with more of a traditional Western fantasy aesthetic. It's probably the closest to Avatar I've seen in fantasy novels, complete with a main character that has access to all the elements. You can find the first volume here.
I'll second the recommendation for Codex Alera. It's elemental magic, but with elemental spirits called "Furies" as the source of the magic, and a Roman-style society. You can find the first book here.
You might like my own books, too. I use a broader variety of "elements" and a hard magic style, though. For example, flame sorcerers draw on their body heat to make fire and sight sorcerers draw on their eyesight to make illusions or sight-modifying spells. If this sounds like your style, my first book is on sale at the moment here.
Yesterday I ran this colossal fucking tournament for the PC platform fighter Rivals of Aether (Available now on Steam!). Along with two other people I run 3 online tournaments every week for this game, which has quickly turned into a terrifying monolith. Luckily, the T.O. team is made of sterner stuff than mortals - we're like about as tough as a hardcover book, actually. Today I played Kerbal Space Program until I remembered I'm bad at Kerbal Space Program, then I started my re-read of Applied Cultural Anthropology, or... (How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Cruciatus Curse), because it updated after a year-long hiatus and I didn't know what was happening. Also because I'm a lonely disgusting fanfic-reading filthmonster...
I'm trying to read a book a week for 2016 and I've completed the first step of that process by enduring Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher. I liked The Dresden Files a lot more than this higher-fantasy stuff, which is a shame. Next up on my list is Hyperion. I've been told that this novel contains a spaceship called THE TREESHIP YGGDRASIL, and that is all I know.
AOTD1: I woke up at like 7 AM this morning, disgusted with myself. Luckily I managed to pull off a noon-2 nap, which felt great.
AOTD2: Book a week for a year.
Metro 2033 and 2034 by Dmitry Glukhovsky. Basis for the Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light games. Great post-apocalyptic book in an unusual setting. Focuses more on the people than the apocalypse, and is a very dark novel.
Amazon link.
> I'm not afraid of rats,
Me neither, but I spoke to a council rat catcher a few weeks ago (when came to eliminate some rats in my loft) and he said that they are becoming immune to all the poisons. It's a real problem apparently.
Now read Metro 2033 and these rat stories will become more entertainingly frightening for you.
The book "Metro 2033" also refers to stalkers quite a bit. I haven't played the game yet, but I assume that they are mentioned there as well. I thought that the book was pretty good. Didn't much care for the ending.
Oooh, that sounds interesting.
If you want some general inspiration on apocalyptic horror fiction then try reading Metro 2033 by Dimitry Glukhovsky. Tremendous apocalypse fiction
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/0575086254/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1289835951&sr=8-3
This says not til april 2011. I see some used copies though. I guess that will have to do. I loved the video game. If the book is anything like it, I'm sure I'll love it.
The UK version's still pretty cheap, try getting it from Amazon.co.uk.
It's somewhat confusing me on the ordering, though. Would this be it, the trilogy? or this?
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?
The Circle Trillogy by Ted Dekker is an absolute must-read. Its not what I would call "high fantasy" (No elves or dwarves here) but it's superb fantasy none the less.
I have also really enjoyed the Myst trilogy. Ignore the fact that it's based of a video game. It's some of the best fiction i have read In a while.
The Myst series? The Edge Chronicles series?
When I was a teenager I somehow ended up with a book about Myst and it was actually really good. The Book of Atrus
It was told
The Brothers War is the one I've always heard is good. I am currently about half way through it and have really enjoyed it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Brothers-War-Artifacts-Cycle/dp/0786911700
I enjoyed reading them. They provide a deep background story behind the characters in the cards. They are good serial novel quality.
I would start with The Thran and The Brothers War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering_storylines
If you enjoy those two, you'd like the rest of the series.
Here's the amazon link if you want to buy it. I wouldn't recommend reading the wiki if you don't want the story spoiled. The books tht follow it are all in the "related" section. There's also a 4th book I forgot to mention, called "Bloodlines".
The brother's war, Chainer's torment, and Nemesis are the 3 best standalone novels. IE, if you look at the novel alone, not in context of the cycle it's in.
http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-War-Artifacts-Cycle-Book/dp/0786911700/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345670302&sr=1-1&keywords=the+brother%27s+war
http://www.amazon.com/Chainers-Torment-Magic-Gathering--Odyssey-Cycle/dp/0786926961/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345670284&sr=1-1&keywords=chainer%27s+torment
http://www.amazon.com/Nemesis-Magic-Gathering-Masquerade-Cycle/dp/0786915595/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345670264&sr=1-1&keywords=magic+nemesis
Edit * Forgot Arena : http://www.amazon.com/Arena-Magic-The-Gathering-No/dp/0061054240/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header
I'll give you a link to the Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Elf-Trilogy-Collectors-Homeland/dp/0786915889
It does sound like a pretty amazing story. Mostly excited because it's a subterranean setting lol.
Drizzt from The Dark Elf Trilogy. He is such a fascinating and lovable character, throughout his development, we find such likable, and heroic qualities. Talk about rooting for an underdog.
Dragonlance is good, but the Dark Elf series (Drizzt Do'Urden) is better.
The Dark Elf Trilogy: Collector's Edition (Homeland / Exile / Sojourn) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786915889/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_izRpzbMC13FGR
The Dark Elf Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore.
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Elf-Trilogy-Collectors-Homeland/dp/0786915889
No problem. I suggest starting with Homeland. There is also a book with the whole trilogy in one volume. Chronologically, it's the first in The Legend of Drizzt series.
His Drizzt books are the most famous. But...the writing in the beginning of the series....is not near as good as the later books.
So it depends on how much time you have. I'd say you could start here:
http://www.amazon.com/Trilogy-Collectors-Homeland-Exile-Sojourn/dp/0786915889
Its a good balance of being early on in the series, easy to read, and not terrible writing.
Me again. they just re-released the best as a compliation: The Brother's War and The Thran as Artifact's Cycle 1.
Here it is on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Artifacts-Cycle-Magic-Gathering-Omnibus/dp/0786953055/ref=pd_sim_b_1
Other good places to start are the comics of the new planeswalkers:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/multiverse/planeswalkers.aspx?x=mtg/multiverse/webcomics/main
And if you want summaries of books and things, there's a blog that does chapter by chapter coverage daily:
www.mtgfiction.com
That's a good start. If you want a more comprehensive explanation/summary, there's the mtgsalvation wiki:
http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Category:Storylines
That's the name of the original book. They compiled the earlier books into an omnibus. Which is this
Interestingly, I found that Phyrexia (Magic: The Gathering) has a decent example of Eugenics - especially when it goes too far (and how could you prevent it from going that far?). Book Here
http://www.amazon.com/Artifacts-Cycle-Magic-Gathering-Omnibus/dp/0786953055/ref=sr_1_sc_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1412578674&sr=8-3-spell&keywords=magic+the+gathering+Artefacts+book
These are by far my favorite books of Magic. The Brother's War is an amazing novel, and The Thran gives you the origin story of the Phyrexians and Yawgmoth, which later on develops into an important plot piece in other books.
Copying this from an earlier, similar post:
Here you go.
Of these, the following on available for e-book:
In addition to the Secretist books.
Prior to Alara, each set had a matching novel, so each set had a triology. They never sold well, so Wizards eventually condensed them into single books for each set, but also added in single books for the new generation planeswalkers (the ones we have now). The Secretist is a revival of the book series, since no book was published for Innistrad, but using a different format: one short novella for each set, which should all together add up to a whole novel, similar to the Alara-era books but with a more encompassing feel. They're using it as a test.
You can also find the Artifact Cycle collections in physical copies, which are very worth the read and extra cash.
The Zendikar, Scars, and Innistrad stories happened mostly via a now-
happenedabandoned-by-Wizards medium, webcomic. You can find the relevant stories here.The dictionary.
I changed my mind. This was very Anglo-centric of me, and wouldn't get very much about our world across. Instead I choose... Gnomes.
Seriously. Do none of you people remember that there's an entire guide to Gnomes out there?
Not scifi by a long way, but Brian Froud & Alan Lee's book Faeries (google images) is one of the most beautiful compilations of art I've ever seen - think "history of Irish folklore" done in the style of the Dark Crystal and The Labyrinth. Myths from around the world are illustrated in fantastic style.
Similarly, Brian Froud's Gnomes is an absolutely gorgeous book presenting itself as a documentary of the lives of gnomes from around the "old-world" (Ireland across to Siberia), and how they work with & around woodland animals. If you grew up with access to woods or forests, this is basically a beautifully-illustrated love story to that magic.
Going slightly more towards scifi now with Terry Pratchett's The Last Hero illustrated by Paul Kidby. More a comicbook than anything else, but does have amusing technically-illustrated-descriptions of vehicles, characters, animals and scenes that you don't normally get from the novels.
Nice! It was this book that made me love gnomes. Welcome to RAOA!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0810998467/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?qid=1413249052&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
It'll be like this.
In that case, sir, I remove my nonexistent hat to you. I do not own a smartphone, as I already own a phone and consider myself smart enough already.
When I can close my eyes and be online, then and only then shall I consider moving with the wave of current technology.
Yes, I have high standards... but what is the point of standards if you do not keep them high?
You might like Tad Williams Otherland series.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Potter-Box-Set-Collection/dp/1408856778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493131388&sr=8-1&keywords=harry+potter+books this version!
Is this worth $63?
[see here] (https://www.amazon.ca/Harry-Potter-Box-Set-Collection/dp/1408856778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538756791&sr=8-1&keywords=harry+potter+box+set)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Potter-Box-Set-Collection/dp/1408856778
Hope that is some help
This is the set I recently bought and would recommend it. If you live in the States, shipping is only like $15. Totally worth it though.
Edit: I also have this set, but I think it's only available in the States.
As someone who hates the original UK covers and is a teacher I really like the new Bloomsbury covers they have brought out because apart from the fact Harry doesn't age they are inviting for kids to read.
You should be able to buy the books on Amazon UK here. It's $54 for the entire paperback set including the $10 shipping.
Which is honestly a pretty good deal...
This is what bothered me while shopping for the Prince of Nothing trilogy. At the time, the first two books were only available in the old design, while the third one had a new design. Eventually I found the third one in the old design as a bargain book.
D&D campaigns can be great starting points, so don't let that stop you. It's about what you do with it after that.
As far as the subject matter alienating readers: Are you more worried about alienating "mainstream" readers with fantastical content or alienating fantasy readers with "mainstream" content? It actually doesn't matter, because neither one should concern you, but I'll address them both anyway.
One of last year's most well-received novels was a post-apocalyptic vampire story, and R. Scott Bakker demonstrated that you can write a series that's really about politics, ideology, and self-deception, even if it stars a wizard. Hell, The Name of the Wind dedicates whole sections to getting drunk and playing the guitar.
Personally, I find the mixing of content far more interesting than anything that's stalwartly dedicated to some kind of genre "purity".
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
The Darkness that Comes Before - R Scott Bakker
Amazon Link
Yes, his first novel either puts people off or sucks them in (Gardens of the Moon). In fact, I accidently started with the second novel, Deadhouse Gates just picking it up in Barnes n Noble. It was easier to follow the first, as Deadhouse is a bit more "compressed" for story lines.
The arc of the series is STAGGERING in scope, and probably isn't slowing down.
However, I will say he's a bit repetitive in characters, too many characters, too much philisophical preening which seems out of place, but that can occur a bit more in the later novels.
The emotive scenes, however, are farkin brilliant. The "power levels" get irksome (characters shift and change, aren't consistent).
I will say those who are trying to find some dark fantasy are truly missing out on R Scott Bakker "The Prince of Nothing" series, of which I find superior in writing (not comparing PLOTS) to GRRM.
http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Comes-Before-Prince-Nothing/dp/1590201183
GRRM has his own plot genius, but his writing plods to me.
Bakker's novels are some of the darkest, violent, evil and philisophical diatribes out there. I have re-read them about 8x (its a 2 part 3x book series), and the depth of history is rather amazing.
Gets into physics of magic, politics, nations warring, what-would-an-hyper-intelligent (as in, average human is a "child" comparatively) monk do to the world?
First off, check out ereaderiq where you can curate a list of kindle books to watch for price drops. It will send you an email so you can grab it. Also it has suggested price points to watch for and a history of the price.
I recommend The Emperor's Edge which is free. It' s steampunk fantasy mystery series and the first book is free. The rest are I think less than $5.
There are also a number of cheap agatha christie collections for the kindle. I would read the reviews to see what the quality is though. Happy reading!
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
amazon.co.jp
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Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
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Shards of Alara lore is in the novel Alara Unbroken
Return to Ravnica has a trio of novellas: Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash, and Dragon's Maze. There's also the Planeswalkers' Guide, and some scattered short stories floating around somewhere.
Original Ravnica has a trio of novels: Ravnica, Guildpact, and Dissension.
Part One, as requested.
The history they share is all covered in the Return to Ravnica block story. That's all covered in the Secretist eBook. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Those stories detail how Jace became the living Guildpact, which is really the biggest plot detail that has lasting impact from those books.
The short story River of Souls came out in the summer:
http://www.amazon.ca/Unfettered-Terry-Brooks-ebook/dp/B00DJJIR6S
Some of the LitRPG stuff on Amazon qualifies for this. There are quite a few cool original English stories as well as some great translated (mainly from Russian) stuff on amazon available pretty cheaply or for 'free' if you've got the monthly kindle unlimited subscription.
The Daniel Black series and the Dragon's Wrath series most closely match the kingdom/etc building themes you're asking for.
I can't really see any translated novels that I read and someone else hasn't already recommended, but here are a few English ones:
Worm, it's a completed web novel with a lot of chapters. Although I dropped it halfway through, I think it's a really good read (and has tons of good fanfics as well).
Daniel Black (book)
Contractor (book)
I think the only book I know like this is Fimbulwinter by E. William Brown.
Here is the mobile version of your link
Well, I had recommended it about 8 days ago, but doubt you saw the post, so http://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-Play-Live-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00LYJOII6/
Now move onto AlterWorld: Play to Live!
You might enjoy the LitRPG novels or Rational fiction. Try Play to Live, Survival Quest or Two Year Emperor.
> Play to Win.
is this it here?
http://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-Play-Live-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00LYJOII6
sounds awesome! thanks!
If you like VRMMO read AlterWorld.. its pretty good.. I definitely recommend it if you like LMS and Ark
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-Play-Live-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00LYJOII6
Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22812333-alterworld
Anyone who read into the series of D.Rus. (Alterworld - Play To Live) on Free Folk?
https://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-LitRPG-Play-Live-Book-ebook/dp/B00LYJOII6
Yeah I tore through them pretty fast. The first couple are solid gold, but #5 and #6 kinda gets away from the good stuff a bit. http://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-Play-Live-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00LYJOII6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1452878704&sr=8-5&keywords=d+rus
I guess here we found the real difference - i think Subaru has a much, much better position of power compared to Naofumi. I always viewed those niche powers related to time travel as superior. It tilts me to oblivion to see how he wastes nearly all of its potential, and he doesn't even try to adjust his abilities to his use properly, like you said - on the contrary, he tries to use it less. I remembered that part thanks to you and it was another tilter for me. Istead of "sit and think for a fucking second" he just denies himself from his position of privelege/power. And he isn't even locked to a warzone like in Edge of Tomorrow, where it is much harder to bend his next respawn. By the way, am i remembering this correctly, after trying not to rely on his power too much, he just restarts his conversation with ram/rem in the end to get a desirable answer? Not relying on his powers too much you say?
Come to think about it, i don't remember how many times did Subaru die? I get it, in Edge of Tomorrow he is a military adlut person so it is much easier for him. But, you have to get used to it at some point in some form, instead it just.. never happend in a coherent manner. I remembered a few plot points that never made much sense to me - like that curse from a DOG. Nani the f? Or suddenly a whale becomes a raidboss. So its not only the duel that made me upset - everything never delivered. Pretty much every plot point after first arc never delivered for me. There was a huge cliffhanger when everybody was dead and there was a... wolf? I dont remember what was happening there but i didn't like the outcome of that either. Investigation quest about the dog was very upsetting because he didn't do a good job investigating, and if i recall correctly he found that curse dog by luck or something similarly silly. And same goes for nearly everything - i just couldn't bring myself to believe.
A sidenote: O, shiet. I just found out that those books i am currently reading were translated to english - you can take a look at them. https://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-Play-Live-LitRPG-Book-ebook/dp/B00LYJOII6
Edit: Oh, a guy in comments is saying that after book 3 it drops. I am already noticing it. Still, first/second books are good-to-great, i am in the middle of third one and it is still good.
Perhaps these might be your thing. "Best" is subjective.... so you are subject to my opinion, heh. They ought to keep you warm for a bit.
Phil Tucker's Path of Flames series
Benedict Patrick's Yarnsworld series
Patrick Weekes' Rogues of the Republic series
Tad Williams, A Stark and Wormy Knight
Mike Shel's Aching God
Brett Herman's Chaos Trims My Beard
Evan Winters' Rage of Dragons
My favorite book series is getting a new book.
Cradle by Will Wight. r/iteration110cradle
It's in this year's SPFBO and Pornokitch gave it such a great review that I had to pick it up right away. IMO it's the real deal and might be the next Blood Song. Go read the kindle sample already.
This is just a really good dark fantasy series that no one ever talks about.
One of the very few fantasy books that not only doesn't have human protagonists, but the world doesn't even have 'standard' humans. Well worth trying out
The Heir of Night is a strong first book that manages to tread the line between young adult and "adult fantasy" really well. The second and third books in the series just get even stronger.
How many books do you read about an Aztec priest forced to solve a mysterious death? Unless you've read this series, not enough.
This book won last year's SPFBO and out of the books I read in that competition, it was easily my favorite. Sadly it's no longer free, but even for $6, it's a complete bargain.
This is a book filled with strong characters and an engaging plot. It didn't really stick the ending, but I still enjoyed it.
This series starts out feeling built on two stereotypical societies, but the author does a really good job of making things more complicated than they first appear and including a really rousing story. All four books of the series are now out and they're completely worth your time.
Maybe the only book on my list that will actually make it big, despite 12 Kings being recently published, it was just too strong a book to not to include on my list.
It's the second book in the series and while the first book was good, Heaven's Needle just hits it out of the park.
Alter World is probably one of the highest quality ones out there since it has an actual physical print in Russia also available on Amazon digitally in English with a high quality translation. You can read a synopsis here. The translation speeds not to bad about 1 to 2 full books a year as well.
One book that I think handles power creeps in a really interesting way is the Cradle series by Will Wight. The MC starts out the most weak and useless member of his tribe, all of whom have some magical ability, except him. Through an encounter with a basically godlike being from another world, he learns that his clan, which he thought was the strongest in his world, are actually babies compared to the real forces at play. He learns that if they continue to live in ignorance to the world around them, they'll eventually be wiped out, and is given the chance to grow strong enough to save them.
What I like about it is that the MC becoming almost godlike is kind of a given right from the time you learn about the rest of the world, but it's the journey and path he takes to get there that really drives the narrative. Its also got a kind of video game feel in the way it's structured, there are specific 'levels' and ways to 'power up', but still retains enough softness in the system that you're never quite sure how it all works.
First books are also on sale at the moment. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076G8DVN6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_4bMxCbB5AFRQB
Starts slow but really picks up when it gets going.
Alterworld is like Zhang Long, except better in every way, shape, and form. It's slow to start, but the cultures and worldbuilding within the virtual world are amazing to read!
I'll suggest a couple of Korean movies, I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses for mainstream choices:
I also liked Beowulf & Grendel.
For a book this one really sticks in my head if you're into the fantasy genre:The Deed of Paksenarrion
I mostly get audio books.
The books this year.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Metro-2033-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/0575086254/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1499160105&sr=1-1&keywords=metro+2033
http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Metro-2033-Audiobook/B0082BEE88/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1499160116&sr=1-1