The Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books Thread Book • Page 14

I didn’t think the first two were dense. Just under-described in places. He doesn’t hold your hand, but if you can get through A Dance With Dragons or The Silmarillion, you won’t have problems here.

 

Interesting. I definitely need a series that lasts for a while.

 

The major hurdle for new readers of Malazan is that Erikson drops you right in the damn middle of everything and doesn't explain much, at least not right away. And there's thousands of years of mythology and stuff that can get overwhelming

 

I 100% won’t remember a damn thing if/when I go back to the series.

 

I did attempt to read Gardens of the Moon one time but did not make it very far, and it 100% felt to me how I would imagine it would feel to just take a series of books and pick one of the books that is at least 2 or 3 books in and randomly just start reading. I am sure this feeling goes away if you stick with it, but I ended up not reading any further.

 

Yeah and I've said it before, but Gardens was written 10 years before the second book, and it shows.

 

It was also originally meant to be a screenplay

 

Just finished The Black Company and immediately want to start another long series. Any recs? I want something dark and gritty, a la Malazan or Aspect-Emperor. Read all of Sanderson, Abercrombie and ASOIAF so I'm good there. I had planned on reading Glen Cook's Dread Empire but Black Company was only okay so I'm not feeling like jumping on it. Also thought about The Demon Cycle but I worry it won't be dark enough. I noticed a series from TIm Akers called The Hallowed Wars, and that sounds like it could be good, but I also kind of hate the cover.

 

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is a must if you haven’t read it yet. It’s even better now because the ongoing sequel series is great too.

 

Ooh thanks, I like the look of this. Starting now

 

Ooh I loved Black Company. Erikson was def inspired by Glen Cook

 

I had a lot of little issues that held me back from loving it, I didn't think the dialogue was very strong and my biggest issue was the entire format of them being written as Annals. Croaker was fine same with the Lady but Murgern and Sleepy were both a bit annoying and trying to be funny and it's just like you're stuck with their voice of the whole book. I loved the second book and all the books of the South but once they settle in Taglios for the Glittering Stone everything was just sort of alright. I still enjoyed it, obviously since I read all the damn books, lol.

Very easy to see where Erikson drew inspiration but he improved upon everything in every way.

 

Just finished the first book, thanks for the rec, that was great. I'm going to read a non-fantasy book then probably hop right into the second book. Also, you were asking a little bit ago about how Malazan compares in density to other fantasy series...I feel like this series is pretty damn close to being as dense so if you can do this Malazan should be fine.

 

Okay, that should be fine then. Thanks!

 

Finished Deadhouse Gates and went right on to Memories of Ice. Are they all 800+ pages?

 

They get longer with each book. The first ICE book is basically a novella though.

 

Speaking of book length I just started To Green Angel Tower and I like how the first two books were only about 600 pages then there's this 1,000+ monster of a finale.

 

Do the thread regulars read sci-fi too? I've always been a fan of like Star Trek and Mass Effect, but somehow never really got into reading sci-fi. I think I want to change that. I've recently read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, which isn't great. Any recommendations for good series?

 

I read quite a bit of both. Been slowly searching out the genre; I find sci-fi much harder to get into than fantasy.

Mary Robinette Kowal's The Lady Astronaut books are phenomenal alt-history retellings of the space program after a meteorite hits the earth in the 50s and speeds up an extinction event. The first just won the Hugo, but I think the second is even better.

There's a young adult series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff--the Illuminae Files--that is absolutely fantastic. And the three audiobooks are the best productions I've ever listened to. They're nothing insanely technical or scientific, but they're a really great launch of point into the sci-fi world, especially for me.

I've listened to Hyperion by Dan Simmons, and it's a phenomenal "Canterbury Tales in space" (for a really reductive way to say it). There are three others (which I think @Vivatoto has read) that I have on my shelves, but haven't quite got to yet.

Sylvain Neuel's Themis Files trilogy is something I see derided a bit around the web, but I really enjoyed it. Read all three in like two and a half days.

And, of course, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a classic for a reason.

Some standalones I've really liked are:

Neal Stephenson - Seveneves
Neal Stephenson - The Rise and Fall of DODO (Not sure this really fits, but it's very fun)
Robert Sawyer - Calculating God
Larry Niven - Lucifer's Hammer (one of my all-time favorite sci-fi)
Emily St. John Mandel's - Station Eleven (top ten favorite book of all time)


Many people in here love Cixin Liu's "Three Body Problem" trilogy, but after finishing the first, I had little to no desire to go read the rest of it.

 

Thanks for this!

I also find it hard to get into for some reason, even though I love sci-fi TV and games.

 

That was my experience as well. I've been slowly listening to/reading more over the last two years. Made a real concerted effort to choose famous books and such to try and ease in. I'm a big fan of apocalyptic (meteors, supervolcanoes, super bugs, and nuclear holocaust) literature in general, so finding some sci-fi that blended these themes really helped.

 

What I dislike about some of the fantasy I’ve read is that the scope becomes way too big. I like small-ish main cast that is on an adventure. That’s probably why I like fantasy.

 

I've been slowly reading more Sci Fi...I think my standards are higher for it then any other genre, but in all fairness a real sci fi nerd would probably laugh at my favorites so I mean its just my own weird standards.

Three Body series, and all of Dan Simmon Sci Fi (Hyperion Cantos, Illium series) are my favorites. I also loved George R R Martin's Dying of the Light. Sanderson's Skyward could also be considered Sci Fi and I'm digging that.

An example of a series I just could not get into is The Expanse. Waited 4 books for it to get good before giving up.

 

Starsight comes out this week! I’m such a Sanderson shill.

 

Yeah I've been only reading short books since I finished To Green Angel Tower so that I'll be able to start it right away. So excited.