I will never stop bumping this thread. Wool by Hugh Howey is a serious contender for book of the year. I'm at the point now where I'm putting it down on purpose because I'm going to be sad when it's over.
Last year's winner was Lexicon, by the amazing Max Barry.
Registered Member #23778
Joined: 11:10:32 am GMT 02/06/14
Posts: 63
Even if you don't like Warhammer 40,000, I suggest you read The First Heretic, and Aurelian, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. Dude is a freaking awesome author and a wonderful guy in person to boot (he signed a personal copy of Aurelian for my late bestie in time for his funeral and bent over backwards for it, which was just so awesome of him).
Difficult to explain this one, and I'll admit, its not an easy read for many. But for beauty and a book experience you've never seen the likes of before
Difficult to explain this one, and I'll admit, its not an easy read for many. But for beauty and a book experience you've never seen the likes of before
Registered Member #198
Joined: 6:30:40 pm GMT 08/02/04
Posts: 2228
If you liked the Magicians trilogy (well the two that are out, third is soon) from the post Talla made, I will recommend The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker. A chick is sorta lost in her place and while visiting an area wanders through a portal to another land where magic is real. She falls in with a evil fae queen and is rescued by a magician and has to learn the way of the world till she can get back home. A really strong book for an author's first release.
For quick and witty books (though I like the audiobooks because of the narrator) the "Kitty Norville" series by Carrie Vaughn are fun reads. Werewolves, vampires, skinwalkers, demons, djinn, fae, wizards, ghosts and witches all wrapped up in a subplot of world domination one syndicated radio show at a time.
Peter Cline's "Ex" series (Ex-Heroes, Ex-Patriots, Ex-Communication) is an odd mix, but I find quite enjoyable. Superheroes that failed to stop the zombies from taking over the world have barricaded themselves in the old Paramount studios in Hollywood, CA with a few thousand survivors. It hops from current events to past ones to tell origin stories of the current characters as well as several side ones or undead enemies, then back into the current events.
Dawn Cook's (who is actually Kim Harrison) Truth series (Lost Truth, Hidden Truth, ect).
The "Hollows" or "Rachael Morgan" series by Kim Harrison is a fantastic series. A bio-engineered virus found its way into a tomato and wiped out alot of humanity, but the witches, werewolves, vampires (living and dead) were immune to it and revealed themselves and stabilized the world governments in the 1950-1960 time frame. Fast forward a few decades to "modern" times and the storyline starts. Kim Harrison was basically told that as long as she wanted to write the series, she would be published, but the 13th book in the series is supposedly the finale comes out in September. I also highly recommend the audiobooks for the series as Ms. Gavin does a truly wonderful job. (she also narrates the Truth series and Kitty Norville)
I also just picked up this book, NPCs, that I will likely read after the end of the Zodiac series I am currently on.
What happens when the haggling is done and the shops are closed? When the quest has been given, the steeds saddled, and the adventurers are off to their next encounter? They keep the world running, the food cooked, and the horses shoed, yet what adventurer has ever spared a thought or concern for the Non-Player Characters?
In the town of Maplebark, four such NPCs settle in for a night of actively ignoring the adventurers drinking in the tavern when things go quickly and fatally awry. Once the dust settles, these four find themselves faced with an impossible choice: pretend to be adventurers undertaking a task of near-certain death or see their town and loved ones destroyed. Armed only with salvaged equipment, second-hand knowledge, and a secret that could get them killed, it will take all manner of miracles if they hope to pull off their charade.
And even if they succeed, the deadliest part of their journey may well be what awaits them at its end.
Registered Member #1727
Joined: 12:49:13 am GMT 06/04/11
Posts: 277
I've read just about everything written before 1980.
Recently I've not had time to catch up, but here are some that stand out from the past century or two (in English at least, and in the genre I think relevant, and in no particular order):
Mark Twain
Robert Heinland
Isaac Asimov
Gene Wolfe
Michael Schawnwick
Orson Scott Card
Ernest Hemingway
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Stephen King
And of course, Anne Hathaway. I know she is not an author, but there it is.
I definitely missed a few, and I'm so sorry, oh yes, Charley Dickens, and Steinway, and...*music starts playing*
Oh and Tolkien, more of a mage than an author, but still very lovable *music speeds up*
Frank Hebert, Larry Niven, Michael Moorcock, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Shelley, Connie Willis...
*Martin Short escorts Cain off the stage and tell a really funny joke about him*
[ The Island of Thain ]
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