Book suggestions

[2mspris]

@EmmahSue Probably the closest to flavor that I need is stuff that falls in as being a modern story. Stuff that can be suggested as an alternative to 50 Shades, or an "if you read this, you might like these". It was suggested to add some Megan Hart, so we've added a few of her titles, but looking for some other ideas.

We do have the Clan of the Cave Bear series. And some Lucia St. Clair Robson (who could get pretty graphic with her historical fiction).

[Cobalt]

@2mspris Add Maya Banks Sweet series, there are six of them and they are a bdsm/domsub series that you can stick the "like 50 shades?" label on. There are also the books by Cara McKenna.

[Cobalt]

I will probably tryy the steam and seduction series, and the fscifi and fantasy one from Emma, but I don't really like Sherilyn Kennyon or Kelly Armstrong.

[Miss Demeanor]

For Erotica.. The Sleeping Beauty trilogy by A. N. Roquelaure (aka Anne Rice). VERY interesting 'what happens after the kiss' expansion to the Sleeping Beauty story. ^_^ Definitely has BDSM themes.

Johanna Lindsey's Mallory Clan novels are GREAT period romances with plenty of sex.

[Arkandel]

I just finished the Skull Throne, book #4 of the Demon Cycle. Pretty good epic fantasy stuff, the whole series is very much like the Wheel of Time's earlier novels when it was actually good and going somewhere.

[Derp]

@Coin said:

"John Dies at the End" is pretty great.

Agreed. This is one of those things that I can legitimately hipster about, because I was reading it when it was still just free and published per chapter online.

Don't forget 'This Book Is Full of Spiders' too.

[Templari]

@Coin fist shake Curse you and your taste!!

Now I have to budget in re-buying all the Death-Gate Cycle Books (been putting that off for a while now), then may as well continue the Weis-Hickman bender with Rose of the Prophet, Star of the Guardians, Darksword and throw in Mag Force 7.

Edit to Add: Oops, I didn't realize how far back that post was. Somehow I missed this topic.

[Arkandel]

Since I was just talking about this, I'm still reading The Vagrant. The writing is compelling but extremely unorthodox - it's all in the present tense with the majority of the dialogue described rather than being explicit.

The theme though is amazing. The world is post-apocalyptic in a setting invaded by demons who are corrupting everything, bringing about mutation and disease as well as their own contentious politics while the old stagnant regime led by the angelic self-righteous Seven is crumbling. The story follows the Vagrant, a Seraph Knight who never says a word but is carrying three things of note; an extremely powerful singing sword, a baby, and a goat.

It got really fun once I got past the writing style since it features very strong themes of corruption versus nobility without beating the reader over the head with them. Essentially it's Mad Max meets *<insert Samurai movie here>" in a backdrop of futuristic fantasy.

[Arkandel]

The new Mistborn novel is out! Brandon Sanderson's Shadows of Self came out today.

Also - has anyone read The Dinosaur Lords to give a brief review? I'm curious - I mean the premise is massive armies of dinosaur-riding knights clashing in an alternative medieval-era setting, so how can that possibly go wrong?

[Arkandel]

@Arkandel said:

The new Mistborn novel is out! Brandon Sanderson's Shadows of Self came out today.

Notice the time difference between this and the last post... it will demonstrate once again why Sanderson is a book-writing AI.

... The new Mistborn novel is out! The Bands of Mourning came out today.

[Arkandel]

@Arkandel said:

The new Mistborn novel is out! Brandon Sanderson's Shadows of Self came out today.
... The new Mistborn novel is out! The Bands of Mourning came out today.

... I think he's just messing with us.

The new Reckoners novel by Brandon Sanderson is comes out tomorrow! Calamity - a post-apocalyptic superhero series of novels - is the third installment in the series.

That guy can't be human.

[Arkandel]

I just finished the Magician trilogy by Lev Grossman. Man, those books were so good.

There's a TV series out which I also like but it's only very loosely based on the novels. However the original material was excellent - I had read the first installment a few years ago before the sequels were completed yet and then neglected to get back into it.

Especially for nWoD* Mage fans it's a must-read. It hits all the right notes - from the hybris to the wonder, magicians in the series often command vast power and they are sitll unhappy, flawed beings residing in a universe whos workings they can tap into but can barely understand. There are always bigger powers around who can reach out and very brutally extinguish or torment them and the author manages to juggle character growth (Quinton's evolution is quite remarkable) and plot threads bringing them together in unexpected ways.

I really liked this stuff. Read it!

[Cadi]

So I'm looking for more books to read. I'm really into psychological thriller books and I'm fascinated with unreliable narrators or when the narrator/protagonist exhibits sociopathic/psychotic tendencies.

Some examples:
'The Shooter Inside Me' (Jim Thompson)
'Gone Girl' and 'Sharp Objects' (Gillian Flynn)
'Grotesque' and 'Out' (Natsuo Kirino).

I read The Girl On The Train and it didn't appeal to me as much. it was nice, decently written but it felt lacking somehow.

[Arkandel]

Rise from the grave, thread!

Some good books I've read lately:

Iron Prince, by Bryce O'Connor. Sci-fi, progression fantasy, fun dialogue, light romance. If you like 'military school' settings this works pretty nicely.

The Hedge Wizard by Alex Maher. Just about as close to D&D a book can be without being published by WotC, with some mature dialogue (F-bombs, nothing extreme) and just a touch of grimdark fantasy. A lowly wizard in search for money to pay the bills enters a party to enter a dungeon. Fun, diverse and interesting characters made it a good read for me. I enjoyed the magic system, and its 'dungeons' setup could make for an intriguing MUSH setting!

[reimesu]

I just read "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik and it pretty much blew me away. It didn't go where I thought it would, which made it a lot better, and it was a wild ride.

I know, I'm late to the party.

[Arkandel]

@reimesu Hey, the party had been dead for like 7 years in this thread.

Do you care to give a quick synopsis of what the book is about or why you liked it?

[reimesu]

@Arkandel Sure! It starts off looking like it's going to be a Beauty and the Beast knock-off, but one where the Wood is more of an antagonist than anyone else. Except the main character's faults turn into her strengths and she never becomes a "typical" heroine. She doesn't magically become coordinated or beautiful or able to do anything in a typical fashion. It also incorporates some Russian myths and quite a lot of twists and turns in the plot.

That one was so good that I'm about to start "Spinning Silver", which is a take-off on Rumplestiltskin. And I think I have some of her Temeraire Chronicles, which I'm given to understand is the Napoleonic Wars with dragons, but I haven't started those yet.

[Derp]

I think I mentioned this one awhile back, but: Project Hail Mary

Honestly, I'd give you a synopsis of what it's about, but not knowing what it's about is kind of the point. The main character wakes up with amnesia, and has to piece together what happened, where he is, and why he's there, and it comes back to him in bits and pieces throughout the entire book, each one taking you deeper down the rabbit hole.

But the characters in it are absolutely adorable. They have just the best -- let's call it bromance, for lack of a better word and without going into spoiler territory. And you get to watch these absolute science nerds just science the shit out of their situation in plausible ways.

Seriously, you should read it. It's fun as hell.

[lordbelh]

@Derp I read it, liked it. I don't think that it's his best novel, mind. But if you're into the geeky side of space travel and its difficulties, and find the idea of how weird life could be out in the cosmos, it's certainly worth the investment.

@Derp said in Book suggestions:

But the characters in it are absolutely adorable.

One of them is, anyway. I wasn't entirely on board with the development of the main character. Basically he knows all the science, and can apply it, but also has amnesia? He wasn't bad, mind, not enough to ruin the story for me. But I did find him a little bit lacking, and occasionally how he got to his solutions a bit contrieved.

[Hella]

@reimesu said in Book suggestions:

I just read "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik and it pretty much blew me away. It didn't go where I thought it would, which made it a lot better, and it was a wild ride.

I know, I'm late to the party.

Naomi Novik is an amazing storyteller! I've really enjoyed all her books, and if you haven't, check out her Temeraire series. So good

Along those same lines, if you haven't already, you could try Madeline Miller. I just finished reading 'Circe' and every sentence feels like an artform. It was beautiful and engaging.