JONATHAN STRANGE is unusual, in that the narrative has very little 'drive'. The book is not at all a 'page-turner' the way Stephen King or Clive Cussler works are. You can comfortably and pleasantly read a chapter per night without being forced to short yourself on sleep, and what you read will not give you nightmares or cause you to start awake at three a.m. wondering what that noise in the hallway was. This is not a usual feature in books these days -- authors usually strive for quite the reverse. As a result it feels old-fashioned, entirely apart from its historical setting. But, as they say in the computer field, this isn't a bug, it's a feature. Go with the flow, and enjoy it for what it is.

Brenda

Janalyn,

yes, I read Ilium and Olympos (back to back) in July. There's lots to like about these books, but I still think the Hyperion series is better, maybe because I read that series first? I like Dan Simmons for how he synthesizes themes from literature, Philosophy and Science in such wildly wicked and mind-tingling ways.

Has anyone read any of Peter Hamilton's space opera-type novels? I was wondering where would be a good place to start with him and whether he's recommended. I'm also interested in George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series (I haven't read any of his books), but with my TBR pile being so huge right now, I need another series like a whole in my head. Maybe next year...

"I like Dan Simmons for how he synthesizes themes from literature, Philosophy and Science in such wildly wicked and mind-tingling ways. "

Exactly! In Hyperion, I loved the Keats persona.

I read Hyperion a long time ago and I don't remember any of this. Was I not paying any attention? Perhaps it is time to look at it again.

Janalyn, did you find any SF/fantasy goodies on your bookstore expedition?

I have read Peter Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction series. I suggest you begin with the first one, The Reality Dysfunction, Part 1: Emergence. However, I have to say that I was quite disappointed in the book that ended the series; I don't think I'll read more of his series, if any should come out.

I enjoy some of Sherri Tepper's works, notably The Gate to Women's Country and Grass. I also like David Brin, his Uplift series and The Postman, which I read long before the movie came out.

I also like space opera occasionally, and read David Weber, mostly for that.

Those of some that come to mind immediately. I have hundreds, literally, of paperback science fiction novels, and weed them out between Christmas and New Year's, every year. Those I don't think I'd enjoy re-reading, I trade in at a used book store.

For space opera you can hardly do better than Lois Bujold's Vorkosigan series. If you like them, these books are like crystal meth -- addictive. It is impossible not to read them all.

Brenda

I'm not sure how I by-passed this thread earlier - SF/Fantasy has long been a steady genre in my house!

I'm not sure how "au courant" I am, but here are some favorites of mine: ( not nec. in order of preference )

1-I'm another fan of Dan Simmon's Hyperion...I read the first one early on, and when I went back to it, and read the sequels, it hit me in a more philosophical/religious questing period in my life, and I found the last books, esp, moving. I do like having some of those old liberal arts memory cells reawakened!Ilium is nearing the top of the TBR pile, just under --

2-Neal Stephenson's books -- DH had to re-assure me that I could follow Cryptonomicron -- and since that succeeded, I've been working on "The Baroque Cycle" over the last couple weeks, and am part-way through "The Confusion". I'm not sure if how to categorize these - not quite historical fiction not quite fantasy, not quite romance. I've been kind of thinking of them as Dorothy Dunnett - esque, with a very modern twist.

3-I've read a number of Stephen Brust's Taltos books, and like those very much. (guess I like the slightly sardonic tone, lol)

4- Some older favorites-- Larry Niven writing with Jerry Pournelle et al...."Beowulf's Children", and "Legacy of Heorot", for instance. ALso, "Footfall", "Lucifer's Hammer", and "The Mote in God's Eye"...

5- Also, Greg Bear...both DH and I really have liked his works -- "Eon", "Darwin's Radio", etc etc

6- Maria Doria Russell's "Children of God", and "The Sparrow" got mixed reviews in our house. I found them intriguing and somewhat mystical; DH didn't quite care for them...

7-an author somewhat overlooked, I think, is Dave Duncan. His books are usually witty, and well written...I haven't been quite as taken with his recent series of "The King's Blades", but have read them nonetheless. I really enjoyed his early series "A Man of his Word", and "The Great Game"

8- one of my favorite authors is Judith Tarr. Definitely fits in the historical fantasy category - her books often take place in the Mid-East, some around the time of the Crusades, but she brings in the fantasy/magic angle really, really well, and yet her historical research seems very well grounded. "The Hound and the Falcon" is one...

9-Merging Aurthurian fantasy with a space/SciFi setting, Patricia Kenneally Morrison's trilogy (The Copper Crown, The Throne of Scone, and The Silver Branch) were fun, and well done. However, her later books I started to find formulaic, and a little too "romantic" for my taste.

10- to end my list - a flurry of YA writers, whose books DD is devouring at a prodigious rate, and when I can, I swipe a read or two: Tamora Pierce, Garth Nix, and Jonathan Stroud's Bartimeus series....

I think that's enuf for now , LOL --

take care
litlbit

Well, after reading everyone's comments & recommendations, I must not be a "fantasy" fan!
I have not been able to get through any of the books by Brin or Le Guin and although I read a couple by Connie Willis, Doomsday & Passage I didn't care for them.

My tastes seem to run to authors like Asimov & Arthur Clarke and the old favorites like 2001 & the sequels.
Or The Foundation & Robot series by Asimov.
I have read some of the older sci-fi books, but as I sit here my mind has gone blank, so can't recall names!

Pat

I have not been reading much recently, but have just finished Timeline by Michael Crichton which is a time travel story set in France during the period of the 100 Years War. Enjoyable, but unfortunately when I got about three quarters of the way through I found I had read it before. Don't you just hate that?

The SF author I probably liked the best was an older one - John Wyndham who produced The Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes, The Midwich Cuckoos and many others. Perhaps it's time to revisit some.

Bill

Some of the "old favorites" have new incarnations -- for instance, there are now prequels to the Dune series, written by Brian Herbert(Frank's son) and Kevin J. Anderson...I've found these quite good, and well planned out in terms of filling in a lot of back history, and giving some "flesh" to the house rivalries, etc.

Another group of writers (Greg Bear, David Brin, and Gregory Benford) worked on some "additions" to the Foundation books by Asimov. While the different tones and styles of the different authors is noticeable, all 3 books worked well with the originals, I thought.

Just some "food for thought"!

take care
litlbit

Has anyone read The Sevenwaters trilogy by Juliet Marillier? I have been tempted to purchase these but am not sure of how good they really are.

Re: Sevenwaters ---- I've read them....I thought they had an interesting premise, and generally hung together well. Her writing is reasonably good. If this sounds lukewarm, well, I'd have to say that they were a good, absorbing read, but didn't "blow me away". I do have a liking for celtic-derived fantasy, which this definitely is; so take that into account!

Have you read Morgan Llywellen's fantasy books?

take care,
litlbit

No I looked them up on Amazon and the reviews were pretty favorable. Have you read them, and if so how good were they?

I'm not a sci fi reader per se, but I loved Robert Silverburg's Majipoor books. I think I need to order them off Amazon to re read.

Quiltkrazy--The Morgan Llywellen books that I liked best were: "The Elementals", "Finn MacCool", and "The Druids". "Bard" was ok, but I haven't liked her more "history" ones ( Like "The Lion of Ireland") for some reason....not really sure why.

Bumblebeez-- I liked the Majipoor books, too...man, it's been years since I've read them...Recently, tho', I read his "Roma Eterna", which was quite good, but quite unlike Majipoor...

take care
litlbit

In the library the other day stumbled across a book I liked better than I would have expected. It is called Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls by Janet Lindskold. (BTW, there is another book in print with the same title but a different author.) I didn't have high hopes of this book but ended up enjoying it very much. The main character is a 30 year old high-functioning autistic woman who can speak only in quotations, but who can get information from inanimate objects.

I'll look for more books by this author. I so love discovering a new author.

There's another SF book with an autistic hero out. SPEED OF DARK, by Elizabeth Moon.

Brenda

I love Katherine Kurtz's series The Adept -- especially its pre-series novel "Lammas Night" -- and her books with various stories of the Knights Templar.

Also -- Simon R. Green's Nightside series.

I am back from my camping/hiking trip and while I took 7 books with me, I didn't read any of them. The weather was too fine; I have some great moose pictures and one of the best loon photos I have ever taken. I've also got a wonderful picture of the backside of a bear (which in my opinion is the best side) but unfortunately I am the only one who knows what the black blob in the picture is.

I will shortly be reading a Stephen Baxter sci-fi, new author-to-me novel -- it's a paperback that I borrowed and bought from the library. I bought it because it got wet from a leaking water bottle in my backpack. I felt like a guilty six year old taking it in to the library and telling them I would happily pay for it. Sure hope that it is good.

Looking forward to finding the other titles listed above when the weather changes and I'm stuck inside,
J

A new author for me is Guy Gavriel Kay...
the book: A Song for Arbonne.....an alternate medieval world.

Hello first user,
I have read all of Guy Gavriel Kay's novels. I think Tigana is my favourite -- I always envy readers discovering an author I enjoy! You have lots of good reading ahead.

Kay is a writer of great charm. I don't know how he does it but I always like his characters, and even when danger is about, I am comfortable in his world. Are those trivial reason's for loving his novels? How does an author do that?

With science fiction, I generally read for the adventure and the ideas and only infrequently do I find that I like the world created. I read the 1st of Greg Bear's Darwin series and, much as I was fascinated by the science, I truly found the characters unpleasant to the point of nastiness. Arthur C. Clarke wrote wonderfully inventive books, but I don't think I ever cared about a single character.

Nancy Kress' Beggar series explores the effect on society of gene manipulation and I found it quite good.

I love Neil Gaiman's work. He works in the fantasy realm and uses myth from all over the world. American Gods looks at what happens to the gods brought with immigrants to America and then abandoned for the modern gods of TV and commercialism. Neverwhere takes our tendency to look away from the homeless and helpless and imagines a fantasy underground world of the London subway system where we really cannot see the inhabitants. Sounds like they would be unpleasant screeds, but they are quite charming. And of course, one cannot forget his fabulous Sandman series of graphic novels.

Gaiman has taken the place in my heart of the departed Roger Zelazny, another writer of great charm. He too used myth to build his stories. He has three distinct styles of novels. There are the pure fantasy of the Amber series, the sci-fi adventures of exploring post apocalyptic worlds and other planets, and the more serious look at what happens to us as our culture changes drastically.

Janalyn, I earnestly hope you didn't take all seven books in your backpack. While reading is the keenest of the many passions of my life, I don't think I could bear the weight of more than one paperback. (And generally that is some kind of guidebook.) If you did, you have just become my reading-and-hiking hero!

Rosefolly

Sadly I do not deserve the title of reading-and-hiking hero. Now however, I have something to aspire to.

No, the other books which were hardcovers stayed in a protective area at base camp. Our hiking trips were day trips only which suits me just fine now because the weight of those full week long hiking backpacks would now cause me to fall over backwards so I would resemble an upended turtle. I do not like getting older.

Our day trips are enough. My husband recently bought a GPS and he is in love with it. It is like hiking with C-3PO, much to my annoyance. I do not want to know my hiking speed, our distance travelled, time stopped and a record of our exact footsteps. (Unless lost of course) There is more, but this isn't exactly the place to vent...and he is an engineer so I guess it's part of the package I married. ;-)

ROFL! My husband is an engineer too and he just loves gadgets. His favorite is his heart rate monitor for running, but he also has devices to measure how many miles he climbs when biking, as well as how fast he goes and how far he travels. It would drive me nuts if I had to listen to all this data as a live commentary, but since I walk instead or running or biking, his pleasure amuses me. After all, we all have our favorite toys.

Didn't really care for Illusion myself. It was okay but not one I'd foresee myself reading again.

George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series is one that I have enjoyed so far.

Stephen Brust's Taltos series has been interesting but some friends of mine had difficulty w/ a few of the books. Brust 'experiments' with different writing styles which can take gettng used to.

The Forge of God by Greg Bear was one I enjoyed a lot.

If you like vampire hunter type books, I would say read Dhampir [sorry can't remember the author off the top of my head].

For those who like some humor in the storyline, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series is good. The main character is a wizard trying to make a living as a detective in Chicago.

One of my favorite fantasy writers is PC Hodgell author of God Stalk & Dark of the Moon. Unfortunately, she stopped writing after the 2nd book which, as it was part of a series, really bummed me out.

Has anyone read Stephen Baxter's "Evolution"? I read it last year and was curious if anyone here had read it. Overall, I found it fascinating. It was a little slow in the beginning, but with each vignette it got better until it reached the pivotal modern day storyline (which I thought was pretty cheesy and my least favorite part of the book). I also thought I would have envisioned our future differently, but it was still very interesting what he did with it. If you've read it, I'd love to know what you thought of it. It was the first and only book I've read by him so far.

I thought I'd bump this back up. I'm always looking for good recommendations for SFF.

Oh I am so glad you did! I was on a sci fi/fan all the time stage through college, and never really stopped.

I tend towards sci fi which has a psychological or sociological connection to our own world. Which is why I have to agree with chris that Beggars in Spain is incredible. Once I read that and the sequel I was on a roll of Kress novels. I think Aliens LIght and Morningbells are my fav of her earlier work

And of the newer authors, oh yes to Neil Gaiman. I fell for him when I read Good Omens, and had to know more about him and his co author Terry Pratchett. Love Pratchetts Disc World, and love Gaiman's twisted look at the world with a wink and a sense of humor. Neverwhere will make me look at the Tube in an entirely new way the next time I am in London. And American Gods was on my top ten fav reads last year

Other favs: Dune, anything by Barbara Hambly, anything by Bradbury and Clark, door into summer by Heinlein, Time Machine (and Time Ships, by Stephen Baxter, a look at what happens to Well's character after the end of the book). Oh and Douglas Adams.

I am forgetting many, but its a start!

Door Into Summer - the reason I feel free to travel with a cat in my pocket.

Hee, really. In the desert, its a bit different. When our cats go outside in the 100+ degree heat, they soon come back in, howling at us, looking for the Door into Winter. Poor things, our summer lasts so much longer. (and now I have a ankling to read it again)

I haven't read Door Into Summer, but since a feline is currently on my lap while I type, this might be a book that I'd enjoy.
I have Gaiman's new novel on my hall table upstairs. Just picked it up from the library.

Some newer books that I recently read:

McKillips latest, can't remember the title, didn't finish the book but it was her first foray into urban fantasy and I didn't like it all. The writing style was so different it felt like someone else wrote it. :(

Read the King of Attolia which was predictable in its twists. I like the Gen character a lot but have always struggled with his attraction for the Queen -- it just doesn't work for me and never has.

Just listened to Laurel Hamilton's Stroke of Midnight - it was advertised as a the tale of a Fairy Princess who'd been working as a detective in L.A. for the last 3 years. It sounded like just the silliness I wanted while I sorted through tax receipts. Turned out that she was a fertility goddess who'd returned to Fairy to revitalize Fairy land through the usual rituals. The court intrigue was entertaining, but, gotta say, I could have done without the detailed and varied sex scenes twice a chapter. This novel could be used as a sex manual - and perhaps will be by some. Not particularly recommended as anything other than porn. And I'm out of date and clueless as to how it compares to other such.

janalyn, a tip before starting American Gods - unless you have a background in the area, go to the link on Gaiman's site that has a list of all of the names in the books and the explanations for them. Really a cheat sheet, and best if you read it later - but its nice to have when you absolutely have to know. I also used my old copy of Encyclopedia of Literature which has many of them listed, even the more obscure African and SE Asian ones.

janalyn,

I recently read The King of Attolia. While I liked it and even liked The Queen of Attolia despite what happened to Eugenides, I LOVED the first book The Thief the best.

I have found that there are certain books that, for me, the first one is the best; the sequels, although they may be enjoyable reading, kind of ruin the story for me. I loved Dune by Frank Herbert but could not continue with the sequels. I would have been perfectly happy if there had been no sequels to The Thief. Someone mentioned Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart. I loved that one too. I enjoyed the sequels, and if more were to be written, I'd probably read them as well, but the first one was the best (IMHO)

I agree rouan. I thought The Thief was exceptional, and while not disappointed in the sequels, they just didn't measure up. I suspect that there will be another on in the series to tie up some loose ends.

Dune was ok with Children of Dune. After that, down hill. There were some series that I loved: Barbara Hambly's Darthwar Trilogy, the four books of Hitchiker's Guide 'trilogy', Raymond Feist's Apprentice, Bernard Cornwells Arthur series, ...oh Im just up to F on my sci fi shelf. But I agree -there are some that are disatrous. The one for Cantical for Leibowitz comes to mind.

Then there are series which I loved as a kid and recently gave them away because they just don't do it for me any more: Piers Anthony Xanth, Anne McCafferty Dragon Slayer.

My Xanth and Pern books (pre-White Dragon) are all crumbling paperbacks that I need to toss, but as yet I am unable to do so. It would be easier I think to give them away. I tried to pass on Anthony's A Spell for Chameleon to a young friend. Her mother said "No" because the type was too small and because if I'd read it when I was 24 (this was back when I signed and dated all my books) then surely it was too adult for her daughter. I was so flabbergasted I didn't argue. Small type? What has that got to do with anything? (The kid does not wear glasses, btw.) Am I nuts or is Spell... perfectly okay for a 12 year old?

I have a box of those crumbling, yellowing paperbacks. The glue has become brittle. Chris, we both collected the Pern books. I also have some very old Andre Norton, Cj Cherryh and Darkover novels which I didn't throw out, thinking that one day I might have kids who would enjoy them. Well, the kids arrived but didn't show much interest. Though the 75 Nancy Drew hardcovers were a hit back when my daughter was in the primary grades.
I will probably throw the paperbacks out because the magic has gone and they're so shabby that I couldn't give them away. Still, it feels like I'm being disloyal to old friends.
Cindy - I like Hambly's work but certainly haven't read everything she has written. Have you read her New Orleans mysteries with Benjamin January?

A Spell for Chameleon hooked me on Piers when I was a teenager. Today, it seems somewhat juvenile to me! Your friend is indeed nuts. And small type? What?
I don't read much sf these days only because it's an ocean and I'm trying to find a pearl. Like reading romances. I did order Illusions and Jonathan Strange (of which I've read a third of), from paperbackswap.com based on posts here.
So while I don't have much to contribute, I do appreciate this thread and your suggestions.

>A Spell for Chameleon

That one hooked me on to Piers as well, I was in my late teens. I can't imagine any young reader having trouble with it -but then I was reading 'adult books' long before I got my adult library card. (Thank goodness for my older sis!) My parents never censored what I read. They figured if I didn't understand stuff, I'd skip it or ask about it. And if I did understand it, I was old enough to read it. (Read Valley of the Dolls, and was horribly embarrased, at age 12, for my dad to notice and to say that when I'm finished give it to him, as he'd been wanting to read it.)

I think a parent has to know her child to decide whats appropriate or inappropriate, but I probably choose the more lenient side, making sure that I give her a chance to talk about the book later with me. But that's just me. I suspect (no, I know) that my feelings would drastically change if I was actually a parent!

I lent my boyfriend (later DH) the Xanth books. He hated them, thought them horribly childish and silly (this from a rather childlike and silly person but I digress). So I started re reading them. Oh my - yeah, I see what he means. But I loved them back then.

Another horrid sequel: Children of God, after The Sparrow. While I had quibbles with the first book and thought the author made some poor decisions, I liked it enough. I could not finish the other.

jan I am not big into mysteries, but if she wrote them, and they are more suspense than 'whodunit' type, I might just have to try them.

Another horrid sequel: Children of God, after The Sparrow. While I had quibbles with the first book and thought the author made some poor decisions, I liked it enough. I could not finish the other.

Hmmm... i guess I can see how you'd feel that way, but I didn't find the sequel to be horrid. I do think the Emilio / Earth storyline was a little over-the-top, but I very much enjoyed the historical sweep of the events on Rakhat and being able to experience the other side of the story from the POV of the aliens. HaÂanala, in particular, emerged as a very wonderful and sympathetic character.

I'm prepared for the movie version of The Sparrow to be terrible, though. Brad Pitt will play the lead role and I wonder how much they will compromise the original themes in the book to rewrite the story for Pitt and crew. I've also seen press releases re the script for this movie describing the story as a conflict between races on the planet rather than species which raises a red flag for me, too.

Well, maybe horrible is too strong of a word. For me, it was a much lesser story than the orginal, and it seemed like the author was making it even more over the top than in the orginal. In Sparrow I liked the story enough that I could suspend belief for a while. For some reason I had trouble doing it here. Plus there were some questions about her plot in Sparrow that I was hoping she'd clear up in Children, and she didn't

(and you are going to ask me which ones, and I'll tell you that I read both books about 4 years ago, and will have to reread them to remember! :)

I do agree, the POV change was interesting. And I definitely agree that the movie is more likely to be horrid. Sparrow brings up some fascinating ideas and questions, especially about first contact. I doubt those will get much play in the film.

Georgia Peach, Do you figure it has more to do with the costs of doing species (like Andy Sirkis's Gollum) vs the cost of making up actors? Rygel, the one Hynerian (sp?) in Farscape was a $1M puppet. But you are right, using races rather than species is anvilicious.

Chris,

I do think cost probably has a lot to do with it as well as creating aliens that are believable to the point that they will support the themes of the book (rather than undermine it -- the imagery impact will be important, I think).

I see so many books above that I haven't read. I've only really begun to explore SFF in the last few years. I didn't read much of it growing up in a small town with a limited library selection. I fell in love with a Kage Baker short story I read recently and am anxiously awaiting some books of hers that I ordered. However, one of them is back ordered and it will be a while before I get my books.

georgia, to be fair - I liked Sparrow so much that I had high hopes for the sequel. Wonder if I should try to read it again.

chris, what does anvilicious? Its not in my Websters. Does it come from 'anvil'?

Cindy, It is a made up word floating around the internet. Yes, it comes from anvil. Meaning is along the lines of lacking subtlety in making one's point - to the point of insulting viewers.

Ah, I understand, thanks. Great word.

Has anyone else read Octavia Butler's last book, Fledgling? It was released shortly before her recent death. :( Not that I've delved into vampire books to any great extent, but this one is very different from any I've read before, as you might expect from Butler. Rather than playing the story for horror or titillation (as usual), she presents the vampire as a symbiotic species and explores dependency and racial prejudices. While I enjoyed Robin McKinley's foray into vampire literature with Sunshine, I think Fledgling is superior with another of Butler's strong survivor characters in Shori.

cheryl

Just bumping since it has been awhile for fantasy recommendations.

I'm currently reading Micklem's Firethorn mentioned above. The 2nd of the trilogy is suppose to come out next year, by the way. I'm finding it a bit of a mixed bag. I like certain aspects of it, but find that the plot pivots too much on the relationship, and I'm not finding the relationship that compelling so far... but I'm only half way in. Might think differently about it when done.

I'd like to try Paula Volsky, but have had a hard time finding her books. I've also read somewhere that she finally has another book coming out - in 08, I believe.