Incarnations of Immortality are good, not great. Never really got into Zanth. Supposedly Anthony was going to write another Incarnations book after For Love of Evil, but I have never seen any official word on one.

It's called "And Eternity".

Been awhile since I had read the series..you are right, that is the last book. There was supposedly going to be another book after that that focused on Nox, the Incarnation of Night, but that was never officially announced.

Incarnations of Immortality is one of my favorites. It humanizes the concepts of death, time, war, nature, fate, good and evil. Looking it up because I couldn't remember them all, didn't know he put out a new one a couple of years ago. Sci Fi bookclub doesn't carry Anthony anymore. I have to get it.

Its Xanth, btw. That is a good series, but its up to over 30 volumes now.

It came out in 2007 and is called Under a Velvet Cloak.

According to Wiki, Dead Like Me was based on the first book On a Pale Horse.

Herp derp, you're right. I wasn't thinking and put "Zanth". I bought and read the first chunk of the series, but I think I gave up around "The Color Of Her Panties". The puns were weighing it down so much and the stories were just too simple. I really enjoyed Bio Of A Space Tyrant, Incarnations Of Immortality and Battle Circle though. I have a hard time recommending his body of work because there is just so much utter crap littered around, and the quality of his work within series wavers a lot.

I'm going to have to grab that. I absolutely loved his concept of God, or I should say who replaced that position in that novel.

I just stumbled across this while looking at another thread and had to put it in here. If you're more into the prose that goes into SciFi/Fantasy, and you like an author with more of a poetic style (women) then this is the guy for you:


NSFW

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e1IxOS4VzKM" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

Wow, Under A Velvet Cloak got some really shitty reviews. I am thinking of just skipping it.

Bradbury's pretty great. Read Farenheit 451 if nothing else.

Haven't read it in years, but 6th grade me enjoyed Ben Bova's Jupiter.

The Stand is so god damn good so far, and I haven't even got to the part where everyone dies.

The Stand is good. King has a rare gift for characters.

If only he had a rare gift for satisfying endings. :shake:

I think its hard to pick up a series again after 15 years.

I laughed when I saw that God had been contemplating his own greatness since the 15th century and kind of let things go from that point.

Thanks. I read the first WOT book he wrote. He did as well as anyone could have.

Damn. I hope GRRM doesn't pull this die-before-done shit with us.

Amen to that. I am hoping that the fact Game of Thrones is such a hit on HBO, that he will finish the books sooner rather than later. No one knows though.

Finished Crucible of Gold the most recent of the Temeraire stories by Naomi Novak. She hasn't lost her touch, I enjoyed it as much as His Majesty's Dragon. There were some good twists in the story and left me anxious for the next one.

I do have a pet peeve though and this just isn't about her...I hate when a series starts out in paperback and becomes so popular that midway through the series they switch to hardback. Makes my bookshelves look disorganized.

OK, just finished my techthriller series.

Read Daniel Suarez if you work in IT. Daemon, FreedomTM

Read Ernest Cline if you're over 39. "Ready Player One"

If you are inclined towards unions and work environments for gold miners in-game "For The Win" by Cory Doctorow.

If you like mixing terrorism and cyberspace, "REAMDE" by Neill Stephenson.

I'm going to slush about in cyberspace for awhile between the Hunger Games series and Peter F. Hamilton's "Pandora's Star" and it's sequel.

<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76680.Foundation" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Foundation (Foundation, #1)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320518217m/76680.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76680.Foundation">Foundation</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16667.Isaac_Asimov">Isaac Asimov</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/299717160">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
Ever think to yourself, "oh I'll just sit down and read for this book for about a half hour before I go make something else out of my weekend?"
<br />
That just happened to me about 5 hours ago. I was a third of the way into Foundation, but I found out it was a real page turner, and I just finished it.
<br />
Very hard sci-fi with some great dialogue. I would give it 4.5 stars if Good Reads had half-star ratings, but it doesn't deserve to be just a 4. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6745247-matt">View all my reviews</a>

Alright, I'm not sure how this will look, I copied my review from Good Reads.

Anyways, I thought that Foundation was a trilogy, but according to the book there are like 7 Foundation books. Should I buy the Prelude to Foundation and then read them all in order, or should I just go with the trilogy?

Just finished book one of Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy, off of recommendations in this thread.

Great book. Love the cast of characters

Just finished:

1 second after (post apocalyptic, very realistic scenario seemingly)

I thought it was pretty good. A fast read, nothing fancy just a riveting story. I didn't care too much for some aspects of the telling, but the story was good. Post apocalyptic tale of the USA if it were to be the victim of an EMP terrorist attack. The author's premise (agreed upon by top security experts) is that it wouldn't take more than about 3 nuclear blasts to shut down our whole society as we know it for months or years. He shows how unprepared we are to even live a few days 'off the grid.' This is a must read for anyone who likes apocalyptic / survivalist books. It's really an examination of what would happen if we were hit by serious EMP attack today, told through a personal story of one man's family and town.

I'd grade it out as a solid B, would recommend.

ALso I just read the 1st book in the Mistborn series (Final Empire)

I really liked it. It also was a fast read....I liked the characters...Very interesting twist on a magic system. It is a very good fantasy book, and stands well on its own...You don't really have to read any of the others unless you want to. I think the highlight for me is the very creative new magic system...it is unlike anything I have read before. Very well thought through, and although it has some holes they aren't enough to make you (or at least me) really question it enough to hurt the enjoyment of the story.

A-, Must read for Fantasy Fans

I can recommend those books, along with:

Jordan - wheel of time - Best series I have read
The 1st two books (which should be/ was one book) of Feist's Riftwar saga - Magician APprentice & Master..which is the best fantasy book ever written IMO.

I would like to recommend Thomas E. Sniegoski's Remy Chandler series. It's about an angel that turns his back on Heaven after the war with Lucifer and tries to live on Earth as a human. He basically wants to be left alone but keeps getting dragged into these epic struggles. The books are kind of a cross between the Dresden Files books and the Supernatural TV series.

There are four books out so far with a fifth coming out in August.

http://www.sniegoski.com/remy/

He's also written a YA series called The Fallen. I haven't read them yet but my son really likes them.

Finished the Hunger Games trilogy. It was OK, will make good movies. Currently reading "Off Armageddon Reef" by David Weber. A departure from the Honor Harrington novels, but so far so good. Interesting premise.

Any opinions on "The Name of the Wind" by James Rothfuss?

The Shape of Things to Come

A Brave New World.

1984

I Robot.

I've done the audiobooks for both The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's fear, and enjoyed them both greatly.

(It's Patrick Rothfuss btw)

Oh, right. I think I'm going to go ahead and pick it up - I read the sample on nook and enjoyed it.

I picked up Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys for a dime and just finished it. It was the first Gaiman book I've read and I really enjoyed his writing style. I guess American Gods is supposed to be really good, so I will look for that next.

I really like Gaiman, but I had a hard time staying interested in American Gods. My favorite of his books is Neverwhere. I've also heard a lot of people say that his Sandman comics are excellent.

Neverwhere did look interesting. It's on the to do list also.

i read the hunger games trilogy and then a song of fire and ice 5 books, anyone have suggestions on another series to start on?

and i'm not talking about 200 page books. i like the asofai 4500 page 5 book series type.

Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series. Only three books (The Dragonbone Chair, Stone Of Farewell and To Green Angel Tower) but they're huge.

I'm kind of the opposite. American Gods is by far my favorite. Anansi Boys was good, but it was a shadow of AG (pun intended!).

haven't tried audiobooks at all

good,bad?

Agreed. American Gods is a masterpiece.

Oh yeah, I go through several audiobooks a month. I listen to them when I'm exercising and driving to/from work, instead of music. Have had an account with audible.com since 2008 (I think).

I may need to give it another shot. Aren't there rumors that HBO is adapting it into a series?

Yeah, although it's got to be close to a year since I last heard anything about that.

Finished this trilogy a couple weeks ago.

The second book didn't really measure up to the first. A lot of untapped potential imo.

Absolutely loved book 3. Particularly the Bloody Nine and the rest of the northmen. That part of the storyline made the series. The single about Black Dow is on my short list.

Overall great trilogy and many thanks to those that recommended it.

Gene Wolfe's been mentioned, but I thought I'd tout my favorite of his books - the first is currently marketed as 'Latro in the Mist'. A mercenary gets wounded in a Greek temple during the battle of Themopalayae, and cursed by the goddess of the temple. Loses his memory every day so he writes a daily diary to save his memories (which are found 2500 years later, and we are reading) Another Greek god, in opposition to the offended goddess for his own reasons, grants Latro some 'gifts' - including seeing the hidden gods/immortals all around (as ancient Greeks believed). Interesting stuff ensues. It's not an easy read, but it's very, very satisfying. Another volume follows, and I hope for a final one to tie up loose ends, if Wolfe lives long enough. His short stories are great, look for any of the short story collections.

Poul Anderson died a few years ago, but he wrote some very good fantasy and sci-fi. I liked his Norse myth based fantasy stuff, "Hrolf Kraki's Saga" in particular, but for an intro I'd suggest "The High Crusade" - long story short, some aliens land their spacecraft too near the wrong group of British knights and longbowmen.

David Drake writes 'military sci-fi', his original stuff was based on tanks (he was in 'Nam, an interpreter w/an armored division) and the 'Hammer's Slammers' series of tank sci-fi is worth your time if you like military sci fi at all. He moved on to using ancient generals/battles as the basis for sci-fi, a series of books on other planets/different tech but based on the life of General Belisarius. A lot of Drake's stuff is available for free at the Baen free library online (and y'all should know about this site in any case) They believe that if you read book 1 in a 4 part series, they still make money. Every publisher should be so smart.

Baen Free Sci Fi/Fantasy

Finally - Robert Holdstock. His stuff is not for everyone, but I really liked it. I'd say read 'Mythago Wood' and if you dig it, read everything else you can find. Hard to explain, easier to just point you in the right direction.

I need an audiobook.

I have the 1 free credit from Audible.com. There are so many to choose from, I don't know what to get.

I want something that is sort of long so I can have it span a few days of work.

And I was going to get Storm of Swords, but it costs 2 credits.

Then I was going to get Perdido Street Station, but it also costs 2 credits.

Have you read Dune yet? That's a really good audiobook with an ensemble cast, runs a little over 20 hours.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons is also really good. Also an ensemble cast as I recall. Also a little over 20 hours.

If you want to go insanely long you could always do Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth. Yeah, not SFF, but it's 40+ hours for 1 credit.

And then there's Patrick Rothfuss. The first book of the Kingkiller Chronicles, The Name of the Wind is 28 hours for 1 credit, and the second, The Wise Man's Fear, is 43.

That's all I can find in my library that I like, that's 1 credit, and that's looong.

Oh, oh, one more. Neil Gaiman's American Gods. That's the original version with George Guidall, which I love. They did an ensemble 10th anniversary version too, but I've only listened to the Guidall one. Both are in the 20 hour neighborhood.

Well Dune, Hyperion, and American Gods I won't do because I own all 3 books and plan on reading.

I think I'll do The Way of Kings.

Edit: Or not, it's 2 credits.

Guess I'll go with The Name of the Wind.

Thanks for the tips.

Sorry about that. Not sure how I missed that.

ITS ALL YOUR FAULT

:)

The Mistborn series is only 1 credit too.

Would you recommend the Kingkiller Chronicles over Mistborn?

I have a tough time reading fantasy so I definitely want to try out audiobook.

I would, yes. Other people may disagree. Although Mistborn is finished (at least the initial trilogy) so you can feasibly listen to the whole series. But Kingkiller is really good so far.

Alright, I went with The Name of the Wind.

I'll start listening on my drive into work tomorrow and for probably 4-6 hours at work.

I'm a huge Glen Cook fan.

Dread Empire Series - true epic fantasy - armies vs. armies, evil manipulating good, trust no one.

The Black Company - dark, gritty look at being a mercenary in a fantasy world. Again, trust no one, especially the guy who's supposed to pay you. The less of you who come back, the less money he has to actually give up.

Garrett, P.I. - Fantasy noir - He's the hard-boiled detective with a heart of gold and a penchant for the elven lasses. Oh, did I mention his partner was killed 400 years ago, he's just taking a long time to die. Crime lords, evil cults and corrupt bureaucrats . . . it's all in a day's work for Garrett.

Tell me how that goes. I think I tried to get into the audio book once, and the narrator sounded like a fifth grader, iirc.

Maybe I should give it another shot.

I don't remember having any issues with the narration, but different people like different voices.

I'm 95% positive it was Name of the Wind, but I might be mistaken.

I was coming off listening to the Hyperion Cantos series, and the narrator was fantastic. So I may have been grading on a bit of a curve. I'll give it another shot.

Simon Vance he's not (that dude's my favorite, whether it's Dune or Temeraire or the Aubrey/Maturin books), but I never had any issues with this Nick Poedhl.

Ironically the narrator I can't stand is Scott Brick, and people seem to love that guy.

Finished this a couple days ago -- I ****ing loved it. I'll pick up the next one in the series later on -- after I finish Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill.

edit: just saw that you got the audio book -- hope the narrator is good.

I listened to the preview before I purchased it to make sure I was okay with his voice.

Seemed fine to me.

Actually on Audible, many of the people say that the narrator outshines the story.

Marc Veitor did the Hyperion books. He sold the story for me, much like Roy Dotrice did with A Song of Ice and Fire (not the last one, mind you. He wasn't all that great in ADWD).

I enjoy Victor Bevine's works, as well.

Well I plan on listening to about 6 hours tomorrow so I should have a good idea by the end of the day.

Cool. Any updates would be appreciated, as my job next week will have me on the road everyday, and I'll be looking for a good listen for the ride.

The Black Company is a great series. Has Cook written anything at all in the last 10 years or so? I had thought another Black Company book was on the horizon, but it has never come.

Looking in my library, Bevine narrated those books. Veitor was part of the ensemble for the first one, but the rest were Bevine alone.

I've actually never made it through Endymion and The Rise of Endymion. The Fall of Hyperion seemed like a big step down from Hyperion to me (I relate that to losing the ensemble cast, not the quality of the book itself), and I went on to listen to other things after. They're in my library, so I should probably finish them sometime.

The narrator is pretty good, he changes up his voice for the different characters. Unfortunately I realized after 15 min of working that I want paying nearly enough attention so I'll be using it for car rides only.

I have the same problem at work sometimes, and sometimes when I'm gaming at home. There's even been a few times on my bike where I realize I've zoned out for a half hour and have no idea what's going on.

I had that problem in some of the later Dark Tower audio books. You can't really just "kind of" pay attention to stories like that.

That's correct. I had it backwards.

I really liked the ensemble cast of Hyperion, but Bevine did do the story justice in the remaining novels. Hyperion is the best of the series, of course, but I did grow to enjoy the Endymion tales, as well. The whole concept of that universe just seemed to resonate with me.

Give them a second chance sometime.

Yes, He's re-releasing all of his books under a new publisher as well as continuing the Garrett series under Roc.

I think he's released 6 plus a short story collection for the Dread Empire, 10 for the Black Company and maybe 11 or 12 for the Garrett P.I. series. (Please be advised this is from memory, so the count may be slightly off.)

Here are a couple of recommendations.

Sci Fi - Brain Jack

Fantasy - Stormbringer series

So after ditching the audio recording, I started reading The Name of the Wind tonight and got about 50 pages in (Chronicler just talked to Kite at the Inn for the first time). I really enjoyed reading that. It was the least confusing fantasy I've ever read. Glad that its not intentionally wordy.

I also picked The Stand back up today after a 2 month break. About 60% through that one. Its really good, but its also a grind. I've only been reading that one in hour long chunks at work. I want to see what happens really badly.

And for triple post let me recommend Ready Player One.

Not quite Sci Fi, not quite fantasy....but really fun to read. Its got a lot of 80s pop culture references in it too. If you're a gamer, you'll love it.

Don't know if this horror/scifi book fits the genre of this thread, but "Horns" by Joe Hill is pretty fantastic and freaky as hell. Also his more fantasy graphic novels, Locke and Key - are some of the vest comics I've read in awhile.

Currently reading Michael Vey, The Prisoner Of Cell 25. Pretty good young adult sci fi.

http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Vey-eb...d_sim_kstore_1

I'm not really big into the young adult books, but I really have enjoyed this one and the Supernaturalist.

I almost bought the hardcover Locke and Key the other day just by looking at the art. Without being spoilery, can you tell me what its about?

Great series. And the books are "adult books 4 teens" -- so yeah, you should find them easy to read and follow :)

I posted in another thread that I had started "Heart Shaped Box" by Joe Hill. I finished it a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely saw a little of his father in his writing. I'll pick up Horns soon.

When I was hitting the used book stores earlier this summer, I picked up Fred Saberhagen's Books of the Swords series, as well as the Lost Swords series. I read through the first trilogy pretty quickly and have read the first two Lost Swords books. Enjoyable fantasy.

I also picked up the first few books of his Berserker sci-fi stories.

I'm currently taking a break from sci-fi/fantasy (maybe) and reading 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus and The First Idiot In Heaven.