Recommended Reads

[drosdelnoch]

Hey All,
Just thought it might be good if we were to put recommendations up of books that we've read that others may enjoy. After all, we all really enjoy the genre so why not aid others find that little gem.

Having just finished Paul Kearney's Ten Thousand have to say it was a very good book and its gripping, I read nearly the whole book in one session which I thought was pretty good going, however I didnt notice the time going past. So far thats my nod to the wise to date.

[Kari Sperring]

I'm currently reading Midnight Never Comes, by Marie Brennan, which I am loving. It's a really interesting take the elves and the Elizabethan court and very nicely written.

[Satima Flavell]

I've just read that one, too, Kari, and I'll be reviewing it for The Specusphere's next edition, out on 1 Sep at www.specusphere.com. I enjoyed it and have to admire Brennan's scholarship. It was a tad "literary" for my taste, but it seems a lot of publishers are trying interest literary or women's lit readers in Fantasy these days so that might be deliberate.

[Nick]

The Noble Dead series by Barb & J.C. Hendee, a blending of vampirism and fantasy including elves, but in the character of Leesil a wonderful take on an elf and Magiere, one of the best - and I apologise if anyone finds this somehow un-PC - female vampire babes in the whole genre, a sort of daywalker part-vampire. Nothing particular new about that, but the characterisation is of a high order and the friction between her and Leesil developed excellently. One if running away from their past the other isn't sure what their past is. They just want a quiet life but the world won't let them have one! The first of the series was released around the beginning of 2000 and the saga has run to six books so far. They are embarking upon a further series and Barb Hendee has just begun her own contemporary vampire series: Vampire Memories. They have only just now reached a point of success which has enabled them to quit their day jobs and write full time. Gulp!

[Deborah J Miller]

I am reading Richard Morgan's 'The Steel Remains' - loving it! It somehow has that ring of true epic Fantasy in the tradition of R H Howard or Rider Haggard - okay, in the latter case without the post-colonial-Empire shtick!

I'll let you know if I continue to love it to the end... at the moment I would say, RM was born to write Fantasy! (Rather than SF as his previous books - although I heard they were pretty good too, dammit! ;-)

[Deborah J Miller]

IMPORTANT ADDENDUM!
Still great - still loving it (nearly finished) just a mention for those of you easily offended - *gay sex, gay elf sex... quite a lot of it... oh, and lots of swears - not made up swears but 'proper' swears...
Nope, that's all I'm saying!


* See the FRONT COVER of this week's Big Issue - way to go, RM!

[Mark]

Of course there are elements of Steel Remains that suggest it could be SF too.

[Darren Turpin]

You've been talking to John Berlyne, haven't you? He's got a big 'Steel Remains is SF with swords!" bee in his bonnet... :)

[Mark]

LOL. Not since we last all met. But I can see what he is saying, in that Gene Wolfe kind've way. It's good, I think, to play with those boundaries a little (if they exist in the first place!)

[Deborah J Miller]

Oh, has he? I look forward to taking issue with him over a pint! ;-)

(So-and-so still hasn't joined Wonderlands... I'm off to tell him we're talking about him - it might encourage him!)

[Maggie Brinkley]

Oo! Well, I'm currently reading 'Toll the Hounds' by Steven Erikson. It's the 8th book in the series that began with 'Gardens of the Moon.' Now, I like these books because they have a lot of historical backstory. And by 'a lot' I mean 'thousands of years.' The characters include an ancient race (homo erectus, I suspect, though it's never explained) who through a ritual become undead. They are fascinatng individuals, all the same, even if they are skin over bone and their clothes are rotting furs. There is also a Conan-type character, Karsa Orlong, who takes the Conan character to extremes - I love and hate him at the same time. The plots of the previous books are very complicated, though just about understandable by a reader. 'Toll the Hounds' is very, very confusing, and I have taken 2 weeks to get to 2/3rds of the way through the book. I'm still hoping for an explanation of what's going on though my hopes are failing. The series is excellent; but this book is confusing. I'm reminded a bit of Janny Wurts' 'War of Shadows' series, where as each book moves along her prose gets so convoluted that it becomes incomprehensible. I want to like these, but the author makes it very difficult. *Sigh*

Do give these books a try. Erikson says he was influenced by Glen Cook's 'Black Company' books, which are superb - read them if you get the chance, they are unique. Erikson's books are fascinating. Give 'em a go!

[Emmery Chrisco]

Piers Anthony http://www.hipiers.com/ is a master of such blending.

[Emmery Chrisco]

My favorites are:
The SpaceJock series by Simon Haynes http://www.simonhaynes.info/
and
The Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony http://www.hipiers.com/