Scifi/Fantasy Book Recs

[longhrnfan 61]

On 7/18/2018 at 6:09 AM, Sam Lin said:

Tore through books 1, 2, 3. All of those reinforced my opinion above: action movie of books - I just noticed one of the reviewer blurbs on the cover even calls him the "Michael Bay of sci fi novels." Definitely not reread material, but a fun ride the first time.

Then I hit book 4 (Iron Gold). It's a plot and character development book with much more political bullshit, clandestine subterfuge, and less blunt-force action. Where the first 3 books were nonstop action and I always wanted to read one more chapter to see what would happen, on the 4th book I'm stalled 2/3 of the way through and have little desire to read more. Just a major tonal change and not what I want when I pick up this series.

I get this, but I think the series also takes the next logical steps which would inevitably take a more serious tone... dealing with the repercussions of what happened in the first three. I think the themes are all more serious than the first three. I'm still excited for book 5. 

[Apep 645]

On 8/8/2018 at 9:13 PM, TKthunder2 said:

So based on the recommendations on here I read Hyperion and really enjoyed it, but was pissed that it ended with a cliff hanger so I read Fall of Hyperion and while the ending was satisfying it seemed like he didn’t really want to write another book and filled it full of unnecessary bullshit just to fill pages. 

Trying to decide if I’m going to read Endymion or not now.  Any input would be appreciated.

If you liked the Catholic/religious bits and would like to read more, and ,if you didn’t mind the retconning in the second book and would like even more changes, then Endymion is for you. 

[Spartan52 151]

Just started 'Time Shards' by Dana Fredsti & David Fitzgerald

About a third of the way in, its intriguing.

[rage-a-holic 4371]

The Linesman series by S.K. Dunstall was pretty good.

 

 

 

[smokebomb 357]

On 8/8/2018 at 9:13 PM, TKthunder2 said:

So based on the recommendations on here I read Hyperion and really enjoyed it, but was pissed that it ended with a cliff hanger so I read Fall of Hyperion and while the ending was satisfying it seemed like he didn’t really want to write another book and filled it full of unnecessary bullshit just to fill pages. 

Trying to decide if I’m going to read Endymion or not now.  Any input would be appreciated.

I haven’t read the series in a while but remember liking them all even though Simmons sometimes tends to drag. However, the 3rd & 4th books are their own series and remember them only being vaguely related to the 1st & 2nd. 

If you like Dan Simmons, I’d also highly recommend Illium & Olympos. 

[Elmer_Fudd 22198]

Had anybody read The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams?  Or better yet the entire Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy?  Was thinking of starting it.

[Grippe 310]

On 9/9/2018 at 8:06 AM, Elmer_Fudd said:

Had anybody read The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams?  Or better yet the entire Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy?  Was thinking of starting it.

Reposting from TOS:

Quote

1. Belgariad/Mallorean by David Eddings
   - Your first love is always your fondest, so is Eddings storyline here. As others have mentioned, it is very method based writing but the characters are (to this day) some of my very favorites. 6.5/10
2. Dune saga by Frank Herbert
   - Epic scope and damn fine writing. 7/10
3. The Books of the Swords by Fred Saberhagen
   - Probably the best series from an author many considered as very influential. 4/10
4. Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock
   - A classic: Elric is the epitomy of a tortured soul. The style of writing gets a bit mystical at times for my tastes however. 7/10
5. Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist
   - Once upon a time all of the SF/Fan nerds were idolizing this series. It's solid writing, but compared to some of the more gritty, modern stuff that is out right now it's begun to pale in comparison. 6/10
6. The King of Elflands Daughter by Lord Dunsany
   - If you're a nerd that wants to read the early stuff to understand the roots of the genre, you start here and can end at the next installment. Lord Dunsany was a master of tightly written prose, but you'd better have the desire to appreciate it or it will go flying way over your head. 8/10
7. Hobbit/Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
   - What Lord Dunsany started Tolkien brought to the masses, albeit years after it was initially published. Regardless of age, this is still a damn good read. 8/10
8. Shanarra saga by Terry Brooks
   - I know I'm going to piss a few folks out here so I'll offer this - if you're a T.B. fan I apologize. When I think of this series I relate it to a form of treatment for sleep deprivation. 4/10
9. Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
   - Bitch can write. The tales aren't as gritty as newer works out there, but when it comes to solid character and plot development this series should be used to teach English students their craft. 6/10
10. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Steven R. Donaldson
    - Lots going for it, lots not going for it. Still worth a read as, for it's time, it was considered pretty gritty (rape, lepers, etc). Nom. 5/10
11. Sprawl Trilogy by William Gibson
    - Fuck. Yes. This isn't even my favorite genre, but goddamn... 9/10
12. A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin
    - You want to read the best? THIS is the best, unfortunately it's incomplete and probably won't be finished because the author is too fucking lazy. Regardless, the first four books of this IMMENSE series are spectacular in every sense. If it were a complete series with every book as good as the first four it would rate a 10/10 (and would stand alone at that level), but it's not, therefore... 8.5-9/10
13. Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
    - I just finished reading the second book in this series and boy-oh-boy, where I thought the first book was a great first effort by a promising writer, this second book has really floored me. I'm really considering the second book as one of the top five books I've ever read, regardless of genre. One more book in the series, but the whole series was completed before the first book was published. 8.5/10
14. Gentlemen Bastard series by Scott Lynch
    - Recent stuff, very solid, pick it up when you 'need' something to read between the releases of the books you're really excited about reading. Incomplete series. 6/10
15. Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
    - Qualudes for those who suffer from narcolepsy. Do not want. Big though, if you want to read an infinite storyline of boring drivel. Incomplete series. 4/10
16. Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (Brandon Sanderson)
    - Sometimes brilliant, sometimes as slow as a 6 hour layover in O'Hare that gets snowed in, much better since Jordan (sadly) passed-away and Sanderson took over. 6.5/10
17. Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook
    - Cook's writing style for this series blew me away. I know I'm in the minority with my passion for this series but ('Lord Almighty!') this fresh and honest style and gritty storyline has captivated me. 8/10
18. First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
    - The trilogy is complete, now he's writing stand alone pieces in the same world. When I say gritty, this writer gets it. Whenever Logen Ninefingers looses himself in schizophrenic moments you will stop breathing. 8-8.5/10
19. Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks
    - Pretty much tit for tat as the Gentlemen Bastards above. 6/10
20. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series by Tad Williams
    - Completed this series and thought to myself 'that is the last time I force myself to complete a series that everyone else raves about'. It's ok, but drawn out in many places and not high on my list of fantasy writing. 5/10
21. The Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan
    - Charming short stories with an interesting buddy team (think Lethal Weapon sort of buddies) without sex, gratuous violence or content that would make you keep it out of your pre-teen's hands. One more book in the series to be published. 6/10
22. Demon Series by Peter V. Brett
    - An incomplete series but already noteworthy: the villian in the first book is explained in the second book and becomes, well, almost a hero (almost). Needs a bit cleaner writing style, but another series to try on while waiting for your favorite author to publish again. 6/10
23. Mistborne trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
    - After hearing that Brandon Sanderson was selected to finish Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time I picked this up to see what to expect. Genuinely entertaining but the finish is a bit weak. 6/10
24. Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
    - I could cut and paste my first sentence about the Wheel of Time here, but this is much grittier. Series made into a TV Series. 6.5/10
25. Drizzt Do'Urden anything by R. A. Salvatore
    - Would anyone be surprised if there weren't a few underground churches to Drizzt Do'Urden found here and there? This character is so loved by so many fantasy fans it goes past cult status into zealousy. Read a few books about Drizzt and see if you catch the drow fever. 6/10
26. Legends (Twins) by Weis/Hickman
    - When the Majere twins (Raistlin and Caramon) were first released upon the Fantasy nerds of the world they captivated everyone (in the same vein as Drizzt). It's simple fiction, nothing spectacular, but it catapulted Weis/Hickman's career and everyone wanted their next effort. 6/10
27. Death Gate Cycle by Weis/Hickman
    - Which was a boring, drawn out affair. It did, however, have very nice worlds and a visit from Zifnab from time to time. Props to them for finishing it. 5/10
28. Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb
    - Good long sets of series set in the same world. Robin Hobb has delivered a lot of fun content even if it's not material that will rock your world like G.R.R.M or Patrick Rothfuss. 6/10
29. Stormlord series by Glenda Larke
    - Another incomplete series but fairly promising, worthy of a pick-up if you need to pass the time. 6/10

Since then there has been a lot of changes, Stormlord series finished and Rothfuss decided to camp out and not release book 3.  In the meantime, I still cannot recommend Tad Williams, I shudder at the effort I used forcing myself thru it.

Edited September 14, 2018 by Grippe

[Hellraiser97 181]

Finished Engines of God a couple weeks ago. Really enjoyed it. Thanks to the others that recommended it. Onto the second book, Deep Six. Liking it a lot now but wasn't sure at first. Part of that is that I'm listening to the books and they switched narrators!

I do not like OU

[Viper 12097]

Just finished Annihilation on audiobook. It was a bit different than the movie. Same broad strokes but almost all the details slightly different. I enjoyed it, but will need to think about it more before I form a solid opinion. The audiobook of the whole trilogy (Area X) is available from my library for everyone to check out. Usually they only have so many copies but this one is always available. I will say, I'm not sure audiobook is the way to go. I'm not sure if it was the way it was written (from a scientists journal) or the narrator, but it was very monotone and dry. Not a lot of emotion or feeling or anything else being conveyed by the narrator. I think she got better towards the last half of the book though.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Picked up The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency) by John Scalzi last week when it was $2 or $3.  The sequel, Consuming Fire, is coming out in 3 weeks or so. 

It's a brand-new series by him - big-time space opera with all new characters/world-building.

I was pleasantly surprised.  Some nice little twists, and feels a lot more polished than a lot of the stuff I've been reading (lot of Kindle Unlimited indie sci-fi stuff).

[Viper 12097]

On 9/17/2018 at 8:39 AM, Viper said:

Just finished Annihilation on audiobook. It was a bit different than the movie. Same broad strokes but almost all the details slightly different. I enjoyed it, but will need to think about it more before I form a solid opinion. The audiobook of the whole trilogy (Area X) is available from my library for everyone to check out. Usually they only have so many copies but this one is always available. I will say, I'm not sure audiobook is the way to go. I'm not sure if it was the way it was written (from a scientists journal) or the narrator, but it was very monotone and dry. Not a lot of emotion or feeling or anything else being conveyed by the narrator. I think she got better towards the last half of the book though.

I'm on the third book, Acceptance now. The narration of the audiobook picks up with the second book and is maybe better in the third. It's all really weird and I'm still not sure what's going on. It's not much like the movie at all.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Amazon gonna adapt all 14 Wheel of Time books.  Hell yeah!

https://www.newsarama.com/42085-robert-jordan-s-wheel-of-time-in-development-as-amazon-tv-series.html

 

[Chewbacca 7766]

Amazon gonna adapt all 14 Wheel of Time books.  Hell yeah!
https://www.newsarama.com/42085-robert-jordan-s-wheel-of-time-in-development-as-amazon-tv-series.html
 

Well, shit, i guess i need to read the next 12 books fast.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

2 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

4 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Amazon gonna adapt all 14 Wheel of Time books.  Hell yeah!
https://www.newsarama.com/42085-robert-jordan-s-wheel-of-time-in-development-as-amazon-tv-series.html
 

Well, shit, i guess i need to read the next 12 books fast.

What do you mean?  Amazon is trying to make it easy on us!

[Buzzrock 14902]

If you liked Starship Troopers or Ender’s Game, The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is pretty good.

For fantasy I liked the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust.

[Buzzrock 14902]

Nm34

[SilasCoade 2622]

1 hour ago, Buzzrock said:

If you liked Starship Troopers or Ender’s Game, The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is pretty good.

For fantasy I liked the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust.

Brust wrote the best vampire story I've ever read, Agyar. I've always thought it would make a great movie. He was living in Austin at one point, not sure about now.

 

I like the Vlad books, but the Khaavren books are my favorite by him.

[Chewbacca 7766]

What do you mean?  Amazon is trying to make it easy on us!

I'm on book 2. That's what i mean.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

45 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

What do you mean?  Amazon is trying to make it easy on us!

I'm on book 2. That's what i mean.

I only got four in (have 5 and 6 on my bookshelf).  It's one of those series I always wanted to finish, but probably never will, so glad that Amazon picked up all 14 books.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Now would be a good time for Amazon to work out a deal for the Wheel of Time books to be on Kindle Unlimited, or at least cheaper than $10 a pop.  If they were readily available (and I know, I can go out and pirate them) for my Kindle as a part of KU, or at leas something cheaper than $10 apiece, I. might be tempted to read the rest.  I go to my Kindle more and more.

[Chewbacca 7766]

Now would be a good time for Amazon to work out a deal for the Wheel of Time books to be on Kindle Unlimited, or at least cheaper than $10 a pop.  If they were readily available (and I know, I can go out and pirate them) for my Kindle as a part of KU, or at leas something cheaper than $10 apiece, I. might be tempted to read the rest.  I go to my Kindle more and more.

No shit. I was going to but all of them, but they wanted something like $120. So I'm paying 10 each.

[Chips O'Toole 1322]

I'm about to finish book 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles. It's been great but I should have held off on reading it until the 3rd book was out.  Should I read The Slow Regard Of Silent Things, or just move on to something else?

[TKthunder2 4985]

8 hours ago, Chips O'Toole said:

I'm about to finish book 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles. It's been great but I should have held off on reading it until the 3rd book was out.  Should I read The Slow Regard Of Silent Things, or just move on to something else?

I don’t know anyone that read Silent Things because everyone is pissed at him for not putting out book 3.

 

Just finished the Warded Man, glad I picked it up diving right into the Desert Spear now.

[Buzzrock 14902]

Another one I really liked and which I may have mentioned on ToS is The Light of Other Days. It's co-written by Arthur C Clarke and Stephen Baxter.

Imagine if you could open an undetectable wormhole to anywhere in the world and transmit back audio and video. Then imagine you could receive audio and video from anywhere and any time in the past. Imagine if that technology became mainstream. History, politics, relationships, justice, humanity in general would all be totally changed. That's the premise.

As an example: imagine if you could open up a camera feed from the bedroom where Ford says she and Kavanaugh were 30 years ago. /noCR

[Viper 12097]

18 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

Another one I really liked and which I may have mentioned on ToS is The Light of Other Days. It's co-written by Arthur C Clarke and Stephen Baxter.

Imagine if you could open an undetectable wormhole to anywhere in the world and transmit back audio and video. Then imagine you could receive audio and video from anywhere and any time in the past. Imagine if that technology became mainstream. History, politics, relationships, justice, humanity in general would all be totally changed. That's the premise.

As an example: imagine if you could open up a camera feed from the bedroom where Ford says she and Kavanaugh were 30 years ago. /noCR

Soooo, porn?

[Buzzrock 14902]

Soooo, porn?

I don’t recall that they touched on that but I would assume the porn biz would die pretty quickly if you could dial up literally every sex scene in history on WormTube.

Another interesting angle is that all the world’s religions had to reassess their origins. Imagine the impacts to Christianity.

[Grippe 310]

17 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

I don’t know anyone that read Silent Things because everyone is pissed at him for not putting out book 3.

 

Just finished the Warded Man, glad I picked it up diving right into the Desert Spear now.

The Demon Cycle series definitely got better as it went along and ended well.

When you finish that, and if you enjoyed it, you might want to look into the Shadow Campaign by Wexler.

[Hellraiser97 181]

On 10/2/2018 at 10:19 PM, Chewbacca said:

On 10/2/2018 at 10:04 PM, atomheartbevo said:

Now would be a good time for Amazon to work out a deal for the Wheel of Time books to be on Kindle Unlimited, or at least cheaper than $10 a pop.  If they were readily available (and I know, I can go out and pirate them) for my Kindle as a part of KU, or at leas something cheaper than $10 apiece, I. might be tempted to read the rest.  I go to my Kindle more and more.

No shit. I was going to but all of them, but they wanted something like $120. So I'm paying 10 each.

I listened to them on audio.  On Audible it was something like $400 for the whole series.  Umm.  No.  Not going to happen.  You couldn't even use your credits to get them each month because they were about $35 a piece.  Fuck that ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG

 

Just started the 3rd book in the academy series.  Ended up really liking the second book, liking the third too, but I can see it getting a bit formulaic.  Probably take a break after this for a while.

[Chewbacca 7766]

5 minutes ago, Hellraiser97 said:

Just started the 3rd book in the academy series.  Ended up really liking the second book, liking the third too, but I can see it getting a bit formulaic.  Probably take a break after this for a while.

I'm on book 3 of Wheel of Time and feel the same way about it getting very formulaic.  I will likely switch to something else when i'm done with this one as well.

[TKthunder2 4985]

10 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

I'm on book 3 of Wheel of Time and feel the same way about it getting very formulaic.  I will likely switch to something else when i'm done with this one as well.

If you’re taking advice, you need to read to the Lord of Chaos, I think it’s book 5 and take a break.  It’s a better stopping point if you decide to not continue with the series and imo is the best of the early books.

 

but yes, it’s highly formulaic, they do a better job toward then end of the series but I almost quit after book 8 iirc, but I’m glad I slogged through to the end (Sanderson’s final books made it all worth it).

 

from this link I found about the show, lines up with what I remember...

http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/wheels-of-time/276731/the-wheel-of-time-tv-series-what-can-we-expect

The first two books are eventful and propulsive, the third is a drag that barely features Rand Al Thor at all, the fourth, fifth and sixth boast some of the best storytelling of the series then after that things slow to a crawl until the tenth book is quite literally made up of characters reacting to the climax of the ninth while having three-page baths. After that the final four books are essentially all payoff to a very, very long set up.

Edited October 13, 2018 by TKthunder2

[Hellraiser97 181]

If you’re taking advice, you need to read to the Lord of Chaos, I think it’s book 5 and take a break.  It’s a better stopping point if you decide to not continue with the series and imo is the best of the early books.
 
but yes, it’s highly formulaic, they do a better job toward then end of the series but I almost quit after book 8 iirc, but I’m glad I slogged through to the end (Sanderson’s final books made it all worth it).
 
from this link I found about the show, lines up with what I remember...
http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/wheels-of-time/276731/the-wheel-of-time-tv-series-what-can-we-expect
The first two books are eventful and propulsive, the third is a drag that barely features Rand Al Thor at all, the fourth, fifth and sixth boast some of the best storytelling of the series then after that things slow to a crawl until the tenth book is quite literally made up of characters reacting to the climax of the ninth while having three-page baths. After that the final four books are essentially all payoff to a very, very long set up.

Yeah the last few books by Jordon drag, but it's worth getting through them for the ones Sanderson wrote. I only finished them last year and I'm already considering rereading them again. I haven't read New Spring, but since the two books after it never happened, not sure it's worth it

I do not like OU

[TKthunder2 4985]

14 hours ago, Hellraiser97 said:

Yeah the last few books by Jordon drag, but it's worth getting through them for the ones Sanderson wrote. I only finished them last year and I'm already considering rereading them again. I haven't read New Spring, but since the two books after it never happened, not sure it's worth it

I do not like OU
 

New Spring is worth the read especially if you’re about to re-read the series I’d read it first because it will give you a little more insight on the re-read.  It has some nice back story that’s worth your time.  I wish they’d let Sanderson complete the prequel triology (the 2nd prequel was going to be about Tam's past leading up to his bringing home the baby, and the 3rd would jump back to Moirane/Lan ending with their arrival in the Two Rivers) but I guess they don’t have enough of Jordan’s notes and I know his wife is very protective of keeping the WOT under Jordan’s original vision.

[BTW 370]

I've been slogging through The Reality Dysfuncion by Peter F. Hamilton since this summer (It's 1100 pages and is 1/3 in the series).  I took a break to read Children of time last week and enjoyed it, but agree with whoever said they didn't love the ending.

[Apep 645]

On 10/3/2018 at 10:30 AM, Chips O'Toole said:

I'm about to finish book 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles. It's been great but I should have held off on reading it until the 3rd book was out.  Should I read The Slow Regard Of Silent Things, or just move on to something else?

I've read the Slow Regard of Silent Things, the poem "How Old Holly Came to Be", and the Bast novella The Lightning Tree. Slow Regard changes Auri, generally for the better though I am worried that it

is setting her up as the third novel's deus ex machina or Big Bad

. The Bast novella really helps flesh out that character, but doesn't add much

except for the Martin character

. The poem is great worldbuilding, but doesn't add much to the books. 

[Keflex 1]

Anyone read Warhammer or Warhammer 40k novels?   I'm a big fan of the both IPs. I was big into Warhammer Online when it was around.

I've read several of the Gotrek and Felix novels in the past and liked those.  I've read a few the Horus Heresey novels.

The past couple months I've been reading the Gaunt's Ghosts series and on the 12th book already.

Edited October 24, 2018 by Keflex

[Keflex 1]

On 9/9/2018 at 9:06 AM, Elmer_Fudd said:

Had anybody read The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams?  Or better yet the entire Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy?  Was thinking of starting it.

I've read it a couple times, but the last time was probably 15 years ago.  From what I remember, it is an enjoyable series overall.  However, it is very slow and takes a long time to really get into the story.  I'd put it on your todo list but only go there when you have nothing else to read.

[Spartan52 151]

Been reading  a series called 'Chronicles of the Long war' by A J Smith

I'm 4 books in and think its pretty good

[BTW 370]

I just finished the Quantum Magician .  Great read, lots of hard science mixed with pretty compelling ensemble of characters trying to pull of a hell of a job.  looking forward to the next one

[Grippe 310]

17 hours ago, BTW said:

I just finished the Quantum Magician .  Great read, lots of hard science mixed with pretty compelling ensemble of characters trying to pull of a hell of a job.  looking forward to the next one

While you're waiting you might find the Frontline series by Marko Kloos to your liking.

[SimonBolivar 10957]

I'm not sure what true SciFi/Fantasy fans think of The Expanse series, but I'm loving it about halfway through Book 4.

[RoundRobin 828]

I’ve read all of the Expanse novels and can’t wait for the next one to come out. Great series. 

[Grippe 310]

It is an outstanding series.  The last book took some bold steps in terms of timeline but it did a great job of breaking formula and adding suspense for the next book.

[Keflex 1]

Another good series that I read a long time ago and forgot about till recently is The Farseer Trilogy and The Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb.  She has other series set in this world too but the ones based on Fitz and the Fool are the best ones.

I had read both of these in high school and forgot about them till a few weeks ago.  I've re-read the first trilogy already and on the second one now.  Also, I  found that there is a third trilogy which was written in the past few years (The Fitz and The Fool Trilogy).

[Hellraiser97 181]

I'm on book six of the academy series. I still like the series overall but I have found the parts on Earth in the last two books really dragged. More political than sci fi.

I do not like OU

[BTW 370]

Finally finished the Reality Dysfunction.  It was an absolute SLOG at times (I started it in July and kept getting bogged down) but the last 1/3 really picked up and I've not started the sequel:

I'm going this one as an audiobook though because I have a lot of driving to do in the next month.  It's 40+ hours long ... yikes.

[Modessit 5598]

I'm on book six of the academy series. I still like the series overall but I have found the parts on Earth in the last two books really dragged. More political than sci fi.

I do not like OU

You should check out his Alex Benedict series. I like it a lot more than the Academy series. And some of his standalone books like Moonfall were enjoyable.

[Hellraiser97 181]

You should check out his Alex Benedict series. I like it a lot more than the Academy series. And some of his standalone books like Moonfall were enjoyable.

Thanks I'll put it on my list! I'm on Book 7 of Academy, Starhawk. I don't hate it but it's a bit weird for two reasons. First, instead of focusing on some specific event, like the other books, it's really just about how Hutch got started it seems. Second, it's a different narrator and I swear she makes every character sounds like they're willing.

I do not like OU

[Hellraiser97 181]

On another note, for my actual reading, I'm on the second book of Sanderson's first Mistborn trilogy. The first book it took me a while to get into it. The last third or so if it, I really liked it. So I'm on book two, Well of Ascension. I'm about 1/3 through and it's enjoyable but once again, not loving it. I find the world interesting but I think the issue is that I don't feel any real attachment to most of the characters. In the first book, it was the same deal, with the exception of one or two.

I do not like OU

[Modessit 5598]

Thanks I'll put it on my list! I'm on Book 7 of Academy, Starhawk. I don't hate it but it's a bit weird for two reasons. First, instead of focusing on some specific event, like the other books, it's really just about how Hutch got started it seems. Second, it's a different narrator and I swear she makes every character sounds like they're willing.

I do not like OU

The Alex Benedict series is more detective type. Basically an antiquities dealer who specializes in tracking down and solving disappearances of lost spacecraft or such. Told from the point of view of his assistant. I find it a lot more fun to read and not always as depressing as the political crap that pops up in the latter Academy novels (which mirrors the NASA funding arguments).

If you like sci-fi, I can recommend some L. E. Modessit Jr books. I like his fantasy more, but I've read most of his scifi books as well. Gravity Dreams has always been a favorite.

[High Plains Drifter 11024]

On 8/8/2018 at 9:13 PM, TKthunder2 said:

So based on the recommendations on here I read Hyperion and really enjoyed it, but was pissed that it ended with a cliff hanger so I read Fall of Hyperion and while the ending was satisfying it seemed like he didn’t really want to write another book and filled it full of unnecessary bullshit just to fill pages. 

Trying to decide if I’m going to read Endymion or not now.  Any input would be appreciated.

 

On 8/26/2018 at 9:17 PM, smokebomb said:

I haven’t read the series in a while but remember liking them all even though Simmons sometimes tends to drag. However, the 3rd & 4th books are their own series and remember them only being vaguely related to the 1st & 2nd. 

If you like Dan Simmons, I’d also highly recommend Illium & Olympos. 

 

I really liked Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion was meh. Didn't really like Illium.  I just finished "Flashback" by the same author.

"Flashback" was total dogshit. Good premise-- crime noir in a dystopian future, but its actually a political screed with SF trappings. Terribad. Awful. Without the politics it would have been merely bad. I wouldn't have bothered to read it except I had the time due to the holidays.