[ping] Recommendations

[digitaldiscipline]

I'm out of books to read at the house, and could use some recommendations for things that will entertain, and, hopefully, induce me to write.

What I want: Fiction with cojones, and hopefully some wit. SF, horror, c-punk, nontraditional fantasy, or slipstream. Other genres also keen, but that's where my tastes tend to reside. Science in the vein of COSMOS for non-fiction.

What I don't want: Endless navel-gazing introspection, gratuitous slavery to a style (PoMo, especially), Historical non-fiction, crappy romance.

Recent Reads:
- Christopher Moore[1] (Stupidest Angel, Fluke)
- Phillip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep*)
- Aldous Huxley (Brave New World*)
- Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhoue Five[2])
- Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's series*)


* - Re-reads

[1] - If you haven't read these, and find yourself looking for some light, funny, summer reading, I heartily recommend everything this guy's written.
[2] - I haven't the first fucking idea why this is canonized as being a classic of whatever genre it's supposed to be a towering work of. Nigh unto unreadable, and pretty goddamned boring.

Comments

[ex-desertson422.livejournal.com]

I actually liked Brave New World. Definately has a place of use in the "political commentary" and "social criticism" section of my library.

[megiddo-lj.livejournal.com]

I think it's high time you read some HST, but that's me talking...

[mykal.livejournal.com]

George RR Martins "A Game of Thrones" has some meat to it. Martin is not afraid to completely screw over any and every one of his characters. Political intrigue, supernatural nasties, incest and dragons - what more could you want?

Books

[ashesngolddust.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.... Well, the one that changed my life was "Loose Change" by Sarah Davidson, but it's kind of a Feminist book, so I will not recommend it to you unless the 60's at Berkely University and inward and social revolution intrest you at all..... I would recommend that K read it, though... Awesome Book!

As for you, if you want some heavier reading, I would recommend the "Unholy Bible" It's a Blake/Jung project that delves into the Collective Unconscious... Amazing. Or "Will To Power"

Beyond that, if you want some lighter but still creepy stuff, I would recommend Poppy Z. Brite's "Are You Loathsome Tonight?" It's a short-horror/gore- story compilation.

[helcat.livejournal.com]

GRRM--Seconded. Because I recently bought trade editions of these, Rafe, I'll be willing to ship you my mass market copies.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

It's kept on the shelf with the other "classics" in my collection [ie: books I arbitrarily think everyone should read: "Farenheit 451," "Watership Down," "Catch 22," "The Fountainhead," "1984," "Fair New World," "The Princess Bride," and others].

[etcet.livejournal.com]

*glee*

I'll swap addresses with you via email. :-)

[critus.livejournal.com]

You mean he hasn't???

[critus.livejournal.com]

As far as nontraditional fantasy, I'm a big fan of Peter David and his Sir Apropos of Nothing series.

[megiddo-lj.livejournal.com]

He's never read 'Fear and Loathing', no..

He's seen the movie. I would be glad to loan it to him.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

I'm not even sure I've seen the whole movie. There were, uh, drinks involved with the watching...

[megiddo-lj.livejournal.com]

I have the Criterion Edition of that, too.

[theonebob.livejournal.com]

If you haven't read Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant Series you might like that. You'd definitely like his "Gap" series. I have the "Gap" books, if you'd like to borrow them. My Covenant books are in disrepair.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

K has the Covenant series, and from what I gather from her discussion of them, I'm not sure they're for me (if there's one thing I learned from "Interview with a Vampire," it's that I have no patience for stories where the main character is an asshole, and that's the impression I've gotten from her about TC). *ponders*

[bitogoth.livejournal.com]

try Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle"- happy to lend if you so desire (once i figure which box its in, of course- heh)

[the-yellow-king.livejournal.com]

How about gritty political-and-intrigue fantasy? "Song of Ice & Fire" series by George R. R. Martin.
It starts with "A Game Of Thrones"; I think it would be up your alley.

John Barnes:

[ross-winn.livejournal.com]

Kaleidoscope Century, Finity, or A Million Open Doors.

This guy may be the best SF writer working today.

[rachellll.livejournal.com]

Gah! Insulting Slaughterhouse Five. I'm sorry, I can't recommend anything to someone who didn't enjoy that book.

[mighty-man.livejournal.com]

Ender's Game.

Sorry I can't think of more right now, but my reading is relegated to Denon DVD-3910 and Pioneer VSX-59TXi manuals right now.

[smaugchow.livejournal.com]

TC is an asshole, allright. He has his reasons in some cases but at times he seem slike a petulant child. Grim stuff at times.

For light fantasy, try the Belgarion, 5 books by David Eddings. Thick enough to occupy you, light enough not to challenge you.

Robert Aspirin's MYTH series are a riot. Easy reads, quick wit, fun and silly.

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is definitely a commitment of time and effort, and the bastard isn't done yet (11 books so far.) He started strong, and the first 5-7 books are very good, but then he started jerking around with it and enjoying his own cleverness too much. I can recomend it only if you are willing to either wait a few years for him to finish it or if you are able to let it go while it's still good and not even bother with the later books.

Clarke's "Rama" books were cool. I think it was Clarke - too lazy to look it up. Rendezvous with Rama was the first.

Tad Williams "Otherworld" series might intrigue you. I only read the first - City of Golden Shadow - and it was too slow and detailed for me. Cyber-space on steroids stuff. Hard to wade through. I felt like he should have tightened up the story by a large margin, but I'm impatient.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Is it better than "Slaughterhouse"?

[ladysoleil.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[bitogoth.livejournal.com]

i'm not sure that i've read slaughterhouse, or if i have it's been too long to remember. from what i know of 5 Cat's Cradle is much lighter, and includes a depraved religion where members mingle souls by pressing the soles of their feet to others' and the end of the world. :}

[selkiesiren.livejournal.com]

If you liked the Hitchhikers series, you may also like Douglas Adams' other series about "Dirk Gently", a kind of Sci-Fi private eye thing.

[theonebob.livejournal.com]

TC's definitely not immediately likeable, but he's got a long arc of self-discovery that he goes through. I definitely liked him more at the end of the book than at the beginning. I liked him much more at the end of the series. Think of Tolkien, except the main character has psychological problems.

However, I do think you'll like the Gap series. The main characters are a woman and a cyborg. It's gritty in the extreme.