Whatcha reading?

Packerrat said:
I've had trouble finding current writers that move me as well. If you're okay with old stuff, Ray Bradbury...Heinlein... Rendezvous with Rama was pretty thought-provoking. Job: A comedy of Justice was a trip. Not always my favorite writing style but always food for thought that made me dream big. Another interesting concept series was Inherit the Stars by James P Hogan. that one got me spinning back in the day.

I picked up a recent one called Red Rising which is apparently a series as well. They had some cool ideas but felt a little bit Young Adultish. More like social commentary with a Sci-Fi backdrop but definitely pertains to the technocratic era.

Got my fingers crossed for some good contemporary suggestions from you folks as well. Thanks for the thread grog!
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Heinlein is great, I never got into Bradbury much. I couldn't believe how badly Starship Troopers was mangled on screen.

Red Rising felt like The Hunger Games in outer space but I would stick with it, the story definitely grows up in the second book.
 
grogimus grogimus if you like urban fantasy, you should check out the laundry series from Charles Stross. I like his sci-fi, as well. Another Brit in the UF genre is Ben Aaronovitch, rivers of London.

Sci-fi wise I like both hard sci-fi and the easy reading ones. Hannu Rajaniemi's quantum thief serie, Al Robertson's crashing heaven & waking hell and the Netflix Expanse in book form (James s.a. Carey) are all worth checking out.

I haven't read much fantasy since the 90's Eddings, Jordan & R.R. Martin playing the waiting game.. However, I ran into Sanderson's stormlight archives, and found myself enjoying them. Third book just out.. but I haven't gotten to it just yet.

I'll have to take a look at Erikson's work. :)

Apocalypse, and after.. I gotta give it to Metro 2033 and the following novels expanding the story. If you're a gamer you could play the story as well.

Crap, I could go on..
 
Just about to start the new JL Bourne series. Day By Day: Armageddon was awesome!
 
Just Finshed Sigma Force by James Rollins
Everything from Science to religion fast paced great series
 
grogimus said:
I'm rereading Tad William's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series now and just finished a weird one called Nevernight by. Jay Kristoff. Nevernight is fresh on my mind, it did a great job on most fronts, notably being a first person female protagonist written by a dude.
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Have you read Tad Williams' 'Otherland' series?
 
AR-Trvlr said:
I think I'm on book six right now. Wow, is it some dense reading. Good, but tough going. Almost as many plot threads as the Game of Thrones books, but I actually found the GoT books to be easier reads.
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RJ's "Wheel Of Time" series starts out strong in the first few books, but he gets sidetracked a little too much in the later novels. I'm a big one for closure, unless a series REALLY gets bad (like The Walking Dead TV series lol), so I stuck with it, ordering the hardcovers as they were released.

My recommendation, get the revised Kindle editions of the last 3 books co-authored/completed by Brandon Sanderson (I don't know if the print editions have been revised).

For those who weren't aware, Robert Jordan was diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis with the doctors giving him an estimate of 4 years. As his condition deteriorated, knowing he likely wouldn't be able to finish the series, he looked for an author to collaborate with, using all his notes and storylines, to finish the WoT series.

The last 3 novels in the WoT series were finished by Brandon Sanderson. My impressions of the original hardcover editions was that they were rather rough, and rushed.

I got the whole set on Kindle last year and reread the entire series, and the revisions flowed a lot better and didn't feel as rushed. There was quite a bit more material added to the last book that I certainly don't recall in the original hardcover releases.
 
BTW, for folks who like the post-apocalyptic genre:

I'd recommend

William R. Forstchen - 'One Second After', and 'One Year After'

Bobby Akart - The 'Blackout' series.

Franklin Horton - 'Locker Nine', 'Grace Under Fire'. Just read these and they're pretty decent. Probably going to check out his 'The Borrowed World' series.

I tried reading 'Going Home' and the 2nd of the books in A. American's 'The Survivalist Series', but just couldn't get into them.

The author's too much of a gear nut for my tastes, and lists the exact make and model of EVERY item the protagonist uses (and who the heck would pack 2 sleep systems and 3 cooking systems in a GHB while complaining about the 60lb load?), and the protagonist continually randomly encounters uber-prepared folks who are happy to help/share.
 
More my speed...


39304162024_abbf26b6e3.jpg



:D
 
Another recommendation here for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Started reading them in like early high school when book six was the newest....
 
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Oooh, fantasy lit. talk. I am actually "reading" the Lord of the Rings again. In fact, I'm listening to them on Audiobook. This is what I pretty much have transitioned to as I've gotten older and busier. Any time I've got to sit down with a book, I'm too darn tired, but I commute a lot, and back when I did yard work all day, every day, audio books really made my days better.

Anyway, the guy who does the reading for LotR (Rob Inglis--he also did The Hobbit) is outstanding, in my opinion. I especially love how he voices Gollum.
 
kmboldon said:
I've read almost everything by Cormac McCarthy. Also recommend the Hyperion Cantos for Sci-Fi buffs. Haven't really read much since The last book from that lazy, procrastinating Martin. Finish the series already ;). Mist Born was pretty amazing as well.
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McCarthy is priceless. I have read, I think 4 or 5 of his books. Blood Meridian is just mind-blowing.
 
Béma said:
grogimus grogimus if you like urban fantasy, you should check out the laundry series from Charles Stross. I like his sci-fi, as well. Another Brit in the UF genre is Ben Aaronovitch, rivers of London.

Sci-fi wise I like both hard sci-fi and the easy reading ones. Hannu Rajaniemi's quantum thief serie, Al Robertson's crashing heaven & waking hell and the Netflix Expanse in book form (James s.a. Carey) are all worth checking out.

I haven't read much fantasy since the 90's Eddings, Jordan & R.R. Martin playing the waiting game.. However, I ran into Sanderson's stormlight archives, and found myself enjoying them. Third book just out.. but I haven't gotten to it just yet.

I'll have to take a look at Erikson's work. :)

Apocalypse, and after.. I gotta give it to Metro 2033 and the following novels expanding the story. If you're a gamer you could play the story as well.

Crap, I could go on..
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I also really like The Witcher series of books, (speaking of video games based on novels). Except that the last one, Lady of the Lake, really dragged on and on, introducing too many new characters, in my opinion.
 
When it comes to the Wheel of Time, I really enjoyed the first six, but the rest felt more like I was doing some kind of penance. I felt like Robert Jordan fell way too much in love with endless description. The narrative progression just ground to a halt until those last three books. But I appreciated that the last three brought the series to a close.

If you want some really great imaginative hard sci-fi I also strongly recommend Alastair Reynolds. Reynolds is an actual astronomer, and you can definitely feel his physics/astronomy background in his writing. I really liked his Revelation Space series, and I found his standalone book House of Suns pretty mind-blowing.

If you haven't read any Terry Pratchett I advise you to rectify that situation as soon as possible. It is wildly out of order to start with the book Night Watch, but it is the first Pratchett novel I read and it got me totally hooked. I used to go see him speak whenever I had the opportunity. I actually found out that he had Alzheimer's when I went to see him speak on my birthday many moons ago. I used to say that he was my favorite living author until a few years ago. Now I have to debate internally whether he or Heinlein is my favorite of all time.
 
TRfromMT said:
Lee Child / Jack Reacher novels. Mindless, I know. Still fun. In the books he is 6'5" and pretty big. I can't reconcile that with Tom Cruise from the movie. They should have cast someone else.

Also a daily meditation from the book of Proverbs. Lots of applicable wisdom there...
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Those are next on my list after I finish the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn (which are good, but a step down from Clancy as far as I'm concerned).
 
abbydaddy said:
When it comes to the Wheel of Time, I really enjoyed the first six, but the rest felt more like I was doing some kind of penance. I felt like Robert Jordan fell way too much in love with endless description. The narrative progression just ground to a halt until those last three books. But I appreciated that the last three brought the series to a close.

If you want some really great imaginative hard sci-fi I also strongly recommend Alastair Reynolds. Reynolds is an actual astronomer, and you can definitely feel his physics/astronomy background in his writing. I really liked his Revelation Space series, and I found his standalone book House of Suns pretty mind-blowing.

If you haven't read any Terry Pratchett I advise you to rectify that situation as soon as possible. It is wildly out of order to start with the book Night Watch, but it is the first Pratchett novel I read and it got me totally hooked. I used to go see him speak whenever I had the opportunity. I actually found out that he had Alzheimer's when I went to see him speak on my birthday many moons ago. I used to say that he was my favorite living author until a few years ago. Now I have to debate internally whether he or Heinlein is my favorite of all time.
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Pratchett is a given. :) There is something for everyone, from the cradle to the grave.
I picked up Thief of Time in a yard sale sale recently, did NOT regret it.

I read the first 8 Jordans in the 90´s.. haven´t read the remaining ones, but have heard good things about Sandersons work with the last 3 books.

Alastair Reynolds sounds interesting, I just ordered a copy of revelation space. (read a couple of reviews that really sealed the deal for me)

Edit:
Iain M Banks has a couple of gems in the sci-fi verse.
A.R. made me think of Donaldson´s antiheroes both in sci-fi & fantasy. Don´t know if there are any similarities, though.
 
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George Orwell’s 1984 echoes in my mind frequently.

On a lighter note, just mentioning Heinlein, Bradbury and Tolkien brings back great memories of times when I had virtually no responsibilities and could read without distractions. Pure enjoyment.

Now I burn out my eyes and continue to degrade my visual acuity in the pursuit of “doing something for society”. Less innocent enjoyment, more spiritually rewarding.

Now my reading distractions are mostly related to knives, guns, and vehicles (in no particular order). Magazines and forums provide quick and pleasant distractions. That’s why I’m here with my new Carothers blade beside me. Nuts, I know.
 
Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

If you haven't started the epic saga yet - do yourself a favor the first 3 volumes are out already.
 
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