Looking for some new Sci/Fi or Fantasy novels.

[teeray]

Finished The Way of Kings last weekend. Well worth it. Good stuff. Like with any book #1 it is slow out the gate, but the last half of the book is REALLY good, and sets up well for whole series. Now I just have to hope I am not 70 by the time all 10 books are finished. Brandon Sanderson's style is very different from GRRM, it seems to have more "Fug yeah" than "holy poo" moments. But the "fug yeah" moments are so awesome it is worth it. It is not better or worse, just different.

Also, for what will be a big world it is narrowly focused on basically 4 major POV characters. The result is less world building and confusion, which allows more character development. He teases the reader with some other POV characters but only briefly to give a glimpse of what lies ahead.

Kaladin was by far the star of the novel! Just a really great read. There are some minor things to nitpick (to me none of the characters were as good as Vin from Mistborn, or Logen Ninefingers from First Law), but overall it was awesome, and I am excited to see where this story is headed.

Edited July 15, 2014 by teeray

[teeray]

Next up I am reading The Heroes, a stand alone novel from Joe Abercrombie's First Law world. Then I am probably tackling The Kingkiller Chronicles

[PanthersFanNY]

I started the First Law series after your recommendation and am about half way through the first book. I'm liking it a lot so far. I'm looking forward to getting further into it to find out some back stories of characters, Fenris the Feared is badass.

[Darth Biscuit]

I haven't read poo since I finished GoT last summer and then re-read Hyperion Cantos.  I went on vacation last August and put my reading tablet away and haven't touched it since...  got into football and never picked back up on reading...

 

I'd like to get back into something... idk what tho.

[Crixtala]

 

I haven't read poo since I finished GoT last summer and then re-read Hyperion Cantos.  I went on vacation last August and put my reading tablet away and haven't touched it since...  got into football and never picked back up on reading...

 

I'd like to get back into something... idk what tho.

 

same boat here... started a few different books (including The Way of Kings, and couldn't get in to them)

need to get in a reading mood again

thinking about grabbing a signed version of the new patrick rothfuss novella (through his charity), so that may kickstart the desire to read again when it shows up

[Bronn]

I can't recommend these books enough:

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - First in a series of seven books, with only 3 being published so far - one of my favorite "new" authors... It isn't so much as medieval fantasy in the vein of GoT but it is more like a Renaissance era Venice type setting... but you'll fall in love with the main characters like you do with the GoT characters. Locke Lamora himself is probably one of my favorite protagonists ever.

The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss - Parts one and two of The Kingkiller Chronicles (a three part series.) Kvothe is probably my favorite protagonist of all time at this point. The world is interesting and the take on magic that Rothfuss uses is really cool. There isn't a whole lot of high fantasy present, and Rothfuss' prose is really fluid.

 

The Silo Saga (Wool, Shift, and Dust) and Sand (Omnibus) by Hugh Howey - The Silo Saga features a female protagonist in an underground post apocalyptic world. It is pretty much the best work of SciFi I have read in a while. Ridley Scott has the movie rights and is piecing together the movie stuff as I type this. Sand, on the other hand, is also set in a post apocalyptic world, but above ground. The setting world is pretty much a desert of poverty in which people can dive down and retrieve relics from the past via special suits that vibrate the sand to a frequency that makes it move like water. I almost enjoyed this as much as the Silo Saga and probably would have enjoyed it more if it were longer than one book.

 

I've said all those before in the thread but I felt I needed to say them again.

Also, from my understanding, Locke Lamora and Kvothe's stories have both been sold to TV. So they will probably be coming to a box near you in the future. Get ahead of the game and check them out now. Might even be the next big thing after GoT gets done.

[Crixtala]

 

I can't recommend these books enough:

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - First in a series of seven books, with only 3 being published so far - one of my favorite "new" authors... It isn't so much as medieval fantasy in the vein of GoT but it is more like a Renaissance era Venice type setting... but you'll fall in love with the main characters like you do with the GoT characters. Locke Lamora himself is probably one of my favorite protagonists ever.

just bought this, thanks

[Bronn]

 

just bought this, thanks

 

Let me know what you think. I hope you like it as much as I did!

I've got the second book and will start it as soon as I finish the one I'm currently reading.

[teeray]

I started the First Law series after your recommendation and am about half way through the first book. I'm liking it a lot so far. I'm looking forward to getting further into it to find out some back stories of characters, Fenris the Feared is badass.

Let me know what you think. It isn't so much three stories at it is one long story with three volumes.

Fenris is a badass.

If there is one nitpick about these books is that it didn't spend enough time with Bethod and Fenris because there are no POV characters in their camp.

Also, Glotka and Logen are both awesome characters. Two of my favorites in recent memory.

Edited July 18, 2014 by teeray

[Crixtala]

 

Let me know what you think. I hope you like it as much as I did!

I've got the second book and will start it as soon as I finish the one I'm currently reading.

 

got this yesterday and am only about 30 pages in so far, but definitely appreciate that this hits the ground running right out of the gate. i feel like too many fantasy/high fantasy novels i've tried to get into lately are too big for their britches from the beginning and spend the first 300 pages setting up way too much information before ever actually getting into any type of a story

i mean, i'm sure this is doing the same thing... i'm sure Locke isn't just some little kid the whole book, but at least it feels like something is happening right now

[Bronn]

 

 

got this yesterday and am only about 30 pages in so far, but definitely appreciate that this hits the ground running right out of the gate. i feel like too many fantasy/high fantasy novels i've tried to get into lately are too big for their britches from the beginning and spend the first 300 pages setting up way too much information before ever actually getting into any type of a story

i mean, i'm sure this is doing the same thing... i'm sure Locke isn't just some little kid the whole book, but at least it feels like something is happening right now

 

Yeah man I definitely feel where you are coming from with books taking a while to reel you in.

Hopefully by now you're seeing that Lynch kinda bounces around between present and past, and the younger Locke stories tie into the present ones and serve as a kind of background for things that happen in the present chapters. They help solidify Locke's character traits and even give insight into some of his cohorts' as well.

I hope you're enjoying it! I can't wait to start the second book but I have to knock these others out that I've started first. The third one hits mass market paperback in like 5 days I think.

I have to read back but I might have misquoted earlier in the thread... I think this series is actually 7 books long and not a trilogy. It might even be longer, as Lynch's wikipedia has 8 titles listed but then it says the series is 7 books long.

[Bronn]

I have to add another recommendation to my list.

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville - This one was recommended to me by a big fan of Mieville's body of work. I also have a second book by him that will be read pretty soon called The Scar that my friend likes the best. I kinda feel like Perdido St. Station can pretty much be considered High Sci-Fi in the vein that High Fantasy refers to dragons and monsters. It also has elements of steam punk, and even fantasy elements. There are bunches of races and creatures (picture Mos Eisley) living in this city-state setting. It is characterized by huge industrial complexes and, in turn, lots of nasty pollution and detritus in the streets and bodies of water.

The basic plot is that a scientist is approached by a Garuda (a flying race that has traits of a hawk/eagle blended with arms and legs like most bipedal species) about helping him regain flight, since for some reason the others in his community saw fit to punish him for something by tearing his wings from his body. The scientist, Isaac, undertakes the work but ends up having a hiccup in his research that unleashes a menace to the rest of the world. Not only that, but his hiccup has uncovered a conspiracy involving the government that even has ties to a crime lord.

I'm still a couple hundred pages from the end, but it has drawn me completely in and has been my focus in the recent weeks.

If you like weird creature races, sci-fi, steam punk, great intertwining plots, or even just fantasy worlds with fantasy concepts, I would recommend this book too.

[Bronn]

 

 

got this yesterday and am only about 30 pages in so far, but definitely appreciate that this hits the ground running right out of the gate. i feel like too many fantasy/high fantasy novels i've tried to get into lately are too big for their britches from the beginning and spend the first 300 pages setting up way too much information before ever actually getting into any type of a story

i mean, i'm sure this is doing the same thing... i'm sure Locke isn't just some little kid the whole book, but at least it feels like something is happening right now

 

Yo man how's the book going? Just curious what you thought if you were further into it/done with it.

I just started the second one a few days ago, and it is just as good as the first so far.

[Crixtala]

Yo man how's the book going? Just curious what you thought if you were further into it/done with it.

I just started the second one a few days ago, and it is just as good as the first so far.

i'm about 2/3 of the way through it and it's fantastic... really loving the characters. just got to the point that Barsavi is marching his way to Echo Hole, so poo's about to get serious

i'm more than likely going to order the second book here shortly so i have it in hand when i'm done with the first