Re-tells the King Arthur legend from the point of view of the women, and is stunningly written.You mean Fate/Stay Ni*shot*
Brandon Sanderson
Hey, I'll read pretty much anything someone thinks is good, so long as it's not too expensive.
Okay. It's time to put up or shut up with this guy.I have not read this Infinity Blade novella nor do I know anything about it. I will stand by my recommendation of Mistborn, as well as Elantris and others.
A good friend of mine read his Infinity Blade book, a friend with very good tastes in reading, usually. And this book turned out to be awful on many, many levels. Establish that this guy is usually better than that, because Infinite Blade was horrible trash.
Onto things that are unambiguously good: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Suzanna Clark.
I have not read this Infinity Blade novella nor do I know anything about it. I will stand by my recommendation of Mistborn, as well as Elantris and others.
Why? What's good about it?The characters are fleshed out and solid, especially the core main characters. A good chunk of backstory accompanies each one and it's borne out in the execution of the character. The storyline deconstructs a good deal of modern accepted trends - examining a rebellion from within, as well as what comes after the good guys win (hint: more trouble). I can't recall a penis joke off the top of my head, not one, and these usually stick in my memory because they irritate me. Sanderson also does a superb job planning ahead - his works are internally consistent, his magic systems fully worked out ahead of time, and he drops just enough clever hints that at the moment things all come together there's a perfect moment of "OHHHHHHHH".
Are the characters believable or interesting? Is there any attempt to flesh them out beyond their roles? Is there a dearth of "lol penis" jokes? These are some of the many problems that Infinity blade had. Please establish this guy is worth reading.
The characters are fleshed out and solid, especially the core main characters. A good chunk of backstory accompanies each one and it's borne out in the execution of the character. The storyline deconstructs a good deal of modern accepted trends - examining a rebellion from within, as well as what comes after the good guys win (hint: more trouble). I can't recall a penis joke off the top of my head, not one, and these usually stick in my memory because they irritate me. Sanderson also does a superb job planning ahead - his works are internally consistent, his magic systems fully worked out ahead of time, and he drops just enough clever hints that at the moment things all come together there's a perfect moment of "OHHHHHHHH".
I will say that he has some slight problems with pacing (which seems to have gotten a little out of control since he assumed the mantle of the last Wheel of Time books and The Way of Kings) but I still find his stories to be interesting, his characters richly written and his worlds and magics explored. He's not perfect, but no author is, and his books are genuinely enjoyable to read.
Enders Game
I do quite like science fiction and science fantasy, and I have an interest in victorian literature (English A-level :V)I would recommend the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. It's historical fiction set in (and documenting) the beginning of the modern era, but it reads a lot like science fiction.
I approve of this post. I loved that book and its related works (the sequels Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, as well as the parallel works). You don't have to read all of them, just try the first one and see if it's to your tastes.I would say Ender's Game itself has a very different tone that its sequels. They are all great reads though. I am just a little wary of some of the morality Card tries to push in it.
5. any selection of Lovecraftian horror (thank god for the lack of movies)
The Diamond Age
The Hunger Games. Just got them, they're really good books. I definitely suggest them.Seconding this suggestion.
Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku
Ahh Michio Kaku. The scientific tv shows favirote fruitcake.
He can make some good points now and then, but some of his ideas fire so far off into fantasy its untrue lol
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
P much. It's the story of a mad pedophile, no less. It's a great read.
The Hunger Games. Just got them, they're really good books. I definitely suggest them.:3
Ammy, out of curiousity, have you read Haruki Murakami's Underground? If you've talked about it before, I can't recall. If you have, would you recommend it? Why or why not?
... oh, and some Charles Dickens.excuse me while I rip my brains out through my eyes
Hard Times is required reading for my English course... it was just hypothetical that I@d get any more.
Jim Butcher has some good stuff; I like Dresden more than his other series though.Codex Alera is author-admitted going for a more classic fantasy feel, but it's still very character-centric like his Dresden books. But it works better with Dresden, I have to agree.
Just got IQ84, the latest novel by Haruki Murakami, and I can't recommend it highly enough. I haven't read it, but it's Murakami. The worst he does is "pretty good". I think if he tried to write a terrible novel, it would still end up better than anything on the shelves right now.
He always write stuff that seemed overly pretentious imo.
You're joking, right? The male protagonist of every Murakami novel is always some totally average guy - he likes beer, likes baseball, enjoys casual affairs, but isn't remarkable in any particular way.And also usually much more keen on Western music and literature than the average Japanese.
And also usually much more keen on Western music and literature than the average Japanese.
...which is to say, his male protagonists are always a disguised version of himself. Which for me does make seem kind of pretentious that they always seem to get in these casual affairs so effortlessly. It doesn't always bothers me too much, but that part in Dance, dance, dance were the protagonist was all "Yeah, I could totally have slept with that girl, but it wouldn't have been fair to her." actually got me a little pissed at his smugness.
I really do like most of his works, though. Romantic woes aside, his early works do paint a sincere picture of youth and everyday-folk uncertain of their place in the Japanese society. Hard-boiled Wonderland is a great mixture of fantasy and SF and Wind-up Bird Chronicle touched on subjects that most Japanese are uncomfortable approaching these days.
I just think that, as of Kafka and After Dark there's been too much of empty symbolism in his work. As if based on reader and critic's response he decided that being symbolic is his "thing", and has to include symbolic or deep-sounding stuff even when there's no need for it story or artistically-wise.