Samesies
I'm currently debating whether I should reread the Silmarillion or go for something I haven't read before. I have sword and sorcery blue balls after being hugely let down by the movie Seventh Son this weekend. I couldn't even finish it.
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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out
- Thread starter Korladis
- Start date
I'm currently debating whether I should reread the Silmarillion or go for something I haven't read before. I have sword and sorcery blue balls after being hugely let down by the movie Seventh Son this weekend. I couldn't even finish it.
I’ve read nearly all of Tolkien’s stuff (including his non-LOTR things) and am actually currently re-reading LOTR. Frodo/Gollum just destroyed the Ring. Likely will be reading Beren and Luthien soon, as it’s one of the few I have yet to read. Or maybe something lighter in between, like Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently novels.
Read something you haven't read before! I don't want to hijack this thread but I am a gigantic fantasy book fan and have essentially read...All of them. At least the ones written for adults I avoid YA. You may have heard some of these suggestions before but a few people may not have so here's my random recommendations for modern fantasy that you may or may not have heard of.
#1 The Empire in Black & Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky - I will admit I read the synopsis and thought it sounded stupid but the reviews were really good so I took a dive and was hooked halfway through the prologue. The premise is there is different groups of people referred to as kinden who take on aspects and some abilities of different insects. This series is about the newly formed Wasp empire's expansion and the peoples and cities who resist. The world the author makes is very believable and feels authentic in a way that many other fantasy books don't, the setting feels like real places that people live in. It deals with themes of racism, class warfare, the price of progress, the dangers of exploration, and politics.
#2 Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson - Most people will probably know this one especially since Brandon was hand picked to finish the Wheel of Time after Robert Jordan died but its an exceptionally well written and fun series. I consider this the "Shawshank Redemption" of fantasy series because the ending is just perfect. For people who haven't read it the basic premise was described by the author as what would the world look like 1000 years after Sauron defeated the fellowship of the ring.
#3 The First Law: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie - Pretty much the first modern ultra-violent series I read. It has compelling characters and a cool story and its also incredibly violent. It reminds me in a way of reading Viking sagas in that it has the same sort of epic flow to it with deeply flawed characters that still feel very human/believable.
#4 The Red Knight by Miles Cameron - An excellent military campaign series about a mercenary group. The author is really into re-enactments and this is the most "authentic" description of medieval warfare I've read that wasn't an actual history book. The story is pretty good too!
#5 Scar Night by Alan Campbell - This is one of the most imaginative books I've ever read, it's almost hard to describe because I read it probably 10-12 years ago but the setting is a city suspended by chains over an abyss run by a theocracy and there's a murderer stealing souls. It gets substantially weirder then this description.
Also good ones that I want to throw out there before I go to bed. The Briar King by Greg Keyes, Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft, Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Gardens of the Moon by Stephen Erikson, The Deeds of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon, and The Thousand Names by Django Wexler (this is one of my all time favorites I should have put it higher!). Also the Mirrowen books by I think Scott Wheeler were solid & so were the Empire of Moth books but I can't remember the author's name. I forgot the name of the Black Prism author but those were also solid.
I could name a ton more but I really liked all those enjoy!
PS for all the sci-fi fans real quick The Quantum Magician by Derek Kunsken & The Murderbot Diares by Martha Wells are both great.
I am definitely going to check some of these out. Scar Night immediately appeals to me. Thanks!
This may be super obvious, but have you already read the other fantasy OG, Robert E. Howard? His stuff is not exactly highbrow and can be pretty sexist at times, but it’s a lot of fun to read. His Conan stuff is an obviously great choice, but his other fantasy and horror writing is quite good as well. He was a contemporary and friend of H.P. Lovecraft and his influence is all over those stories, though Howard’s style is much more immediate and visceral than Lovecraft’s.
Man, I hear you on the azure fantasy spheres. I finished all 19 billion published pages of Song of Ice and Fire and it ends up about where I left the HBO series years ago. Started them in june during some bad weather while visiting my lady friend's mom. I should have learnt my lesson with the Dark Tower series. At least Martin hasn't written himself in -yet. And what would a literary discusion in this thread be without mentioning Lovecraft and Poe? I'm reading "Nevernight" by Jay Kristoff right now. Gift from my special fvcking lady friend. It's ok.
I ordered the Blackhawk Mithrandir octave fuzz. Will give a full report when I get it. Brushing up on my runic alphabet.
Thanks for the book recommendations! I just picked up a copy of Dune. I gotta carve out some time to start reading that. I used to read a ton of comics and Star Wars novels but haven’t read anything in recent years. I have mainly been watching Star Trek - TNG when I get home from work.
Ha! All the fantasy y'all are reading is cool and all but have you ever read Music Theory for Dummies? I'm on it right now and it's throwing me all over the place with it's gripping storytelling!
I do love me some Tolkien though, I just wish I had more time to read. I've had Beren and Luthien waiting for me on my bookshelf but I just want some time set aside to read it.
If any of y'all enjoy History as much as I do you may like one of the required readings that I have for school RN called The Cheese and The Worms. It's a true story about a peasant in Italy who independently challenged the beliefs of the Catholic church. It's not as exciting as Tolkien but I think it's interesting.
I do love me some Tolkien though, I just wish I had more time to read. I've had Beren and Luthien waiting for me on my bookshelf but I just want some time set aside to read it.
If any of y'all enjoy History as much as I do you may like one of the required readings that I have for school RN called The Cheese and The Worms. It's a true story about a peasant in Italy who independently challenged the beliefs of the Catholic church. It's not as exciting as Tolkien but I think it's interesting.
Tolkiens stuff is amazing, I love that universe. The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind is some great sword and sorcery stuff. I'd have to go dig through my bookshelves for other authors, The wife is a HUGE H.P. Lovecraft fan so thats pretty prominent on our shelves too. Also a lot of Pratchett which is always awesome.
I'm a huge Sci-Fi nerd my self with more focus on the hard Sci-Fi, Space Opera and Military Sci-Fi. My big read lately has been the Expanse series (and the show, fsk ya!)... Also... Alastair Reynolds, Ian M Banks and Peter F Hamilton are some of my favorite hard Sci-Fi authors.
I'm a huge Sci-Fi nerd my self with more focus on the hard Sci-Fi, Space Opera and Military Sci-Fi. My big read lately has been the Expanse series (and the show, fsk ya!)... Also... Alastair Reynolds, Ian M Banks and Peter F Hamilton are some of my favorite hard Sci-Fi authors.
I'm no sci fi expert, but I'd highly recommend Hyperion by Dan Simmons. The book after it is really good too.
Thats a great series too! Its a bit more horror focused but its a series of 4 books and its a fantastic mind fsk.
never could get into Tolkien, but Terry Pratchet's Discworld series is right up my alley.
Why do you feel the need to hurt me?
Jeebus, that aged poorly. Both the original clerks and star wars trilogy were cultural touchstones in my formative years. Both the star wars “franchise” and Kevin Smith have been underwhelming in my adulthood. LOTR, on the other hand, has held up
Edit: I laughed my butt off at that scene when it came out
Clerks was painful to rewatch. Never been a fan anyways.
I sometimes play Magic the gathering. Does that get me like 1/4 cred? Lol
i played the Dune board game last weekend. it was a lot of fun
