[yuna_anomander25]

Salt-Man Z, on 10 January 2013 - 04:31 PM, said:

yuna_anomander25, on 10 January 2013 - 01:47 AM, said:

Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, already read first few chapters of Lord Foul's Bane (may include his Gap Sequence)

You should definitely include his GAP Cycle; it's the best thing he's written. His Mordant's Need duology is also fantastic. I like the Covenant books, but to me they're his third-best series.

i haven't seen any mordant's books yet, but i'll keep it in mind, although I already got Gap book 1, I'm also considering his Gap omnibus, already saw 2 books of it, and may 1 day buy it,

oh, and SMZ, i think i saw a thread somewhere where you said you liked the Elric of Melnibone books, i've been curious about it as i read somewhere that he is compared with Anomander Rake, with the sword, and i want the omnibus ver, is it worth it,

[Salt-Man Z]

yuna_anomander25, on 11 January 2013 - 04:02 PM, said:

oh, and SMZ, i think i saw a thread somewhere where you said you liked the Elric of Melnibone books, i've been curious about it as i read somewhere that he is compared with Anomander Rake, with the sword, and i want the omnibus ver, is it worth it,

I haven't actually read any Elric books yet. I've got four of them at home: one of the White Wolf edition omnibuses, and three of the newer Del Rey omnibuses. I've also got a crapload of related Eternal Champion omnibuses that I want to read this year. I have read the Elric story "Red Pearls" from the Swords and Dark Magic anthology, and it was interesting enough that I picked up all of these other Moorcock books. And I've read the White Wolf Eternal Champion omnibus, which was fantastic, mostly because of the two Erekose stories (Erekose being an aspect of the Eternal Champion, like Elric.)

With my limited exposure, I would say that if you like sword & sorcery fantasy with some thought behind it, you will probably enjoy Moorcock (his fantasy at least; the sci-fi story "Sundered Worlds" in the Erekose omnibus left me cold.)

[Use Of Weapons]

If you love emo characters, Elric will definitely be up your street. He is the definitive emo.

[Abyss]

Salt-Man Z, on 11 January 2013 - 04:31 PM, said:

yuna_anomander25, on 11 January 2013 - 04:02 PM, said:

oh, and SMZ, i think i saw a thread somewhere where you said you liked the Elric of Melnibone books, i've been curious about it as i read somewhere that he is compared with Anomander Rake, with the sword, and i want the omnibus ver, is it worth it,

I haven't actually read any Elric books yet. I've got four of them at home: one of the White Wolf edition omnibuses, and three of the newer Del Rey omnibuses. I've also got a crapload of related Eternal Champion omnibuses that I want to read this year. I have read the Elric story "Red Pearls" from the Swords and Dark Magic anthology, and it was interesting enough that I picked up all of these other Moorcock books. And I've read the White Wolf Eternal Champion omnibus, which was fantastic, mostly because of the two Erekose stories (Erekose being an aspect of the Eternal Champion, like Elric.)

With my limited exposure, I would say that if you like sword & sorcery fantasy with some thought behind it, you will probably enjoy Moorcock (his fantasy at least; the sci-fi story "Sundered Worlds" in the Erekose omnibus left me cold.)

Use Of Weapons, on 11 January 2013 - 06:57 PM, said:

If you love emo characters, Elric will definitely be up your street. He is the definitive emo.

I've read most of Moorcock's Elric books... i know there are some short stories in anthologies i've missed, but otherwise i've pretty much covered it.

Two common misconceptions : Elric is emo, and Elric is Rake (or chronologically, Rake is Elric).

Elric doesn't spend his time moping and contemplating the darkness of it all. He's grim, certainly, and a bastard absolutely, but whiny and overly emotion oh hell no. His whole story starts out because he's bored, not angst-ridden. There's some angst, but we're not talking L'estat here. He gets more grim towards the end of the cycle, but there's a reason for that.

As for the Rake analogy... well... both are fantasy race characters, tall, with white hair and big ass swords that are immensely powerful. That's where it ends. We could stretch abit on the 'my race is a bunch of immortals sitting around looking for a reason to live' angle, but while Rake actively works to keep his people alive, Elric is kind of the opposite of that.

I liked those stories. They're classic dark sword and sorcery fantasy lit that set the stage for a lot of what followed. The quality varies, but i think they're worth the read.

The only downside is that once you've read Elric, most of the other Eternal Champion stuff Moorcock wrote reads as derivative.

[Mentalist]

yuna_anomander25, on 11 January 2013 - 04:02 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 10 January 2013 - 04:31 PM, said:

yuna_anomander25, on 10 January 2013 - 01:47 AM, said:

Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, already read first few chapters of Lord Foul's Bane (may include his Gap Sequence)

You should definitely include his GAP Cycle; it's the best thing he's written. His Mordant's Need duology is also fantastic. I like the Covenant books, but to me they're his third-best series.

i haven't seen any mordant's books yet, but i'll keep it in mind, although I already got Gap book 1, I'm also considering his Gap omnibus, already saw 2 books of it, and may 1 day buy it,

oh, and SMZ, i think i saw a thread somewhere where you said you liked the Elric of Melnibone books, i've been curious about it as i read somewhere that he is compared with Anomander Rake, with the sword, and i want the omnibus ver, is it worth it,

First GAP book is short and weird, just to warn you--it's a major "setup" book. But 2 onwards the series is awesome.

I`ve only read the first Covenant Trilogy, it took me 2 tries, and I was not a huge fan.

Re: Moorcock: Elric is THE original "brooding albino protagonist with posessed/burdened sword" character. I wouldn't say he's always emo--at least from Stormbringer , which is a book later on in the Eternal Champion multiverse-cycle he certainly didn't seem that way.

I'm gonna embark on a major read of Moorcock's stuff myself this year (hopefully). I've been meaning to do that for a while now.

[Baco Xtath]

Changed mine just a bit (or rather I've added to it):

Xeelee sequence by Stephen Baxter
The Gap Cycle by Stephen Donaldson
Ship of Fools
Appleseed

possibly the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson

[Studlock]

Two things, I am going to try to read more 'classics' starting with the Greek epics then going down the timeline.

Second, I am going to aim to read more books writing by women, PoC and people not from a solely western backgrounds. That last one scares me a bit, because like my last attempt at read a classic (a half-translated Canterbury Tales, which was non-sense and I still can't fathom why the prof assigned it) I fear the translations are going to be a put off. So until I get the super-power to learn all of the languages of the world I am at the mercy of people who can give me good rec, right now I am looking for Indian literature (the reason being one of my best friends is a first-generation Canadian from a Sikh family and sometime in the future we plan to take a trip to his father's family's land in northern India and I would like to read some books in the meanwhile to try to grasp some of the cultural context).

Both of these are doable, right now I am reading David Anthony Durham's fantasy trilogy and I am really enjoying it. I might even call it a reconstruction of the genre, because while it is ultimately idealistic it also shows the effects of imperialism and violence. Basically it's all the idealism of older fantasy epics without much the romanticism. Next up I think I am going to read Elizabeth Bear. If any of you have good rec for women/PoC/non-anglophones I would love them.

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

I have a lot of books that need finishing. First off, I will plow through the last for books of the main MBOTF books. After that, I have The War Z and Seeds of Earth, in which I probably have only 50 or so pages each to read. Then, His Dark Materials, A Dance With Dragons and 1984. I think those are all the books I'm in the process of reading right now.

As for new books, I figured I'd read more "normal" books, as I'm kind of snowed in with fantasy and sci-fi. I recently read Catcher in the Rhye, and thought it was a pretty good book, so maybe I'll give it a go at some classics this year.

[Salt-Man Z]

I haven't actually crossed anything off my own list yet, but I'm feeling the urge to try Moby Dick sometime this year.

[Abyss]

What's seriously throwing me off is my severe reluctance to read anything that isn't in electronic form lately...
i've become a serious fan of the e-book format and my massive paper-based TRP is suffering as a result.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 29 January 2013 - 05:42 PM, said:

What's seriously throwing me off is my severe reluctance to read anything that isn't in electronic form lately...
i've become a serious fan of the e-book format and my massive paper-based TRP is suffering as a result.

I think that's only natural. Today I contemplated getting Myke Cole's newest book at the store and then thought, why not get the ebook instead?

I think more and more I'll be flipping over to digital, with only exceptions being big name authors whom I Collect or Series I've already started...

[Abyss]

Even many of the series i've already started in paper i'm seriously contemplating getting in electronic and sending my hbs and mmpbs off to make their own way in the world.

I'm never getting rid of my Malazan books or my vintage Hobbit, but SIF, Wot, Dark Tower... these take up a massive amount of space and i'm unlikley to reread them in the next five years or so... get them in e-form and i can cheerfully have them on hand whenever i want... even the nostagic keepers like the Belgariad...

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 29 January 2013 - 06:06 PM, said:

Even many of the series i've already started in paper i'm seriously contemplating getting in electronic and sending my hbs and mmpbs off to make their own way in the world.

I'm never getting rid of my Malazan books or my vintage Hobbit, but SIF, Wot, Dark Tower... these take up a massive amount of space and i'm unlikley to reread them in the next five years or so... get them in e-form and i can cheerfully have them on hand whenever i want... even the nostagic keepers like the Belgariad...

Indeed. I've got about 300-400 books that I will keep...and they will make up a very nice little library in future...but more often than not for price-point (at least in future if not now) and for space and ease of use...I'll be digital mostly eventually.

I think about buying an actual CD these days and I shudder...why on earth would I stack a bunch of plastic discs in my house taking up random space when it all is available for purchase digitally and takes up less space than my wallet?

This is also true of TV series...I have SHERLOCK, DOWNTON ABBEY, MERLIN, BEING HUMAN all seasons, all bought through iTunes digitally, and I have no issues not owning the actual boxed sets.

I feel the same will soon be true of my ever-teetering book collection.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 29 January 2013 - 06:23 PM

[worry]

Salt-Man Z, on 29 January 2013 - 04:40 PM, said:

I haven't actually crossed anything off my own list yet, but I'm feeling the urge to try Moby Dick sometime this year.

Go for it. While I don't really believe in a single "greatest book ever written", if I was forced at gunpoint to choose one this would be it.

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

I just realised that I still haven't read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, something I definitely will do this year. I've been contemplating reading it for years, but just haven't gotten around to it. If I like it, which I'm pretty sure I will, some more Douglas Adams is not out of the question.

[worry]

There's an omnibus edition of that with five books I think. Readily available, not expensive at all.

[amphibian]

Studlock, on 29 January 2013 - 11:07 AM, said:

Second, I am going to aim to read more books writing by women, PoC and people not from a solely western backgrounds. That last one scares me a bit, because like my last attempt at read a classic (a half-translated Canterbury Tales, which was non-sense and I still can't fathom why the prof assigned it) I fear the translations are going to be a put off. So until I get the super-power to learn all of the languages of the world I am at the mercy of people who can give me good rec, right now I am looking for Indian literature (the reason being one of my best friends is a first-generation Canadian from a Sikh family and sometime in the future we plan to take a trip to his father's family's land in northern India and I would like to read some books in the meanwhile to try to grasp some of the cultural context).

Put Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie at the top of your list. Then dive right into Elizabeth Bear's Scardown books.

After that, see if you can read through the Wiki summaries of tbe Mahabharata, watch The Little Princess for the Ramayana sequences and then watch the subtutled Hindi movie Dilwai Dulhania Le Jaygenge.

I suggest reading V.S. Naipul's A Bend in the River. It's a terrific book about the experiences of an Indian immigrant in an African region. Very well written.

Ursula Le Guin is a usual recommendation, but keep in mind that her stuff can be inscrutable at times. I encourage you to read Dianne Wynne Jones books. She is wonderful in a way that is hard to describe. Think a Terry Pratchett combined with Victorian times and blended up in the best of JK Rowling and leavened with a healthy dose of self reliance.

[worry]

That reminds me, I want to read more Octavia Butler. Loved Kindred, but the only other thing I've read was Bloodchild, a slim short story collection, and it was at least decent. She's a "western" writer, being American and all, but there's plenty room for diversity to fill there too. And Rushdie and Bear are both folks I want to read soon, though I can't promise to fit them into 2013.

[Mikkelinski]

I noted the discussion about Moorcock earlier, is he worth the read and if so which ones?

Plans for the year, in no particular order.

Snuff by Pratchett
Bas-Lags books by China Mievelle (spelling?), currently 25% into Perdido Street Station and liking it a lot.
The Long Price Quartet by David Abraham
The Tyrant's Law (The Dagger and the coin) by David Abraham
Forge of Darkness, Orb, Sceptre, Throne & Blood and Bone, I must shamefully admit that I haven't gotten around to these yet.
Everything by Jim Butcher
Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch since I haven't given up hoping yet!
Last of the WoT books (I've read up to and including Winter's Heart the 9th book)
The Heroes and Red Country by Abercrombie
Hyperion Cantos by Simmons (since I gotta start with some Sci-Fi some time)
The Stormlight Archive by Sanderson

Also, like some others mentioned, I want to try my hand (eyes?) at some classics. The Illiad and Odyssey, Sherlock Holmes, Ulysses (which I've read once but I didn't even try to understand or remember when reading it) and Moby Dick are those that spring to mind. The occasional (read: constant) re-read of my favorites is of course unavoidable so there's that to consider too...

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

worrywort, on 30 January 2013 - 08:31 PM, said:

There's an omnibus edition of that with five books I think. Readily available, not expensive at all.

Yeah, that's the one I'm planning to get. Just gotta get around to ordering it.