Return of the Book Thread

[Chimpy]

I finished The Color of Magic a few weeks ago, and I'm glad I didn't take some of the advice in this thread about skipping around in the Discworld series. I had only read Good Omens by Pratchett before and loved it. The Color of Magic was really good and not entirely as silly as I thought it was going to be. I definitely am going to read more of the series but I'll do what I usually do with series - read them in order.

I read them in the order they were written and did not have any issues (other than my inability to stay awake while reading Pratchett, even though I love the stuff I can't read his books for more than an hour or two without dozing off).

[Xuri]

I'd read them in the order they were written, too, if I were to read them again (and I were. I am, I mean. Soon.). I love the way the whole Discworld universe slowly comes to life, each book building upon the "mythos" of the place, characters and places (new and old) being more and more fleshed out as the series continues.

[Johny Cee]

At least they could have nominated a Caitlin Kiernen novel, who is a great writer, and also ticks off the transgender and queer boxes.  Or held their noses and stooped to nominated one of the many female Contemporary Fantasy/Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy authors.  But the Hugos don't like that sub-genre.

I've been looking for new writers and tried Threshold after reading this, really glad I did.  I'm loving her writing and she creates great atmosphere and setting, with an eye for the mundane as well that really makes her characters feel real.  I wish her characters wouldn't be quite so argumentative or so willfully mysterious sometimes but overall some really good books so far.  I would have overlooked them with her horrible covers and characters with names like Chance and Narcissa they look like the worst YA supernatural crap.

The Red Tree is great, Silk is pretty good.  I have to finish The Drowned Girl one of these days but I lost steam because it is just very depressing.  Some of the other novels that loosely follow the events in Silk feel a bit same-y.

The covers are sooooo bad.  It's like copy-paste UF_cover_number_54_with_pretty_young_thing.

Some of her short story collections are good, some are a weird mix of Lovecraft, body horror, and erotica.  Basically, probably stay away from anything by a non-major publisher.

Also:

Pick up some Jeff Vandermeer.  Cities of Saints and Madmen, Shriek, Finch, and the Southern Reach books are all great.

[Khaldun]

I liked the first Southern Reach book a lot--felt like an updated Lovecraft. Second one not so much, can't decide whether to tackle the third.

[naum]

I finished The Color of Magic a few weeks ago, and I'm glad I didn't take some of the advice in this thread about skipping around in the Discworld series. I had only read Good Omens by Pratchett before and loved it. The Color of Magic was really good and not entirely as silly as I thought it was going to be. I definitely am going to read more of the series but I'll do what I usually do with series - read them in order.

Began reading these after Pratchett passing -- believe I'm on the 5th (*Sourcery*) in the Discworld series. I didn't follow any of those color coded charts floating around the intrawebs -- I simply just clicked on the next in the series on my Kindle.

So far, enjoying them (would give them all 5 stars except for *Equal Rites*, which was good, but I think kind of stumbled a little toward the end).

[Mattemeo]

I liked the first Southern Reach book a lot--felt like an updated Lovecraft. Second one not so much, can't decide whether to tackle the third.

The third is better than the second, but don't expect anything approaching answers. The first book was definitely the high watermark for the series, though. I fucking loved it, I have a real thing for well written existential dread.

[Johny Cee]

I liked the first Southern Reach book a lot--felt like an updated Lovecraft. Second one not so much, can't decide whether to tackle the third.

The third is better than the second, but don't expect anything approaching answers. The first book was definitely the high watermark for the series, though. I fucking loved it, I have a real thing for well written existential dread.

Read The Red Tree.  It is the best "updated Lovecraft" I have ever read, down to protagonist as author surrogate. 

Also, Laird Barron writes pretty amazing Lovecraftian horror.

[Khaldun]

Just finished A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. Good but not great. Some clever ideas, good characterization, didn't blow me away. Writer has lots of potential though.

[Abagadro]

New Neal Stephenson book drops tomorrow, Seveneves. He's back to hard sci-fi and it seems to be getting well-received.

[HaemishM]

I hope it's better than the last half of Reamde, because holy fuck.

[K9]

So far, enjoying them (would give them all 5 stars except for *Equal Rites*, which was good, but I think kind of stumbled a little toward the end).

Having read pretty much everything he's ever written I'd say that Equal Rites is the last of his 'hard' fantasy novels, as much as that makes sense in the context of how he writes. It's not a bad book per-se, but it's not typical of the rest of his subsequent writing. You're hitting the good stretch now, everything from Wyrd Sisters to Feet of Clay represents the best of his career in my opinion. It's the stretch where he really builds the Discworld as it is for the remainder of his writings; he hits his stride and writes with so much energy. Looking at the list there isn't a single book there I'd consider weak, each stands up on its own merits.

[WayAbvPar]

New Neal Stephenson book drops tomorrow, Seveneves. He's back to hard sci-fi and it seems to be getting well-received.

I bought the latest Gibson book to tide me over until this was released, and the same day my dad dropped off a hardcover book he wanted me to read. That put me a couple of days behind, so now Seveneves is sitting on my Kindle, waiting for me to finish The Peripheral first. Good news is I am deep enough into it to get hooked, so it should go relatively quickly.

My dad is a Gibson and Stephenson fan, and my purchase of the two latest prompted him to make noises about finally getting a Kindle (this is a man who comes over to my house once a week to steal broadband to update his laptop because he is still using dial up in his condo!). Guess what he is getting for Father's Day? I had to tell him to make sure he didn't buy one before I could 

[Mattemeo]

Picked up Michel Faber's The Book of Strange New Things today. Found out just now it's going to be the last book he writes, which is pretty surprising considering. Under the Skin and The Crimson Petal and the White are amazing, though.

[Engels]

That was way cool of you Way.

Also, thoughts on Gibson's The Peripheral? I read about 1/4 of it and just ...I dunno, lost the plot/interest. Its been sitting there nagging me for months.

[Ard]

Also, thoughts on Gibson's The Peripheral? I read about 1/4 of it and just ...I dunno, lost the plot/interest. Its been sitting there nagging me for months.

Almost sounds like that book was extremely well named then.

[Viin]

The Peripheral is a bit slow to get started, but gets pretty interesting (though only picks up the pace a few times).

Enjoying Seveneves so far, about 20% into it.

[WayAbvPar]

That was way cool of you Way.

Also, thoughts on Gibson's The Peripheral? I read about 1/4 of it and just ...I dunno, lost the plot/interest. Its been sitting there nagging me for months.

I am really enjoying it. I think you stopped right before it got really interesting.

[Abagadro]

The Peripheral is a bit slow to get started, but gets pretty interesting (though only picks up the pace a few times).

Enjoying Seveneves so far, about 20% into it.

This is really weird gripe but I don't like the paper they printed Seveneves on. It's really thin like you would find in some types of bible or something. Makes it hard to turn the pages and keep your place.

[Viin]

Hmm my Kindle doesn't feel any different ... 

[Abagadro]

He's one of the few authors that I will preorder the hardback.  I'm going to turn my boy onto him when he transitions out of the YA fantasy he is currently obsessed with into some solid SF.  I'm trying to figure out the right age to turn him loose on Dune.  I think I first read it when I was 13 but didn't get a lot of it. Even so, it started me down the right path.  Can't decide whether to get him going on Herbert or Bester first.

[WayAbvPar]

He's one of the few authors that I will preorder the hardback.  I'm going to turn my boy onto him when he transitions out of the YA fantasy he is currently obsessed with into some solid SF.  I'm trying to figure out the right age to turn him loose on Dune.  I think I first read it when I was 13 but didn't get a lot of it. Even so, it started me down the right path.  Can't decide whether to get him going on Herbert or Bester first.

I think Dune is better read as an adult. It takes some very strange tangents and is hard to follow.

[K9]

Yeah, I think 13 is a bit early for Dune.

[Viin]

I was trying to think of where I started with SciFi - I can't remember exactly, but Have Spacesuit Will Travel was pretty early reading for me.

[Johny Cee]

He's one of the few authors that I will preorder the hardback.  I'm going to turn my boy onto him when he transitions out of the YA fantasy he is currently obsessed with into some solid SF.  I'm trying to figure out the right age to turn him loose on Dune.  I think I first read it when I was 13 but didn't get a lot of it. Even so, it started me down the right path.  Can't decide whether to get him going on Herbert or Bester first.

Smart kid for his age group, right?  Earlier is better.  As one of the first big, adult SF books it will have a special place in his heart (if he likes it!), and giving him a book with that much depth rewards rereads even at older ages.  There is plenty of surface action and events, too, to hold his interest even if he isn't getting everything.

The juvenile Heinleins are probably also a good way to transition him to SF.  Even folks on SF/F boards that get pissy about later Heinlein generally say good things about the early stuff.  (I've only read later Heinlein.)  Or I,Robot or the Foundation novels?  Asimov basically wrote at the YA level. 

[Chimpy]

Older Heinlein is good for a young reader. Stuff like Waldo and the Magic, Inc. and other stuff he wrote in the early days is all pretty much written for younger readers and is a good gateway drug as he is a lot more technical than YA stuff usually gets (and it is all pretty accurate given the technology known at the time it was written). I am a fan of pretty much all Heinlein though so I might not be the best judge.

I am a huge fan of DUNE but having read it first when I was maybe 14 when I was devouring pretty much everything Sci-Fi/Fantasy put in my direction, I agree it is probably better left until a bit later. Had I not been a big fan of the David Lynch movie I might not have been able to make it through the first couple chapters.

You should have him read The Hitchhiker's Guide (if you haven't already).

[dd0029]

All of the thin Heinlein's are good with the exception of Glory Road.

For all of the problems it has, 13 is perfect for Ender's Game, but do your absolute best to hide everything else Card.

Charles Sheffield started his own interconnected set of Heinlein juvenile-esque books in the mid-90s, the Jupiter series. I read them in my late teens and enjoyed them then even though I could tell they were targeted at a younger audience.

[Khaldun]

I sort of like Glory Road even though I shouldn't because it kind of sucks.

Just finished Brian Staveley, The Emperor's Blades. Competent fantasy that moves along at a clip. Not deeply memorable but entertaining.

[Engels]

Gah, so many Heinlein lovers! 

I personally would start my kid with something a bit more age appropriate. I hate to say it, but Ender's Game is a great transition into real Sci Fi, even if Card is a nutter. I'd also think that some of Asimov's shorter novels may be good, like I, Robot and The Gods Themselves (although the latter may be a bit too boring for a boy). I also think that Armor by Steakley may be a fun one, as long as you guys talk about the PTSD in that one.

[Trippy]

I didn't think Dune was too early for 13 but I was reading a lot of fantasy and sci-fi at that age (e.g. I read the first Thomas Covenant trilogy by that time   ).

But if you are looking for stuff a little less complex I would recommend:

Foundation Trilogy
Rendezvous with Rama
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Ringworld
Neuromancer

[Abagadro]

No love for Bester around here? I was thinking of Stars My Destination which is one of my faves. Very straight forward revenge tale but lots of cool shit.  Demolished Man is also great. Never a big fan of Heinlein.  I appreciate the Hitchhiker's suggestion as that may be where I get him going into SF.  We've watched some British TV and he likes that type of dry wit so might hit a good spot.  Maybe get him into some Pratchett at some point.

He will be 11 in October and is tearing through YA fantasy series at a clip of a book every 3-4 days.  I was a big reader when I was a kid but this dude is ridiculous.  Getting fucking expensive.

[NowhereMan]

Kids love Pratchett (by and large) although I appreciate that's Fantasy rather than Sci-Fi. Although thinking about it now I think most of my early reading was actually fantasy rather than sci-fi, although I got through Dune around 13/14 and it definitely benefitted from re-reads later but I remembered it as a pretty entertaining book at the time. While they're definitely not hard sci-fi the Star Wars EU is good at that age as well, some of them are genuinely good and he's probably young enough not to notice a lot of the utter idiocy or lack of good characterisation and just enjoy the pew-pew lightsabery bits.

[Chimpy]

Did anyone who read Dune when they were a young teen not see the David Lynch movie beforehand? I think having that background made it easier/more enjoyable for me at that time.

[Ironwood]

I did Heinlein early too and it's what really started me off.  Similarly, I was an early attempter at Dune and, frankly, it's put me off it for life.  It's just such a shit bunch of books, imo.

Yes, I realize that's probably my issue.

[Rendakor]

Dune didn't click for me when I was young; never went back and I've never seen the movie.

[Trippy]

No love for Bester around here? I was thinking of Stars My Destination which is one of my faves. Very straight forward revenge tale but lots of cool shit.  Demolished Man is also great. Never a big fan of Heinlein.  I appreciate the Hitchhiker's suggestion as that may be where I get him going into SF.

No I never did read his stuff. I was working through all the Hugo and Nebula award winning books at the time in roughly reverse chronological order but never did make it that far back in time.