Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
Anyone read any good novels?
Topic Started: 20th February 2007 - 08:42 PM (1,545 Views)
Ratphink
Member Avatar
The Unlovable Lurker

@Skaskrit: Oh man, Hobb is ruthless with her characters. And I imagine that reading the first series would have made me understand what's going on better, sadly the Tawny Man was given to me as a Christmas Present and my mom wasn't aware that there was a series before it. So I make do with what I got, but with that in mind, I'll definitely be picking up the first books now.
Bod... err... I mean UB!
 
Phink, Phank, Phonk, etc.- Ratphinks various split personalities

Award for the Worst joke ever goes to... THRASKITAR for the following:
"Thraskitar
 
Now, now, everybody, let's not lose our heads over this... wink.gif *wink-wink*
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Skaskrit Venomclaw
Member Avatar
Ex-Councilrat

Tawny Man is positively tame compared to the amount of punishment visited on Fitz in the Assassin books. Both emotional and physical. Better not say more, though.

There also is the Liveship trilogy which goes in between Farseer and Tawny Man, but it mostly features other characters and feels very different in general. No first person narrative, multiple third person point of view characters. It explains one or two things that happen in Tawny Man, though. It has been accused, with some justice, of being soap-opera like. However, it features one of the best villains in fantasy literature, captain Kennit the pirate.
"I have a post-Armageddon vision. We and all other large animals are gone. Rodents emerge as the ultimate post-human scavengers. They gnaw their way through New York, London and Tokyo... within 5 million years, a whole range of new species replace the ones we know. Herds of giant grazing rats are stalked by sabre-toothed predatory rats. Given enough time, will a species of intelligent, cultivated rats emerge?"

Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor's Tale
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Mormeguil
Member Avatar
baby nurgle
Quote:
 

What's Orson Scott's book?

I know the writer Orson Scott Card, but he's written dozens of books. Of which I've read two or three and found them moderately interesting, but I have some issues with the writer himself.



Sorry did'n know the english name so... I jsut looked it up. I liked ender's game. The first one was chidlsih as i said but after that it was good.

Also you always have the Dune serie if you never read it.
I have a few bare metal dark elf model for sale, if interested pm me.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Warlord Bloodfang
Member Avatar
Officially Awesome
Another good book (though a bit depressing) is "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey

I cannot reccomend the movie as I have not seen it but the book is well written.

Another good book is The Godfather by Mario Puzo, about the Mafia in America, though from a made up families point of view, though you would find that hard to believe. ^_^
Clan Bloodfang
Capre Jugulum: Vampire Counts Army
My Custom Doomwheel
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
shade the exiled one
Member Avatar
lawl and order
the blood books by tanya huff, weird but interesting series (the first 4 anyway),
life of pi, good book funny and interesting

Posted Image


GENERATION 4: The first time you see this, copy and paste it into your sig and add 1 to the number after generation. Consider it a social experiment
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Mutator
Member Avatar
Retired fat dude

Warlord Stinkhair
Feb 21 2007, 12:23 PM
Just read my first warhammer novel, Gilead's Blood.

Was a rather fun book, although I think the author doesn't grasp quite how hard it is to cleave a man [and in one case, a horse] in two, even with a greatsword...

Easier than you'd think. Or, as Peter Morwood wrote, cuts were rated on their ability to cleave through armour, as the human body was assumed to provide zero resistance ;) This is somewhat backed up by experimental evidence by John Whatsisname from the HACA (Historical Armed Combat Assoc., Houston, TX) who has trialled various blades against cow pelvises (shades of Rocky).

For what it is worth, Dan Abnett of the many Black Library books is actually quite good, as he is an actual author, not a games developer turned author like Thorpe et al. Just read Eisenhorn and surprisingly enjoyed them quite a lot. 40K has great fluff in the hands of a good author. Sure, he aint 'literature' like many of the other names mentioned in this thread, but sometimes that is all you want, eh? ;)

BTW my current recommendations (seeing as all the others have been mentioned - great minds read alike) are Peter Morwood's series - the later ones, written earlier. Greylady and Widowmaker dont do anything for me, unlike the Talvalin books, who's main character currently escapes me...

Michael Scott Rohan's Winter of the World series is also very good, if a bit hard to track down in my area. Very finnish mythology flavour in a gritty and realistic, kinda ice age setting.
Mostly harmless
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Plagress
Member Avatar
Clanrat
Try the wheel of time if your into a longer series but I promise you that it is really good if you can get past the first 70 pgs. Another series that is good is the Swan's War a short series that gets to the action within t he first 30 pgs I believe. The last good series that I know of has the first book called Wizards First Rule but I don't remember the name of the series. sorry.
Life is like a bolt of lightning. Short but our stories continue live on without us even when the world comes unto the end.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
brownmccoy
Member Avatar
Grey Seer
Thanks for all of the input.

I have read a few warhammer novels, all of which being in the Darkblade series. They are great, I loved reading them, but as Mork pointed out to me... he feins death way too many times, and seems to be as much as a theme in the novel as this is a run-on sentence.

I have read a few of the classical books that were pointed out, 1984 was amazing... Okay I've only read the one and I hate the backspace button. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was also a fantastic book.

From Skaskrit's list I have selected a few that I am interested in reading. Pratchett's discworld seems like something I would enjoy from what you say, and I will have to read the back of the book thing. George Martin seems like he would be worth a read... what one would you say is the best to read? Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles seems like it would be a good read as well.

Books that I would reccomend avoiding like the black plague:

The Stone Angel by Margaret Lawrence. It is a god-awful book IMO, and is very repetative. I was forced to read this for English... I want that time back in my life.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I really did not enjoy the novel. The start is very confusing because of narrarator swapping, multiple people with the same name and no way of distinguishing them, going back in time... I saw the movie and it has a good plot, but the start of the novel is what I personally need to get into a novel. I also had to read this for English...

Other books that I would reccomend:

Although it is a play, the Crucible is great. It is very short, but it has stuff in it that will stay with you.

And of course, someone has to mention the Da Vinci Code and Angels and daemons. I loves those books but have no interest in reading his other work. I found they both followed a similar plot line.

*WARNING SPOILER INCOMING!*

There is a problem that starts with a murder. Someone calls Langdon. Langdom comes to help save the day. Langdon gets paired with a woman. Langdon solves problem and saves the day. langdon 'gets with' woman in the end. It was still brilliant though.

*SPOILER ENDED*

Someone mentioned the Lord of the Rings... What sort of nerd do you think I am if I havent tried reading them :P I got frustrated through the Two Towers since I saw the movies first and was expecting big stuff to happen when it didnt in the book. Example: The battle at Amon Hen. I was expecting a huge battle, not "And he arrived to find Boromir lying with arrows stuck in him." as well as how in depth he goes on the colour green...

Well, that's all I have to add for now. Thanks for all the input!
Posted Image
Sig made by Kyoji of Xen of Onslaught
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Skaskrit Venomclaw
Member Avatar
Ex-Councilrat

Read Pratchet if you're in the mood for a short and funny novel with some good characters and some funny but true social commentary hidden between the pages. He's written tons, but they're all standalones, more or less.

Read Cornwell's Warlord if you're in the mood for a somewhat longer (trilogy) read that features many exciting battles and a novel take on the Arthurian genre. Don't expect what you read in other places. First book is "the Winter King."

Read Martin if you're in the mood for a very long and rather complex series with a cast of thousands and the best political intruige this side of Skavenblight. Somwhat less action oriented than Cornwell, but more than Pratchett, with even better characterisation than either of the above. (Cornwell is a bit weak in writing female characters, though better in Warlord Chronicles than in his other books.) First book is "a Game of Thrones."
"I have a post-Armageddon vision. We and all other large animals are gone. Rodents emerge as the ultimate post-human scavengers. They gnaw their way through New York, London and Tokyo... within 5 million years, a whole range of new species replace the ones we know. Herds of giant grazing rats are stalked by sabre-toothed predatory rats. Given enough time, will a species of intelligent, cultivated rats emerge?"

Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor's Tale
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Clanlord Trask
Member Avatar
Quiet, I'm plotting.

certainly not a novel by any means, but I bought Penny Arcade: The Warsun Prophecies yesterday. Awesome book, i forgot just how many 2002 comics i really loved. It also contains the first appearence of The Tube!
Posted Image
The Campaigner
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Skaven Lord Vinshqueek
Member Avatar
Bunny ear says flop

sebrente
Feb 20 2007, 11:33 PM
J.R.R.R.R.R.R Tolkein????

You know, for some reason this simple sentence made me think of the writer of the best fantasy novels ever like an old person with an eye patch that keeps grumbling "Shiver me timbers" everytime he got stuck in his writing. I don't know, but some with that many Ar-Ar-Ar's in his name just get that with me. *chuckles*... Anyways, onto the subject of novels.

After having seen the movie in the cinema, I bought myself the full series (six books in one volume) of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and I have to say this is one of the most entertaining books I have read in many years. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I suggest reading the book first, as this makes some of the jokes that occur in the movie much easier to understand. (As with the dolphins for example, which only start to be explained in the third book, if I recall correctly).

I'll second the mention of Ratphink on the Dirk Pitt series by Clive Cussler. I started to one at one of those stores at the railway station (pocket edition novels are swell when travelling a lot by public transport) and just kept reading through them so damned quickly!... Don't expect a literary masterpiece though, as the novels need it more from the amount of action that happen in each 'adventure'. Though, I have to say I most definitely like reading through them during a long travel.

If you'd go for a Games Workshop novel, I have to say that Dan Abnett is one of those writers I really suggest. Personally I'm a fan of the Gaunt's Ghosts series, though especially the series of the Saint (I haven't gotten to the Lost yet, as I'm waiting for the omnibus to be released) are good to read, as there you'll have skipped through the whole introduction piece of the characters... You'd have to be a fan of Imperial Guard stories though, as it's quite different from for example the Ragnar Blackmane stories. A lot of people seem to keep on dying in the Gaunt's Ghosts series.

One series I would personally not suggest are the Slayer novels from William King. I believe Bas recently had a rant about the sheer impossible events that the main characters keep remaining alive, or perhaps it was on MSN, but even while I could laugh on the incompetence of the clan Skab army at Nuln, I was somewhat dissapointed by the Daemonslayer book. For some reason, someone who was near to mortally wounded jumping out of an airship and pulling the same trick as with Skavenslayer sound... Well, odd, to me. Off course they're the main characters and dying would ruin your storyline, but people aren't god-like, not even in a fantasy setting. *points at Boromir*... :rolleyes:

Greetz
In the Horned One we trust, all others we monitor.

Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image

Skaven track record [W/D/L] @ 17th of August, 2014: BB 34/19/55; MH 9/2/6; WHF 17/8/30
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Warlord Bloodfang
Member Avatar
Officially Awesome
Yeah well Boromir didn't get as much screen time as other in the movie or the book, but you have to kind of prepare if your going to kill off a main character, with the slayer books it would be very difficult as they say on the cover " A Gotrek and Felix Novel" so both of them are out, and we all support the Skaven so woe-be-tide William King if he kills Thanqual ^_^

@ Vinshqueek
Did you see the recent movie of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or the first one? I didn't really like the new one as it jumped about from the story line too much, though I suppose that is like the book. (And Marvins head was too big).
Clan Bloodfang
Capre Jugulum: Vampire Counts Army
My Custom Doomwheel
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Skaven Lord Vinshqueek
Member Avatar
Bunny ear says flop

In all honesty, I didn't really like the way Thanquol was represented in the Gotrek and Felix novels. For some reason, he is just pictured too much as a Dr. Evil figure. Always surrounded by the most incompetent figures, while he always manages to escape to safety at the most final moment possible. I don't know why, but for some reason when I was reading the Daemonslayer novel with the return of the airship, I was just getting so irritated by the fact that the Skaven presence in that one was an exact copy of those in Nuln with the Skavenslayer novel. Seriously, I was screaming "Just fraggin' get him then!" when reading those final chapters, cause it's really so very lame!

Regarding the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I've (still) been unable to see the original series. I indeed agree that the movie skipped several bits in the book, though as I said in my previous post, this is why you actually need to read the book(s) in order to understand several of the jokes made in the movie. Personally, I did like Marvin though. That really depressive voice of Alan Rickman just keeps me crackin' up everytime I see the movie, just utter brilliance! :lol:

Greetz
In the Horned One we trust, all others we monitor.

Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image

Skaven track record [W/D/L] @ 17th of August, 2014: BB 34/19/55; MH 9/2/6; WHF 17/8/30
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Warlord Bloodfang
Member Avatar
Officially Awesome
Oh, his voice was fine, it was just his head, though I suppose he has got "A brain the size of a planet", man that book is so easy to recite. ^_^

Thanqual, the way his is portraide is in a very skaveny way, maybe you think too skaveny? He is constantly let down by his troops and his own overconfidence, that to me is what makes it humourous, Thanqual is so sure of his might and power that he is unable to see the flaws in a plan (like when he gets a note delivered to Felix it is by Lurk Snitchtongue dressed in a robe) devised by himself or if it does fail, like you said he blaims it on incompident underlings, . :P
Clan Bloodfang
Capre Jugulum: Vampire Counts Army
My Custom Doomwheel
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
SneakyRodent
Member Avatar
Claws of the Horned One founder member

The Crucible! Wow, there's a blast from the past! I played the part of Giles Corey in my school's renditioning of that play - a horrible end he comes to, but thankfully off stage! :P

It's a great play by Arthur Miller, and as McCoy says it stays with you.

My current reading list? Well, I've finally finished the Horus Heresy trilogy that I got for Christmas and I enjoyed them hugely. The first book is the weakest of the three in my opinion, simply because it deals with introducing the bulk of the characters. But I am very impressed by the portrayals of Horus and some of the other Primarchs. Anyone who is a 40K fan and has wondered just what happened on Istvaan and how Horus was turned to Chaos will enjoy this trilogy immensely. I am just surprised that this set only goes as far as the immediate aftermath of the Istvaan massacre - the march on Earth and seige of the Imperial Palace is yet to be written!

In the meantime I believe there is a one off book coming detailing the flight of the frigate Eisenstein, which for those of you who know about the history of the Heresy was the vessel in which the few loyal Marines fled the Great Crusade to warn the Emperor on Earth of Horus' treachery. I look forward to that.

Currently I am reading another trilogy, this one called 'The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara' by Terry Brookes. This guy is one one my favourite authors, and has written several books set in the fantasy Shannara world. They span 1000 years and are comfortably familiar in their style. Ann McCaffery does a similar good job in her 'Dragons of Pern' series. Brookes' book 'The Elfstones of Shannara' remains by far my own particular favourite of his work.
Grey Seer Skritchit
Lord of the Ulricsberg
Clan Virulus
Holder of 'Best Post' Award 2007 here
Took part in the glorious Lords of Decay Revolution of April 1st 2012

The complete works of SneakyRodent can be found here

.:WarWolt The Mad Engineer:.
 
Sneaky is Sneaky, why is the sky blue?
[/size]
Quote:
 
We've got a psychic creeper, a tactical master, and a liar who talked himself out of an execution.

(Scrivener on the Scum And Villainy2 characters of me, DamnedPrince and himself)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Off Topic · Next Topic »
Add Reply