I have started a pretty demanding new job and need a new book series to sink into to help me relax.
I have enjoyed: Realm of the Elderlings (Farseer/Robin Hobb), The Kingkiller Chronicles, The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Binding
I don’t get on with: A Song of Ice and Fire, Lord of the Rings, Ursula K Le Guin, Charlene Harris, Anne Rice (beyond the first couple) Outlander
I like very character driven stuff, traditional fantasy settings - so medieval, victoriana, magic, assassin’s, court intrigue etc. It’s nice to get into a long series so I can stay with the characters for a long time though trilogies or long stand alones are fine too.
I am not sure what the common factor is with the series I couldnt get into, maybe just writing styles I didn’t click with or not enough time spent in characters heads and too much time spent world building and detailing action and events. Or just in some cases, a slightly distant narrative style that felt too much like being told …
I could never have imagined doing this–I’m very much an “on to the next one” kind of guy–but my wife did this with the last book she read and I WAS SHOOK!!!
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edit: and yes genre authors virtually never win (unfortunately), this is just meant as a fun thought experiment
Let’s follow the rules of the litterature prize so
No dead people, only living authors get the prize (you can put who should have won in their day underneath)
Also the prize does not go to the most popular or the author you like the most, but ones with an authorship of the best litterature (I leave the definition up to you).
Edit 2: Okay so Norwegian author and playwrite Jon Fosse won the price. Thanks for all the nice guesses. Since I made this whole post I’ve ordered one of his books to compare to some of your suggestions.
I had a rather difficult childhood and struggled processing it even decades later and so Oathbringer’s “It cannot be a journey if it doesn’t have a beginning” shook me and changed me. (I had Brandon sign my book with these words. https://i.imgur.com/GOOwXZ1.jpg )
Any similar experience?
So far I’ve read LoTR, Harry Potter, ASoIaF, The Witcher, most of The Cosmere, The Wheel of Time, Percy Jackson, and Inheritance.
What’s another good mainstream series I can get into. Preferably with a dedicated male main character.
So I’m about halfway through Wilkie Collins’ “The Woman in White,” and I’m officially throwing in the towel. My God, this guy hates Italians so much it’s alarming! I didn’t expect it to bother me so much (not that anti-Italian racism was ever okay, just that Western racial politics have shifted to where that 19th century prejudice usually comes off as goofy to modern readers). I’m not even Italian myself, but as a Romani reader I’m used to gritting my teeth through insulting Victorian depictions of “the other.” This one got me, though. It was so constant I just couldn’t stomach it.
Has something like this ever happened to you? Picked up a book and went, “Well, I didn’t think that was a deal-breaker for me, but I guess it super is?” What book and what made you toss it?
If it’s going to bother you that I’m going to express a semi-ironic but also deeply earnest fondness for the Spoorkle Vempir book, trigger warning I guess. Everyone knows it’s self-indulgent trash, ‘ight? We’ve had like, 15 years of that. Everyone knows Mormons exist. Everyone knows everything teenage girls and stay at home mothers like is the fifth horseman of the apocalypse. We can move past that.
I’m an ftm transgender man, I came out as a (at the time) lesbian when I was 16, and started transitioning just two years ago. I read the books when I was around eleven or twelve, living in a very oppressive environment both in the local culture and at home.
Little kid me was hard-core obsessed with these books. Something adult me has been left thinking very introspectively about since … I kind of strongly dislike romance. I think I’ve finally figured out why.
I must now jumpscare you with the revelation I was a bit of a loser loner …
I have two: Turkish Delight and a madeleine.
When I was 10, I used to love The Chronicles of Narnia, particularly The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
I remember getting to the part where the Witch offers Edmund something to eat, and he chooses Turkish Delight. The way Lewis wrote about Turkish Delight made it seem absolutely delicious, so I really really wanted to try some.
Each piece was sweet and light to the very centre and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious
I ended up trying some and hated it.
Even though I am far too old for it, I decided to re-read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe today, and I was reminded of Turkish Delight and of how the book convinced me to try some. (Coincidentally, I even saw another Reddit comment today that mentioned Turkish Delight.)
I became obsessed with trying a real madeleine after reading Proust, and I made sure I tried a bunch when I went to Paris for the first time. They were all delicious, especially dipped in tea, but …
And did it change your opinion of the book afterwards?
For example, Memoirs of a Geisha. I recognize it was written by an American man who pissed off his primary source to the point where she sued him. I recognize it’s not all that historically accurate and paints a horrific picture of human nature, particularly that of Japanese men.
But I just felt totally immersed in her world and could not put the book down. I figured it might be ostracized considering the author’s demographic (very warranted to an extent), but despite all the hate, the fact that I immensely enjoyed reading the book still stands.
I think we can recognize and accept the faults of a book without needing to change our opinion on how we felt while reading it. Thoughts?
When I was a teenager I got into the books written by Sophie Mckenzie after getting one as a prize for having taken the most books out of the school library. After enjoying that one I went into her other books which included the All about Eve trilogy which involved a romance between two teenagers.
At the time I loved the story and found the relationship to be really good and the two made to be together.
A little while back I decided to re-read the books and found the relationship to be awful and full of moments where simple communication would have resolved issues. I also now felt like the two shouldn’t really be together and the relationship somewhat toxic.
I get the two are teenagers so aren’t going to be perfect at communication but for me beyond the physical attraction the two had I didn’t really feel like either of them actually properly cared for who the other was.
I’m just glad I didn’t truly take the romance between them as how real …
Different is the word I can use for this book, no doubt. Though I am a baby when it comes to Sci-Fi, it already felt unique.
I can’t seem to figure out how to put spoiler tags in text, so I apologize in advance and will say this, I definitely recommend this book, but only after reading some Sci-Fi beforhand. That way you appreciate it more.
Now, on to parts with spoilers:
First contact is always intruging, but in Rama you have a contact, and an absence of any contact, both in one story. Thats what made the book so different for me, I can only think of Roadside Picnic that has a similar theme going on. Then again, I am just new at reading SF so there is that. Any other books like these two?
Rama was, short yet so long, so much happens yet nothing really does, awe-inspiring and horrifying. There were some odd tropes of 60s-70s, but they are pretty brief.
I am aware that there are more books but I am more than happy to leave it right here, as originally intended. Its lack of an …
I find some climate fiction has that tone but want to check other subgenres too!
I Googled James S.A. Corey this morning and saw that they (Abraham and Franck) did a Star Wars tie-in novel.
I also recall that N.K. Jemison worked on a Mass Effect Andromeda tie-in novel.
Are there any other examples of authors large in the speculative fiction space outside of media tie-ins that did one that surprised you?
(I’d argue maybe Robert Jordan’s Conan books, but he wrote those before Eye of the World was published).
What I’m looking for is something that deals with first contact but has a very specific blend of scifi and cosmic horror.
To be more specific, I am looking for something where humans learn of / attempt to make contact with some form of alien intelligence only to learn that the alien intelligence in question is impossibly far beyond them.
There is no direct threat from an attack or even any real hostility, just humanity as a whole learning that they are a pebble compared to the galaxy at large and having to deal with that realization.
A very existential kind of story where people feel a large swell of dread when realizing that not only are they not the top of the food chain, but they aren’t even anywhere near it.
Some examples of stories I’d consider to have themes in the same ballpark:
Roadside Picnic, Childhoods End, Three Body Problem, Blindsight, Solaris
To be clear, not really interested in a one sided military conflict. I’m more so interested in a …
Daniel Radcliffe has done great in changing his career after HP. Jim Carrey doing dramadies(Truman Show or Cable Guy), Joe Pesci doing comedy(Home Alone), Robin Williams in thrillers(One hour Photo or Insomnia). Who was your favourite actor that totally broke out from their typecasted role and what role was it?
Wife hadn’t seen Fargo yet so started watching last night. About 45 minutes in she says “This is so stupid, I can’t watch anymore.” She said everything was annoying. The accents, the “dumb” conversations, the characters.
Obviously she has terrible taste in cinema and is very wrong. Anyone else’s partner inexplicably hate a legitmately great film?
And if you’re wondering what in the hell “insists upon itself” even means, it’s something most think is profound but in reality is pretentious and ostentatious.
If you’re wondering what meme I’m talking about, here you go:
https://youtu.be/0pnwE_Oy5WI?feature=shared
Personally, I’m going to say ‘Crash’ (2004), one of the worst Oscar winners of all-time and wholly underserving, especially on a night where “Brokeback Mountain,” “Capote,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” and “Munich” were contenders.
I was sure Capote would take the Academy Award for best picture, but no, this trite, dull, vapid take on serious societal issues like racism and sexual assault presents a weak-ass after school special approach to important topics.
Maybe it’s especially offensive that the film itself seems to look down on the viewer, supposing that everyone is prejudiced deep down. Every aspect of this …
I’ll go first: My mom let me watch the movie Cujo when I was probably 8 or 9 years old…at night. That movie haunted me for years!! It made me nervous around dogs for a long time. Once I got older and I saw that movie in a list of movies to watch on a streaming program it made me question why the hell would she let me see that movie at such a young age?! Lol another movie I watched back then was Birds, that movie freaked me out too!
What’s yours??
Edit: I never thought this post would get so many comments. Thank you to everyone that shared their first traumatizing movie from a young age. :) Have a wonderful day everyone!!