Hey all, sorry I couldn’t make the AMA on the 20th. But the mods were kind enough to move me to today. Thanks mods!
I’m Michael J. Sullivan, a New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post bestselling author. I write classic fantasy about unlikely heroes, and I try to infuse my books with humor, which is sometimes hard to find in this genre. I’m thrilled with how my stories have been received. I have 9 Goodreads Choice Award Nominations, 6 have been Amazon Editor’s Picks, and 2 or 3 (I forget) have been Audible Editor Picks.
My publishing history has been pretty varied. I started in 2007 with a small press, self-published for a bit, signed three contracts with the big-five (Orbit and Del Rey), and now I’m back to indie publishing for a number of reasons, which I will be happy to go into if anyone is interested.
This isn’t my first time around - I’ve been doing them for 12 years! Anyone who has …
I gotta say, it was painful to get through. I got pulled in because 1. Dragon riding battle school and, 2. Millions of reviews and 4+ stars on Goodreads. I think I would have enjoyed the book if it had been written as YA and stayed in that lane. Instead it was trying so hard to be adult in the ways that YA would think to sound adult. It was very cringy to me as a result. The best elements were the little glimpses of worldbuilding, but the moments of payoff were disappointing. The worst elements were the romance, the characters (no depth), the dragons (they didn’t make any sense), the school (so many elements of the school existed with no logical reason, like they were there just to be cliché).
All that said, why is this book so popular?? I really don’t understand why any fantasy fan would like it!
after playing and watching castlevania, i was looking into a book about vampires to read
The problem is that all the vampire books that i found had either smut or hypersexualized vampires.
I know that sex is a part of what makes the whole vampire thing, and i dont mind a sex scene here or there but in all books that i looked into the sex was a major part of it
Im not talking about works that have vampires in it like dresden, im looking for something like castlevania where vampires are the main thing
The only one i can think off is dracula
Does anyone knows another ?
Obviously a lot of games are very good candidates, but if you had to choose one game to give the title of ultimate, which one would it be?
By ultimate I mean a game that embodies a great fantasy, with a lot of quality elements.
One of my favorite fantasy series is the Chronicles of Prydain, but while most of the books in the series have memorable titles, the first book has the incredibly dull and uninspiring title of The Book of Three.
Despite being a great book, I think this might be the worst title of any book I’ve ever read. When telling people about the book, they always ask “the three what?” And while the title refers to a magical book in the story, the artifact is not actually important in this particular book, only becoming relevant later on. It’s not a title that would draw in any new readers or help someone remember the series.
What other great books are there that desperately need better titles?
I don’t believe ideas should be censored, and I believe artful expression should be allowed to offend. But when does something cross that line and become actually dangerous. I think “The Anarchist Cookbook,” not since it contains recipes for bombs, it contains BAD recipes for bombs that have sent people to emergency rooms. Not to mention the people who who own a copy, and go murdering other people, making the whole book stigmatized.
Anything else along these lines?
I saw the book “Holes” at my son’s school’s book fair. I remember reading the book as a kid and enjoying it. I didn’t remember much about it, but knew it was a fairly light heated book. I have been reading the Wayside books by the same author to him at bedtime. He loved those books so I thought Holes would be a great next book. I’ve been reading a couple of chapters to him every night and he has loved it so far. I just finished reading the chapter to my son where Zero tells Stanley how his mother abandoned him. As an adult there was a lot of the story I picked up by reading between the lines. Like how Zero’s mother was possibly a prostitute and likely a drug addict. Stuff that a kid would never pick up. Zero’s story made me very sad and it was difficult to continue reading due to my voice cracking and fighting back tears. When I got to the part where Zero forgot his stuffed animal when he ran away from the park my son started crying. He …
The writing is mostly garbage(I still like some of the world building) and problematic. I haven’t read the series in full since high school. This isn’t even in defense of twilight but it makes complete sense that the Edward and his “siblings” were high school. It is one of the few logical points in the story that are clearly explained in both the books and films. The Cullens “kids” are not perpetually in high school. In fact, they rarely do high school at all. However, when they settle into a small town(where they are much more conspicuous than a major city), they must use a back story that will allow them to stay in the town for as long as possible without people noticing they aren’t aging. This is done by beginning in their new home as high school sophomores(Edward and Alice) and juniors(Jasper, Emmet, and Rosalie). They graduate, go to college, & go to graduate school. By the time they reach their mid to late 20s without aging, the towns people start to take notice and they …
I love books. I have an English degree, managed an independent bookstore for almost a decade, have two traditionally published novels, freelance edit, etc., and some of my favorite books are literary prize winners while others are commercial mental chewing gum. Who cares? Yet I see so many cyclical arguments judging people for what they like or don’t like or criticizing entire genres and publishing categories based on the idea that Their Take is the best and most correct take while other readers’ opinions are wrong. And y’all. Seriously. As long as what you’re reading isn’t hurting anyone…LIKE WHAT YOU LIKE, and let others do the same.
Edit in case it’s unclear: I’m not saying it’s wrong to criticize art. I’m saying it’s crappy to criticize an individual person for what they like to read. Hate the book, fine, but there’s no need to make someone else feel like shit because they liked it.
Edit 2: I can no longer keep up. Happy reading to you all!
I love the brutal honesty of McCurdy’s prose. I know it’s an autobiography, but her style reminded me of the likes of Bojack Horseman and Oyasumi Punpun. Despite the heavy subject matter, the story’s dry humor and emotional sincerity keeps things from being too cynical.
Most people focus on the iCarly stuff in the book, but I’ll be honest here. Although McCurdy’s personal experiences on set are gut-wrenching, I’ve sadly seen it before with countless child actors. Jeannete McCurdy’s deeply problematic relationship with her mother fascinated me the most. It’s haunting to see her mom’s abuse seep its way into every aspect of her life, long after she was dead and buried.
McCurdy does an uncomfortably great job immersing you into the mind of a scared child. You understood how McCurdy could see her mother as dedicated and loving, despite the crystal-clear abuse she suffered. I even found myself empathizing with the monstrous woman at …
Given that tastes are subjective, can you point me to some titles that have escaped the attention of the majority, yet remain your favourite under appreciated “ masterpiece “? Mine are David Zindell’s Requiem for Homo Sapiens and A. Attanasio’s Radix series of books.
Hello nerds! I’m curious what thoughts my fellow SF readers have on the Fermi Paradox. Between us, I’m sure we’ve read every idea out there. I have my favorites from literature and elsewhere, but I’d like to hear from the community. What’s the most plausible explanation? What’s the most entertaining explanation? The most terrifying? The best and worst case scenarios for humanity? And of course, what are the best novels with original ideas on the topic? Please expound!
I just re-read Octavia Butler’s Kindred for the first time in 25 years, and I was blown away by how incredible it is. Ha…I know one of the most revered books in sci-fi history doesn’t need me telling you all how good it is, but I mentioned Kindred because it inspired my post.
So…Kindred is a time travel novel, but the time travel is a tool to explore deeper issues. Butler never cares a single bit about WHY the time travel is happening, and the novel never even comes close to implying it’s some mystery to be solved or that there might be an explainable reason. It’s just something that happens, and I was struck by how perfect a choice that was. Because Butler herself and her characters don’t care, the reader doesn’t.
It made me think about how a novel like Kindred would have been *so much* worse if it had tried to explain the time travel and made me wonder if you all have examples of novels that tried to explain (whether through …
Is there really anything as dark, chilling and scary as Event Horizon? Nearest I’ve read is Ship of Fools. And Hull Zero Three didn’t measure up.
I’m looking for scifi books with several interesting/rich characters, amazing world-building and a plot that goes at a decent pace if not fast.
Preferably books without dense text or lot of rambling.
In recent times, I’ve liked “A Memory Called Empire” by Arkady Martine. I also enjoyed the Foundation series, The Forever War, First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August.
Anything you liked that fits the description?
This is probably best explained through example; I’m thinking of Isaac Asimov’s thiotimoline stories (about a fictional chemical that dissolves before it mixes with water, told in the form of fake scientific papers) or Sam Hughes’s “Lena” (about consciousness uploading, told in the form of a fake Wikipedia article) or Yoon Ha Lee’s “Entropy War” (told in the form of rules for a dice game).
I’m thinking of stuff that explores ideas, but not even through the pretense of a narrative.
I feel like there must be an umbrella term for this style of sf (from fans or from academia) but I can’t think of one and I don’t gave a good idea for what I could even Google. Thanks!