It’s quite common to see post trying to open a discusion about a preceived recent trend in fantasy. Usually complaining (“I am tired of seeing…”, “Why is …. dominating fantasy”), but sometimes neutral (“Have you noticed an increase on…”) or appreciative.
The thing is, there are millions of books out there, so it’s impossible to know if the trend is just a perception product of some reading selection bias, or if it’s actually a trend, unless the post includes the titles the poster is refering to when making the post.
I am not against “trend posts”, just please, include the books you are thinking about so we can have a fruitful discussion.
I keep reading the “best of” books everywhere and I find more and more I just cannot stand them. I keep trying new “popular” books and find I loath them. Don’t even start me on popular booktok books, they’re always terrible (for me, I’m truly happy for you if you love them). So I want to know from readers, what are the last 5 star reads for you? I’m going to be adding them to my TBR I promise 😂
My last 5 star reads were Empire of the Vampire, Light Bringer (book 6 of Red Rising), and the 2nd Mistborn book. I had to go back a year into my reading list to find those 3. Finding 5 star books is hard for me. I don’t think I’m picky, but I’m guessing more and more I am 😅 Thank you all. I am always looking for good book suggestions.
EDIT: it’s going to take me as long as it would to read a novel to read all these comments! You all are amazing! Thank you.
Imagine you have the chance to step into the pages of a fantasy book and live there for the rest of your life. Which world would you choose to inhabit? Share your favorite fantasy universe and what draws you to it!
Just in a fantasy slump at the moment and wondering what this series/standalone are/is for everyone.
For me, it’s Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. I watched S1 of the series first, then read the entire series and I loved every single bit of it.
I didn’t find the characters whiny or maybe it’s rather that the whining wasn’t off-putting. I found the characters extremely relatable, though now I wonder what this says about me 😬, the PTSD, the whole magic school setting. It seemed an extremely realistic portrayal of what an adult school for magical people would look like.
I even came to the TV series for deviating so much and ultimately didn’t finish it. I suppose it’s odd because I don’t tend to enjoy/read YA/NA.
I loved the world building. I found it so intricate and liked how much like >!Narnia!< but mature and darker, it was.
So I guess I need to find more stuff like this. Stuff that people generally dislike but you found actually …
Reading about the things that turn people off in a synopsis made me wonder, what green flags really get your engine going when you start a book?
For me an instant one is a dramatis personae/list of characters. I will actually pump my fist in excitement. Gideon the Ninth and the Goblin Emperor are a couple of my favorite examples of this.
For me— Edmund Pevensie. The whole “how did he try to sell his siblings over the worst treat ever” thing is a tad unfair 😂. In the book, the Turkish delight was enchanted to make someone who tasted it get obsessed with it and keep eating it “until he killed himself.” And the reason this didn’t happen to Edmund is that the Witch wouldn’t let him have more until he brought his siblings to her home. Edmund was literally on black magic Narnia drugs and the rhetoric became “wow he betrayed his siblings over a lame sweet.”
This is not to say Edmund wasn’t a bully before that or that he wasn’t responsible for his actions. He was mean to Lucy, he was a jerk at school, and he often lied. He did have a great and much-needed redemption arc. But he didn’t just have a box of normal Turkish delight and try to condemn all of Narnia over it.
I don’t want to even judge him too much for picking Turkish Delight as his treat. He’s a small child during WWII sugar rationing. 🤣
I’ve started a few days ago and there’s still a good third to go but I can already say that this book’s certainly a bit different than anticipated. Originally, I thought I was in for a very self-serious, highbrow novel and, well, it is in parts, however, there are stretches which are quite lighthearted and freaking hilarious.
Like Ishmael’s cetology essay which basically starts with something along the lines of “Hell nah, them sCiEnTiStS are full of shit. Behold, you pesky buffoons: My mother is a Whales are fish!”. Or the scene with Ismael and Queequeg in bed, Stubb’s culinary debate with the ship’s cook and of course this wonderful section:
[…] and every one knows that some young bucks among the epicures, by continually dining upon calves’ brains, by and by get to have a little brains of their own, so as to be able to tell a calf’s head from their own heads; which, indeed, requires uncommon discrimination. And that is the …
I have a hard time imagining things visually when reading, but this series seriously brought to life everything. There were difficult times, but I swear, the emotions I was experiencing reading through Lyra’s journey is seriously incredible. A girl simply trying to discover herself and understand the world around her. And the way Pullman writes his characters and the relationships they hold for one another. GOD it’s so beautiful! I literally cried reading the last few pages of The Amber Spyglass. I feel this is one of those book series where no matter how old one is, it is a MUST read. I wish I had read this when I was younger, but I’m glad to have read it now, especially nearing the end of my college journey.
Overall, brilliant work! Book hangover is real lol
I’ve been reading East of Eden for the past few days and I just got to page 250 when I realized that I’m genuinely not enjoying this at all, the prose is gorgeous at times and the descriptions of the Landscape and the nature of man are wonderful, but the characters feel like such complete cardboard cut outs and I genuinely don’t care to see what happens next to them. Has anyone else felt this way or have I lost it? I loved Of Mice and Men and read it 3 times but I can not bother with this anymore
Also the problem isn’t a slower pace, my favorite Novels of all time are Lonesome Dove and The Crossing
For instance, I’m reading Fourth Wing. Admittedly, I don’t read a ton of fantasy but I read enough to enjoy the genre and can generally suspend any disbelief and get taken away in a story. However, I got really stuck on their world still using our Gregorian calendar system. She even makes a dumb comment like, “That’s just a Tuesday morning for me.” As well as another reference to August and November.
It’s not a big deal and the story is fine so far but I hate when I’m pulled out of a story because of a small decision like that. Perhaps I’m more aware as I’m listening to the audiobook. Anyway, just curious what that pet peeve is for you.
They’re highly-regarded, but they’re not on your immediate “to read” pile because there are so many other book premises which appeal to you more? For me I think they would be:
Dune. All the politics and space opera stuff I just can’t bring myself to get excited about. I’m not a fan of space opera in general, really.
Nineteen Eighty-Four. I love dystopian fiction but I think because it is so famous and influential, it has lost its appeal for me to read. Its themes and content are such a part of popular culture (thought crime, newspeak etc.) that I don’t feel like I would gain anything new by reading it. This may well be a flawed conclusion to draw, but it’s just not high on my list - I feel like I already know the point of it without reading it.
What are some of yours?
DUST is a podcast of sci-fi short stories with extremely high production value that I’m surprised I don’t hear more about in this sub. Basically they’re more like audio dramas than audiobooks. (DUST also has a Youtube channel by the same name for short films of equal quality).
Some of the stories are just okay, but others are absolutely superb. I wanted to share the best episodes with this sub, so I’ve compiled them here with Spotify and Youtube links to each episode for convenience.
If I had to recommend three, you simply have to check out Chrysalis, Hard Choices, and Beyond the Tattered Veil of the Stars. Mind-blowingly good.
Hope you enjoy. They’re wonderful to listen to while running, camping, long quiet drives, etc.
Genborn, by RK Nickel – This story about a genetically-enhanced space assassin is as cool as it is introspective. Solid start to the podcast (though not as great as the stories to come). Spotify, Youtube
The Pendulum, by Ray Bradbury – …
I have to admit I have always loved Paula Myo in Peter F. Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga.
An interesting and intriguing character with a really unique background. I do wish they where in more books (while they are in a few - they are more often then not books with casts of thousands).
Saying that I am not sure if a book focused only around Paula would work well - some characters do work better in being a core character amongs several or leads in shorter stories, but I do wonder.
Just read PFHs monster space opera epic Pandora’s Star, and wanted to share my thoughts. Have been in the mood for something like this for a while and it didn’t disappoint (mostly).
The worldbuilding in this book is seriously impressive. Maybe not the most unique or fresh but it has a lot of depth and interesting ideas. I loved the fact that even though aliens in this universe are commonplace, humans still don’t really know all that much about them. The High Angel ship in general was such a cool concept. I loved the in-depth look into the wormhole traversal system as well.
The sense of scale is seriously impressive too, especially when it comes to the Dyson barrier. I think one of my favourite parts of the book was the initial expedition to the barrier and its exploration. The scope and the way it was described was crazy - reminded me of Stephen Baxters works.
But the best thing about the book has gotta be MorningLightMorning. I can’t think of another alien adversary in the sf novel …
So, the Masquerade series by Seth Dickinson is heavily inspired by and built around ideas from economics (with a healthy dose of cultural/historical studies, religious history, philosophy, etc.). Similarly, I’d describe Tolkein’s approach as very similar to how I’ve seen hard sci-fi authors describe their work, but pulling from linguistics and folklore.
What are good sci-fi/fantasy stories that come from someone with an in-depth knowledge of a specific academic field that ISN’T a math or natural science? Stuff like psychology, sociology, historiography, etc. Obviously most books will be pulling from these sort of softer sciences, but I’m interested in ones that take a very in-depth systematic approach in how they understand their subject, if that makes sense?
I’ve seen people arguing about whether a specific book is hard sci-fi or not.
And I don’t think I have a good understanding of what makes a book “hard sci-fi” as I never looked at them from this perspective.
Is it “the book should be possible irl”? Then imo vast majority of the books would not qualify including Peter Watts books, Three Body Problem etc. because it is SCIENCE FICTION lol
Is it about complexity of concepts? Or just in general how well thought through the concepts are?
Many actors develop signature on-screen habits or mannerisms that become recognizable parts of their performances.
Like Tom Hanks pees, Tom Cruise runs, Brad Pitt eats, Nicolas Cage freaks out, John Wayne would light a cigarette off the top of an oil lamp, Meryl Streep will cry, Sean Bean will die.
What other examples have you guys got?
This might be just me, but for a while now I’m struggling to decide which movie is worthy of watching & then actually sitting and watching it.
I can watch it in the movie theater but for some reason I just can’t watch it at home. I’ve seen pretty much all the good & well known ones and now I don’t seem to watch them again.
I end up watching Seinfeld re-runs on tv. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. But just can’t seem watch movies at home anymore.
Can anyone suggest a remedy or solution? I used to love movies. Now I feel sad that I can’t feel that same way anymore.