hey kids
anyone got any suggestions for a holiday read
currently im up to book 4 of the wheel of time series, and im debating whether to go for the next one, or read something else.
i'm going away for 6 weeks so the book needs to be
-available in small and light paperback
-600+ pages
-great story with a moderate degree of difficulty
-any genre as long as the characters are great
where am i going? south america! yee haw!!
any suggestions gratefully recieved
beagle
wheel of time, great series for about... the first 4 books. then it just started getting stuffy, to me. The author actually lives in my town. I met him one time, he takes himself waaay too seriously. Had this fedora and this big gaudy walking stick with like a big crystal and a dragon on it. anyway...
If you liked those books have you read David Eddings? The Bellgariad is excellent starting with Pawn of Prophecy and then something serpenty in the title. Not as long as you are looking for, so get the first two. Not sure if its quite moderate difficulty, I mean it's not harry potter or twilight easy but it goes along without much effort so....
If you are up for a challenge I just read The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and found it rewarding. A lot of work but the payoff was worth it.
greengirl00
Some of my favourite books to read on holdiay (if I'm in a fantasy kind of mood) are The Farseer books by Robin Hobb. I don't know about the difficulty, there's a certain amount of the 'ooh I'm a king what shall we do about that person who wants to kill me' kind of long conversations, and the first book starts out a bit slow, but after that they're really pacy and pretty easy to get through.
There are three trilogies. Definitely start with the first one (sounds obvious, I know, but you'd be surprised how many people don't) which goes Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest. They're very small and light paper backs, (the British publication, anyway) but the first book doesn't quite make it to 500 pages. They get longer after that one, though.
One other series you might look into is the Books of Pellinor by Alison Croggon.
Have an amazing time in south america!
edit: Wynter, I may look into those David Eddings books, they look pretty good =D
ildjarn
beagle wrote:
wheel of time, great series for about... the first 4 books. then it just started getting stuffy, to me. The author actually lives in my town.
Robert Jordan died a few months ago, so I doubt that . But I agree with WOT. Book 5-10 are just too slow, 11 was a huge improvement though. AFAIK, his wife and son are finishing book #12.
Some more recommendations:
- Mary Gentle - Ash (A 1200 page novel about a mercenary woman in the 15th century)
[- everything else by Mary Gentle]
- Robin Hobb - The liveship traders (I prefer that one over Farseer trilogy)
- David Eddings - The redemption of Althalus (A standalone Eddings. One of his last really good books)
- Cecilia Dart-Thornton - The bitterbynde trilogy (An Australian writer. There is a lot of Celtic mythology woven into this story)
Wynter
greengirl00 wrote:
edit: Wynter, I may look into those David Eddings books, they look pretty good =D
Psst, that wasn't me, it was beagle!
Cardy, have you ever read anything by Christopher Brookmyre? He's a Scottish author, whose books mainly fall under the comedy/satirical genre, and he's an absolute genius. One of my favourite authors! Some of his books feature the same characters from his previous books, but the storylines are different, so you don't have to start from the beginning to understand what's going on. So you can pick and choose from anywhere!
greengirl00
Woops
Hmm. *rewind time, that never happened, all is well*
Its kinda stupid, because at the time, I thought that you were writing differently than how you normally do.
Anyway...
Ild, I'm really surprised that you enjoyed the Liveship traders more than the Farseer books. I found them much more slow moving and kind of irritating by the end. Don't get me wrong- I really enjoyed them, but I didn't think that they were nearly as good as the other two trilogies, the first one particularly.
ildjarn
greengirl00 wrote:
Ild, I'm really surprised that you enjoyed the Liveship traders more than the Farseer books. I found them much more slow moving and kind of irritating by the end. Don't get me wrong- I really enjoyed them, but I didn't think that they were nearly as good as the other two trilogies, the first one particularly.
I don't really know why I like them more... one of the reasons could be that I think Althea is a much more likeable protagonist than Fitz. Fitz is a bit Thomas Covenant'ish: a main character against his own will. And the story seems a bit more original too than the rather standard quest-story of Farseer (albeit a very well written quest-story).
Did you read Soldier's son? I found it a bit disappointing. I never really liked Nevare.
beagle
ildjarn wrote:
beagle wrote:
wheel of time, great series for about... the first 4 books. then it just started getting stuffy, to me. The author actually lives in my town.
Robert Jordan died a few months ago, so I doubt that
- David Eddings - The redemption of Althalus (A standalone Eddings. One of his last really good books)
Crap, I obviously didn't know he died. anyway
The Redemption of Althalus, I completely agree, It was the last one I really liked.
beagle
I also like Barbara Hambly in the Fantasy genre.
greengirl00
ildjarn wrote:
greengirl00 wrote:
Ild, I'm really surprised that you enjoyed the Liveship traders more than the Farseer books. I found them much more slow moving and kind of irritating by the end. Don't get me wrong- I really enjoyed them, but I didn't think that they were nearly as good as the other two trilogies, the first one particularly.
I don't really know why I like them more... one of the reasons could be that I think Althea is a much more likeable protagonist than Fitz. Fitz is a bit Thomas Covenant'ish: a main character against his own will. And the story seems a bit more original too than the rather standard quest-story of Farseer (albeit a very well written quest-story).
Did you read Soldier's son? I found it a bit disappointing. I never really liked Nevare.
I like Fitz. I think he's adorably difficult =D
Althea always kind of irritated me, it seems like she assumes that everything will go her way. And then there was that whole section told from Malta's point of view, which I found very tiresome. Again, don't get me wrong, I liked them, I just found the other two trilogies more enjoyable. Maybe it's a guy/girl thing? Hmm...
And, yes, I did read part of Soldier Son- just Shaman's Crossing. I have the other two books, kind of on long term loan, but I can't see myself reading them anytime soon. Partly because I don't really remember much about the first one, and it seems unwise to go into the second part of a Robin Hobb trilogy unprepared, and partly because I just didn't think that they were as good.
marvin21st
I suggest any of the Bones books(very different to the series)
And for light reading with a laugh and Terry Prattchet Discworld.
dramagirl
The most recent book that I really enjoyed was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It's one of those kinda sad-but-uplifting books. I've already loaned it to Ella.
beagle
Oh, Oh, this is a fabulous book, it's like a spin-off from one of her triologies but it is standalone. It has a Wonderful main character, sort of a medievil magic Bella from Twilight. I just loved her. She was a very strong female character sorta like a Whedon woman.
Stranger at the Wedding by Barbara Hambly.. It is funny too.
cardboardy
thanks cats
im heading to the bookstore today, thanks for all the suggestions
I'm jumpin on the 747 tomorrow morning and will be gone until new years day: south america!! yee-haw!
hope you all have a safe and lovely holiday
xx
Wynter
Have a safe flight cardy!! And a wonderful trip *hugs* We'll want to hear all about it when you get back
greengirl00
Have a great trip cardy! Tell us all about it in the new year =D
. But I agree with WOT. Book 5-10 are just too slow, 11 was a huge improvement though. AFAIK, his wife and son are finishing book #12.
