Recommended Reading?(Fantasy)

[Dazhbog]

"Hey, nice writing"? Sex isn't awkward! Well, rather it shouldn't be =p Over and above the fact that there's at least a little separation between "a novel with sex scenes" and "porn" in my book; the bedroom scenes all have a purpose to them, over and above the sex aspect.

[Kelaan]

And yes, there's a lot of sex =P some of it quite graphic.

Reminds me of "Bio of a Space Tyrant" -- pretty awesome series. I loved the descriptions of zero-G combat, and space maneuvering.

[Fivelives]

Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel novels remind you of zero-G combat and space maneuvering? o.0

[KysenMurrin]

I've read the first Kushiel novel. It was good, but it felt pretty generic to me. Yes, the main character and her profession are something different that makes the story more original than most, but everything around it was fairly ordinary for a fantasy novel. After the first novel I didn't feel like I needed to read any more of the series.

That said, I wouldn't tell people not to read it because of that impression. It's worth a look.

I guess I'd put it in the same group as Greg Keyes - good, but I don't feel like I miss much by not reading it (I've read 2 or 3 of Keyes' Kingdom of Thorn and Bone novels).

[Aerron]

I really enjoy Carey's writing style. I read the first Kushiel trilogy and then sought out her Banewreaker Duology, which I thought was even better (for all that it was an alternate version of LoTR.)

That said, I sometimes find her characters to be predictable, and sometimes Mary Sue, like Jocelyn, the perfect bodyguard/monk/boyfriend. Meh.

Really digging Sanderson's Way of Kings right now. He writes some amazing action scenes.

[Fivelives]

I'd say Carey overuses the deus ex machina (sometimes quite literally), but I don't see how she's writing Mary Sue characters. Joscelin is far from perfect, so is Phedre. Imriel even less so. Joscelin is supposedly very handsome - how not, when the entire country is described as beautiful. And remember, you're reading from Phedre's point of view - complete with Naamah's and Kushiel's influences on it. He's an excellent swordsman who's fairly well read; all of which is explainable by the whole Cassiline discipline and his childhood before he entered the brotherhood. You'd expect someone who's been training for decades to be that good. Mary Sue/Marty Stu characters don't generally have reasonable backgrounds/explanations for why they're as good as they are other than that the author tells you so, sometimes in as many words.

As far as Joscelin being The Best, well, a certain amount of leeway can be attributed to the fact that they're main characters, along with the whole theme of "love conquers all".

And I'd say that Carey's writing is also pretty far from your standard fantasy fare, too. But then, I'm a huge fan of the series (the first trilogy at least - not so much a fan of Imriel's trilogy), so my viewpoint is hardly unbiased.

KysenMurrin - trust me, it gets FAR better.

[Deliriously]

Steven King's The Dark Tower series

[bldavis]

Steven King's The Dark Tower series

i was going to mention this

i have not read the final book(s) but that is simply due to not being able to find it
great series

[Brekkie]

"Hey, nice writing"? Sex isn't awkward! Well, rather it shouldn't be =p Over and above the fact that there's at least a little separation between "a novel with sex scenes" and "porn" in my book; the bedroom scenes all have a purpose to them, over and above the sex aspect.

I guess you haven't read the clan of the cave bear series. There is no point. It's just mindless, graphic, girly sex every 5 pages.

[bldavis]

"Hey, nice writing"? Sex isn't awkward! Well, rather it shouldn't be =p Over and above the fact that there's at least a little separation between "a novel with sex scenes" and "porn" in my book; the bedroom scenes all have a purpose to them, over and above the sex aspect.

I guess you haven't read the clan of the cave bear series. There is no point. It's just mindless, graphic, girly sex every 5 pages.

hell, given the right mind frame, this is a selling point for that series.....

[Shyrtandros]

"Hey, nice writing"? Sex isn't awkward! Well, rather it shouldn't be =p Over and above the fact that there's at least a little separation between "a novel with sex scenes" and "porn" in my book; the bedroom scenes all have a purpose to them, over and above the sex aspect.

I guess you haven't read the clan of the cave bear series. There is no point. It's just mindless, graphic, girly sex every 5 pages.

hell, given the right mind frame, this is a selling point for that series.....

This... X alot...

I LOL'd

[Shyrtandros]

Would people prefer it that I copy the recommended reading list to the Original Post instead of it just being on page 4?

[Melathys]

one day I'll find someone else who's read Shardik and Maia...

all my wow toons are named after characters from those books.

[KysenMurrin]

I'll probably read Shardik eventually - out of those lists by Jeff VanderMeer I linked on the last page, that one made it onto his "essential" lists, and as I said, I trust his taste in books (his praise got me onto Valdimir Nabokov and Angela Carter, among others).

[Melathys]

The thing about Shardik. It starts off kinda dry, but then it gets to the point where you simply cannot put it down. My mom actually hated the book, but I told her to finish reading it. When she finished, she agreed that its one of the best books she's ever read. Our dog's name is Shardik...

*edit

I was looking for the book to give to a friend, but shardik is out of print, so I went to amazon. It had "also by Richard Adams" list. I thought I had read everything he wrote, in that list was maia. I looked at the description, and it was a prequel to Shardik (my favorite book ever). I couldn't order it fast enough. I've since read both books 4-5 times, and I rarely read a book more than once.