[March] What are you reading?

[Stumblewyk]

Finished 11/22/63, by Stephen King. Decently handled time-travel/fix-the-past/save-the-future novel. Just started reading We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver. Not sure I'm enjoying it, but I'm going to see it through until the end.

 

[katcitrus]

Just finished the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. It's a steampunk alternate reality Victorian novel with gay vampires and civilized werewolves. It was very entertaining, with a nice balance of mystery and adventure and just a smattering of romance.

 

[katcitrus]

Can anyone recommend a fantasy series that is less western-mythology based? I've kind of had my fill of knights in shining armor. Any series that take place in a more middle-east type world, or India-like? Nagas and djinn?

 

[Nellisir]

Can anyone recommend a fantasy series that is less western-mythology based? I've kind of had my fill of knights in shining armor. Any series that take place in a more middle-east type world, or India-like? Nagas and djinn?

Do you want less shining armor, or less Western? Because Joe Abercrombie's stuff is Western, but about as grimy, dirty, and besmirched as you can get. It's fantasy via a Coen Brothers western movie.

Beyond that...
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms trilogy, by NK Jemison. HIGHLY recommended. Highly. She also has a duology out that is non-Western, but I haven't read it yet because I LOST THE FIRST BOOK somewhere in my house and I haven't found it, which is infuriating me. The Dreaming Moon and The Killing Sun, I think. Something like that.

I'll see if I can think up a few more.

 

[Morrus]

Do you want less shining armor, or less Western? Because Joe Abercrombie's stuff is Western, but about as grimy, dirty, and besmirched as you can get.

He doesn't mean "Western" as in "the west of America in the 1800s"; he means it as in "the West of the world as in not the Middle-East, India, or the Far East". Shining knights are western mythology.

 

[Nellisir]

He doesn't mean "Western" as in "the west of America in the 1800s"; he means it as in "the West of the world as in not the Middle-East, India, or the Far East". Shining knights are western mythology.

Yes. Joe Abercrombie's stuff is rooted in Western (Occidental/European, not Asian, mythology/culture), but it's not "knight in shining armor" fantasy literature. It's dirty, gritty, grimy fantasy, like a Coen Brothers movie of the Western (cowboy) genre. This is a comparison: Abercrombie writes fantasies that are to traditional (medieval) fantasy as a Coen Brothers movie is to a traditional (cowboy) western. Or something like that. (The Heroes basically seemed like an (American) Civil War battle in a (very slightly) fantasy setting.)

I ask because katcircus asked for one thing (fantasy series that is less western-mythology based), but expressed dissatisfaction with a small subset of that genre (sick of knights in shining armor). I can think of a few Asian-located fantasy novels that basically are "knights in shining armor" (CJ Cherryh's Paladin), and some European/Western-based fantasy novels that are not knights in shining armor (Joe Abercrombie's stuff).

Given his/her mention of the Parasol Protectorate, I think The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms would be excellent. Also Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart (which is possibly my favorite book ever.)

 

[katcitrus]

Morrus, you are correct. I was referring to Western European mythology. I'm actually not a big fan of Westerns (wild west), as genre. Just to clarify, I'm a woman, so I'd prefer you use the pronoun 'she' if you are referring to me. I love sci-fi as well, so if anyone has read any really excellent sci-fi lately, do please tell me all about it! I'm a big fan of Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, and I've enjoyed Greg Bear and Timothy Zahn's work as well.

 

[katcitrus]

Beyond that...
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms trilogy, by NK Jemison. HIGHLY recommended. Highly.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms sounds like pretty typical high fantasy from what I've read about it. What makes in unique and worth reading, in your opinion?

 

[Nellisir]

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms sounds like pretty typical high fantasy from what I've read about it. What makes in unique and worth reading, in your opinion?

Well, it is high fantasy in that there's magic and gods. Very active, very vocal, gods. I'm not sure it's "typical". As far as worth reading? Well-written, engaging, entertaining story. It's a non-standard setting, with fairly non-standard characters, and a much stronger mythological aspect (within the story, not in reference to real Earth) than is usual.

The first book (which is The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, my mistake - the trilogy is called the Inheritance Trilogy) was nominated for a Hugo (Best Novel), Nebula (novel), won a Locus for Best First Novel, nominated for World Fantasy Award.

I guess if you consider it "typical", you're going to have to clarify what you're looking for, whether it's just "no knights", or "no pseudo-European setting", or "no magic", or "must-have Indian setting".

Also, skimming the wikipedia entry - Sky is not a floating city. It's in a tree. A really, really, big tree. Shadow is the city under the tree.

 

[Nellisir]

Finished Cold Copper Tears, by Glen Cook. The Garrett books are good enough that I won't mind buying more (in the collections), and I'm interested to see how Cook's writing changes/develops (I think the most recent one was 2011, so that's...24 years he's been writing this series). They're not fantastic, and Garrett seems to kinda walk through everything so far, but still OK.

Finished Wool. Heh. I like it. I really frickin' like it. It was good, it was suspenseful, and ultimately, it was satisfying. It didn't drop out or screw you over at the end. I appreciate that. Still more to go (in the series), but that's was expected.

I finally found The Killing Moon, by N.K. Jemisin, so I can FINALLY read those two books. Stupid thing ended up in the mitten drawer, of all places. Maybe I was putting things away while carrying it? Good thing it got cold and my daughter needed mittens, or it might have been packed away until next November!