Book recommendations?

[Angel Tarragon]

I'm gonna hit the library this wekkend and am looking for a couple of specific story types.

1. Fantasic/Fantasy/SciFi/Steampunk Westerns
2. Ship voyages on Earth that have interactions with unheard of aquatic creatures.

 

[Starman]

1. Fantasic/Fantasy/SciFi/Steampunk Westerns

Have you read The Dark Tower series by Steven King?

 

[Thanee]

2. Ship voyages on Earth that have interactions with unheard of aquatic creatures.

Got one for you, it's a lil short, though.

CLICK

Bye
Thanee

 

[Darkwolf71]

Have you read The Dark Tower series by Steven King?

Ya know, I love King's stuff. I read everything he published until he started focusing on that series. I read the first, forced my way through the second and part of the third... I don't know why but I just don't think they are all that great. The Eye of the Dragon was a good fantasy story of his though.

Anyway,
Are you a fan of Dragopnlance? I've recently gotten around to reading The Annotated Chronicles and love it. The insight to the thought process behind the world/story design is very cool.

The Blade Itself by Joe Ambercrombie is very good. Similar in flavor to Martin's song of Ice and Fire
http://www.sffworld.com/brevoff/293.html Review, may contain spoilers.

 

[Starman]

Ya know, I love King's stuff. I read everything he published until he started focusing on that series. I read the first, forced my way through the second and part of the third... I don't know why but I just don't think they are all that great. The Eye of the Dragon was a good fantasy story of his though.

I really enjoyed the first four books of the series, but it went down from there and the last book was just a disaster. Roland was a fantastic character, though.

Anyway,
Are you a fan of Dragopnlance? I've recently gotten around to reading The Annotated Chronicles and love it. The insight to the thought process behind the world/story design is very cool.

I'll always have a soft spot for Dragonlance since they were some of the first fantasy books I read. The Chronicles trilogy is good, but the Legends trilogy is even better. The later books by Weis and Hickman were decent if not great. Most of the books in the line by other authors are crap, though. The one exception I found was The Legend of Huma by Richard Knaak. That one was great.

The Blade Itself by Joe Ambercrombie is very good. Similar in flavor to Martin's song of Ice and Fire
http://www.sffworld.com/brevoff/293.html Review, may contain spoilers.

Sounds interesting. I may have to check it out.

 

[Jeysie]

I really enjoyed the first four books of the series, but it went down from there and the last book was just a disaster. Roland was a fantastic character, though.

I liked the first book, and I loved the fourth book. But I've tried reading the rest, and, eh. The old days of Mid-World are a wonderfully interesting place to play, and I like Roland's old ka-tet. But the "present" day setting is dull to me, and nobody in his new ka-tet does anything for me. So I'm just going to read the new comics.

I like the *idea* of the ending, though...

[sblock]I've commented to friends in the past that most "break the cycle" stories are incredibly convenient in that, no matter how many times other powerful/clever warriors have tried to end the cycle for good, the protagonists in the story will finally be the ones to do it, no matter how lame they might be compared to all the ones who have gone before. So it was a refreshing change of pace to get a story that acknowledges that the current protagonist is still too flawed, and thus *doesn't* end it.[/sblock]

Peace & Luv, Liz

 

[takyris]

2. Ship voyages on Earth that have interactions with unheard of aquatic creatures.

Fluke, by Christopher Moore, is a modern-day book that starts with whale researchers and goes in an unexpected direction.

 

[Starman]

I like the *idea* of the ending, though...

[sblock]I've commented to friends in the past that most "break the cycle" stories are incredibly convenient in that, no matter how many times other powerful/clever warriors have tried to end the cycle for good, the protagonists in the story will finally be the ones to do it, no matter how lame they might be compared to all the ones who have gone before. So it was a refreshing change of pace to get a story that acknowledges that the current protagonist is still too flawed, and thus *doesn't* end it.[/sblock]

I might have not minded the ending so much if...

[sblock=Spoiler]...the villains in the last book hadn't been so lame. After all the setup for the Crimson King, he gets... drawn and erased. While I was reading that I kept saying to myself, "What the f___?" Argh. Mordred wasn't much better. After all that, I wanted to throw my book out the window when I read the ending especially after King's condescending tone.[/sblock]

 

[Jeysie]

Well, I did only say I liked the *idea* of the ending. I agree the execution left something to be desired. Personally, I think Stephen King tends to have problems with endings in general. I find many his books spend 3/4 of the time being good... but that 3/4 manages to paint him so far into a corner that the last 1/4 ends up not delivering.

 

[WayneLigon]

I'm gonna hit the library this wekkend and am looking for a couple of specific story types.

1. Fantasic/Fantasy/SciFi/Steampunk Westerns

The Flight of Michael McBride by by Midori Snyder
Nadya
Devil's Engine, and The Devil's Tower by Mark Sumner
Dead Mans Hand by Nancy Collins
Dead in the West by Joe R. Lansdale
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
Skull Full of Spurs by Richard Laymon