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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Starman" data-source="post: 5490691" data-attributes="member: 7663">For those I have read:2- American Gods - I found it thoroughly enjoyable, but I can see where others might not be as excited. It's a modern fantasy with a heavy influence from tales of mythology and gods. The main character, Shadow, can sometimes be hard to empathize with because there are times he comes off with very little charisma. All in all, though, I liked it.3- The Name of the Wind - This is much closer to typical fantasy. With bizarre things happening in the background, an odd innkeeper starts telling stories of his youth. He is a very winning character despite his incredible prowess at everything he does mostly because he still manages to screw things up despite his near-superhuman skill set and the fact that you, the reader, are never quite sure how much he is embellishing. The characters are superb. The world is rich. Highly recommended.6- A Storm of Swords - Be forewarned that this is the third book in a planned series of seven. Book five only just got a release date after waiting nearly six years since the previous book. It's typically regarded as the best book in the series. It's fairly typical fantasy, but magic is very low-key and the story is truly gritty. If you like heroes that just get a few scrapes and bruises, but in the end manage to triumph; skip this book. If you like the good guys to win and not die, skip this book. If you don't like harsh language, graphic violence, and good people regularly getting sh*t on; skip this book. I'm just warning you it's dark and not the kinda-sorta-wannabe kind. Life is harsh, brutal, and short in these books. If you can stomach that, you are in for one of the best series of books ever written.7- Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Do you like elaborate world-building? Do you like pseudo-alternate history? Do you like long, meandering stories that can take a long time to get to where they are going? Do you like magic? Do you like Napoleonic England? If you answered 'yes' to most of those, then you will probably like this book. Clarke has created a very deep history of her alternate-England and it shines through in the discussions the characters have and especially the footnotes scattered throughout. A quote that perhaps best sums up the feel of the book is what Jonathan Strange says when asked if a magician could kill a man. "I suppose a magician might, but a gentleman never could." Highly recommended.10- Perdido Street Station - Mieville isn't the biggest fan of Tolkien-inspired fantasy, so his fantasy tale is a far cry from the "typical" fantasy novel. It's set in a grim urban fantasy city full of cactus-people and bug-people. When a creature is set loose that even devils refuse to deal with, you know the characters are in for a tough road. The primary story is a horror story, a "bug hunt," but Mieville sprinkles in a lot of things about philosophy and politics. Some go for it, others don't. His world-building is off-the-charts cool and very inspirational. The story is awesome, but in some ways lesser than the world it is in. Highly recommended, though.</blockquote>

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