What are you reading -- for fun and inspiration?

[CarlZog]

I hope this isn't too off-topic, but I'm going to be travelling for three months straight in the fall (for work) and hope to catch up on my pleasure reading.

I'm looking for some good fantasy & sci-fi novels to inspire my gaming when I return. I haven't had much time to read for fun over the last few years, so anything published lately that you recommend, I probably haven't read.

So what's good?

CZ

 

[Macbeth]

Anything by Terry Pratchett. Will you be able to base a typical D&D campaign directly off of it? No. Will it get you in to the mood for some good RPG fun? Yes. Try starting with The Color of Magic, which is the first in the Discworld series and the closest to the fantasy norm.

 

[Wombat]

I suppose it depends on what you are running or want to run, but here are some I have enjoyed of late.

Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books (Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril) are great fun for a modern fantasy setting -- Harry is a wizard who helps the police solve crimes while dodging invitations to perform at birthdays. Sort of modern-noir meets fantasy.

Terry Pratchett is a lot of fun and may even inspire you -- he is great at knocking down fantasy conventions.

China Meiville's Perdido Street Station just came out in normal-sized paperback. If you have not read this book yet, do yourself the favour and pick it up! It is amazing -- sort of fantasy, sort of steampunk, sort of mystery, sort of sci fi, but all fantastic.

Ricardo Pinto's series Stone Dance of the Chameleon (The Chosen, The Standing Dead) may inspire a very different sort of social structure in a fantasy setting. These are very dense novels, but worth the read.

Oh, and I can never get enough of Charles de Lint.

As to more traditional fantasy, I haven't been impressed by anything of late.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance

A MUST READ for any D&D player!! The early days of D&D were heavily influenced by this book as were some of the "core" magic items.

The premise is that it is millions of years in the future and the sun is slowly dying out. Our modern world isn't even a legend, everything has long since crumbled and re-crumbled. There is magic, but no one knows exactly what magic is or how it works and in the last few years of Earth's life, no one cares. But people still live and life still goes on.

It is a very good read so far (I am 3/4 done). The dialogue is amazing the the descriptions of the world are very cool. I highly reccomend this book.

 

[haiiro]

For fantasy, check out George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series (first book is Game of Thrones). It's amazing low-magic political fantasy, and every book thus far has been jammed full of ideas. Alongside LotR, probably the best fantasy books I've ever read (very different from LotR, though).

In sci-fi, I've thoroughly enjoyed Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space, which is complex and dense but very well thought-out and brilliantly imagined. I've read the indirect sequel (Chasm City), which was so-so, and there's also a direct sequel that I haven't picked up yet (Redemption Ark).

Sean McMullen has an excellent and offbeat post-apocalyptic series that starts with Souls in the Great Machine. It's also fantastic stuff, and easily one of my favorite sci-fi series that I've read recently.

I'll second Macbeth's Pratchett recommendation -- he's one of my all-time favorite authors, and the Discworld books are uniformly fantastic.

I'm sure I'll think of others as soon as I post this, but I'm equally sure you'll be deluged with good suggestions.

 

[ForceUser]

I hope this isn't too off-topic, but I'm going to be travelling for three months straight in the fall (for work) and hope to catch up on my pleasure reading.

I'm looking for some good fantasy & sci-fi novels to inspire my gaming when I return. I haven't had much time to read for fun over the last few years, so anything published lately that you recommend, I probably haven't read.

So what's good?

CZ

I read the first four books in the original Dune series for the first time ever. They rocked.

I read the entire Jhereg series for the first time ever over the last four months. Also rocked. Vlad Taltos is the man.

Read the latest Star Wars: New Jedi Order trilogy. It sucked.

Currently reading A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe and the 3.5 rulebooks.

Elements of Jhereg and Dune have inspired certain aspect of my campaigns.

 

[ShadowX]

No one has mentioned Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The Death Gate Cycle, Rose of the Prophet, and the Dark Sword Trilogy all have great ideas for a homebrew world and are great series to boot.

 

[Hjorimir]

Sep's storyhour.

nuff'said

 

[Mucknuggle]

No one has mentioned Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The Death Gate Cycle, Rose of the Prophet, and the Dark Sword Trilogy all have great ideas for a homebrew world and are great series to boot.

The Death Gate Cycle is my favorite fantasy series ever. Their best work IMO. A friend of mine thinks of The Darksword Trilogy as their best (it has a 4th book now...).

AVOID Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. It will feel like you're reading the same book over and over. Book #5 is the worst book I've ever read.

Terry Brooks is great. The Shannara books are great!

And uh, Dragonlance!

 

[coyote6]

I just read Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart -- a great read. I'm going to have to get the sequels.