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Thread: Fantasy Book Thread

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  1. #1
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Book Thread

    Fantasy Books like Game of Thrones are my favourite type of book to read. I thought I would start a thread on them for those that also read. Personally I think the TV show does a great job and I like it more than the books in some ways.

    My favourite book has been The Name of the Wind. Book 2 wasn't quite as good. Blood Song, Emperor's Blades were both excellent starts.

    My favourite non fantasy was a sci-fi book called Wool. Loved it.

    Any interest in this genre or books overall?
    Last edited by Rudy; 08-04-2014 at 06:34 AM. Reason: change title to reflect ALL books

  2. #2
    Hall of Fame steelerfan's Avatar
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    I like Penthouse Forum. Does that count?

  3. #3
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Not exactly lol

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
    Fantasy Books like Game of Thrones are my favourite type of book to read. I thought I would start a thread on them for those that also read. Personally I think the TV show does a great job and I like it more than the books in some ways.

    My favourite book has been The Name of the Wind. Book 2 wasn't quite as good. Blood Song, Emperor's Blades were both excellent starts.

    My favourite non fantasy was a sci-fi book called Wool. Loved it.

    Any interest in this genre or books overall?
    I have recently gotten into more fantasy books.......I loved blood song, and I really enjoyed emperors blades.

    I actually have in the name of the wind but havent read it, I am currently on a david gemmel kick so I am reading alot of his books, which is also in the fantasy genre.

  5. #5
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Tower Lord was good IMO but many fans of Blood Song were upset. The book changed to a multiple point of view and Vaelin became just another character. I didn't mind this though. I did find it hard to remember everything in the first book so it was a bit confusing at times. It was a bit disappointing overall since I liked the first book so much. Like many middle books in a sequel more questions are raised than answered.

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    Booster JeffHCross's Avatar
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    Fantasy has never been my cup of tea. I want to watch Game of Thrones, and I loved the Lord of the Rings movies, but generally speaking if it involves magic I'm probably not interested. Yet, the King Arthur tales were a major part of my childhood, and I love them.

    To that end, Bernard Cornwell did a series called the Warlord Chronicles that mixed the Arthur tales with historical fiction-type writing, and did it very well IMO.

    Now, if we started a Sci-fi book thread, I could be talking about that all day.
    Twitter: @3YardsandACloud

  7. #7
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Game of Thrones has very little magic. Emperor's Blades didn't have a ton either. The Name of the Wind definitely has magic but it's very cool and unique IMO.

    As for sci-fi I loved Wool (omnibus). Did you read Red Rising? I've thought about it but don't like the young adult label. Those books lack quality writing too often. Steelheart was good but in the same YA boat.

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    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Dp

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    Heisman jaymo76's Avatar
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    I'm not really a fantasy person as I much prefer sci-fi type novels. Basically I have read every single Star Trek Novel ever made. One series that I really like is "The Passage" (book :2 "The Twelve" book 3: tba)) by Robert Cronin. Since watching the first episode of "The Strain" on FX Canada, I am going to read that series next.

  10. #10
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    I have taken a shot at the Way of Kings. It's a series by Brandon Sanderson that is expected to last 10 books. He's just released the second book and both of his first two are just over 1000 pages. Not sure it's wise to start reading a book set where I might be 60 when it's done but I'll see how I like the first one. I've read over 150 pages and I like it so far. Definitely has strong fantasy elements to it.

    I'm very cool if you guys want to make this an overall book thread instead of just fantasy as well (maybe a mod could change it to just Book thread?). I don't think we have enough book readers here that it would get too cluttered if we talked about everything. I haven't read a ton of sports books although I really liked Moneyball (movie very different, based on small subset of book) and Summer of '49 (Yankees vs Red Sox with a good look at the players).

  11. #11
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    I really, really liked the Way of Kings. Epic and classic fantasy. More traditional where it's not gritty (no swearing or sex) and the good guys ARE good, not grey. Big book but finished it in 2 weeks. Characters, story and the mystery around things had me captivated.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
    Tower Lord was good IMO but many fans of Blood Song were upset. The book changed to a multiple point of view and Vaelin became just another character. I didn't mind this though. I did find it hard to remember everything in the first book so it was a bit confusing at times. It was a bit disappointing overall since I liked the first book so much. Like many middle books in a sequel more questions are raised than answered.
    I started tower lord but stopped about half way through, I am currently finishing the book. Most people I have spoken with seem to feel as you do, and even as I felt which is why I stopped reading it intially....lost. I have come to conclusion that we all not having such a hard time remembering, just he didn't really explain some of the other points he was trying to make and then brought them all up in the second book. Every summary I have read of blood song and even a brief re-read on certain parts; alot of things that are being pointed out in the second book weren't even main points in the first book.


    Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
    I really, really liked the Way of Kings. Epic and classic fantasy. More traditional where it's not gritty (no swearing or sex) and the good guys ARE good, not grey. Big book but finished it in 2 weeks. Characters, story and the mystery around things had me captivated.
    You are going to like words of radiance even more.....I enjoyed the first two books of this series immensely.

    I think when I finsih tower lord though I am going back to my really gritty fantasy, I have quite a few books in the hopper I really want to read.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
    Personally I think the TV show does a great job and I like it more than the books in some ways.
    To rehash an old point.....Every time someone mentions the TV show to me from GOT (SOIAF) I think of this video.....


  14. #14
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Have you read Black Company? What grittier books have you read? I haven't read Joe Abercrombie yet.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
    Have you read Black Company? What grittier books have you read? I haven't read Joe Abercrombie yet.
    The black company.......I have read the first 100 or so pages ( I was reading two books at one time) and never went back so I can't say whether its good or not......

    I have read the blade itself ...I thought it was pretty good, I haven't finished the series yet.....

    If you want gritty fantasy read the prince of thorns by mark lawerance ( its pretty gritty, like at moments uncomfortably so if you are sensitive) ......I am actually about to speed read it ( I have read it once) and then I am going to finish the series ( yay for a completed series)

  16. #16
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    I've heard some of the stuff in Mark Lawrence can be brutal (like rape by the main character) so I've shied away. But he's got a couple trilogies out now I think (one completed) that get pretty good reviews.

    It's kind of refreshing to read Sanderson and not have any brutalness to it. I read an indie trilogy called Firehurler. That was pretty good. If you watch for sales the first book on Amazon Kindle can be $1. The first book is really good and the last two are good but not as good as the first. It's the twinborn trilogy. The author JS Morin tried another series from this universe but it wasn't good. I quit reading it.

    For a standalone book I thought the Lions of Al Rassan was good.
    Last edited by Rudy; 08-20-2014 at 04:24 AM.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
    I've heard some of the stuff in Mark Lawrence can be brutal (like rape by the main character) so I've shied away. But he's got a couple trilogies out now I think (one completed) that get pretty good reviews.

    It's kind of refreshing to read Sanderson and not have any brutalness to it. I read an indie trilogy called Firehurler. That was pretty good. If you watch for sales the first book on Amazon Kindle can be $1. The first book is really good and the last two are good but not as good as the first. It's the twinborn trilogy. The author JS Morin tried another series from this universe but it wasn't good. I quit reading it.

    For a standalone book I thought the Lions of Al Rassan was good.
    The rape part is probably the worst part, alot of it is brutal killings mostly.

    I might have to check one of those out , but my backlog is pretty crazy at the moment.

  18. #18
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    I finished the 2nd book of Way of Kings. It was really good as well and similar to book 1 so if you like one you should like the other obviously. I would say I liked book 1 a touch more simply because book two features more of Shallan who is my least favourite character. She's supposed to be witty and clever and yet I found her annoying. She has a much bigger role in book 2 (arguably the biggest) although I found her much more interesting in the second half. Overall the first two books were each over 1000 pages and each had a great ending. Yet this also just set up a whole other impact on this world and much more going on. There are still new characters that haven't been fully fleshed out. I wonder how much of a large story board Brandon Sanderson has for this thing. It must be huge. I'd be very curious over what he adds to his books after his initial layout.

    4.5/5

    (and now 1-2 years before book 3 in this estimated 10 book set)

  19. #19
    I actually finished tower lord some weeks ago......

    I thought it was a pretty good book, again not a fan of the ending as with any second book.....I thought he introduced some pretty interesting characters though so all that being said....

    4/5

  20. #20
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Providence of Fire Review

    This is the second book in the Unhewn Throne trilogy (Emperor's Blades the first). The first book introduced us to the three children of the murdered Emperor. I really enjoyed their trials and the search for the mystery behind the murder of the Emperor and others. While Kaden and Valyn were the focus of the first book, Adare gets a fair share in the second and her story line is interesting. Valyn continues where he left off and his path is action packed although Kaden’s story wasn’t quite as enjoyable as the first book imo.

    I really feel the author has done a great job with the surrounding cast in this book and the older and newer characters are interesting. While the first book did not involve a lot of mythical or traditional fantasy powers or magic, this does increase in book two. I don’t have a problem with that. I read this book fast and it had me hooked after a slightly slow start. When you are thinking about the characters at night, you know it’s a winner. Still much to learn and figure out.

    Overall this has been a great series so far and I can’t wait for the finale next year. (Note that Kindle samples are long so definitely download them if you are interested).

    4.5/5

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