I finished reading the Expanse last night. I’ve not been that engaged with a book series since I discovered Tom Clancy as a 12 year old who was obsessed with Navy aircraft.
Don’t really know what to read now… I saw an interview with Henry Cavill where he was asked his go to sci fi writers. Without hesitation the first thing he said was anything by Robert E Feist… So I guess I’ll try that…
Edit. Decided on Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.
His women characters suck majorly. The only time he gets it right is The Empire Trilogy, and the only reason is because he collaborated with Janny Wurts (a woman).
If you do read his stuff, avoid Faerie Tale at all costs.
Major Spoiler for Faerie Tale and TW: Grape and SA
Pan raping a teenager is not something I was prepared for, Feist writes her so awfully. He doesn’t know what a woman is.
Sorry for the rant. I think I just hate Feist. No one should stop you from enjoying a piece of art (novels in this case).
Lol you don’t have to do that 😬😭 feist did write a huge arcing sci-fi/fantasy series that is super unique imo. I’m just AFAB so his writing of women is super apparent to me. But he is a beloved renowned writer with original ideas!
Paul Stewart - The Edge Chronicles, illustrated by Chris Riddell is a great series. Mostly fantasy with sci-fi elements, unique beautiful story.
Tend to agree with all of that. I much prefer L E Modesitt Jr if I want stock characters with a predictable plotline. He’s a much better wordsmith than Feist.
Modesitt has one huuuuuge failing - all his tall dark and handsome heroes are pretty much identical. And the female characters are strong alright, but also smug and kinda offensive in how they interact with people. I do like how he puts emphasis on how magic comes at a price, and that price can be high. He got better as he got older - his recent ones are much more readable too. The Imager Portfolio is imo his best long work to date.
I used to love Anne McCaffrey too - the dragons are adorable, but she too did the same saleable story over and over. After a bit you could predict the end by the finish of the third chapter or so. If not earlier, and I got bored with that.
Tolkein I met as a reader when I was 8. The Hobbit was wunnderful at that age. LOTR came soon after and I loved it until I had to study it in year 12 high school. Which killed it for many years. I haven’t seen the films - don’t know that I want to as I’m not a film person for the most part.
For light sci-fi/fantasy, I still have a strong affection for Mercedes Lackey - simple stories, well told and believable. May include dragons/magic but not guaranteed. Perfect light reading. Along with T Kingfisher - The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking was some of the best YA stuff I’ve read recently.
George RR Martin has been a favorite for years - once you get past his obsession with zombies and cartoon characters he tells a good yarn well. Along with Kim Stanley Robinson. The Tuf Voyaging collection is a standout for me.
However, the Divine Lois and Connie Willis are my current fab fave authors. Because intelligent and self and socially aware and not in the slightest bit condescending. They make you work but it’s worth it.
I haven’t really sat down to read any novels in a very long time.
I can sort of remember collection some graphic novels and odd things and a vampire series and tried to keep up with Sarah J Maas books but could t keep up with everything.
I did read George RR Martin but hit a wall when I caught up with his writing of Game of Thrones and had to wait for him to finish the last few books.
Only thing I’d probably want to chase up is The Death Gate cycle by Weis and Hickman since I’ve always wanted to read them and I quite enjoyed the Dragonlance books by them.
I think the entire reading public is cheesed off with GRRM for not finishing ASOIAF. Who knows? We might get the next instalment sometime in the next 20 years …
Completely. The latest instalment is still A Dance with Dragons - published in 2011. Still waiting for the next one … Two more projected - The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. As the bloke is now 76, we are all hoping he does not run out of life before finishing the series.
Bah! I have to admit I am not a fan of Feist. I do however adore the Divine Lois. Check out anything by Lois McMaster Bujold. From rollicking space opera to deep psychological insight fantasy drama. Also very dry, deadpan funny. Good entry points - Memory, Diplomatic Immunity, The Curse of Chalion, Falling Free, The Sharing Knife - for a selection from her major universes. But she does perpetrate serieses, so enter at your own risk.
I finished reading the Expanse last night. I’ve not been that engaged with a book series since I discovered Tom Clancy as a 12 year old who was obsessed with Navy aircraft. Don’t really know what to read now… I saw an interview with Henry Cavill where he was asked his go to sci fi writers. Without hesitation the first thing he said was anything by Robert E Feist… So I guess I’ll try that…
Edit. Decided on Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.
God no. Not Feist. 😭
His women characters suck majorly. The only time he gets it right is The Empire Trilogy, and the only reason is because he collaborated with Janny Wurts (a woman).
If you do read his stuff, avoid Faerie Tale at all costs.
Major Spoiler for Faerie Tale and TW: Grape and SA
Pan raping a teenager is not something I was prepared for, Feist writes her so awfully. He doesn’t know what a woman is.
Sorry for the rant. I think I just hate Feist. No one should stop you from enjoying a piece of art (novels in this case).
Noted. And off my to read list.
Lol you don’t have to do that 😬😭 feist did write a huge arcing sci-fi/fantasy series that is super unique imo. I’m just AFAB so his writing of women is super apparent to me. But he is a beloved renowned writer with original ideas!
Paul Stewart - The Edge Chronicles, illustrated by Chris Riddell is a great series. Mostly fantasy with sci-fi elements, unique beautiful story.
Tend to agree with all of that. I much prefer L E Modesitt Jr if I want stock characters with a predictable plotline. He’s a much better wordsmith than Feist.
Oh… Well. Some strong opinions. I’ll strike Feist off the list then. …scared to ask now… What about Brandon Sanderson?
I used to read LE modesitt ages ago and own a few too.
Interesting take on magic from what I remember.
I don’t think I ever got onto Feist myself.
I was a big fan of Anne McCaffrey but was biased because of my love for dragons.
Tolkien was very hard for me to digest, The Hobbit was the hardest read I’d ever done.
Modesitt has one huuuuuge failing - all his tall dark and handsome heroes are pretty much identical. And the female characters are strong alright, but also smug and kinda offensive in how they interact with people. I do like how he puts emphasis on how magic comes at a price, and that price can be high. He got better as he got older - his recent ones are much more readable too. The Imager Portfolio is imo his best long work to date.
I used to love Anne McCaffrey too - the dragons are adorable, but she too did the same saleable story over and over. After a bit you could predict the end by the finish of the third chapter or so. If not earlier, and I got bored with that.
Tolkein I met as a reader when I was 8. The Hobbit was wunnderful at that age. LOTR came soon after and I loved it until I had to study it in year 12 high school. Which killed it for many years. I haven’t seen the films - don’t know that I want to as I’m not a film person for the most part.
For light sci-fi/fantasy, I still have a strong affection for Mercedes Lackey - simple stories, well told and believable. May include dragons/magic but not guaranteed. Perfect light reading. Along with T Kingfisher - The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking was some of the best YA stuff I’ve read recently.
George RR Martin has been a favorite for years - once you get past his obsession with zombies and cartoon characters he tells a good yarn well. Along with Kim Stanley Robinson. The Tuf Voyaging collection is a standout for me. However, the Divine Lois and Connie Willis are my current fab fave authors. Because intelligent and self and socially aware and not in the slightest bit condescending. They make you work but it’s worth it.
I haven’t really sat down to read any novels in a very long time.
I can sort of remember collection some graphic novels and odd things and a vampire series and tried to keep up with Sarah J Maas books but could t keep up with everything.
I did read George RR Martin but hit a wall when I caught up with his writing of Game of Thrones and had to wait for him to finish the last few books.
Only thing I’d probably want to chase up is The Death Gate cycle by Weis and Hickman since I’ve always wanted to read them and I quite enjoyed the Dragonlance books by them.
I think the entire reading public is cheesed off with GRRM for not finishing ASOIAF. Who knows? We might get the next instalment sometime in the next 20 years …
I didn’t keep up because it took so long.
I haven’t even seen the series show. Are you serious in that he never finished writing the books?
Completely. The latest instalment is still A Dance with Dragons - published in 2011. Still waiting for the next one … Two more projected - The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. As the bloke is now 76, we are all hoping he does not run out of life before finishing the series.
Bah! I have to admit I am not a fan of Feist. I do however adore the Divine Lois. Check out anything by Lois McMaster Bujold. From rollicking space opera to deep psychological insight fantasy drama. Also very dry, deadpan funny. Good entry points - Memory, Diplomatic Immunity, The Curse of Chalion, Falling Free, The Sharing Knife - for a selection from her major universes. But she does perpetrate serieses, so enter at your own risk.
The Altered Carbon books are pretty good.
I admit I haven’t read any modern science fiction lately , the newest was His Dark Materials.
and am only now starting to watch The Expanse on tv