Readers, please advise...
Aug. 30th, 2007 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
philmophlegmBunn and I recently splurged on a big Amazon purchase (mere days before I was awarded £250 that could be spent on Amazon vouchers by my employer, but hey-ho).
Consequently the special shelf in our library that we now use (yes - we cleaned out the library two weekends ago) to hold our books waiting to be read in the near(ish) future is bulging.
I'd like your advice on which of these books I should read first...
1. The Reality Dysfunction, Peter F. Hamilton.
Big space opera type stuff. Actually, when I said big, this book, which is only really the first part is 1,225 pages long. That's a little daunting. I've never read any of his stuff, but he is regarded as the perhaps the best of the new British SF writers. "Absolute vintage science fiction. Hamilton puts British sci-fi back into interstellar overdrive" said The Times.
2. Rocannon's World, Ursula le Guin.
Don't know that much about this, but I've liked two of the three Le Guin books that I've read. The esteemed literary critic Bunn said of this work "A story that all science fiction enthusiasts should have read". It's also quite short.
3. Tehanu, Ursula le Guin.
The fourth Earthsea novel. I liked 'A Wizard of Earthsea', thought 'The Tombs of Atuan' was really a padded out short story, but really loved 'The Farthest Shore' (By the way has anyone seen the film of this that came out a few weeks ago?)
4. Tuf Voyaging, George R.R. Martin
I only know Martin's work from the Ice and Fire books, but they really are superb. (Quick aside - we bought my Mum 'A Game of Thrones' for her birthday on something of a hunch on my part. She doesn't read fantasy, but she does do historical fiction, and not just your typical Catherine Cookson / Jane Austen bollocks either (although she certainly does read those authors). Bunn and I thought that whereas she'd never touch Lord of the Rings, she might, just might, like Game of Thrones. SHE LOVES IT! LoA will be pleased to hear that Jon is her favourite character.)
Tuf Voyaging is a more obscure early work, seemingly hastily reissued to cash in on all the new Martin fans out there (including me obviously). The setting is quite Traveller-esque, and the hero has lots of cats, so you see how it might appeal to me.
5. The Shepherd, Frederick Forsyth
I'm a Forsyth fan, but he's gone downhill of late. I think his best novel was 'The Fourth Protocol', with 'The Odessa File' running a close second. (This features one of my favourite twists in any thriller - the bit where the hero reveals to the ex-SS villain quite why he as a non-Jewish German has gone to such lengths to track him down. The film is good too, and co-stars a just before Doctor Who Mary Tamm.) I also watched the original film of 'Day of the Jackal' again last week. I've never read his first piece of fiction - more of a short ghost story than the thrillers that made him famous.
6. Roule Britannia, A History of Britons in the Tour de France, William Fotheringham.
This is a very well-reviewed history of British participation in the Tour de France, from the early days, through Brian Robinson, Tom Simpson (world champion, amphetamine user, who died on the hellish extinct volcano Mont Ventoux during the 1967 tour) up to drug cheat turned anti-drug campaigner David Millar.
7. The World According to Clarkson, Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson is my absolute favourite journalist and celebrity (although I have to admit that this is actually Bunn's book). My last two cars were both bought following his reviews on Top Gear*. According to the blurb on the back, he argues why "too much science is bad for our health", "70s rock music is nothing to be ashamed of " (quite right), "hunting foxes while drunk and wearing night-sights is neither big nor clever", "we must work harder to get rid of cricket" (not sure about that one) and that "he likes the Germans".
8. The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski
Only just published in English, but apparently huge in Poland. The surge in interest in this country is entirely due to the forthcoming release of a computer game, 'Witcher', based on the books. It's a fantasy novel, about Geralt, a 'witcher' or monster-hunter.
9. Emphyrio, Jack Vance
I think Vance is a truly great writer. Lots of SF and fantasy authors agree with me. His Dying Earth books are possibly my third or fourth favourite fantasy novels (beaten only by Tolkien and A Song of Ice and Fire, and if I'm in the mood, Thomas Covenant), the Lyonesse books are also very good (I'll re-read them someday), and his SF is good if a little weird. He does unusual societies better than anyone, but often has plots that seem incidental to the adjectives. I have a theory that he writes a book, then goes back over it and makes sure that each noun has at least one or two adjectives, then goes over it again with a thesaurus in hand, changing the common adjectives for more obscure ones.
Only Vance would or could write an opening paragraph like:
"In the chamber at the top of the tower were six individuals: three who chose to call themselves "lords" or sometimes "remedials"; a wretched underling who was their prisoner; and two Garrion. The chamber was dramatic and queer: of irregular dimension, hung with panels of heavy maroon velvet. At one end an embrasure admitted a bar of light: this of a smoky amber quality, as if the pane were clogged with dust - which it was not; in fact the glass was a subtle sort, producing remarkable effects. At the opposite end of the room was a low trapezoidal door of black skeel."
10. Mindstar Rising, Peter F. Hamilton
This was Hamilton's first novel, a near future detective novel set in his native Rutland. (How much science fiction is set in Rutland? How much of anything is set in Rutland? 'The Rutles' I suppose...) It apparently was criticised by some literary critics for daring to make the baddy totalitarian ex-government a left-wing one. Apparently SF writers aren't allowed to be right wing, or even not left-wing in this country.
My reading of his first paragraph does suggest first-novel-trying-too-hard syndrome though:
"Meteorites fell through the night sky like a gentle sleet of icefire, their sharp scintillations slashing ebony overload streaks across the image Greg Mandel's photon amp was feeding into his optic nerves."
11. Blood Music, Greg Bear
I've never read any Greg Bear. Eon is more famous, but this one seemed especially well-reviewed. "A stunning near-future novel" - Neil Gaiman. "Classic science fiction" - New Scientist. "A dazzling flight of disciplined imagination." - Poul Anderson. It also won both major SF literature prizes - the Hugo and Nebula.
12. The Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie
Based on the reviews I've seen, this series ('The First Law') seems like the next big thing in fantasy. I wouldn't normally believe anything in the Guardian, certainly not a fantasy novel review, but I do like the sound of the quote on the cover "Delightfully twisted and evil". And the cover itself feels nice - kind of leathery.
13. On Basilisk Station, David Weber
This is the first Honor Harrington book. They don't seem to be very well known in this country, but I get the impression that they are a real cult hit in the US. Certainly various online Traveller forums that I occasionally hang around in have mentioned the series. The concept is pretty simple - Hornblower in space.
So which one should I read first?
* About the Mazda MX-5 "This is still...the best small sports car...of them all."
Consequently the special shelf in our library that we now use (yes - we cleaned out the library two weekends ago) to hold our books waiting to be read in the near(ish) future is bulging.
I'd like your advice on which of these books I should read first...
1. The Reality Dysfunction, Peter F. Hamilton.
Big space opera type stuff. Actually, when I said big, this book, which is only really the first part is 1,225 pages long. That's a little daunting. I've never read any of his stuff, but he is regarded as the perhaps the best of the new British SF writers. "Absolute vintage science fiction. Hamilton puts British sci-fi back into interstellar overdrive" said The Times.
2. Rocannon's World, Ursula le Guin.
Don't know that much about this, but I've liked two of the three Le Guin books that I've read. The esteemed literary critic Bunn said of this work "A story that all science fiction enthusiasts should have read". It's also quite short.
3. Tehanu, Ursula le Guin.
The fourth Earthsea novel. I liked 'A Wizard of Earthsea', thought 'The Tombs of Atuan' was really a padded out short story, but really loved 'The Farthest Shore' (By the way has anyone seen the film of this that came out a few weeks ago?)
4. Tuf Voyaging, George R.R. Martin
I only know Martin's work from the Ice and Fire books, but they really are superb. (Quick aside - we bought my Mum 'A Game of Thrones' for her birthday on something of a hunch on my part. She doesn't read fantasy, but she does do historical fiction, and not just your typical Catherine Cookson / Jane Austen bollocks either (although she certainly does read those authors). Bunn and I thought that whereas she'd never touch Lord of the Rings, she might, just might, like Game of Thrones. SHE LOVES IT! LoA will be pleased to hear that Jon is her favourite character.)
Tuf Voyaging is a more obscure early work, seemingly hastily reissued to cash in on all the new Martin fans out there (including me obviously). The setting is quite Traveller-esque, and the hero has lots of cats, so you see how it might appeal to me.
5. The Shepherd, Frederick Forsyth
I'm a Forsyth fan, but he's gone downhill of late. I think his best novel was 'The Fourth Protocol', with 'The Odessa File' running a close second. (This features one of my favourite twists in any thriller - the bit where the hero reveals to the ex-SS villain quite why he as a non-Jewish German has gone to such lengths to track him down. The film is good too, and co-stars a just before Doctor Who Mary Tamm.) I also watched the original film of 'Day of the Jackal' again last week. I've never read his first piece of fiction - more of a short ghost story than the thrillers that made him famous.
6. Roule Britannia, A History of Britons in the Tour de France, William Fotheringham.
This is a very well-reviewed history of British participation in the Tour de France, from the early days, through Brian Robinson, Tom Simpson (world champion, amphetamine user, who died on the hellish extinct volcano Mont Ventoux during the 1967 tour) up to drug cheat turned anti-drug campaigner David Millar.
7. The World According to Clarkson, Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson is my absolute favourite journalist and celebrity (although I have to admit that this is actually Bunn's book). My last two cars were both bought following his reviews on Top Gear*. According to the blurb on the back, he argues why "too much science is bad for our health", "70s rock music is nothing to be ashamed of " (quite right), "hunting foxes while drunk and wearing night-sights is neither big nor clever", "we must work harder to get rid of cricket" (not sure about that one) and that "he likes the Germans".
8. The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski
Only just published in English, but apparently huge in Poland. The surge in interest in this country is entirely due to the forthcoming release of a computer game, 'Witcher', based on the books. It's a fantasy novel, about Geralt, a 'witcher' or monster-hunter.
9. Emphyrio, Jack Vance
I think Vance is a truly great writer. Lots of SF and fantasy authors agree with me. His Dying Earth books are possibly my third or fourth favourite fantasy novels (beaten only by Tolkien and A Song of Ice and Fire, and if I'm in the mood, Thomas Covenant), the Lyonesse books are also very good (I'll re-read them someday), and his SF is good if a little weird. He does unusual societies better than anyone, but often has plots that seem incidental to the adjectives. I have a theory that he writes a book, then goes back over it and makes sure that each noun has at least one or two adjectives, then goes over it again with a thesaurus in hand, changing the common adjectives for more obscure ones.
Only Vance would or could write an opening paragraph like:
"In the chamber at the top of the tower were six individuals: three who chose to call themselves "lords" or sometimes "remedials"; a wretched underling who was their prisoner; and two Garrion. The chamber was dramatic and queer: of irregular dimension, hung with panels of heavy maroon velvet. At one end an embrasure admitted a bar of light: this of a smoky amber quality, as if the pane were clogged with dust - which it was not; in fact the glass was a subtle sort, producing remarkable effects. At the opposite end of the room was a low trapezoidal door of black skeel."
10. Mindstar Rising, Peter F. Hamilton
This was Hamilton's first novel, a near future detective novel set in his native Rutland. (How much science fiction is set in Rutland? How much of anything is set in Rutland? 'The Rutles' I suppose...) It apparently was criticised by some literary critics for daring to make the baddy totalitarian ex-government a left-wing one. Apparently SF writers aren't allowed to be right wing, or even not left-wing in this country.
My reading of his first paragraph does suggest first-novel-trying-too-hard syndrome though:
"Meteorites fell through the night sky like a gentle sleet of icefire, their sharp scintillations slashing ebony overload streaks across the image Greg Mandel's photon amp was feeding into his optic nerves."
11. Blood Music, Greg Bear
I've never read any Greg Bear. Eon is more famous, but this one seemed especially well-reviewed. "A stunning near-future novel" - Neil Gaiman. "Classic science fiction" - New Scientist. "A dazzling flight of disciplined imagination." - Poul Anderson. It also won both major SF literature prizes - the Hugo and Nebula.
12. The Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie
Based on the reviews I've seen, this series ('The First Law') seems like the next big thing in fantasy. I wouldn't normally believe anything in the Guardian, certainly not a fantasy novel review, but I do like the sound of the quote on the cover "Delightfully twisted and evil". And the cover itself feels nice - kind of leathery.
13. On Basilisk Station, David Weber
This is the first Honor Harrington book. They don't seem to be very well known in this country, but I get the impression that they are a real cult hit in the US. Certainly various online Traveller forums that I occasionally hang around in have mentioned the series. The concept is pretty simple - Hornblower in space.
So which one should I read first?
* About the Mazda MX-5 "This is still...the best small sports car...of them all."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 10:50 pm (UTC)You've just read the Tribes of Britain, so maybe something short and light would be good. You should read The Shepherd, it'll only take an hour even if you spend time admiring the lovely drawings.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 10:51 pm (UTC)Bearing this in mind, it might make a nice "filler" in between a couple of weightier tomes.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 11:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 09:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 06:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 09:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 09:32 am (UTC)I forgot one book too:
14. Foundation and Earth, Isaac Asimov
The fifth book in the Foundation series. My favourite SF series. A lot of people seem to suggest that the fourth and subsequent books (written much later than the frst three) are nowhere near as good. I didn't find that to be the case with the fourth, Foundation's Edge, and Foundation and Earth is a direct sequel to that book.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 10:02 am (UTC)I have read both Peter F. Hamilton's you mention (and their sequels). I would suggest reading Mindstar Rising first. I thought that the Reality Disfunction took a very long time to get going, and that Mindstar Rising was much better paced.
Greg Bear can be rather depressing. I have read 'Blood Music' the short story, and decided not to read the novel. Eon is by far my favourite of his (followed by its sequel Eternity), and I have read quite a few by him.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 10:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 11:26 am (UTC)I liked Tehanu and it's quite short, so you could always start with that if the thought of the Hamilton one is too daunting. Let me know what you and
I've not read any of the others, but I'm rather worried by the fact that Jeremy Clarkson seems to think some very sensible things, despite the fact I feel that I shouldn't like him. However I've had a grudging respect for the man ever since he suggested that planes should have sound-proof lockers to put children in for the duration of the flight ;-)
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 01:38 pm (UTC)It's well written and entertaining, set in a very Travellerish universe and cats are very important throughout the book. In fact, you can separate the goodies from the baddies with complete accuracy by their attitude to the cats (there is also character development...).
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 06:14 pm (UTC)The only other book I can claim to have read out ot the others would be The Reality Dysfunction which i found to be unrelentingly grim, lots of very unpleasant things happening to nice people, possibly since this is the 1st in a series things get better, but I could never face wading through another book to find out.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-01 08:57 pm (UTC)Time to make another book decision...