The Cauldron

Khaibit wrote:

Pretty much any fantasy I can can get my hands on. Or any other interesting fiction; not so much sci-fi. I'm big on the Forgotten Realms but only because I don't really know of many non-major series books that are any good, but if I knew of them I would definitely read them (which is why I asked).

There's too many separate books, so I'll only do series that I remember. And my memory's awful.
R.A. Salvatore - Legend of Drizzt, the Demon Wars, the Sellswords, Cleric Quintet, War of the Spider Queen
Tanya Huff - The Blood Books
Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - Dragonlance books
Margaret Weis - The Dark Disciple
Eric Nylund (and others) - Halo books
*Runs to room to remember more*
Stan Nicholls - The Dreamtime
Richard Baker - The Last Mythal
Keith Baker - The Dreaming Dark
Sara Douglas - The Wayfarer Redemption
Elizabeth Moon - (I forgot the name of the series... it had Rules of Engagement in it, though...)

And of course, LotR, SoA, lots of other series that I didn't like enough to remember (aka. buy), and infinite odds-and-ends non-series books. I didn't mention series that aren't finished but I am waiting for the next ones to be written (Journals of Ven Polypheme, the Song of the Tears, the Watercourse Trilogy) or I haven't finished yet (the Wheel of Time).
I'm still reading Alamut by Vladimir Bartol currently. It's sooo good; I'm trying to savour it. But my favourite character just died. But I still love it. I find the history in it fascinating and the storyline and writing in it are ceaselessly brilliant, though the beginning isn't so great (courtesy of the translator, or the author weeding out people early on. It gets good, fast.) Give it two or three more days and I should be finished it.

eternal light wrote:

Authors I've read a lot of: Garth Nix, Juliet Marillier, Francesca Lia Block, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julie Ann Peters, Anne McCaffrey, Gabrielle Zevin Well. I'm currently reading The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien...and I'm only up to the foreword *sigh*

If you like them, that's good enough for me. I'll (hopefully) remember to see read some books by those authors after my whole bookcase ordeal.

eternal light wrote:

Oh dear. I haven't read any of those (except for SoA and Tolkien books) series/ I have no idea what they're about 

Yeah, I'm in the same boat: I don't think I've read anything by the authors you mentioned (except for one by Anne McCaffery, which I completely forget the name of but I distinctly remember that the Catteni were in it.)

As for me reading Alamut, I finally finished it. The end didn't really feel like the end but I love the very last line of the book. I definitely want to buy a copy of it if I can find it--it is now one of my favourite books I've read. Very thought-provoking and intriguing. Too bad there's not really any other books by Vladimir Bartol; his style of writing is interesting.

Now I'm off to read Whit by Iain Banks. Updates'll come soon.

Khaibit wrote:

Yeah, I'm in the same boat: I don't think I've read anything by the authors you mentioned (except for one by Anne McCaffery, which I completely forget the name of but I distinctly remember that the Catteni were in it.)

I read those some years back, but my enthusiasm waned at about book 2 or 3; after a few convenient plot twists that didn't quite work for me. I didn't finish the series, but they were quite readable for the most part. I might even try to dig them out again.

I'm reading The Favoured Child by Philippa Gregory right now. It's actually quite interesting but you can't help but get frustrated at the heroine's eagerness to be subservient and to love her vile cousin, Richard. It's a historical novel with a little magic in it and a family curse or blessing depending on how you look at these things. As with the  'Other Boleyn Girl, I often find myself wanting to yell at the protagonists to get some backbone, but it's a gripping read so far.

Valecynos wrote:

That would be one from the Freedom series. Aside from the Dragonriders of Pern, the Freedom series is my favorite. Actually, to be honest, I probably like it even better, though I love the Pern series quite a bit.

IloveGwydion wrote:

A friend of mine gave me a book called Aurian by Maggie Furey, same thing again but wow, you can't help but love this one. Cover is really off-putting but characters are fantastic, hint of the old romance going on, nothing too much and buckets of intrigue.

Just ordered the sequels to it and I'm so excited, I can't wait to get my hands on them!

Sam I am. wrote:

Anyway, (for the umpteenth time) I recommend the Aurian series by Maggie Furey.  It is a lightning fast paced romantic epic.  It is about this little girl sorceress named Aurian who falls for her middle aged caretaker solider.  And then when she grows up, they meet each other again.  It’s a quick easy read and awesome.

IloveGwydion wrote:

OK! I'm going to finally buy book one after reading your many recommendations!

Sam I am. wrote:

Ah man, now I am all nervous.  LOL.  Let me tell you how this is supposed to work ILG.  SIA recommends a book.  Everyone ignores SIA.  No harm no foul.  LOL.

But now you have upped the stakes!!!  What if ILG reads SIA’s favorite book and doesn’t like it?  The pressure is killing me!!!  Haha.

Khaibit wrote:

Now I'm a third through Myrial's Heart by Maggie Furey. I think somebody mentioned Maggie Furey in this thread, and that's why I checked out this book. It's very good and addicting so far; I keep reading it in class and getting in trouble

Mri Niun wrote:

OMG! Its Sam I am! We missed you!

Sam I am. wrote:

Mri Niun wrote:

OMG! Its Sam I am! We missed you!

Hmmm...  Does "we" include any supermodels, Natalie Portman, or an Elvish Princess?  LOL.  *just joking*  And damn, my avatar name looks so much better with and exclamation point at the end of it instead of a period.

Sam I am! = 

Sam I am. =

LOL.

Well its nice to see you around the forums again (as I note for a second time) but one thing, resurrecting my Who would YOU marry thread was a bit of a "no no." That thread deserves to stay dead!

Anyway, *cough* back on topic! I' am actually reading three books at once, which still includes The Yearling by Rawling, The Sea-Wolf by Jack London and that silly book I have to read for English class We All Fall Down.

I am reading and loving The Lies of Locke Lamora right now. It's a very witty and clever book about con artists in a huge and corrupt city akin to Venice (lots of canals and an Italian style social system,) there is fantasy in it - but it's not the in your face fireballs and sorcery kind. Think more along the lines of George R R Martin's style.

The plot is well paced and intriguing. Locke, the protagonist, is a very enjoyable character to read, esp. in his earlier years.  To be honest, it's the best fantasy book I've read in ages and it's because a) it's well written and b) it doesn't follow the normal protocol of fantasy novels. I'm about half way through it now. I'd suggest it to anyone who likes George R R Martin, oh and for those of a more delicate nature; there is liberal use of the f-word in the first few chapters.

Sam I am. wrote:

Yes, her Shadowleague series is really good stuff with a TOTALLY mind-blowing plot twist near the end, and it even has a nice little happy ending to boot.  But you should really try her Aurian series; it is even better.

I just finished a recently discovered author's, M.J. Rose, book The Reincarnationist, about an hour ago.  I thought it was really good in the vein of The DaVinci Code, and a new book of hers is coming out next month called The Memorist.

A cool thing about this author is that she self published and then got picked up by a mass market publisher.  I love stories like that! 

Woah!  Welcome back stranger!