@_@

Undeed. Ive got the Dragonbone Chair. AWESOME book. War of the Flowers sounds kinda gay though. Rock Band lead Singer goes to Faerie world? :/

Havent read Otherland though. Been meaning too.

 

Shadowmarch would've been okay, if it were about 300 pages shorter. The Dragonbone Chair was okayish, but nothing too special. >_>

 

Let's see this series is pretty good
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_Earth

Basically aliens take over the world and this is what's left of various military's fighting them. More specifically its about a guy named David Valentine who is one of a new kind of engineered super-soldier called Hunters. It's pretty good

Then I also liked
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M._Stirling#Nantucket_series

The entire town of Nantucket gets thrown back in time about 3000 years and basically take over the world to form the Republic of Nantucket. It's very weird but pretty good if you follow it all the way through.

 

Because for some reason I haven't seen anyone mention him...

ORSON SCOTT CARD.

I read Ender's Game in 4 hours because there was no fucking way I'd put down a book with the most kickass character in existence. He's intelligent, he's cunning, he's diplomatic, he's violent and "hurts them till they stay down". He's what I always wanted Harry to be.

I'm pretty sure most of you will have seen the series but if we're listing good fiction, he belongs on there just for the sake of completion.

 

Garth Ennis' "The Boys" - 19 issues and ongoing. A group of super-powered thugs who enjoy keeping super heroes in line by whatever means necessary. I'm assuming you've read his major work, Preacher. Ennis' "303" is six issues, it's about a Russian military team going into Afghanistan to investigate a plane crash that has the Americans and Brits up in arms. The Wikipedia article is full of spoilers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_(comic_book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/303_(comic_book_series)

Brian Michael Bendis' "Powers" and "Sam and Twitch". I don't even really remember what they're all about, except that I enjoyed them a lot. They both involve police detective partners that solve crimes. Powers involves super-powered crime and uses a simplistic, clean drawings and is a little more abstract than normal. Sam and Twitch is much messier and darker, probably because the characters were originally designed by Todd McFarlane. It has a dark and twisted sense of humour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powers_(comics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_and_Twitch

David Lapham's "Stray Bullets". It's tells a lot of interconnected stories about a group of criminals and people who're caught up in their world from the 70's to the 90's. Seeing little Amy Applejack reenacting a scene from Starwars outside the cinema after seeing it for the 12th time is poignant. A moment later she watches two brutal murders by gangsters of other criminals. The girl goes a little off balance over time. She stabs a classmate in the back when he pisses her off. It's all black and white art.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stray_Bullets

Greg Rucka's "Queen & Country". It focuses on Tara Chase, a member of a British special ops and intelligence service. The first issue tells of her assassinating a retired Russian General turned gun dealer, and her boss getting in strife for running the mission in exchange for a favour from the CIA. It's black and white with clear drawing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_&_Country

J. Michael Straczynski's "Supreme Power". 18 issues. A modern and cynical retelling of the superhero mythos. It starts off with 'Mark Milton' who after crashing to earth as a baby in a corn field (ala Superman) is raised in a government approved and fabricated 'mom, pop & apple pie' environment where he's indoctrinated with anti-commie, pro-USA propaganda. Not unlike the Truman Show, but on a smaller scale and without the dome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Power#Supreme_Power

Joe Casey's "Milkman Murders". 4 issues. Suburbia gone wrong. Just think of it as Molly Wobbles trying desperately to hold her dysfunctional and worthless family together by playing the role of happy homemaker. She becomes brutally disillusioned after being raped by the milkman and afterwards her family can't tell that there's anything wrong. She decides to cure their dysfunctions proactively and psychotically.
http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=12-877

Mark Oakley's "Thieves and Kings". 50+ chapters ongoing. It's an epic high fantasy that starts with Rubel, a young boy-thief arriving back in his home country of Oceansend after spending time at sea on the tall ships. The first few graphic novels in the series were a lot of fun to read. It uses a lot of prose to tell the story alongside the comic illustrations. You get plenty of story per comic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves_and_Kings

Mark Waid & Barry Kitson's "Empire". 6 issues. This is what happens when the heroes lose and the villains rule the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_(comics)

Then you've read Cherry Deluxe No. 1 - "The Innkeeper's Soul", written by Neil Gaiman and drawn by Larry Welz? It's a humorous, no-plot, porno comic by Gaiman. Black and white. Entertaining read.

I do have one weird comic that I enjoy reading, but I've kept it in reserve. Perhaps it's too weird and that's why I've left it until last. Dave Louapre & Dan Sweetman's "Beautiful Stories For Ugly Children". Every issue is a self-contained story with no shared characters or plot.

The art is delightfully grotesque. Like Hollywood, comic books usually display people more beautiful than they typically are IRL. This takes the opposite approach with it's art. You won't likely meet uglier clowns and more freakish circus attractions than what you'll see in the first issue. No clowns in issue two.

It also follows a similar format to Thieves and Kings, in that it has illustrated prose rather than the standard comic book story-by-pictures.

The opening lines of issue 1:

The circus was burning.

It was me, Bingo, Foo Foo, and Joey Punchinello from the street. Foo Foo stole the keys to the Dart while Bingo grabbed Addy the Freaklady and some of our best pups. I got the booze out the ringmaster's trailer when he was watching the big-top burn. Joey Punchinello just lay low. Everyone knew he was always wiser to things than he was saying, like when that midget got drowned in the horse trough last winter.

We figured we'd go 'til either the gas or money ran out, and if we could, swing back for Bingo's gig in the suburbs next day. Whatever. Not a damned thing about the fire on the radio so we blasted the tunes and shot west doin' 95, teasing the dogs and taking turns with Addy. In the back seat, she was anybody's freak.
------

 

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Written in a different style than most fantasy novels that I've read, and I found it very enjoyable and refreshing. It's the first book of the Kingkiller Chronicles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Name_of_the_Wind

http://patrickrothfuss.com/content/index.asp

 

I just did a search and no one even mentioned it anywhere on DLP, so I recommend the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde. I just started them and they're pretty cool, if a bit weird at times.
Writing is very good, that's for sure.

Synopsis of book one:

And the first few paragraphs of book one to give an impression:

The published books are The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, and Something Rotten.

 

Dusk Text Extract

Dawn Extract, spoiler alert
Both by Tim Lebbon, amazing books. I'd recommend Fallen aswell but the ending pissed me off beyond belief. It reminded me of certain other books.


I might have missed it but The Foundation series was amazing aswell.

 

I second this. Good story.

Lately, I've been reading a bunch of history, which isn't everyone's cup of tea. (If you like, I can make some recs).

A few recommended fiction stories:

Accelerando by Charles Stross.
Neuromancer by William Gibson.
The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (a challenging but mind-expanding read).
Red/Green/Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Foucault's Pendulum and The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Fun.
The Illuminatus! trilogy by Shea and Wilson.

For graphic novels, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is quite good (though I'm sure you've read it).

Everything ever done by Douglas Adams should be read and relished.

Also, Mark E. Rogers's Samurai Cat novels are a must.

p.s. Hari Seldon recommending The Foundation? Who'd have thought....

 

Jane Austin is one of the best English-language authors ever. She writes with compassion and perception and wit.
Dorothy Sayers's only failing is not writing A Lot more.

 

The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop.

The books are about this girl who is destined to become the next Queen of Darkness. It's hard to explain the books, because they are complex. Cool thing about them is that there is no rule about killing others in them.

 

Michael Moorcocks books are epic.

Elric of Melnibone being the most famous, but IMO the Hawkmoon saga was better, and the Corum saga was fairly good too.

Although the Elric works are probably more suited to those who like anti-heroes. Elric is the epitome of an anti-hero.

He has written enough to keep you reading for weeks.

Damn, I'm gonna have to read his works again someday.

 

Have you read Sir Apropos of Nothing by Peter David, Gullible? Another good anti-hero series.

 

Look for the Liaden series, by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee.
The characterizations are incredibly deep and deft. "Balance of Trade" is a marvel.

 

Can't remember if I've recommended this before but the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons is a great series, if a bit long winded at times. Very good if you enjoy books that take weeks to read.

 

Nay, I shall have to look into it.

 

I've Been caught time to run >.>

 

Anything from Douglas Adams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams) is awesome. But I think that you should have already read... If not, I have the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in pdf.

And, as you like weired things, I recommend Suehiro Maruo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suehiro_Maruo), especially The vampire who laughs and Paradise.

 

let me second "The War of the Flowers" and the Black Jewels Triology.
Both are very good. The only bad thing about Anne Bishop is that some aspects of the story are cringeworthy (e.g. one of the main characters has been a pleasure slave most of his life, but in book 3 he is too nervous to seduce his love interest...) but she writes very well and the story is fresh and new.

If you want some fantasy books which are character driven (NOT action! i repeat do not expect much action here) you could also read the: Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan

(edit) one last book, mostly for the easily entertained. If you like parody (over the top parody in this case) i highly recommend "Faust among Equals" by Tom Holt. I spent a day laughing myself silly while reading it.