Both titles listed I give a big second!

I've read the entire Imager series and loved them all, beware Modesitt is huge on world building and taking things very slow so if you don't like that you really won't like the series. He's not nearly as bad as Robert Jordan though...

I loved Among Thieves as well, I'm really looking forward to buying the next book. Medieval gangsters with magic! Hell yeah! It actually helped that the first scene in the book was pretty brutal.

As for the military fiction thing, I'll lay it on you from a military members viewpoint (me).
Many of those who write military fiction spent some time in the military (i.e. John Ringo) or really wish they had joined in their lives, or are really big military history buffs (i.e. David Weber). Considering that, most of these people (including myself) like to think of the modern "western" military machine as a great thing, the best force for good in the world, and totally incorruptible.
You, me, and the authors know this isn't true, but hey, it's nice to write about (and make money off of) something where things are still generally black and white...

 

I was just pleasantly surprised by House of Blades by Will Wright. I basically picked it up because I had nothing to read at the moment, and was in the mood for some good sword and sorcery. But this is by far, my favorite fantasy book of the year.

Sure, it hits all the standard tropes. Evil Force? Got that. Damsel in Distress? Check. Prophesied child sorcerer? That's a big check. But the beauty of it is that the prophecy kid isn't the main character. Instead, his 'acquaintance' Simon is. Simon hits all the check marks you'd expect from the character who is the future antagonist (Dark, Alone, Sterotypical Fantasy Village shuns him), but he keeps doing the right thing in spite of it. Plus, he actually thinks things through once in a while. It's a nice change for a protagonist.

Characterization is great. All the characters seem fully three dimensional, and even (especially) the main villain is amazingly developed.

I can't recommend this one highly enough.

 

I was going to get it but its not available from Google books. In fact the book didn't come up at all when I searched for it there.

After some digging it seems this is his first book, having only sold 4,000+ copy's. Probably why I couldn't find it anywhere else but on amazon.

Also, his website seems to be down.

 

I read Blood Song by Anthony Ryan recently and it was one of my favorite novels I read this year.

Here's the blurb

It was pretty awesome and interesting and I can't wait for the second book.

 

Just read "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak and I can only heartily recommend it for everyone here.

Story is about a young girl named Liesel Meminger in Nazi Germany during World War II as she lives with a Foster Family in the near of Munich and how she, over the course of her life there, steals various books and the meaning and impact those books had on her.

Author uses words and language beautifully and it is quite a sad book that hit me emotionally quite a few times. Especially the illustrations.

Spoiler

That said, I didn't quite like the choice of the Narrator and while it did have a few gorgeous sentences, I felt that it would have been better served if it had been someone else.

Still, 5/5 from me. Worth reading, especially for people who appreciate stories, books and language. Especially German speakers will get a lot from it, since there are a lot of German words used and while the words are always explained, there is still a difference between knowing and just getting the translation. Still, should be no hindrance for those who don't know any German.

 

Ended up getting House of Blades. Wish I hadn't.

I pretty much had to force my self to read the first 10-20 pages. After that I stopped all together. The thoughts and dialog of the characters are stilted and doesn't flow. Tropes everywhere! I would get more enjoyment reading the actual trope pages than having to slog through this story any further.

 

I much more recommend his I Am The Messenger

 

Seconded. Love the prose.

A summary from Goodreads:

 

I just read House of Blades. Try and read past the first two chapters. It gets better. It's true, I felt it was a bit bland but it's an easy and fun read and I genuinely like the protagonist. It's got an interesting magic system -- Territories, Travelling, etc. You'll find that good and evil aren't as clear cut as you think they are in this book.

Give it another read. But shit, it was only 5 dollars.

 

Read it and enjoyed it. Not the next greatest thing. Emphasizes more on characters. The world building is done in slow manner. Bare details about the fantasy world given only when necessary. But whatever has been given is very promising. Though, I still fail to see the larger picture.

I like the way protagonist is strong and with a backbone, but isn't quite infallible. The angst isn't overly done, though sometimes undercurrent of it did irk me. The relationship between brothers (Protag's mate in the order) was done wonderfully, imo. Perhaps, a bit more words could have been given to it though.

All in all, it's not your usual fair of boy with the destiny thing. I liked it enough to finish it as soon as I could while wishing I could get the next part sooner rather than later.

 

I'm considering reading The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene after reading its Wikipedia page, but I'd like to hear a second opinion first.

Has anyone here read it?

 

I have. Years ago. It's an interesting read, especially if you're into political and military history. But I wouldn't get too caught up in the advice he gives... unless I was a character in Game of Thrones.

 

33 Strategies of War is better.

 

Another plug for Blood Song. I read it after it was mentioned in the thread and really liked it. The fantasy is a bit sparse at first because the protagonist is part of a religion that outlaws magic, so he simply doesn't have much contact with it to start. Magic is slowly introduced as something that is creeping about unseen, until he's forced to confront it.

The author also mentioned in an interview that he was trying to avoid some fantasy tropes, so he specifically avoids any races other than humans and doesn't use any magic swords/rings/etc.

It's a good book, but make sure you get a copy from Ace. The initial run was self published by the author so it wasn't professionally proofread. The grammar mistakes weren't awful or especially numerous, but they were noticeable. The book was still good enough that the author was directly approached by a publishing company for a three book deal. Unfortunately, the author's said that due to publishing schedules the second book won't be out until summer 2014.

 

I have a couple recommendations that I picked up recently. The first is a book called Wool, which, without giving too much away, is a post-apocalyptic world that has a pretty unique setting, a kind of creepy mystery, and some really cool characters. The short, sneaky premise is basically that these people live in this massive silo buried in the earth, and their only contact with the outside is through these sensors that show them the landscape--barren, toxic, and inhospitable though it is--but they get dirty over time. A capitol offense earns you the sentence of being sent Outside, fitted with an environment suit and cleaning pads. Every time, the people are afraid the exile won't do the cleaning, but every time for some reason they do. And then they put down their tools, walk toward the ridge, and die.

The narrative switches quite a few times, but you find yourself growing attached to each (which is especially unusual for me) and the main protagonist is mentioned and introduced early enough that it isn't jarring. And oh man, when shit hits the fan, you really feel for the characters and what they're going through. Some of the action toward the end actually got my heart pounding. Definitely worth checking out.

Second rec isn't quite up to the same caliber, but it was a quick, enjoyable read with the feel of a good summer spy flick, with some scifi and history tossed in for some extra substance. This one is The Lives of Tao. The premise is that basically these aliens (and Tao in particular) crash landed on earth some time before humans could string words together. Because the atmosphere is inhospitable to them and their technology, they had to choose vessels to live inside, and ultimately tried to shape humanity into something that could one day take them back to the stars. Somewhere along the way there was a rift between two factions over the way humans should be treated, and the aliens went to war against each other.

So it's kind of a game of subterfuge, with each side trying to gain positions in high government, religion, etc in order to effect change. Tao's host is killed in the prologue, and, ejected from the safety of the man's body, is forced to find the closest meat suit he can find--unfortunately it's an overweight depressed IT guy with self esteem issues. Basically what follows is Tao trying to whip this guy into shape before it's too late, and more bad things happen.

 

Vita Nostra, by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, should be of more than casual interest to HP fans. It's like a grown-up Russian version of Harry Potter, very weird and interesting. I'd like to see more of the Dyanchenkos' work translated into English.

 

And another unqualified recommendation: The Golem and the Jinni. A great character-driven historical fantasy, with well-researched mythology and excellent writing.

 

Golem and the Jinni and Vita Nostra sound nice, will check them out.

 

Not sure if this here is the correct place for it but didn´t want to make a new thread.

I am looking for fictional stories in a Roman setting. Roman History AU. So0mething based on reality but willing to expand on it instead of being a simple being another biography.
Any recs?

 

Well, there's McCullough's Masters of Rome series which is historical fiction, not really an AU. They're good enough reads, but a little dry.

http://www.amazon.com/The-First-Rome-Colleen-McCullough/dp/0061582417