Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite authors. I'm currently rereading The Diamond Age right now. I'd almost forgotten how awesome this book is.

I loved Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle (can be dry at parts), and his first few novels. I read Reamde about a month or two ago and you're kind of right. Only Reamde felt like one long action scene (and dragged on in the last 100-200 pages), where I don't recall feeling the same way about Cryptonomicon. That's not to say Reamde isn't a good novel, because it is; but, I don't know, it felt like it could have been a hundred or two pages shorter than it was.

I bought Anathem a few weeks ago, and I'm going to read it for the first time here soon after I finish with The Diamond Age. I hope I like it. Neal Stephenson can be hit or miss at times; for me, mostly hit. But there have been times where I've had to force myself to turn the page and finish the book.

 

Anathem is awesome. IF you're willing to read page upon page of info-dumps, though it is fairly well interlaced with very interesting world building. Also, it gets to be somewhat of a midnfuck at the end. You should read it if only just for the world building which is absolutely fascinating.

The Baroque Cycle starts of ridiculously slowly (god I loved the second and third book but I always have trouble trying to reread them ebcause I can never get past the opening of the first book without being bored out of my mind).

The Diamond Age is probably my all time favorite book of his, and I'm always slightly disappointed when people come back not liking it as much as I do. I can even recognize the validity of all their complaints, it pretty much comes down to everyone expects Hackworth to be the main character and so they don't invest as much in Nell's story which is where the real emotional heart of the story is.

I've seen a bunch of other people recommending Charles Stross books but nothing for his Laundry series. The Atrocity Archives, as the opening stories into the universe is another of my favorite books.

The Ship Who Sang is another good books, once again the start of a series, which I've been meaning to reread. Can't remember much except I enjoyed it.

I noticed earlier that someone mentioned Things Fall Apart; anyone who enjoyed that book should read Cry, the Beloved Country.

 

Charles Stross is great. I loved his novels Glasshouse, Halting State, Singularity Sky, and his most recent one (which is a sorta sequel to Halting State) Rule 34. I never got into his Atrocity Archives, although I may have to give it another shot here soon. And I've been meaning to pick up Accelerando lately, but haven't gotten around to it.

 

I really liked Diamond Age too (though it's been so long since I read it, I don't remember it very well). Ditto Snow Crash, though I think that one hasn't aged as well.

I agree that Reamde was a little bloated. Good book, but didn't quite live up to the greatness of Cryptonomicon. One of these days I will read Anathem. It was Quicksilver, though, that made me lose trust in Stephenson's doorstoppers.

The only Charles Stross book I've read is Accelerando. I've been meaning to try his Laundry series one of these days.

 

I just finished Heroics for Beginners by John Moore. I read it several years back, and recently decided to give it another go, as I'd quite enjoyed it.

Typical fantasy set up - there are several kingdoms, with lords and ladies and knights and wizards and tavern wenches. And an Evil Overlord.

It was still a fun read, but it wasn't excellent. It almost seems to be written as an anti-cliche piece, and we all know how well they often turn out to be. But on top of being a semi-parody, it NEEDS the cliches, as the characters rely on them. It doesn't ruin the story, but don't be prepared to have your mind blown. If you could find a free/library copy, I'd say go for it, but I wouldn't recommend shelling out any amount of actual money for it.

It's light, entertaining, and made me smile a few times. Nowhere near Pratchett levels of awesome, but you can't expect that.
Also, as a warning because of something I read elsewhere about it:
One of the female characters is a bit of a fetishist. She's a domme, bisexual, and into pain in a big way. She also runs the dungeons. There is mention of prison rape being a fun activity. Some people may not like that.



In reading it, however, I was reminded of the first book I read of a series, and it was the only one that had been published at that point (about four/five years back). The basic premise was the Hero being a typical DnD nerd, who was reading "The Evil Overlord List", and "Heroing for Dummies", or stuff along those lines - the books that pose as a guide to surviving fantasy stories; fell through a rift in space and ended up in Generic Magical Kingdom Land (or something), taking the books with him.
I don't remember much of the story, apart from the villain actually read the Overlord list and put it into practice, to great effect, and a single scene:
Hero challenges someone to single combat, rides his horse into the sea in a fit of desperation, and actually wins the fight. This has the effect of making him in charge of the local bandit fortress, which is passed down when the leader is killed. This happens every few weeks.
Any information on what that book is would be awesome.

 

I can totally see how someone could try and read Quicksilver and just, put it down and nto come back to it or get bored. It's a trudge. About halfway through though is when the story starts picking up and the second and third book of the Cycle are fantastic. I wouldn't recommend the books to someone unless they really loved Stephenson's other books.

I think you would enjoy the Laundry series, particularly the second book which is supposed to be written in the style of James Bond. If James Bond were a computer science major, and magic existed and involved math, also Cthulhu, and was self-aware.

 

Hmm, epic, stand-alone, coming of age? How about David Copperfield?

Okay, more fantasy-ish? The Stand and It, by Stephen King. Both epic, the latter is more coming-of-age.

There is also The Talisman, which King co-wrote with Peter Straub. There's a sequel, but <s>it sucks pretend it doesn't exist</s> you don't need to read it.

I also really enjoyed Raising Stony Mayhall, which fits all your criteria.

 

A Facebook ad just led me here:

http://www.orbitbooks.net/fated/

A sample chapter (chapter one) from a book called Fated. Jim Butcher wrote a quote for it which is quite complimentary. The sample chapter is pretty good. It's Dresden-ish - magically aware main character who is public about it - but set in London. The protagonist specialises in divining.

Edit: As I read on, I find it remarkable that Butcher gave this a quote and not a lawsuit. Though I suppose it is published by the same company.

 

:awesome

/fillin'


EDIT: The writing is decent; flat but able to convey surroundings, actions and emotions. But the backstory we got... Jesus, it's Harry Dresden living in England. He was even forced to face his Master when he was a teenager and ignored by the Council, runs a shop that sells magical items and stuff, is at odds with the Council, has a young woman as an apprentice...

And that's all in the sample we get from the website. Imagine reading a whole book. Don't understand why the publisher did this. Poor Butcher. I bet he had no say in the matter.

 

It's sufficiently different from Dresden that it might be interesting, but it's problem is that it will be constantly compared to Dresden, probably falling short. I might pick it up if I see it in a library but I'm definitely not going to buy it.

 

It seems to have echoes of Dresden Files, Madness of Angels, and The Night Watch. Kind of reads like a Dresden fanfic. Could be interesting. I'm with Bill, though - library book, unless the hooks sink in a little farther in the next couple of chapters.

 

I finished George Martin's Dying of the Light a while ago and I highly recommend it.

It's pretty good. It's a low-key affair; don't go in expecting space battles and interplanetary wars, hell there are only about twelve characters on Worlorn. But Martin fleshes them out extremely well and you get to know and care about them and their culture before he inevitably rips their hearts out :awesome.

The sci-fi is only really a backdrop, beyond descriptions of Kavalar culture (some of the most interesting parts of the book) it's just there, it's definitely more a character novel set in the future than a scifi book. Which is why it's aged incredibly well. Apparently this is a format he likes a bit since two of his other books are written like this, I plan to get to those soon.

So for anyone looking for another full-length work by Martin, this is it.Hell for anyone looking for a good book period, this is it. It's a short and focused book, and a fun one.

EDIT: And when you're done, read Sandkings. Awesome short story. I read it after reading the Microcosmic God and thought that it would be in that mold...fuck was I wrong. I never want to read that type of story again now, Sandkings has deconstructed it so thoroughly.

 

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but the Heir series by Claudia Williams Chima is pretty good. It's got its own take on magic, and has this weird universe where the two factions in the War of the Roses are still fighting today.

Other than that, I'd highly recommend the Bartimaeus Trilogy. I feel like it's often overlooked, and the author puts a lot of effort into world building. Plus the sarcasm and the author's prolific use of footnotes makes for a fun read.

For anyone that actually finished the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon), you'll see that Paolini started off copying a lot from Star Wars, etc - but then he really branches out into his own territory with Brisingr and Inheritance (the last two books in the trilogy).

 

I've been debating making this recommendation.

I assume everyone knows who Ursula Vernon, of Digger and the 'lolwut pear fame, is but I've never actually run into anyone else who has read her novel(s) (honestly they're short enough you could consider them a single book). Perhaps it's my nostalgia goggles (I first read them online at Elfwood when I was a freshman in highschool), but I don't think so because I'm honest enough to recognize they have their flaws with pacing . Anyways I'm going to recommend them to anyone who enjoys fantasy and is looking for something relatively quick to read, though they can be a pain to get (I ended up ordering them new and delivery was not exactly timely). So; check out Black Dogs: The House of Diamons and Black Dogs: The Iron Mountain by Ursula Vernon and if you're incredibly disappointed well feel free too yell at me.

 

Well, you knwo what they say about assuming. It makes an ass out of me.

 

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/36276.Ursula_Vernon

I googled. I don't think this is mainstream.

 

Everywhere else I've been the name, or at least her two most famous works, tends to conjure up at least faint recognition. But there ya go.