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snowgolem

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hubskier for: 3190 days

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snowgolem  ·  2661 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski's intermittent, inconsistent, posted whenever, by whoever, bookthread

Hmm, I think I might have to answer your vaguery with an all-purpose list. Please, do not take this as exhaustive--these are merely some of the thing's I've enjoyed that are even remotely flavoured with fantasy.

Pseudo-Historical Fantasy: anything Guy Gavriel Kay

Actual Historical Fantasy: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Maybe Historical? Fantasy: The King if Ys series by Poul Anderson

Funny Fantasy: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

Gritty Fantasy: the Black Company novels by Glen Cook

Mind-Numbingly Complex Fantasy: the Malazan series by Steven Erikson

Urban Fantasy: Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint

Epic Fantasy: A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM (yeah, yeah, I know)

Work in Progress: the works of Patrick Rothfuss

Bonus, because everybody should read these guys (but they're not strictly fantasy): Umberto Ecco and Jorge Luis Borge.

Anyways, that's about all I can think of off the top of my head. Also, I'm exclusively a fantasy reader, so I'm sure there are more dedicated fans of the genre that could likely give you some better recommendations.

snowgolem  ·  2661 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski's intermittent, inconsistent, posted whenever, by whoever, bookthread

I may have misrepresented the book slightly. Yes, it's set in a fantasy world. Yes there's magic, and swords, and fantastical monsters. However, what makes the book interesting is it's basically about a con game set in the fantasy equivalent of medieval Venice.

As for other fantasy books, what sort do you like? Do you like epics? Gritty realism? Urban Fantasy? Humour?

snowgolem  ·  2665 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski's intermittent, inconsistent, posted whenever, by whoever, bookthread

I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora last night. Frankly, this is some of the best escapist writing I've read in years. Yes, it's fantasy, so you would need to like that sort of thing to get into this novel, but if you are inclined towards stories of magic, swords and such, you this one is worth it. Also, Scott Lynch's world building is great. I highly recommend it.

snowgolem  ·  3166 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Who is doing this to my internet?

This seems more like a rant about how something the writer loved has taken an annoying turn. In the entire history of media, nothing ever stays great. In all fairness, your favourite website or service is likely going to take the same arc as your favourite televisioin show (albeit over a longer time period). How long until the site you love jumps the shark?

snowgolem  ·  3189 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Life and growing up

You may be suffering from one of society's biggest myths. The truth is, nobody with even a shred of truthful introspection under their belt can definitively conceive of who you are. Their is no definition or summation of you because you are dynamic collection of perspectives and perceptions.

Never bring yourself down because you somehow fail to know yourself. Instead, approach introspection like a gleeful and inquisitive scientist, picking apart your own reasoning behind your actions. The best part of this process is the license it gives you to go out and experience the world in which you live.

In other words, quit worrying and go out and experience something. You will come to know yourself through those experiences.

snowgolem  ·  3189 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What was the latest book you read?

Sorry, I'm on my phone so this will have to be brief. Seveneves is a novel in three parts, all three of which is spurred by the catastrophic destruction of the Earth's moon. The three parts could be summarized as: the exodus of Earth, the initial plight of the survivors and the eventual return to Earth.

snowgolem  ·  3190 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What was the latest book you read?

I just finished Seveneves by Neal Stephenson yesterday. Honestly, it's going to take some time to parse out what I really thought of the novel, but my first impression relates to "The pain and the ecstasy" of reading modern Stephenson work. He gets so, so, so lost in the minutia of the technologies he creates for his scenarios, he will often forget how to bring the reader back to the social aspect of his narrative, but the narrative can be so good. It's nerdcool done right. The last book in the novel actually had some very solid worldbuilding behind the narrative (much more so than Anathem). I hope he revisits this setting at some point. Now then, as much as I enjoy Stephenson, I think I need to cleanse my palate with something decidedly less technically oriented.