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[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']I'm looking for a book or a series that has some good large scale battle or tactics in it. I'm a sucker for looking at maps and following troop movement. It could be fantasy, historical, or historical fiction.[/QUOTE]

Terry Brooks Shannara series has some big battles that span the entire realm. Lots of map referencing, fairly detailed battles. Start with Sword of Shannara (blatant but enjoyable Lord of the Rings ripoff) or the prequel, First King of Shannara. Most of his earlier books all had some sort of big battles.

It's basically a lower high-tier fantasy series that is still ongoing. Not anywhere near in George Martin's league though. But certainly better than Terry Goodkind. Debatable whether it's better than Wheel of Time because both authors are/were milkers of the franchise. But Terry Brooks at least puts his out in chunks and all have closure, so that every series of books is not necessary to read. I definitely recommend his original trilogy (Sword, Elfstones, Wishsong) and the Heritage trilogy (Scions, Druid, Talismans).
 
Finished Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson SO GOOD . Nice done in one fantasy book although it has a major sequel hook.

Now I need some sci-fi where the physics are WAY over my head. Stuff like Charles Stross or Steven Baxter. But stuff with crazy bizzare ideas too.
 
Finished The Dragon Heir today. The whole trilogy (The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir, The Dragon Heir) were really entertaining with a lot of good characters. The final book left me a little disappointed, as a couple fairly major characters from the two previous novels were largely absent. Also, the book resolved in a rather rushed way, leaving me wondering how things were going to go after the climax.

I believe the author left the series open for more, but that's just annoying.

All in all, I can recommend the series, but it's not one I would think anyone would feel the need to read more than once.

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[quote name='crunchb3rry']Terry Brooks Shannara series has some big battles that span the entire realm. Lots of map referencing, fairly detailed battles. Start with Sword of Shannara (blatant but enjoyable Lord of the Rings ripoff) or the prequel, First King of Shannara. Most of his earlier books all had some sort of big battles.

It's basically a lower high-tier fantasy series that is still ongoing. Not anywhere near in George Martin's league though. But certainly better than Terry Goodkind. Debatable whether it's better than Wheel of Time because both authors are/were milkers of the franchise. But Terry Brooks at least puts his out in chunks and all have closure, so that every series of books is not necessary to read. I definitely recommend his original trilogy (Sword, Elfstones, Wishsong) and the Heritage trilogy (Scions, Druid, Talismans).[/QUOTE]

Thanks for this rec and everyone else. I will check out a few for sure. I have read the original Shannara trilogy. I didn't love the first book, but as he built on his world I started liking it more. Glad to hear the second trilogy is good as well.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']When, can we as a country, be done with putting zombies in everything?[/QUOTE]

I don't think anytime soon at this rate. I ended up reading this mainly as I couldn't find the audiobook of the fifth Dresden Files book.

Still it purely a comedy book so zombies, werewolves, or whatever else it has in it so far it has been good for a laugh.
 
Finished Neuromancer (think Blade Runner + the Matrix). It amazes me that this book was published in 1984, way ahead of its time. It was the first cyberpunk novel. My only gripe with the book is that the story and characters were lacking that special bit of magic but the setting more than made up for it.

Time to start the Farseer Trilogy
http://flickr.com/photos/cdrummbks/3781320756/
 
Finished Neuromancer (think Blade Runner + the Matrix). It amazes me that this book was published in 1984, way ahead of its time. It was the first cyberpunk novel. My only gripe with the book is that the story and characters were lacking that special bit of magic but the setting more than made up for it.

Time to start the Farseer Trilogy
3781320756
 
Finished Altered Carbon, great read. Definitely one of my favourite sci-fi novels that I've read in the last few years. The blend of that hard-boiled detective noir style and science fiction was awesome.
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First 48 issues, over a thousand pages, for only $37 off Amazon. Only a few dozen pages in, but it's awesome so far.
 
I've picked up Discworld again. I'm currently reading Jingo, which I am finding to be somewhat apropos to the current political landscape.

[quote name='dmaul1114']Started The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.[/QUOTE]

Did you see the miniseries on Starz? I'm curious as to how it compares.
 
[quote name='Fjordson']The blend of that hard-boiled detective noir style and science fiction was awesome.[/QUOTE]

If you'd like to read other stuff of that ilk should definitely check out Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt Casefiles (start with Already Dead) and Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein.
 
[quote name='bmachine']If you'd like to read other stuff of that ilk should definitely check out Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt Casefiles (start with Already Dead) and Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the recommendations! I'll check them out.

And is that the same Warren Ellis who did Transmetropolitan? I've been reading the trade paperbacks for that series on and off lately and it's fantastic.
 
[quote name='Fjordson']Thanks for the recommendations! I'll check them out.

And is that the same Warren Ellis who did Transmetropolitan? I've been reading the trade paperbacks for that series on and off lately and it's fantastic.[/QUOTE]

Yes! Crooked Little Vein is, I believe, his only novel.
 
[quote name='kill3r7']
Time to start the Farseer Trilogy
3781320756
[/QUOTE]

I enjoyed it. There are 6 more books that are loosely related to this trilogy too.
 
[quote name='csidegamer']I enjoyed it. There are 6 more books that are loosely related to this trilogy too.[/QUOTE]
Funny you mention that, I have Assassin's Apprentice on order from Amazon. Bought it totally on a whim, so I've been a bit worried.
 
[quote name='Fjordson']Funny you mention that, I have Assassin's Apprentice on order from Amazon. Bought it totally on a whim, so I've been a bit worried.[/QUOTE]

I read the first book of the golden fool triology but never got theother two. Read the Liveship traders and liked that.

Finished the first two books in her Forest Mage series. The second book was... interesting. Takes the main character over 600 pages to get off his fat ass (literally. the entire book is about his girth) to do anything though.

Regardless, anything by Robin Hobb is usually pretty good.
 
[quote name='Cantatus']
Did you see the miniseries on Starz? I'm curious as to how it compares.[/QUOTE]

Yep, that's why I wanted to read the book.

I'm about 10% through it (reading on Kindle) so far the mini series was pretty much 100% true to all the main events up to this point--
up to Bartholomew surrendering
.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yep, that's why I wanted to read the book.

I'm about 10% through it (reading on Kindle) so far the mini series was pretty much 100% true to all the main events up to this point[/QUOTE]

I read both Pillars of the Earth and the seq. World WIthout End a few months ago. The mini-series is pretty close but near the end is where the most changes occur and chunks of the story are removed totally.
 
[quote name='csidegamer']I enjoyed it. There are 6 more books that are loosely related to this trilogy too.[/QUOTE]

yeah i really liked farseer, havent checked out the other ones though.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']I read both Pillars of the Earth and the seq. World WIthout End a few months ago. The mini-series is pretty close but near the end is where the most changes occur and chunks of the story are removed totally.[/QUOTE]

Good to know as I was getting a bit bored with it.

I prefer to read books first, then see movies/mini series second, as books can be dull if the film adaptations were faithful.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Good to know as I was getting a bit bored with it.

I prefer to read books first, then see movies/mini series second, as books can be dull if the film adaptations were faithful.[/QUOTE]

I do highly recommend World Without End after you finish PotE. It has a much larger cast of characters so it moves around enough and actually have more plot twists, political drama etc. (it also deals with the plague outbreak which is interesting)
 
Just finished The Dreaming Void and The Temporal Void by Peter Hamilton. They are set 1500 years after Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained and were both very enjoyable.
 
Just started Tad Williams' Otherland the other day. It's a huge book, which wouldn't normally be daunting, but Williams' has a gift of language rare in his genre. There's something there, rather than the rush of plot and character.

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[quote name='Hell Monkey']I do highly recommend World Without End after you finish PotE. It has a much larger cast of characters so it moves around enough and actually have more plot twists, political drama etc. (it also deals with the plague outbreak which is interesting)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that recommendation. I was mixed on whether to read the sequel as most reviews said it wasn't as good as Pillars.
 
[quote name='utopianmachine']Just started Tad Williams' Otherland the other day. It's a huge book, which wouldn't normally be daunting, but Williams' has a gift of language rare in his genre. There's something there, rather than the rush of plot and character.

[/QUOTE]

Each time I see this on the shelf at the used bookstore I cannot remember if I read the 4th (and final book) in the series or not.
 
Finished this:
More of a book from the 'secular liberal' perspective and to make fun of fundamentalists (which I am not one) rather than a real spiritual journey.

Just started

And the only reason I picked this up is becaue it was 1. In paperback. 2. A sci-fi book. 3. The title keeps putting that King Crimson song in my head.
 
I know there are some pretty big Song of Ice and Fire fans on here, so I have a question that has been bugging for me some time now. I've come back to A Storm of Swords (work has kept me busy for almost two months) and am powering through it now. I'm only a few hundred pages in, but it's already the best in the series in my opinion. However, Arya Stark's whole situation isn't making a lot of sense to me.

I could be forgetting something important due to the break I took, but (possible spoilers for A Clash of Kings):

I don't get why Arya did not admit her true identity to Roose Bolton. He ultimately serves Robb Stark, so why was Arya so secretive when he took control at Harrenhal? I understand why she was hiding her identity when Tywin Lannister and his men were there, but what does she have to fear from Bolton? He doesn't seem exactly pleasant by any means, but he's allied to Robb. If anything I would think he'd begrudgingly try to help her get back to Riverrun. Now she's having to trek across the country side and deal with outlaws for seemingly no reason.

On a slightly off topic note, HBO seems to be making a habit of showing the Game of Thrones teaser before each episode of Boardwalk Empire. Gets me so fucking hyped.
 
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Arya didn't follow all that loyalties and allegiance stuff. She just wanted to be a kid. Sansa was the one that cared about all that stuff. Was it stated that Arya even knew who Bolton was loyal to?
 
Just finished Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby. Was alright. Not nearly as good as High Fidelity. The guy just has a great knack for writing about music and all its' sub-cultures. I could read that kind of stuff all day...
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']^
Arya didn't follow all that loyalties and allegiance stuff. She just wanted to be a kid. Sansa was the one that cared about all that stuff. Was it stated that Arya even knew who Bolton was loyal to?
[/QUOTE]
Hmm, that's actually a good point. It hasn't said that she knows who Bolton is with. Plus, he has a (tentative) alliance with Vargo Hoat and his Mummers who are pretty nasty people. We as the reader know all the various allegiances, but I can understand Arya not knowing given that a large majority of the series' most despicable characters are in and out of Harrenhal while she's there. I'd imagine she's been under a lot of stress, lol.

Seriously though, this book is incredibly good. I've loved the series since the first few chapters of A Game of Thrones, but Storm of Swords takes it to a whole new level. I love getting to read about characters that were mostly "off screen" in the first two books. Especially Jaime, Tywin and
Mance.
 
Well, I got about 1/3 of the way through Pillars of the Earth. It's pretty good from a writing standpoint, but it's just unbelievably boring.

I've moved onto Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick.
 
[quote name='GhostShark']Well, I got about 1/3 of the way through Pillars of the Earth. It's pretty good from a writing standpoint, but it's just unbelievably boring.

[/QUOTE]

thats why i stopped reading it. but i think im going to give it another shot, mostly because the only other books i have right now are part of long series and im not sure i want to commit to a long series at the moment.
 
I'm not finding Pillars boring, but don't find it all that well written. Not badly written, just nothing exceptional either. Think I'm like 45% through.
 
[quote name='Fjordson']
I've loved the series since the first few chapters of A Game of Thrones, but Storm of Swords takes it to a whole new level.[/QUOTE]

Trust me, dude, that book is about to rock your world if you haven't got to a point everybody who has read it knows I'm talking about.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']Trust me, dude, that book is about to rock your world if you haven't got to a point everybody who has read it knows I'm talking about.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. It was my favorite of the first three books, although they were all great. I was kinda let down by Feast for Crows. There were a couple of new POV's that I enjoyed, but for the most part, most of the new POV's I didn't enjoy.

Having no Tyrion/John Snow/Danerys/Davos POV's really bummed me out. Hopefully A Dance with Dragons finishes in the next two years...I really feel for the people that have been waiting 5 years + for that book.

Stupid question: Can someone tell me how to create a spoiler tag? I've wanted to know for a long time but could never quite figure it out.
 
[quote name='darkcecil32']
Stupid question: Can someone tell me how to create a spoiler tag? I've wanted to know for a long time but could never quite figure it out.[/QUOTE]

[ spoiler] [ /spoiler] sans the space at the beginning.
 
[quote name='darkcecil32']I was kinda let down by Feast for Crows.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that sucked a little. But in a way it creates a lot of suspense when you hear rumors of the characters that were not featured.

I'm thinking HBO will ultimately splice Feast and Dragons back together for the TV show. So the show will have some actual value over the books in that we can see the story of those two books unfold chronologically on the screen. Because it'll disappoint the TV audience too much to split the POVs up over two seasons.

I still loved the book though. Brienne seems to be evolving into a major character in that book. She's one of my favorites now.
 
Pillars of the Earth. Finding the writing boring but intrigued by the overall storyline. After reading the Game of Thrones series, its fun reading a medieval political thriller that doesn't involve hints of fantasy.
 
Just finished reading Game of Thrones which was awesome, and Infinite Crisis which was...okay. Confusing a bit but it was okay.

Now I'm going back to the Dresden FIles and reading Fool Moon which is just a fun, speedy read and for my comic intake, i'm reading Crisis on Infinite Earths.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114'][ spoiler] [ /spoiler] sans the space at the beginning.[/QUOTE]

Thanks!

[quote name='crunchb3rry']Yeah, that sucked a little. But in a way it creates a lot of suspense when you hear rumors of the characters that were not featured.

I'm thinking HBO will ultimately splice Feast and Dragons back together for the TV show. So the show will have some actual value over the books in that we can see the story of those two books unfold chronologically on the screen. Because it'll disappoint the TV audience too much to split the POVs up over two seasons.

I still loved the book though. Brienne seems to be evolving into a major character in that book. She's one of my favorites now.[/QUOTE]

I think my biggest issue was that GRRM was creating new conflicts and not resolving them, in addition to existing conflicts being left unresolved. I hate how he mentioned the alleged deaths of two important characters, seemingly in passing, as well. But I do agree that Brienne definitely evolved quite a bit through AFFC.
 
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