What Scifi/Fantasy book Are You Just Reading?

[cee2lee2]

Finished Flyte and Physik; both by Angie Sage and in the Septimus Heap series. Really liked these books, but then I really like children's fantasy. I bought Magyk (the first book) and as soon as I had finished, went and bought the other two. Had to see what was going to happen next.

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

Just finished Gaiman's Neverwhere again. I'm reading Prince Caspian with my kid right now in anticipation of the movie.

[Curufin]

Just finished 'Good Omens' by Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett. Hillarious stuff!

[BeardofPants]

I was a bit disappointed by Good Omens. I like both authors, guess I just expected... more.

[Curufin]

I'd never read anything by either of them before, but I found it amusing enough! I guess I'm fairly easily pleased by fiction, though.

[BeardofPants]

Well, hope it inspired you to read more by both respective authors.

[Curufin]

Well, a friend bought me 'Guards, Guards' for Christmas, so I think I'm going to take that on my trip to Belgium on Saturday. Hopefully it'll be good!

[BeardofPants]

The Nightwatch books are some of the best in the series. Enjoy.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

I was a bit disappointed by Good Omens. I like both authors, guess I just expected... more.

I liked Good Omens, but I was a bit disappointed afterwards when I picked up one or two books from Gaiman, I kept expecting them to be more like Pratchett's style.

Originally Posted by Curufin

Well, a friend bought me 'Guards, Guards' for Christmas, so I think I'm going to take that on my trip to Belgium on Saturday. Hopefully it'll be good!

Trip to Belgium? Where will you be staying, Brussels I imagine? And Guards, Guards was pretty good, although it isn't one of my favourites.

[Curufin]

Actually I'll be staying at the Irish College in Louvain - it's a trip with my University.

We'll be going to Brussels, though, to visit the EU parliament and all.

It's a country I've never been to before, so I'm looking forward to the trip.

[BeardofPants]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

I liked Good Omens, but I was a bit disappointed afterwards when I picked up one or two books from Gaiman, I kept expecting them to be more like Pratchett's style.

That's a shame - Gaiman has done some great stuff in the realm of urban fantasy, but I guess you have to be in the right head-space to enjoy it.

[Curufin]

Well, I read the first twenty pages of 'Guards, Guards' before I went to sleep last night. Enjoyed it! Seems like good stuff. I'm going to the store today to buy another book to take on my trip, and I'd like it to be another Prachett one - any suggestions?

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

That's a shame - Gaiman has done some great stuff in the realm of urban fantasy, but I guess you have to be in the right head-space to enjoy it.

I know. Most of the time I'm finding his books a bit dark for my taste, but somehow that hasn't quite stopped me yet from buying them.

Originally Posted by Curufin

Well, I read the first twenty pages of 'Guards, Guards' before I went to sleep last night. Enjoyed it! Seems like good stuff. I'm going to the store today to buy another book to take on my trip, and I'd like it to be another Prachett one - any suggestions?

I find anything by Pratchett pretty good. But Reaper Man and Small Gods are among my favourites.

[Curufin]

I quite like what I've read of him too. He's not that big in the States, but all my British and Irish friends have pushed me into reading his stuff.

I'll look for 'Reaper Man', as I've got 'Small Gods' on my bookshelf back in the States.

EDIT: Well, I ended up getting 'Fifth Elephant' because it was significantly longer than 'Reaper Man' which, when I'm travelling and sitting on airplanes and busses, is a big thing in its favor. I was rather shocked by how many books he's actually written, though!

[BeardofPants]

If you want to do a Gaiman as well, I recommend Neverwhere.

Neverwhere's protagonist, Richard Mayhew, learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. He ceases to exist in the ordinary world of London Above, and joins a quest through the dark and dangerous London Below, a shadow city of lost and forgotten people, places, and times. His companions are Door, who is trying to find out who hired the assassins who murdered her family and why; the Marquis of Carabas, a trickster who trades services for very big favors; and Hunter, a mysterious lady who guards bodies and hunts only the biggest game. London Below is a wonderfully realized shadow world, and the story plunges through it like an express passing local stations, with plenty of action and a satisfying conclusion. The story is reminiscent of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but Neil Gaiman's humor is much darker and his images sometimes truly horrific. Puns and allusions to everything from Paradise Lost to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz abound, but you can enjoy the book without getting all of them. Gaiman is definitely not just for graphic-novel fans anymore. --Nona Vero --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Amazon linky

[Curufin]

Sounds interesting! Maybe I'll have to give that a shot as well.

[ecthelion]

I'm reading the "retrieval artist" series, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and loving it. I've read 1 book and I'm in the middle of the 2nd.

It is set in a future a few thousands of years from now, when earth is the center of a multi-species alliance, with hundreds of alien members. Humankind is spread over all the solar system and other systems as well.
The main problem is that "social differences" are at such a level that people commit terrible "crimes" on alien soil, sometimes without knowing it, sometimes even causing genocide by accident. In these cases these people disappear (change identity and life to escape prosecution), with the silent approval of the earth authorities.
Sometimes these people need to be found, by their family for example, without making them vulnerable to those who want to prosecute them. In these cases a retrieval artist is hired, and one of these retrieval artists is the main character around which revolves the series.

The plot in the books is essentially a detective story, but set in a very good sci-fi environment.

[cee2lee2]

Originally Posted by ecthelion

I'm reading the "retrieval artist" series, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and loving it....Sometimes these people need to be found, by their family for example, without making them vulnerable to those who want to prosecute them. In these cases a retrieval artist is hired, and one of these retrieval artists is the main character around which revolves the series.

The plot in the books is essentially a detective story, but set in a very good sci-fi environment.

This sounds like an interesting series. Are they recent books? (Is my small town library likely to have them? )

[Nautipus]

Does H.P. Lovecraft's stuff count as Sci-Fi? It should a little, in its own way.

If that is indeed the case, then I am re-reading "At the Mountains of Madness", one of my favorite little stories.

[ecthelion]

Originally Posted by cee2lee2

This sounds like an interesting series. Are they recent books? (Is my small town library likely to have them? )

2002 and forward, according to quick research at amazon. some should be at the library, espescially since they received high ratings.