Book recommendations? (sci-fi or fantasy)

[ethanb]

I just finished the Gunslinger! Definitely an entertaining book, and it was enough to convince me to pick up The Drawing of The Three, which I just started. I don't know if I can commit to 7 books yet, but so far so good. Does the series really stay consistent the whole time, or does it lose steam somewhere along the way? 4500 pages is a lot...

And of course, nothing that remotely resembles spoilers!

If I recall correctly, it does lose steam a bit in books 4+5. Picks it back up by the end of 6 though. It doesn't become a total slog, and even if it did, I'd recommend finishing it.

[kirkmc]

I just finished the Gunslinger! Definitely an entertaining book, and it was enough to convince me to pick up The Drawing of The Three, which I just started. I don't know if I can commit to 7 books yet, but so far so good. Does the series really stay consistent the whole time, or does it lose steam somewhere along the way? 4500 pages is a lot...

And of course, nothing that remotely resembles spoilers!

I found it satisfying enough to re-read it.

You need to know this: King wrote the first four books, then there was a very long lapse before he picked up the series. So book 5 is a bit different in style, and in the last two books things get pretty complex. Nevertheless, the series holds together quite well, in spite of some unexpected storytelling techniques.

I don't feel that it loses steam at all, honestly. But you need to be prepared for a story that branches out quit a bit in the second section (books 5-7), but which comes together quite well at the end.

The Drawing of the Three really sets the tone for the next few books, though; it's quite surprising, in that it shows just how non-fantasy the series is (if you consider fantasy to be Lord of the Rings related, as most is).

[Jedo]

I finished The Drawing of The Three recently, and just started The Waste Lands.

volume 2 spoilers:

I really was surprised how different this book was from the first. The fact that so much of it took place in NYC and that two New Yorkers joined Roland were things I never would have expected. I somewhat question Susannah's ability to keep up with Eddie and Roland being a cripple, but I'm guessing this is something that will be adressed.

It was a very exciting book, onto volume 3! I like how each volume is longer than the last, it's like a videogame

[kirkmc]

I finished The Drawing of The Three recently, and just started The Waste Lands.

volume 2 spoilers:

I really was surprised how different this book was from the first. The fact that so much of it took place in NYC and that two New Yorkers joined Roland were things I never would have expected. I somewhat question Susannah's ability to keep up with Eddie and Roland being a cripple, but I'm guessing this is something that will be adressed.

It was a very exciting book, onto volume 3! I like how each volume is longer than the last, it's like a videogame

Each of the first four books are very different. The fourth, in particular, is very, very different. Then came the hiatus; more than twenty years until King picked up the series again, and the last three have a much different tone, but continuing the story that gets fleshed out in books three and four.

I'm glad you're enjoying them. It's one of those truly great series that I recommend as often as I can.

[ethanb]

I finished The Drawing of The Three recently, and just started The Waste Lands.

volume 2 spoilers:

I really was surprised how different this book was from the first. The fact that so much of it took place in NYC and that two New Yorkers joined Roland were things I never would have expected. I somewhat question Susannah's ability to keep up with Eddie and Roland being a cripple, but I'm guessing this is something that will be adressed.

It was a very exciting book, onto volume 3! I like how each volume is longer than the last, it's like a videogame

Each of the first four books are very different. The fourth, in particular, is very, very different. Then came the hiatus; more than twenty years until King picked up the series again, and the last three have a much different tone, but continuing the story that gets fleshed out in books three and four.

I'm glad you're enjoying them. It's one of those truly great series that I recommend as often as I can.

(text hidden with color for spoiler - DON'T HIGHLIGHT UNLESS YOU'VE FINISHED THE SERIES)

I can't remember whether it's book 6 or the 1st half of #7 that this was in, but I really liked the way the part taking place in the concentration camp for psychics was so intense and all the interactions were so well fleshed out without even involving any main characters for such a long period of time.

[Stefany93]

Harry Potter is the best Fantasy book of all times. It is even more interesting than my own books I write

[Aphelion]

Harry Potter is the best Fantasy book of all times. It is even more interesting than my own books I write

Blasphemy! LoTR simply has no peer in this genre, it practically started it. And in modern times Song of Ice and Fire is much better.

Harry Potter was entertaining, but I felt a little let down by Books 6 and 7. Had a feeling the author didn't really how to wind things down.

[kirkmc]

Harry Potter is the best Fantasy book of all times. It is even more interesting than my own books I write

Blasphemy! LoTR simply has no peer in this genre, it practically started it. And in modern times Song of Ice and Fire is much better.

Harry Potter was entertaining, but I felt a little let down by Books 6 and 7. Had a feeling the author didn't really how to wind things down.

I started feeling let down around the 4th book; I think that's the first one that was a real windbag. By the end, I was just slogging through them to finish. They were too long, too vague, and the story was not really going anywhere.

LotR did start the genre; but it's not necessarily the best, it's only the touchstone by which others are compared. And IMHO, Song of Ice and Fire is just one long slog; I read about 3/4 of the first book and gave up because I thought, "I have no feeling for these characters and don't care what happens to them." The problem with BCFs (big commercial fantasy books).

[kirkmc]

The thing about Tolkien is that he _did_ create a genre. His work was, at the time, sui generis. This said, his writing is not that great, and you have to really get into the story to appreciate LotR. The Hobbit is a bit better, because simpler, but the rest of the stuff that's been published since his death is very dense and not really the most readable (unless you're used to reading myths, sagas, etc.)

[kirkmc]

As a footnote it should be noted that Åke Ohlmarks, the translator of Tolkien into Swedish, later became convinced that Tolkien societies were involved in sex-orgies, devil worship, ritual murders and organized crime.

Um, really? I'm not sure that's true. I've never read any bios of Tolkien, but I don't think he was suspected (outside of Sweden) of such things.

[Li Kao]

Including C.S. Lewis is funny since I view him as a Christian author.

[kirkmc]

C. S. Lewis was a Christian author. But the kind of people who write things like that cartoon aren't always the most, um, observant...

[Tryphon]

I read Tolkien for the first time when I was 24, and reread several time up to now (I'm 33). I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have liked it when I was a teenager.

Sentences like "I did appreciate it when I was 11", or "His writing is not so great" makes me strongly think someone missed something inside.

I precise I'm not at all a Fantasy fan (I read recently one book by Moorcock, a go player saying it was so much greater than Tolkien, and was quite disappointed. Will try one more, to be sure).

[ethanb]

I read Tolkien for the first time when I was 24, and reread several time up to now (I'm 33). I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have liked it when I was a teenager.

Sentences like "I did appreciate it when I was 11", or "His writing is not so great" makes me strongly think someone missed something inside.

I precise I'm not at all a Fantasy fan (I read recently one book by Moorcock, a go player saying it was so much greater than Tolkien, and was quite disappointed. Will try one more, to be sure).

I haven't read any of the Eternal Champion stuff, but I've read the Elric of Melnibone series, and I think it's more like psychological psychedelic than fantasy. At least, it doesn't follow the Tolkeinesque tropes in most fantasy. Moorcock also wrote the lyrics for many of Hawkwind's songs and the lyrics for "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" by Blue Oyster Cult are about Elric (or maybe it's the Eternal Champion in general, of which Elric was retconned to be an incarnation.) I'm not a huge fan of his writing style (which is why I haven't read the other stuff), but the theme in the Elric saga is pretty interesting.

Haven't checked publication dates, but looking back, I'd guess that the Elric books were written with a span of years (or maybe just lots of acid) in between them - they almost but not quite form a coherent timeline, and give me a vague sense of unease in the same way that R'leyh-ian architecture is supposed to in the Lovecraft books.

[Jedo]

I figured I might as well post my thoughts on The Waste Lands

This book really was a lot of fun, and all the stuff with the bear guardian being mechanical is really intriguing. I was a little annoyed that the book ended with a cliffhanger with trying to stump Blaine with a riddle but I guess it's not that bad since the other volumes are already out. I was also disappointed to not finally found out what happened to Alain/Cuthbert but hopefully that will be revealed soon. I really did appreciate the appearance by the Ageless Stranger at the end though, seeing as he was mentioned at the end of the first volume.

I'm looking forward to volume four, and hoping optimistically that it can justify its 700 pages.