@MedullaOblongata Notes from the Underground if you want something fairly short to get a better idea of him. The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov or the Double are my favourite ones from what I read. And 'Crime and Punishement', while also good, and is his most popular work, is not something I would recommend for a first read unless you're somewhat familiar with Russia in that time period. It's good, but it'll be easier to read once you're a bit more familiarized with the rest of his works.
And from what I heard, the translator makes a huge difference, so you should be careful with that part as well. Can't help you on that though, as I've only read the originals.
I finally bought Dragonlance books in English (Raistlin Chronicles, Dragonlance Chronicles, Twins Legends, Second Generation and Dragons of Summer Flame), and I'm currently reading through those. If it's too cliched and D&D, I could also mention James Maxey's Bitterwood-trilogy as a really fun series I can recommend for fans of Fantasy and/or Sci-fi.
Omg, the Dragonlance Chronicles! I remember many nights spent awake as a teenager, reading them under my covers with a flashlight so that my dad wouldn't catch me being awake at 2am!
i am currently reading 'The Painted Man' by Peter V Brett. The story intertwines between threemain characters and it has me hooked into what will happen with them next. It is quite fast paced and set in a different kind of fantasy setting then i am used to. Well worth a peek
I'm reading Infernal Sky (3rd book in the Doom series) and they are freakin boss. Not the best writing style, but still, great reads. I've read all of Salvatore's FR stuff, and tons of Ed's too. Their's is definitely my favorite but if I had to pick I'd say Salvatore.
I'm currently reading "The Good Old Days" by Gilda O'Neill. She takes the notion of how so many people dream of living in the 19th century, and then says, "Wait! No! The 19th century was a terrible time to live in...LONDON ESPECIALLY!" And then she begins to spell out why in her book. From various odd crimes and murders, to prostitution and drug abuse, to child labor and how families lived with their lifestock in single rooms within buildings...it's just fascinating.
I'm building up a laundry list of reasons to shoot down my girlfriend's fantasies of living in a Jane Austin world. Well that plus I happen to love the Victorian era myself. Haha.
I'm currently reading "The Good Old Days" by Gilda O'Neill. She takes the notion of how so many people dream of living in the 19th century, and then says, "Wait! No! The 19th century was a terrible time to live in...LONDON ESPECIALLY!" And then she begins to spell out why in her book. From various odd crimes and murders, to prostitution and drug abuse, to child labor and how families lived with their lifestock in single rooms within buildings...it's just fascinating.
I'm building up a laundry list of reasons to shoot down my girlfriend's fantasies of living in a Jane Austin world. Well that plus I happen to love the Victorian era myself. Haha.
Well it depends whether you had wealth or not, if not (which was most people) then your life probably stank (often literally), if you had wealth, it probably wasn't too bad.
I'm building up a laundry list of reasons to shoot down my girlfriend's fantasies of living in a Jane Austin world. Well that plus I happen to love the Victorian era myself. Haha.
A trawl through Dickens should help that list along...
That's my point though...and the books...that everyone remembers things through the point-of-view of a very small elitist class. The majority of people in London, if interviewed during those times, would have an entirely different story. Course it sounds like everyone had interesting stories to tell, like the London Particular. I never heard of it since we never learned anything about other countries in school (Thanks America!), but man... pea soup-colored fog? Really? Gross. I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. We had environmental problems too. Apparently during the same time period you would see soot covering everything due to industry.
I'm doing a lot of research for a Steampunk-style murder mystery I am developing. I want to get the kinds of people and setting right with the 19th Century I have grown to love. There were just so many unusual jobs, along with the mistreating of people...that I can't help but get excited over.
Essentially...the Victorian-era wasn't that different from our own. That's the author's point. We've always had problems with the economy, problems with overpopulation, problems with the poor. The idea that times were better in the fantastical past are illusory. And reading the book kind of helps me see that. Which is reassuring when working out the world that you wish to write about.
Just started The Critique of Pure Reason; would like to know what do people (if any) around this place think about it, or what results (if any) have you found inside.
I wasn't feeling well, but I started reading "Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital" by Eric Mannheimer, written by a Doctor who practices in Bellevue Hospital in New York City, about twelve stories about Patients he's known (and sometimes treated) including himself, as he had a cancer of the immune system. Very interesting, not at all happy endings.
I just started reading "Crown of Vengeance" by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, set in the Endarkened overseries. It's the beginning of a new trilogy where we finally get to see who created the Endarkened and why, hopefully they will finally be taken care of at some point. Just to say (because this is the first thing written in this book and not a spoiler- The Endarkened are creations of God, a God of the Darkness, who is quite opposed to having creations of light and life in the world that was his before the light appeared. He created the Endarkened to destroy all the creations of the light, but they have failed because living things reproduce so well and so quickly. They are trying again, needless to say.)
I have also recently read books on Torture and Pain, and about how they were used judicially to get information from evildoers and to punish them for doing evil, as well as how cruelly inventive humans can be when it comes to hurting others. Boiling people in oil, Putting them in a bronze bull and lighting a fire under it. The pear, inserted into the mouth or anus and then cranked open, tearing apart flesh and breaking joints...It's gruesome, and yet, these methods are still used today... and the US may be going back to using them, which is very troubling.
@LadyEibhilinRhett Posts: 500 6:46AM Rereading "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. great great book. but it isn't only a simple book.every gaiman-pratchett work is a story of life.
Finally started the cleric Quinted by R.A. Salvatore. Today i finished book 2 and starting book 3 right now, Night Masks. I love the writing style of Salvatore. Truly my favourite writer out there. Although i enjoyed the drizzt novels more, im getting into this Cleric series more and more.
Rereading "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
One of the best books I've ever read. I'm not so much a fan of Gaiman, though I liked American Gods, but Terry Pratchett is THE writer for me. Funny, insightful, simply the best.
Right now I'm finishing up on the Finder's Stone Trilogy, by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb. Its first book might ring a bell or two: it was reworked as Curse of the Azure Bonds, one of the famous Gold Box games, Baldur's Gate spiritual predecessor.
I particularly liked book 2. It's pure P.G. Wodehouse style, set in the Forgotten Realms. Splendid!
60 pages to go and then it'll be time for non-fiction again: A Distant Mirror, by Barbara Tuchman. A chronicle of the calamitous 14th century, with its Hundred Years war, its Little Ice Age and Black Death, and the last Crusade.
Billions & Billions by Carl Sagan at the moment, though on occasion I dip back into Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, mainly the books about Sam Vimes and the City Watch. It never gets old.
@Malbortus Thank you for mentioning the name of the trilogy. I read Azure Bonds years ago and never did find out what the name of the next book is. Now I can actually look for the other two.
Right now Imma readin' The Vampire Diairies, Stefan Diaries, Bilbo the hobbit, The Silmarillon, The Lord of the Rings, A song of Ice and Fire, and my boyfriend's fanfiction novels Baldur's Gate Saga, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, Metal Gear Solid and Skyrim.
OOh, some really good books being read at the moment. I really enjoyed a lot of RA Salvatore's Forgotten Realms books. Still have a lot of Drizzt's novels to get through myself. The Dragonlance series can be really good as well. I really liked the Chronicles trilogy (Dragons of Autumn Twilight etc) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dragonlance_novels#The_Chronicles_Trilogy
I'm one of those people who doesn't like to play more than a couple games at a time or read more than one book at a time, mostly because I'm a really slow reader (and play mostly RPGs). I've been working through the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson for the past couple months. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistborn_series Its a really interesting premise for a fantasy series and quite different from what I've read before. It dragged just ever so slightly in the 2nd book, but its a lot faster paced now on the third;The Hero of Ages. After I finish this series up I've got a lot to choose from, such a backlog of books I've accrued over the years...
Comments
And 'Crime and Punishement', while also good, and is his most popular work, is not something I would recommend for a first read unless you're somewhat familiar with Russia in that time period. It's good, but it'll be easier to read once you're a bit more familiarized with the rest of his works.
And from what I heard, the translator makes a huge difference, so you should be careful with that part as well. Can't help you on that though, as I've only read the originals.
Then I saw my empty wallet ._.
I'm building up a laundry list of reasons to shoot down my girlfriend's fantasies of living in a Jane Austin world. Well that plus I happen to love the Victorian era myself. Haha.
I'm doing a lot of research for a Steampunk-style murder mystery I am developing. I want to get the kinds of people and setting right with the 19th Century I have grown to love. There were just so many unusual jobs, along with the mistreating of people...that I can't help but get excited over.
Essentially...the Victorian-era wasn't that different from our own. That's the author's point. We've always had problems with the economy, problems with overpopulation, problems with the poor. The idea that times were better in the fantastical past are illusory. And reading the book kind of helps me see that. Which is reassuring when working out the world that you wish to write about.
FYI, if you have kids and are looking for a great and interactive children's book, might I suggest the Funny Adventures of Little Nani. It is among the best of children's book I've come across: http://www.amazon.com/Funny-Adventures-Little-Nani-Volume/dp/147769708X
I just started reading "Crown of Vengeance" by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, set in the Endarkened overseries. It's the beginning of a new trilogy where we finally get to see who created the Endarkened and why, hopefully they will finally be taken care of at some point. Just to say (because this is the first thing written in this book and not a spoiler- The Endarkened are creations of God, a God of the Darkness, who is quite opposed to having creations of light and life in the world that was his before the light appeared. He created the Endarkened to destroy all the creations of the light, but they have failed because living things reproduce so well and so quickly. They are trying again, needless to say.)
I have also recently read books on Torture and Pain, and about how they were used judicially to get information from evildoers and to punish them for doing evil, as well as how cruelly inventive humans can be when it comes to hurting others. Boiling people in oil, Putting them in a bronze bull and lighting a fire under it. The pear, inserted into the mouth or anus and then cranked open, tearing apart flesh and breaking joints...It's gruesome, and yet, these methods are still used today... and the US may be going back to using them, which is very troubling.
6:46AM
Rereading "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
great great book. but it isn't only a simple book.every gaiman-pratchett work is a story of life.
I just finished "Mutiny on the Bounty", I'm working on "A Brave New World" and "The Brothers Karamazov" is next.
I particularly liked book 2. It's pure P.G. Wodehouse style, set in the Forgotten Realms. Splendid!
60 pages to go and then it'll be time for non-fiction again: A Distant Mirror, by Barbara Tuchman. A chronicle of the calamitous 14th century, with its Hundred Years war, its Little Ice Age and Black Death, and the last Crusade.
The Dragonlance series can be really good as well. I really liked the Chronicles trilogy (Dragons of Autumn Twilight etc)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dragonlance_novels#The_Chronicles_Trilogy
I'm one of those people who doesn't like to play more than a couple games at a time or read more than one book at a time, mostly because I'm a really slow reader (and play mostly RPGs). I've been working through the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson for the past couple months.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistborn_series
Its a really interesting premise for a fantasy series and quite different from what I've read before. It dragged just ever so slightly in the 2nd book, but its a lot faster paced now on the third;The Hero of Ages. After I finish this series up I've got a lot to choose from, such a backlog of books I've accrued over the years...