Between being consumed by youtube and writing I actually find time to read books.
Currently I’m busy with the series “Remembrance of Earth’s past”, written by Liu Cixin (Chinese author). You might know book 1 better as “The Three Body Problem” It’s a really amazing reflection on the Fermi paradox. I’m not going to say more about it.
What are you reading or have you read? Can you recommend any SF/Fantasy authors that are actually worth reading?
I am currently reading “The History of Philosopy” by A C Grayling.
It is , in my opinion, not as well written as “The History of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell.
My next book in waiting
" The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James.
Yes , 15 characters is a tad long, but there should be a minimum. “Books” alone is too short … it needs to be more inviting … like “What books are you reading?”
The dark Tower by Stephen King its 8 or 9 books its a mix of fantasy,scify and horror i loved to read them and liked them very much and i did also like the mistborn books by Brandon Sanderson its fantasy
I tried to read that but lost interest…
Loved these - also quite a “western element” to them too… Cowboys and stuff…
I’m currently reading the “Tyrant” series - by Christian Cameron - they’re historical fiction - set around the time of Alexander the Great - in Greece, and the Ukraine, and Anatolia and Egypt (in book two they actually get as far as Kazakhstan and Bactria)…
I read all 5 (or 6?) books of his (Cameron’s) “Long War” series - set about 150-200 years before Alexander - and encompasses The Battle of Marathon (and skirts around Thermopylae some 10 years earlier) and Artemisium (a naval battle)… The author has three more books planned in this series about the Plataean (Greek from Boetia - i.e. north of Athens) Arimnestos…
I do like fantasy and sci fi… But I couldn’t stand that Mistborn stuff from Sanderson… I just didn’t like any of the characters…
One of my favourite modern fantasy authors is Joe Abercrombie - pretty much all he’s written… Also Mark Lawrence…
And I recently read Margaret Atwood’s “Madaddam Trilogy” which was great…
Another favourite writer is Neal Stephenson (who used to use Linux until Mac OS X came out).
My favourite sci-fi / fantasy author of all time is Jack Vance…
The origins of historical fiction are unclear, but one of the best was Edith Pargeter ( pen name Ellis Peters).
Her stories are based in Medieval Britain, the best known being the Cadfael stories which were made a TV series.
Getting old now, but Fred Hoyle. He wrote on many topics. His best SciFi is probably “The Black Cloud”.
BTW Why is this in Lounge?
Any reason not to make it public?
Well, it’s not a topic about Linux, so I thought it more appropriate here?
Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke - all time favourits 
any of those are great!
I liked short novels in antologies from Philip K Dick.
Not native english authors:
Stanislav Lem - from Poland
From my country I can recommend Péter Zsoldos, some of his works were translated few years ago.
Hmm … I have done a few non-linux topics, not in Lounge.
I can move it to Discussion category if you want? You might get more responses.
Yes please.
Thank you.
Great wee thread, adding many to my TBR list as a result.
Keep meaning to read this, thanks for the reminder. Really enjoyed The Wandering Earth collection, so looking forward to it.
Loved the Solaris novel. It was much more interesting than the 2002 film. Enjoyed the 1972 film, but still not as much as the novel itself, which I think has a much greater emphasis on the alien concepts of the planet rather than the humans themselves.
I loved Gateway by Frederik Pohl. Such an interesting concept and deconstruction of Imported Alien Phlebotinum. You can see the cultural impact on like Mass Effect games later. Aye, okay, it’s a bit 70s in that everything is very Freud, but the world building and the complete lack of understanding of this inherited alien tech is just fantastic. One of the few novels that really lands the heavy-handed foreshadowing in a satisfying way.
The sequel was just fine, unfortunately.
Also enjoyed Rie Qudan’s Sympathy Tower Tokyo recently, which was more spec fic than pure sci-fi, but very interesting nonetheless. And Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles.
We cant discuss SF without mentioning H G Wells
Or Heinlein.
Now i will go off a bit here and i need to mention a book i really liked its more of a thriller ,no fantasy or sci fy but its a darn good suspensful book. I AM Pilgrim by Terry Hayes its one of the better books i read in a while and now im reading his second book **The Year Of The Locust . I like it very much so far. And he is from Australia also.
I have so much I’ve read over the years I can’t include even 1%.
My favorite series is by L.E. Modesitt Jr.: The Saga of Recluce. It has a unique magic system that kept me interested. Then a few books into the series he gives the perspective of the “bad” guys. Turns out they seem to be reasonable people. He covers the same world for over 1,000 years and is still going. Characters in one book are legendary historical figures in another. Some characters are very long lived, like hundreds of years old. There are 26 books in the series and it’s still active. I’m a couple behind now.
I had the idea a while back to create an app where I could log all the books I’ve read over the years. Something will remind me of a book and I could just use my phone to record the author and book.
I read a bunch in the Dragon Lance series, the Earth Sea trilogy, the Wheel of Time series, and many more. I read one book by Brandon Sanderson and it didn’t hit with me.
Just too many to name, but I highly recommend The Saga of Recluce.
This series of books looks interesting, i will look and see if i can by the first book here in sweden.
I’ve read most of them - and enjoyed them… Sometimes the magic system seems more like ‘science’ or engineering - or is treated that way… And I lked that… Actually - I’ve read more of his “Imager” series than “Recluce”…
Another author I read recently - who doesn’t have much (sometimes none) magic in his books is KJ Parker / Tom Holt… The Engineer trilogy was great - it’s only “fantasy” in that it’s not set in “our world” - but it’s still ordinary humans in some alternate world…
The only Australian “Fantasy” * I’ve read is by James Islington - he has a trilogy (“Licanius”) that was completed some time ago - and a current series with only book one so far (Hierarchy : “The Will of the Many”)… It’s not bad - but I prefer Licanius… Both series have “magic” on a massive “earth shattering scale” - I prefer toned down stuff myself - i.e. gimme less of the “deus ex machina” please, give me great plots and fully fleshed out characters (flawed even better!)…
But - there’s also Greg Egan - who is more Science Fiction (not “Fantasy”) - who’s based in Perth (where I live)… I love some of his stuff - other’s I couldn’t finish…
Some other great writers? Christopher Buehlman is brilliant - he has really well written and engaging prose - his own style (that’s why I love Jack Vance - his prose)… Highly recommend both Black Tongue Thief and The Daughter’s War (the latter is book 2 - but it’s a prequel to book 1 - if that makes sense)… But his “Between Two Fires” from over 10 years ago - is amazing - reminded me of some non-fiction I’d read about The Black Death and 14th Century (Barbara Tuchmann’s “A Distant Mirror” - note he attributed stuff to her in the afterword) - but also apocalyptic paintings by Heironymous Bosch and Peter Breughel (elder and younger)… But he doesn’t have a huge catalogue… However the third book in the series that started with The Blacktongue Thief, “Thrice Bound Fool” is due out in October this year…
* I did read an Australian fantasy book when I was 12/13 - “The Nargun and the Stars” by Australian author Patricia Wrightson - a “Nargun” is a being from indigenous (Koori I think - i.e. East Coast Aboriginal) mythology…
Now when we talk about books i Must absolutly say i love everything about Samurajs and feudal japan i read many books and once more i go of a bit and need to mention a book series that i think is great its writen By the pen name Lian Hearn her real name is Gillian Rubinstein, and she also lives in Australia . Tales of the otori- Across the Nightingale Floor,
Grass for His Pillow,
Brilliance of the Moon,
The Harsh Cry of the Heron,
Heaven’s Net is Wide,
I read these books a couple of times and just love them.
I recently read “Daggermouth” by HM Wolfe. I usually do not read these kinds of books. It’s a future dystopian type novel. It was okay.
I’ve heard that name before - but don’t remember specifics…
I’m curious - do you read her in a Swedish translation - or just plain English?
The only time I’ve ever tried to read a book in another language, was a Spanish novella - and - I didn’t get very far and was frustrating having to use Google translate for stuff I couldn’t figure out - and my only knowledge of Spanish is from TV and learning another Romance language at High School (French) - I’ve never attempt to read anything in French - and the only French literature I’ve read (Victor Hugo and Honore De Balzac) was in English translation… And other than that Spanish novel (by the Columbian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez) - the only other one I’ve read was also an English translation of Don Quixote…