Other Recommendations - for the unenlightened

[kaneda]

I'd go teeth and claws with people too Kaneda.

Shadow of the Wind is an absolutely gorgeous book. I have three different editions.

And so is Book Thief (I cried and cried and cried) and along these lines there was also Thirteenth Tale.

Two of my favourite books last year.

Thirteenth tale. Whats that about? Amazon isn't telling me anything.

 

[Nesacat]

Here you go Kaneda ... here's some thoughts on the book. This is the first book she has ever written. Apparently she had it all on pieces of paper tucked away in a drawer and she never thought it would be good enough to publish. She joined a writing workshop and got up the courage the put the manuscript together and send it along. I for one am glad that she did.

The 13th Tale - Diane Setterfield.

 

[RJLeahy]

Jumping into this late, but I highly recommend Walter Miller's masterpiece, a Canticle for Leibowitz.

 

[kaneda]

Here you go Kaneda ... here's some thoughts on the book. This is the first book she has ever written. Apparently she had it all on pieces of paper tucked away in a drawer and she never thought it would be good enough to publish. She joined a writing workshop and got up the courage the put the manuscript together and send it along. I for one am glad that she did.

The 13th Tale - Diane Setterfield.

What a wonderful review - thank you so much for linking to it. I will def have to check that out, as it sounds exactly like the type of fiction book I enjoy. Thanks for the recommendation - I will let you know how I find it

 

[Nesacat]

Yes please Kaneda. I love this book and it's always a pleasure to share the joy.

 

[missunderstood]

These are the books I have read so far this year that I have loved and which will stay with me for a long time:

Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner
Julius Winsome - Gerard Donovan
A Perfect Waiter - Alaine Claude Sulzer
The Reader - Bernhard Schlink
The Solitude of Thomas Cave - Georgina Harding
A Clockwork Apple - Belinda Webb

 

[Rosemary]

The Gerald Durrel books are great! I love the one where he and his family go to live on Corfu. He has two brothers; one who loves going shooting and the other, who is trying to be a writer and always seems to had very odd friends. Then there is a sister who is always worried about her acne, weight and clothes!

It is on Corfu where Gerald begins his love of nature. Scorpions he keeps in matchboxes, which happen to get out when his poor suffering mother is holding a house party! 'Marrying of Mother' is another of his wonderful books. Full of humour and also his view on the fauna of the island.


My other favourite series is by Elizabeth Beckwith, who after an operation is told to recover in a warm, quite part of Britain. She chose a Hebridean Island off the coast of West Scotland! Her writing about living on a croft is wonderful; descriptions of the 'real' crofters and the unexpected adventures she has. All her books are warm hearted and often hilarious. I wish I had kept them now, as they are out of print I believe and can only get them on audio. I certainly recommend listening to them, unless you can find copies of the books.

 

[blindingfate]

- The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak[/B] (by far, one of the best books I've read in a long long time. The book is narrated by Death!!)
i loved what i read of this but couldnt get my head around the way its writen. Now i have a few week spare before my next batch of sf & f is released i am definately going to give this another try (plus if i don't give a verbal review to my bookseller i doubt i will another one for free again!)

 

[CyBeR]

I saw you guys talking about steampunk in another thread around here somewhere. I've been interested in the genre for quite some time now. Could anyone recommend me some good starting points into the genre that I may check up?

 

[GOLLUM]

I saw you guys talking about steampunk in another thread around here somewhere. I've been interested in the genre for quite some time now. Could anyone recommend me some good starting points into the genre that I may check up?

Weel the concept as a Sub-genre has been knocking around for some time now but as far as its more contemporary face goes I would recommend the following key novels to you:

The Difference Engine - Gibson and Sterling *Probably still the seminal work in this Sub-genre. A modern classic.
Perdido Street Station - China Mieville *A great novel from one of the best in the business.
Mainspring trilogy - Jay Lake *I own the set but am yet to read.
The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers *Another great novel.
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman *One of my personal favourite series.
The Diamond Age- Neal Stephenson *Pretty much anything Neal turns his hand to is great.
Age of Unreason Quartet - Greg Keyes *Another set I own but am yet to read. Given this is the same author who wrote the largely high quality Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series; probably a good bet.
A Nomad of the Time Streams - Michael Moorcock *From one of the giants of the genre.
Lord Kelvin's Machine - James P. Blaylock *part of the anthology quoted below.
Steampunk trilogy - Paul Di Fillipo *I haven't got this set but have been wondering about getting it.

Also I recently purchased the Steampunk anthology edited by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer, which is a very good way to be introduced to the Genre including a marvelous historical perspective on Steampunk as provided by Jeff Vandermeer.

Good luck....

 

[thatollie]

I saw you guys talking about steampunk in another thread around here somewhere. I've been interested in the genre for quite some time now. Could anyone recommend me some good starting points into the genre that I may check up?

Everything Gollum says is spot on.

The Wiki for Steampunk has some nice info.

 

[Connavar]

I can personally after my reading experience agree strongly with the recomnendions of Steampunk Trilogy, A Nomad of Time Streams,His Dark Materials.

 

[CyBeR]

Thank you for the recommendations, from everyone (and I do apologize for the tardiness in responding...been away, more or less). I've just placed an order for 'The difference engine' today, and it'll probably arrive next week for me. I would've gotten a few more but the money's a bit short right now (also ordered 'The lord of the rings' complete trilogy...me and my girlfriend want to start reading it again, after having watched the extended films).

I will come back with opinions on all of them, as I acquire and read them. As I've said, I'm very interested in this sub-genre and I hope it won't be as much a disappointment to me as cyberpunk was (granted, only read 'Hax Grid' by Bogdan Gheorghiu, 'Count Zero' by Gibson I believe and 'Ubik' by Philip K. Dick).

 

[GOLLUM]

I will come back with opinions on all of them, as I acquire and read them. As I've said, I'm very interested in this sub-genre and I hope it won't be as much a disappointment to me as cyberpunk was (granted, only read 'Hax Grid' by Bogdan Gheorghiu, 'Count Zero' by Gibson I believe and 'Ubik' by Philip K. Dick).

I have a copy of Ubik in the SF masterwork series and felt it was a pretty good novel. Having said that, my experience has been that I've preferred steampunk to cyberpunk literature over the journey. Like you I'm also interested in the development of these 'popular' sub-genres, so as an historical record as much as anything else, you may want to keep an eye out for the cyberpunk anthology Mirrorshades. I would still recommend you check out Gibson's Neuromancer, which is probably the best novel ever written in this sub-genre.

I hope you enjoy The Difference Engine but I would also suggest you try and source a copy of Vandermeer's Steampunk collection as anthologies as a rule are often a good way to gain a broad perspective of what a Genre has to offer.

Good luck....

 

[CyBeR]

My problem, main big problem, with 'Ubik' was that I had to wait for about 60-70 pages for the characters to catch on to what I had already figured out. That waiting around for them to figure things that were right in front of them got me really upset with the book.

And, you know, I've really been meaning to try out 'Neuromancer'. I read some great things about it...the problem is that here it was published by a publishing house that's gone under, so books of theirs are now really hard to come by. I'll order it from abroad eventually, but that'll have to wait a while. I will search for the anthologies as well (never read one though...am curious).

 

[CBellenis]

Can I join in the thanks for these recommendations - as someone who likes the genre, you've given me a good few new ideas

 

[Daisy-Boo]

The Gerald Durrel books are great! I love the one where he and his family go to live on Corfu. He has two brothers; one who loves going shooting and the other, who is trying to be a writer and always seems to had very odd friends. Then there is a sister who is always worried about her acne, weight and clothes!

It is on Corfu where Gerald begins his love of nature. Scorpions he keeps in matchboxes, which happen to get out when his poor suffering mother is holding a house party! 'Marrying of Mother' is another of his wonderful books. Full of humour and also his view on the fauna of the island.

You're referring to My Family and Other Animals. A wonderful book. I re-read it every few years. His other books are excellent too but My Family is special. Even the animals are eccentric. The dogs (Roger, Widdle and Puke), the Magenpies, Ulysses the Scops Owl, Quasimodo the pigeon, Achilles the tortoise and Alecko the gull. Then there's Spyros, Theodore Stephanides, Richard Kralefsky (whose stories all involve "a Lady") and all the other eccentric characters he encounters.

 

[Daisy-Boo]

Anyone that knows good Brit crime? Not those mysteries in the country they are so famous for. Looking for cop,PI stories hardboiled or not. Stuff like Ian Rankin.

Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series. She's crafted complex, intriguing characters and the plots are just complicated enough.

Ruth Rendell's Chief Inspector Wexford books. I am an unabashed Wexford fangirl.

PD James's poet-detective, Adam Dalgleish, for a more intellectual touch.

Lynda la Plante's Prime Suspect series and Anna North series, both of which are excellent.

Peter Robinson's Detective Inspector Alan Banks series.

 

[Arkose]

Weel the concept as a Sub-genre has been knocking around for some time now but as far as its more contemporary face goes I would recommend the following key novels to you:

The Difference Engine - Gibson and Sterling *Probably still the seminal work in this Sub-genre. A modern classic.
Perdido Street Station - China Mieville *A great novel from one of the best in the business.
Mainspring trilogy - Jay Lake *I own the set but am yet to read.
The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers *Another great novel.
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman *One of my personal favourite series.
The Diamond Age- Neal Stephenson *Pretty much anything Neal turns his hand to is great.
Age of Unreason Quartet - Greg Keyes *Another set I own but am yet to read. Given this is the same author who wrote the largely high quality Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series; probably a good bet.
A Nomad of the Time Streams - Michael Moorcock *From one of the giants of the genre.
Lord Kelvin's Machine - James P. Blaylock *part of the anthology quoted below.
Steampunk trilogy - Paul Di Fillipo *I haven't got this set but have been wondering about getting it.

Also I recently purchased the Steampunk anthology edited by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer, which is a very good way to be introduced to the Genre including a marvelous historical perspective on Steampunk as provided by Jeff Vandermeer.

Good luck....

Would The Half-Made World Felix Gilman fit into this sub-genre? I loved the book, and would recommend it to anyone.

 

[GOLLUM]

Would The Half-Made World Felix Gilman fit into this sub-genre? I loved the book, and would recommend it to anyone.

I have not personally read it but I know that it does contain elements of steampunk in the storyline, so I don't see why not?...

OH..and welcome to the forum.