What ya reading?

[Koobazaur]

I donno, I think translations do a good enough job most of the time. No it's not the same, but appreciating foreign literature is more about knowing the culture, saysing, folklore etc. than purely speaking the language, I think.


Tho I hear the Witcher english translations are really bad. And Sapkowski is a really witty writer who plays with the Polish language a lot too, so I think it would indeed lose a bit in translation. But as I said above, you'd really need to know Polish history and folk tales to really appreciate it.

[Jubal]

Yeah, but there's quite a lot of less famous literature that isn't translated (and it's hell in my academic field, where most papers are written in the author's native language and never translated).

I agree though that knowing the culture is more important than the language (I really would like to know more eastern European folklore).

[Clockwork]

I read a couple of Sapkowski's books and they're pretty good, but I think you're probably right: some of the language used is meant to be edgy or sarcastic and doesn't immediately scan. Still, they're good books.


Just started reading The Humans by Matt Haig.

[Koobazaur]

So I picked this thing for a dollar at a used book store:





despite the cover, it's actually pretty good. Interesting world with witty writing. The back reads:

The economy is the new cold war battlefield, robots and androids do the work, and the Interstellar Sprocket Conspiracy intends to oil its gears with the flesh of humanity. Cadet Sergeant Henry Fleming enlists in the economy to save America, is joined by a hydraulic-aholic robot, an army of mutants, a wizard who cant keep on his skin, and the luscious mechanical love of Henrys life, Anne Droid. The one chance for humanity is subterranean race across the nuked-out heartland of America to find a forgotten power that can save the worldor destroy it.

[DeepCandle Games]

Book covers can usually be oh so terrible.

I've been reading this forum... any suggestions on literature?

[Clockwork]

Depends what you're into bud but I have a few;

Comedy - The Humans (Matt Haig)
Fantasy - The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)
Sci-Fi - Altered Carbon (Richard Morgan) or The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson)
As a literature study - The Fall of House Usher and other writings (Edgar Allen Poe)


Read and enjoyed all of these for different reasons. Poe is sometimes difficult to read but he's got some very forward thinking themes and is great at atmosphere if you want to learn how to write it. Altered Carbon is like an android killing fest, if you like over the top hyper-violence, go for it. If you like sort of subtle character progression and a book about an individuals growth then The Diamond Age is for you.


The Humans has a sense of humour I'd call quaintly British, if you can get behind that, you'll enjoy it. If you're looking for deeper meaning, it has that as well and is where the enjoyment of the book came about for me. The Name of the Wind I won't say much about, I wanted to take a look at a book with an unreliable narrator and initially didn't get along with the main character but he grew on me eventually. It's pretty standard modern fantasy otherwise.

[Gmd]

World of Warcraft illidan by William King. As I love Warcraft lore and am considering buying the best expansion. Awesome book so far on my favourite character.

[Jubal]

I trattati con Bisanzio 992-1198. This book is written in two languages and I can't really read either of them but I'm trying anyway

[Koobazaur]

Any good recommendations for Steampunk, SciFi or maaybe fantasy that is more on the short side? I don't want to dig into a 1000 page epic at this point and prefer something succinct, world/setting focused, without too much silly gory action. The aforementioned Naked Came the Robot is only like 200 pages and each chapter is no more than 4-10 pages which is perfect on a quick bus commute or as quick break from work. The first and last Witcher books were great for that too.

I know Sanders tends to have that style.

[Glaurung]

Hmmm...

Fantasy: I'd suggest Neil Gaiman. He's an excellent writer; his novels are not particularly long, and he's also got a series of short story collections, which would suit your 4-10 page criterion.

SF: you might like Greg Egan - he too does short stories, and his novels often read like collections of related short stories too. Iain M. Banks and Ken Macleod might suit you too.

If you're going around second-hand bookshops, then nearly anything from the 1970s or before should at least be relatively short. There's a lot of SF from that era that's still worth reading - I'd suggest anything by Isaac Asimov (up to about 1970) or Arthur C. Clarke (up to at least 1990). There's also some interesting, fairly short, fantasy from the pre-Tolkien era that got republished in the 1960s and 1970s.

[Jubal]

I am reading yet more histories.

[Koobazaur]

Glaurung, I read a bit of Gaiman but not a fan, a little too flowery-fantasy-ish stuff for my taste. But I do love Asimov, the Foundation series is my favorite Scifi I was sad I couldn't really get into the I Robot for some reason. I think I really enjoyed the de-focus from characters and emphasis on the society and setting of the Foundation series. I studied some international politics and sociology for my degree and so I really enjoy the societal/cultural/world type stuff.

[Jubal]

I should read more sci-fi generally - for someone who's ostensibly very into SFF stuff, the amount I've actually read is horrendously poor.

[Glaurung]

Glaurung, I read a bit of Gaiman but not a fan, a little too flowery-fantasy-ish stuff for my taste.

It might depend what you read: Stardust comes across as rather traditional fantasy, whereas Neverwhere or American Gods, though both still fantasy, have a rather different feel. And his short stories range very widely across the spectrum.

I think I really enjoyed the de-focus from characters and emphasis on the society and setting of the Foundation series. I studied some international politics and sociology for my degree and so I really enjoy the societal/cultural/world type stuff.

A-ha. In that case you might enjoy a lot of Ursula Le Guin's writing, especially The Left Hand of Darkness and (more difficult to find) Always Coming Home. You might also like Mary Gentle's work: it is very much character and plot-driven, but there's also a  great deal of detailed world-building. My particular favorites are Golden Witchbreed and Ash: A Secret History.

[Koobazaur]

Thanks! Yea I only read Neverwhere and it put me off Gaiman, but might check out the other books now that you mention they are quite different.