Don't you love reading those old books? There are pages missing, ripped, and soiled. They smell like they haven't been opened in centuries. You turn the page and somehow the insides of the book seem to just fall to the floor and your left there just holding onto the paperback cover.
I started a new Tom Holt book today: Warning, May Contain Traces of Magic. It's a follow up to The Better Mousetrap. Very funny. I love Holt's writing. A really nice mix of the incredibly mundane and the just incredible.
This thread needs more William Gibson. Which reminds me I never finished reading Count Zero maybe I'll pick that back up.
There's a couple of his I started and never finished Loved Neuromancer though. @ Mukan: since you like Gibson's cyberpunk, have you ever read any Jeff Noon? They're not similar, exactly, but there are certain echoes there. Much weirder though. And almost impossible to describe. His first one was called Vurt. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...ok_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CEAQ6AEwCg This book is in my top ten favourite books ever list Followed by the equally weird and wonderful Pollen, and Nymphomation. Takes cyberpunk in some decidedly quirky directions. Always set in a kind of 'other' Manchester. As a former manchester lass myself I can attest that he absolutely captures the place. It is recognisably Manchester, but a strange other Manchester. The characters in his books are fabulous; the mysterious and cryptic Game Cat, part DJ and part Games Master, a kind of conductor of counter culture; the robohippy couple who've become inextricably linked to each other through a dreadlocked plait (a beautiful little love story in the midst of all that dislocation); the shadowcops and the dog people. Noon's use of language is amazing. Entirely ideosyncratic and quite lyrical in places. He's since gone on to establish himself as a very credible and serious writer on the British circuit, his short stories rival Marquez for their lyricism and bold insight. But Vurt, his debut novel, is stilll my favourite story of his. Grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go til the last page was done.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. His first book, but it's excellent. Graduated from university as well! (Fantasy, but with a very realistic feeling). Anything by Terry Pratchett is amazing. It's science fiction while at the same time being fantasy, and always very comical. My favorite author by far. Usually any book in the Forgotten Realms series will be good, but most of them have a lot of magic (as well as gore).
I've not read any of his books, but I will definitely add them to my list. I actually don't do as much reading as I'd like, it's usually more work than it's worth with an attention span like mine.
The Belgariad series, though seemingly more geared to a youngerish crowd, was quite enjoyable to read, just good easy fun.
That was not geared for the younger crowd. Do you not remember the parts where they saw the walking dead in that cave? Or how about any of the fighting scenes?
Well these books were published back in the 80s, younger folk in the 80s weren't going to kill people or have such emo breakdowns from reading about some zombies or fighting scenes. That aside, I still think it's a young teen book, though quite enjoyable. I'm finishing up the 5th book and it's only been a week.
