Ilov80s
Footballguy
Yes, she is a great author so it's quite well written but like you said it's also just a delicious little drama you fly through.
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The FBG Top 300 Books of All Time (fiction edition) <<< Books 300 - 201 Complete; Starting on 200 - 101 >>> Discussion welcome and encouraged (7 Viewers)
- Thread starter kupcho1
- Start date
Mrs.Marco
Footballguy
I think some books are too smart for their readers. The best stories communicate with readers, not simply show off what someone can do with words.
Eephus
Footballguy
263t - Tom Mix and Pancho Villa (1981) by Clifford Irving
Clifford Irving had his 15 minutes of fame in the early 70s when he claimed to have ghostwritten the autobiography of Howard Hughes. It was authentic enough to fool a lot of people and probably would have worked except Hughes broke hiding to debunk Irving's book. Irving had to return a $750K advance and served time in federal prison for mail fraud.
He came back ten years later with this western about future cowboy movie star Tom Mix riding with Pancho Villa's army during the Mexican Revolution. It never happened of course but there's no reason for the truth to stand in the way of a good story. Both of the title characters are likeable and well written and they have enough adventures to fill two books. An older, wiser Mix serves as the narrator and Irving does a great job of capturing his voice. It's not great literature but it's one of those books where you're sorry when it ends.
Clifford Irving had his 15 minutes of fame in the early 70s when he claimed to have ghostwritten the autobiography of Howard Hughes. It was authentic enough to fool a lot of people and probably would have worked except Hughes broke hiding to debunk Irving's book. Irving had to return a $750K advance and served time in federal prison for mail fraud.
He came back ten years later with this western about future cowboy movie star Tom Mix riding with Pancho Villa's army during the Mexican Revolution. It never happened of course but there's no reason for the truth to stand in the way of a good story. Both of the title characters are likeable and well written and they have enough adventures to fill two books. An older, wiser Mix serves as the narrator and Irving does a great job of capturing his voice. It's not great literature but it's one of those books where you're sorry when it ends.
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
I had this written down and circled a couple times. This would have been in my top 20 for sure. All of what you wrote above, and this was the only series I can think of that both kids like. I think my daughter might actually read them more than my son did. It seemed the new books always came out around my son's birthday so it was always a birthday present, and he had the first 10-12, then she got those plus all the new books. It looks like Book #20 in the series is due this year. The first couple movies are funny too, they did a good job with those as well. This is definitely the kids series that I would grab and suggest for that age group. We love them.
I had a few others series that were big in our house that I also had written down for a list, and doubt they show up but I will put in spoilers in case:
Captain Underpants
Origami Yoda
Magic Treehouse
I Survived...
scoobus
Footballguy
For whatever reason if somebody quotes it, then at least the table becomes readable.
Eephus
Footballguy
I had Farewell My Lovely at #14. I honestly was taking a swag on ranking the Chandlers. It's been so long since I've read them; you can look up the plots but not the prose.
kupcho1
Footballguy
Phase 2: Books 300 - 201 continued
Last batch for today.
That'll do it for today.
Last batch for today.
| 248 | The Secret History | Donna Tartt | Dr. Octopus, Don Quixote, krista4 |
| 238 | Player Piano | Kurt Vonnegut | shuke |
| We | Yevgeny Zamyatin | rockaction | |
| Sophia House | Michael D. O'Brien | Psychopav | |
| The March | E.L. Doctorow | Eephus | |
| Dead Souls | Nikolai Gogol | Oliver Humanzee | |
| Gilead | Marilynne Robinson | Don Quixote | |
| Appointment in Samarra | John O'Hara | ilov80s | |
| Thinner | Stephen King | Dr. Octopus, KeithR | |
| King Rat | James Clavell | timschochet, TheBaylorKid |
That'll do it for today.
Last edited:
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
A lot of books listed so far I've never read, but I would have been the 4th vote for The Secret History. I remember loving the atmosphere and setting for that one. It was a little more twisted than I was expecting. Sadly, I got her 3rd book for a Christmas gift, but I believe it is still sitting on a shelf somewhere untouched.
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
Interesting. I remember these as multiple books when I was a kid. It looks like maybe they did publish them in "volumes" like I remember, but it is actually just one big collection of stories. I had no idea.How did "The Martian Chronicles" make the cut? I thought we weren't allowed to submit series.
It's one book.
Here's a link to "volume 1" to prove I'm not entirely mad.
Frostillicus
Footballguy
Thinner and Player Piano are both excellent.
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
Sophia House by Michael D. O'Brien
Set in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation, Sophia House tells the story of Pawel Tarnowski, a Polish bookseller who provides refuge to David Schäfer, a Jewish youth escaped from the ghetto. Throughout a harsh winter, the two men, haunted by the constant threat of discovery, engage in profound discussions about good and evil, sin and redemption, literature, philosophy, and their differing religious perspectives. The novel explores themes of love, sacrifice, and religious identity against the backdrop of war-torn Poland, revealing how small choices can have a significant impact on the world.
This book was incredible.
Set in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation, Sophia House tells the story of Pawel Tarnowski, a Polish bookseller who provides refuge to David Schäfer, a Jewish youth escaped from the ghetto. Throughout a harsh winter, the two men, haunted by the constant threat of discovery, engage in profound discussions about good and evil, sin and redemption, literature, philosophy, and their differing religious perspectives. The novel explores themes of love, sacrifice, and religious identity against the backdrop of war-torn Poland, revealing how small choices can have a significant impact on the world.
This book was incredible.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
I have The Big Sleep somewhere in my rankings. Not sure if that will show up. Haven’t read Farewell, My Lovely, but another one on my list whenever I get to it.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
On a totally unrelated note, just a couple weeks ago I updated my avatar with my favorite Michigan basketball player and his big bouncy hair and then today I found out Tre Donaldson is hitting the transfer portal. Darn it, I liked that avatar too but I guess we will go with Desmond.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
It looks like we probably get 4 of the Chandler Marlowe books. We already have High Window, Farewell My Lovely and The Long Goodbye. I suspect The Big Sleep makes it as well.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
The Goldfinch? I enjoyed that one too, and did rank it. Movie version of The Goldfinch did leave a bit of a sour taste on it though. I guess will see if that shows.
I remember reading The Secret History back in the early 2000s and it got me out of of just reading either history or classic lit. Made me realize that there is some modern stuff well worth reading as well.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (2004) (my #13)
Looks like I’m the lone ranker for Gilead. If kupcho has not read this one yet, he will soon as it was a Pulitzer winner. It is an epistolary novel, told from the perspective of someone who is dying of a heart condition and writing something down for his son who will be too young to remember him. It talks about his family, his faith, his life. Deeply introspective book, but those are in my wheelhouse.
It is part of a series of novels, but I have not read the rest yet. Almost concerned that the sequels may lessen the original for me. Martin Scorsese recently signed to write and direct a series of films on the Gilead series for Apple starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Need to beat whenever those get released.
Looks like I’m the lone ranker for Gilead. If kupcho has not read this one yet, he will soon as it was a Pulitzer winner. It is an epistolary novel, told from the perspective of someone who is dying of a heart condition and writing something down for his son who will be too young to remember him. It talks about his family, his faith, his life. Deeply introspective book, but those are in my wheelhouse.
It is part of a series of novels, but I have not read the rest yet. Almost concerned that the sequels may lessen the original for me. Martin Scorsese recently signed to write and direct a series of films on the Gilead series for Apple starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Need to beat whenever those get released.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Ah ****, I meant to put things fall apart on mine
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
I’ve wanted to read this for like a year since reading three body problem but all the copies are always checked out of the library. (Oh you can buy books too? Hmmm)
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Correct on The Goldfinch.
I don't remember why I grabbed it. It might have been a used book store purchase. Either way, I remembered having a similar reaction. It was one of the rare books I tried and liked that wasn't non-fiction or Harry Potter/Chrichton/DaVinci Code type stuff. It's not my favorite that I remembered, but it is a pretty big reason why I have some of the other titles written down that I did.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
263 The Magic Christian / Terry Southern
I came across this in one of our local used book stores knowing nothing about out it, but I found it hilarious. A little bit like confederacy of dunces but more absurdist, it follows the escapades of a billionaire named Grand who spends about half his time paying people to engage in all sorts of strange behavior that he considers practical jokes (one of his favorite pranks is to buy hot dogs from railway station vendors just before the train pulls out, handing them one overly-large bill after another and then demanding his change, as the train begins to move and the vendor has to run to keep up). The other half of his time is spent socializing with his aunt and her friends, doddering old wasps who think Grand is the greatest person in the world, even though he is kind of an *** toward them.
263 The Idiot / Fyodor Dostoevsky
Some have probably read this and its events are basically many of the things you would expect from a 19th century Russian novel, but what I mostly like about it is the main character Prince Myshkin. He is essentially a Christ-figure and approaches everything with innocence, optimism and empathy no matter what and this is such an interesting and refreshing turn for Dostoevsky.
249 A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich / Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Continuing our cavalcade of Russian literature, this novella follows the titular Ivan during a day in a Soviet gulag where he is a prisoner. He is presumably innocent and it is certainly quite morose considering the circumstances of many of these prisoners, but also features some gallows humor and a sense of realism/fatalism about life, that things could always be better and could always be worse. For almost as long as I ca. remember, I have been drawn to stories of oppression and of those who use creativity and ingenuity as a form of rebellion, whether truly productive or not (and Solzhenitsyn himself meets these criteria as well).
I came across this in one of our local used book stores knowing nothing about out it, but I found it hilarious. A little bit like confederacy of dunces but more absurdist, it follows the escapades of a billionaire named Grand who spends about half his time paying people to engage in all sorts of strange behavior that he considers practical jokes (one of his favorite pranks is to buy hot dogs from railway station vendors just before the train pulls out, handing them one overly-large bill after another and then demanding his change, as the train begins to move and the vendor has to run to keep up). The other half of his time is spent socializing with his aunt and her friends, doddering old wasps who think Grand is the greatest person in the world, even though he is kind of an *** toward them.
263 The Idiot / Fyodor Dostoevsky
Some have probably read this and its events are basically many of the things you would expect from a 19th century Russian novel, but what I mostly like about it is the main character Prince Myshkin. He is essentially a Christ-figure and approaches everything with innocence, optimism and empathy no matter what and this is such an interesting and refreshing turn for Dostoevsky.
249 A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich / Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Continuing our cavalcade of Russian literature, this novella follows the titular Ivan during a day in a Soviet gulag where he is a prisoner. He is presumably innocent and it is certainly quite morose considering the circumstances of many of these prisoners, but also features some gallows humor and a sense of realism/fatalism about life, that things could always be better and could always be worse. For almost as long as I ca. remember, I have been drawn to stories of oppression and of those who use creativity and ingenuity as a form of rebellion, whether truly productive or not (and Solzhenitsyn himself meets these criteria as well).
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara
O'Hara is a writer F Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway looked to as their equal but his refusal to allow his short stories to be printed in college textbooks and anthologies has caused his name to fade a bit into history. Make no mistake about it, O'Hara is one of the finest authors of that white male midcentury generation and this is his mastework. This is the story of Julian English, a wealthy suburan car dealer who finds himself in the midst of self destruction. The novel deals very frankly with sex, infidelity, alcoholism, suicide. Julian's attempts to buck the order of society and to avoid his fate only drive him head on into it. A great read for people who liked The Great Gatsby and such. It's better IMO.
As for the weird title to the novel, it's a reference to a Somerset Maugham one paragraph story.
When Caroline Walker fell in love with Julian English she was a little tired of him. That was in the summer of 1926, one of the most unimportant years in the history of the United States, and the year in which Caroline Walker was sure her life had reached a pinnacle of uselessness
O'Hara is a writer F Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway looked to as their equal but his refusal to allow his short stories to be printed in college textbooks and anthologies has caused his name to fade a bit into history. Make no mistake about it, O'Hara is one of the finest authors of that white male midcentury generation and this is his mastework. This is the story of Julian English, a wealthy suburan car dealer who finds himself in the midst of self destruction. The novel deals very frankly with sex, infidelity, alcoholism, suicide. Julian's attempts to buck the order of society and to avoid his fate only drive him head on into it. A great read for people who liked The Great Gatsby and such. It's better IMO.
As for the weird title to the novel, it's a reference to a Somerset Maugham one paragraph story.
When Caroline Walker fell in love with Julian English she was a little tired of him. That was in the summer of 1926, one of the most unimportant years in the history of the United States, and the year in which Caroline Walker was sure her life had reached a pinnacle of uselessness
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
This series was big with my son and I.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
I'll spare the plot summary since everyone knows it. I'm a huge fan of Palahniuk's style, but know it's not for everyone. By my counts I've read 9 of his books and have never been disappointed. This is one of three I ranked, and the highest on my list at 22.
I'll spare the plot summary since everyone knows it. I'm a huge fan of Palahniuk's style, but know it's not for everyone. By my counts I've read 9 of his books and have never been disappointed. This is one of three I ranked, and the highest on my list at 22.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco
I love horror, especially ones that make me feel uneasy, and this did the job. It's one that has stayed with me. From Amazon:
Ben and Marian Rolfe are desperate to escape a stifling summer in their tiny Brooklyn apartment, so when they get the chance to rent a mansion in upstate New York for the entire summer for only $900, it’s an offer that’s too good to refuse. There’s only one catch: behind a strange and intricately carved door in a distant wing of the house lives elderly Mrs. Allardyce, and the Rolfes will be responsible for preparing her meals. But Mrs. Allardyce never seems to emerge from her room, and it soon becomes clear that something weird and terrifying is happening in the house. As the suspense builds towards a revelation of what really lies behind that locked door, the Rolfes will discover that their cheap vacation rental comes at a terrible cost
I love horror, especially ones that make me feel uneasy, and this did the job. It's one that has stayed with me. From Amazon:
Ben and Marian Rolfe are desperate to escape a stifling summer in their tiny Brooklyn apartment, so when they get the chance to rent a mansion in upstate New York for the entire summer for only $900, it’s an offer that’s too good to refuse. There’s only one catch: behind a strange and intricately carved door in a distant wing of the house lives elderly Mrs. Allardyce, and the Rolfes will be responsible for preparing her meals. But Mrs. Allardyce never seems to emerge from her room, and it soon becomes clear that something weird and terrifying is happening in the house. As the suspense builds towards a revelation of what really lies behind that locked door, the Rolfes will discover that their cheap vacation rental comes at a terrible cost
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
I started reading Vonnegut in high school, and devoured almost all of it as soon as I could. This is obviously one of my favorites coming in at #13, and is one of five of his I have ranked. This is his first novel, about a future run by computers and machines. Probably more relevant now than ever. I never reread books, because there's just too much out there and I'm a slooooow reader. But this is one I will need to revisit at some point.
I started reading Vonnegut in high school, and devoured almost all of it as soon as I could. This is obviously one of my favorites coming in at #13, and is one of five of his I have ranked. This is his first novel, about a future run by computers and machines. Probably more relevant now than ever. I never reread books, because there's just too much out there and I'm a slooooow reader. But this is one I will need to revisit at some point.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Here you go Krista
248
The Secret History Donna Tartt Dr. Octopus, Don Quixote, krista4
238
Player Piano Kurt Vonnegut shuke
We Alexander Zamyatin rockaction
Sophia House Michael D. O'Brien Psychopav
The March E.L. Doctorow Eephus
Dead Souls Nikolai Gogol Oliver Humanzee
Gilead Marilynne Robinson Don Quixote
Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara ilov80s
Thinner Stephen King Dr. Octopus, KeithR
King Rat James Clavell timschochet, TheBaylorKid
248
The Secret History Donna Tartt Dr. Octopus, Don Quixote, krista4
238
Player Piano Kurt Vonnegut shuke
We Alexander Zamyatin rockaction
Sophia House Michael D. O'Brien Psychopav
The March E.L. Doctorow Eephus
Dead Souls Nikolai Gogol Oliver Humanzee
Gilead Marilynne Robinson Don Quixote
Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara ilov80s
Thinner Stephen King Dr. Octopus, KeithR
King Rat James Clavell timschochet, TheBaylorKid
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
krista4
Footballguy
Oh, hey guys! Glad to see you here! That's one that went up and down my rankings, so it's nice to see other votes.
krista4
Footballguy
I'm surprised that the first and third weren't higher. And I want to give a shout-out to Gilead and hope that Robinson's related work will show up here, too.
rockaction
Footballguy
Lord, was that hair ever bouncy and sprightly. Flouncy, even. Yes, I’m going with flouncy. Bummer about the portal. College sports are so different these days, and while I am thrilled they get paid now, something has been lost.
At least you have Desmond doing the Heisman. That was so cool back when he did that. Before everybody and their mother celebrated a first down with an air gun display Dez struck that pose.
rockaction
Footballguy
I see that both Yeats and Zamyatin have been noted. I’ll check back in later with some words of love for both.
krista4
Footballguy
I was so excited for The Goldfinch after waiting seemingly forever, but I didn't feel at all the same about it as I had The Secret History. I think your point hits me around the same spot, which is that The Secret History let me know that modern lit could be fascinating.
krista4
Footballguy
Damn. You made The Magic Christian go onto my must-read list, and you also made me remember how under-read I am on the Russian stuff. I'm really surprised that The Idiot didn't have more votes, just based on its reputation (and not because I, as an unread idiot, read it, since I haven't).
krista4
Footballguy
This sounds very good
The Dreaded Marco
Footballguy
The transfer portal is gradually killing my love for college sports.......
A little surprised to see Thinner as the first King to make the list (at least I think it is, unless I missed one). It's certainly an interesting story and I'd probably rank it as the second best of the Bachman books, but I wouldn't consider it top tier among his stuff.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
I haven't read this in decades. I remember it as lean, mean, and nasty - like it was written as a cocaine fever-dream......but my memory ain't what it used to be.
The film version was horrific.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Nice, it’s a good movie. Might have to check out the book maybe next October.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
I think this is one of the only books of his I haven’t read. I do need to fix that.
kupcho1
Footballguy
It's in the next batch waiting to be picked at the library. Perhaps if I'd waited until June for this. We'll see.
kupcho1
Footballguy
@krista4
I don't know why the system is giving me so much trouble, I couldn't even quote your post above (i.e., "I give up").
It used to be simple to drop tables into a post and have them be readable. (I think. Maybe that was in alternate timeline.) I've got to enter the information line-by-line using the table function at the top of the Post reply box (the little 2 by 2 square next to the quote function). Even then, if I tried to align center something, the entire table would be scrambled and I'd have to start from scratch.
I think I've got it figured out and I hope everyone can read the information even if it requires one to simply turn the dark mode on for a moment to see it. I don't think that's too much to ask and I hope you don't give up.
In any event, I'll be posting a link to the Google sheet I created to compile results. Worst case you can see everything then.
Now, on with the next table creation ...
I don't know why the system is giving me so much trouble, I couldn't even quote your post above (i.e., "I give up").
It used to be simple to drop tables into a post and have them be readable. (I think. Maybe that was in alternate timeline.) I've got to enter the information line-by-line using the table function at the top of the Post reply box (the little 2 by 2 square next to the quote function). Even then, if I tried to align center something, the entire table would be scrambled and I'd have to start from scratch.
I think I've got it figured out and I hope everyone can read the information even if it requires one to simply turn the dark mode on for a moment to see it. I don't think that's too much to ask and I hope you don't give up.
In any event, I'll be posting a link to the Google sheet I created to compile results. Worst case you can see everything then.
Now, on with the next table creation ...
kupcho1
Footballguy
Phase 2: Books 300 - 201 continued
Today we'll finish up the first 100 books (counting down from 230 to 201)
We're starting to see authors pop up more than once (# of books per author will be in the spreadsheet and I'll post those with more than 1 book selected after the countdown). I've got a few in this batch I'll want to speak to, but I'll be out today doing my week volunteer stint so that'll have to wait until later today.
Also, before anyone else chimes in, LOOK AT ME, I HELP PEOPLE!
Today we'll finish up the first 100 books (counting down from 230 to 201)
| 230 | London Fields | Martin Amis | Eephus |
| The Case of the Perjured Parrot | Erle Stanley Gardner | KeithR | |
| The Sot-Weed Factor | John Barth | kupcho1 | |
| Revolutionary Road | Richard Yates | ilov80s | |
| Homegoing | Yaa Gyasi | Don Quixote | |
| Exodus | Leon Uris | timschochet | |
| Arm of the Spinx | Josiah Bancroft | Barry2 | |
| King Lear | William Shakespeare | turnjose7, guru_007 | |
| 227 | American Psycho | Bret Easton Ellis | Frostillicus, shuke |
| Quicksilver (Vol. 1 of The Baroque Cycle) | Neal Stephenson | kupcho1, TheBaylorKid | |
| Old Man's War | John Scalsi | guru_007, TheBaylorKid, Barry2 | |
| 226 | The Forever War | Joe Haldeman | TheBaylorKid, Eephus |
| 225 | The Firm | John Grisham | timschochet, Frostillicus |
We're starting to see authors pop up more than once (# of books per author will be in the spreadsheet and I'll post those with more than 1 book selected after the countdown). I've got a few in this batch I'll want to speak to, but I'll be out today doing my week volunteer stint so that'll have to wait until later today.
Also, before anyone else chimes in, LOOK AT ME, I HELP PEOPLE!
krista4
Footballguy
I deleted that post as seeming unappreciative and must have done it right as you tried to quote it.
Lightbringer by Pierce Brown
This is the 6th and final book of the Red Rising series. It's a dystopian Sci/Fi fantasy series and I'm certainly a sucker for anything dystopian. Now, I'd say I read more than the average bear, putting down about 1,000 pages/month, but my wife is the reader in the family and she on occasion (read birthdays/Christmas) buys me a book that she thinks I may be interested in - moreso that SHE may be interested in if I don't like it. She trends way more towards fantasy and YA for sure, so to say I'm wary of her recommendations would be an understatement, but she knows me fairly well as we've been together forever. So, when I was about halfway through the first book, I just went ahead and ordered the rest of the series, I knew I would like it.
and, I was right.
Usually when I'm ranking series of books, I'd rate the first one highest as it's an introduction to the world, characters, plot lines, politics what have you. And more often than not there is a lull in the middle (i.e. wheel of time where I tapped out mid-book #8), and sometimes the last book nails it, sometimes it's mediocre and sometimes it's unsatisfying, I believe Lightbringer really gave a more than satisfactory ending to this series.
I don't want to give too much away, but in short, there is a strict caste system in place, dictated by colors, and the higher the rank, the more powers you have. The story is the age old tale of someone climbing up the ranks to undo wrongs that were made by the powerful, but this one I think is really well done. The hero(s) are very easy to root for, the villains are reviled and while it does give a bit of a feel trending towards a younger audience, there is certainly enough venom and violence by a number of the characters that at least I'd rate it a PG13 tale, closer to R. It's one of those series that if it was a movie, the crowd would be cheering at the high points and hiding their eyes at some of the more 'delicate' scenes. It's a relatively recent release, and honestly if this is the kind of story that is up your alley, I would recommend at least starting the series. Unlike Clarke who puts a lot of science into his science fiction, this one trends a lot heavier towards fantasy for sure. Easily the best series I've read that's come out in the past 20-25 years or so in this genre. And that's all I have to say about that.
This is the 6th and final book of the Red Rising series. It's a dystopian Sci/Fi fantasy series and I'm certainly a sucker for anything dystopian. Now, I'd say I read more than the average bear, putting down about 1,000 pages/month, but my wife is the reader in the family and she on occasion (read birthdays/Christmas) buys me a book that she thinks I may be interested in - moreso that SHE may be interested in if I don't like it. She trends way more towards fantasy and YA for sure, so to say I'm wary of her recommendations would be an understatement, but she knows me fairly well as we've been together forever. So, when I was about halfway through the first book, I just went ahead and ordered the rest of the series, I knew I would like it.
and, I was right.
Usually when I'm ranking series of books, I'd rate the first one highest as it's an introduction to the world, characters, plot lines, politics what have you. And more often than not there is a lull in the middle (i.e. wheel of time where I tapped out mid-book #8), and sometimes the last book nails it, sometimes it's mediocre and sometimes it's unsatisfying, I believe Lightbringer really gave a more than satisfactory ending to this series.
I don't want to give too much away, but in short, there is a strict caste system in place, dictated by colors, and the higher the rank, the more powers you have. The story is the age old tale of someone climbing up the ranks to undo wrongs that were made by the powerful, but this one I think is really well done. The hero(s) are very easy to root for, the villains are reviled and while it does give a bit of a feel trending towards a younger audience, there is certainly enough venom and violence by a number of the characters that at least I'd rate it a PG13 tale, closer to R. It's one of those series that if it was a movie, the crowd would be cheering at the high points and hiding their eyes at some of the more 'delicate' scenes. It's a relatively recent release, and honestly if this is the kind of story that is up your alley, I would recommend at least starting the series. Unlike Clarke who puts a lot of science into his science fiction, this one trends a lot heavier towards fantasy for sure. Easily the best series I've read that's come out in the past 20-25 years or so in this genre. And that's all I have to say about that.
kupcho1
Footballguy
Sure did as I was able to quote this one.
Please do not worry about posts coming off as unappreciative. I realize that text does not convey much that goes on in a regular conversation so I choose to read everyone's posts in the best possible light.
Don't hold back. If there's something you'd like to see, let me know and I'll do my best to accommodate it. The intent here is to (1) generate good discussion on books we love and (2) build a list of books to be read.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
lots to read while your waiting for a copy at the library. Cixin seems to be doing fine $.
I saw the movie multiple times before reading the book which is why it didn't have the same affect on me as his others, There's a chance he appears again if our choices line up.
El Floppo
Footballguy
nutshell:
“A moth goes into a podiatrist’s office, and the podiatrist’s office says, “What seems to be the problem, moth?”
The moth says “What’s the problem? Where do I begin, man? I go to work for Gregory Illinivich, and all day long I work. Honestly doc, I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. I don’t even know if Gregory Illinivich knows. He only knows that he has power over me, and that seems to bring him happiness. But I don’t know, I wake up in a malaise, and I walk here and there… at night I…I sometimes wake up and I turn to some old lady in my bed that’s on my arm. A lady that I once loved, doc. I don’t know where to turn to. My youngest, Alexendria, she fell in the…in the cold of last year. The cold took her down, as it did many of us. And my other boy, and this is the hardest pill to swallow, doc. My other boy, Gregarro Ivinalititavitch… I no longer love him. As much as it pains me to say, when I look in his eyes, all I see is the same cowardice that I… that I catch when I take a glimpse of my own face in the mirror. If only I wasn’t such a coward, then perhaps…perhaps I could bring myself to reach over to that cocked and loaded gun that lays on the bedside behind me and end this hellish facade once and for all…Doc, sometimes I feel like a spider, even though I’m a moth, just barely hanging on to my web with an everlasting fire underneath me. I’m not feeling good. And so the doctor says, “Moth, man, you’re troubled. But you should be seeing a psychiatrist. Why on earth did you come here?”
And the moth says, “‘Cause the light was on.”
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