Scarlet Monastery - Library (Books and shit)

[Drakada]

Books! Who doesn't love a good book right? I love me some good books and am on the lookout so lets go book worms, whatcha reading? Good/bad? Recommended? Avoid like the plague?

Warcraft Illidan - Probably one of the 1st books I actually read through and enjoyed. It wasn't too bad but there's a moment in the book, if you've read it you know about it, that you just cant help but laugh at. 5/7

Rise of the Lich King - I love me some Arthas, even had a DND character inspired by him. Knowing a bit more about what shapped everyones favourite emo paladin is nice. 6/7

Rise of the Horde - So Ner'zhul wasn't always a bad guy huh, very nice on the background of the Orcs, may have followed Durotan a bit more than I would have liked but still a dank read. Dunno why I need to tell you all as I was probably the only person who didn't read it. 6/7

Through the Dark Portal - I always wondered why Teron Gorefiend was a human surrounded by fel orcs, and now I know and it's pretty cool. enjoyed the majority of the book. 5/7

Lord of the Clans - Makes my least favorite character in the whole of Warcraft a shit load more bearable and less of a mary sue. Can see how Thrall is shaped which is also a plus. 5/7

The Last Guardian - Not Horde related! A shocker right? But still a pretty good read. Enjoyable, can see why Khadgar is an old man in like his 30's and a little insight into Garona.

Traveler - Supposedly a kids book, but a pretty nice one at that. An adventure around Ferelas after the wreck of a ship. Quite the nice read. Book feels great to hold and is very pleasing to look at 5/7

Chronicle I - History of Azeroth, and a damn good way of telling it too. Maps, charts, cosmology, it's really nice and looks amazing on the shelf. Cant wait for Chronicle II 6/7

Metro 2033 - After playing Metro Last light I enjoyed the game so much that I decided to pick up the book. The book really does push the dystopian, post-nuclear war feel with a dash of paranormal. Really nice read 5/7

Metro 2034 - To clash with 2033 is 2034, I didn't really finish this book. Got about 1/2 way and it didn't grab me enough to keep me interested. Too much jumping around and hard to keep track of everything. 2/7

EVE: Source - Ho ly shit. I fucking love the EVE universe. It's the one game that I have a great interest in even after I stopped playing it. I picked this up and didn't expect it to go into so much detail about every NPC faction and important person, even goes into detail of the EVE gate which is amazing. If you like EVE you'll like this. 7/7

Empires of EVE - a small fortune of a book, had to be imported. Details the events that transpired from the launch of EVE Online, from the Northern Wars, the Southern clashes in Stain and Curse, all the way up to the fall of BoB and the Rise of Goons. A great read even better when you realise it's all done by real people and not constructed. 7/7

Bounty Hunters Code - Love me some sci-fi bounty hunting. Good read, goes over thier laws and what they do and the like. Didn't read the bit about the mandalorians but the rest was a nice read. 5/7

The Book of Sith - Now I'm not too into star wars but it was a nice read as I'm more interested in Sith and Bounty Hunters than anything else. Mentions the major players like Plagueis and Malgus and how they came to be. Midichlorians. 5/7

Volo's Guide to Monsters - Now you're probably thinking. Why did you read a DND expansion book? But let me tell you, getting juicy bits of personality of monsters like hags, beholders and Yuan-ti is real nice. Like how beholders are born and what they're like. I love it both as a read and as a DND addition. 7/7


Recently picked up Neuromancer as it's supposedly a super good book that shaped Cyberpunk as a genre and I love me some cyberpunk.
Will update when read.

[Azolg]

I really enjoy the Darren Shan series of books. You've got the Vampire focused on called "Cirque du Freak" and the "Demonetta." Both really good reads for me at least.

[Drakada]

So far only read books that are related to games or films I've enjoyed. Just started to pick books that I don't know if I'll like from Amazon.

[Bamm]

I recommend the riftwar saga by Raymond fiest. The first book, magician is really good intro to the world.  For cyberpunk I very much recommend do androids dream of electric sheep. Its the book that blade runner is based off

[Azolg]

http://www.freevampires.net/popular/The_Saga_of_Darren_Shan.html

http://www.freevampires.net/popular/The_Demonata.html

If you're interested in Vampires/Demons thats links to the books online for free!

[Drakada]

I did see "Androids dream of electric sheep" it was recommended also 1984 too, At a glance they seemed a little too sleek for what I was looking for, too sci-fi might also be a way of phrasing.

Bleh, online books. Gotta get them paper and I'm a sucker for a good Hardback

[Drakada]

Finished Neuromancer.

Loved the theme, felt nice knowing the lingo as it was basically the predecessor to Shadowrun. Characters are somewhat interesting, main is a bit bland but Maelcum and Molly were interesting. Ending was a bit of a let down and some of it is a bit too cryptic. Weirdly written sex scene. 6/7

[Sinami]

Hmm... I see you've mostly read books based on games you like? Are you interested in books outside of the world of games/movies too? If so, I have a few tips...

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin - I don't think I need to explain this one...

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - First fantasy tale I ever heard (dad read it to me as a good night tale when I was about 3 years old) and I read the whole thing on my own when I was 10 and after that I was stuck. Only been reading fantasy since really.

Harry potter by J.K.Rowling - I feel an explanation for this one is pretty unecessary too really, but I really, really love it! I have grown up with Harry Potter, I re-read the books at least once a year and watch the movies at least twice a year.

The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop - A series I can come back to over and over again. I think I have read through the triology like 10 times by now, and the followup books just as many times. I love them!

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - The first three books are amazing! The rest of the series did not captivate me as fully, but they're still good. The first three are a triology of their own really and can be read without reading the rest of the series. Fantastic world building, intriguing magical system and great characters.

Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson - Brandon Sanderson's epic series. It is still in progress, but it is a really heavy duty fantasy series. Again, really intricate political intrigues, fascinating magical system and very well developed characters.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier - A little more poetic and fairy tale-esque than the series mentioned above. Based on the celtic legend of the Children of Lir combined with the H.C.Andersen tale "The Wild Swans" and the brothers Grimm tale "The Six Swans". It's a really lovely story and as with the Anne Bishop one above I must have read it around 10 times by now.

The Deed of Paksenarrion and Paladin's Legacy by Elizabeth Moon - Another one of my all time favourites. The Deed of Paksenarrion is an epic adventure tale about the sheepfarmer's daughter Paksenarrion who wants to become a warrior. She joins a mercenary company and then her adventures really kick off. I thought the original trilogy was absolutely amazing and after having finished them I was left with a feeling of wanting more! I wanted to know what happened next! And apparently I wasn't the only one, since about 20 years after the original trilogy was published Elizabeth Moon released the follow up series called "Paladin's Legacy" and it is even better than the first series! Love them to bits!

My current favourite series at the moment though are Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Wonderful series too. I'm waiting rather impatiently for the last book in the respective series right now and it is killing me... I will have to wait months, even a year, until they are released. >.<

[Drakada]

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin - I don't think I need to explain this one...

So... saayyyy someone has never watched the TV show or even seen the book on a shelf. How would you describe it to that person.

Stormlight Archive sounds like it'd be interesting to read when I move out from my current Cyberpunk binge

Got Altered Carbon in the pipe which should be here tomorrow so will crack into that and post my usual shitty review when I've finished. Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive and Burning Chrome should be re-printed on Feb 23rd and will read those as they follow on from Neuromancer.

[Sinami]

So... saayyyy someone has never watched the TV show or even seen the book on a shelf. How would you describe it to that person.

Stormlight Archive sounds like it'd be interesting to read when I move out from my current Cyberpunk binge

Oh... err... dark medieval fantasy with a hint of realism. Extremely well written characters, unexpected plottwists, lots of political intrigue... no one is safe! But both A song of Ice and Fire as well as Stormlight Archive are pretty involved series. Not everyone likes that. A lot of people only want light fluff reading. Nothing wrong with that, I tend to like it too on occasion, but just so that you're aware that they are a lot more heavy than say the World of Warcraft books. But they're really immersive and captivating though, so well worth the time invested in reading them. And you should watch the TV series too. It's amazing.

[Drakada]

And you should watch the TV series too. It's amazing.

Woah woah woah, this is a book thread. TV here is heresy. I only read when it's like 2am and I'm trying to sleep. But It'll probably take me like a year to get through all of my current list

[Tagrok]

I recommend the riftwar saga by Raymond fiest. The first book, magician is really good intro to the world.  For cyberpunk I very much recommend do androids dream of electric sheep.

I actually have the Magician right here next to me (the complete version, volumes1/2 together (some 800 pages) ). I just can't get past the fact that the main char is called Pug. And the prose kinda... Turns me off. Planning on reading DADoES tho.

Meanwhile let me add to the pile.

Young Adult/Cinematic(-ish) Fantasy: Anything by Brandon Sanderson. He might write romance like a 14 year old kissless virgin but he's good at action scenes. Especially recommend the Mistborn Trilogy and Stormlight Archive (in progress, book three is due this year. ten planned volumes).

Surreal/modern fiction: Haruki Murakami. I myself started with Norwegian Wood, then went on to read Kafka on the shore and have left Windup-Bird Chronicle somewhere in the middle due to time constraints.

Speaking about Kafka... Franz Kafka is great, if you're in for some mind-warping storytelling.

Last but not least I am currently reading: "The Blade Itself" by Joe Abercrombie, "Shadow and Claw" by Gene Wolfe and "Gardens of the Moon" by Steven Erikson - with "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Finch and "A Darker Shade of Magic" by V. E. Schwab on my backburner.


Hope you get some worth out of those recommendations.

[Drakada]

New addition to the list!

Altered Carbon - A book about a detective solving a crime of a murder, by talking to the victim of the murder as consciousness is now digital and people can buy the bodies of criminals. Very interesting concept, was more sci-fi than Cyberpunk but not half bad. Too many spontaneous sex scenes that seemed to lack reason. 5/7

[Lars]

I'll just throw some good reading book recommendations out there.

The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks. Solid hard sci-fi with a very non standard world with a rather interesting plot. Far more about the personallities living in the tech than the tech itself.

Stranger in a Strange Land, and Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein. Nuf said.

2001 A Space Oddesey - Arthur A. Clarke

Fallen Dragon - Peter F. Hamilton. Very good standalone novel by one of the current living masters of Space Opera. (Even if his prose could stand to become better. His worlds and societies are always interesting)

Neverwhere, Stardust, Anansi Boys, American Gods - Neil Gaiman. Four stand alone books all rather different from each other. One being a murder mystery, one being fairly tale inspired, one being a personal drama, one ... being a different beast entirely. All fantasy to some degree or other. Great language about (The last one is about twice the length of the other three in the (imo) best edition).

The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett, technically a children's book. Still glorious. Set in his "Discworld" universe
Mort, Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett, two books in his discworld series that are both the start of two different group of characters and both are great starts. Even if you can in practicality pick up any book from the discworld and only miss the big tie ins.

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro. A book about being a butler and growing old while driving across the British country side thinking about the past. If this sounds like not your deal, don't worry. Read this in class and was one of the only person in a class of 20 who actually enjoyed it. Because the language it's written in is fucking magical. If you read for a compelling narrative. No, this isn't the book you look for. If you ever start reading for character exploration and pure love of language. This will become a must read.

So, that was some stand-alone books (Technically maybe the Pratchett books aren't stand alone. But who cares, it's Pratchett!)

If you ever want a mammoth task. The most epic of epic fantasy existing today.
The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Stephen Erikson. A 10 book beast with several books written by him and the universe co-creator Ian C. Esslemont setting up more things of the world, side stories, and more things happening after the main piece and before the main piece.
Where George R. R. Martin went for some realism in his writing, they went for fantastic in theirs. (Even if, compared to actual history A Song of Ice and Fire is tame and non-treacherous. We tend to dislike reading narratives that mirror what actually happen because it seem's "unrealistic").

The Farseer Trillogy - Robin Hobb. Personal favorite. Not to everyones taste. Has far more stuff in the same universe if that one is liked.

Sadly my reading of non sci-fi/fantasy fiction has gotten sidetracked by reading non-fiction about history (mostly Roman) for the moment. Same with practically any reading of fiction. xD

*goes back to hugging his book written before the bible was curated by a Roman Greek living during the age of the Antonines*

[Claws]

My personal favourites are anything from the Forgotten Realms.
R A Salvatore being my main stay.
His Dark Elf Trilogy and spin offs from that 8/10.
The Dragonlance books to me was what feed my need for Fantasy reading.
From Weis and Hickman 10/10