I finished His Dark Materials today (the 3 main books, and the 2 short stories). I think it ended well. I hoped for a better ending, but maybe that will come in a later book that takes place some time down the road.
Tomorrow I will start The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
If you liked Lord of the Rings, check out the Mistborn trilogy. The author likes to turn genre conventions on their head, so you end up reading about a world very much like what may have happened had Frodo failed in his quest. Plus it has a really kick-*** magic system.
If you liked Lord of the Rings, check out the Mistborn trilogy. The author likes to turn genre conventions on their head, so you end up reading about a world very much like what may have happened had Frodo failed in his quest. Plus it has a really kick-*** magic system.
This.
Brandon Sanderson is good. Warbreaker and Alantris are good, as well, though they are stand alone books.
If you're still going along the fantasy track, the Deed of Paksennarion trilogy by Elizabeth Moon is really good, although there are a lot of names to remember, hehe. Believe the 3 books are Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, and Oath of Gold.
Provided you don't mind a female protagonist, they're pretty awesome :D
Also, if you are still doing fantasy, I recomend the complete works of Raymond E. Fiest. It's quite a lot of books, though, I forget how many.
Also, the First (3 books), Second (3 books), and Last(4 books) Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson (Last is still being written, though, only 2 books of it out thus far). Be warned that these can be quite dark at places.
I have no idea if it's in audio format, but The Windup Girl was one of the best books I've read in the past year or so.
Nexa
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“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.†― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
Trudy Canavan's Age of the Five series (trilogy) and The Black Magician series (trilogy + prequel) are available as audio, as far as I know. Both series are classic sword-and-sorcery stories, though her stories are kind of focused on exploring love and all that jazz. Still, solid fantasy novels if you're into the whole magic and large battles thing.
If you want something that overlaps with "real life" then I recommend The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, or The Mortal Instruments (trilogy) by Cassandra Clarke. Both combine the fantasy world with the normal world (sort of like Harry Potter), with Cassandra Clarke going more in the direction of vampires and demons (and a late teenage focus) whereas Jim Butcher uses a more straight up sorcery theme.
I have no idea if you can find the last two series as audio books, though.
By the way - not to hijack your thread - does anyone know where I might be able to purchase the Thraxas series? I borrowed Thraxas and the Sorcerers from my dad, not knowing what it was, but it sucked me right in. I love the way Martin Millar mixes fantasy and pulp noir.
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Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
By the way - not to hijack your thread - does anyone know where I might be able to purchase the Thraxas series? I borrowed Thraxas and the Sorcerers from my dad, not knowing what it was, but it sucked me right in. I love the way Martin Millar mixes fantasy and pulp noir.
Amazon Marketplace? Or maybe Ebay? That's where I look for books I can't find IRL.
By the way - not to hijack your thread - does anyone know where I might be able to purchase the Thraxas series? I borrowed Thraxas and the Sorcerers from my dad, not knowing what it was, but it sucked me right in. I love the way Martin Millar mixes fantasy and pulp noir.
http://www.alibris.com/
Nexa
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“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.†― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
I don't know if you'd be able to get them as audio books, but if you can, check out the Edgeworld Chronicles. If you enjoyed HP and Eragon, you should love Edgeworld.
If you're looking for some great audiobooks, I HIGHLY recommend the first 4 Dark Tower books by Stephen King. The ones read by Frank Muller.
In fact, just get anything read by Frank Muller, the man was an absolute genius in narrating a book. I guarantee that you will enjoy anything read by him, but particularly the Dark Tower series since you're into fantasy/sci-fi/adventure stories.
Just thought that I'd necro-bump this to add that I've recently started the first book of the Game of Thrones series on audiobook. Wasn't cheap, but I knew that it'll be coming out on a new HBO series this April, and I wanted to get through some of it before then. I figured that if it was going to be on HBO, then it had to be a pretty solid book.
I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It suits me well; I like my stories on the darker/mature side of things, with a base in more realistic, low-fantasy. Game of Thrones fits the bill so far (I'm about halfway through). There are rumblings of some evil, arcane forces, but most of the drama thus far has come from the antagonistic, deceitful, but very human characters.
There are quite a few characters, and only around 2.5 could really be considered "good" so far, minus the children. All have varying shades of gray to them, which I love (I loathe the "white knight versus the irrationally evil villain" characterizations). I'd say most of the characters skew towards the darker side of that spectrum, as well. Lots of very petty, spiteful people to be found in the book, but all are written quite believably. Sharp, witty dialogue abounds.
I'm really looking forward to the HBO series now. The casting seems spot-on*, and HBO seems like a perfect venue for the dark story. I expect them to treat it well.
* Heck, it may be the thing to finally get me to stop calling Sean Bean "Trevelyan" incessantly.
Hm. I'll have to give Game of Thrones a look at. I'm pretty much knee deep into the Discworld series. Listen to 15 of the books thus far, pretty good stuff :3
If you're looking for some great audiobooks, I HIGHLY recommend the first 4 Dark Tower books by Stephen King. The ones read by Frank Muller.
In fact, just get anything read by Frank Muller, the man was an absolute genius in narrating a book. I guarantee that you will enjoy anything read by him, but particularly the Dark Tower series since you're into fantasy/sci-fi/adventure stories.
I second this as a Dark Tower fanboy.
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The Tower of Power, too sweet to be sour, I'm funky like a monkey, skies the limit and space is the place!
nercoposting in my own thread is =/= necroposting?
I need more (audio)books!
I'll try to list what I've listen to and my thoughts (to give an idea on maybe like-able stuff) some info I've already said above. None of this is in actual listening order, just as I remember them.
-The Dark is Rising: like it all the way up to the end. Didn't like how they ended the series XD Erase minds..meh lame.
-His Dark Materials: Like it. Enjoyed the different look on Churches.
-Hobbit + LoTR: Winded. I actually took a break from listening to this epic tale a few times. I would totally zone out while listening to it because of the massive amounts of info. But I knew what I was getting myself into. Enjoyed it (maybe some time down the road I'll check out the other books that are linked to the world).
-Discworld: Loved it. Thought it was going to be weird, found out it was..and totally enjoyed the ride. Can't wait for the new book, and sad about Terry.
-The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: What can I say. These books are just great. However I don't know if I listen to the audiobook of the books, or the radio abridged versions. Either way, fun stuff in this series. I like how it all just comes together at the end :D
-Eragon/Eldest/Brisinger(sp, to lazy to look it up): Enjoyed it. Having read each book twice, this listening was just something to "do". Book 4 so needs to come out.
-Percy Jackson books: Were OK. The writing style is so aimed at *******/teens that sometimes I was getting annoyed lol. But I liked how it used Greek/Roman mythology in a fresh way. (Have not checked out the Authors other books, was kind of letting him write a few more in each new series).
-Mistborn (I think) Trilogy: I looked for a torrent for this 1st (like I do with all these books, if I like them/get sucked in and my Lib. doesn't have/cant order..I'll buy them) and found a badly done one. I listen to pretty much 85% of the 1st book OUT of order. I though at 1st "This is an odd writing style" as the story was jumping forwards and backwards and forwards and backwards. But when I heard the end of the book..and realized I didn't know parts of the story..... face palm (was actually forehead into sand blast cabinet). I have been unable to find a correctly done torrent..so sadly this series didn't get finished T.T
-HP Books: Listened to all of these before the 1st half of the final Movie came out. I enjoy HP and their world.
- Song of Ice and Fire: I was not going to look into this series after reading about it. The Author and long *** time to release next book was kind of a turn off. But I had nothing to listen to, and this was a "long" series. I just finished book 4 today (so now I wait until July -.- if book 5 comes out then....). I found I liked it. I like how it flows. Some parts are "WTF!!" moments, while others made me go "right on!" Hope it ends "right" and nothing really big and major happens in the future that makes me wish I didn't get into this series
I feel I'm missing some. I tired out The Dragons of Pern and after about 4 hours, I found I didn't think the series was going to work for me (hard to explain, it started off good and on the right foot..and then I just found myself getting bored listening to it :/ ).
I know there are some book already stated in the thread. I may have looked into them, I may not have yet (Dark Tower maybe next?). As you can see I REALLY like long series. I dig Fantasy (magic and dragons and what not) more than sci-fi. So if there is anything else/more I should know about let me know :D At some point in time I'm going to run out of great things to listen to..but hopefully that isn't now :3
basically treat them as a free novella/short story site
only knocks are: they release in podcast form(hence the name) which means music/ads and other immersion breakers at the beginning and/or end of chapters and the editing leaves a great deal to be desired.
still and all, for free its a great option to A)find new authors, B)find experimental work by authors you already know
as an example I found the site because of a series(secret world order) done by my 2nd favorite author mercedes lackey(valdemar, bardic voices, obsidian shadow) so there are some names on there, its not just fan-fiction writ large.
beyond that, for more "name" authors, I can't really be sure if these are available as audios or not, but:
look into lackey's work,* david eddings' malorean+belgariad,or crystal rose+tamuli series
if you do decide to try mercedes lackey, start with kerowyn's tale(by the sword) and then you'll want to jump around some versus the publication order:
kerowyn vows and honor(prequel to kerowyn) arrows trilogy(the actual first books) mage winds(sequel to arrows) last herald mage(prequel to arrows) brightly burning(standalone, just some history takes place pre-arrow post-heraldmage) mage storms(sequel to winds) mage wars(black>white>silver gryphon)[explains what actually happens to cause storms] darian(sequel to storms)
given how audiobooks work, that'll hold you at least til fall its something like 20 books all told
robert aspirin's myth-inc(fantasy) or phule-proof(sci-fi) are good if you'd like something in the comedy sub-genres, as is david weber's bahzell or eric flint's "the philosophical strangler"
*I have to put this in here unfortunately, lackey routinely uses ****- and bi-sexual characters, if thats an issue you'll have to discount all her work
I refuse to read Mercedes Lackey just because of her covers. I know that makes me a bad person, but oh well.
I hate that Mistborn got screwed up for you. I'm actually re-reading the series I liked it so much. Try Warbreaker. It's by the same guy, it's stand alone, and it's pretty good.
Hunger Games Trilogy. The movie is coming out next year, so you have time. :P And Woody Harleson, Lenny Kravitz, and Elizabeth Banks are going to be in it. I'm excited. :D And I think you'll like it, really.
If you're not intimidated by a strong female presence in books, try the Black Jewels Trilogy.
My husband loves the Ed Greenwood Elminster books. Elminster is a really interesting character. The books usually have a LOT going on.
If you haven't read/listened to it yet, The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King is an awesome fantasy-esque book. Oh, and The Talisman. These are my two favorite King books EVER.
Wicked by Gregory Maguire is really good. The follow up, Son of a Witch, wasn't so good, in my opinion. I own but haven't read A Lion Among Men.
Again, if you're not bothered by strong women, Kelley Armstrong's werewolf books are really good. Really, all of her Women of the Otherworld books are good, but the werewolf books are the best. Bitten is the first one. For the record, both this and the Black Jewels have very strong men, as well, but the focus is usually on the women.
I feel like I've recommended a lot of stuff I've already recommended. :D
The first four books of the Dark Tower series are more than worth it, the last three are debatable (although I suppose even book four doesn't quite stand up to the first three), although it's always personal taste.
Never get an audio book read by King himself, lol, I'm still trying to get through bag of bones. He writes great, but he reads monotone, to say the least. It could just be that book, but I believe Frank Muller is already mentioned in the thread.
I'm not a big fan of audio books, but there's also John Stewart's book, A visitor's guide to planet Earth. That one is quite funny, at times anyway.
The first four books of the Dark Tower series are more than worth it, the last three are debatable (although I suppose even book four doesn't quite stand up to the first three), although it's always personal taste.
AHHHH! don't tell me this!!! I actually started the Dark Tower and have found I like it, so far (I have about 7min left of book 2, so I'll start book 3 tomorrow sometime).
And I agree to not having King read himself, he sounds pretty boring. I guess I have been listening to the Frank Muller ones, I just torrented this set, but I have 2-3 versions of each book. Whom ever sounds like Dirty Harry is the one I'm going to stick with until I have to change (because one of the readers died?).
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Again, if you're not bothered by strong women, Kelley Armstrong's werewolf books are really good
I do enjoy a good werewolf story, but are these books Twilight like? I've not read/listened/watched any of the twilight movies...sparkling vampires? lolwat? And I don't care if it is a male or a woman who is the main character. Or if the Reader is a woman (only listened to one book that was read by a woman, and that was one of the Discoworld books..not sure why they didn't continue to use her as the "set" was more based on female characters).
Thanks for info, even if any/all of you have repeated yourself...sometimes i need stuff beat into my head to try it out
Again, if you're not bothered by strong women, Kelley Armstrong's werewolf books are really good
I do enjoy a good werewolf story, but are these books Twilight like? I've not read/listened/watched any of the twilight movies...sparkling vampires? lolwat?
I strongly recommend these books, based on what you've said you've enjoyed:
Ender's Game: very sci-fi, but my favorite series of books (and Ender's game is light-years ahead of pretty much every other book I've read, to the point that I re-read it once a year). If you like sci-fi, I can 100% guarantee you will like Ender's Game, if not the sequels.
The Name of the Wind: a still relatively new series, but some of the best writing that I've seen. Brandon Sanderson is supposed to be the great new fantasy writer of the current day, but anyone who's read both him and Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles (books one and two are the only ones out thus far) will likely agree with me when they say that Rothfuss far exceeds Sanderson. The Name of the Wind and book two, Wise Man's Fear, are two of my favorite books.
Not sure how hard they will be to get via torrent, but well worth any amount of money you'll put down on quality versions of the audiobooks. (I've re-bought all of the above books in ebook form on my iPad, I enjoyed reading them so much, and will read them over and over).
I strongly recommend these books, based on what you've said you've enjoyed:
Ender's Game: very sci-fi, but my favorite series of books (and Ender's game is light-years ahead of pretty much every other book I've read, to the point that I re-read it once a year). If you like sci-fi, I can 100% guarantee you will like Ender's Game, if not the sequels.
The Name of the Wind: a still relatively new series, but some of the best writing that I've seen. Brandon Sanderson is supposed to be the great new fantasy writer of the current day, but anyone who's read both him and Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles (books one and two are the only ones out thus far) will likely agree with me when they say that Rothfuss far exceeds Sanderson. The Name of the Wind and book two, Wise Man's Fear, are two of my favorite books.
Not sure how hard they will be to get via torrent, but well worth any amount of money you'll put down on quality versions of the audiobooks. (I've re-bought all of the above books in ebook form on my iPad, I enjoyed reading them so much, and will read them over and over).
I found Ender to be extremely simple and childish to be quite honest.
Definitely not to be recommended. But no accounting for personal taste I suppose.
I strongly recommend these books, based on what you've said you've enjoyed:
Ender's Game: very sci-fi, but my favorite series of books (and Ender's game is light-years ahead of pretty much every other book I've read, to the point that I re-read it once a year). If you like sci-fi, I can 100% guarantee you will like Ender's Game, if not the sequels.
The Name of the Wind: a still relatively new series, but some of the best writing that I've seen. Brandon Sanderson is supposed to be the great new fantasy writer of the current day, but anyone who's read both him and Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles (books one and two are the only ones out thus far) will likely agree with me when they say that Rothfuss far exceeds Sanderson. The Name of the Wind and book two, Wise Man's Fear, are two of my favorite books.
Not sure how hard they will be to get via torrent, but well worth any amount of money you'll put down on quality versions of the audiobooks. (I've re-bought all of the above books in ebook form on my iPad, I enjoyed reading them so much, and will read them over and over).
I found Ender to be extremely simple and childish to be quite honest.
Definitely not to be recommended. But no accounting for personal taste I suppose.
Which is definitely why it's largely considered the best sci-fi written in the last 40 years or so.
I've heard some people grumble when I talk about Ender's Game, but this is the first that I've ever heard it called simple and childish.
I assume you read obscure philosophy books for pleasure?