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Anyone read any good contemporary fiction lately?  Any genre will do.  I finally finished my bookshelf and need some recommendations.

Damn, I wish I could recommend titles to you, stochastic, but I'm mostly a nonfiction reader of a myriad of genres, albeit I haven't read much since the joining of this forum. Although I don't read on a regular basis, I do keep a book handy, just in case the internet service is down, next to my porcelain throne. Currently, I have 978-1-84724-241-9 (http://www.amazon.com/Companies-That-Changed-World-Company/dp/1847242413) in the book rack conveniently located above the Charmin® dispenser.

I do have about 100 fiction books, in very good condition, that I'd love to give you, provided you pay the actual cost in shipping with Bitcoin. PM me if you're interested.

~Bruno~

Anything by Iain M. Banks if you don't mind having to think in your relax time. And of course Neal Stephenson, but the same proviso applies.

Alastair Reynolds: science fiction space opera
- House of Suns
- The Prefect

Neal Stephenson: unclassifiable techno thriller
- Cryptonomicon

Dan Simmons: horror, historical fiction, thrillers, science fiction
- The Terror
- Summer of Night
- Carrion Comfort
- Hyperion
- The Fall of Hyperion

Jack Vance: unclassifiable space opera
- The Star King (Demon Princes, Vol. 1, Book 1)
- The Killing Machine (Demon Princes, Vol. 1, Book 2)
- The Palace of Love (Demon Princes, Vol. 1, Book 3)
- The Face (Demon Princes, Vol. 2, Book 4)
- The Book of Dreams (Demon Princes, Vol 2, Book 5)
- Planet of Adventure (Omnibus Edition)

Jeff Long: thrillers with a haunted feeling
- The Wall
- The Reckoning
- The Descent
- Year Zero

Bernard Cornwell: superb historical fiction
- The Archer's Tale (The Grail Quest, Book 1)
- Vagabond (The Grail Quest, Book 2)
- Heretic (The Grail Quest, Book 3)
- Agincourt
- Gallows Thief

Caleb Carr: historical thrillers
- The Alienist

Robert McCammon: historical thrillers and horror
- Speaks the Nightbird
- Usher's Passing

Robert Holdstock: contemporary haunted horror fantasy
- Mythago Wood

Robert Harris: historical and conteporary thrillers
- Fatherland
- Pompeii
- Enigma
- Archangel

Alan Furst: WWII espionage thrillers
- Night Soldiers

Elizabeth Kostova: historical thrillers
- The Historian

David Brin: science fiction
- Glory Season

James P. Blaylock: contemporary fantasy
- The Paper Grail

F. Paul Wilson: horror thrillers
- The Keep
- Sims
- Nighworld

Gordon R. Dickson: post apocalyptic
- Time Storm
- Wolf and Iron

Connie Willis: time travel
- Doomsday Book

Larry Niven: science fiction and post apocalyptic
- Ring World
- The Mote in God's Eye
- Lucifer's Hammer

Vernor Vinge: science fiction space opera
- A Fire Upon the Deep
- A Deepness in the Sky

Kim Stanley Robinson: hard science fiction
- Red Mars

Philip Jose Farmer: science fiction
- To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Orson Scott Card: science fiction
- Ender's Game

Nelson DeMille: thrillers
- The Charm School

Greg Iles: contemporary and WWII thrillers
- Spandeau Phonenix
- Black Cross
- Dead Sleep

Stephen King: horror
- Under the Dome
- The Stand

Dean Koontz: thrillers
- Intensity
- The Husband

What are you waiting for?

I could put a star by each of the books listed above to indicate that the book is absolutely great, but then I'd be putting stars by pretty much every book. I only listed books that would be worthy of a star. Does this mean they're all absolutely perfect books? No. Some are in every sense and others might have a few minor shortcomings here and there, but they more than make up for it in the pleasure they provide in their reading.

Topics and themes with regard to the above books include:

- Cold war espionage
- WWII espionage
- Celtic mythology
- Human cultures spanning across the galaxy
- AI
- Ghosts and the paranormal
- Cryptography
- The Great Northwest Passage
- Medieval battles
- Vampires, Vlad the Impaler
- Detective work
- Climbing and spelunking
- Cloning
- Cambodia, post Vietnam War
- Time travel
- Newgate prison and British justice in the early 1800's
- 17th century witch hunts in the Colonies
- Alternative history
- The Third Reich
- Stalin
- The sophistication of Roman Empire culture
- Survival in a post apocalyptic world
- Genetic engineering
- Good and evil
- First contact
- Terraforming
- Resurrection
- The Bubonic Plague
- Serial killers

Phantom Tollbooth http://www.amazon.com/The-Phantom-Tollbooth-Norton-Juster/dp/0394815009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332009984&sr=1-1

Best fiction book ever. Hands down.

Peter F Hamilton is definitely missing in the list above. I'd definitely recommend him.  Otherwise: nice list :)

I actually have some of his books. What would be the first one to read?

Also, have you read any on my list?

Richard K. Morgan

Altered Carbon

I have that one too. I read perhaps the first chapter and got sidetracked. I should give it another go.

Jack Vance is on my big list above. About every three years, I reread Demon Princes and Planet of Adventure. He is unique and wonderful. No other way to put it.

I am well aware of it and I followed it during its production. I wish I had it. What I do have is a box full of about 50 paperbacks by him (including all the obscure titles), plus a few limited edition Underwood Millers.

Anyway, hopefully some of the other visitors here will pick up on the conversation here and give Vance a try.

I definitely will check for some of Vance's books next time I go the bookstore (every 6 months or so I pick up a large batch).

Tales of MU (http://www.talesofmu.com/) from Alexandra Erin. Saying it's coming of age fantasy won't make it justice, it's much more brilliant than that

I try to go the old fashioned way and go to the library.  I also use paper book swap but it is hard to find obscure novels.  I usually read to try to go to sleep.  It is the only way to wind down.

I live near a college town, and there is a huge used bookstore there, the size of a small warehouse with tons of used books/movies/games. Books usually range from 1.75-3.75. It's pretty hit or miss but I've found some good stuff there. I usually go there every few months to sell back the ones I'm done with, and get some more. Maybe I'll get lucky.  ;)

Vance's Demon Princes (both volumes) and Planet of Adventure are in print as trade paperbacks (larger than a mass market paperback), and sometimes in new bookstores. Borders used to always have it, but sadly (and I mean very sadly), Borders is gone. Between Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/The-Demon-Princes-Vol-Killing/dp/0312853025/), Alibris (http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwork=5152728&matches=34&cm_sp=works*listing*title) and Abebooks (http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=vance&sts=t&tn=showboat+world&x=0&y=0), finding most any Vance book should not be hard.

Also, I must say, Vance's Showboat World is also a particularly pleasurable book to read. Click the Abebooks link above to see Showboat World.

Here is pretty much all of Vance's stuff (http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=jack+vance&sortby=1&x=0&y=0) on Abebooks.

The Bible

Is it a novel, or an anthology of short fiction?

More like a series of vignettes.

Reamde by Neal Stephenson is pretty great.

Good enough that I read it once, then read it again about 2 weeks later, which I don't think I've ever done before.

I fear that some of the books in my list are not getting the attention they deserve. Consider Bernard Cornwell. He does an extraordinary amount of research and really puts you into the past. You can't go wrong with these if you like medieval battles, highway robbery, blood and mud, sieges, pillage, running out of rations, deserting the army, and in general, taking a tour of the Hundred Years War.

Of course, the above doesn't really apply to Gallows Thief. That's another story entirely. And a good one too.


It's on my list. Can't wait.

This sounds like good reads.

As promised (to stochastic), here's the link to the over 150 mostly fiction books I have to offer for free, albeit paying actual shipping (no handling fee) cost via Bitcoin. http://www.flickr.com/photos/66151463@N04/sets/72157629246635790/

There's 20 images that you'll be able to view the actual books and their titles. The images are large enough where you can blow them up to read them quite clearly. Two of the images is below.

Please allow stochastic to pick first, for it's his thread and I promised him this opportunity first. Simply put your request in this thread or PM me. If you PM and want to keep your selection private, I may still go ahead and post that your selection, e.g., Sex With Turtles, is no longer avaiable, albeit I will allows know what you're into.

There's no limit on how many books you desire--one or all (rest).

Happy hunting! Happy reading!

~Bruno~

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7208/6993033103_a10e444ab1_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7039/6993033111_55e083ac41_z.jpg

Here's some info about another author on my list. Jeff Long is rather underrated. He writes good stuff and has a certain style. The Wall was the fourth book I read by him. I bought it one evening, took it home, climbed into bed, and didn't stop reading it until about 3:00 AM when I finished it. The Reckoning follows a journalist accompanying a small team into the Cambodian Jungle. It was haunting and creepy. In fact, all his stuff is haunting and creepy. He used to be a Himalayan climber, and has spent a lot of time in the stranger parts of the World.

The first book I read by him was Fallen Dragon, which I loved, following this I read his Night's Dawn Trilogy and Commonwealth Saga (including the misspent youth "prequal") and I am currently reading the first book of the Void Trilogy (which takes place in the same universe as the CommonWealth Saga 1200 years in the future.

I'd recommend reading all these books, but maybe start with Fallen Dragon because it's a one book story so it comes to the point quicker. All the different series have a tremendous amount of story arcs so the first couple of hundred of pages just introduces the new story arcs which come together so beautifully during the course of the book/series.

From your list I have read:

Jack Vance - Planet of adventure
Larry Niven - The Mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer
Vernor Vinge -  A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky [Deepness in the sky has the best aliens I have ever read about, also in October a direct sequel came out "The Children of the Sky" which I am certainly going to read]

But many of these are on my to read list and I recognize many authors names from other books I have read. Larry Niven's Ringworld series and Farmer's to your broken bodies go are already on my Kindle waiting to be read following the void Trilogy. I need more time to read :) [I'm in my mid-twenties btw so plenty of time]

Did you like Planet of Adventure?

If you did not, read it again. If you enjoyed it, read it again. The first time you read it, you may just be focusing on the story, and missing the underlying ambiance which is so pervasive in his work. The book is just amazing. For example: the flight in the stolen Dirdir aircar across the steppes, the voyage across the ocean in the sailing vessel, Aila Woudiver's shenanigans, and so on.

Vance isn't just adventure. His worlds are filled with charletans, scoundrels, knaves, cutthroats, pickpockets, blackmailers, scam artists, liars, thieves, popinjays (yes, popinjays), bufoons, braggarts, dandies, unctuous and uppity store clerks, snobs, haughty women, and so on.

And the best part, no matter the station or education of the above, they are quite eloquent and articulate while engaging in their dastardly shenanigans.

And definitely read Demon Princes. You're in for a treat.

I read it a long time ago when I was about 14 I think. I remember liking it, but I can't even recall the exact storyline (I think I recall the story starting out with a crash on an unknown planet). So I'm in for a re-read.

I have never read Demon Princes at all (I actually don't recall reading anything by Jack Vance other than Planet of Adventure which I found on my dad's book shelve).

Ok - that's the thing. To a fourteen year old, it reads like classic adventure. To an experienced adult reader, it reads like literature, with lots of ironies and satire to indulge oneself in. You definitely need to reread it. The great thing is that it's enjoyable at both levels.


Read Demon Princes. But I'd suggest giving Planet of Adventure a reread first, with the intent on studying his use of language, and the way his characters speak, and the overall ambiance he creates.

Yes. And it's not just us saying it. Dan Simmons (on my list) loves him. So does George R. R. Martin (author of A Game of Thrones). There are books on Jack Vance which simply discuss his use of words.

Jack Vance: Lord of Language, Emperor of Dreams (http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/jvprofile.htm).

Neal Stephenson is a great author, but I found REAMDE annoying.. I did finish it though. It starts off great, but then the whole plot goes off into action movie territory after the ludicrous coincidence when the protagonists run into Jones.

The rest of the book then proceeds like an action movie relentlessly over an incredible volume of pages - I wonder if they will cast Daniel Craig as Sokolev.

other books worth checking out: AMERICAN TABLOID, James Ellroy. 

It is ok, other people can pick first.  It may take me too long to decide.

Free, mostly novels! Titles can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66151463@N04/sets/72157629246635790/
Just pay actual shipping cost with BTC.

~Bruno~

You do know that those are the type of books that can be found at the 'buck a bag' sales at the Friends of the Library bookstores? Fill a bag with as many books as you can and pay a buck.

You are correct. I paid $20 for over 2,000 books a couple years ago, keeping some, sold most, gave a bunch away, etc. I figure the worse case scenario was perhaps a couple titles would tickle somebody's fancy here, hence the posting. I wasn't trying to make a killing of this for, in fact, I lose money if you take into consideration the time, packaging, trip to the PO, etc.

Thank you for your post, FA, thus allowing me the opportunity to set the record straight.

~Bruno~

Robert Harris deserves a second mention. He's another author who meticulously researches the time period his stories take place in. The above four are historical thrillers. Topics include code breaking the Enigma machines using computers known as bombes, Roman engineers and landlords, the Third Reich, and Stalin.

I can see where you're coming from with that statement. The lead up is so worth it though.

It might also help that I read it on my iphone, so I don't really notice much as far as page counts go.

I just read this one for the second time. It was a World Fantasy Award winner. Two brothers return from WWII and discover the old growth forest on their father's estate is a zone where the legends and myths within one's memories slowly become reality within the wood.