rllmuk's recommended reading

[Kos Mos]

Apologies if this isn't the thread to post this in but can anybody recommend a really good page turner that's light on plot but heavy with action (sci-fi or fantasy preferably)

 

I've just come off a Neal Stephenson binge a need something a bit lighter.

 

Thanks

[Danster]

On 4/18/2017 at 19:05, Kos Mos said:

Apologies if this isn't the thread to post this in but can anybody recommend a really good page turner that's light on plot but heavy with action (sci-fi or fantasy preferably)

 

I've just come off a Neal Stephenson binge a need something a bit lighter.

 

Thanks

 

The First Law series or the Lies of Locke Lamora are both well worth your time. Both series are excellent to listen to too.

[Kos Mos]

@Danster I've heard a lot of good things about the first law series.  I'll give a whirl.

 

Thanks

[OogyBoogy]

@Kos Mos have you tried any of Sanderson's books? I found Elantris, Warbreaker and the Mistborn series very entertaining.

[Kos Mos]

2 hours ago, OogyBoogy said:

@Kos Mos have you tried any of Sanderson's books? I found Elantris, Warbreaker and the Mistborn series very entertaining.

 

I did enjoy Elantris but some how Mistborn fell off my radar.  Added to the list now though.  Thanks

[lolly]

+1 for the Lies of Locke Lamora, reading it at the moment, 'tis great.

[Danster]

A well deserved +1

[dreamylittledream]

On 27 January 2017 at 15:22, Danster said:

Oh my FUCK the Lies of Locke Lamora, I love it! Why did noone tell me about this?

 

...

 

Oh I see you did

 

+1 for the book and the recommendation.

 

On 23 April 2017 at 00:54, lolly said:

+1 for the Lies of Locke Lamora, reading it at the moment, 'tis great.

 

It is great indeed but save yourself a large disappointment and don't bother with the two sequels

[Danster]

51 minutes ago, dreamylittledream said:

 

 

It is great indeed but save yourself a large disappointment and don't bother with the two sequels

 

Oh no, do bother! I loved them too albeit in different ways.

[JDubYes]

Yeah, they're still worth a read, even if they're not as good as the first book*, which is one of my all-time favourites.

 

If anyone ever needs light(er) reading then the Ketty Jay books I recommended on the original run through on this thread are basically (lazy analogy time) a slightly more fantastical/steampunk Firefly/Serenity alternative, and barrel along at a great pace. My mum went on about them to me for ages, and when I begrudgingly gave in I ended up reading them all in a few weeks, and absolutely loving them.

 

 

* I loved decent chunks of both of the sequels, but there were bits, especially in the third, that I was not fond of. From what I've read I think the author let some of his real-life issues (with his love life, etc) colour the writing, which certainly goes some way to explaining the end of the third book.

[neoELITE]

On ‎18‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 19:05, Kos Mos said:

Apologies if this isn't the thread to post this in but can anybody recommend a really good page turner that's light on plot but heavy with action (sci-fi or fantasy preferably)

 

I've just come off a Neal Stephenson binge a need something a bit lighter.

 

Thanks

 

Feed by Mira Grant. It's a trilogy but the first two are great - it's horror/post-apocalyptic and zombies but it's a good page turner and there is lots of action.

 

Also, Hater by David Moony is fairly OK - it's a little bit sci-fi - a bit like 28 Days Later (the film) but the 'infected' are aware on a conscious level of what they're doing so they're not zombies.

 

I read War of The Worlds by HG Wells over Xmas as I found a copy in the house I never thought I owned - that's pretty decent and also very well written. Cell by Stephen King? I read that last year and it was OK - a bit long and the end was the usual King WTF?! why did you end it like that but the set up is really good and the journey's full of action.

 

I think I've verged towards horror rather than sci-fi but I think they're interchangeable most of the time.

[Danster]

My fourteen year old pursuaded me to try some Darren Shan. I've started the Demonata series and really enjoyed the first one, going to listen to the rest of them now. Or at least until I get bored.

[Stevie]

I'm currently reading Brand Luther, a fascinating book about the reformation and the revolution of the printing press. Recommended if you like history. 

[McFly]

@Dansteri really liked Dark Winter havent read much other fiction from McNabb but i listed to Bravo 2 Zero on tape a 1000 times. If you like McNabbs books Duncan Falconer is in a similar mould but he's a Royal Marine/SBS guy. So has a slightly diffetent perspective on things.

[Vimster]

3 hours ago, McFly said:

@Dansteri really liked Dark Winter havent read much other fiction from McNabb but i listed to Bravo 2 Zero on tape a 1000 times. If you like McNabbs books Duncan Falconer is in a similar mould but he's a Royal Marine/SBS guy. So has a slightly diffetent perspective on things.

Ah, slightly OT but there is a Stratton film out in September, apparently.Didn't connect the two.

[Danster]

10 hours ago, McFly said:

@Dansteri really liked Dark Winter havent read much other fiction from McNabb but i listed to Bravo 2 Zero on tape a 1000 times. If you like McNabbs books Duncan Falconer is in a similar mould but he's a Royal Marine/SBS guy. So has a slightly diffetent perspective on things.

Oh yes have read them all

6 hours ago, Vimster said:

Ah, slightly OT but there is a Stratton film out in September, apparently.Didn't connect the two.

No way! Cool.

[Vimster]

1 minute ago, Danster said:

Oh yes have read them all

No way! Cool.

Yes, it's a reading thread but

 

[McFly]

Nice one, thanks @Vimster and @Danster. 

[Danster]

Excellent, looks as daft as the books!

[MeanElf]

On 18/04/2017 at 19:05, Kos Mos said:

Apologies if this isn't the thread to post this in but can anybody recommend a really good page turner that's light on plot but heavy with action (sci-fi or fantasy preferably)

 

I've just come off a Neal Stephenson binge a need something a bit lighter.

 

Thanks

You can always go back to one of the classics - plot light, not really by the end but early on it fits the bill perfectly: The Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny - two five book story arcs. You can get it in one book now, I believe. Solid modern fantasy anyway.

 

As to my suggestion for anyone wanting a good series. Charlie Stross' Laundry series - currently around five novels and a three collections of shorts/novellas. If stories about a Secret Service section keeping an eye on occult activity tickles yer fancy, then these are what you want.

[Danster]

Apologies for not updating sooner peeps, have now added your choices to the list

 

Don't forget you can add your +1s to influence the list.

[Stevie]

Strange defeat by Marc Bloch

 

About the author: Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch (/blɔːk/ French: [maʁk blɔk]; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian who cofounded the highly influential Annales School of French social history. Bloch was a quintessential modernist. An assimilated Alsatian Jew from an academic family in Paris, he was deeply affected in his youth by the Dreyfus Affair. He studied at the elite École Normale Supérieure; in 1908–9 he studied at Berlin and Leipzig. He fought in the trenches of the Western Front for four years. In 1919 he became Lecturer in Medieval history at Strasbourg University, after the German professors were all expelled; he was called to the University of Paris in 1936 as professor of economic history. He is best known for his pioneering studies French Rural History and Feudal Society and his posthumously-published unfinished meditation on the writing of history, The Historian's Craft. A French soldier in both World Wars, he was captured and shot by the Gestapo during the German occupation of France for his work in the French Resistance.

 

The book is a fascinating account of all the things that went wrong for the french during the german invasion of 1940. 

[linkster]

Can I please add The Asian Saga by James Clavell, since Shogun is the most entertaining book I ever read in my life 

[neverendingcircles]

If no one has read it, then I'd recommended reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. The story is so rich and detailed, the characters are all super interesting, and it has one of the baddest villains I think I can remember in a book. Truly awful.

 

I believe there was a sequel, but heard it could never reach the heights of the original. also a TV series too, but meh to that. 

 

4/5

 

 

[Danster]

Added and added a +1 to Conn Iggulden's War of the Roses books, very good.

[Bucky]

"The Dying Animal" by Philip Roth is shitty and uncomfortable and brilliant.  Read it.  Despair.  Read more.

[MarkN]

I'll plus one the First Law Series (not that it needs it, but it's magnificent, and I've loved everything else I've read of Abercrombie's afterwards).

 

My suggestion is The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, which I read after a recommendation on another forum. It's a title I've always been aware of, but didn't really know why. And yet, it's frankly magnificent. I've been trying to catch up on the classics in the last ten years or so, and whilst many are worthwhile, and usually rewarding, this is the one that was like striking gold. It's an absolutely cracking read. It's also enormous, and probably better for it (get it unabridged - it's a book to live with for a good long while). It struck me as being ahead of its time - like an early take on Jason Bourne, with a protagonist who is super smart, well-informed and incredibly adept at anything he turns his hand to. I've got a couple of quibbles with it that I won't go into, but overall it's an absolute belter, and I remember feeling slightly miffed that no-one had brought it to my attention earlier.

[Bushtopher]

17 hours ago, MarkN said:

My suggestion is The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, which I read after a recommendation on another forum. It's a title I've always been aware of, but didn't really know why. And yet, it's frankly magnificent. I've been trying to catch up on the classics in the last ten years or so, and whilst many are worthwhile, and usually rewarding, this is the one that was like striking gold. It's an absolutely cracking read. It's also enormous, and probably better for it (get it unabridged - it's a book to live with for a good long while). It struck me as being ahead of its time - like an early take on Jason Bourne, with a protagonist who is super smart, well-informed and incredibly adept at anything he turns his hand to. I've got a couple of quibbles with it that I won't go into, but overall it's an absolute belter, and I remember feeling slightly miffed that no-one had brought it to my attention earlier.

 

Seconded. Brilliant book!

 

If you want a modern take on it (and a much shorter read), try The Stars’ Tennis Balls by Stephen Fry  

[Miner Willy]

Or The Stars My Destination as something of a sci-fi take on it. But yes, Count of Monte Cristo is definitely one of the all-time greats. 

 

Dumas' The Black Tulip explores similar themes and is also great.

[MarkN]

The Black Tulip has been added to my Kindle via Project Gutenberg. And The Stars' Tennis Balls is now on my Amazon wishlist. Thanks both for the recommendations.

 

I've read The Stars My Destination, but was quite young and I'm sure I missed a lot (or Tiger, Tiger as it was called then). I've read so many plaudits since that I think I should re-read it. (I've since read The Demolished Man by the same author, and did it  in one sitting (it was THAT good).). Will put it back on the list.