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Fun Stuff => ENJOY => Topic started by: Emaline on 10 May 2009, 20:10

Title: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Emaline on 10 May 2009, 20:10: I just finished reading both Neverwhere by Gaiman, and Watchmen(for the billionth time, so obviously I am in need of new graphic novels stat). I have a copy of Black Hole being shipped to my place of business as we speak, but I need something now. A friend recommended Armor (http://www.amazon.com/Armor-science-fiction-John-Steakley/dp/0886773687) by John Steakley. I am not a huge fan of anything military really. But I love sci fi. Has anyone read this? Is it any good?

I've read a bunch of Neil Gaiman's work. I want to read more of his adult stuff, but am weary to pick up Good Omens. How is it? I've read American Gods, so don't recommend that. I want a new Gaiman to read, or something similar. Nothing cheesy.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Dimmukane on 10 May 2009, 20:20: Terry Pratchett wrote about two-thirds of Good Omens. If you've ever read Terry Pratchett and liked his stuff, odds are you'll like Good Omens. Not that Neil doesn't have any input, but Pratchett's voice is a bit stronger. I personally have read it 3 times. Mostly because I don't have time to go to the library during school semesters, but it's definitely an enjoyable book.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: 0bsessions on 10 May 2009, 20:25: Is your scroll wheel broken? (http://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,21902.0.html)
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Emaline on 10 May 2009, 20:30: I don't see what that thread has to do with me. I want novels. And graphic novels.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: 0bsessions on 10 May 2009, 20:34: It's nothing personal, this thread just happens to be incredibly redundant. (http://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,8037.msg808480.html#new)
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: jimbunny on 10 May 2009, 20:41: I was wary of Good Omens myself, but I ended up enjoying it a lot - and I've tried and failed to read other Pratchett novels.

I'm not really enthusiastic about Gaiman's short stories.

Sci-fi similar to Gaiman... Iain Banks is coming to mind; similar dry, British wit. My favorite is Against a Dark Background.

(And it's not like we're really in danger of breaking the board with a few more recommendation threads. As I think Tommy has asked in the Music forum; is there some sort of higher goal we're trying to achieve here?)
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: no one special on 11 May 2009, 03:25: I highly recommend Kingdom Come (the novelization of the DC graphic novel) (http://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Come-Mark-Waid/dp/0446522341/ref=ed_oe_h).

Kingdom Come (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Come_(comics)) was a graphic novel released by DC Comics in 1996 - just follow the link for its wiki page. I'm recommending the novelization, however - this is one of those rare times when the novelization outshines the graphic novel itself. The graphic novel is very good, and the art by Alex Ross is just phenomenal - but the novelization fleshes out the characters and really brings them to life in a way that the comic doesn't quite capture.

So really, I'd recommend the following:

1) First, read the novelization.
2) Second, check out the graphic novel.

I think that order is best - that you way, you can have the fully fleshed-out characters and story in your mind when you see Alex Ross' amazing art in the graphic novel.

Enjoy! :-)
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 11 May 2009, 16:42: science fiction? (http://www.firstshowing.net/img/hyperion-novels-hdr.jpg)

if you ask me, those four books are a must read for anyone who like sci-fi, even a little bit. i read them when i was a kid (thanks, dad!) and got really stoked on science fiction but was incredibly disappointed when no other science fiction books even came close to being as good as those four. science fiction, as a genre, is actually pretty shitty as i've learned; but those four books are fucking fantastic. HIGHLY recommended.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 11 May 2009, 17:02: indeed.

Jens, have you read his newest, Drood? it's pretty long and fairly tedious at times but it's quite good in a strange sort of way. it's definitely much better than i was expecting it to be considering it's about Charles Dickens.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: E. Spaceman on 11 May 2009, 17:30: Foucault's Pendulum
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: michaelicious on 14 May 2009, 12:35: Drawn & Quarterly (http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/) is probably something you would be interested in. The artists they publish are uniformly excellent and quite often brilliant. Guy Delisle, Adrian Tomine, Chester Brown, David B., and Seth (who lives in the same city as me) are personal standouts.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: negative creep on 14 May 2009, 21:24: Quote from: E. Spaceman on 11 May 2009, 17:30
Foucault's Pendulum

God damnit that is a fucking good book.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Ballard on 14 May 2009, 21:43: Snow Crash.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Nodaisho on 14 May 2009, 23:08: Have you read the Dresden Files? They are an urban fantasy book, which is what I think of when I think of Neverwhere. More humorous than Neverwhere, and well-written (aside from a few chapters in the ninth book where it seems the editor took a nap).
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: glyphic on 19 Jun 2009, 13:43: If you're into scifi, you can't go wrong with William Gibson of Neuromancer fame. Dude basically invented the idea of the matrix as it pertains to scifi. If you ever liked Shadowrun as a kid, you'll love him.

If you love fantasy, I always suggest The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. It is ten books in one, so you can impress all your friends with your six-inch thick book! Plus, it is nearly impossible to put down.

Admittedly, I'm not too well-read when it comes to graphic novels. But I like regular novels a lot!
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: StaedlerMars on 19 Jun 2009, 15:56: Quote from: E. Spaceman on 11 May 2009, 17:30
The Name of the Rose or Foucault's Pendulum

Eco is kind of a genius. In those two books anyway. Has anyone read his other stuff?

Edit: Fixed.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: phooey on 19 Jun 2009, 20:11: Thought it was just "The Name of the Rose"
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: E. Spaceman on 19 Jun 2009, 23:25: It is "The Name of The Rose", although I am not as big a fan of that one. "The Island of the Day Before" is great and I have his latest one but haven't read it.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: phooey on 20 Jun 2009, 14:39: Quote from: StaedlerMars on 19 Jun 2009, 15:56
Edit: Fixed.
8-)
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: The Joker on 23 Jul 2009, 10:46: There is a Neil Gaiman book that I read about half a year ago called Anansi Boys, and I couldn't put it down. That is nearly a literal truth.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: KvP on 23 Jul 2009, 12:52: ATLAS SHRUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGED
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Surgoshan on 23 Jul 2009, 15:27: Okay, incredibly annoying red scrolling marquee aside, Atlas Shrugged is a controversial suggestion. Ayn Rand was a decent novelist*, though not great. All her books are built around the philosophy of Objectivism (philosophical egoism by another name; the needs and rights of the individual come first and any hint of something approaching altruism or socialism is evil; the world is black and white, there are no grays) and as such they definitely suffer.

Her sadomasochistic tendencies do make for an odd subtext. In The Fountainhead, the heroine learned that rape was actually just surprise sex she didn't know she wanted.

Be aware that if you read anything by Rand, you'll encounter very, very long soliloquies. In Fountainhead, it was thirty pages as I recall, and I think AS had a 60 page monologue. That's right, 60 pages of paragraphs all beginning with ". Think about how much you'd enjoy getting talked at for hours in real life, and turn that into a book.

* Interesting sidebar, it turns out she actually did prefer it pronounced to rhyme with 'nine'.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: supersheep on 24 Jul 2009, 07:15: In my opinion, Ayn Rand is a less competent novelist than Dan Brown, and Objectivism is possibly the worst form of philosophical thought that has ever been conceived. Seriously, people stoned out of their gourd have come up with more insightful and meaningful observations about, like, the stars, man, than Ayn Rand ever did.

Stabbing yourself with a fork is probably more enjoyable than reading Ayn Rand, and for once this is not hyperbole (well, not much anyways).
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Tom on 24 Jul 2009, 17:08: Either way, people end up reading both and some even come to the resultant belief that they are in fact far more intellectually superior than everyone else. No doubt you have met someone like this.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Surgoshan on 24 Jul 2009, 19:30: I was really into Rand in high school. Seriously, I don't know why my parents even owned a copy of Atlas Shrugged.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Spluff on 24 Jul 2009, 19:34: You should read some HG Wells
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: billiumbean on 24 Jul 2009, 22:01: I've just finished a book called Rant: An Oral Biography by Chuck Palahniuk. If you liked Fight Club, this'll tickle you senseless.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: scarred on 25 Jul 2009, 01:13: Quote from: The Joker on 23 Jul 2009, 10:46
There is a Neil Gaiman book that I read about half a year ago called Anansi Boys, and I couldn't put it down. That is nearly a literal truth.

Was it coated in peanut butter and bubblegum?

Actually Neil Gaiman rox.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: rynne on 25 Jul 2009, 04:58: Quote from: Surgoshan on 24 Jul 2009, 19:30
I was really into Rand in high school.

Nothing to be ashamed of there---that's exactly the maturity level to which Rand's Objectivism is pitched. But if you haven't figured out it's full of shit by the time you're, say, nineteen years old, then you need to feel some shame.

Of course, that's a moot point since anyone who's over 19 and still thinks Rand is valid has no concept of critical self-evaluation in the first place.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Alex C on 25 Jul 2009, 08:44: I think Bioshock developer Ken Levine said it best: "She almost spoke like a super villain, like Dr Doom."
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Unosuke on 25 Jul 2009, 09:05: Anything by Douglas Adams or Christopher Moore.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: variable_star on 25 Jul 2009, 11:57: Quote from: supersheep on 24 Jul 2009, 07:15
In my opinion, Ayn Rand is a less competent novelist than Dan Brown...

Ouch!

I must agree, though. "Atlas Shrugged" is among the most overrated novels of all time. I occasionally see bumperstickers or t-shirts that read "I am John Galt". I'm sure they think they're so fucking clever.
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: Surgoshan on 25 Jul 2009, 14:46: Seriously. Everyone knows the better bumper sticker is "Who is John Galt?"
Title: Re: Give me a new book/graphic novel to read.
Post by: variable_star on 26 Jul 2009, 15:07: Quote from: Surgoshan on 25 Jul 2009, 14:46
Seriously. Everyone knows the better bumper sticker is "Who is John Galt?"

lulz

Yes, yes indeed.