This blog as been on my mind for a while now, but until recently I haven't had the motivation to actually do it. I've kept a list of book's I wanted to put in here, but that's as far as I got. In my first recommendation blog, I listed them all alphabetically, which was a good tactic, but after giving it some thought I think it would be best to do it by genre and then alphabetically within each little group. This mainly spawns from the fact that there are a couple specific sub-genres I want to talk about. Without further ado:
Fantasy:
- The Magicians by Lev Grossman ~ I already posted a review of this one some time ago, but I feel it is my duty to mention again just based on the level of badassness involved with this novel. Check out the review for more info, but this is one everyone needs to read.
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss ~ I have been putting off doing any sort of review for this book for some time because I've had the hope that he'd actually put out the rest of the trilogy. Alas, since it's been nearly two years since this book came out, I think I'll do something small now. I will write a full review when I re-read it, but for now what I can say is that this is by far one of the best fantasy novels to come out in years. In fact, I cannot believe the pure luck that was involved when I picked up this book. It was the end of March, I had a Hastings gift certificate for $25 burning a hole in my pocket (this was pre-borders, I don't think I've bought a book from Hastings in ages), so I was wondering around, just kind of looking. I noticed the cover of this book first off, to hell with the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover", because had it not caught my eye I wouldn't have picked it up til much later. In any case, The Name of the Wind was on a display of featured, new hardbacks, the thing that caught me was the fact that it was the only fantasy book to have made it on this little display, which is rare in and of itself. So I picked it up and proceeded to read the cover slip. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but I was intrigued and after having spent a good thirty minutes in there, I made the hasty decision to give it a shot. After all, it wasn't really my money anyway. Like I said, I am so freaking lucky I did because when I got home I entered a world of magic and intrigue the likes of which I have seen but rarely. Tolkien, Feist, and maybe one or two others write to this caliber, but Rothfuss is brand new! This was his first ever book and it was fantastic! I can't give too many details only because I read it quite a while back and they're becoming vague, but what I can say is that Kvothe (pronounced like quothe 'sept with the K) is one of the most fascinating characters I have encountered. Essentially, Kvothe has gone into hiding from his glorious past, but at the start of the book he is found by a man who reveals that he knows Kvothe and wishes to hear his story and from there begins the miraculous story of Kvothe's life. It has everything, romance, heartbreak, action, mystery, and every other emotion that can be described and on top of it all, it is one of the most well written books I've seen! Oh and the author is a complete badass! First go pick up The Name of the Wind, then read it from start to finish (it's that hard to put down), and then go to Patrick's Blog to get the latest news and updates concerning book two. I am absolutely serious, if you like fantasy at all, hell even if you don't, go read this book. Update: The release date has finally been announced and set in stone, March 1st, 2011!
Fiction:
- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
by Carson McCullers ~ Ah, I still remember walking through Borders with Kimberley just kind of looking around. I don't dislike Fiction/Literature per say, but it isn't something I read very much on my own. Indeed, the majority of the Fiction/Lit books I've read have been for school or recommended to me by friends. The same is true for McCullers book, as we were wandering, me with my big pile of sci-fi/fantasy, she remembers one of her friends really enjoying the book. I pick it up, scoff a little, but in the end I give in. Boy am I glad I did too! The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is one of those rare masterpieces that absolutely touch the heart and soul. The even more amazing thing about this novel is the fact that it was McCullers debut work and not only hit the best seller chart in 1940, but was named one of Time's greatest books 1923-2005. The story follows a deaf man named John Singer and the four seemingly average people he befriends. At first it seems like a story about Singer himself, and a good portion of the novel does follow him in particular, but you quickly get the sense that these average people each have their own demons and events that shape their lives. The characters each have so much depth and appeal that I am doing them a grave injustice in my descriptions, but trust me, they're each unique and utterly familiar: Mick Kelly the young, tom boyish girl; Biff Brannon the owner of Singers favorite restaurant; Doctor Benedict Copeland the idealistic, small town black doctor; and Jake Blount the alcoholic who can't seem to keep himself out of trouble. The story in and of itself is a so simple that there is now real way for me to give much detail without ruining it, but it is a masterful work of character study and hit's even the most cynical deep in the heart. Whether you read sci-fi/fantasy, mystery, or even non-fiction, I think The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is a must read. - Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon ~ This book was one I didn't have much faith in at first, but not 20 pages in and I was hooked I have always noticed McMahon on the shelf because she has a habit of putting really, really creepy little girls on her covers, indeed I had picked up several of her books just out of curiosity. It wasn't until I read the back of Dismantled though that I decided to take the plunge. It seemed like a pretty interesting story, well written, and something both Kimberley and I would enjoy, little did I know that it was spectacular. Dismantled was haunting in a way that I've never experienced before. Even after thinking about the book for a few weeks, I still cannot put my finger on it adequately. It wasn't horror, no, far from it, but at the same time it was.. well, haunting is the perfect word for it. Unfortunately, due to the fairly mysterious nature of the book I can't say much, but I can say that Dismantled will take you on a roller coaster ride of emotion, chills, and finally you'll be blindsided by an ending that explains all, but leaves you wondering too.
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón ~ Oh dear I can't stress this one enough, obviously, by far one of the best novels I have had the good graces to read. Definitely a top ten!
Horror:
- It by Stephen King ~ This is probably the first and last time you'll hear me say this, but I was wrong back in August when I wrote about L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth. I quote:
"First and foremost I believe that you have to be very pompous and pretentious in order to write a book that is over a thousand pages. There is just too much story for one book. Period. No matter how good you are at writing, no matter how good you think you may be at storytelling, you cannot write a satisfactory story that is over a thousand pages. You just can't. There is just too much story and by not splitting it up into a sequel or trilogy, you lose valuable plot and world building options."
Stephen Kings It comes out to be a beastly 1104 pages long and I have to submit that it was damn good! Perhaps Hubbard really was really just a wretched storyteller or maybe it was the type of story, but in any case I had a blast reading It the whole way through. Not only was the story good, but it was horribly creepy! Scary may not be the right word, but damn did I have a hell of a time trying to read it in the wee hours of the night. I started the books with the movie adaptation floating around my head—if you're a horror junky the theatrical version of It is probably one of the best horror movies ever made (amazing I know)—and while the movie was indeed great, this book was amazing. The character development, the progression of the plot, and even the rather large time gap proved to me, once again, just how much of a master King is. Perhaps in a full-fledged post I can go into the amount of detail that this book really needs, but really if you're in the mood for something scary and have lots of time on your hands Stephen King's It is quite possibly one of the best horror novels I've yet to read. - The Stand by Stephen King ~ Now that I've read several books over a thousand pages in length I know for a fact that L. Ron Hubbard is just a terrible author. Sure his story was okay, but like I said in the full post, it could have been done in 300-500 pages at most. In any case, Stephen King has blown my mind again! As I read more of him, well his early stuff anyway, I've come to realize just how lucky we are to have such a prolific author writing in our generation. Not only does King address social issues in a way that's actually interesting to read about, but he wraps it all up into some of the creepiest stories ever. The Stand is only different in that regard, it is creepy, but for completely different reasons, this is more Nineteen Eighty Four creepy in the sense it could actually happen. Ringing in at 1168 pages, The Stand is the classic post-apocalyptic book, while the sub-genre has been around since the '40's, King is a must read! I suppose it would be more accurate to call this one a horror-fantasy, but at the same time the major theme of the book is the character study rather than the looming good versus evil battle. The characters are written in such a way that you cannot help but find yourself in all of them, the good and, horrifyingly, the evil. The only true downside I can see with The Stand is that it is somewhat dated, so some of the pop culture references were lost on me, but seeing as the story is about the end of the world as we know it, those pop references become vaguer and vaguer, and eventually lose all meaning as society tries to re-create itself. If you have even an inkling of interest in the post-apocalyptic sub-genre this is definitely a must read, especially since many of the later books in the field reference King heavily.
Mystery / Thriller
- Soul Runner by Jon Guenther ~ Kimberley introduced me to this author who just so happens to be one of her coworkers and although there are some major flaws, they have nothing to do with his writing as a whole. In fact, one of the reasons I've decided to add this book to the list is because, while I'm definitely not religious, I was able to look past that and see a rather intriguing story. The story follows Dr. Abram "Bram" Aronsfeld an ex-Hasidic Jew who also happens to be what is called a "Soul Runner". Around the world there are still places that reject Christianity and the job of a "Soul Runner" is to travel to these hostile countries and literally save Christians being persecuted there. The story has some great action scenes and honestly the idea is one that is somewhat new to me. I've always looked at Christianity as the persecutor not the persecutee and it was really fascinating to see the roles reversed. A fair warning though, every page, at least, has some sort of quote from the bible or Bram praising the lord, plus it seems that every other character Bram meets he converts into Christianity and "saves their soul". Hence the reason I had some major trouble with this book. Religious themes aside, the idea behind Soul Runner is a unique and fascinating one full of adventure and thrills. Think of it as a kinda religious spy novel. Worth picking up if you can ignore (or if you're into) the religion part.
- Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglass Preston ~ This is another one I have already written about, but one that I feel needs mentioning again!
Non-Fiction:
The Paranormal -
Over the last year I've read several paranormal books analyzed in the realm of science and journalism. I love myth and the whole metaphysical stuff, but the books I'm going to mention below will meet the approval of even the most skeptical. Plus, they were a good old fashion fun.
- The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson ~ Okay, well this one may not hold up to all the skeptics out there, but Jon Ronson did an excellent job with his investigations. The major problem with The Men Who Stare at Goats is the fact that it is damn hard to get any sort of useful information out of government and military personnel. Sure, many of the people Ronson interviewed were more than willing to talk, but they were all so... vague that many people probably have a hard time not dismissing such claims as mere conspiracy theories. It's true, many of the points Ronson was suggesting are... strange... but I can't quite dismiss it. Years and years ago I read a biography called Psychic Warrior written by David Morehouse detailed many of the same ideas presented by Ronson. It is really hard to say which side if the fence I fall on here because while I cannot dismiss the number of people who back up these claims, it's just hard for me to imagine a five star general trying, over and over, to walk through his office wall (only to smack his face in it time and time again). But at the same time if indeed such amazing feats were possible why wouldn't the military and government try and research it? It puts a whole new spin on war, if you have soldiers that can walk through any and all defensive structures and then proceed to drop you with just a look, who would mess with that army? Not to mention just the very application of remote viewing--meaning purposefully going out of body to real world, real time locations--in the spying world is tremendous. Whether or not they succeeded? Well that's up for debate. Even if they had, knowing our government, they wouldn't bother telling us no matter the civilian applications. All in all, though, Ronson does a damn good job breaking down a major claim, into more manageable and, at the same time, believable chunks. This one is definitely worth a read, but it should definitely be taken with a grain of salt and an open mind. Plus, of all the conspiracy type books out there, Ronson has an amazing sense of humor which makes The Men Who Stare at Goats amazingly readable.
- The Science of Vampires by Katherine M. Ramsland ~ Oh my long lasting love of vampires has finally panned out to more than just the fiction/horror shelves. I, first and foremost, have to applaud Katherine Ramsland's sheer force of will, vampire myths and tales have been around since the Egyptians, and just plodding through all that information takes more sanity than I even have. Anyone who may question the actual science of this book need only to look at Ramslands credentials: a masters degree in Forensic Psychology, another masters degree in Clinical Psychology, and on top of that a PhD in Philosophy—yes, yes, it's not science, but what PhD biologist would lower their pompous selves down to study vampires or the supernatural?--plus she's worked with FBI profilers to boot. So armed with her already vast academic knowledge and an almost obsessive eye for research, Ramsland takes apart each of the main myths associated with vampires. For example, she theorizes just how an actual entity might be able to consume pure blood with no ill effects, explores conditions which might explain why vampires cannot come out during the day, as well as takes a stab at what profiling a vampire's personality, and, of course, explores the question of whether or not vampires use their reproductive organs--Sorry Cullen fans their junk is for show only--as well as vampire sexuality in general. On top of all this research she interviews forensic experts as well as people who associate with the so called vampire sub-culture. This may not be of interest to any of the new vampire fans (those that only like vampires because of Stephanie Meyer) both because it came out in 2002 as well as she stays with the more traditional vampiric roles. In fact I believe she would agree in saying that vampires do not glitter, sparkle, or go to high school over and over again. What she does do is introduce and attempt to explain the myths behind vampires in a logical, scientific manner, which in the realm of vampires is a breath of fresh air. Anyone who is interested in many of the traditional myths behind vampires and would like to explore a more scientific route than that of speculative metaphysics should check out Katherine Ramslands The Science of Vampires. For those that are interested in less "out there" concepts Ramsland also has a host of books in the True Crime CSI realm as well which I'll vouch for.
- Spook by Mary Roach ~ Mary Roach, you will never cease to amaze me in your brilliance, you hooked me in with your wry humor and solid facts in Stiff, and now you appeal to my paranormal side with Spook, not to mention I have Bonk just waiting on my shelf. In Spook Mary Roach approaches the idea of the afterlife, not from the religious or theoretical point of view, but from the scientific "I need hard facts damn it" view. Roach approaches the vast field of the afterlife in several ways: Historically she looks at the major fascination with séances back in the early 1900s, culturally she dives into the different theories behind the afterlife including the Indian reincarnation (this is an excellent part of the book because she actually travels to India to follow a doctor studying reincarnated kids), she jumps across the pond and attends a psychic school in order to learn how to communicate with the dead, and then even goes on to explore medical doctors attempting to get evidence for near death experiences. She does all of this with a hilarious sense of humor and a hard headed determination for facts. Whether or not you are interested at all with the paranormal or you're an avid psychic looking for ways to prove yourself, Mary Roach hits the mark with Spook.
- Witch in the Waiting Room by Robert Bobrow ~ This one was especially fun to read because I have a crazy goal of becoming a doctor someday, well a psychiatrist, but still. Basically what Dr. Bobrow did was go through hundreds and hundreds of academic journals for paranormal type stuff. We're talking ghosts, reincarnation, near death experiences, the whole lot! I was actually rather surprised with the sheer amount of material he found, especially seeing as this is coming from academic journals known to be very, well, academic and anti-paranormal. The other great thing about The Witch in the Waiting Room is the very fact that Robert Bobrow is an M.D. and has been practicing medicine for over thirty years, so he knows his shit! This is really, really important when it comes to the writing because, as most college students know, academic journals are generally written in a not very user friendly way, especially medical ones. Dr. Bobrow takes these journals and gives a nice summery in layman terms, but with enough professionalism for the reader to know he's experienced in the field. Dr. Bobrows book is excellent for those super skeptics out there because it uses only peer-reviewed journals and has all the citation information listed in the back. Not to mention, as is common knowledge, doctors are generally really well respected when it comes to facts and scientific credibility, so medical journals are some of the harder journals to get published in. You'll honestly be surprised at some of the fascinating material doctors have been writing about for years, and if they believe in this stuff, is it so hard for you to as well? I should stress, though, that this is merely a brief look into the paranormal; if you consider yourself an "expert" in this sort of stuff you may find things here that you already know. Plus, because there are so many different concepts looked at in this book it does not go as in depth as some out there would like, but it is a great introduction to the paranormal based on fact rather than Sylvia Browne / David Icke "fact".
Science Fiction:
Cyberpunk –
I discovered cyberpunk over two years ago when one of my managers introduced me to the book Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and it didn't take long for me to become hooked. Essentially cyberpunk is described as combining "high tech and low life" (again thank you wiki) and more than likely the only exposure most people have had with it are through the Matrix Trilogy. Sadly, the Matrix can only be considered cyberpunk in the most general of ways, fringe cyberpunk if you will. You get the idea though, hackers have become the rulers of a somewhat post-apocalyptic somewhat dystopian future and the internet, well the internet has become a beastie all its own. Alas, it is horribly hard to describe in terms that make people actually want to check it out, so I'll just move on with the books and let you decide from there.
- Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams ~ Of all the cyberpunk books I read over last winter break this was my least favorite, but just the fact that it is on this list means that it was still something special. Williams is, as I found out, a somewhat local author here in Albuquerque, indeed he is in a writing group with Melinda Snodgrass, George R. R. Martin, and S. M. Stirling so he has an amazing group to throw ideas at. The only thing I did not like about Hardwired was the southwest-ness of it, growing up here I have no love for cowboys or adobe or any of the stuff that many from the east find so alluring, but I can still recognize that many do. Hell, much of the American mythology is based upon the Cowboy and the frontier. Setting that aside, Hardwired was cyber-military-punk so a lot of the book focused on the military applications of the cybernetics. In the case of Hardwired, the main character, named Cowboy -.-, is an outlaw smuggling goods across the country which as divided into city states. This is done by piloting panzers, but not the panzers of our grandparents, but catlike vehicles that run across the landscape. The piloting is done by jacking into the panzer itself which gives you the ability to "see" what the panzer sees and "feel" what the panzer feels. There is a tremendously well written story behind this theme, a very anti-corporation/government story! Cyberpunk generally focuses around the personal applications of technology whereas Hardwired strays somewhat and focuses more on outlaw/military application. Definitely worth the read, especially if you've blown threw other cyberpunks and would like to see different applications of such technology.
- Neuromancer by William Gibson ~ Wow, just trying to write about this book is daunting. It isn't very long, but holy shit! William Gibson is the inventor of cyberpunk and Neuromancer is the most quintessential cyberpunk novel ever written. Many science fiction books written after, many movies, and much of pop culture has been influenced by William Gibson, he almost singlehandedly invented what we think of as the internet today, and insanely he didn't know a thing about computers! Technically the Neuromancer is a trilogy, but even if you don't read the other two, but Neuromancer is essential to any sort of literary list. If you're just curious about what cyberpunk is, but don't want to have to sort through everything that's out there, or even the other books on this list, pick up Neuromancer because, really, everything that came after is heavily, heavily, influenced by this piece of work. If that doesn't sway you to read it then know this: it won the "triple crown" of sci-fi awards in its day, The Nebula Award, The Phillip K. Dick Award, and The Hugo Award. In other words, the top three science fiction honors a book can ever receive, most are lucky to even get one! The plot is complex and beyond my ability to summarize in the way this book deserves, so instead, just go buy it.
- Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling ~ I picked up this book based solely on Alastair Reynolds insane props:
"I owe an equally obvious debt to Bruce Sterling, whose 'Shaper/Mechanist' sequence blew my mind on several levels. Sterling's future history, even though it consists of only a single novel and a handful of stories, still feels utterly plausible to me twenty years after I first encountered it. Part of me wishes Sterling would write more 'Shaper/Mechanist' stories; another part of me admires him precisely for not doing so. Read Schismatrix if you haven't already done so: it will melt your face."
That is exactly what it did too, melt my face. I still remember when I finished it, I honestly sat there for 30 minutes utterly stunned by what I had just read. This isn't typical cyberpunk either, but it was written a year after Nueromancer and was also one of the books that has heavily influenced and defined what cyberpunk has become. Schismatrix Plus is everything ever written about the 'Shaper/Mechanist' Universe. It includes every short story as well as the full length novel Schismatrix, what's more is that it is all arranged in the way the Sterling intended it to be read. It is difficult, abstract, and intense beyond anything I could have imagined, but when you finish, you will utterly agree with Reynolds description.
- The Takashi Kovaks Novels by Richard K. Morgan ~ Ah, one of the only modern day authors to still write classic cyberpunk! I discovered Morgans' novels while reading a list of the best cyberpunk novels and anything that is listed alongside Gibson and Stephenson is worth checking out in my book. The 'first' book in the series is Altered Carbon. I put first in quotes because while all three novels are technically related (same main character, same universe, same tech), they have very little relation besides that. Indeed, each of the three novels explores three different types of cyberpunk. Altered Carbon, my favorite of the three, is the classic cyberpunk format, part mystery, part anti-government, part dystopian, but all intense. Broken Angels, the second book written, is of the more militaristic style of Hardwired and yet it also resembles modern day sci-fi, but still fundamentally cyberpunk. And the third, Woken Furies, is a mash up of everything, military, cyberpunk, hard sci-fi, soft sci-fi, and everything in-between! I found this approach amazing because you got to see the technology introduced in Altered Carbon in very diverse circumstances, whereas with books like Neuromancer and Snow Crash, you could see other uses than the novel outlines, but not clearly. The main tech found in this universe is the ability to store your entire personality within a cortical stack which allows you to "re-sleeve" into a new body with all your memories and personality intact. This alone has such intense connotations that I am amazed at just the pure possibilities of such a technology; studies on gender, identity, death, life, love, everything! Morgan explores all of these themes flawlessly in his three books and creates the classic cyberpunk antihero, Takashi Kovaks! You love him, you hate him, you wish you could be him! I feel like Morgan has picked up the mantle from the classics listed above and turned it on its head, exploring themes Gibson could only dream about, creating technology Stephenson would be in awe of, and military action that Williams would be proud of. While cyberpunk may be a niche genre liked by a few hardcore fans, Richard K. Morgan makes it accessible to every science fiction fan and introduces cyberpunk to a generation that may overlook it just based on the fact that cyberpunk was a huge movement in the '80s before slowly dying out in the '90s.
Overall though Cyberpunk is one of my absolute favorite genres, it combines amazing dystopian themes without being dated, it has just enough action to make it realistic without overdoing it, it rings true for the future, in some ways more than many other science fiction does, and creates characters that are realistic in a way that shows us that ideas such as "good" and "bad" are merely within the continuum of humanity.
