*must not by Woken Furies until it's in PB, must not buy Woken Furies until it's in PB, must not buy...*

Okay, so I've made an amazon order. I picked up Chasm City, Forbidden Knowledge and a book called Virconium by M. John Harrison (kind of an impulse buy, the last one, but both Neil and China Mieville endorsed it, so it can't be that bad).

I looked for the Banks books, but all the ones Zoneseek recommended were out of print Guess they'll have to wait.

Lots to choose from now! Should help me get into the right mood.

Heh, I was gonna say Viriconium too. The style's more lyrical than hardboiled, but it has the world-weary reluctant hero, satisfying violence, and occasional grime and blood and squalor keep the high fantasy at a relatable level. Way better than Gene Wolfe.

Orbit reprinted Banks' books, the covers are very pretty. Or are they unavailable in the US?

Not so happy with Gene Wolfe in the end, Zoneseek? How far'd you get?

It looks like they're going to reprint some of the Banks books soon...which seems kind of weird. Didn't the Algebraist just come out? But yeah, they didn't have the other two at all. Which is a bummer, cause I think you're right: they would've hit the spot. Glad you dug Virconium, it sounded interesting, and I figure with Mieville and Neil's blurbs, it'd have to be somewhat dark and moody .

Partly a crack at Wolfe, partly on how much I love Viriconium, my copy's already getting ragged from use. I just browsed through the rest of the New Sun.

Lord tegeus-Cromis (He of the nameless sword, who fancies himself a better poet than warrior, who wears ten rings of nonprecious metals intagliated with arcane sphenograms) could kick Severian's ass.

Okay, so one is ancient and the other just old, but they might fit your criteria if you haven't yet read 'em--especially Gravity's Rainbow.
Number one on my top ten list of all time.

And more recently, Vineland (less violence, less sex, but plenty of paranoia for all). By the MASTER, Thomas Pynchon.

Score! Got The City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer. This one I'm ranking with Mieville, and Mieville agrees. The black and white illustrations and the elaborate text studded with footnotes reminds me of Kipling. Haunting, spooky, even funny in spots.

Saw City of Saints and Madmen in the store, too. Haven't read anything else by him, but it looked like something I'd be totally into.

Jazzcat, who wrote Gravity's Rainbow? What's it about?

Started reading Chasm City last night (God, it takes me SO much longer to read books now that I'm a dad). Still, after only 15 pages, I was digging it. Creepy as hell prologue/introduction.

Clive Barker's Great and Secret Show - everything is a metaphor for sex... or the thing for which sex is a metaphor.

Stephen King's Dark Tower oeuvre - used up, rusted out and ground-in dirty at the end of all history.


- Soul

Don't be intimidated by George R.R. Martin. You'll become addicted quickly. And it's very gritty, funny, and complex. Soon you'll be annoying your wife and friends by blabbering about it all the time.

Rainbow is Pynchon again.You are in for a treat, my friend! He truly is a Grand Master.

My test of whether I’ll get into a book is by reading the first page, so here: http://books.google.com/books?id=iPDGp7VT8H8C&dq=Thomas...print&ct=result&cd=1

More sites that you won’t really care about until after you read him:

http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/ (And note pychonalia in sidebar)

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/

http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pynchon

http://www.acmeme.org/pynchon/


Enjoy!

House of Leaves

Mark Z Danielewski

Geez, it takes me sooooo much longer to read stuff these days. But I finally finished reading Chasm City two nights ago. I started out fairly impressed and entertained with this book, but at the same time thinking there were a lot of loose plot threads and that they probably wouldn't come together in the end.

Was I wrong!

This book just kept getting better and better. I know Zoneseek mentioned it being similiar to some of Richard K. Morgan's stuff. I think Morgan probably writes tough guys dialouge and thought process better, but Reynolds does just everything else with an easy superiority. Creating and introducing technology, weaving the plot together, especially plot twists, and the large cast of characters (not to mention different times covered). A very exciting book.

The Man Who Never Missed by Steve Perry

Iain M. Banks rocks. I have all his sf now and I've been re-reading the good bits. Probably too early to write anything but fanboy praise, but damn this stuff is good.

Gritty? Invariably in Banks's books, you fall for the characters a little bit, and after you've read a few, you go in knowing that major characters will die, and you will care.

Scoundrel! I haven't forgotten! Well, okay, I had, but I just remembered (because of the other thread) why Only Forward has been sitting on my entertainment center for the last month! On Monday I will have it in the mail to you! Gah! I'm shouting! But Gah! I can't believe I forgot!

I just finished a book called 'Bug Jack Barron' by Norman Spinrad. Its got lots of sex, lots of hippie drugs (pot and acid) and some violence. Its kinda sci-fi and you may enjoy it... though be warned: its very much a product of the 60s, and if constant references to pot and Berkely and Dylan lyrics annoy you, you might want to stay away

Or you can wager your sanity and enter the House

Oooooooooooo. That's not at all what I was thinking originally TLOY, but it sounds pretty groovy in it's own kind of way and I might just have to give it a shot. And I'm definitely going to have to pick up House of Leaves one of these days...I've heard too many good but disturbing things about it not to!

quote:

Originally posted by JP:
Scoundrel! I haven't forgotten! Well, okay, I had, but I just remembered (because of the other thread) why Only Forward has been sitting on my entertainment center for the last month! On Monday I will have it in the mail to you! Gah! I'm shouting! But Gah! I can't believe I forgot!

I just saw this in the other thread! No worries -- I'll read it when you send it to me but I've got other stuff to keep me pre-occupied.

I just finished Donaldson's Forbidden Knowledge. I'd read the first book of Thomas Covenant and felt kind of blah about it. But his space stuff is a lot more exciting...and disturbing and violent. This is the second one of his that I've read. Surprisingly, he ups the ante and manages to delve into every character's dark side. Don't read this if you have a weak stomach.

I think I'll probably read Virconium next, although City of Madmen and Saints and China Mieville's short story collection are tempting, too.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions. I plan on checking them out in greater detail in the near future!

Jocelyn told me someone mentioned Thomas Covenant - which means that I must mention a local cable access show that discusses and re-enacts Lord Foul's Bane. Donaldson himself actually appears as a bit character in some of the re-enactments.

If anyone else is looking for gritty sci-fi, I recommend Nick Sagan. I read Idlewild a couple of years ago and really enjoyed. It's a cyberpunk book, but he has his own thing going on and it's a lot of fun and angst. The hero goes by the name of Halloween. 'nuff said. Edenborn, the sequel, is good too. Very different in mood and tone, but still pretty dark, especially the further you get into it.