originally posted by Ashley Reay
Thanks for the recommendations guys:D I've had a dry spell searching for good new books for the past few months. It was horrible.
I recommend Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart and it's series. I bought the book during a summer vacation and by the time the next summer vacation came along, I'd reread it 5 times. Three trilogies (the third's in progress) with three very different main characters and I find it fascinating how she's able to change her writing style to reflect the character's personality. Another good read is Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy.
Can't wait for Initiate's Trial!!! So excited!!!
originally posted by Konran
Ashley, if you enjoyed the Kushiel series, you may want to look for Carey's other fantasy project. She has a duology called Banewreaker and Godslayer, which is a loose retelling of Lord of the Rings, but from the bad guy's point of view.
originally posted by Mark Stephen Kominski
I'd almost picked up Kushiel's Dart several times; hearing good things about it might make me do it next time! 
3 quarters thru Shadowrise, and the myriad different sub-plots are converging…final book is due out in October, as is Stephen Donaldson's next Covenant Book, Against All Things Ending. All adds up to a nice end to the year with IT in that timeframe, but so much re-reading to do (I was almost lost in Shadowrise, and actually needed the synopses this time!).
originally posted by Konran
Definitely give Kushiel a try; Carey is excellent at politics. D: I knew the new Donaldson book was coming out this year… but we really have to wait till October? *cry* Also, for Temeraire fans, word is that the new book in the series is coming out in July…
originally posted by Raelene Monahan
If this has not already been said, (and there is a very long archive list i'm not looking at 
) I would definetly recomend reading the valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey. You could start with Arrows of the Queen as the first she wrote, or the latest series's book Foundation, or indeed just about any trilogy along the way. There are over 30 books in the valdemar series alone and every one is a delight to read. She also has lots of other series including respinning classic fairytales like cinderella, the swan princess, beauty and the beast etc with lots of fun, and a wonderful two trilogy's with James Mallory the Obsidian Trilogy and the enduring flame trilogy. All really great reads to tide us over till IT!
originally posted by Auna
I recently became a Brandon Sanderson addict. It's really quite funny - I was pondering whether to buy the final Robert Jordan books and decided to check this guy out who was writing the ending (never heard of him before). Anyway, read a chapter snippet from one of his published books and immediately got hooked. Now he is on my short list of authors I buy everything of without even reading a preview first.
Of course this got me into trouble this week when I got a delivery, it was a pre-ordered book of his, went whoop!, delved in, and 1000 pages, two days later and a query on a book 2 timeframe realized it was his epic 10 book series. Why do I do this to myself? Waah. The book was super good though and didn't leave off badly fortunately Can't wait for more of his stuff!
originally posted by max
does anyone out there know anything about e-books? there is a story set, 'dance of the rings' that has continued after 11 years of waiting and it is only available in e-book format. the world keeps trying to force me into hi tech gear and all I want to do is under the covers and read until my book is worn out!! I don't own a cell phone or a computer and my TV is a dumpster set my brother found for me. It works OK but it is definitly not hi definition. I am thinking of a kindle but I don't know if that is enough to read an e-book. [smilin at ya]
originally posted by Trys
Hi max,
I have a Kindle. I bought it because as I've gotten a bit older my eyesight has changed. I was wearing 'reading' glasses (the magnifier ones… not prescription) and while they worked well enough I either had to move my head or the book. With the Kindle I can adjust the size of the font so that it is easily readable. The Kindle connects to the 'Net via 'Whispernet' and I can buy books through the Kindle or use a web browser to buy books through Amazon.com and it will download to the Kindle. A couple of downsides. Graphics are small and only those books that have been converted to Kindle are available (some books are available on other e-book formats but not yet Kindle). I've also noticed some formatting issues which I believe are caused by the book being rushed into e-book format.
Trys
originally posted by Maggie
Hey Max,
I have a sony e-reader, the small cheap one, and I haven't had a problem with it. It does not have problems downloading all of the free books off of project guentburg, or off google. However, I have one problem with it, is that it takes too long to flip the page. It is much quicker to flip a physical book than to have the e-reader load the next one. And because it is smaller than an average book, you have to flip more often. However, I really like it as something easy to take with you wherever that can fit almost anywhere!
there are sometimes conversion errors where you cannot see everything, or some of the image to text programs misread a word, but in general its pretty good.
I think you can get Kindle software to run that format on your computer. Seen the adverts. for it…not an e book device person, yet, me…
originally posted by Trys
Kindle software is available for both PC and Mac. It does not have all of the features that actual Kindle has (grouping of books for example).
It does turn pages quickly.
originally posted by Hunter
There is also a Kindle app for iPhones and all three (Kindle, PC app and iPhone) are kept in sync via the network connection back to your Amazon account. all works pretty well.
As Trys notes, the pictures don't always translate properly. On the plus side, you can go to the Gutenberg Project and download classic books in either PDF or MOBI format (Kindle's native format) and download these to your Kindle from your PC/Mac.
I'm very happy with my Kindle.
originally posted by Konran
Hey fellow bibliophiles, just thought I'd drop in to let you all know that Stephen R. Donaldson's next Thomas Covenant book is out! I won a copy through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program and I'm most of the way through – it's very good. So if you need a little something to chew through while waiting for Initiate's Trial…
originally posted by Neil
I have just read my first ebook on the iphone4 "we need to talk about kevin"…and can recommend this book. Grim but fairly gripping…nothing like WoLaS though and probably not for those without children yet
I saw Jean Auel's 6th earth's children book is due out next March 2011.
For any readers who like Gail Martin, (who kindly posted a splended interview on her venue, Ghost in the Machine) - she has a new release out from Orbit Books titled The Dread, and has asked to spread the word.
Excerpt here, feel free to give it a whirl:
Free excerpt (one of four) from new epic fantasy The Dread by @GailZMartin and #Orbit Books: http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ltv7mo
Attention, readers who love Julie Czerneda, Juliet McKenna, Lynn Flewelling – and who like Todd Lockwood's art - there is a new shared world anthology proposal (FILLED chock full of magic) posted on Kickstarter - check it out.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/563681582/tales-of-the-emerald-serpent-share d-world-mosaic-a
I just finished Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep, which blew me away…this book was published in the EARLY NINETIES??? The ideas - so frighteningly relevant, today. This man was a visionary, way WAY ahead of most.
I see why this title has earned so much acclaim. Shame it took me so long to read it, it's been on the shelf, here, for Ages.
For Guy Kay enthusiasts, Guy forwarded me this link this morning about various versions of the cover art for The Summer Tree.
http://www.fantasy-matters.com/2012/06/judging-book-by-its-cover-summer-tree.htm l
originally posted by Beldarius
These books are actually rather old, but I never get tired of reading and recommending them.
Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain series - it's just a very refreshing and unique read for childrens' fantasy, and a must-read for anyone interested in Celtic mythology (another mythology-based series I love is Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence, and the two series are about as old to top it all off).
…I wish I could get permission to translate Finnish fantasy books into English. Anu Holopainen is a very good author and I bet her books would be appreciated abroad, too. Especially this time travel trilogy taking place in Atlantis.
I definitely enjoyed Lloyed Alexander's works when I was young.
My next, long anticipated read is Jennifer Roberson's finish to her Karavans series, The Wild Road.