Need help finding a certain type of series - Help please! - Page 2

damican · 02-18-2015, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by owly

"Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan, "Sword of Truth series" by Terry Goodkind.

Read em both. As a quick aside Goodkinds works are a lot less good (in my mind) when you know a few personal facts about him.

bgalbrecht · 02-19-2015, 01:54 AM

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series starts with Miles Vorkosigan's parents, but starting with the omnibus Young Miles, the novels take Miles, the crippled son of the regent and cousin of the Emperor from the age of 17 to the mid-40s, as he goes from a crippled military academy washout to accidental mercenary commander, agent provocateur, and finally Imperial Auditor, a sort of an inspector general and crack investigator.

hildea · 02-19-2015, 01:57 AM

Elisabeth Moon "Deeds of Paksenarrion". Sheepfarmer's daughter who enlists as solider, becomes paladin and national hero.

Trudi Canavan "The Black Magician" triology. Slum dweller is found to have magical talent, in a country where only nobles get to learn magic.

damican · 02-19-2015, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hildea

Elisabeth Moon "Deeds of Paksenarrion". Sheepfarmer's daughter who enlists as solider, becomes paladin and national hero.

Trudi Canavan "The Black Magician" triology. Slum dweller is found to have magical talent, in a country where only nobles get to learn magic.

I've read them both. Really enjoyed Paksenarrion.

I've heard of the Vorkosigan but haven't tried it. I will now do so.

Thanks for the replies guys.

BenG · 02-19-2015, 09:38 AM

You may like the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. It follows the life of Jack Aubrey and his friend Stephen Maturin during the Napoleonic wars from Jack's beginning as Master and Commander (He's "captain" of a ship but has not achieved the naval rank of Captain) to his career as Admiral.

damican · 02-19-2015, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenG

You may like the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. It follows the life of Jack Aubrey and his friend Stephen Maturin during the Napoleonic wars from Jack's beginning as Master and Commander (He's "captain" of a ship but has not achieved the naval rank of Captain) to his career as Admiral.

This sounds like something I'd be interested in.

I'm more interested in something more urban like business/political, but this is something I def will check out.

DrNefario · 02-19-2015, 01:13 PM

In a similar vein - in fact I'd guess many of the Hornblower-inspired serieses would count for this, including Hornblower - there's the Seafort Saga by David Feintuch. It's SF, and I have no idea of its ebook availability, but I think Seafort does end up being rather more powerful than Aubrey or Hornblower or Harrington.

damican · 02-19-2015, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrNefario

In a similar vein - in fact I'd guess many of the Hornblower-inspired serieses would count for this, including Hornblower - there's the Seafort Saga by David Feintuch. It's SF, and I have no idea of its ebook availability, but I think Seafort does end up being rather more powerful than Aubrey or Hornblower or Harrington.

Big fan of harrington, cant wait for a new book in the main story. I'm not sure hornblower is for me though.

artifact · 02-19-2015, 08:05 PM

Vorkosigan is what first popped into my mind but someone beat me to that so...

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera. Ancient Rome meets high magic meets Pokemon where a magical washout turns into the savior of the world from aliens (not evilness) over 6 books.

ATDrake · 02-19-2015, 08:17 PM

If you're into Lovecraftian bureaucracy spy thriller spoofs which gradually tilt more towards pre-apocalyptic urban dark fantasy trope-exploration, then Charles Stross' The Laundry Files series (Wikipedia, which links to a bunch of free-to-read-online novellas to try) might be the thing for you.

Protagonist Bob Howard starts off as a relatively low-level office IT guy with a few tech-assisted magical skills, who gradually keeps levelling up with knowledge and abilities as he tries to help stave off the effects of The Stars Becoming Right, to the point where the author now considers him unsuitable to be the 1st-person protagonist of the next couple of stories because he's gotten too powerful in relation to his supporting-cast colleagues (who'll be taking over the POV narration duties), at least until all hell finally breaks loose in a few more novels and he'll be up directly against The Things From The Dungeon Dimensions which outclass him again.

This series is one of my personal favourites and IMHO, it's really good, and funny in places (but with a decided tendency to go very dark with the Mood Whiplash, so YMMV), and two of the novellas have been nominated for/won Hugo Awards.

damican · 02-20-2015, 11:11 PM

A good parallel to what I'm looking for is the TV series "House of Cards" with Kevin Spacey.

ATDrake · 02-21-2015, 12:15 AM

Well, if you want a strong political component, another good Lois McMaster Bujold to try is her Chalion fantasy series, which is loosely based on the Spanish Reconquista, especially the 1st-in-series The Curse of Chalion which tells a self-contained story that can be read standalone, and was the winner of a Mythopoeic Prize as well.

It has a kind of double-journey from lowly to high for two of its major characters, one of whom starts from being an abandoned war prisoner stripped of all his former property, and the other as a privileged but powerless pawn, and there's a lot of court intrigue and backstabbing and maneuvering to get them into better positions by the end.

The other 2 books in the series also have main characters going from scorned and neglected to superpowered, but they're not as overtly political and more adventure-ish.

Speaking of House of Cards, have you perhaps tried the Michael Dobbs novels the original UK miniseries trilogy was based upon? They're supposed to be quite good (I haven't read them myself, but I do own the Blu-Rays of the mini, though I haven't finished watching them yet), and you haven't mentioned them upthread.

damican · 02-21-2015, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Well, if you want a strong political component, another good Lois McMaster Bujold to try is her Chalion fantasy series, which is loosely based on the Spanish Reconquista, especially the 1st-in-series The Curse of Chalion which tells a self-contained story that can be read standalone, and was the winner of a Mythopoeic Prize as well.

It has a kind of double-journey from lowly to high for two of its major characters, one of whom starts from being an abandoned war prisoner stripped of all his former property, and the other as a privileged but powerless pawn, and there's a lot of court intrigue and backstabbing and maneuvering to get them into better positions by the end.

The other 2 books in the series also have main characters going from scorned and neglected to superpowered, but they're not as overtly political and more adventure-ish.

Speaking of House of Cards, have you perhaps tried the Michael Dobbs novels the original UK miniseries trilogy was based upon? They're supposed to be quite good (I haven't read them myself, but I do own the Blu-Rays of the mini, though I haven't finished watching them yet), and you haven't mentioned them upthread.

I'll give Chalion a try. I'm hoping for something in the vein of House of Cards, in how the main character has a plan to go from his current spot, to top the world. He follows said plan, and connives and does generally amusing/amazing(albeit evil) things along the way.

ametzler · 02-21-2015, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damican

I'll give Chalion a try. I'm hoping for something in the vein of House of Cards, in how the main character has a plan to go from his current spot, to top the world. He follows said plan, and connives and does generally amusing/amazing(albeit evil) things along the way.

I do not think you are going to find this there, imho the main character is definitely a good guy here. (Still it is a great book.)

Anyway, how about Conn Iggulden Conqueror series? It is lacking in humor, though.

cu Andreas

damican · 02-21-2015, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ametzler

I do not think you are going to find this there, imho the main character is definitely a good guy here. (Still it is a great book.)

Anyway, how about Conn Iggulden Conqueror series? It is lacking in humor, though.

cu Andreas

I dont mind if the character is good. I was more referring to the scheming, planning, cerebral nature of it.

I'll check out Conn

02-19-2015, 01:54 AM	#17
bgalbrecht Wizard Posts: 1,806 Karma: 13399999 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: US Device: Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Glo HD, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle 4	Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series starts with Miles Vorkosigan's parents, but starting with the omnibus Young Miles, the novels take Miles, the crippled son of the regent and cousin of the Emperor from the age of 17 to the mid-40s, as he goes from a crippled military academy washout to accidental mercenary commander, agent provocateur, and finally Imperial Auditor, a sort of an inspector general and crack investigator. Last edited by bgalbrecht; 02-19-2015 at 02:18 AM. Reason: elaboration

02-19-2015, 08:05 PM	#24
artifact Addict Posts: 276 Karma: 3569616 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: jetBook (RIP), Kobo Touch	Vorkosigan is what first popped into my mind but someone beat me to that so... Jim Butcher's Codex Alera. Ancient Rome meets high magic meets Pokemon where a magical washout turns into the savior of the world from aliens (not evilness) over 6 books. Last edited by artifact; 02-19-2015 at 08:26 PM.

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02-19-2015, 01:57 AM	#18
hildea Wizard Posts: 1,321 Karma: 69134700 Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Norway Device: PocketBook Touch Lux (had Onyx Boox Poke 3 and BeBook Neo earlier)	Elisabeth Moon "Deeds of Paksenarrion". Sheepfarmer's daughter who enlists as solider, becomes paladin and national hero. Trudi Canavan "The Black Magician" triology. Slum dweller is found to have magical talent, in a country where only nobles get to learn magic.

02-19-2015, 09:38 AM	#20
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,730 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	You may like the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. It follows the life of Jack Aubrey and his friend Stephen Maturin during the Napoleonic wars from Jack's beginning as Master and Commander (He's "captain" of a ship but has not achieved the naval rank of Captain) to his career as Admiral.

02-19-2015, 01:13 PM	#22
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,227 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	In a similar vein - in fact I'd guess many of the Hornblower-inspired serieses would count for this, including Hornblower - there's the Seafort Saga by David Feintuch. It's SF, and I have no idea of its ebook availability, but I think Seafort does end up being rather more powerful than Aubrey or Hornblower or Harrington.

02-19-2015, 08:17 PM	#25
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	If you're into Lovecraftian bureaucracy spy thriller spoofs which gradually tilt more towards pre-apocalyptic urban dark fantasy trope-exploration, then Charles Stross' The Laundry Files series (Wikipedia, which links to a bunch of free-to-read-online novellas to try) might be the thing for you. Protagonist Bob Howard starts off as a relatively low-level office IT guy with a few tech-assisted magical skills, who gradually keeps levelling up with knowledge and abilities as he tries to help stave off the effects of The Stars Becoming Right, to the point where the author now considers him unsuitable to be the 1st-person protagonist of the next couple of stories because he's gotten too powerful in relation to his supporting-cast colleagues (who'll be taking over the POV narration duties), at least until all hell finally breaks loose in a few more novels and he'll be up directly against The Things From The Dungeon Dimensions which outclass him again. This series is one of my personal favourites and IMHO, it's really good, and funny in places (but with a decided tendency to go very dark with the Mood Whiplash, so YMMV), and two of the novellas have been nominated for/won Hugo Awards.

02-20-2015, 11:11 PM	#26
damican Member Posts: 14 Karma: 11602 Join Date: Feb 2015 Device: none	A good parallel to what I'm looking for is the TV series "House of Cards" with Kevin Spacey.

02-21-2015, 12:15 AM	#27
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Well, if you want a strong political component, another good Lois McMaster Bujold to try is her Chalion fantasy series, which is loosely based on the Spanish Reconquista, especially the 1st-in-series The Curse of Chalion which tells a self-contained story that can be read standalone, and was the winner of a Mythopoeic Prize as well. It has a kind of double-journey from lowly to high for two of its major characters, one of whom starts from being an abandoned war prisoner stripped of all his former property, and the other as a privileged but powerless pawn, and there's a lot of court intrigue and backstabbing and maneuvering to get them into better positions by the end. The other 2 books in the series also have main characters going from scorned and neglected to superpowered, but they're not as overtly political and more adventure-ish. Speaking of House of Cards, have you perhaps tried the Michael Dobbs novels the original UK miniseries trilogy was based upon? They're supposed to be quite good (I haven't read them myself, but I do own the Blu-Rays of the mini, though I haven't finished watching them yet), and you haven't mentioned them upthread.