Recommend me some Fantasy/SF, if you have a free moment

[radius]

Originally Posted by MdB

So, the question would be - as you all are quite well versed in both genres, where to go next, for one who loved:

A Song of Ice & Fire
The Wheel of Time
LOTR
ANYThing by Ray Bradbury
Douglass Preston & Lincoln Child
Dean Koontz
Stephen King
Neal Stephenson
Ender's Game (haven't tried any other OSC yet)

My recommendations (which overlap somewhat with those already given) are:

The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson (including the books Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World) can't be considered a "classic" yet but otherwise fits your criteria nicely.

You indicated Neal Stephenson already in your list above, but I assume that is in his science fiction guise. The Baroque Cycle is historical fiction (in that it incorporates many real people and events) but written with science fiction sensibilities. That is, instead of being a romance or intrigue, it looks behind the scenes to figure out why things happen. I loved the comparison of a pirate trading venture with a modern dot-com startup company (though this is never stated explicitly). It is about the birth of the modern financial system, globalisation, fiat money and speculation... a pretty timely read!

Here, Stephenson is detail oriented, the story has an epic sweep and the main characters are interesting and sharply drawn; things I gather you like if I am looking at your reading list in the correct light.


You should also definitely try some Harlan Ellison, who is more like Ray Bradbury (a stylist and short-form writer) except angrier. My personal favourite stories are I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman, A Boy and His Dog, and Jeffty is Five. Its hard for me to describe these in a way that makes them sound appealing, so I will have to leave that to someone more talented than I am, but these really are classics.


Going to the roots of modern horror, if you would like to try something very gothic and atmospheric, I would recommend almost anything by Clark Ashton Smith, a contemporary of the more obvious H.P. Lovecraft, and, I think, the better writer. Like Harlan Ellison, I enjoy Smith for his style and not his plots. I think most of his short stories are available in the public domain, so you can take a sampling with small investment in time and money.

I think my favourite CAS stories are The Abominations of Yondo, The Beast of Averoigne, and A Night in Malnéant, but really they're all good stories about what lurks around the corner as opposed to slash/shock horror.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by radius

When he returns "home" to England and contrasts English society with jungle society?

Hmmm. I see what you're getting at, but not exactly the main purpose of the books, is it?

[wayspooled]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Tarzan as political satire? I'm afraid I'd have to disagree with you about that! Superb adventure stories, but where does the political satire come into them?

hehehe, no.. Sorry, poor sentence structure Not Tarzan. The Three Musketeers and Scaramouche are political satire and social commentaries I'd have to say social commentary might be a better description than political satire which term I'm using in the broadest sense.