please recommend your favorite random house novels

[basschick]

i'm going to attempt to be reading a lot of random house at this point. i like english detective novels, dark fiction without too much romance, fantasy, robert b. parker and sue grafton style detective novels, soft scifi and can be open to other kinds of ebooks.

[ficbot]

I had to check Calibre. I don't usually note the publisher. Anyway, the Grishams are all Random House. I got mine from the public library, which was a score since they carry mostly romance and vampire stories. Some other good ones:

- The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
- Obedience by Will Lavender
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
- Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

[basschick]

thanks. when i looked up random house on fictionwise, there were over 10,000 books, so recommendations are definitely appreciated.

[Sparrow]

I love the books of Anne Tyler - she's published by Random House; but maybe doesn't match the specified criteria (except the "open to other kinds of ebooks" bit).

I've gotta ask - why Random House specifically? Did you win a competition of theirs??

[poohbear_nc]

Perhaps showing support for the only major publishing house to refuse to join the "agency model" pricing scheme madhouse.

[banjomike]

There a some Random House books available for free for Stanza on the iPhone/iPod, if you have one. I've downloaded several but read none. Typical.

Included:
Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur
Changelings by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
Templar Legacy by Steve Berry
Starfist: First to Fight by David Sherman and Dan Cragg
Demon Awakens by R. A. Salvatore

There are more.

[Elfwreck]

There's an article that claims/implies Random House is not doing the public or its authors any favors in avoiding the agency model:

I agree, but don’t think Random is afraid of lower prices. Instead, like many publishers, the company fears that clear sales numbers might give authors access to information they’re not supposed to see.

However, I don't want to distract too far from the point of this thread. As much as traditional publishing contracts can screw over authors, they're *stable;* the new pricing system is untested and that's a lot of change to inflict on a lot of authors at once.

Recommendations:
Authors Raymond Feist, Elizabeth Moon, and Connie Willis are all authors I remember liking but don't remember why.

I like Laurell K Hamilton's books, but if you don't like "too much romance," skip those; most are softcore to mid-level erotica.

I've loved everything I've read by David Brin, both the Uplift series & his other works. (Need to re-read Earth; I read it when the web was a new, tiny thing and I suspect it'll resonate differently now.)

George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series are very good, and I've liked what I've read of his other works, although I haven't read many of them

[basschick]

thanks for the recommendations, all. yes, i do want to spend my money at the only large publisher that isn't trying to basically - as i see it - screw everyone over. i want to let my money do the talking. i'll probably let emails do the talking, as well

i have all the ice and fire books - great series! i have almost all the laurell k's - not always great series, but seems that once i start with a series, i keep buying no matter how bad it gets

[Peadar Ó Guilín]

In that case, may I recommend my own book?

It's from Random House and available in pretty much every format. However, rather than paying up front, I always suggest people try out the sample chapters first.

Yes, you have been spammed.