OT - nerd books

Submitted by white_pony_rocks on

So I just finished my last final for my undergrad and I told myself that I was going to start reading more after I was done.  I'm looking for a good sci-fi/fantasy book, maybe a series.  Either something with dragons and magic or something in the future but not set on earth.  Any suggestions?  I keep asking the gf and shes keeps telling me to read Magical Thinking and I keep telling her that i want magic in the book, not in the title.

jrblue

July 28th, 2012 at 4:24 PM ^

I guess you get a nerd hall pass for not having been on top of this already since your excuse is that you were studying other books.  Read the books, then watch the series on HBO.  It doesn't get much better right now in fantasy/dragons/sex/magic/blood/guts/intrigue/power politics.

finch

July 28th, 2012 at 7:06 PM ^

Ugh, I'm a little over halfway through right now. I read the first three books in about a week each on my commute to work. This book feels like a chore to read and I've been reading it for about a month.

That said, I highly recommend the Dunk and Egg series - three short stories (so far) written by Martin that take place in the same universe about 90 years before A Game of Thrones. Read the first one novella before A Feast for Crows since the fourth book has some spoilers for the mini-series that takes away from a few of the reveals.

wolverine1987

July 29th, 2012 at 10:14 AM ^

the last two books IMO have been huge letdowns--little happens, we follow some characters that I don't care about at all, and he seems to have lost the strong narrative thread that the first three books had. I'm betting the tv series will do a better job of portraying the events in the last two books than Martin did.

pfholland

July 28th, 2012 at 4:31 PM ^

If you've got the time there's the Wheel of Time series. If you start it now you might be caught up when the last book comes out early next year.

club2230

July 28th, 2012 at 6:02 PM ^

I read much of the series then gave up and donated the first 9 back to the library.  I had an honest discussion with myself and decided that the reality of the situation was that I wasn't going to finish the series.  Most of the books I read were good, but it got to the point where it seemed like it was long for long's sake.  

LSAClassOf2000

July 28th, 2012 at 4:36 PM ^

If you have some time and don't mind a series which has almost 40 books in it, I would highly recommend the "Discworld" series by Terry Pratchett. It is an intelligently written and pretty funny series that makes many modern references as well. 

JimLahey

July 28th, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^

Not sure if it qualifies but Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorites. I'm somewhat of a nerd myself so I think you will appreciate his writing. I especially enjoy Welcome to the Monkeyhouse, a series of short stories that's very fun to dip in and out of. For a novel, Slaughterhouse Five is always a good one.

Wolverine Incognito

July 28th, 2012 at 4:46 PM ^

Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy.  Don't Panic.

5 books in total, and 1 that was written by someone else, so 6 sorta.

Very good dry british humor if you are looking for something a little more light hearted.

Heinous Wagner

July 28th, 2012 at 5:01 PM ^

How can you go wrong with a series set on a flat world balanced on the back of four elephants standing on a turtle? Or where Death (yes, THAT Death with robe and scythe) rides a horse called Binky and has a granddaughter named Susan? 

JonSnow54

July 28th, 2012 at 5:02 PM ^

In addition to song of ice and fire and wheel of time, which are probably my top 2 but have already been suggested, Mistborn is a great series. It is by Bradon Sanderson, who is also writing the final books of the Wheel of Time series.

OysterMonkey

July 28th, 2012 at 5:03 PM ^

Philip K Dick is great. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Is probably my favorite, but most of his stuff is really good. VALIS is good & weird and I really liked Time Put Of Joint also.



Also second the Vonnegut suggestion.