SFW Book club

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Cuchuilain

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Figured you guys are about as close to a like minded group of peers as I know, so I figured some of you might have similar SFW book tastes to me. (ie non chick-lit). My reading list has dried up and I'm struggling for ideas, so I wondered if you might have any suggestions.
Ideas welcome from any suitable genre. Anything from Stieg Larsson (Millennium trilogy) to Robert E Howard (Conan The Barbarian) to Chekhov (short form master) etc.
Or suggest which published authors inspire you to write.
thanks
 
Thanks
@Yurisenpai - I think all I've read of Bradbury was the Martian Chronicles and the Illustrated Man, both great compilations of short stories, and I think I was drawn to the first because of the excellent TV adaptation with Rock Hudson. You're right - we need more of him. 451 is going on the list.
@TheLeherengin - I think I read the first Discworld novel when it came out, but probably havent given the series a proper chance. It seems to be a little like marmite though and I see its folowers tend to be more than a little obsessive about it. I'll have a think about that one. I have read most of Gaiman's output though and it has been awesome - too many favourites!, but I haven't read Good Omens yet - so good call - that has to go on the pile.

The list so far then is:
  • Fahrenheit 451
  • Good Omens
 
The way I see it... the worse and more obsessive the fanbase of something is... the better the thing itself usually is... Ignore fans, try the thing... Also while I recommend just reading them straight through, there are different recommendations on reading order from different people you can find. You can technically read them for the most part in any order though.
 
Cuchuilain said:
I think I read the first Discworld novel when it came out, but probably havent given the series a proper chance. It seems to be a little like marmite though and I see its folowers tend to be more than a little obsessive about it. I'll have a think about that one.
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I recommend Guards! Guards! as your first (or rather, second) Discworld novel. The first couple of books are pretty different from the rest of the series, and Guards! Guards! is a good compromise between early enough for everything to make sense without needing a ton of backstory, and late enough for Pratchett to have found his voice.

As for a non-Discworld recommendation, I'd pick A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.
 
Thanks for that - Guards! Guards! it is then.
A fire upon the deep is definitely in - I hadn't heard of that. On first glance/google it seems to be in the same ballpark as Iain M Banks' Culture Series ("Consider Phlebas" etc), which I loved, but didn't really know enough about the sort of intelligent space opera genre to know where to turn next. Looking forward to that one!"
The list is now:
  • Fahrenheit 451
  • Good Omens
  • Guards! Guards!
  • A fire upon the deep
I'm going to start sourcing these.
 
TheLowKing said:
I recommend Guards! Guards! as your first (or rather, second) Discworld novel. The first couple of books are pretty different from the rest of the series, and Guards! Guards! is a good compromise between early enough for everything to make sense without needing a ton of backstory, and late enough for Pratchett to have found his voice.

As for a non-Discworld recommendation, I'd pick A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.
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Definitely seconding the guards guards recommendation. I do still recommend Colour Of Magic, Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort, Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters and Pyramids eventually, but there is definitely some issues with the older books.

I will say though if you can find it, there's a graphic novel that is a rewrite essentially of The first two Discworld novels and it fixes a lot of the writing issues with the earlier books.
 
Ok thanks all - sourced some of the list but reading it more in the order that I've found the texts.

Guards! Guards! - yes - you're right, the quality of this is excellent and sustained throughout (and a better story and much better written IMO as I recall than The colour of magic). Enough that I will continue with the series anyway. I also found it written in such an easy to consume way that I ended up rattling through it in no time at all. Great suggestion, and one that I'd be happy to pass on to anyone looking for something in this vein.

Onto Fahrenheit 451 now...
 
Cuchuilain said:
Ok thanks all - sourced some of the list but reading it more in the order that I've found the texts.

Guards! Guards! - yes - you're right, the quality of this is excellent and sustained throughout (and a better story and much better written IMO as I recall than The colour of magic). Enough that I will continue with the series anyway. I also found it written in such an easy to consume way that I ended up rattling through it in no time at all. Great suggestion, and one that I'd be happy to pass on to anyone looking for something in this vein.

Onto Fahrenheit 451 now...
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Glad to hear it!
 
SeriousBrainDamage said:
Dune, great book, in every sense.

Brave New World.
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Thanks.
I've always shied away from Dune due to its size. It seems to be the War and Peace of SciFi any time I've seen a physical copy. However, thats a poor excuse, so its in the list now.
I have no such excuse for Brave New World though. That definitely should have been read ages ago! Thanks for helping me correct that wrong.

List now stands at:
  • Guards! Guards! - (Assimilated. Would Highly Recommend)
  • Fahrenheit 451 - (Ongoing)
  • Good Omens
  • A fire upon the deep
  • Brave New World
  • Dune
 
Cuchuilain said:
Thanks.
I've always shied away from Dune due to its size. It seems to be the War and Peace of SciFi any time I've seen a physical copy. However, thats a poor excuse, so its in the list now.
I have no such excuse for Brave New World though. That definitely should have been read ages ago! Thanks for helping me correct that wrong.

List now stands at:
  • Guards! Guards! - (Assimilated. Would Highly Recommend)
  • Fahrenheit 451 - (Ongoing)
  • Good Omens
  • A fire upon the deep
  • Brave New World
  • Dune
Click to expand...

Honestly, it was surprisingly good. Herbert style is very peculiar, I grew fond of it as I read.
I knew vaguely the story since I had watched a couple of times the David Linch adaptation, but the book is so much more.

It's a book of the mind though, full of details, thoughts, and events but devoid of emotions. It's like watching google maps and then zooming back and forth.

You may be tempted to keep reading the sequels. Don't do that.

If you still have spare space to fill in that list, I'd add a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories. Food for immagination.
The guy was a weirdo but had so many ideas.
And his style, well, let's just say it is "queer" and "eldritch" like no one else.
 
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Thanks - I've read a little bit of Lovecraft, @SeriousBrainDamage (the call of cthulhu and not much more) but like Pratchett I'm a bit rudderless with it. If you care to suggest a suitable piece, it goes in the list.
Interestingly, when you say he does Eldritch like no one else, he did open the Cthulhu mythos to other writers rather than just copyright it the way you'd see today, so a few of the other notable authors of the day had a go. (Robert E Howard's attempts are awesome - I'd definitely recommend the Cairn on the Headland, you can get it on the Australian version of Gutenberg if youre interested)
 
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