im looking for a recommendation for a book to read, i started reading books and i wonder what people like to read. If anyone can recommed any good books about car id appreciate it.
Just pick up brandon sanderson. He's so good.
Here's which one's to pick from the man himself: https://youtu.be/SVsFurvvkhs?si=-IeScvqhYpwmvUm8
I read the two and a half books of stormlight archive (which from what I hear is his best series?), I found the characters really meh with the exception of dalinar maybe. the world building was nice and I didn't feel that it was the sort that relied on very heavy exposition.
the plot was fairly interesting but it took ages to progress and I don't think this is an issue of slow pacing, it just felt like bad writing tbh. book 1 for example could've been cut down by a few hundred pages without anyone missing out on anything substantial imo. what I really hated was the narrative choice of switching POVs each chapter and the flashback chapters of each book's main character, it ruined any sort of immersion and just didn't interest me at all. (my issue is not with multiple POVs, I dislike how he handled it)
also the dialogue was horrible, like every attempt at showing a character being witty just came off as really forced and the general dialogue didn't feel like two real people speaking to each other
obligatory fuck shallan, words of radiance might've been my favorite of the series if shallan wasn't the main character. the whole multiple personalities thing just came off as REALLY corny and cringe, which maybe it was intended to be but still
His world-building and magic systems are impressive, he kept me engaged throughout(big deal for me). His prose might be mid, I wouldn't call him overrated. Also, his engagement with readers is very good, something not many authors do. But I still have a lot of reading to do to broaden my horizons in fantasy.
If you're just getting into books some good shouts for fantasy are anything from Brandon Sanderson, Malazan Book of the Fallen (Steven Erickson), and The Magician (Raymond E Feist).
If you want sci-fi, some of the standard choices are Dune, Foundation, Three Body Problem etc. - although if I had to give personal recommendations I would go with Lord of Light or The Book of the New Sun.
If you want some "heavier" fiction, Ulysses is excellent.
Currently on book 6 of Malazan Book fo the Fallen. You're really going to recommend this series to someone who "just got into reading"? Those books are a massive struggle to get through sometimes, nevermind being dropped in the middle of a world you have absolutely no knowledge of with no explanation.
Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the series so far, but it's absolutely not a recommendation for people who are just getting into fantasy
Yes correct. It's jarring for multiple reasons:
It's a great series and I'm loving it, but you gotta REALLY get into it to continue reading. I finished Wheel of Time in its entirety (14 books) in like 8-9 months, and there's entire books that are downright boring and slow, but I'm probably a year and a half into Malazan and only on book 6. You can't just sit down and read a chapter at leisure. Gotta invest hardcore to even understand what's going on.
I think you should just read and not bother about what you don't understand tbh, the book wasn't meant to be completely understood on first read
the author spoke of how he felt sad that he couldn't get much joy out of rereading his favorite books so he wanted to write a book that rewards readers for rereading
You’re absolutely right it’s jarring, but I don’t believe you need to be a fantasy lover to get into it. The focus on cultural history and the depths of humanity, plus it’s insight into early peoples appeals beyond the genre I’d say.
If you care about fantasy mostly for quantifiable magic and inventive mystical worlds, Brandon Sanderson’s books are the way to go.
If you care about fantasy as a mirror for culture studies and human society, Malazan is the best ever written.
I only pretty much read high fantasy so I'll recommend a few of those.
I see a few people above have recommended Malazan which is actually really good but is NOT at all a good recc for a beginner in fantasy books. Start with something light like Harry Potter (absolutely goated simplistic writing and you'll hate the movies afterwards). Then you can move to books like Medoran or Faithfull and the Fallen. ASOIAF and KKC are really good series but both are unfinished so there's an asterisk. Afterwards you can start on books like Malazan, wheel of time etc.
The BFG was my favorite book growing up.
My friend illustrated two children's books (Tercules by Marcy Pusey and The Zebracorn: Adventures of Zizou and Friends by Afonso J Henrique). Both can be found on Amazon and are prob not the kind of reading recommendations you're looking for, but I don't read much lol
Unfortunately some of my favorite (fantasy) book series of all time are unfinished at this point
-Kingkiller Chronicles (Best prose in any book I've ever read)
-A song of ice and fire (political fantasy, gotta love it)
-The Gentleman Bastards (a band of genius thieves with gritty humor in a fantasy setting)
-Dawn of Wonder (coming of age story, first book had amazing potential, still no second)
-Stormlight Archives (reads like a train, fantasy on epic proportions. This one will definitely get finished cause it's Brandon Sanderson)
Some completed ones:
-Harry Potter (gotta state the obvious)
-Lord of the Rings (gotta state the obvious)
-Wheel of Time (long read but probably the BEST ending in a series I've ever read)
-Malazan Book of the Fallen (hard read, I'm on book 6 currently)
-The Farseer Trilogy and almost all of the related books (Beautiful prose, great story, actual page turner)
-The Lightbringer Series (series gets better with each book, reads at breakneck pace and has some good humor)
-Discworld (for some lighthearted reading)
-Mistborn (great story in typical Brandon Sanderson simplistic prose, great worldbuilding)
-The Fifth Season (mix of sci-fi and dystopia with fantasy)
-3 body problem (sci-fi)