What's your favorite book that you wouldnt say is a masterpiece?
What's your favorite book that you wouldnt say is a masterpiece?
Mine is the wings of fire series, it is a "kids" novel (think like warrior cats age range)
But Tui T sutherland is so good at writing characters and introducing and describing worlds and characters that i reread it every so often. Like, she managed to write a book from the pov of a mind reader and it works.
Every book is from a different character's pov and each character feels wholly unique.
The main issue with the series is that the plot is kinda average at best, the characters really carry the story.
The Harry Potter main series, for which I have a major case of nostalgia. I'll happily and accurately slag JKR off for being a dimwit with terribly stupid opinions, who would need to be both smarter and more committed to make her "make it up as you go along" worldbuilding make any sort of sense at all. Which, bluntly, it doesn't.
But considering how much of a turnip she is, parts of her worldbuilding is strangely compelling while others fail basic self-consistency.
I was thinking about this. JKR is really a terrible writer. All of the later ret-conning to fix the plot holes is worse than just letting the plot holes lie. (like breaking all the time turners so they don't get used again).
But it is amazing how captivating these books are inspite of the fact of how poor they are. It's an imaginative world with exceptionally clear flaws, but one I want to revisit regularly.
But fuck JKR and her shitty politics.
Edit: maybe it's not technically ret-conning. But the whole two book gap or whatever is just so lazy.
If you really think about those books as a grown up some of the plot holes are big enough to drive a goddam truck through.
As a kid having their first experience of a magical universe though they were goddam incredible
If you enjoyed HP, you might like the Tapestry series by Henry Neff.
Excellent story with some similar themes, and even better, he's a genuinely good person.
The Percy Jackson series. You can tell Riordan likes taking his liberties, and there's a lot of Americanism mixed in with the Greek way of thinking that is supposed to come from tales of Greek gods, but it says something that I like it better than the actual legends from Greek culture.
We are Legion (We are Bob). It's probably the most fun I've had reading science fiction. It's not a masterpiece, but damn is it entertaining! The whole series is pretty great, and there's another book coming any month now.
In a similar vein I'm really enjoying the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. It has a similar feel and it has an addictive action pace with snippets of deadpan humor and wit. If it was a movie it would be a popcorn muncher.
Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check that out after I finish A Little Bit of Hatred.
I love this series as well. Definitely not a masterpiece, but it is great sci fi.
I just found this can be downloaded from archive.org. Does anyone know whether this is legal / OK? https://archive.org/details/taylor-dennis-e-bobiverse-1-we-are-legion/Taylor_Dennis_E_-_Bobiverse_1_-_We_Are_Legion
I have no idea. Sorry. But if you can't afford to buy the book in a better format, then just read it from there! I don't think Dennis will miss nine dollars or whatever the book costs.
Oh man, that's a lot of what I read.
Maybe the 'My Teacher Is An Alien' series by Bruce Coville, the 'Blood Oath' series by Christopher Farnsworth, and the Serpentwar Series by Raymond Feist.
Bruce Coville is such an incredibly fun read for young Sci-Fi fans. I flipped through some of the Aliens Ate My Homework series recently now that I'm older and it's still a great time. Coville really did well at writing in a way that makes it understandable and enjoyable for kids without dumbing down ideas that would help spark the imagination and garner understanding for more advanced works.
I should flip back through the My Teacher is an Alien series too at some point. I'm pretty sure I at least still have a copy of My Teacher Flunked the Planet here somewhere.
I liked the Dresden Files. Just campy magic gumshoe stuff.
Also a fan of Lamb and Blood Sucking Fiends. Good reads, but not any big huge life shaking moments like other books. But I remember loving the style.
I was going to offer another Jim Butcher series, the Codex Alera. It's a hack-and-slash mix of Roman fantasy and Pokemon. Fantastic stuff.
The Phantom Tollbooth
It's an amazing book, but no one would consider it a masterpiece.
I absolutely consider Phantom Tollbooth a masterpiece. There’s nothing else like it, and it has extraordinary persistence.
Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward. After the ultimate triumph of good over evil, a group of villains save the world from good. It's a total inversion of the standard fantasy trope. Highly recommend it for any fantasy fan, doubly so for Dragonlance fans.
Welp, I'm sold, this is totally going on my list! I've kind of been itching for something like Dragonlance and this sounds like what I've been looking for.
Orconomics (Dark Profit Saga, Trilogy) for the exact same reason!
excellent fun to read, incredibly funny!
The sword of Shannara
The Long Earth series
I keep waiting for someone like HBO or Apple to pick this up as a series, because I think it's got great potential to make a stellar show. Especially with how I picture the visuals.
Though part of me also hopes they don't, so I can continue to enjoy it without them inevitably doing a bad job...
Oh sweet I get to vent about The August Few: Amygdala by Sam Fennah.
So Sam is primarily a youtuber, he makes animations with these very unique and somewhat disturbing characters and over time he made a bit of a narrative using them, eventually he made it into a 1000 page book. As one might expect looking at his animations this book is very weird, it's got some extremely interesting and alien worldbuilding which challenges the reader a lot. As a piece of art this book is incredibly effective in that it makes the reader reflect on it's far reaching themes, but as a book I really kinda hate it.
At the core of the book is the question of what the ideal society is, but only one option is ever really presented, what I can only describe as anarcho-dawinism. When one character opposes this state and proposes the possibility of a kinder and more inclusive society she is betrayed, hung from a balcony over a crowd, she orgasms while choking to death, and "When the body was lowered, it was groped, defiled, spat upon, split." This is not presented as a bad thing, simply as the people rejecting her idea, the language used is very "marketplace of ideas."
At the start of the book Sam tries to disavow himself of what he wrote in an author's note, part of which reads: "The views of the characters are not the views of the author. This book is not a promotion of ideas, but an exploration of ideas." Sam did not need to make the characters orgasm when they died, he did not need to make them reproduce via necrophilic rape, he did not need to make every characters a literal baby eating cannibal, and he did not need to present social-darwinism as an ideal society, but he did, he choose to write these things.
I hate this book, I read it over a year ago and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, it is a great piece of art.
My favorite book is Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K Dick. Objectively, it's not even his best book, but it's the one I personally connect with most strongly. It's lovely and heartbreaking and funny and very quotable.
My kid is devouring the wings of fire series.
For me I’d say the Children of Man series by Elizabeth C. Mock. I hadn’t read Wheel of Time before starting Children of Man. Now that I have I see a lot of Wheel of Time influence, so in that genre Children of Man isn’t really groundbreaking.
That said though, I still really enjoy the characters and the story, and am anxiously waiting for the release of the 4th (and final) book.
george rr martin's wildcard series
its actually written by many authors so the quality/styles fluctuate. no real ending either as its more an episodic alternate reality. feels like its missing cohesion.
Diane Duayne's Young Wizard series, at least the first three books. I have really good memory of books and so it's difficult for me to read any book more than once but I've read them tens of times.
There's always something new to discover. It's honestly a really good and well-written series.
The Redemption of Althalus. Genre - fantasy. I don't know why it holds such a dear place in my heart, though I read it the first time as a kid.
OMG I read that also as a kid and I loved it! I don't even remember a lot from it but you just opened some memories I've totally forgotten.
I'm a big fan of all the David Endings series...
Just fun fantasy novels.
Yes! Just posted about the redemption of althalus, but the belgariad, mallorean.. good memories burning through them
I loved the Black Jewels books even though I don't think they are good. The worldbuilding was vivid.
Kind of feel that way about all the Brandon Sanderson books. I can't say they are good but good to read just because you do drop right into those worlds.
"Night Soldiers" by Allan Furst. After his younger brother is killed by a fascist mob, a Bulgarian fisherman is recruited to join Russian intelligence. Trained as a spy in Moscow, he begins to question his trainers and their motives. After being sent to fight in the Spanish Civil War, he makes his way to Paris.
Great book. Reads like Franz Kafka and Ian Fleming decided to collaborate.
I've been reading some litrpg-genre books, and a lot of the better books in that genre are extremely enjoyable despite obvious literary flaws.
Some top recommendations are He Who Fights with Monsters and Defiance of the Fall.
I can't scroll by this post and not mention Dungeon Crawler Carl. Though, it may not fit this thread, seeing as it is a goddamn masterpiece. Particularly the audiobook.
True, DCC is fantastic. Guess it slipped my mind because it's been awhile.
Mother of Learning is another high recommendation, but I'd definitely rank it as a masterpiece (although the audiobook can be rough with some of the female voices).
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
Gaijin Smash by Azrael. It was a blog, but you can read it start to finish now. A key read if you wanna move to Japan.
My Losing Season by Pat Conroy. The best sport book I've ever read, but it's not famous.
Fun fact! Erin Hunter is a pseudonym for a collective of authors including Tui Sutherland! She wrote Wings of Fire after she stopped writing/editing Erin Hunter books. I found out while I was working in an elementary school library.
Not my favorite, but I recently finished the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. Nothing in them is original, and she heavily borrows from folk tales and mythology, but she makes it very satisfying. She's REALLY good at knowing what her audience wants, imo, so it was fun to read.
Fool by Christopher Moore
I just utterly adore this book in every way. I'm sure it has problems but I am a shallow reader, so it's fine for me.
I loved Fool even if it is lower on my list of Christopher Moore favorites! The first time I read a Moore book was when I was still in the Army and deployed with a copy of Fluke and I loved it so much I wrote to him to praise it. He ended up sending me a bunch of his books, all signed, with a note that said "thanks for reading, I hope you don't die" in his humorous tone.
Fluke, the Bloodsucking Fiends trilogy, A Diety Job, Lamb, Island of the Sequined Love Nun, Lust Lizard, and Sacre Bleu are my top favorites for just being so darn entertaining, humorous, clever and an absolute joy to read.
To anyone wondering about Fool, it is written in a similar vein to Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead (which retells Shakespeare's Hamlet from the point of view of the two titular minor characters). Fool re-tells the story of King Lear but told from the perspective of the king's jester, the professional fool. It is hilarious and does a great job at showing the significance of the jester and all the things he's doing when not shown on stage during King Lear.
I read it with just the faintest recollection of the events of King Lear and still enjoyed it, but for anyone unfamiliar it might be worth watching something like Anthony Hopkins' King Lear beforehand to see how cleverly Moore put his version together, but it is not a requirement by any means!
Lucky Wander Boy.
Great book, but the "ritual" scene bars it from ever being a masterpiece.
The second book in the enders game series.
My favorite book is The Golden Ass by Apuleius, it's not qualified as a masterpiece but it is one I guess.
Sword of change series, I hold it dear but it has it's issues.
Tom Godwin's The Survivors. Not very sophisticated, especially by modern standards, and quite short, but very enjoyable.
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. Not a masterpiece but my favorite novel, second to She Comes Undone also by him.
The Ethical Assassin by David Liss
I absolutely loved the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. I cannot explain how great my disappointment with the Eragon movie was after how fantastic I thought the books were.
Sabriel by Garth Nix. I like YA novels in general; this one and its sequels are amazing. The world building is so good that it feels more like reading a folk tale than a fantasy novel. Also, I like that the main character stays in the picture as an adult and is shown dealing with regular adulthood problems.
John Dies at the End
No he fucking doesn't!