The Pile
I have a huge stack of books I haven’t read. HUGE. Being an author who goes to conventions and has a lot of friends in the industry, I seem to acquire books at an astronomical rate; far faster than I could ever read them. But also being a new daddy and someone trying to finish his own work, I have become ver picky about what I devote my precious reading time to.
I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora, and The Name of the Wind, and am now catching up on my also huge pile of accumulated comics while I try to decide what to read next. Here, in no particular order is a small selection from the pile; the books I am most likely to try out. If anyone has read them and wants to offer (spoiler-free!) suggestions, I would love to hear them.
(As a side note, check out the early stages of my Jardir and One Arm homemade heroes in the above picture. Both are works in progress, with Jardir being a modified 300 Immortal figure with a Leonidas head, and One Arm being a Pumpkinhead figure. Both need a coat of paint and some more accoutrement, which I will get around to one day.)
Karen Miller: Awakened Mage; Innocent Mage
Fiona McIntosh: Royal Exile; Odalisque; Myrren’s Gift
JRR Tolkien: The Children of Hurin
Note: I’ve tried to read this twice but it starts more like a textbook than a story, and keeps turning me off.
Robin Hobb: Assassin’s Quest; The Golden Fool; Fool’s Errand; Fool’s Fate
Note: The end of Royal Assassin kind of ticked me off, which is why I didn’t just jump into Assassin’s Quest.
Warren Ellis: Crooken Little Vein
Note: Love Ellis’ comics. LOVE them. I have never read his prose, though.
Jeff Somers: Electric Church
Note: Met Jeff and his wife a couple of times. Nice people. I’ve heard good things about the book.
Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett: Havemercy
Note: Met Jaida and Danielle at NY ComicCon last year, and I liked them a lot. I started Havemercy, but it didn’t grab me. Been meaning to give it another shot.
David Anthony Durham: Acacia
Note: Heard nothing but good things about this, but it is a book of intimidating thickness, and I think it might be better served if I wait for my writing vacation after I finish The Desert Spear.
Brandon Sanderson: Mistborn; The Well of Ascension; The Hero of Ages
Note: Sanderson is my nemesis. We’re at the same agency, but that SOB writes like the wind and publishes like 5 books in the time it takes me to write a first draft of one. Makes me look bad.
Corey Doctorow: Little Brother
Terry Brooks: Armageddon’s Children; The Elves of the Cintra; The Gypsy Morph
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere
Max Brooks: World War Z
Stephen King: On Writing
Steven Erikson: Midnight Tides
Dave Duncan: The Alchemist’s Apprentice
Charles de Lint: Mulengro
David Morrell: Scavenger
My number one recommendation would be Neverwhere. It’s quite short so it won’t hold up your book grinding, but it’s well worth it if you like anything Gaiman like I do.
After that, probably the last Assassin’s book. Those series of books (I think there’s like, twelve of them now) tend to waver a bit with my experience of the first three trilogies, but the Assassin books are my favourites of the lot.
I love Gaiman’s comics, but the only prose books of his I’ve read are American Gods, which was okay but not as good as I had been led to believe, and The Graveyard Book, which was delightful.
Pete-we have such similar ‘to be read’ lists (maybe that’s because we like so much of the same types of things, or maybe because we’re evil twins). WWZ is on my list, as is the Sanderson (but not for nemesis-like reasons, as I have my own nemesis) also I loved Electric Church and have to read his next one, Digital Plague, but I also have Chrs Evans’ A Darkness Forged in Fire (which I started and need to get back to). This is on top of the manuscripts I get to evaluate for the book clubs and comics of course..ah, here’s to a new year! Some good reading ahead.
Hey Peat, here’s my suggestions: Acacia (though I agree with you; once you start reading it, you may need time to get through it, because David hooks and holds!), and Midnight Tides (if you’ve read the preceding titles); I would also reccommend Karen Miller’s books (haven’t read them yet, so it’ll be great to hear your opinion), plus she’s doing the second draft of the third Mage book at the moment. 🙂
The figurines look cool, Jardir looks pretty damn close to TDS cover! 🙂
I’ve read Children Of Hurin (it was satisfying enough to read although obviously not a patch on LOTR) and Little Brother – which I found extremely enjoyable. Fast-paced, funny and gripping.
Jay, we also go to the same conventions, so we wind up coming home with a lot of the same swag. Wait.. who’s your nemesis? I think I know.
I haven’t read any Erikson, Dave, so if Midnight Tides is in the middle of a series, it’s out of the running. I’m leaning towards Havemercy. My publisher merged with theirs, so odds are good I’ll see Jaida and Danielle again at some point. I think I’ve been putting it off out of sour grapes. They co-wrote the whole damn book in like a month! Makes me feel like a tortoise next to a pair of hares.
Chantal, I till get to Children of Hurin eventually, just like I will read the Silmarillion.
Eventually.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Little Brother. My UK publisher randomly tossed a copy into a box of books they sent me. They do that sometimes.
I have my dream job.
With regards to Gaiman, I think the fact that he tries to do everything and anything makes him, on the one hand, a mixed bag – some fantastic works and other’s that tend to drag their heels – and on the other, perfect for someone like me who craves something different.
I’m a sci-fi/fantasy man normally but Gaiman has introduced me to a sprawling, vibrant wasteland in American Gods, a dangerous and delightful Faerie land in Stardust, the mysterious, desperate Underground of London in Neverwhere and the epic timeless sprawlings of Sandman (and Lucifer as a spin-off).
His imagination combines with something undeniably English. Not everything of his is of the highest quality, but the prolificness of his work means there’s something of his for everyone, and much for many.
Ok, I’ll stop waxing lyrical now and go finish The Graveyard Book.
Loved Electric Church, going to read Digital Plague someday… I have a pile of books as well.. and video games….
I reckon Assassin’s Quest, it’s a been a while so I can’t remember what may have turned you off at the end of Royal Assassin but more recently I remember parts of the Soldier Son Trilogy infuriating me (not necessarily a bad thing )but will still read Renegade’s Magic when I get a chance