Q&A: The Book Question/Suggestion Thread

[The Squirrel]

Basically this thread is for people to ask questions about books, or ask/give suggestions for genres and such. I haven't seen anything like this.

To get the ball rolling, does anyone know of any good Steampunk novels?

 

[Yodaman]

I haven't read any of these steampunk novels yet but I've always wanted to get into the sub-genre. I plan on reading some of these pretty soon (all are critically acclaimed and/or have been recommended to me) :

The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
The Steampunk Trilogy by Paul Di Filippo
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
Steampunk by Ann VanderMeer
The Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock
The Prophecy Machines by Neal Barrett Jr.
Jack Faust by Michael Swanwick

 

[Conundrum]

I saw a Batman/Superman novel in the bookshop recently entitled "Enemies and Allies" by Kevin Anderson, I think.

It's a story about the first meeting between Batman and Superman, set during the Cold War.

Has anyone read it? Is it worth picking up?

 

[luckyplayer]

What are Steampunk novels? I have never heard of that genre, but am always looking for new books to read.

 

[Yodaman]

What are Steampunk novels? I have never heard of that genre, but am always looking for new books to read.

Long definition.

It's basically a fantasy genre in a typically Victorian-esque setting in which all of the technology in the book's society/s are powered by steam and/or clockwork. Airships, goggles, leather, and clockwork machines abound.

 

[Victarion]

Elric: All the omnibi/old paperbacks are really pricey. Del Rey has the stories reissued in their "The Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melnibone" series. Apparently the Elric stories are published here by publication date (The Dreaming City being the 1st story in the first Del Rey collection). Can I read the Elric tales in publication order/from this Del Rey reissue of the series and enjoy them as much as I would if I read them chronologically?

Fans of epic fantasy and horror, I recommend you The Twilight Reign by Tom Lloyd. Its a projected 5 book series; 4 are out this far. He takes some of the usual fantasy mainstays--magic, elves, dragons, trolls--and tosses in some horror aspects with vampires, daemons and Ghenna (Hell).

The horror elemtns are especially apparent in the second novel, The Twilight Herald, where the antagonist--a minstrel and a theatre troup in the service of a shadow (ie demon) begin putting on plays and productions ending with the live execution of either prisoners, priests, or citizens taken from the city streets. The city where this troup is performing is deteriorating horribly. Its citizens languish under a heatwave that drives them to the point of setting buildings in the city ablaze and ripping their own townfolk to shreds (literally). Dark stuff. I loved it. Imagine the Tull folk from The Gunslinger in a larger town, attacking skilled magic users and trained soldiers.

 

[ComicChick]

can anyone recommend any da vinci code-esque books? as in historical relics, artifacts, mystery, action etc?

i'm on that kind of kick

 

[Victarion]

can anyone recommend any da vinci code-esque books? as in historical relics, artifacts, mystery, action etc?

i'm on that kind of kick

You might enjoy Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Licoln Child. Its about a series of grisly murders tied together by the presence of a cloven hoof print near the corpses. It brings the protagonists around the world and involves an artifact. Plenty of good action as well. The protagonists are Aloysius Pendergast, a special agent of the FBI and a NYPD officer named Vincent D'Agosta.

Most of their novels feature Pendergast as the protagonist, but the authors don't believe there's a set order one should read the novels in. They all work well as standalone titles. (FYI their first featuring Pendergast was Relic, which the monster movie of the same name was based off of).

 

[luckyplayer]

Long definition.

It's basically a fantasy genre in a typically Victorian-esque setting in which all of the technology in the book's society/s are powered by steam and/or clockwork. Airships, goggles, leather, and clockwork machines abound.

Thanks! Those sound pretty cool. Do you have any you recommend I try?

 

[The Squirrel]

You might enjoy Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Licoln Child. Its about a series of grisly murders tied together by the presence of a cloven hoof print near the corpses. It brings the protagonists around the world and involves an artifact. Plenty of good action as well. The protagonists are Aloysius Pendergast, a special agent of the FBI and a NYPD officer named Vincent D'Agosta.

Most of their novels feature Pendergast as the protagonist, but the authors don't believe there's a set order one should read the novels in. They all work well as standalone titles. (FYI their first featuring Pendergast was Relic, which the monster movie of the same name was based off of).

Pendergast rocks! I've read Relic, Reliquary, Still Life With Crows and Cabinet of Curiosities. I've been slowly working my way through Brimstone (I've read some other books going back and forth between it). I definitely recommend this series to anyone.

 

[Dark Sentinel]

Elric: All the omnibi/old paperbacks are really pricey. Del Rey has the stories reissued in their "The Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melnibone" series. Apparently the Elric stories are published here by publication date (The Dreaming City being the 1st story in the first Del Rey collection). Can I read the Elric tales in publication order/from this Del Rey reissue of the series and enjoy them as much as I would if I read them chronologically?

Fans of epic fantasy and horror, I recommend you The Twilight Reign by Tom Lloyd. Its a projected 5 book series; 4 are out this far. He takes some of the usual fantasy mainstays--magic, elves, dragons, trolls--and tosses in some horror aspects with vampires, daemons and Ghenna (Hell).

The horror elemtns are especially apparent in the second novel, The Twilight Herald, where the antagonist--a minstrel and a theatre troup in the service of a shadow (ie demon) begin putting on plays and productions ending with the live execution of either prisoners, priests, or citizens taken from the city streets. The city where this troup is performing is deteriorating horribly. Its citizens languish under a heatwave that drives them to the point of setting buildings in the city ablaze and ripping their own townfolk to shreds (literally). Dark stuff. I loved it. Imagine the Tull folk from The Gunslinger in a larger town, attacking skilled magic users and trained soldiers.

Del Rey is a great source for fantasy books nowadays, and Lloyd sounds right up my own personal alley

 

[ComicChick]

You might enjoy Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Licoln Child. Its about a series of grisly murders tied together by the presence of a cloven hoof print near the corpses. It brings the protagonists around the world and involves an artifact. Plenty of good action as well. The protagonists are Aloysius Pendergast, a special agent of the FBI and a NYPD officer named Vincent D'Agosta.

Most of their novels feature Pendergast as the protagonist, but the authors don't believe there's a set order one should read the novels in. They all work well as standalone titles. (FYI their first featuring Pendergast was Relic, which the monster movie of the same name was based off of).

Pendergast rocks! I've read Relic, Reliquary, Still Life With Crows and Cabinet of Curiosities. I've been slowly working my way through Brimstone (I've read some other books going back and forth between it). I definitely recommend this series to anyone.

thanks. i'll add them to the list of things i want to check out.

ive been reading the Harry Potter books since December, reading a different book in between each so I know I am going to want to read some other genre when I complete Deathly Hallows within the next week or so.

I just finished The Moses Stone by James Becker which was about a British cop being sent to Morocco to investigate the deaths of an old couple who were there on holiday. It's discovered their deaths were the result of them finding an old clay tablet in an alley market, and that being part of a set telling the location of where the Covenant is hidden. Not the Ark, but the actual convenant tablets.

It was alright