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Legend
RIP Sasha



Registered: 03/29/10
Posts: 28,336
Loc: TX
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good sci-fi or horror books?
#14225763 - 04/02/11 12:17 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Or just good books in general, i am looking for something to read. I just read:
hitchhiker guide to the galaxy series by douglas adams. Dreamcather by steven king
War of the Worlds by H.G.Wells
(Not sci-fi, but i thouraly enjoyed this book) Animal farm by george orwell
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No sympathy for the devil, keep that in mind. [url=]Buy the ticket, take the ride. [/url]Are you lost?
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akira_akuma
Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι ὕψιστος φιλεῖ


Registered: 08/28/09
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Loc: Onypeirophóros
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: Legend]
#14225766 - 04/02/11 12:18 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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H.P. Lovecraft
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Legend
RIP Sasha



Registered: 03/29/10
Posts: 28,336
Loc: TX
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: akira_akuma]
#14225768 - 04/02/11 12:19 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Was thinking about it, what book though?
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No sympathy for the devil, keep that in mind. [url=]Buy the ticket, take the ride. [/url]Are you lost?
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akira_akuma
Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι ὕψιστος φιλεῖ


Registered: 08/28/09
Posts: 82,455
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: Legend]
#14225786 - 04/02/11 12:23 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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The Call of Cthulhu
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donteatasians


Registered: 08/14/07
Posts: 1,461
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: akira_akuma]
#14225908 - 04/02/11 12:53 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Terror by Dan Simmons Dune by Frank Herbert
Favorites of mine
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derpif



Registered: 06/01/10
Posts: 310
Loc:
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: akira_akuma]
#14225914 - 04/02/11 12:55 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
akira_akuma said: H.P. Lovecraft
 Mountains of madness
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thelivingfreekshow
Fuck You



Registered: 02/07/11
Posts: 2,043
Loc: Prifddinas, Gielinor
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: derpif]
#14225945 - 04/02/11 01:04 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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The Dark Jewels Trilogy (Book 1) Daughter of the Blood By Anne Bishop
The story starts out relatively simple, with an unassuming, innocent young girl being caught up in a complex web of intrigue and deception, and as the story unfolds, more and more of how the world works and the twisted, disturbing thinking that underlies every move is revealed. Because of the lengthy lives of the characters, each move or action is like the placing of a chess piece; everything is calculated to have an effect somewhere along the distant lines of the future, and manipulation is the main tool used against rivals (and friends).
Although I didn’t like how the story started out with another one of those ‘The Great Hero/Heroine Shall Lift Us from Our Misery’ prophecies, it didn’t threaten to overdose the story with a repeated occurrence of precognition. In fact, the character who served as the ‘messenger’ of this world-changing news is an interesting, likeable character that grows on you after a while. Sure, she’s slightly insane, but who isn’t? It’s difficult to get mad (pun unintended) at an old woman that is left with the shattered, chaotic remains of her profession and life, and is but a powerless bystander in the events that are to follow.
What was most captivating about this story and one of the main reasons that I will be willing to read the second and third installments is the society that the author describes. It is executed well enough that after reading it, I found myself hating the puppet-masters and wondering about what life would have been like if the women of this world had been the dominant gender instead of men. Are both sides prone to subduing the other sex? All throughout history, females have been portrayed to be gentle, considerate and kind maintainers of the family. In Bishop’s world, it is the complete reverse. Men are forced to bow down before women and cruelty and torture run amok in the various households of the Jeweled witches–they are slaves, playthings or consorts. Bishop completely murders the illusion that women are harmless and forgiving. In fact, a majority of the women in this story have been sharpened to be relentless in their search for power, hungry for dominance and deep in their lust.
This fact is highly contrasted by the character who will be either the redemption or destruction of the Blood (the term used to describe the people of this other realm). Janaelle, the heroine, is soft, gentle, naive and innocent in this world where survival depends on using any means possible to stay on top. On the flipside, Janaelle, too, sometimes reveals her darker side, where her passion and instinctive nature to do good may worrisomely cause her to execute good intentions in not the best means. Always straddling the edge between her naivety and the requiem of innate wisdom that is Witch within her, it is no wonder that those on her side constantly fear for her sanity.
However, it would’ve been interesting to see a Janaelle that grew up in the current Blood culture and watch her change to become the willing apprentice of her benefactor and High Lord of Hell, Saetan (her almost-surrogate father), based on the fact that she had been exposed and brainwashed to the particular way of thinking that the society instills among its children, rather than have her sheltered by him so early on in the book. The struggles to understand differences in opinion and perceive differences in point of view would be much more emphasized in this way.
Personally, while I find that her struggles at home with her true family are actually quite awful, it’s harder to feel her growth in character from naivety to awareness. And it’ll be interesting for the reader to grow from hating a character to tolerating her as the reader’s own knowledge expands. But I think it was Bishop’s intent to keep this contrast constant throughout the story, which provided an occupation for the High Lord of Hell (with a past). As Janaelle grows, plans for her future are constructed by both those that support her and those that wish her ill.
You have to feel the most pity for Daemon, Janaelle’s preordained lover, though. Even though I don’t like his character insomuch the fact that he was pretty much born as the epitome of perfection, a wait of seven hundred years is quite a long time and you have to give him credit for his consistency. It’s unbelievable that he didn’t feel attraction for any other women (a lot of them probably being of great beauty and at least a handful of acceptable intelligence), but his willingness to sacrifice anything (as do two other men revolving around Janaelle’s life) for the future Queen of the Realm can be touching.
The cast list is kept relatively small, with key players in the story being people of considerable power (in both magick and influence)—naturally, as they have to be able to execute a political maneuver large enough to shake the realm. Since this is just the first book, it is difficult to say how side characters will flit into and out of the plotline, though some of them do show promise.
If you love your fantasies gritty and edgy and don’t mind skittering the surfaces of the mildly forbidden, then this is a book you might want to consider picking up. It’s definitely not for those who will cringe at the mention of blood or the perverse torture methods of maintaining control throughout the story and even less so for younger audiences. Keep in mind, though, that you’re going to have to stretch realism a bit at certain points in the novel, as it is, after all, fantastical.
AWESOME BOOK!!!
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I_was_the_walrus
eggshells



Registered: 05/01/02
Posts: 11,887
Loc: next door
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Check out The Amityville Horror. That book fuckin rocked. Supposedly a true story...but thats an argument for another thread.
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Micawber
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Registered: 12/29/10
Posts: 2,644
Loc: southeast
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the damnation game clive barker
-------------------- (mik-kaw'-bur) n. one who is poor but lives in optimistic expectation of better fortune
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Primal Glitch
literally just vibing



Registered: 05/06/07
Posts: 4,854
Loc: 🌎
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: Legend]
#14225996 - 04/02/11 01:12 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
akira_akuma said: H.P. Lovecraft

I'd say read it all, cause I'm a big fan, but I'll choose a couple: - The Shadow out of time - Colour out of space - The music of Erich Zann - The call of Cthulhu
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make the changa you wish to see in the world gnome sayin'?
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Bridgeburner
Not spiritual at all.




Registered: 09/16/06
Posts: 20,010
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lovecraft or simmons. read "terror" and "drood" recently, WOW.
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Micawber
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Registered: 12/29/10
Posts: 2,644
Loc: southeast
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lovecraft
-------------------- (mik-kaw'-bur) n. one who is poor but lives in optimistic expectation of better fortune
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Shroomerette
Stranger

Registered: 10/12/10
Posts: 1,342
Loc:
Last seen: 10 years, 1 month
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I really liked Distress by Greg Egan
You should check it out, it's pretty thought provoking. That goes for anyone else who reads this too .
-------------------- Leaving the shroomery forever
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derpif



Registered: 06/01/10
Posts: 310
Loc:
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: Legend]
#14226105 - 04/02/11 01:31 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I forgot Stanislaw Lem. The Astronauts is awesome.
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yogabunny
fancy cat



Registered: 11/01/09
Posts: 11,281
Loc: Nasty Women Get Shit Done
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: Micawber]
#14226121 - 04/02/11 01:35 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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oryx & crake and the handmaid's tale by margaret atwood
the hyperion cantos by dan simmons
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yogabunny
fancy cat



Registered: 11/01/09
Posts: 11,281
Loc: Nasty Women Get Shit Done
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: yogabunny]
#14226133 - 04/02/11 01:36 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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ps -
brave new world by aldous huxley, classic!
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akira_akuma
Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι ὕψιστος φιλεῖ


Registered: 08/28/09
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: yogabunny]
#14226159 - 04/02/11 01:40 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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*nod* 
purely sci-fi, of course.
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millzy


Registered: 05/12/10
Posts: 12,404
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Re: good sci-fi or horror books? [Re: akira_akuma]
#14227013 - 04/02/11 04:46 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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bank's the culture cycle. this is no spoilers essay he wrote about the world in which the culture takes place.
http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/cultnote.htm
consider phlebus the player of games
in that order.
i have surface detail but haven't been able to start it yet.
-------------------- I'm up to my ears in unwritten words. - J.D. Salinger
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