Reading Recommendations Anyone?

[Orasteele]

I find myself in a bind. All of the authors I want to read don't have new books coming out till later this year and I have just about decimated my library re-reading some of my faves. So if anyone has any recommendations for me, I'd greatly appreciate them. I read fantasy genre, though I've delved into a sci-fi book or two.

Here is my recommended list if anyone was curious (If anyone has read these you can tell I lean toward theif/assassin character type novels )

Mickey Zucker Reichert's Nightfall Set:
The Legend of Nightfall
Return of Nightfall

Scott Lynch's Gentlemen B@stard Series:
The Lies of Locke Lemora
Red Sea Under Red Skies

Sarah Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths Series:
Melusine
The Virtu
The Mirador

Meredith Ann Pierce's Firebringer Trilogy (Young adult - But a must read for unicorn lovers):
Birth of the Firebringer
Dark Moon
Son of Summer Stars

Other Good Reading:
Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, And The Tawney Man Trilogy
Tanya Huff's The Quarters Novels
Anne Logston's various series - Quick reads, but good books

[SunBlind]

Hmm, gah, what was it called....had an assassin as the main character...can even picture the book but not the title...ah, thank you Google. Put in the words "centaur, assassin, book, evil, good" and you find it xD Villain by Necessity. Where the bad guys are the good guys. I really enjoyed that one.

Let's see, there are some stories involving a thief in Tanya Huff's Stealing Magic short story anthology. These are more humorous in nature.

There are the Secret Histories by Simon R. Green, kind of like a James Bond in a supernatural setting. The first book is called The Man with the Golden Torc. The second Daemons are Forever.

I've got lots of other fantasy suggestions, but those are the assassin/thief ones that come to mind. I'm sure there are others I'm just not thinking of...I can even picture some scenes from them. Will post if I remember. And thanks for letting me know that The Virtu is in the same series as Melusine. I've got Melusine, though I haven't read it yet, but I've seen the other for only $2, so should go grab it while I still can xD

[Orasteele]

Yes, yes you should! I think I read the first three books in the span of 3 or 4 days. I couldn't put it down even if I had wanted to. They are pretty dark, but I just love Mildmay! It's a really good series, and I'm looking forward to the forthcoming last book, Corambis this April!

I'll have to check out those titles! Villain by Necessity sounds like it's right up my ally! <3

[Sushidragon]

I've kind of moved away from fantasy lately, but I do have one recommendation - the Temeraire series, by Naomi Novik. It's alternate historical fantasy that takes place back during the Napoleonic War, but with intelligent dragons XD The books are a fantastic read, and I'm impatiently waiting for the most recent one to come out in paperback so that I can get it!

Neil Gaiman is also one of my favorite fantasy authors. Some of my favorites of his novels are Good Omens, Neverwhere, Stardust, and American Gods.

And although they're young adult, I also enjoy Tamora Pierce's fantasy novels. My two favorite series of the ones that I've read are The Song of the Lioness quartet and The Immortals quartet. I actually got my first online name, Skysong, from a character in the Immortals series XD

The Firebringer trilogy is one of my favorites too <3 I read the first book ages ago, and didn't realize it was part of a series until more recently XD

[CosmicDragon]

My personal library mostly consists of second-hand, hard-to-find books, but if you can get your hands on them, these are well worth picking up;

One of my absolute favourites is the Bitterbynde trilogy, by Cecilia Dart-Thornton.
First book is The Ill Made Mute, second is The Lady of the Sorrows, and the third is The Battle of Evernight.

Another one, if you can find a copy, is Prospero's Children, by Jan Siegel. It has a sequel, The Dragon Charmer, but I prefer the first book to the second.

Another one is A Sorcerer's Treason, first book of the Isavalta trilogy by Sarah Zettel. I've only read the first two, but the second one is a prequel, which turns me off it almost immediately. But the first book is really, really good.

A few others you might want to take into consideration as short reads (and these are some of my favourite short books!);
The Tapestry series by Henry H. Neff
~ The Hound of Rowan
~ The Second Seige
Skulduggery Pleasant and Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy
Any of the Anne McCaffrey Dragonriders of Pern series.

But yes. Only a small fraction of my actual library, but some of my favourites nonetheless. Also, if you aren't a die-hard Twilight-hater, I'd suggest Host, by the same author. More Sci-fi than fantasy though.

ETA: Ah, I completely forgot! I don't have this book in my collection (yet) but it's an amazing read.
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicles) by Patrick Rothfuss

[AsaraDragon]

I have to second Temeraire!
I was lucky enough to win the first four books from one of the blogs I read, and I loved each one. I can't wait for the next one either, I want to know what happens next! XD

Other than that, I read a lot of Valdemar novels by Mercedes Lackey. There's just something I love about the world she created, though it does have a few flaws. Still, I haven't met a book from that series that I haven't loved, in one way or another.

[Orasteele]

So that's where you got your username Skysong! It's been a while but I remember the baby dragon from Tamora Pierce's Immortals Series. XD Historical fantasy is fine! The Lies of Locke Lemora is set in a land similar to ancient Venice only a little different.

Cosmic Dragon, I think The Name of the Wind was one of the books recommended for those that liked Scott Lynch's Gentlemen B@stard series. I've a friend who has some of Zettel's books, I see if she has that one to borrow. Britain has all of the Mercedes Lackey novels, and she's been trying to get me to read them, but I've heard her talk so much about them (I know most of the story lines) that it has put me off reading them. I dunno, we shall see.

Thanks for all the recommendations! I'll be going to the bookstore this weekend so I'll have to check out some of those novels and see if any grab me!

[Jennalyn]

...assassin-type fantasy-esque novels? *perks up happily* I would recommend any of Steven Brust's 'Dragaera' novels, beginning with Jhereg and working their way along. His writing style is fun for me, since he is one of few authors I enjoy reading in first-person, and his characterization is loads of fun. Highly recommended!

[silvermoondragon]

well, I don't think I have read many assassin type books, although now I am interested.

I must also say, that the Temeraire series is great.
One of my favourite Mercedes Lackey books, is the Black Gryphon series.

[Orasteele]

Well I ended up picking up The Book of Jhereg (The first three novels by Brust) and Name of the Wind. So far I am enjoying Jhereg quite a bit. I don't normally read first person, but I like the way Brust writes that I don't really notice it. ^__^

[Jennalyn]

Ah, that is wonderful to hear! Isn't it odd how you start to read and the first-person seems so odd, and then all of a sudden you realize you're pages in and just about forgot that Vlad was the one 'speaking'? It really gives the books a flavor particular to him.

If you get far enough into the series and enjoy the world, there are quite a few books. I know that there's one in editing right now, and another slowly being written. And... then there's the 'Khaavren Romances' by him, which also take place in that world, but about 400 or so years before Vlad's time and they're written in a parody/imitation of Alexandre Dumas's style. Again, if you can get into it, 's delightful. Sentences are usually either three words or thirty and his humor shines through very well. xD

[SunBlind]

*squee* More Temeraire fans! I just finished reading the fourth book yesterday xD *luvs Temeraire and Iskierka*
5th book comes out in paperback in May, checked up on it yesterday when I finished the fourth ^.^

I have most of the books in the Jhereg series but haven't read them yet. That's pretty common for me, I buy books way faster than I read then ^_^ Maybe I should put those on my short list...

I'm a fan of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, another first person story. It takes place in the current world we know, but there is a supernatural element we are all unaware of. He's a kind of private detective / wizard. Now if you don't mind the fact that he gets beaten to a pulp in each novel, a bit beyond what one can actually believe he can survive, I like the long running plotline.

What else was good...

Ill Met by Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt - Shakespeare as a young man meets fairies, explaining his inspiration for Midsummer's Night Dream. Historical fantasy.
Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones - Kind of like Harry Potter for younger kids, but I like it better since it doesn't get so dark and angsty.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman - If you don't mind the anti-religious tone I enjoyed it, though I found the ending too abrupt and didn't wrap up all the loose ends.
The Belgariad by David Eddings - Epic fantasy series that I enjoyed
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper - If you saw the movie, the books are NOT like that, they are actually pretty good, full of folklore and legends (not that I am able to speak of their accurate representation)
Wolf Moon by Charles de Lint - A werewolf vs bard tale which I found to be a very pleasant read. As de Lint wrote, he wanted to have just a handful of characters in a small place, no epic end of the world events, and weave a simple story. I think he succeeded wonderfully.

Do you like vampire fiction? Ones like The Diaries of the Family Dracul by Jeanne Kalogridis take place entirely in historical settings. The Dresden Files also has a strong vampire undertone but they are only one of the many supernatural things he encounters. I used to like Anita Blake till it became more erotica than action Tanya Huff has her Blood series which I liked, and Charlaine Harris has her Sookie Stackhouse series.

*g* A big section of my website is dedicated to Fantasy and SF novels
http://www.myth-and-fantasy.com/library/index.html

[silvermoondragon]

@Sunblind - wow, that's a great idea (the website) are those all books you've read?
I've read the 5th Temeraire book, it's great like all of them. I borrowed it from the library I wish I could support all the authors of all the great books I've read and add them to my collection, but then it would get way to big and I would be way too broke! Luckily we have a great library(The Fraser Valley Regional Library) the combination of libraries all over the Fraser Valley and the option to request books from these other branches works great.

[SunBlind]

*g* No, I haven't read them all. Most of the books that have reviews were reviewed by me, though I did get a handful from outside sources. And I have read some books I haven't reviewed, but because I read them so long ago, that when I started this part of the site I, felt I didn't remember the books well enough to give a fair review to them.

If anyone wants to send me reviews, I'll gladly post them ^_^ Makes my site a little less biased to my POV

Darn, and The Vitru is no longer available at the cheap price I saw it at. Doesn't look like it's available at all now. Will have to try Amazon...

[SunBlind]

Here's another series you might enjoy, called The Chronicles of Elantra by Michelle Sagara. Though the main character isn't a thief, she works as a kind of spy, or information gatherer, for what is essentially the police department of that world. She also grew up on the wrong side of the tracks so to speak, so she's used to stealing and creeping about without being seen. So far I've only read the first book, Cast in Shadows, but I enjoyed it (aside from the author's poor sentence structures at time). But you have to be willing to not have a clue about what's going on for most of the book, and even at the end not have all the answers. Partly because the other characters don't want to tell her anything, partly because none of the other characters know the answer either. I know some people can't stand that, so be forewarned ^_^