Posted on 09/15/2013 8:09:44 PM PDT by Kip Russell
For those who are into this sort of thing...what sfnal or fantasy literature are currently reading or have just finished?
I'm working my way through the series, "The Dresden Files" by Jim Butcher, having read the first 10 novels of the 15 published so far.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dresden_Files
The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher. He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago. Butcher's original proposed title for the first novel was Semiautomagic, which sums up the series' balance of fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction.
In the world of The Dresden Files, magic is real, along with ghouls, vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, zombies and other mythical monsters. Harry Dresden works to protect the general public, who are ignorant of magic and the dark forces conspiring against them. This makes it difficult for Harry to get by as a working wizard and private eye. The Chicago PD's Special Investigation unit, when led by Karrin Murphy, regularly employs Dresden as a consultant to help solve cases of a supernatural nature.
The White Council, the recognized governing body of Wizards, has decreed the Seven Laws of Magic, which all magic users are expected to follow. Breaking any of the laws, even without knowing of them, carries a death sentence except under very rare and special circumstances.
In The Dresden Files universe, each species (humans, faeries, vampires, etc.) has its own political and societal rules and organizations. The human wizards depend on the White Council, while faeries may belong to either the Summer or Winter courts, or they may belong to neither court, in which case they are known as Wyldfae. Vampires may belong to any of three vampire Courts, be it the White, Red, or Black Court. There are rumours of a Jade court based in the far east.
I'm enjoying it quite a bit...the main character takes the snark level up to 11, and frequently has to pay the consequences for doing so. Characters grow and change, and one of them is the best portrayal of a (modern-day) paladin I've ever seen.
The author also portrays the faeries of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts as what they should be...downright scary, for which I give him major brownie (sorry) points.
So...what are you reading?
I love Heinlein's juveniles, and Time for the Stars is one of my favorites!
Harry Harrison's early work can be a lot of fun, although his more recent novels are...problematic.
(namely, the "Stars and Stripes" trilogy...*shudder*)
I always liked Starman Jones the best.
Time for the Stars reminds me of the Queen song 39. Same basic idea without the telepathy.
Cheers,
Jim
That's one I've been meaning to read, but to which I have never gotten around.
I rather enjoyed Deathworld 2, moreso than #3. To each their own...!
If I had to pick a favorite Heinlein juvenile, it would have to be Tunnel in the Sky. I’ve probably read it half a dozen times.
Not a juvenile, but one of RAH's best.
IMHO, he kind of "jumped the shark" with "Number of the Beast.
Later Heinlein novels can be a bit...self indulgent on the author's part, IMHO. On the other hand, "Job: A Comedy of Justice" is one of his best late novels (again, IMHO).
+1. Dystopia has arrived; fiction has nothing on reality anymore.
Excellent choice. One of my favorites. I remember them being warned about “stobor” and smugly thinking it was robots spelled backwards, then reading to the end and finding out I was totally wrong and there were no robots; the term was just a generic “here there be monsters” warning.
Cheers,
Jim
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