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gogmagogWell, having done a videogame babbling post earlier that will be incomprehensible to all but like 5 people on my flist, I figure it's time to do something that will appeal to more people that I know. So without further ado, that book rec post I've been promising. Note that these are not necessarily all my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE BOOKS OF ALL TIME or anything, just books I've read relatively recently and have been meaning to recommend.
Invincible by Robert Kirkman
Okay, strangely enough I'm going to start off with a comic book. And not even an artsy avant-garde Grant Morrison book, or the ubiquitous of-course-it's-good Alan Moore book, but a straight-up superhero book. Written by Robert Kirkman - probably best known for his amazing but hella depressing zombie apocalypse series The Walking Dead, or his completely effed-up Battle Pope - it's the best superhero comic book I've ever read, except maybe Runaways (they're tied in my mind for BEST EVAR). It centers around Mark Grayson, who discovers in his final year of high school that he's developed superpowers. He figures it's about time since his dad, mild-mannered writer Nolan, is secretlySuperman Omni-Man, an alien from the distant planet of Krypton Vitrum sent to save Earth? Of course, with his dad's connections, he's soon in the Teen Titans Teen Team with other teenaged heroes, including his classmate Eve. He goes along fine, learning about his powers (and all the travails of being a high schooler by day and a superhero by night) and being snarky, until the Justice League Guardians of the Globe, the greatest superheroes in the world, are brutally murdered. And once we learn who killed them, and why, and what happens because of it, what was a good superhero book turns into an AMAZING superhero book. I don't want to spoil it for you, but seriously check it out...it's been collected in graphic novel form, but you can also get it other ways (hint: BitTorrent), and the big twist happens in the third volume, so at least read up to there.
Anything by Lynn Flewelling
Okay, first I have to say that I love everything Flewelling has ever written. That being said, she's only written six books so far, so there's not a huge back catalogue to catch up on yet. She's written two series, both set in the same world but several hundred years apart. The first one, the Nightrunner series (Luck in the Shadows, Stalking Darkness and Traitor's Moon) are not unusual epic fantasy, in a "we're a couple of thieves, we have to save the world" kind of way. It's very well-executed, in terms of engaging characters and such, but the only real full-on twist of originality is the (eventually romantic) relationship between the two male main characters, which is very complicated and suffice it to say ends up going in different directions than is usual for the genre (or at least that was the case when they were written).
Her second series, though - the Tamir Triad (The Bone Doll's Twin, Hidden Warrior and The Oracle's Queen) - moves way beyond the quality of those first ones and goes on to become what I would call one of the best recent fantasy novels I've read. It does some really interesting things with gender, especially. The kingdom of Skala, where it takes place, had been successfully and peacefully ruled by warrior queens according to an ancient prophecy for centuries. However, when one of the queens goes mad, her son steps in and takes over/usurps the throne from his infant younger sister. Decades later, all women of the royal line except for that sister, Ariani, have died mysteriously. When Ariani discovers that she's pregnant with twins - a boy and a girl - her husband Rhius gets the aid of two wizards and a hill-witch to do a forbidden piece of magic. Both children are born: the girl is healthy, and the boy is killed. Through these magicians' combined magic, the forms of the babies are switched, so that to all intents and purposes the girl-child has died and the unthreatening boy-child survives. "He" is raised as a boy, not knowing that eventually he will discover his true form, and have to conceal it until the time is right for him to return to his female form and take back the throne from his uncle.
It takes place a few hundred years before the other series, so there's a certain amount of stuff we know is going to happen; we know Tobin is eventually going to become Queen Tamir, and found a great city and a new order of wizards. However, Flewelling still manages to keep us in suspense: though Tobin/Tamir obviously isn't going to die, certainly anyone else around him/her (most of whom we come to like/love) is fair game. Lots of people die, and it's occasionally a pretty dark series of books. but really good; I'd recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy at all and can put up with semi-epic fantasy (so, stuff set in a fantasy world, as opposed to something set in modern-day America but with magic), or anyone interested in fiction that does interesting things with gender identity.
...Okay, and I totally meant to have more book recs but I'm sleepy and need to go to bed. Also, I am have been watching Say Anything for the first time ever - I got it from Netflix, since my fondness for contemporary romcoms dictated that I should try the ur-chick flick they all seem to stem from - but am finding it kinda meh. D:
But more book recs will follow! Specifically Mark Anthony's Last Rune books, Miyuki Miyake's Brave Story, and a few nonfiction history books (including one about mad George III's six daughters, one of whom had an illegitimate child, possibly by her brother).
Invincible by Robert Kirkman
Okay, strangely enough I'm going to start off with a comic book. And not even an artsy avant-garde Grant Morrison book, or the ubiquitous of-course-it's-good Alan Moore book, but a straight-up superhero book. Written by Robert Kirkman - probably best known for his amazing but hella depressing zombie apocalypse series The Walking Dead, or his completely effed-up Battle Pope - it's the best superhero comic book I've ever read, except maybe Runaways (they're tied in my mind for BEST EVAR). It centers around Mark Grayson, who discovers in his final year of high school that he's developed superpowers. He figures it's about time since his dad, mild-mannered writer Nolan, is secretly
Anything by Lynn Flewelling
Okay, first I have to say that I love everything Flewelling has ever written. That being said, she's only written six books so far, so there's not a huge back catalogue to catch up on yet. She's written two series, both set in the same world but several hundred years apart. The first one, the Nightrunner series (Luck in the Shadows, Stalking Darkness and Traitor's Moon) are not unusual epic fantasy, in a "we're a couple of thieves, we have to save the world" kind of way. It's very well-executed, in terms of engaging characters and such, but the only real full-on twist of originality is the (eventually romantic) relationship between the two male main characters, which is very complicated and suffice it to say ends up going in different directions than is usual for the genre (or at least that was the case when they were written).
Her second series, though - the Tamir Triad (The Bone Doll's Twin, Hidden Warrior and The Oracle's Queen) - moves way beyond the quality of those first ones and goes on to become what I would call one of the best recent fantasy novels I've read. It does some really interesting things with gender, especially. The kingdom of Skala, where it takes place, had been successfully and peacefully ruled by warrior queens according to an ancient prophecy for centuries. However, when one of the queens goes mad, her son steps in and takes over/usurps the throne from his infant younger sister. Decades later, all women of the royal line except for that sister, Ariani, have died mysteriously. When Ariani discovers that she's pregnant with twins - a boy and a girl - her husband Rhius gets the aid of two wizards and a hill-witch to do a forbidden piece of magic. Both children are born: the girl is healthy, and the boy is killed. Through these magicians' combined magic, the forms of the babies are switched, so that to all intents and purposes the girl-child has died and the unthreatening boy-child survives. "He" is raised as a boy, not knowing that eventually he will discover his true form, and have to conceal it until the time is right for him to return to his female form and take back the throne from his uncle.
It takes place a few hundred years before the other series, so there's a certain amount of stuff we know is going to happen; we know Tobin is eventually going to become Queen Tamir, and found a great city and a new order of wizards. However, Flewelling still manages to keep us in suspense: though Tobin/Tamir obviously isn't going to die, certainly anyone else around him/her (most of whom we come to like/love) is fair game. Lots of people die, and it's occasionally a pretty dark series of books. but really good; I'd recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy at all and can put up with semi-epic fantasy (so, stuff set in a fantasy world, as opposed to something set in modern-day America but with magic), or anyone interested in fiction that does interesting things with gender identity.
...Okay, and I totally meant to have more book recs but I'm sleepy and need to go to bed. Also, I am have been watching Say Anything for the first time ever - I got it from Netflix, since my fondness for contemporary romcoms dictated that I should try the ur-chick flick they all seem to stem from - but am finding it kinda meh. D:
But more book recs will follow! Specifically Mark Anthony's Last Rune books, Miyuki Miyake's Brave Story, and a few nonfiction history books (including one about mad George III's six daughters, one of whom had an illegitimate child, possibly by her brother).
