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?
IPCC draft.
Personality Psychology and Research Design. ;-)
“An Inconvenient Truth”
I’m hoping to get the final book in the Wheel of Time series for Christmas.
I am not reading any, but I am living 1984.
I’m about halfway through book 2 of Arthur C. Clarke’s Rama series.
Actually they are surprising to me, pretty good, especially the Heroes of Olympus Series
None but I just saw “Forbidden Planet”, in a vcr tape. I got it out but it is too late to watch tonight. Will probably so so tomorrow.
The Riyria Revelations by Michael J Sullivan. Just finished the series....excellent fun read. Better than the game of thrones stuff. Now reading kings Under the Dome.< /p>
Dreams From My Father
THE GALACTIC FOOTBALL LEAGUE SERIES: Set in a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future, this galaxy-spanning story combines the intense gridiron action of “Any Given Sunday” with the space-opera style of “Star Wars” and the criminal underworld of “The Godfather.” Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that literally want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.
http://scottsigler.com/gfl
New York Times and the Washington Post.
...ping....
Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber.
Currently reading “Guns of the South”.
Needed a break from the books on eschatology I’ve been reading over the last year.
The Warren Report.
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
“Deathworld” by Harry Harrison. Missed it back when.
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