A Discussion on books in general (not necessarily LN)
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Essentially this post is for people who want to talk about books they have read that do not necessarily have to be about LN. You can talk about your favourite books obscure or not, recommend books people may or may not have heard or even would have read.
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There are three books that may interest some people:
Epic by Conor Kostick - Violence is illegal and all conflicts wither it be political or petty are resolved through a duel in a video game.
Stormdancer (The Lotus War Book One) by Jay Kristoff - think Steampunk Japan.
Fatespinner by S.K. Aetherphoxx - I am in the middle of reading this one and it is really good so far.
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I always advocate for Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn and The Way of Kings in particular. Malazan Book of the Fallen is also a great, if long and confusing, time. I read The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter a few years ago, that was good, picked up the other 2 novels in the trilogy but haven't gotten around to reading them yet.
Overall, haven't read too much outside of LNs/WNs lately :o maybe soon.
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I recently finished reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Kinda weird experience.
Man, this guy is good at making the mundane sound amazing.
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I kinda want to listen to the audio book for 1Q84... But it's over 40 hours. I did listen to Kafka on The Shore which was a more manageable 20 hours (I recommend it).
My copy of Jerusalem by Alan Moore is 60 hours. O.o
The longest audiobook I saw was the Bible, as performed by famous actors. It was, like, 90+ Hours.
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I recently read The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, when I picked it up my first thought was "this could be a light novel title lol" and curiosity killed the cat so I bought it. I had a blast with it, the comedy was golden. Been a while since I laughed so much with a western novel.
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One decent one that is a comedy and LN like, is The Weirdness. It's about a writer whose girlfriend breaks up with him, and somehow or another he meets the devil, and decides to complete a task for him in exchange for him helping him with being discovered as an author. The task is stealing a Lucky Cat.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18050224-the-weirdness
That's one of the last American books I read. Been on the Japanese novel kick for a while.
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@shrike_al I bought the audible book for IQ84 many years ago and never finished it. Might need to start it over and actually finish it this time.
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@Terrence @Chris-Hyde I think it's bit difficult to enjoy 1Q84 in audio. It's the kind that makes sudden subtle references to its previous chapters, with a lot of seemingly minor details, so it's best to enjoy it in your own pace.
The thing is, it actually takes some chapters for the story to really get going. I think I bought my copy around 2013, and really got into reading it just recently.
I'm trying to read self development book Grit next.
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I recently finished Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Boy The Failure the was the film is even more Blatant with the Context of the book. If I ever get a Water Bed, I will need to be careful ; )
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I was recommended the Star Justice series, and although I've only read the first book (just started on the second), I am going to get through them all (currently 10 in the series) as I really enjoyed reading the book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34829165-eye-of-the-tigerWith the amount of action sequences in these books, you could liken it to an FPS game written as a novel, and it is definitely rated for mature audiences (excessive violence, language and sex, though it isn't in your face sex).
The other thing is that the author seems to crank out about 20 novels a year... I will be checking out the other titles as well (I was sent Rose Boy by the author for free from signing up to his newsletter - more LN size... but not as good as Star Justice, but good for free!) , which is definitely making up for the lulls between LN ebook releases.
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Skyward by Brandon Sanderson coming in November.
Heard him speak at Powell's back in November, he talked about this book and read part of the prologue. I wasn't immediately dazzled, but I think most of his books have a nontrivial amount of buildup to get into, so I'll definitely be checking it out.
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Oooo, Powells! Another Bridgetowner. :-)
I'll plug my dad's Kris Longknife series originally published by ACE.
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@dryurimom Keepin' it weird. (I actually live in Vancouver :o)
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I am thinking about reading something from Wuxia World, I heard the guy who founded it, translates more than a chapter per day (boy that is fast). does anyone here have any recommendations? I heard of an Author called "I Eat Tomatoes" but I am kind of interested in a series called "Battle Through the Heavens" I have read a bit of the Manhua for it and it was interesting.
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I just got The Legend of Drizzt: 25th Anniversary Edition: Book 1: Homeland ♦ Exile ♦ Sojourn by R.A.Salvatore and I expect great things from such an iconic series.
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Finished “No Longer Human” by Dezai, and damn it was good. Listened on Audible and finished right before work last week and had to go to the bathroom to wash the tears out of my eyes before I went in. The last paragraph was a kicker to me.
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@drone205 A friend of mine had really recommended me Coiling Dragon, but I hadn't brought myself to read it.
But man, times sure have changed. IIRC, most works translated there were classics written by the likes of Jin Yong and Gu Long. Now, it's mostly just xianxia novels about ascensions and cultivation.
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I stumbled upon a series called Tamer not too long ago, excellent survival story with a harem. I haven't read any novels outside of light novels, tried this one on a whim and absolutely loved it. Highly recommend if you like harems with a solid story. Star Justice from the same author is great as well.
Tamer
Star Justice -
Just finished “In the Pool” which @BloodyGaikotsu mentioned in another thread and loved it. Very funny collection of short stories about a neurology doctor by the guy who wrote “Lala Pipo”. I wish some more of his stuff would get translated, really dig his work. He’s also written Light Novels and I feel his work would be appreciated by LN readers with a certain sense of humor.
Also went to Kinokuniya in LA yesterday and loaded up on some Japanese fiction. “Tokyo Zodiac Murders”, “Strange Weather in Tokyo”, “Cult X”, “Convenience Store Girl” and a collection of Murakami short stories. Along with four volumes of Rokka of the Braves, 4 Sword Arts, the second Bakemonigatari and both volumes of the Laid Back Camp manga and I’m set for a bit... (ok, I over indulged but I blame that on Kinokuniya withdrawal since the Costa Mesa store closed).
