Troy's Search for Books

And now for a break from all the House Selling posts...

Way back in one of our first posts, I mentioned that I was reading the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher. These are pretty good. They're basically gritty modern detective stories, set in Chicago with a LOT of supernatural elements thrown in. I definitely recommend the Dresden Files.

When I finished those books, I realized that I was fresh out of good Scifi / Fantasy.

The first thing I did was go to Powell's Books in downtown Portland. This is an AMAZING bookstore - the largest I've ever been in. It sells new and used books, and has a lot of character. It also has author recommendations mixed in with the books.

Based on the recommendations for Scifi, I bought The Algebraist by Ian M. Banks. To be fair, I didn't really give this book a chance. I was in the mood for something a little more action-oriented, and this was a little slower with a lot of politics. I seemed like a well-thought-out and interesting setting. I only read a couple hundred pages when I gave up on it, but I think I'll come back to it at some point. I would recommend this if you're looking for a highly political, very far future space opera (think the Dune series).

So that was sort of a bust. I tried some books recommended by friends, but I didn't find anything interesting (fantasy romance novels are just not for me). By a stroke of luck, I found out that tor.com is launching a new eBook download service, and to help promote it they're giving away free eBooks - one a week for 12 weeks. (They're still doing it, so go sign up right away!).

The first eBook was Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (I guess it's actually called "The Final Empire, book 1 of the Mistborn series," but whatever...). Let me just say, WOW! I printed out the first two chapters of the book and read them on my walk home from work. As soon as I got home I opened up the ebook on the computer and kept reading. I couldn't get enough of it and devoured it very quickly. It's been a long time since I read a fantasy novel this good. He throws out all the old ideas of fantasy (you won't find any dwarves or elves or anything else Tolkein-esque or any Dungeons & Dragons rip-offs). The characters are believable and you care about them right away. The magic is original, and the politics aren't too overpowering or convoluted. The whole story is very satisfying. I can't recommend this book (or this author) highly enough!! If you like fantasy even a little bit, go buy this book right away!

I finished Mistborn while we were on vacation, and we went to a book store so I could buy the sequel. Unfortunately, they only have it in hardback and I can't bring myself to pay $30 for a book. Instead, I bought Brandon Sanderson's stand-alone novel Elantris. Again, WOW! I read a chapter or two while we were on vacation, but when we got back, I sat down and read this book straight through in one day. Again, this is an original, understandable, and believable setting. The characters are well-developed and endearing. The magic is interesting and original, and the book is a stand-alone novel, so you don't have to commit to some 8000 page series. I strongly recommend this as well. Amanda is currently addicted to it and has been reading it whenever she gets a spare second (which isn't often for a mom of her caliber!).

The most recent book on Tor's free ebook list, is The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. I'd already read this one back when I was at Ford (during the Inferno days as it were). I really enjoyed this one. It has a very subtle magic system with some interesting religious undertones. The story is well paced, and this book makes for a very nice slow, savory read. This is a trilogy, and the third book just came out. I recommend this one.

Well, this list sounds like all fantasy, but I didn't give up on Scifi! The second ebook from Tor was Old Man's War by John Scalzi. This was just the science fiction novel I was looking for. It's only about 300 pages, so it's a fairly quick read, but I had a VERY hard time putting it down. Without giving too much away, it's a military novel with a good deal of action. It's told from the perspective of a 75-year old man, and has a lot of interesting twists and turns. It feels a lot like Heinlein (think Starship Troopers), but be warned that it's REALLY cussy! There are plenty of F-bombs, but I thought it was fairly appropriate for the genre. I'd definitely recommend this one if you like scifi.

So that's it for what I've been reading this month. I'm currently reading the second Mistborn book, The Well of Ascension, and totally loving it.

If you have any recommendations for good Scifi or Fantasy, definitely post a comment!

----- Update -----
I actually read all day and finished The Well of Ascension tonight. It was great but ended with a major cliffhanger. The sequel, "The Hero of Ages" won't be out until this October! What will I read until then?!!! Also, one more note about Brandon Sanderson: Robert Jordan, the author of The Wheel of Time series, died recently. Brandon met with him and went over all of his notes beforehand and he'll be writing the final book of the series, A Memory of Light.