What book are you reading at the moment ?

Readsalot

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Covenant is kark not dark. Three books full of self pity and whinging
Covenant is dark not kark. It's a story of redemption, starting out with the protagonist doing something unforgivable and then trying to do something about it.

You might not like it, but hundreds of thousands of readers disagree with you
 

Sinbad

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Covenant is dark not kark. It's a story of redemption, starting out with the protagonist doing something unforgivable and then trying to do something about it.

You might not like it, but hundreds of thousands of readers disagree with you
Millions vote for the anc........
 

OrbitalDawn

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Anyone read Glen Cook's The Black Company? I've been hearing about it for a while, but haven't given it a shot yet.

Peter Newman's The Vagrant is also apparently quite good.

Everyone knows The Book of the New Sun is the best dark fantasy, though. :whistling:
 

Readsalot

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Anyone read Glen Cook's The Black Company? I've been hearing about it for a while, but haven't given it a shot yet.

Peter Newman's The Vagrant is also apparently quite good.

Everyone knows The Book of the New Sun is the best dark fantasy, though. :whistling:

I have a whole collection of Glen Cook's books, including The Black Company, but I've never read them. I think I gave The Black Company a try but it didn't really grab me at the time so I didn't get very far before switching to something else. I might try it again someday but from what I remember it's probably not my cup of tea.

I think my personal favorite dark fantasy series will probably be the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. Interestingly, I see Mark Lawrence is also a Night Angel fan, as he gave it 5/5 stars on Goodreads. It just suits my tastes the most.

Thanks for the The Vagrant tip - I've added it to my TBR list.

Currently, I'm on Book 16 of The Coiling Dragon series by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi (or I Eat Tomatoes as he's known in English - I kid you not). This guy writes the most awesome wuxia novels. Wuxia means martial heroes, so basically think Chinese legendary heroes whose kung fu become so advanced they are indistinguishable from gods. Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but with actual fire-breathing dragons and other mythical beasts - and guys who kick the crap out of them. There are 21 books in the series and every book so far is full of holy s... moments.

Basically, if you enjoyed Kung Fu Hustle then you really should check out the Wuxiaworld website.

You can read about I Eat Tomatoes and his novels here.
http://www.wuxiaworld.com/author-spotlight/i-eat-tomatoes/
 

OrbitalDawn

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I have a whole collection of Glen Cook's books, including The Black Company, but I've never read them. I think I gave The Black Company a try but it didn't really grab me at the time so I didn't get very far before switching to something else. I might try it again someday but from what I remember it's probably not my cup of tea.

I think my personal favorite dark fantasy series will probably be the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. Interestingly, I see Mark Lawrence is also a Night Angel fan, as he gave it 5/5 stars on Goodreads. It just suits my tastes the most.

Thanks for the The Vagrant tip - I've added it to my TBR list.

Currently, I'm on Book 16 of The Coiling Dragon series by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi (or I Eat Tomatoes as he's known in English - I kid you not). This guy writes the most awesome wuxia novels. Wuxia means martial heroes, so basically think Chinese legendary heroes whose kung fu become so advanced they are indistinguishable from gods. Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but with actual fire-breathing dragons and other mythical beasts - and guys who kick the crap out of them. There are 21 books in the series and every book so far is full of holy s... moments.

Basically, if you enjoyed Kung Fu Hustle then you really should check out the Wuxiaworld website.

You can read about I Eat Tomatoes and his novels here.
http://www.wuxiaworld.com/author-spotlight/i-eat-tomatoes/

Sounds interesting, thanks. Is it humorous in the way Kung Fu Hustle is, or more focused on the fighting aspect?
 

Readsalot

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Sounds interesting, thanks. Is it humorous in the way Kung Fu Hustle is, or more focused on the fighting aspect?
Some humour, but not to the extent of Kung Fu Hustle. Have you read Will Wight's books? I got very excited and posted about him last year when I discovered him. His books are very similar in style and might be a good place to start, since they do not rely on the sometimes fallible talents of translators, as I Eat Tomatoes does.

In fact, I sent a tweets to Will Wight when I started reading the Coiling Dragon, to tell him how much it reminded me of his books. Turns he's a big fan!

Of course, the bonus with I Eat Tomatoes is that you can check his books out for free, as all of them started as out as webnovels.

Unsouled, Book 1 of the Cradle series by Will Wight: "Sacred artists follow a thousand Paths to power, using their souls to control the forces of the natural world.*

Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan.*

When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must defy his family's rules...and forge his own Path."
 

K3NS31

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I hated his books more with every book I read. By the time I finished the third book I decided I'll never read anything by him again. Not saying he's a bad writer - just saying I hate his books.

I had a similar experience with Stephen King. He's a great writer but I really don't like what he writes. Misery was the last straw for me. (Although I might still read the Dark Tower, but probably not). And he's had some bad misses too - "The Stand" may be popular, but it was boooooring. Very very boring.
 
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I had a similar experience with Stephen King. He's a great writer but I really don't like what he writes. Misery was the last straw for me. (Although I might still read the Dark Tower, but probably not). And he's had some bad misses too - "The Stand" may be popular, but it was boooooring. Very very boring.

It's probably because you don't understand his writing. Most of the time it's more about the people, than the actual story. But if you haven't read 11/22/63 do yourself a favour and read it, one of my favourites
 

C4Cat

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Do other people here have 'favourite books of all time'? One of the books I've read multiple times, over the last 30 years, is called "This Perfect Day" by Ira Levin. For some reason, this book was never as popular as some of his other books (Rosemary's Baby and The Boys from Brazil, for example) but is one of my favourite books of all time. It's in the same dystopian genre as Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's 1984 but remains relatively unknown compared to those. Anyway, just thought I would share my love for this book. For me it's timeless in that I enjoy reading it as much now as I did 30 years ago.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/139390.This_Perfect_Day
 

K3NS31

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It's probably because you don't understand his writing. Most of the time it's more about the people, than the actual story. But if you haven't read 11/22/63 do yourself a favour and read it, one of my favourites

No, it's because it's usually dark (in the depressing way) and deviant (in the non-sexual way) and - well you get the picture.
 

K3NS31

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Do other people here have 'favourite books of all time'? One of the books I've read multiple times, over the last 30 years, is called "This Perfect Day" by Ira Levin. For some reason, this book was never as popular as some of his other books (Rosemary's Baby and The Boys from Brazil, for example) but is one of my favourite books of all time. It's in the same dystopian genre as Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's 1984 but remains relatively unknown compared to those. Anyway, just thought I would share my love for this book. For me it's timeless in that I enjoy reading it as much now as I did 30 years ago.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/139390.This_Perfect_Day

Too many to list. It's bad though, cos there's little enough time to read as it is, without still going back and re-re-reading old books. But some are just that good. Or maybe it's more a matter of when in your life you read them, that they make an impact that you want to experience again, or at least remember.
 

Kosmik

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The Thomas Covenant books are are in my top ten favourite dark fantasy books.

Dark? Never thought of them as dark.

Need to get around to reading his Gap series one of these days.

*edit* so many books mentioned seem similar to my little rss feed from bin/books :D

*edit x 2* I personally hate audio books. Can read half a page before they finish two sentences hence the annoyance.
 
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R13...

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Columbus Day of Expeditionary Force was a great listen and humorous.
But it feels like subsequent books just rehash the same plot over and over without advancing the arc. The story gets old rather quickly after book 2.
 
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