I seem to have worked my way through a considerable number of Mr Gaimans books, anyone reading anything of a similar ilk they would recommend?

Or just decent books in general, nothing too heavy.

The modern grim fantasy style…
Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch or Mark Lawrence

I’m going through the Locke Lamora trilogy by Scott Lynch at the moment. They’re pretty good, jump about in time a bit to build up the back story whilst still maintaining interest. They’re certainly worth a go.

China Mieville always strikes me a more ornate Gaiman., Kraken especially. Though doesn’t meet the “not heavy” criteria, you could kill a man with my copy of perdido street station.

How about maybe Ben Aaranovitch? I can’t really say why he reminds me of Gaiman, but he does. Same sort of slightly cracked near-real-world setting I suppose.

Scott Lynch is good but Abercrombie is better imo, at least up til the point he started recycling everything.

‘Then, when I’ve got two cut,’ and he dropped a pale slab of cheese on one slice then slapped the other on top like he was catching a fly, ‘I trap the cheese between then, and there you have it!’

‘Bread and cheese.’ Yon weighed the half-loaf in one hand and the cheese in the other. ‘Just the same as I’ve got.’ And he bit off the cheese and tossed it to Scorry.

Whirrun sighed. ‘Have none of you no vision?’ He held up his masterpiece to such light as there was, which was almost none. ‘This is no more bread and cheese than a fine axe is wood and iron, or a live person is meat and har.’

‘What is it, then?’ asked Drfod, rocking back from his wet wood and tossing the flint aside in disgust.

‘A whole new thing. A forging of the humble part of bread and cheese into a greater whole. I call it … a cheese-trap.’ Whirrun took a dainty nibble from one corner. ‘Oh, yes, my friends. This tastes like … progress…”

As Northwind suggested, Ben Aaronovitch would be worth a look. Jim Butcher is generally pretty enjoyable too.

Cheers, I have a look-see at those suggestions.

Nearly time for new Neil Gaiman 🙂

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trigger-Warning-Short-Fictions-Disturbances/dp/0062330268

what replacment now that Ian Banks is (for obvious reasons) no longer writing.

None.

I cannot recommend highly enough a book that i finished a few weeks ago – All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Excellent book.

The new Joe Abercrombie book (Half a World) is out in a fortnight…

Oh OK. There is no Iain Banks replacement but if you like M stuff then Ken Macleod is an obvious one to try (Star Fraction to Cassini Division), Richard Morgan, Dan Simmons, Alistair Reynolds (who spent years being Iain Banks without a soul, now he’s Kim Stanley Robinson without a heart, but still)… And Kim Stanley Robinson himself, who imo is the best living SF author and dabbles in not sf too.

And slightly older stuff- Vinge Haldeman, M John Harrison, Bester, Heinlein (Moon is a Harsh Mistress) and Zelazny if you’ve not done that.

Not all stuff I like mind but still.

Roger Zelazney’s a fantastic writer, I dearly love his books, and I’ve read I think every one he’s written.
Sadly, few are in print, and the only ebooks I found on a site were removed by his estate, who have unfortunately done nothing themselves to get any of his books into print or ebook format.
He’s wonderfully lyrical in his writing, and I’ve re-read his books countless times.
Someone else who shows a distinct touch of Zelazny’s style is Kate Griffin, she’s also a superb writer in a wide variety of styles: http://www.kategriffin.net/books/
Her YA books as Catherine Webb are excellent, too.
Charles Stross should also be essential reading by anyone who likes Gaiman, his variety of different book styles is remarkable.

+1 to NW upto date list & Charles Stross from CZ, I’d throughly recommend all their books, though I know Reynolds gets some flack I like his books a lot. I also find Larry Niven very readable too. Personally I don’t find Zelazney books great, tried three just not getting any love, obviously that’s down to personal tastes. No Iain M Banks replacement though

I’d suggest some Carl Hiaasen modern pulp fiction with an environmental slant. Very good, fast paced and in hilarious in places.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8178.Carl_Hiaasen

Thanks NW I’ll look those up.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, fantastic book and a similarish “familiar world gone weird” vibe but done in such depth and detail that you find yourself thinking of it as historically accurate.

Sorry for the slight hijack but is Perdido Street Station worth persevering with? I’ve tried a few times to start reading it but I’ve always been tempted onto something else quite quickly.

I really enjoyed “A Madness of Angels” by Kate Griffin, which is a bit like Neverwhere, but is indiividual enough to stand on it’s own.

+1 for Jonathon Strange, I even think they’re making a version for the tellybox, so it must be good! China Melville’s Perdido St Station is one of the saddest fantasy / sci-fi books I’ve read, superb though.

I’m working my way through the Ender books at the moment and really enjoying them. Also just read I am Legend, that was corking good stuff.

For something a bit fun, have you ever heard of A.A.Attanasio? There’s a quite superb book called Last Legends of Earth. It’s really, really good.

C.

@Mikey- I love it, but it’s never really easy going. The pace/drama picks up a lot after a while, there’s a lot of scene setting. Kraken and King Rat are more accessible and, well, Gaimaney- urban magic/weird sort of thing. Not so much to my taste tbh but I still liked ’em.

Personally I don’t find Zelazney books great, tried three just not getting any love, obviously that’s down to personal tastes.

Just out of curiosity, which ones have you read? Some are a lot easier to get into than others.

Another recommendation for M fans would be Peter F Hamilton. A bit less heavy but the Nights Dawn trilogy was 3700 odd pages well spent. Incidentally, I saw this the other day:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2015/01/elon-musk-iain-m-banks-just-read-the-instructions

🙂

Any Neal Stephenson book, I’ve most recently read Anathem which was brilliant. It’s long but I never found it hard going.

Another recommendation for M fans would be Peter F Hamilton. A bit less heavy but the Nights Dawn trilogy was 3700 odd pages well spent.

I was thinking of recommending him, but wouldn’t as an Iain M Banks substitute… He’s just not in the same league. I’ve read all of his stuff, and enjoy it, but it’s very much pulp science fiction, lots of big guns and big ideas but the writing’s nothing like as good. Great holiday reading, fun escapist stuff, but not the same.

Have you read through the Sandman series by Gaimen?

Roger Zelazney’s a fantastic writer, I dearly love his books, and I’ve read I think every one he’s written.
Sadly, few are in print, and the only ebooks I found on a site were removed by his estate, who have unfortunately done nothing themselves to get any of his books into print or ebook format.

❓ There are loads on Amazon, many with Kindle editions.

Thanks though; by checking I found a post-apocalyptic (my fave genre) collaboration between him and PKD (my fave author) which I was previously unaware of. That’s this weekends reading sorted!

+1 for the Kate Griffin.

I also recommend The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall.

You’ve got to have the right filters/tolerance for Hamilton I think… I really like him when he’s good, and some of the big setpieces are pretty Banksy/Consider Phlebasy. But some of it’s just drivel. And the bigger he got the more drivelly it got, I’ve given up now.

There’s an exact point, in maybe the 3rd Greg Mandel book, where he’s getting more skilled as a writer but hasn’t yet quite got massively overconfident and still has editors who’ll say no…

@zilog, is that Deus Irae? I can’t remember a damn thing about it tbh but I remember reading that PKD basically wrote about a quarter of it, in almost unsavable form, then gave up so it ended up basically a Zelazny book based on a PKD idea, more than it was a collaboration.

You’ve got to have the right filters/tolerance for Hamilton I think… I really like him when he’s good, and some of the big setpieces are pretty Banksy/Consider Phlebasy. But some of it’s just drivel. And the bigger he got the more drivelly it got, I’ve given up now.

I’m reading his latest, and it’s OK. Some good bits, but as you point out there’s still a fair bit of drivel in there. Perfect for reading on the train, for example, but definitely not a classic.

Love Neil Gaiman – the audio books are fantastic

Graveyard book is read my the man himself, great voice

The Antse brothers, I think it is lenny henry

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, fantastic book

See, I started this book and gave up which is very unlike me – 500 pages and I’m not sure what had happened apart from one guy moving to London.

Have you read through the Sandman series by Gaimen?

Ironically I’ve realised it’s probably the one set of books I’ve not read by Gaiman, something I must rectify at some point.

Going to have a dabble with “Locke Lamora” if the lcoal book shop has it in when I’m in town tomorrow. Trying to convince myself a little eReader would be appropriate as a treat too…

Sorry for the slight hijack but is Perdido Street Station worth persevering with? I’ve tried a few times to start reading it but I’ve always been tempted onto something else quite quickly.

No, if you’re struggling, it’s not going to get any better. I loved the start – the ideas, characters and so on – and then gradually realised that there was nothing else. The ending felt rushed, despite being about a million pages long, and am I right in that there was a deus ex machina involved? (I may be confusing it with another book.)

SLIGHT SPOILER – after those million pages you realise it was just a bug-hunt. Nothing more.

I wanted to like this book so much but finished it wondering why I’d wasted my time on it.

A few more to consider, apologies if they have already been said:
Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
and
Carlos Ruiz Zafón trilogy (4th book to come)
The Shadow of the Wind
The Angel’s Game
The Prisoner of Heaven

IdleJon – Member

am I right in that there was a deus ex machina involved

There’s an actual god, and a godlike machine. But no deus ex machina.

I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s just a bug hunt- some of it is but it’s mostly the spur that drives the characters through the settings. A big part of it is just creating and exploring new crobuzon.

Anne Leckie is doing good work.
The City and The City by Mieville was a good read. UnLundun ok-ish.

Squirrelking – thank you for that link, the Culture’s influence stretches to some interesting places. IMB would have liked a Tesla to hoon around in.

Mike Shevdon courts of the fayre books are very very good
Patrick Rothfuss, the name of the wind and the wise man’s fear, still waiting for the third one
Anthony Ryan slab city novelas
Benedict Jacka, Alex verus series
+1Jim butcher dresden series
+1 scott lynch… Good but take some getting into and he’s taking about 7 years between books

Disappointing to hear that about Hamilton, as I said I thought Nights Dawn was a great read (but not on the same level as Banks, more of a promising screenplay if you get my drift).

Can’t possibly end up as bad as the Long Earth stuff by Pratchett/Baxter though, now that IS proper Hunger Games grade toss.

Disappointing to hear that about Hamilton, as I said I thought Nights Dawn was a great read (but not on the same level as Banks, more of a promising screenplay if you get my drift).

He’s entertaining enough, but could certainly do with a more assertive editor.

youngrob – Member

Any Neal Stephenson book, I’ve most recently read Anathem which was brilliant. It’s long but I never found it hard going.

Seconded.

I also recommend Nick Harkaway, and would also second China Mieville – “The City and the City” is one of the best books I’ve read in ages.

I’m currently enjoying stuff by Paul Macauley – very hard SF – Hannu Rajaniemi’s Quantum Thief series is great, and for something a little lighter try Charles Stross’s ‘Laundry’ series.

Saturn’s Children and Neptune’s Brood are fantastic – only once been disappointed with a Stross book and that was the one he wrote with Cory Doctrow, and then it was only *slight* disappointment.

Oh, and agree re: Peter Hamilton – enjoy his work, needs more editing!

Really enjoyed Alastair Reynolds recently, after not ‘getting’ him when he first started writing. It was probably me, rather than him!