(no subject)

[the_rck]

For some reason, this evening I've been remembering a question that a friend asked me years ago and wondering what people I know now would say. It's nothing too complicated--

Basically, this friend had a summer off, between finishing his bachelors and starting his masters, I believe, and thought he'd read some fiction. So he started asking people which three books they'd recommend for his list. He was rather annoyed that my friend, Gale, and I gave him the exact same list.

Thinking about it, I'd probably give the same answer today:

Hellspark by Janet Kagan
The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart

What three books would you suggest to someone asking you that question?

Comments

Hmmmm....

[(Anonymous)]

Difficult question, but some of my answers agree with yours.

Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion (I like the Vorkosigan books a lot, but you already had that...)
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (I didn't want to post it, since you did, but I just adore it too much)
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

All three are complex and twisted, but with characters you really get to like.

I've never read Hellspark - if you like the others, though, as much as I do, I think I should find it. :-)

Kiena

Re: Hmmmm....

[the_rck]

Hellspark's one of the few books I own more than one copy of. I tend to buy them when I see them because I have friends who've been looking and because I can then give them to people who've never heard of the book.

It's science fiction. Hm... Trying to come up with a good summary... There's a lot of stuff about different cultures and how they interact, plenty of humor, and a murder mystery. A survey team's trying to determine whether or not a new planet has sentient life. About half of them think it does while half aren't so convinced.

[kyrielle]

Li-Young Lee, The City in Which I Love You

Amy Thomson, The Color of Distance

Jane Lindskold, Changer

[the_rck]

I'm not familiar with the first two, but Changer is a favorite of mine. I liked the sequel a bit less because it seemed a bit forced.

What sort of books are the other two?

[kyrielle]

The Color of Distance is science fiction - a first contact novel, and by far the one that I have enjoyed most of that genre. It's excellent and really lets you get inside the aliens' heads as well as the humans.

The City in Which I Love You is a book of poetry, one of the favorites I always return to in my collection.

[kyrielle]

I should add that there is a sequel to The Color of Distance, and that is Through Alien Eyes. I liked the sequel to Changer; I thought it was good. This one...uh.

If I hadn't read her first book, I would think the sequel was okay. Not good, but okay. Coming after the first one, it's a lead-stone disappointment. I recommend reading Color and skipping its sequel....

[the_rck]

I didn't mean to imply that Legends Walking wasn't a good book. I just didn't think it was as good as Changer. I suspect that part of it is that I read somewhere that the African portion of the plot wasn't intended to be in that universe with those characters, and I find that it kind of reads that way. Some of the characters don't quite seem to belong there in some minor ways.

The rest of the book seemed to be two short stories that had little to do with each other or with the African stuff. The three sections didn't interweave very well with each other, in my opinion, but were interesting and well written anyway.

[turnberryknkn.livejournal.com]

Hm! I'd have to give some thought into it, but off the top of my head:

Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
American Gods, Neil Gaiman
Dune, Frank Herbert

I'm sure if I think about it more, I could come up with better refinements of that list, but on the other hand, if other books *don't* leap immediately to mind, then probably not...

(If he had a romantic bent, I might substitute, for example, Dune for War for the Oaks, Emma Bull...)

[annewashere.livejournal.com]

Good ones, but I'd recommend a different Gaiman, like Neverwhere or Stardust.

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

All three books in Jacqueling Carey's Kushiel's Legacy trilogy. Yummy.

Reading Warrior's Apprentice right now. Also yummy!

[the_rck]

I haven't read Kushiel's Avatar yet. Does it live up to the first two books?

I read an interview with the author in which she said that it was harder to write because the characters had become older, deeper, more complicated. She also said that it was darker in places than the first two. Is all that true?

Only three?!?

[hopeofdawn.livejournal.com]

Well, 'Teot's War', by Heather Gladney is a no-brainer. (fantasy) Unfortunately, it's also difficult to find. (I haunted used bookstores for *two years* before finding a copy of my own...)

Hm--off the top of my head, the other two would be: Path of the Fury, by David Weber. (sci-fi) And Mother of Demons, by Eric Flint (also sci-fi)

Of course, ask me tomorrow and I'd probably give you totally different answers...

Re: Only three?!?

[the_rck]

Well, three's all he asked for.

I adore Mother of Demons. (Most of Flint's stuff is great, but I couldn't read The Philosophical Strangler.) I just wish I hadn't undertaken to read it out loud to my husband during a long car ride. The names! I could not manage consistent pronunciation for quite a few of them.

I liked Path of the Fury quite a bit, too.

I've never heard of Teot's War. I'll have to put it on my mental list of books to look for. What's it about?

Re: Only three?!?

[hopeofdawn.livejournal.com]

Summary: an aboriginal harpist-assassin rides into the empire of Tan, in order to bring news of an impending invasion to the Tanman. In the process, he swears loyalty to the Tanman, goes through a great deal of politicial and social intrigue, and manages to conspire with the Tanman to lead the country into war.

...And that's a horrible summary, really. I can't think of one that might do it justice--all I can say is that this book really explores the concept of fealty, honor, and love, and does it all from the POV of a man who, for all his talents, can't help but feel like an outsider. (And is probably one of the most slashy books I've read in a while...) I first found the book in a public library--and like I said, promptly spent a couple years trying to track down a copy for myself. (This was before the advent of the internet...)

A couple other books I'd recommend that are easier to find: Bone Dance and War for the Oaks, by Emma Bull. They're both urban fantasy, set in Minneapolis--Bone Dance is set in the future, and War for the Oaks deals with a present day fey war. They're both incredible--and have twists that you *never* expect.