The Seeker Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 ...read any of Michael A. Stackpole's original books? Just thought I'd see, because if all you've read by him are Star Wars, you are really missing out. As you can see by my sig, he's my favorite author, so I'm just seeing who else has read his original stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdcfanbill Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 speaking of good authors, one of my favs has always been Piers Anthony... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUNNER Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 I don't read much unless the word hotrod is some where in the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRAVE Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 Nope......I've only read his Star Wars books......i might read those other books in the new year though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenG Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 i dont read books, i prefer to play old DOS 256-bit (text-based) abandonware advanture games. They are abit like books. Some of those old adavanture game are really deep. There was one that made me cry. The graphics were bad but it really touched me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Seeker Posted December 12, 2001 Author Share Posted December 12, 2001 Originally posted by CaptainRAVE Nope......I've only read his Star Wars books......i might read those other books in the new year though You should really try his original stuff. It isn't Sci-fi, but fantasy, and most of his books are better than any of his SW stuff. You should start with "Talion: Revenant" if you're gonna read his stuff. That book is probably my most consistent favorite, because of it's great re-readability. It's about a kid - Nolan - who's family is killed by an invading army when he is 13 years old. On a quest to avenge them, he travels to the far away city of Talianna to be trained as a Talion Justice - main peacekeepers in the Shattered Empire trained with fierce martial and magick skills. After his training, he hoped to kill the king who killed his family. However, once he is a Justice, he is assigned to protect the very king he wants to kill, from a creature that can't be slain. The chapters are set up where all the odd numbered ones are after his training when he is a Justice, but the even numbered ones are when he's still a kid during his training. This sounds a bit wierd, but actually adds to the book, making it better. The entire thing is chock full of action, and really connects on an emotional level as well, making the characters real people that become more than just part of the story. So, anyway, it's a great book, and a good one to get started on his original works through. Just try it, and if you hate it, you can always send me an angry letter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 Hmmm...I can't say that I've read any of M.A.S's non-SW books either. I'll have to remedy that. I must admit, though, that I haven't been reading as much over the past couple of years. I've been too busy gaming and posting on these forums (inbetween raising my two sons, and dabbling in some writing of my own). David Gemmell's fantasy books are well-wrought, with good action sequences, and certainly worthy of a read. Legend and Waylander, and their sequels are very good. If you like dark and gritty fantasy, there's nothing better than Robert E. Howard's original works, and I don't just mean the Conan stories. Stephen Donaldson's Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant is an absolute classic that easily rivals Lord Of the Rings, IMHO. Christopher Stasheff's The Warlock In Spite Of Himself is a great humorous read, and mixes SF with Fantasy. Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger is humorous too. His Icerigger trilogy is one of my favourites, though. Then of course there's the loooong epic Wheel Of Time books by Robert Jordan. Terry Brooks' Shannara series isn't too bad (I liked the Heirs Quartet best). I'd also recommend Magician by Raymond E. Feist, the first and probably best of his Riftwar novels. The Deryni series by Katherine Kurtz is a good read. The Wizard Of Earthsea is an under-rated gem from Ursula K. LeGuin. Barbara Hambly's Darwath Trilogy isn't too bad, either. Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom novels are a good action/adventure fix. Clifford D. Simak's works are a good read, again sometimes mixing the SF and Fantasy genres. I have loads of other favourites, but I wouldn't want to bore you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Seeker Posted December 13, 2001 Author Share Posted December 13, 2001 Apart from Michael A. Stackpole, my favorite is Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Her original work, mainly her "Fey Series" is the most gripping epic fantasy I have ever read. It's about a race of warriors - The Fey - who have already conquered half the world. Their next target is a small place called Blue Isle that has never seen war, and is full of non-warrior religious fanatics, so the Fey think it'll be a pushover and a perfect stepping stone to their next real target, the continent of Leut. The thing is that when they get there, they start to lose. It follows a twenty year war between two separately similar races, and the viewpoints switch from side to side, never letting you root for one of the races in the conflict. So, while Mike Stackpole's books are really great and entertaining, Rusch's make you think, and eat at you emotionally, since you feel the losses of both sides. Originally posted by StormHammer: I've been too busy gaming and posting on these forums (inbetween raising my two sons, and dabbling in some writing of my own). You write too? Is it books or shorts. I am writing my first book right now, and have nearly finished it. I have more than 100,000 words down, and hope to finish it be mid next year. I posted the first part of the first chapter a while ago, but can't seem to track it down. If you or anyone would like to give me some feedback on it, just say so, and I'll post it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 Originally posted by JediKnight_114 You write too? Is it books or shorts. A bit of both, although I have yet to complete a novel, and I've never had anything published. I've been writing more as a hobby over the past 20 years. It seems every time I get back into writing, something else happens in my life to disrupt the flow. There is nothing I would like more than to publish a book...I just need to regain and retain the discipline of writing every day, and avoid the trap of re-editing stuff I've written until I've completed most of the story. I think I'm too easily sidetracked by new ideas, and I end up writing in chunks. My other problem is my head keeps switching between genres, so I find myself switching between SF, Fantasy and Horror. I've got a couple of ideas brewing for a Jedi Outcast prequel story...but it will depend a lot on what the actual game contains, so I haven't written anything down yet. I remember reading those first two chapters of your story, and it's quite good. I think it needs a bit more descriptive content to help set the scene and define the characters a bit more, and I'd edit some of the grammar. The dialogue and action is good, from what I've read so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonkH8er Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 What's everyone favourite style of book to read and authors? personally, I enjoy medical thrillers or crime novels. I'm not much into fantasy reading. My favourite novelists would have to be Michael Crichton, Robin Cook, Jonathon Kellerman and Patricia Cornwell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRAVE Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 My favourite types of Books are generally Sci-fi (Star Wars and Star Trek).....my absolute favourite book...well books was the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn....hes a great author ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Simpson Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 Michael Crichton is great, and I read a lot of Tom Clancy. He tends to get a bit technical at times, but I still enjoy his books. Lately I've been reading a few books written by Terry Goodkind, called the Sword of Truth. Good books. Usually I read Sci-Fi, Action or Thriller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Seeker Posted December 14, 2001 Author Share Posted December 14, 2001 Originally posted by StormHammer: I remember reading those first two chapters of your story, and it's quite good. I think it needs a bit more descriptive content to help set the scene and define the characters a bit more, and I'd edit some of the grammar. The dialogue and action is good, from what I've read so far. What you read was the first half or so of the prologue, so was written a year or so ago. I plan on nailing the mistakes such as descriptive content and character development when I start the second draft. And if you have trouble with revising before you finish, try writing the first draft by hand in pen. That really lets you get your thoughts down, and is much harder to revise than bushing delete on the computer. To anyone else who's interested, I found I posted those chapters http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5052 Whoever hasn't seen it, tell me what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReAcToR Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 speaking of good authors, one of my favs has always been Piers Anthony... Piers Anthony is a genius. Have you read Double Exposure? Great book. I've been wanting to turn some of his ideas into multiplayer levels for years, especially the tunnel/slide racing in Double Exposure. Some of my favorite authors/books, in nor particular order... Robert Silverberg - Majipoor Chronicles - Hawksbill Station Stanislaw Lem - Return From the Stars Frank Herbert - Dune 1-5(still reading Chapterhouse) Octavia Butler - Parable of the Sower J. R. R. Tolkien - The Hobbit - The Lord of the Rings L. Ron Hubbard - Battlefield Earth(don't judge it by the movie) I don't just stick to science fiction/fantasy either, I love mystery and horror as well. I read alot of non-fiction as well but I won't bore you folks with that...but I must recommend to great books that should be read in any university... The End of Racism - Dinesh D'Souza G. Edward Griffin - The Creature from Jekyll Island It's always interesting to discuss reading/books online with people, because it seems that we(readers) are in the minority nowadays, at least in the United States and it would be virtually impossible for me to talk about books with the people at my college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 Originally posted by JediKnight_114 What you read was the first half or so of the prologue, so was written a year or so ago. Ah, I see. My mistake. ...if you have trouble with revising before you finish, try writing the first draft by hand in pen. That really lets you get your thoughts down, and is much harder to revise than bushing delete on the computer. Now that you mention it, that was the way I used to write...and I recall I did get a lot more written down before trying to revise it all. Thanks for kicking my head back into gear. Gonk... ...must...resist...temptation to post. Suffice it to say, the SF, Fantasy and Horror genres are favourites. Don't ask about authors...there are far too many I like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Seeker Posted December 14, 2001 Author Share Posted December 14, 2001 No prob StormHammer. I used to write on the computer, but had that same problem of never leaving the first chapter behind. Then, there was a point when I had no computer to write on, so was forced to write it all by hand when the idea for this book hit me. I realized that that worked really well, and let me put the chapters aside as I finished them. So, I now have a over-stuffed three ring binder with more than a hundred thousand words in it (some better than others, but the re-write should fix that.) So, for me, that works well for the first draft. My favorite authors: Mike Stackpole, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Timothy Zahn, Michael Crichton. I like others, but those are my favs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRAVE Posted December 15, 2001 Share Posted December 15, 2001 Next week im going into town. I'll probably only buy one book at the most. Which one would you advise me to get?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted December 16, 2001 Share Posted December 16, 2001 That would depend on which books you already have. The Ion War by Colin Kapp is a good action/adventure yarn (obviously inspired by Star Wars at the time). Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein is good. The Mote In God's Eye is a nice slice of classic SF. The Icerigger trilogy is a solid action/adventure series by Alan Dean Foster. The Barsoom novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs are also strong in the action/adventure stakes. The Deathworld trilogy by Harry Harrison is also action-packed. I want one of those wrist-guns used by the Pyrrans. Then there's Frank Herbert's Dune of course. E.E. 'Doc' Smith's works are good, including the Skylark series, and the SW inspired Black Knight Of The Iron Sphere, a Tedric novel. Some of Poul Anderson's stuff is pretty good. Then, of course, there is Timothy Zahn's Conqueror's Pride. You might also try the novel tie-ins to the Alien films, which are very good. It's hard not to overload you with ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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