open call for book recs

[sigmaleph]

if you've read an SFF book you liked in the past [time period within which your memory easily recalls books], recommend it to me. don't worry particularly about whether you think I'd like it, I'll figure that out on my own, just want a list I can point myself to whenever I'm aimlessly looking for more reading material. short summaries/what you liked about it are welcome, but if you're not in the mood just drop a title and author and I'll search it online.

(webserials/webnovels/fanfiction may also apply)

all help is appreciated!

Comments

[sigmaleph]

a collected list of such recommendations now exist on my tumblr: https://sigmaleph.tumblr.com/post/613570973686497280/book-recs-masterpost

[feotakahari]

I’m going to make the same request I usually make when people reference The Fifth Head of Cerberus. If you read it and understand the ending, would you please explain it to me?

(I haven’t read many books lately, so nothing to rec.)

[sigmaleph]

If I do I will certainly try to remember you asked!

Have you considered asking the person who provided the rec (tumblr user femmenietzsche)? they presumably have already read the book and you don't have to wait for them to finish it.

[feotakahari]

If I recall correctly, I think that was the last person I asked. They were able to explain generalities, but they’d read it long enough ago that they didn’t remember why [SPOILER] did [SPOILER] with the [SPOILER]. (Apparently, the whole thing is an extended metaphor for [SPOILER], and I didn’t know enough about [SPOILER] to catch that.)

[brin_bellway]

I'll go through my collection and see what pops out.

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Origfic:


https://lb-lee.dreamwidth.org/200639.html: I particularly like Reverend Alpert, but pretty much all of their fiction is good.

Summer in Orcus, by Ursula Vernon. (I know the usual rec people talk about when they talk about Ursula Vernon is Digger, but I haven't had a chance to read that yet. I also enjoy her podcasts, but we're talking text-based media right now.)

Most things by Eoin Colfer: The Supernaturalist, The Wish List, the first ~four Artemis Fowl books (they start to noticeably degrade in the way sequels often do; I gave up in disgust after what they did to Orion). (Half-Moon Investigations is not SFF but is also good IIRC. Haven't read Airman or W.A.R.P. yet.)

Young Wizards series, by Diane Duane

Jasper Fforde's works. I particularly liked Shades of Grey (and hope he finally gets around to writing the sequels someday); the Thursday Next and Nursery Crime series are also good; haven't read Early Riser or the Last Dragonslayer series yet, but I'm hopeful.

Chrestomanci series, by Diana Wynne Jones

Just a couple days ago I recced my mom the Pendragon series (note: not actually Arthurian) by D.J. MacHale, and so far she's enjoying it too.

Garth Nix's works, in particular the Keys to the Kingdom series, the Old Kingdom (aka Abhorsen) series, and A Confusion of Princes

You've heard of Discworld already, but I'd also like to add his Bromeliad trilogy.

A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket

The Bartimaeus trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud. (There's also a prequel: haven't read it yet.)

Dragonback series, by Timothy Zahn

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, by Douglas Adams

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Fanfic (focusing on longer works):


Chanson de Geste, by LVDB (Chronicles of Narnia)

I haven't even *read* Homestuck and I still greatly enjoyed the Sburb Glitch FAQ, by GodsGiftToGrinds.

BBC Sherlock has some of the best fic of any fandom I've ever encountered. (The merely mediocre canon is a disappointment in comparison, but it seems its existence has been very useful as inspiration.) I remember Not Yet Dead (by Castiron) and the first two Fallen books (by mamishka) fondly for helping me get through a lingering illness in October of 2012. Mamishka stopped updating her writing LiveJournal without posting a notice that she had moved to AO3, so I only recently found out that she *did* write a third book after all (and so I haven't read it yet).

Meanwhile, the Spectrum trilogy by thisprettywren (a BBC-based Sherlock Holmes series set in a world in which everyone is born missing one sense (or, occasionally, missing speech instead)) really *does* only have two books, probably permanently given that it's been seven years. (Though I remain subscribed, just in case.) If you're the kind of person who hates unfinished series then best to avoid it, but personally I think it's still well worth the read. Amazing worldbuilding.