I had a day off on Monday so my wetware got confused and thought it’s only Tuesday. That’s why I don’t have anything prepared for the Midweek-Discussion. I call a lazy day and just ask y’all what your favorite “normie book” is. We’ve seen a few already on April 1st but where they your favorite?

I would start with my favorite but I cannot in good conscience tell you about it because it will never get to the last book in the trilogy and letting readers hang is probably somewhere listed in the Geneva Conventions as a war crime. It’s been over a decade and I still made myself depressed again just thinking about it right now, so go on and tell me about your favorites to cheer me up.

  • brenticus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    28 days ago

    I have a few I like to talk about with these sorts of questions.

    • Macbeth: I’ve read this a fair number of times and every time I’m enthralled, I get chills, I want to cheer as Macduff walks in holding Macbeth’s head at the end. It’s chock full of everything English class tells people to look for in literature, except it’s a thrilling read to boot. I want to see it performed so badly. It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever read and the only downside is that it’s actually a play.
    • 2666 by Roberto Bolano: This is one of those books where there are so many layers to peel back that, as I read it, I spent a lot of time thinking deeply about what Bolano was trying to communicate and how the disparate storylines connected and what that all meant to me. It’s such a sprawling narrative that it’s hard to even describe what it is, except that it’s vaguely about a reclusive author and a series of murders in a Mexican city. It hits on so many things that it’s hard to even know what to say about it other than it’s incredible.
    • And as a maybe more normal recommendation for this community: The Malazan Book of the Fallen is far and away my favourite fantasy series. Incredible worldbuilding, so many fun and interesting characters, plots that coalesce into absolutely wild climaxes, and underlying themes that provide a bit of hope even in the face of a grim world and plot. Absolutely fantastic series.
    • NineSwordsOPMEnglish
      2·
      28 days ago

      I was thinking of re-reading Edding’s Belgariad and Mallorean Saga one of these days but I might check out that Malazan Book of the Fallen saga if it comes so highly recommended.

      • brenticus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        28 days ago

        It can be rough to get into (Erikson was very much sorting out his writing style for the first couple of books and it just dumps you right into a complex intercontinental conflict with no context) but it’s widely recommended as one of the best epic fantasy series for good reason. If you put in the effort it pays off beautifully.

        • NineSwordsOPMEnglish
          2·
          28 days ago

          Is it the type of series that needs several books to hook you or is the first volume already sufficient?

          • brenticus@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            28 days ago

            People can be a bit mixed on Gardens of the Moon because it’s dense and confusing, but generally once you wrap your head around it it’s very good. I appreciated it a lot more after a reread.

            Deadhouse Gates is fantastic, although I find the start pretty slow. From Memories of Ice onwards every book is just great from start to finish.