Comments on: Chapter 5 p. 133

By: Sol

Sol — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:41:59 +0000

I’m kind of late on this, but the first book that popped into my head to recommend was “A College of Magics” by Caroline Stevermer. The current edition has a terrible cover, but it is a terrific fantasy of manners set in a slightly different early 20th century Europe.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:54:14 +0000

I just read through your comic, and enjoyed it so much that I was kicking myself for not pacing myself better because now there’s no choice but to wait for new pages! I was happy to see the book recommendations. Anyway, I’m happy to chime in with a few of my favorites from the past year!

I really liked the trilogy of books by Sandra McDonald (starts with “The Outback Stars”), possibly because of the sheer amount of things that happen. I thought it was standard space navy fights the rebellious colonies, with a hint of forbidden romance, but then it started to get weird.

“The Thirteenth Child” by Patricia C Wrede is another start to a trilogy, and it’ll take some patience until the next book. A YA series about nineteenth century pioneers near the Mississippi River in a world filled with magic. It’s rather controversial as the Americas were devoid of Americas prior to western colonization (thus the Mississippi is the Mammoth River), but otherwise fun.

“Silver Phoenix” by Cindy Pon was another YA fantasy. It reminded me a little of Laurence Yep, possibly because I haven’t read all that much YA fantasy set in China!

By: James

James — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:16:43 +0000

I recommend The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, it’s the first book in a sweet trilogy. Be forewarned that the series is sort of a grim take on typical fantasy and the author is not always nice to his characters, but this makes it the most interesting thing I’ve read in a while.

I also recommend Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb – I love first person fantasy where I really get to know the protagonist

By: AlpineBob

AlpineBob — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:19:32 +0000

Thanks for reminding me about this page – I was getting the red X over at girlamatic as well. In fact, I’m having difficulty getting anything from girlamatic just now – I suspect storm related service provider issues or something…
As for books, I haven’t been reading as much lately, but I always recommend Bujold and Moon. Anything by them is worth reading. Most people already know about the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois, but The Deeds of Paksennarion trilogy by Elizabeth Moon is lesser known and it is stupendous.

By: Fred Tucker

Fred Tucker — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:18:14 +0000

Yeah, the Wheel of Time is pretty good up to about book 6 or 7, then it gets ridiculous. I have another suggestion, if I may. The Coldfire Trilogy by CS Friedman is freakin sweet! I’ve read it at least 3 times and wouldn’t mind rereading it again sometime. The first book is called “Black Sun Rising.” You won’t regret reading this series, I guarantee.

By: Nick Bacon

Nick Bacon — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:15:58 +0000

I would suggest American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I’ve listened to it on my iPod a couple of times, and found it even better the second time.

Also, I like how the plot has gotten more dramatic!

By: Tara

Tara — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:04:00 +0000

@John– excellent! I shall definitely look into those.

@Stephen– Oh, that’s nice of you! I’m hoping the library will pull through for me eventually, though… I’m #16 in queue now, so it shouldn’t be too much longer of a wait.

@Kev– thanks! That panel does make me feel like there should be some sort of orchestral soundtrack to go with it, as in those movies where the camera pans to see the characters crossing a wide stretch of landscape.

By: Kev

Kev — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:46:46 +0000

Nice third panel this week! Very wide-screen-y

By: Stephen Geigen-Miller

Stephen Geigen-Miller — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:24:48 +0000

I can lend you ‘The Magicians’, if you still haven’t gotten ahold of it from the library by the next time I see you. And yes, it’s really good.

By: John

John — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:41:20 +0000

Oh! I didn’t notice the request last week. Yeah, I’ve read some good things recently. Here are a couple:
Mathilda Savitch by Victor Lodato. This is a literary novel narrated by a young girl. Very strong character voice and excellent study of emotions. Highly recommended.
Logicomix – This is a graphic novel about the life of Bertrand Russel and various other logicians. I really enjoyed it. You will like it too.