Book Recommendations

[Martin the Warrior]

Given that we're a Forum built around a book series, it's a safe assumption that we're a group that loves to read. So I thought I'd toss out a recommendation or two and invite a few from you all.

First is Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. I've recommended Sanderson before and he's consistently writing new books that I enjoy. Steelheart is the first in a young adult series that was glibly described on Twitter by someone as "Ocean's 11 tries to kill Superman." And that's strangely accurate. It's a world where super-powered individuals appeared one day, each with unique power sets. Each also has one-- and only one-- weakness that they jealously keep secret. This is not an age of heroes, though-- it's a dystopia where the super-powered rule over humanity, giving out scraps, and there are precious few offering resistance. The title character, Steelheart, is a Superman analogue that rules over what was Chicago with an iron fist. He has a group of super-powered lieutenants and is essentially invincible. Except the main character of the book-- David-- saw Steelheart bleed as a child. Locked in David's memory is the secret of Steelheart's weakness and he'll have to figure out what it is (and how to get close enough to exploit it) to topple Steelheart's reign. And that's just the beginning. Steelheart was a lot of fun and left me anxious for the next book in the series, Firefight (slated for January). You can check out Steelheart here.

A second recommendation, again courtesy of Sanderson, is The Rithmatist. This one is a little harder to explain, because it's built around a magic system. A rithmatist is someone who is able to animate precise chalk drawings for both protection and defense. It's set in an alternate United States that has been flooded and is virtually unrecognizable, although the country is designed to train Rithmatists to go to to the Nebrask frontier (not a typo) and contain the invasion of wild chalklings and worse. The book follows the story of Joel, the son of a late-chalkmaker at a rithmatic school, a boy who does not possess any rithmatic talent (he can draw the lines, but cannot animate them) but who is nevertheless fascinated by rithmatic theory. Threats loom, beginning with the mysterious disappearances of students from Armedius Academy who appear to have been torn apart by wild chalklings, hundreds of miles away from Nebrask where there should be none. A definite Harry Potter flavor to the book with all the school work and studying the characters have to do, but Joel is looked down on by everyone so the comparison isn't perfect. Another nice young adult entry from Sanderson, though, that sets up future books although remains perfectly adequate as a standalone novel. More here.

And to make it a Sanderson trifecta, I'll add a shoutout for Alloy of Law which is a novel set in the Mistborn universe, but with the civilization from that series advancing from a feudal state of technology to a wild west steampunk state. It's rare to see an author advance their world that drastically and it was a joy to see Sanderson's three magic systems from Mistborn integrated seamlessly into another setting. Allomancy plus gunplay completely changes the dynamic. Reading the original trilogy is not required, although it doesn't hurt. The first 122 pages of the book are free on Kindle, if you've got one. If not, you can find it here.

Any recommendations from you guys?

[Schröder]

Given that we're a Forum built around a book series, it's a safe assumption that we're a group that loves to read.

Love to read? Understatement.

I recommend Cathedral by Nelson DeMille.
"St. Patrick's Day, New York City. Everyone is celebrating, but everyone is in for the shock of his life. Born into the heat and hatred of the Northern Ireland conflict, IRA man Brian Flynn has masterminded a brilliant terrorist act -- the seizure of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Among his hostages: the woman Brian Flynn once loved, a former terrorist turned peace activist. Among his enemies: an Irish-American police lieutenant fighting against a traitor inside his own ranks and a shadowy British intelligence officer pursuing his own cynical, bloody plan. The cops face a booby-trapped, perfectly laid out killing zone inside the church. The hostages face death. Flynn faces his own demons, in an electrifying duel of nerves, honor, and betrayal."

Forever by Pete Hamill.
"This widely acclaimed bestseller is the magical, epic tale of an extraordinary man who arrives in New York in 1740 and remains ... forever. Through the eyes of Cormac O'Connor - granted immortality as long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan - we watch New York grow from a tiny settlement on the tip of an untamed wilderness to the thriving metropolis of today. And through Cormac's remarkable adventures in both love and war, we come to know the city's buried secrets - the way it has been shaped by greed, race, and waves of immigration, by the unleashing of enormous human energies, and, above all, by hope."

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
"The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction."

Dunk by David Lubar (I met him and Have a signed copy of this one)
"Chad finds a whole new summer occupation—he wants to be the Bozo, the clown who sits inside the dunk tank and goads people into taking a shot. What could be better than using his razor-sharp wit against a random stranger? But Chad soon discovers he’s entered a strange and twisted world where humor packs a loaded punch."

The Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian
"The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of nautical historical novels—20 completed and one unfinished—by Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centring on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, a physician, natural philosopher, and secret agent. The first novel, Master and Commander, was published in 1969 and the last finished novel in 1999. The 21st novel of the series, left unfinished at O'Brian's death in 2000, appeared in print in late 2004. The series received considerable international acclaim and most of the novels reached The New York Times Best Seller list."

[Ferahgo the Assassin]

I haven't read any appreciable amount of fiction in a year or more, but I recently got through Steven Pinker's entire bibliography (as well as having met him and corresponded about various topics), which I highly recommend to anyone interested in cognitive science, language, or the evolution of the human mind. My first and favorite of his books is The Blank Slate, though How the Mind Works and his wonderfully inspiring and optimistic The Better Angels of Our Nature are closely tied for second.

I've also recently read Denis Dutton's The Art Instinct, Hans Eysenck's Intelligence: A New Look, Nicholas Wade's A Troublesome Inheritance (a controversial book about race and behavioral genetics on which I co-authored a review here), and Titan Books' excellent new tome on the paleontological illustration of one of my favorite artists, The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi.

I'm currently working my way through Ian Deary's handbook on intelligence, E.O. Wilson's The Social Conquest of Earth, and Gregory Clark's The Son Also Rises.

[Martin the Warrior]

Well, all of those sound pretty interesting. Clearly it's time to bag the whole forum thing, quit jobs, go into seclusion and become a hermit who does nothing but read. See you all!




I'll add a blind recommendation here, in that I've bought the book but have not yet started it (I'm knee deep in Jacques-related works for the Anniversary, but hope to get to it soon). I have heard phenomenal things about it, though, so I'm looking forward to it.

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris. A non-fiction book quasi-written in a fictional style that tells the behind-the-scenes story of how Sega rose to challenge Nintendo's dominance in the video game market with the Sega Genesis, and how Nintendo responded. Probably appeals more to a generation of gamers that remember that era, but again, I've heard good things.

Also on the to-read pile is Rogues, an anthology edited by George R.R. Martin which, while I'm sure there are several great stories in there, I bought solely for the inclusion of a story by Patrick Rothfuss set in his Kingkiller Chronicles universe. Looking forward to that. Consider this a blanket recommendation for anything and everything written by Patrick Rothfuss, by the way.

[Ferahgo the Assassin]

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris. A non-fiction book quasi-written in a fictional style that tells the behind-the-scenes story of how Sega rose to challenge Nintendo's dominance in the video game market with the Sega Genesis, and how Nintendo responded. Probably appeals more to a generation of gamers that remember that era, but again, I've heard good things.

This definitely sounds like a book my partner needs to own - thanks for the heads up.

[Martin the Warrior]

Not a problem. I'm a sucker for that era of video gaming, but it was a pre- (or at least proto-) internet era, so a lot of the behind-the-scenes machinations were beyond the reach of fans. The chance to finally peek behind the curtain is exciting. It'll also be nice to revisit an era when Sega was still a powerhouse. They did make good systems/games (although they've got no idea what to do with Sonic the Hedgehog anymore). Although I expect the mystery of "blast processing" (namely what it is) will continue to be unanswerable.

[Martin the Warrior]

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris. A non-fiction book quasi-written in a fictional style that tells the behind-the-scenes story of how Sega rose to challenge Nintendo's dominance in the video game market with the Sega Genesis, and how Nintendo responded. Probably appeals more to a generation of gamers that remember that era, but again, I've heard good things.

Well, I've now finished Console Wars and I can give it an enthusiastic thumbs up. It's a very accessible read, utterly fascinating, and a real page-turner. There is substantial emphasis placed on the behind-the-scenes actions of Sega of America-- SoA president Tom Kalinske (1990-1996) is more or less the main subject of the book-- but we get a really intriguing peek behind the curtain at Nintendo at this time, as well. The book is primarily concerned with the American theater of the console war, but the Japanese wings of the companies are omnipresent (and in the case of Sega of Japan, something of an antagonist).

The book reveals just how seat-of-your-pants the early days of Sega actually were (the game-less Sega Genesis Core System @ $99 campaign was hastily thrown together in a matter of hours in a hotel conference room at CES solely to steal Nintendo's thunder, who they'd just discovered were announcing a $99 SNES the next day). You get to see the commercials you grew up seeing on TV get pitched to executives, as well as the competing pitches that got rejected. You get to see just how instrumental Sega of America (and more specifically the team there at the time) was in turning Sonic The Hedgehog into the beloved game series and character (insisting that he not have fangs, a guitar, or a buxom blonde human girlfriend named "Madonna"). And how throughout the entire thing, Sony is testing the waters-- getting publicly humiliated by Nintendo, exploring co-development with a xenophobic Sega (of Japan), before finally going it alone with the PlayStation. Knowing how the story ends makes the twists and turns utterly fascinating.

More than anything, though, the book introduces you to the incredible people behind these companies whose efforts shaped countless lives (including mine) but who seldom got the recognition they deserved. It was shocking to discover how much of what I thought (and enjoyed) about Sega at that time was a product of the hard work of these individuals. That the company's eventual decline coincided with their exits makes perfect sense. (And I can't help but wonder if the current, sad state of the Sonic franchise is because Sega of Japan no longer had someone saying "No.")

I don't mean to shortchange the Nintendo side of things, because there's a lot there, as well. Getting the NES off the ground, building the core team, establishing Nintendo Power, throwing their weight around by demanding retailers like Target institute a 90-day return policy (spurred by customers returning their six-year old perfectly fine NES' to help fund their purchase of an SNES, with retailers fine with it because they passed the cost on to Nintendo). You even get to see their reaction to the Super Mario Bros. movie.

And, yes, the book even explains "blast processing".

In short, highly recommended.

[Mulchior Lancer]

I’m glad you enjoyed the Console Wars book. I know the system wars were heated back then, but even as a Nintendo fan, I never looked down on the Genesis, and loved playing it when visiting my friend’s house. The only era I participated in for that was the PSX vs N64 days.

Have you ever heard of the book Power Up by Chris Kohler? I haven’t read it (but want to), but everyone who’s read through it says it’s a well produced book on Nintendo’s early gaming years.

Power Up

[Martin the Warrior]

I'll have to check that one out. I've also heard great things about Game Over by David Scheff, so that's going on the list, too. It's such a fascinating field to learn the history of because it was such a different beast back then, long before the days of multi-million dollar blockbuster releases. As much as I love modern consoles, those first few will always be something special.

[Mulchior Lancer]

I'll have to check that one out. I've also heard great things about Game Over by David Scheff, so that's going on the list, too. It's such a fascinating field to learn the history of because it was such a different beast back then, long before the days of multi-million dollar blockbuster releases. As much as I love modern consoles, those first few will always be something special.

I’ve heard about that one, but I’ve never looked for it. I need to pick some video game history books, as I love reading about how the gaming has changed since its early inceptions.

And I agree that the first few consoles will always hold a special place in my heart. I’ll always appreciate the NES, since it was my first console as a kid. Everyone else I knew had it long before I did, so that Christmas I finally got it will always go down as one of the best. While I love my SNES more, nothing beats those first few moments booting up Super Mario Brothers for the first time.

For a different recommendation, I’m turning to one of my recent favorite authors: M. R. James. Ever since I was a kid, I enjoyed a good ghost story or local folklore. James was an Edwardian ghost story author, and many view him as the greatest British ghost story writer ever. Mixing obscure moments in British/church history, as well as little known manuscripts or European legends, James weaves spine tingling tales that I find both chilling and yet informative.

I mention M.R. James, because I wonder if Brian Jacques was a fan of his work. I’ve never seen him mention James’ work, but I’d have to think Brian read one of his tales at some point. My only reasoning is due to the fact that two of Jacques’ non-Redwall books dealt with ghost stories. That’s not to say that Brian had to have read James in order to write them; but there’s one tale by James that leads me to believe he read at least some of his work at some point.

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas is the last story of James’ first collection of ghost stories. As I read the tale, I couldn’t help but see some strong connections to Redwall. In it, an antiquarian interested in church stained glass investigates a plane of glass sent to him from an Abbey in Germany. Legends surround the abbey, as one of its fifteenth century abbots (the titular Abbot Thomas) said he had buried treasure somewhere within the vicinity of the Abbey. Before he dies, he leaves a cryptic clue for future generations to seek the treasure. However, since the Abbot’s death, no one has successfully found the treasure of Abbot Thomas.

The main character knows of this legend, and as he cleans the glass, he discovers a clue hidden within the glass. The character decides to take his servant with him and travel to the Abbey with dreams to be the first to discover the long lost treasure.

I won’t spoil what happens, but it’s an interesting quest that made me think of Redwall. If you just gave the characters animal forms, it wouldn’t be too out of place with the riddles and puzzles given by Martin and co.

If it sounds interesting, I recommend checking it out. It’s not a long story, and don’t let the Latin text in the beginning frighten you away.

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas by M. R. James

[Martin the Warrior]

I’ve heard about that one, but I’ve never looked for it. I need to pick some video game history books, as I love reading about how the gaming has changed since its early inceptions.

And I agree that the first few consoles will always hold a special place in my heart. I’ll always appreciate the NES, since it was my first console as a kid. Everyone else I knew had it long before I did, so that Christmas I finally got it will always go down as one of the best. While I love my SNES more, nothing beats those first few moments booting up Super Mario Brothers for the first time.

Boy, you're telling me. That first NES was an event in a way none of the systems that followed could ever quite match. I remember I wound up with a bum NES at first, which broke after about 10 minutes of play and had to wait a day to exchange it. The wait for Super Mario Bros. was excruciating, but made finally getting it all the sweeter. Because of everything involved in that, Super Mario Bros. has always been my favorite game-- even though I freely acknowledge other games are technically better.

One of the nice things about these video game history books is the chance to finally find out the truth behind the rumors. I remember someone on the Nintendo Power Source message boards throwing out that the Sony PlayStation had begun as an SNES add-on (and I respected the guy, so I didn't doubt it and found corroboration years later). To finally have bits and pieces of that story put into context and explain the era that did not have the benefit of the internet for information dissemination has been really fun.

For a different recommendation, I’m turning to one of my recent favorite authors: M. R. James. Ever since I was a kid, I enjoyed a good ghost story or local folklore. James was an Edwardian ghost story author, and many view him as the greatest British ghost story writer ever. Mixing obscure moments in British/church history, as well as little known manuscripts or European legends, James weaves spine tingling tales that I find both chilling and yet informative.

I mention M.R. James, because I wonder if Brian Jacques was a fan of his work. I’ve never seen him mention James’ work, but I’d have to think Brian read one of his tales at some point. My only reasoning is due to the fact that two of Jacques’ non-Redwall books dealt with ghost stories. That’s not to say that Brian had to have read James in order to write them; but there’s one tale by James that leads me to believe he read at least some of his work at some point.

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas is the last story of James’ first collection of ghost stories. As I read the tale, I couldn’t help but see some strong connections to Redwall. In it, an antiquarian interested in church stained glass investigates a plane of glass sent to him from an Abbey in Germany. Legends surround the abbey, as one of its fifteenth century abbots (the titular Abbot Thomas) said he had buried treasure somewhere within the vicinity of the Abbey. Before he dies, he leaves a cryptic clue for future generations to seek the treasure. However, since the Abbot’s death, no one has successfully found the treasure of Abbot Thomas.

The main character knows of this legend, and as he cleans the glass, he discovers a clue hidden within the glass. The character decides to take his servant with him and travel to the Abbey with dreams to be the first to discover the long lost treasure.

I won’t spoil what happens, but it’s an interesting quest that made me think of Redwall. If you just gave the characters animal forms, it wouldn’t be too out of place with the riddles and puzzles given by Martin and co.

If it sounds interesting, I recommend checking it out. It’s not a long story, and don’t let the Latin text in the beginning frighten you away.

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas by M. R. James

Well, that's a great job selling that story. It's definitely added to the "to-read" pile.

[Mulchior Lancer]

Boy, you're telling me. That first NES was an event in a way none of the systems that followed could ever quite match. I remember I wound up with a bum NES at first, which broke after about 10 minutes of play and had to wait a day to exchange it. The wait for Super Mario Bros. was excruciating, but made finally getting it all the sweeter. Because of everything involved in that, Super Mario Bros. has always been my favorite game-- even though I freely acknowledge other games are technically better.

One of the nice things about these video game history books is the chance to finally find out the truth behind the rumors. I remember someone on the Nintendo Power Source message boards throwing out that the Sony PlayStation had begun as an SNES add-on (and I respected the guy, so I didn't doubt it and found corroboration years later). To finally have bits and pieces of that story put into context and explain the era that did not have the benefit of the internet for information dissemination has been really fun.

I totally get what you mean about SMB. 3 and World are my all time favorites, but SMB will always hold a special place in my heart for being my first video game ever. I never actually beat it until this year on 3DS (thanks to save states), but it felt great to finally put that game to rest. I can’t wait to one day show my future children the magic that the game has. While I know it won’t have the same effect on them as it did for me, SMB will always remain a classic that transcends time.

And the SNES CD add-on/PSX story blew my mind when I first heard of it. I imagine Nintendo still kicks themselves for how that played out. While I admit I’m a Nintendo fanboy, and will always play their games, the PSX swayed me for most of the 32-bit generation. In some ways, it was like discovering the NES for the first time, with all of these new kinds of series like Twisted Metal and Syphon Filter. At the time they were really groundbreaking. Looking back, I like the games on N64 more, but those early PSX days were great.

Well, that's a great job selling that story. It's definitely added to the "to-read" pile.

I hope you enjoy it! I was afraid I wrote too large an info dump. James is a superb writer, though some of his stories require a bit of history knowledge to fully get the enjoyment out of it. There’s a podcast I listen to that goes through each story and explains the minute details for an American such as myself. If you end up liking that story, I’d recommend reading the rest from that set of ghost stories, especially Count Magnus and Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, which many consider the finest ghost story ever written. Both The Treasure of Abbot Thomas and Oh Whistle have 70’s BBC adaptations, and I enjoyed watching both of them.

[Martin the Warrior]

To throw another one out there, I think one of the most fun reads I've had in a long while has been Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars-- which is A New Hope reinterpreted and written as if it were one of Shakespeare's plays. Complete with stage direction. I'd post excerpts, but it's really fun to experience for yourself. You can peek inside the book at Amazon in the link.

It spawned two sequels, The Empire Striketh Back and The Jedi Doth Return. All are a lot of fun (although a love of both Star Wars and Shakespeare helps).

[Patchouli]

Martin, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned The Name of the Wind yet, considering how you used a quote from the book in your signature. XD

Anyways, my recommendation would be The Name of the Wind. It's an amazing fantasy novel, very original and developed in its ideas. It's about a helpless young boy who eventually becomes the most notorious person in the world. The setting is sort of medieval-ish, and there are some forms of "magic" like sympathy and mythical creatures called Fae. Good plot, good action, and definitely not a book to pass up.

[Martin the Warrior]

Well, I did obliquely recommend it when I mentioned buying a book solely for the inclusion of a short story set in the universe, but I'll make it explicit in echoing your recommendation here: The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss are two phenomenal books that I cannot recommend enough. I am very much looking forward to his sidestory book The Slow Regard of Silent Things next week and naturally the eventual release of book #3, The Doors of Stone.

He has my highest recommendation. More information here.