Today and on Monday, the lovely Marie made again two guest posts for you. I’m off to Hamburg once more 🙂. XO, Franzi.
You want to read some excellent books or seek new ideas on what to read? Discover some of the greatest classics or books that are about to become ones.
Here are some of the latest books I have been reading and I would highly recommend them to anyone I know. In fact, I think I already did recommend them to heaps of people so now it’s your turn. I am going to give you some information about why I find those books so outstanding and might be I’ll pique your curiosity a bit…
I. [Fantasy] George Martin: A Song of Ice and Fire
(A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords,
A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons)
What is it about?
The noble houses are scheming, every one of them wanting to be the ruling family on the continent Westeros. Working their way to the Iron Throne, some families use armies, others use intrigues. On the other end of the world, there is a Dragon Princess claiming her right to the Iron Throne as well. And in the north, behind an enormous wall of ice, the real trouble is brewing. It dwarfs the nobilities‘ petty power struggles and yet the world remains oblivious to its advancing doom…
Why is it good?
- Absolutely epic!!!
- A rough world with an even rougher handling of its main characters
- A unique and superior style of writing
- An audacious and incredibly complex story with a large number of lines of actions
- The never-ending suspense due to numerous twists and turns
- A realistic setting which leaves the classic fantasy plot of „the guys in white beating the guys in black“ behind
Btw, there’s an awesome series about these books on HBO. Every book is one season comprising ten episodes. The second season launches on HBO on April 1st 2012 while in Germany, the first season starts on RTL II on March 23rd 2012.
II. [Fantasy] Patrick Rothfuss: The Kingkiller Chronicle
(Day One: The Name of the Wind & Day Two: The Wise Man’s Fear)
What is it about?
Kvothe is a broken and fallen hero. Yet now, he starts telling his life-story leaving out all embellishments reducing it to the naked truth. Through tragic events in his youth he finds the quest of his life and going through several stages in his life, he starts taking the first steps on the path of a legend.
Why is it good?
- Very well written – I have never been able to read a book as quickly as those two!
- A fascinating new science: sympathy (the power of thinking).
- A very bold and fiendishly clever main character who makes you wish him to be the hero.
- As for students, you can easily identify with the academic struggles he goes through.
III. [Fantasy] Brandon Sanderson: Mistborn Trilogy
(The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages)
What is it about?
Vin lives in a near-apocalyptic world where mists kill the population by night and ashes rain from the sky. She has extraordinary skills she yet has to learn about while being used to live amongst thieves as a street urchin. One day, she becomes part of a thieving group that decides to overthrow the Final Empire which is ruled by the Lord Ruler, a very powerful and godlike man. In a world that is divided into the nobility and skaa people, who are slavelike, she grows up to her fears and learns about trust, friendship and love.
Why is it good?
- Finally a woman is the main character!
- A new science: Allomancy (burning metals inside your body)
- Revealing big plans and stating that nothing is impossible (even overthrowing an empire) while stressing the value of friendship.
So, now that I’ve shown you my faves, are there any books you would recommend me? It doesn’t have to be fantasy or science fiction. It just has to be epic!
So looking forward to your suggestions!
Like always: All credits appear after clicking the links.