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[Va]

Has anyone here rocked the Illuminatus trilogy, by Robert Anton Wilson? Is it good?

It is THE BEST.

I :heart: Robert Anton Wilson.

[CortJstr]

I whipped through Bloodsucking Fiends by Moore based soley on how freaking much Amazon insisted on recommending it to me. It was enjoyable but unlike some people I've talked to online it didn't make me want to rush out and buy all his books.

I also read Rule of Four. It was . . . there. The bits with the police were entirely unnecessary. I also felt dirty in helping this whole quest novel craze.

I also read The Battle of Corrin because I, apparently, am a masochist.

The only Pratchett I've read is Good Omens. So as far as his solo work goes, where do I start?

[Mr Trout]

I've read a lot of his stuff and while his later discworld novels are indeed funnier, I would say start at the beginning with Colour of Magic. The discworld series is quite addicting though. Before you know it, you'll have an entire bookshelf dedicated to it....

[AugustWest]

I'm entirely ambivalent about Prachett. What an oxymoronic sentence...

I tried The Color of Magic years ago and found it pretty tedious.  A couple more stabs at it found similar results.

But not long ago I picked up one that I liked.  I can't recall the title but it was the one where Death dies.  It was very good.  Then I read Pyramids and liked it very much too.  The next one I tried brought me back to my original non-plussedness.

Some people love his stuff.  I guess I can see why, but as far as I'm concerned he's no Douglas Adams (or even Neil Gaiman).  Yeah, he can come up with some decent puns, but so can Piers Anthony.  It's hit or miss.  Pratchett needs a better editor.  He's capable of producing quality but he seems dedicated to quantity.  But who'll be remembered as the better writer -- Harper Lee or Isaac Asimov?

[Lister]

Pratchett books can generally stand on their own without confusing you too much with back story, so it's really just a matter of what you can find and what type of thing you like.

These books stand alone almost entirely:
Pyramids
Moving Pictures
Small Gods
The Truth*
Going Postal*

There are several series of books that share most of the same characters, so if you want to break it up into smaller chunks that's a good way to go:

The "Rincewind" series - centers around a Wizard who can't really cast spells but is really good at running away.
The Colour of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Sourcery
Eric
Interesting Times
The Last Continent
The Last Hero

The witch series - centers around witches in a small mountainous area, and features some of the best characters ever in the history of best.
Equal Rites (More about Wizards, but the first appearances of the witches)
Wyrd Sisters
Witches Abroad
Lords and Ladies
Maskerade
Carpe Jugulum

The death series - My personal favorite, centered on Death and how he learns about and is influenced by humanity.  Soul Music contains much that is awesome about music.
Mort
Reaper Man
Soul Music
Hogfather
Thief Of Time

The Watch series - Follows the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch as it develops from useless into an actual force for good.  Cop drama.
Guards! Guards!
Men At Arms
Feet Of Clay
Jingo
The Fifth Elephant
The Truth*
Night Watch
Going Postal*

(*Though these books don't feature the Watch as main characters, they take place in a very established city after other world-changing events, and should probably be read after the Watch series to avoid confusion)

So, yeah.  They're addictive.  It's fantasy from a sci-fi mind.

[V-Adore]

I would advise against starting with the early books -- Colour of Magic, in particular, is pretty weak and not a good starting point. Lister's enumerated the series pretty well, so if you go with one of those you should be generally fine. And yes, almost all of them stand alone quite well.

[CortJstr]

I would advise against starting with the early books -- Colour of Magic, in particular, is pretty weak and not a good starting point. Lister's enumerated the series pretty well, so if you go with one of those you should be generally fine. And yes, almost all of them stand alone quite well.

What confused me is that Small Gods was mentioned in this thread several times but when I looked it up it's listed as a Discworld book. So I figured it's a series and I'd have to start at the beginning.

[V-Adore]

I would advise against starting with the early books -- Colour of Magic, in particular, is pretty weak and not a good starting point. Lister's enumerated the series pretty well, so if you go with one of those you should be generally fine. And yes, almost all of them stand alone quite well.

What confused me is that Small Gods was mentioned in this thread several times but when I looked it up it's listed as a Discworld book. So I figured it's a series and I'd have to start at the beginning.

Yeah, Small Gods is an aberration; it's a Discworld book, but it in particular shares next to no continuity with any of the others. Without getting into spoiler-space, it's set in an entirely different country from any other Discworld book and is set quite far in the past as compared to the rest of the series, so it stands alone particularly well. (There are a few later books that are made funnier if you've read Small Gods, but no book relies on you having read it, and it stands alone.)

[side_show]

Geek Love - Katherine Dunn

I'm reading it for the second time - anyone else read it?

[V-Adore]

Geek Love - Katherine Dunn

I'm reading it for the second time - anyone else read it?

YES. And it is awesome. I read it in seventh grade, and while I would not recommend it to seventh-graders in general, it broke me in just the best way.

[slink]

Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan
Gridlinked - Neil Asher
Dance Dance Dance - Murukami

Plus some more old sci fi a friend passed me, and more Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

[andalucia]

Any of you comics people know Julie Doucet?  She's from Montreal and I think she is all sorts of angry broken-english awesome.  I got her book "Long Time Relationship" from the library today and I am real excited about that.  Also Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything Is Illuminated", which I'd been meaning to read.  

I haven't been reading much that is awesome lately because of my philosophy class which kept me busy Heidegger > Fanon style.  (this is meant to indicate a span of time and intellectual development of existential philosophy between those two, not to indicate that Heidegger is greater than Fanon, which I don't really even think is true.)  Anyways, I had my exam for that this morning, so now I am free to read hell of comics.  (Next month's summer course is on cinematography, so probably a bit less with the thinking, I hope.)

[pmcd9]

I've read Julie Doucet.  Her Dirty Plotte made me very uneasy.

~Paul

[andalucia]

Fair enough.  You are aware of what "plotte" means in quebecois slang?

[St_Zartan]

Fair enough.  You are aware of what "plotte" means in quebecois slang?

I am now.