Book Recs
It's diminishing! This is the first time in years I've managed to whittle away at the books I want to read enough to see progress. Lack of internet has forced me to go back to actual books. XD Time for some suggestions, I guess.
#1 - The Foreigner series by C.J. Cherryh. She's still pumping out books for it; in fact, the 4th trilogy came to an end last year, and the first of the 5th is scheduled to come out next month. It's a space opera about a linguist/diplomat named Bren Cameron who is the only human allowed to live among the aliens called the atevi. It's very thoughty, incredibly complex, and when you finally hit the action it's truly epic.
#2 - The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima. It's a young adult book, the first in a trilogy and as easy to read as the Foreigner series is difficult, and has my friend and I hooked. The main POVs are Princess Raisa ana'Marianna and Hanson "Cuffs" Alister. Raisa is okay, so far as teenaged female protagonists go, but Han is who keeps me coming back. The world is like... if you stuck American Indians into a medieval world with wizards and added in a dash of the good old-fashioned party-type fantasy with the classes (Thief, Mage, Priest, Warrior, etc.), you'd get this world.
#3 - Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku. Yes, it is a physics book, but it's meant for the layman. Kaku takes sci-fi ideas like force fields, invisibility, telepathy, psychokinesis, and teleportation and describes whether he thinks they're possible, and how someone might one day go about accomplishing these things. Fascinating.
#4 - Fortress Draconis by Michael A. Stackpole. I'm re-reading this one, I actually read it and forgot to read its sequel like 6 years ago. It's a fantasy epic with a prequel I haven't encountered, but it has that age-old trope of the main character being a thief who's found himself at the center of prophecy and war. It even has elves!
I can't swear to how good the next three are, since I've only just started them, but:
#5 - Foundation by Mercedes Lackey. This is set in her Valdemar world, and I give a blanket recommendation for that. This particular one deals with the building of the Herald's Collegium, which was a very important historical event. She usually has protagonists who come from a very hard background who are rescued by their magical Companions (telepathic, intelligent white horses sent by the gods) and assume a mantle of duty to help the people. It's a completely corruption-free government since the rulers themselves have to be Heralds, who are chosen for their good hearts. Easy read.
#6 - Midshipman's Hope by David Feintuch. Another sci-fi, this one about a ship that suddenly finds itself captained by its most junior officers in the depths of space and up to its eyeballs in trouble. A little dry, but so far so good.
#7 - Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman. Another sci-fi, this time with telepaths. It's a good old-fashioned fantasy with sci-fi elements, so far as I've seen, and the beginning is oh so creepy.
(Dude, they totally have SPN on Netflix now. Heaven!)