I need a new genre author

[Wraith]

--"Still, if I want to give him a go, where in his enormous bibliography should I start? "

Several people have recommended "Guards!, Guards!", which is a good choice, especially if you like crime/detective novels. With your mention of liberal arts education, I would suggest either that or "Wyrd Sisters", which has plenty of Hamlet mixed in. Either is a good place to start. As Jon and Zkribbler have mentioned, the first two or three are skippable. They do some world establishment, but it's not hard to pick up on, and the first few are more straight-up fantasy parodies than anything. The two I mentioned above are really where he hits his stride and establishes his own voice.

--"If you are looking for off-beat humor, then Christopher Moore is infinitely better than Pratchett."

Haven't read of his stuff, so I can't compare yet. Have to keep an eye out next time I go to Half-Price Books.

I coincidentally ran across this link today, and thought people in this thread would find it amusing. It's a number of Two Cow jokes based on sci-fi and fantasy authors.

It also reminded me of another author you might be interested in. H. P. Lovecraft. ^_^

Wraith
H.P. Lovecraft - In the Stygian blackness that surrounds men and all of creation you acquire two cows. They whisper unknowable things to you at night. You mind bleeds with images drawn from the darkest wells of the universe even as you sense a mere fragment of the elder gods shadow your every thought. Slowly, you suspect you have become mad as you rave these truths to your fellow human beings even as your plead to your cows to stop their whispering to you.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Dennis Lehane

I'm glad somebody mentioned this. All I know about Lehane I know from the two superb movies made from his work, Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone (the latter I think two superior of the two). But these two films have in common endangered children. I can't read Andrew Vachss because, though I think he's a good writer, endangered children aren't a theme to which I wish to unwind. Is Lehane teh same way, or are the similarities between Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone a coincidence?

@Alinestra Covelia: If that works, make sure to show your roommate the movie they made out of Spy Who Came in from the Cold with Richard Burton. It's the other great LeCarre adaptation.

[Kuciwalker]

Pratchett is overrated and gets kinda repetitive. You can only read so much of him before you know the entire story from the blurb on the back.

[Cort Haus]

Pratchett is overrated and gets kinda repetitive. You can only read so much of him before you know the entire story from the blurb on the back.

There were a few repetitive themes in the middle of the series (Soul Music, Moving Pictures, Masquerade) but he gets past that and his later books are his finest imo. Night Watch is one of the best takes on the Time-travel theme I've encountered. The blurb on the back generally damages most books for me, and I try to avoid reading it.

I'd agree with those that recommend Guards Guards as the place to start. Vimes is the best central character he's written, and all of the Watch series are excellent.

[Cort Haus]

Only a trilogy, IIRC.

He only wrote six good novels. Four of the five HHG 'trilogy' and the two Dirk Gently. The last HHG was weak, and the ending was terrible.

The problem with Adams was that despite his genius, he actually hated writing. He just wanted to spend the fat advance without actually doing any work. The publisher had to employ someone full-time just to try and persuade him to write something. Most of what he did actually manage to write though, was a rare and beautiful treasure.

[Lord Avalon]

I'm glad somebody mentioned this. All I know about Lehane I know from the two superb movies made from his work, Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone (the latter I think two superior of the two). But these two films have in common endangered children. I can't read Andrew Vachss because, though I think he's a good writer, endangered children aren't a theme to which I wish to unwind. Is Lehane teh same way, or are the similarities between Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone a coincidence?

I'd say it's a coincidence. But it probably has something to do with why they made movies of them.

His debut novel, A Drink Before the War, won a Shamus award (best first detective novel). Other Kenzie-Gennaro books followed: Darkness Take My Hand, Sacred, Gone Baby Gone, and Prayers for Rain.

Then came Mystic River, Shutter Island, Coronado (a collection of short stories), and The Given Day.

I've read all the novels; haven't finished Coronado yet.


Oops, forgot about Adams' Dirk Gently books. I haven't read those.

[self biased]

what about some of the dune series? i'm working my way through the 'house' trilogy written by kevin anderson and brian herbert. i think i like the new style better. it flows better and is a bit less ponderous than herbert's original text.

[-Jrabbit]

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul is excellent. I'm still in denial on Adams' tragic early death.

[Imran Siddiqui]

He only wrote six good novels. Four of the five HHG 'trilogy' and the two Dirk Gently. The last HHG was weak, and the ending was terrible.

The problem with Adams was that despite his genius, he actually hated writing. He just wanted to spend the fat advance without actually doing any work. The publisher had to employ someone full-time just to try and persuade him to write something. Most of what he did actually manage to write though, was a rare and beautiful treasure.

I actually liked "Mostly Harmless" for its incredible bleakness.

[Zkribbler]

... Night Watch is one of the best takes on the Time-travel theme I've encountered.

Night Watch is a terrific book, but not the place to start. Prachett references too many other previous books in it. It's a little better if you read those first.

what about some of the dune series?

Good lord, I HATED those!

[Naked Gents Rut]

i'm working my way through the 'house' trilogy written by kevin anderson and brian herbert. i think i like the new style better. it flows better and is a bit less ponderous than herbert's original text.

Good lord, I HATED those!

[self biased]

Night Watch is a terrific book, but not the place to start. Prachett references too many other previous books in it. It's a little better if you read those first.

Good lord, I HATED those!

i'm working my way through the 'house' trilogy written by kevin anderson and brian herbert. i think i like the new style better. it flows better and is a bit less ponderous than herbert's original text.

Good lord, I HATED those!

[Kuciwalker]

I haven't read those, but I'm not surprised they suck. Kevin J Anderson just can't write.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Kevin J Anderson just can't write.

Quoted for truth. His Star Wars novels were awful, especially coming after the high quality of the Timothy Zahn novels. At the time, I was amazed that Lucas let this hack even touch the SW franchise.

...

Of course, that was before I watched the Prequel Trilogy...

[Blaupanzer]

Dune, the original work, was both delightful and intelligent, bringing a complex world and an interplanetary social structure to light in order to reveal an extreme weakness in intelligence by the spacemen regarding what the think they see. For people who like science fiction or military fiction, Frank Herbert writes a magnificent tale. All the rest of the Dune series sucks although Herbert's writing remains rich and nuanced. The more recent books by folks other than Herbert are both flat and poorly written -- worthless (i.e., more valuable as recycle than reading). Unless Rufus is looking for science fiction or military fiction, I wouldn't recommend Dune. I wouldn't recommend the rest of the series to anyone.