Book Suggestions 2008

Two more suggestions from me, but not books - rather, I'm suggesting authors.

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Terry Pratchett

pTerry, as some of us call him, is, quite frankly, "freakin' awesome"! He's most well known for his Discworld novels, but has also written a trilogy centred around a fella called Johnny, a trilogy about gnomes, a standalone book about other gnomes, a few Sci-Fi books, a book about cats, a fantastic short story about chickens crossing a motorway, and an absolutely stunning co-op effort with Neil Gaiman.

First, Discworld. Discworld is a world shaped like a disc, carried by four elephants, all of which is balanced on the back of a huge space-turtle, the Great A'Tuin. On the Discworld anything goes - magic wars turn trees sapient, the wood of which can make suitcases that follow their owners around on hundreds of tiny legs; belief can create Gods from nothing and turn myths and legends into physical things; Orangutans run libraries, and a Wizzard runs about with the knowledge of only one spell. There are a number of main arcs in the Discworld series, including the City Guard, the Witches, and Rincewind the Wizzard. Pratchett has also created a new one about Moist von Lipwig, who is slowly turning the public sectors of Ankh Morpork around.

If any of you see a book with the name "Terry Pratchett" on the spine, pick it up and read it. No questions, just do it.

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Robin Hobb

Hobb has written four trilogies, three of which are linked. Nothing particularly special in itself but, rather like the Grand Theft Auto games, it's the little intricacies that make them fantastic. For Robin Hobb is an absolute master when it comes to character development - I haven't read a single book in my years of reading that comes even relatively close to her standard in the field of character development.

Her Realms of the Elderlings trilogies are linked by one character, the Fool, but that's not the one who steals the show (well, s/he comes close in the Liveship Traders trilogy). Ho no. FitzChivalry Farseer, the bastard son of the King-in-Waiting, is the main attraction. The first book in the first trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice, The Farseer Trilogy), follows Fitz from his arrival on the scene, through boyhood, and into his years as a teen. We are thrown into a community of political intrigue and war, seen through the eyes of a character who is not only an assassin (eventually), but a user of the two forms of magic in the world - the Skill and the Wit. The second two books in the trilogy, and all three in the Tawny Man trilogy (which does centre more on the Fool, but still follows Fitz as the main character) see Fitz develop immensely, his life becoming a thing ruled by not only the actions he takes, but also the actions taken by others. Rarely is a character crafted so well, and with so much thought. Rarely is a character crafted by his history.

The books are gritty, and can be depressing, but I rank them among the best I've read.

Oh, and the Fool is the only truly androgynous character that I've read about. I don't know for sure whether s/he is man or woman, no-one online knows for sure, and I'm not convinced that Robin Hobb knows for sure - she writes him/her so brilliantly in each gender, that we'll never know for sure.

Coming close is Hobbs fourth trilogy, set in a different world entirely, and following a different character, Nevare Burvell. However, Hobbs trademark character development is still present, and Nevare is developed throughout all three books in the trilogy (Soldier Son trilogy), right up to the last page.