Monday 4 May 2009

What should I read...?

One of the things I spoke about doing, last week, was occasionally reviewing older works on the blog. This wouldn't be at the expense of the newer stuff covered here, more of a chance for me to get round to re-reading some of the books on my shelves at the very least! (Something I keep meaning to do but never quite manage...)

Seeing as I asked you guys to get involved last week, I thought I'd do the same thing again and see which series you think I should get into. I'd be aiming to read my way through a series at a rate of either a book a week or a book every two weeks.



Michael Scott Rohan's 'Winter of the World' series.

The series that showed me there was more fantasy out there than just Tolkien (I really didn't read that much fantasy back in the eighties...) There's a lot more to the ongoing tales of a world threatened by an impending ice age, guided by malevolent powers, than you would think at first. A re-read is long overdue but is now the time for it to happen? The 'Winter of the World' series is comprised of one trilogy and three stand alone novels.



Glen Cook's 'The Black Company'

When I first got into Erikson's 'Malazan' books I kept hearing comparisons to Glen Cook's 'Black Company' tales. It took me a while to track these down (having an irrational fear of the internet back then) but I finally did and enjoyed them immensely. They've been sat on my shelf, unread, for a while though. Is it time to get them out for a re-read? The 'Black Company' series is made up of ten books, I'm waiting impatiently for the next two (that Cook has promised) to be written... :o)



M. John Harrison's 'Viriconium'

Larry's recent reviews of the stories comprising 'Viriconium' has got me wondering if it's time to give this book another go. I found it very atmospheric but also very hard to get my head around last time I gave it a go (some years ago). Should I give it another try....?

Here's where you come in! Just leave a comment, next to this post, saying which series you think I should tackle. I'll give it a week and then whichever series has the most votes is the one that I will start reading...

Cheers!

14 comments:

Peta said...

I vote for the 'Winter of the World' series as it sounds like it's been a while since you last read it and it might be a nice return!

James said...

I vote for M. John Harrison's 'Viriconium'. I've also seen some musings about it on the web and would be interested to see what you think of it.

Luke Forney said...

I'd be curious to see your thoughts on The Black Company, as I plan on picking that up and reviewing it on my blog myself. It would be neat to see how our thoughts compare.

Sabathius said...

Viriconium please. China Mievillle cites it as a major influence: I'd be fascinated to hear what you think of it so soon after reading The City & The City.

Droidprogrammer said...

I will be honest, of the three series, I have only read the black company, 5 times. If you haven't read it, you really should, I would agree in saying that Glenn Cook really was the first non-tolkien author.

gav (NextRead.co.uk) said...

I'm with Viriconium but hey all the reviews are interesting. You have good taste :P

ediFanoB said...

Interesting Choice.
I read the The Chronicles of the Black Company omnibus in March 2009.
I don't know either The Winter of the World series nor the Viriconium series. I checked the availability of books. Because in case I like your review I would might buy the books. There is a Viriconium omnibus available.
Beside this I'm more interested in Viriconium.
Therefore I vote for M. John Harrison's Viriconium.

PeteC said...

Winter of the World, please.

Unknown said...

my vote goes for Viriconium.

Best Fantasy and Science Fiction said...

The Black Company! It's a fantastic read!

Anonymous said...

I vote for the 'Winter of the World' as it's the one I know least about. I own the six books in the series, but I haven't read them.

Steven

Craig said...

Winter of the world

Anonymous said...

The Black Company is an amazingly good read, dont wait start now!

lone pilgrim said...

Viriconium would be my choice, although I'm not really familiar with any of the books.