Why would the Japanese version be split up into multiple books? I don't really understand that. I saw it happened with Harry Potter as well. As far as I'm aware you can fit quite a bit more information per square in Japanese. Is it because the characters are written larger or because writing it top to bottom has a tendency to waste more space when you make a line break. Or is it something else entirely?

Just like the reasons for anything, it depends on who you ask. Some say that it's done as a strategy for the publishers, as having consumers buy two 250 page books yields them more money than if the consumer just bought one 500 page book. Others will say that it's simply become the norm, and as such it would drastically hurt the ability of a book to sell if it broke the norm and was published in a single volume. Others say that it's a benefit to the consumer, as it allows for writers to get their work published quicker by publishing it one section at a time, thus getting materials into the hand of the reader faster (think of manga volumes). Others claim that it allows the consumer to save money if they don't like it, since they will only end up buying half/a quarter/whatever of it if they choose to not continue, whereas otherwise they'd be out for the full value. And then there's the people that will say that modern Japanese society has developed a short attention span where people shun things like thick books out of habbit. Kinda like a "OH MY GOD THAT WILL TAKE SO LONG I DON'T HAVE ALL THAT FREE TIME" reflex, whereas small but multiple volumes won't elicit that knee-jerk reaction.

I think it depends on the case. Publishers definitely milk the system by having popular novels printed section by section, stretching out the period of time for maximum publicity and revenue as well as getting the extra money from the multiple volumes.

My personal favorite series is Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth - I think it's 12 books? I loved all of them though some were better than others (unlike the Wheel of Time which just goes on and on)

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are also great- The Deathgate Cycle especially - 7 books that follow the adventures of Haplo

Anything by Robin Hobb- I'm always excited when she writes more- start with Magician Apprentice and go in order. I should really re-read her books but all my books are back in America

I liked Melanie Rawn until she didn't finish the Exiles trilogy- the second book was written in 1997! I've been waiting for The Captal's Tower to come out for about 10 years now... I read the first two books of the Exiles series over 10 years ago and figure I should finish it up given my username anywhere is from this trilogy!

The Drizzt books by Salvatore are also fantastic. Highly recommended.

Ken Follett has an interesting two book series- The Pillars of the Earth written in 1989 and the follow up World Without End written in 2007. Not technically fantasy but set in the Middle Ages and absolutely fascinating. I've actually just read a few of his other fiction works because I've never seen someone with such good character development.

Those are my tops and I haven't branched out a ton from them as I haven't had time. Once I get an e-reader in a few years I'll definitely be reading more fantasy.

When I was young, I read a lot of the SunRunner series by Melanie Rawn. And I loved them. I tried to read them recently, though, and was extremely bored.

It's a wonderful concept, and she took it some great places... But I don't think she writes well enough to re-read. -sigh-

captal Wrote:Anything by Robin Hobb- I'm always excited when she writes more- start with Magician Apprentice and go in order. I should really re-read her books but all my books are back in America

I'm guessing you mean _Assassin's Apprentice_ there? (_Magician: Apprentice_ is by Feist and _The Magician's Apprentice_ by Trudi Canavan...) I quite liked reading that series at the time but found it a bit depressing somehow.

I just want to agree with everybody that recommended A Song of Ice and Fire. Nothing more to add really, it's the series that got me back into reading fantasy.

My personal favorite fantasy/sci fi author is Ursula K. Le Guin. Her books are usually quite well written and explore much deeper ideas than the typical fantasy novel. For fantasy I would suggest the Wizard of Earthsea series and my favorite science fiction book that she has written is The Dispossesed.

I am fond of the Dune series of books, so much that I even read his son's prequel/sequel books.

This thread reminds me how much stuff I need to read. Only thing mentioned so far that I`ve read is LOTR.

The Pillars of the Earth is excellent! I'd call it medieval fiction - and I agree with captal, great character development. I listened to the audio book over the course of making a huge art project, and loved it. Looks like I need to get World Without End, I didn't know about it.

I also liked the Drizzit stuff, great character, but haven't read much of it, as my tastes now tend more toward original style worlds, and less toward D&D/Tolkienesqe stuff (elves, dwarves, orcs, etc - though I do really like that style too).

ファブリス Wrote:I'm having so much fun reading Terry Pratchett again!

I finished Going Postal soon after arriving in Mcleodganj (India).

Hehe. Then, next you might want to try out a classic Pc game: Postal..I think they're related

captal Wrote:My personal favorite series is Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth - I think it's 12 books? I loved all of them though some were better than others (unlike the Wheel of Time which just goes on and on)

Yes, those are somewhat addicting, despite the various issues... like a graphical depiction of demon rape in the second book?... I mean, wtf.
if you can overlook this,
The first book and the one that just came out that was set in our world were my favorites.
Soul of the Fire was the worst. He wrote too much bad political intrigue into it.

I´m also convinced that Pillars of Creation was modeled after Atlas Shrugged.

DUNE FTW!

A mentat WOULD say that

Haha - When did you change your picture? I just now noticed - hilarious!

@zazen666
敵は海賊 series by 神林長平 is good entertaining Sci-Fi, though it's kind of manga-ish.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/敵は海賊
If you are looking for something more hardcore, his あなたの魂に安らぎあれ and 七胴落とし are good hardcore Sci-Fi.

Any short story by 星新一 is easy and good. His works are more like Science Fable, but they always have a good, sometimes black, punch line.

As for newer things, 虐殺器官 looks good, but I haven't got around to reading it.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/虐殺器官

There are actually a lot of good Mangas in this genre like 風の谷のナウシカ, Akira, 攻殻機動隊, etc. too if that's your cup of tea, or even if it isn't it may be worth a try.

[ファブリス]

Raschaverak Wrote:Hehe. Then, next you might want to try out a classic Pc game: Postal..I think they're related

Eh? Going Postal is a Terry Pratchet novebl about a thief who's about to be hung, and offered a second chance by the mayor of Ankh Morpork (something like that). Whereby Moist (the thief) has to get the old postal service running again. He gets help from golems and whatnot, while the "clacks" (sort of optical telegraph) are the bad guys of the story and do everything to try to prevent the postal service to get back on its feet.

The PC Postal game doesn't seem related at all, it's a shooter.

There were however a couple adventure games based on the Discworld universe.

ファブリス Wrote:

Raschaverak Wrote:Hehe. Then, next you might want to try out a classic Pc game: Postal..I think they're related

Eh? Going Postal is a Terry Pratchet novebl about a thief who's about to be hung, and offered a second chance by the mayor of Ankh Morpork (something like that). Whereby Moist (the thief) has to get the old postal service running again. He gets help from golems and whatnot, while the "clacks" (sort of optical telegraph) are the bad guys of the story and do everything to try to prevent the postal service to get back on its feet.

The PC Postal game doesn't seem related at all, it's a shooter.

There were however a couple adventure games based on the Discworld universe.

lol Yeah, not related.

The book was pretty good, though.

@masaman--thanks for that. I'll amazon a few of thoses soon.



Hey, isn't the reason the split up the big books simpily so people can read them on the train. I mean, could you imagine reading a Hard Back Jordan on the tokyo chou-sen rush hour train!

I used to have to not take school books so I could fit it in my back pack in High school. Cant imagine in on the train in japan.

I have pluged this book on antoher thread but will do so again
魔人竜生誕

is a kick as fantasy game book. even if game books arent your thing, the choose ytour own adventure style makes for good readig. You get to meet different gods, become a super hero, and kick mosters asses all around modern japan.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%AD%94%E4%BA%...4789301508

your welcome zazen.

Check out mangas like 風の谷のナウシカ and "5 star stories". They are awesome too. I may be preaching to the choir though

pm215 Wrote:

captal Wrote:Anything by Robin Hobb- I'm always excited when she writes more- start with Magician Apprentice and go in order. I should really re-read her books but all my books are back in America

I'm guessing you mean _Assassin's Apprentice_ there? (_Magician: Apprentice_ is by Feist and _The Magician's Apprentice_ by Trudi Canavan...) I quite liked reading that series at the time but found it a bit depressing somehow.

Yes! I've also read the Feist series however

wccrawford Wrote:When I was young, I read a lot of the SunRunner series by Melanie Rawn. And I loved them. I tried to read them recently, though, and was extremely bored.

That may well be- I read the Sunrunner stuff in high school and haven't re-read any of it. As I said, I'm still waiting for the third book of Exiles, and I'd consider re-reading the first two if she ever finished the third. Beyond that I'll probably never read her again.

masaman Wrote:your welcome zazen.

Check out mangas like 風の谷のナウシカ and "5 star stories". They are awesome too. I may be preaching to the choir though

I watch the movie 5 Star Stories recently and really enjoyed it. Maybe I should read the manga too....

Kind of off-topic with respect to the current discussion but relevant to the thread title: does anyone have any suggestions for Japanese science fiction (preferably short stories)? I prefer themes like near-future settings, dystopian societies, the relationship between humans and new technologies, etc. (i.e. not stuff like super futuristic battles in space or something). I've already started reading some stuff by 星新一 and I really like it.

David Gemmell - The "King" of heroic fantasy. Seriously love that guy, he's dead now ...

Another author who I don't see often mentioned is Elizabeth Moon. She wrote a high fantasy trilogy (+ extended books) called the Deed of Paksenarrion, which I thought was quite an enjoyable read. Recommended. There aren't many who do high fantasy well. The author is an ex-marine so I think her military scenes have a more authentic flavour to them (not that I would really know).

She, er, also does these rather ridiculous sci-fi books that can best be described as "ponies in space" (Familias Regnant series), that start out as silly, escapist adventure and then suddenly turn really dark and conspiratorial. Worth a read if you're on holidays and don't mind ponies in space. They are quite well-written escapist books.

Her other book I read was Speed of Dark which was rather good and won a Nebula Award.

I like a lot of the ones other people have mentioned already as well.