Is he a heavy reader? 'Cause go with Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon or the first volume of The System Of The World trilogy (which is Quicksilver) if so.
Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins. Twenty years old. Born on the fourth of July — and don't think there weren't jokes about that my whole life, mister, 'cause there were. 'Who's our little patriot?' they'd say, when I was younger and therefore smaller and shorter than I am now.
Anya ,'Potential'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Hayden - Mar 03, 2006 9:36:22 am PST #93 of 28061
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
DXMachina - Mar 03, 2006 9:36:37 am PST #94 of 28061
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
Never mind. Didn't read the whole thing.
Kate P. - Mar 03, 2006 9:45:42 am PST #95 of 28061
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love
What about the new Bujold series? The Curse of Chalion, The Paladin of Souls, and is there one more? I might have the titles wrong. Alternatively, if he likes Tolkein, he might also like Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (which I just read recently and LOVED).
Kathy A - Mar 03, 2006 9:56:43 am PST #96 of 28061
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
I know he doesn't own a lot of books, but he loves the ones he does have. Kate, the Jonathan Strange one, what is that about, and is it really Tolkien-esque?
Hayden - Mar 03, 2006 10:07:10 am PST #97 of 28061
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
Here's my short review on it. It isn't Tolkien-esque, but it's great. In fact, I point out in the review that it's better than Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle.
Jon B. - Mar 03, 2006 10:08:51 am PST #98 of 28061
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!
FAQWife liked Jonathan Strange.
That's all I got.
DebetEsse - Mar 03, 2006 10:30:45 am PST #99 of 28061
Woe to the fucking wicked.
t pimps Discworld
Not new, but sounds right up his alley, book-wise. So, I suppose, he may well have read them already.
Well, Thud is the newest in the series, and it's newer than Jonathan Strange. I haven't read it yet, though, so I don't know how well it would work stand-alone.
Kathy A - Mar 03, 2006 10:33:33 am PST #100 of 28061
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
That's why I'm leaning more towards relatively new stuff. I haven't been to his apartment in over a year, and really haven't talked to him in nearly that long, so I'm not too sure exactly what he's into right now. I figure he has the DVDs that he wants, and being the music geek he is, I'm sure he's got all the CDs possible, so books are about my only option.
Volans - Mar 04, 2006 10:32:05 am PST #101 of 28061
move out and draw fire
Jonathan Strange might win the Nebula this year. I am avoiding Corwood's review, as I haven't yet finished the book. DH finished it today and was disappointed with the way it ended (NFI), but so far I can heartily recommend it myself.
The Bujold Chalion series are also really fun.
Kate P. - Mar 04, 2006 2:05:48 pm PST #102 of 28061
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love
Kate, the Jonathan Strange one, what is that about, and is it really Tolkien-esque?
As Corwood notes, it isn't really Tolkein-esque, except that they're both Big Fat Fantasy novels that draw heavily (though in very different ways) on English/Northern European myths and fairy tales to create rich and vivid histories. Stylistically, I think Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is much closer to Dickens, in that it's a long, sprawling, episodic story told through the interactions of a large cast of characters, some strange, some funny, some poignant, but all vibrant.
The plot concerns the friendship and rivalry between two English magicians during the Napoleonic Wars, and their attempts to revive the tradition of English magic. If that sounds dry and boring, well, I thought so too, which is why I put off reading it for so long despite the raves from my friends and people I trust; but when I finally started it, I was pulled in almost immediately. It was such a pleasurable reading experience that I kept having to stop and read back over the previous paragraph or page because it was just so good.
DH finished it today and was disappointed with the way it ended (NFI),
What does NFI mean? I was also a little let down by the ending, but I think that's partially because I didn't want it to end!