this:
then this:
I never understood sci-fi reading. I never read one as good as the Hobbit and Iāve tried a lot when I was younger.
If you think the Hobbit is science fiction, then youāre right- you really donāt understand it.
Itās more the fantasy aspect that it made way better than, say, Dune. I found Dune to be convoluted. Even Wool couldnāt keep my attention and people love that book.
I havenāt read Wool, but thereās nothing at all wrong with liking the Hobbit better than Dune. As a data point for a comparison between genres though, liking the Hobbit better tells you very little. For all that it is a classic of the genre, you could actually rewrite Dune as a fantasy novel and end up with pretty much the same story. Both Dune and the Hobbit are heroās-journey with genre-as-setting stories. So thereās a really good chance itās more that you like Tolkien as a writer better than Herbert, and that genre isnāt really the issue.
Like better whatever you like better (of course). Itās just that as somebody whoās read a lot of both, thereās so much science fiction that (unlike Dune) ISNāT directly comparable with fantasy that trying to decide between genres becomes awfully meaningless. Very apples and oranges.
I mean, consider http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/dunnweb/rprnts.omelas.pdf . Maybe you enjoy the Hobbit more, but as works theyāre attempting enormously different things.
I just read the Gray Mountain by John Grishamā¦
Pretty good! 
Hard Rain Falling for my next read of fiction. Maybe if I can find a damn copy.
Can anyone recommend me 5 great fantasy books that released this year. Preferably books that arenāt apart of a series or are at least the 1st book of a series.
picked up Earth Abides, an old ass post apocalyptic story, that Stephen King claims was the inspiration for The Stand. So far, itās a good book. Dude going across America after the worldās population gets wiped out by a plague.
Finally finished Catch-22 a couple weeks ago.
Iām too fucking stupid to understand that book on my first read through. I couldnāt follow a single thread of logic. Yossarian got himself into some shit. Milo Minderbinder is a psycho and I couldnāt keep Colonels or Generals straight to save my life 
Going back and rereading H2G2 I need a Gargle Blaster.
Catch-22 benefits from multiple readings. I read it once for fun and was confused, then I read it for school and everything became much, much clearer.
The last chapter of that book is the saddest.
I remember proving to my 13 year old self I was well read by readiinh Gravityās Rainbow :looney:
Finished the second book of Mickey Reichertās I, Robot series. To Obey was alright. Not as good as the first one, To Protect. Iām hoping the third book will be better. In the meantime been reading Robot Uprisings. Itās a collection of short stories when ai/robots rebel. Good stuff so far.
You arenāt lying. That was intense.
Finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep last week. Iāve always considered the Directorās Cut of Blade Runner to be a perfect movie and a perfectly told story and the book has blown my mind.
Without spoiling either, and with the view that I saw the film well before I read the book, a story that I thought was about heroism and justice has been completely flipped into a story about greed and the juxtaposition of morality. I love both, but the book is really something else, will never look at Blade Runner the same again.
The author did this on purpose. The entire novel is comical in a way (with the exception of that dude who took shrapnel to the chest up in the sky) until the last chapter where he highlights the true horrors of war. I like how the book ends on a hilarious note, too. Either way, a GREAT book. Large but itās worth the ride.
I remember you saying it is one of your favorites. If not the absolute top. One of the reasons I picked it up, tbh. I want to read the chapter about Orr and his crab apples and horse chestnuts now
Any good new fantasy books I can read over the holidays.
Completed my first book in about 2 years lol. Itās a history book called A Land So Strange by Andres Resendez. Heās a historian who has a writing style that doesnāt suck and itās not a terribly long read either. Definitely recommend it to anybody with an interest in New World Exploration. Anybody know any good history books? Preferably college level history textbooks and not stuff written by reporters, journalists, etc.