What are you reading?

[Legacy]

I love writing obviously, but I also love reading. I think a lot of the books I read growing up and Ben now have helped shaped me into the kind of writer I am right now. Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Name of the Wind, Zero Sight are some of my favorites.

What books have inspired you in your writing?

In what ways does reading help your writing?

Any books or series that you recommend?

 

[Beth Pavell]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are probably the single biggest influence on my writing. It's the fusion of the silly and the serious that I really admire - inside the utter absurdity of the world there's a lot of room for humanistic philosophy. Besides, there is no greater master of the subtle shout-out. The Long Walk, to me has read like a love letter to his style - the narrative voice is something inspired by Night Watch where the narration is almost always done from the perspective of the viewpoint character, even when it isn't his thoughts written out as internal dialogue

Reading helps me get in the zone for writing. Ideas are easy, but actually writing a story is hard. I find conversation and moving the action along between scenes tricky - actually, I find action sequences difficult full stop - so reading these kinds of things gives me a sense of how to pull them off

 

[Saturnidae]

I've been reading three books I bought with a gift card lately; they are Last of the Mohicans, Alice and wonderland, and The Jungle Book (not as kiddy as you think.... at all... )
Last of the Mohicans was literally the worst book I have ever read and I don't feel like talking about it.
Alice was great, It was my first time reading it and it was hilarious.
The jungle book is a great one that tells alot about animals, a very good story.

 

[AetherX]

I've been meaning to read Name of the Wind for a while now and my Computer Science professor is constantly talking about Discworld, so maybe I should get back to reading. I haven't sat down and read a book in over a year.

I remember it clearly... "The Ghost King" by R.A. Salvatore. It's the 19th book in the Legend of Drizzt series which I heartily recommend. The end was so depressing and heartbreaking that I couldn't go on. The sequel, "Gauntlgrym", has been sitting next to my computer and staring at me ever since. I haven't been able to bring myself to read it yet, but I think I might before long.

If you're a Star Wars fan, I'd also recommend the Heir to the Empire Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It's probably the among best fanfiction of all time, in my opinion. If you're not a Star Wars fan... are you sure you're not a Star Wars fan? Did you watch the right movies? Are you sane?

 

[Glitchipedia]

Just started rereading the Harry Potter series from the beginning. Can't find my copy of Goblet of Fire, though....

 

[Elric von Bek]

I remember it clearly... "The Ghost King" by R.A. Salvatore. It's the 19th book in the Legend of Drizzt series which I heartily recommend. The end was so depressing and heartbreaking that I couldn't go on. The sequel, "Gauntlgrym", has been sitting next to my computer and staring at me ever since. I haven't been able to bring myself to read it yet, but I think I might before long.

My favorite Drizzt book is The Pirate King. What did you think about that one?

I'm reading Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie. His descriptions of survivors in the ash-laden ruins of a magical nuke are quite chilling. I can't recommend his First Law trilogy enough. The Bloody-Nine, Jezal, Glokta, and Bayaz are all great characters.

 

[Dorothy]

My favorite books are Flowers For Algernon, Les Miserables, The Great Gatsby, and the A Series of Unfortunate Events books. I've developed a fondness for subdued or dry humor as a result.

I'm reading The Hunchback of Notre-Dame right now, but I have to take a break between reading Hugo and writing, because after I read some Hugo I tend to want to follow his example and go off on long tangents that, while interesting, are not particularly critical to the narrative (yes, Victor, the sewer system of Paris is fascinating, but let's get a move on, huh?)

 

[AetherX]

My favorite Drizzt book is The Pirate King. What did you think about that one?

The Pirate King was great, but the ending was kind of depressing. I hated how Jarlaxle was all "Oh I never meant for all of this to happen!" but he was totally in charge of it all. And I loved Deudermont...

My personal favorite is The Orc King. Obould is such a great character and that was kind of his climax.

 

[kintsugi]

(yes, Victor, the sewer system of Paris is fascinating, but let's get a move on, huh?)

You have no idea how wonderful I find the fact that someone else knows about this to be.

In other news, our hero is on the run and has narrowly escaped the jaws of the law by climbing over the fence and hiding in this convent. Now seems like the perfect time to describe the entire history of said convent, dating back to its foundation ages ago, even though hardly any of this is plot-relevant!

oh, and because we're out of space and paper costs expensive, let's just kill off everyone in the ABC Cafe in like two sentences. Or, really, one sentence and a goddamned semicolon

I've been slogging hrough ASoIaF--and I do mean slogging, because I honestly can't sit down and read that much death so slowly, heh. Reread Ender's Game recently for the nostalgia purposes (and because the movie left me wondering at some parts), had my heart ripped apart by Catch-22 recently, started and dropped the Dune series for the time being, and am currently trying to find the rest of the Star Wars EU and maybe start Discworld, because apparently that's a lovely series.

...yeah, and sleep and having a life. Heh.