[MSJ]

Continue.

I have just finished Dune (1), and am about halfway through Dune Messiah. I heard the first three are the only ones worth reading so I'll go onto Hyperion Cantos after that, thank you Wilshire. I'm gonna do a little sci-fi and then a complete TSA re-read before TUC comes out. Happy New Years, to all.

[Wilshire]

Honestly, the last 2 in Frank Herbert's Dune were amazing. They just end on a cliffhanger that he died before he concluded. So sad. Imo worth reading it through if you really enjoy the series.

Hyperion, now that's my shit, du. Another one, btw, that people say the first two are the only ones worth reading. And I will  again disagree, though the last two do take an odd turn, the writing is still superb. They aren't for everyone though, so Hyperion/The Fall are the only required reading .

[MSJ]

Honestly, the last 2 in Frank Herbert's Dune were amazing. They just end on a cliffhanger that he died before he concluded. So sad. Imo worth reading it through if you really enjoy the series.

Hyperion, now that's my shit, du. Another one, btw, that people say the first two are the only ones worth reading. And I will  again disagree, though the last two do take an odd turn, the writing is still superb. They aren't for everyone though, so Hyperion/The Fall are the only required reading .

So how many are after Dune Messsiah that are worth reading.

[Wilshire]

Depends on who you ask.

For me, I'd say anything by Frank Herbert himself - none of that trash his children wrote (but there are followers of those too).

So: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune. He died like 6 months later.

God Emperor is probably my least favorite. Its slow and takes a weird turn, but its entirely a setup for Heretics and Chapterhouse which isn't really even clear until you read the next book. Its a required bridge from Children to Heretics.

You could probably stop just fine at Messiah though. That mostly concludes the story setup in Dune and is a good stopping point if you don't want to read them all at once.

[MSJ]

Thanks Wilshire. Good advice. I'll stop at Messiah go to Hyperion and when I have an itching I'll go back to Dune. Unless.......I just can't stop at Messiah. Who knows?

[Wilshire]

That sounds like a good plan. After September last year I stopped reading multiple books by the same author, and its been great. You get a lot more flavour that way, keeps things from getting stale ... and that's enough extended analogies. Go with what you feel. Must cultural references that still occur stop at Messiah (last year I read a Cracked top whatever list and they mentioned the fear mantra in its entirety ).

[Redeagl]

MSJ, if you want to do a buddy read I can join you in the TSA re-read.

[MSJ]

MSJ, if you want to do a buddy read I can join you in the TSA re-read.

Sure, we'll time it for the release and see if anyone else wants to join in. The Slog Part Duex!!!!-

[SilentRoamer]

Oops just remembered this thread. I will collate all of the posts from here and put them on the thread I have just created.

If you want to run this thread instead MSJ that's cool but I am going to follow my old format!

I would have had the 2017 targets up sooner but the site was down

Happy 2017 all!

[Wilshire]

oh suuuuure. Blame the mods.

[TaoHorror]

Well, takes all kinds, the 4th Dune book of the series was my favorite 

Haven't read the last one yet, Chapter House, will get to it some day. The "end" written by his son wasn't at least worth it to learn how it ends? I heard Chaper House was a cliffhanger.

I've read a lot of Herbert, all so good.  Love the Void Ship series - that was one VERY fun read.

Hyperion is easily the coolest scifi environment ever rendered, even cooler than Dune ( so much better than Star Trek, Star Wars - and I like those works, so that's saying something ). I love all 4 of the Hyperion books. I got a friend of mine to read the first book and he threw it across the room when he finished it ( bit of a hanger in that one ) yelling "fuck him!". I tried to calm him down letting him know it continues in book 2, but was having none of it, LOL. I've read other Dan Simmon's ... so much of his stuff is so good. Carrion Comfort is worth the effort.

Not to kiss Bakker's ass, but the Prince books are my favorite fantasy. But not by far, Abercrombie's First Law stuff is very strong, good stuff. I liked the Cold Fire trilogy, Friedman knows her stuff.

I'm out of fantasy stuff to read - any recommendations? Didn't care for Prince of Thorns. Didn't care for American Gods ( though I like Gaiman's comics ).

[MSJ]

Richard Morgan's A Land Fit for Heroes. First book is Cold Commands, some of the best stuff ive read besides Bakker. Matter of fact, probably my favorite fantasy series next to TSA.

[TaoHorror]

Cool, thanks for the rec, I'll get it. The Steel Remains is not the first on in the trilogy?

[MSJ]

Yes it is, excuse me. Then Cold Commands and Dark Defiles.

[BeardFisher-King]

Well, takes all kinds, the 4th Dune book of the series was my favorite 

Haven't read the last one yet, Chapter House, will get to it some day. The "end" written by his son wasn't at least worth it to learn how it ends? I heard Chaper House was a cliffhanger.

I've read a lot of Herbert, all so good.  Love the Void Ship series - that was one VERY fun read.

Hyperion is easily the coolest scifi environment ever rendered, even cooler than Dune ( so much better than Star Trek, Star Wars - and I like those works, so that's saying something ). I love all 4 of the Hyperion books. I got a friend of mine to read the first book and he threw it across the room when he finished it ( bit of a hanger in that one ) yelling "fuck him!". I tried to calm him down letting him know it continues in book 2, but was having none of it, LOL. I've read other Dan Simmon's ... so much of his stuff is so good. Carrion Comfort is worth the effort.

Not to kiss Bakker's ass, but the Prince books are my favorite fantasy. But not by far, Abercrombie's First Law stuff is very strong, good stuff. I liked the Cold Fire trilogy, Friedman knows her stuff.

I'm out of fantasy stuff to read - any recommendations? Didn't care for Prince of Thorns. Didn't care for American Gods ( though I like Gaiman's comics ).

Hey, Tao. How's it going?

Dune 4 (God Emperor) is good, as are Heretics (5) and  Chapterhouse (5). The Brian Herbert stuff is crap. They have moments, but.....mostly crap. Dreadful writing.

Dan Simmons, I dig very much. "Carrion Comfort"....yes! I've picked up quite a few of his non-sci-fi novels (Drood, Black Hills, The Terror, The Abominable. The Fifth Heart, in which Henry James meets Sherlock Holmes!) Hyperion/Endymion are very good reads. Rhadamanth Nemes......what a scary adversary!

I like Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. You might REALLY like the Engineer trilogy by K. J. Parker. And are there any fans of the Riddlemaster Of Hed trilogy by Patricia McKillip? WAY high up there on my list of favorites.