Thread update : I have Hyperion at home waiting for me.
Also bumping this thread for our lovely Girlystevedave. She's looking for a place to start too...
Thread update : I have Hyperion at home waiting for me.
Also bumping this thread for our lovely Girlystevedave. She's looking for a place to start too...
Go for Summer of Night Amanda! Feev didn't listen to me
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
I've been meaning to get into Dan Simmons since you guys recommended him to me last year. I see the hardcover of Drood everywhere. I mean everywhere. I've almost bought it numerous times. I think it would look great on a shelf, but I just don't know if I would read it. It doesn't exactly seem like something that interests me.
That being said, I should just buy it for a buck 50 and worry about it later.
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I have been a Simmons fan for a very long time.
If you like science fiction at all, then begin with Hyperion (one of the best sci-fi novels of all time), but be prepared to read the Fall of Hyperion immediately afterward. You can then take a break from the next two, Endymion and Rise of Endymion, as they take place hundreds of years in the future, but when you read them, you will need to read them back to back. Then I would jump all over Carrion Comfort, one of my favorite horror epics of all time - love it! Ilium and Olympos are also a great two book saga, and if you have the time, get a hold of the novella Muse of Fire.
If you are not a sic-fi fan, then begin with Summer of Night followed by Children of the Night, since the second one has some of the same characters. Then work in Carrion Comfort and Song of Kali.
The Hollow Man is a really emotional journey that is well worth taking. The Joe Kurtz series, Hardcase, Hardfreeze, and hard as Nails are great hard boiled detective books in the vein of the Dennis Lehane's Kenzie-Genaro series - love them!
I've gone on too long - there is really not much not to like here!
My wife read most of his. She says that Carrion Comfort and Abdominal were her favorites. Drood was her least.
I loved Children of Night.
Still waiting on the audio version of Winter Haunting.
I started with Summer of Night recently, then read Song of Kali, Phases of Gravity, and am 2/3 of the way through Carrion Comfort, which is phenomenal! Have loved every one of them, very impressive writer...
"God punishes us for what we cannot imagine." - Stephen King, Duma Key
Skip Drood though; terrible book.
Hate to say this, as I think Simmons is an amazing author who does everything extremely well, from horror to fantasy to science fiction to historical fiction to whatever.
But Drood....
sk
I loved Drood, hated Black Hills. Loved pretty much everything else.
I also loved Drood. I didn't care that much for either Black Hills or his latest, Fifth Heart.
John
Agreed -- great reads (though the third one of the trilogy doesn't quite live up to the first two)...Simmons has acknowledged (in fact, I think one may be dedicated to Stark/Westlake) that this series is a homage to Richard Stark's (aka Donald Westlake) books featuring the cold, calculating thief Parker.
Going to finish up the Southern Reach... Thinking my next book will be Summer of Night... Hope I like it!
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Insomnia #459
ANY S/L #459
Oh, you will, Kris, you will.
No doubt about it.
sk
I didn't care much for A WINTER HAUNTING, the sequel to SUMMER OF NIGHT. Also didn't care for CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT, and FIRES OF EDEN may just be his worst novel. Were I you, I'd start and stop with the SUMMER OF NIGHT, then move on to other terrific works like THE TERROR, CARRION COMFORT, SONG OF KALI, LOVEDEATH, etc.
That's the problem I'm having now too. On book 2 at the moment, but it's going very slow. Glad to hear book 3 is better.
As for A Winter Haunting, I completely agree with RC65. I'd skip it, and move onto another book, such as The Terror
Also this thread makes me realize how much Simmons I have to read. I've only read a handful. Maybe if I can hurry up and finish The Southern Reach trilogy I can read some more of his.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
I just finished A Winter Haunting and it looks like I'm in the minority here - I really liked it! Perhaps it helped that it's been a while since I read 'Summer' so it felt more like a standalone novel (which it is, of course, but you know what I mean). Regardless, I thought it was interesting, well-written and pretty scary at times.
I'm reading that next. Bob told me he would highly recommend it so... Going for it!
HELP ME FIND
Insomnia #459
ANY S/L #459
I liked A Winter Haunting.