God, I could keep doing this forever
I have to stop now. I won't recommend anything else. After these last ones.

The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin - top philosophical/sociological sci-fi
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson - Get past the stupid names and very shocking rape scene and you'll read an amazing series that just gets better and better (although the jury's still out on the work in progress)
The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson (apart from the ending)
Diaspora by Greg Egan

Other books by the same authors also recommended. And recommendations of more of the same would be appreciated!
( flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:09, 13 replies)

I dunno...
I kept waiting and hoping that Lord Morham of the "dangerous eyes" would finally get fed up and bitch-slap Covenant and curse him for being the cunt he was...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Mon 19 May 2008, 16:12, closed)

The Dispossessed
I read that after seeing a Call for Papers for a book that was going to use that as its theme; my then supervisor recommended that I might want to have a go at submitting something.

It's a top book: my abstract wasn't accepted, though, so I never did write the paper.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:15, closed)

@Loon: Totally
But that's what so great about the books. Everybody keeps waiting for this arsehole to turn into a hero, and he just keeps letting them down, over and over again, fucking people's lives up on all sides. Obviously in the end he does redeem himself - but then round comes series two and you see that even *then* he fucked them up.
( flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:15, closed)

I read the Thomas Covenant books
and while they were good, I got really fucked with Covenant's constant whining.

if I wanted that I could watch any soap on tv.

I like my fantasy heroes to go through a period of being rubbish, followed by growth, followed by not-totally-unrestrained arse-kicking

however, Donaldson's other works are incredibly good. The Gap series are right up there in terms of gritty, filthy, angry sci-fi
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:17, closed)

Neal Stephenson
I'm a big Neal Stephenson fan. I started with Snow Crash years ago. Cryptonomicon was a joy, and I'm now slowly making my way through the Baroque Cycle.

Edit: I second anything by Ursula LeGuin.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:19, closed)

The Baroque Cycle
Here's a claim to fame: I read that twice.
( flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:20, closed)

^
Loved Quicksilver but I can't seem to find the time to finish System of the World uninterrupted.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:21, closed)

I could just never really get past
the stupid-ass names- Manethrall Gay who later called herself Rue? dukka, which just happens to be one the the Buddha's Four Noble Truths?- and the blithering-idiot fluffbunny mentality of the characters of The Land. I just kept wanting to slap them all.

I read all six of those goddam books, hoping for Covenant to get his comeuppance, only to be denied it in the end. If Donaldson had been present when I finished the last one I would have shoved all six of them into his various orifices.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Mon 19 May 2008, 17:06, closed)

High Lord Kevin
That was the one my brother never got past (there was a Lord Trevor as well...). But I think we have to excuse crappy names in fantasy novels, it seems to be something we're stuck with.

However, Donaldson is particularly bad for it. The Gap series is even worse - Angus Thermopyle? Marc Vestabule?
( flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Mon 19 May 2008, 17:17, closed)

It would seem
that he names his characters after whatever he happens to be thinking of at a given moment, or whatever free association brings him.

Just wait- his next novel with have a character called Onecup, I'm sure.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Mon 19 May 2008, 17:21, closed)

^
exactly why people should stop reading fantasy when they are 17. Otherwise they turn into folk singers. English folk singers.
*shudder*
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 19 May 2008, 17:31, closed)

Oddly, the Mordant's Need books have perfectly decent names
Vaguely Arthurian and non-standard, but easy to say and not forced-sounding - Geraden, Artagel, Elega, Havelock, Nyle. The Mordant's Need duology (is that a word?) is definitely his most accessible work, and a good, rollocking read.

My main problem with Donaldson isn't the names, or his use of language (he's a terrible writer in many ways, with a bad tendency to use French words as if they're English - 'a flash of argent', 'he mistrusted her viands'), but his slight obsession with rape. All his books seem to feature abused women. None of them are just passive victims, they all go through to the other side (with the possible exception of Lena in the first TC series), but even so it does seem to be turning into a bit of a pattern.
( flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Mon 19 May 2008, 17:35, closed)

I fucking hate the Tomas Covenant chronicles
I read all six fucking books just because my dad told me he died at the end, and now I hear he's going to write MORE of this filthy drivel?
(misskitty reeks of sex and turpentine; laudanum afternoons, Tue 20 May 2008, 4:32, closed)