I'm "starting" to read seriously in my thirties. I've had a few titles cross my path before, like Animal Farm, Norse Mythology, The Hobbit, a few Witcher books, and Roadside Picnic (which is my favorite book so far, by the way). I could probably name a few more, but honestly, it hasn't been much.
I decided to start reading "for real”, every single day, for at least fifteen minutes. This is mainly because some of my other hobbies have started to bore me. On top of that, I'm starting to notice the early signs of functional illiteracy, concentration issues (like having to read the same article twice) caused by the constant bombardment of reels, dopamine hits, and social media. I've also caught myself stuttering a bit during conversations and struggling to find words that I know are somewhere in the back of my head.
I recently picked up the first volume of Ranger's Apprentice. I have few pages left of The Ruins of Gorlan, and even though it's a remarkably smooth and easy read, you can really tell it's a YA book with a pretty shallow plot.
So, I'm looking for something in the fantasy, sci-fi, horror or crime genres. Something that is accessible and easy to get into, but at the same time gritty, brutal, and morally ambiguous. Could you guys recommend any books like that?
by Czesterfild
8 Comments
Have you read any Stephen King? He writes the absolute best flawed, layered characters. I have great suggestions if you are interested, and if you like one, you have so many more options to explore.
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir. Pretty much checks every box.
Cats Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
Honestly, anything Kurt Vonnegut
There are a million recommendations, but PHM is an easy read that fits what you are looking for. Vonnegut can be a launching point for a life long love of literature. He was for me.
Morally ambiguous. Hmm. Murderbot Diaries.
It may not work for you or be what you want but you might consider audiobooks. Most popular Books’s can be found in this format in your local library. For some, this is an easier way to get into it.
I hadn’t read it yet I’m told by people I trust Dungeon Master Carl.
Piet Anthony Incarnations of Immortality, first book On a Pale Horse. He’s easy to read but still has different takes in the world of fantasy.
Crime fiction: check out SA Cosby. I’ve read Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland, and both are one last job stories.
Horror: Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica. Cannibalism is legalized in a world where eating animals is poisonous.
Sci-fi: Blake Crouch, Michael Crichton and Andy Weir are going to have very fast paced books, while explaining the science in a layman’s terms.
Have you thought about a collection of scifi short stories? Many of the magazines do them, and because they’re not as long they’re easier to get into and you’ll quickly read a variety of stuff from which you might find new favourites? The length tends to fit perfectly in about 15 minutes, too. I’d recommend Clarkesworld but only because that’s what I read, I have a couple of other anthologies too. You never like everything, but that can be more entertaining (and do more for literacy) than reading only stuff you like!
In terms of books, a general scifi / fantasy starter set to see what you like:
American Gods by Neil Gaiman, if you liked Norse Mythology
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, honestly my favourite scifi book ever. Dogs of War is also good, it’s not YA but it is a bit shorter. Don’t be fooled by the tone at the start, stick with it and it becomes clear it’s a writing choice. He also has some more horror-fantasy ones like City of Last Chances
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, a little bit of a grittier fantasy. It’s not YA but it’s not revelling in gore and grimness either, despite several people being eaten by sharks
The culture novels, iain m banks
The first book of the expanse series could be a good crime-scifi mix
Try Bernard Cromwell (The Last Kingdom etc) as well
If you like ‘gritty, brutal and morally ambiguous’, what about:
Red Sister series by Mark Lawrence
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
Joe Abercrombie gets recommended a lot
…but I’d say these are slightly harder to get into
Check out the Parker books by Richard Stark
Parker is a badass, gritty, dark, morally ambiguous.
First book is The Hunter
Maybe try Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi. I can best describe it as a Lord of the Flies/The Exorcist mashup. Thoroughly enjoyed it, but it IS pretty brutal and once it gets going it does not relent until the final page.
**If you liked** ***Roadside Picnic****,* you might enjoy **the Strugatsky’s** ***Snail on the Slope*** *—* which has a Zone-esque setting — or the ***Area X*** **trilogy by Jeff Vadermeer**, which takes place in a kind of ecological-weird version of the Zone. The first book is called *Annihilation*.
If it’s more the Strugatsky’s style that you liked, ***Monday Begins On Saturday*** is really good (a man starts working at the bureaucratic Soviet department responsible for containing and studying magic and miracles), or ***Solaris*** **by Stanislaw Lem** which has that same Soviet Sci-Fi philosophical tone.