Mafia game discussion thread.

[dethmourne]

I'm interested in Mafia here; I play on DominionStrategy forums already.

Also, I'm Senna's RL fiancé and she might be practically making me

[Senna1251]

I'm interested in Mafia here; I play on DominionStrategy forums already.

Also, I'm Senna's RL fiancé and she might be practically making me

Say what? /10 char

[dethmourne]

Say what? /10 char

What? It's the only way for me to get out of discussing your games :P

[Kryllian]

Closest on my shelf would be Tanya Huff's books, mostly the Blood series which I'd say is more horror/mystery. It has vampires, werewolves, mummies, demons, ghosts, scientifically created zombies and all sorts of things, and though there is a love triangle that a vampire is involved in, I'd wager it's a hell of a lot better than Twilight. For one thing, the vampires don't sparkle in sunlight....to paraphrase a line that Henry Fitzroy (the main vampire in the series) said, he'd turn into "a smouldering pile of carbon compounds" in sunlight.

B

Her Blood series was a slow read for me. I watched the TV show based on it before I read the books though. Did you read the Smoke spinoff trilogy that focuses on Tony and Henry? That I really liked!

[Deleted]

Wow a throaway comment in a mafia discussion thread and we switch to Fantasy series. JACKPOT!

Also thanks to everyone for suggesting all the books. They shall go on my list!

Personally I love the Belgariad and Mallorean series. Some of the only books I've ever read more than once.

Never heard of them - Whats the setting?

I've read a lot of crap in my life

I liked...
Terry Pratchett, discworld series.
Not really fantasy, more of social commentary camouflaged in a fantasy setting. Nonetheless, it's amazing.
Start with "Small Gods", then read the guards books following it. You'll enjoy them, guaranteed.
The books get better as the author gets older, so the real gems are towards the end. The earlier books are skippable, there is continuity in there, but each book can be picked up individually.

I loved Terry. Ex of mine had lots of his books. Death is my favourite character by far

Jim Butcher, Dresden Files.
It's modern fantasy, about a wizard private detective dealing with magical troubles in Chicago. Urban fantasy, but fantasy nonetheless. It's the kind of story that has enough originality in it to spawn a sub-genre. Very engaging writing, I ended up devouring all 14 books in just under 2 months. That's a sign of the tale being fun. The last in the series (so far) was one notch above, really.

Been looking for something less medieval-y

Mary Gentle, Grunts!
Let's do an old classic. It's about a gang of orcs that.. before the final battle between good and evil (tm) ends up raiding a dimension-travelling dragon's lair, finding some earth-tech weaponry, and deciding to form an army. Space Marines style, minus the space part. Very fun read. Very evil. If you would like the evil side to a fantasy setting, this is for you. Also, it's only one book, so it's short!

One shots aren't a huge thing for me but I'll put it on the list because it sounds interesting

Sergey Lukyanenko, Night Watch
Also urban fantasy, this is a story about the people working in Moscow branch of the Night Watch, a police organization policing the dark magicians in the world - and the Day Watch, a police organization policing the light magicians opposing them. Unfortunately for everyone involved, there is a peace treaty between dark and light, and nobody can really do much about crimes going on unless they catch them in the act. So this book is all about everyone pulling spy games tactics, with Xanatos Gambits one-upping each other to force the opposition into losses. I guarantee reader satisfaction; it's the kind of tale you read on your pillow and sudenly it's 6 AM and you MUST KEEP ON READING BECAUSE IT IS JUST THAT AWESOME. There are also two significantly worse sequels to this book that aren't worth reading.

Saw the movie (of course Books > movies)

Raymond Feist, Midkemia series.
Very long "low-magic" fantasy series mainly focusing around a magician and a royal family over several generations (typically one per 3 books or so). Sometimes it's really excellent. Sometimes it's... dragging out. The author could have used a better editor I think, the quality is variable. But - it's responsible for the best computer RPG ever made; Betrayal at Krondor - and the good parts are really good. Overall one of the better and more interesting settings I've read.

This may go to the bottom of the pile. I've read Wheel of Time which kind of drags in the middle.

Suzanna Clark, Jonathan Norell and Mr Strange
Victorian Era magicians, alternate history and some very stubborn characters. Frankly, it's a brick of a book, and it's very slow to get into. But the payoff is very good. No wonder it's high on every "best fantasy" list. If you haven't read it, and can stomach a "low-action" tale, I recommend it.

How low action?

Ryukishi07, Umineko Naku no Koro Ni
Hey, it may not be hardcover, but this surely counts as a book series. It's an english-translated fantasy/mystery visual novel, with the length matching an 8 book series. Stealing heavily from Agatha Christie and Knox' commandments, it starts out as a mystery novel covering the murder mystery of the desolate mansion on the a deserted island. However, this is not a murder mystery (it is, but not quite). This is a fantasy tale. There is a witch afoot, a witch who takes the tale to a new level when she challenges the main character to solving the mystery that just killed him. But as the main character is diving deeper into the tale, it soon becomes clear that not even the witch is fully in control of what is going on. I like this one for the murder mysteries, the logical puzzles - and the magical dimension to it all. Note that the ending is either amazing or a letdown, depending on how you interpret the tale.

Dont know how to respond to this one

Every book by R.A. Salvatore. That is your reading list. You will read them and you will like them, damnit.

Where do I start sensei?

• The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss. I'll warn you, though, that this is incomplete and the third book is taking some time to be finished. Still worth it, though. I really enjoy his style of writing, and the detail put into his world is compelling, while avoiding being a burden.

• The Deathgate Cycle, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

• Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey. While there is a chronological order listed on her site somewhere, I highly recommend that you read them first in the order that they were written in order to have all of the context.

I think I'll wait till he finishes Kingkiller. After ASoIaF, Im kind of tired on waiting on the next book in the series...

Ill add the others to the list

I read a 300+ page book at least once a week....

I've read crap (50 Shades of Grey, Twilight Series)
I've read awesome books/series - Harry Potter, Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, Maria V. Snyder
And I've read stuff in between

Doesn't always have to be fiction though.

I will however not read Game of Thrones. (Total hypocrite, I am!)

Gah! 300+ pages a week? Where do you find the time!

It rained all day today. Not surprising, I suppose.

Welcome to one of the rainest places on earth. Why do you think the scots drink so much?

Some of my favorites.

Also Robert Jordan, david Gemmell, Robin hobb, Terry goodkind, Ian Irvine, Sara Douglass ( is been 15 years, not sure if I'd still like these now).
A recent guy I'm really into is Brent Weeks

Robert Jordan was good. Wheel of Time was my first proper fantasy series.

I haven't read much fantasy in the recent years, if I'm being honest. Ones I remember off the top of my head are a couple Dragon Lance books, Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series, the obvious Lord of the Rings and Hobbit, and some others that I just can't remember the name of, but I read a whole whack of em back in school.

A quick look at my bookshelf and I can add Diana Pharaoh Francis' "Path of Fate/Honor/Blood trilogy", which I realized I can't remember what it's about at the moment even after reading the back and mixed it up with the Elizabeth Haydon's Symphony of Ages trilogy... The Shannara series, Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy.....

What the hell was Path of Fate, Path of Honor and Path of Blood? i swear I have read them, but I just don't remember them.

I think I've read some Dragonriders of Pern, borrowed from my brother years ago.

- - - Updated - - -

Harry Potter too, of course.

Other stuff I see isn't really fantasy. Closest on my shelf would be Tanya Huff's books, mostly the Blood series which I'd say is more horror/mystery. It has vampires, werewolves, mummies, demons, ghosts, scientifically created zombies and all sorts of things, and though there is a love triangle that a vampire is involved in, I'd wager it's a hell of a lot better than Twilight. For one thing, the vampires don't sparkle in sunlight....to paraphrase a line that Henry Fitzroy (the main vampire in the series) said, he'd turn into "a smouldering pile of carbon compounds" in sunlight.

Beyond that we go into some Sci-Fi with Asimov, mostly, then we've got plays, and non fiction in the form of books on science. Then off the shelf because I have way more books than I have shelf space and we've got a bunch of manga and mystery, primarily Agatha Christie in the latter category.

Oh if you've never read Eyes of the Dragon by Stephan King you should. It's Fantasy not horror, and really well done

Just finished Dark Tower. Need a break from Sai King

[Arlee]

Just finished Dark Tower. Need a break from Sai King

Ah, well put it on the list somewhere and come back to it These days it would probably be classified as YA, but since it was written before YA was thing it avoids many of the pitfalls of many YA books. But as such it's not a very taxing read while still being interesting

[Rixis]

Farmer boy/hidden heir rise up to take on a god. Lots of magic and war and stuff. I don't think I could give it justice, so he's a blurb:

The series tell the story of the recovery of the Orb of Aldur and coming of age of Garion, an orphaned farmboy. Garion is accompanied by his aunt Polgara and her father Belgarath as they try and fulfill an ancient prophecy that will decide the fate of the universe. Along the way, various "instruments", or helpers, of the prophecy join their quest.

[Robozerim]

Her Blood series was a slow read for me. I watched the TV show based on it before I read the books though. Did you read the Smoke spinoff trilogy that focuses on Tony and Henry? That I really liked!

I've read at least the first one, and possibly the other two too. I can't quite remember. My brother lent me whichever ones I did read.

I didn't realize there was a TV show, I should look that up.

[Kryllian]

@Robozerim

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Ties_(TV_series)

[Danner]

Re: Dresden Files: Been looking for something less medieval-y

If you like the modern setting, this one is really great. Go for it!

Re: Midkemia Series: This may go to the bottom of the pile. I've read Wheel of Time which kind of drags in the middle.

Okay, that's an insulting comparison :P
Wheel of Time dragged on by book 2, stopped progressing by book 4, and literally bent the space-time continuum in order to avoid making any progress whatsoever by book 6. Nothing in anything I have ever read is about as slow as that series. And I have read the Silmarillion. By comparison, the Midkemia books are supersonic jets.

Now if you really want the detailed critique... very mild spoilers within

Spoiler: 

The Midkemia books are mostly all action, political backstabbing and heroics. Very little downtime at all - it's always going towards the goal. The problem with the series is that sometimes the story doesn't follow a red line well. You expect a the author to have a plan with a book. Where does he want to take the setting, so to speak. The books are (usually) written in trilogies - book 1 usually introduce a new generation of main characters pushed into some calamity on a nation-wide scale - like a foreign invasion, demons - you name it. Book 2 is about turning the tide, making the journey, investigating the source - whatever, and book 3 is about overcoming and settling the problem. That's usually how the books go. If you pick just about any trio of books in the series, it's an entertaining read each with interesting characters and everything that you really want in a fantasy book. There's also more than enough creativity in the writing to keep it spicy and interesting, and and the author is using and abusing his cosmology with great, well, fantasy.

But - the overarching story about the master plan behind all these calamities - that's where things start to suffer I think. Because this story doesn't really progress that much. I could shuffle most of the trilogies about (minus the first and last one) and the story wouldn't change too much. There is some repetition of themes and situations - and very few of the stories end up changing much on the grand story scale. That's the downside of the series IMO.

Compare that to the Dresden Files,(and warning: equally mild spoilers ahead). It too looks somewhat formulaic - Harry Dresden gets a new case. Magic is afoot. He finds out what and barely survives adversaries way out of his weight class through a combination cunning and luck. But there is always something that is decidedly different at the end of each book. Something that makes the reader go "oh damn, this changes everything". The world of Dresden is evolving after each book. Side characters grow and change. Political alliances shift. Power balances are twisted, and allies and friends are cast in new light. No two books are ever the same as a result, despite running the same characters on repeat. It's therefore a much better series. Even if Raymond Feist has the better imagination.

Re: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell: How low action?

Uhm... I would be lying if I describe it as anything else than Jane Austen levels.
But trust me, the payoff is good!

[Blood Fox]

sigh you people have it all wrong, here is a list of all the books one should read. underlined are the most important.

Trigger warning: Ray Bradbury

Lord of the flies by William Golding
The martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The illustrated man by Ray Bradbury
( just read all his stuff 'kay)
Brave new world Adolf Huxley
The Giver by Louis Lowery
The Prince by Machiavelli
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The bible know what other people know.
1984 by George Orwell

followed by these movies:
Eraserhead by David lynch
Rosemary's baby by Roman Polanski

[Robozerim]

sigh you people have it all wrong, here is a list of all the books one should read. underlined are the most important.

Trigger warning: Ray Bradbury

Lord of the flies by William Golding
The martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The illustrated man by Ray Bradbury
( just read all his stuff 'kay)
Brave new world Adolf Huxley
The Giver by Louis Lowery
The Prince by Machiavelli
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The bible know what other people know.
1984 by George Orwell

followed by these movies:
Eraserhead by David lynch
Rosemary's baby by Roman Polanski

Well.....I've read 1984, so that's something.

[Dendrek]

Don't be silly. No one actually reads 1984. That's what God invented CliffNotes for.

[Blood Fox]

go jump off a cliff dendrek, you just made it official
@Arlee !!!!!!!!!!! my next game is going to be 1984 themed.

[Crackleslap]

1984 play is better than the book!

Lord of the flies was terribad!

[Blood Fox]

and cracklebaby is not invited to play

[Uggorthaholy]

Where do I start sensei?

Either The Icewind Dale Trilogy
or The Dark Elf Trilogy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.A._S...e_bibliography

Dark Elf Trilogy is technically the second set of 3 but are a prequel to the first set.

Be advised, there is a slow start and a LOT of character introduction in the first Icewind Dale book. It is necessary. The people you meet are primarily the people you'll read about for 30+ novels.

[Crackleslap]

and cracklebaby is not invited to play

JK baby.

Lord of the Flies is like the one book I've actually read. xD

[Dendrek]

*digs through drawers* Hmm. Where did I put that damn thing? *opens another drawer* Ah, there it is! *grabs a pair of tongs, hands them to Blood Fox* There, that should help unbunch your panties. <3 *turns 360 degrees and walks away*

[Lellybaby]

Dystopian Fiction is not fun to read.