SF/Fantasy/Magical realism anyone?

Tried the Lois McMaster Bujold website for the pronunciation and it says 'BOO-jold'.... and doesn't tell you if the J is hard or soft!

By the way, I have just discovered that some of the first chapters of various of her books are available to read via this site.
Including ones I haven't read!

What about The Hunger Games [even though it's for teenagers]? I watched the film several times but, even so I read the book for the first time the other week and couldn't put it down. Trying very hard not to read the second book [have read a couple of chapters] as I'm so looking forward to the film when it comes out in November. The third book is going to be made into two films, so I'll have to not read the last book for two years. It'll be like waiting for the LOTR's films to come out.

Any other recommended authors? I'm always looking out for good fantasy but it's tricky finding ones I like.

As it looks with a soft j? There was an actress of the same surname... Genavive?
I am reading the sequel to Shards. Bit tamer so far! Science fiction without much science - been a while since I read some.Rather similar to historical fiction in a way.

I picked Shards of Honour as my first read of Bujold. Enjoyed it.I'll see what the library can do for more!

Glad people are trying Bujold.
I think 'A Civilian Campaign' is my favourite, but it isn't one of the first in the series.

PS.... anyone know how to pronounce Bujold?

Like Mishap I have no interest in SF/fantasy.
I must have a missing gene!

Nearly everyone loved HP, even those who never normally read fantasy.

I managed to withstand Harry Potter till after the fourth book. I "knew" that nobody today could write anything as good as the Harry Potters were supposed to be. Then I saw the first film on TV and loved the characters and the jokes and I was lost. Ended up as one of the Saddos queuing up at midnight for the last two books

I couldn't get into Peake either. I do like Harry Potter though. My ninety year old neighbour got very addicted to them as well

Couldn't get into Peake. Am going to have a go at Bujold. I read mountains of science fiction and lots of feminist science fiction when I was younger, how did I miss her?

Yes Sting was Steerpike in a radio version around the time I was first reading the books. In fact I think he was the driving force behind getting it broadcast. I didn't feel the same about the books after Fuschia died, she was always my favourite character.

Not sure about that Deedaa; I didn't enjoy the third book as much, given that he'd left the surreal world of Gormenghast and entered 'the real world'. Having said that, as I'm a lot older now maybe I'd find the book interesting [in a sort of Gullivers travels way of looking at the stupidity of so many things in our society]. I can't wait to re watch the tv series when I can find the video. And must re read Gullivers Travels, as well. Strangely enough Sting was on The One Show last night, and I always asociate him with Titus Groan; wasn't he involved in a radio programme about it?

Just discovered (via Eggheads) that there is a fourth Gormenghast book, written by Mervyn Peake's widow from scraps that he left. I see it has mixed reviews on Amazon but I may be tempted to try it.

Just read ebook D I Ghost by Lauren White and loved it. It was ghostly magical, and funny, and sort of feminist in a way I think. Really unusual.

Enjoying Bujold, thanks for the suggestion.

I like the Pern books too. Also early David Eddings, only the Belgarion ones, after that the writing seemed to go off I thought.

Lois McMaster Bujold - how do you think she writes about a hero who is 4' 9" tall? I found the result amazing.

Pullman on Grimm might be interesting JessM. Or possibly a bit grim.

Fantasy short stories I really enjoyed recently was Chimaera by Tina Rath. Not someone I know btw but I do like her writing.

Hi broomsticks not so far from your genre really. Apparently Pullman's latest book is based on Grimm's tales.

I love all the authors mentioned here (though I must admit I couldn't get into the Long Earth books at all). Nation is one of my favourite Pratchetts.
I haven't heard of Chris Beckett or Lois McMaster Bujold but I'll go and have a look if they are in the same category as Le Guin etch.

I though it was very well done. I've got it on video somewhere and plan to watch it again one day. It took me several attempts to read the first book, but then, one day it was as if I'd entered a door into another world. The third book wasn't so good, though.

My son and I used to quote reams of Hitchiker to each other and I loved the Gormenghast trilogy. I seemed to be one of the only people who enjoyed the television version, which I thought was a good attempt at the unfilmable.

I read that the idea of the daemons was a bit of an afterthought, surprising given that they were the best part of the book. Although I've never got round to reading the second book, so I couldn't have enjoyed it as much as I'd hoped. I agree; the film was a total disaster and didn't do the book justice; reckon the stage play [which I never saw] was better. In my youth I read the Dune Books and the Gormeghast trilogy, and, of course Hitchhikers [which reminds me that I must book tickets for that at the Ice Stadium...] all of which I loved.

Reading Neverwhen, by Neil Gaiman. I am a fan. Stardust for instance was a fairy tale for adults that was made into a film. The Graveyard Book - a retelling of the Jungle Book, set amongst ghosts and tombs. (for kids as well as grown ups). Also gets the thumbs up. I also recently read The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
I can certainly recommend Neverwhen ... how can I sum it up...
Richard, a modern day Alice, falls through the cracks in modern-day London into a Gothic underworld of dispossessed Londoners and nightmares.
I think he was inspired by seeing the homeless people in that incredibly affluent city. Brilliantly imagined.

I agree, Jess. I also downloaded a sample of 'Game of Thrones' and found that I really wasn't interested in finding out what happened next.
The best magic realism author I have come across is Isabel Allende whose House of the Spirits and Eva Luna are in that genre without being in the realm of fantasy.