Comments on: Pageturners with insightful character development?

Question: Pageturners with insightful character development?

Malad — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:47:45 -0800

I'm looking for novels that are pageturners (genres preferred: science fiction/fantasy, magic realism, mystery/suspense/thriller) but also have psychologically acute character development. Any recs?

By: cocoagirl

cocoagirl — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:52:39 -0800

The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell and Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card come to mind.

By: thomas j wise

thomas j wise — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:56:20 -0800

Try Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus series. Reginald Hill's Dalziel & Pascoe, ditto (although, admittedly, some of the recent novels have not quite qualified as page-turners). Hill's stand-alone The Stranger House is also strong on both fronts. John Banville's recent "literary thriller" Christine Falls (published under the pseudonym Benjamin Black) fits your bill, too. And I was quite impressed by James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia.

By: wilko

wilko — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:57:28 -0800

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant have a few considerably developed characters, and meaty themes. Some readers balk at Donaldson's dodgy prose style and heavy-handedness however.

By: Daily Alice

Daily Alice — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:58:45 -0800

Dick Francis is my favorite mystery novelist, and he tends to have his protagonists reflect on their psychology and motivations a lot. You might enjoy Reflex, Odds Against, Whip Hand or Come to Grief.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:04:38 -0800

Tim Powers.

By: edgeways

edgeways — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:20:06 -0800

I would venture Donaldson's books are not exactly "page turners", they have some strong points going for them, but they are difficult reads. (imo)

Actually, try an oldie, Alfred Bester's, The Demolished Man (wiki, might contain spoliers), was reissued a few years back. Heck of a book.

Gene Wolfe's There are Doors, is a lot easier then most of his stuff and pretty good, Some of Michael Swanwick's short story stuff might do you good as well.

By: Paragon

Paragon — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:31:15 -0800

Seconding Tim Powers, especially The Anubis Gates
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon

By: mollweide

mollweide — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:34:30 -0800

The Lies of Locke Lamorra by Scott Lynch.

By: nax

nax — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:36:56 -0800

Anything by Ursula Leguin. Really meet your criteria well: The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness

By: porpoise

porpoise — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:48:48 -0800

I was quite impressed with Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality. Each book follows (mainly) one new incarnate as they get to know their jobs and there's quite a high level of character development as they grow and mature.

By: Mblue

Mblue — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:12:54 -0800

Consider Phlebas was recommended by an (unfortunately) forgotten MeFite in a similar thread. I belatedly second.

By: kingjoeshmoe

kingjoeshmoe — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:16:43 -0800

The Song of Ice and Fire series, by George RR Martin, is a standard answer to this question. Longest page turner I've ever seen, but a page turner nonetheless. And really great character development.

By: rtha

rtha — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:29:47 -0800

Carol O'Connell's Mallory novels - start with Stone Angel, though that's not the first in the series. Mallory is a NYC cop, an acknowledged sociopath who was mysteriously orphaned at a young age (Stone Angel helps clear that up).

Giles Blunt's novels - start with Forty Words for Sorrow. They take place in a small town in Canada. They're pretty disturbing and pretty great.

I'll probably be back as more things occur to me.

By: lunasol

lunasol — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:42:47 -0800

The Historian

By: HeartandSoul

HeartandSoul — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:46:59 -0800

I would recommend a different Donaldson series. The Gap Into Conflict which starts with The Real Story. An awesome sci-fi story with great character development. This is the one...

By: Zero Gravitas

Zero Gravitas — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:05:21 -0800

I second Consider Phlebas wholeheartedly. As a matter of fact, I'd recommend any of Iain (M) Banks' books as fitting your criteria. I also recommend Ian Irvine's Well of Echoes series.

By: quiet

quiet — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:00:42 -0800

I really like Lois McMaster Bujold for her characters. I've always described them as psychologically astute, which may be similar to what you're asking for. And I always read them to excess.

By: worldswalker

worldswalker — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:12:49 -0800

I'm most familiar with his Recluce books, but I've heard that the Corean Chronicles are very good as well, so I'd recommend L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

By: Soliloquy

Soliloquy — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:28:30 -0800

Seconding Lois McMaster Bujold.

By: dogrose

dogrose — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:36:06 -0800

I think you'd like A Dark-Adapted Eye.

By: salvia

salvia — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:05:35 -0800

I'm not sure anyone would consider Robertson Davies a page-turner, but I liked The Deptford Trilogy's look at people's characters.

By: philomathoholic

philomathoholic — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:38:17 -0800

"plot and character driven sci-fi" from ReadMe

By: Zarkonnen

Zarkonnen — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 02:21:28 -0800

I was going to recommend Lois McMaster Bujold, but alas, I am reduced to 3rding.

They're both near-impossible to put down and have very believable, complex characters who genuinely change with time.

By: Life at Boulton Wynfevers

Life at Boulton Wynfevers — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 04:13:54 -0800

Jonathan Lethem is your go to guy for this. "Motherless Brooklyn" is a literary thriller about a private detective with Tourette's, and it's brilliant IMHO. A lot of his other stuff has a sci-fi bent, "As She Climbed Across the Table" being one example. "The Fortress of Solitude" (which I'll admit to finding tedious, but other people have loved) has a small element of magic realism about it.

"Cloud Atlas", David Mitchell. This roams through history, the present day, the future and the far future. Not a perfect fit to your requirements, but I enjoyed it immensely.

Peter Hoeg's "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow" is another literary thriller.

"Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer (there are two narratives in this, one of which is magic realist).

Salvador Plascencia's "The People of Paper". More magic realism. I haven't read this yet (it's on the list). So not a recommendation as such, but it sounds good to me. Another one on the list is David Markson's "Wittgenstein's Mistress" about a woman who is, or believes herself to be, the last person alive on earth; so it could fit depending on your definition of sci-fi.

Perhaps, also, "The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. Not a full-blooded recommendation from me on this one. It's a page-turning, time-travelling love story, but I found the protagonists themselves a little dull if I'm honest.

Woah, long comment. Sorry to go on so...

By: Life at Boulton Wynfevers

Life at Boulton Wynfevers — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 04:21:41 -0800

Oh, one more: "Heroes and Villains", Angela Carter. Sci-fi, post-apocalyptic setting, and it's by Angela Carter (which makes it automatically good in my book).

By: damiano99

damiano99 — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 05:35:04 -0800

To Your Scattered Bodies Go.
by Jose Farmer.

It has to be one of the best sci-fi/fantasy series ever. I place it right next to the Dune series by Herbert and Heinlein's Lazarus Long series.

Absolutely, freaking, incredible.

By: chunking express

chunking express — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 06:24:05 -0800

Cryptonomicon is awesome. There is so much shit going on. It's very entertaining.

By: Mblue

Mblue — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:24:21 -0800

damiano99

Jose Farmer can't out wait Lazarus for obvious reasons.

By: dizziest

dizziest — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:12:04 -0800

In addition to Wittgenstein's Mistress, David Markson actually wrote some detective novels early on in his career, and two of them have recently been reissued by Shoemaker and Hoard. Definitely recommended: Epitaph for a Deadbeat and Epitaph for a Tramp.

You might also want to try PopCo, by Scarlett Thomas.

And you can't go wrong with Jonathan Lethem.

By: Kid Charlemagne

Kid Charlemagne — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:02:01 -0800

Vernor Vinge's "Marooned in Real Time" and "A Deepness in the Sky".

My favorite chapter in all of science fiction is in Marooned. The hero, on emotion surpressing drugs, reads a page of text in which terrible lies are told about him and then muses what his reaction might be, were he in his right mind.

I also like Brinn's "Kiln People".

Have you looked at this?

By: pwally

pwally — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:59:39 -0800

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

By: Malad

Malad — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:40:57 -0800

These are great recommendations so far. Thanks!

By: mwang1028

mwang1028 — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:37:45 -0800

(Obviousfilter?) Can't talk about Orson Scott Card and not mention Ender's Game!