Great recommendation. I've got Earth X in a crate somewhere, now I want to find it and re-read it.

Yes, definitely darker.

As Roger De Bris (from The Producers) would say:

Yes.

The following link is to the transcript of a presentation called Thou Shalt Not Suffer Fantasy author R. Scott Bakker gave at a 2003 genre convention. In it, he talks about the Harry Potter controversy and how such a controversy means that fantasy should be taken seriously as Literature.

The only other DeLillo novel I've read is White Noise.

Bakker's world is like our own in that women are treated as inferior to men. I don't think it does anyone any service to shy away from this. I think avoiding the ugliness might make for a more pleasant reading experience, but I don't think Bakker was trying to write a pleasant book.

I have them on my To Read list.

I've not made it past the baseball section.
I really liked White Noise but that's the only other DeLillo novel I've red.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Steven Erikson's series The Malazan Book of the Fallen is quite good.

A thousand times YES.

You obviously think you are better read. So, what's your reading list? Give us some alternative selections.

For about 5 summers now I've been telling myself that I'm going to read DeLillo's Underwolrd. I've started it a couple times, but have never gotten that far into it (maybe 50 pages or so).

The first thing that came to mind is G. Willow Wilson's debut novel Alif the Unseen. It takes place during modern times in a fictitious and unnamed middle eastern country. It features a young hacker who discovers a secret book about the jinn. Adventure ensues.
Another book that comes to mind is Martha Wells' City…

Bridge of Birds is wonderful.

The Name of the Wind and The Sparrow are two excellent and highly recommended books. I also really enjoyed, but did not love, The Historian and I look forward to the day it gets a TV or film adaptation.

I would watch the shit out of a David E. Kelly She-Hulk show.

I started watching The Good Wife this weekend. I'm 1/2 way through season one and I'm really liking it. I love all the guest stars that show up. My favorite so far might be Martha Plimpton as Patty Nyholm.

Can Adam Pally please do a Chris Pratt and get all buff and star in a Marvel film?