I really like the way Andrei Alexandrescu gives presentations and talks, and it's because of him that I'm giving the D language a chance (and his book The D Programming Language)
If you are interested in C++ but afraid of it, consider the D language. Unfortunately it arrived too late so it's not well-known.
His D book is out soon :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Programming-Language-Andrei-Alexandrescu/dp/0321635361