Curse

Hanging Man · Apr 04, 2009, 01:24 AM // 01:24

I hope this in in the right thread I really couldn't decide xD

I am currently looking for great books to read and maybe share a few I have read with the community.

So I am looking for books about anything. Alot of things peak my curiosity so any suggestions would be great.

Firstly I will share a book I just finished recently that was great.

Stephen Kings, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

I am not a big fan of Stephen King really [shocker!] But this was extremely different from his normal dark and disturbing books. This was about a girl, like 12 years old, who gets lost in the woods in Maine. Very satisfying. I won't spoil the ending but I suggest you pick it up and read it.

So here is a thread to openly discuss your love affair with books!

joshuarodger · Apr 04, 2009, 01:30 AM // 01:30

this should probably be in "off-topic and absurd" but my favorite books right now are the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R. R. Martin. the only problem is that it's taking forever for the next book to actually get published.

Hanging Man · Apr 04, 2009, 02:12 AM // 02:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshuarodger

this should probably be in "off-topic and absurd" but my favorite books right now are the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R. R. Martin. the only problem is that it's taking forever for the next book to actually get published.

lol yeah it was a toss up between there and in Lyssa's
Moderators please move this if it is in the wrong area. Thanks

Cool, whats that book about? Has a nice title.

Eragon Zarroc · Apr 04, 2009, 02:17 AM // 02:17

"Eragon" by Christopher Paolini

Alex Firesword · Apr 04, 2009, 02:20 AM // 02:20

I found out that Maximum Ride by James Patterson was pretty good.
Eragon too =D

Hanging Man · Apr 04, 2009, 02:23 AM // 02:23

oo good pick, I read the first and second Eragon books and they were fantastic.
Although I am not sure theres a third, but I hope the writer keeps them coming.

razerbeak · Apr 04, 2009, 02:39 AM // 02:39

If you're in to thinking and pondering about life Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett is hilarious. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud is also pretty good fiction, its' got a pretty different view on magic and demons then anything else I've read.

Robbeh The Mad · Apr 04, 2009, 03:24 AM // 03:24

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher is a great set of books.

Icy The Mage · Apr 04, 2009, 03:58 AM // 03:58

Hehe, I have Eragon sitting beside me but I haven't cracked it open yet (since Christmas...) the homework load I have coupled with the awesome weekend bonuses put a dampen on my reading :/

TheodenKing · Apr 04, 2009, 05:31 AM // 05:31

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams.

Elmindreda Farshaw · Apr 04, 2009, 07:55 AM // 07:55

The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson is a great series, but the first books is hard to get thru to some people. It was originally a screenplay and rewritten into a novel, and was written like a long time before the rest of the series, which are among my favorite to read. You can start on the first one, Gardens of the Moon, or the second one, Deathouse Gates, which take place about the same time in the "world" of the books and won't spoil each other. I recommend starting on the second one actually.

PlasticBlue · Apr 04, 2009, 08:20 AM // 08:20

If you want a quick read, go for John Green's books (Looking for Alaska, An abundance of Katherines)

If you want something with (ahum) a lot more pages and a fantasy story

maybe "The sword of truth series" is something you might like (Terry Goodkind)

ser · Apr 04, 2009, 09:07 AM // 09:07

Well, I'm mainly a reader of sci-fi and fantasy, so any recommendations I make will be from one of those. Unfortunately I'm terrible at remembering names, so I'll probably miss a lot of good ones that I have read.

Despite all the "Eragon!'s", I'm not really a fan of it. There's just something about it, the characterization or the style of writing or something, that turns me off.

The Stars at War - David Weber and Steve White
Yes, the title seems cheesy, but it actually is really good military sci-fi. Also, haven't gotten into yet, but have heard it is good: David Weber's Honor Harrington universe books.

Hell's Gate + sequel Hell Hath No Fury - David Weber and Linda Evans
Yet more David Weber, but only because his are some of my most recent reads, so I remember them. Magic universe, meet technology universe, let's all be friends now. Chaos ensues, which does make good reading. The geography used in it is Earth's, so you can piece together the equivalent geography of the universes as the characters do.

Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan (Well, somebody had to add this one)
Pretty much your definition of epic fantasy, with 10+ novels each having over 700 pages on average. Personally I enjoyed it up until the 6th or 7th book before the Rand story lines got tiresome.

Dune - Frank Herbert
Another sci-fi classic. The works by his son are decent, but not nearly as good as his own.

Anything by Isaac Asimov
Not even kidding, it's pretty much all gold. He wrote a lot of interesting stories based on his three laws of robotics.

A Song of Fire and Ice - George R. R. Martin
As other people have mentioned, a good read. I particularly like how he isn't afraid at all to kill off main characters. Quite refreshing.

Dragonlance Chronicles - Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis
This ones a compilation of 4 books in a series. I liked it for Raistlin, who is the Best. Mage. Ever.

The Dark Tower - Stephen King
Despite me not being a huge fan of Stephen King, I really loved this series (7 parts). It drew me in from the very first sentence: "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
Ten books in this one, although I read the compilation all at once. This one has a really interesting method used for its dimension walkers to travel between worlds.

Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind
This one is also a lengthy series, but I only read the first 5 or so. The first one was fascinating, with an interesting system of magic. Unfortunately later books suffered, as the main character became so powerful that the book could no longer be told from his point of view anymore.

Discworld - Terry Pratchett
This one has lots of books in it, just set in the general universe. I'd suggest starting with The Color of Magic to gain a taste of the general insanity, and then diving into whatever.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy - Jonathan Stroud
I'll second this one, a very unique system of magic; Where all the mages can do is summon and bind demons and it is the demons that actually cast the magic.

Hyperion - Dan Simmons
This one is really quite strange, with very interesting moments. The Shrike is probably one of the most memorable creatures you'll ever read about.

Starship Troopers - Robert A Heinlein
I first watched the animated series based on this as a kid, greatly enjoyed. Later looked up the book, also good. He wrote a lot of other good stuff that I will have to get to eventually.

XXXX: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
Another classic, and home to "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that." Great sci-fi, along with his other works.

Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Good solid space opera, and part of a larger series. I really like the described infrastructure that he developed around portals.

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Part of a series, but this and Ender's Shadow were the only two of them I really liked.

About all I can remember the titles of at the moment, I'll see if I can't add some more once I remember them.

Arduin · Apr 04, 2009, 11:56 AM // 11:56

What about good ol' Lord of the Rings?

ser · Apr 04, 2009, 12:28 PM // 12:28

And a couple more I looked the titles up of.

Camulod Chronicles - Jack Whyte
Hey, a non-fantasy book series! A retelling of the Arthur legends with some pretty good battles. My favourite book was Uther.

Into the Darkness - Harry Turtledove
Sort of like WW2 with magic. Turtledove also has a bunch of alternate history books if those are your thing.

Calculating God - Robert J. Sawyer
An interesting take on that age old science vs. religion debate. It has aliens too!

Quintaglio Trilogy - Robert J. Sawyer
Didn't realize these two were by the same author until I checked, fun stuff. Anyways, this ones got an intelligent raptor civilization. Enough said I think.

Factoring Humanity - Robert J. Sawyer (Apparently I like his books? Who knew.)
This one was a fascinating read, actually gave me some stuff to think about in some of the concepts it presented.

fires element · Apr 04, 2009, 01:38 PM // 13:38

i just finished a book last night by James Rollings called "The Judas Strain". it was very good and am looking forward to reading another of his books as soon as my wife is done with it.

Hanging Man · Apr 04, 2009, 04:15 PM // 16:15

Wow I can't believe how many responses I have gotten already

Thanks to all of you, and I will deff have to check out some of these books

I read this excellent short story a few years back. It was printed in 1909 its called "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster. It is an amazing story, especially for the year it was written in. Forster has an unbelievable imagination and it shows in this story.

You can read it here
http://brighton.ncsa.uiuc.edu/prajlich/forster.html
It is only 24 pages long, but it is exquisite.

ZenRgy · Apr 05, 2009, 05:45 AM // 05:45

Anything by Bret Easton Ellis.

PlasticBlue · Apr 05, 2009, 09:48 AM // 09:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanging Man

You can read it here
http://brighton.ncsa.uiuc.edu/prajlich/forster.html
It is only 24 pages long, but it is exquisite.

Enjoyed reading this, tnx ^^

If you like books about strange, occult/horror/etc. murders, maybe try some of Mo Hayder's work. Reads like a train and I was hardly able to put the books down

Hanging Man · Apr 06, 2009, 12:48 AM // 00:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlasticBlue

Enjoyed reading this, tnx ^^

If you like books about strange, occult/horror/etc. murders, maybe try some of Mo Hayder's work. Reads like a train and I was hardly able to put the books down

Yeah no problem, my teacher gave me a copy of the story after I read George Orwell "1984", btw if you haven't read it you need to.

Another book that reminded me of 1984, was Lois Lowry called "The Giver". It's a very simple, easy, and thin book that you should breeze through it. But the story is definitely worth it.