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What are some fiction books that you recommend?
liraelsfire
Member Posts: 13
Lately, I've been having a lot of homework and tests at school and my parents have banned me from playing any MMOs. The only thing I can now do without any restrictions is read. Just yesterday, I ran out of books to read. Are there any that you recommend? I especially like to read thrillers and fantasy novels
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"When Saddam flew that plane into those buildings, I knew it was time to kick some Iranian ass!"
-cheer leading, flag waving American
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A Heinlein
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Amber series - Roger Zelazny
These are all older books.. but they are better than most of the recent stuff I have read.
do androids dream of electric sheep- p.k. dick
shannara series by terry brooks
I have hardly read any fiction in the last 15 or so years. Who has time for it when there are soooo many excellent non fiction works to read.
Early in life I read all my dads Robert E Howard (conan), Edgar Rice Burroghs, HP Lovecarft and Stephen Donaldson as well as the Hobbit and LOTR..... and I kinda felt that was fiction done with for me... The collective works of those authors really left me feeling I had read pretty much every decent storyline anyone could write.
I have yet to have a fiction book placed in front of me that has changed my view.... i generally get to page 10 and think.... Id rather be reading something informational.
Right now Im nearly done with The God Delusion and next I want to read some stuff about Memes.
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"MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
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"Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
If you've not read the Philip Pullman - "His Dark Materials" books, those should be next on your list.
If you're going to try some Stephen King, "Talisman" (written with Peter Straub) is a good fantasy type adventure, or you could try "The Dark Tower" series (7 books) - not necessarily his best , but they are the more fantasy style adventure books, rather than his usual supernatural thrillers.
Another great trilogy is the C.S.Lewis - "Space Trilogy" fantasy/science fiction (for slightly older readers than his Narnia books).
I suspect you may like Melanie Rawn's - "Dragon Prince" books - character driven/political fantasy type stories.
One last one for now, Neil Gaiman - "Stardust" - a beautifully written fairytale, and if you like that try "Neverwhere" (by the same author).
One of my all time favorites is Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman -- I recommend it to anyone.
If you're going for Stephen King's Talisman, also read Black House.
Another good Heinlein book is Starship Troopers (much better than the movie.)
For something a bit heavier, there's the first 5 books of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series as well as Nemesis. I never started reading the Robot or Empire trilogies so I can't weight in on them.
If you're looking for light-hearted fantasy, the Harry Potter books are a fun, quick read and if you haven't started reading them, you should be finished with the first 6 just in time for 7th and final one to come out in July.
For thrillers, I liked Eye of the Needle (ww2 spy thriller) although I forget the author. Also, the Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy was very well written (much better than the movie) and although it takes place in the middle of the "Ryan-verse", can still be picked up and read on its own.
I would also reccomend The Saga of the Exiles series by Julian May. Misfits of the 22nd Century travel back in time 6 million years to live in the pliocene era of ancient earth, only to find themselves in a war between two alien races. Brilliant set of books and a truly original concept. Ive alway thought it would make a great setting for a 'sandbox' style MMO.
I: Strahd - The War With Azalin
Vampire in the Mists
Dark Lord Rising - This is a very good book. It goes into the mind of Vader after he becomes Vader.
Anything by Michael Moorcock I'd suggest starting with the Elric saga which begins with Elric of Melniboné, a must read for anyone who loves dark fantasies. Elric is only one part of the entire picture though, most of Moorcock's books have connections with each other, all centering around a mysterious being known as The Champion Eternal, other series include Hawkmoon, The Champion Eternal, The Chronicles of Corum, Jerry Cornelius, The von Bek series, and many more. I guarantee that long before you finish the first book you'll be wishing you had a black soul sucking sword named Stormbringer. (in fact, after writing this, I'm going to dig out my own copies and re-read this series)
Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series is also a very good read, there's just something about Time and Chaos Lords that appeals to my own nature
David Eddings also wrote a very good series, The Belgariad, good enough that I've seen many mmorpg players ripping names for their characters. He's a little less cerebral than most fantasy writers but still manages to write a very good story.
Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever is also a great series, it gives you a hero who at first you'd prefer to smack in the head, the guy is just an absolute waste and someone you would prefer to hate. He's a man full of self despite who's actions (in the beginning) fill the reader with disgust, but read it to the end, even an absolute waste of a human can rise above his own self loathing and do something good.
If you haven't already destroyed the image of Frank Herbert's Dune by watching either of the extreme suckfest miniseries that were produced the books are quite extraordinary. You have to really read the series to understand the context, but I found God Emperor of Dune to be so insightful in the area of politics I actually found myself saying "Yes, being a ruthless bloodthirsty dictator actually could help save humanity from itself"
µV
Battle Royale
Dante's Inferno.
I'm a big fan of fantasy, all books recommanded will be fantasy or some mix between fantasy and science fiction.
1. Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time (My biggest favorite, you have to read it)
2. Douglas Adams - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (fun and strange)
3. Tad Williams - Otherland series (very good, very disturbing and scary look on our world and what it's leading to)
4. Stepthen King - The Dark Tower series (no horror here. Good series worthwhile to read)
5. George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire series (lovely, not at the same level as The Wheel of Time, but still good)
6. Lian Hearn - Tales of the Otori series (good japanese fantasy)
Ursula Le Guin - Earthsea Quartet (not the best of the books mentioned here, but worthwhile)
They are numbered in the order they are worth to read. Altho I recommand all books and have choosen these amongst the numbers of other books, they aren't all at the same lvl. So far none of the books are really matching The Wheel of Time, it's in it's category. Every man or woman on earth should have read The Wheel of Time.
Stephen Kings Dark Tower Series, These books are awesome! Dark and twisted!
Burger Loser, I forget who wrote it, but it's funny with great characters.
100 Years of Solitude, possibly the best book ever written.
"The new age is upon us, yet the past refuses to rest in its shallow grave."
I second that recommendation. Those books are in my top 10 all time favorites. Just to explain a bit more; the two alien races are basically filling the roles of fantasy races. One is elf-like and the other race are the bogeymen...sort of. Psychic powers stand in for magic. So it's basically fantasy but with a sci/fi rationalization and a spattering of high tech gadgets.
It might sound weird but those really are excellent books.
If you like writting that has an almost poetic / artistic feel to it I would highly recommend The Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. Another Sci/Fi fantasy blend. Immortal crew members of a colony ship posing as the gods of the hindu pantheon and keeping the descendants of the colonists in a dark ages level of technology.
1) Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (my personal favorite series, make it through the first half of the first book and you are golden)
2) Hitchhikers Guild To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams ( I have never laughed more while reading, my wife thought I was crazy and that was reading it for the second time) (btw...it is a trilogy of 4 books)
3) Recluse Saga by L.E. Moddesitt (A great series that tells its story from different points of view, blurring the line between who is good and who is bad. Non linear timeline so it is much like a Quentin Tarintio movie where the plots interweave as you move along through the series.)
4) Lord of the RIngs by JRR Tolkien (I would be remiss if I did not put the daddy of them all in)
"It is easier to be cruel than wise. The road to wisdom is long and difficult... so most people just turn out to be assholes" Feng (Christopher Walken)
Good thing too, the movie was awful and was in no way the same story as the book, the book depicts the troopers as hardcore motherfuckers and the movie only has wimps and whiners.
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I have a Youtube channel for video games! http://www.youtube.com/user/Vendayn
For shame, you forgot/left out American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which is a fantastic read.
Clive Barker is good, and not just his straight up horror stuff either, Weaveworld, Imajica, and The Great and Secret Show and Everville are all good books that stray from his normal horror writing into a more fantastique vein.
As mentioned by Godliest, I believe, Tad Williams' Otherworld series is very much worth picking up, as is his Dragonbone Chair series, and Tailchasers Song. He also has a new series out, Shadowmarch, though I've not had the chance to check it out.
1) The "Song of Ice and Fire" series (by George R.R. Martin)... very visceral and "real"... I feel that the character development in these books is amongst the best I've read. You actually find yourself understanding and commiserating with the antagonists....
2) The "Sword of Truth" series (by Terry Goodkind)... a nice story and quite engaging... each book leaves me wanting to come back for more. Not the deepest of books however, and the plot does tend to get repetitive.
3) The "Wheel of Time" series (by Robert Jordan)... very immersive, although also enormous in length... 11 books (not counting the prequel) and each is 800-1000 pages... I'm actually looking forward to book 12, just so I can say "I'm finally done!"
4) And of course... Lord of the Rings (by J.R.R. Tolkien)... a classic in anybody's book... whether you like the story or not, you almost "have to read it" just to appreciate where so much of the fantasy genre has come from - pretty much every fantasy author who you'll ever read admits that LotR was a huge influence in their lives/works/etc.
Robert E. Howard's Conan stories are great, though all of them are very, very short and don't really tell a cohesive story (especially if you read them in the order written - he bounces around quite a bit in the Conan lore/history). I recently bought several compilations of his stories which I'm enjoying, although I've stopped reading them because they make me that much more impatient for the relase of AoC!
The "Dune" novels are also quite good... well.. I only read the original, so I really can't comment on the rest, but I've re-read that one many times.
And hey... I've really enjoyed the Harry Potter books too!
µV
I find it amazing that by 2020 first world countries will be competing to get immigrants.
Read "Culture Warrior" by Bill O'Reilly
This book is a Thriller because it will scare the crap out of you seeing which direction the US is heading with Secular Progressives and if a Liberal becomes President.
The Bible.
I joke, I joke. I had to say it before someone else did.
I'd say try the Illuminatus trilogy, if you'd like a good mind-fuck, and if you're old enough. Some great quotes and concepts in there, as well as some really halarious humor.
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"Io rido, e rider mio non passa dentro;
Io ardo, e l'arsion mia non par di fore."
-Machiavelli