Book recommendations

Hendrake · Post by **Hendrake** » 2003-01-18 03:37pm

Any and all the books of Roger Zelazny, especially Lord of Light.

The Demolished Man, by Bester.

Post by **Kuja** » 2003-01-18 03:39pm

1984
Farenheit 451
Resident Evil Series
Doom series
X-wing series and other EU books
Congo
Airframe
Descent series

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-01-18 04:40pm

XaLEv wrote:There's one I read back in school, something about a girl who lives on an island alone because all her people were evacuated and she got left behind. Dolphin Island or something like that. That one seems to have been good.

Island of the Blue Dolphins. The author was Irish. I think the name was Michael O'Shea or something like that.

XaLEv wrote:Another one, same year, about a kid who gets lost in the desert - I think he was in a plane crash which killed his father and grandfather - and he has to walk back to civilization on his own. That one seems to have been good too.

Hmm...sounds like a Gary Paulsen novel. Hatchet ring a bell?

I'll try to come up with some good ones that haven't already been mentioned...

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson. Very, very fascinating and thought-provoking book. Fucking funny too.
Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson. Arr, matey!
Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow - Orson Scott Card. Pretty good starters. The Ender series gets as fucked up as the later Dune books, but the Bean fork is better.

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2003-01-18 06:48pm

Dalton wrote:Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow - Orson Scott Card. Pretty good starters. The Ender series gets as fucked up as the later Dune books, but the Bean fork is better.

Personally I think Ender's Shadow completely fucked Ender up as a character in a way I did NOT like. Now Hegemon's Shadow was great and a much mroe enjoyable read from my viewpoint.

XaLEv · Post by **XaLEv** » 2003-01-18 06:51pm

Dalton wrote:Hmm...sounds like a Gary Paulsen novel. Hatchet ring a bell?

Looked it up. That's not it.

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2003-01-18 06:55pm

War and Peace.

...seriously, it was good enough to make me finish it in 10 days.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » 2003-01-19 03:24am

Just a couple that haven't been mentioned:
The Red Dwarf Books: Infinity welcomes careful drivers and Better than Life by (Rob) Grant (Doug) Naylor are good. Backwards By Rob Grant and Last Human by Doug Naylor are good, but not great, they don't have the feel with the originals, and mess with the continuity.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
War of the Worlds by H G Wells, I love that book.

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2003-01-19 02:02pm

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, terrific space opera. The prequel, A Deepness in the Sky is very good too, but less grand in scope.

The Hyperion books by Dan Simmons. But if you read one, you need to read all of 'em

Everything written by Neil Stephenson after The Big U. (Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon [not actually SF, but very good. And I understand the sequel will be.]) If you're in a big college you'll enjoy The Big U, but it's very much a "first novel."

Steven Baxter's Manifold books, although I thought the first (Time) was the best, and the second two were only quite good.

Anything by Gerald Kersh. He's hard to find, but a big library may have one or two books. He's Harlan Ellison's favorite author.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2003-01-19 07:30pm

David Gemmel
Rigante Series
Following the fate of a sort of scottish/celtic people over a long period of years...
Sword in the Storm
The first tale, of Connavar, the sword in the storm who unites the rigante and leads them to thier first great victory....
Midnight Falcon
Ravenheart
Stormrider

The Dernai Saga
This is Gemmel's main world....populated by hero both great and vile....
Waylander
Possibly my favourite ever novel, it tells the tale of Waylander, the prince of assasins...who kills the king of the Drenai and plunges them into a war that threatens to destroy them....
Waylander 2 : In the realm of the Wolf
Hero in the Shadows
The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend
The Legend of Deathwalker
Legend
King Beyond the Gate
A Quest for Lost Heroes
Winter Warriors

Jon Shannow Novels
Then there is his series set in a post apocalyptic earth....following Jon Shannow a man in search of New Jerusalum....
Wolf in Shadow
The Last Guardian
Bloodstone

I was also a huge fan of the Belgariad by David Eddings and also the Mallorean, the sequl to the Belgariad.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-01-20 04:12am

What about the other books in the Stones of Power series? Did you like them?

Post by **Zaia** » 2003-01-20 10:11pm

The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis

Over Sea, Under Stone (series), Susan Cooper

Child of the Norther Spring,
Queen of the Summer Stars, and
Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn (trilogy of Arthurian legend from Gwen's point of view), Persia Woolley

Circle of Friends, Maeve Binchy

The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Catch-22, Joseph Heller

Winnie-the-Pooh & The House at Pooh Corner, A.A. Milne

"HIM" (a play), E.E. Cummings

Robert Frost/Ella Wheeler Wilcox/T.S. Eliot poetry

"Desiderata" (poem), Max Erhmann

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-01-21 12:54am

CmdrWilkens wrote:Personally I think Ender's Shadow completely fucked Ender up as a character in a way I did NOT like. Now Hegemon's Shadow was great and a much mroe enjoyable read from my viewpoint.

I can see what you mean. It effectively robbed Ender of his uniqueness. Though I did enjoy the parts where Bean was totally wrong and Ender corrected him.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-01-21 12:55am

XaLEv wrote:
Dalton wrote:Hmm...sounds like a Gary Paulsen novel. Hatchet ring a bell?
Looked it up. That's not it.

I'm not sure what it is then. It does sound very much like a Gary Paulsen book, however.

Ewo · Post by **Ewo** » 2003-01-21 01:05am

Lord of the Flies (William Golding)

House of the Spirits (Isabelle Allende)

Cloudstreet (Tim Winton) ... I read this for the first time a few years ago when I went to Australia. It isn't bad, a little less depressing than something like Dear Miffy or other Aussie schoolkid books.

Island of the Blue dolphins wasn't bad either.

Cows with Guns ... "He was a scrawny calf who looked rather woozy. No one suspected he was packing an uzi. Cows with Guns"

Myst the book was alright. It gave some background and insight into the game.

My all time fave book "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" by Dr. Seuss

Post by **Zaia** » 2003-01-21 11:48am

Ewo wrote:Cloudstreet (Tim Winton) ... I read this for the first time a few years ago when I went to Australia. It isn't bad, a little less depressing than something like Dear Miffy or other Aussie schoolkid books.

Ewo, did you ever read Looking for Alibrandi, by Melina Marchetta or Eucalyptus, by Murray Bail? Those were both reeeeally good, and I know the first one's studied in Aussie classrooms (not sure about the 2nd--Sar thought I'd like it and mailed it to me). Muy bueno! You may borrow either if you like.

And I can't believe I forgot one of my favourite books of all time--The Princess Bride by William Goldman!!! Oops.

Edit: AND I forgot about Hitchhiker's!! Shite.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2003-01-21 12:06pm

Zaia wrote:

And I can't believe I forgot one of my favourite books of all time--The Princess Bride by William Goldman!!! Oops.

I so love that movie, I will have to eventually read the book.

Mine, in no particular order:

The Light Bearer Donna Gillispie
Jandar of Callisto series Lin Carter
Elfstones of Shannara Terry Brooks
The Hunt for the Red October Tom Clancy (before he go egotistical)
The Sum of all Fears Tom Clancy (his last great book)
On a Pale Horse Pierce Anthony
The Longest Day Cornelius Ryan
Foundation series Isaac Asimov

Larz · Post by **Larz** » 2003-01-21 12:32pm

... Scarlet Letter... :: shutters... ::

- 2001, 2010, 2063, 3001 Space Odyssey Series: Aurther C. Clarke
- Foundation Series: Issac Asimov
- Honor Harrington books: Weber
- Disc World Books: Terry Pratchet (I personally like the ones invovling Samuel Vimes or Rincewind)
- A Tale of Two Cities: ... (not for everyone type of reading)
- Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series: Douglas Adams
- "No Exit": Satre (not a book, but one chilling belief of hell)
- Lewis Grizzard or Dave Berry books (non-fiction comedy books)
- Red Dwarf books (I really want to read those again... stupid library system that doesn't have them...)

Thats all I can think of for now...
[/u]

DocHorror · Post by **DocHorror** » 2003-01-21 02:33pm

Anything by H.P. Lovecraft
Grunts - Mary Gentle
1984 - George Orwell
Brave New World
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson
Heart of darkness - Joseph Conrad
Anything by Kinky Freidman
Red Dwarf & Hitch Hikers books
Dune
Valis by Phillip K. Dick

loads more. too tired.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2003-01-22 04:16am

neoolong wrote:What about the other books in the Stones of Power series? Did you like them?

The only Gemmel ones I've not read are Ghostking and The Last Sword of Power.....all the rest were good....I had a particular soft spot for Echoes of the Great Song.