Book/Series Recommendation.

[Bob151]

I (a non sophisticated reader) am looking for a new book to read, I thought the fellow techies here might have plenty of good ideas (which I’ll have to sift through and consider).

I’m thinking of a scifi/fantasy type, as those I have read and liked the most. Some of the past books/series I have read are; Donaldson’s Covenant first two trilogies (first trilogy I liked much more than second) I read this long, long ago and have considered rereading it, Asimov’s Foundation series, Clark’s Odyssey series. MZB’s Mists of Avalon was really good. Brook’s first three Shannara books (they were OK, but I think they were weak). Read the Hobbit, started the LOTR first book, never finished. Stephen King with Christine as my favorite among the ones I’ve read. I read much more when I was younger, and you can tell, all of these are more than 20 years old.

I read Bujold’s Chalion first two books based on a recommendation when I was seeking a new read. While the five gods were clever with the Bastard as my fav, outside of that they were a bore.

And a few classics lately, War and Peace (unabridged and I did like it, took about 6 months), Crime and Punishment (I found it a massive bore, it took 2.5 years to finally finish), Catcher and the Rye.

There has probably been other stuff, but I forget them.

But I have loved the HBO making of the A Song of Ice and Fire books. The Lanisters are outstanding villains, I think they are the best part of the first two seasons so far. So myself as someone whom has already watched the first two seasons, would the reading of these books be worth it, or are the 20 episodes not enough to give the first two books justice? First two books are like 1,500 pages, that is a lot of reading to catch up to. Thoughts? Other titles?

I tried to keep it short. Thanks in advance.

 

[MontyAC]

Try The Forever War and Forever Free by Joe Haldeman.

Its exploration of the inhumanity of war and of bureaucracy, and of the psychological effects resulting from the time dilation of space travel (a soldier returns home after centuries away),

http://www.amazon.com/The-Forever-War-Joe-Haldeman/dp/0380708213

 

[MontyAC]

Another good scifi/fantasy novel is The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Windup-Gir.../dp/1597801577

 

[Northern Lawn]

One of my favourite sci fi book is The Mote in God's Eye. Brilliant book.

ANother is, Ringworld, then Rondeveuz with Rama, Dune.

For Fantasy, I remember reading Tigana by Guy Garvriel Kay. Then, within a month I read his entire bibliography. Tigana and Sailing to Saratiem are my favourites by him.

I just read a REALLY great sci fi book, it reminds me of Fire Fly actually.

It's called Leviathan Wakes. Now I'm reading it's sequel Calaban's War.


If you like Greek/Roman history, The Gates of Fire is about the 300 Spartans fighting at Thermopylae. Supposedly is is heavily based on facts but is a novel. I loved it.

 

[gorcorps]

I've heard good things about the Mars trilogy, but have yet to get to it myself (Red Mars, Blue mars, and Green Mars)

Give a look at the Riverworld series too. We read it for a class and while there are some slower points it was pretty interesting.

 

[datalink7]

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

 

[IronWing]

Glen Cook - The Black Company series (read them in order) - fun reading
Gene Wolfe - The Book of the New Sun series (starts with The Shadow of the Torturer) - heavy going but interesting


For non-Sci Fi anything by Hemingway, the man could write. I like Hermann Hesse as well.

 

[nageov3t]

Wool is one of the more interesting modern science fiction series I've read.

(it's a collection of 5 novellas.. there's also a prequel, although I'd highly recommend reading it last as it would spoil most of the big "reveals" of the original series within the first few pages)

 

[Exterous]

If you like detailed , hard scifi pretty much everything by Peter F Hamilton is good. I find his imagination astounding and he's not afraid to take on deep topics.

Kevin J Anderson also has some excellent books. I particularly enjoyed the Seven Suns saga

 

[Zorkorist]

Neuromancer, by William Gibson.

Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand.

-John

 

[nageov3t]

Kevin J Anderson also has some excellent books. I particularly enjoyed the Seven Suns saga

I loved those books... he gets such a bad rap for the Dune prequels he cowrote.

 

[Craig234]

I basically only read non-fiction, but: go back to Lord of the Rings; Piers Anthony Xanth books are light-hearted pun fantasy; check Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" books.

 

[Exterous]

Some of the past books/series I have read are; Asimov’s Foundation series,

I basically only read non-fiction, but: check Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" books.

:hmm: Come on - I'm drunk and caught this...

I loved those books... he gets such a bad rap for the Dune prequels he cowrote.

:thumbsup: Definitely a great series

 

[Northern Lawn]

Wool is one of the more interesting modern science fiction series I've read.

(it's a collection of 5 novellas.. there's also a prequel, although I'd highly recommend reading it last as it would spoil most of the big "reveals" of the original series within the first few pages)

I just read up on that, looks great. Self published but with 5 stars. Going to check it out. Thanks.

 

[herm0016]

jules verne lesser known works are a great read. (my favorite author)

sword or truth series is pretty good by terry goodkind also. more on the fantasy end.

 

[Exterous]

I just read up on that, looks great. Self published but with 5 stars. Going to check it out. Thanks.

Agreed. I will pick this up at some point.

This review made me laugh:

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was the author's propensity for long drawn out descriptions of settings and/or characters' actions. All I need to know, for instance, is that the character put her knife away, after some fumbling

Thats one of the reasons I liked Hamilton's books. Not always the easiest reads he put detail and thought behind every action, scene, place. You'd get the 50 year history of the knife, where she learned her knife training, why she chose that place to get her training, the merits of a competitors training villa across the street, the history of the villa across the street, a detailed recounting the the compeditors' yelp ratings, the history family history of the most recent yelp reviewer, why her ancestor's left their residence in search of a new life, how a prince's policy decision 200 years ago that had all the best intentions got twisted and construed after the prince's dark and demented son took over and caused the family to search for new beginings for their knife training trade. This would be followed by a long and harrowing journey to the new location filled with vivid details about the trip and the refining of their craft.

You'd forget you were reading about person with the knife and then the knife's description would end and you'd say 'Jesus fuck where did the time go? now I know why this book is 2 trillion pages out of a 27 book series. We just spent 700 pages talking about a fucking knife

And I enjoyed every second of it!

 

[Northern Lawn]

Agreed. I will pick this up at some point.

This review made me laugh:


Thats one of the reasons I liked Hamilton's books. Not always the easiest reads he put detail and thought behind every action, scene, place. You'd get the 50 year history of the knife, where she learned her knife training, why she chose that place to get her training, the merits of a competitors training villa across the street, the history of the villa across the street, a detailed recounting the the compeditors' yelp ratings, the history family history of the most recent yelp reviewer, why her ancestor's left their residence in search of a new life, how a prince's policy decision 200 years ago that had all the best intentions got twisted and construed after the prince's dark and demented son took over and caused the family to search for new beginings for their knife training trade. This would be followed by a long and harrowing journey to the new location filled with vivid details about the trip and the refining of their craft.

You'd forget you were reading about person with the knife and then the knife's description would end and you'd say 'Jesus fuck where did the time go? now I know why this book is 2 trillion pages out of a 27 book series. We just spent 700 pages talking about a fucking knife

And I enjoyed every second of it!

It can be a bit much, I have that problem with Stephen King. He'll do a 80 character description... then kill the mofo off, LOL.

Other books get that criticism as well like Game of Thrones, too much food describtion and even the book I'm reading right now, Caliban's War. One guy said the ship's crew love fricking coffee so much I can't go 10 page without hearing about coffee this or that, LOL.

So I'm reading it, after an initial military action on Ganymede, where it appears a war will start between Earth and Mars. The first chapter with the "crew" starts off with the Captain being unable to get coffee out of the coffee machine. He tracks down the chief engineer and explains to him that "we're chasing Pirates and if I don't have coffee, I'm going to be grumpy. If I'm grumpy, I'll probably kill them."

 

[DaveSimmons]

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. - The Magic of Recluce - fantasy - there are many books in this series, but most are 1-3 book arcs set decades or centuries apart. If you like this one the rest should be read in publication date order.

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - Partners In Necessity (Liaden Universe Novel) - 3 books in in $5 paperback at Amazon, good space opera / science fantasy

David Drake - The Complete Hammer's Slammers: Volume I [Paperback] $10 - classic military SF

 

[Craig234]

:hmm: Come on - I'm drunk and caught this...

Oh well. At least it was confirmed as a good recommendation for him.

 

[Squisher]

Malazan Book of the Fallen

 

[GagHalfrunt]

But I have loved the HBO making of the A Song of Ice and Fire books. The Lanisters are outstanding villains, I think they are the best part of the first two seasons so far. So myself as someone whom has already watched the first two seasons, would the reading of these books be worth it, or are the 20 episodes not enough to give the first two books justice? First two books are like 1,500 pages, that is a lot of reading to catch up to. Thoughts? Other titles?

I tried to keep it short. Thanks in advance.

Read the Ice and Fire Books. The HBO series does an excellent job, but it's impossible to commit a series that complex to screen without leaving out a lot. The books will be like a completely new series to you.

Also try

Steven Erickson - Malazan series
Raymond Feist - Riftwar series
Glen Cook - Black Company series

 

[UglyCasanova]

Another good scifi/fantasy novel is The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Windup-Gir.../dp/1597801577

Great book.

Also try:

Leviathan Wakes
Revelation Space
Old man's War
The Mote in Gods Eye
Rendevous with Rama

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Lots of good recommendations in the thread but these:

Raymond Feist - Riftwar series

...stand out. They're among my favorite fantasy novels. The related Empire Trilogy is also top-notch.

 

[Jesusthewererabbit]

Goodkind's Sword of Truth series would keep you busy for a while. There are a few books in it that are boring, but as a whole it's a good fantasy series.

Feist's Riftwar and Serpentwar series are awesome. The later ones fall way off in quality, but are still readable.

I didn't see Ender's Game in your list. Grab it if you haven't.

Since you like Christine, pick up just about any King book that's more than 15 years old, except for The Tommyknockers. I hated that book. The first four books of The Dark Tower are some of his best.

 

[pontifex]

Discworld series by Terry Practhett