So, I was just wondering what anybody on the forums has been reading lately (if at all) or what they would recommend? Any genre would be fine but I prefer to stick to fictional storylines.
The last book I read was Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash).
Which was awesome.
just fictional or would fantasy or sci-fi do aswell?
I thoroughly enjoyed Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. If you saw the movie, it's literally a different story entirely.
The book is written like a biography, and just stuffs vampires into the gaps, or between major historical events, without breaking actual history (I actually learned things about Lincoln from that book), and provides alternative motivations for him.
Quote from: Semmy on January 05, 2014, 06:40:53 AM
just fictional or would fantasy or sci-fi do aswell?
I don't care, either is fine. When I said fiction I just meant any fictional book. Fantasy and sci-fi are fictional stories.
So... Only a few? I didn't know that readers are a minority.
Quote from: TechnicPyro on January 10, 2014, 12:14:49 AM
So... Only a few? I didn't know that readers are a minority.
Well, not all of us are English natives, and many of us read their national authors. My bookcase is full of Piekara's and Dukaj's books, and while I would gladly recommend them, it's unlikely you will find 'em translated. If at all possible. You may have more luck with Lem's (and I would not recommend him - my opinion of his books is in contrast with this of critics) and Sapkowski's. Sapkowski's Witcher saga and The Hussite Trilogy are definitely worth recommendation - his style and craft are one of a kind. Especially his knowledge of slavic culture and beliefs is something to look forward to - the bestiary in his books is quite different from your typical fantasy elf/dwarf/orc nonsense. And well, some of the elves are kind of nazi.
As for other authors you may be interested with:
Orson Scott Card - obviously with his flagbook series of Ender's Game. While each next one in series gets a tad bit worse, if you get sucked in, you'll be done with them all in no time. Smart, but otherwise light sci-fi with good amount of action and intrigue.
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - good, old-style sci-fi with very noticeable flavor.
Sergei Lukyanenko - seen Night's Watch and Day's Watch? No? Why? Oh, and if you're waiting for Dusk's Watch, there won't be one. Go read books. Now :P Must-read on my list.
Philip K. Dick - a legend of sci-fi, crackhead and drunk. It didn't ended well for him, but produced a lot of extremely good books giving you the impression you've overdosed yourself - once they are done with you with theirs twists, time travels, paradoxes and "nothing is as it seems at first". Not a light lecture, but another must-try-and-read.
Patrick Rotfuss (http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/index.asp) Most suprising 2 books i have read in a lont time. At the end of both books i wanted more more more. Really nice and easy flowing way of writing.
Libriomancer by Jim C Hines Bought the book for its cover because my kid tought it looked nice. Was somewhat suprised and a nice read. Magic coming out of books awsome d-:
Gail Z. Martin (http://www.ascendantkingdoms.com/books/the-ascendant-kingdoms-saga/ice-forged/) The latest series i started. Waiting for the 2nd book now (-:
Joe Abercrombie. Awsome bloody writing fun charachters.
Ghaunts ghosts - Ciaphus Cain - Eisenhorn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Warhammer_40,000_novels)
Jv Jones (http://jvj.com/)Had fun reading this series. Maybe a bit too much ice d-;
And so many more but you will be busy for a long time reading this all.
Would forget - Neil Gaiman with Neverwhere and his co-op with Terry Pratchett on Good Omen are a must read, too. Do NOT dare to ask for more until you read that :P
Metro 2033 (http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5574965/Metro_2033_by_Dmitry_Glukhovsky) by Dmitry Glukhovsky
- This romain will give you chills. It's not really a sci-fi, it's rather mysterious - and when weird stuff begins to happen, no one is gonna explain you anything. It all happens in dark tunnels of beautiful Moskevian metro... Once you read that, you will always have the urge to enter tunnels of any metro and explore it on your own.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (http://thepiratebay.se/search/Do%20Androids%20Dream%20of%20Electric%20Sheep?/0/7/600) (aka Blade Runner) by Philip Kindred Dick
- This book will surely satisfy any of your sci-fi needs - it's full of robots. But the point is somewhere else. It's a question, what's still machine and what is not.
And if you've seen the movie, don't give up on book. It's very different from the movie. I'm not saying one is better than another - but it's different story.
Dune (http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7242634/Frank_Herbert_-_Dune_1__Dune) by Frank Herbert.
- This is definitelly not some sci-fi short story. This a story of a completelly different world - and once you read it, you'll feel that you was there.
It all happens on dry, desert planet Arrakis. Noone would ever care about this planet if it weren't for the melange. A very special melange.
This is something to read in a long cold winter... With the desert sun in the mind, you'll be happy that it's -10° Celsius outside and that you can drink water every day.
BTW: Iron Maiden have made a song about Dune - To Tame a Land (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y3o4okKXMU) (which is also a name of Warcraft III bonus campaign)
One more from Russia:
We (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_%28novel%29) by Evgenij Zamjatin
- This is not fun to read at all. Distopy about perfectly organised world, about absolute totality. This book has inspired several others and had big influence at distopy as a genre.
Aside from writing this, Zamjatin was also one of the best Russian engineers and has led construction of their biggest ship (you know, russians want to have everithing bigger... :) )
Fahrenheit 451 (http://thepiratebay.se/search/Fahrenheit%20451/0/7/600) by Ray Bradbury
- Partially inspired by We, Ray Bradbury describes alienation of people in modern society. In his world, books get banned because people loose time with them instead of working and buying things. The main character is one of so-called "firemen". Since there are no more fires for everything is made of iron, firemen have a little different task now. They burn books and houses of their owners (that's a punishment for owning any books).
As of non-sci fi:
For whom the bell tolls (http://www.24grammata.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hemingwey-for-whom-the-bell-24grammata.compdf.pdf) by Ernest Hemingway
- In my opinion the best example of Hemingways ability to drag you into his story, so suddenly and so deep that it will not be a story in your memory, but an experience.
Any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls - it tolls for thee.
Crime and punishment (http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/Crime_and_Punishment_T.pdf) by M. F. Dostojevskij
- The way Hemingway can drag you into a story, Dostojevskij can drag you into his characters mind. After reading this book, you will feel like a murderer.
I intended to restrain from criticising other peoples choices, but really:
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Are you fucking kidding me? Reminds me of Lesbian Vampire Killers...
After reading the whole thread, I must also say that
Galileuses choices are
highly approved and recomended!
Great books! Let's steal them!
What's wrong with you? :/
Don't be silly. Most of the authors are dead by now, if you wanna pay them respect, go pry at their grave.
Besides that, I don't discourage anyone from buying the books. But having a book, that's like having a CD from your favorite band these days.
Actually, if a friend borrows me his book, is that "theft" too? I don't think so.
Myself, I don't think anyone would read this as PDF anyway, eyes hurt from the PC screen soon.
But the best way to make someone read the book is to make him read the beginning.
the wheel of time by Robert Jordan he was a good author but sadly has past away there are 15 book in all and it is finished
All the books suggested by darker.
and:
The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.(My favorite series of books I have ever read, so funny, so random, so sci-fi, its a blast to read)
Any book by Gary Paulson.
Such as the "hatchet" series.
Any book by hp lovecraft. (Warning this guy wrote sci-fi horror stories/novels all of them take place in the same "world" so to speak, they are very well done.)
The Hobbit ( A classic and a must read for anybody into Tolkien or fantasy novels
The Shannara series. (Think a society that has regressed after a worldwide nuclear war, to be more specific, it is basically scifi/Fantasy where there are people who have mutated because of the radiation into creatures that can only be described as being extremely similar to some well known fantasy races) It is very well done full of lore and I highly recommend it)
The sword of Shannara. Takes place in the same world as the original shannara series, and is its own series)
Many More.
Thanks i will try those shannara series.
something good like love story?
:)
I rarely came across a love-story book, that's just about lovestory.
However, many books are romantic, though lovestory is not the reason they were written. If I were to stick to the books I've talked about:
Almost whole "
For whom the bell tolls" is about escalating relationship between the main character and one of the partisans/refugees that are hiding him in their cave.
In the crime and punishment the young Raskolnikov fells in love with a very poor woman. In the very end, she accompanies him to the exile at Siberia.
But these are of course way more serious lovestories than the thick purple books for 14yr olds :) And I must disappoint you - no horny vampires involved.
But if you want a real, long, exhausting lovestory, there is one old one:
Tristan et Isolde (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14244/14244-h/14244-h.htm) by M. Joseph Bédier
- I believe everyone knows this book from school, provided you paid attention. The story is about a young knight, that promises to fetch his king a wife - beautiful Isolde. On the ship back, he happens to accidentally drink a love potion, that forces the love between Tristan and Isolde. Howeve, promise one given by a knight must be kept, so he brings Isolde to the king Mark, with a broken heart. That's just the very beginning of the story.
One famous:
Romeo and Juliet (http://manybooks.net/titles/shakespeetext982ws1610.html) by guess who
- Only thing that bothers me that Mercutio died so soon. He was the only character that I liked in that story.
Guards! Guards! by Terry Prachett. I can't remember the last time I laughed till I shed a tear while reading.
Ringworld by Larry Niven
In 2850 Louis Wu is celebrating his 200th birthday and is bored. He is confronted by an alien, a Pierson's Puppeteer, and is offered one of three open positions on an exploration voyage beyond Known Space.
Childhood's End by Arthus C. Clarke
Vast alien spaceships suddenly position themselves above Earth's capitals. The aliens announce their intentions of assuming control in order to prevent humanity's extinction. Peace, but under Overlord control.
Letters from the Earth (mostly) by Mark Twain
A posthumously published collection of essays and short stories, mostly humorous in content.
The sniper manual the Defence Forces Education Development Centre
Only in Finnish, sorry.
Instructions how to use, repair and maintain your "born-in-the-wild"-marksman.
Available on-line: Here (http://www.puolustusvoimat.fi/wcm/03b1dd004b284937aac6ea2b0cc2418d/Tark_amp_kk_lr%5B1%5D.pdf?MOD=AJPERES)
Shhh. Over here! That´s not there, got it?
Chris Wooding - Tales of the Ketty Jay
Hello!
This is right down my alley. I love reading!
Jennifer Roberson
Chronicles of the Cheysuli: About shapechangers; they are wrongly persecuted.
Sword-Dancer Saga: About a professional swordsman from the desert that meets a girl that gets him wrapped up in a crazy adventure.
Deborah Chester
Dain Series
The Sword, The Ring, and The Chalice Trilogy
The Pearls and The Crown
Alan F. Troop
Dragon Saga: Dragons who can take human form. Set in (mostly) modern time Miami.
Ursula K. Le Guin
Earthsea Chronicles
Anne Rice
The Vampire Chronicles
George R. R. Martin
A Song of Ice and Fire
Terry Brooks
Shannara Series
Terry Goodkind
The Sword of Truth
Christopher Paolini
The Inheritance Cycle
Robert Jordan
The Wheel of Time
Jean M.Auel
Earth's Children Series: It's historical speculative fiction, but reads like fantasy to me.
Lois Lowry
The Giver: Sci-fi, about a dystopian future.
Rodman Philbrick
The Last Book in the Universe: sci-fi, about an post-apocalyptic future, with dystopian elements
J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings: Mind, his dwarves and elves are very different from even their own counterparts in the movies. It was from a different time. All in all, the books are better. However, I do prefer modern interpretations of dwarves and elves.
R. A. Salvatore
Find a book and read it. All his books are good. They all tend to be AT LEAST trilogies, so make sure you take a moment to figure out what you should be reading first. I'd start with either "Homeland", if you want to get into the story of his longest running character, or "The Sword of Bedwyr" if you wanna get into a stand-alone trilogy. (based in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons setting)
Dragonlance & Forgotten Reams(Dungeons and Dragons Settings)
They aren't authors, but settings of books. Look into them, because I've never come across a book in those settings that I didn't instantly love.
Glenn Cook
Black Company
John Flanagan
Ranger's Apprentice Series
Brotherband Series
Ken Follett
Kingsbridge Series: It's historical fiction, but it filled my fantasy reading needs.
Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont
Malazan Books (based in their GURPS RPG setting)
Anne McCaffrey
Dragonriders of Pern Series
Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart: more historical fiction
Lynn Abbey
Sanctuary
Cecilia Dart-Thornton
The Bitterbynde Trilogy
Diana Pharaoh Francis
Path Trilogy
L. J. McDonald
The Slyph Series
Whelp, thats all I can think of off the top of my head.
Cheers,
Michael
Revelation Space Series by Alastair Reynolds is my personal favorite.
Been reading the Star Force Series by B. V. Larson, not very deep, and the technology is not as "plausible" as Revelation Space... But still an engaging series.
The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson is one of my favorites, and The Shaman by the same author I thought was excellent.
The Martian by Andy Weir, I listened to the audiobook of this one recently and I couldn't stop until finished 10 hours and 30 minutes later, it was absolutely fantastic.
I could go on forever.. Lots of good reads out there.
Anything by Terry Pratchett is more than worth a read. I have also been enjoying the Dresden Files Series by Jim Butcher and the Ex-Heroes Series by Peter Clines.
Whats Left Of Me by Kat Zhang. Great book.
kind of supprised that not a single person has mention Robert A. Heinlein seeing as hes one of the best sci-fi writers in history, and any of his books are a good read.
Another good author, though self published Also i think one of the better sci-fi series i have ever read first book in that series is here (on kindle): (and really cheap) http://www.amazon.com/Overture-Earth-Song-Mark-Wandrey-ebook/dp/B008YFRPK6/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392136163&sr=1-1&keywords=earth+song+overture
I've read these three books lately. Maybe you will like them:
1) The Good Women of China- XINRAN
2) The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan
3) The Partner - John Grisham. Sometimes I am in the mood for thrillers... In that case, I choose one of his books..
Last whole book I read was 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I don't what it is about his stuff, often not much happens but his writing (and his translator) is just the right amount of relaxing and interesting enough that you don't fall asleep :)..
For sci fi I have a strong recommendation for anyone to check out Dhalgren. It is often shelved as sci fi but it is almost fiction much in the way Steve Erickson blurs the lines in his fiction. You could say Dhalgren is post apocalyptic fiction, but that wouldn't be entirely right. I can't really describe it, but if you want to get utterly lost in a book I couldn't rate it higher unless you want to delve into the near incomprehensible stuff like Finnegan's Wake. You won't find a digital copy of it that is any good for something like an e-reader, at least not yet. It has some formatting similar to the House of Leaves but much more minimal later on in the book.
If you like epic space opera science fiction, you absolutely have to read the Night's Dawn trilogy, as well as the Commonwealth Saga and its sequel, the Void Trilogy, all by Peter F. Hamilton. All together that's a few thousand pages of reading, so it should keep you occupied for a while. It's the best science fiction/fantasy I've ever read. He has the futuristic vision of Asimov, with the story telling and world building ability of Tolkien. And I don't take either of those names lightly.