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Recommend-A-Book
VaporTrail:
--- Quote from: HikariSama on April 10, 2009, 02:17:57 AM ---LOTR & Hobbit <----- there IS a book that comes before all this that chronicles of all that has happened BEFORE the Hobbit, but it is a VERY heavy read... I couldn't make it through the first chapter before I got confused... pen and paper is needed to keep track
--- End quote ---
Agreed. The Silmarillion is quite hard to get into, even if you've read The Hobbit and LOTR. Couldn't get into it myself. Really only struck me as more reading for the dedicated Tolkeinite. The others I read and enjoyed. I even bought the audio books so my wife (who doesn't read much) could listen to them in the car.
barcibus:
I love this thread! Thanks for all the suggestions.
Here's a few books that haven't been mentioned.
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
This extremely influential book (it even inspired a Led Zeppelin album cover) was at the core of the Human Instrumentality Project of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The story is about the next step of human evolution, precipitated by the arrival of an alien species.
The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith
This book is a collection of all the science fiction short stories written by Smith (real name Paul Linebarger). It is a series of short accounts covering roughly 15,000 years of humanity from Earth to the stars.
The first time the collection was released, it was called The Instrumentality of Mankind, which is where Hideaki Anno got the term for the Human Instrumentality Project in Evangelion. He insisted that the exact word 'Instrumentality' be used in translation as an homage to the book.
Paul Linebarger spoke 6 languages (including Chinese) and worked for the U.S. army intelligence where he helped start the first psychological warfare section (he also wrote a classic book on psy warfare). He even got to advise J.F.K. on foreign policy. He used all this background knowledge of language, foreign affairs, inner government workings, and psychological warfare to create very imaginative stories. Too bad he died at 43 :(
Even though it isn't written anywhere, I wonder if the Crest of the Stars author got his ideas for planar space travel from Cordwainer's short stories.
Imajica by Clive Barker
Barker's favorite work, it is a sort of present day fantasy. The world is much greater and more magical than what we can see here on Earth because our plane of existence had been sundered from the other four; traveling to the other realms is difficult (you need special places and magic) and dangerous (between our world and the others, there is a sort of sea or hell called the In Ovo filled with "demons"). There are themes of salvation, sex, love and gender.
I recommend Kurt Vonnegut books, but they aren't for everyone. His writing style is very simple and from left field at the same time, the humor often black and strange, and there is always heavy criticism for religion, war, and the American Way. His are some of my favorite quotes. Here's a couple (the first one always kills me):
"She was a dull person, but a sensational invitation to make babies." from Slaughterhouse-Five
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." from Mother Night
Those two are from some of his best books. His last book, Timequake, was a strange read. It felt half-assed, and sort of admitted to being so, but it also got into the habit of restating, in no uncertain terms, what he'd been trying to say in his earlier works. In the end, I enjoyed the book thoroughly. Here's a quote from it:
"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone."
Even though it has been mentioned over and over in this thread, I'd like to give a shout out to the books from A Song of Ice and Fire, they're my all time favorites.
Snuts:
Well... I think Im the first to say the Saga of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Hard to describe in a few words but while the plot lines all seem to be interchangable in the order things happen the world is very well developed and the series covers nearly the entire history of said world. the order/chaos balance/magic system is interesting and also well developed since that is a main mover in the plot lines.
What I like the most is that the author tells a great deal from one viewpoint in the first 7 or so books then flips to the other and goes through history from that view. In the recent books the author has broken away from the main two lands as he seems to have finished the politically significant events of the world and now has shifted to other relativly untouched, usually vilified, continents.
Most of the books are episodic in nature in that they are all primarily stand alone books within the world. Few of the books have direct sequals however you do often times run into characters from previous books as you read through. The books aren't in chronological order either so if you are so inclined you can pick up book four to start and not really miss much.
In any case the author reccomends the books be read in release order not chronological.
What really caught me when i first started reading them was the first book is written in first person when following the main character and third for all other characters. It was a bit disconcerting at first but overall was fun.
(ran a little over a 'few words')
DeathTap:
White Tiger.
This is an awesome book.
Ixarku:
--- Quote from: VaporTrail on April 07, 2009, 06:48:12 AM ---
The Paladin of Shadows series, by John Ringo
Actually anything by Ringo is good.
--- End quote ---
Point of trivia, one of my friends actually went to high school with John Ringo, and knew him quite well back in the day. I believe he even got a mention in one of Ringo's books, so if you happen to come across a deputy Knapp, that's my friend.
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