Last book you read that made you go WOW!
- Thread starter DefiantGoblin
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One of Douglas Adam's essays in The Salmon of Doubt made me go wow. The part with the manta rays. Wow.
Also, I just read George Orwell's Coming Up for Air. Damn, I really felt like I was living in the early 1900's in rural England.
Also, I just read George Orwell's Coming Up for Air. Damn, I really felt like I was living in the early 1900's in rural England.
Is it necessary to start at the very beginning of the series? Cause I've wanted to get into that for a while now, but my library only has like 2 books from the middle....Toaster Hunter said:
On Topic: Probably American Gods [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gods], I had heard a few good things here and there, then decided to read it like a month ago...and holy shit was I glad I did
1984 for obvious reasons.
Also The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett. Damn, a fantasy setting that does not involve angels, Hellspawn, elves, orcs or dwarves? Jesus Christ, that surprised me. Also, the book is incredibly easy to read, but what sold me was the description of the demons' (Corelings is the official term, but I like demons better) ferocity and how it payed off tenfold when one was encountered. None of that Mary-Sue bullshit where a character isn't in danger. In The Painted Man, they are. They fucking are. And you'll feel it. The only person who could better portray the danger would be Stephen King, ffs.
Also The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett. Damn, a fantasy setting that does not involve angels, Hellspawn, elves, orcs or dwarves? Jesus Christ, that surprised me. Also, the book is incredibly easy to read, but what sold me was the description of the demons' (Corelings is the official term, but I like demons better) ferocity and how it payed off tenfold when one was encountered. None of that Mary-Sue bullshit where a character isn't in danger. In The Painted Man, they are. They fucking are. And you'll feel it. The only person who could better portray the danger would be Stephen King, ffs.
Horus Heresy: Thousand Sons was brilliant
but the book that made me go WOAHHH! was the Eisenhorn Omnibus by Dan Abnett
but the book that made me go WOAHHH! was the Eisenhorn Omnibus by Dan Abnett
I am the author of that thread, my good sir! And I really enjoyed the Artemis Fowl books, the plot twists at the end made me laugh with surprise and humor.
I finally got talked into reading some of the Twilight series. Made me go "WOW! People actually like this crap?"
It would help to start at the beginning. Each book is pretty self contained, but characters and events often reference other earlier books. There will be references to that "incident with the loup-garu", and unless you read book 2 (Fool Moon) you will have no idea what anyone is talking about. Also, early books establish the rules of magic and supernatural beings, which may not be explained in others.Lionsfan said:
Trust me, the whole series is worth it.
the last book that made me go wow was metro 2033, but the book(s) that i enjoyed more wwere the belgariad and malorean serieses(seriesi?) by david (and leigh) eddings.
metro because it does creep you out, but you literally can't put it down. i kept saying "when it gets to the start of an eventful bit i'll put it down." 10 chapters later, still reading.
but the belagariad and malorean were just fantastic. always interesting. it had everything. fighting, magic, humour (good humour too) a deep story and lore, and purely awesome characters, Silk was my favourite character.
metro because it does creep you out, but you literally can't put it down. i kept saying "when it gets to the start of an eventful bit i'll put it down." 10 chapters later, still reading.
but the belagariad and malorean were just fantastic. always interesting. it had everything. fighting, magic, humour (good humour too) a deep story and lore, and purely awesome characters, Silk was my favourite character.
The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut was the most recent book that I finished that made me go, ahem, 'WOW', although the book I embarked upon shortly afterwards, the immortal 'Count of Monte Cristo' is equally fantastic.
In recent memory I really enjoyed the Great Gatsby, despite most people who are forced to study it hating it with a passion. I guess it just resonated with me in a funny kind of way. And that last paragraph...
In recent memory I really enjoyed the Great Gatsby, despite most people who are forced to study it hating it with a passion. I guess it just resonated with me in a funny kind of way. And that last paragraph...
Toaster Hunter said:
These guys know what they are talking about. Every single book in The Dresden Files has made me go WOW. Plus it has Bob. I love Bob. It is my absolute favorite series ever. I would pick reading a Dresden book over playing any game any day. The same go's for Butchers other series Codex Alera. Very good seriesdragonswarrior said:
Is it necessary? Maybe not- you could enjoy the story of any of them (before number 12, changes) without having read the rest but you would not understand what half the characters are talking about. But you will want to start from the begining just because they are SOOOOO good. They are between £3 and £5 each off amazon so you could just get one a month.Lionsfan said:
I was reading it at my sisters apartment while babysitting my nephews, but she lost it while moving out so I never got to finish it.
What I read of the book was quite good though! It's a historical fiction set during the 100 year war; the main character is an English bowman.
Mogworld, by Yahtzee. I know someone else has already put that, but it's true. The character's are so funny, and Jim is more or less me. A bit of a selfish dickhead. 
Shadowland by Peter Straub.
It's about Tom and Del, two boys who are aspiring to become stage magicians. Most of the book takes place during their time at a fancy prep school, depicting their day-to-day life while waiting for the summer holiday which they will be spending with Del's uncle - a retired magician himself, eager to train a successor. (Note the singular tense.)
The story really starts to get underway only when they finally arrive at the magician's sprawling but secluded estate on a hill in the middle of a vast, dark forest. This is the titular Shadowland, where nothing is as it seems and nobody can be trusted. Here, seemingly innocuous plot threads from the time at the school start to resurface and merge, slowly weawing everyday situations into nightmares.
However, the most impressive part has to be just how compelling the writing is. I opened the book expecting a horror story, I got a lenghty depiction of a few relatively ordinary months at a prep school (long enough to qualify as a novel in its own right) - and still couldn't stop reading!
And it was totally worth it, too. The whole thing IS a horror story, you just don't notice until you're almost done!
It's about Tom and Del, two boys who are aspiring to become stage magicians. Most of the book takes place during their time at a fancy prep school, depicting their day-to-day life while waiting for the summer holiday which they will be spending with Del's uncle - a retired magician himself, eager to train a successor. (Note the singular tense.)
The story really starts to get underway only when they finally arrive at the magician's sprawling but secluded estate on a hill in the middle of a vast, dark forest. This is the titular Shadowland, where nothing is as it seems and nobody can be trusted. Here, seemingly innocuous plot threads from the time at the school start to resurface and merge, slowly weawing everyday situations into nightmares.
However, the most impressive part has to be just how compelling the writing is. I opened the book expecting a horror story, I got a lenghty depiction of a few relatively ordinary months at a prep school (long enough to qualify as a novel in its own right) - and still couldn't stop reading!
And it was totally worth it, too. The whole thing IS a horror story, you just don't notice until you're almost done!
The theme here seems to be fiction so im going to go out on a limb here but the book i just finished reading is The Real Lincoln. I always knew Lincoln was a dick but this just added a whole lot of evidence. He had declared hiself a dictator and was given almost as much power as Hitler, and completely rewrote the constitution at the end of the war.
Also Hunger Games, yeah that was a good book second and third not so much but still.
Also Hunger Games, yeah that was a good book second and third not so much but still.
