It's The Escapist. Who's probably the most popular guy on this website? Yahtzee. So what should you read? Mogworld, written by Yahtzee. Seriously, one of my favourite books.
Recommend me some books
- Thread starter I Have No Idea
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I never have been much of a reader but there are a select few i was able to get into.
Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.
Vampire Hunter D
First few Harry Potters until i got bored silly and stopped.
I heard a song of fire and ice is amazing but i have yet to get it!
I also had the extreme patience to read the Dragon Age books, never ever read those
Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.
Vampire Hunter D
First few Harry Potters until i got bored silly and stopped.
I heard a song of fire and ice is amazing but i have yet to get it!
I also had the extreme patience to read the Dragon Age books, never ever read those
All the Discworld novels are awesome, but since I´ve been ninja´ed,
I will specifically recommend the City Watch series (within the series.)
They spand almost the entire Discworld "timeline", which means it starts out a bit slapsticky, but gets increasingly mature (and thus funnier) as it progresses.
1. Guards! Guards!
2. Men at Arms
3. Feet of Clay
4. Jingo
5. The Fifth Elephant
6. Nightwatch
7. Thud
8. Snuff
I will specifically recommend the City Watch series (within the series.)
They spand almost the entire Discworld "timeline", which means it starts out a bit slapsticky, but gets increasingly mature (and thus funnier) as it progresses.
1. Guards! Guards!
2. Men at Arms
3. Feet of Clay
4. Jingo
5. The Fifth Elephant
6. Nightwatch
7. Thud
8. Snuff
I know that feeling well. I'd go with the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jon Stroud, I suppose it's not realistic fiction, but it's still a good read. Next I'd say the Republic Commando books by Karen Traviss, which are also great.I Have No Idea said:So here's the deal: it's the summer vacation before my first year in college. I have no job, even after looking and applying for weeks, and I'm bored. So I desperately need something to read. Like, now.
Preferences: no romance novels, please. I'm open to sci-fi, fantasy, and realistic fiction. Plus, I'm a guy, if that sways your choices. Thanks!
A was very pleasantly surprised with Mogworld - definitely recommend it.ParanoidEngineer said:
Hmm some of my favourite books:
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Satirical anti-war novel featuring a guy who randomly time travels.
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Good-looking chap sells his soul to stay young forever.
Catcher in the Rye - J.D Salinger
Following the exploits of douchey American teen in the late 40s/early 50s.
The Hobbit - J.R.R Tolkien
If you don't know what this is about then....why are you here?
One Day - David Nicholls
Drama/comedy following the life of Dex and Em. Amazingly real characters. Unputdownable.
American Psycho - Brett Easton Ellis
Dark comedy thriller about a psychopath.
Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
A dystopian future ruled by the ever-watchful eye of Big Brother.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
Semi-autobiographical fact-fiction about Thompson's drug fueled trip to Vegas.
The Black Magician Trilogy - Trudi Canavan
I'm not usually a huge fan of fantasy books, but I thought that these were incredible. Set in a vivid world with believable characters, follows a young girl as she trains to become a magician. I liked these books before they were cool...
It's funny that you mention the Bartimaeus trilogy, because I'm actually trying to get my hands on the third book after re-reading the series because I first read it in, like, 6th grade.JaceArveduin said:I know that feeling well. I'd go with the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jon Stroud, I suppose it's not realistic fiction, but it's still a good read. Next I'd say the Republic Commando books by Karen Traviss, which are also great.I Have No Idea said:So here's the deal: it's the summer vacation before my first year in college. I have no job, even after looking and applying for weeks, and I'm bored. So I desperately need something to read. Like, now.
Preferences: no romance novels, please. I'm open to sci-fi, fantasy, and realistic fiction. Plus, I'm a guy, if that sways your choices. Thanks!
Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. A man goes into town, finds it to be irredeemably corrupt, and takes matters into his own hand. It also inspired two of the most badass movies ever (Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars)
I'm just gonna go ahead with recommending, as always, The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. It's a trilogy about Necromancy and the undead. The books are Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. I cannot recommend these books enough, any fantasy fan should read these because they are incredible. I'll write down what's on the back of the first book, Sabriel
'Sabriel is the daughter of the Mage Abhorsen. Ever since she was a tiny child, she has lived outside the Wall of the Old Kingdom - far away from the uncontrolled power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead.
But now her father is missing and Sabriel is called upon to cross back into that world to find him. Leaving the safety of the school she has known as home, Sabriel embarks upon a quest fraught with supernatural dangers, with companions she is unsure of - for nothing is as it seems within the boundary of the Old Kingdom. There she confronts and evil that threatens much more than her life, and comes face to face with her hidden destiny...'
I'd say the first book is more of an introduction to the world and the different factions and lore, because the 2nd and 3rd books flash forward a good few years after the events of the first and shift focus to a new character (Lirael) who faces a new threat and much more powerful enemies. But the first one is still probably my favourite of the series, and the antagonist in that is still pretty badass.
The characters are amazing, it's fast paced, has drama, vivid description and humour. Amazing books and as I said earlier, I cannot recommend them enough. Best books I have ever read. They even have some praise from Phillip Pullman, who has some pretty good books himself. He had this to say about the first one "Sabriel is a winner, a fantasy that reads like realism. I congratulate Garth Nix."
Oh and I'll recommend Mogworld also, because that's really good as well. I was really surprised by it, I knew it was going to be funny, but it does also have great characters and a really good and clever story.
'Sabriel is the daughter of the Mage Abhorsen. Ever since she was a tiny child, she has lived outside the Wall of the Old Kingdom - far away from the uncontrolled power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead.
But now her father is missing and Sabriel is called upon to cross back into that world to find him. Leaving the safety of the school she has known as home, Sabriel embarks upon a quest fraught with supernatural dangers, with companions she is unsure of - for nothing is as it seems within the boundary of the Old Kingdom. There she confronts and evil that threatens much more than her life, and comes face to face with her hidden destiny...'
I'd say the first book is more of an introduction to the world and the different factions and lore, because the 2nd and 3rd books flash forward a good few years after the events of the first and shift focus to a new character (Lirael) who faces a new threat and much more powerful enemies. But the first one is still probably my favourite of the series, and the antagonist in that is still pretty badass.
The characters are amazing, it's fast paced, has drama, vivid description and humour. Amazing books and as I said earlier, I cannot recommend them enough. Best books I have ever read. They even have some praise from Phillip Pullman, who has some pretty good books himself. He had this to say about the first one "Sabriel is a winner, a fantasy that reads like realism. I congratulate Garth Nix."
Oh and I'll recommend Mogworld also, because that's really good as well. I was really surprised by it, I knew it was going to be funny, but it does also have great characters and a really good and clever story.
Scott Westerfeld's alternative history fiction series is fantastic! Give 'em a try.
They're called Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath. They're set in an alternative 1914, where Europe is divided between the Clankers, the central powers which put their faith in advanced machines and battle walkers, and the Darwinists, who have discovered genetical manipulation and thus breed living creatures to fill the same role. Well worth checking out, even more if that particular era interests you.
I also saw George Orwell up there. While 1984 is certainly Orwell's most famous work, he wrote a few other books well worth picking up.
Down and Out in Paris and London. Orwell detailing the life on the bottom of society in, well... Paris and London.
Homage to Catalonia, about his observations and experiences in the Spanish civil war.
Coming up for Air, a really nice story about an unhappy middle-class middle-aged man trying to get a glimpse of his childhood back.
Another timeless work well worth reading; Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome.
It's a comedy from the 1880's, about three men on a boating vacation on the Thames, with rude steamers, unhelpful towing lines, a half-feral canine companion and quarrelsome swans. It's great fun, much better than it sound.
"I forget the other ingredients, but I know nothing was wasted; and I remember that, towards the end, Montmorency, who had evinced great interest in the proceedings throughout, strolled away with an earnest and thoughtful air, reappearing, a few minutes afterwards, with a dead water-rat in his mouth, which he evidently wished to present as his contribution to the dinner; whether in a sarcastic spirit, or with a genuine desire to assist, I cannot say."
Oh, and I'll nominate my favourite book, while I'm at it. Robert Westall's Blitzcat.
The title sums it up fairly nicely. It's a cat trying to find her human during the Blitz, and somehow improves the lives of all the people she crosses path with. It's a fantastic story if you like cats at all, and still a good story if you don't give a toss about cats but like a good story.
You could be doing alot worse than checking out Robert Westall's books in general, come to think of it. He's awesome!
Last Edit, I Promise: Michail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita is a fantastic book as well. In short; the Devil visits Stalin-era Moskva, with all the confusion and mayhem that implies. It can be a bit of a brainbreaker at times, but it's well worth your time.
They're called Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath. They're set in an alternative 1914, where Europe is divided between the Clankers, the central powers which put their faith in advanced machines and battle walkers, and the Darwinists, who have discovered genetical manipulation and thus breed living creatures to fill the same role. Well worth checking out, even more if that particular era interests you.
I also saw George Orwell up there. While 1984 is certainly Orwell's most famous work, he wrote a few other books well worth picking up.
Down and Out in Paris and London. Orwell detailing the life on the bottom of society in, well... Paris and London.
Homage to Catalonia, about his observations and experiences in the Spanish civil war.
Coming up for Air, a really nice story about an unhappy middle-class middle-aged man trying to get a glimpse of his childhood back.
Another timeless work well worth reading; Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome.
It's a comedy from the 1880's, about three men on a boating vacation on the Thames, with rude steamers, unhelpful towing lines, a half-feral canine companion and quarrelsome swans. It's great fun, much better than it sound.
"I forget the other ingredients, but I know nothing was wasted; and I remember that, towards the end, Montmorency, who had evinced great interest in the proceedings throughout, strolled away with an earnest and thoughtful air, reappearing, a few minutes afterwards, with a dead water-rat in his mouth, which he evidently wished to present as his contribution to the dinner; whether in a sarcastic spirit, or with a genuine desire to assist, I cannot say."
Oh, and I'll nominate my favourite book, while I'm at it. Robert Westall's Blitzcat.
The title sums it up fairly nicely. It's a cat trying to find her human during the Blitz, and somehow improves the lives of all the people she crosses path with. It's a fantastic story if you like cats at all, and still a good story if you don't give a toss about cats but like a good story.
You could be doing alot worse than checking out Robert Westall's books in general, come to think of it. He's awesome!
Last Edit, I Promise: Michail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita is a fantastic book as well. In short; the Devil visits Stalin-era Moskva, with all the confusion and mayhem that implies. It can be a bit of a brainbreaker at times, but it's well worth your time.
If you like adventure stories, I' recommend my favorite novel, "Brave Story" by Miyabe Miyuki (name in japanese order). If you don't mind philosophy, I recommend "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (sometimes known as Thus Spoke Zarathustra) by Frederich Nietzsche (specifically the Penguin Books version) and "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi (again, in japanese order).
The Darkblade series by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee. A Warhammer Fantasy based work (though you don't really need to know much about Warhammer to understand some of the concepts). Consists of five novels about a most despicable main character (whom I had grown surprisingly fond of by the end of the series) who seeks to save his soul by collecting five talismans of power.
Eclpsedragon said:
Ninja'ed already. The Night Angel Trillogy is unbelivebly good if a bit depressing at times due to good characters being screwed over/killed off but it is still awersome.DoPo said:
The Dresden files is by far my favorite series and I can convince you with one example. In one book Harry Dresden rides a zombie T-rex through the streets of chicargo. Yes.
Also Codex Alera by the auther of The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher, is also very good. A world inhabited by a roman like civilisation who can also control the elements. Has battles that make The Lord of the Rings seem small.
And final The Nightside series and secret histories series by Simon.R.Green. The Nightside is about a man called John Taylor, who lives in a place called the nightside, which is connected to london but stuff from the past, possible futures and space ends up. All kinds of crazy stuff from space aliens to blood thirsty elves.
The Secret histories (set in the same universe as Nightside, and has some character crossovers), follows Eddie Drood, a member of the drood family who secretly protect the world from all the bad stuff that would screw it over, using indestructible golden armor that makes them super strong and super quick but are not all that nice themselves. To quote eddie 'our job is to protect humanity, nobody ever said they would like us for it'.
Give the Flashman Chronicles by Georgia MacDonald Fraser a go perhaps.
It's historical fiction/ comedy, based around a Victorian British army officer, who is a coward, a drunk, a rapist, a gambler, a ladies man, a bully and utterly useless at his job, but unwittingly manages to find himself in situations around the Empire that collide with historical events and battles and place him at the center of them, as the unintended hero.
They never take themselves seriously, and are a pretty easy light heated read, but at the same time hard to put down and well researched and accurate for the most part.
They also have brilliant covers:
It's historical fiction/ comedy, based around a Victorian British army officer, who is a coward, a drunk, a rapist, a gambler, a ladies man, a bully and utterly useless at his job, but unwittingly manages to find himself in situations around the Empire that collide with historical events and battles and place him at the center of them, as the unintended hero.
They never take themselves seriously, and are a pretty easy light heated read, but at the same time hard to put down and well researched and accurate for the most part.
They also have brilliant covers:
World War Z. It's a great book. Sure its got zombies, and theres that whole appeal, but its got an astounding sense of realism to it and theories about how prepared humanity would be to handle such an event. Definitely pick it up.
Any Douglas Adams book, especially The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers.
Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers.
Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
I enjoyed Bright's Passage by Josh Ritter.
It's a book about a man named Henry Bright who has just come home from the first world war to West Virginia, when his wife dies in childbirth. There's an angel (who is also a horse) and some other things that make it seem a bit strange, but it truly is a joy to read.
I wouldn't read too many "reviews" though, some of them have ridiculous spoilers.
Essentially, it's a very powerful piece which is one of the best I've read in a long time, full of descriptive language (but not to the boring Tolkien-esque style of describing every footstep). It flickers between West Virginia, the trenches in France, and his young life in a superb way.
Gah, JUST BUY THE BOOK
It's a book about a man named Henry Bright who has just come home from the first world war to West Virginia, when his wife dies in childbirth. There's an angel (who is also a horse) and some other things that make it seem a bit strange, but it truly is a joy to read.
I wouldn't read too many "reviews" though, some of them have ridiculous spoilers.
Essentially, it's a very powerful piece which is one of the best I've read in a long time, full of descriptive language (but not to the boring Tolkien-esque style of describing every footstep). It flickers between West Virginia, the trenches in France, and his young life in a superb way.
Gah, JUST BUY THE BOOK