What's the most awesomest book you've ever read?

[Fox12]

Lord of the Flies. Greatest piece of fiction I've ever read. The prose are fantastic, and the examination of human darkness is amazing. It's the single greatest book about good vs. evil ever produced, with one of the most heroic and tragic final acts I've read. Seeing a small group of devoted, but beaten, friends prepare to face off against hopeless odds in an appeal to reason in front of madness... brilliant. It was the only piece of fiction that ever terrified me.

 

[Ryan Hughes]

Well, perhaps 'We' by Yvgeny Zamyatin. Really, you know a book is awesome when it get banned by both the Czarists and eventually the Communists. Written in 1914, it was the first of the great dystopian novels.

 

[Cowabungaa]

When you mean awesome in its most literal way I'm going for Dead Beat, the seventh Dresden Files novel. Why? It has Dresden's Crowning Moment of Awesome, amongst other awesomeness, which was this:

Spoiler: Spoilered for people who haven't read it yet.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Oooh! I can share something with you and on top of that, nobody has mentioned it yet. To be fair it's not a very well known book to begin with.

But for me the book is special because there's a little story behind it. It was years back around 2002 - the date when the book was actually published - when me and my father were sitting at home watching TV and our favorite german comedian (Jürgen von der Lippe) had a special late night show, where he invited other guests and they each read some passages out of books they liked.

And so he read from this book and we both laughed until our sides hurt and our eyes were teary. But we couldn't remember the name of the book! 5 Years later i walk through a book store while gettin' a christmas present, with me a good friend of mine to whom i once (and only once, 2-3 years before) mentioned said book. While i was browsing the shelfs she suddenly says: "Hey, isn't that the book you were looking for?"
At first i was confused, because i didn't even get what she meant, but she was right, there it was:

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

It's about Biff. He has been resurrected in the present day to complete missing parts of the Bible, under the supposed watchful eye of the angel Raziel, who seems more interested in soap operas and Spider-man on the television in their hotel. Biff is made to write his account of the decades missing from Jesus' life. During these years he and Joshua travel Eastward to seek out the Three Wise Men (a magician, a Buddhist, and a Hindu Yogi) who attended Joshua's birth, so that Joshua may learn how to become the Messiah.

I have never ever laughed as much in my life as while reading this book. I can only recommend it to anyone who likes lighthearted & comedic books. Good god.. i've to read it again.

PS: Another really good read is the "John Cleaver Trilogy"
I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Monster and I Don't Want To Kill You.
It's about a 15 year old sociopath, living with his mother, who runs the local morgue. He fears that he is "fated" to become a serial killer due to being plagued by constant homicidal urges, and so lives by a set of rules designed to keep his violent impulses in check. His careful regime of self-denial is threatened when he becomes ensnared in a serial killer case in which he senses a connection with the killer.`

 

[Sight Unseen]

A Song of Ice and Fire. All of it. I need more!

Also Honorable mention goes to "Mercy Among the Children", a really good Canadian book that probably nobody's ever heard of but was really really awesome and sad. Other than ASOIAF, mercy is the only book I can remember that made me get so emotionally invested in a character's wellbeing and then ruthlessly put them through the worst shit imaginable. In a good way.

Lord of the Flies. Greatest piece of fiction I've ever read. The prose are fantastic, and the examination of human darkness is amazing. It's the single greatest book about good vs. evil ever produced, with one of the most heroic and tragic final acts I've read. Seeing a small group of devoted, but beaten, friends prepare to face off against hopeless odds in an appeal to reason in front of madness... brilliant. It was the only piece of fiction that ever terrified me.

This was a decent book that I had to read in highschool. It was pretty good I guess, but the deus ex machina ending really really pissed me off.

Slaughterhouse Five (Kurt Vonnegut);
Northern Lights (Phillip Pullman);
The Shining (Stephen King);
A Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin. Favourite being A Clash of Kings);
Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling. Favourites being Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix);
The Sandman (Neil Gaiman. Favourites being the first two volumes);
Foundation/ Foundation and Empire/ Second Foundation (Isaac Asimov).


The best written book I've ever encountered is Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake. Unfortunately, I didn't finish it, because I had several other books on the go at the same time, but I'll restart it and get it read.

Wait, wait hold up. A Clash of Kings was your favorite? I thought it was nearly universally believed that A Storm of Swords was the best of the series. If you don't mind me asking, what do you like about Clash so much to make it your favorite?

 

[RedDeadFred]

A Storm of Swords from ASoIaF is probably my favourite. So much happens in this books that completely changes the direction in which you think the series might go.

I loved The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's fear by Patrick Rothfuss. I know the main character is by the end of the second book fucking amazing at everything and has very few weaknesses or flaws but I still love it.

One of my friends has been ranting about how much he likes this The Name of the Wind. It sounds very interesting. I'm borrowing his copy once he's done reading it.

 

[Rooster893]

I'm quite fond of Martin the Warrior. A story about anthropomorphic mice going to war with tyrannical anthropomorphic stoats happens to be one of the most epic stories I've ever read. The Redwall series also happens to be my favorite book series.

I just finished The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl and it's probably one of the best books I've ever read. I've got to pick up the sequel...

 

[Bobic]

Oooh! I can share something with you and on top of that, nobody has mentioned it yet. To be fair it's not a very well known book to begin with.


Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal


PS: Another really good read is the "John Cleaver Trilogy"
I Am Not a Serial Killer

Well, that's two more books added to the amazon wishlist. Thanks Dude.

Uh. . . That might count as low content.

So. Lord of light, you people love sci fi right, well get here's my favourite of the genre. There's this planet, which has been colonised by humans, but, some of the original colonisers have, via super advanced technology, taken on the identities of Hindu gods, and keep the rest of the population in a permanent state of low tech, worshipping them. Unfortunately for them, another of the originals sees problems with this state of affairs, and, taking on the role of the Buddha, seeks to overthrow them.

It's every bit as epic as it sounds. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Fans of the Song of Ice and Fire series may be interested to know that George R. R. Martin considers it one of the top 5 best sci-fi novels ever. Says so right on the cover.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lord-Light-MASTERWORKS-Roger-Zelazny/dp/0575094214/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379540641&sr=1-1&keywords=lord+of+light

 

[Hambers]

For a long time my favourite was World War Z and I think it still has that top spot. Enough people have said it already I probably don't need to extoll its virtues here.

Challenging for that top spot is The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It has two great hooks that set up a very human and engaging story. First, mankind's best and brightest are sent light years from home as cannon fodder to fight an alien race no human has ever seen in the flesh. Second, time dilation from traveling huge distances at near light speed means these soldiers experience time far slower than those at home. After 2 years service they come home to find the world has moved on 10 years. There families, friends, culture, laws, everything has changed. They fight on alien worlds and come back to an Earth they can't call home. And still they have to fight on. How does that change people?

One pretty cool series I can never find any discussion about is The Afterblight Chronicles. Its like a dozen books at this point and I'll be damned if I can find someone to tell me if my pet theory is blindingly obvious or if I'm barking up the wrong tree. Maybe some day.

 

[Valkrex]

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.

This is basically the complete history of the elves and gods in Middle Earth, starting form the creation of the world, up to and beyond the rings books. The stories are amazing, there are so many great characters, and I really can't put into words how much I love this book. I laughed, I cried, I shouted in victory, sat in awe, wept in despair, and experienced every emotion that words are capable of producing.

If you are even REMOTELY interested in fantasy or The Lord of the Rings, check it out.

 

[Ticklefist]

With a few exceptons, anything by Douglas Adams or Elmore Leonard. Make me pick just one I'll go with Hitchhiker's Guide.

 

[A BigCup of Tea]

My favourite book is hard to pick, haha.
But the most intense reading experience I've had was when I bought World War Z by Max Brooks, and started reading... it eventually devolved into an all night, energy drink fueled binge that kind of shook my sanity. I finished reading at the crack of dawn, and had no time for sleep.
Fucked up day after that, but fun!

it was good especially the part with the air craft pilot and the part with the Japanese kid...oh also the blind dude i thought the way he managed to adapt his senses was brilliant

my favorite book/series is probably the rats/lair/domain by James Herbert, there is a fourth in the series called the city but i can't really justify spending £70+ on a book maybe £30-£40 so if anyone can find it for that much i will give you a dozen cookies!!

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

There are no words to describe how much I love, love, love that book. I die laughing every time I reread it.

"Jew-do." -snort-

In the same vein of ridiculously awesome, slightly sacrilegious books, there's also Good Omens. I mean... written in a collaboration between Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. What's not to love?

Really, though, making me choose any sort of "favorite book" is a lost cause. I'm an English major. I have about 500 favorite books.

 

[Abomination]

Sir Terry Pratchett's "Night Watch".

I'm not even a fan of time travel but THIS really made me think and actually managed to handle the paradox in a really unique way.

Not to mention it was all about Vimes, the Clint Eastwood of the Discworld.

 

[gyroscopeboy]

I've just finished "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson couple of days ago. To quote tvtropes:

Possibly the best-known book by Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash is the tale of a sword-slinging hacker who teams up with an extreme skateboarder in a Post Cyber Punk disincorporated USA to fight "Snow Crash" - a computer virus for the brain. Oh, and there's a badass biker with glass knives and a nuclear bomb strapped to his motorbike, too.

Apart from its frenetic action sequences and overt use of the Rule Of Cool, the book is surprisingly deep, with a substantial portion of the plot given over to exploring metaphysical interpretations of the Tower of Babel myth. Typical for a Stephenson novel, the plot juxtaposes action sequences, lengthy humorous digressions, and extremely detailed Infodumps seemingly at random. The book is also notable for its uncanny prediction of future internet trends. While holographic web terminals have not yet come to pass, we do have heavily populated 3D virtual worlds, satellite photograph software, and a massive user-created online library, and certain real world equivalents (Second Life, Google Earth) having been inspired by the book itself.

Book (released in 1992) also mentions goggles surprisingly similar to certain Oculus Rift thingie...

That's probably my all-time favourite book.

Neuromancer by William Gibson is a close 2nd.

 

[darkcalling]

I read so much that you'd think it would be hard to pick just ONE book. Actually it's really easy for me though I am cheating a little as it's a trilogy that I read in the form of one big "Collector's Edition" book.

The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (originally published as Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night and Dragons of Spring Dawning)

When I read it at the age of 13 it was the first time that a fictional world felt like a real place. The characters felt like real people.

For those who've never read it, the book tells the story of a group of 9 friends and how they get caught up in a war against the Goddess of Evil, Tahkisis and how the war both pulls them apart and brings them closer than ever before.

It was also the first time I can remember a book making me cry.

Spoiler

Flint's death. He didn't die on the battlefield or due to any enemy intervention. His heart just couldn't take it anymore. After a lifetime of adventure and fighting to survive, the old hill dwarf died of old age at Godshome. I teared up and couldn't go on with the book for two days after that.

 

[Gauntlets28]

Even though it's a fairly laid-back sort of awesome, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke was an incredibly awesome book. There was a battle between two master wizards in Georgian England, using amusingly roundabout ways so as to keep within the law, one of the magicians managing to move an entire city to South America to confuse the Napoleonic French troops, an evil fairy trying to kidnap King George III and the subsequent defeat of said fairy by a fairly underappreciated manservant who then inherits an entire magical kingdom. That's before we even get to the fact that the ENTIRE, stupendously intricate plot was arranged roughly 300 years in advance by a man known as "The Raven King".
(It's an alternate history, if you hadn't noticed!).

 

[Mr_Universal]

Simple, Guards Guards by Terry Pratchett...or Thud...or Mort...or maybe..... Damnit it´s impossible!

 

[Blitsie]

Definitely The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Its absolutely bugnuts and I love every bit of it for being so.