The Book Zone

[Sweetcurse]

I love reading books...but there's one problem: There are more books than I have time to explore! So, I would like to hear some recommendations on good books you've read, recently or not. Recommendations is the best way to expand one's literary horizons.

[jaques]

Good luck finding most of these, but they're well worth looking for:

Iain M. Banks - Consider Phlebas: a great book in general, and contains a 70- or 80-page section that's about the most incredible piece of straight sci-fi action I've ever read.

Jack Vance - The Eyes of the Overworld: possibly the cleverest book about the most scurrilous protagonist in all of Fantasy.

Michael Shea - Nifft the Lean: World Fantasy Award Winner that includes the spectacular novella "The Fishing of the Demon Sea." Rippingly entertaining, hilarious and terrifying all at once.

Alex Robinson - Box Office Poison: A slice-of-life graphic novel that should not be missed by any true fan of both comic books and Star Wars.

Kim Stanley Robinson - Escape From Katmandu: A riotous book of wacky adventures set in the Himalayas and so terrifically written that you actually feel like you know what it's like to be there. If you like most of Kim Stanley Robinson's books, you may find this one a bit silly. If you read this one and love it, you'll probably find most of his other stuff a bit boring and/or depressing.

Lucius Sheppard - The Golden: Okay, this one's not for the faint-hearted. It has sentences that go on for half a page and paragraphs that are longer than some books' chapters. But if you like good prose and want to read an extraordinarily different vampire novel, check this one out.

[LordCharos]

well there are like no books i like to read. The only ones ive ever gotten into is the harry potter series so i would suggest those if u havent read them yet

[Fallen Templar]

I Am Legend- One of the most influential vampire novels of the 20th century, I Am Legend regularly appears on the "10 Best" lists of numerous critical studies of the horror genre. As Richard Matheson's third novel, it was first marketed as science fiction (for although written in 1954, the story takes place in a future 1976). A terrible plague has decimated the world, and those who were unfortunate enough to survive have been transformed into blood-thirsty creatures of the night. Except, that is, for Robert Neville. He alone appears to be immune to this disease, but the grim irony is that now he is the outsider. He is the legendary monster who must be destroyed because he is different from everyone else. Employing a stark, almost documentary style, Richard Matheson was one of the first writers to convince us that the undead can lurk in a local supermarket freezer as well as a remote Gothic castle. His influence on a generation of bestselling authors--including Stephen King and Dean Koontz--who first read him in their youth is, well, legendary

[Hahma]

Well of course the series A Song Of Fire And Ice by George R. R. Martin has to be mentioned. I just finished the fourth book, A Feast For Crows, and am anxiously awaitng the next one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire

Another fantasy author I enjoy is Raymond Feist

I loved the Riftwar and Serpentwar series'

http://www.raymondfeistbooks.com/booklist.htm


For the best military/history author around,
The Corps series by W. E. B. Griffin is one of my all time favorites.

http://www.webgriffin.com/corp.html


For horror/mystery I really enjoyed the works of John Farris.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/john-farris/

I've read these and really enjoyed them:

Son Of The Endless Night
Nightfall
Wildwood
Sacrifice
Dragonfly
Catacombs
Minatour

[DingoDarkly]

I used to be a book worm when i was younger but since working i haven't found the time to get into anything. I am going to be getting The Children of Hurin by Jrr Tolkien (& co) for my birthday and will see how that goes.

[Chimpy]

What genre are you looking for?

[netherspirit]

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Read this thread to hear more testimony about The Dresden Files as well as Butcher's other fantasy series.
http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=5297

[Sweetcurse]

Thanks for all the response. Please, keep it coming. Sadly, I'm in the middle of moving so all my books are packed away or else i would post a list of my recent reads. As far as genre goes, I like everything, I have quite the eclectic collection to say the least. I'll read fantasy as easy as biographies, history books, fiction, Christian fiction, oriental philosophies, sci-fi, graphic novels (walking dead is great), comic books, manga, just about anything good really. By good I mean different, fresh, original, things that surprise me, I'm a bit jaded perhaps. That's why I enjoyed Game of Thrones, it was very different.

I will often find an author and follow it for a little while till I get bored. I'm like a literary leech. I consumed everything Gaiman for a while. I'm like a literature sheep too, he he, I will try almost anything I see recommended...that seems interesting though, I won't read Oprah's book club stuff, . Heck, I take recommendations from almost anywhere I can find them really. Recently, I picked up a book series Stephen King recommended (by Meg Gardiner), and I have never even read a King novel! Heresy I know. Though out of the popular ones I have read some Crichton. It's weird, but when an author is super popular, I just can't bring myself to read him/her. Well, I have read a little Lovecraft, but never anything like Tom Clancy and the like. Maybe they are good, I just need a good recommendation and then maybe I'll feel compelled.

About the only thing I won't read is cheap romance.

[DingoDarkly]

My mind has gotten lazy from watching too much tv over the years but i'd love to get into a good mystery book.

[Chimpy]

Here are the first two things that pop into my head:

The Last King

This is the best piece of historical fiction I have ever read. Written by Michael Curtis Ford, it follows Mithridates Eupator IV of Pontus from the view of his bastard son. It gives you unparalleled descriptions of ancient battle tactics and an accurate portrayal of life in the classical period. In addition to this great sense of realism, Ford is able to keep you intrigued with court politics and the broodings of this last great king.


His Magesty's Dragon

This is one book that stands above almost every other fantasy book on the market. In this book a brilliant concept is formed. A parallel Earth; one with the exact same history as ours, with one exception: the dragons. Naomi Novik paints quite a picture with this one idea. Set in Napoleonic times, we watch as British man-o-wars and French galleons fight beneath great dueling dragons and their crews. Written in the style of a period piece, it gives an authentic feel of 17th Century Britain while weaving the tales of dragons and their captains into the story. A clever, daring tale, His Majesty’s Dragon will pick you up and not put you back down.