Books!!

[CrazyDave DC]

I would say The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I assume that you and every living, breathing creature out there has read it already because it is the best series on God's green Earth, ha ha.

Seriously though, Tolkien is, hands-down, my absolute favourite; basically, everyone else is competing for second-place. Also, don't stop at The Lord of the Rings. It's probably better to start out with The Hobbit, given that it's a prequel to the events in The Lord of the Rings. You'll also want to read Unfinished Tales and The Silmarillion, the latter being my favourite book ever (it is the epitome of his creative genius; a philosophical masterpiece that is the benchmark for all fantasy works thereafter).

As other people have pointed out, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm are always great choices. As are Brave New World or Island by Aldous Huxley. Pretty much anything from the dystopian genre makes for a solid read, but maybe that's because I revel in messed-up societies and enjoy the fact that a book has the power to give me goosebumps or make my hair stand on end.

If you want to be depressed for the rest of your life, check out John Steinbeck for The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. Ummm... anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald, C.S. Lewis, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Ray Bradbury (obviously there are more, but you get the idea).

 

[Sagacious Zhu]

>His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass): Phillip Pullman.
>American Gods: Neil Gaiman
>The Dresden Files: Jim Butcher

 

[Trippy Turtle]

The first book in The Hunger Games series trilogy.
The immortal prince by Jennifer Fallon. Probably got her name wrong.
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief was pretty good too.
Rangers Apprentice was awesome.

 

[Eggbert]

Not much to add.
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera is completed, I recommend it.
Mark Z. Danielewski's House Of Leaves is a masterpiece, well beyond pretty much anything.
Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is outrageously good, if extremely long.

In addition, I'm gonna second:
Butcher's Dresden Files. Some excellent world building there, not to mention outrageous concentrations of awesome.
George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, because it is excellent.

Aaaand that's about it for now.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Well, I guess I'll just list some of my favourites.

Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss.
Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks.
Anything by Terry Pratchet, but particularly Making Money.
Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld.
Cities in Flight by James Blish.
Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison.
Deathworld by Harry Harrison.

Those are all that I can think of at the moment.

 

[Shakomaru]

There's this series called AVATARS by Tui T. Sutherland. They're pretty good. Discworld's already been said... If you want something that's on the internet, can I suggest Homestuck?

 

[g_hughes]

You could try The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. Incredibly interesting fantasy series, I'd recommend starting with Beyond the Deepwoods, as it sets down a lot of the background. But then dive into either of the other two trilogies =D

 

[TimeLord]

Horus Heresy series.
I'm on book 9 at the moment and they are brilliant! A must if you are a Warhammer 40k fan!

 

[Azahul]

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. I adore this book (and the sequels, The Bloody Red Baron is my favourite). They're set in a world where Dracula won and took over England in about 1885, turning Queen Elizabeth and about a third of England's population into vampires. Three years later, 1888, Jack the Ripper starts stalking the streets of Whitechapel and murdering vampire prostitutes. Brilliant books, I recommend them every time I see a topic like this.

Discworld by Terry Pratchett's already mentioned, so I'll add that. Oh, and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series. If you like Eragon so much, you may as well read one of the series it stole ideas from...

 

[Pegghead]

Check out Stephen King, more specifically Dark Tower.

He has some great books out, but ya gotta read Dark Tower (especially if you enjoy books like Harry Potter and Eragon). I'd google it for ya, but considering I'm only up to the 5th book (out of 7) I don't want to inadvertently spoil something, so I'll give you the basic setup (as all seven books basically tell one big, long story).

So, the story is centred around The Gunslinger, the last of his kind, on his ongoing goal of reaching the Dark Tower, a sort of all-powerful centre of all forces in his world. As for what his world is, it's a place where "the world has moved on". The society that birthed the gunslinger has basically collapsed, time and reality itself are thinning out and the landscape is dotted by everything from doors between worlds and barely-functioning robots to spirits and magic. There's nothing else like it and they are just...fantastic reads. Hell, the internet seems to love dark tower (I've seen people here cite The Gunslinger as their favourite character of all time, there are threads damn near every week on 4chan where people share their favourite Dark Tower wallpapers).

 

[dimensional]

I usually read sci-fi or fantasy but two of the best written books I have read are

Memoirs of a Geisha - by Arthur Golden. I put off reading this book for years when someone bought it me for christmas but once I started it is just so beautifully written that it draws you in.

The other one would be one I have read recently (on recommendation) called

Life of Pi - by Yann Martel. Again not really my thing but its a fun read and well written I think both of these are worth checking out regardless of usual tastes in reading material.

 

[Ultress]

Stardust by Neil Gaiman, a love letter to the medieval fantasy genre, hell just read anything GAiman has written, you usually can't go wrong.

Just looked it up and it does indeed look quite intresting i will have a look at my library tomorrow, thanks for the suggestion! I take it as you posted on this thread that you like to read books? If so mind if i befriend you and pm you sometime to discuss certain books? (only one of my friends reads so i don't get to talk books that often)

I don't mind, but do realize I read more manga then books now a days but I may pick up reading more books for the sake of discussion.

 

[Erja_Perttu]

I think I've been ninjad by just about everyone with regards to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, but I recently got through a book called John Dies at the End by David Wong.

John Dies at the End is like a supernatural Monty Python sketch - funny, satirical and utterly bizarre in every respect. It's bloody brilliant.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

The Knife of Never Letting Go is amazing.

 

[DionysusSnoopy]

Second any of Gaimans books (Neverwhere in particular) and Pratchetts Discworld series also try Good Omens (Gaimen and Pratchett together)
The Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding if you would like some sci-fi (they are Firefly-esque)

 

[Sovvolf]

I would say The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I assume that you and every living, breathing creature out there has read it already because it is the best series on God's green Earth, ha ha.

I haven't, I've watched the movies though extensively and seen all the behind the scenes stuff so I know the history of the books. Just, I've never been able to just sit down and read them, I get about a chapter or two in and get bored of it.

While this does come in book form, its more like an extremely long poem than a traditional story.

That's cause it was written as a poem.

I know...

If Medieval interests you at all, give Bernard Cornwell a go. A lot of his books are based on historical events, and then he places a fictional character in that event to tell the story. The Grail Quest trilogy and The Saxon Saga are both incredible.

I prefer the Sharpe series, I think that's a must read. Though I guess I'm a little bias cause I watched the T.V series(Well, its more like a series of T.V movies but still...) before reading the books and I loved the series.

Also recommend the T.V series, you'd be amazed how many current English actors had small early career roles in that series.

 

[CrazyJew]

Good Omens
Good Omens
Good Omens
Good Omens
Good Omens

And anything by Terry Pratchett, the Discworld series is brilliant.

 

[Sonicron]

Terry Pratchett. His Discworld novels are some of the best fantasy I have ever read. They're funny, clever and intense all at the same time.
Also, Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I have read this book three times and it never gets old.

Seconded. Especially Good Omens is an exceptionally entertaining piece of literature, and this comes from a die-hard science-fiction buff.

Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld.

Awww, and here I thought I'd be the first person to suggest this.
Also very much seconded. Ever wondered what World War 1 might look like in a steampunk setting? Look no further. Trilogy is comprised of the novels (in order) Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath.

 

[Me55enger]

Shades children - Garth Nix. One of my best childhood books. got it free before it became popular enough to be published.

Niel Gaiman is a good step up.

Will Self is a good step up from Gaiman.

oh, and Sir Terry Pratchett.

 

[dvd_72]

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson is a good one to try. Then move onto his other books, which are also quite enjoyable

I must also reccomend my favorite author and favorit books of all time: The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. Totally awesome