I really need to read Horatio Hornblower, now that I think of it. Are you familiar with the Honor Harrington series by David Weber? It's been described, by the author himself at times, as 'Horatio Hornblower in space'. Lots of space-politics, naval conflicts and interesting characters as you follow Honor Harrington up through the ranks (I believe she was a Commander in the first book. But short stories show her at lower ranks). The naval combat itself is a lot more interesting than the WWII in space, visual-range laser-fights you see a lot in star wars, star trek and the like too.Ziame said:
Favourite Book series?
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The Rain Wild Chronicles. It's currently three books, with a fourth coming. I'll put a short summary in spoilers, since it requires knowledge of events from the other books.Rascarin said:
So you remember Maulkin and the other serpents who had been wandering the ocean forever before they were able to transform, and how they were all born as weak, half-formed dragons? Well after mating with Icefyre Tintaglia kinda stopped caring about those guys, making them the Rain Wilders' problem. And the Wilders decided to get rid of the dragons--and some teenagers who had been strongly Touched by the Wilds--by sending them upriver in search of the Elderling city of Kelsingra. Malta and Reyn have a bit of a role that gets bigger in book 3, and will probably be substantial in book 4 (and can I just say that Malta is awesome? Because she is. So. Much. Awesome.)
Ah, Malta. I remember wanting to wring her neck at first, then thinking she was brilliant by the end of the Liveships. Hobb did an amazing job with her character development.BrassButtons said:
Another favourite is the whole Amber/Fool thing. I only wish I'd read Liveships before the Tawny Man series so it could have been an even better surprise...
I'll definitely have to save up some money so I can get the Rain Wild chronicles.
Science Fiction:
The Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars); by Kim Stanley Robinson
Fantasy:
The Empire Trilogy (Daughter/Servant/Mistress of the Empire); by Janny Wurts & Raymond E Feist
For Shits And Giggles:
The Sorcery! Epic (The Shamutanti Hills, Khare:Cityport of Traps, The Seven Serpents, The Crown of Kings), by Steve Jackson
OK, the Sorcery! Epic is a gamebook series but by Thor's thunderous bottom burps I wouldn't have gotten interested in fantasy - or possibly even fiction at all. It all goes back to those first tentative steps into the Shamutanti Hills, through a bizarre forested world full of magic and monsters and until a climactic battle against a Manticore no less. Now that shit was AWESOME. And the sense of accomplishment when you finished all 4 books and stood over the corpse of the Archmage and sheathed your sword for the final time was worth every dictionary check (c'mon .. I read them when I was about 5 - do you really expect the average 5 yr old to know what 'craven', 'blasphemous' or 'insipid' mean?).
The Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars); by Kim Stanley Robinson
Fantasy:
The Empire Trilogy (Daughter/Servant/Mistress of the Empire); by Janny Wurts & Raymond E Feist
For Shits And Giggles:
The Sorcery! Epic (The Shamutanti Hills, Khare:Cityport of Traps, The Seven Serpents, The Crown of Kings), by Steve Jackson
OK, the Sorcery! Epic is a gamebook series but by Thor's thunderous bottom burps I wouldn't have gotten interested in fantasy - or possibly even fiction at all. It all goes back to those first tentative steps into the Shamutanti Hills, through a bizarre forested world full of magic and monsters and until a climactic battle against a Manticore no less. Now that shit was AWESOME. And the sense of accomplishment when you finished all 4 books and stood over the corpse of the Archmage and sheathed your sword for the final time was worth every dictionary check (c'mon .. I read them when I was about 5 - do you really expect the average 5 yr old to know what 'craven', 'blasphemous' or 'insipid' mean?).
Well, the first choice absolutely must be Discworld. Such a wonderful mix of comedy and drama I have rarely seen, and it's all based off of human behavior. Apart from that... I do enjoy the Dresden Files and [i[Codex Alera[/i] series greatly. The Young Wizards series is also quite good and doesn't get nearly enough love in my opinion.
Also, not really a series, but anything written by the author Chris Wooding. Partly it's nostalgia, because I read his works from a very young age, but mostly it's because I'm a sucker for stories with good settings, and he can write fascinating settings for his stories.
Also, not really a series, but anything written by the author Chris Wooding. Partly it's nostalgia, because I read his works from a very young age, but mostly it's because I'm a sucker for stories with good settings, and he can write fascinating settings for his stories.
Rather cliché by now, but A Song Of Ice and Fire I love, really can't wait for the next book to come out.
Harry Potter, probably the first full, overarching story series I actually read, I think.
Non-fiction, but I have a metric fuckton (fuck-ton? fucktonne? fuck-tonne?) of the Horrible Histories books, educating and funny as hell, especially for a kid. The tv series on BBC is brilliant as well.
The Hyperion Cantos is awesome as well, some really quite fucked up stuff happens, particularly in the first book.
Starting to really get into Trudi Canavan's stuff as well, particularly Age of the Five.
On a video game related note, I love Karen Travis' books, particularly the Gears of War books and her Kilo-5 series of Halo books (Glasslands and The Thursday War with another to come hopefully!).
Got Kim Stanley Robinson's The Mars Trilogy and the Foundation series sat on my bookshelf next to each other, both begging for me to read them.
And after reading this thread, I really want to read some of these series as well, "DAMN YOU INTERNET!"
Harry Potter, probably the first full, overarching story series I actually read, I think.
Non-fiction, but I have a metric fuckton (fuck-ton? fucktonne? fuck-tonne?) of the Horrible Histories books, educating and funny as hell, especially for a kid. The tv series on BBC is brilliant as well.
The Hyperion Cantos is awesome as well, some really quite fucked up stuff happens, particularly in the first book.
Starting to really get into Trudi Canavan's stuff as well, particularly Age of the Five.
On a video game related note, I love Karen Travis' books, particularly the Gears of War books and her Kilo-5 series of Halo books (Glasslands and The Thursday War with another to come hopefully!).
Got Kim Stanley Robinson's The Mars Trilogy and the Foundation series sat on my bookshelf next to each other, both begging for me to read them.
And after reading this thread, I really want to read some of these series as well, "DAMN YOU INTERNET!"
Discworld is my favourite, followed closely by Anno Dracula by Kim Newman (basically, Dracula wins in the events of the book Dracula, goes on to marry Queen Victoria, and a few years later a good chunk of the population of England is made up of vampires. And then some nut, named Jack the Ripper by the press, starts murdering vampire prostitutes in Whitechapel).
I do remember the Dragonriders of Pern books pretty fondly. I think I've read... nearly all of them, barring some of the more recent Todd McCaffrey ones which all really blur together in my head. Very interesting series, most of the stories come off more as a political drama plus dragons than anything else.
I do find it rather strange that so very many people like ASOIAF so much though. The series always came off like a poor man's Wheel of Time to me, only set in a standard fantasy setting instead of... whatever it is the Wheel of Time is set in.
I do remember the Dragonriders of Pern books pretty fondly. I think I've read... nearly all of them, barring some of the more recent Todd McCaffrey ones which all really blur together in my head. Very interesting series, most of the stories come off more as a political drama plus dragons than anything else.
I do find it rather strange that so very many people like ASOIAF so much though. The series always came off like a poor man's Wheel of Time to me, only set in a standard fantasy setting instead of... whatever it is the Wheel of Time is set in.
Pffft... The recent more hardbacks from the series also ship with CD containing ebook versions of every David Weber novel baen has published a the time of publishing AND come with permission from baen to freely distribute the files.rcs619 said:
Baen do that with a few of their writers.
I like anything by Eric Nylund.
On a side note, I'm also a writer; give Divine Avenger a shot, yes?
On a side note, I'm also a writer; give Divine Avenger a shot, yes?
My thoughts as well. I kept complaining to my fiance (who read the books before me) about how much I wanted someone to just off her. And he just laughed and told me to wait and seeRascarin said:
Yeah, Malta and the Fool are probably my two favorite characters. I keep hoping the Fool will show up in Chronicles, but so far I don't think (s)he has.
Certainly remember all of this very fondly. Have just started Rain Wild myself now. God... that book kicks you in the guts from the get go. I've never been so depressed within so few chaptersBrassButtons said:My thoughts as well. I kept complaining to my fiance (who read the books before me) about how much I wanted someone to just off her. And he just laughed and told me to wait and seeRascarin said:
Yeah, Malta and the Fool are probably my two favorite characters. I keep hoping the Fool will show up in Chronicles, but so far I don't think (s)he has.
So yeah Farseer/Liveship/Tawny Man serieseses.
Another vote for Dark Tower (except goddam Wolves of the Calla... goddamn what a trite, unnecessary novel. Except for some back story on the "Animals" - those who have read will know the ones i mean. Off topic - i want a billybumbler
And VERY surprising to me is no Edgar Rice Burroughs so far - Definitely Barsoom up there with the best serieseses ever.
Back in my M:TG days I read all the books from Artifacts Cycle through Invasion Cycle, including The Thran and The Colors of Magic, which culminated in the death of Yawgmoth and Urza, and Karn gaining Urza's power. I loved it for its minute descriptions of battlefield events in all their horrific detail and of the various fleshy metallic abominations of Phyrexia. I was never big on D&D books, but playing this card game with my school buddies, these books gave me a deeper insight into the flavor text on each card.
I really should read more, but then I have an infinite backlog of Steam games too, so...
I really should read more, but then I have an infinite backlog of Steam games too, so...
1) Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson
2) Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
3) Star Wars EU (Technically all of the Thrawn books are the best series, but the whole thing is amazing, and I collect them)
4) Tom Clancy
5) The Honor-verse and Bolo! series (tied)
2) Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
3) Star Wars EU (Technically all of the Thrawn books are the best series, but the whole thing is amazing, and I collect them)
4) Tom Clancy
5) The Honor-verse and Bolo! series (tied)
I've always been a fan of Clive Cusslers Dirk Pitt series of books. They are always a great read.
It changes from time to time but I really like Brandon Sanderson's non-Wheel of Time books. Counting all of them is not really "a series" but they do seem to share a universe. A concept that he will continue to explore in further Mistborn books and the ongoing "Stormlight Archive." Now that he's free of that deadweight Wheel of Time he can get back to it.