I need some books . . .

[Suicidejim]

So, it's that time of year, sleigh bells are ringing, snow is glistening, fat men are preparing to break into houses and leave pre-ordered gifts under your tree like a Sam Fisher-trained mail service, and, well, people are asking me that question I always dread: "What do you want for Christmas?"

I'm one of those people who hates asking for anything in any situation, never mind Christmas, but generally I can get over it and ask for some random item that will most likely get little use, but this time I'm having a different problem. One person is insisting on getting me a few books, but I honestly don't know what good books are out there. Don't get me wrong, I love reading, I practically devour books, but a while back (say, a few years), I got a Terry Prachett novel. And another one. And another one. Whenever I ran out of money, I just re-read the ones I already owned until I could buy a few more. Now I've reached the point where I've more or less read his work exclusively since about 2008, and have started only buying his stuff more because it's "safe" than because I enjoy it (although I do, if that wasn't already obvious). I have absolutely no idea how to separate all the awful books out there from the good ones, and I don't want to make people buy me books I won't enjoy, because then neither of us feel good about it.

So . . . recommendations?

To give some boundaries to work with, I enjoy fantasy and science fiction work, I absolutely adore horror, and a good sense of humour is always a huge bonus. Drama is perfectly fine if it's well written, as is crime fiction. Some of my favourite non-Prachett books/series are Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch Trilogy, 1984, Brave New World, Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy (one of the few recent things I have read), Stephen King's Duma Key and The Green Mile, Douglas Adams' Trilogy of Five, and The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. Oh, and 'Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit?' by Steve Lowe and Alan McArthur.

It'd be a really great help if you guys (and girls) could give me a few suggestions, thank you all, and Happy Holidays.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

You might try the Something from the Nightside series by Simon R. Green. It's hard to think exactly how to describe it, but I might say that it's Neil Gaiman taken to its logical conclusion. They're noir detective stories, set in a supernatural underworld (and when I say underworld, it's meant literally here. Like a Diagon Alley from Harry Potter type setting, where all sorts of magics, and strange technologies, and other crazy things are going on). The stories and characters tend to get a little bit crazy since you've got a mix of fantasy, horror, and sci-fi elements in the same strange place, but it's all a blast to read, with plenty of mystery, and a zany sense of humor which takes advantage of the setting.

 

[satanslawer123]

harry dresden series its about 13 books long 14 if you include the shorts. its about a wizard who lives in Chicago and works as private eye of the supernatural. it takes on vampires, werewolves, ghost, knights of the cross and what have you its an amazing read. and i'll suggest anything by Trudi canavan especially the black magician trilogy.

 

[Aidinthel]

I'm reading the Mistborn Trilogy right now, and enjoying it quite a bit. I also take every opportunity to recommend The Name of the Wind to anyone who will listen.

 

[War Penguin]

Have you read any Ray Bradbury? Read the Martian Chronicles or the Illustrated Man if you're into short stories. The Martian Chronicles is especially good because all of the stories have a connecting plot.

That's all I got for sci fi. I don't read much fantasy or horror to give you a good recommendation on those subjects. However, I still got a good humor book if you're still interested. It's called The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody by Will Cuppy. It's a series of essays on the lives of "great" historical figures, which shows how not great they really were. And the best part is that it's not fiction. It's all real! I recommend it if you're into dry wit.

 

[PleasantKenobi]

Well going off the back of the science-fiction Aldous Huxley/George Orwell angle I would like to suggest an author that, although quite essentially different to those two, may be quite interesting to you; Phillip K Dick.

His novels and short stories have been made into movies like Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report. His works range from vivid depiction of future science-fiction with aspects of pulp thrown in, to deeply philosophical and quite profound, usually within the pages of the same novel.

On top of this, I thought I would suggest one of my favourite authors, Brett Easton Ellis. Although not apparently fitting with your tastes on the whole, his novel 'American Psycho' might tickle the horror and comedy parts of your particular tastes. The novel was again made into an amusing film starring Christian Bale, though the book is longer, both funnier, gorier and drier at times. If you can take quite pornographic depictions of sex and violence along with some very black humour and social satire then I think you might like it. And if you get on with his rather simplistic and minimalist prose, you could move on to his other works which are far less 'explicit'.

 

[gigastar]

Well a new Terry Pratchett novel was published last month, if you dont have that yet.

As for other suggestions by genre, i have a fair few.

-Night Angel trilogy
-Mistborn trilogy
-The Belgariad and The Malloreon (series, 10 books and 2 spinoffs, finished)
-Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (6 books, 7th coming next year)
-Tales of the Ketty Jay (series, 3 books so far)
-Chronicles of The Raven
--Legends of The Raven (series, 7 books, finished)

I couldnt really tell you which ones to get first, thats how much i love this collection.

 

[DarthFennec]

If you want good sci-fi horror, try H. P. Lovecraft. He mostly did short stories and poetry, so they aren't long but there are quite a few of them, and I'm sure there are a few compilations or anthologies of some of his works floating around. There's also http://www.hplovecraft.com, which has everything he's written, but personally I'd rather read a book then a screen.

Apart from that, one of my personal favorites is Watership Down by Richard Adams. You could check that out if you're into that sort of thing.

 

[satanslawer123]

I'm reading the Mistborn Trilogy right now, and enjoying it quite a bit. I also take every opportunity to recommend The Name of the Wind to anyone who will listen.

is the mistborn trilogy i got the first one for my birthday and havent got round to reading it??

 

[Aidinthel]

is the mistborn trilogy i got the first one for my birthday and havent got round to reading it??

Let me put it this way: I haven't gotten much sleep this week because I've been up late reading Mistborn.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

The Sandman Slim triliogy. Amazing novels by a fetisht photographer about a man named Stark who walks out of hell to save and get revenge on his girlfriend.

Best series I have ever read XD

 

[Axolotl]

If you like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy then you should definately try his Dirk Gently books. I'd also reccomend We, it's essentially the book that inspired Brave New World and 1984 and it's well worth reading.

Ranging further afield I'd reccomend GK Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday which is easily the funniest book I've ever read in my life.

I'd second the above reccomendation of Philip K Dick, a great Sci-Fi author with a very weird style. Similarly Kurt Vonnegut, brilliantly satirical science fiction although his worldview can be very depressing. Also just for a weird worldview Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as long as you aren'tm offended by his very hippie attitude it's a brilliant book.

 

[GrimTuesday]

Read the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin and The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson. If you haven't read those be ashamed, very very ashamed.

 

[mexicola]

Well you could try John Dies at the End by David Wong (just a pseudonym but it's what is written on the cover.) It has fantasy, horror and comedy in it in liberal ammounts, so from what you've requested it should be right down your alley. It started out as a web book before it was published though, so I'm not quite sure how readily available it is if you want to buy it in your local book store.

And as someone already mentioned before me, you could try Dresden files if you want to get into a new series of books. A kind of paranormal-investigative books with a sense of humour... I think. It's been a while so I don't remember how funny it was, don't take my word for it.

 

[Cpu46]

Depending on how comfortable you are with adult themes then The Darkness series by Harry Turtledove may be right down your alley. It is probably one of the only books that mixes historical fiction (WWII) in a fantasy setting and I love every bit of the series for it. Lots of viewpoint characters, very little plot armor, and almost all the characters are relatable.

The World War series by the same author is pretty much just as good as The Darkness series but it is science fiction. Aliens scout the earth during medieval times decide to send the invasion forces in to take over the planet only to find earth in the middle of WWII by the time their ships arrive. Then they decide to invade. It is an eight book series spit into the three parts: the four book Balance series, the Colonization trilogy, and the last book Homeward Bound.

 

[AlAaraaf74]

My favorite book: Stephen King's Misery. I highly recommend it.

 

[Shiftygiant]

I liked 1984, Catch 22, A Clock-Work Orange, Heart of darkness and Catcher in the Rye. There all Good books. There not exactly new but... There worth it.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Anything by RA Salvatore should do you well. If you're into the off-kilter humor aspect of Pratchett, try some Piers Anthony (that is if you can stomach bad puns turned literature).

 

[mysecondlife]

I'm currently reading "Revan" which is a follow up to Knights of the Old Republic series.

If you like the games, you should give that a read.