In need of a compelling read

[Fenring]

Atlas Shrugged, my man.

This. I'm about halfway through and I love it. Also, Deception Point by Dan Brown, it's my favorite book by him. Way better, in my opinion, than any of his other works.

EDIT: I feel obligated to say Dune, it's my all time favorite series. And I got my user name from them.

What about the Da Vinci Code?

Really didn't like it much. I liked Deception Point's story better and I wasn't all that much into the characters of the Angels and Demons story arc.

 

[Trivun]

Hello Escapists,

I am depressed at the little amount of reading I've been doing lately and I could really use a good book recomendation. Something enjoyable and compelling that really hooks you.

I usually like pulpy adventure fiction, light hearted, funny Fantasy and dark science fiction that isn't cyberpunk.

If you like fantasy and adventure fiction, and something that hooks you, I reccomend Ian Irvine. He is the best author I've ever seen, his Three Worlds Cycle is my favourite series of all time. It's split into the following:

- A quartet set during the events of what is known as 'The Time of the Mirror'.
- A second quartet set roughly 200 years later dealing with a war caused by the aftermath of the previous series.
- A trilogy set about ten years after that, again dealing with the aftermath.

I'm not usually in the habit of gushing but with this author I don't have much choice. The characters are some of the most well developed I've ever seen, and I read Discworld. Twists are well thought out and you actually care about what happens, there are very few cliches or elements stolen from other things (Irvine actually made a point from what I can tell of being completely original) and his writing style is completely gripping. I reccomend Ian Irvine highly. Start with The View From The Mirror Quartet, in particular, the book entitled A Shadow On The Glass, and carry on from there. It's worth it, believe me.

 

[Same River New Water]

I related to the character in High Fidelity a lot, although I also related to FF VIII's Squall...

I'm trying to think of a way to make a joke out of that, but it's not so easy. "Oh, you must be into spiky hair and, um, really big swords and, like, being all emo and stuff" Yeah, never mind.

Seriously though, I agree about High Fidelity. I spent half my time reading it thinking "oh yeah, this is so true!" It really captures the concerns and attitudes of modern men, even when they're nothing to be proud of.

 

[Tri Force95]

The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher, its really good in my opinion. I havent read his other series, but i hear its good to.

 

[demonsaber]

Get the dread empire trilogy by Glen Cook.

Or get the black company series by the same author.

The Black Company series pisses me off... Final 4 books in that series are out of print, so I'm screwed there -_-

You can find them on amazon.

I'll make sure to look for them. I happen to have the third of those final 4 just sitting on my shelf, unreadable... makes me sad.

be warned, the last book ends on a fairly depressing tone.

 

[teisjm]

Find a way to erase Neil Gaiman's books from your mind, then read them again. They're epic.

 

[UsefulPlayer 1]

Ender's Game!

 

[Siegreich]

everything by Walter Moers

Who? What does he write?

He writes fiction that is unlike anything you've ever read, with a lot of underlying social commentary, not to mention some of the most brilliant plots ever.

 

[JRslinger]

i dont want to start a flame war but the halo books are seriously amazing. you may like them. the books and games are light and day. games are more meh books are much much better

I read "The Fall of Reach" and it exceeded my expectations.

I recommend the Prey series of crime novels by John Sandford and the Council War series by John Ringo, starting with "There will be dragons"

 

[PersianLlama]

Try Watchmen. Sure it's a comic book, but it's extremely well done. It feels like a novel, hell it was one of Time's 100 best novels since 1923. I can't really say much on it, since I picked it up by the suggestion of a friend a few days ago and have been vigorously reading it since, I'm about half-way done. Just drop by your bookstore and read the first chapter or first few pages and see if you like it. It has a lot of social commentary, and I noticed you've read a lot of Vonnegut. Well, I noticed some similarities to how Billy Pilgrim sees time with one of the characters, if that interests you.

Edit:

And let's not forget Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series. If you haven't read them yet, WTF is wrong with you. It's dragons and pirate-era sailing ships, with a dash of alternate history for good measure. Napolean (Stumpy McGee the 1st as I like to call him) is invading all of Europe and trying to get a foothold in the UK, and the war isn't going as history claims it did for us, because this time, here be DRAGONS!

I second this. It's quite an awesome series.

 

[Kyd Wykkyd]

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami or the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn

 

[Kogarian]

Hello Escapists,

I am depressed at the little amount of reading I've been doing lately...

Love both lists you made.

 

[Avatar Roku]

snip

You could give David Weber a try. The 11 book (and counting) series that he's most famous for, Honor Harrington [http://www.amazon.com/Basilisk-Station-Honor-Harrington/dp/0743435710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242096152&sr=1-1], is pretty good, as are some of his other things (Off Armageddon Reef springs to mind). I wouldn't say that any of them are as dark as depressingly realistic (at times, and with license, obviously) though.

 

[ThaBenMan]

One of the more unique books that I've read is City of Saints and Madmen [http://www.amazon.com/City-Saints-Madmen-Jeff-Vandermeer/dp/0553383574/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242095221&sr=1-1] by Jeff VanDermeer. It's a collection of short stories all set in a fantasy city called Ambergris (like the stuff that comes from whales). It's not exactly light-hearted, but more... weird. I've actually only read the first few stories, but plan on finishing it sometime. The first is about a holy man who falls in love with a girl he sees in the window of an office building, and enlists the help of a strange man covered in tattoos to win her heart. The second is a historical essay detailing the settlement by explorers of the area that will become the city, originally inhabited by a race of strange little mushroom folk. The third is about a young artist with a creative block, who gains inspiration from a very bizarre ordeal. It's good stuff.

And there's another book by the same author that I haven't read yet. It sounds really good, but even more bizarre... it's called Veniss Underground [http://www.amazon.com/Veniss-Underground-Jeff-Vandermeer/dp/0553383566/ref=pd_sim_b_2].

 

[deleted_scifidownbeat]

DELETED

 

[vampirekid.13]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/33096/Bruiser-A-street-sweepers-tales


yea...read that.

 

[GunbladeKnight]

I'm just going to recommend books that I've read that I found entertaining, so take it with a grain of salt.

Dragonlance
Legend of Huma
Kaz the Minotaur
Soulforge
Dragons of an Autumn Twilight
Dragons of a Winter Night
Dragons of a Spring Dawning
Time of the Twins
War of the Twins
Test of the Twins
Dragons of a Summer Flame
Dragons of a Fallen Sun
Dragons of a Lost Star
Dragons of a Vanished Moon

Other Fiction
Terrier by Tamora Pierce (yes, it's geared more towards adolescent females. My ex gave it to me to read)
Dacula by Bram Stoker
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Ismael by Daniel Quinn
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Fences by August Wilson (it's a play, so short read. Very compelling)
Childhoods End by Arthur C. Clarke
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Call of the Wild by Jack London

Non-Fiction
Last Chance to See by Douglass Adams
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedes
Winterdance by Gary Paulsen (who is my favorite author because he has done everything Brian in his books have done, and he spent time in a Mexican jail)
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice by Mark J. Plotkin

I've also heard good things about Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind.

PS. Sorry for the large post.

 

[GethinPetrelli]

The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

A really dense and allusive science fiction set on a bleak and dying Earth.

Excellently written, full of originality and littered with hidden subtext. It's just endlessly rereadable as there's always something that you miss when you read it.

 

[Shadowlolz]

george orwell and max brooks? my two faves dont know if you ever read tthose but i like gl with your reading dilema