- The Most Immersive Book You've Ever Read -

[Enigma6667]

Twilight series. Because the entire time I was immersed into shit so well that I couldn't even move my arms.

Joking aside: I have 3, and they're all by Chuck Palahniuk, who's my favorite author.

Survivor, Haunted, and Diary. Sure Fight Club is great, but the movie is 10,000,000,000,000,000 times better.

Survivor, which is about the last surviving member of the fictional Creedish death cult, is a great satire on celebrity life, and religion, which was both insightful, emotional, and downright hilarious.

Haunted, which is a series of 23 semi-connected short stories, is a great satire of reality television, the lengths people will go for popularity and fame, and is also downright twisted.

Diary, which is about a painter writing a coma diary for her coma-induced husband and learns about a devious plot in her island that could kill many people, is actually not a satire, but it felt so immersive because it was written almost exactly like a diary, and it felt like I was peering into someone's real tragic life.

 

[Robert632]

I immerse myself in almost any book I read, I will sit just reading for hours unless someone forcibly rips the book from my hand. The only 2 books I've not been able to immerse myself in are Twilight(Stephanie Meyer) and The Stand(Stephen King).

 

[Nouw]

I would have to say Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I've read that book like 15 times.

I've read it 3/4 lol. Its pretty good although the book screamed: "STARSHIP FUCKING TROOPERS"

OT: Starship Troopers, its so good. Haven't read it? READ IT!

 

[BlindMessiah94]

"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. I'm surprised no one has posted it yet. It is BY FAR the most immersive book I've read. I might not totally agree with the themes, but it is my all-time favorite book. Actually, Bioshock led me to the subject of Ayn Rand. I didn't want to read "Atlas Shrugged" seeing that it is some 300 pages longer, but the themes are similar. If you have time read "The Fountainhead"! (Though most people don't).

That's because whenever I mention anything by Rand people always call me a fanboy or try to have some philosophical debate with me. I don't agree with everything she says but there are a lot of good ideas in her novels and I think that her storytelling ability is very good. She really understands her characters and knows how to use the environment and setting to help explain her characters even further. Just as novels on their own , without all the philosophical fanboyism, the books are great.
I highly recommend Atlas Shrugged. The Fountainhead is my favourite of her works but Atlas Shrugged is far more in tune with the Bioshock theme than The Fountainhead is. (I also read the books long before Bioshock ever came out).
Also welcome to the escapist!


If Graphic Novels count, then:

Sandman
Y The Last Man
100 Bullets
Planetary
Promethea

All those books are unique in their own way and had me hooked for different reasons, be it the imaginative settings and characters, the fantastic art, the intriguing story, or the style of the author.

If do enjoy a lot of novels though:

Flowers for Algernon
Atlas Shrugged
The Divine Comedy

there's lots more...

 

[ioxles]

Robert Rankin

"Raiders of the Lost Car Park"

Cornelius Murphy and his tiny companion Tuppe, the stuff of epics and so forth, have a plan: enter the Forbidden Zones, rescue Hugo Rune (mage, inventor, close personal friend of Einstein, author of The Book of Ultimate Truths and father to Cornelius) and find some of the boundless wealth reputed to be stored there.

The freed Hugo Rune now reveals his own agenda, In a scheme that involves kidnapping the Queen while she addresses the world before a concert performance by Ghandi's Hairdryer (the world's greatest rock band), Rune and his gang of followers ricochet from one potential disaster to another...

 

[BlackZero]

Night Angel Series, and World War Z

 

[Ponch]

the Night Angel Trilogy.

I just finished that up yesterday and I gotta say I was totally immersed in it.
I also got drawn into Greg Iles'... I call it the Natchez trilogy. Set in Natchez, Mississippi, the novels The Quiet Game, Turning Angel and Sleep No More intertwine characters that are flawed enough to be people you actually know and events that keep you enthralled in the story. I highly recommend picking those three up.

 

[kurupt87]

I would have to say Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I've read that book like 15 times.

I read that book for the first time a few months ago, I don't know how I didn't read it sooner. It was amazing...

I got really into World War Z and most books by Clive Cussler...

I will have to try this Enders Game and World War Z, getting lots of recomendations.
Clive Cussler, I really enjoyed his earlier Dirk Pitt novels, but the later ones started to get a bit silly.

Spoiler: For example, in one novel

Rerouting the gulf stream with a massive underground tunnel = facepalm.

Dirk and Al, Gunn as well, what a team. Damned film.
I never really got into the more factual ones, The NUMA Files I think?

Contempory fiction authors that I really enjoy:
Lee Child - Jack Reacher Novels (think renegade Commander Sheperd from ME2)
Robert Crais - Elvis Cole & Joe Pike Novels (wisecracker and a hard as nails mate)
Harlan Coben - Myron Bolitar Novels (Win [a character], possibly the scariest character I've read, and he's a "good guy")

PS I've just realised those three are all crime fiction, so I might as well add the king Michael Connelly, but I'll maintain the first three as more exciting reads with more likeable characters and humour.

PPS First three = action/crime/detective
Connelly = crime/detective

 

[Indecizion]

Wheel Of Time series by robert jordan, my dad got me into them so i really wasnt expecting much and i read through the first and i was like WOW THAT WAS AWESOME! LIKE HOLY CRAP! and yeah now im on the 7th

 

[pearcinator]

I could not put down Area 7 or Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly...not because it was immersive but because I wanted to know what craziness would happen next!

If you havnt yet TC go read a Matthew Reilly book or 2 (hes an Aussie author and Seven Ancient Wonders protagonist is Australian). In most of his books he writes with a US protagonist cos hes trying to get his books out into the US audience.

His books are very action-heavy. Its reads like the 'Die Hards', 'Indiana Jones' or '2012' of books and I love them!

 

[Darth_Dude]

The Old Kingdom (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen). I just... liked it... I can't think why.

[sub]Blatant mind control[/sub]

Dude they were awesome, although I liked Sabriel the best.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Snow Crash, by Stephenson (anarcho-capitalism+sci-fi+cyper-punk)
American Gods, by Gaiman
Good Omens, by Gaiman and Pratchett
Steppenwolf, by Hesse
Breakfast of Champions, by Vonnegut

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see if I can find some of these

 

[PixieFace]

I have a feeling that I'm going to attract the mighty wrath of literary purists everywhere, but the Harry Potter books are the most immersive books I've ever read. The whole concept of Hogwarts is almost there to draw you in and the characters and the ability to project yourself into the story is unmatched.

PFFFT, who cares about the purists. I loved the Harry Potter series! There were so many colorful characters, great little details (the candies always fascinated me for some reason), and immersive villains. I have a lot of great memories of staying up way past my bed time and reading about the trio under my covers with a flashlight in hand.

I wonder if I'm not alone in this: The Harry Potter books totally smelled different than other books. Seriously, shove your nose into The Sorcerers/Philosphers Stone and take a big sniff. Maybe I'm crazy but I always found it really pleasant. Lol don't judge me.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

None, really. Artemis Fowl series came close, though.

 

[Z(ombie)fan]

City Of The Dead by Brian Keene.

jesus christ that book was good.

 

[Veleste]

A Game of Thrones was probably the first Epic Fantasy Book I ever read where I felt for the characters as if they were real people because they felt like real people. They went up against real problems and dealt with them in ways I could imagine their personality type dealing with them. But that being said the characters evolved and it just really moved me.

The True Blood books as well were ones I couldn't put down. The stories they tell are really good and the reading is easy. I read the first 9 books in about 15 days.

 

[Ldude893]

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. It's a book about the artform of comics in comic book form, and one of my favorite books on my bookshelf.

Oh yeah, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

 

[Urgol]

Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin.

The song of ice and fire? Hell yeah!! One of the most complex and dark fantasies I have read. Such a wonderfull sense of realism in a fantasy setting. I just hope the author can finish it before he dies, still waiting for "A dance with dragons"

I'am also a huge fan of Terry Brooks works. 23 books has made his shannara universe so vast and rich of detail and backstory that it is awe inspiring, but then again he has been writing since Tolkiens time and is still going strong.

 

[phANT1m]

Mines would probably be Robert Ludlums books like the Bourne series and a little bit the Lord of the Rings books.