Top Three Favorite Books/Series of All Time

[retyopy]

Title says it all, really. Series count as one book. Mine would have to be...

3. Bartimaeus Trilogy: Witty and fast paced, but with a beautiful story if you care to look. The way Jonathan Stroud writes is simply... intoxicating. Also, there's an epic "are we really the good guys" subplot through out.

2. The Edge Chronicles: The writing is beautiful, the story is beautiful, the characters have so much depth you could chuck in a pebble and finish the New York Times crossword ultra super duper 7000th annual amazing edition before you could even have it go halfway. The Author, (whose name I can never remember) creates an entirely diffirent world, with entire diffirent customs and a new history, and throughout the series, you can see that history grow. Oh, and it has the occasional picture, but if you're going to let that deter you, than you should go die in a hole.

1. Skulduggery PLeasant: This series is so hilarious that if you were to take the wit out of every comedian ever and put it into a single, enormous wit-monster, Slulduggery Pleasnat wouldstill be able to eat it for breakfast. The characters are lovable, the story is deep, and it is hilarious, in case you didn't get that before. Honestly, what's not to love about it?

O.K., so I'm done praising my top 3, what are yours?

EDIT: I feel like I have to do an honorable mentions. Tied for fourth are His Dark Materials and Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy (the series) fifth is Artemis Fowl, Sixth is the airborn trilogy, and seventh... Books in general.

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

Douglas Adams' Hitchiker Series, for certain.

I have a hard time getting in to most books, and there are very few I read cover to cover. This series was unforgettable though.

Other books of note include The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Again by Douglas Adams, I STRONGLY recommend you read this), and Red Storm Rising, by Tom Clancy.

 

[Nightmare-Child]

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The Ender series by Orson Scott Card.

 

[retyopy]

Douglas Adams' Hitchiker Series, for certain.

I have a hard time getting in to most books, and there are very few I read cover to cover. This series was unforgettable though.

Other books of note include The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Again by Douglas Adams, I STRONGLY recommend you read this), and Red Storm Rising, by Tom Clancy.

I have read Douglas Adams, and he's fighting for fourth with His Dark Materials. Or Golden Compass if you're stupid.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Mine are:

1. Harry Potter- Obvious choice, but a good one in my opinion. J.K. Rowling creates an expansive and detailed universe with all sorts of magical beings.

2. Redwall- written by the late Brian Jacques, the books are not generally connected chronologically, but are nonetheless detailed and interesting.

3. Artemis Fowl- Last but not least is Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, which mixes magic and technology together for an enjoyable story.

 

[LongAndShort]

Probably my favourite would be John Le Carre's George Smiley series. George Smiley is effectively a bureaucrat with a great memory, thereby making him one of Britain's top spies. It's amazing how engrossing the stories and characters are.

For simple and fun books Matthew Reilly's Scarecrow and Jack West series are good, and John Birmingham's Axis of Time trilogy.

I've got more series I could bring up, but that (sorta) makes three.

 

[Hosker]

I've only ever read two book series all the way through, so I'm just going to say The Lord of the Rings.

 

[darkbshadow]

1. Enders Game Series by Orson Scott Card. I loved this book from the first moment I read it and loved the whole series of books in the Ender universe, including the Enders' Shadow series.

2. Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. This series easily is tied with Enders Game as my favorite book series. I love the twists and turns, the mystery and intrigue. It is just one wild ride. And is extremely well written

3. The First Law by Joe Abercrombie. Not a very known book series as the other two but this was just one of those books series that you couldn't put down. The characterization in this book is by far the greatest I've ever seen.

 

[Rusman]

The Stand - Stephen King, my personal favorite book ever, the characters are well thought out, the background and set up is extensive and makes the whole "apocalypse" feel big and not just constricted to a tiny part of america.

Horus Heresy series (ongoing and multiple authors) - As a 40K fan this series paints a fantastic picture of the run up to the single most important moment in the entire 40K Universe. (personal favorites are Fulgrim, Legion and A Thousand Suns but so far Prospero Burns is rubbish)

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R R Martin, This is the first fantasy genre book I have actually enjoyed (Bar Lord of the Rings) the whole universe is magnificently written although ol' George is a hideous looking man... Not sure whether I would be more scared if I met him in a dark alley or a whole bunch of Wild-lings.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

The Belgariad series - My first introduction to fantasy novels and still a personal favourite.

The Discworld series - I shouldn't have to explain this, but let's cut a long story short and just say the humour, 'k?

A Song of Ice and Fire series - Even though it's (as yet) unfinished and I have mentally committed murder each time the newest dealine gets put back yet again, this series has to get a top spot.

 

[rotkiv]

Wheel of time, by Robert Jordan .
The dark tower, Stephen King.
The keeper of the swords,by Nick Perumov

 

[Tjacu]

Top 3?

Okay, first and foremost The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

Second place must be the discworld series

Thrid place is a tossup between all the series I've read really, because I don't dislike books and I do read alot of books.

 

[LookingGlass]

1. The Pillars of the Earth + World Without End. Not really a "series" but the second is a sequel to the first so I say it counts. Two incredible bible-sized books by Ken Follett set in medieval times. I hope they make a mini-series for World Without End like they did for The Pillars of the Earth recently.

2. The Dexter Series by Jeff Lindsay. A bit different to the (great) TV series, and also well worth getting into. The stories are different so you can read them even if you've seen the series.

3. The Hannibal Series by Thomas Harris. In particular, The Silence of the Lambs. Just awesome.


I read a lot more non-fiction than fiction though, so I don't have a lot of exposure here.

 

[Richardplex]

Lord of the Flies, Ender's Game, though despite having the trilogy I haven't gotten round to reading the other 2.... /afk. Oh, and The Northern Lights for third. As a standalone, that book is head and shoulders above the other 2.

 

[Azahul]

Anno Dracula. Good god, I can not say this enough. Anno Dracula is amazing. The first book was written in 1992 by Kim Newman (who vies with Terry Pratchett for my all time favourite author), so back in ye olde days where vampires were yet to be covered in the weird glossy shine of the Twilight books. Vampires in this series are brutal, twisted, doomed, and generally awesome. Set three years after Jack Seward, Arthur Godalming, Van Helsing, Jonathon and Mina Harker, and Quincey (can never remember his first name) fail to defeat Dracula during his first incursion into Britain, Anno Dracula takes place in the late 1880s in an England ruled by an immortal Queen Elizabeth and her Prince Consort, Vladimir Tepes. Vampires now make up a large portion of English society, on every level.

It is at this point that some nut, soon referred to in the papers as "Jack the Ripper", starts taking a silver knife to the vampire prostitutes of Whitechapel. The craziness, involving Drs Jekyll and Moreau working as coroners on the case, Professor Moriarty and a Chinese crime ring working alongside the Dioegenes Club (under the directorship of Mycroft Holmes) to solve the murders, Count Orlock being put in charge of the tower of London, and other awesome cameos by figures from the public domain, goes from there.

The story is just amazing. It's dark and bleak, the writing is fantastic, the characters are interesting, it's just an all-round masterpiece. And that's not even taking the sequels into account. The second book, the Bloody Red Baron, is the best of the lot. Taking place in World War I, it involves the German flying ace, the Baron Mannfred von Richtofen, shapeshifting into a bat and tackling Allied planes in mid-air. It's easily the bloodiest of the books, and I love it.

And then there's the Judgement of Tears. It gets even crazier than the other two, set in Rome during the 1960s. Awesome as well. I won't get into too many details, as this post is getting kinda long, but suffice to say that one scene involves an English vampire spy called Bond facing off against Frankenstein's monster, the latter of which is working as an assassin for the cat that runs the Russian spy bureau in Rome.



As for other series, the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett are brilliant. After those two, I really can't say for certain, so I'll cop out and just say the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Prospero Burns is rubbish

Agreed, it's just two to three hundred pages of yakking...

OT:

Books:
le Comte de Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas pere
A Bridge Too Far - Cornelius Ryan (not fiction, but I'm counting it)
Magician - Raymond E Feist

Series:
The Tawny Man - Robin Hobb
The Empire Trilogy - Raymond E Feist & Janny Wurts
The Black Magician - Trudi Canavan

 

[Rawne1980]

1. Dark Tower.
2. Gaunts Ghosts.
3. Waylander.

 

[Breywood]

Top 3?

Okay, first and foremost The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

Second place must be the discworld series

This. And my third favorite is an author named Patricia McKillip. She's a masterful writer and her novel "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" is to me what Portal is to Yahtzee. Short, pleasant and masterfully done. Her other books are also interesting, if a bit more involved.

 

[Sonicron]

My favourite books are all 40k novels:

1. James Swallow: "Flight of the Eisenstein"
2. Graham McNeill: "Mechanicum"
3. Aaron Dembski-Bowden: "Soul Hunter"