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Post by Eru on Oct 21, 2004 9:43:33 GMT -5
Read a good book lately? Know of an amazing trilogy? Share your recommendations here. If you want to go indepth talking about some of the books, feel free to start a new thread for them.
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Post by Eru on Oct 21, 2004 9:50:21 GMT -5
(These are taken from Eru's introduction.)
Faramir recommends:
have you read the axis trilogy by sara douglass (its a great trilogy)
you should also try the belgariad by david eddings and if you read the belgariad red the mallorean (which is the next series after the belgariad)
Muad'dib recommends:
one of the best and deepest fantasy trilogies ive ever read is The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant... Stephen R. Donaldson... its actually 2 trilogies, and a hefty amount of reading. Definitely worth checking out. The Golden Compass trilogy (Phillip Pullman, obviously) is a must-read if you havent done so already, its lighter than Covenant but still very good...
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Post by Beren Erchamion on Oct 22, 2004 7:49:55 GMT -5
Piers Anthony is just great overrall, his Incarnations of Immortality trilogy is very interesting, as well as his whimsical Xanth series, Apprentice Adept, and the Bio of a space tyrant series. theres no such thing as too much Anthony. the Dune series (frank herbert) is incredible... possibly the greatest science fiction i have ever had the privilege of reading. Make sure to read Dune (the 1st book) first. Ender's Game and its accompanying novels (Orson Scott Card) are a close second. Now, Asimov's Foundation series redefines the concept of deep literature. i seriously needed some light fantasy after going through about 3 of these. However, its worth it... Ray Bradbury is of course great, The Martian Chronicles combines great 50s era sci fi with some intruiging philosophy, Fahrenheit 451 speaks for itself... Heinlein! theres a sci fi writer. a legend, in truth. make sure to get The Puppet Masters (an incredibly unique "alien invasion" story), Red Planet, any other Mars books you can find of his, and im pretty sure he wrote The Moon is a harsh Mistress (very weird in its style of writing, read it and youll understand). Sherlock Holmes is the only mystery reading i have done, and i demand that anyone who heeds this post look it up. the entire works, which can usually be found in unabridged novels, runs about 1200 pages and by the time you finish, youre caught in thrall of Holmes. by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Tom Clancy is good for you military fiction readers who dont want statuesque waxed-chest guys making cliched speeches and farting rockets left and right... but clancy may not be for everyone... read C.S. Lewis and Lloyd Alexander if youre looking for simpler fantasy, stuff for young kids to be fond of. Brian Jacques's Redwall series certainly occupies an otherwise empty niche, and is very good in its own right. im a Magic tG fan, so i really like those books, but even for the non-fan its good fantasy. if ur interested, try reading The Thran first, and any other J. Robert King magic books. i think theres some writer called Tolkien or something, maybe he wrote some short stories or some such stuff , H.P. Lovecraft was one sick puppy, and an extremely good writer. just look into him! Douglas Adams has the interesting and good Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, very witty and a little insane... Terry Brooks writes the Shannara books, which have been pretty influential and well-received. good fantasy with a slight "post-apocalypse" twist; the books take place thousands of years after we of the "Old World" have destroyed ourselves with war, and elements of our incredible science remain: magic. i have to reiterate how good the Covenant books and Golden Compass are, they really imbued me with some great memories. The Dragonriders of Pern... a very good series by Anne McAffrey (i think i misspelled her name). this is probably the most substantial dragon writing around. The Black Company trilogy is largely unknown, but surprised me with how satisfying and original they were. I cant seem to remember the authors name... D'oh! im an idiot! i completely forgot about A Wizard of Earthsea! Ursula K. Leguin (probably also misspelled). this stuff is just awesome and epic. there are several Earthsea books... read all of them. this was actually some of the first fantasy i read, when i was polishing off my elementary school library. I have to go, but as i think of more reccomendations i'll always post them here, theres a lot of stuff i missed ;D
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Post by Haerodiel on Oct 22, 2004 7:53:40 GMT -5
Frank Peretti is an AWSOME auther. I love just about every 1 of his books. I'v actually tied him with Tolkien!! And Ted Deckar (I don't know how his last name is spelled, but it's pronounced [dek-er]) and he is currently writing a series that is VERY good. I'v read only one of them though, but they r still very good.
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Post by Lomadia on Oct 24, 2004 1:23:45 GMT -5
I'm not really that much of a fantasy person; Lord of the Rings and The Hero and the Crown (Robin McKinnley) are really the only fantasy book's I've read, as well as some Arthurian legend. So, for those of you who aren't so much into fantasy, here are my recommendations based on what I've read in the past year or so:
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne) The Red Tent (Anita Diamant) I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith) Walden (Henry David Thoreau) Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen) Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) Frankenstein (Mary W. Shelley) And, of course, Hamlet, always and forever.
Some books I'm hoping to read in the near future include: The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco) The Blithedale Romance (Nathaniel Hawthorne) The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
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Post by Beren Erchamion on Oct 25, 2004 7:03:29 GMT -5
yeah, the hero and the crown is good! i forgot about that one. theres also The Blue Sword, the sequel to H and C. which isnt quite as good, but still demands reading if you checked out the first one.
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Post by Lomadia on Nov 20, 2004 1:06:09 GMT -5
Yes, my friend really likes The Blue Sword/u], but if I ever get to reading it, it won't be in the near future.
I've decided to drop Walden for the time being and pick up The Name of the Rose. I'm absolutely loving it, and definitely recommend it to any Tolkien fan. The style is similar to Tolkien's: very long, but rich descriptions (about three and a half pages are spent describing the door of the monastery, in which space I found a sentence with 212 words), and mysterious, even mystical themes. It's especially of interest to medieval enthusiasts. A word of caution: there is a very graphic scene in the second half of the book which more sensitive readers will want to skip. But the rest of the book (as far as I've read) is astoundingly brilliant. It's definitely a book to be read with dictionary on hand. Elen sila lumenn omentielvo, Lomadia
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Pandora
Craft-smith
Race - Gondorian
Posts: 307
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Post by Pandora on Nov 20, 2004 3:23:10 GMT -5
I read most books in portuguese... But they are from american or english authors... So here it is the translation: - "The Sword of Shannara" (It's a triology: Book 1- "The warlock lord"; Book 2- "The druid's keep"; Book 3- "The secret of the sword"), by Terry Brooks. (Who likes Tolkien's work would probably like this triology... )
-"The Da Vinci Code", by Dan Brown (I'm reading it and... wow... It's great! I recommend it for those who like detective stories, some art, and for those who are interested in the history of some religions)
-"The Vampire Armand", by Anne Rice (Ok... This is a book about vampires... It's darker, but I love it! )
-"Dracula", by Bram Stoker (This is a masterpiece... Just AWESOME! The old story of Dracula... [The movie is great too...] )
Last but not least:
-"Mists of Avalon", By Marion Zimmer Bradley (The story of the King Arthur, Lancelot, Merlin, etc... by the eyes of the women... Another great book that I loved to read... ^^)
There are many more but these are my favorites... ***********'s
(Lomadia: I bought Hamlet last week! ^^ I'm going to read it after The Da Vinci Code)
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Post by Goblinglow on Nov 20, 2004 16:15:24 GMT -5
I'm reading, The Scarlet Letter in class right now. I recommend, A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer. It's really emotional, and a true story about one of the worst child abuse cases in California. It's not a pleasant story, but I think it's good to read, because..well...it's good to know. Just to know.
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Post by Lomadia on Nov 24, 2004 0:59:29 GMT -5
Excellent! I really hope you like it. It is truly one of the deepest, richest books I've ever read- for me, there is always more to discover in it. I read from it at least once every week, and it never fails to give me a slightly new perspective on spirituality, truthfulness, love in any sense of the word, honor, and so many other great and mysterious aspects of life. Good luck in reading it, and if you ever want to discuss it with me, I would be exceedingly happy to do so! Elen sila lumenn omentielvo, Lomadia
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Post by Elanor on Nov 26, 2004 14:56:55 GMT -5
Just to recommend something light! Everybody should read Terry Pratchett. For those who haven't, I dare you! elanor
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Post by varda on Oct 12, 2005 22:53:04 GMT -5
C.S.Lewis - The Chronicles of Narnia Ursula K. LeGuin - The Earthsea Trilogy Terry Pratchett - Discworld Stephen King - The Dark Tower, The Stand, Black House George Orwell - 1984 Isaac Asimov - Robots and Murder H.G. Wells - The Time Machine, War of the Worlds Timothy Zahn - The Thrawn Trilogy Philip K. D*ck- The Man in the White Castle Umberto Eco - The Name of the Rose Homer - The Illiad Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code Robert E. Howard - The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane Anne Rice - Interview With A Vampire, The Vampire Lestat
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Post by Lomadia on Jan 27, 2006 21:11:37 GMT -5
Some recent reads that I highly recommend:
A Room with a View - E. M. Forster The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas Close Range: Wyoming Stories [including the now-highly-publicized "Brokeback Mountain"] - Annie Proulx Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood Night Flight - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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Post by Beren Erchamion on May 19, 2006 21:58:56 GMT -5
Read anything by Harry Crews. I may get to meet him one-on-one this summer... he's a genius.
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Post by Elanor on Oct 29, 2006 13:23:41 GMT -5
I like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. I'm also gonna start on the Beleriand by David Eddings
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