+1 Awesome books, all 6 of them! Also to recommend: Clive Barker - Mister B. Gone Anonymous - The Book With No Name Clive Barker - Hellraiser Clive Barker - Coldheart Canyon Yes, I read a lot of horror.
Eddings is a def. must read for anyone into epic fantasy. while he may be a "one trick pony", he does that trick very, very well. some of the subtleties in there are not really apparent until you have re-read the series a couple of times ... (i'm currently on trip #4 ... if the twice through via book-on-mp3 count) ... oh ya, and if you count The Rivan Codex, it's 13 books ...
But you can't - it's the book equivilant of a clip show. I'm not dissing DE (or his missus, as it's a long established fact that she was the driving force behind it all), They are a good read - well, most of the time... The Redemption of Althalus is pretty crap TBH. But lets face it: Belgariad = Mallorean = Ellenium = Tamuli. Belgarion = Sparhawk. Ce'Nedra = Ehlana. Polgara = Sephrenia. Orb of Aldur = Bhelliom Torak = Azash = Cyrgon Child of Light / Chosen one discovers hidden destiny that involves recovering magical artifact with a tight knit band of diverse companions to use against the Dark Lord / Mad God / Big Bad. That's 16 books of essentially the same plot.
More recomendations: The Raven Books by James Barclay: Dawnthief, Noonshade, Nightchild Elfsorrow, Shadowheart, Demonstorm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barclay Robin Hobb's a good read: Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest & Fool's Errand, Golden Fool, & Fool's Fate follow the same characters. Ship of Magic, The Mad Ship & Ship of Destiny are set in the same world, and is loosley connected to the previous trilogies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hobb EDIT - just re read first post. If you're Pratchett fan, look out for the next book - UNSEEN ACADEMICALS. Footie comes to Ankh-Morpork! Also - Anything by Tom Holt. Very ammusing. And finally - You need to read (if you haven't already) GOOD OMENS by Sir Terry and Neil. Best and funiest book about Armagedon you'll ever read. Crowley is my Hero!
Douglas Adams. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. Awesome doesn't even come close. And a bit of a wild card. Jeffrey Deaver : Blue nowhere. It's crime thriller, loosely based on mmo's , but in a real change for most books he doesn't talk rubbish. Really did his research. Characters, settings, IT systems, games, hardware all accurately described and used. the higher profile the kill, the more points you get, the higher and more difficult your next kill must be. Bit like leveling in a mmo. Great story.
Hardwired - Walter Jon Williams. Cyberpunk and definitely a touch darker than William Gibson. His Praxis books are also well worth reading. Earth; Sundiver series - David Brin Definitely the Takeshi Kovacs series by Richard Morgan, also Black Man/Thirteen (title depends on which side of the pond you're on) by the same author. Gravity Dreams - L E Modesitt Jr.
Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. I've read it many times, it's an excellent account Mason joining the US army to fly helicopters and his experience in Vietnam. If you like War, buy it. If you like Aircraft, buy it.
Bah! All my author (and most of my book) recommendations have been mentioned already... Hmm... Walter Jon Williams - Implied Spaces Weber & White - Crusade (Free), Insurrection, The Shiva Option Michael Z. Williamson - Better to Beg Forgiveness, Freehold (Free), The Weapon John Ringo Jerry Pournelle ...Or just have a look around the Baen Free Library... Gary Gibson - Stealing Light Charles Stross - 'Laundry' series, inc. On The Farm (Free, short) and his 'Eschaton' books. and Accelerando. James Morris - The Escapist (Free) Cory Doctorow - Little Brother (Free) Not one for Fantasy, really, so I'll just +1 Tom Holt's books and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.
i have to disagree a bit about the Belgariad = Mallorean bit of the equation ... on 2 distinct grounds. first, the mallorean was the continuation of the story begat in the belgariad. the overall theme may have been very, very similar ... but the main premise of each cycle was different. one is the classic "coming of age quest" that every fantasy author has done. the second was an extremely in depth culmination of the first ... second, one of the main themes that is hammered away at you in both the belgariad and mallorean, and especially in Belgarath, is the repetition of the same event, over and over, getting a little closer together as they move towards the final event. sorry to thread hijack, but since David Eddings died, i have been working my way thru the books all summer (currently about 1/2 way thru Polgara ... ) i think i may appreciate these books more than the LOTR or even the first couple of Goodkind books. (dont bother with anything from him after stone of tears, btw, unless you want a 600 page diatribe on communism ...) back on topic: i haven't seen anyone mention any Heinlein other than Stranger in a Strange Land. that's pretty sad, as that is probably the hardest work of his to wrap your head around. most everything he wrote is worth at least one read. even the juvenile works. i read The Rolling Stones when i was 3 ... warped me for life. in a good way. (mom was a hippy. go figure)
Everything written by Douglas Adams. Especially the First 3 books of the Hitchhiker series. Oh and try A Clockwork Orange for head scratching fun!
+1 for the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind (I've just finished reading Wizards 1st Rule and really enjoyed it and I believe it's been turned into a series called Legend of the Seeker). T2: Storm Rising series (much better than the T3 film)
A clockwork orange is an interesting book. the slang was a clever way of making the hyper violent seem more distant by substituting made up words, having to come out of the narrative to understand the meaning. Making a film of this book was a joke, the whole idea was the slang words used to distract and mask the violence. I didn't get that far into it TBH, I couldn't be bothered trying to remember what all the different slag words were (which in a way was the point) And a film with so much needles gratuitous violence dose not interest me.
does this count for sci fi only or all books? I literally devour books and could put together a nice list by browsing my bookshelves. . . .
Any of the Warhammer 40,000 books from Games Workshop.. they have quite a range. I'm currently reading my first edition copy of Salamander, signed by the Author, Nick Kyme. ^_^ I also like the Ultramarines series..
You know - for a bunch of young computer literate souls you people actually READ too? I'm impressed! Keep it up. When the Zombies come and the electricity is permanently off we can still have books.
I've been able to read rather well since the age of 4, and I'm still an avid reader. I'm collecting the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice (although she does get a bit "preachy" in the later books >_<) I also have a 1965 reprint of The Hound of the Baskervilles and a 1965 first edition print of The Man with the Golden Gun..
