OT: Read a book!

[QuarianRex]

Originally posted by Cheeze:
I may have said this already, but I recommend Zelazny's Lords of Light. And no, it's not a book based on Thundarr the Barbarian(although that would totally rule!!)!!

Holy SnotBalls Batman!! You remember Thundar ?!? I used to watch that when I was a kid. The Last season I saw was incredible! It had this story arc about a bunch of women who were transported from our universe and mysteriously given different powers as part of some kind of apocalyptic plot. It ended with a cliffhanger and said to watch for a conclusion next season. I waited all summer in anticipation for it to continue but it just disappeared from the airwaves. Not knowing the completion of that storyline is one of the few actual regrets that I have in my life.

Granted, that is all remembered through my then childish eyes. I managed to pick up a copy of one of the episodes in a bargain bin at blockbuster a few years back. I had forgotten all about that cyborg vilain who had two faces. The animation was laughable and the storyline was an abomination, but I tell myself that it must have gotten better in later seasons.

Anywho... Back to topic...

The Dune series. Tis a masterpiece. Truly a work of art.

The Jesus Incident and its sequels. Also by Frank Herbert. Has nothing to do with Dune but is a great read.

The Necroscope Series by Brian Lumley. About the only man on earth who can speak to the dead and the vampires who killed most of them.

Starship Troopers by Heinlein. If you have seen the movie you havent seen anythin yet. Possibly one of the best books ever written and a good map for how the military should be run (if only boot camp was like that...). Also the first mention of power-armour.

Anything by Clive Barker. This man has one of the richest imaginations I have ever encountered. He has an incredible capacity to evoke disturbing imagery. Although his tendancy to portray aberrant sexuality in most of his books means that I have a hard time recomending anything of his to my grandmother.

The Hiram Key by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas. This is a non-fiction book about two freemasons who try to find the origins of their orders rituals. Their research points finds links going back to the Templars, Christ, and ancient Egypt. Think what you will, but their research is pretty good and it does tie up into a pretty damn solid theory, one that got me thinking. I highly recomend it. There is a sequel called The Second Messiah but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

[gregebowman]

Hell, I'm 40 now, and have been reading sci-fi for 30 of those years. I can't even remember half of the titles I've read. But in my teens, I used to read mostly of what I called The Masters works: Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury and of course Asimov. But what got me started reading sci-fi exclusively was when I read War of the Worlds. That book got me so hooked that I've been a sci-fi nut since the age of 10. I was already into astronomy at that age, and I did enjoy the ole 50's sci-fi movies, but it was that book that turned me. I need to read it again some day. I've only read it twice.

When I was 16 or 17, I started reading fantasy. Probably like most people, I started out on Tolkien, but eventually graduated into just about anything, especially once I started playing Dungeons and Dragons. The original 2 Dragonlance trilogies are some of my Favorites books of all time. Also, the trilogy by Tad Williams is damn good, but I can't remember the title of the trilogy.

[BadAxe]

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge is a fascinating look at First Contact, life in space, near light-speed travel.

A Mote in God's Eye and its sequel, The Gripping Hand, by Niven and Pournoulle.

Destiny's Road by Larry Niven

[Growltigger]

Gregebowman, I beleive the Tad Williams trilogy was called "The Dragonbone Chair/Throne". Good read.

I started reading early thanks to my mum who taught me to read before pre-school. I remember reading the Hobbit at 5 and then moved onto Lord of the Rings when I was about 8. Must have read that book 30-40 times!!

Read anything Sci fi or fantasy, I love Terry Pratchett and prefer space opera like Honor Harrington.

Dont like the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, like my heroes not to be manic-depressives

[Stone Mill]

Wow- lots of gret suggestions in here, many of which brings back stuff I forgot that I had read!

Originally posted by QuarianRex: Also the first mention of power-armour.

The movie disappointed me entirely for lacking this alone.

I like to refer to it as "Beverly Hills Troopers: 90210"

The Novel rocked!

Also, I remember how much I liked the first few Dragonlance...

Oh yes and Cheeze, don't make me get Ariel and OOkla all over your butt!!

[gregebowman]

Even though I read sci-fi and fantasy almost exclusively, I do read other genres. I'm a big Stephen King fan, and my favorite book of all time is The Stand, which I've read 6 times (3x original Version and 3x revised Version). I generally don't re-read books, since there are so many out there I probably will never get the chance to read. But the books I have read again are Dune, War of the Worlds, The Time machine, The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. There might have a couple of more, but after so many years, it's hard to remember every book I've read.

Other authors I read are Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Clive Cussler and Dean Koontz. I also like Alistair MacLean novels, but he died about the same time as Heinlein (1987 or 1988).

I don't remember Starship Troopers the book too much, but I did love the movie. One movie that shouldn't have been made from a great novel was Battlefield Earth. That was one kick-*** book, no matter what you might think of the author's religion. Too bad one of his followers, Travolta, didn't have the brains to adopt the movie into the greatness it could have been on the screen. Instead, he made what has been called the book of the century into one of the worst piles of doo-doo I've ever had the misfortune to see. Hopefully, someone will do a remake in about 10 years or so and do it right.

[dogscoff]

Re Tad williams: Yes, the dragonbone chair was the firs in the "memory sorrow and thorn" series. It was a trilogy, although the third book was split into two for some printings, so it is also a quadrilogy. It's basically a "re-imagining" of the LotR, with all (well, some) of Tolkien's attention to language, mythology and back-history, but with some cool new ideas, some deeper characters and obligatory "underground" chapters to satisfy Williams' fetish for being lost in endless dark tunnels. (Paging Dr Freud)Kinda cute in parts, but then so was the Tolkien stuff.

His newer series, Otherland, is better. That is kind of like fantasy/ quest stuff in a variety of futuristic VR settings. Very enjoyable, a largely believable and well researched vision of the future, although the ending sucks.

His other books that I know of are Tailchaser's song (Standard fantasy quest, but with cats instead of people. Not bad) and Caliban's hour which I haven't read.

Finally, check out www.shadowmarch.com - he's publishing his newest book on the web. You get the first few chapters for free, then have to sign up for the rest. It looks pretty good.

[Geckomlis]

Good books worth a try (I enjoyed them immensely), but not to everyone’s taste…
S.M Stirling/David Drake: The Forge (The General Series)
David Gerrold: A Matter for Men (The War Against the Chtorr Series)
Douglass Reeman: His Majesty’s U-Boat

[gregebowman]

Some series or books I've enjoyed recently are:

The T2 books by S.M. Sterling (if you like the Terminator movies, you'll love these books)

1632 & 1633 by Eric Flint (a modern W. Virginian town is transported back in time to 1632 Europe)

The Lost Regiment series (I keep forgetting the author's name, but it's about a Union regiment that goes through the Bermuda triangle and has to survive on an alien planet with aliens who think humans are finger licking good)

There are others, but I can't think of them right now.

[Stone Mill]

This is interesting... Check out this rather ambitious project:

http://www.iblist.com/