What do You read?

[Rachel]

Originally posted by darthfoley
Good grief...I thought Salvatore\'s dark elf series was long...it\'s only 16 or so...

It\'s not really as bad as that - it helps to read them all in order, sure, but it\'s more like (after the first 4 or so) that they\'re split into little series within the discworld universe. So, reading all the witches books in order (starting with Equal Rites) would be a good idea - but there are other books published in between each of those. Likewise, reading the Guard books in order really helps, otherwise there are going to be some very confusing things. These days they\'re almost all Guard or Witch books really... Pyramids can be read on it\'s own, likewise Moving Pictures and Soul Music. I think also Monstrous Regiment (a newer one), Thief of Time, The Truth and Small Gods - they\'ve got a different set of main characters, and so interactions with characters from other books won\'t be too wierd even if you read them out of order. The Wee Free Men is a Discworld kids book, witch-oriented but a really good read for \'grown-ups\' too.

But as far as Granny Weatherwax and Sam Vimes go, their books should probably be read in order.

 

[darthfoley]

The Dark Elf books are much the same - split into 3 or 4 part \'mini-series\' in the line...with a stand alone Wulfgar and a stand alone Jarlaxle/Entreri in there to break up all the goody-goody-Drizzt stuff...

 

[finn17]

What Rachel said

I started to try and explain it in a post but got so tangled up I deleted it. I thought I might come back and try again, but Rachel has explained it perfectly.

 

[Evil Dave]

Which is why I like Brust.

In the Jhereg series the main character is always refering to something that has happened before...however the books were not put in chronological order...and it really makes you want to read about the incident he was refering to...Quite entertaining...very dry wit.

 

[Nomis]

I am glad Klute in the valute reminded me of the Silmarilion - much, much better than LOTR. Talking of long series I read the thirteen Vampire the Masquerade Clan books and was more confused at the end than when I started - what a long way to go nowhere! - got bored with Pratchet after about eight or nine books - too clever by half!

Think I am going to print this thread out as a reading list as there are a lot of authors here I don\'t know!

 

[johnboyjjb]

JV Jones
RA Salvatore
Stephen R Donaldson
George R R Martin
Ray Bradbury
and Theone

 

[darthfoley]

Purchased Colour of Magic today. It\'s surprisingly thin. If it grabs my attention, I\'ll start in Monday lunchtime and finish it in the evening (would be tomorrow, but tomorrow is WrestleMania...and...welll....yeah). Wish me luck!

 

[Nelson]

Yeah, I find that some Terry Pratchett books are hard to get into right off the bat, and others are n\' easy. I think it\'s just that I\'ve really only read around 5, and not in order, so I can get kinda confused off the bat with some of the messed up stuff ( yes, fine, whatever, I\'m simple, and Terry Pratchett can confuse me) so I end up going back a bit more carefully. I think my favourite ones by far are the Sam Vimes books, as they are easy to get into.

As for other stuff I read, it\'s all pretty typical: Robert Jordan, Robin Hobbs, Tad Williams, and Raymond E. Feist. Does anyone else read L.E. Modesitt Jr? I\'m a nerd, hear me roar!!!

 

[darthfoley]

Drat all of you!

So, I started Color of Magic at lunch today.


I spent my entire lunchbreak having to explain to people why I was giggling constantly.

Good stuff! lol

 

[Valander]

Not Enough Leisure Reading

Currently, I don\'t have much time to read non-fiction stuff, as I\'m a student. So, my most current readings are things like:

Pthreads Programming
Data Structures and Algorithms
Discrete Mathematics
Distributed Operating Systems
Human Rights in Theory and Practice

(Gee, can you guess my major? I\'m actually minoring in Human Rights, too...)

But, as for fave stuff, that\'s mostly Sci-Fi. In particular:

Roger Zelazny (read every book he wrote, and was really bummed when he died a few years back)
Neal Stephenson
Douglas Adams
P.N. Elrod (I, Strahd was particularly good)
Laurel K. Hamilton (haven\'t read some of the newer stuff, kinda got more into \"vampire erotica\" and got a little boring for me without good character development)

 

[yrret]

I love this thread. Many great tips

First off, I took SF with McNelly who wrote the Dune encyclopedia and was friends with Herbert, and also we had Tim Powers (good author nice guy) as a guest one day who was friends with my favorite author Philip K Dick.
CSUF has the writings and journals of both authors in their world class SF collection. (Sorry for the blah blah)
Authors...
Phillip K Dick (Ubik)
Douglas Adams (Genius)
Harry Harrison (Bill the Galactic Hero HILARIOUS all the stainless steel rat stuff)
Robert Jordan (FINISH IT!!)
Robert Heinlein (Every book)
Isaac Asimov (I Robot to Foundation Hober Mallow!!)
AE Van Vogt (Slan)
Frederick Brown (Favorite short story author)
John Myer Myers (Silverlock A MUST READ!!)
Philip Jose Farmer (Riverworld)
Raymond Feist (All the Pug Stuff)
Orson Scott Card (Enders Game, Seventh Son)
Robert E Howard
ohoh HP Lovecraft of course
Roger Zelazny (Chronicles of Amber)
Piers Anthony (Macroscope his best book)
George MacDonald Fraser (FLASHMAN!!)
Stephen King (The Stand, Talisman)
Brian Lumley (Necroscope)
John Grisham (hmm Rainmaker)
Anne Rice (Vampire Lestat, Witching Hour)

Random books I think everyone should read...
National Lampoons Bored of the Rings
Confederacy of Dunces
Catcher in the Rye (I was the fencing team equipment manager in college!!)
Candide
At least the chapter \"The Inquisotor\" from The Prince by Machiavelli
The Art of War (So you can see how stupid it is)
Buck Fanshaws funeral a story by Mark Twain
Longitude (MUST MUST MUST)

Hmmm. Anything missing from my must read list?
I liked the concept and story line from Donaldsons Covenant books, but not enough to ever reread them.
Sword of Shannara stuff is fun.
Robert Aspirin and Harry Turtledove. Random in any order. Dragonlance, Drizzt, gaming books in general on the plane. (yea yea, Hickman Salvatorre etc)

Tech? Any O\'Rielly.

Whew! Ladies and Gentleman Cornholio has left the body.

 

[SaxonAngel]

Originally posted by finn17
I forgot what I believe to be the greatest book ever written:duh:

My put-me-on-a deserted-island book would be the complete Sherlock Holmes collection by A.C Doyle. *hugs big fat hardcover*

I have really gotten into the classic authors in the last few years. Kinda weird since I totally avoided it in school.

I used to volunteer at the libraries in my schools, then later worked for years in a book store. At the time I exhausted my appetite for almost all Sci-Fi and got my fair share of fantasy.
I also claim a shameful addiction to the entire range of Star Wars and the D&D universe propaganda. I can easily share most of the other opinions here. But a couple of my own opinions are:

Anne Rice is still the most surprising author for me. You never how how really really bad or really good her next one is going to be. I still get her stuff ASAP tho. And believe it or not I\'m one of the three people on earth who actually liked the Sleeping Beauty Chronicles. :moon:

Jean Auel \"The Earth\'s Children\", the first one, heck, maybe even the second, were incredible timeless books. From there its just seemed to get worse and worse. At least the last one was tolerable.

The Old Testament. Religious mumbo jumbo aside, this has some awesome stories of adventures, magic and miracles.

Jane Austen - Always makes me cry, and feel damn happy doing so. *not for boys!*

Shakespeare - Yeah we know he didn\'t write it all himself. But who can resist the machinations of Macbeth? Or the heroism of the young warrior king in Henry V? And so damn much more! Operas, motion pictures and countless variations of his work are still the cornerstone of western culture.

Homer - Have you ever read the battles of the Illiad? It\'s gory and magnificent (1000 ships, 9 years of war!) on a scale that could test even Hollywood\'s stomach for it.
How about the greatest adventure ever written? The Odyssey. Gods, monsters and women. Epic stuff. If you want the absolute root of fantasy writing, this is it.

I\'d love to babble on in a fervor about the must-reads, but now my chaos spawn cries out from his crib upstairs... Bah!




:innocent:

 

[Dragonsreach]

SaxonAngel:
Anne Rice is still the most surprising author for me. You never how how really really bad or really good her next one is going to be.

Have you read her sisters\' book(s) Alice Borchalt (hope I\'ve spelled that right) \"The Silver Wolf \"was one of those books I couldn\'t put down. Very well written and extremely redolent of the era she was depicting.

Jane Austen (Not for Boys!)
Great literature is for everyone and I include both \"Jane Eyre\" & \"Pride & Predjudice\" in my favourites. (Mind you I still have a soft spot for Biggles as well!) Ah :-- Biggles Flies Undone (think on it)

 

[Ebonbuddha]

I am currently on book seven of the Wheel of Time series. I got book one when I was in Singapore two years ago but didn\'t really start getting into it until november. Yeah, I know. I\'m a slow reader.

My alltime favorite author is William S. Burroughs. Some other good ones are:
Hunter S. Thompson
Stephen King
Brian Lumley
H.P. Lovercraft
Robert Jordan
Michael Moorcock
Lorenzo Carcaterra
Gregory Macquire
Anne Morrison
John Grisham
(Yes, John Grisham. When I moved to Korea I started reading a lot of him because it rieminded me of home when he wrote of some of the locales.)

But I read alot. When I moved to Canada, I had eight boxes of books packed and shipped. I still have maybe 5 more left in the States. lol

 

[yrret]

Hunter S Thompson!

When Ebonbuddha said William S Burroughs, it made me think of well, you know. Drugs. (And shooting your wife in the head). And Howl.
Which made me think of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson.
Laughed. My. Ass. Off.

And here is my favorite Haiku by Kerouac, from his recordings...
The fly
In the medicine chest
has died
of old age.

But I must say, I eventually determined that all the beat generation guys are basically worthless. But it was fun while it lasted!

 

[Sand Rat]

Ok, I post this for everyone who is reading the classics - its the Project Gutenberg site - http://promo.net/pg/

 

[finn17]

Good site Lloyd...

It\'s just a shame that the price of inkjet cartridges make buying the books themselves a cheaper option

 

[Sand Rat]

True, but with an Ebooks reader, or work printer, things are better.

 

[LordofthePit]

I just finished Thief of Time for the second time, I love that book(like all the discworld books) but the best series, I think, is the Guards series which Rachel mentioned (I read them in the wrong order though: first the fifth elephant, then men at arms and then Guards! Guards! It doesn\'t really matter, you just get the jokes in the wrong order)

 

[MostlyHarmlessSnack]

Pretty much everything I can get my hands on!

I read all sorts of books but my favorites are:

#1:Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (unabriged is the only way to go)
#2:Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan
#3:Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkein
#4:The Stranger by Albert Camus
#5retty much anything by Michael Stackpole
..not the whole list but it\'ll work