Best Book ever read...

Alatariel · Post by **Alatariel** » Thu May 10, 2007 1:54 pm

There are so many good books around. Some of my favourites are the Stephen King books. Too many other books to write them down. But one thing is sure both Eragon and Lord of the Rings aren't that interesting. ( I know we are talking books but those movies sucked too

)

Count zero · Post by **Count zero** » Thu May 10, 2007 2:54 pm

In no particlaur order:

The Gap Series & Thomas Covenat series by Stephen Donaldson
Flow my tears, the policeman said byt Philip K dick
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick
The Roman Eagle series by Simon Scarrow
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
The Nights Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton.
The Malloeran by David Eddings
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King

Cornixt · Post by **Cornixt** » Thu May 10, 2007 3:35 pm

My favourite was Shrine by James Herbert. Can't stand Stephen King, his books are all pretty dire IMO. I love the Necroscope series by Brian Lumley.

Da Vinci Code is very poorly written. I love religious symbology but not only was it all wrong, the story was awful. Michael Cichton can't seem to miss getting his science drastically wrong in any of his books. His book on the environmental conspiracy has the worst yet. I quite enjoy his books though. Except the endings which are nearly always rubbish. I hate anything by Charles Dickens. Hated Dracula, loved Frankenstein.

I'm currently reading the Golden Compass I I really like it so far.

Yaj · Post by **Yaj** » Mon May 14, 2007 8:17 am

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - Thats it! thanks Count Zero!

Having read all four of Dan Browns most recent releases (Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, Digtial Fortress and Deception Point) I have to say I don't quite agree. Certainly the Da Vinci Code isn't the best ever written but its not that bad as a stand alone book.

However once you read any of his other works you soon realise that the plot lines of all four books are practically the same. All he does is change the characters names and settings but the actual plot lines are basically the same 'race against time to save day'. In fact the only difference between any of them is that 2 are more religious and 2 are more scientific.

Mmckeddie · Post by **Mmckeddie** » Tue May 15, 2007 2:37 am

1. LoTR/The Hobbit (Similarion was a bit rough)
2. Asimov's Foundation Series
3. Ender's Game/Speaker for the dead (rest of the series not quite as good)
4. Asimov's Robot Series
5. Harry Potter Series
6. Narnia (never much cared for book 7 though)
7. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (the first 3 books were the best)
8. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (my favorite Heinlein book, most of his stuff is pretty good)
9. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'urden Series
10. Feist's Riftwar Saga (+ the Serpentwar Saga to a lesser extent)

I have read the 4 books of a Song of Fire and Ice (game of thrones etc) and while they are pretty good, they don't make my list.

Angels and Demons + The DaVinci code were also OK but didn't make my list.

In terms of the classics, I would have to say Moby Dick even though it was a tough read when I did it.

Dread lord malice · Post by **Dread lord malice** » Tue May 15, 2007 3:53 am

-LotR & The Hobbit, really anything Tolkin put out on the subject like Unfinished Tales, etc.
-Eisenhorn Trilogy (I really can't help it. I fell in love with the characters.)
-Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (unfortunatly the movie was a let down)
-Narnia
-A Clockwork Orange (words can't describe it. But it was rough to get through at first, I admit.)
-Harry Potter (some great characters, and just alot of fun)
-A Song of Ice and Fire (not through the first book yet ((I read really slow)) and I cant put it down. Very engrossing.)
-Templar Legacy and Alexandria Link by Steve Berry

EDIT:
-Herodotus: Histories
-Sun Tzu: Art of War

Darthken · Post by **Darthken** » Tue May 15, 2007 2:25 pm

R.A.Salvatore's

rizzt Do'urden series
David Gemmel: waylander
waylander 2
hero in the shadows
Druss the legend
the swords of night and day
R.E.Feist the belgariad
Weis & Hickmen Dragonlance Saga.

Kergoth · Post by **Kergoth** » Tue May 15, 2007 2:50 pm

Hard to say but for the moment...

War and Peace of Tolstoj
A whooping 3000 pages if you read the original version but man quiet an insigth of the Russian & Europian culture/ warfare at that moment.

A must read honestly...

And offcourse the Harry Potter series, ..., sorry they are just very good,...

Post by **Icon hack** » Tue May 15, 2007 3:02 pm

Dune. I don't even hesitate to come up with it, the plot is superb, intricate and it's an extremely intelligent read that I honestly couldn't put down.

Tenebrae · Post by **Tenebrae** » Wed May 16, 2007 12:08 pm

Assuming fiction only, I'd proabbly go for:
Tolkien: The Hobbit, LotR, Silmarillion.
The Vorkosogan series by Lois McMaster Bujold
Neuromancer (and subsequent book).
The Discworld series byt Terry Pratchett
Narnia series (not anymore, but I was younger then)

Less fictional, but perhaps not entirely factual either, I can recommend:
Herodotus: Histories
the Icelandic Sagas
Sun Tzu: Art of War
Machiavelli: The Prince
Miyamoto Musashi: Book of Five Rings

EDIT: even less fictional
Ashcroft & Mermin: Solid State Physics (aka 'the Good Book')
Neamen: Smeiconductor Physics and Devices
-but then, I'm finishing my master thesis, so...

currently reading: Risuke Otake: Katori Shinto Ryu warrior tradition.

Dvil666 · Post by **Dvil666** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:40 pm

1: The Silmarillion
2: Eisenhorn (the trilogy)
3: LotR
4: The later Harry Potter books
5: the Power of 5 series
6: The Alex Rider series
7: The His Dark Materials trilogy
8: The Demonata books
9: The Saga of Darren Shan
10: The Warhammer rulebook!

Kheirakh · Post by **Kheirakh** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:00 pm

Dragonlance Chronichles and the Lord of The Rings.

Dark_melancholy · Post by **Dark_melancholy** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:25 pm

Just to chime in with the crowd, I have to agree that the Da Vinci Code is a bad piece of writing. Not necessarily a bad story, but the writing, oh the writing...

Reminds me of the Harry Potter series, by the way. Nice enough, I guess, but how everyone can be so worked up about 'em? Proves the Wizard's First Rule, though...

Can't say that the Wheel of Time series (excepting the first book) or Terry Goodkind's works do much for me either... As a way to kill some time, sure, but there are other books I'd rather read, such as:

Kristin Lavransdatter. Both the Norwegian and (new) English versions are great. Can be read on so many levels, it's probably the only book I can easily read more than once. The second and third parts of the trilogy are just 'good', but the first more than makes up for it!
Dune. The first and second books are great, but somehow I can't make myself like the rest. Prelude to Dune are also three great books.
Dragonlance Legends. This trilogy (certainly not the original one!) is a surprisingly good piece of work. But that could be just Raistlin...

A Song of Ice and Fire. Some great characters and an interesting story, just too bad it often bogs down in vulgarity and naming of genitalia... Still, I'm waiting for the next book, Mr. Martin!
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And its sequels. Still some of the funniest damn books out there!
Dracula is also an interesting read, the kind that grabs hold of you until you've finished the last page. Thrilling.
Don Quixote shows how ageless literature can be. The first part is great, the second one, not so much. Absurdity on a more comfortable level.
The Lord of the Rings simply requires mention.
Also, Clan Novel: Cappadocian for White Wolf's Dark Ages: Vampire roleplaying game deserves mention as the only good roleplaying game-based fiction I've read.
That and the first book in the War of the Spider Queen series, which is great (the rest are rubbish)

And also, all the great books I've forgot, which are also... great...

Dvil666 · Post by **Dvil666** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:30 pm

I forgot to mention: The Edge Chronicles.

Flameseeker574 · Post by **Flameseeker574** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:39 am

Im suprised that no one has mentioned any of the RA salvatore books feturing drizzit, so all of those( i like there is like 10 lol) and another one of his series, the celric quintet. those woudld be pretty high on my list along with eragon/eldest also being up there. I also liked the LOTR books they were fairly good(tho mabey i was too young, i read them in 4-5th grade)
others on my list would be divinci code, to kill a mockingbird,sword of the rightful king, and A game of thrones.

Ilokir lúinwë · Post by **Ilokir lúinwë** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:57 pm

Im suprised that no one has mentioned any of the RA salvatore books feturing drizzit

I was very very disappointed by them. After reading multiple very good comments on the series, I tried them out. I can imagine that they are good until the age of 14. I think the plot and the characters are very immature. Just my comment, you don't have to agree

Zeth · Post by **Zeth** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 5:26 pm

Assumiung just scifi/fantasy.

1. Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin
2. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
3. Asimov (specifically "The Robot Novels")
4. Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, more for it's cultural impact instead of its actualy enjoyment while reading.
5. The Cold Fire Trilogy, by C.S. Friedmen
6. A large protion of David Gemmell's works. Who is currently transcribing the illiad into novel form.
7. Key's of Power Trilogy, by Simon Brown.
8. Sword of Truth series, by Terry Goodkind. This only ranked so low on the list due to every book -with the exception of phantom of which i have yet to read- after faith of the fallen. They were to tangental and while understand that Goodkind probably needed write his satire, it killed the flow of the series.
9. Lynn Flewelling's pair of trilogies.
10. Dune

Dvil666 · Post by **Dvil666** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:21 pm

Reminds me of the Harry Potter series, by the way. Nice enough, I guess, but how everyone can be so worked up about 'em? Proves the Wizard's First Rule, though...

That's why I said the later Harry Potter books.

Arquinsiel · Post by **Arquinsiel** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:59 pm

dark_melancholy wrote:Also, Clan Novel: Cappadocian for White Wolf's Dark Ages: Vampire roleplaying game deserves mention as the only good roleplaying game-based fiction I've read.

Apart from Dragonlance you mean?

Dark_melancholy · Post by **Dark_melancholy** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:31 pm

That's why I said the later Harry Potter books.

Which are better, but not really that great. Not that it really matters, though.

Apart from Dragonlance you mean?

Can't claim to be too well-read in the Dragonlance universe, but the Legends Trilogy was great! Dragons of Autumn Twillight, well, not so much... Not bad by any means, but not so good I've read any more Dragonlance books after that...

Darklord of naggaroth · Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:17 pm

fnished reading the deamon's curse a few months back. an absolutely brilliant book that everuone on this site would enjoy. so pleasantly gory...

Hateshighelves · Post by **Hateshighelves** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:38 pm

General fiction:

Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coehlo
Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
War of the End of the WOrld, Mario Vargas Llosa

SF/Fantasy:

Chronicles of Amber, Roger Zelazny
Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny

Elric of Melnibone -- A MUST READ FOR ANY DRUCHII PLAYER!! This has to be the literary model for druchii. :twisted:

Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein

Anything by Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle --particularly the Ringworld books.

Titan/Wizard/Demon trilogy, John Varley. Maybe the best SF I've ever read.

Of course, LOTR always makes the list, with the Hobbit (natch).

Oh yeah, almost forgot:

Destination:Void, Jesus Incident, Lazarus effect, Frank Herbert.

Yes, THAT Frank Herbert! Read these books and you'll wonder what all the fuss about the Dune series is for--IMHO these are way better!

Arquinsiel · Post by **Arquinsiel** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:50 pm

HatesHighElves wrote:Elric of Melnibone -- A MUST READ FOR ANY DRUCHII PLAYER!! This has to be the literary model for druchii. :twisted:

It is. And Sephiroth too, co-incidentally. A must read for anyone I say.

Sexy druchii · Post by **Sexy druchii** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:32 pm

1. 1984
2. The Art of War
3. The Odyssey
4. Guns, Germs, and Steel
5. The Alchemist
6. Enders Game series
7. Harry Potter series

Id say these off of the top of my head.

--SD--

Dvil666 · Post by **Dvil666** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:29 pm

Gaunt's ghosts are near my top ten but I haven't read enough of them to be sure.