[kasperl]

Ok, I'll be going to Oxford next week, and I will be raiding bookstores. Does anyone have any suggestions for English language books? Science fiction, detectives, and historical stuff are good, but any book that comes with special recommendations can be on the list.

I'm already looking for
- Discworld (Terry Pratchett), anything but part 1
- Anything by Asimov, except for I, Robot
- The latest Falco (Lindsey Davis)
- Dune Messiah (Frank Herbert)
- Honorverse books (David Weber)
- Anything from Orwell, except for 1984.
- Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein)
- Neuromancer (William Gibson)
- Necromancer (Gordon R. Dickson)
- A Game of Thrones (George R. R. Martin)
- Hitchikers guide to Galaxy [and other books by same author] (Douglas Adams)
- Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
- Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion (Dan Simmons)
- Inspector John Rebus series (First book: Knots and Crosses)  (Ian Rankin)
- Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Arthur C. Clarke)
- Lord of the Flies (William G. Golding)
- War of the Worlds (H.G.Wells)

 (The red is stuff recommended by others, so I can always use more comments on those books.)

I already have:
- Discworld, The colour of Magic (Pratchett)
- I, Robot (Asimov)
- The entire Falco series, but the last one (Davis)
- Dune (Herbert)
- 1984 (Orwell)


I do not like:
- Anything by Arundathi Roy
- Anything with an overtone of idealism, that uses too many adverbs and adjectives. (See comment on Roy)


If you know a good series, I would love to know the first title, the thinnest title (weight, we're flying), and the best title according to your taste.

If anyone has any special requests, I can look out for certain titles, and either hand them over in London next year, or someone can send me a self-adressed envelope with postage money or something like that.

[delta_7890]

The books are hardly thin, but I can never see a thread like this without recommending George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.  Exceptionally good fantasy series that's high on realism and light on the "fantasy" parts, at least at first.  It can be gritty and gruesome at times, but I absolutely love it.  First volume is "A Game of Thrones."

[redsniper]

I recommend: X-Wing series by Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, and the Hitchhiker books by Douglas Adams.

[kasperl]

Originally posted by redsniper
I recommend: X-Wing series by Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, and the Hitchhiker books by Douglas Adams.

How could I forget HHG2G....

[Unknown Target]

The Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card. The last two books aren't that great, but the first two, especially the first, are amazing. The "Shadow" series, also of the same universe, and also by him, are also quite good.

[kasperl]

As further responses: I don't mind gritty and grim, those can be good points, actually. I'll definetily keep an eye out for those. Ender's Game looks like one of those books you just have to have read, and the HHG2G is something I've been meaning to read for a year or so.

I'm not too much of a Star Wars fan, though.

[Ford Prefect]

The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons. There are four books in the series, the first one is Hyperion.

[kasperl]

FP: That seems a good thing to read, too. Added to the list (tm)

[aldo_14]

Detective; anything in the Rebus series by Ian Rankin.

[kasperl]

Originally posted by aldo_14
Detective; anything in the Rebus series by Ian Rankin.

Is it a good thing to start with the first book, or isn't that necesary/usefull?

[Rictor]

Originally posted by kasperl


How could I forget HHG2G....

I would also recommend the Dirk Gently books: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul. They're Douglas Adams through and through.

Aside from that...uh, I don't suppose you're into graphic novels and such?

[kasperl]

Rictor: Not really, no.

[ToecrusherHammerjaw]

Brave New World is good.  It's really ****ed up, but it's a great story.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by kasperl


Is it a good thing to start with the first book, or isn't that necesary/usefull?

Nah, not really.

[Corsair]

If you like stuff without adjectives and adverbs, then try Hemingway.

[Ford Prefect]

Yes but I don't think he included existentialist modernism in his list of genres.

[kasperl]

If you've read The God of Small Things from Roy, you know what I mean with 'too many'.

[Taristin]

King Leopold's Ghost.  It's historical, but it's entertaining, if not a little angerring at some points.

[CP5670]

http://www.ccel.org/c/chesterton/thursday/thursday.html

Anyone remember all those excerpts in Deus Ex? It turns out that this is actually a real book and a very good one at that. I'm reading it now.

[Rictor]

I thought Deus Ex = Foucalt's Pendulum.
That's what the word on the...y'know, street is.