[Blue Lion]

Originally posted by an0n
HG Wells - War Of The Worlds
 

 

And has anyone else read Childhood's End by A. C. Clarke? I kinda liked it

[Styxx]

Lord of the Rings is a total classic, can't go without it. Read all of them, plus The Hobbit, and now I'm reading The Silmarilion, which also rules. Next I'll get into the Unfinished Tales...

Dune is great too, really liked it, but the stuff about computers is strange. I liked the second book a lot less, and lost interest on the third one. It just got kinda dull.

The Devil's Garden is from a Brazilian author, Luis Fernando Verissimo, and it rulez. The guy is a genius - the book is a story within a story within a story within a... you get the picture.

Never read Catcher in the rye, but I'm kinda curious about it. What's all that stuff on Conspiracy Theory? What's the book about?

The Illiand and the Odissey are damn good books too, if you read a good translation of them. Don't go for the adaptations, they take away all the fun.

Another one that can't be forgotten is the Divine Comedy (or whatever it's called in english) by Dante Alighieri. The same deal as the Illiad and Odyssey apply here though - adaptations suck\, go for the full, three-book, poem version. It's scary.

[Zeronet]

Lord of the Rings(im at the Taming of Smeagol) and the Night Dawn Trilogy, which are some of the best books i,ve ever read.

EDIT: Shouldnt the poll of included LOTR etc?

[Stunaep]

Originally posted by Blue Lion


 

And has anyone else read Childhood's End by A. C. Clarke? I kinda liked it

Read it. It was... interesting. A bit lower than Clarke's usual standard, IMHO. the aliens were made too.... human.

[Ace]

Hrmm...

Foundation The original trilogy is spectacular, especially how the Foundation narrowly survives being smeared from the old Empire.

Dune Another one of those books practically impossible to put to film but is good.

Lucifer's Hammer By Niven, I'm just reading it but you got to love this for the little comments like the guy leaving his keys in the car and swearing at Ralph Nader for all of the "safety and energy saving features."

Ringworld Pierson's Puppeteers baby, that's all you need.

The Lensman Series A wee bit dated but some good explanations for why the aliens are human-like because the Lens interprets their language and culture into realative equivalents. Unlike StarTrek and recent SF such as B5, where it's explained away by the "first ones." Plus it's got some of the best space battles arround.

[NegspectahDek]

Originally posted by wEvil
i have seen the origional - multiple times.

Its a pity they slaughtered the origional text, plot and narrative on both of them

dune is one of those stories that you couldnt put in 3 movies, though thats a good start.  I read pretty fast (i can finish starship troopers in one evening) but the abridged version of dune took me 3 nights to read.  theres too much story to really make a suitable movie.  Herbert really created a whole new universe in one book

[mikhael]

I have near two thousand novels on my shelves, most of which I've read two or three times each. I will recommend anything by the following authors, in no particular order:

J. R. R. Tolkien
George R. R. MartinMelanie Rawn
Elizabeth Moon
Julie Czernedza
Peter F Hamilton
Greg Bear
Gregory Benford
David Brin
Terry Goodkind
Rober Jordan
Lisanne Norman
Isaac Asimov
Jules Verne
Orson Scott Card
Stephen Baxter
George Orwell
Stephen Hawking
Arthur C. Clarke
Neil Gaiman
Stephen DonaldsonJ. M. Strazcynski (gods I can't spell his name)
Susan R. Matthews
Douglas Adams
Frank Herbert
C. S. Friedman

That covers all the authors for whom I own at least two books (in some cases 15 or 20). If I had to pick an absolute favorite book, right now it would have to be Susan R. Matthews An Exchange of Hostages. I've never before read a book that ripped me up, heart and mind, so effectively and made me cry for the anguish of the main character. This is the only book in my collection that I have not read more than once--picking it up and looking at it makes me remember and hurt and I put it back down. I don't need to reread it. It is not for the faint of heart.

[Thorn]

Anything by Tom Clancy, except Netforce and Power Plays...

[Nico]

sob, I'm the only one to like Riverworld or what?

[NegspectahDek]

i never read it.  aerospace engineering is kind of time intensive as far as majors go

[mikhael]

Originally posted by venom2506
sob, I'm the only one to like Riverworld or what?

I tried, Venom, but I couldn't get into it.

Mind you this was like... fifteen years ago or something and it was like the third or fourth book in the series. I might give it another shot. Stuff I didn't like then, I find more interest in now.

[Nico]

well, the original idea is really interesting ( and  makes for nice opportunities), but actually, I could never find the books save for the first one ( which was really cool IMHO )

[untouchable]

The Lord of the Rings

Anything Tom Clancy

[Kamikaze]

You've got to love the Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy!

[CODEDOG ND]

Red Dragon
Silence of the Lamb
Hannibal

Jurassic Park
The Lost World (not the british dudes version)
The Andromeda Strain
Misc. Star Wars
Rainbow Six
Black Hawk Down
A.C. Clarke's Stuff
Communist Manifesto

[CP5670]

Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy

As I said, I can't really remember all of the great titles I have read, as there are so many of them. There's another one.

FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley. The greatest book ever!

Yet another one.

And whoever said To kill a mockingbird is a bad book should be taken out to the back and shot. Seriously.

lol

I really thought that this book was complete crap.  Not as bad as The Catcher in the Rye, but still pretty bad.

Foundation The original trilogy is spectacular, especially how the Foundation narrowly survives being smeared from the old Empire.

These books are some of my favorites too. The first one and the first half of the second one were the best in my opinion.

[Langy]

WTFS. TWO people have mentioned Douglas Adams or his works. DA=THE BEST. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy quilogy (5-book trilogy, I think;p) is the best series I've ever read. You people should be ashamed for not mentioning it.

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Kamikaze
You've got to love the Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy!

I just finished going through Hitchhikers's Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. when I finish the Silmarillion again, I'll listen to the other two. There's just something sweet about listening to Douglas Adams read his own books.

Also, Dirk Gently, The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul was awesome, just to hear Douglas Adams screaming 'OOOOOOOOODIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!'. The man can bellow like an angry Norse thunder god.

[Grey Wolf]

The Hitchhiker's Trilogy!
The Lord of the Rings!
Most Things from Gordon R. Dickson!
Most things from Mercedes Lackey!

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
The Hitchhiker's Trilogy!
The Lord of the Rings!
Most Things from Gordon R. Dickson!
Most things from Mercedes Lackey!

Gordon Dickson isn't bad, but Mercedes Lackey? How many times can that woman tell the same tale in the same world through a different character's eyes? Its fluff fantasy.

That said, I think I have all of the Valdemar novels and short stories up through... um.... 1998 or so. Oh the shame....