Recommend GP some books to read

TCO · June 22, 2002, 22:27

Just looking for some good stuff to read. Can be novels light or serious. (If it is too dense and literary...I don't want that.) Or can be interesting non-fiction. No science fiction/fantasy series. I generaly hate series. (There are a few I like...LOTR, HP...but usually they are too boring. Big tome like stretched out stories.)

Sava · June 22, 2002, 22:31

Do you like Tom Clancy? He's always got some good spy stuff out.

Starchild · June 22, 2002, 22:33

I'm currently reading The Years of Sand and Rice by Kim Stanely Robinson. Pretty good "what-if" type book covering the 600 year development of a world dominated by China and dar al-Islam in the absence of Europeans (who all died in the plague).

Sava · June 22, 2002, 22:36

ooh, that sounds cool Starchild....

TCO · June 22, 2002, 22:41

I've read all the Clancy stuff. It is generally good but some books are a little too blatently Republican. It is uncanny some of the things that he has written about and what similar things have occurred.

I like Robinson. Some of his stuff is a little overworought (the mars series). But I liked his backpacker book and his California surfer stuff. I've got somehting in common with him there...

DanS · June 22, 2002, 23:19

Read your Keagan?

JohnT · June 22, 2002, 23:40

If you like Space Opera, you could do little better than Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn "trilogy" (3 books in Britain/US hardback, 6 novels in American paperback). Mr. Hamilton posits a universe with a sizable (800+ planets and thousands of asteroid settlements) human interstellar civilization, a couple of cool alien races, and a religious split amongst those who use nanotech enhancements (Adamists (Christians/Moslems)) and those who use genetic enhancements (Edenists (Buddhists, Rationalists, Greens)).

Into this mix there arises the dilemma that the dead are coming back to life by possessing the living... and not just the dead, but the damned. Even worse, you are possessed only upon by being tortured by the possessed, and the possessed have almost a compulsion to release more souls from Hell.

Pretty heady stuff.

If you're into more pain than that, go and check out the 5 volume Gap series by Stephen R. Donaldson. This is a series that I implore you to finish if you dare start, because it can be a painful and repetitive read. But the repetitive nature has it's purpose, and things will be revealed that makes you realize you're reading a totally different story. The Gap series is a bravura performance in plotting and pacing, though you will feel every damned bump and bruise that these people suffer.

But start the Gap series only if you're man enough to handle the challenge. I do not recommend it for the faint of heart.

Otoh, if you're looking for some wimpy 400 page "novel" to read, go with Sherri Tepper's Grass. It is one of the few novels where the protagonist fails in the crucial deciding moment.

If you want something even shorter, I'd recommend Margaret Atwoods The Handmaid's Tale. OMG, is this a good book!

JohnT · June 22, 2002, 23:46

D'oh! Didn't even see the part about "not liking series." Mind if I tell you that you're wrong?

Aren't the Jack Ryan books a "series" of a sort?

Anyway, go with the Atwood. You will NOT regret it.

DinoDoc · June 22, 2002, 23:47

I'm reading The Bourne Identity by Robert Lublum. It is pretty entertaining so far.

SuperSneak · June 22, 2002, 23:51

I second Atwood's Tale, a great "what if" (right-wing Christians take over) in its own right.
Sticking with the female, I'll also highly recommend Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" a Hugo AND Nebula award winner.
Though you are averse to series', I would be remiss if I didn't turn you on to the Riverworld series by Philip Jose` Farmer. An excellent adventure full of historical characters (Twain is a major protagonist) who all wake up naked and shaved on a global riverfront and proceed to seek its source.
Kerouac's Desolation Angels is a great wilderness to city introspective.
I might also suggest absolutely anything by a little known but extremely excellent author named John Fante, who was a Hollywood screenwriter to pay the bills, but wrote some wonderful novels, namely Ask the Dust, one of my all time favorites.
KW Jeter's Noir is a really good futuristic pot-boiler, with people obsessed with "plugging in" to the neural Net, and doing anything to get the latest and greates hardware.
Though I didn't like it much initially, I really enjoyed the whole Ender's series.
And, if you can handle a gritty, ugly world of archaic fantasy sans fairies and dragons, I recall Gene Wolfe's Executioner series....excellent, two fisted tale.
No one is complete without having read "A Scanner Darkly" by Philip K. D*ck.

Starchild · June 22, 2002, 23:52

If we're talking shameless space opera, might I recommend David Brin's Uplift Saga? I just finished reading the latest book for the third (fourth?) time. Any sci-fi idea that could get thrown in did (except for a few, like transporters).

The only problem being is that, like any self-created mythos, you really have to start from the beginning of the first trilogy. Actually, you can't probably skip Sundiver but Startide Rising is essential to understand the Jijo Trilogy.

Edit: Ooops. Missed that bit about not liking series.

SuperSneak · June 22, 2002, 23:59

Screw it...series are there for a reason--they're good!

Darsnan · June 23, 2002, 00:07

Quote:

Originally posted by Starchild
If we're talking shameless space opera, might I recommend David Brin's Uplift Saga?

I second that!

Great series!
As a standalone, Frank Herbert's "The Dosadi Experiment" is a superior psychological sci-fi thrilller. Nothing I have ever read (fiction or otherwise) compares to it.

D

Rex Little · June 23, 2002, 01:03

Eddie Kantar wrote several entertaining bridge books. Not sure where you'd find them, though; I never see them in bookstores.

Humorist Dave Barry has written more books than I can count, every one of them hilarious. He even wrote a novel, Big Trouble, which was also hilarious. They made it into a movie which was out recently, although if you blinked you would have missed it. It was supposed to come out last September, but it had to be pulled after 9-11. If you read it you won't have any trouble seeing why.

Felch · June 23, 2002, 01:47

I recommend a little known British author whose name is Tolkeen I think. Really nice books, it's what they based that movie last Christmas on, that one about Spiderman coming and fighting the Green Goblin. Maybe I'm mixing it up with something else.

Mihai · June 23, 2002, 02:50

'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card is excelent.
Also, the other two in the trilogy ; 'Speaker for the Dead' and 'Xenocide' are pretty good.

rah · June 23, 2002, 03:16

Lucifer's Hammer. Just a bit of SF in the premise but realistic enough. A good read.

RAH

Sandman · June 23, 2002, 07:45

Read an Agatha Christie mystery. I did and now I'm hooked on the damn things.

Strangely, the butler hardly ever does it.

red_jon · June 23, 2002, 07:53

My favourite book was Nineteen Eighty-Four and would definintly reccomend reading it.

Or 'The Outsiders'.

Dauphin · June 23, 2002, 08:02

Fatherland by Robert Harris.

Alternate history based on Germany reaching a negotiated peace with the US in WW2. Set in the 1960s.

loinburger · June 23, 2002, 08:02

Quote:

Originally posted by Mihai
'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card is excelent.
Also, the other two in the trilogy ; 'Speaker for the Dead' and 'Xenocide' are pretty good.

Mihai: Did you read 'Children of the Mind'?

GP: I'd recommend anything by Terry Pratchett (Good Omens, any of the DiscWorld books). Ditto for Dave Barry. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was a good fast read, and his short stories are also quite good. I just finished Job and Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein and I Robot by Asimov--I greatly preferred Asimov since Heinlein seems to have difficulty with pacing, though.

Kropotkin · June 23, 2002, 08:07

"The Dice Man" by Luke Rhinehart; Fun and somewhat disturbing novel about a man that lets the dice decide his actions.

Jaakko · June 23, 2002, 08:18

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco - a great conspiracy/mystery sort of book, where a practical joke done by three book editors goes horribly wrong. Very complex. I can't tell much else, I've only started on it myself. But I do love it so far.

The Descent by Jeff Long - what if the myth of Satan and demons was based on reality? Vast networks of caves are discovered around the globe, and the caves aren't empty...
A great horror-techno thriller mix, and a genuinely scary book at times.

TCO · June 23, 2002, 10:35

Quote:

Originally posted by DanS
Read your Keagan?

The war historian? I tried one, but it was a bit boring. I could take another look if you think it's worthwhile...

TCO · June 23, 2002, 10:39

Quote:

Originally posted by SuperSneak
I second Atwood's Tale, a great "what if" (right-wing Christians take over) in its own right.
Sticking with the female, I'll also highly recommend Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" a Hugo AND Nebula award winner.
Though you are averse to series', I would be remiss if I didn't turn you on to the Riverworld series by Philip Jose` Farmer. An excellent adventure full of historical characters (Twain is a major protagonist) who all wake up naked and shaved on a global riverfront and proceed to seek its source.
Kerouac's Desolation Angels is a great wilderness to city introspective.
I might also suggest absolutely anything by a little known but extremely excellent author named John Fante, who was a Hollywood screenwriter to pay the bills, but wrote some wonderful novels, namely Ask the Dust, one of my all time favorites.
KW Jeter's Noir is a really good futuristic pot-boiler, with people obsessed with "plugging in" to the neural Net, and doing anything to get the latest and greates hardware.
Though I didn't like it much initially, I really enjoyed the whole Ender's series.
And, if you can handle a gritty, ugly world of archaic fantasy sans fairies and dragons, I recall Gene Wolfe's Executioner series....excellent, two fisted tale.
No one is complete without having read "A Scanner Darkly" by Philip K. D*ck.

1. I'll look at some of these books. (Several that I don't recognize.
2. I liked the story Ender's Game best. After that, I felt that Card was going to the well too much. diluting what had been a kick ass story with a tough decision. I also felt that the later stories allowed him to have his cake and eat it. Much better to end with him eradicating the bugs and just wondering if it was right or not. More powerful.
3. Sometimes series are ok. Usually when the author plans them as series, I don't like them. As they are too long. And the individual books not enjoyable. I especially don't like series where the story is more about evolution of a planet or a family or a society. I want books about characters that I care about. Sundiver and Uplift War were ok. The next trilogy was too dense. I bought it and never read it.

TCO · June 23, 2002, 10:41

Quote:

Originally posted by Starchild
If we're talking shameless space opera, might I recommend David Brin's Uplift Saga? I just finished reading the latest book for the third (fourth?) time. Any sci-fi idea that could get thrown in did (except for a few, like transporters).

The only problem being is that, like any self-created mythos, you really have to start from the beginning of the first trilogy. Actually, you can't probably skip Sundiver but Startide Rising is essential to understand the Jijo Trilogy.

Edit: Ooops. Missed that bit about not liking series.

Thanks, see my comments to Sneak regarding Brin. His individual books like Postman or even Sundiver/Uplift are ok. The series stuff (next trilogy and the foundation stuff) is too processy. Not enough story. too much of just an archtecture.

TCO · June 23, 2002, 10:42

Quote:

Originally posted by Darsnan

I second that!

Great series!
As a standalone, Frank Herbert's "The Dosadi Experiment" is a superior psychological sci-fi thrilller. Nothing I have ever read (fiction or otherwise) compares to it.

D

Got it. REad it. Was disturbing as I read it quite young. Will reread it. Thank you.

Urban Ranger · June 23, 2002, 10:45

How to Win Friends and Influence People

TCO · June 23, 2002, 10:47

Quote:

Originally posted by loinburger

Mihai: Did you read 'Children of the Mind'?

GP: I'd recommend anything by Terry Pratchett (Good Omens, any of the DiscWorld books). Ditto for Dave Barry. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was a good fast read, and his short stories are also quite good. I just finished Job and Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein and I Robot by Asimov--I greatly preferred Asimov since Heinlein seems to have difficulty with pacing, though.

Will check out Pratchet. You are right about the later Heinlein. He got sloppy without an editor to crack the whip on him. Read some of his earlier stuff, though. It is quite tight.

TCO · June 23, 2002, 10:48

Quote:

Originally posted by Sandman
Read an Agatha Christie mystery. I did and now I'm hooked on the damn things.

Strangely, the butler hardly ever does it.

I am really into mysteries lately. They are usually entertaining. Brit stuff esxpecially. My favorite type of book on tape for long car trips.