35 replies to this topic

[booNyzarC]

Dr Strange, on 18 February 2011 - 03:46 PM, said:

--
Also, my all time favourite book ever: Richard Matheson's 'I Am Legend'.

Awesome book Dr Strange.  I'd recommend this to everyone as well.  Simply superb! None of the film adaptations have done the original book justice, not that this is uncommon for film adaptations of course.

On top of that great choice, I'd recommend just about anything by Tom Clancy or Frank Herbert.  Another of my favorite authors is R.A. Salvatore, for any who are into fantasy at all.  And if you are...  then of course you must read Tolkien.

But if I were to pick 4 of my all time favorite pieces of fiction, strangely they would be these...

The Walking Drum
Deathwatch
Tarzan of the Apes
Dune


I've read better books, but these all had a significant impact on my early appreciation for fiction in general.  Other honorable mentions, along the same line:
First Blood
Conan the Barbarian (and the many additional books/short stories)
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (series)
The Sword of Shannara

Crikey... I could go on forever.

So many good books out there!

[The Dreamer - Hybrid89]

littlelucky, on 28 October 2010 - 04:30 PM, said:

Hey everyone!

I found a used book store on a recent trip and snagged a copy of "Girlfriend in a Coma" by Douglas Coupland.  It begins in the late 70s, and centers around a group of friends, one who has a precognition of a major disaster.  It's an easy and entertaining read.  What've you read, that you'd recommend?

I recommend 'The Last Vampire - Christopher Pike', Words cant describe how utterly fantastic it is. Its been released in an omnibus series now caleld thirst but it also continues on the story.

Enjoy

[tapirmusic]

best fiction I've read this year:

Peter Straub - A Dark Matter

Steven Hall - The Raw Shark Texts

Philip K Dick - Valis

Philip K Dick - The Divine Invasion

Edgar Rice Burroughs - The Monster Men

Cormac McCarthy - The Road

[theGhost_and_theDarkness]

ShadowSot, on 09 November 2010 - 07:39 PM, said:

Some of my favorite fiction is by Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman.
The book they wrote together, Good Omens is one of my favorites period.

I've always enjoyed Clive Cussler's books as well.

Jim Butcher's another one I enjoy, combing pulp detective stories and magic.

THen of course there's the classics. Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlocke Holmes for the win!

I love Neil Gaiman, and Good Omens is hilarious. I think everyone should read it. . .My favorite of his was always American Gods and Anansi Boys. . .Neverwhere is good, too. . .Eh, pretty much anything by him is awesome, I guess.  

And if you like Neil Gaiman, DEFINITELY pick up Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke. It's got the funny footnotes like Good Omens and is a very good read. Some parts are dry (for me, at least) but when it's good, it's REALLY good.

Clive Barker books are also good. I love his "children's" series Abarat, which is so awesomely strange, but not quite as mind blowingly strange as, say Imajica.

I have also heard many good things about War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, but I haven't been able to get a copy yet. It's been on my reading list forever, though.  

For a more light read in urban fantasy, I'd say Tithe; Ironside; and Valiant from Holly Black's "Modern Faerie Tale" series are just hands down the best. They may be teen books, but I think they really do well in representing urban fantasy and what it should be at a base level. As turned off by them as I was when I read what they were "about" (along with the fact that they were teen books and I'm semi ashamed of myself for even wondering into that section of the bookstore) I think they are probably some of my favorite light reads. Just complex enough to hold my attention, but not so much that I can't sit down and read one in an afternoon if I so choose.

[Lady_Mercury]

JGirl, on 18 February 2011 - 04:18 PM, said:

one of the coolest books i've read in a while is clive barker's weaveworld. it's an old story, but well written and engaging.
i have over two thousand books in my library, topics ranging from gardening to life after death, and everything in between.
right now i'm into biographies - i'm thinking of tackling the queen's bio next, although it's like a million pages long!
edit to add:
anything by ray bradbury gets my vote too!

Clive Barker is awesome.  Have you read his Books of Blood?

Parts of King's 'The Shining' freaked me out: those dang topiary animals.

[B Jenkins]

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Turn Of The Screw by Henry James

The Island Of Dr Moreau by H.G. Wells

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne

Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber

1984 by George Orwell

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham

The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Hell House by Richard Matheson

Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon

The Other by Thomas Tryon

The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons

The Shining by Stephen King

Salems Lot by Stephen King

Cujo by Stephen King

Pet Semetary by Stephen King

IT by Stephen King

Cold Moon Over Babylon by Michael McDowell

The Elementals by Michael McDowell




Find a nice comfy seat every night to read these books and be prepared to be scared out of your wits. These novels are the scariest nailbiting reads I have ever read.

[emberdawn]

Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mercedes Lackey, C.J. Cherry, Terry Brooks, Tad Williams (Dragon bone chair) read the whole series about 5 times.       Just to name a few.  I love to read. I enjoy experiencing other people's  imagination.

[B Jenkins]

I forgot one book on my favorite lists of best horror / fantasy novels I have ever read:

Lovers Living, Lovers Dead by Richard Lortz

[Wookietim]

Just got done with Conni Willis's "Doomsday Book" - highly recommended (As I would recommend anything by Willis).

Reading "Make Room! Make Room!" right now (People know it better by the name of the movie that was made out of it - "Soylent Green").

[None of the above]

Moorcock and Dick!

[Kasey2601]

Lost by Gregory Maguire

[lizzieboo]

Johannes Cabal, Necromancer, by Jonathan L. Howard. It's by turns creepy, wickedly funny, and oddly affecting. (I'm presently reading the second book, Johannes Cabal, Detective, and I plan to snap up a copy of the third, Johannes Cabal: The Fear Institute when I get my next paycheck.)

Anything by Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher, Connie Willis, Clive Barker, John Crowley...I'll add more when I think of them.

Thanks for all the great suggestions, folks...terrific thread!

[Taun]

In 1973 Dean R Koontz wrote a book called "The Haunted Earth"...  Very good book with a lot of humor and some scares as well..

The premise is that an alien race visits the Earth and in the process unlocks all of Earths myths, monsters and legends... Years after the hero of the story forms a detective agency with a hell hound and they go about doing the usual "Sam Spade" type work - cheating spouses, embezzlement, stuff like that - but with a supernatural twist - a vampire can bite you but he must first read you your rights, etc...

I really recommend this book... It's not a typical Dean Koontz book so be prepared - if you are familiar with his writing...

[Taun]

Atlantia, on 07 September 2012 - 09:37 PM, said:

Moorcock and Dick!

Though this was partially in jest - both authors Micheal Moorcock and Philip Dick are excellent... I especially enjoy Moorcocks' "Eternal Hero" series - particularly "The Jewel In The Skull", and "Elric of Melnibonie (sp)"...

[lizzieboo]

Taun, on 11 September 2012 - 01:02 AM, said:

In 1973 Dean R Koontz wrote a book called "The Haunted Earth"...  Very good book with a lot of humor and some scares as well..

The premise is that an alien race visits the Earth and in the process unlocks all of Earths myths, monsters and legends... Years after the hero of the story forms a detective agency with a hell hound and they go about doing the usual "Sam Spade" type work - cheating spouses, embezzlement, stuff like that - but with a supernatural twist - a vampire can bite you but he must first read you your rights, etc...

I really recommend this book... It's not a typical Dean Koontz book so be prepared - if you are familiar with his writing...

I love Koontz' "Odd Thomas" books. But right now I'm reading his 77 Shadow Street, and I am very disappointed. I'd read an excerpt from it and expected a somewhat old-fashioned ghost story with a twist related to the haunted building. It's less ghost story, more straightforward horror, and Koontz seems to be following the old Stephen King precept: "I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I will go for the gross out."

That is, Koontz seems to have settled for "going for the gross out." Given how genuinely scary the Odd Thomas books can be, he must have been off his game when he wrote 77 Shadow Street.