Need a new read

With another semester of school rapidly approaching, I've got to find a new reading list for the daily 2-hour bus commute. I polished off about 7 books last semester, including reading The Lord of The Rings for the first time (finally got around to that amazing read), and David McCullough's amazing biography of John Adams.

I'm open to suggestions of all genres.

- Elysium

Right now I am reading several series...

Star Wars: New Jedi Order - still waiting for the newest book to get on the shelves

Area 51 - got parts 1-5 and 7, still, the series is pretty intriguiing, especially if you are a fan of the theorist, Sitchin

Legend of the Five Rings - based on the card game from Wizards of the Coast, which is based on the real book, Legend of the Five Rings, intriguing and suspenseful series depicted in feudal Asia

Otherworld - series by Tad Williams, each volume of this four part series seems to dwarf the Lord of the Rings in matters of page numbers, character developement, and attention to detail

Dark Tower - we all know Stephen King, but not many know of this series by the popular author

Empire - Isaac Asimov classic series depicting a ravaged earth and its inhabitants struggle to reach the stars

Uplift Sagas - David Brin at his finest, what would happen if mankind evolved dolphins, chimps, and gorillas, what price would be paid

Shadow series - fans of Orson Scott Card and Ender''s Game will really appreciate this new series based around the events of Enders Jeesh and what happens after Battle school (Ender''s Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, and Shadow Puppets)

That''s it for now...

As an avid reader of Military History, I can easily recommend two books:
[list]
Chickenhawk
Four Hours in My Lai
[/list:u:b9e6704b03]
Both are incredibly riveting books.

Another good one is

- Marine Sniper
- Silent Warrior

Two books about the real life Vietnam Marine sniper with 93 confirmed kills

Also, There is the whole SEALS series as well

Blade of Tyshalle - A cool blend of Fantasy and Sci Fi. Takes place in a dystopian future where they have discovered how to travel between dimensions. They find a dimension that is essentially a perfect fantasy world and do what any greedy soul less society would do... make it into a reality TV series. Human actors train how to blend in their society and then go have adventures in this world and whatnot. Its a very very cool book, basically deals with how humans can go and ruin essentially anything they touch.

The Scar by China Mieville is great so far. Probably helps if you''ve read some of his other books.

I''m also plowing through Robert Jordans 10th f*cking book, The Crossroads of Twilight. I''m about half way through, and he still dosen''t seem to be advancing the story a whole hell of a lot!

And someone over at the Quater to Thre forums recommended The Threatening Storm by Kenneth M. Pollack that I just finished up. A very interesting and informative read on Iraq, and the case for invading.

2 books by edmund morris

Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
and
Theodore Rex

Good books, good pacing and an interesting character.
(and on a lighter note George RR Martins Songs of Ice and Fire series is really good)

How was the john adams book?

"phragged" wrote:

(and on a lighter note George RR Martins Songs of Ice and Fire series is really good)

Yes I highly recommend the Song of Ice and Fire series. Honestly the best books I have ever read. I love the feeling of danger in his books. He pulls no punches and no characters are safe so you never know what to expect. A rare feeling these days.

Another good one is R.A. Salvatores new Thousand Orcs , part 1 of the Hunter''s Blade trilogy.

I''m also trying to plow my way through the latest Jordan book... when I don''t have baby-duty that is. In other words, I have had the book a week and I might be 20 pages into it.

Yes I highly recommend the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Definitely! Easily my favorite fantasy series. Can''t wait for the next one later this year.

I''m also trying to plow my way through the latest Jordan book...

It''s a damn shame that people look at it as a chore to read his books now. The first two or three started out so promising, that I could not put them down. I don''t know what happened to him but he definately lost direction somewhere.

Blade of Tyshalle - A cool blend of Fantasy and Sci Fi. Takes place in a dystopian future where they have discovered how to travel between dimensions. They find a dimension that is essentially a perfect fantasy world and do what any greedy soul less society would do... make it into a reality TV series.

This sounds really cool... I did a quick look at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345421434/qid=1042688632/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/104-3993358-9811942?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) and am even more intrigued. Thanks Sinatar!

It''s a damn shame that people look at it as a chore to read his books now.

I wouldn''t call it a chore... although I''ll concede that it can be a little overwhelming. There are a lot of characters/events/etc. to keep track of after nine books. Whenever I get the latest Jordan book... I have to fight the urge to re-read all the previous books to get caught up.

The George R.R. Martin books are much tighter and I think a lot better... although there have only been three so far.

Never read Jordan, and by the sound of things, I''m not exactly regretting the decision. I''ve always preferred sci-fi over fantasy for my genre fiction, though if it''s well written and engaging I''m happy to read a cook book.

I had a brief Neil Gaiman kick. Read American Gods, then Neverwhere, and then his short stories, but kinda lost interest. I''ve had a lot of that type of fiction lately.

Actually I''ve been half-reading ''Catch Me If You Can''. I enjoyed the movie, and the book is capably written, but pretty interesting just for the material. I''ve noticed those Roosevelt books a couple of times, and seriously considered them. There''s also a Ben Franklin bio I want to pick up. I''ve also been meaning to dig into the newer Shadow books for the Ender series. I read the original series, but haven''t tried the newer stuff yet.

- Elysium

If you dig the Sci-Fi stuff, check out Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Damn fine books.

Amazon''s Link

The Rogue Squadron Series -9or10 books- written by multiple authors (Michael Stackpole, RA Salvatore, plus more). That''s if you like the Star Wars stuff. I''m not a fan of the newer books (all take place in a time that should have been left to imagination!).

Plus, I''m reading a book called ""White Rabbit"" right now, it''s a compilation of stories from Actors/Actresses/Friends/Psychiatrists/etc about drug trips and about the nature of the beast type thing. It''s quite interesting, so far the Carrie Fisher and the Sigmund Freud stories have been the best.

Ah, Hyperion. Just an amazing series. I''ll probably re-read it soon. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for great sci-fi.

- Elysium

Are the Endymion books as good as the Hyperion ones? I plan on reading them, I just haven''t gotten to the book store (which is a lie.. i go, they have the second part but not the first, then i go again, they have both, but the cash out line was waaay too long).

Read them immediately!

- Elysium

Awesome, hopefully I can get out to Chapters this weekend and pick it up.

I can only read about so many drug trips.. hehe..

Oh yeah, I''m also reading the Kurt Cobain Journals. If you were any bit of a fan (or like delving into peoples past to see where the neurosis started), then his journals make a really, really interesting read.

"cuebert" wrote:

Are the Endymion books as good as the Hyperion ones?

I actually enjoyed the Endymion books more then the Hyperion ones. They are much more epic and imo interesting.

Ah! Other people who have read the Hyperion books!
Tell me, or I shall slay you most horribly, are there ANY OTHERS?
Or just the four - the two Hyperion, and the two Endymion books?

I must know! Tell me!

Oh, and some good sci-fi books include:
The Engines of God by I can''t remember
and Finity by John Somebody
(I don''t have the books handy)

also, I''m particularly fond of an older sci-fi book by the name of Mayflies, by Kevin O''Donnell Jr.

also ALSO, ''Godspeed'' by Charles Sheffield was pretty good

"Azure Chicken" wrote:

are there ANY OTHERS?
Or just the four - the two Hyperion, and the two Endymion books?

Just the 4. There really isn''t room to take it much furthur after The Rise of Endymion, it finishes it off quite nicely.

If you haven''t read it yet; Joseph Heller''s Catch 22.
Reading it for the second time now, even though I read it for my literature list I was really poised to read it again. Great book and recommended for everyone who likes old-fashioned satire.

Yeah, the Hyperion books are great. The two Endymion books were great, but the first two will always be my favorite.

One of my favorite SF books of all time: Steel Beach by John Varley. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441785654/qid=1042726779/sr=12-1/102-6265202-6463363?v=glance&s=books) If you find this book, it''s definitely worth a read!

I simply cannot recommend enough the Fire and Ice series by R.R. Martin.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...

I''m a sci-fi fan (the hard core stuff like Brin, Niven, etc) but this series, which is quasi-fantasy, is simply amazing. I couldn''t put anyone of the 3 out so far down. Read the reviews and all the glowing write-ups on it are true. The next book, A feast for crows, is out in April and I''m going through withdraw to get it. So do yourself a HUGE favor and start this series,the characters are what makes it and you go chapter from chapter just wanting to know what happened to them.

I simply cannot recommend enough the Fire and Ice series by R.R. Martin.

Yeah, it has my endorsment too. After only three books, I would say it is one of my top two fantasy series ever. You can probably guess what the other is.

Anything by Ian M Banks,especially Use of weapons totally awesome sci fi, and for humour anything by P.J. O''rourke.

I''ve been wading through the Wheel of Time series these days. Just started ""A crown of swords"" (Book 7). So far I find Jordan''s work to be 25% Plot advancment, 30% room descriptions, 30% angsty whining (a variation of the line ""I hate men! They are sooo dumb!"" has to come atleast twice in every chapter) and the remaining 15% is some pretty good fantasy action. The battle at the end of book 6 was terrific.

Jordan can learn a thing or two from George R.R Martin when it comes to fleshing out characters and showing brevity when describing scenery. It''s sad especially considering that WoT actually has a very good overarching plot and some pretty interesting concepts.

Enough about WoT though. Some books I''d recommend are:

[list]Anything by Terry Pratchett. His books are comedy incarnate. Very good light reading.

Doughlas Adam''s ""The hitchhiker''s guide to the Galaxy"". I bet most of you folks have already read it though.

R.A Salvatore''s ""The Dark Elf Trilogy"". Heck anything of his set in The Forgotten Realms is good. The books are not particularly original but they sure are fun. Salvatore just has a way of describing battle scenes perfectly and I love Drizzt as a character.[/list:u:15b93f9ba1]

If you haven''t already, find Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Or any of his other stuff for that matter.

George RR Martin''s books are excellent. One series I really like is Stephen Erickson''s Malazon series. Really tremendous fantasy, very clever and original. Too bad you can''t get most of the books on this side of the pond...

I really like Geroge RR Martin''s series, but you practically have to wait for an eternity between each book.

For something of a different read, I''ve been reading Wayne Johnston''s books. Great Canadian author. Human Amusements, Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Navigator of New York. Great books, highly recommended for Canadians and non-Canadians alike.

I''m curious anyone finish (or even start) the new WOT book? What is that 11? Anyway I have read them all but with the new one I was thinking I would wait until paper back since the last few have moved so dam slow. I theorized to some friends that jordon was trying to invent a type of time flow forcing all things in his books to take place in real time :). Anyway I''m hoping that the new one will be good and start to actually have some closure, anyone know?

-Griffon