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A novel idea


Joseph

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Chill and I were talking last week about books. Novel-type books. Y'know, the ones without pictures, rules, and charts?  ;)

As we had both come up with  lots of good stuff for the other to read, I figured that the community here could benefit from us all adding some suggestions. Doesn't matter if they're role-playing related, inspirational, or whatever.

Tell us, if you will, what books have you read that you really got into?

-Joseph

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I'll start this puppy off.

I'm pretty big into sci-fi, so most of what I've read falls into that category. (Yes, that means I haven't read Fellowship of the Ring or Harry Potter.) I've generally slacked on horror, too. Though Lovecraft is on my list...

One of the best series I've read was that of Ender. I still think the first book, Ender's Game is the best of the set, but the others really flesh out ideas and characters well. The only part I felt odd at was the relative ease at which I was able to relate to the aliens (post Ender's Game). They seemed a bit too human.

Recently, I've gotten into the Uplift War by David Brin. The first and third ( Sundiver and Uplift War ) are recommended in the back of the Trinity core. Brin does a wonderful job protraying how different even native Terran species' thoughts can be. I've only read the first three books of the six (or so), but I highly recommend them. Lots of inspiration for characters and stories in here. There is even a GURPS adaptation for the War.

For the Biokinteic players amongst us (or any shifter, for that matter), I'd recommend Wild Seed by Octavia Butler. The story gets a bit dry in some places, and has some heavy feminist tones, but really gets the imagination working in relation to gameplay.

Other classics include Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and Wells' 1984. For those sci-fi/cyberpunk fans, William Gibson is a must. He's arguably the father of modern sci-fi. Neuromancer is the one you should read even if you ignore all the others. (Though, in my opinion, Idoru was a waste of money.)

Next?

-Joseph

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The first fantasy books I've read were the chronicles of Narnia (I must've been 7 or 8 years old...) They were the first books that got me thinking "wow!", especially "The Silver Chair"

After that I immediately upgraded to a Terry Brooks' "Scions of Shannara" hard-cover. Half because it interested me and half to brag that I could read a big book (I was 8, remember?) That was an excellent series which I've reread quite a few times, "The Druid of Shannara" being the best of saga.

Frank Herbert's Dune chronicles is also one of my favorite book collection. If you ever wanted to implement religious fervor and budding political system in one of your games, these are the books to read! "Bring me another Duncan"

"Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson is also THE book to read for campaigns on mars or terraforming. The science is so convincing it makes you wonder why we're not already working hard at terraforming mars right now...

Lately I've also read Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" It's an awesome historical fiction on the use of cryptography during ww2 and the building of a data haven in the present day. Funny as hell too. You've gotta see the mathematical graph on productivity vs the operators horniness to believe it!

When I was travelling around I also read dozen of sci-fi shorts from playboy collections. It took me a while to realise it's the same Playboy that prints the magazines...:) Apparently there ARE good articles in there. The sci-fi compilations were amazing with authors like Ray Bradbury and Harry Harrison amongst others.

Uhmm, thats it for now. Btw, you should really read LOTR, if only to stop people from saying "You've never read LOTR?!!?"

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i don't tend to go for the classic sci-fi myself, although i've read quite a bit of it, most of the above really... i mostly read terry pratchett's discworld series, humour, satire, downright silliness, and a cool game all in one! ::thumbs-up one of my best games was a discworld one nighter... the players got so into the plot and intereacting with each other i had to fight to get a word in edgewise...

otherwise, my latest find has been holly lisle's diplomacy of wolves, vengance of dragons, and courage of falcons not a terribly new concept plot wise, but for setting and character development it's worth it. of course my poor players are being subjected to a story ever so slightly based on the books... shame my story will be over before any of them would be able to read the series...  ::sly  ::halo

yep, that's the recent stuff...

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For excellent sci-fi I recommend Michael Marshall Smith - especiall 'Only Forward'.   Neil Gaiman is excellent of course.  His pratchett crossover - 'Good Omens' is wickedly funny!  Otherwise Neverwhere, Smoke and Mirrors, American Gods.  if we extend this to graphic novels then Sandman, Invisibles and Watchmen are brilliant.

as for the rest - yes Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars are very very good - although they can be a bit annoying at times - especially seeing the word 'piste' repeated 40 times a page... Kim Stanley Robinson worked for Nasa or something - very bright boy.

on a magelike vein - try Tim Powers.  I found his Las Vegas Grail Quest book (Last Call) to be particularly cool.

Enders Game is an all time classic and the follow ons are also very cool.

Yes - David Brin's Uplift War series is excellent - especially for wierd aliens... also for the fact that humans generally kick the crud out of the wierd aliens with nowhere near as good technology.  The best one of these books that I've read was Startide Rising - which I think is the second book but the books form a loose series and aren't necessarily continuous (although it starts with Sundiver).

For historical fiction I would recommend Lindsey Davis - she's got a brilliant thing going where she effectively runs a kind of 50s? style detective story in ancient Rome.  There are loads of books in the series.

For a good look at very far future society - try Iain M Banks' Culture series - with Player of Games and Excession being particularly good.   Also - the first book in the series deals with a very norca like main character... i forget the title of the book.

For telepathy and clearsentience - try mindstar rising by peter f hamilton (a bit simplistic) and the foundation trilogy by asimov (just the first 3.  4 and 5 go robot crazy).

-knave

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Nuts. Looks like most of the good stuff's been mentioned already.... ;)

To get the easy stuff out of the way - Pratchett is excellent, as is Michael Marshall Smith (although I've only read 'Spares' and 'One of Us' - 'Only Forward' is sitting on my bookshelf looking longingly at me along with 'Years of Rice and Salt' by Kim Stanley Robinson...).  'Cryptonomicon' was great, but (in my opinion) not as good as 'Snow Crash'. 'Watchmen', 'Tom Strong' and 'Planetary' make the list as well.

Right - all I have to do now is think of things that haven't already been mentioned.....

Michael Crichton - most of his books are much better than the movies that get made out of them, and to prove it pick up a copy of 'Congo' - an essential read for Adventure!.....

David Gemmell - excellent fantasy author (although it's more 'dark' than 'high' fantasy) - 'Legend', and 'Waylander' are probably the best of the bunch...

For something a little different, try 'Anonymous Rex' by Eric Garcia.  It's a modern day detective story where the hero is a Velociraptor PI. In a latex Human suit.  Yeah, you heard me right.   :)   The idea is that dinosaurs evolved along with humans, but learned to hide etc. etc.  Trust me, it's better than it sounds.

Finally for silliness on a par with Pratchett, check out the Cineverse Cycle by Craig Shaw Gardner ('Slaves of the Volcano God', 'Bride of the Slime Monster' and 'Revenge of the Fluffy Bunnies') - a trilogy about a normal man who gets sucked into a multiverse made of of old pulp and b-movie cliches, where a hero's greatest power is the ability to hear the backing track........

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btw -about David Gemmel... don't you find his plotlines a bit samey?  Invariably its about an aging hero forced into some sort of last stand against innumerable opponents where he keeps hitting them in the throat or groin until they or he is/are dead.

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Gemmell's plots are both samey and cliche, which is why I tend to read them in the same way I watch action movies - switch off brain and enjoy the ride  :)

One I forgot - The Wild Cards series.  A bunch of short stories that make excellent inspiration for Aberrant.  The first couple of books are excellent, but they tend to go downhill after that in a blatant attempt to shock and be 'edgy'...

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Oh - also - Ken McLeod

The Stone Canal and The Cassini division are excellent.  He has a way of making the mundane seem exceptional and the exceptional seem truly mundane.  Also a cool look at things like nanotech, communist societies and vaguely at VR people.

-knave

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A series I always liked was the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy, by Douglas Adams. The story tends to drag in the last two books of the four-book trilogy, but it's still a worthwhile read for laughs.

The other series I've just started is the Dirk Gently series (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, possibly others), also by Adams. A detective novel with as much strangeness and laughs as I've read.

The only other book I can remember I liked was Neuromancer.(William Gibson) It's one of the best sci-fi books I've ever read, up there with Ender's Game and associates. I think it won the big sci-fi award, too.

-Horseman Famine

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A series I always liked was the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy, by Douglas Adams. The story tends to drag in the last two books of the four-book trilogy, but it's still a worthwhile read for laughs.

you mean 5 book trilogy. :)

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, possibly others

nope... just those 2.  although you could add the meaning of liff... unrelated but also by douglas adams... sort of a dictionary of should have been words... funny :)

Neuromancer

yup - our boy william coined the term cyberspace...  good book.

-knave

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I am a wee bit late jumping on this thread but here goes a canonical listing of every book that I have read...

Actually I don't want to type that so here is an overview.

I have read all of Crichton's Work, Some of Tom Clancy, A bit of Brian Jacques, most of J.K. Rawlings, and so on. Some of the better ones are "Catch 22" by Joseph Heller, and James Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake" is proving to be a fun little jaunt through the human psyche.

Sometimes when I am paticularly courageous I will dally in the realm of history and am quite fond of Fitzroy McClean's  "Highlander". The book "A Diplomatic History of the United States Government" proved to be quite the quick read also; and "The Footsteps of Robert the Bruce" was fun as well. And of course who can forget the stories of the greatest slueth to grace the pages of The Strand magazine. I am currently pushing my way through the qorks of Sir Auther Conan Doyle.

Aside form this I will sometime dust off some Shakespeare, and if I am feeling truely maschochistic I find that user manuals and textbooks can occupy the time quite nicely...

So there is my reading I am sure there is more but I can't remember it right now...

-Pax

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Y'know, I was going to loan that to ya, but forgot to bring it up with me way back when.  ::lookaround

Maybe it was just my overly heightened sense of paranoia that had me seeing some undertones to it. It's been so long since I've read it that I can't even recall where I felt that.

-Joseph

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Right. Books. Hmmm...Firstly I should I mention I work for a company that supplies childrens books to libraries and schools. Want to read a childrens book that will scare the **** out of you? The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding. Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve and anything by Philip Pullman particurly the His Dark Materials series.

I read Enders Game on my girlfriends recommendation. Fantastic. Then found out it was a series! Also recommend Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn. You Yanks should be able to find all these on Amazon. Furthermore, they may be classed as childrens/teenage books but they don't have pictures OK?

Adult books - War of the Worlds by HG Wells. Strangely enough much superior than the TV series of the same name. HP Lovecraft is one of the best. Check out the Call of Cthulhu. Anything by Harry Turtledove. The Hellboy comics of Mike Mignola.

If you like epic comics read Warren Ellis's run on Stormwatch and the Authority as well as Planetary.  Also Stan Sakais Usagi Yojimbo.

God, the list could go on...

If I think of anymore I'll let you know.

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friday - starts really well and has some very cool concepts... but then you get into the bizarre heinlein dirty old man mode with group marriages and people walking around naked.  actually the economics of the group marriages were quite interesting...

-knave

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i'm mostly done with the book now, crazily enough i was watching national geographics this morning and they're expecting within ten to fifteen years to have the equivalent of SemiBallastic travel availale to the public... it's always neat to see something in science fiction become science fact...

joe, you'd really appreciated the science behind these new "planes"

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