Author Topic: Best book you've ever read...  (Read 39040 times)

Onion of Death

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #15 on: January 30, 2007, 04:02:14 PM »
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.

Followed closely by Koushun Takami's Battle Royale and Mistborn/Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. 
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WriterDan

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #16 on: January 30, 2007, 07:54:21 PM »
Wowsers.  So, I love the fact that I've gotten so many responses to this.  I'd like to make a couple comments, if I may, based on this initial response.

humm, interesting, do you consider the best book you've ever read the book that wowed you the most when you read it years ago even though it may not stand up as well now-a-days (because my tastes tend to change slightly from month to month) or do you only say it has to be something you've read in your current mindset?

If it's #1 it would be either the Dragonlance Trilogy by Weiss and Hickman (when I was 13ish), Magician series by Fiest (when I was 16) or Wizard's First Rule by Goodkind (18), though I'd also add Wizard's Second Rule was the worst book I've ever read and I'm comparing that against textbooks.

If it's #2 it would half to be Information Architecture for Designers by Van Dijck (a few days ago).  I don't read a lot of books, and I also don't like to ever have a "best" or "favorite" book, movie, song because there are so many factors that one could choose for a best (best what?  Paper used? color scheme?) so I never bother thinking in these terms anymore.  There's "I like" and "really like" or "impressed me" and that's about it.

Spriggan:  I think that you captured the essence of what I was hoping for in this reply.  There is definitely a shift in mindset as we grow and as we read more.  At some point, there is always a "best" book that we could sound off on.  I think, according to your categories, I'm looking for "impressed me".  In this case, I especially appreciated your age brackets of when you read them.  I'd also encourage you to try fiction again.  Don't let Goodkind scare you off.  He's a freak of nature, and authors like him (I would like to think) don't come up very often.


Have you tried Steven Erikson's Malazan books -- the first is Gardens of the Moon?  It's another edgy, different take on epic fantasy.

MattD

MattD, I have tried Erikson's stuff.  I read the first book and got the feeling that something was missing, but I couldn't put my finger on it.  When I was about 100 pages into the second book I figured it out:  I didn't care.  I didn't care about any of his characters or what was happening.  I didn't feel like I really understood anything about what was even occurring in the story.  When something big happened, I was thinking "So what?"  Yes, this series is huge, and it's amazingly complex, and it's actually quite well written too.  I just couldn't make myself care about the story at all.  So, I passed on this one.  Thanks for the thought though.

And for everyone else, keep em coming.  List your greats!  You have a needy reader out here.  Help me and others like me who yearn for great material!
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

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Spriggan

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #17 on: January 30, 2007, 09:19:12 PM »
eh quite frankly I just don't care to read fiction anymore, there's so much that I could be doing instead of reading a slow moving story.
Screw it, I'm buying crayons and paper. I can imagineer my own adventures! Wheeee!

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Parker

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #18 on: January 31, 2007, 04:50:12 PM »
Gardens of the Moon impressed me quite a bit, actually.  Of the fantasy books I've read recently, it's by far the one that stuck with me.  Although Mistborn 3 has me pretty intrigued right now, and depending on how it ends, it could well go up on this list, too.

As for best books I've read recently (I hate absolutes), I'll give a shout out to some YA fantasy.  The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan was extremely well done, and I've been enjoying The Last Apprentice series, as welll.

And for good measure, the best book I've ever read would be A Tale of Two Cities--I thought it was fantastically done, and it's one of the few books that after I finished, I just went, "Wow."

Fellfrosch

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #19 on: February 01, 2007, 08:09:27 PM »
The best book I've ever read, with no restrictions on genre, would be Les Miserables. Followed closely by The Hunchback of Notre Dame (I'm a big Hugo fan), The Heart of Darkness, King Lear (technically a play, but I read it, so I count it), and Dune.

Now I am a huge fantasy fan, and the genre has some incredible writing, but I weep for anyone who lists a pulp fantasy as the best book they've ever read. Seriously, get out and read some more books.
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dawncawley

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #20 on: February 06, 2007, 12:56:31 AM »
Fell, I love King Lear, and didn't think to add it since it is a play, and one of many that I have read and enjoyed. I happen to own The Collective Works of Shakespeare, but since it is many plays, with some poetry, I guess I never took them into account individually. Perhaps I should, and maybe give my favorites another thought :)

dreamking47

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #21 on: February 06, 2007, 03:36:34 PM »
Weren't Shakespeare's plays generally regarded as the "pulp fantasy" of their time?

I do second the mentions of Les Miserables and Tale of Two Cities, although I read both more than a decade ago.

If we're including plays in our definition of book allow me to suggest poetry as well: a volume of T. S. Eliot's work might be up there in my "best" list.

dan_gaiden, these are not meant as "the best" or as related, but have you read anything by Roger Zelazny (in particular the Amber chronicles), M. John Harrison, K.J. Bishop, or Martha Wells?

MattD
« Last Edit: February 06, 2007, 05:02:32 PM by dreamking47 »
"It had blood in it.  That makes it a good metaphor." -- Tonk Fah, in EUOL's Warbreaker

Nessa

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #22 on: February 06, 2007, 04:56:02 PM »
Now I am a huge fantasy fan, and the genre has some incredible writing, but I weep for anyone who lists a pulp fantasy as the best book they've ever read. Seriously, get out and read some more books.

While this is true, it does sound snobby.  ;)
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WriterDan

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #23 on: February 06, 2007, 06:38:58 PM »
To MattD:

Zelany is actually the only one that sounds familiar out of that group.  Are most of those Sci-Fi authors?  For the most part, I tend to stray towards Fantasy more often when given the choice.  I would be interested in reading a good Sci-Fi book though.  I read Dune recently (within the last year) for the first time and loved it.  Do you have any favorites that those authors have written?  I have a ton of books that I want to read, but I will usually will give at least one book from new authors a read to decide if I want to read any of their other work.

To Fell:
So would you suggest the unabridged version of Les Mis, or the abridged?  I've always been intimidated by the size of the unabridged book...  Still, most of the classics (such as you suggested) are still on my "To Read" list.

To Parker:
Been wanting to read Tale of Two Cities for a while now.  I'll move it up my list.  Also, I haven't had much luck with YA fantasy.  Maybe I'll swing another chance in that direction with your suggestions.  Thanks.

Dan
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pengwenn

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #24 on: February 06, 2007, 06:48:07 PM »
My brother recommended Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson to me several times before I finally broke down and read it.  I wish I had read it sooner (I was in high school).  I reread this series every couple of years.

I know the Dark Tower series gets a little wonky at the end but I loved reading The Gunslinger by Stephen King (the original one not the one that he revised to make it fit the ending).

I'm assuming you've already read Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead and Xenoside by Orson Scott Card.  Every sci fi fan should read those.

dreamking47

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #25 on: February 06, 2007, 08:11:17 PM »
Zelany is actually the only one that sounds familiar out of that group.  Are most of those Sci-Fi authors?  [...] Do you have any favorites that those authors have written?

Some of the authors I mentioned have written both fantasy and science fiction, but I was thinking of them for their works of fantasy (although in some cases there's a fine line between the two).  If I had to place them in rough order of recommendation, I would do it thusly:

Zelazny -- his first Chronicles of Amber is a fantasy classic (the first book is "Nine Princes in Amber", or look for the collection "The Great Book of Amber").  First person POV of a man who wakes up without any memory, and slowly discovers he's the heir to the primal kingdom of which our world and legends are just shadows.  If you've read Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books (have you? if not, they're well worth a read, too) then Zelazny's characterization of Corwin is similar, sarcastic and introspective.

Martha Wells -- my favorite fantasy writer that nobody knows about.  If you like Brandon Sanderson's books you might like hers: single-volume fantasies set in richly imagined worlds without tropes like dwarves and dragons; not too dark; often a dash of romance.  "Death of the Necromancer" (not as cheesy as it sounds, was a Nebula Award nominee) is a good place to begin as long as you don't mind a bit of Sherlock Holmes pastiche; otherwise look into "Wheel of the Infinite," a fantasy with a Southeast Asian influence.  First few chapters of each are online at http://www.marthawells.com/.

K.J. Bishop -- I thought of her "Etched City" because it's another somewhat gritty, morally ambiguous take on fantasy, like Bakker, but has better defined characters than Erikson and a more streamlined story (although without any sort of strong "quest object").  First chapter (which doesn't really do the book justice) is online at http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/etched/full/.

M. John Harrison -- I mentioned him because his Viriconium fantasy books (collected in the volume "Viriconium") attempt to deconstruct epic fantasy, sort of like what Bakker does.  Gorgeous writing and deeply thoughtful but not the best choice if you want strongly defined characters or plotting.

MattD
"It had blood in it.  That makes it a good metaphor." -- Tonk Fah, in EUOL's Warbreaker

Fellfrosch

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #26 on: February 08, 2007, 12:47:54 AM »
I would recommend the unabridged, primarily because many of my favorite sections were the non-story digressions: every now and then Hugo will take a forty-page break from Jean Valjean and talk about Waterloo, or sewers, or quicksand, and even though it's only a tangent to the rest of the book it's some of his best writing. Be forewarned that the book opens with one of these: instead of getting right into the plot, he spends several chapters establishing how awesome the priest is. It's an odd, archaic style of novel-writing, but I enjoyed it once I got used to it.

Nessa: yes, I know it sounded snobby. I tried to write a version that didn't, and it was too hard. I figure I can sound snobby every once in a while.
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The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #27 on: February 08, 2007, 03:33:58 PM »
that's exactly why I *hated* Les Mis. I recommend the abridged version

Of course, you also like Dickins, who I find to be impossibly dry and insipidly affectionate.

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #28 on: March 02, 2007, 06:16:33 AM »
That would definitely be Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson [Euol if you don't know...which is like...impossible] I never thought I could read a better book than Elantris until Mistborn came out. I was amazed...simply amazed. He's always had the most unique magic systems I've ever encountered. Good religions as well, a lot to choose from. I never get tired of reading Warbreaker every week or even re-reading Elantris and Mistborn.
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Phaz

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Re: Best book you've ever read...
« Reply #29 on: March 02, 2007, 10:30:43 PM »
I'd have to say the Harry Potter series would be my answer.  Mainly because without it, it's very unlikely I would of read any of the others.  I am a person who is easily entertained, and who really enjoys a good story, I just had no idea that was the case until I finally listened to a good friend and picked up the series.  I doubt I'll re-read anything in my life more than I have already done with this series.