what are your top ten most favorite books?

Mine are:

Forgotten Realms Series
Dragonlance Series
Planescape Series
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Any Feist Book
The Foundation Series
Any Tolkein Book
Any Kurt Vonnegut Book
Any Dale Adams Book
Red Dwarf

I like many others, these are just some that came to mind.

here are just a few of my favorites:

any Tolkien book, but mainly The Silmarillion, the Hobbit, and LOTR. the Dune series, all six books, and anything relating to Native American history, like Catlin's Letters and Notes on the North American Indians.


i just recieved all 8 books in the Chronicles of the Cheysuli series by Jennifer Roberson. i started reading book one in the series, Shapechangers, and it seems to be good. has anybody else read this series? just curious if its any good.

unfortunately i havn't.

my fave books are the dune series(anyone seen the film cuz i havent, what is it like), david gemmel and terry pratchett.

great sci-fi movie. If you can get it, GET IT.

oh yea, good movie, and if you are a Sting fan he's in this fine flick. i just wish it was a little longer, and went into a little more detail.

I completely agree, a great movie, but in terms of sci-fi there are better movies, namely :

Blade Runner
Any Mad Max
Max Headroom
The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
Nostradamus
Damnation Alley
The Day the Earth Stood Still
and of course, STAR WARS (other than phantom menace) there are some other movies as well, but I don't really care to name them, although Dune is a great movie.



[This message has been edited by The Fat Egg (edited October 22, 2000).]

'Dragonheart: The Book of the Film' is an excellent read.

Lord of the rings and the Wheel of Time.

Live yourself in them.

Wheel of Time, Tolkien, Serpent War saga, Rift War saga, Magic of Recluce...

I heard that a new Dune movie is in the works. I don't know when it's due out, but it's supposed to be the same old story with all new effects. And no, it's not going to be a super-charged Dune re-make either. It's supposed to be completely re-shot, new actors, new props, everything.

hang on ther Fat Egg, you saying that ANY of the Mad Max films are better than Dune? the first one, well that was a good film, but the cash-in stuff that followed? i mean Dune was like a sort of short trailer for the book, but Mad Max 3? your not a big fan of the whole Highlander series of films too are you?
must agree about the day the earth stood still though.
anyone seen 'Quatermass and the pit'?

Wheel of Time is an awesome series. Great depth, character development and multi-lined plots make this a very worth while read.

Syl...

I'm also going to have to disagree with you Egg man. The first Mad Max movie was good, Road Warrior was great, in my top ten list, but the third one lacked a whole lot. Dune is a great movie and in my opinion it doesn't need to be remade. As far as Highlander goes there is only one movie. It was one of the best movies ever. After that I'd rather not even talk about it.

sapiryl: scifi chan is doing a dune miniseries to be shown this december.

It's just gonna be a TV show? Blast, I thought it was going to be a movie.

But then, they turned Merlin into a movie after it was a TV show. I hope, I hope, I hope.

If any of you can read Spanish, I seriously recommend checking the Manga ' Berserk' out. It's in Japanese but so far has only been translated to Spanish and Chinese.
It's a true classic and one that will go down in Manga history as a legend.

A good series not mentioned:

The Death's Gate Cycle.

The Death's Gate Cycle was awesome. I hated that it had to end!

Lots of good books posted above...

If you like your books not too large (unlike WoT :) ), and you like the main characters to take their knocks, and not remain unscathed, the books by Dennis McKiernan (I think that's right) are great. The Iron Tower Trilogy and the Silver Call duology were his first sets.

There are several stand alone novels of his as well, and one of the nice things about them all is the continuity of the world depicted... Each novel has references (legends etc.) to things that happened in the other novels that were from a time in the past as well as foreshadowing of things to come... Really just wonderful in my opinion...

How about Tad Williams' books-the Dragonbone Chair trilogy? Excellent literature, and the entire series is one big plot twist. I didn't really care for Williams' other series Otherland. I think that was the name, anyway.

I have the entire Discworld Series (Terry Pratchett) and I like the Red Dwarf books (simply love the TV series) and as Bladerunner is my favourite film, the director's cut is superior in my opinion, I'd agree that Do Androids...is a great piece of literature and they don't make them like they used to :)

you have he ENTIRE DISCWORLD SERIES? wow, what is the new book (i think its called fith elpehant) like? who is it about? i don like th books with rincewind in them, although i do like the transdimensional chest ;). i think that he should do another book about Commander vimes and the city watch as they are exremely brilliant.

The Fifth Elephant is a C.Vimes book, it is centred around Uberwald (where the werewolves live) and has a very good who-dunnit plot.
There will be another out soon called The Truth in which journalism comes to Ankh-Morpork, unusually it is another guards story straight after TFE.
The guy who runs my local book store sat next to Mr. P himself at a lunch once!
I'm writing a book myself of similar humour but more futuristic, wish me luck ;)

Hmm, quite a lot of Pratchett fans here. A lot of Brits here I suppose. ;)

Yea, I'm a fan too. Got all of the Discworld books, plus the two sci-fi ones he wrote before and some others.
To be honest, at the rate he's publishing crap these days the older ones are a joy to read. He should start with sci-fi again. Strata wasn't bad at all.

Seems like I only buy the Discworld books these days because I want to have a perfect collection, not because I'd enjoy reading them. First 15 were great, but it gets old after that.

Or is it just me?

Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is really good, so is Marion Zimmer Bradely's Darkover series.

anyone read any David Gemmel, brilliant fantasy writer, on the same level as terry pratchett

re:Terry Pratchett

I think 15 good books is more than most writers manage, I think the first ones were better because the potential ideas were there, after the number he's done I'm surprised he manages to think up any new stories at all, the recent ones are still entertaining though.
Good Omens (with Neil G.) is also another good non Discworld story, and one of my favourites.
If he stopped now, the many many people who like all his work may be disappointed.

All David Eddings books are very good. I've read The Belgariad, the Malloreon, The Elenium, and the other one I can't seem to remember the name. Those are all among my personal favorites. Above all of course, are the J.R.R. Tolkein books. The forgotten realms books by R.A. Salvatore are good too.

David Eddings is a simplistic writter and his books are quick reads, but still enjoyable. Nothing along the lines of Jordan or Tolkien but worth the read never the less.

Syl...

i have just started reading a book called "the eye of the world", i dont know if it is part of a series or not but it is written by robert jordan and is the first book i have read from this writer, does anyone know any other good books from this man?

I'm not much of a reader, but my favorite book of all time was "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelo. No Drow or talking swords in that book, just prostitutes, redemption, and Shakespeare.

Last summer I read "Wicked: The Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," which was a pretty cool reinterpretation of the Wizard of Oz told from the not-really-evil Witch's point of view. Her sister, Nessarose, was really interesting - born tall and beautiful (to Munchkin parents) but with no arms and deformed feet, righteous and judgmental, only able to walk on her own with the aid of a certain pair of magical ruby slippers - until a house fell on her. D'oh!. Mia Farrow's autobiography, believe it or not, was great, but A.C. Clark's "3001" was a sure cure for insomnia. Getting drowsy just thinking about it.

I just read the LOTR trilogy this summer (had only ever read "The Hobbit" before). And I may be in the minority on this, but I thought those books could have, should have been condensed into one tighter tale. All those songs! (I stopped reading the songs about halfway through "Fellowship"). Endless descriptions of terrain and direction and the color of rocks! Endless tales of long-dead kings with similar-sounding names! Chapter after chapter about walking and sleeping and walking and eating and walking! It was a good trilogy, don't get me wrong, but a little exasperating. But the movies will be forced to cut out a lot of that, so I'm looking forward to them.

[This message has been edited by Neverworlder (edited November 29, 2000).]

Herf, you're reading what is known as the Wheel of Time, a 9 book campaign by one very excellent and detailed man --- Robert Jordan. You're in for the read of your life, well, that's more or less for yourself to judge.

It ranks very high, in the top two of all Fantasy authors I have read in my time.

Syl...

Has anyone read the Justicar books, 'White Plume Mountain' and 'Decent to the Depth of the Earth', by Paul Kidd? They take place int the Greyhawk setting, and they are very good books. The Justicar is a ranger with a Clint Eastwood like personality, and his supporting cast is hilarous, a pixie and a sentient hell hound pelt named Cinders. He also picks up a few other supporting characters, I won't spoil it, go read 'em!

Speaking of Jordan...Has anyone heard when the next installment of the series comes out? It's been about 2 years...I think he's due.

Came out in November. Book #9 by Jordan.

Syl...

D'Oh! Wow! School has been hectic! I can't believe I missed it! What's the books'name?

I found it Syl! Thanks for filling me in!

I know this might seem a bit old (and perhaps juvenile) but has anyone read any Xanth novels by Piers Anthony. Not bad for a light, easy read. They aren't my fav. but I thought I'd mention them.

I really enjoyed the Dragon Lance trilogies, and I just recently ordered the two Dark Elf series (Dritzz) but I'm still waiting for them.

Another good Piers Anthony novel is Battle Circle. A futuristic look at post apocalyptic America in which most of society has reverted back to a barbaric honour code. Characters within the story choose weapons to become proficient with (Sword, club, staff etc.) and pretty much determine their futures with the outcome of battles within the circle. I recommend it.


Hey Sylvus, I've noticed your accolades for the Wheel of Time. I bought the first book about two years ago, but for one reason or another, I didn't get past the first few chapters. Does it pick up the pace abit? I'll have to give it another try.

Wheel of Time, especially the first few are fantastic IMO. The later books are a little slower; I get to the end of this monster book and realize nothing much happened since the last book. There's much more intrigue than action in the later books.

The first 150 pages of Jordan are done in "Tolkienish" style and I loved the fact it took awhile for them to leave the area in the first book of the WOT series. I love the detail, the feeling of being there, seeing it and then getting the feeling when you leave that you may never return.

I can't imagine how you didn't get past the first few chapters. That's what got me sucked into the books in the first place.

Syl...

Lord Moeken - I did the exact same thing! I read the first 50 pages or so, then put it down. About 5-6 months later, I was in bed with a really bad flu/virus, and I started reading it again...Then I was hooked!

The Last book, "Path of daggers, was more of a set up book...There were a lot of things going on - I just found out the newest book came out last months...So hopefully it'll pick up again!

Overall it's very good and well worth the time it takes to read them!

[This message has been edited by Sir Belisarius (edited December 12, 2000).]

WoT rocks!

Personally, I think that Path of Daggers is the slowest of the books, but you're right, it's a set-up book.

What do think of the fact that Faile has been taken, and now Berelain can have a chance at Perrin in his time of grief? (I haven't read Winter's Heart, you might know but I don't)

Personnally, I think that Jordan has taken this whole love thing with Berelain too far. Enough is enough. Maybe Perrin should split her skull with his ax.

The Wheel of Time series are good books especially in the sheer detial detail and consistancy of his world although I dont think he is so hot in character development.
Has anyone read Bare faced Messiah a really good bit of non fiction about the life and lies of L Ron Hubbard.

Sapiryl - I just found out the newest book is out...Syl told in this thread. But I did order it from Amazon yesterday...So I should have it today or tomorrow.

I kind of liked the tension between the two, so I'm not in favor of the axe option :) But now I'm thinking I have to re-read Path of Daggers again, just to remember where it left off.

sorry it took so long for me to reply, i agree, the third mad max was a total piece of **** but the first two were great

Well, I once again have begun the journey that is titled 'The Wheel of Time'

My first go around didn't go so well because I didn't really give it a chance. I do believe that I am beginning to enjoy the book this time around. Jordan does have a detailed writing style.

That's the funny thing about literature. I get used to certain styles and content, and then it's hard to deviate from this formula. I'm accustomed to orcs and fighters, not trollocs and warders. It is the small things that initially drag me into a story...

The smell of freshly baked bread or the slow roasted venison haunch sizzling over a fire. The description of a young, adolescent man as he clumsily weilds his fathers sword, showing faint glimmers of the mastery that is to evolve.

These small things add infinite enjoyment to the greater story. Just like icing on the cake. Gotta love it. :)

[This message has been edited by Lord Moeken (edited December 18, 2000).]

Hey Lord Moeken - You trying to artificially raise your post count? ;)

You're in for a great read with the WoT; I especially enjoyed the first few...

So, has nobody but me read any of Dennis McKiernan?

Hmmm... OK then I bet I've got another great set that none of you have read:

The Riddlemaster of Hed (1976)
Heir of Sea and Fire (1977)
Harpist in the Wind (1979)

by Patricia A. McKillip

Here's an excerpt from the cover page of the first book:

"Suppose you were a wizard restless with power, drawn to Lungold by the powers of Ohm and his promises of great skill and knowledge. You placed your name in his mind; with your trust in his skill, you did without question whatever he asked of you, and in return he channeled your own energies into powers you scarcely dreamed you had.

"And then suppose, one day you realized that this wizard, whose mind could control yours so skillfully, was false to his teachings, false to you, false to every man, king, scholar, farmer that he had ever served. What would you do if you found that he had dangerous plans and terrible purposes... that the very foundations of his teachings were a lie? What would you do?"

Fantastic set! If I wasn't so far behind in my reading just now, I'd pick it up immediately for a thorough reread! :)

Oh those books. The one with the great God of Resistance. :)

Just kidding, I haven't heard of them. You bring up a good point tho' Blackthorne TA, I sometimes can judge how much I enjoy a book by the number of times I read it. I have this book that I bought when I was in junior high called 'The Complete Enchanter' by L.Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt. I must have read this book about four times! I'll probably let it sit around for a few years then read it again.

Anyone else have some favorites that they've read several times?

BTW the book that I mentioned is fairly simple, but it has a really interesting premise. The main character has discovered mathematical equations that allow him to be transported to different threads of existence where the laws of the universe are different. (Magic Exists)The story carries him through the Lands of Norse Gods to legendary England and the Faerie Queen. Simple yet satisfying.

Heh! Ohm wasn't quite a god (much less of electrical resistance :) ), and his name was much worse... Lemme see if I can remember...

Ghisteslwchlohm I think... Maybe I'll check when I get home...

But, get this! Given that name and others just as bad (the wizards all had names like that) the books also had a character called "Iff of the unpronouncible name"! LOL! :)

Feist and Tolkien are the only ones for me. Oh and have any of you read the Harry Potter books. They aren't that bad.

Haven't read Harry Potter, but my girlfriend likes 'em.

OK all you illiterates! Let's try this again... Some of you MUST have read Katherine Kurtz' Deryni series of books right? Throw me a bone here people! :)

i'm assuming that is a joke. i hev read one of the above books and harry potter, harry potter is a piece of crap, and I have under good authority that it's the first sign of the appocalypse. ;)

One of my favorite trilogies is the Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. Five university students drafted to save a world of magic and legend.

Another entertaining read is Stephen R. Donaldson's pair of Unbeliever trilogies. Where else can you find a protagonist who is a leper and a rapist? Kind of a difficult guy to relate to.

Doesn't compare to Tolkein, or even Jordan, but it's better than Harry Potter... ;)

Ah! Donaldson! Very good for a guy whose protagonists are usually less than heroic... Did you read his Mordant's Need duology or his Gap series? I found Mordant's Need to be quite good... Gap... well, I think he should stick to fantasy settings; I found many of his SF premises too unbelievable (even silly).

OK, lets try a more recent novel... Have any of you read David Farland's "The Runelords"?

A very original premise! The rulers through the use of magic take "endowments" from other people (usually volunteers, but not necessarily). These "endowments" range from brawn to sight to metabolism. The endowments bestow enhancements to the rulers at the expense of those who gave them up.

For example, if a lord took an endowment of brawn from someone, that lord would have the strength of two, but the person who gave it up would no longer have the strength to even stand...

Very good story so far, but I've only got the first in the series...

[This message has been edited by Blackthorne TA (edited December 21, 2000).]

I was only joking about Harry Potter you know.

Here is something to try if you have all of the current WoT books (none missing) if you haven't noticed yet, there all thinner at the bottom than the top and they form a circle/wheel, it isn't anywher near complete yet, but it hopefully will.

Has anyone ever read the Dark Tower fantasy books (written by Stephen King), ihave just started reading Tolkien (almost done with the hobbit) and so far he is an extremely good writer.

Read the Dark Tower many a year ago; I don't read Stephen King, but my sister does and urged me to read it... Don't remember much about it now...

Hmmm... How about SF? Has anyone read "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card? I thought the short story was much better than the novel, but perhaps that's because I read the short story first and thus knew what was going to happen...

[This message has been edited by Blackthorne TA (edited January 11, 2001).]

I grew up reading Stephen King like crazy (read the short story "Survivor Type" from I think "Night Shift" or "Skeleton Crew" collections - makes that Tom Hanks "Cast Away" movie look like Club Med), but as I grew up, I found his writing increasingly so-so, even lowbrow and repititious. (I've also lost all respect for him from that online story fiasco - what a greedy dick; that guy should have hit him a little harder with his car, knocked some perspective into him).

But, to my suprise, I really liked the Dark Tower books. If you describe the elements of the story - cowboys and robots and dimensional portals and gas stations and wizards and talking choo-choo trains and man-eating lobsters - it sounds pretty corny, like a mishmash of goofy sci-fi cliches - but it suprisingly works. Best character: the legless black woman with the evil split personality (forget her name) crawling around in the dark with a knife between her teeth and murder on her mind. I only read the first two books though; never got to the third.

I also read a few of the Xanth novels when I was a teenager (remember one title off-hand: "Source of Magic"). Thought they were cute, but maybe a little too cute, with all the bad puns. Fir trees are furry, wishing wells make wishes, butterflies are margerine sticks with wings, jumpropes jump around - not literally those things, but things just like that. Cutesy plays on words. Fun, but they get old kinda quick.

[This message has been edited by Neverworlder (edited January 11, 2001).]

Hey. I liked Harry Potter.
Micheal Moorcock is awesome. So far I've only read 2 of his compiled works: Von Bek and Elric: Song of the Black Sword.
The WOT series is another of my favourites. Robert Jordan's work is just amazingly detailed and atmospheric.
I also liked Salvatore's 'Drizzt' books and Elaine Cunningham's Songs and Swords series and her 2 novels about the lovely drow Liriel (Viconia who?).
David Eddings writes quite tame novels and you can almost predict his endings. However, his books make for great reading when you're ill and need to recuperate in bed.
Terry Brooks writes beautifully, although I didn't like his first novel: Sword Of Shannara because it was a total LOTR rip-off. His series about the Knight of the Word are IMO one of the best.
And I've had the bad fortune to browse through the first chapter of 'Baldur's Gate' . I'm still trying to get over the trauma.

It took me three tries to get into The Hobbit, I first tried when I was 10, at that age it's difficult to understand what Tolkien is setting up with the "Unexpected Party". But, I pushed past this and it has opened up a vast world for my imagination. I've since read most of Tolkien's works as well as books from other excellent authors. Robert Jordan's Wheel of time is great thus far (I'm in the midst of The Path of Daggers), I've read the first three in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series (I really like his style). Terry Brooks' Shannara series are also very good. David Eddings is one of my favorites, the stories move fast and almost everyone is a smartass of some sort. I've read only a few Dragonlance books (Dragons of Autumn Twilight trilogy) and Dragons of Chaos (which I am also reading at the moment. Robert E Fiest's Riftwar saga is also good. I've read a few of these numerous times now, and I'll probably still come back for more.

It took me three tries to get into The Hobbit, I first tried when I was 10, at that age it's difficult to understand what Tolkien is setting up with the "Unexpected Party". But, I pushed past this and it has opened up a vast world for my imagination. I've since read most of Tolkien's works as well as books from other excellent authors. Robert Jordan's Wheel of time is great thus far (I'm in the midst of The Path of Daggers), I've read the first three in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series (I really like his style). Terry Brooks' Shannara series are also very good. David Eddings is one of my favorites, the stories move fast and almost everyone is a smartass of some sort. I've read only a few Dragonlance books (Dragons of Autumn Twilight trilogy) and Dragons of Chaos (which I am also reading at the moment. Robert E Fiest's Riftwar saga is also good. I've read a few of these numerous times now, and I'll probably still come back for more.

Whoops, didn't think the first one went through.

Anyone here read any of the Star Wars books?
The x-wing trilogy is just oh so good....

The FR books which I have read pretty good as a whole, but i normally prefer read stuff like Tom Clancy or John Grisham.

Tom Clancy's Patriot Games is brilliant
The rest are pretty boring.

All of Alistair McLean's are good

Never cared for Star Wars or any Sci Fi

Dragonheart: The book of the film is the best book ever.

HG Wells' are all good.

So is Stephen Fry's book