This part of the forums is nice and quiet so I thought i'd throw in my proverbial two cents and prove us fps gamers are not scared of a book or two!

What would you say your favourite books are?

Personally, I enjoyed:

Mass Effect : Revelations by Drew Karpshak
Yes it is a prequel to the game, but the game itself was a bit story based but this book is actually a better story! By the game writer himself aswell...

Angel and Demons by Dan Brown
It isn't the Da Vinci code for one, and contains partial fiction. Plus the story kicks ass

Midas by Russell Andrews
Two of my top three are thrillers, and while I usually read fantasies and sci-fi, these books are great! Based around plane crashes and linked to 9/11 - it is a cop story with a little conspiracy, but not too much to scare away non conspiracy theorists.

pron.

the one that got away by chris ryan - bloody good read and for most parts a true story although....

the real bravo two zero by michael asher - a "behind the facts" expose about the infamously doom sas mission, quite eyebrow raising in parts but i think the author tries too hard to disprove the accounts of said mission.

there are alot more put they are mainly all gun/military based and i don't won't to bore you all

Erm War of the Worlds, Phantom of the Opera & all the Harry Potter Books, ideally on tape so I don't have to strain myself turning pages.

i only really read sci-fi books with a splash of fantasy now and then
fav read atm is Peter F Hamilton
i love this guys works, reading the 2nd book from his 2nd series atm
i'm on page 900 and something and still have over 300 more to go

The Dark Tower series by Steven King. Very good, not read any other King books and these are not meant to be typical of his work, but he says they're his crowning glory so who am I to argue!

Favourite novel of all time is Catch 22, closely followed by 1984. Whoever you are, you should read those two books.

I also read the Discworld books and am absolutely gutted about the unfortunate condition Mr Pratchett has been diagnosed with :(

I'll read pretty much anything. Dan Brown sucks teh balzak though, I read Digital Fortress and almost threw up in my mouth.

Neuromancer by William Gibson
Written in 1984 this is a dystopian science fiction novel with great vision of how the future will look influenced by developing computer technology. It's one of the first cyberpunk novels and was a major influence on stories like the 'Ghost in the Shell' franchise, films like 'The Matrix' and computer games like 'Dystopia'. It won a few prestigious science fiction awards and is widely acclaimed by critics and the public. As well as being genre defining, it's a fantastic story, it's deep, stylish and cool. The novel explores interesting concepts like relative existence and what it is to be human in a future dominated by technology and information networks and its plot involves hacking, crime, espionage, sex, violence and even some romance.

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
A hugely captivating novel exploring a few days in the life of a teenage delinquent in America in the 1950's. The book has been banned several times in America but it's commonly taught in literature courses all over the world and several murderers and assassins have sighted the book as an obsession. It's great because you can identify with the lazy, cynical and arrogant protagonist despite his flawed personality.

The Trial by Franz Kafka
A strange novel about a fastidious man who wakes up one day to find he is on trial for an never revealed crime by an never revealed court of law. There are numerous interpretations of what The Trial's meanings are so it's hard to describe. It's widely considered a classic novel of the 21st century and Kafka's greatest work. Kafka's work is also hard to describe as much of it is surrealism or magical realism. Things happen that don't appear to make sense, aren't explained, and passed by as normal and it contributes to a kind of bewilderingly beautiful atmosphere where you're kind of delighted and scared and confused at the same time.

Eric Von Daniken - Chariots of the Gods
Extraterrestrials visited earth in ancient history and the human race are descendants of aliens? Sounds far-fetched I know but it's a great book.

James Herbert - The Fog
Zombie fest

James Herbert - "The Rats", "Lair", "Domain" (trilogy)
Killer rats. I read these books upon recommendation from a friend - excellent!!

Thomas Harris - Hannibal
The book is so much better than the film!

IT - Stephen King,

The series/film don't even get close to the book, a great read which drags you in and keeps hold of you forever.......

Agree with you skinny, James Herbert books are fantastic.

stephen king is imo a master story teller - my favourite is 'The Stand' and I would recommend this book to anyone. Basically a story of good vs evil set amongst the destruction of mankind due to a man-made virus. again the film/tv series doesn't do it justice.

james herbert books also a cracking read.

Lord of the Rings - need i say more!

the one that got away by chris ryan - bloody good read and for most parts a true story although....

the real bravo two zero by michael asher - a "behind the facts" expose about the infamously doom sas mission, quite eyebrow raising in parts but i think the author tries too hard to disprove the accounts of said mission.

there are alot more put they are mainly all gun/military based and i don't won't to bore you all

Ive read ryan, but McNab is better and even more goryness XD

and yeh im lazy too, audiobooks rule!

i love horror films but i cant stand reading horror books

there was a stage in my life that i would read 300 page books in under a week

then i found the joy of internet ....

Favourite novel of all time is Catch 22, closely followed by 1984. Whoever you are, you should read those two books.


I think my friend has told me before about catch 22? Is it the one about the guy in the army promoted to major because of his name?

There are alot of books I need to catch up on *looks up* but yeah.... the world inter web net is a big distraction from actual literature :-)

Major Major Major. Yes, the computer couldn't handle it :D

i've seen the film catch 22 but have yey to read the book
i remember watching it and it was the firs time i seen a guys guts spilling onto the deck of the plane

Not seen the film, but from what I've heard, it doesn't do the book justice.

Read it, it's an amazing book.

Isi i fookin luvs you......Neuromancer is the defineing novel of the cyberpunk genre imo. His compendium of short storys called BURNING CHROME are incredible also, the film Jonny Neuhmonic(?) was based on a mish mash of these storys and abosulutley fookin disgusted me when i saw it.....As for the dark tower series i was disapointed with them over all they seemed to disjointed for me , one minute a fantasy novel the next a modern day buddy film and the ending was a complete cop-out imo..... have read nearly all sk before and and a big fan of high fantasy this diidnt bridge the gap between the 2.

My favorite books are the WHEEL OF TIME series by robert jordan

In a world founded on magic called the SOURCE the source is devided into 2 halfs each controlled by 1 of the sexes. the basis of the books is that the dark 1 was once rampant upon the world but was sealed away in a prison of sorts. but as he was sealed away he placed a taint on the male half of the source which drives all the male magicians insane......this is a VERY BASIC description from me and no way begins to describe the scope of this series, it stretches for 11 books so far all containing a thousand plus pages.....for me this is the greatest work ive read and although the sheer amount might seem daugnting its der worth it

Btw sorry for the spelling few beers and all that......:)

Was it you who used to use 'Wintermute' as an alias in CS honda?

(for anyone who hasn't read it, it's not a spoiler of any kind, but wintermute is one of the ai's in neuromancer)

Was it you who used to use 'Wintermute' as an alias in CS honda?
I thought he meant "Wintermule! :O

Those Wheel of Time books got so repetitive.

There is only so much tugging of braids and hands on hips I can take...

Yep thats me isi, i sometimes use RIO aswell and forlorn its the scope of the books that have me hooked along with the basic premise.......im currently reading Woken furies by richard morgan an excellent auther in the vein of gibson but with more combat orientated overtones.....first book ALTERED CARBON won the same award as neuromancer (hugo / nebula) very good imo

anyone read terry prachett? ive read/listened to quite alot of his books, hes got alzemiers now though which sorta suxs but he says he can still do a couple more books :D

"The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer and "The collapse of Army Group Center..Hitlers greatest defeat" by I don't know. Great book, and did you know a fact from this battle, the Germans lost more men and machines in this 4 week battle, then the US and UK forces lost in the entire war in all theatres. And the Russians didn't fair too well either, but they had manpower on their side and probably didn't care.

anyone read terry prachett? ive read/listened to quite alot of his books, hes got alzemiers now though which sorta suxs but he says he can still do a couple more books :D

I know a few friends who are crazy over the Pratchett books. Personally, his comedy style doesn't seem to fit a book imo - but I don't read those types of books.

To contradict myself, I have bought a book called 'The Onions - Our Dumb World' in the sales yesterday. It looks at all the countries in the world and insults them, onion style.

I have bought a book called 'The Onions - Our Dumb World' in the sales yesterday. It looks at all the countries in the world and insults them, onion style.

LOL :)

give us some examples tbh forlorn. rofl

Ok. The book basically has a map with silly facts but here is the first paragraph and random facts for Canada.

Canada - For the United States, See pages 9-22. Living in the shadows of its southern neighbour, the nation of Canada will never be as great as the U.S so long as it continues to burden its citizens with universal health care, refuses to drill for oil in fedrally protected wildlife reserves, and neglects its duty to blindly support unilateral invasions of Middle Eastern States.

Population -
32,484,949 (indoors)
4 (outdoors)
Capital -
Ottowa, or Toronto, or maybe Montreal
Meters per Square Feet - 0.3
Languages-
English (Spoken)
French (Muttered)
International Conflicts-
Feelings hurt by the U.S in 1987
National Anthem-
O, Canada! (You sultry temptress)
Leading cause of immigration-
Beer Runs
Environmental Concerns-
Effing Freezing out there

roflcopters that sounds like my type of book, i may look into buying it.

aha - it is from the satirical website the onion.com ( http://www.theonion.com/content/index ) and it is 12.99 from play.com

Three words: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. According to the author it's the first trilogy with five parts ;)

Three words: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. According to the author it's the first trilogy with five parts ;)

The first three word sentence with five :)

I think that was the point......

This part of the forums is nice and quiet so I thought i'd throw in my proverbial two cents and prove us fps gamers are not scared of a book or two!

What would you say your favourite books are?

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein (because I'm a stereotype)
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Beowulf

I could go on :p

I highly recommend 1984 and and the dresden files!

I like (correction: I <3) Lord of the Rings.

Geomancer by Ian Irvine is a great read as well. Just follow the seris.

Incompeten(e)ce by Rob Grant is a hilarious read too.

I highly recommend 1984 and and the dresden files!

This ^ :)

This ^ :)


Good taste!!:yes:

I'm reading some Stephen King books atm, and i think i'm getting old as i read Jeffrey Archer zee other day.

The Hobbit (criminally overlooked because of Lotr)
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
The Curious Incident Of The Dog in the Night Time
The Time Traveller's Wife
The Bachman Books (4 short but brilliant stories by Stephen King under a pseudonym)
Fluke by James Herbert

Non fiction:

If This is a Man by Primo Levi
The Truce by Primo Levi
Margrave of the Marshes by John Peel
The Changing Man by Paolo Hewitt
GoogleWhack by Dave Gorman

The Hobbit (criminally overlooked because of Lotr)
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
The Curious Incident Of The Dog in the Night Time
The Time Traveller's Wife
The Bachman Books (4 short but brilliant stories by Stephen King under a pseudonym)
Fluke by James Herbert

Non fiction:

If This is a Man by Primo Levi
The Truce by Primo Levi
Margrave of the Marshes by John Peel
The Changing Man by Paolo Hewitt
GoogleWhack by Dave Gorman


I totally agree with you on the curious incident of the dog in the night time! absolutly stunning book!

Steven King is a very good writer, although I haven't read any of his new stuff from Dolores Clabourne onwards. My favourite of his would be The Stand, read it 5 or 6 times and spookily enough was thinking about reading it again this morning at work!! The Bachman books were very good, especiallly 'Thinner'! Although just checked and Thinner wasn't included in the collection, but he did write it under that name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bachman_Books

As for James Herbert absolutely loved his stuff when i was younger, The Rats trilogy, The Fog and The Dark all trashy no brainer storys that follow a tried and tested formula but are still great imo.

As for Margrave of the Marshes (John Peel's Biog/Auto Biog) I found/am finding it hard going. The bit John wrote was fine but the 2nd part written by his wife after his death i am finding terribly disjointed and incoherant. It is by my bed but i havent opened it for 3 weeks now.

Love james herbert!! I think may fave of his is The fog, such a shame about the films that came afterwards...:no:

Love james herbert!! I think may fave of his is The fog, such a shame about the films that came afterwards...:no:


I read everything by him up til The Magic Cottage then went off him, his films are never any good.
I also read Stepen King up til around the time he had his acident, since then he has written pap.
Love The Stand and It but my favourite was probably The Long Walk from The Bachman Books.

I didnt mind the magic cottage (but that could have been because i was 13 when i read it) I think my tf2 name sums up my fav author... annes_pandora.. lol

i love anne rice, and of all her characters from the vampire chronicles pandora is the best!

I didnt mind the magic cottage (but that could have been because i was 13 when i read it) I think my tf2 name sums up my fav author... annes_pandora.. lol

i love anne rice, and of all her characters from the vampire chronicles pandora is the best!

The Magic Cottage was set about 15 minutes away from here, where I live, so I liked that. I was about 16 I think when it came out.

I like the first couple of Lestat books but went off them when I read how they were religious analogies. I hate it when people do that in books.

I have to agree with some of the books so far mentioned; notably 1984 (though I am a big fan of Orwell in general). If you are a fan of animation like me, try and get a chance to see the Animal Farm film.

Also The Trial by Kafka was certainly a good read - if you get a chance to read The Metamorphosis, a short story of his, do so; it is not long but certainly had an impact on me.

Apart from Asimov's Robots series, I have not read much sci-fi but those ones were pretty good. A mention of Hitchikers is a must though.

Schindler's Ark is a fantastic read - I read it before the film was ever made - and it showed me the strength a book can have by using simple, objective language to portray a horrific period in our history.

A book I can read again and again is The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov - simply stunning novel set in 1930's Moscow

What am I reading now? Just finishing some Father Brown stories by Chesterton so am looking for the next book - perhaps one of your suggestions :-)

though I am a big fan of Orwell in general



My favourite of Orwell's is 'Coming up for air'.

And yeh all 5 books in the Hitchhikers 'trilogy' are well worth reading.

If you like orwell you are well in need of reading down and out in paris and london, it is a true account of his experiences when he lived as a destitute for a few years. 8)

im reading 'Bez Freaky Dancin' about the happy mondays manic maracca shaking chemically induced nutter :D tis a good read so far.

gotta love us mancs! :p

My favourite of Orwell's is 'Coming up for air'.

Yep a good book but it never really caught my attention in the way his others have.

If you like orwell you are well in need of reading down and out in paris and london, it is a true account of his experiences when he lived as a destitute for a few years. 8)

Yep I enjoyed that one. Incedentally, my favourite is his account of the Spanish Civil War , Homage to Catalonia - probably due to a Scottish neighbour implanting tales of his own adventures during the conflict upon me, as I was growing up.

think my fav book of all time is gonna be 'Z for Zachariah'.. had to read this for my GCSE english many moons ago!! .... omg that's about 15 yrs ago :S

anyway...going to go and get a personal copy of this cos i havent read it since then :D

Books are brilliant! Before the internet was around they were (& arguably still are) the best portable entertainment you could get (not so good for driving though). The irony of me typing this on a internet forum isn't lost on me.

I really couldn't give you a list of my favourite books, I like too many of them.

I can give a list of my fave authors & books that I liked of theirs.

Sci Fi, I'm a geek I really got into it;

Larry Niven (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/203-9887806-3818328?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=larry+nivens&x=0&y=0) - Ringworld, massive scale for a sci-fi book I really couldn't put it down. World of the Ptavs, a short novel but none the less for it. Protecter, a bizarre take on where humans came from & what they really are. Footfall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footfall)& The Mote in Gods eye (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mote_in_God%27s_Eye), both written with Jerry Pournelle are blockbuster books, pretty solid science-wise as well. Many films could be made out of Niven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Niven)'s books, but they'd probably not be a patch on the source material.

Richard Morgan (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-6958023-6366051?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Richard+Morgan&x=0&y=0) - pretty much anything by him, Woken Furies was good & set in the same Universe as Altered Carbon which was ace.

Kim Stanley Robinson (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-6958023-6366051?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Kim+Stanley+Robinson&x=0&y=0) - The Mars Series, man colonises Mars, spread over 4 books each book dealing with stages of terraforming & how that affects the characters. The story can be a bit slow at times as KSR worked for NASA & loves his technological explanations, some nice characters though.

Iain M Banks (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-6958023-6366051?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Iain+M+Banks&x=0&y=0) - I brought his first sci-fi 'Consider Phlebas' based on the cool cover design (funny how many books I bought based on the cover & found imho brilliant Authors), it's actually a tad depressing as a story, but in a round about way was the basis for most of his other books as it introduced The Culture, a humaniod society run by benevelont AI's. The people in The Culture are all sorts of cool & nasty. Excession is superb, & lacks the downer of Consider Phlebas. His non-Culture Sci Fi novels are good as well .

Ken Macleod (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-6958023-6366051?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Ken+Macleod&x=0&y=0) - Stone Canal, another Scot, bit of a Socialist, Modern CyberPunk & far future doodlings. I did enjoy all of the Fall Revolution books.

Issac Asimov (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-6958023-6366051?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Issac+Asimov&x=0&y=0) - pretty much any book, The Foundation series or I Robot good places to start. A Sci- Fi god.

Kevin J Anderson (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-6958023-6366051?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Kevin+J+Anderson&x=0&y=0) - Epic Space opera in 'the saga of the seven suns' series, Hidden Empire is the first & if you like it the rest are as good.

Joe Haldeman - Forever War, Nebula Award winning first book from this Vietnam Vet. He's written a few that I haven't read, but 'All My Sins Remembered (http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Sins-Remembered-Gollancz-S-F/dp/0575072814/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223327751&sr=1-12)' & 'Mindbridge (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindbridge-Gollancz-Collectors-Joe-Haldeman/dp/0575071141/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223327779&sr=1-32)' are also superb & recommended, which really doesn't do either book justice.

Harry Harrison (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-6958023-6366051?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=harry+harrison&x=0&y=0) - Stainless Steel Rat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_Steel_Rat), kryptonite to dull Sci-Fi. The 'Are you being served' of Sci-Fi, but much better than that. Lots of books in this series. Solyent Green was based on his book 'Make Room, Make Room'.

Philip Jose Farmer (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-6958023-6366051?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Philip+Jose+Farmer&x=0&y=0) - The Riverworld Series, the first book 'To your Scattered Bodies Go', has all of humanity that has ever lived being resurrected on the banks of a river on another planet, heck, I'll let Wiki explain it : Riverworld (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverworld)
2 words though, mad & brilliant!!

Hmm, not even got to the Fantasy authors, I may have to leave that to another post.

Apologies for the Amazon links, but you get to see the book covers :D

I'll shut up now :yawn:

BJC

great post mate, just goes to show what a powerful tool t'internet is! You just put your recommendations out there to possibly hundreds of people that you couldn't possibly do normally in just a few minutes.

Books are great - everybody should read8)

Cordwainer Smith - My Favorite SF-author (real name: Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, 1913-1966). He hasn't written much, only one book with short stories and one novel (both available at NESFA Press), but all set in the same universe of the Instrumentality of Mankind, spanning over a timeline of about 14000 years.
His stories feature a vast amount of fantastic ideas like the planet Norstrilia (Old North Australia) where a drug that prolongs man's lifes greatly grows on mutated gigantic sheep and which is guarded by "Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons", totally psychotic animals whose crazy emotions are telepathically amplified and send into space against any attacker driving them insane to slaughter themselves.

His writing style is pretty unique and unlike many of the more scientific sf-authors very poetic and beautiful, here's the beginning of "The Dead Lad of Clowntown":

You already know the end—the immense drama of the Lord Jestocost, seventh of his line, and how the cat-girl C'mell initiated the vast conspiracy. But you do not know the beginning, how the first Lord Jestocost got his name, because of the terror and inspiration which his mother, Lady Goroke, obtained from the famous real-life drama of the dog-girl D'joan. It is even less likely that you know the other story—the one behind D'joan. This story is sometimes mentioned as the matter of the "nameless witch," which is absurd, because she really had a name. The name was "Elaine," an ancient and forbidden one.
Elaine was a mistake. Her birth, her life, her career were all mistakes. The ruby was wrong. How could that have happened?
Go back to An-fang, the Peace Square at An-fang, the Beginning Place at An-fang, where all things start. Bright it was. Red Square, dead square, clear square, under a yellow sun.
This was Earth Original, Manhome itself, where Earthport thrusts its way up through hurricane clouds that are higher than the mountains.
An-fang was near a city, the only living city with a pre-atomic name. The lovely meaningless name was Meeya Meefla, where the lines of ancient roadways, untouched by a wheel for thousands of years, forever paralleled the warm, bright, clear beaches of the Old South East.
The headquarters of the People Programmer was at An-fang, and there the mistake happened:

Have never really read books but just read my first one (that wasn't forced on me at GCSE*) and I enjoyed it.

Dave Gorman - America Unchained. Dave tries to drive from coast to coast without using any chains. So no McDonalds, Walmart, Holiday Inn, and hardest of all no chained petrol stations. A funny read, I'd reccommend it and so read another Dave Gorman book straight after.

Dave Gorman & Danny Wallace - Are You Dave Gorman? Really enjoyed this too. After a drunken night out Danny bets Dave that he can't meet 'loads' of Dave Gormans (Gormen). Another good read.

Now I'm reading Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure.


*which was Of Mice and Men, and which was actually quite a nice book

Buy (http://www.amazon.co.uk/?&tag=simiancage-21&camp=522&creative=3850&linkCode=bn1&adid=1GKQEDHGGNHF0Y5RSWNW)

Ah. "It was the best of times, It was the worst of times"

One of the best starters ever I think.

Ah. "It was the best of times, It was the worst of times"

One of the best starters ever I think.

A Tale of Two Cities. Great book.


Have never really read books but just read my first one (that wasn't forced on me at GCSE*) and I enjoyed it.

Dave Gorman - America Unchained. Dave tries to drive from coast to coast without using any chains. So no McDonalds, Walmart, Holiday Inn, and hardest of all no chained petrol stations. A funny read, I'd reccommend it and so read another Dave Gorman book straight after.

Dave Gorman & Danny Wallace - Are You Dave Gorman? Really enjoyed this too. After a drunken night out Danny bets Dave that he can't meet 'loads' of Dave Gormans (Gormen). Another good read.

Now I'm reading Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure.


*which was Of Mice and Men, and which was actually quite a nice book

Buy (http://www.amazon.co.uk/?&tag=simiancage-21&camp=522&creative=3850&linkCode=bn1&adid=1GKQEDHGGNHF0Y5RSWNW)

Watch the Googlewhack DVD it rocks.
I met Dave Gorman at a radio recording of his 'Genius' series. Stuart Lee was there as well.
Gorman is funny as hell and the 'Are you Dave Gorman' series on tv rocked.
I've been a member of his forum for about 5 years now. :D

I am reading A Secret History by Donna Tartt at the moment and i have to say that is one of the best i have ever read!:D

Raymond Feist
David Eddings
Terry Brooks

Just reading book 2 of Brooks' latest series 'The Elves of Cintra'....awesome

The Order by Tim something :p

and Djengis Khan: Wolf in a sea of grass by Conn Iggulden