Just wanted to add:
Books by Terry Brooks: The Word and the Void (trilogy)
Shannara trilogy (original series, sword, elfstones and wishsong)
4 Likes
This summer I read three Kurt Vonnegut books: Sirens of Titan, Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions.
Right now I am reading Joseph Heller’s Catch 22.
Next may be Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
3 Likes
Eragon, YESSS!!
It weakened as it went on but the first 2 books were incredible IMO. I think the author was like 14 when he wrote them too.
1 Like
Did you catch the MTV made Shannara show,
I liked it more than I wanted too.
1 Like
No. My kids own the remote. Lol.
Other books that I enjoyed reading…
Would also add Clouds above the Hill: A Historical Novel of the Russo-Japanese War. The characters in the novel were real and were quite prominent in history.
Also enjoyed John Le Carre’s the Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Sad for the protaganist. Made use and disposed of after work was done - but then he was a spy anyway.
Really, really loved J.G Ballard’s Empire of the Sun (made into a movie too). If you love the movie, you will love the book.
Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye. Fascinating story about a girl’s life experiences. Lots of imagery used and up till now a lot of stuff I find difficult to underrstand.
George Orwell’s 1984. 'Nuff said.
The Devil’s Alternative. Fascinating Cold War novel. I learnt a lot about the Soviet Union after reading this book.
Buck Rogers (Arrival)
Not exactly, a novel…but his book read like fiction anyway.
Devil on the Cross - book about colonialism in Africa. Lots of use of hyperbole and creative writing techniques.
Genesis, by W.A Harbinson. First book to get me interested in UFO conspiracy theories.
Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh). (Translated Version). One of the four great Chinese classics.
Winter of the The World by Ken Follet. World War 2 setting.
Cathedral by Nelson Demille. Fascinating novel about with a cathedral in NYC as a setting.
Fatherland by Robert Harris. Superbly well-researched. I haven’t read Philip K. Dick’s the Man in High Castle but the setting is similar.
Fun while it lasted. Not really fiction either but really fascinating rags to riches to rags story about a coin collector.
A Stone for Danny Fischer. Another fascinating rags-to-riches story.
I had to read S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders in school but the book and its characters never left my memory throughout my life and when I learnt that there was a movie about it available online, I went to watch the movie. I re-read the book a few times throughout my adult life.
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. Got me interested into understanding terrorism more.
I read Louis Cha’s The Return of the Condor Heroes novel in Chinese. It took me two weeks of non-stop reading to finish the book but it’s a fascinating read.
Louis Cha was one of the most prolific writers in the Chinese literary world with his books adapted in tv dramas and films and he is a household name. In fact, he was a big fan of Alexander Dumas and one of his novels, A Deadly Secret, was influenced by Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo which some people have mentioned here.
Now, some of his books have been translated into English.
Anita Desai’s the Village by the Sea. Another book I had to read in school but really enjoyed.
Political Satire. Another Orwell classic.
The Wonderful Stories of Henry Sugar by Roald Dhal. Where I got my ideas about having X-ray vision and breaking the casinos. I still hope I can achieve this superpower one day.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Inspiring short-fiction.
Oliver Twist. Sad story but with happy ending.
- This is a movie tie-in, but I read the book first before I ever got to catch the movie online.
Very hilarious and I read it multiple times.
Momo. One of the few fantasy writings that I really enjoyed.
Yasunari’s Kawabata’s Snow Country. With a location in the snowy mountains of Japan as a setting, the writer fused the various themes of traditional Japanese conceptions of beauty, human nature and love in his novel.
2 Likes
Do you mean Dan Brown? I read Angels and Demons before he became farmous because of the Da Vinci Code movie. Didn’t enjoy Angels and Demons at all.
1 Like
I was hoping for a season 3 lol
Manu Bennet was awesome in it and he was an awesome deathstroke in Arrow
1 Like
lol you never know
He’s awesome in everything,
he has the coolest voice.
The Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey
Quite the metaphor that one.
Suggests that it may have been your own expectations holding you down the entire time.
That’s why it keeps coming back to me as we discuss pursuing our aspirations here on the forum.
1 Like
A big fan of Fantasy and Scifi which is evident in my preferences. Also love epics and book series. Here are some off the top of my head. Only mentioning the series I have completed:
Fantasy
-The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion
-Narnia series (my Harry Potter fix before Harry Potter was even made lol)
-Harry Potter series
-The Wheel of Time series (one of my favorites especially cause of the badass male magic channelers in them. Among many other things)
-Earthsea trilogy by Ursula Le Guin (Something really beautifully haunting about her writing)
-A Song of Ice and Fire series (there is deeper mythos in these books. Would recommend Lucifer Means Lightbringer youtube channel to understand it more)
-Malazan Book of the Fallen series (my favorite so far. Massive worlds, a very interesting magic system, people who you want to know as friends and power games that will put even the gods to shame)
-Sandman comics (such a beautiful masterpiece)
-American Gods
SciFi
-Dune series
-Foundation series (Isaac Asimov)
-Neuromancer by William Gibson
-Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series (one of the most intelligently hilarious books I have ever read. Super quotable too)
3 Likes
I believe wile coyote was a master of this but always lost confidence in himself and ‘remembered’ in the end.
I’m sure Wile E Coyote would be comforted to know he was a master at something. 
I’ve been meaning to read Shannara. Still haven’t watched the TV series because they did that annoying thing where they said they would be shopping elsewhere and I didn’t want to watch two seasons now only to have completely forgotten them when suddenly another season pops up. If you’re going to cancel, make it definitive…
Personally, I think TV series should no longer do cliffhangers at all. They get cancelled far too easily in the age of disgusting reality TV. I dislike having an open storyline where I will never find out what the writers had planned.
King brings up another one, Ken Follett. I remember seeing the TV miniseries for Pillars of the Earth, and have been in awe of the time and work it has taken people to build cathedrals and such. Good story too. And the final scene in that miniseries was awesome. Although it reminded me of Merlin.
I did read Narnia, but at some point it felt a bit like it was pushing a religious thing on me, didn’t like that. Interesting though, albeit sad.
I mean Narnia was all about pushing religion through fantasy. Aslan’s whole essence and the ending. It is what it is.
When I was in grade school I read the Dark is Rising series, and loved it. I think it also has a grand good vs evil flavor without the direct Christian connection.
1 Like
I have a trained resistance to forms of manipulation and indoctrination. Which I feel a pressure on my body and head when watching commercials, I get fidgety when somebody tries to hypnotize me and religious people tell me how things are (and why subs need more time).
Narnia reminded me too much of how certain religions view certain things. The connection was too evident for me to feel comfortable. The other books I mentioned phrase it as part of a fictional culture/religion/philosophy which somehow makes it better. I can take something out of it or not.
It’s been a long time since I read Narnia, so I can’t specify what it was about the writing style that snared me. Nor does it really matter. The story was still nice.
PS This is now one of my favorite threads, more reading inspiration!
I wonder if people that listen to subs also have certain book-tastes in common.
Anyone read The Power Broker?
2 Likes
I have seen the book on Ryan Holiday’s reading list. And I forgot about it. I just went back on it thanks to your post, I am on the first chapters and this guy was incredible, but really cold as fuck. Interesting also to have a picture of New York at these times.
I am surprised no one has mentioned The Little Prince yet. Anyway I read the book when I was a teenager, but found the themes hard to understand. But something motivates me to go and re-read it. Perhaps I may find some new insights.
1 Like
I still remember about the boy who loved Turkish Delights in Narnia. I had never heard about Turkish Delights until I watched the film.
But the idea of moving into another alternate reality by just entering a wardrobe and living there for dozens of years is so fascinating.
The kids didn’t have to spend time like us learning how to visualize, lucid dream, meditate, chant mantras, perform rituals, visit hypnotherapists, wear high-quality headphones, use crystals, raise vibrations, decalcify the pineal gland, clear limiting beliefs, rewire our brains, unblocking their chakras etc just to get to into the reality they want.
1 Like