NationStates Jolt Archive

I would have to say the best fiction book ever would have to be Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.


But the most out there fiction book would have to be On the Origin of Species
by Charles Darwin. Oh wait, he was serious about that wasn't he?

The Bible. Hands down. I mean, not because it was actually well written or anything. But just, you know. Wow.

I would have to say the best fiction book ever would have to be Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.


But the most out there fiction book would have to be On the Origin of Species
by Charles Darwin. Oh wait, he was serious about that wasn't he?

North Korea is missing you and wishes you would return.

For me, it is a tossup between "The Book Of Mormon" and "Dianetics",both of which prove that there is a rich sucker born every minute.

(i would comment on another book, but i have friends of that particular religion and they seem pretty cool.)

Just because it's popular doesn't make it best.

My personal favorites are The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, MASH and Forrest Gump. (Betcha didn't know those last two were books first! :p)

The Bible. Hands down. I mean, not because it was actually well written or anything. But just, you know. Wow.

Beat me to it!:D

Ive decided to earn a doctorate in theology.

I want a degree in fiction.

The Bible. Hands down. I mean, not because it was actually well written or anything. But just, you know. Wow.

Damn you, beat me to it.

I second the bible.

hmmm... choices... lotsa choices...

Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy
Piers Anthony's Xanth series...
Jo Clayton's Diadem Series
the Following Series by Mercedies Lackey
Heralds of Valdemar
Diana Triguard
Serraded Edge
Pern series by Anne McCaffery
Brainship series by Anne McCaffery
the Guardian series by Tanya Huff
Silverglass series by J.F. Rivikin
The Belgariad and Mallorian by David Eddings

and a whole lot more.

hmmm... choices... lotsa choices...

Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy
Piers Anthony's Xanth series...
Jo Clayton's Diadem Series
the Following Series by Mercedies Lackey
Heralds of Valdemar
Diana Triguard
Serraded Edge
Pern series by Anne McCaffery
Brainship series by Anne McCaffery
the Guardian series by Tanya Huff
Silverglass series by J.F. Rivikin
The Belgariad and Mallorian by David Eddings

and a whole lot more.You have named a number of my favourite books/series. Although the Mallorian was too much of a rehashing of the Belgariad. In any case, I'm impressed.

Piers Anthony's Xanth series...

Only if you promise to stop at like book five.

Only if you promise to stop at like book five.

Yeah, pretty much. Although I'd include Night Mare too just for the hell of it.

You have named a number of my favourite books/series. Although the Mallorian was too much of a rehashing of the Belgariad. In any case, I'm impressed.If you read the Mallorian all the way through, it was supposed to be a rehashing of the Belgariad. They (Belgarion and Belgarath) even talk about the similarities between the two adventures. :D

oh and forgot...

Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (the series that got me hooked into the Fantasy/Sci-fi genre.) :p

If you read the Mallorian all the way through, it was supposed to be a rehashing of the Belgariad. They (Belgarion and Belgarath) even talk about the similarities between the two adventures. :D I'm aware. It doesn't make it any better. Quite the contrary.

wouldnt i have to have read the vast majority of fiction books in order to give an opinion?

wouldnt i have to have read the vast majority of fiction books in order to give an opinion?

Would you have to get a blowjob from every woman in the world to know when you were getting a good one? I didnt think so.

I vote for the Koran.

The Bible. Hands down. I mean, not because it was actually well written or anything. But just, you know. Wow.

"You know, I rather like this God fellow. Very theatrical, you know. Pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence ... gotta get me some of that."

"My my, what a thumping good read, lions eating Christians, people nailing each other to two by fours. I'll say, you won't find that in Winnie the Pooh."

-Stewie Griffin.

:D

Shame on you all!

Nobody mentioned Jennifer Government, syrup, or company? :p

Including what was already mentioned, I liked The Chronicals of Thomas Covenant.

Would you have to get a blowjob from every woman in the world to know when you were getting a good one? I didnt think so.

Good point, but anatomically impossible for Ash.

"You know, I rather like this God fellow. Very theatrical, you know. Pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence ... gotta get me some of that."

"My my, what a thumping good read, lions eating Christians, people nailing each other to two by fours. I'll say, you won't find that in Winnie the Pooh."

-Stewie Griffin.

:D
That's it! Doesn't Fass remind you of Stewie? I mean, I've heard his voice, but somehow still when I read his posts, it's like it's Stewie talking! Oh, and by the way you are very much invited to join us from time to time at UMP.

The Bible. Hands down. I mean, not because it was actually well written or anything. But just, you know. Wow.

I don't thank that really counts, otherwise we'd have to consider similar books (eg Thus Spake Zarathustra etc) that use story telling as a means to impart someone's vision of "truth" or "morality."

Which could be messy.

Shame on you all!

Nobody mentioned Jennifer Government, syrup, or company? :p

Including what was already mentioned, I liked The Chronicals of Thomas Covenant.

AHA! The truth is out! YOU'RE Max Barry! :p

But the most out there fiction book would have to be On the Origin of Species
by Charles Darwin. Oh wait, he was serious about that wasn't he?

So you've actually read it?

I would ask which parts you thought were "out there," and if you were sure you read it properly and conprehended it. But for the fear this would devolve.

And there's already a mammoth thread on that already... somewhere...

Nobody mentioned Jennifer Government, syrup, or company? :p

I admit I never even opened JG. Though I assume my purchase of it in a second hand dumpstore did in some way make Max slightly less poor.

That's it! Doesn't Fass remind you of Stewie? I mean, I've heard his voice, but somehow still when I read his posts, it's like it's Stewie talking!

Stewie: What the hell is this?
Lois: Sweetie, that's tuna salad.
Stewie: Oh, is that what it is? Really? Because I could have sworn it was mayonnaise and cat food.


Sometimes.

Stewie: Hello, mother. I come bearing a gift. I'll give you a hint. It's in my diaper and it's not a toaster.

Okay. Often. :D

For all of you who said the Bible... kind of lame, it is not fiction, regardless of the levels of truth it contains.

And "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan... hands down it's gotta be the best. Anyone who says differently has already got Saidin's taint going full force in their mind (terribly sorry for the lame reference for those of you who get it.)

And "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan... hands down it's gotta be the best. Anyone who says differently has already got Saidin's taint going full force in their mind (terribly sorry for the lame reference for those of you who get it.)

Agreed but it gets demoted from the list because it has no ending. RIP Mr Jordan. :(

Personally enjoyed Ray Bradburys work. He had several books out there worth a mention. Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy was also very good.

Agreed but it gets demoted from the list because it has no ending. RIP Mr Jordan. :(

I'm pretty sure his wife is gonna finish it for him (don't worry! She has been his editor through the whole series, as well as being copiously instructed in the final weeks, I'm sure it'll be good, and any ending at all will be much welcomed).

Tales of the Dying Earth. It takes place far in the future, where the sun is going out, and the earth is rampant with magic and verbal frippery. Here is a just sampling of quotes from the books:

Asm of eight-fangs: “Flee if you wish! I need the exercise."

Captain Baunt: “This is unreasonable! If he felt dejection, why not simply jump into the sea? Why suborn our valuable worm to his personal and private uses?”

Cugel: "I am not one to crouch passively with my hind-quarters raised, awaiting either the kick or the caress of destiny! I am Cugel! Fearless and indomitable, I confront every adversity!"

Bubach Angh: “A man I will kill for my eye! Do I toil thirty-one years for the benefit of a vagabond!”

Bunderwal: "I am a dignified citizen of the area, not a fox-faced vagabond in an over-fancy hat."

Chief Elder: “Though formerly a vagabond and a cut-throat, you are now a prince, a man of responsibility.”

Deodand: “I desire the one who has entered. I hunger for her flesh.”

Doulka: “Must your disgust be so blatant? True: we are anthropophages. True: we put strangers to succulent use. Is this truly good cause for hostility? The world is as it is and each of must hope to in some fashion to be of service to his fellows, even if only in the form of soup.”

Drofo: “After a hundred worms and ten-thousand leagues, then with justice you may say, 'I am wise!' or, to precisely the same effect: 'I am a worminger!'

Funambule: “Inconsequential claptrap!”

Fuscule: "I am a worminger, not a student of weird physiological mysteries.”

Guyal of Sfere: “My eye went to you like the nectar moth flits to jacynth.”

Iolo: “Surely you agree that this hole is half my property!”

Kindive the Golden: “Out of the room quickly! Mischief lurks somewhere and I must blast it with magic!”

Krasnark: " I suggest that Master Chernitz retract the term 'moral leaper' and Cugel his 'tree-weasel', and there let the matter rest."

Liane the Wayfarer: “I can suffocate you in pearls, blind you with diamonds.”

Lodermulch: “What have we here? I thought to detect knavery, and here is justification! Return my money on the instant!”

Morreion: ”To inflict but a pin prick upon a single one of my enemies I would have died by torture a hundred times!”

Mermalant: “Do you carry beer? We are beer-drinkers of nobles repute and show our bellies to all.”

Nisbet: “Two hours of lose philosophizing will never tilt the scale against the worth of one sound belch.”

Duk Orbal: “…your exhibit seems somewhat makeshift and impromptu. Contrast, if you will, the precision of Zaraflam’s cockroaches!”

Pharesm: “Ah! Five hundred years I have toiled to entice this creature, despairing, doubting, brooding by night, yet never abandoning hope that my calculations were accurate and my great talisman cogent. Then, when it finally appears, you fall upon it for no other reason then to sate your repulsive gluttony...! I can define the gravity of your act in this manner: should I explode you on this instant into the most minute of your parts the atonement would measure one ten-millionth of your offense. A more stringent retribution becomes necessary.”

Peasant: “Notice: I drink wine, though I may not live to become drunk. Does this deter me? No! I reject the future; I drink now, I become drunk as circumstances dictate.”

Rhialto: “Pryffwyd, your vision is dim; you do not recognize me for Rhialto. I am working to place your eyes at the end of foot-long stalks. You will soon be able to see in all directions at one.”

Shierl: “You are not uncomely.”

Shilko: “What do you perceive? Goblins disguised as pick rats? Or centipedes dancing the kazatska?”

Slaye: “I will make you a grandee of the realm! You shall have a barge of carved ivory, and two hundred maidens shall serve your wants; your enemies shall be clamped into a rotating cauldron—only give me the amulet!”

T’Sain: “I know not know how to explain beauty. You seem to find joy in nothing. Does nothing give you satisfaction?”

T’Sais: “Only killing and destruction. So these must be beautiful.”

Varmous: "I am not apt for magic; weirdness makes me ery."

Voynod: “Take care, you dunghill-cocks!”

Id have to kill myself after reading no more then 3 pages of that. There are whole BOOKS of that crap?

Id have to kill myself after reading no more then 3 pages of that. There are whole BOOKS of that crap?

Hell yes. And a role-playing game.

http://www.dyingearth.com/

Hell yes. And a role-playing game.

http://www.dyingearth.com/

Not to mention the standard AD&D magic system is based on Vancian magic.

Not to mention the standard AD&D magic system is based on Vancian magic.

I was playing Basic D&D before many of you were born. That stuff is still horrid ;)_

I was playing Basic D&D before many of you were born. That stuff is still horrid ;)_

I probably have you beat. Did you play chainmail? :eek:

I was playing Basic D&D before many of you were born. That stuff is still horrid ;)_

No kidding. The DE RPG is far superior.

I probably have you beat. Did you play chainmail? :eek:

Urgh, archaic nonsense. The DE RPG allows you to choose persuasion and rebuff styles, and actually makes debate a drawn-out contest between characters.

Oh, and when 4 robbers confront you in the DE RPG, you should either run away, or pay-up. Sorry, no epic stuff. :D

The Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin are probably my favorite. The world that man weaves is fantastic, in depth and realistic, especially for a fantasy series.

I don't have an attention span for books these days

For all of you who said the Bible... kind of lame, it is not fiction, regardless of the levels of truth it contains.

Well, it is in the sense that the Iliad and Little Red Riding hood are fiction. Yes, they weren't written for the sake of analysis and literary reviews, but they are stories that some people made up, and some other people wrote down.

Just William

There are a few for me

DT series
1984
HP Lovecraft omnibus 1-3 if they can be considered as books
The Scarlet Letter
Doom, Knee Deep in the Dead
Doom, Hell on Earth
Doom, Inferno
Doom Endgame
Jurassic Park, Based on the Feature Film, including pictures
Ann and Barry
Caleb Williams
Frankenstein
Marilyn Mansons biography

LOTR books a great, but my hands down favorite is DUNE.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Jurassic Park, Based on the Feature Film, including pictures
wait... so you prefer the book baised on the movie and not the book that the movie, of which your book is baised from, is baised from? :confused:

wait... so you prefer the book baised on the movie and not the book that the movie, of which your book is baised from, is baised from? :confused:

I heard the Novel Jurassic Park (the actual novel, the first possible Jurassic Park release) was really good, I should pick a copy up some time.

A Game of Thrones, first book of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series.

Deliciously good, intrigue-filled fantasy fiction.

I like the Dragonlance series and the books I've read by Terry Pratchet are good.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

That is indeed quite good.

I heard the Novel Jurassic Park (the actual novel, the first possible Jurassic Park release) was really good, I should pick a copy up some time. it is good... and different. who lives in the movie is kinda different from the book.

it is good... and different. who lives in the movie is kinda different from the book.

Also the park owner (forgot his name) was more of a dick then the kindly old grandpa in the movie.

The computer guy was actually brilliant then the fat slob in the movie......

I've read too many fiction books to really say which is my favorite, or to even remember them all. Harry Potter however is high on the list. :)

The Bible. Hands down. I mean, not because it was actually well written or anything. But just, you know. Wow.

Beat me to it by 4 hours and 44 minutes.
(The Devil's work!)

The Shadow Over Innsmouth was pretty good.

…the books I've read by Terry Pratchet are good.
Ever read Night Watch? Go read Night Watch.

Geez, not too many sci-fi/fantasy fans here, are there? :p

Not that that stuff isn't great, but does anyone read straight fiction? Just curious. ;)

Geez, not too many sci-fi/fantasy fans here, are there? :p

Not that that stuff isn't great, but does anyone read straight fiction? Just curious. ;)

Is sci-fi/fantasy fiction gay?

Geez, not too many sci-fi/fantasy fans here, are there? :p

Not that that stuff isn't great, but does anyone read straight fiction? Just curious. ;)

No, only gay fiction. ;)

Is sci-fi/fantasy fiction gay?

Hah. Maybe. ;)

The Bible. Hands down. I mean, not because it was actually well written or anything. But just, you know. Wow.

The Declaration of Independence. Hands down. I mean, not because...
Dang, it doesn't really work with this one. :)

The Bible. Hands down. I mean, not because it was actually well written or anything. But just, you know. Wow.
Hehe.
Beat me to it!:D
Ditto.
Damn you, beat me to it.
Dittoly so.
I second the bible.
Ditto.
"You know, I rather like this God fellow. Very theatrical, you know. Pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence ... gotta get me some of that."

"My my, what a thumping good read, lions eating Christians, people nailing each other to two by fours. I'll say, you won't find that in Winnie the Pooh."

-Stewie Griffin.

:D

That's it! Doesn't Fass remind you of Stewie? I mean, I've heard his voice, but somehow still when I read his posts, it's like it's Stewie talking!
How dare you even think of Fass like that! Fass... a USian.. Hah.
I don't have an attention span for books these days
QFT
Beat me too it by 4 hours and 44 minutes.
Ditto.

I'm just going to say the His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman. It ranks up there with the Bible as best fiction ever.

Second His Dark Materials.

The Southern Victory Series by Harry Turtledove. This has probably been mentioned before, due to the number of Turtledove style sims I have seen, but it needs mentioning again. Starts with How Few Remains and ends, (tear), with In At the Death. I have started his Darkness series, and would say that right now, it is my number two. This would of course be followed by Eragon, the X-Wing Series, and Harry Potter.

While I do not presume to judge "the best", my favorite novel is probably As a Driven Leaf, by Milton Steinberg.

Wonderful on several levels.

No, only gay fiction. ;)

There's some good stuff there too, as it happens.

I love Randall Kenan. His short story "The Foundations of the Earth" is another one of my favorites.

I have no objective method of declaring a book "the best", so I'll just answer with my own personal favourite: anything by Peter F. Hamilton. I don't care that he's basically a pulp sci-fi hack who presumably eats his editor if they suggest cutting the book below a thousand pages, his books make me want to lactate.

Wheel of Time.

Of Mice and Men, the only time I've liked a book assigned to me. Also the only time I actually cared about a fictional characters death.

My favourite classic has to be Asimov's Foundation series, but Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns series is pretty good for a 'new' sci-fi series as well.

Outside of that I'm just getting back into Pratchett :)

I don't know if I can say what is best, as there are so many awesome ones to choose from, but I really like the Malazan series by Stephen Erikson (specifically Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice, though the rest still kick ass!).

To be honest I don't think any of the poll choices are even close. Can't say I have one particular book that I would choose but some non-wizard containing books I would maybe have

The Tin Drum by Gunther Grass
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote
Everything Kurt Vonnegut wrote

there are so many others that don't have elves in that are so good...

I am a fan of Conn Iggulden's Emperor series, myself.

The Catcher in the Rye.

Anyone who says otherwise is either:

A) A heretic
or
B) Has never read the book

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, is the best work of fiction ever.

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, is the best work of fiction ever.

Great book.

LOTR books a great, but my hands down favorite is DUNE.

Dune is one of the few titles that springs to mind when I am asked this question, though the Tao Teh Ching and Pride and Prejudice also compete for the top spot.

Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (the series that got me hooked into the Fantasy/Sci-fi genre.) :p

Why does this sound familiar?


Jurassic Park, Based on the Feature Film, including pictures


How refreshingly honest and unpretentious.

To be honest I don't think any of the poll choices are even close. Can't say I have one particular book that I would choose but some non-wizard containing books I would maybe have

The Tin Drum by Gunther Grass
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote
Everything Kurt Vonnegut wrote

there are so many others that don't have elves in that are so good...

I'm not such a fan of the classics, though I do have a soft spot for epic poetry. My favourite classical book would have to be the Iliad, as translated by Lattimore. Canterbury Tales has some rhymes that hook into your head. Catchy.

And I agree with you about this weird obsession with bad fantasy and sci-fi. If you're going to read escapist literature, you might as well read the good stuff: Neal Stephenson, Ursula K. LeGuin, Iain M. Banks, Kurt Vonnegut, Frank Herbert, and Stephen R. Donaldson are a cut above the rest.

Why bother with that formulaic crap?

The Catcher in the Rye.

Anyone who says otherwise is either:

A) A heretic
or
B) Has never read the book

That's actualy the only Salinger book I haven't read.

That's actualy the only Salinger book I haven't read.

And it's the only one I've read. Go figure. :D

And it's the only one I've read. Go figure. :D

And I have never read any!

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, is the best work of fiction ever.

Have you read Bram Stoker's Dracula? It's also excellent.

Have you read Bram Stoker's Dracula? It's also excellent.

Yep I have, I do like it, but Frankenstein just brings more thought to the table.

Yep I have, I do like it, but Frankenstein just brings more thought to the table.

I haven't read Frankenstein in years. I ought to give it another look.

I haven't read Frankenstein in years. I ought to give it another look.

Yep I agree!:D

I would have to say the best fiction book ever would have to be Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.


But the most out there fiction book would have to be On the Origin of Species
by Charles Darwin. Oh wait, he was serious about that wasn't he?

Gee, but aren't you just the cutest little fundamentalist?!

You really open yourself up to far too easy retorts with this one; you should be more careful in the future.

OH RIGH! on topic: Schrodinger's Cat by Robert Anton Wilson or possibly Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams.

Good Omens. Hilariously written about the apocalypse by Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett :D

Finnegans Wake.

For me, it is a tossup between "The Book Of Mormon" and "Dianetics",both of which prove that there is a rich sucker born every minute.

(i would comment on another book, but i have friends of that particular religion and they seem pretty cool.)

So you don't mind bashing a religious text as long as you don't have to look a follower in the eye afterward.

Coward.

Best Fiction Book Ever:

Red Storm Rising
by Tom Clancy

The Bible "the best book ever written?" LOLOLOLOLOL. Well it certainly falls into the category of "FICTION", yet isn't it actually a NUMBER OF DIFFERENT BOOKS which, in the case of the New Testament at least, were written at least 50 years after the supposed events and, were DOCTORED by the early Christian Church, particualarly at the council of Nicea presided over by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 326 AD? That's why there's something called "Apocrypha" i.e. books that didn't make it into the New Testament cause the facts were a bit "out of sync" with the propaganda.
Also, last time I looked, Lord of the Rings was actually three seperate books with the last two being tiresome cack!
Want good fiction, good stories, laughs, something you can get your teeth into? Catch 22, Joseph Heller and The Secret History, Donna Tartt.
The Bible........Jesus Christ........

So you don't mind bashing a religious text as long as you don't have to look a follower in the eye afterward.

Coward.

The Book of Mormon, is a cracking read though.

There can be no "best".

Favorites, however, are legion.

YOUTH FANTASY:

The Dark Is Rising, Susan Cooper

GROWN-UP (for want of not using the loaded term "adult") FANTASY:

The Death Gate Cycle, Hickman & Weis

LITERARY FICTION:

The Time-Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

SCIENCE FICTION:

Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein (my fanboyness is evident in that Intangelon's head of state is named Jubal Harshaw, and "Benji" Royce was originally "Ben Caxton").

SHARED-WORLD FICTION:

The Wild Cards series, featuring Roger Zelazny and many others, a seamless set of 12 mosaic novels edited by George R. R. Martin (makes the TV tripe Heroes look like very weak sauce by comparison).

Are classic. I think people are looking a sci-fi- fantasy books, but fiction is well fiction. I couldn't say it any better.

Also, last time I looked, Lord of the Rings was actually three seperate books with the last two being tiresome cack!

Actually, Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings as one volume. The publisher believed, at the time, that nobody would buy such a long book so they broke it into three volumes and assigned each a separate title (without Tolkien's input).

Actually, Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings as one volume. The publisher believed, at the time, that nobody would buy such a long book so they broke it into three volumes and assigned each a separate title (without Tolkien's input).

As I understand it he was rather displeased with 'The Return Of The King', since it gives away the ending.


I also find it amusing that they now sell the trilogy as one book.

As I understand it he was rather displeased with 'The Return Of The King', since it gives away the ending.


I also find it amusing that they now sell the trilogy as one book.

Huh I bought it as one book about 20 odd years ago.

I have quite a few favorites out there:

Most of the poetry by Rudyard Kipling. Favorite poem is probably The Ballad of East and West.

Devil's Cub and The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer.

Treason and Songmaster by Orson Scott Card.

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain.

The Cat Who Saw Red, by Lilian Jackson Braun.

One For The Money, by Janet Evanovich.

Cuckoo's Egg, by C. J. Cherryh.

So many books, so little time. :cool:


There are some books people listed which are definitely on my list of "really disliked"...anything by George R. R. Martin, for instance. Seriously, the man creates characters you can like just to have someone to kill off in the next chapter.

And, frankly, I read the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant one time and, for the first time in my life, considered ritually burning a set of books. I don't mind anti-heroes, but I prefer even my anti-heroes to be capable of learning something from book to book.

Are classic. I think people are looking a sci-fi- fantasy books, but fiction is well fiction. I couldn't say it any better.

The World According to Garp, FTW. Forgot about that one.

As I understand it he was rather displeased with 'The Return Of The King', since it gives away the ending.


I also find it amusing that they now sell the trilogy as one book.

The Return of the King was originally titled The War of the Ring but Tolkien's publishers made him change it, I don't recall why.

GROWN-UP (for want of not using the loaded term "adult") FANTASY:

The Death Gate Cycle, Hickman & Weis

I love the Death Gate Cycle! It's far better than most fantasy series.

Let us not forget classics!

On the Road (which is kind of not a fiction but all the book stores put it there.)
Lord of the Rings (of course)
Harry Potter
Syrup
Jennifer Government
(I haven't read company yet but it is on my list.)
The Golden Compass series (before the movie came out)
Anything by Chuck Palahniuk!
Sword of Truth series By: Terry Goodkind
Angels and Demons By Dan Brown

The Cat Who Saw Red, by Lilian Jackson Braun.
Love that series.

also Perry Mason (Earl Stanley Garner)

Why does this sound familiar?
do you remember both poems?

Actually, Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings as one volume. The publisher believed, at the time, that nobody would buy such a long book so they broke it into three volumes and assigned each a separate title (without Tolkien's input).

Indeed. That's why the first and second books (FotR and TT) don't really have endings. The Lord of the Rings was basically sliced up into three more or less equal parts wherever the closest chapter break was.

Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files. Books are awesome, and were significantly better than the TV show.

I just want to know how the F*@k Eragon made the poll options. The books read out like the Star Wars plot line meets the LOTR setting. From having the protagonist be the good son of the evil lieutenant of the big bad guy, to having a trainer living in the woods away from everybody else. Granted, the role of Han Solo does jump between characters, but I still don't understand how it made the list.

I love the Death Gate Cycle! It's far better than most fantasy series.

I knew there was a reason you rock.

There was something so compelling about the Sartan/Patryn dynamic and the tattoo/rune-based magic ability. Plus, the races were drawn with a brush, but not too broad of one.

I knew there was a reason you rock.

There was something so compelling about the Sartan/Patryn dynamic and the tattoo/rune-based magic ability. Plus, the races were drawn with a brush, but not too broad of one.

Zifnab?

"The Chronicles of Amber"
-Roger Zelazny.

I bet none of you mentioned these, but all of you should read them.
As good of a story as "LotR", but better written.

I knew there was a reason you rock.

There was something so compelling about the Sartan/Patryn dynamic and the tattoo/rune-based magic ability. Plus, the races were drawn with a brush, but not too broad of one.

Indeed. I actually made an RP puppet based on the Patryn/Sartan hybrids because I thought it was such a compelling concept.

Indeed. I actually made an RP puppet based on the Patryn/Sartan hybrids because I thought it was such a compelling concept.

So, what's the color of the puppet's hair? All Black or All White? Or Maybe they're bald? Or is it Half Black with white tips, and half White with black tips?

Too much confusion over hair color.

LOTR books a great, but my hands down favorite is DUNE.

What he said. The sequels were pale by comparison, with maybe Childen of Dune being my second favorite.

Lost Souls
Anansi Boys
To Reign in Hell

There are a whole crap load of 'good' fictions... but these are hands down the best for me ^^

Wheel of Time.

http://www.dragonmount.com/News/?p=326

The Wealth of Nations.

What a lark!

Indeed. I actually made an RP puppet based on the Patryn/Sartan hybrids because I thought it was such a compelling concept.

Would that make the runes...purple?

Cool.

The Wealth of Nations.

What a lark!

Wait, Wealth of Nations is Fiction? Does that make the Communist Manifesto super fiction? This confuses me. What is super fiction?

The Stranger by Albert Camus is also very good.

"The Chronicles of Amber"
-Roger Zelazny.

I bet none of you mentioned these, but all of you should read them.
As good of a story as "LotR", but better written.

Zelazny is one of those authors who should never write a sequel. His single books are truly outstanding, but when doing series he gets bogged down in minutia and delight in redundant descriptive wordiness.

The first book in the chronicles of Amber (Nine Princes in Amber) was superb. The following books slowly started to fall into a downward spiral, with the result that finishing the series felt like pulling teeth.

There are several authors who fall into this trap. Terry Goodkind and Orson Scott Card are other examples of authors who should never be allowed to write sequels.

I just want to know how the F*@k Eragon made the poll options. The books read out like the Star Wars plot line meets the LOTR setting. From having the protagonist be the good son of the evil lieutenant of the big bad guy, to having a trainer living in the woods away from everybody else. Granted, the role of Han Solo does jump between characters, but I still don't understand how it made the list.
SHHHH!!! We were gonna laugh at anyone who chose that as a serious answer!:p

http://www.dragonmount.com/News/?p=326

Interesting. I hope he doesn't fuck it up. I remain optimistic though, as Jordan said before his death that he wanted the series to be finished.

I second the Bible too, because no other fiction book had that much impact on Mankind. (Karl Marx's Capital also have a huge impact... but it's not a fiction book... or it is? :D )

But more seriously :
Frank Herbert's Dune and Isaac Asimov's Foundation are my best!

SHHHH!!! We were gonna laugh at anyone who chose that as a serious answer!:p

start laughing... 6 people selected it.

Zelazny is one of those authors who should never write a sequel. His single books are truly outstanding, but when doing series he gets bogged down in minutia and delight in redundant descriptive wordiness.

The first book in the chronicles of Amber (Nine Princes in Amber) was superb. The following books slowly started to fall into a downward spiral, with the result that finishing the series felt like pulling teeth.

There are several authors who fall into this trap. Terry Goodkind and Orson Scott Card are other examples of authors who should never be allowed to write sequels.

The "Corwin Saga", is great.

The "Merlin saga", isnt so great, and does get a little boggy, but its still a good story.

The Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte
Legend by David Gemmel
Animal Farm
Shadowplay, Shadowmarch by tad williams

It's hard to choose the best book, but I know it's one of the books in either Lord of the Rings or His Dark Materials.

i'd call it a toss up between "the prophet" by kalil gebran, and "strainger in a strainge land" by robert a. hienline.

there have been others i'd put in that catigory too.

(while "the prophet" deals with eternal 'religeous' themes, it does so in a frankly fictionalized manor, positing an entirely imaginary revelator, though one based rather loosely on abdu'l baha (who was not himself a revealer of belief but the center of the covenent of another), whome gebran is reputed to have met.)

there are a lot of other good reads that are both gratifying and at the same time somewhat profound. those two being among my favorites are merely the first to come to mind.

=^^=
.../\...

i'd call it a toss up between "the prophet" by kalil gebran, and "strainger in a strainge land" by robert a. hienline.

there have been others i'd put in that catigory too.

(while "the prophet" deals with eternal 'religeous' themes, it does so in a frankly fictionalized manor, positing an entirely imaginary revelator, though one based rather loosely on abdu'l baha (who was not himself a revealer of belief but the center of the covenent of another), whome gebran is reputed to have met.)

there are a lot of other good reads that are both gratifying and at the same time somewhat profound. those two being among my favorites are merely the first to come to mind.

=^^=
.../\...

Two very good choices, actually.

If you get the chance to read (if you haven't already) Sheri Tepper's "Raising The Stones", you might find it fits rather nicely alongside those two.



I'd be tempted to nominate the Bible as one of the Best Fiction Books Ever... but just being long, schizophrenic and reminiscent of "Fear and Loathing", does not necessarily qualify a text for that coveted 'best' spot.

There was a book written where the X-Men and Star Trek people get together and fight stuff. Can't remember what it's called, but damn, that book was good. Read it about 7-8 years ago.

wait... so you prefer the book baised on the movie and not the book that the movie, of which your book is baised from, is baised from? :confused:

Yes, I find that there is a greater sense of dramatic momentum. The prose of the book far surpasses Michael Critons attempt in its eloquence and symbolism. To me the book adaptation of the film is one of the finest pieces of literature ever published, rivaled only by Wheres Wally.

There was a book written where the X-Men and Star Trek people get together and fight stuff. Can't remember what it's called, but damn, that book was good. Read it about 7-8 years ago.

Theres also an amazing star trek book about geordi in starfleet academy. He has to win a capture the flag mission, read it in feb 1997. Good read.

There was a book written where the X-Men and Star Trek people get together and fight stuff. Can't remember what it's called, but damn, that book was good. Read it about 7-8 years ago.

"Planet X" I believe which is X-Men and TNG.

it's actually a second part to a comic crossover with X-Men and TOS.
Best lines of the comic:

"Did that... man actually 'PUNCH' my ship?"
Kirk looking out of the viewscreen to see Guardian of the Shi'ar Guards floating infront of the ENTERPRISE

Nurse Chapel: "Doctor McCoy?"
both Dr McCoy and Beast (Hank McCoy): "yes?"

and Captain Kirk trying to woo Jean Grey... :p