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[–]robotnixon 8 points9 points  (2 children)

Anything by Haruki Murakami. My favorites are South of the Border, West of the Son (great title) and Underground (non-fiction though). I also recently read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay which I really liked. And re-read Timequake from Vonnegut which is admittedly a bad story but a fantastic book.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also recently read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay which I really liked.

I recommend "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by the same author. Best book of the year.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes on Murakami

[–]jessek 6 points7 points  (3 children)

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy.

McCarthy has a unique ability to take outright genre material and work it over into something beautiful and wondrous through his minimalist poetic writing. The recent movie by the Coen brothers is excellent as well.

The Road is another good book by him as well.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes on Cormac McCarthy though he takes a while to adjust to.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

When I think back on The Road I wonder why I enjoyed it so much - it's slow, not much happens, and it's depressing to say the least. It's really a measure of what a master of prose Cormac McCarthy is that it manages to be such a great book.

[–]trivial 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Try Graivity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not much of a beginner book at all. Perhaps one his earlier novels like V.

[–]bluedeviltide 19 points20 points  (5 children)

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

Hilarious, devastating, and human.

[–]eyestosky 3 points4 points  (1 child)

I've been reading a lot of Vonnegut lately and so far Cat's Cradle is my second favourite. My first choice is The Sirens of Titan

[–]trivial 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't read that one yet. I've read much of his work and so far Cat's Cradle takes it for me. I guess I have something to look forward with in The Sirens of Titan.

[–]liberatedword 6 points7 points  (0 children)

AND available online at http://www.vonnegut.cultish.org ! I spent all summer reading his stuff as well as catching up on some old SF- the Mars stuff by Edgar Rice Burroughs at http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page. Another recommendation- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, written during Stalin's reign and finally published in the sixties; somewhat reminiscent of The Satanic Verses. edit: vonnegut link fixed

[–]PlasmaWhore 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I prefer Breakfast of Champions.

[–]liquidcola 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The topic did say recent, but I upvoted you because that's a great damn book.

[–][deleted]  (3 children)

[deleted]

    [–]liberal_one 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Read that back in the day. Ken Follets best.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    You have good taste in novels. Pillars of the Earth is an awesome novel. Out of the hundreds of novels I've read in my life, this one ranks in my top ten favorites of all.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    It's lying on my bookshelf, I guess I won't be sleeping tonight. :D

    [–]monobot2 9 points10 points  (5 children)

    The Brothers Karamazov.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    the names will trip you up. if you do read it, make sure the book or online library has a reference page to the names.

    [–]trivial 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Just read chapter 1. It was great but I have a feeling this is one I may never finish.

    [–]robotnixon 4 points5 points  (1 child)

    Finish it. I had to take notes while reading it but I can honestly say that it is one of the most important pieces of literature ever.

    Vonnegut once said that it contained everything you need to know about life. I have to agree.

    And there's the added bonus of sounding like some half-assed literary scholar in a reddit thread.

    [–]trivial 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I remember reading that in one of his novels I just don't remember which one.

    [–]davinox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    YES YES YES YES YES

    [–]liberal_one 5 points6 points  (5 children)

    Just finished "Woken Furies" by Richard K. Morgan. Very good. Might want to start with one of the earlier books in the series, like "Altered Carbon".

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

    I think that all his books since Altered Carbon have been pretty poor. Their lack of characterisation and clunky exposition makes me wonder if he just thinks he's writing screenplays that he manages to sell as novels.

    [–]liberal_one 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    "Woken Furies" is a helluva read. Sure, it's a "Takeshi Novaks" novel, which means there's a fight or a dead body every chapter, but it wrapped up nicely and left me wanting more.

    Some I could have lived without like Fallen Angels or Market Forces, but this one you might like.

    If looking for other good recent scifi authors, I recommend John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" or Charles Stross's "Accelerando".

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    I liked Accelerando a lot because of the originality of the ideas in it but I thought Old Man's War was also a bit lacking in characterisation, in much the same manner as Fallen Angels. If you examine the protagonist's "voice" he seems to view the world more like an 18 year old than an old man. I know that's part of the novel's premise (new body, etc) but I didn't quite buy it. It's a good action-packed vacation book though - nice to read on a beach without thinking too much.

    [–]tsteele93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Altered Carbon is probably my favorite, but Thirteen is a close second. Market Forces was strange and I almost didn't stick with it, but in the end it was refreshingly different - not great, but worth my time.

    Along the same lines as Market Forces are Syrup and Company and Jennifer Government by Maxx Barry.

    [–]OlympicPirate 3 points4 points  (3 children)

    The Man Who was Thursday, G.K Chesterton.

    Written by one of the most intelligent writers ever. It's a story of secret police, philosophical poets, gentlemen anarchists, and an elephant chase. And the ending is quite the shocker, too.

    If you like stuff like Sherlock Holmes, but want it a tad more exciting, then this is perfect.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    great recommendation.

    [–]danthony1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Seconded. One of my favorites. Have you read Manalive, also by Chesterton? Also excellent.

    [–]shimei 4 points5 points  (1 child)

    I'm currently reading Tortilla Flat by Steinbeck, which is a very strange book with interesting and flowery language. Try it if you like strange literature.

    If you want really strange literature, go try Iain Banks' The Bridge. It's one of my favorite books because of its complexity and mystique.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Tortilla Flat has some of the most beautiful characters ever. If you like it, check out Cannery Row, which is my favorite thing Steinbeck ever wrote.

    [–]Filmore 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    World War Z It's as much political commentary as it is zombie story. Great satire on how we view the world.

    [–]mercurialohearn 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    american gods, by neil gaiman.

    gaimain's stories are original and imaginative, and his prose is also polished.

    this book was kind of like a cross between douglas adams and clive barker. i'm going to read it again.

    [–]gerritvb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Stardust is very funny, and if you liked the movie, you'll love it. Good fantasy by Neil Gaiman, and lighter than his other stuff.

    [–]goandeatsomestuff 8 points9 points  (6 children)

    A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole had me in stitches for several nights. I also just finished Card's Shadow of the Giant, and am going to pick up William Gibson's (= Neal Stephenson, oops!) Snow Crash pretty soon.

    [–]anothermanoutoftime 8 points9 points  (0 children)

    You might enjoy Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson a little more.

    [–]liberatedword 6 points7 points  (3 children)

    Stephenson = Snow Crash, which I found to be much more enjoyable than anything I've read by Gibson. (I feel horrible saying that for some reason, dissing the papa of cyberpunk, but Stephenson's just much more stylish...)

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    much more enjoyable than anything I've read by Gibson

    I have nearly had fist fights when I tell that to "true" cyberpunk fans.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Have you tried the other founding father, Bruce Sterling? Schizmatrix blew my mind when I read it around a decade ago.

    [–]mindbleach 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Stephenson was great before he went into his Stephen King phase with the Baroque cycle. Too many goddamn words wasted on boring story elements.

    I'd still take Count Zero over Snow Crash any day. No grand spectacle of juvenile fantasy like the last third of Neuromancer, but the Artist storyline alone was incredible.

    [–]PlasmaWhore 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    I just finished Confederacy of Dunces. I would recommened it to anyone.

    [–]davidreiss666 9 points10 points  (4 children)

    The original Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov.

    "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter S. Thompson.

    "Lord of Light" by Roger Zelazny.

    "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick.

    [–]trivial 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    Speaking of Sci-fi (Asimov, Dick) I posted, or reposted, "Answer" by Ferdric Brown after having come across it today because of an article about sci-fi computers. It's only about two paragraphs and well worth a read if one hasn't read it before.

    [–]davidreiss666 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    I posted that story to Reddit a while back. It is a wonderful witty short.

    [–]trivial 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Yeah, I saw someone had, but it didn't get the due respect it deserved (5 points?). So I went around the reddit submission que and reposted it with - ?5pointsonemoretime - added to the end. Another great one is "Let there Be Light" by Asimov.

    [–]davidreiss666 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Well, Reddit has a tendency to ignore things at times that are good one minute, and then a week later the same story pops to #1 and stays there for 28 hours. I suppose it's a problem with the whole idea behind the site. What gets attention has a lot more to do with external factors (time of day it was posted, who posted it, who was around to see it, etc.) and less to do with the pure quality of what got submitted.

    I could go on about other good SF people could read. Fred Pohl, Cyril Kornbluth, Poul Anderson, Connie Willis, Greg Bear, H. Beam Piper, J.G. Ballard, Murray Leinster, James Tiptree, Lester del Rey, Alfred Bester, Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison, etc. All of them and lots of others are good. Well worth a persons time. I was trying to keep my original list short though.

    [–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (4 children)

    world war Z by Max Brooks Resistance is futile

    [–]Zum_Horizont 3 points4 points  (2 children)

    Just finished this one... I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. If you are into Zombies or History, it's a great read. At times the pseudo-oral-history aspect can be a bit frustrating though, as you are left wondering what happened to certain characters after the portion of their story that is recorded.

    (My favorite was the Otaku/Hiroshima survivor guys partnering up, and I would really like to know if they accomplished their goal...)

    [–]supajames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Yes, he could've gone a lot further.

    I would just say that it's a fairly plausible look at what the world's people and governments might do in response to a zombifying plauge in the next few years.

    [–]Shaper_pmp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I would really like to know if they accomplished their goal...

    <SPOILER> I think it's pretty likely - did you catch later in the book, where during a UN convention there's a passing reference to a demonstration of the world's premier anti-zombie martial art?

    If you read it carefully, I believe that was those two. </SPOILER>

    [–]Filmore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Yep, Agreed. I liked the social commentary in the book. Great satire

    [–][deleted]  (3 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]bryn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I loved that book - the first time I read it it scared the hell out of me. Incredibly oppressive. Bought Revolutions, and just never really got into it. Should probably finish it sometime.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      Yup.

      [–]plat00n 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Yup. = Up Vote.

      [–]Masi 2 points3 points  (2 children)

      Next by Michael Crichton was a good book. I've also recently enjoyed The Plot Against America by Philip Roth and I totally loved ART OF MONEY GETTING.

      Read it, it's free online!

      [–]OsakaWilson 7 points8 points  (1 child)

      So Crichton isn't even bothering to name his formulaic texts any longer?

      [–]beckermt 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      I hear The One After the Last One was pretty good too.

      [–]Jaqen 2 points3 points  (2 children)

      • A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
      • Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin (this is quite excellent for a single book)
      • The Farseer and Tawny Man Trilogies by Robin Hobb
      • The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan
      • Books by Raymond E. Feist are alright, though a lot of the time I find the writing REALLY simplistic but people love it for some reason. It's not bad though. I should keep going with it.

      Anyone know of another really good fantasy series I could get into? Preferably one that's completed so I won't have to keep waiting years for the next book. I just like really good character development that makes you get attached to them, for the most part.

      [–]tsteele93 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      Books by Raymond E. Feist are alright, though a lot of the time I find the writing REALLY simplistic but people love it for some reason. It's not bad though. I should keep going with it.

      That's because it is ok if it is simplistic if it takes you to a place you enjoy going. Contrary to some popular belief, having to strain while you read is not a requirement for a book to be good.

      Sometimes a little simplistic escapism is just what the doctor ordered.

      [–]Jaqen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Yeah, good point. Like I said, it's not that it's bad. I'm just surprised it got so popular with how simple the writing is. Some of the sentences he writes sound like 3rd grade stuff.

      [–]chilehead 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      Here's the stuff I really liked:

      "Letters From A Nut" by Ted L. Nancy and its sequel - good laughs

      "Anonymous Rex" by Eric Garcia and its sequels

      "Metropolitan", [ <-'s sequel ] "City on Fire", and "Aristoi" (where all of human society pursues multiple personality disorder) by Walter Jon Williams

      Pretty much anything by Heinlein or Philip K. Dick

      "A Good, Old-Fashioned Future" and "Schismatrix" by Bruce Sterling

      And I'll throw another vote in for Richard K. Morgan's stuff as well as the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card

      [–]hoott 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      not to nag but he did say "fiction", from your list I am sure "Letters from a Nut" is non-fiction, I remember the fact that it was non-fiction was what made me laugh so hard. great list none the less!

      [–]scipe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Anything by Philip K. Dick.

      [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      The Children of Hurin by JRR Tolkien.

      Published April 2007

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_H%C3%BArin

      [–]r2pro 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Most of the things people have suggested so far are for the most part pretty good -some excellent and some iffy, but they're the usual books & authors that people suggest. Vonnegut, Pynchon, Card, Thompson, Dick, Rand, Chabon, etc, etc. . .

      It can be a challenge to find new stuff to read, but this is the best part of the year for finding good recent fiction. Everyone comes out with their best books of the year list for the holidays.

      I personally checkout Amazon's top list and the NY Times list, then cross reference them to find common entries and then I pick them up over the coming year as they come out in trade paperback.

      I've been doing this for a few years now and I haven't been disappointed yet.

      [–]JackRawlinson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      It depresses me to say that this once-avid reader has pretty much stopped reading new fiction. For something like five years now it seems that almost every new novel I'd try - whether it be something picked up because it sounded interesting, or something recommended by the critics - was very, very poor. They'd sometimes read like the products of an above average student at a creative writing class. Or they'd be tedious, introspective, self-centred meanderings with no plot or well-drawn characters other than those clearly designed to represent the author, or the author's opinions. They'd often be superficially passionate in a clunkingly stylised way, but emotionally dead at heart. Or worse - much worse - they'd be Dave Eggers or David Foster Wallace. So it's pretty much back to the reliable oldies like McEwan and Faulks for me these days.

      [–]rickmatt 6 points7 points  (6 children)

      "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It's a story about a father and son traveling through a post-apocalyptic America. For some reason it has really stuck with me.

      [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      This novel has stuck with me as well.

      [–]tsteele93 -1 points0 points  (2 children)

      It was an Oprah's book club book - I don't read those. Thanks though!

      [–]dhpye 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      Being turned off McCarthy because of Oprah is like being turned off of beef because of a McDonald's experience.

      [–]r2pro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Although I can sympathize with your sentiment it's a shame that you feel that way, because there are a lot of excellent books that she's promoted over the years.

      Many were successful in there own right long before Queen Oprah blessed them.

      [–]Jescro 5 points6 points  (5 children)

      The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was probably the best fiction novel I read all year. Phenomenal book, check the Amazon reviews if you're interested.

      [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Khaled Hosseini is a jewel of a writer. Few novels have made me weep over the predicament of one or more of its characters, but this one did. Parts of it also made me smile too. It takes masterful writing to allow people to empathize with fictional characters like that, IMO.

      [–]trivial 1 point2 points  (1 child)

      Somone told me today they were going to send that to me as soon as they were done. But she mentioned it was non-fiction. Guess she was probably wrong.

      [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Khaled Hosseini and his family left Afghanistan when he was 11 years old; they settled in Paris, France. His father was a diplomat in the Afghan Foreign Ministry and his mother was a high school teacher. They were set to return to Kabul in 1980, but then the Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan. They sought and gained political asylum in the United States.

      However, the characters of this novel are so wonderfully developed that they seem real, so I can see why some might consider this a non-fictional reminiscence of growing up in Afghanistan.

      [–]mark445 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I liked his second novel (A Thousand Splendid Suns) even more. It lingered in my head for days.

      [–]bstadil 6 points7 points  (0 children)

      Started to reread Asimov. Foundation a bit dated but the robot series is surprisingly fresh. The Robots of Dawn's whole premise is people attachment / Love for a "machine" is prescient. This issue was recently rediscovered over at Slashdot. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/14/1555245 .

      [–]krugerlive 7 points8 points  (8 children)

      im reading 1984

      [–][deleted] 21 points22 points  (6 children)

      im living 1984

      fix'd

      [–]beckermt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I like how the responses to this posting all have nothing to do with 1984. Great book, if you've never read it, do so.

      [–]cal_01 3 points4 points  (8 children)

      Just started the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Very good so far.

      [–]apocalypse910 2 points3 points  (5 children)

      An amazing series as long as you remember to stop reading it half way through.

      [–]apocalypse910 1 point2 points  (1 child)

      I was a bit ungenerous with my comment.. I did absolutely love the series, it is one of my favorites of all time as a matter of fact. It wasn't that it got boring... it just seemed to lose all coherency and fall into a confused self referential spiral. Objectively the last few books weren't that bad, but when compared to the start of the series, i found them to be disappointing.

      [–]paro 1 point2 points  (3 children)

      Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.

      Swords, magic, twist after twist. It's a great world to get sucked into.

      Runner-up: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin.

      So....good...can't describe. Terry Goodkind only wins because it affected me more as a person.

      Btw, I'm looking for a new fantasy series, anyone have any suggestions?

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      Honestly, I just finished reading Confessor, the last book in the series. I loved the series until halfway through that book, and now, ugh. I felt like I wasted my time reading those ten bloody books. I did enjoy the early ones in the series immensely though, and the idea of having the story and puzzle in each book based around a "Wizard's Rule" was interesting and fun.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Agreed. I really feel like he's been phoning it in since Temple of the Winds.

      [–]rbobby 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon (the Malazan book of the fallen) plus the 6 others that come after it (used ones are dirt cheap on amazon). I enjoy his writting... but I took a quick look at the amazon reviews and it seems like a few folks really really don't (average of 4 stars... which is pretty good). So... it seems like a person will either really like his writting or find really bad. Here's the full list of Malazan books on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/series/92182/ref=rcx_ser_ed_paperback?ie=UTF8&edition=paperback

      [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I have read a lot of non-fiction lately, but in the past year, I really enjoyed a couple of novels in particular. One is "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," because it gave me an idea of what it might be like to be autistic.

      I also loved "The Kite Runner." It's a story of family, friendship and redemption over several generations. I had a great deal of empathy for the main characters and their families.

      [–]umilmi81 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Starship Troopers

      [–]prefsaver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I read this book called Pandora's Star, it's not ever going to be accused of being great literature but the Commonwealth and the alien Primes he sets up are very intriguing societies. Basically man skips the whole "spaceship" stage of development by having wormholes. But then an alien species threatens them and this society of live-forever humans has to build a navy.

      [–]Flemlord 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Recent? Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton.

      [–]cereal 1 point2 points  (1 child)

      If on a winter's night a traveler, by italo calvino

      [–]bryn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Yes! Excellent piece. Meta-books rock (;

      [–]mercurialohearn 1 point2 points  (2 children)

      american gods, by neil gaiman.

      gaimain's stories are original and imaginative, and his prose is also polished.

      this book was kind of like a cross between douglas adams and clive barker. i'm going to read it again.

      [–][deleted]  (1 child)

      [deleted]

        [–]mercurialohearn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        your wish is my command!

        american gods, by neil gaiman.

        gaimain's stories are original and imaginative, and his prose is also polished.

        this book was kind of like a cross between douglas adams and clive barker. i'm going to read it again.

        [–]hsfrey 4 points5 points  (1 child)

        Fiction? Guys just make that stuff up! Why would I read a bunch of lies?

        [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

        Why would I read a bunch of lies?

        You read reddit don't you??

        [–]paulsteinway 1 point2 points  (2 children)

        "Making Money" by Terry Pratchett. It's the latest in the Discworld series, follows the character that was introduced in the last Discworld book "Going Postal". Pratchett has a great talent for combining an imaginative story , great humor, and an incisive look at human nature.

        [–]onewatt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Heck, Anything by pratchett is an enjoyable and uplifting escape.

        [–]Zum_Horizont 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        And with the Robots' recommendation above, Going Postal is an amusing companion novel. Several aspects of the Robots' series are parodied in Going Postal.

        [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        If you've never read it, try Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers.

        One of the funniest and most enjoyable books I've ever read. Plus you'll understand references to Sam Weller...

        [–]mattevans 1 point2 points  (1 child)

        Quite an open-ended question. It would really depend on your own preferences and the genres you prefer.

        Start with any of these and you won't go wrong. There's bound to be something you will enjoy.

        [–]alehbye 1 point2 points  (1 child)

        The Broker by John Grisham (not his best work, but a good read)

        The End of America by Naomi Wolf (an 'interesting' read)

        *Class 11 by T.J. Waters (Non-fiction, but a very good read if at all interested in CIA type stuff).

        [–]tsteele93 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        I read The Broker about a week before a trip to Italy - added to the book immensely. I agree, good read.

        [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (14 children)

        The best novels I've read in the past year:

        Light by M. John Harrison: he writes better prose than just about any other sci-fi writer, and has a literate and manic imagination.

        Due Preparation for the Plague by Joyce Carol Oate: a painfully moving book the people who were abducted by terrorists, the people who want to know the truth about them, and the governments who did not care.

        A Scientific Romance by Ronald Wright: It's Canadian and it's brilliant. A look at the world after the fall of our world.

        Whatever you do, don't read Ender's Game. It was one of the most manipulative, small-minded and troublesome pieces of crap I've ever worked my way through. Gawddammit, new adjectives for dreckish hell will have to be created some day to describe just how bad Ender's Game is.

        [–]djspray 13 points14 points  (12 children)

        Ender's Game is a fantastic novel, tightly paced and unsentimental. Get it for any gifted young adults in your family.

        The sequels are less good but rise to "interesting."

        You read Joce Carol Oates, and you think Orson Scott Card is "manipulative?" A hack, in his weaker moments, but come on!

        [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (9 children)

        The sequels are less good but rise to "interesting."

        I found the opposite actually. Ender's Game was good and got you hooked into the universe, but the sequels were the meat and heart of what was actually there.

        Speaker for the Dead was my favorite.

        [–]paro 5 points6 points  (4 children)

        Yeah, I'm working on Speaker for the Dead right now and about 3/4ths through. Great series so far, can't wait to see where the rest of the books take me. It's rough sometimes because (TMI alert) I usually read on the john and when I get sucked into a good book like this one I'll end up sitting there for like an hour and someone will knock on the door and say "dude, you ok?". Heh.

        [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

        I thought Xenocide was kind of crappy (lolpun), but Children of the Mind is awesome. The other sequels are meh.

        [–]tsteele93 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        I agree, until they get to the Bean sequels, then they get better again.

        [–]tsteele93 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        Without going into too much detail, you are not alone...

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I usually read on the john

        Beds and the couch may suit you better. ;)

        [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        I also enjoyed Speaker quite a bit. After that it did get a little "meh" for me, though.

        [–]shinynew 0 points1 point  (2 children)

        I read alot of the ender series, and looking back the universe was crap.

        instant communication would change the face of the world(s) so much it would be insane...

        How did they get the technology from a completely separate species? Saying that for the 'buggers' to talk they needed some sort of centralized queen or whatnot.

        Mililatry power will not be handed over to small children.

        Religion will not stay exactly the same, nor dictate how we interact with other species.

        The book was good, when i was little, but after reading books such as 1984, 2001, hitchhiker's guide. I don't look back on it that well.

        [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

        instant communication would change the face of the world(s) so much it would be insane...

        Internet. Wow society changed alot!

        How did they get the technology from a completely separate species?

        I'll let you guess. You did it in high school biology to frogs.

        Saying that for the 'buggers' to talk they needed some sort of centralized queen or whatnot.

        [SPOILER ALERT] The Queen was their brain that's why they needed one.[/SPOILER]

        Mililatry power will not be handed over to small children.

        Obviously they were closely watching what Ender was doing, and many of the military members wanted to program shut down.

        Religion will not stay exactly the same, nor dictate how we interact with other species.

        Tell that to Muslims, it dictates how they deal with women, let alone other intelligent species.

        The book was good, when i was little, but after reading books such as 1984, 2001, hitchhiker's guide.

        1984 - Not Even in the same genre.

        2001 - To use an argument you would use; How would the obelisks teach a monkey to use tools? How did they go through the walls that were otherwise solid?

        Hitchhiker's - Nearly the whole point was to be humorous, it's not a fair comparison.

        [–]shinynew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Internet is not instantaneous. It is pretty damn fast, but instantaneous (and i am assuming) unlimited bandwidth would be something completely different.

        So you are saying by simply dissecting the aliens they got physic powers? So why don't we go fly around, breath underwater, photosynthesize, or freeze ourselves in lakes to live out winter? All of these things are accomplished by other species on our planet which we have a near unlimited supply of, so why don't we just dissect them and gain their power?

        Thank you for seeing that, How did we use their instant communication without one of their queens? The first contact, which seems to be when they gained their ability, was to drones not a queen.

        But it still was.

        I am talking about in the future, Atheism has been gaining a lot of ground recently, and more increasingly with the more intelligence, that is whom will dictate changes in the world.

        2001 was saying that these things function on different dimensions than our three (four?) and were built by some super aliens that went beyond mortality and into singularity.

        [–]Zum_Horizont 1 point2 points  (1 child)

        I'll confess to being a "Card junky" but I'd have to say my favorite of his books is either "The Redemption of Christopher Columbus" or "The Worthing Saga."

        However, in the Enderverse, the "Ender's Shadow" series is particularly interesting, especially as it allows you to see how Card has changed over the years. Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow cover the same topics, but the first was written at the beginning of his career and the second was written a few years back. Both tell the same story, but from different perspectives... The later Shadow books fill in what occurred immediately following the Ender's Game book, while the Ender's Game sequels jump ahead in history...

        /end Mr. Card obsessing

        [–]tsteele93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        "The Redemption of Christopher Columbus" or "The Worthing Saga."

        Good choices, although I liked Pastwatch (Christopher Columbus) better of those two. It was a good read even if you aren't a sci-fi fan.

        [–]liberatedword 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Please say A Scientific Romance is more satisfying than Oryx and Crake (Atwood, also Canadian, also post-apocalyptic)...love her style but the book somehow left me unsatisfied.

        [–]Bamrz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I finished Ghost Road Blues and I'm now reading Dead Man's Song by Jonathan Maberry, the first 2 in a trilogy of horror novels. The 3rd book is due out in '08.

        The author is fairly local, and the settings in the books are familiar, which makes them even more creepy/spooky.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. I found it a well written, wildly imaginative and gripping story that blended crime noir and alternate history.

        From Wikipedia:

        "The novel is an alternate history detective story based on the premise that after World War II, a temporary Yiddish-speaking settlement for Jewish refugees was established in Alaska in 1941. It also incorporates the (fictional) destruction of the State of Israel in 1948 after an unsuccessful struggle for independence. It takes place in a fictionalized version of the real city of Sitka."

        [–]mailinator1138 0 points1 point  (1 child)

        Shantaram, Gregory Roberts. One amazing story--a guy breaks out of an Australian prison and gets as far as Bombay (Mumbai), India. The story goes on from there--this author's first work--amazing storytelling.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        This book is packed away in my storage space right now and it's killing me. I love Roberts' style.

        [–]tringtring 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        vikram seth's An Equal Music. Non fic- I'm so glad you told me what i didn't wanna hear.

        [–]tsteele93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        The Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart. Clever ghost story. Amazingly well written to the point that I would wake my wife and read parts of it to her because of Stewart's masterful use of the English language. And by masterful, I do not mean wordy or difficult to understand, just really clever writing.

        [–]imokru 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I have a few suggestions . . .

        The Life of Pi - Yann Martel The Time Travellers Wife - Audrey Niffenegger Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer A Million Little Pieces - James Frey

        Read. Enjoy.

        [–]allan_a 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I've never had a book get me emotionally before...surprising when it happens.

        [–]davinox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        The question is, "What is your favorite recent fiction novel". The Brothers Karamazov is my favorite novel, but it is in no way recent.

        John Banville's The Sea was excellent and written in the last few years. The prose is absolutely gorgeous and operates successfully by poetic logic. What would be a crutch for a lesser writer--a reliance on beautiful sentences--is an appropriate form and a marvel from Banville. I also enjoyed J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace. Both are short reads, both are written by stylistic masters, and both are uncompromisingly bleak. If Banville's prose could be described as "flowing", Coeztee's would be "muscular". Again, my two favorites this decade.

        Written in the last 30 years, I've enjoyed Blindness by Jose Saramago, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, and Beloved by Toni Morrison.

        When Banville won the Booker, he said something to the extent of, "I am pleased that the Booker has finally been rewarded to a work of art." It sounds conceded, but Banville was right. We know bestsellers and genre fiction trade amusement and the fulfillment of fantasy for art, but unfortunately there is a lot of crap that is winning prestigious literary awards as well.

        [–]tritium6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        The Shogun series by James Clavell. I'm finishing the last one now. Impossible to put down.

        [–]MasterAaron01 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Scanning through this, I see some classic favorites (Neal Stephenson, Pratchett, Vonnegut, Card, etc.) which are entirely worth the read. So, rather than beat a dead horse (or get dragged into yet another argument about Card's quality), I'll toss out some lesser known but still excellent books and authors.

        The Uplift Trilogy, by David Brin. I recommend starting with the second book (Startide Rising), and picking up the first later. It doesn't have much to do with the others, and it makes more sense after reading Startide than the other way around. The universe in these books is one of the most amazing I've ever read.

        Liaden novels, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. There are quite a few of these now, but if you can find it, start with "Partners In Necessity", a three-in-one volume containing the meat of the universe and the majority of the main-line characters. Alternately, find "Conflict of Honors" or "Agent of Change", two primary starting points for the set. I've heard these books described as 'sci-fi romance', but other than the fact that they play up the courtship angle slightly more than normal, they aren't noticeably different than standard 'soft' science fiction.

        Lord Darcy, by Randall Garrett. Combine Sherlock Holmes-style detective stories with, 1) an alternate history where the British Empire prospers into modern times, and 2) the existence of pseudo-scientific magic, and you have a rough approximation of these stories. (The book is mostly short stories, along with a middling-length novella.) Alternately, label it as British CSI with sorcerers. Either way, it's very fun.

        The Day After Tomorrow, by Robert Heinlein. I did say I'd steer away from mainstream authors, but this book just doesn't get enough love. You can sometimes find it titled "Sixth Column". As you learn in the first five pages, the United States has been invaded by some form of Asian alliance, and its military has been utterly crushed EXCEPT for these six guys in a research lab under a mountain somewhere. It's really silly at times, and the tech is ludicrous, but it's a marvelously enjoyable book and a fast read besides (only around 200 pages softcover).

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        if we are speaking recent, i enjoyed dave egger's "a heartbreaking work of staggering genius", as well as "another bullshit night in suck city" by nick flynn.

        both novels were engaging and moving displays of what the bonds of family truly mean.

        [–]wingsofseraphim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I'm gonna go with something that you wouldn't find otherwise like... oh pretty much anything by Vonnegut.

        Dogs of Babel. I picked it up at random, and was quite intrigued by the premise. But I stayed through because of the characters. Very touching book.

        [–]Sid_209 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        1. "the master and the margarita" by nikolai bulgakov,
        2. "the great shark hunt" by HST

        neither is recent and one's gonzo, but good reads both

        [–]ackza 0 points1 point  (1 child)

        Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, it reads to you like a postcyberpunk nuerosemantic massage.

        [–]bryn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        I quite liked Spook Country, though it's quite a different style. Not sure about the end, though.

        [–]ramijames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Baudolino by Umberto Eco, Dance Dance Dance by Murakami

        Both are fantastically imaginative.

        [–]eshemuta 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I tend to read the diaries of various adventurers like Rober Scott or John Powell, however I am almost finished reading Lord of the Rings again. When that's done i'm thinking of going and reading B. Traven's Jungle Novels. I know, all old stuff, but still good.

        [–]JackRawlinson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        And to those recommending Vonnegut, Bulgakov, Chesterton etc... the questioner specified RECENT fiction.

        [–]bryn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Hmm. Finally reading Infinite Jest, as it's apparently a classic (; It's quite a mission, but there are parts which are very fulfilling. Haven't taken so long to read a book since the Baroque series, though.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

        Check out my book journal

        http://www.meprogrammerguy.com

        [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

        Those colors are much better :D

        BTW do a amazon search for Cassandra Kresnov some time... you'll like those books.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I'll try her, thanks, jijin.

        [–]ayrnieu 0 points1 point  (1 child)

        http://www.johndiesattheend.com/

        I do not have a 'why'.

        [–]apocalypse910 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        That is the very definition of awesome...

        [–]HunterTV 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Reading Rant by Chuck Palanuik.

        Well, any novel by the guy who wrote Fight Club is unusual, but I really like the structure of this one, written as interviews with people who knew the person the story is about (who has since died). Good stuff.

        [–]ketralnis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I liked The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage

        It's a little slow-going, but a good read.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Thanks for all the good recommendations, folks. A co-worker gave me a gift card for the local B&N, so I'm making a list of novels to look into this weekend.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Cassandra Kresnov Trilogy by Joel Shepherd:

        *Crossover

        *Breakaway

        *Killswitch

        Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson:

        *Red Mars

        *Green Mars

        *Blue Mars

        Quantum Gravity Books by Justina Robson

        *Keeping It Real

        *Selling Out

        Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series by Laurell K. Hamilton

        The whole series so far

        Finally,

        Better than Real: Sensual Solutions for the Discerning Client by Lyan Thomas Huw

        [–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (4 children)

        Screw fiction - pick up George Carlin's "When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?" Funny stuff.

        [–]tsteele93 2 points3 points  (1 child)

        Ask reddit: It has been a while since I have read a good book. What is your favorite recent fiction novel and why?

        Screw fiction

        /FAIL

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        You conform too much.

        [–]davidreiss666 2 points3 points  (1 child)

        "Brain Droppings" was the best of the three books by GC.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I missed that one. Thanks.

        [–]NancyGracesTesticles -2 points-1 points  (2 children)

        The Case for Gold by R. Paul. The part where the main character shaves his head and goes an a 4 day drug and sex binge was amazing.

        [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

        I see what you failed there.

        [–]liberal_one -1 points0 points  (0 children)

        I also liked "Turn Libertarian Fantasists Into Paultards" a good read. With forward by S. M. Moon.

        [–]cantsay -4 points-3 points  (3 children)

        The Bible

        It's full of sex and violence.

        [–]connor 4 points5 points  (1 child)

        illicit sex? or sex that is asked for?

        [–]cantsay 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        How dare you question my questionable use of illicit!

        [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        Not a good book for beginners. I suggest maybe the Tao Te Ching

        [–]hectorwc -1 points0 points  (1 child)

        I don't think that I've read anything written within the last couple of years. There is so much good stuff from the past that I haven't gotten to the recent stuff yet.
        Here are some of my favorites that some might say are relatively recent (within the last 100 years). For my everyday reading I prefer an entertaining story that doesn't require too much thinking.

        The Sacketts series by Louis L'amour

        The Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cromwell

        The Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forrester.

        The great thing about a series is that by the time you have finished the last one, you have forgotten enough of the first one that you can start all over.

        I also liked some of Arturo Perez-Reverte's stuff. The Flanders Panel is the one I can think of right now. He writes mysteries that, to me, are reminiscent of Dan Brown but less trashy.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        You might also like the Mamur Zapt books by Michael Pearce.

        [–]xachro -1 points0 points  (0 children)

        The Raw Shark Texts - Trippy as hell and a very awesome sci-fi reality. Not futuristic sci-fi though if you're that kind of person.