Best historical fiction books according to redditors
We found 5,202 Reddit comments discussing the best historical fiction books. We ranked the 1,843 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 5,202 Reddit comments discussing the best historical fiction books. We ranked the 1,843 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
I'm pretty sure the details of their training have been lost to time, but there is a way to at least get the "feel" for their training.
It would be safe to assume that their program was probably not unique for the time. Meaning, the Spartan way of combat was not different from Athens or Korinth. Like the vast differences between Kung Fu and Karate and Tae Kwon Do. That's not to say there was no difference between them, but that difference was the men who comprised the armies.
You see, the Spartans trained all the time because they were rich enough to do so. The Helots did all the farming and Perioikoi did the artisan work. An Athenian or Boeotian farmer came off the farm and joined the Phalanx with little training. Indeed, hoplite warfare----until, to some degree, the Thebans and really the Macedonians come along----is deceptively simple. You lock shields, march straight ahead, then jab your spear in the other guys face until one side breaks. While there were all kinds of nuances and politics as to who lined up where and which city did what, it was really a bunch of guys running in one long line. (See Victor Davis Hansen's The Western Way of War for a spectacular explanation of the psychology behind the hoplite).
I'd argue that what made Sparta different from the other Greek armies was their upbringing and experience in battle. They were taught from a young age to fight to the death, and would have been kicked out of Laconia (which did occur frequently, even a King was exiled for what was perceived as cowardice or weakness) went to war just about every summer. They were always fighting someone. And so until their later period, when Greece was always at war with itself, the Spartans had more experience than their foes. Another aspect of Spartan culture often overlooked, is they had to keep their slaves in line. So much of their "off" time might be spent engaging in psychological warfare on the enslaved helots and/or killing the bravest of them to make an example of them.
You can't really recreate their childhood education (which had a lot more singing and dancing than you'd expect) because stalking around stealing from people is frowned upon in our society. You can't really create their famous diet. Spartans spent much of their free time trapping and hunting game, so you could that. Also chariot racing, which is harder to get in to these days. So what's left?
This is conjecture, but, I'd argue, sound conjecture. Their exercise regimen was probably comparable to Olympic athletes of the day. The Olympians of that time were mostly from very wealthy families, who had "leisure time" to train in sports. Spartan men (and even a woman) often won Olympic victories. So where does this leave you and your regimen?
Sprinting would be good, and this would transfer well into the charge of the Phalanx. So too would push ups, pull ups, and throwing large rocks. Spartans were extremely competitive and I could see many competitions about who was strongest. Running in armor was a great Olympic event back then, so maybe buy a weighted vest and run around the track? There was the javelin, the discus and jumping too. Also, the Spartans loved to sing and dance and being unable to do was seen as a deficiency. So strut your stuff bro and belt a tune while you do it! Also, find eight or so buddies to train with. Then you all should move out of your house, into a barracks and live together and train together every hour of every day. You can see your wife/girlfriend at night but you can't sleep over, and if you don't give her a baby fast enough she'll cheat on you. But I digress.
Learning a little about Pankration might be a good place to start. It's basically a mix of western boxing and Olympic wrestling (with fewer rules actually). I know of no Pankration gyms. A boxing gym would be easy to find but wrestling instruction outside of high school and collegiate levels is hard to find. I'd argue modern MMA is pretty similar to Pankration, especially the spirit of the sport. Jiu Jitsu bay be Japanese with a Brazilian flair, but those joint locks and the concept of tapping out echoes of ancient Greek wrestling matches. Minus the Thai round kick or San Da side kick, MMA is how I'd imagine the Spartans sparring one another.
Some books to check out: The Spartans
is great. A great mix of history and culture, highlighting their rise and fall.
Gates of Fire is fiction, but it's the best show of hoplite warfare and the Spartan spirit that I have read.
And just to keep you well rounded, Lords of the Sea tells of Athens, whose navy and the men who manned it were nothing short of spectacular. They are to the sea warfare what Sparta was to land.
Hope that helps.
Dynasty Warriors is based on Three Kingdoms, a romanticized historical fiction from the 1300's that's based on the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, ~1100 years earlier. It's also an interesting read.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any characters in the game that didn't at least come from the novel. Most were indeed real people.
Gates of Fire is a much better and more historically accurate fictionalized account of the battle of Thermopylae (told from the viewpoint of a Spartan slave, though not a Helot).
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. The book provides a loosely based historical account on a scalp hunting expedition in the 1840s southwest. It touches on many themes like manifest destiny and the nature of evil in mankind.
And to build on the other AskReddit question about improving your vocabulary, this book has a plethora of unique words. This quote was taken from a study that was done on the book by Christopher Forbis. He writes:
> The book, although only 334 pages of text, contains 10,257 individual unique words. Some of these words
occur on nearly every page but a large percentage occur only once within the text. In fact, 5,308 words occur
only once in the book representing nearly 52% of the unique words used to create this masterpiece.
Here's the link.
And I also imagine there's many people who've already read this book who might be looking for additional interpretations on it. And for these people might I suggest John Sepich's Notes on Blood Meridian. This book does a phenomenal job of weaving together the historical sources that McCarthy used to write this work. It also contains literary criticism and interpretations of themes and symbols throughout the book.
If you're looking for a page by page reference of the book--translations of Spanish to English, background information on cities, definitions of words--then I suggest getting A Reader's Guide to Blood Meridian.
I'm a huge fan of this book and I've learned a lot more about it by reading these two books. I think the books becomes more enjoyable and you start to admire the way in which he put this book together after you read these two books about the book. The subject matter is brutal, and this turns most people off, but if you make it through it I think you're rewarded with a truly outstanding novel.
Try Frank Herbert's Dune for starters. A more modern author would be Neal Stephenson, maybe start with his Cryptonomicon.
I really enjoyed Nancy Kress' Beggars in Spain as well, though I haven't read anything else by her.
It's actually a novel, definitely worth checking out.
More accuracy. Much better story
(not a movie, unfortunately)
First off, you must understand the game is based on the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong which is about 70% fact and 30% fiction. You can purchase the book here. I highly recommend reading this version do to Moss Roberts excellent translation. Though keep in mind many of the extraordinary feats of people such as Lu Bu, Zhuge Liang and others have been exaggerated both in the novel and the game.
For actual historical biographies, you will want to read the Sanguo Zhi (SGZ) which was written by Chen Shou a late Shu/Jin officer. The SGZ is a compilation of biographies of the various generals and politicians of the era, they read very bland but straightforward. No author has translated these biographies and compiled them. However, you can find reliable fan translations here.
Thanks to an ordering mistake, I read a novel about this called The Cloud Atlas, not to be confused with that somewhat more famous book.
They were both pretty great.
Surprised I have seen NO mention of David Mitchell in this subreddit! I am about halfway through Black Swan Green, will have finished his complete collection this summer, his writing is unbelievable! New favourite author hands down..
they have made it into a movie! Here is the TRAILER
You should probably read Cryptonomicon
Turing has a minor, and very gay, role at the start of the book.
Also, it's a great book.
Modern
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
Amazon link
Pro-tip:
Read the book
Bought it for the sheer ridiculousness of the title. Read it in 2 nights. It was one of THE best books I've read to date, and my total is probably well over 1000.
You cannot do better than [Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765356155/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506275496&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=jonathan+strange+mr+norrell&dpPl=1&dpID=41j7tFeKRvL&ref=plSrch), by Susanna Clarke. Gaiman is on board with it being the best English fantasy in the last hundred years, and even wrote the intro to one of the editions. It's part history, part fantasy, and part traditional English drama (think Dickens). It is simply amazing
I would first recommend Shogun by James Clavell. It's an epic story with a great plot. I don't believe it's too accurate, but it's a good read.
If you want to continue on with historical Japanese literature you can't go wrong with Musashi or Taiko both by Eiji Yoshikawa.
Moving on to more western stuff, I recommend the many James Michener books, but they can be boring at times. My favorite of his is Hawaii.
I'd also recommend Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield about the Battle of Thermopylae.
Only authorized book in the Bioshock universe
The following are some of my favorite books that I could think of off the top of my head. Hopefully you dig the list.
got you covered https://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351
It also might be The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
Military academy and wall street a-hole here...here's my take. Your mileage may vary.
First and foremost, there is no substitute for initiative. Well done. It may make you seem like a keener to people who are less committed to succeeding but, in my opinion, it is the first step to leading.
The second step is a desire (passion) for outworking everybody. Cultivate it in yourself. Commit to doing it everyday. Embrace the grind.
Now for the hard part...where it becomes more of an "art" than a science...
The best leaders I've been around in life and sports practiced servant leadership. It seems counter-intuitive and your work will never be done but servant leadership is the tide that lifts all boats and if can make it part of who you are it will serve you well in sports and life. Even if you're on a team with a bunch of losers who don't get on board it is a tremendous character builder and you'll be a better person for it.
How to begin:
Always be the first one at practice and the last to leave.
If there's "shitty" or "not fun" job to do, always be the first to jump on it and recruit help when you need it...don't try to do it all yourself...that's a "hero", not a "leader" and will eventually burn you out. Do that shitty job everyday with a positive attitude. When a shittier job shows up, jump on that and delegate others to do the less shitty work you were working on. (shagging balls after practice, lining fields, setting goals up, keeping the locker room clean, gathering the team for talks from the coach, etc). If you can't find anything that needs doing, ask your coach if he's got anything. Do this every day.
When someone is struggling be the first to jump in and help/coach them up, always positive and always working harder than anyone else. Do this everyday.
Personally, I fucked it up when i was a player. I busted my ass, I was first and last at practice every day, I jumped on the shitty jobs and did all of that stuff but I failed because I was not positive with teammates who were struggling. I rode their asses like dogs because I thought that's what leadership was and I regret it a lot. If a guy is struggling the last thing he needs is some hard charging teammate berating him. Doesn't mean you have to coddle a struggling player, stay on him just keep it positive. Help him figure out a way to get it done, whatever "it" is. Always be looking out for the little guy. If you can help a bench player contribute, you've improved your team and helped yourself.
Good luck!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership
EDIT:
If this resonates with you in any way I recommend you spend a couple bucks on amazon and grab one or both of these books:
https://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Dong-Ha-Bluejacket-Books/dp/155750587X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473342236&sr=8-1&keywords=bridge+at+dong+ha
https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/055338368X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473342915&sr=8-1&keywords=gates+of+fire
One is nonfiction the other is fiction based on real history. Both are great reads.
Have you ever read Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa? If not and you like big, long books, I'd highly recommend getting yourself a copy. It's the greatest book I've ever had the pleasure of reading in my 35 years, and I've read a shitload of books in my 35 years.
Just ordered it for $5.72 on Amazon with 2-day prime shipping! My wife absolutely loves both reading and bioshock, so I can't wait to see the look on her face when this arrives.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765367351/ref=sxts1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473618451&sr=1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65
I loved these books for their beautiful writing and narrative structure:
Other suggestions, also well written but not quite in the same class as the ones above:
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
specifically the cover for the book: Bioshock:Rapture
No, it is just long. A little over 2000 pages. The text is pretty straightforward and all third person. The link below is for the set I have. The translation is solid but the only issue is the spoilers at the start of every chapter.
I honestly wouldn't bother with it unless you are into Chinese history and culture or liked the games though.
Three Kingdoms (Chinese Classics, 4 Volumes) https://amazon.com/dp/7119005901/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_sId4Cb73PP05H
How about some Romance of the Ivalice/Hydaelyn/Vana'diel/etc Kingdoms?
I'm actually bothered by how many people don't know that Dynasty Warriors is based off Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong and has led countless video game and media. Romance of Three Kingdoms Series, Dynasty Warriors, Destiny of an Emperor, and way more than I can even list. There's even a TV series that is just phenomenal! The first fight between the three brothers and Lu Bu is typical Chinese fighting fare, but is a REALLY long fight. And all the intrigue is there.
Sorry, I absolutely love everything to do with the Three Kingdoms era, so I love to introduce the uninitiated to how deep and rich it is.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union. I'm reading it right now, and I absolutely love it.
The cryptonomicon was good
http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290365107&sr=8-1
I'm reading Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield right now. I'm really enjoying it but can anyone tell me how accurate it is?
Oh gosh it's been a long time since I read this book, but I recall that The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (a sci fi author who has won both the Hugo and Nebula awards) deals with this. I believe the main character has something go awry with her translation software as she travels back to England in the dark ages and has to learn the language. Her mastery of the language isn't the central plot point but it's important to the story. I thought it was a great book!
Shallow: Deep Storm by Lincoln Child
Deep: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
I've never read Crichton, but you might try some Michael Crichton, such as Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, even if they're "outdated."
Edit: For really shallow thriller fun, you need to read Deception Point by Dan Brown. I swear it's every episode of X Files thrown together with Jaws, Red October, and a volcano. Stupidly awesome.
Sure!
Cryptonomicon
Snow Crash
The Electric Church
Neuromancer
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
That should get you started. :)
I would check out The Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It starts out historical moves forward into sci-fi and then goes backwards to historical again. It's hard to explain but it is a very rewarding read and one I pick up periodically just to reread again.
I also liked Girl In Landscape by Jonathon Lethem and Dune by Frank Herbert a lot and both have been good rereads.
Oh! And The Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling which I inhaled.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
In case anyone is interested, this is the cover to "Bioshock: Rapture" by John Shirley. Great book. Link: http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351
Here's my best thoughts:
----
Lucas said he read the book Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. This isn't referencing any one myth, it is referencing loads and loads of them. Campbell's conclusion is to build upon the work of Max Muller and Otto Rank's ideas that there are common patterns in myths and fairy tales. Also it is worth noting that Campbell wouldn't have read Propp's Morphology of the Folktale because it wasn't translated into English until the mid-1950s, even though there are a lot of similarities here. Also worth noting Propp's work is exclusively referencing only Russian folktales.
----
You might notice, there are striking similarities between the three Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings trilogy: Obi-wan dies at the same time as Gandalf falls, the stages of the Monomyth (aka Hero's Journey) are very similar: Call to Adventure, Threshold Crossings, etc. This sort of makes sense as LoTR was cool when Lucas was a teenager.
Now Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was very heavily influenced by Wagner's Ring Cycle which would have been cool when Tolkien was a teen, therefore having at least unconscious influence, though I'm fairly confident Tolkien was highly aware of Wagner's Ring Cycle and its roots in the Nibelung Saga.
When you get into the Nibelung Saga, there's a story about a cursed ring, a hero whose father was an amazing warrior, the need to re-forge his father's sword, etc. There's lots of other pieces that weren't there, but there's definitely a lot there which is very similar.
----
This leads us to the other European idea: Arthurian folklore. The very idea of a Jedi Knight comes from the Knights of the Roundtable. From here, you have the combination of warrior with the idea of a monk or sacred influence (Parsifal becomes a monk in one story, as does Lancelot.) These are the noble warriors who are fighting for a sacred ideal. Of course in these stories, warriors don't have magical powers, but Merlin is running around so you can see Star Wars as a combination of these.
Further, in the Knights of the Roundtable stories, there are lots of evil / dark knights and dark wizards so you have to include those too.
----
At the time Lucas was young was the "discovery" of easter martial arts by the west. So, to include some of that would be cool. Also, Lucas loved the early samurai films of Akira Kurosawa. Campbell's argument is these ideas exist everywhere so are good to move together. If you include the ideas of archetypes, knights become very similar to samurai because they are both sacred warriors. So now we can add a moment of this. If you read the book Musashi (a novelization as now Musashi has become a legendary figure in Japan) there are striking similarities between this and the story of Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Both come from no-where, raised in the wild, but have a talent which is theorized to be some sort of amazing lineage.
Throw in a little green guy whose name Yoda is based from Yuddha, the sanskrit word for 'war / warrior' and who talks very similarly to a taoist or zen monk's paradoxical statements (koans) and you get that character.
----
So basically, to finish: I don't think Lucas did a lot of mythological research apart from reading Campbell. So to argue it is based on a lot of folklore specifically is tricky. There are even articles which say that Lucas' ex-wife Marcia came up with some of these ideas and no one has asked her what she was reading.
I think Chiang is one of those people who writes fiction about science - whether it's SF, fantasy, or mainstream. The hard/soft SF distinction is kind of irrelevant when talking about him. It's sort of like asking whether Richard Powers or Alan Lightman is a hard SF writer.
Let me post the links you need to be a Chiang completist:
(All of the online fiction is legal. Most of them are pdfs made available by the publishers as a condition of being nominated for certain awards.)
FWIW, I think Lifecycle is the weakest thing he's published so far, so if it disappoints you, don't transfer that feeling to the rest of his fiction.
https://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474436789&sr=8-1&keywords=bioshock+rapture
I’m a big fan of the series and lore. Have you read Rapture ? It is the prequel Bioshock. Its a fantastic read, even for those who aren’t into video games.
/u/MindOfMetalAndWheels and /u/JeffDujon, if you two enjoyed Sum the next bookclub should really be Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman.
This abridged version was recommended to me by the Total War subreddit.
The best one is the Moss Roberts translation: http://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-4-Volumes/dp/7119005901
Also, it has a lot of endnotes.
If you're asking about a single-volume compilation of all four, I doubt there are any -- at least, none that aren't also major abridgments. A boxed set is possible, but when I went looking for editions, the one that ended up looking best to me was actually a group of sets issued by a single publisher -- 16 volumes divided between 4 boxes. Here they are:
I can't personally vouch for the translations, since I don't read Chinese, but they seem to be well reviewed.
I've read it 4 times. This is the one I have. I love it. As stated in here, first chapter is slow and boring but is moreso a history lesson. Afterwards it picks up and then becomes an easy read for those of us who know the characters from playing the games.
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367549860&sr=8-1&keywords=three+kingdoms
EDIT: I see this one was linked already.
I have a couple guesses.
This #1: The Last Man
This #2: Tau Zero
This #3: Cryptonomicon
I would highly recommended this book as an introduction to Norse mythology. It's easy to read without being dumbed down, and it's very fun and engaging. Really fantastic read.
Now, I'm guessing you're looking for a movie recommendation, but I would highly recommend the book Blood Meridian as the best thematically similar experience you will likely have.
The Yiddish Policeman's Union
I know I must be missing some, but these are all that I can think of at the moment.
Fiction:
Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
White Noise by Don Delilo
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot
Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by DFW
Infinite Jest by DFW
Of these, you can't go wrong with Infinite Jest and the Collected Fictions of Borges. His Dark Materials is an easy and classic read, probably the lightest fare on this list.
Non-Fiction:
The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy
Chaos by James Gleick
How to be Gay by David Halperin
Barrel Fever by David Sedaris
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
Secret Historian by Justin Spring
Of these, Secret Historian was definitely the most interesting, though How to be Gay was a good intro to queer theory.
Sounds like you might enjoy Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. I think Snow Crash is meant to be in the same universe - it's hilarious but not as dense. You might also like his Cryptonomicon, though it's not technically Sci Fi.
Tad Willams' Otherland Series is Epic Sci Fi with a huge amount of detail. Might be right up your alley.
Dune, Neuromancer and The Enderverse if you haven't already read those.
Abe Lincoln was a vampire hunter.
For ancient Sparta, check out Gates of Fire. It's a fictional wrap to the Battle of Thermopylae and a real page turner.
Bioshock Book
Bioshock Book on tape Pt 1
Bioshock Book on tape Pt 2
might I recommend the excellent bioshock rapture by john shirley?! believe it or not, the audiobook is quite good as well; narrator seems to shift his accent to mold to each decade the chapters take place in. i truly enjoyed both mediums. great prequel story to jump into, as long as you've played some of the games.
BioShock: Rapture https://www.amazon.com/dp/0765367351/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FH-hyb6A5ADWP
I enjoyed it.
Actually if you're interested there is a book that is suppose to pertain to leading up to rapture. How it was built and what not.
Check it out
Ted Chiang's short stories are worth a read, especially if you're looking for something with a more professional written tone.
One of my favorite books of all time... Not just one of the best Samurai books of all time
http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572
I would suggest you read (assuming your an English speaker) the book itself! There are many translations available, the one I read was the translation by Robert Moss. Also there is the actual historical text that the novel was based on, Records of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou, for that I would recommend checking out any university libraries in your area.
And also I'll ping /u/cthulhushrugged for a better answer.
After years of playing DW games, I finally did, and really enjoyed it. I read this abridged version (~$30) initially, and it was alright. Some pretty big pieces are cut out, although it does make for a considerably shorter read. However, if you really want the full experience, I'd recommend this 4-book set (~$25) that I picked up later. I can't really say if it's better or worse than others, as it's the only full copy I've read, but it seemed good to me, and I've seen it recommended by other people as well. You could also check out this website, which has the whole thing available to be read. I don't think I could manage that much reading online, though.
If you do start reading, good luck. It can be quite a daunting task, as the scope and style of it can be off-putting. It took me a couple years of off-and-on reading to get through it, and I'm someone who enjoys reading (although I was younger at the time). Have fun with it though, it's a great read, and you'll likely have an easier time than most, as you're already familiar with many of the names.
Hope that helps!
This translation seems to be a bit awkward personally. Although this is good if you just want to get the basics of the story, if you want to own and truly enjoy the book I strongly recommend buying a Moss Roberts unabridged translation. Absolutely stellar, flows and reads as if it was in English originally. My version also came with citations and a large section of notes at the back of each book that has a lot of helpful information to understanding the many obscure references the character's make, among other helpful information. It also includes maps and other illustrations throughout the book which makes it a lot more easy to understand and just enjoy.
I think Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union fictionalizes this alternate history.
In the book Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson described the Solitaire Cipher, a way of encrypting messages using an ordinary pack of playing cards as the key.
Not compression, but interesting nonetheless I think.
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Circus-Erin-Morgenstern/dp/0307744434/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457129002&sr=8-1&keywords=the+night+circus
The only reason I know this is because I just read this book.
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Watership Down
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Cider House Rules by John Irving
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Here's a good synopsis of Norse mythology:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0394748468/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?ref_=pe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_5#immersive_view?1377837363569
Age: b
M
I think they are quite different for the most part. You can usually tell a genre novel by it's cover.
Aesthetics do not overly influence my choice. I do like some covers more than others, but it will not prevent me from reading it's contents if I was already interested. When I was younger and aimlessly wandering around libraries, I would pick up and read a book if it looked neat. Lately, my tastes have been more defined and I have many recommendations to go off of, from this site and others. I usually have a pretty good idea whether I will like the book or not before I buy it, and the aesthetics are not a factor.
I do most of my shopping online, so the cover is not a big factor. I do like them to be consistent, however. I am sure others can share my frustration when a series changes it's style part way through...
I really like books that have illustrations. One of my all time favorites is Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess' Stardust. I think it would be great if more started adding more artwork as I feel it can enhance the story. At the end of the day though, it is all about the story, so if that is quality, I am content.
I do not know how much improvement there has been. I think there is room for it. I think overall they are a bit too busy. I prefer more a minimalist approach, personally.
Regarding the Movie Covers...is loathe a strong enough word? I am not a fan. However, even they are not a deal breaker. I own a few, and while I would obviously prefer them to look differently, I can and have enjoy the story.
I do not think e-books will affect it too much over all. For the people it matters to, it will continue to matter, no matter the format.
I think they may be, slightly. But I do not know by how much. Personally, I will take my story in whatever format I can get, be it paper, electronic or audio. I prefer physical books though.
For an example of what I personally consider to be an aesthetically pleasing book, take a look at Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. The cover, the footnotes, the chapter titles, the scattered illustrations. All serve to heighten what is already a remarkable book.
[The Yiddish Policeman's Union] (https://www.amazon.com/Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Novel-P-S/dp/0007149832) is alternate history rather than sci-fi, but is interesting.
Altered Carbon is a popular noir styled sci-fi that you've probably already seen recommended, and has an in production Netflix adaptation.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is a classic. Takes in Bletchley Park, among much more. It is a novel, not a text book, so it won't actually teach you anything as such - but crypto is running through the book, along with much other tech stuff, plus it is a brilliant story. Not really "light" but I wish it took me longer to read I enjoyed it so much.
Or Cryptonomicon. Or any Neal Stephenson book. Also I highly recommend the Otherland series of books by Tad Williams. And if you want more fantasy from Tad, look at The Dragonbone Chair.
Although not strictly about math, Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon includes a fair bit of math, and even has an appendix including more detail on a code used in the book. It's also a great read!
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It's one of the best books I've ever read. It's pretty long, but the chapters are decently short, so you should be able fit in some of it anytime you have a little time to spare.
Perhaps The Life of Pi, or this magnificent bastard, or maybe Lamb. Maybe, if you are up for a challenge, you could try either [Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World] and/or Cloud Atlas. Careful with Cloud Atlas, there is another book by the same title. The one you're looking for is written by David Mitchell. If that doesn't work, report back and we'll figure something else out.
Okay, let me break this down for you in very simple terms:
Every single book I have bought on Viking history goes to extensive lengths IN THE FUCKING INTRODUCTION to detail how Women were treated vastly different to modern day societies (even books written in the 1930s acknowledge this) and that they were warriors. Every. Single. Fucking. Book.
But no, you, who have obviously never read into the subject, know better. You want a list of books? I can provide that.
Book one
Book two
Book three
>Hell's Angels podcast, I don't care
And that's your ignorance showing once again. The podcast is fully sourced and it's done by a guy who majored in History. I'm not sure if he has a Bachelors or a Masters, but he has a degree specifically in History, and he fully sources everything for his podcast. It's not at all some "feminist agenda" podcast, it's actually good history.
LINK
I'm fucking done dude. You are ignorant, and instead of learning about it you arrogantly rant about this stuff.
Gates of Fire
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Time travel, yay!
Connie Willis is a great sci-fi author. Doomsday Book is a great place to start.
Gates of fire is a really good read. I mean, it is a poetic retelling of the battle of Thermopylae, so not strictly speaking fantasy, but you may enjoy it anyway.
A book that was required reading at westpoint actually says as much https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531
Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley
These are all books on my list to read from various suggestions. Maybe one will spark your interest:
Every Day "Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere."
1Q84"The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.”
The Mists of Avalon "Here is the magical legend of King Arthur, vividly retold through the eyes and lives of the women who wielded power from behind the throne. A spellbinding novel, an extraordinary literary achievement, THE MISTS OF AVALON will stay with you for a long time to come...."
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao "Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister—dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love."
The Fault in Our Stars "Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Agustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten."
Stories of your Life, and others by Ted Chiang.
Was wandering aimlessly in the University Bookstore a few years ago with some store credit needing to be spent. For no real reason, this book spoke to me. Pulled it off the shelf and and shrugged. Oksure, I'll bite. Bought it and instantly loved it. Some very solid sci-fi stories.
Pretty much anything by Ted Chiang, especially "Story of your Life" and "Hell is the Absence of God". His anthology Stories of Your Life and Others is incredible.
Tried reading the book?
It's pretty good if you're super into the lore, even if the writing isn't top notch. Ken Levine gave it his blessing...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Bioshock-Rapture-John-Shirley/0765367351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497403795&sr=8-1&keywords=bioshock+rapture
My favourite short stories (that aren't by Bradbury, that is) are Light is Like Water by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The Gospel According to Mark by Jorge Luis Borges.
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman isn't exactly an anthology, but it's nice to pick up every once in a while if I want dreamy food for thought (if the premise sounds interesting to you, you should also read Bradbury's Frost and Fire).
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Diaz. Great book. I highly recommend it, although since you don't know me I suppose that recommendation doesn't mean all that much. I believe it won the National Book Award, but I could be wrong.
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Brief-Wondrous-Life-Oscar-Wao/dp/1594483299/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289934481&sr=1-1
It's called Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. It's in his short story collection Stories of Your Life and Others, which you can buy on Amazon. It's worth it just for this story, but all of them are excellent. Ted Chiang is often cited as the best living SciFi author to never have written a novel.
https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang/dp/1931520720
Close.Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted ChiangDISREGARD THAT
Arthur C. Clarke - The Collected Short Stories.
Nothing else can compare to how those things made me feel when I was growing up.
Beyond that, Ted Chiang's "Stories of Your Life: And Others" is an absolute masterpiece. Absolutely astonished the man's not better known- he's that rarity- a sci-fi author that writes beautifully.
Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, based loosely on the life of famed swordsman Miyomoto Musashi.
It's epic in scope and follows several different points of view, sort of a Japanese Game of Thrones meets Count of Monte Cristo.
I read this one all the way through once and I found it pretty decent. The prose gets extremely cumbersome at times but translating Chinese prose to English prose is absurdly difficult so you take what you can get.
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=three+kingdoms&qid=1558541748&s=gateway&sr=8-4
For what it's worth, a few Jewish fantasy authors, off the top of my head:
I'm sure there are more but those are the ones I can think of just now.
A few recommendations that come to mind:
[the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Amazing-Adventures-Kavalier-Clay/dp/0312282990) is one of my all time favorites. one of the main characters realizes he's gay later in the book. I always thought it was a very honest and realistic portrayal, and a very thoughtful addition to an already great book.
A coupleSome of the selections from r/SF Book Club that deal predominantly with the day to day lives of the characters spring to mind:The structure sounds like Cloud Atlas, although the plot doesn't.
El mundo luego del petróleo quedó algo así como una mezcla de Steam punk con rastros de hiper tecnología, todo basado en las calorías, la nueva fuente de energía.
Muy buena novela.
No tiene nada que ver con la (BOSTA de) película, olvídense de la peli, lean el libro, buenísimo, incluso conceptualmente, cómo está escrito.
La historia de cómo y porqué Intel es lo que es. Muy, muy interesante.
La historia del diseño, la creación y de las misiones Voyager, idealmente, se podría leer antes o después de ver The Farthest.
Una ucronia o historia alternativa.
Europa no sobrevive a La Peste Negra, y Oriente termina "invadiendo las ruinas". Muere el cristianismo, y el mundo avanza basándose en las religiones orientales, fundamentalmente el islamismo y el budismo.
Lenta, pero muy interesante.
Your new book? You're Kevin Crossley-Holland? That's awesome!
Anyway, I already have this one (and by the way, thank you for giving me not only an informative book, but on that looks freaking gorgeous). Should I buy the new one too?
When I started watching this show a few years ago I ended up buying quite a few books about Norse Mythology and Asatru (the reconstruction religion that is becoming more popular).
Here are a few good ones
The Norse Myths This is a good basic breakdown of the stories in the Sagas/Eddas and is easy to read.
Viking Age: Everyday Life During the Extraordinary Era of the Norsemen This is a fantastic book that really isn't related to the myths (there is a religion section) but this is a great book that goes over the everyday lives of Vikings and their families. Everything from political structure down to what they ate and how they dressed. It also has great illustrations.
The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics) - one of the source materials of the myths.
The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok - I dont have this one personally but it is on my list to buy.
If you want to read about the reconstruction religion that has gained in popularity since the 70s check this book out. Essential Asatru: Walking the Path of Norse Paganism - This is another easy to read book that not only goes over the basics of the Myths/Gods but also goes over the ceremonies and rituals of those who choose to practice today what the Vikings practiced. Minus the live sacrifices... those have been replaced with food and drink thankfully.
If you are just wanting to dip your toes into learning about the myths I cannot recommend the first link more than enough. It is far easier to read than the Eddas/Sagas and from what I understand from other subs is a widely regarded starting point.
Also check out /r/norse and /r/asatru.
I am an norse enthusiast who has only superficial knowledge.
I found this book Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland. It is a book for people exactly like me - people who don't have extensive knowledge of the Norse Myths and are yet interested in the overall culture. The book has each myth as a story and it is cyclical - it begins with the creation of the world and ends with Ragnarok. So basically, it contains all the stories in the Eddas - in a much more reader friendly manner than the usual academic works.
All in all, a very enjoyable book. I'd highly recommend it.
...although, the price mentioned in Amazon seems pretty high. I bought a different version of the book at my place for less than half that price.
I really enjoy historical fiction. Here are a few that I really like:
War and Peace - the ultimate historical fiction novel.
Horatio Hornblower books
Aubrey/Maturin books
Sharpe's books
Gates of Fire, of course, and some of his other books.
Massino Manfredi's Alexander trilogy
And Pride of Carthage
Some of these are more fiction than history, but I think all are pretty enjoyable.
Connie Willis has some great books where time travelers are main characters:
Doomsday Book
Blackout
All Clear
It has a quite revisionist (i.e. biased) take on Richard III, but The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman is my go-to recommendation. She has clearly put a lot of research into it, and the characters really come to life.
Also, Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. Meticulously researched historical fiction, time travel, and plague! What more could one ask for?
The Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis is a classic.
Gates of Fire by Pressfield
Gates of Fire is an account of the battle of Thermopylae, as told by the sole greek survivor, himself a Spartan slave. A fascinating look into spartan culture and tactics, this book is required reading at Annapolis, West Point, and Quantico. It will make you wish you'd been born a Spartan.
Gates of Fire.
Its fiction, but pretty well researched historically.
Aztec by Gary Jennings
I know some of these have already been mentioned, so just consider this a second vote for those titles. Also, my list skews heavily towards sci-fi/fantasy, because that is what I tend to read the most of.
By women, featuring female protagonists:
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
The Female Man by Joanna Russ
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Circus in Winter by Cathy Day (It's not entirely fair to characterize this as a book about women; it's really a set of interconnected stories featuring both male and female characters. On the other hand, many of the most memorable characters, IMO, are women, so I'm filing it in this category anyway. So there!)
The Protector of the Small Quartet by Tamora Pierce, beginning with First Test (Really, anything by Tamora Pierce would fit the bill here. They're young adult novels, so they're quick reads, but they're enjoyable and have wonderful, strong, realistic female protagonists.)
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (Heyer wrote really fun, enjoyable romances, typically set in the Regency period, though These Old Shades is actually Georgian. This one is probably my favorite, but they're really all quite wonderful. Not super heavy stuff, but don't write her off just because of the subject matter. She was a talented, witty writer, and her female protagonists are almost never the wilting "damsel in distress" type - they're great characters who, while still holding true to their own time and place, are bright and likeable and hold their own against the men in their lives.)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Another young adult book. And, again, I think it's worth noting that L'Engle's books almost always feature strong and interesting female characters. This one is probably her most famous, and begins a series featuring members of the same family, so it's a good jumping off point.)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
By men, featuring female protagonists:
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (This is another one that is perhaps not a perfect fit for this category; the titular unicorn is female, but the book is as much about Schmendrick the magician as it is about her. However, there's also Molly Grue, so on the strength of those two women, I'm classifying this book as having female protagonists.)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Coraline by Neil Gaiman (It's a children's book, but there's plenty to enjoy about it as an adult, too.)
By women, featuring male protagonists
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
For fiction, you MUST read Daemon and Freedom(TM)
I also enjoyed Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon, though in my opinion the latter was a little bit of a difficult read. Worth it though.
Cryptonomicon is this awesome cyberpunk book I'm almost done with
What are your top five must-own books?
Mine, in no real order are:
(I'll put in links when I get home)
edit: with amazon links
Because, like the internet, nearly all early computers/languages were originally funded by the military.
Check out Stephenson's book Cryptonomicon
It's engaging fiction, and for the most part it's historically accurate.
*ever
FYI,
Cryptonomicon on amazon
PS,
My second favorite chapter is basically an instruction manual on how to eat Captain Crunch Cereal.
http://www.euskalnet.net/larraorma/crypto/slide58.html
I really really enjoyed The Night Circus. It's not like any other book I've read before and it has such an interesting... flavor? For lack of a better word? The only other way I can think to describe the tone of it is this song. It is intricate and fascinating and I loved it.
Note to self: don't read sad books while you're on an airplane. Thanks for the contest! :)
Night Circus is a great book. It draws you in and captivates you until the very last page. A user here gifted it to me when I first started out here and I absolutely loved it! I definitely recommend it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307744434/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_RSyrxbZZ68A3B
The Night Circus sound exactly what you're looking for. Magicians, circus, turn of the century.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Circus-Erin-Morgenstern/dp/0307744434
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Circus
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon is one of my favorite novels ever and so is Beloved by Toni Morrison. They both have some metaphysical aspects to them and are awesome novels.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon.
To steal a description from Amazon: It's 1939 and Brooklynite Sammy Klayman dreams of making it big in the nascent world of comic books. Joseph Kavalier has never seen a comic book, but he is an accomplished artist versed in the "autoliberation" techniques of his hero, Harry Houdini. He effects a great (and surreal) escape from the Nazis, arrives in New York, and joins forces with Sammy. They rapidly create the Escapist, the first of many superheroes emblematic of their temperaments and predicaments, and attain phenomenal success. But Joe, tormented by guilt and grief for his lost family, abruptly joins the navy, abandoning Sammy, their work, and his lover, the marvelous artist and free spirit Rosa, who, unbeknownst to him, is carrying his child.
The description doesn't do it justice; it's a fantastic book that just feels cinematic. Lots of pre-WW2 Mad Men-esque office scenes mixed with absurdist magical realism.
Amazon: Kavalier & Clay
This was truly one of my favorite books of all time. I was disappointed by Chabon's other work, it just didn't compare.
back to the beginning
---
Current Selection#####
---
Past Selections#####
2014######
2013######
2012######
2011######
2010######
There are so many great books! The Brontes' work, Jane Austen, War and Peace, everything by Dostoyevsky....Sometimes it takes a while to get into certain of the great books, but they always pay off.
Also, in case you haven't read them, check out David Mitchell's early work--Ghostwritten, Number9Dream, and Cloud Atlas all are brilliant.
It's been a while since I've checked in. Last week I finally finished the Chaos Walking trilogy by getting around to reading the third book Monsters of Men. I absolutely loved this series and I seriously hope the author is planning on writing more. It was nice, he wrapped up the storyline but also left it a point that was basically the starting of another story. I really wanted to find out what happens next. This series is definitely one of my favorites of the year so far.
I've started on Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I'm trying really hard with this one but it just doesn't seem to be working for me so far. It isn't calling me to keep going back to it. I've had it on my shelf for quite some time now, and have been meaning to get to it, but haven't. When I saw the trailer for the movie, I got re-interested in it again and want to read it before the movie comes out. I've only gotten like 50 or 60 pages in though after a couple of days, so I am worried I might give up on it. It's definitely more difficult than some of the other books I have been reading so I think that might be giving me some trouble.
I am also working on Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. I've been wanting to get into this one for a few months. I've been in a steam punk kind of mood and this one seemed interesting. It's a alternative version of the events leading up to and during World War I in Europe. It's fun but it's a lot more simple and easier than I was expecting. Shouldn't take long to finish this. I attempted to set a to-be-read list for the next couple of months to get to ones I really wanted to but already this one is making me deviate from it...
which one?
http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Novel-David-Mitchell/dp/0375507256/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347455200&sr=1-1&keywords=cloud+atlas
or
http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Liam-Callanan/dp/0385336950/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347455200&sr=1-2&keywords=cloud+atlas
I've seen this book recommended so many times and I was just about to download it when whoops....
The Elder Edda is definitely the better of the two; Snorri's Edda is very christianized and therefore doesn't stay true to Norse mythology.
One of the best books would be Kevin Crossley-Holland's The Norse Myth. It's very simple to read yet keeps the essence of the myths.
I would suggest you taking a look at "The Norse Myths" by Kevin Crossley-Holland. A perfect guide into the norse mythology. It starts of with a brief explanation and then tells all the myths in a fantasy-novel style but always keeps the facts accurate.
Edit: Found it on amazon, and it's on sale!
We're dorks, so the two gifts I've received from him have been pretty nerdy on the surface. Our first Christmas together he got me a tribble (I was raised by two trekkies and I like fluffy cuddly things). For my birthday, he got me Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, which was sweet because he was leaving for weeks on a dig and knew I was going to be bored during the summer, and because we both hate Twilight.
I like these gifts because they weren't all that expensive, but they took some thought. It's obvious that he didn't just go out to the mall and buy the first thing he saw. That's probably the most important part of a good gift! :)
Ahh, I thought you were talking about this book
If you are into military historical fiction, you need to read Gates of Fire if you have not already done so.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/055338368X/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1457226526&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=the+gates+of+hell&dpPl=1&dpID=51lyDQ8xPdL&ref=plSrch
I'm on mobile, sorry for the long link. It's a good book, I've read it a couple times and have since passed it around to family & friends.
The most recent one I read (book, not a series,) was Jack McDevitt's Time Travelers Never Die, which was entertaining. Oh yeah, I also read Connis Willis' Blackout and All Clear. There's also The Doomsday Book, which I haven't read yet. I read To Say Nothing of the Dog when it was released, and didn't really love it, but I think I need to re-read it. Stephen Baxter's Manifold series is great, including Manifold: Time.
Check out the books on this list.
If you haven't already, I would suggest reading Gates of Fire
To add to this, the Immortals served the Persian Kings, including Darius' son, Xerxes, whose invasion of Greece included the Battle of Thermopylae and ended with the Battle of Salamis. I recommend the excellent book "Gates of Fire", which goes into great detail about the Battle of Thermopylae and the Spartans and their adversaries, the Persians.
I finished 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy. It was narrated by Richard Poe. I've enjoyed McCarthy's books for a long time, and I finally got my hands on a copy of this one, it's an amazing piece of work and definitely not for the faint of heart for it is filled with horrors and violence. I didn't realize until I was about halfway through the book, that it has a basis in reality, effectively detailing the exploits of John J. Glanton during the Mexican-American war in the latter part of the 1800's; that realization really cranked up some of the horrors that are represented in McCarthy's amazingly beautiful prose.
I want to include one of the best sentences I've read in a long time...."…they rode infatuate and half fond toward the red demise of that day, toward the evening lands and the distant pandemonium of the sun.”
I also want to mention, I think this might be the first work that I've heard read by Richard Poe. He did a fantastic job. If you're a Frank Muller fan, like I am, you'd probably enjoy Richard Poe reading.
Well . . . if you're looking at a book simply as a collection of text, I too have never feared a line of text. What books allow, is a slow building of fear that require quite a bit of character development. I don't read horror novels waiting to be frightened, and truthfully read very little horror. The fear just happens. To be honest, it's a different type of fear - more of an uneasy feeling really. Certainly, a book can't have, what my son calls, "The scary jump out scenes". But if we exchange the term fear with edgy, here are a list of my favorite books with an "Edge":
[The Passage] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Passage-Novel-Book-Trilogy/dp/0345528174)
[The Terror] (http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Novel-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316008079/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404481514&sr=1-1&keywords=terror)
The Stand
Carrion Comfort
Desperation
I am Legend
The Sparrow
Night
Frankenstein
All Quite on the Western Front
Hunger
Blood Meridian
Watchers
The Minus Man
In no particular order - Not the usual suggestions either. Hope it helps, and happy reading!
...you’re posting THE HISTORY (and legacy) of forced sterilization and you literally tried to sneak in links about the Canadian sterilization to make it seem like you have links on the American one.
You honest to god thought just responding with a block of unrelated links would make it seem like a witty shutdown?
Well here’s what I have to say to you, good sir.
https://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/badgers
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Meridian-Evening-Redness-West/dp/0679728759
http://www.small-cabin.com/forum/2_2885_0.html
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-w-58hQ9dLk
Blood Meridian– better imagery than Oh, The Places You'll Go and more tips on what to do in complex social situations than How to Make Friends and Influence People.
Aztec by Garry Jennings Told in the words of one of the most robust and memorable characters in modern fiction, Mixtli-Dark Cloud, Aztec reveals the very depths of Aztec civilization from the peak and feather-banner splendor of the Aztec Capital of Tenochtitlan to the arrival of Hernán Cortás and his conquistadores, and their destruction of the Aztec empire. The story of Mixtli is the story of the Aztecs themselves
http://www.amazon.com/Aztec-Gary-Jennings/dp/0765317508/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=8-2&keywords=aztec
Came here to suggest these as well. I know his son wrote some of his stuff after his death ,but I believe it's Gary Jennings. http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0765317508
This immediately made me think of the fantastic novel by Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell wiki
I don't want to go into detail because spoilers. I think I can get away with saying that someone is half-given to a faerie who transports the person magically every night - they end up sleep deprived and no-one can understand why they are so tired and lose all strength to live with. You could certainly spin it around some similarly dark invisible drawback.
I HIGHLY recommend the book. It's also available in a well regarded TV series
Perhaps the pixie might even pass on her 'ownership' as a gift to a higher ranking and more powerful fae Lord or Lady?
You should check out Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It's got magicians, but more in a real life sense. Has been described to me as a more sophisticated and grown up version of Harry Potter. It's long, has great characters, and the epic cranks out more and more as the book progresses. I loved it.
The series was really good! It's a book though, first and foremost, by Susanna Clarke: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Strange-Mr-Norrell-Novel/dp/0765356155
I'm just going to keep editing this post until I think of 5.
---
The Bear and the Nightingale - a recent read, beautifully written, retelling.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - I like classic literature, and Clarke's writing is known for how reflective it is of that. A wonderful story. Plus, magic. Long.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is an excellent tale of the resurgence of magic in 19th century England and it is just amazing.
If you looking for in depth characters and story, but not necessarily horror try Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel https://www.amazon.com/dp/0765356155/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_wK6XCbT15W2BZ
https://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351
I personally consider the Bioshock series my favorite, and I absolutely loved Metro 2033 and Last Light, and I recommend you play both. The game isn't all that similar to Bioshock, but it shares a claustrophobic feel and the constant dangers that lurk around each corner. Metro 2033 does have a stealth element to it, while Bioshock doesn't really, so if you don't like stealth to some extent, I would stay away. Either way, both of the metro games are amazing and have good stories.
Also, you said you wanted to learn more about Bioshock. If you haven't already, I highly recommend the book Bioshock: Rapture. It gives some more insight to what went into building Rapture, and I found it very interesting because I also wanted to learn more about the games.
EDIT: I also would recommend Singularity to people who like the Bioshock games. It is heavily inspired by it and is in a very similar vein.
Just so you guys know, this is a cover from the book Rapture. Not a bad read.
Oh! I love that. Rapture by John Shirley is a really neat read into the rise and demise of an underwater utopia-turned-dystopia. It really hits the nail on the head for your genre, and, you're right, I'd love to read more like it.
On a side note to anyone who really likes the Bioshock series, the book is really good.
It's probably worth mentioning Bioshock: Rapture. A book that details more about the first game.
https://smile.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X/
One of my favorite books ever was aMusashi (Amazon book link), a fictionalized retelling of his life.
They made it into a fairly lengthly TV Drama about a decade ago that I very highly recommend. Also, the manga 'Vagabond' is based on this book.
Was really fun when that second sword come out. And in the hands of Hiroyuki Sanada, no less.
For those who aren't familiar, Eiki Yoshikawa's historical novelization is the definitive/default work for cultural reference (not historical accuracy). It's this story that was used to create Hiroshi Inagaki's famous late-50s films known as the "Samurai trilogy", which starred no less than Toshiro Mifune as Musashi (!) and are often cited by Quentin Tarantino as an influence. This is the story that brought the legend to modern fans in the West and drew its attention to the Book of Five Rings.
The English translation by Charles Terry (titled Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era) is available at most major bookstores including Amazon.
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
..with the caveat that it's really only almost fantasy. It has the tone, and there's one or two fantasy type elements here and there, but it's a real-world setting. That said, I loved this book. It's one of my favorites.
>Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister— dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA.
Ursula K. Le Guin is pretty reliable when it comes to mixing up PoCs into her books, so I'd search that. Bonus, she writes both science fiction and fantasy iirc so she might have something in between.
Isabel Allende -- she's technically a Latin American literary type author, but a lot of Latin American literature is uhhhh.... I think the term for it is "magical realism." They're typically set in South America, often the characters or themes relate to native populations, and I recall a secondary character in one book who was essentially a MtF transsexual.
Aha! I found it. It's Eva Luna.
>As the years pass and her imprudent nature sends Eva from household to household—from the home of a doctor famed for mummifying the dead to a colorful whorehouse and the care of a beautiful transsexual—it is Eva’s magical imagination that keeps her alive and fuels her ardent encounters with lovers of all kinds. And as her South American homeland teeters on the brink of political chaos, and Eva’s fate is intertwined with guerrilla fighters and revolutionaries, she will find her life’s calling—and the soul mate who will envelop her in a love entirely beyond her mystical inventions.
It has the same issue as Oscar Wao (actually for the same reason, probably): they're not "fantasy" in the sense of world-building and dragons, but "with fantastical and magical elements."
I also used to really like books by Sheri S Tepper, and a few of them had women's rights themes, but I can't remember any PoCs or non-cis main characters off the top of my head. She writes sci fi, but they were enough on the fantasy end of the spectrum that I could handle them. I'm not really a sci fi person.
I also dug up this Amazon list: "Multicultural Speculative Fiction".
Also, I found a "Multicultural Graphic Novels" list which probably isn't for you but looked too awesome to not mention.
Editing to add:
"The Privilege of the Sword": technically Young Adult, I think. The uncle is gay. Or maybe bi. I think he had orgies. Yeah, that would make him bi, I think.
Patricia Briggs: Mercy Thompson. This entire series. The protagonist is half native american, and she works in a garage. The entire series is pretty imaginative, although I can't remember that her heritage is really dealt with other than "and that's why she can turn into a coyote." Patricia Briggs has been one of my favorite writers pretty much since I was a teen. Before she got popular. I'm a hipster.
Another Amazon list: "Some Lesbian Fantasy and SF Favorites". I recognize a lot of the authors' names, but the only one I've read anything by is Tanya Huff. She's very good, and the rest that I recognize have high reviews and good reputations.
Another list along the same lines
Don't know what you like to read so I'm going to go a few ways, but these are good ''stuck in bed'' books. By Author (because thats how i like to read):
Haruki Murakami:
Hunter S Thompson (and related):*
Manuel Puig (these are shorter):
Not by same authors, but would be good together:
Favorites
Feel Better!
not academic material, but, if you are into sci-fi, Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others
http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang/dp/1931520720
author has a compsci background from Brown, and I find that his stories encompass elements that would appeal to any compsci-minding individual
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang.
The short story "Understand" (part of that collection) may be my favorite of all time.
Have you considered short stories?
If you're into SF, it's a major side of the genre. There's eleventy billion collections of them out there, but Stories Of Your Life And Others is awesome, and small enough to get through over a short period.
This is probably a bit outside what you intended but the Chinese classics Outlaws of the Marsh and Three Kingdoms have many really good political intrigue plot lines to steal from as well as hundreds of npc archetypes. And they are both fun to read as well.
Try this.
j/k, it's not really history, but still very interesting
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/7119005901/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Happy Zambambo!
Thanks! Happy birthday!
BioShock: Rapture https://www.amazon.com/dp/0765367351/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ilmcAbFX6STZZ
http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377149222&sr=8-1&keywords=rapture+bioshock
It was this one, been a while since I read it but I remember really enjoying it. It explains the story of how Rapture was made and how it became the place you see in the games. https://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520981054&sr=8-1&keywords=bioshock+book
Ayyyyy glad to hear it! Bioshock 2 is very, very good. Don't pay heed to any revisionists you may hear from. The mechanics are all around much better and the DLC, Minerva's Den, is top ten in DLC history. Brilliantly done. The story is also great as are the characters. Makes the first game even better.
Whatever you do, save Infinite for last and its story DLC for after you beat it. Massive series spoilers.
Novels? Yo: https://www.amazon.ca/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351
Phenomenal book. It's set before the first game, really gets you into what Rapture was like in peace times. If you want a similar kind of game, I recommend Soma. It's a one and done thing but a massive mind fuck and terrifying.
Definitely, after playing the whole series its nice to see it all come together as a whole! Don't worry I got you on the book info! Here's a actual link and what not : [Rapture the book] ( http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351 ) its fantastic book during the creation of rapture with all your favourite characters. You get to see alot of the universe in the book, also it uses alot of the dialogue that was used audio diaries within it. All of it is in written from Bill McDonagh's pov from the creation of rapture as a city to the fall of rapture as a city.
There is. Link
Cool, thanks! I wish more games had book companions. I read Bioshock: Rapture and thought it was very well written. And of course there's the F:NV graphic novel and the Witcher series. Are there any other good examples of books expanding on a VG universe?
Einstein's Dreams
A book that I can recommend and actually considered placing in the title is Alan Lightman's Einstein's Dreams.
It has a similar format as Sum, however each short story considers what life would be like if time behaved differently as opposed to what the afterlife could look like: if time went faster the closer we were to the Earth, or if there were three directions time can take, etc etc.
One of my favorites is one which imagines that time are birds. If a bird is caught one can hold onto a moment forever, because time is "caught." Those young enough to catch a bird and stop time don't care to, because they are young. The ones that want to hold onto time are too old and so too slow to catch a bird. Gives me the same feeling that most of the stories in Sum do.
From Einstein's Dreams?
http://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X
Not necessarily hard/biology, but there's a wonderful little book (literally, it is little) called "Einstein's Dreams" by Alan Lightman. It's a series of vignettes of what life would be like if time/gravity, etc. had different properties. One scenario that i recall is that time moves faster the closer one is to a center of gravity, so people build their homes on tall structures, on top of tall mountains, etc. in order to live a fuller life; eventually this becomes a status symbol, so the wealthiest live at higher altitudes and the poor at sea level. It's very thought provoking and whimsical.
Check out this delightful little piece of fiction, called "Einstein's Dreams". It imagines how Einstein may have played out different scenarios in his mind, before coming to his Theory of Relativity.
Einstein's Dreams:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/140007780X/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_RnZCub0DVKTXR
If you post the URL like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X/
You can still get to the item minus any referral codes, but I guess you'd need to clear cookies and revisit the page if you're intent on not wanting someone to get an affiliate credit. Or, you could optionally add ?tag=Reddit-20 to have that credit apply to Reddit when you buy that or whatever else.
Off the top of my head, I'd recommend "Einstein's Dreams," by Alan Lightman. You may also like Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities" and "If on a winter's night a traveler."
The Republic and Other Works by Plato
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
God's Equation by Amir D. Aczel
The Mind's I by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett
*Shakespeare's Sonnets by Stephen Booth
Einstein's Dreams? Remarkable book.
Just one novel. I have the single volume edition, but I've seen a 5 volume set around before. The single volume is a hefty beast though.
https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541269148&sr=8-1&keywords=musashi
You may like "Musashi".
Amazon Link
These aren't free but definitely worth the read.
Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa
The Book of Five Rings - Miyamoto Musashi
https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482689807&sr=8-1&keywords=musashi
Musashi.
Musashi! Its a Japanese epic about the samurai era. One of the more well known books in Japan. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/156836427X/ref=ya_aw_oh_pit
I loved The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Oscar is a character most can relate to on some level, he's fat, nerdy, loves fantasy novels, star wars and role-playing games. He also can't seem to ever get laid, crazy huh?
Edit: thank you for downvoting with no explanation. Maybe I should have posted my comment as an imgur link?
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Both are Pulitzer Prize winners, guy-ish and accessible literary fiction.
Also, James Elroy's L.A. trilogy, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential and White Jazz. An omg his autobiography My Dark Places.
My husband recommends anything by Jim Harrison.
EDIT: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Two nonfiction books I have recently read that are beautifully written and on important topics most of us are not generally aware of:
Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America
Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty
Fiction:
Confederacy of Dunces
A Fine Balance
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The only times this has happened to me were
The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger and
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
I couldn't tell you what it was about them that sucked me in so drastically, but they were pretty good books. :)
I literally didn't have to leave my chair to pull it off my shelf to double check the title ( :) ) but you can find this, and several other excellent Ted Chiang short stories in the collection Stories of Your Life and Others. I was going to go through and recommend some specific stories from the collection... but it turns out I loved all of them.
I've recently read two books that I absolutely fell in love with:
1.) Stories of Your Life and Others: http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang/dp/1931520720/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413578672&sr=8-1&keywords=stories+of+your+life+and+others
2.) Neuromancer (A classic that I've just gotten into): http://www.amazon.com/Neuromancer-William-Gibson/dp/0441569595/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413578739&sr=8-1&keywords=neuromancer
Sim, eu leio tudo em inglês. Eu não conhecia esse The Three Body Problem, to vendo agora e parece bem legal, eu estava justamente precisando de um novo livro pra ler esse feriado, valeu pela dica!
Outros livros que eu ja lí e recomendo:
Stories of Your Life and Others. My favorite.
I'd like to recommend Ted Chiang's short story Hell Is the Absence of God which is contained in his short story collection Story of your Life and Others (Goodreads - Amazon)
It is set in a world where the Abrahamic god of the Old Testament actually exists and behaves just as described, like a crazed maniac. There are Angel visitations and the existence of hell and heaven is proven.
I really like the fact that there is a group of humanists who rebel against such a god,and willingly go to hell in order to live an honest life where everyone else just obeys in order to get into heaven when they die.
This is like the third time I've recommended this book but it's perfect for what you're looking for. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang has a couple of stories that fit your criteria and they're excellent. The titular story and also "Liking What You See: A Documentary" are both set in present or near-future worlds. Here's a link for the latter so you can determine if you like his writing.
Sorry, They are all packed up right now.
I remember one was by James Clavell, the author of Shogun, and while I was a fan of his fiction, I really thought this was bad.
One was by a retired Special Forces NCO or officer and enjoyed it the most but I can't remember the translator.
But as pointed out, in the late 80s, several different editions came out that were targeted towards corporate strategy than anything else. I'm guessing if you find one in the Asian arts or Philosophy section of your bookstore these days, it will be one of the more traditional translations.
If you want to get a flavor of the period and the person, look at
http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302727882&sr=1-4
Yes It's fiction but it was written in 1935 by Eiji Yoshikawa about the life of Miyamoto Musashi and it's a fun read. If I remember, it's around a 1,000 pages so it's not a quick read but what the hell.
Check out some of Yoshikawa's writing specifically Musashi and Taiko.
For more about the time period read the book romance of the three kingdom https://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 or try watching the 2010 tv show Romance of the three kingdoms its really good if you can deal with subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcZ2zq82ebA&list=PLQgby8Rb0ImEP4108x04Feg2dBvuDADJG, there is also some youtube videos from kings and generals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOGkH_8K_xg, Three kingdoms oversimplified by Oversimplified https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=26EivpCPHnQ. Cody Bonds channel has overview of all the starting characters in the game with some historical context heres one of them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZOfQAAnSKU I'm sure there is a lot more other could suggest.
Well, fair warning I did read them 12-13 years ago when I was 14-15, so I've forgotten quite a bit, not to mention a lot went over my head at that age.
I loved them. They were truely an epic, and the ebb and flow of the kingdom over the years was great to follow. Also, seeing where a lot of the stages and characters from DW "started" was fantastic.
This is the one I bought, if you are interested.
Outlaws of the Marsh (This was a very fun read back when I was in highschool, there's a bit of dark humor too. Of the books listed here Outlaws of the Marsh is the funniest and very epic)
https://www.amazon.com/Outlaws-Chinese-Classics-Classic-Volumes/dp/7119016628/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=outlaws+of+the+marsh&qid=1558135198&s=gateway&sr=8-1
​
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (The novel is intriguing and epic but might get too confusing depending on the age and person reading it- lots of characters and politics both personal and national)
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3Q6KP7GL4E200&keywords=romance+of+the+three+kingdoms&qid=1558135222&s=gateway&sprefix=Romance+of+the+three%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-3
​
Journey to the West (The Monkey King. I admit I personally don't like the Monk & Su Wu Kong chapters and mostly enjoyed the Su Wukong's creation, desk job in heaven chapters and his rebellion. My man Su Wukong should've rebelled again, screw working for a living in heaven and their stupid workplace bureaucracy)
https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Chinese-Classics-Classic-Volumes/dp/7119016636/ref=sr_1_4?crid=C0DF58D83YS3&keywords=journey+to+the+west&qid=1558135303&s=gateway&sprefix=Journey+to+the+west%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-4
​
There's also Dreams of the Red Mansion but I never finished it so can't really recommend it.
The unabridged Moss Roberts translation. The abridged version is good, but its lacking in much of the detail that makes the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" awesome. It's an easier read, but come on, we're ASOIAF fans, we don't shy away from thick tomes.
This is a dense epic on the line of ASOIAF, it is well over 3000 pages (by word count it may be even longer than ASOIAF, the font is tiny), and tells the story of thousands of characters, their families, retainers, eunuchs, and plots. The political intrigue and plotting are thick as dozens of factions contend with, ally together, and betray each other. In terms of action, there is no shortage of epic battles, duels, and military strategems. The start is a little bit slow, but quickly picks up as the late-Han dynasty descends into chaos and disarray.
The prose flows very well, and the songs/poems are translated beautifully. The first line still gives me chills thinking about, it and sums up the Chinese view of history - cyclical:
>The empire, long divided, must unite. The empire, long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been...
If I'm allowed one more small spoiler, one of my favorite warriors is Xiahou Dun - a general in Cao Cao's camp. In one battle, he takes an arrow through his helm and into his eye; without hesistation, and in the midst of battle, he rips out the arrow with his eyeball still skewered, and devours it. To rally his troops who thought their general had died, he screams out:
>Essence of my father, blood of my mother, I cannot throw this away!
Such a fucking hardcore warrior. Made more epic since the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is part fiction, but part history. Xiahou Dun actually did this in real life.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: http://www.amazon.com/The-Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Novel/dp/0007149832
The second part reminds me of Michael Chabon's book, Yiddish Policeman's Union
Sorta related? http://www.amazon.com/The-Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Novel/dp/0007149832
Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. The world-building and character development here is really thorough and very engaging. Chabon is one of my favorite writers.
http://www.amazon.com/Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Novel-P-S/dp/0007149832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289938003&sr=8-1
Top 5 off those shelves would be:
The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Alt History detective novel by a Pulitzer winner
http://www.amazon.com/Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Novel-P-S/dp/0007149832
The Atrocity Archives - Lovecraftian spy thriller and IT hell
http://www.amazon.com/Atrocity-Archives-Laundry-Files-Novel/dp/0441016685/
Books of Blood - A compilation of Clive Barker's nasty little 80s horror anthologies
http://www.amazon.com/Books-Blood-Vols-Clive-Barker/dp/0425165582/
Perdido Street Station - Steampunky fantasy with excellent worldbuilding that's apparently a good example of the New Weird, whatever that is and however it differes from the Old Weird
http://www.amazon.com/Perdido-Street-Station-China-Mieville/dp/0345459407
American Gods - Gaiman's mythology based urban fantasy; a modern classic
http://www.amazon.com/American-Gods-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0380789035
As for the Weird Tales collection, it's Weird Tales: 32 Unearthed Terrors. It sets out to present the best tale from each year of the magazine's original run. Published in 1988 and edited by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz (as if the eldritch gods didn't inject enough unpronounceable names into the mix) you've got everyone from Isaac Asimov to Seabury Quinn to good ol' HPL himself with "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"
http://www.amazon.com/Weird-Tales-32-Unearthed-Terrors/dp/0517661233
Not quite the $1 deal I got from the library sale, but not as outrageous as some of the out of print prices on Amazon.
Incredibly resourceful! I think I would like to take this opportunity to also provide some "fun" crypto reading as well. For when you get tired of the hard stuff.
https://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806
In the modern literature category
Dave Eggers - What is the What. Or A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius by him is also pretty good.
A.S. Byatt - Possession
Also, someone else mentioned Neal Stephenson, I cannot second this recommendation strongly enough! Very fun reads that don't shy away from intellectual engagement. I read Cryptonomicon by him recently and loved it.
I also note you don't mention Don DeLillo although you mention many of his contemporaries. Check out White Noise by him and go from there.
I could probably make some more suggestions, but it depends what genre's and styles you're really into? Do you want hugely post-modern? Do you enjoy the classics? (I notice your list had no Shakespeare, his tragedies are as famous as they are for good reason)
At around 1000 pages—give or take a few, depending on the binding—I'd say it's unwieldy. The MMPB has 1168 pages, for instance. :)
Cryptonomicon or for that matter any of Neal Stephenson's early work like In the Beginning ... was the Command Line
"Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson. A fantastic book; one of those that you hate when it ends!
You may also enjoy "the Baroque Cycle" by the same author. It does not go back and forth to modern times (Crypt. does), but is another great story about science, the beginnings of physics, and the start of money, among other things
Yes. Loved that one as well. I would say that Anathem is far more philosophical and cerebral than Cryptonomicon.
I tried in vain to get my brother to read it who says he only likes non-fiction.
I was particularly enamored by the passages where he charts masturbation/prostitution/creativity. That hit close to home. ;)
EDIT: Found the section in Amazon's Look Inside, start on page 679.
I fully share your interest in trying to find stories, narrative or scenarios featuring cryptocurrency. My personal conclusion is that the future got bigger and different after bitcoin, in ways that were considered practically impossible before, and we will need a new generation of science fiction.
While Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, which I have only skimmed, deals with crypto-currency it is NOT the descentralized kind, which is in my opinion the truly revolutionary aspect of bitcoin.
The more suggestive work I can think of is Daniel Suarez's Daemon and the sequel, Freedom, which don't deal directly with cryptocurrency, but the whole conceit of the books --a self-sustaining civilization-altering program unleashed after the death of its author-- is curiously homomorphic to bitcoin.
It's not fiction, but I like David Friedman e-money scenarios in his 2008 Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World. He writes just before bitcoin was unleashed unto the world!
Cory Doctorow's Down and out in the magic kingdom deals with Whuffie, a reputation-based "ambient" currency for a post-scarcity economy. The interesting part is that with colored coins, it could be very much implemented with bitcoins.
I should also mention that Eric Whitacre spent nearly half his lecture preaching about how great the Cryptonomicon is and turned me into a huge Neal Stephenson fan.
He was also (this is 10+ years ago...) really excited about his opera. If it ever opens in NYC, I'll go see it!
I LOVE your penny book contests!!! Cryptonomicon is the book I'll choose for this one. Looks super interesting. Thanks so much for the contest! Gimme a book, Pancakes!
Yay!
Recently got back into reading after a looooonnnnnnggggg dry spell (years) and I'm reading some fun ones!
Have you read any of those?!
You might enjoy The Golem and the Jinni...It's set in turn of the century New York, and has strong cultural and religious overtones. The magical aspects of it are quite secondary to everything else.
A Winters Tale...the movie apparently sucked, but the book has stuck with me for quite some time. It's a lyrical piece of magic realism, much stronger on the realism. Another book on turn of the century New York.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell may be a bit more magic than you'd like, but it's astonishingly good. It's what Jane Austen would have produced if she'd decided to write a fantasy novel.
The Night Circus is good.
The Night Circus - by Erin Morgenstern. (https://www.amazon.com/Night-Circus-Erin-Morgenstern/dp/0307744434/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1550263600&sr=1-1&keywords=the+night+circus+by+erin+morgenstern)
>https://www.amazon.com/Night-Circus-Erin-Morgenstern/dp/0307744434/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1550263600&sr=1-1&keywords=the+night+circus+by+erin+morgenstern
Never heard of it. Thanks for the suggestion!
I read The Night Circus a couple years ago and it was a-ma-zing! Everyone (who enjoys young adult lit) who I have recommended this to has also enjoyed it.
I have 2 suggestions for you:
The Night Circus is a great fantasy story that is a great page turner.
If you're looking for a good series Alan Bradley writes the Flavia de Luce mystery series. Fast reads with great characters and keeps you wanting more.
I haven't read any "great" books yet, but I am picking up The Night Circus from the library later today. It loks promising.
Edit: big spender
Edit 2: adding a link to the book
You ALL still have Zoidberg!
I'm reading The Diviners by Libba Bray! If I win, this would be lovely!
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Dark Star - Alan Furst
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
The God Engines - John Scalzi
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham immediately come to mind.
They have a similar warning on the Cloud Atlas novel.
Does anyone know any other times Amazon has had to put those warnings on their products?
Strong recommendation for David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Dutch clerk in late 18th/early 19th century Dejima, lots of depth, gorgeous prose) and for Walter Moers's Rumo and his Miraculous Adventures (fantastical but oddly profound; I'd pick it up even if it doesn't sound like something you'd enjoy). I finished both of these very recently and they were amazing. They hopped right on my list of favourite books, if I'm honest.
Otherwise, I'd very much recommend my all-time favourites: Le Petit Prince (in French or English), Under Milk Wood, Cloud Atlas, and To Kill a Mockingbird (which is always worth a re-read, too).
I included Amazon links so that you know exactly which books I'm talking about, but please consider buying from local bookshops!
First and foremost, don't be ashamed of what you love. Tale of Two Cities is considered one of the greatest books ever because it is. It's a masterwork. And you shouldn't be ashamed of recognizing that.
Other people have suggested some great classics. You can't go wrong with those. But it sounds (to me) like you might be looking for something a bit more modern, and perhaps a bit more niche. So I'll make some suggestions along those lines:
The Thousand Autums of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell
Let me admit this up front. I've been immediately buying everything this guy writes. I'm a fan. But dangit, he's been nominated for two Man Booker prizes. He can write.
The Thousand Autumns is set in 1800 in a small town in Japan, where Westerners are permitted to stay, but are forbidden to enter the rest of Japan. Jacob is a trader with the Dutch East India Company who comes to make his fortune so that he can marry his Dutch fiancee. When he arrives, he meets a Japanese midwife named Orito with a scar on her face. Jacob falls in love. But this book is not just a love story. Every character is richly drawn, and each has their own arc. Politics and culture feature prominently. It really is a beautiful book. And it shares some of the epic reach of Tale of Two Cities.
Having said that, I would heartily recommend anything by David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas is probably his best known book, and it's a wonderful group of inter-connected stories from different genres tied together by a central theme and with a unique structure. I've recommended that one to friends, and they all praised it.
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami
This one is a bit different, and definitely a bit more niche. Murakami is a Japanese writer who became sort of hip here in the U.S. a few years back. He writes with a style that I've heard described as "magical realism." It's is utterly realistic in its presentation, but then it will have a talking cat or an alternate dimension. His stories sort of feel like modern fables. And there's a sense of loneliness and fatalism in his books.
I'm not sure that any plot description is going to do a Murakami book justice, but I'll give a short one anyway. Toru loses his job, and wife his orders him to find their cat before disappearing herself. Wind Up Bird is mostly about the cast of characters and events in the subsequent journey.
I almost suggested 1Q84 instead of Wind Up Bird because it felt (to me) more similar to Tale of Two Cities. But 1Q84 is a very long book, and a very slow burn. When I was about 500 pages in, a friend asked me whether I was enjoying it, and I ended up talking about Murakami's style, and not this story. Because the story hadn't grabbed me yet. While I ended up enjoying 1Q84 more than Wind Up Bird, I'm not sure I can recommend that you slog through 1,000+ pages without being pretty sure you're going to enjoy his style. Wind Up Bird is a better -- and shorter -- introduction to Murakami, and it's considered his classic anyway.
It's a book.
The book is highly worth reading, it's easily my favourite.
http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Novel-David-Mitchell/dp/0375507256
I do! The Marriage Plot is on its way to me via Amazon. To balance out the highbrow, I also ordered Messy by the Go Fug Yourself girls.
The last book I finished was Cloud Atlas.
And I just remembered I have Steve Jobs' bio waiting for me in the Nook. Dammit, keep forgetting about that.
Anyone else forget about books because they're on an e-reader instead of sitting on the table, reminding you to be read?
I've recently been enjoying The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland. Not exactly heavy reading, but it is very accessible and easy to pick up.
no no you dont need any of that. what you do need is this http://www.amazon.com/Norse-Myths-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394748468 "Norse Myths" it will tell you everything you need to know about how badass and awesome that the scandanavians really are
Yes. I became interested in Viking culture not long before I heard of the show, but the show has definitely helped keep my curiosity going. My interest in Norse history goes like this:
My interest in the Vikings isn't necessarily about the specific dates, locations, etc. It's more about the lifestyle, the myths, the attitude they had. And Vikings does a great job, IMO, of keeping that interest going. It's inspiring me to get in touch with nature again, learn how to do things I've never done, etc. Plus it's entertaining!
EDIT: Here's the two books I've bought (so far) regarding Viking history. You'll note that they're basically children's books. The first one deals with the myths on a children's story level, the second has more in depth analysis on the myths, but without the pictures. I think simply reading about the things the Vikings may have lived by is better than just learning what date Bjorn raided "whatever-land". Anyways, here's the two books I have:
Book of Norse Myths: Kid's book with pictures, walking you through the myths on an introductory level
The Norse Myths: A much more comprehensive book about the myths
I also have two other books related to Norse history or culture:
Practical Guide to the Runes
Practical Heathen's Guide to Asatru: For learning about the way a heathen's mind works and how he lives his life. I don't follow the stuff in the book, but I'm putting some of it into practice as I explore my ancestral connections
Here is the desktop version of your link
This encyclopedia is great; not quite Bulfinch's cousin, but very informative.
For something more like Bulfinch, this book is a damn good introduction.
For background reference, Wikipedia.
For the Norse myths, the poet Kevin Crossley-Holland's The Norse Myths is marvelous, and the end notes and bibliography are very thorough if you want to go further or read the sources.
For Greek, D'Aulaires' as others have suggested for lively tellings. Rose's Handbook of Greek Mythology for reference. Bullfinch is complete and standard but a little dull. Hesiod and the so-called Homeric Hymns are among the primary source material if you want to go further.
Ovid was a fine Roman poet who retold many of the Greek stories in the Metamorphoses - stories of Transformations. Roman mythology as we commonly think of it is largely derivative of Greek mythology, with the names changed, but Roman religion was a complicated layering of native beliefs and foreign cults. Still, for background to Milton, all you really need is a gloss relating the Greek and Roman names, so you can read the stories as told by Greeks or Romans.
Richard H. Wilkinson's Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt and Reading Egyptian Art are good references.
(edited for formatting)
a good starter is this book http://www.amazon.com/Norse-Myths-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394748468 (sorry about the link, i'm on mobile). the author puts the myths in order as best as he can, and in the back he has an appendix discussing the source material he used.
I haven't read that one myself (though it wouldn't surprise me if /u/Aleglad has), but I can give another recommendation. The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland is a fantastic prose retelling of many of our stories. He does a good job at combing all the versions of the stories he can find and trying to make educated choices on which version of things to use where the tellings diverge from one another. Including explanations of the differences between sources and why he chose the paths he did. Entertaining and informative.
relevant
When he was sharpening his axe for the sake of hunting vampires.
http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Vampire-Seth-Grahame-Smith/dp/0446563080
That is how I now imagine him looking in this.
Fucking fantastic good person. Once you read the book however you will realize that the book is waay better. If you judge it as just a movie, yes you will enjoy it, however, if you compare it to the book, according to details, it is nothing like so.
Yeah, Seth Grahame-Smith.
Thanks for the recommendation. I will have to check it out.
I was also thinking of books to go along with the game and came up with these.
All I can think of is Doomsday Book, about a modern college-age woman who ends up in 14th century France during the black plague
http://www.amazon.com/Doomsday-Book-Connie-Willis/dp/0553562738/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331243561&sr=8-1
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis Amazon Link for description
If you liked Pillars of the Earth, you'd love The Domesday Book
I really liked the "Oxford time-traveling historians" series by Connie Willis.
At some point in the near future, time-traveling is discovered, but is basically only used by historians to do field work in the past. They are meant to be taken seriously, but do use humor. The books in the series are only loosely connected, so you don't need to read them in order. But if you want to, the first is Doomsday Book
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. I'm a fan of time-travel, and history, and I was completely sucked into it. She's got a number of books in the same universe- some comedic, some very dramatic, but The Doomsday Book is my favourite.
If you're at all interested in high fantasy, I'd recommend either Tigana or The Fionovar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. You either love his prose style or hate it, but if you love it, it will definitely take you away.
If you like SF and haven't read them, I'd try either Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos, or David Brin's Uplift Series (I'd skip Sundiver until later, and start with Startide Rising.)
If you're looking for more light-hearted/quirky, I'd try Christopher Moore- either Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal , or The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror. If you're into a mix of horror/sf/comedy, try John Dies at the End. They're not deep, but they're fun.
Non-fiction- if you haven't read it yet, Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air is very difficult to put down. If you're travelling with someone who doesn't mind you looking up every few pages and saying "did you know this, this is awesome, wow-how interesting", I'd go for Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants or Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life. They're all very informative, fun, interesting books, but they're even better if you can share them while you're reading them.
If you want to know more of what happened, read The Gates of Fire. The battle field was fought between the west gate and the Phokian wall in what is called the Narrows or Thermopylae and sits off the Malian Gulf. The closest city was Antheia, not Sparta. Sparta is no where near Thermopylae. In fact, it was several days journey for the Spartans to get to their destination.
The Gates of Fire
http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531
Guns, Germs and Steel has a lot of talk about technology and warfare
http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393317552/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413679485&sr=1-1&keywords=guns%2C+germs+and+steel
I think boys can still read more adult literature. Maybe 8 or 9 is a bit young, but early on in high school was when I read Gates of Fire. It was very adult - it had rape, gore, swearing, and it also turned me onto history in such a big way that I now study the subject professionally. Yeah, it definitely would not fly as part of a school's curriculum, but thankfully I had teachers who either didn't give a fuck what we read or were just happy that we were reading on our own. It was my own book, not like they could really take it away anyway.
By far the best book on getting a feel for what it was 'like' is actually a novel: Gates of Fire: A novel of Thermopylae. Highly recommended.
Scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvx7oXqiaMM
Wiki on the dude:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dienekes
Everyone should read this book
Edit: Bonus scene
Most of my crew team read this in high school. I like to think it was at least partly responsible for who I am now along with rowing in general, of course. It taught me how to be tough, how to keep going despite being in physical pain, to always put the well-being of my friends first, and that if I have to down I should go down fighting. Fantastic read. Link
This is how I feel about Blood Meridian.
i would throw cormac mccarthy's name into your selection, too. both "the road" and "no country for old men" are great introductions to his style. If you get a taste for his writing, definitely pick up "blood meridian." it's my favorite work of his. he's got a good sized catalog of 10 books if you get a taste for his style.
I'm a little confused by the question. You mean the most aesthetically pleasing cover? And you only buy books if you really really like the cover?
Anyway, I like the 25th Anniversary Edition as far as covers go: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Meridian-Evening-Redness-West/dp/0679728759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405309538&sr=8-1&keywords=blood+meridian
If you like westerns, you should read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. If TV series are your thing, then the overlook yet brilliant Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco is something not to be missed. Can't go wrong with McCarthy and Eco. It's hard to compare Cranston to McShane though. It's like apples and oranges there.
[here] (https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Meridian-Evening-Redness-West/dp/0679728759/ref=pd_sbs_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0679728759&pd_rd_r=P07XQGT4QB4JMPZ6CS8Q&pd_rd_w=QHGze&pd_rd_wg=2UjoV&psc=1&refRID=P07XQGT4QB4JMPZ6CS8Q)
Blood Meridian
Judge Holden eats Boltons for breakfast and shits Freys before lunch.
More power to you if you want your book dollars going back into the local economy, but if you're just interested in reading Blood Meridian cheaply you might want to look online. I buy most of my books either through Amazon's used goods dealie or on Biblio.com ($6.50 w/ shipping at both).
I've been an avid reader for most of my life, and Aztec, by Gary Jennings, is one of my absolute favorite books.
If you love Aztecs you will love this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Aztec-Gary-Jennings/dp/0765317508
I am (finally) getting close to finishing the book and it continues to blow me away with its research, accuracy, descriptions, and twists. Its a long ass book and slow at points but it is sooooo worth it
Is this a book reference? There are several scenes just like that in Aztec, is that where you got it?
and by just like it I mean not that like it at all. There's a cruel Queen, and a slave girl, and the guy painting in the corner was a hermaphrodite, I think. I haven't read it in a long time and the details are fuzzy.
EDIT: Right, he's not a hermaphrodite in this book, that was another one by the same author.
I forgot a lot of details, I guess.
>b) Mixtli is a serveant to a Noble woman who assigns him the task of drawing pictures of random people around town. She then picks one of the pictures and requires Mixtli to find the person and order them to the palace where she has sex with them and then has them cooked and served as food. A lesbian encounter here as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Strange-Mr-Norrell-Novel/dp/0765356155
123
My goal is to find the proper doctors so I can fix my depression. I'm doing my best to keep my head up (even bought myself a mala to meditate and keep positive) but it's a day to day thing. I'd like to feel normal for once sometime in the future :)
Forgot to link amazon items, derp! This or [this](http://www.amazon.com/Saga-Vol-Brian-K-Vaughan/dp/1607066017/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2WSLHM9JYNVDB&coliid=I2YG8R3KXF2ZDR] or this would be lovely :)
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean is really good and set very much in the modern day (ignore the crappy cover). I am pretty sure it was part of the whole Terri Windling gang.
Also, it's not a fairy tale exactly, but Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke is one of the best books I've read in the last several years. It's awesome.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is fantastic and exactly what you're looking for. I got hooked from the first pages on amazon - it reminds me of the Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy, or what would happen if Jane Austen and Terry Pratchett had a lovechild.
I've read that The Thinking's Woman's Guide to Real Magic is like an adult oriented Harry Potter book.
The Night Circus is a fantasy romance novel involving magic and a circus. This is set in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
Monstrumologist and its' sequels are really interesting monster hunting novels. This is set in the late 1800s.
Have you read the Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman yet?
Jonathan Strange & Mr.Norrell was a great read. It's another book about magic. I have a copy and I really like it.
I like my feywild to be based off of old irish fairy tales. This is my fey. and the fairy-land is like a hodged podged Alice in Wonderland world and Johnothan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
As for the Shadowfell, I'm a big fan of it being the Upside Down from Stranger Things. With a few more conscious undead and ghosts.
NO SPOILERS, PROMISE:
EVERYONE WHO READ THE BOOK:
Did you know there's a Bioshock: Infinite tie-in in the Rapture book? Page 153, first paragraph refers to "Comstock Mines"! Pretty stinking creative of the author if you ask me.
Edited to pretty-up the link.
Gentlemen of the Road
Yiddish Policemen's Union
The Book of Esther (Though this one got a little weird at the end)
I read a book that tells it like it actually happened: [The Yiddish Policemens Union] (http://www.amazon.com/Yiddish-Policemens-Union-Novel-P-S/dp/0007149832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301463937&sr=8-1)
Perhaps you might enjoy this book.
I did, as did the Pulitzer Prize committee.
It's The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon, and we're discussing it on February 21st.
I really enjoyed the book and finished it earlier today. It's not something I would have chosen for myself but I couldn't put it down. Can't wait to discuss it!
Although, I do highly recommend The Yiddish Policemen's Union.
Michael Chabon?
*edit: link to Amazon. Buy this book, people.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806
The book Cryptonomicon (historical sci-fi) by Neal Stephenson has an entire chapter describing productivity before and after ejaculation. A manual override just doesn't have the same affect. Complete with chart.
It also has a chapter on the proper way to eat Captain Crunch cereal.
I have been unable to find a good exert online but just read the damn book, it is worth the money and time.
I would recommend Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson if you are interested in WWII/signals/math/awesomeness
Oh okay. In any case I really enjoyed Cryptonomicon. I'm doubting you'd like it though. It's over a thousand pages and in one section the author went on for several pages describing the proper technique for eating Cap'n Crunch.
For fiction, check out some stuff by Neal stephenson like Cryptonomicon or Anathem
For non-fiction, maybe Hyperspace by Michio Kaku or Chaos by James Gleick.
This reminds me of The Night Circus! Very pretty.
These suggestions all fit the category of 1. hard to put down. 2. simple reads
They are also more on the fantasy side of the spectrum.
Highly recommend:
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children All three books in the trilogy are great. Maybe stay away from the movie...
The Night Circus
The Hunger Games trilogy Yes, I'm sure you've seen the movies, but the books will add another level.
A ruler, an Xacto knife, a steady hand, and a lot of patience. I imagine if I had legit striping tape and wasn't just using scotch tape it would have been WAY easier, LoL.
And The Night Circus is a book by Erin Morgenstern. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews, and maybe it's just because I love circuses, but I really liked it.
Might be a bit of a stretch, but I'd recommend The Amazing Adeventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.
Everyone here should read Kavalier and Clay, it's one of the best books I've ever read and it's set during the 30's/40's and magicians and Houdini and shit. JUST FUCKING READ IT.
I'm assuming that, if you like Chabon, you've read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. If you haven't, start it right the hell now. It's always my immediate recommendation for contemporary fiction for people who read a lot of classics.
I love reading books! One of my all time favorites is Cloud Atlas! Anything by Jeffrey Eugenides is good too! <3
Seconding Cloud Atlas
I think the book is quite dense, and I took a whole summer to read it (not known for my blistering reading speeds, however). There are several different genres in this book, and I think David Mitchell did an outstanding job bringing each of them to life.
That moment when a word's meaning finally clicks after 30 pages... ahhhhhh
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
I also really loved A Suitable Boy. I think it's brilliant.
For a completely contrasting look at India, I recommend the white tiger by Aravind Adiga.
I think The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is absolutely brilliant, one of the best novels of the last decade.
White Teeth is another really wonderful book about multiculturalism and immigrant life that really stands out.
For a rip-roaring old-fashioned adventure yarn, you can't do better than
Sea of Poppies.
Finally for some superior storytelling and brilliant narrative experimentation try Cloud Atlas or Ghostwritten
I FINALLY have free time to read. I started on Cloud Atlas at the suggestion of a friend, and... well, I'm not far into it, but the vocabulary is fantastically challenging. I'm reading it on my Kindle, and I have to look up ~1-2 words per paragraph. I like books that teach me new words :).
The book was made into a film, which I hope to see once I've finished reading the novel. The soundtrack is great!
READ THIS BOOK - it is one of the best books I've ever read. Just amazing vision and scope. I had no idea they were making it into a movie. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
I had this book a few years back that was a pretty decent retelling of most of the stories. It wasn't too dense either. http://www.amazon.com/Norse-Myths-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394748468
Hello mate, I would recommend you this order: First of all, The Norse Myths:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394748468/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687622&amp;pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&amp;pf_rd_t=201&amp;pf_rd_i=B002HLAF32&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_r=5ST3KMPDJ47HVWWV2AW4
The who´s who in nordic pantheon. Has the most known myths plus a superb introduction to cosmology. Myths are in chronological order, from Ginnungagap to Ragnarok. The writing is very good, adult-oriented with some touches of dry humor.
After it go for the 2 Eddas. Why is important to know about the myths or the gods? Because all the books you are going to read name or make references to the gods or to myths or both. You will want to know what on Midgard are they talking about.
After that, if you want to know more about Asatru specifically, read in this order:
The Asatru Edda
https://www.amazon.com/%C3%81satr%C3%BA-Edda-Sacred-Lore-North/dp/1440131783/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1473832369&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=asatru+edda
The Norroena Society made a superb job publishing this Edda taking away all the christian influence. Really great job. They made with the Eddas what Dr. Viktor Rydberg did with the teutonic myths.
Next in line:
A Practical Heathen's Guide to Asatru
https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Heathens-Guide-Asatru/dp/0738733873/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=8M3GCMHG28EVGP5090FX
Exactly what it says.
Now, if later on your path you feel the itch to learn more about teutonic myths, their social construct, history etc etc let me know that I can recommend more books depending on your needs.
I really liked this book. The author writes in a way that is easy enough to follow without a bunch of prior knowledge.
Amazon
I believe this is the book that started my journey. There is one out there by Neil Gaiman but I found it lacking detail. https://www.amazon.com/Norse-Myths-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394748468
I borrowed this from the library recently and it was pretty good. 8.5/10 would recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/Norse-Myths-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394748468/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Is there any difference in the above book and the book by Kevin titled "The Norse Myths (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)?"
It can be found here:
http://www.amazon.com/Norse-Myths-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394748468/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1375423728&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=norse+mythology
This was my first Norse book to buy on Amazon, I completely love it and recommend it.
This is more accurate
Relevant
Win, I'm currently reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer It's amazing.
That would imply one should learn from history. Not very viable when people are busy re-writing or re-interpreting history to further their causes. As an example look what some have done with Abraham Lincoln.
That's zombies, if you want vampires you may want to move towards Abe Lincoln's autobiography.
And here iis a link to the book it is based on...
http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Vampire-Seth-Grahame-Smith/dp/0446563080
Yarp.
Let's get grammared this weekend!
I <3 your phrase! :D
My last final is on the May 12th, so I'm not done yet.
Anyway, Happy Almost Birthday!!!! My b-day is coming up soon too: May 26th
I'm sorry I don't read much but the last book I read and loved that seems to be in your realm of interest was:
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Same book on paperbackswap.com
I enjoyed Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
I found his uncensored biography.
I see there are a lot of fantasy recommendations here, but I think you may want to try out historical fiction.
GRRM gets a lot of his inspiration from history. Try out Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCullough.
Best memoir I've read to date:
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Shores-Viktor-Leonov/dp/0804107327/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1301539345&amp;sr=8-1
A few other good ones:
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Sniper-Eastern-Front-Pilyushin/dp/1848841205/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
http://www.amazon.com/GUNS-AGAINST-REICH-Memoirs-Artillery/dp/1844159310/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
A very well written account of Poltava and warfare in the eighteenth century:
http://www.amazon.com/Battle-That-Shook-Europe-Poltava/dp/1860648479/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
Best WWII fiction:
http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Glory-Steven-Edward-Rustad/dp/157566397X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1301539373&amp;sr=8-1
Steven Pressfield has a lot of great stuff, although I hated his book on Rommel. But try 'Gates of Fire':
http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/055338368X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1301539446&amp;sr=8-1
Anything by Bernard Cornwell.
Anyways, having looked over my bookshelf, here are some recommendations purely for the sake of recommending. Maybe not spot on what you're looking for, but why not...
Neverwhere. A book I've read about nine times. Because it's awesome.
Time Traveler's Wife. Kind of established/re-ignited my hope and sense of romance. My father isn't much of a reader and usually takes months to go through a single book, but after losing his wife, my stepmother, he went through this in a week and thanked me profusely afterwards.
Island. I'll tell you right off, it's one of those 'intelligent reads'. The end is proclaimed early, it comes as predicted and it's depressing, but the book overall is nice. You read it first, to check :)
Gates of Fire.
Born To Run. Just read this recently. Fun, interesting, quick.
Ernest Shackleton's South - the early 20th century polar explorer's account of the ill-fated Endurance voyage that was trapped in Antarctic ice.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure: The Way of the Warrior - the 18th century Japanese book on the samurai code that gets quoted a lot in the 1999 Jim Jarmusch movie "Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai".
Erik Larson's Devil in the White City and Isaac's Storm - two excellent non-fiction accounts of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the gruesome murders that surrounded it and the 1900 storm that destroyed Galveston, Texas.
Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire - it may be fiction, but it doesn't get any manlier than 300 Spartans facing off against thousands of invading Persians at Thermopylae.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. A historian gets sent back in time to study the middle ages and gets stuck there.
Wait, do you mean this Doomsday Book? Because that was SF mainly set in the past. And I enjoyed it very much.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is phenomenal.
I also really enjoyed Summer of Love by Lisa Mason
Should be an interesting read. One of my favourites is still Connie Willis' The Doomsday Book, so this should be interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.
Came here to say this. Connie Willis has a series of tremendous science fiction books about time travelling women.
My two favorite from that series are The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, which is the best light-hearted sci-fi I've ever read.
Lots of good stuff out there. You might look at
Gates of Fire
I highly recommend "Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield if anyone is interested in reading about Spartan culture and the battle of Thermopylae specifically. It is fiction, but very good.
http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531
"Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield. An epic novel spanning the life of a Spartan helot into the maturing man fighting in the Battle of Thermopalyae. Highly reccommended as the retired marines insight provides an underlying sense of valor and admiration to the Spartans tough military lifetsyle.
http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531
300 was fuckin stupid. Read this
I don't think anyone mentioned Fire at the Gates yet
http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531
I read this book for the first time back in 04 while I was in Iraq. I've read it 5 times since. It's beat the hell up but I'm too attached to this copy to give it up. But if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.
Is this the book you're talking about?
Gates of Fire - Steven Pressfield
http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531
Gates of Fire by Steve Pressfield. It's 300 for grown-ups: http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531
Taking the movie on its on merits it'll be a mindless effects laden summer movie blockbuster type so you shouldn't expect much in terms of mind blowing writing and the such. Now what I take offense too, and this is something Hollywood continues to do, is take incredibly interesting historical events, which on their own merits are remarkable stories in it of them selves and completely change the stories to make them more "bad ass" and appeal to a general blockbuster style fan base. Take 300 for example, now nothing wrong with Frank Miller's amazing graphic novel, or Zack Snyder's direction of the adaptation BUT now we'll never see a real true telling of the battle of Thermopylae or at best have to wait like 20 years since the rights to Stephen Pressfield's Gates of Fire are locked away in the phantom zone of Hollywood. The story of the 47 Ronin is amazing and should be told as it happened, not with dragon ladies, giant armored Samurai monsters and Keanu wielding a lightsaber katana. Also, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a pretty damn fun read...which Hollywood dumbed down beyond possible levels and changed pretty much everything in the book, in fact they pretty much just share Abraham Lincoln and little else. - Ends rant, Steps off soap box. (Also fist post here so if it was way too long sorry lol)
Excellent work man, great progress.
Also, everything in this book is planned for a particular reason, trust me.
As for books, Gates of Fire is my favorite, the concept of brotherhood, duty, and masculine power are all covered within.
Cormac McCarthy could definitely be read by a child (Blood Meridian is at about a 6th grade level according to the Flesch-Kincaid Index), except for the fact that his books would scare the shit out of them. And how is saying it's too "mature" for children any different than saying they couldn't handle it emotionally?
I was lucky enough to take a class taught by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Shutter Island) called Modern Novels of Chaos. It changed how I viewed fiction; so many dark, evil books.
Here are the top 3 books we read:
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
A Prayer for the Dying - Stewart O'Nan
The Lover - Marguerite Duras
Bats Out of Hell - Barry Hannah
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline - George Saunders
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
Actual Air - David Berman
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Meridian-Evening-Redness-West/dp/0679728759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1416973996&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=blood+meridian
I've heard House of Leaves is really bizarre and cool.
My current deck is Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa, Between Legitimacy and Violence: A History of Colombia, 1875-2002, Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, Blood Meridian, and One Hundred Years of Solitude.
It's a really depressing list.
I read American Gods a couple years ago and hated it enough to not pick up another fiction book for like over a year.
Happy (almost) birthday and I hope don't cry on your party. ;)
Here's something for the raffle -been on my to-read list for a long time but there's no translated version in my country or easy way to get the original - Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
I have so many favorite books, one of which is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. Not a light read by any stretch; it's harrowing, terrifying, really difficult to get through, and it makes you utterly sad about how evil the world can be.
But so, so, so well written and thought-provoking.
I don't know about awe-inspiring, but I think 'The Crossing' by Cormac McCarthy is one of the most moving pieces of fiction I've ever read.
'Blood Meridian' is usually considered his best and most literary work, however, and it is quite good.
'Stand on Zanzibar' by John Brunner is really good and surprisingly predictive of our current world.
'Marabou Stork Nightmare' by Irvine Welsh. It's deliciously twisted and has a very interesting premise. I read it over 10 years ago and it still sticks with me.
Another good one, and perhaps one of my all time favorite books, is Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian: Or The Evening Redness in the West'. Just an incredible read, dark and powerful, a visceral look at westward expansion in the mid 1800's.
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West. Hands down the best book I've ever read.
gnostics are mystics, basically. gnostic christianity is to regular christianity in somewhat as sufism is to islam. the general idea is that you reach god through "gnosis", some sort of higher understanding achieved through personal development.
gnostic christianity has a couple branches as i understand it, but the general idea is that there was undifferentiated bliss, and a schism between good and evil created the physical world. there are demiurges bound to the physical world who seek to have dominion over it, and those are archons. the true god simply wants for us to attain gnosis and return to undifferentiated bliss.
more or less. the gnostic view of the death of jesus was not that sacrifice was necessary to redeem oneself, but that he was simply done and was going to return to undifferentiated bliss. the recently found gospel of judas claims that judas was in fact his closest disciple, and he alone understood his actual teachings. when the guards came for jesus, judas bought him some time by leading them off in another direction and then leading them to jesus later. but then the remaining disciples who were less developed sold judas out.
i find gnosticism interesting because it maintains that the reason we feel alienated in this physical world is that our consciousness is a "spark of the alien divine", and we do are not in fact of this plane. it helped me be more at peace with the alienation and terror i feel at existing in a fucked up reality, and gave me resolve to restart developing myself and my consciousness.
i've always been a little interested in gnosticism, having been raised around catholicism but with knowledge of eastern religions as well. but i got really interested in it when i read Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, which is a western built on these heavy gnostic themes with an archon-esque character. it's an amazing book and you should read it, though be warned it contains lots of violence. he also wrote No Country For Old Men, and anton chigurh is supposed to be like an archon of material avarice.
i still haven't read much about gnosticism directly and the bulk of my knowledge is from editorialized summaries. i have purchased some translations of the gnostic gospels, though, as well as what is supposed to be a superior and heavily footnoted translation of the five books of moses by Robert Alter, a comparative linguist and professor of hebrew who was inspired by the writing of authors such as Cormac McCarthy.
my interest in gnosticism also led me to read Gurdjieff's Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, which is an allegorical summary of his belief structure told from the perspective of an alien being describing us, developed through many years of travel in remote areas of the world talking to spiritual masters of many disciplines. it has really changed my view of life, even if you ignore the spiritual aspects, and i consider it to be the most important book i've read. in any case, he's got a much broader gnostic view that is not restricted to gnostic christianity.
cheers. :)
EDIT: also, wikipedia on gnosticism, and archons
Amazon
Aztec by Gary Jennings. The author spent 10 years researching this book prior to writing. Warning: it starts slowly. Stick with it for the first 50 pages and then you won't be able to put it down.
There are 5 sequels, spanning the period up to and after the Revolution. The first of those sequels was written by Jennings, the rest were written by his editor based on his notes.
Did you try "Aztec" ? It's not a "horror" book but historical fiction.
There is some good horror elements though, because of their weird relationship with death (sacrifices, cannibalism, etc) :
https://www.amazon.com/Aztec-Gary-Jennings/dp/0765317508/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=gary+jennings&qid=1558981213&s=gateway&sr=8-1
&#x200B;
&#x200B;
>I would like similar themes (does not have to be Aztec) but i would like it based in the jungle. More horror then fantasy, no romance with very little sex. Fiction loosely based on facts but not a must. Could have expeditions to find lost citys, a bit like the movie lost city of oz flick
It will be very hard to find the book you want, at this point, maybe try to write it yourself ;-)
Here is a good read: AZTEC by Gary Jennings www.amazon.com/Aztec-Gary-Jennings/dp/0765317508
I have all the books in a box in storage. I was reading them when I was in 6th grade, and now I'm 48.... tells you what an impact they had. There might have been 5 or 6 of them. I honestly don't remember much from them now except for the physical things (like the reallly thin string that can cut you in half if you don't handle it right, made to hold the night/day solar panels together). Since then, I've been much more into real science, black holes, physics, etc. I tried reading some of the classic sci-fi like Asimov and Dune and the Hobbit books but just couldn't get into them.
One exception is a book called Aztec [Amazon.com link] by Gary Jennings who wrote about the Spanish invasion of Mexico from the viewpoint of an Aztec. He also wrote one about Marco Polo (I think?) which was about the spanish explorer's world travels. Other than those..... I only really read about hard science and scientists' biographies. And I'm a jazz musician if I didn't mention it before.
I enjoyed Refuge, by Richard Herley. It's about a man who thinks he is the last person in the world until he discovers a recently-killed body in a creek near his home.
Here is the book's first chapter.
There's also Aztec, by Gary Jennings, which is a fantastic adventure story set in pre-Columbian Mexico. You can get a preview on its Amazon.com page.
Historical Fiction... Aztec by Gary Jennings. It is an excellent book. Just fantastic. But be warned. It broke my heart. When I finished it, I just went into my room, curled up and sobbed.
Unfortunately, I haven't played this game so I can't speak for its veracity or lack thereof. But I am going to piggy-back off your question to ask my fellow panelists about some other Mesoamerica-in-pop-culture questions.
Have any of you read Gary Jennings Aztec? It's been sitting on my shelf for a while but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. If you have read it, how well does it score for historical accuracy?
I've also not seen Apocalypto either. How well (or poorly, if what I've heard of it is accurate) does that film reflect Mayan culture at the time?
Aztec series by Gary Jennings, if you're into something epic.
The King in Yellow was arguable Lovecraft's biggest influence.
Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books might be a good fit.
Haruki Murakami in my opinion does "dreamlike" better then anyone else I have read. The Wind up Bird Chronicles, might be a good start.
For something like Stardust, I would recommend John Crowly, particularly Little Big, Winters Tale, and maybe Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.
I think Clive Barker hits the tone you are looking for sometimes, but not in all of his work, maybe someone who has read him more can give a better recommendation.
If you have not read China Miéville Perdido Street Station would be a good start.
I just started The Drowning Girl so can't really give a full review, but so far it seems like it would also be a good fit.
For something that is not really what you asked for, but is a fun read for a Lovecraft fan I would recommend Charles Stross' The Laundry Files Series, Starting with The Atrocity Archive A semi comic story about the bureaucratic side of the secret agency that deals with the impending lovecraftian nightmare apocalypse, a little pulpy, but lots of fun.
A couple of suggestions for you, as a fellow lover of magical realism:
Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith by Gina Nahai
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaimen (my favorite of his - it is more magic realism than most of his other fantasy/slipstream style books)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Nights at the circus by Angela Carter
I recommend the book Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell to anyone who likes deep fantasy. This book, however, is really not for you if you love action scenes, or descriptive violence. This book has a big, big weird world. It's influenced by "faerie" stuff and lore. It's not a black and white morality book like a lot of fantasy.
Mostly, it's totally interesting, and weird, and funny, British dry-humoury. I recommend it if you like fantasy, but not necessarily traditional tropes of sword-carrying, dragon-slaying heroes.
EDIT: Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Strange-Mr-Norrell-Novel/dp/0765356155
The first review is pretty helpful to get a gauge on how you'll like it (or not!).
The best fantasy book I ever read was Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It's a slow burn, but the world building is second to none. There was a BBC miniseries as well. I haven't watched it but it's well-reviewed.
Some others I really like:
Hoity toity literature: Moby Dick (way more fun than it's reputation lets on), Notes From the Underground by Dostoevsky.
Non-fiction: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (chronicles the building of the World's Fair in Chicago alongside HH Holmes building his Murder Castle), The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddartha Mukherjee (history of cancer).
Great sci-fi: Dune, Canticle for Leibowitz, Fahrenheit 451.
Books that are really fun to read: Anything by Neil Gaiman, Dresden Files series.
If you like video games and delving into backstories...
Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley
Sci-Fi / Horror(?)
I particularly like it because it was able to capture the feel of the Bioshock series - dark, mysterious, dramatic and sometimes creepy. I love the fact that radical political ideologies come into play, and the story line is much deeper than most common video games out there. It enriches your experience for the series, and John's writing is easy to read.
Hi there! I'm Sierra and welcome to RAoA! I just learned how to sew so I would love any of the sewing patterns I have on my wishlist, you can only have so many of the same skirt in different fabrics lol. I also love Bioshock and Fallout 3 and if you haven't read Rapture by John Shirley you should! It gives you an awesome insight into what Rapture was like before the fall.
Start with shorter stories - much like running or anything else, there's an element of having to build yourself up to reading something longer like a novel. You could also try reading books that connect to the video games/movies/shows/etc that you like. It can be hard to get into a book if you don't care about the characters - but if they're from something you're already familiar with, it can be easier. If you're a fan of Bioshock, for example, there's a great book about how Rapture came to be.
Good luck! :)
It's very well done, and follows the novelization very closely.
Enjoy!
If you get a chance to read the rapture book they sort of talk about rapture when it was running. I would absolutely love to explore it
It's actually called "Bioshock: Rapture." You can order it on Amazon!
http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1408742784&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=bioshock+rapture
Jealous that you're enjoying them for the first time! When you finish the game, i highly recommend picking up the book it serves as a prequel to the first game and it's really great stuff.
Giving a link to where to find it might help dude!
Also, can anyone recommend these two?
Yep, this one...
https://www.amazon.ca/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351
Are you thinking of this book? Because that looks really intriguing!
Worth emphasizing: If you are intrigued/interested by the story of Bioshock, seriously consider reading BioShock: Rapture by John Shirley. It's a prequel to the first Bioshock game. Not officially recognized as part of the canon, but Ken Levine served as a consultant so I think you can consider it pretty official.
It's good.
If you loved the setting of Rapture, you should check out the novel that recounts the rise and fall of the city.
There was a book written, a prequel to Bioshock 1, in which we see Andrew Ryan's descent into madness, a lot of the main characters, and how Rapture started out and became so messed up. Reading it really felt like playing the game, just the style they used. I recommend it.
BioShock: Rapture https://www.amazon.com/dp/0765367351/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_qduKwbP166GKZ
You might enjoy reading the book Bioshock Rapture. They do a pretty good job filling in how the structure was made and why it went to hell.
https://smile.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4VC7JKWZUZQD&amp;keywords=bioshock+rapture&amp;qid=1574096193&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=bioshock+rap%2Caps%2C231&amp;sr=1-1
I would love [this Bioshock book] (http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351/ref=wl_it_dp_v_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&amp;colid=2HTHRVKNRES31&amp;coliid=I3H35UJVT4H98X) because I have played the games and I love the environment. I want to get the city better and this book will allow me to do so.
So it goes.
This?
I recommend for anyone who hasn't and is interesting in the early days of Rapture, to read the book. Here's the link.
I just read it about a month ago, and it was really good.
I've just finished playing both Bioshock 1 and 2 for the first time, back to back, and I've fallen in love with the franchise. I'd love to get this book so I can keep reading about Rapture.
Insanely good point.
There is a book that goes really deep into the history and story of rapture before you ever set foot into the game and gives insight into a lot of what you mentioned. Very good read if you get the chance
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351
I feel also like BioShock:Infinite delves a lot into the whole 'Lower vs High class' thing too with Comstock going full out armageddon on the Fitzroy resistance.
yea, the book "bioshock: Rapture" briefly how there are "rapture dollars" instead os us currency
There's a book called Bioshock: Rapture written by John Shirley which basically takes you through everything from the construction of Rapture up to the beginning of the first game. It's well written and he talked to the makers of Bioshock while writing.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765367351?pc_redir=1408254382&amp;robot_redir=1
Oh wow that's crazy tounread that in fourth grade! I don't know if I could handled that so young. i could barely do it at 15!
I love them too! I love that you get to play through the second game as a Big Dadsy and get to interact with the Little Sisters more. It's really cool to explore Rapture from a different perspective. Is it this book. I have this book and have yet to read it. Did you not like the second one? Doesn't seem like many people do.
It is a lot, and a World History class should be broken down into like 5 classes or so cause that's a ridiculous amount of history to know. I also get mixed uo on differenr battles.-. There really is too much too remember, but finding one or two things that makes it fascinating or ar least stands out, always helped me remember the rest of the "story." Haha I've heard of that, I definitelt have the english/history brain. I can compehend most math, but science goes right over my head. I've always been envious of people who can actuallt understand science. High school does cram a lot way too fast. Going to college I was surprised at the difference in how there was less of a rush to learn it all.
I couldn't help but notice the video game-related titles on your list. If you played/enjoyed the original Bioshock game, I would recommend Rapture by John Shirley. Just one book, but I thought it was great.
Edit: My eyes completely skipped "series" for some reason...sorry about that. My recommendation stands, maybe as something to put on your "read later" list? I'll second the Dresden Files series. Again, sorry!
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
Each chapter is about 3 pages long (its a novel), it revolves around the nightly dreams that Einstein is having during the time period that he is coming up with his theory of relativity. Each chapter/dream describes worlds where time moves/is defined differently.
Highly suggest it, easy read, beautifully written. Really leaves you sitting there thinking.
http://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X
If you want to think about time in ways you may not have thought of it, check out this book. Its many little (very interesting) short stories each describing a different scenario with the focus on different facets of time. A must read for those that enjoy seeing things in a different way...
If you like Flatland, you'll love Einstein's Dreams.
not gonna help you out but you should read Einstein's Dreams, i bet you would really like it. its a very quick read too, should take you no longer than 1 or 2 afternoons
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. It's a collection of short stories, each demonstrating one possible view of time. It's an incredibly interesting read.
If anyone else happens to like those short-format thought collection-style books, two other interesting ones that I really like are:
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
I come back to both of these books repeatedly for creative inspiration, I like them so much. I have yet to read Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, but from what Grey said, I feel like the two that I mentioned might be a little bit more in-depth and may require a bit more work to understand in some cases.
Michio Kaku does a great job of explaining advanced concepts of physics in layman's terms. He describes 14 dimensions in the book.
read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Hyperspace-Scientific-Odyssey-Parallel-Universes/dp/0385477058/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1291998866&amp;sr=8-3
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON!
get it elsewhere please.
edit: OOH! since you mentioned time. This will help you learn to conceive alternate states of such....and is a really kick-ass book.
http://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1291999070&amp;sr=1-1
DON'T BUY THIS ONE FROM AMAZON EITHER! plz.
To this day there is still no greater book for opening up the world of thought than Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy. This book is indispensable.
Aside from that the best advice, as many here have noted, is to simply read widely and often. Here are some other books I can personally recommend as being particularly insightful:
If anyone is interested in this topic, I highly recommend Einstein's Dreams. A very small book filled with different extreme worlds in which time is different than our own, including one like the OP is talking about where people try to live in tall buildings and only the poor scurry about at low altitudes. It's probably my favorite book, and I've read such masterpieces a the novelization of Adventures in Babysitting.
Einstein's Dreams. Very good. I've gifted it before.
http://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1427842508&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=einstein%27s+dreams
Oh gosh, I'm actually kind of horrible about reading! Some of my favorite little books are:
'Einstein's Dreams' by Alan Lightman.
It's a fictional book that itemizes Einstein's dreams leading up to his creation of the theory of relativity. It's a really fun read and gets your head thinking about time and what time is. It's short, with each "dream" lasting only a handful of pages. It's been one of my favorite books to come back to anytime I can.
You can read reviews on Amazon as well as read the first few pages. Clicky for Amazon.
Once you read this you'll probably find that you want to read more of Lightman's books in the hopes of finding other really enjoyable reads. While his other books are good, they're not the same. I haven't found anything that's quite like this book so far, which is a shame. Would love to hear suggestions from folks who have read this and found other books similarly enjoyable.
Mushashi by Eiji Yoshikawa
Musashi
I didn't tag book of five rings because this book is about Miyamoto Musashi and not just his philosophy which seems to be what you're looking for. I would read this first then you'll likely want to read the rest. I read this book 10 years ago and it changed my life. It jolted me into action and still affects how I am today.
Perhaps you've already gotten him a book by now, but here are my recommendations for him and anyone else who reads this thread. I'm a martial arts researcher and a former martial arts teacher. I even wrote my Master's Thesis on martial arts. I've read literally hundreds of books on the subject. There are a lot of terrible books out there on the martial arts but you can't go wrong with any of these.
If he studies Shotokan, the best place to start is with the guy who invented it.
Karate-Do: My Way of Life is written by the founding master of Shotokan, Gichin Funakoshi.
http://www.amazon.com/Karate-Do-Way-Life-Gichin-Funakoshi/dp/1568364989/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411959258&amp;sr=1-10&amp;keywords=shotokan
My number one recommendation is When Buddhists Attack by Jeffery Mann - This is an very well researched book on the history of the relationship between Zen and the Martial arts. It is a fantastic book that will help him deepen his understanding of martial arts instead of intentionally mystifying it more to try to sell more books like most martial arts books do.
http://www.amazon.com/When-Buddhists-Attack-Curious-Relationship/dp/4805312300/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411958781&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=when+buddhists+attack
If he's more into stories, I'd recommend Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. It's a novelization of one of the most famous samurai to ever live. It's an exaggeration of his life but very entertaining.
http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X
If he'd rather learn about the real person I'd recommend The Lone Samurai by William Scott Wilson. Wilson is a famous translator and historian, his work is very well researched and enjoyable to read.
http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Samurai-Life-Miyamoto-Musashi/dp/1590309871/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411958941&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+lone+samurai
I'll end with a list of books NOT to buy. These are books are really popular but are full of misinformation, outright fabrications, or worse.
Joe Hyams - Zen in the Martial arts
Eugen Herrigel - Zen in the Art of Archery
Inazo - Nitobe - Bushido
Hope this helps! If not, you have gift ideas for next year!
I read this book when I was 15-ish
https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X/ref=asc_df_156836427X/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=312009759033&amp;hvpos=1o1&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=14384639465927352324&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=m&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9028805&amp;hvtargid=pla-432396557900&amp;psc=1
When I needed my first internet username I picked that and I’ve used it for 20+ years now.
here's a link to Musashi
Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era https://www.amazon.ca/dp/156836427X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_K9YyzbPJGTKSP
This:
https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1487355717&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Musashi
What does it read like ... historical, fantasy? Do you know of any western novels or simply genres that compare?
/u/Toptomcat nailed it. Wholeheartedly agree in reference to Bubishi, not very practical but interesting nonetheless. I loved Draeger's CAFA and Unante is comprehensive thesis on the historical origins and lineages of the Okinawan fighting arts. These titles might not be for everyone but I am a history buff in addition to a martial artist so I enjoyed them.
Couple of others:
A few off-topic but related titles:
feudal Japan is a fascinating topic. I recommend Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa,as a fun intro to an amazing time and place.
A Boy Called H A story of a kid growing up during WW2
Shank's Mare also know as Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige. The best way the book was described to me was Beavis and Butthead in medieval Japan. It's about two travelers walking around and getting into trouble.
Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era - the story of Miyoto Musashi, one of the most well known sword saints in Japan.
Shipwrecks A story of a village set in the Edo era, interesting premise but disappointing ending.
If you like the book Shogun, James Clavell wrote another one based during the Meji Restoration titled Gai-Jin
Is this the same book?
https://archive.org/details/MusashiEijiYoshikawa
Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/156836427X/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_74_3?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=51HImP4tNRL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_AC_UL100_SR100%2C100_&amp;refRID=17E5J6YAN59D0PH3M1YA
I haven't seen it myself, but if you want something coming-of-age from a POC author/characters' perspective, Junot Diaz's The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao would probably be right up your alley.
Hi there!
I always try to run a Borges circlejerk here in /r/Spanish, but today, according to what you say, I'd suggest you read the Spanish version of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz.
I hear the Spanish version is excellent. Its the story about this Dominican-American nerd and his neckbeard struggles to find love in a wonderful narration that incorporates elements from comic book and science fiction references to Dominican jargon. Also, its not too long. Have a go at it!
Ninja edit: Linked the English version, so here's the Spanish Kindle reference.
The first in what I hope will be a series of stellar Ted Chiang adaptations!
ANYONE who is into beautiful, idea-centric sci-fi will benefit from the book this is based on! http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang/dp/1931520720
If you're not familiar, I think you would probably enjoy the stories of Ted Chiang.
Get on that shit.
Musashi http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572 "sold 120 million copies in Japan."
That's just for 2008 though... I'd open it up to other years.
First up is anything by Umberto Eco. He's the guy who wrote "Name of the Rose", but his other books are phenomenal. If you hated "The DaVinci Code" then check out "Foucalt's Pendulum". He makes Dan Brown look mildly retarded. His novels are so heavy and serious that I was surprised by his tiny book of essays "How To Travel With a Salmon" which is hilarious.
Let's see... what else... "Shadow of the Wind" is excellent. The Musashi novels are fun to read. Scaramouche, which was turned into an OK movie. Classics like Cyrano de Bergerac should be required reading.
I had a hard time hunting down all the volumes to "Journey to the West" and it's not a task that should be taken on lightly, but I think I'm a better person for having muscled through them.
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Name-Rose-Everymans-Library-Cloth/dp/0307264890/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1228637805&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Foucaults-Pendulum-Umberto-Eco/dp/015603297X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1228637841&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Salmon-Other-Essays-Harvest/dp/015600125X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1228637864&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zaf%C3%B3n/dp/0143034901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1228637894&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1228637921&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Scaramouche-Rafael-Sabatini/dp/0554360268/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1228637963&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Cyrano-Bergerac-Edmond-Rostand/dp/0451528921/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1228637993&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-West-4-Boxed-Set/dp/7119016636/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1228637756&amp;sr=8-1
Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa
Musashi: http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572
Forget the other crap and get Musashi.
http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572
It's an epic book, based in reality. It's a fictionalized biography of Miyamoto Musashi, likely the most famous swordsman ever to have lived.
Sorry to bump an old thread, but does anyone know if this version of Moss Roberts' translation is the same as the Two volume set?
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=QWT3NW5RQ2T252YWV2JR
I just like the design a lot more with this version, and four volumes seems easier to handle than two.
Either House of Leaves or [Three Kingdoms](http://www.amazon.com/Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Classic-4-Volumes/dp/7119005901 "DON'T GET THE ABRIDGED ONE.").
Oh man, I could recommend so many.
Kung Fu and Taoism:
The Making of a Butterfly is one of my favorite books. It is about a white kid who starts learning Kung Fu out of a Chinese master's basement back in the 70s, well before Kung Fu was popularized in the West.
Chronicles of Tao by Deng Ming Dao is excellent, a narrative perspective of how Taoism intertwines with the life of a Kung Fu practitioner.
American Shaolin by Matthew Polly is an entertaining and illuminating story that disseminates a lot of the mysticism surrounding the Shaolin Temple.
The Crocodile and the Crane is a fun fictional book that is basically about Tai Chi saving the world from a zombie apocalypse.
My next goal is to tackle The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Of course, I highly recommend the Tao Te Ching and the Art of War as well.
Buddhism: I highly recommend anything Thich Nhat Hanh. Anger and Peace is Every Step are two of my favorites.
Karate and Japanese Arts:
Moving Toward Stillness by Dave Lowry is one of my favorite books, taken from his columns in Black Belt Magazine over the years. A really excellent study on Japanese arts and philosophy.
Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings by Kenji Tokitsu is wonderful. It includes the Book of Five Rings as well as some of Musashi's other works, including many of his paintings.
The 47 Ronin, by John Allyn, a dramatization of the Genroku Ako Incident, is still quite poignant in 2016.
Is the Moss Roberts translation supposed to be rare? I got mine from Amazon : By Moss Roberts
Suggest two nerdy things if you find this story interesting:
One of the four "Chinese Classics", Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1414983566&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=romance+of+the+three+kingdoms
Dynasty Warriors 7 takes that source material and takes it over the top. Many are split on the gameplay, but DW7 focused on the source material more than any title before it.
http://www.amazon.com/Dynasty-Warriors-7-Playstation-3/dp/B004HVKA9O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1414983609&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=dynasty+warriors+7
I bought this version (Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/7119005901/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_xETQAb2AXR0MB ) of the book about 6 months ago. I got near the end of the first novel and then stopped reading it. Been meaning to get back and read it but been so busy with school work I haven't had time. Brilliant book though. If there was an audio book I would definitely give it a go, but the paper back book is nice to have.
It's hard. I would probably compare it to the Iliad and the Odyssey, but those books together cover about 20 years with a few hundred characters. Three Kingdoms spans about 110 years and has a few thousand characters. There are parts where the writing is dry, the ridiculous attention to detail means that every significant event from history (as well as folk stories that didn't actually happen) is described and contextualized in great detail, and it totally loses steam at the end when the most interesting people are basically all dead.
That said, I'm clearly a huge fan and would recommend it to anyone who has the patience to get through it and an interest in the subject matter. Although there is a more recent translation by a different translator, to my knowledge, this is still the gold standard for the English translation, and it's not super expensive. You could probably also find a copy at your library, although you might have to settle for an abridged version.
This is the version I purchased.
This is precisely with I think places like /v/ have much better conversations than /r/gaming in general. Whenever a movie-videogame thread appears nobody goes into this "better-than-thou" attitude. Everybody knows it's a joke, everyone does it for fun. Nobody is trying to appear all smart and intellectual because they are repeating what's already obvious.
It really is fun to see people speculate about which actors would play which characters, for example.
Also, Bioshock:Rapture is proof enough that quality adaptions are possible as long as you have talented people behind it.
I'd recommend The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. It's not a distant future sci-fi, it's more alternate history version of modern day, but enough of a difference that things feel unique.
Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson
http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1217867198&amp;sr=8-2
Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Everyone has problems, and existentially, your suffering is always going to be the maximum for you. Or whatever.
But one Starbucks coffee a week isn't going to improve the quality of your life appreciably. And something like Plumpynut, Oral Rehydration Salts, or vaccines to wipe out polio and measles cost almost nothing, but literally can save someone else's life who did nothing but choose their parents poorly.
It really does make a difference to set aside a little bit of money each month to make an unequal world more equitable. Your choices do matter, even if it's only $20 a month or less.
Even if it's not UNICEF, make part of your budget & life making sure those in need & those serving them have the resources to save & improve lives.
“My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?”
Abraham Lincoln the great vampire hunter
Well, you need to be on your toes when you're a vampire hunter
I would also suggest cross-posting this to r/booksuggestions.
Also, I love historical fiction so a few of my recommendations:
http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351/
If you enjoyed the story for Bioshock 1 and 2 I highly recommend the book that takes before the fall.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765367351/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1473792922&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&amp;keywords=bioshock+rapture
I've no answer to your question (if I did I'd be God), but I just want to share a book that you might be interested in - Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. It considers time from a lot of different, fascinating angles.
I was extremely disappointed when I realized this had nothing to do with the OTHER David Mitchell.
http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Novel-David-Mitchell/dp/0375507256