What\'s you\'re favorite book series?

Hi,

I was wondering what people like to read around here. I\'m pretty sure I know which choice a certain moderator, as well as Darth Joyda will make, hehe.

Anyway, I read mostly fantasy related books, with an occasional break book, as I like to call them,
"usually something based on a movie or comic book, but I\'m not very particular," thrown in to help relieve the monotony and help keep the series I\'m reading fresh.

My favorite series are:
 
J.R.R. Tolkien\'s the Lord of the Rings; Including the Hobbit, which I personally consider part of the LOTR, and wish they would release one big compendium containing the four books. Bah, you say it wouldn\'t be a trilogy then, dare not try to use reason with me in this matter!
And no, boxed sets do not count.

Second in line is Dragonlance. I\'m kind of in DL overdrive at the moment, as I\'ve read the Chronicles Trilogy, the Legends Trilogy, Second Generation, Dragons of Summer Flame, Soul Forge, and the first seventy or so pages of Brother in Arms in the last two months. And I\'ve got like ten other books in the series sitting on the shelf waiting for me to read them.

I\'m kind of hung up with Brothers in arms, and think it\'s about that time for a *Break Book* so I don\'t get too sick of the story . . . the ol\' adage is true, too much of anything, even a good thing, is a bad thing.
 
Anyway, all of these books, except two we\'re co authored by two of my favorite authors, Margeret Weis and Tracy Hickman, who also wrote the "Deathgate Cycle," which I plan on buying, once gaming gives my wallet a break. The remaing two are both authored by Weis, one singulary, the other co authored with her husband, Don Perrin.  

These are my two big passions in literature. I\'ve got several other books; The two R.A. Salvatore trilogies, Dark Elf and Icewind Dale, as well as some of Robert Jordan\'s the Wheel of Time, and some other random titles, all sitting on my shelf allong with the *Break Books*. But I can\'t touch these until I get bored of what I\'m on.

So basically, I love fantasy, and there\'s an example of my favorite books, as well as what I plan on reading in the future.

What do you guys like? I\'m really interested in you\'re opinions!

Frodo

P.S. Sorry about the limited choices for all you sci fi fans, I don\'t read the genra and am not that familiar with whats available.

I would have to say Raymond E. Feist\'s Riftwar and Serpentwar series. I\'ve never really gotten into any of the others, with the exception of WOT (on book 2). But even this far, I think Feist is better. His books are more action oriented, and more concise, as opposed to Jordan, who I find to be entertaining but overly verbose. I\'ve read and reread 10 of his books, and I\'m missing six. And there\'s three more sagas to go, I can\'t wait!

My favorite series thus far have been:

ISAAC ASIMOV.  Robot Novels | Empire Novels | Foundation Novels.  If you haven\'t read these, then your life is not complete yet.  NUFF SAID.

David Brin\'s Uplift novels.  They are Sundiver, Startide Rising, The Uplift War, Brightness Reef, Infinity\'s Shore, and Heaven\'s Reach.  Brin is a very good writer, and these stories are phenomenally inventive.  An important branch of the story is completely unfinished, so I\'d expect him to release some more works in the future.  Highly recommended.

If you\'re into fantasy, then why didn\'t you mention Michael Moorcock?  I\'ve read the first four trade-size reprints entitled The Eternal Champion, Von Bek, Hawkmoon, and A Nomad of the Timestreams, and I\'ve barely scratched the surface.  Elric is next.

For horror, read Brian Lumley\'s Necroscope series.  (Necroscope, Vamphyri, The Source, Deadspeak, Deadspawn, Blood Brothers, The Last Aerie, Bloodwars, etc. etc.  Very enjoyable but not as good as Lovecraft.

Definitley R.A Salvator\'s series. The dark elf Triolgy, Icewind dale trilogy and the other ones after that were some of the best books I have read.
Followed closely by LOTR

[Bobs_Hardware]

they arent really a series, but no other novel has ever had me \'entertained\' as much as the Jurassic Park novels, they just kicked so much ass.  Im not a big book fan, i find the majority boring, and i never give them a cahnce after the first few pages, id take a movie or videogame over it any day.

damn, my explaination wasnt any where near as long as anyone elses  

I\'m not really into series. The last series I read was probably Encyclopedia Brown or the Hardy Boys. Something along those lines and a LONG time ago.

The last 5 books I read:

1. Behold a Pale Horse (William Cooper)
2. The Prince (Niccolo Machiavelli)
3. Breaking the News (John Fellows)
4. The Republic (Plato)
5. Rainbow Six (Tom Clancy)

Hey Bob, were you talking about the Wheel of time when you said that youve reread all 10 and there are still 3 more?
If so, which is your favorite?
My personal favorite has to be Path of Daggers.
It has a very Empire Strikes Back feel with the way Rand is getting busted up on.
Followed closely by Winters heart.
It has such a cool plot with only a few slow parts.
All in all, my favorite series of all time.

Frodo,
If you are in Brothers In Arms, and its getting boring rest assured it does pick uppace very soon.
I think its one of the bes books in the series.
My favorites were always the ones with Raistlin and Caramon.
You should read Brothers Majere.
VERY good book.

my top 3 picks are:

Hyperion (all books) - By Dan Simmons  
Time Ships and Manifold Time -  By Stephen Baxter
DUNE - Frank Herbert


the others are as follows:

StarWars (New Jedi Order) Edge Of Victory part 1 - By Greg Keyes.

also like to mention Allen Steele,
and his "A King of infinite Space" novel,
very good read.

I should stop now, i have too many authors/books i can mention.  

I\'m totally in love with the Star Wars books that follow Episode 6.

Writers such as Timmothy Zahn, Kevin J. Anderson, Barbra Hambly, Michael A. Stackpole (the man), James Luceno and R.A Salvatore - to name but a few, have done such an incredible job extending and enriching Lucas\' Star Wars Universe.

So many incredible stories and characters have been introduced and it\'s amazing to see the original characters grow old and even die (Chewie was killed in \'Vector Prime\').

Right now the series is better than ever, about 20 years since ROTJ the New Republic and the Imperials have signed a peace pact and now a new threat has taken on the galaxy - the Yuhzan Vong, a race of aliens who use a totally organic based culture - everything from their weapons to their spaceships are living, genetically created, creatures. What\'s even more intreguing is that the force does NOT run through them, and so far in the 5 books since their introduction (Vector Prime, Dark Tide 1, Dark Tide 2, Hero\'s Trial, and Jedi Eclipse) they have been SLAUGHTERING the Jedi Knights (of which there are many now) left right and centre.

ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! a geek thread!!!!!! jk

I haven\'t read any books for a while now..... the last book I read was last summer..... it was It by Stephen King. Very good book. Also Dean Koontz is another one of my favorite authors.

Originally posted by Frodo
Hi,


 
Anyway, all of these books, except two we\'re co authored by two of my favorite authors, Margeret Weis and Tracy Hickman, who also wrote the "Deathgate Cycle," which I plan on buying, once gaming gives my wallet a break. The remaing two are both authored by Weis, one singulary, the other co authored with her husband, Don Perrin.  

well you will love the deathgate cycle - the books got me going and really that is the series that got me into reading - i use to think that reading books was a waste of time but i have found quite a liking for it - well i plan to read the LoTR books as soon as i finsh the series i am on right now which is Melanie Rawns : Dragon Prince

this is another series that has really peaked my interest

hmm, this is quite a tough one.

My favorite series are:

The Ender Series - Orson Scott Card.

Fantabulous in every way. I didn\'t really like Speaker for the Dead (the 2nd), but the others make up for it in SPADES!

The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien

duh.

The Jack Ryan Series - Tom Clancy.

Hunt for the Red October, Clear and Present Danger, Patriot games, and the new one, are EXCELLENT titles, vedry well written.

The Tripod Trilogy - cant remember

Great books that I read when i was a kid. About an alien force that comes down and takes over the Earth basically. HIGHLY recommended. even today they are well written. Includes:

When the Tripods Came, a prequel released WAY after the initial 3.

The City of Gold and Lead, The White Mountains, and The Pool of FIre.

The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis

truly a visionary, C.S. Lewis writes an excellent gropu of books here, but don\'t be fooled into thinking the newer books are in the correct order, they are NOT! Get the older series and read them like they are supposed to be read! the new group has the order mixed up!

Read them All and become enlightened!!

other favorites:

Timeline - Michael Crichton.
Sphere - M. Crichton
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Stand (Authors definitive edition 1200 some pages) - Stephen King
Vertical Run - Joseph R. Garber
The White Indian Boy - a true story if I remember as a kid, I read this. Great book!
A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking
Airframe - Michael Chricton
Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse Five - K. Vonnegut
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
Book of Mormon - various authors
The Bible - see above.


There are millions of others that I have read in my shotr lifetime, sadly I cannot recall many of them.

But if someone can answer me this and give me the name of this book, which for the life of me I cannot remember, you will receive a game in the mail, no joke.

It goes something like this:

It is about a young teenager who is set in the UK around the early 80\'s probably. Their is a widespread disease across the world and nearly all the population dies. He has a sister or a little girl who he finds, and later she dies from the sickness. He also meets a guy who goes around collecting gold and fancy cars, I think which is supposed to represent how he has not realized the meaning of life. In another part, the teenager finds a house which has alot of canned food in it and uses it.


any help would be GREATLY appreciated!! Please, please, please help me, that is about all I can remember!


Eric Jacob

Originally posted by Faithdies

Frodo,
If you are in Brothers In Arms, and its getting boring rest assured it does pick uppace very soon.

I think its one of the bes books in the series. My favorites were always the ones with Raistlin and Caramon.

You should read Brothers Majere.
VERY good book.

It\'s not that it\'s boring, so much, as I\'ve read so much DL in such a short period of time; I think I just need a short break so the content doesn\'t become stale for me. Something I wish to avoid, as I am truy passionate about the Dragonlance saga. And yes; even though all the characters in DL have become dear to me, Raistlin and Caramon are my favorites as well.
 
Yes, I\'ve bought most of the preludes series and plan on moving onto it shortly. I\'ve heard there\'s some noticeable contradictions between Brothers Majere and Brothers in Arms. I was a bit concerned this may impact upon the story for me.

While we\'re on the subject . . . Have you any experience with the dragons of a new age trilogy by Jean Rabe? I\'ve tried moving onto the war of souls trilogy directly after Summer Flame, but there\'s too much of a story gap. I\'m beggining to think I may need to buy the Rabe books to clear up the happenings, but am apprehensive to do so due to the atrocious reveiws they\'ve received overall.

I bought the first three volumes of tales of the fifth age, and plan on reading those when I finish with brothers in arms, so I can get back to dragons of a fallen sun. But, I\'m concerned I may still be missing out on important story elements, which would ultimately lessen my overall enjoyment of the new trilogy.

Whew, that was a mouthful. Any insight would be appreciated.

Frodo

Who\'s very appreciative this topic has received a positive response. Thank you

Originally posted by Sublimesjg

well you will love the deathgate cycle - the books got me going and really that is the series that got me into reading - i use to think that reading books was a waste of time but i have found quite a liking for it - well i plan to read the LoTR books as soon as i finsh the series i am on right now which is Melanie Rawns : Dragon Prince

this is another series that has really peaked my interest

I know, I\'ve heard nothing but great things about the deathgate cylce. I wanted to buy all seven books this month, but there\'s just so many good games coming out I\'ve been waiting for, and since I wouldn\'t be reading them until I finish what I\'m on right now, I decided to wait to buy them.

I can relate to what you\'re saying, in regard to that series rekindling you\'re passion for reading. I used to read books fairly often when I was younger, mostly clasics as well as several cool stoires I wish I could remember the titles of, "guess I\'m in the same boat as Altered on that one," but I kind of moved away from reading for several years.

I really picked reading back up last year with Tolkien\'s Lord of the rings and hobbit. A series I very much recommend to anyone who has even a passing interest in fantasy, or at least wants to know where the genera, more or less, started. But Weis and Hickman\'s Dragonlance cronicles struck a cord with me, the likes of which I\'ve never experienced with reading, and now I just can\'t put the series down.

Frodo
BTW, I\'ll look into Dragon Prince . . .

R.L. Stine\'s Goosebumps