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Good, deep, accessible books?

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Moog
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21 Jan 2011, 7:13 am

MidlifeAspie wrote:
Moog wrote:
I liked the first couple of Hyperion books, don't think I made it to the finale.

The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov might float your boat.


The first two only set up the background and mythology of the second two. They were a good story on their own, but you really should give the last two a shot.


Maybe I should. I think I at least started the final book, I just found the whole Endymion arc a chore to read. I might find the quality in it this time.


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GoonSquad
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21 Jan 2011, 7:17 am

Moog wrote:
GoonSquad wrote:
If you like good stories in detailed worlds Harry Harrison's West of Eden is really great (but the science behind the story is a bit dated).

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The Stainless Steel Rat is a darn good read.


Yeah, SSR is great neo-pulp! :) Harrison is one of my favorite authors.

The Hammer and the Cross is another great alternative history series from Harrison.


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Quatermass
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21 Jan 2011, 8:31 am

Adamantus wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll go back through this list when I need a new book. Last night I found A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin which seems really immersive from the first chapter, so I'm going to plow through that.

I tried Dune some time ago but found it difficult going. Lots of strange words like gom jabba! What? Couldn't understand what was going on there. Some strange witch threatening to kill a guy with poison, kind of put me off.


There should be a glossary in the back of the novel. She was actually testing the guy (Paul Atreides) by forcing him to choose between excruciating pain and a swift death. He passes the test, which is to test for people who are able to withstand pain intellectually. Dune is surprisingly immersive with the right frame of mind.

GoonSquad wrote:
Moog wrote:
GoonSquad wrote:
If you like good stories in detailed worlds Harry Harrison's West of Eden is really great (but the science behind the story is a bit dated).

clicky-wiki


The Stainless Steel Rat is a darn good read.


Yeah, SSR is great neo-pulp! :) Harrison is one of my favorite authors.



I liked West of Eden much better than The Stainless Steel Rat to be honest. I read and reviewed them both in one of my book-reading blogs last year.


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Gremmie
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21 Jan 2011, 10:20 am

Adamantus wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll go back through this list when I need a new book. Last night I found A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin which seems really immersive from the first chapter, so I'm going to plow through that.


Ooh that series is lovely, the only problem is you'll end up joining the rest of us who are glaring at him deperate for the next book to eventually be finished.



Adamantus
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21 Jan 2011, 10:56 am

Gremmie wrote:
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Ooh that series is lovely, the only problem is you'll end up joining the rest of us who are glaring at him deperate for the next book to eventually be finished.


Well I'm a slow reader so heres hoping.



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21 Jan 2011, 11:49 am

The Dark Tower (Stephen King)


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MidlifeAspie
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21 Jan 2011, 12:11 pm

Gremmie wrote:
Adamantus wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll go back through this list when I need a new book. Last night I found A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin which seems really immersive from the first chapter, so I'm going to plow through that.


Ooh that series is lovely, the only problem is you'll end up joining the rest of us who are glaring at him deperate for the next book to eventually be finished.


You have the HBO series beginning in a few months to get you by :)

http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html



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21 Jan 2011, 12:22 pm

kxmode wrote:
The Bible


QFT
The Bible is much more accessable and easily read than most people think.
Also Walden by Henry David Thoreau is one of my favorites when it comes to deep books. It taught me how little you really need to be happy.


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GoonSquad
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21 Jan 2011, 1:06 pm

Kiran wrote:
kxmode wrote:
The Bible


QFT
The Bible is much more accessable and easily read than most people think.
Also Walden by Henry David Thoreau is one of my favorites when it comes to deep books. It taught me how little you really need to be happy.


I'll go for Walden too!

HDT is one of the great American Stoics.


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ScrewyWabbit
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21 Jan 2011, 2:12 pm

I'd say Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan, and perhaps some stuff by Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, or Anathem)



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21 Jan 2011, 2:19 pm

Anything by Chuck Palahniuk.

Anything by Barbara Kingsolver, but The Poisonwood Bible is the best.

Anything by Cormac McCarthy though they are not all easy.

Mark Twain is always good for humor with a deeper meaning.



Ambivalence
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21 Jan 2011, 7:11 pm

I agree with the first two books of the Hyperion Cantos and the Black Company series.

I very highly recommend Perdido Street Station by China Miéville.


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Chevand
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21 Jan 2011, 10:22 pm

When I was in high school, the only author whose work interested me so much that I wanted to read it was Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse-five is a classic, of course, but I also recommend Breakfast of Champions. Vonnegut's work is usually heavily laced with dark humour (which makes it a compelling read), but in the end there's always a deeper message as well.



MidlifeAspie
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22 Jan 2011, 10:53 am

Chevand wrote:
When I was in high school, the only author whose work interested me so much that I wanted to read it was Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse-five is a classic, of course, but I also recommend Breakfast of Champions. Vonnegut's work is usually heavily laced with dark humour (which makes it a compelling read), but in the end there's always a deeper message as well.


I would add Cat's Cradle :)



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22 Jan 2011, 12:14 pm

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, the first Hannibal Lecter novel. That is the poster child of a page-turner.


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ShenLong
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23 Jan 2011, 5:05 pm

1984-George Orwell(post-apocalyptic dystopia)
The Age of Fire series--E.E. Knight(a fantasy series told from the POV of 3 dragons)
Rendezvous With Rama--Arthur C. Clarke(a science fiction novel about the discovery of an abandoned alien spacecraft belonging to a long dead civilization)