anything from dan simmons

Any in perticular worth looking out for?

well i enjoyed every book of him but they are very different, would decide by genre
for sci-fi i would recommend the Hyperion Cantos. it starts of with what basicly are great short stories, each introducing a main character of the actual story that follows. each book is a unique reading experience while being connecting with the big story line.
if you like horror, go for the most recent book terror or the classic Song of Kali
i also had a great time with Ilium/Olympos, but the story is a bit crazy so im not sure if its for everyone. it basicly morphs the historical trojan war in a sci-fi universe

Hyperion is one of SF's masterworks.....

then he went and released Endymon. A real stinker of a book, imo. Don't get me wrong - I love some of his concepts and imagery but in the space of two books his writing style deteriorated a great deal... bleh. Even some of his original (and best) concepts went down the pan. The shrike went from an undefinable, deadly, mysterious creature ... to a loyal dog following a girl around.

If you read Hyperion and immediately follow up with Endymon - you'd almost think that they were written by different authors.

agree. on polish edition it was said, that movie is made based on hyperion/endymion, and i came to conclusion, that simmons was aproached by moviemakers after writing hyperion and he was like "hell yeah, i'll keep in mind while writing endymion that i need to meet high hollywood standards" :P
imho ilium/olympus was better. how can you not like robots, wich talk in their free time about proust and shakespeare? :)

I agree with both. In his quest to reach his publisher’s deadlines and make money, he ends up with mastershits instead of masterpieces. He pisses me off. Of course, I won’t read a book of his again, but I was seriously thinking of sending him a letter and encouraging him to try to write a book in the side of his money making procedure, where he would be writing only when he has inspiration, even if it takes many years to complete. That could result to one of the best books of all times, because he is capable of that, but he chooses to rush and treat us like retards (at least he got that marketing’s golden rule right: never underestimate ppls stupidity. He never does)

And Nemes? what a simple + terrible character.

One of the most disappointing sequels in sci-fi :(


But yeah, Hyperion is awesome ... just think twice before buying the sequel.

Oh fuck yes, I would [+] kill my + key broke if I could. Legend!

But the question is, Ilium/Oylmpus or Hyperion/Endymion?

As much as I fucking loved the Hyperion books, I just couldn't get past how fucking incredible Ilium and Olympus turned out to be.

Depends what you like. I've recently read:

Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder
A Song of Fire and Ice - George RR Martin
Ernest Hemingway - The Snows of Kilimanjaro

All pretty good.

And currently reading the new Robert Jordan book, surprisingly really good.

Sci-fi wud be cool, but horror/murder/thriller would also be good too.

Dune, Neuromancer?

*ninja edit*

Ian McDonald - River Of Gods, excellent newer sci-fi.

Only one i could find from most of these is River of Gods, so i bought that!

you win :)

It's a great novel weaving cyberpunk into hinduism.

YOU LAZY BASTARD: http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=1602516

Books you might recommend him might be different than books you might recommend me.. Im a book newb so any classics that are worth reading i would like to know :)

i can pretty much recommend you the same as i did to him ;p

China Mieville (Perdido, Scar..)
Neil Gaiman (Neverwhere, American Gods, Sandman..)

King Rat would be a better advice regarding Mieville. Books from the Bas-Lag universe aren't for everyone.
Also, The Light Ages by McLeod was good.

Twilight
Harry Potter

No and no..

Bible, King James Version

wouldnt it be fitting to read books about quake? shub niggorath my nigga

Intercourse by Andrea Dworkin.

In 1987 Dworkin published Intercourse, in which she extended her analysis from pornography to sexual intercourse itself, and argued that the sort of sexual subordination depicted in pornography was central to men's and women's experiences of heterosexual intercourse in a male supremacist society. In the book, she argues that all heterosexual sex in our patriarchal society is coercive and degrading to women, and sexual penetration may by its very nature doom women to inferiority and submission, and "may be immune to reform."[55]

fuck off

Lolling hard at the fact you actually looked it up.

SRS ANSWER: Holographic fucking Universe.

A book on holographic universes would actually be pretty interesting... feminist issues... i tend ignore as im not a woman..

Feminist issues are just for women?

Women, and men who want to get laid..

I see you're a deeply philosophical man.

I wrote a paper on feminism last year and yeah, some of it is relevant but people like Dworkin are pretty fucking stupid.

Feminist like her miss the fact that some women actually enjoy having sex with men. She might know if she had even given a man a chance, one that wasn't a fucking dipshit.

I've no idea who Dworkin is :P (apart from the previously mentioned stuff in here!)

The Holographic Universe changed my life. Just sayin'

I actually have the Dworkin book on my bookshelf, along with the old book Mein Kampf was ripped off of (forget the name), but I haven't read it yet. I think it's interesting to see how some extremists view things.

That actually sounds like a cool book as long as you filter out the gender/feminist crap and use it to get into girls head and not into her pants.

Again, something i could learn from.. but not something i would read in public :)

wheel of time by Robert Jordan if u like fantasy and want something to read for a while (cause its a long serie).

http://tinyurl.com/yzp5gkn

D.A.F. De Sade - The 120 days of Sodom
a timeless classic

Mein Kampf

A coulpe of books from Dean Koontz: Fear Nothing and Intensity. Very good books!

I got aroused by Intensity. Is that fucked up?

Nah :) Maybe not so usual though. Great book!

This one :

http://nantaises.free.fr/pics/rapha.jpg

Did he bring his own bible with him? Or was it a joke?

I think it was because his religiosity got a negative reaction here on ESR. People made fun of him after some interview was posted here.

People made fun of him after some interview was posted here.

and that almost never happens here!

Only if someone if religious.

It's such a well mannered collection of people on ESR.

Yes!

I think it's because we a all guys here.

It isn't called Womanners for a reason!

East of Eden

The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss

i borrowed this book from the library for my gf on some random girls recommendation, but she never read it :<

A Bridge Too Far, by Cornelius Ryan -it's not that hard, it's about war, Operation Market Garden, also called the little Stalingrad, after the end of the operation, u have fun reading real war stories and get educated meanwhile, there ya go

George Orwell - 1984 ( definite classic ! )

Currently reading myself:
Edward T.Hall The Silent Language
Lu Xun - Short Stories

If you like horror I would recommend "Let the Right one in" by John Ajvide Lindqvist . Even if you have seen the film, it is a good read and the novel differs greatly from the movie adaption.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King is probably the most epic sci-fi/fantasy/horror/et al series of books you can find. Even as a massive fan I will say that it gets worse towards the end, but the first 4 books are imo flawless.

I think i might possibly have one of them somewhere..

I liked

Pillars of the Earth
and also the sequel that just came out: World withour End
both by Follett (some others from him aren't nearly as good, to take care ;) )

if you like humourous books buy one from Terry Pratchett or maybe Bill Bryson.

Also, "War of the Rats" if you like romanticized Battle of Stalingrad retellings.

Any book from Conn Iggulden's Emperor series if you like historical fiction.

if you havent read 'Foundation' , get that, its a must read.

It gets boring later on, as well as Dune /o\

the series or the individual book?

The series. I think I haven't even read the 5th and 6th book.

oh well ye i can agree with that, the first book is just fantastic tho

well, the first book is usually the best in every series I can think of :)

I rate the 5th and 6th as good as the 1st book. I agree that the 2nd and 3rd book it starts to plod along, but picks up again in god emperor of dune. The 5th and 6th book follow the same characters, rather than it being 20 to 3000 years later every time.

I actually think that the last two books were better than the first one.. but I've read the serie only once tho.

My rating is 1st = 5th, 6th = best

Shantaram, no question - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shantaram-Gregory-Dav...0349117543

Yeah, a good read. But i dont think you cant trust G.D. Roberts all his stories, but very entertaining nontheless. Even makes you wanna visit India, and thats saying something! ;)

On a sidenote: Movie adaption with Johnny Depp starring is coming soon.

Fairly sure I read smth from him somewhere saying it's not an autobiography, he openly admits there's invented stuff in there it just loosely follows the story of his life so it doesn't really matter :p

Great story either way!

(Don’t see how they’ll be able to turn it into a decent movie without bastardizing it massively – cutting out half the philosophy of it – the slow build up of tension - can already imagine the crappy flashbacks to the prison)

I love Karla!

you should probably start with spot the dog and work your way up :/

Read all of Iain M Banks sci fi ones

they are fantastic

Excession is good once u get to know the Culture

shame i have finished them all :((

anyone recommend anything similar?

might try out hyperion cantos

Stephen King's books are the way to go

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts

btw: hope you have a nice trip!

How/when do you read books?

I mean you are sitting here, alone, middle of your lounge and read?
Thats it ?

I only read books when I'm travelling or studying.

i am reading "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins atm. Pretty good so far.

Harry Potter and Dildos of Destiny

A book with more homo action than ever before!

only seconded by the twilight series

how to make friends and influence people - dale carnegie.

So, most threads are three years old these days?

Books and boobs though, can't really complain.