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CrazyCrunk

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Im not much of a reader. I've read probably two or three books in my life time. I recently got a gift card to a bookstore as a gift so I wanted to ask what fantasy or scifi books I should buy. I would greatly apreatiate it if someone could list acouple of great books and mabey even give short descriptions of them. Thanks.
 
CrazyCrunk said:
Im not much of a reader. I've read probably two or three books in my life time. I recently got a gift card to a bookstore as a gift so I wanted to ask what fantasy or scifi books I should buy. I would greatly apreatiate it if someone could list acouple of great books and mabey even give short descriptions of them. Thanks.
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Well, what are the books you've read? Maybe that'll help the sci-fi buffs around here to help you.
 
Well the books I have read wasnt really scifi or fantasy related and I didnt like em much. They were for book reports and things like that.
 
Try Neil Gaiman. I really liked Neverwhere, and just about everyone I work with has read it and loved it too.

Two of his other books Anansi Boys and American Gods take a lot of mythology and mix them with his story. I thought they were really clever. His stuff reads sort of like fairy tales for adults.
 
I second Neil Gaiman. Anansi Boys is excellent, and much easier to follow than American Gods.

I'd also recommend Nine Princes of Amber by Roger Zelazny. It's the first in the Amber series.
Stephen R. Donaldson's Mirror of Her Dreams is great too.
 
Where to start? It's difficult - if you haven't read much yet, it's probably best to start with some of the slightly easier, less literary fantasy.
Here's a simple list, split into different subgenres:
Young Adult fantasy:
The Borribles trilogy by Michael de Larrabeiti
His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

Epic Fantasy:
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
The Darkness that Comes Before by R Scott Bakker
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Riddlemaster of Hed by Patricia McKillip

Swords and Sorcery:
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber
Tales of the Dying Earth (particularly Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga) by Jack Vance
Heroes Die by Matthew Stover
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (I'll definitely second this - one of the best fantasy series ever written)
Elric by Michael Moorcock

Science Fiction:
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester - it's probably the most accessible and fastest paced of these
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Dune by Frank Herbert

The next list probably isn't as good for a new reader, but you should try and read them some time, because they're great novels:

Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake - if you are ever confronted with a choice between Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and this, choose this. It's the real classic of the fantasy genre, and even if not quite as influential, it deserves to be.
The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce - a hideously under-read author, who should be recommended at every opportunity.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville - one of the most imaginative authors, ever.
The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick - one of the most subversive authors ever.

Ok, this last one isn't SF or F, but it's written by an SF author.
The Wasp Factory by Iain M Banks - one of the best novels ever written simply. It's full of black humour, and not difficult to read in terms of prose, though it's a very disturbing novel. The only book I've seen which has negative comments placed in its front cover.

Hopefully this'll provide you with something of a starting point. Though the bookshop probably won't have all of them.
 
Hi Crazy Crunk, welcome to TBF! :D

The Wasp Factory I wouldn't really recommend for someone knew to reading,

Maybe some of Philip K. Dick's short stories, like Minority Report?
 
I can't believe I forgot to mention the Xanth series by Piers Anthony..at least the first 6 or 7 or so. Some of the latest veer off into lameduckdom, but the early books are great. Start with the Source of Magic..You'll never think of Eyescream in the same way again, or Cherry Bombs..:cool:
 
TBF had a krunk once, but since then he flew. That isn't you, is it, you really are new?

('m in charge of the unblank verse around here. Welcome to TBF CC.) :)
 
steffee said:
Hi Crazy Crunk, welcome to TBF! :D

The Wasp Factory I wouldn't really recommend for someone knew to reading,

Maybe some of Philip K. Dick's short stories, like Minority Report?
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It's why I put the Wasp Factory in the category of books to be aware of to read at a later date.
PKD's a great author, but I don't really know much about his short stories.
 
yeah, you should definitely try Neil Gaiman, I especially like Stardust, and Coraline is amazing, although one of the creepiest books I've ever read!
 
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