Conquer Club

Mjolnirs wrote:Regarding Sci Fi/Fantasy you can't miss with the standards of Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Assimov, JRR Tolkein, Frank Herbert and Edgar Rice Burroughs. I've also read Anne McCaffrey, Terry Brooks and others. Colleen McCullough's Rome series is good (a bit tedious) and Jean Auel's Earth's Children series is good.

How's that for a start?

Caleb the Cruel wrote:The Bible.

reminisco wrote:

btownmeggy wrote:I didn't have time to go to the bookstore yesterday, so I'm now reading The Wings of the Dove by Henry James, which I already owned but had never read. I'm not very far into it, but it has potential.

Henry James can be dry and difficult sometimes, but the pay off is always huge. i recommend him highly.

hecter wrote:I thought I'd leave a suggestion of my own after reading all this. Lewis Carols books and poems are good for a light read. He wrote Alice in Wonderland. It's actually really good, so don't dismiss it because it's been Disneyfied.

Guiscard wrote:For sci-fi you can't beat Asimov. The robot stuff is absolutely mind-bending and the Foundation and Empire(?) series is brilliant too. Keep meaning to re-read them all actually, as I've never read them in the proper order.

Historical fiction I really rate the (non-Sharpe) Bernard Cornwell stuff. The series set in the Hundred Years War is really engrossing (as well as being reasonably historically accurate) and the King Arthur stuff is the best rendition of the legend I think I've read.

Just finished A Passage to India by Forster and Burmese Days by Orwell as part of a module on colonial India between the wars. Can definitely rate both. Orwell is pretty good anyway, to be honest. 1984 is a staple, but the non-fiction Homage to Catalonia, about his time in the Spanish civil war, and Down and Out in Paris and London are both engrossing and insightful. Down and Out actually takes my best ever book title. Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck is also one of my favourites, as is To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee.

One more quirky book I've read recently and enjoyed is The Prestige by Christopher Priest. A brilliant book filled with engrossingly dark Victorian imagery, but the recent Movie adaptation was a bit of a let down. If you've seen the move then read the book, and if you've read the book DON'T see the movie.

freyme wrote:Eli Wiesel--Holocaust writer.

CrazyAnglican wrote:C.S. Lewis (Hey, I'm an Anglican did you really think I wouldn't recommend him) put him on your must miss list if not. I highly recommend "The Screwtape letters" and "Mere Christianity"


I'll probably read "The God Delusion". Thanks for the recommendation.

Stopper wrote:Haven't put my ha'p'orth in yet, not least because I'm not in one of my book-reading phases at the moment...Has anyone mentioned Dickens yet? David Copperfield, while being very imperfect, is the best book I have ever read. Read 3/4 of it in one 12-hour sitting through a Saturday night and Sunday morning. Only book to make me laugh out loud and also er...(this is just an internet forum, so I suppose I can admit it)...to make me cry too. On more than one occasion.

I've read seven of his other books too...I got Bleak House over a year ago. I don't know why, but I've never yet started on it. Anyone like that book?

I've never done this before. Buy a book. Can't stand it. Return it a few days later. Buy it back a few hours later. Fall in love with it. Such is my journey with Chris Ware's graphic book, "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth". Let me tell you first why I returned it, and what redeemed it.

I came across this book after a brief EW mention of it, rating it very high. Intrigued, I purchased a copy, and attempted to delve into its layers. Instead of intrigue, I found frustration, mainly because I simply didn't know how to look at the book. I didn't know where my eyes were supposed to go, so many of the early pages were difficult to read. Plus, the characters constant and sudden lapses into their daydreams made for early confusion.

So, I returned it, happy of my decision. And then, I attended a live version of "This American Life" that prominently featured the work of Ware. His artwork captivated me, enough to rebuy the book and try again. What I found was an enthralling, captivating tale, multi-layered, and worth all the work to learn the language of his drawings.

It's the story of Jimmy Corrigan, an everyman without much of a life at all, who is contacted by his long lost father for a Thanksgiving reunion. Jimmy agrees to attend, which leads him on a retrospective journey of his life and his family. The story is both moving and rich, full of layers upon layers. Once you learn Ware's language, and what he tries to communicate, the story begins to shine like a lighthouse beacon through the pages. I was surprised to find myself crying at certain parts of the book; my brain was telling me this is simply a comic story, but my heart was breaking along with the characters. That alone is impressive.

Ware's drawings are incredible. He communicates so much through each drawing, you need to "read" this slowly, and internalize the story. Whereas you tend to want to skip the less important drawings, quite often they will give you the most information. This book is not one to read quickly, but enjoy, like a fine, fine wine.

I look forward to more work from Chris Ware. His artist's eye is impressive, but his storytelling is even more so.

duday53 wrote:there is a lot of writers i like that are from the U.K like:

artemis fowl series- eoin colfer

hawkeye wrote:Some good series.
Stravaganza , by Mary Hoffman
Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
Magic Kingdom of Landover, by Terry Brooks
Keys to the Kingdom, by Garth Nix
Pendragon, by D.J. MacHale
His Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman


Note these are just books that I've found good.

darvlay wrote:Does anyone here enjoy reading Graphic Novels? If not then go out and buy a copy of Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware - easily one of my favourite books, graphic, non-fiction or otherwise.

Here's a well-written five-star review of his book from Amazon that I wouldn't dare improve on:

I've never done this before. Buy a book. Can't stand it. Return it a few days later. Buy it back a few hours later. Fall in love with it. Such is my journey with Chris Ware's graphic book, "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth". Let me tell you first why I returned it, and what redeemed it.

I came across this book after a brief EW mention of it, rating it very high. Intrigued, I purchased a copy, and attempted to delve into its layers. Instead of intrigue, I found frustration, mainly because I simply didn't know how to look at the book. I didn't know where my eyes were supposed to go, so many of the early pages were difficult to read. Plus, the characters constant and sudden lapses into their daydreams made for early confusion.

So, I returned it, happy of my decision. And then, I attended a live version of "This American Life" that prominently featured the work of Ware. His artwork captivated me, enough to rebuy the book and try again. What I found was an enthralling, captivating tale, multi-layered, and worth all the work to learn the language of his drawings.

It's the story of Jimmy Corrigan, an everyman without much of a life at all, who is contacted by his long lost father for a Thanksgiving reunion. Jimmy agrees to attend, which leads him on a retrospective journey of his life and his family. The story is both moving and rich, full of layers upon layers. Once you learn Ware's language, and what he tries to communicate, the story begins to shine like a lighthouse beacon through the pages. I was surprised to find myself crying at certain parts of the book; my brain was telling me this is simply a comic story, but my heart was breaking along with the characters. That alone is impressive.

Ware's drawings are incredible. He communicates so much through each drawing, you need to "read" this slowly, and internalize the story. Whereas you tend to want to skip the less important drawings, quite often they will give you the most information. This book is not one to read quickly, but enjoy, like a fine, fine wine.

I look forward to more work from Chris Ware. His artist's eye is impressive, but his storytelling is even more so.

Go out and buy it! You will not be disappointed. Mr. Ware is the premiere artist in the genre, in my opinion. Daringly different and incredibly intelligent.

benny profane wrote:I agree, although i think quimby the mouse is a bit better. but if we're gonna talk graphic novels, we gotta talk about the absolute greatest, alan moore.

Snowpepsi wrote:

duday53 wrote:there is a lot of writers i like that are from the U.K like:

artemis fowl series- eoin colfer

Read those.

hawkeye wrote:Some good series.
Stravaganza , by Mary Hoffman
Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
Magic Kingdom of Landover, by Terry Brooks
Keys to the Kingdom, by Garth Nix
Pendragon, by D.J. MacHale
His Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman


Note these are just books that I've found good.

Keys to the kingdom- I've read Monday and Tuesday

HungrySomali wrote:I am currently reading book 3 of the Riftwar series by Raymond E. Feist. Okay Fantasy stuff, not great.

A few books I would recommend (there are so many) in no particular order:

The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. Easily the best Fantasy novels ever published. Yes, better than Tolkein.

Revelation Space Series by Alistair Reynolds. Almost as groundbreaking as Asimov. Best current Sci-Fi author out there.

Imajica and The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker. His fantasy novels are top notch. I have ready both of these books multiple times.

darvlay wrote:

benny profane wrote:I agree, although i think quimby the mouse is a bit better. but if we're gonna talk graphic novels, we gotta talk about the absolute greatest, alan moore.

Gotta love Moore - I never tire of pulling out my old copy of Watchmen every now and again. Still a classic to this day and (trivia time!) still the only graphic novel to ever win a Hugo Award.

heavycola wrote:

darvlay wrote:

benny profane wrote:I agree, although i think quimby the mouse is a bit better. but if we're gonna talk graphic novels, we gotta talk about the absolute greatest, alan moore.

Gotta love Moore - I never tire of pulling out my old copy of Watchmen every now and again. Still a classic to this day and (trivia time!) still the only graphic novel to ever win a Hugo Award.

ME NEITHER. V for Vendetta and ESPECIALLY From Hell are worthy of mentions too. I hoep Zak Snyder doesn;t f*ck up the film of Watchmen but given the form... it's not lookign too bright is it?

Alan gave some details about bits of the V For Vendetta shooting script he'd seen. "It was imbecilic; it had plot holes you couldn't have got away with in Whizzer And Chips in the nineteen sixties. Plot holes no one had noticed."

What Moore found most laughable however were the details. "They don't know what British people have for breakfast, they couldn't be bothered. 'Eggy in a basket' apparently. Now the US have 'eggs in a basket,' whish is fried bread with a fried egg in a hole in the middle. I guess they thought we must eat that as well, and thought 'eggy in a basket' was a quaint and Olde Worlde version. And they decided that the British postal service is called Fedco. They'll have thought something like, 'well, what's a British version of FedEx... how about FedCo? A friend of mine had to point out to them that the Fed, in FedEx comes from 'Federal Express.' America is a federal republic, Britain is not."

HungrySomali wrote:
The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. Easily the best Fantasy novels ever published. Yes, better than Tolkein.

Colossus wrote:

HungrySomali wrote:
The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. Easily the best Fantasy novels ever published. Yes, better than Tolkein.

WICKED. This is totally spot-on. Song of Ice and Fire is awesome, but I'm just about out of patience for Dance with Dragons! It's been like two or three years since Feast for Crows, and I'm gettin' pissed.

I'm currently reading Brave New World for probably the fifth time. What an amazing book. Definitely my favorite.

Colossus wrote:

HungrySomali wrote:
The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. Easily the best Fantasy novels ever published. Yes, better than Tolkein.

WICKED. This is totally spot-on. Song of Ice and Fire is awesome, but I'm just about out of patience for Dance with Dragons! It's been like two or three years since Feast for Crows, and I'm gettin' pissed.

darvlay wrote:

heavycola wrote:

darvlay wrote:

benny profane wrote:I agree, although i think quimby the mouse is a bit better. but if we're gonna talk graphic novels, we gotta talk about the absolute greatest, alan moore.

Gotta love Moore - I never tire of pulling out my old copy of Watchmen every now and again. Still a classic to this day and (trivia time!) still the only graphic novel to ever win a Hugo Award.

ME NEITHER. V for Vendetta and ESPECIALLY From Hell are worthy of mentions too. I hoep Zak Snyder doesn;t f*ck up the film of Watchmen but given the form... it's not lookign too bright is it?

Terry Gilliam on his failed attempt to film Watchmen:

"I think it's going to be impossible to make as a film, unless you make it three and a half hours long, which most people aren't going to want"

Speak for yourself! Of course I want it that long!

benny profane wrote:

darvlay wrote:

heavycola wrote:

darvlay wrote:

benny profane wrote:I agree, although i think quimby the mouse is a bit better. but if we're gonna talk graphic novels, we gotta talk about the absolute greatest, alan moore.

Gotta love Moore - I never tire of pulling out my old copy of Watchmen every now and again. Still a classic to this day and (trivia time!) still the only graphic novel to ever win a Hugo Award.

ME NEITHER. V for Vendetta and ESPECIALLY From Hell are worthy of mentions too. I hoep Zak Snyder doesn;t f*ck up the film of Watchmen but given the form... it's not lookign too bright is it?

Terry Gilliam on his failed attempt to film Watchmen:

"I think it's going to be impossible to make as a film, unless you make it three and a half hours long, which most people aren't going to want"

Speak for yourself! Of course I want it that long!

i'd heard gilliam wanted to do watchmen as a 12 episode mini-series.
i am quite sure that the watchmen film will be a disastrous disappointment.
much like v for vendetta. i think the word "anarchy" was uttered maybe once in the entire film.

btw darvlay, i just took an actual look at your avatar...
you are a dirty bastard!

Snorri1234 wrote:Terry Pratchett.