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The Official "Books Worth Reading" Thread

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
I used to be an avid reader, but over time I've found it difficult to commit to the literature being released. I figure I just must be missing out on the good stuff. Use this thread to recommend the "best of the best" that you've encountered.

I've read all but the last "Game of Thrones" (Ice and Fire) books. However, my favorite series of all time is Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. Before that, I read a ton of fantasy and horror books, but none worth really recommending. Probably my favorite Stephen King book is Needful Things.

Any other readers out there?
152 REPLIES 152

Stryker1000
Heroic Explorer

All of tom Clancy`s early stuff..i think his later stuff is a bit meh. Top recommendation ATM is John Scalzi`s Old mans war. really gripping read and very original. also anything by Raymond feist.

Plus the usual stuff like playboy .razzle fiesta and  the other stuff.

but in between all of the early Viz stuff when I don't need to think

Techy111
MVP
MVP
@Kojack nobody messed with your post mate I was just saying I had to look twice ,;)
A PC with lots of gadgets inside and a thing to see in 3D that you put on your head.

Luciferous
Consultant
I created this post a while back, I found some great recommendations from forum members.

https://forums.oculusvr.com/community/discussion/29656/vr-books

Or the summary (editing it a bit to distill it down to just the ones I think really worth reading as that is the post title. Credit to the recommendations are in my previous post.)

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline - (highly recommend) Fantastic Book. No need for introductions.

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson's - (highly recommend) Great unique novel. A no holds barred brutal Cyber Punk future with large servings of action, VR, mystery and Katanas. Unusual writing style but you'll get used to it.(read twice)

Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan (highly recommend) - Cyber Punk Noir / The Maltese Falcon style Book - fast paced and Action packed. VR in it but not main story. Real cool book.

William Gibson sprawl trilogy
------------------------------------------
If you like cyberpunk few beat Gibson' imagined worlds. Not many books I read twice but Gibson's are pretty deep and atmospheric and I seem to need to read them twice to get the full benefit)

1. Neuromancer - (highly recommend)  (read three times, probably my favorite sci-fi book ever)
A washed-up computer hacker is hired by a mysterious employer for one last job against a powerful AI. 
2. Count Zero - Good but more like epilogue for the first one but who can't get enough of the Gibson universe
3. Mona Lisa Overdrive - Another good one better than Count Zero. More Atmospheric Cyber Punk.

Another Gibson
The Peripheral (Recommend)  In a distant future technology has been discovered to communicate with the past. Every time they connect it creates a different alternate universe. Rich people can hire a server and play god with their own instance. (Gibson on form again)

Permutation City from Greg Egan - - (highly recommend if you like deep thought provoking books) The concept of this book is mind blowing. A real universe is born from the virtual auto-verse.

Bobiverse Series
(highly recommend) A man is copied into a computer and sent into space as one of man's last hopes. These are epic books.

The Name of the Wind - (highly recommend) or also know as The king killer chronicles first two books in the series by Patrick Rothfuss

Like a darker version of Harry Potter, couldn't stop listening to it. Slow start but it warms up very very nicely. Plus the other good thing is you really get your monies worth, I think both both books each were 40 hours plus. It takes him 6 years to write each one which shows the attention to detail he puts in them. I think the last one is due in the next 2 years.

Great story telling and the narrator is first class Rupert Degas (who also has won awards for narration) 

Brandon Sanderson 'Mistborn' Series
If you like The Name of The Wind, try Brandon Sanderson 'Mistborn' Series. Excellent books. I am onto the fifth book now, really good. The way he creates depth to stories and characters is amazing. 

cybereality
Grand Champion
Daemon by Daniel Suarez was amazing (the sequel was good too, but not as ground-breaking as the original). Don't want to give away too much of the plot, but you should definitely check this. I listened to the audiobook, and the narration was good. May go back and read the two on Kindle, it's been years since I first listened.

Tea from an Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan. Classic cyberpunk, VR related, worth checking out.

Vurt by Jeff Noon. This is a weird one, really weird, but an engaging read.

Under the Amoral Bridge by Gary A. Ballard, also VR related cyberpunk. 3 part series.

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Luciferous
Consultant
Tried to get Daemon and Freedom TM on Audible UK but they only have it in German for some weird reason. I keep checking every time though. 


Anonymous
Not applicable
I go on spurts of reading lots, and then not reading at all for good amounts of time.

Obviously Stephen King is my favourite author - and I also love Dean Koontz and Clive Barker who fall somewhere close to King in terms of genre.

I also love adventure novels - Clive Cussler, and James Rollins are always good reads. 

I love crime novels too - John Grisham being a constant favourite, but others like Patricia Cornwell or Michael Connelly being good as well.

As far as fantasy goes - my personal favourite author is David Eddings.

I'm also a huge fan of Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, Jack Kerouac, Tom Robbins, William S. Burroughs, etc. etc.

There is also a book called Cabbagetown by Hugh Garner - it is a fantastic read, it is about Toronto during the depression era - it has stuck with me since I was a kid and read it.

I just read Robbie Robertson's Testimony which was great - although I thought the first half was stronger, he seemed to pull a few punches when it came time to talk about The Band at their peak, I am sure there are some more interesting stories he could have told. It reads like a novel more than a biography.

Luciferous
Consultant
*edit put my other book recommendation in my recommendation post above.

If you have a busy life I can recommend Audible for listening to books. So much easier to listen to books whilst driving, walking the dog, making love to the wife, washing the dishes, making love to somebody elses wife. Helps fill in the boring gaps in life.

Anonymous
Not applicable

kojack said:


Techy111 said:

 😄  i had to look twice at the word following "Huge" I thought you was a porn reader LMAO 


God damn it, should have been Hugh Cook.
Did a mod edit my post? I'm sure I didn't write that. 😐

Sadly the books didn't sell well, so his plans to make a 60 volume epic ended after the 10th book. Don't worry, the story isn't incomplete.
He died from cancer 10 years ago. 😞

The books have cool things like the villian in one book is the heroe of another book and you get to see their side of the story
.

Morgrum said:


Kojack I agree Allen deen Foster has some great novels.
I still have splinter of a minds eye which he wrote to be Star Wars episode five until the change to empire.
It reads more like fan fiction now.


He ghost wrote the novelisation of Star Wars, it was credited as written by George Lucas.
He also wrote novelisations of tons of scifi movies. All the Alien ones, a bunch of Star Trek, etc.
He's got around 134 novels at the moment.


I really liked the Dancing Gods series by Jack L Chalker. It was a spoof of many fantasy tropes. It's set in a world where all of the laws of reality were written in a library of rule books by wizards. Why do medicines taste bad? Because some time in the past a wizard wrote that as a rule in one of the books, forcing it to apply to the world forever. A rule can't be removed once written. It's a great series.

His Gods Inc series is great too. It's about two private eyes that get involved with parallel realities.
Soul Rider started off fascinating, but by book 2 it had turned into body transform fetish porn so I never finished the series.



If you want amazing artwork and a fascinating storyline (although the artwork is the primary focus), get Simon Stalenhag's Tales From The Loop, Things From The Flood and Electric State. SO GOOD.





Stephen Donaldson did a similar thing with his Gap novels. Every story ever written has a villain, a victim and a hero and throughout the 5 books those roles were switched around. Not as good as his Covenant novels but they are excellent.

Luciferous
Consultant


Daemon by Daniel Suarez was amazing (the sequel was good too, but not as ground-breaking as the original). Don't want to give away too much of the plot, but you should definitely check this. I listened to the audiobook, and the narration was good. May go back and read the two on Kindle, it's been years since I first listened.

Tea from an Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan. Classic cyberpunk, VR related, worth checking out.

Vurt by Jeff Noon. This is a weird one, really weird, but an engaging read.

Under the Amoral Bridge by Gary A. Ballard, also VR related cyberpunk. 3 part series.



Read Daemon at last, great book  🙂

myanime002
Honored Guest
In the event that you have a bustling life I can prescribe Audible for tuning in to books. Such a great amount of simpler to tune in to books while driving, strolling the puppy, having intercourse to the spouse, washing the dishes, having intercourse to someone elses wife. Helps fill in the exhausting holes throughout everyday life.
I am currently read manga tamen de gushi at mangazuki.me. I loved this manga and this read my aunt manga at mangazuki.online story is so nice.