last update: 2007.01.28.23.10
currently listing 163 titles
 		recommended reading
 ...and what to avoid! 		drop me a line


Like books? So do I. These are reviews and recommendations of my favorites, some of which are no less than masterpieces, some just good enough to be memorable. Not all are what I'd consider challenging reading material- but they're all entertaining. Most of them are from a series of books; I think it's fun to watch characters develop over the course of a series, and of course it's also nice to be able to follow a continuing story with characters you enjoy and have time invested in. The down side to getting involved with a series is waiting for the next book to come out, when your reading's caught up with the author's writing. Not to worry- most of these books have been around for a long time. You can pick up most of them in used book stores for next to nothing. Trying to choose and then order the creme de la best would be difficult to say the least- they're apples and oranges in many cases. So rather than that I've just organized the list by author's last name, and put books from a series in order by release. Other than that it's all thrown in there a la carte. If you read my summaries and reviews I think you'll get an idea of which get my strongest recommendation. Each of the titles links to amazon.com's page for that book, where you can pick up a copy and/or read other reviews to get a better idea of what's what. Keep in mind that some of these are actually aimed at younger readers. And hey- just cuz it's a kid's book doesn't mean you can't read it...or won't like it :)

I've decided to include reviews of books I think readers might do better to avoid. I don't usually bother finishing books I'm really not enjoying, and I won't review those, so anything that appears on this page is an opinion formed by someone who's at least read the whole book. The text of the review for books which I caution against spending time on will appear like this.

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Douglas Adams

Hitchhiker series
Simply some of the flat out tears-in-your-eyes-laugh-out-loud funniest books ever written. Classic science fiction in Adams' British humor. Made into a (now rarely broadcast) made-for-TV film in 1981 (I believe), and rereleased on the big screen (think massive special effects blockbuster), but if you haven't seen the films, Don't Panic!- you can still read these before you see 'em! Also produced as a very entertaining series of (BBC, I believe) radio programs...or should that be 'programmes'?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe and Everything
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Piers Anthony

Incarnations of Immortality series
Set in the not-too-distant future, on an Earth in which science and magic coexist, the Incarnations are formerly ordinary people, raised to the level of 'gods' patterned much after Greek and Roman concepts mixed with Christian ones. Each Incarnation (of Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil and Good, respectively) holds complete power within their realm of influence, and faces challenges unique to their position, with help from the other Incarnations, of course. It's an original idea and very well executed. The interplay of characters between the books gets more intricate with every book; events which took place in previous books are seen from the point of view of other characters in successive books, and as the plot complexity increases, the story grows into something more than it was before. Though any of these books might hold up well on its own, it works best if you stick with the published sequence. The characterizations are so solid, and the characters so memorable and likable, I've reread this entire series three times- something I don't normally do. If you must read something challenging, these books aren't for you, but if you read these books, I doubt you'll forget them. Fantastic!
On a Pale Horse
Bearing An Hourglass
With a Tangled Skein
Wielding a Red Sword
Being a Green Mother
For Love of Evil
And Eternity
Piers Anthony & Roberto Fuentes

Dead Morn
Fascinating change of pace for Anthony, best known for his 8 million Xanth novels (which I still haven't read!). This is a time travel story concerning a man who goes back to pre-Castro era Cuba to alter history. Things go wrong and eventually he's interacting not only in the past but with multiple copies of himself running around. Each time things get more complicated. I could not put this book down; I think I read it in about three days. Excellent.
Clive Barker

Weaveworld
Barker charges through some seriously demented territory in this tour-de-force. Grotesque, horrific, suspenseful- this book's got it all. Reading this book is like having a nightmare.

Imajica
I had a hard time liking the protagonist in this story, but I think that may have been intentional on the part of the author, and Barker eventually won me over. This book is worth reading for just for the scenery, let alone the plot. It's a little slow in the beginning but stick with it- it'll grow on you. Spending a considerable amount of time setting up a story of this magnitude is understandable, maybe even required; the payoff is worth the effort. When you think it can't get any more 'out there', Barker's only just getting started. Can't imagine what it must be like to live in his head; he's got imagination enough for 10 men. Evidently this book was too large for many people so it was broken into two books; the copy I have is one massive volume.

Galilee
Galilee is the tale two 'gods', Nicodemus (seemingly deceased) and Cesaria, and their adult children. Their children carry something of their (formidable) powers, but the real power rests with Cesaria. Most of Cesaria's offspring reside in their ancestral home, an obscure residence designed and built by Thomas Jefferson, except Galilee, who's long since left home for a life of solitude and isolation, wandering the seas alone in his boat. Cesaria and her brood, especially Galilee, are bonded to a wealthy, powerful family called the Gearys, who are somewhat analogous to the Rockefellers, and mavericks in the business world. The women connected with the Gearys are drawn in by the family's wealth, prestige, and power, only to ultimately become aware of its dark underside. Disillusioned, many of them retreat to a Hawaiian retreat, where they are often visited by Galilee. Much of the interesting story-telling in this book is actually dialog and background that has little or nothing to do with the development of the central plot, but the backstories of Galilee, Cesaria, and the rest are critical to the understanding of these characters. The Galilee/Cesaria/Geary bond is the main focus, though, especially the relationship of Rachel Geary (one of the "Geary women") and Galilee. I certainly enjoyed this book, it's all very interesting, but I'm not sure how to categorize it. It's a wide story, and it has a few running subplots, most of which are prosecuted to neat conclusions. In some ways it almost reads like a soap opera that wants to shed its skin and become a horror novel. Interesting and enjoyable, and fairly long at more than 600 pages, it's a good book. Definitely not the best of Barker's work, and I doubt I'll ever read it again, but...good.

The Damnation Game
I picked this up at the same time I picked up Galilee; it's a lot more typical of what I consider an "average" Barker novel: suspense and creepy action, with juicy descriptions of shocking horror-movie imagery that stick with you long after you've finished the book. A gambler in the bombed-out ruins of WWII-era Europe searches for, and eventually finds, a nameless man who cannot be beaten. The end of this quest brings him both the game he's been looking for- the ultimate test of his skills- and more than he bargained for. Cut to the far future, where a wealthy, old man sits in his home, the center of a vast business empire, watching with fear as the end of his life approaches, and bringing with it something he's been dreading for decades. Add one ex-con gambler, hired as his security guard, and the old man's too-sensitive daughter, numbing herself to the world around her with heroin, and a supernatural being with bad intentions, and you get this great book. Barker's one of those guys who'll likely always be seen in terms of some of his past excellent work, the most visible of which is obviously the Hellraiser stories (probably most famous as a series of movies, the best of which is undoubtedly the first). But if you can forget Pinhead, and judge this book on its own merits, it's great.
Terry Brooks

1st Shannara series
It's blatantly obvious that Brooks adapted much of the backbone for these stories from Tolkein's (superior) Lord Of The Rings books, but he's differentiated them sufficiently to make them entertaining. Tolkein keenly hoped that his books would be the inspiration for future expansion of the fantasy genre, and he certainly got his wish. There can be no doubt that The Lord of the Rings made a lasting impression on Terry Brooks. I bought the first book in this series on a whim and liked it enough to read the next two; the series made enough of an impression on me that when I finished reading The Lord Of The Rings aloud to my son (a rather long process!) this trilogy seemed a natural one to start on next. The Shannara series extends far beyond these books; Brooks left himself room to expand. I've only read these three, so I can't can't vouch for the others. The central characters in the books are fairly well developed, encompassing the races of Men, Dwarves, and Elves in fairly standard interpretations, and Brooks spices things up by adding some of his own creation and tweaking things here and there. He manages to stay away from the common genre error of simply putting his characters into a 'gather-enough-magic-items-to-complete-the-quest' scenario by limiting their objectives and making these sufficiently difficult to make for a good story (a wise move). He's created some highly memorable characters in these books, and successfully creates tension and suspense. While they're plainly derivative works they're nevertheless very entertaining- in my mind, the main objective for any fiction.
The Sword of Shannara
The Elfstones of Shannara
The Wishsong of Shannara
Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code
Brown's protagonist gets drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse, in a desperate international race to unlock the secret of the Holy Grail. In the process of telling this thrilling story, Brown skillfully reveals a string of fascinating historical details you never learned in school. I didn't want this book to end, but it did, all too soon, because I couldn't stop turning pages. This book's worth every bit of praise it's received.

Digital Fortress
At the beginning of this book, Brown thanks a couple anonymous ex-NSA agents for their assistance with its creation. Since the NSA (National Security Agency) is a covert gov't organization for which very little public information exists, it's impossible to tell where their contribution ends and Brown's imagination begins. In the interest of national security, I sincerely hope their contribution was largely replaced by Brown's imagination. There are so many problems with this book I hardly know where to begin. The basic plot is that a disgruntled ex-NSA agent has developed a method of cryptography that the NSA's $2B electronic eavesdropping supercomputer will be unable to break, and is offering this information technology to the highest bidder in the name of personal privacy rights. Dangling pieces of the puzzle before the reader, Brown challenges them to attempt to solve mysteries which baffle the "best cryptographic minds of their time". This is part of the problem; if these problems were too challenging for them, why did I have such an easy time solving them?! You don't need to be a world-class mathematician or trained in cryptography to see through these puzzles; they're more like attempting the Jumble in the newspaper than the problems in the back of the average Scientific American. The glaringly obvious solutions will be apparent to most adult readers the moment he mentions them. This might make the problem-solving accessible to the greatest number of readers, but it undermines the competency he's attempting to create for his "brilliant" protagonists. Furthermore, the computer hardware and data safeguards Brown sets in place to protect the NSA's comprehensive agency-spanning database of classified information (and the aforementioned $2B, 3 million processor supercomputer) are so woefully inadequate as to be laughable. His villains make such obvious mistakes as to make them laughable. Furthermore, the ex-NSA agent was supposedly selling his new crypto technology to the highest bidder, but Brown only introduces one firm in the bidding competition and only slightly ties this in to the rest of the story. He would definitely have created a better book by exploring this branch of the story further. The very end of the book was even more disappointing. Brown chose to make a belated, half-hearted attempt at tying in the head of this firm with the technology's creator. After reading The Da Vinci Code, I expected a gripping page-turner, but I never experienced a moment of tension or suspense while reading this book. It was more like watching a lackluster made-for-TV movie-of-the-week. Having said all this, I was curious enough about what was going to happen next, and sufficiently entertained, to finish this short book (which took somewhere in the ballpark of 6 or 7 hours). Obviously not his best work, but no one hits a home run every at bat.

Deception Point
I was half-expecting not to like this book, failing to be impressed by Brown's Digital Fortress, but I was pleasantly surprised. The book is a quick read (took me a couple days) and though it didn't break any new ground in the thriller genre, or stand out against Brown's (in my view) crowning achievement The Da Vinci Code, it was a fun book. The story revolves around Rachel Sexton, the all-but-estranged daughter of a somewhat less than ethical Senator in the midst of a Presidential bid, who "gists" (or summarizes) national security information down into easily understood one-page briefs for consumption by governmental higher-ups. She's half-asked and half-coerced by the current President to perform her specialty for his own staff, in the wake of an incredible discovery by NASA. Summarizing thrillers is always a bit of a challenge, given the necessity of not revealing too much of the details. Suffice it to say that things aren't what they seem, and end up quite dangerous. I have to mention that some of Brown's main characters in this book, as in Digital Fortress, are at times drawn a little too flat, a little too one-dimensional. That's a shame, because the premise of the book is excellent, the plot engaging, and the action plenty exciting. I can't help but think I'm not giving Brown the credit he deserves sometimes, like I'm nitpicking him for things I'll let other writers get away with; in all fairness I feel compelled to say this is a good book, and entertaining- the main point of all fiction. Brown knows how to tell a story, and he makes his points quickly and consisely, and it's obvious he's done his scientific research. I suppose the curse of creating something as memorable as The Da Vinci Code is having everything you offer afterwards judged relative to it. It's certainly not escaping me that I've mentioned that book in the reviews of both the other books I've read of his! I'll keep hoping he's got another one like that in him, but if everything he does from here is only even this good, he'll have no trouble remaining a popular writer.
James Burke

The Day the Universe Changed
If you think history's boring then you've never encountered James Burke. He has a fascinating approach to examining history using scientific progress as a guide, and an unrivaled knack at making it not only informative but downright fascinating. In this book he follows a series of scientific discoveries and the societal changes they wrought, each in turn leading to the next, domino style, over centuries. An example that springs to mind (from his equally fascinating Connections television series of the same format) is the invention of the screw leading to the development of the sextant, and so on through the development of radar and the microwave oven, each discovery building upon the foundation laid by the last. It must be said that in the preceding example, in the interest of brevity, I've eliminated many of the steps in the process, which are the very details which make these connections fascinating; Burke does not. This book can single-handedly change the way you think about history. I'm actually a little amazed I haven't read more of his stuff, and now that I think about it, Burke's going back on my list.
Orson Scott Card

Ender series
In these books, Card created at least half a dozen characters you will never forget, and he masterfully uses them to wring every last drop of emotion from you. When they triumph you'll cheer out loud- and when they get cut, you will bleed. I don't normally get overly emotional reading books but these threw me for a loop. Ender (Andrew Wiggin) is born into a not-too-distant future on an Earth which faces annihilation at the hands of a technologically superior alien race. I refuse to divulge more details; I don't want to spoil anyone's experience with this story. Suffice it to say that Ender plays a pivotal role. The first four books are the story of his life. After finishing Ender's story in Children of the Mind, Card backtracks some and gives you part of the original story from another (equally compelling) character's perspective, and then proceeds to deliver a separate storyline that's every bit as good as Ender's- and blows your mind all over again. I generally don't buy hardcover books, but my reading caught up to Card's writing before Children of the Mind was published, and it's taken a monumental effort of will to wait for the paperbacks of these excellent books. There's also a prequel to this series called First Meetings: In the Enderverse, which is a collection of magazine works he wrote about Ender's parents, which led to the creation of Ender's story. I haven't yet read these, though I likely will, and someday I'll probably go back and read all these books again, now that both divergent storylines are complete. Absolutely first rate.
Ender's Game
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant

Homecoming saga
No single thing about these books stands out as particularly noteworthy now, long after I've read them, but after reading one I was hooked and had to finish them all. This time Card steps completely away from Earth and creates an ancient human culture on a distant colonized world. This series is another great example of a strong group of characters facing daunting ethical dilemmas. Card has a knack for getting the reader to identify with his characters. This is definitely a series of books that works best followed from beginning to end.
The Memory of Earth
The Call of Earth
The Ships of Earth
Earthfall
Earthborn

Tales of Alvin Maker
These are really very interesting books. Card weaves an alternate history for the United States, using the geographic features of the eastern U.S. while completely reworking the political landscape and international borders. In the meantime, he weaves in American folk magic and Native American folklore, to create a world very different than anything I've seen before, inhabited to a large degree by characters who's lives have come to be defined (unsurprisingly) by the "knacks" which they possess. These knacks can be mundane, i.e. a peculiarly in-bred talent for creating strong joints in woodworking, or plowing a straight line, or making people feel welcome, or telling stories, or they can be more mystical, i.e. the ability to see the various paths a person's life might take depending on how they make a choice in the present, or effortlessly cut a finished-edged millstone from a solid block of granite, or divine the location of underground water. Characters in these books display their knacks with varying degree of aptitude, and the most powerfully gifted of them all begins these stories as an unborn child, the seventh son of a seventh son, Alvin Miller. Through the first 5 entertaining, engaging, and at times (unsurprisngly for Card) insightful and touching books- all I've presently read- Alvin is born and grows to manhood in the rapidly developing western American frontier. Alvin's as good a boy and man as they come, and it's not too much to reveal that this makes him a target in the eyes of powerful negative forces, both human and fantastic. Alvin learns the eternal Spider-Man lesson early in life ("with great power comes great responsibility") and the Tales of Alvin Maker are the tales of a boy who grows into a young man facing those responsibilities, and trying to find his purpose. Card tells his story in excellent prose, using interesting grammar, and frames the late 18th & early 19th century with plausible issues, viewed in his characters' terms. He borrows many figures from history and distorts them to these purposes, including Benjamin Franklin, U.S. presidents Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Harrison, and Jackson, Napoleon Bonaparte, and more. Excellent books, not particularly challenging, fun, recommended.
Seventh Son
Red Prophet
Prentice Alvin
Alvin Journeyman
Heartfire
George Carlin

When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
Carlin's pretty well known for his bad mouth and crude humor, and he turns some people off from the word "go", but look a little closer, and you'll find a sharp guy with a lot of insight. Comedians have a way of turning the truth upside down, taking a look at it from different angles, and pointing out the absurdities we instinctively understand but may not necessarily see, and putting those into words that we can all relate to. The power of observation and the command of language is the root of their talent and trade, so I was only mildly surprised (having not read any of his previous books) to find this book dominated primarily by a series of short, disjointed essays on incongruities in the English vernacular. He seems to be pleading with the world to make some sense, and expecting to remain baffled by the lack of common sense around him. It's entertaining, and I'm sure most people who read this will find themselves chuckling and nodding agreement with most of what Carlin wrote here. Carlin's irreverant title is obviously a send-up of the "WWJD" catch-phrase fad, which he's obviously not the only one to take a poke at, thank god (ahem). Good book, not world shattering, made me curious to read some more of his stuff.
Margaret Cheney

Tesla: Man Out of Time
This book is a fascinating in-depth look at the life and times of Nikola Tesla, one of the most overlooked and important scientists to ever live, and an eccentric genius to say the least. Tesla was a contemporary and professional rival of Edison and Marconi, better known men heralded as giants who were pikers in comparison. Edison at least earned his recognition; Marconi's claim to fame (invention of radio) actually belongs to Tesla, who was also directly responsible for everything from our electric networks and AC motors to fluorescent lights to remote control. Tesla would be better classified among peers like Einstein and Newton than Edison and Marconi. No single innovator had a more fundamental impact on the world, and it's probable the world will never see another like him. Cheney's highly readable book does him justice. Incidentally, it's also very aptly titled, because not only was he clearly far ahead of his time, some of the things he was working on at the time of his death remain unsolved mysteries of science.
Susanna Clarke

Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell
I've heard this book described as "Harry Potter for grown-ups", which in some ways is a fitting description- the plot revolves around magic and the book is aimed at an older audience than Rowling's Potter series. However, any further convincing similarity would be an uncomfortable stretch. I read one review which called it "a comedy of manners", which is also fitting, as the book succeeds at sustaining an amusing tone throughout, including many funny scenes, as well as being set (predominantly in England) in the early 19th century, and exhibiting the norms and manners of the place and period. However, despite the recurring lightness of tone, the book also succeeds in achieving a serious dramatic tension and escapes that label. In Strange's fantastic England, magic is something that exists around and throughout all things. Various associations of scholars (termed theoretical magicians) study the history of magic and the works of medieval magicians, attempting to understand and preserve the knowledge of the past, but no one actually performs magic anymore- until Gilbert Norrell. He's a nervous, somewhat arrogant country gentleman of considerable resources, who's goal is to become the single practical magician in the world, and so achieve widespread fame the ability to shape the revival of English magic to his liking. Toward this end his industry is applied acquiring, hoarding and studying as many valuable texts on magic as he can find- and the prevention of those same practices in others. Eventually Norrell succeeds. Before long however, his sole position as a practical magician is disturbed by a brash young newcomer to the field, one Jonathon Strange. Lacking the resources of Norrell's unequalled library, he's been forced to be innovative, and has enjoyed enough success to worry Norrell. In order to better shape Strange's opinions (and control his actions) Norrell offers to take him on as a pupil. And so begins the story of Strange and Norrell. It's a great story. Clarke deftly weaves it in and out of historical events along the way. She brings a unique magical world to life in great detail, employing ridiculously extensive footnotes which vary from bearing directly on the plot to serving as colorful unrelated anecdotes. The use of those footnotes enhances rather than detracts from the book, and lends to it the air of an historical account resembling one which might be found in one of the magicians' libraries, though certainly less dry than most! Clarke's remarkable first effort isn't earth-shattering, but it's certainly an enjoyable book with a memorable plot and characters, and a lot of fun. I hope she's just getting warmed up because this is one of the most impressive offerings I've had the pleasure to read in a long, long time.
Michael Crichton

Jurassic Park series
Movies of these two works were certainly adequate in portraying the grand theme and thrills of these stories, but the books are obviously much better at fleshing out the characters, especially the children, who's parts were just vivisected in the films. The movies delved into the science of the story somewhat, but Crichton devotes more time in the books to it, and they benefit from that. The films also significantly deviated from the stories here; if you've seen the films but haven't read the books, you might be pleasantly surprised. I read each of them before the movie version was released and was thankful I did.
Jurassic Park
The Lost World

Sphere
This book was a quick read, and far better than the Hoffman/Stone/Jackson film based on it. From what I gather, there are plenty of people that haven't seen the movie, so if you're one of them, take my advice, save yourself the time and read the book instead! It's the very well done story of a team of scientists investigating an enigmatic object of unknown origin on the ocean floor. It's quite well done, and it's not overly long so it's a good choice when you're not interested in making a large time investment.

State of Fear
On the surface, this book is a thriller, but it's purpose is clear: shining a harsh light on the so-called science behind the theory of global warming. Crichton spent 3 years doing his homework before writing it, and the proof is in the pages. Chock full of data, including an extensive bibliography of sources for the information he's disseminating, this book is likely one of the most important pieces of fiction recently published. As important as all this information is, it also serves as the backdrop for the story. Or is the story the backdrop for the information? In a nutshell, that's one of the impressive things about this book. They say a man who serves two masters serves neither well, but Crichton manages to tell a great story while simultaneously (and constantly) presenting effective counterarguments to knee-jerk envirozealotry. It's a round-the- world thriller revolving around a fictional environmental activist group, one their wealthy patrons, their mutual long-time lawyer, and a covert operation to disrupt a series of attacks by ecoterrorists. All the factual information presented in this book comes from the mouths of the characters themselves (footnoted to the actual real-world sources) and Crichton weaves it all into the dialog seemlessly. It comes off a bit preachy at times, but in my case he was preaching to the choir anyway. Considering the monumental importance of the points he's making with this book, and the fact that many (likely most) people are unfamiliar with those points, I'll happily grant him license to make full use of his soapbox. The characters each exhibit different levels of awareness of the actual facts of climate science, as well as different levels of commitment to "environmentalism" or "conservation" or "preservation" (insert your favorite catch-phrase). One of the main characters is likely chosen to stand recognizably as the "average" American: reasonably educated, reasonably well-(mis)informed, reasonably concerned with the environment, and basically convinced of the validity of the commonly held "knowledge" that global warming is a real threat. This character is a lawyer who represents both an established, influential environmental activist group and also one of their biggest donors. All the other characters revolve around the group, that donor, and a federal agent trying to foil a multi-faceted ecoterrorism plot. Most of the real-world information and arguments presented take the form of the agent's dialog with other characters. The lawyer character, obviously equipped with the critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate arguments, is gradually persuaded to re-examine his own beliefs regarding "the environment". It's a neat, tidy premise, and Crichton doesn't blow it by dwelling overlong on those arguments. He spends no longer than it takes to make the point before turning back to the plot developments and action. Crichton clearly states his agenda is the reform of biased research methods, the elimination of bad science, for the purpose of promoting greater actual understanding of the issues. The story's great, the action exciting, the plot development relentless; all typical for Crichton books. This could have been very dry in someone else's hands, but Crichton makes it a lot of fun and manages to expose some very real inconvenient truths. Highly recommended.
Stephen R. Donaldson

1st Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever
One of the most memorable heroes ever to grace the pages of a book, Thomas Covenant is also a classic example of The Unlikely Hero. Covenant spends these stories traveling back and forth between the 'real' world and one he is all but convinced exists only in his tortured mind. This is truly an epic fantasy series in every possible sense: a lush, incredibly detailed, thoroughly engrossing world populated by unique, multidimensional, believable characters on both sides of the conflict between good and evil. These books have the distinction of being the only fantasy work I've found that I'd put on par with Tolkein's Lord of the Rings.
Lord Foul's Bane
The Illearth War
The Power That Preserves

2nd Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever
The Wounded Land
The One Tree
White Gold Wielder

Mordant's Need series
The protagonists in these books are from two different worlds; one is a troubled, timid girl in our modern western society, and the other a bumbling, unsure-of-himself apprentice of a type of 'science' (which works more like what we'd consider magic) in a medieval world. Each of these characters provides the other with what they lack, and together they face the challenges in the medieval world. Donaldson delivered another great original story that left me wanting more.
The Mirror of Her Dreams
A Man Rides Through
Richard Dreyfuss & Harry Turtledove

The Two Georges
The number of books that explore 'alternate' histories is growing, which is a good thing; it's a fascinating genre. To date this is the only one I've had a chance to read, and it's a fast paced murder mystery/heist story about the stealing of a highly significant and historically symbolic painting of George Washington and England's King George, shaking hands at the reconciliation of the colonies and England, thereby ending the Revolutionary War. It takes place in a modern setting that may have followed that reconciliation, and by the time I'd devoured this book I looked at our society a little differently than I had before. Turtledove's written many books in the 'alternate history' genre, and who knows where his contribution ends and Dreyfuss's (yes, the actor) begins, but who cares- it's a great book.
Philip Jose Farmer

Riverworld Series
Farmer is one of my all-time favorites, and these books are some of his best work. The idea for these books is that literally everyone who ever lived is reincarnated simultaneously on the banks of an impossibly long river, in proportionately mixed groups of people from different cultures and time periods, in what amounts to a scientific experiment on the part of a vastly technologically superior race. Drawing from a cast of characters that includes literally everyone (including the reader), Farmer continually surprises with his fascinating choices, most notably explorer Richard Burton and author Mark Twain. The billions of characters inhabiting this world interpret their newfound situation in manners varying from immediate exploitation of the 'new order' to the formation of new societies and theologies. Some are simply happy to walk around and breathe again, some use the opportunity to make up for past wrongs, some are so historically villified they must continually hide their true identities. The possibilities for a story like this are endless and Farmer explores a multitude of them. Eventually some characters simply must understand what's happening, and determine to figure out what's going on. It's impossible to overstate how good these books are. Farmer set the bar very, very high with these works.
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
The Fabulous Riverboat
The Dark Design
The Magic Labyrinth
The Gods of Riverworld

Dark is the Sun
The unforgettable characters and amazing setting of this book burned their way into my brain so permanently I had to dig it up and read it again 15 years later. Like many great stories, there's simply nothing to compare this to. I'm kind of glad this story remained a single book, it stands up on its own very nicely.
Raymond E. Feist

Midkemia 1: Riftwar series
The sheer audacity of this undertaking is a little mindbending: create a mythical world of a quasi-medieval technological level (called Midkemia), add the usual elements of fantasy (swords & sorcery, etc.), modify the traditional fantastic concepts into something basically original (almost required for good fantasy novels) and then, just to make things truly interesting, throw in another planet, complete with its own fantastic elements, and put the two at war. Sounds tough, right? Feist pulls it off so well it looks effortless. The original concept for the original of what would become an ever-expanding series of novels came from an unexpected place: Feist and some associates were creating a role-playing game. Eventually Feist used the original concept for the game as his starting point for the first book, and it's a doozy. Pug, a lowly orphan, is taken in by the Duke of Crydee, ruler of a frontier-edge territory in the Kingdom of the Isles, one of 5 nations inhabiting the land of Midkemia. He's raised by two of the kitchen staff, bonding with his "adopted" brother and, having shown a modest talent, apprenticed to the old court Magician Kulgan. Although there are too many characters contributing directly to the plot (which, incidently, seems to be one mark of truly good fiction) to name, Pug is one of the most central, and his story in the first book alone is one of the most compelling I've read. Well done for a first novel! As the story progresses through surprisingly complex and realistic personal relationships to international and interplanetary espionage and warfare- through both conventional and fantastic means- this story (the first 2 books of which originally appeared as a single edition called simply Magician) never disappoints. I could not put it down, and I've gone on to read 17 more in the seemingly neverending world of Midkemia. More power to Feist. I'll likely read everything he (and his occasional co-authors) write.
Magician: Apprentice [author's preferred edition]
Magician: Master [author's preferred edition]
Silverthorn
A Darkness at Sethanon

Midkemia 2: spanning the gap between series
These two books are basically unrelated to the plot developments of the Riftwar series, but they refer to those events quite often, and readers might be a little lost in places if they're unfamiliar with Feist's earlier work. However, they stand up on their own, and encompass the stories of 3 sons of one of my favorite characters from the Riftwar series. It's evident from these books that time definitely moves forward in Midkemia, something that continues throughout the further books. In the first, Feist takes a closer look at Great Kesh, the Kingdom of The Isles' greatest rival, and in so breaks new Midkemian ground; in the second he does the same with a previously unmentioned continent called Novindus. Each story expands upon what you know, and the last leaves no doubt that there's more story to tell.
Prince of the Blood
The King's Buccaneer

Faerie Tale
Feist took a break from Midkemia with this book, which I had to pick up, being a fan of his other work. Great book. It's set in contemporary times, the cast of characters revolving around a writer's family, recently relocated to a farm in upstate New York, where they encounter some old-world Irish magic. It's a fantasy at heart, but it plays like a horror novel, and Feist changes gears into suspense mode well. I'll be watching for other books from Feist like this one-off.

Midkemia 3: Empire trilogy, with co-author Janny Wurts
Feist teamed up with writer Janny Wurts for this series, and I can't help but think that in this case, the sum is greater than its parts. The flavor's very different, which is not surprising with a female protagonist, and though the details are thoroughly, authentically Midkemian, it's completely divulgent from Feist's other Midkemia work. I'm not aware of any other series in which an author and a collaborator have added so much to the original premise of an existing story as in this 3-book series. According to Wurts, she and Feist exchanged files electronically after fleshing out the series outline face to face, and constantly overwrote each other's work until she doubted either of them could figure out who wrote what, but however this story came to be, regardless of who contributed what, it's excellent. Kelewan is the world on the other side of the Riftwar, and as such, in many authors' hands this might make for short-shrift, but thankfully, Feist fleshed it out very well in his first book, and Janny Wurts and Feist have created something special from that foundation. The best way to describe this other world might be as a cross between Japanese and Aztec cultures, with heaping helpings of Feist's fantastic elements, and very likely plot developments and characterizations contributed by Wurts. The stories are set chronologically in the time period immediately following the Riftwar series. A woman's touch is evident throughout these excellent books, and it works. Didn't know what to expect when I started these, but I doubt you can fully appreciate the world of Kelewan without reading them, and for fans of Feist, or Wurst for that matter (I keep meaning to check out something else she's written) these are a must-read.
Daughter of the Empire
Servant of the Empire
Mistress of the Empire

Midkemia 4: Serpentwar saga
Feist jumps back into the series-moded Midkemia novels here, with typical success. Picking up roughly where the events left off in The King's Buccaneer, Feist plows ahead, delivering a new multi-volume saga as big as the first one. Every bit as convoluted and complex as the original Riftwar series, it's inhabited chiefly by a new cast of compelling characters, though many of the older ones feature strongly in central roles. I applaud Feist's obvious penchant for introducing new characters and evolving this world. He spends whole books developing these new faces, and letting them grow from humble beginnings to pivotal forces in the big picture. It's simply not possible to truly appreciate the scope of Feist's Midkemia without continuing along in the development of this world with him.
Shadow of a Dark Queen
Rise of a Merchant Prince
Rage of a Demon King
Shards of a Broken Crown

Midkemia 5: Riftwar Legacy series
If I remember correctly, these jump backward chronologically from the Serpentwar saga. These books are certainly capable of standing on their own, as are each of the discrete series in the Midkemia works, but I prefer to think of them in the context of the whole. Up to par, and a welcome expansion of the stories of (particularly) Jimmy the Hand and Calis, wise choices by Feist, since these are two of the best characters in all of Midkemia. And at the end of these pages, just when you might think the continuing themes that have spanned each of the Midkemia series are so neatly concluded they can't go anywhere else...
Krondor: The Betrayal
Krondor: The Assassins
Krondor: Tear of the Gods

Midkemia 6: Conclave of Shadows series
New twists, new characters (and some old ones), same result. Midkemia is alive and well in Feist's imagination, and, once again, I'm ready and more than willing to ride along. I keep expecting at some point to find these books becoming formulaic, but if there's a formula here, it's escaping me. The only formulaic thing I can think of about the ever-expanding list of titles in the Midkemia series is that mostly, in the end, you know things will (mostly) work out, and there's always something left unfinished to enable the next series. I keep half-expecting to catch Feist going through the motions, and maybe offering some work-a-day sub-par book, but he keeps avoiding that. He has a gift for creating characters you want to read about, and plot developments that keep you turning pages. Notably, Feist spends the first two books fleshing out a multi-faceted and believable antagonist, and in the process gives credibility and gravity to the events of the third book- and makes it all that much more entertaining and enjoyable. And though these three books contain a discrete story, carried to its conclusion, with the third book Feist leaves the door open for the next series: the Darkwar saga. I've seen numerous criticisms of various aspects of Feist's work, in a career that has evidently spanned about 20 years, some of which attacks his usage of common language by characters inhabiting a quasi-medieval world, etc. None of the criticisms I've seen caused me any pause; once opening the door to Midkemia, you're more than willing to accept it at face value. I might compare this to something like your mom's cooking: your mom made it just fine, and all the exotic spices in the world don't make it better. Sometimes simple is best, and Feist doesn't complicate things unnecessarily, or make any attempt to present these stories as more high brow than they are. Many novels benefit greatly from the depth of their immersion in arcane details, but it's just not a prerequisite for good story- telling. These books are not an Attempt At Great Literature, they're simply stories, told well, and enjoyable as such.
Talon of the Silver Hawk
King of Foxes
Exile's Return

Midkemia 7: Darkwar saga
Can't write too much about these yet, as I've only read the first chapter of the first book (included at the end of the mass-market paperback edition of Exile's Return. How much you wanna bet I'll like 'em?
Flight of the Nighthawks
John D. Fitzgerald

The Great Brain series
If I could only choose one series of books that every grade-school boy should read, these would be it. Many books are fascinating enough to get kids hooked on reading, and certainly many are good examples of strong characters acting on their convictions, but these are also very human and informative, and applicable to most young boys. By this I mean that they concern not fantasy or magic or superheroes but normal kids and their plausible problems. Sound boring? These books are anything but! Narrated from the point of view of the author, as a boy growing up in turn-of-the-century Utah, they consist mainly of his exploits with his older brother Tom, a character somewhat akin to Tom Sawyer, who has both "a Great Brain and a money-loving-heart". By turns these stories are exciting, hilarious, sad, and heartwarming. Tom continually schemes to put one over on his brothers, parents, and everyone else- and sometimes ends up putting one over on himself- as well as putting his mind to solving problems which have stumped the adults or even threaten the entire town. While you're soaking up the stories themselves, you're also soaking up what it was like to live in a small town during that period of time. Readers will come away with an appreciation of the period without ever realizing they were gaining the perspective. The kids grow up over the series, and the stories reflect those changes. I read these books over and over as a kid, and read them all aloud to my son, who counts them among his favorites as well. Actually, to be completely honest I was thrilled to have an excuse to read these again; it was like getting to be a kid all over again. Absolutely first-rate. Note that the last book was actually assembled from manuscripts (both finished and unfinished) after the author's death. It's remarkably well done, but there is a slightly noticeable difference between this and the other books in the series. Still worth reading! These books probably define childhood to me, they changed my whole world.
The Great Brain
More Adventures of the Great Brain
Me and My Little Brain
The Great Brain at the Academy
The Great Brain Reforms
The Return of the Great Brain
The Great Brain Does It Again
The Great Brain is Back
Benjamin Franklin

Fart Proudly
Sure he he's a towering historical figure and renowned inventor, but Franklin was always a writer and publisher at heart. The short works collected in this book showcase his firebrand spirit so well, I felt like I almost knew the man. This book succeeds at simultaneously revealing his unique blend of cutting wit, withering criticism, and wry humor. Short, excellent book by one of the greatest men who ever lived.
H. Rider Haggard

King Solomon's Mines
Alan Quartermain remains one of the greatest adventure heroes of all time, and this book is simply a classic. Think Indiana Jones, if you must draw a comparison, but Quartermain stands on his own. This is the type of classic adventure novel our fathers read when they were kids.
Robert A. Heinlein

Thanks go to my father for introducing me to Heinlein when I was young. The irony of science fiction is that while they push the envelope of science fact, fact charges forward, and past revolutionary concepts don't necessarily translate into present ones. While some Heinlein books are old enough for the 'science' to appear dated, he remains one of sci-fi's most important writers. You simply can't be a sci-fi fan without knowing of his work, and it's impossible to overstate the impact his books have had on later sci-fi authors. All these books, some more influential than others, stick out in my mind as must-read science fiction. It's been at least 25 years since I read some of these, and the titles roll off the tip of my tongue like it was yesterday. Some are like fixtures on my bookshelves....I'm going to blow the dust off them and reread them someday.

Stranger in a Strange Land

I Will Fear No Evil

Number of the Beast

Friday

Waldo & Magic, Inc.
Stephen King

The Stand
Although I was a little disappointed with the ending of this book, it's still an amazing story. King is obviously the undisputed heavyweight champion of the horror novel world. As I'm writing this list I'm realizing this is the only book of his I've ever read! Obviously I'm going to have to remedy that.
Chuck Klosterman

Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
Another title that sat around for quite a while before I got to it, this book was surprisingly good. Klosterman jumps all over the map, in a series of longer essays that jump all over the map, with chapter-long topics ranging from the sociological importance of MTV's The Real World to road tripping with a Guns-n-Roses cover band, interspersed with (generally one page) shorter comedic essays, this entire book is a tribute to all the less-than-fine things in life, and why they're so ubiquitous (and therefore more relevant and important to most people). Each chapter made me like this guy more; he speaks concisely, with honesty and precision, and I found myself more often than not agreeing with what he had to say...though I still can't find any redeeming value in The Real World, or, for that matter, force myself to endure any of (so-called) MTV's abysmal, mind-numbing claptrap. Interesting book, worth reading.
Dean Koontz

With Koontz you can bet he's going to grab you within the first few pages, and then he's going to pull out all the stops for the remainder of the book. Always entertaining; these are some of the most memorable things I've read from him.

Midnight

Lightning

Twilight Eyes

The Bad Place

Servants of Twilight

Hideaway

Cold Fire
Ursula K. LeGuin

Earthsea Cycle
All I can remember now about reading these books is a fantastic main character, a young sorcerer, following his destiny in a tiny boat on a world that's mostly ocean- and the fact that I promised myself I'd read these books again someday. I gather there are more books in this series now, so it must be about time.
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Tombs of Atuan
The Farthest Shore

The Lathe of Heaven
This is the absolutely riveting tale of a man who's dreams start to come true, altering reality. When this is discovered by his unscrupulous court-ordered psychiatrist, things get seriously out of control. It's one thing to have your wishes change reality; quite another to have your subconscious mind running rampant with the power; still another to have someone else manipulating it! Awesome book.

The Word for World is Forest
This is a very short novel, almost bordering on a long short story. I'm sure LeGuin could have fattened it up easily but I'm not sure she would have done better by the story to do so. She wastes no time making her points, and the story flows smoothly. Humans have come to colonize another planet, and they immediately proceed to ravage the natural resources found there. The vast majority of the humans treat the peaceful native inhabitants in manners ranging from apathetic tolerance to common cruelty. A single researcher is assigned to study them, and forms an especially close relationship with one of the more ill-treated natives. The technologically superior humans fear nothing from the natives, who view them and their actions with growing apprehension and resentment. The natives' exposure to the humans works a profound change in their culture, which of course builds to a climax that I'll not divulge here. LeGuin gets to the point quickly and has done with it. It's an interesting diversion, this book, and well done, but it's not an epic novel in any sense of the word.
James W. Loewen

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
An eye-opening and much needed revision of revisionist history. Certainly history books are written by the winners; this is a fact of life, but in modern times they're then continually rewritten in whatever currently-fashionable sociopolitical slant will ensure their most widespread adoption. Alas! Governed by the Almighty Dollar, history textbooks fall prey to political correctness. Well, all is not lost. Loewen's surprisingly entertaining and highly readable book amounts to a critique of a dozen commonly used textbooks, during which he presents a fair amount of subject manner they address (and fail to address) in an unblinking, often quite revealing light. It's a step in the right direction, and schools everywhere would be wise to adopt a similar approach in teaching. I can only imagine how much more students would learn if history (the most subjective subject, if that's not too unwieldy a term) was approached in the manner Loewen employs here. After reading this book I'm convinced no one can examine historical events from a single textbook and do their subject (or their students) justice. Read this book!
Alistair Maclean

For straight up fast-paced nonstop action it's hard to beat Alistair Maclean. His gritty, visceral books read like a first-rate action movie on steroids- nothing fancy, just down and dirty 'guy stuff'. If you piss standing up and you can't appreciate this stuff, check your skirt, sister, then call up your girlfriends and invite 'em over to watch the Lifetime network...or whatever it is you girls do.

Athabasca

The Satan Bug
Kent Nerburn

Letters to My Son: A Father's Wisdom on Manhood, Women, Life and Love
I'm really not a fan of 'self-help' books, or for going even slightly out of my way to take advice from people I don't know, but since someone bought this for me as a gift (soon after I became a father) I figured the least I could do was try to read it. I'm glad I did because this book was infinitely better than I imagined anything like it could be. Becoming a father completely changed my life and caused me to take a pretty close look at myself- but this book left me with an even greater appreciation of what fatherhood meant for me personally, and what I had to offer my son, than I already had. Everyone that reads this book will take something valuable away from the experience.
John Nichols

New Mexico trilogy
I'm only actually familiar with the first of these three books, given to me as a gift. I'd heard my folks speak highly of the film adapation of The Milagro Beanfield War (haven't seen it myself), so it was only a matter of time before I ran out of things to read and picked up the hefty volume of the same name. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first. It seemed pretty dry, despite the rich, flowing prose, and I think I'd actually spent about an hour reading it before I realized what Nichols was aiming for: comedy! A nice surprise. After that, it became much easier to read, knowing there were laughs around every corner, offsetting what is essentially, in many ways, a very bleak story. But almost before I saw it happening, another surprise: some suspense, and then: action...just when you think you have this book pinned down, just when you think you understand Nichols' intentions, he broadens his scope, and the whole becomes somehow more panoramic. This book's unlike anything else I've ever read. It's almost like Nichols is breaking some rules in (at least) the first book, because it's got some of everything in it. It's the story of a huge cast of characters, with little more than one thing in common: they all live in Milagro, a dying desert town. Their families have been there as long as anyone can remember, and they're all too stubborn or proud or unimaginative or just plain broke to go anywhere else, despite the fact that everyone's barely making it. The battle for the survival of Milagro is played out in the arena of water rights. Enter into this one hardheaded, tough-as-nails little man, who illegally cuts a little water into his own tiny bean patch, on what had been, for generations, before the water rights were bought out from under the town, his family's farm land. The big money has been trying to choke the last bit of life from the town for years, but this one small act of rebellion sparks something in the folks, and Milagro will never be the same again. In the end you know Milagro as well as if it began at the end of your weathered front porch, and it's an interesting place to spend some time. Nichols has formidable skills; the first book is very, very well written. Excellent work. I somehow managed to move on to other stories by other writers before delving into the remaining two in this series, but they're still here, and I'll get to them eventually. New Mexico will still be there. I may not recognize it, though...
The Milagro Beanfield War
The Magic Journey
The Nirvana Blues
Larry Niven

Smoke Ring series
Impossible to put down. I read The Integral Trees in two sittings, and The Smoke Ring over the next three days. These stories take place in one of the most unique settings I've ever read of: a ring-shaped, gaseous, zero-G environment with indigenous DNA-based life. The crew of explorers aboard an interstellar ship (controlled by an artificial intelligence in the form of a transplanted personality) abandon the vessel and explore the place. Five hundred years later their descendants still live in the smoke ring, fallen into various forms of tribal savagery. Many of these tribes of descendants possess remnants of their ancestors' technology, 'old science', ranging from common handheld information devices to a small spacecraft. These items are controlled by a tribe's 'scientist', the individual taught by his predecessor to read and use the technology, who's responsible for the preservation of the knowledge and the technology itself. The people in the smoke ring have, to varying degrees, adapted physically to life in zero-G. Tribes are predominantly isolated from each other and the societies that have formed over time vary widely. The intelligence aboard the mothership is watching and waiting, just outside the smoke ring, biding its time. These books have been on my shelf and I just happened to run out of reading so I finally got around to them; in a way it's a pity I waited so long to read them, but it worked out great in the long run- they were right there when I ran out of stuff to read! Niven has a way of packing a whole lot into a small space; he can convey in a few sentences things which others might spend half a page on. The economy makes for a quick read that flows along at a steady clip- no down time. Fascinating, exciting, original. The only criticism I can think of for these books is that there aren't more of 'em.
The Integral Trees
The Smoke Ring
Ringworld series
Despite the similarity in title to Niven's Smoke Ring series, these are a completely different concept. Imagine a circular ribbon of ...something 93 million miles in radius (the distance of Earth from the sun). The ribbon is therefore 600,000,000 miles long. Now imagine the ribbon has the mass of Jupiter, and is a million miles wide, in the neighborhood of a mile thick, with inside walls a thousand miles high, to hold in atmosphere, and spins enough to create centripetal force approximately equal to 1g of gravity. This is the description of the Ringworld, an artificially created structure with 3 million times the area of the Earth. Add to this premise an advanced human race, in which contact with aliens has long since been established, among which are two known as Pierson's puppeteers and kzin. The puppeteers are nonviolent, a brilliant race with a highly evolved society, in which the drive for self-preservation is so strong as to compell individuals to follow, in any situation, the course of action which imparts the least immediate danger to them...unless they're insane. The kzin are nearly their antipathy, a large race of orange-furred, carnivorous beings resembling a bipedal feline. Group a puppeteer, a kzin, and two humans and send them through space to investigate this strange Ringworld. I've never read anything remotely similar to these two books, and could not put them down. Niven is obviously fascinated with science and he pumps these books so full of original ideas it's hard to adequately describe them. He's a giant, and he's at the top of his game in Ringworld. It's more action and grand scale and adventure than a book has a right to. Great characters, unexpected, unique plot twists. The second book was ever so slightly less impressive than the first, but the story's not complete without it, and the miniscule letdown I experienced has nothing to do with any fault of the second book; it only pales a bit in comparison to the first; Ringworld really is that good. I loved these, and if you like science fiction, read 'em!
Ringworld
The Ringworld Engineers
Larry Niven & Steven Barnes

Dream Park series
Dream Park
I wanted to read this book again the minute I finished it. I've never wanted a fictitious place to exist as badly as this. Picture a real-life, high-stakes adventure game (think RPG), played by professionals, in a park dedicated to using every means possible, from psychoactive chemicals to state-of-the-art technology to trained actors in costume, to create a 'real' gaming experience. Carefully weave in a brutal murder that takes place in the park, and a security officer that must join the game to solve the case. Brilliant!
The Barsoom Project
Not as great as the first (what a hard act to follow) but still a great book. I was all too glad to revisit Dream Park. There's a third book in this series called California Voodoo Game, but I haven't read it yet. It's been so long since I read these books I want to to go back and brush up before I read it.

Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

These guys are probably the greatest tag-team science fiction writers of all time. Individually they're a force to be reckoned with; together they've created some of the finest science fiction ever published.

Mote series
These two books defy comparison to any science fiction I've ever read. I read the first one in a required reading class in 8th grade on the advice of my dad. Requiring me to read was always like forcing a kid to eat candy, but I digress. Thanks again, Dad, for another great recommendation. A lot of lesser sci-fi boils down to caricatures, bombast and sex, rather than believable and complex alien races and societies and sophisticated plots. These rich, detailed books are damned believable and downright scary at times. Outstanding work.
The Mote in God's Eye
The Gripping Hand

Lucifer's Hammer
When people ask me what my favorite book of all time is, this one pops into my head first every time. While I'm not exactly sure it's my single all-time favorite, any book that wants that spot definitely has to compete with this book. A comet the size of Texas smashes into the Earth, cracking the planet's crust and wiping out 99.999% of civilization. This is the story of the individuals that chance to survive the initial catastrophe, and the massive struggle that eventually ensues as they slowly come together into different groups. I've never seen another book with so many characters so well portrayed. Lucifer's Hammer is a massive story of the aspirations and indomitable spirit of humanity and, conversely, the depths to which we're capable of sinking in desperate situations. This book is probably the best "end of the world" story in existence, and a towering achievement.

Footfall
Take your average alien-invasion story, add the fantastic writing of two of the best authors in sci-fi, throw in what might amount to a laughable alien concept in the hands of anyone else, and you get something almost impossibly good. This is another unique and unforgettable book, right down to the surreal alien words like 'Thuktun Flishithy'. What more can a sci-fi fan ask for?

Inferno
Everyone knows all good sci-fi writers are heathens. It's no surprise then when one of them ends up (where else?) in Hell, and Dante's Hell at that. This is the incomparable story of one such writer who winds up there, and, determined to escape, journeys through the nine circles of Hell, led by an unforgettable guide. This is a short book, and I've read it a couple times; I'm certain I'll read it again someday, and that probably won't be the last time.

Oath of Fealty
This was an interesting book. Older science fiction is always interesting to read, if simply for the insights into what seemed like far-fetched ideas at the time. One of the overarching fictional concepts in this book is a mental link to a central computer, for the very rich- but this idea exists side by side with a Los Angeles district attorney character having a very long phone cord in order to move freely around his house while speaking. Both the concept of cordless phones and cell phones must have gone unforseen by Niven in 1981. But, while this is one of the first things to pop into my head, it's not the most informative about the book. The story is of the clash of two cultures, one that lives in a semi-utopian single-structure city called an arcology, and the sometimes symbiotic, sometimes antagonistic relationship it shares with neighboring Los Angeles. It seems like a science fiction book on the surface, but it quickly turns into a sort of action/adventure story. The fiction part is quite evident but the science part is not the driving force here. Interesting book, a fun and quick read, but not Niven's best effort, nor particularly representative of the majority of his work in general, to the extent I've been exposed to it.
George Orwell

1984
Sure everyone's heard of 1984, and it's referenced so often that people might think they know the story without ever reading it, and obviously 1984 A.D. is long gone (it was fully 35 years in the future a the time this book was published in 1949), but if you somehow managed to slip through the cracks and haven't read this book, by all means do. It remains the definitive fictional criticism of totalitarianism. Orwell hit it right on the head; once you've read this you'll never look at government quite the same way again.
J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter series
Don't let the hype or the fact that millions of kids are fans of these books turn you off. Rowling's first book is a masterpiece, and she's continued to deliver the goods in the rest of them- no mean feat. These books are in so many ways so vastly superior to the film adaptations (which were still pretty good) it's impossible to figure out where to start. Maybe a good place would be with their overall length. Once you're drawn into the story (you will get drawn in), you'll be glad these books are so long. It really gives you a chance to get to know the characters and become immersed in the world Rowling's created. You won't finish these books overnight and they'll stick to you for a long time. Certainly there are tons of childrens' books on the market which deal with magic and happen in fantastic settings, but Rowling has definitely broken new ground. Thankfully I managed to latch onto these books before any films were in the works, before the mass marketing blitz. My own mental pictures of Harry and his world will continue to be those of my imagination and Mary Grand-Pre's sparse and uncannily-perfectly-matched illustrations. When I'd finished reading the first two books to my son, and we moved on to other stories while long waiting for the third, he promptly broke the first one back out and started it again on his own, and no wonder- they're that good. Adult readers tend to scoff at titles aimed at children, but take my advice, it's worth an occasional arched eyebrow or remark from a scofflaw to enjoy these great books. Csn't wait for the seventh (and by all accounts, final) volume in this series, and I hope Rowling doesn't retire her pen when it's complete. She could certainly afford to retire comfortably, and if these books are the only volumes she ever produces they comprise a wildly successful career for her in and of themselves- but I'm dying to know what she'll come up with when she's finished Harry's story. Certainly the ensuing market pressure for her to continue these stories, or (horror!) to allow Harry's story to continue from the tip of someone else's pen, will be enormous. If there are more stories of Harry's world, let them be of other (heretofore unementioned) characters, and better yet, set in other locations or time periods, expanding the world Rowling's created. Another all-time favorite of mine, Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek series, found ways to accomplish this (after a suitable hiatus) and thrive in 4 more incarnations in the hands of others, often with excellent results. I suppose something similar for these books wouldn't be out of the question...but I sincerely hope Rowling maintains artistic control over all things Potter; she's certainly been up to the challenge. By all means, read these books.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Carl Sagan

Contact
Contact is a fantastic book. The premise is simple enough: Ellie Arroway, a scientist sweeping the ambient cosmic background radiation with radio telescopes, searching for signs of an artificial signal, is suddenly, almost unexpectedly, successful. Of course, the government immediately becomes involved, some members of which are openly skeptical of her claims, other (more ambitious) scientists become involved as well, and control of the project is taken from her. As Ellie struggles to hold by the tail this tiger she found, word of extraterrestrial life becomes widespread, and the crazies and religious philosophers start to come out of the woodwork. Public reactions range from messianic hysteria to widespread panic. When the signal is decoded, it's found to be an unbelievably massive and complex set of instructions for building...something. Since the device is so complicated, and the alien science so advanced, its construction is both ludicrously difficult and staggeringly expensive, requiring international cooperation. Creating consensus to begin this daunting undertaking is understandably quite difficult, and further complicating matters is the fact that no one's sure what this thing will do when it's activated. Eventually the decision to undertake the project is made. To say more would ruin the book (for those who've not already seen the necessarily-abbreviated-but-otherwise-very-well-executed Robert Zemeckis film starring Jodie Foster) and that's not my intention. I'll summarize by saying Ellie's destiny is beyond anything she imagined when it all began. This book is packed with so much science, explained concisely enough by Sagan to heighten rather than detract from a layman's enjoyment of his story, that it almost negates the need for suspension of disbelief. This is probably the most realistic portrayal of the manner in which first contact might be made with an alien species. Irrespective of science, Sagan also successfully creates empathy for his central character- the reader will care what happens to Ellie. Confronted with proof that man is not the sole sentient lifeform in the universe, and indeed not the most advanced form of life, the characters' exploration of the resulting spiritual implications is both captivating and thought provoking; Sagan undoubtedly expended a great deal of thought on the subject. Contact is a rare work of fiction by a noted scientist, and Sagan hit it right on the money.
Mary Shelley

Frankenstein
Amazing, genre-establishing work of fiction by an unlikely author. Everyone knows this story, and countless people have seen the excellent 1931 James Whale film starring Boris Karloff, but if you haven't read this book, give Shelley her due and pick up this classic.
Hampton Sides

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
This book is a great break from the fantasy and science fiction I've been spending a lot of time on lately. I don't often read books on history, which is somewhat amazing considering I find it extremely interesting, but after reading this I just may spend some more time on them. It seems almost flippant to say you enjoyed a book that told the tale of the abject suffering encountered by (predominantly American) soldiers in Japanese POW camps in the Philippines, but since this is overall an account of the circumstances by which these soldiers became POWs and the daring raid which ultimately freed many of them, it's inspiring despite the horrors it documents. The narrative begins at a point just prior to Gen. MacArthur's withdrawal from the Philippines, precipitating the surrender of nearly 100,000 Allied troops in Bataan. Sides devotes a significant portion of the first half of the book documenting the Bataan Death March and internment of the soldiers, which works tremendously to its advantage, providing context for the necessity of the raid. Sides jumps forward in time intermittently to the initial planning stage and the beginning of the raid, and then jumps back and forth, gradually weaving the two story-lines to merge at the same point in time. By the time this happens he's introduced the reader to many of the individual players involved, and the reader cannot help but connect with these men, and admire their bravery and tenacity. The time-skipping technique is flawless, and results in a satisfying read. Sides examines the issue from many angles, and carefully avoids simply villifying the Japanese en masse, letting individual acts of brutality and kindness speak for themselves, and examining the Japanese military's actions as a whole in the context of their culture. It's a great book, understandably grim at times, and ultimately a very rewarding experience.
Robert Silverberg

Lord Valentine's Castle
This book's another one that pops into my head whenever I contemplate what lays claim to top "all-time favorite book" honors. There are two more books in this series, and a subsequently published prequel trilogy, but I'm determined to reread this one before I read those. This novel is the finely written story of a man who wakes up one day and realizes he doesn't know who he is, and his quest to find out. He soon joins a band of traveling jugglers, in who's company he journeys throughout the vividly portrayed and endlessly surprising world of Majipoor. When he begins to realize who he is realizes he's not sure he wants to know! This captivating book's been sitting on my shelf for a long time, like a gold coin burning a hole in my pocket, waiting to be read again. Like a lot of good music, it defies categorization; it's in a class by itself.
Laurence Sterne

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
[unfinished, functional link & complete review pending]
Widely regarded as the birth of the post-modern novel, this fantastic, absolutely hilarious, ground-breaking book was written and released in a series of volumes by English writer Laurance Sterne in the late 18th century. Brimming with baudy humor, and referencing countless works of both contemporary and (even then) classic fiction and other works, Sterne uses this novel to speak to the reader in his own voice through the unforgettable characters he's created here. Sterne never lets you forget for a moment that someone (Tristram) is telling you a story, and at approximately one third through the book I've yet to encounter the title character (obviously part of the monumental joke Sterne's creating) in any manner other than the voice which narrates the tales of Tristram's father, his Uncle Toby, and the ever-widening characters inhabiting their world. I'm believe I'm getting close to Tristram's actual birth...I think. It's impossible for the average reader to understand the references (the obviously very well-read) Sterne keeps making without referring almost constantly to the exhaustive appendices of footnotes, but the work is very much worth it. The laughs are belly-laughs, and the language is fantastic. This book is a monumental achievement, and it's impossible to overstate the influence it's had on English writing. It's opened my eyes to an entirely new (to me) style of writing. By all means, read it!
Robert Louis Stevenson

Treasure Island
What a great book. Short and sweet. Stevenson's tale is a hearty serving of adolescent male fantasy akin in many ways to Twain's Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn characters. A mysterious pirate commandeers an inn owned and run by Jim Hawkins' parents. Soon afterward Hawkins' father dies of an illness, and eventually the old pirate does as well, leaving Jim and his mother no choice but to retrieve their due from his belongings. Unfortunately for them, the old pirate's whereabouts have been discovered, and they aren't the only ones interested in what the old pirate might have been carrying. With a bloodthirsty bunch of rascals breathing down their necks, they escape with nearly their due in coin, and an unopened leather...something into the bargain, to cover the difference, before they're forced to flee. This something turns out to be a map to buried treasure. Jim's friend (a doctor) enlists the help of another friend (a gentleman with more tongue than sense) to undertake a sea voyage to unearth this treasure. They assemble a vessel and what crew they might, and the adventure begins. This is the book that gives us the timeless Long John Silver character, complete with (the now ubiquitous) peg leg, parrot, and obligatory pirate verse ("Fifteen men on a dead man's chest / Yo-ho-ho and a buttle rum"). In terms of modern adventure fiction, this would be a very short book. Stevenson gets to business quickly, keeps the pace steady, and tells the story from Hawkins' perspective, as if he were telling you the tale over the counter of his inn, after the fact. Stevenson's story was contemporary when written, and the 'period' details are therefore dead on. The reader can't help but get the flavor of the times from this book. Well worth reading, and especially recommended for younger readers, as both an introduction to pirates and an introduction to the classics.
Bram Stoker

Dracula
This novel is pretty much the first gothic horror novel/romance, and besides giving birth to a whole new genre, is truly scary. Vampires are so cliché now it's hard to imagine the impact this novel must have made when it was published. Prior to this they were the realm of folklore but not serious published fiction. When I was a kid I went through the library and read literally everything in the building that concerned vampires and werewolves; it took months. When I ran out of early horror stories and histories of folk legend, I started on books about the early horror films with Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff and the like. Then I started trying to catch those whenever they were aired on TV (a tricky proposition in the mid 1970s, long before videotapes and cable TV). Having spent a considerable amount of time on the early period of horror fiction, I can say there are certainly plenty of choices, but there are only two giants: Shelley's Frankenstein and this one.
Jonathon Swift

Gulliver's Travels
Classic, biting, satirical social commentary; this should be required reading in school. Thankfully, many places it is. Gulliver's adventures in the four lands amount to a flight of fancy that's truly unique.
J. R. R. Tolkein

Middle Earth series
The Hobbit: or There and Back Again
This is another book that vies for "best book ever" on my list. Tolkein originally wrote this as bedtime reading material for his son, and it's certainly well suited for that. This is undoubtedly the best Tolkein work to read first, practically required reading before attempting The Lord of the Rings. The characters introduced here that play large roles in The Lord of the Rings are Gandalf, Elrond and Gollum, all of which are presented here somewhat differently than in Tolkein's later work. I doubt it's possible to fully appreciate any of these three characters (and therefore The Lord of the Rings in general) without reading this book. The Hobbit serves as the best possible introduction to Middle Earth in general, as well as an invaluable (and otherwise missing) introduction to (Tolkein's treatment of) Dwarves, Goblins, and Trolls. Bilbo is certainly the best introduction to Hobbits that Tolkein ever wrote. It's also the only Tolkein story with a dragon, and Tolkein's vision of this dragon specifically, and dragons in general, are among the most compelling in existence. Originally written as a stand-alone novel, The Hobbit is a gem on its own, apart from its merits as a precursor to The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo's thrilling, often humorous adventures as a reluctant 'burglar', a position into which he's deftly coerced by Gandalf, to aid a band of Dwarves in their quest to reclaim their lost treasure from the dragon Smaug, is among the most memorable pieces of fantasy ever written, certain to be treasured by the reader. It remains one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of reading, and one of a very few books I've read more than twice.

The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 2: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 3: The Return of the King
Surely no one can read The Hobbit and stop there! This is simply the epic fantasy novel of all time. If you don't like this book (often erroneously referred to as three separate books but actually one book often published in three volumes) then it's likely you just don't like fantasy stories. This is Tolkein's masterpiece, in which he created or expanded on more than a dozen unforgettable characters, the most comprehensive back-story ever likely to be attempted (by any author, in any genre...ever!), an incredibly detailed geography, multiple cultures (each explored in almost unbelievable detail), and a timeless story of good vs evil. Tolkein was a linguist and literary scholar and this book is the ultimate realization of his effort to create a unique, particularly English mythology he felt was missing from English culture. He certainly succeeded; The Lord of the Rings is really the genesis of the entire fantasy genre. In the course of telling this riveting adventure story he juxtaposes themes of hope and despair, friendship and animosity, tolerance and prejudice, humility and ambition, innocence and corruption, and nature and technological progress, among others. It's a story of personal sacrifice, of assuming responsibility for the greater good regardless of personal cost, of standing fast against insurmountable opposition on strength of conviction. This is certainly one of the best and arguably one of the most important works of fiction ever published. No recommendation of Tolkein's works can be complete without at least mentioning his remaining Middle Earth works, many of which were compiled posthumously from his archives, by his son Christopher Tolkein. I'm sure many of those will eventually share my recommendation. A particularly good list of them can be found here. Additionally, Tolkein wrote, translated or collaborated on numerous other works; look around online, there's a ton of info out there- for now they remain outside the scope of this page!
Harry Turtledove

Days of Infamy
Turtledove's the leading fixture in the genre of 'alternative' historical fiction; as far as I know no one else compares. I've reviewed the book he wrote with actor Richard Dreyfuss, The Two Georges (see above), but so far this is the only book I've read he authored solo. Well done. The premise is simple: what might have happened if the Japanese had invaded Hawaii instead of stopping with the bombing of Pearl Harbor? I was disappointed when I realized (about 3/4 through the book) that Turtledove wasn't wrapping the whole story up in this volume, though I wasn't surprised. WWII was quite long, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Turtledove continue the plot throughout the prosecution of the entire war. I haven't run into the sequel in the used bookstores yet, though I've been looking, so I'm stymied for the moment. This is a great book, told from both the U.S. and Japanese perspectives, encompassing multiple characters on either side. He's a great writer, and I look forward to reading more in this series, and his other work. Deciding where to start on those other works will take some doing- he's prolific, to say the least.
Mark Twain

The Unabridged Mark Twain
This massive book contains all the books mentioned below, plus a collection of his more noted short stories and essays. Twain was one of the best loved authors of his time; some consider him the greatest American writer period. Possessed of a singularly cutting wit and an unfailingly mischievous sense of humor, he infused his stories with withering social commentary that was rarely forced- it just came through. There's never a doubt about what he's sending up (which included everything from organized religion and racial prejudice to class inequality and ignorance) and he masterfully uses the voices of his characters to propound his views. Rather than bogging his stories down, these strongly presented views are often the very themes that make his work so accessible and powerful. That Twain novels like Huckleberry Finn continue to be banned from school libraries for containing the word 'nigger' (a common term of his time, which then did not carry the specifically negative connotation it has since taken on) is ludicrous when considering they were among the first (and best) works to deal with the subject of racial inequality. There's never been another like him, and likely never will. I believe this particular book holds the distinction of being the largest single volume book I've ever finished- it's something like 1200 pages. You won't finish this book overnight, but if you do finish it you're certainly well acquainted with the author's work and definitely a true Mark Twain fan. Interestingly, on the edition I read of this book, the editor is quoted on the back as saying, "This book is a Running Press Classic." This is immediately followed by the Mark Twain quote which says something like, "Classic: a book which everyone praises and no one reads."

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer (the character) is an icon of Americana. In this book Twain not only paints a vivid picture of contemporary life in an average town of his time, but presents a compelling portrait of the heart and mind of adolescent boys everywhere. Tom's dreams are a boy's dreams, and likely many of them were shared by the author as a boy, and reading this book gives the impression Twain never lost sight of what it meant to be young.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Another Americana masterpiece, this book reaches a bit further into the social commentary bag, as Huck recounts the adventures he has with a runaway slave he befriends (halfheartedly at first). Together and separately they face all manner of dangers, rafting their way down the Mississippi River. Huck's definitely not stupid, in fact he's surprisingly insightful despite his lack of a formal education. Since this book is narrated from Huck's point of view, some people may not like the 'period dialogue', which is heavy on country slang of the period; personally I can't imagine this story being told in any other fashion. Huck's voice is what makes this story so memorable. Of course, Tom Sawyer appears in this book, much as Huck appears in Twain's later The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; the difference between the two books is Huckleberry Finn is a more ambitious novel in terms of social commentary, and more of a road story.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Twain's premise here is to transplant a moderately intelligent, practical man of industry from the 19th century back a hundred or so years (the exact amount escapes me) to a time of comparative barbarity, in the court of a King of England, and watch as he does what comes naturally- outsmart and outmaneuver the superstitious lot of them- especially Merlin, who's portrayed as a sham. Twain spends much of this novel having his character rail against the church- no wonder I liked it so much!

Innocents Abroad or the New Pilgrims Progress: Being Some Account of the Steamship Quaker City's Pleasure Excursion to Europe and the Holy Land: With Descriptions of Countries, Nations, Incidents
How to describe this book. Imagine if you actually got to go on a loooong journey throughout Europe and the Middle East with Mark Twain. Based on an actual journey, it's an amazing, detailed account of landmarks and places, people and conditions. During this journey, you are treated to Twain's uniquely biting humor on subjects ranging from historically and religiously significant destinations to the local gentry and common populaces to fellow travelers. The narration takes aim at nearly everything eventually, including the narrator. Laugh out loud funny in places, never boring, this is the longest Twain story I've seen.

The Prince and the Pauper
I always liked stories with young people at the heart of them, especially when they're intelligent and good people. Twain's device here is to cause two perfectly identical (unrelated) boys, one a prince and one a lowly pauper, to accidentally switch places. It's a look at whether the grass is really greener on the other side or not, with a comparison of the harsh living conditions of peasants and the opulence of royalty throughout. In the process of trying to regain his rightful place, the prince learns humility; the pauper, surrounded by finery and pomp, longs for his loving mother, and learns the responsibility that comes with power. Unlike anything else Twain wrote, and adapted many times in different ways, the original is still the best, a true classic.
John Varley

Gaia trilogy
The main character of this trilogy, Cirroco Jones, captain of a space vessel tasked with exploring Jupiter's moon Titan, was a groundbreaking female lead character (at least for me at the time I read these books). What Jones and her crew find is something completely outside what they expected: Titan is actually a massive space station in the form of a giant wheel, and moreover, it appears to be alive. Varley's immensely detailed and masterfully crafted series is a helluva ride from start to finish, and explores everything from sex and gender to the nature of God- he's really all over the map. In the end though, what really matters is a great story, and these books are certainly that.
Titan
Wizard
Demon
T. H. White

The Once and Future King
Most people who've read this book will tell you it's by far the best King Arthur book they've ever read. I certainly think so, and I read a lot of them when I was younger. You simply cannot be a King Arthur fan and not read this book. White's style here is unlike anything else I've ever read, his language sometimes arcane but rarely indecipherable, and he just sort of drops you in the period at the very beginning and tells you to swim. It works; you'll kick to the surface immediately and head out for deeper water! The memorable first third of this book concerns young Arthur's schooling under the tutelage of Merlyn, who delegates much of the task to animals, by transforming Arthur into one of them. With no shortage of warmth or mirth, and (especially in the aforementioned first third) a generous portion of fantasy, this is certainly one of the definitive tellings of Arthurian legend.

The Book of Merlyn
More of a companion volume to The Once and Future King than a sequel, White wanted this published as part of the first work. I find myself siding with the publishers, though they might have published it concurrently as a separate volume! This book isn't a necessity to appreciate the other, and definitely takes a different tone. However, it's an excellent, unique look at Merlyn, and also practically required reading for any King Arthur fan.