Favorite Fiction - Book Series

[ndirish1978]

Any readers here? I'm looking for a new series of books to read. I read a bunch of non-fiction but try to give myself a mental vacation enjoying some fiction everyone 2-3 books. I got really into the Stormlight Archive (highly recommended) but the next book won't be out for at least 3 years, so I'm looking for some fun fiction series I can tear through. Anyone have a rec? Thanks!

[ExWNYer]

Penthouse Forum...

[May Day 10]

It sounds cliche, but a song of ice and fire is fantastic, although, who knows if it gets completed.

 

Dark tower series by Stephen King.

 

I started reading the first law trilogy and it is really good so far

[PastaJoe]

If you like alternate history fiction, the Harry Turtledove book series are good. I read the 3 book series where aliens invaded Earth during WWII. But he also has ones such as where the South wins the Civil War, or the US uses nukes during the Korean War. Real historical events with a twist.

 

 

[Metal Man]

Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind is very good.

 

I'll second Dark Tower and First Law trilogy as well as Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove described above.

 

Song of Ice and fire is excellent but I'd avoid it as it may never get finished.

 

Just started reading the first book in a series called The Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson.

It is a pretty unique story about a WW2 destroyer that somehow ends up in an alternate Earth where evolution went much differently. I am really enjoying it so far.

[Simon]

I would go with Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs series, particularly books 2 & 3 (Broken Angels and Woken Furies). Book 1 was "OK" and you don't need to read it to get the other two books, which are just brilliantly written.

They attempted to make a Netflix series out of it but it was just horrible in comparison to the written works.

 

35 minutes ago, Metal Man said:

Just started reading the first book in a series called The Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson.

It is a pretty unique story about a WW2 destroyer that somehow ends up in an alternate Earth where evolution went much differently. I am really enjoying it so far.

 

Read it a few years ago also. Interesting concept but as the series moves along it sort of runs out of steam and gets a bit repetitive.

Enjoy the first one but if you find yourself getting bored eventually, don't feel compelled to keep going.

[Metal Man]

1 minute ago, Simon said:

I would go with Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs series, particularly books 2 & 3 (Broken Angels and Woken Furies). Book 1 was "OK" and you don't need to read it to get the other two books, which are just brilliantly written.

They attempted to make a Netflix series out of it but it was just horrible in comparison to the written works.

 

 

Read it a few years ago also. Interesting concept but as the series moves along it sort of runs out of steam and gets a bit repetitive.

Enjoy the first one but if you find yourself getting bored eventually, don't feel compelled to keep going.

I had a suspicion that could be the case.

It is a fun premise, and there seems to be room for some good world building, but 15 books does seem like a long way to run with it.

 

Thanks for the reminder on the Takeshi Kovacs books. I had been meaning to put that on my list.

[Simon]

16 minutes ago, Metal Man said:

I had a suspicion that could be the case.

It is a fun premise, and there seems to be room for some good world building, but 15 books does seem like a long way to run with it.

 

Thanks for the reminder on the Takeshi Kovacs books. I had been meaning to put that on my list.

 

Wow, I didn't realize he had stretched it out to 15! There was only three when I read it. 

 

Since y'all have got me on a sci-fi kick, I'll suggest a couple of other series' which are really, really good:

 

John Ringo - The first 3-4 books of the Posleen War series (Hymn Before Battle, Gust Front, When the Devil Dances)

 

Jack Campbell - The Lost Fleet Series

 

John Ringo (again) - The Troy Rising Series 

 

I'm finishing up John Scalzi's Interdependency Series right now and would suggest it as well.

It's not overloaded with action but it's very well written with some really funny characters.

 

 

 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Lew Archer novels, written by Ross Macdonald (true name Kenneth Millar).

[teef]

the bible

[Gugny]

The "Odd" ("Odd Thomas) series by Dean Koontz.  I've only read a handful, but thought what I read was great.

[DD4Bills]

Dark Tower is a great call...even with the "love it or hate it" ending.

 

Other series that I enjoy(ed):

- Song of Ice & Fire (aka Game of Thrones)...not holding my breath that George Martin will ever finish it, however

- The Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child

- The "Prey" series by John Sanford (the Lucas Davenport books)...also the Virgil Flowers series by same author. Two great crime/police procedural series

[transplantbillsfan]

11 hours ago, May Day 10 said:

It sounds cliche, but a song of ice and fire is fantastic, although, who knows if it gets completed.

 

Dark tower series by Stephen King.

 

I started reading the first law trilogy and it is really good so far

 

I will second The Dark Tower series. It really is just an amazing fantasy series. And I'm not even done with it. I'm just finishing Wolves of the Calla (Book #5)

[Rockpile233]

12 hours ago, May Day 10 said:

It sounds cliche, but a song of ice and fire is fantastic, although, who knows if it gets completed.

 

Dark tower series by Stephen King.

 

I started reading the first law trilogy and it is really good so far

I’m obsessed with the First Law Trilogy. If you like it you’ll also love the new Age of Madness Trilogy. Last book expected out later this year.

[Punching Bag]

Robert Asprin's Myth book series and his Phule's Company book series are great stories with hilarious stories. 

[Mark Vader]

On 8/24/2021 at 10:16 AM, PastaJoe said:

If you like alternate history fiction, the Harry Turtledove book series are good. I read the 3 book series where aliens invaded Earth during WWII. But he also has ones such as where the South wins the Civil War, or the US uses nukes during the Korean War. Real historical events with a twist.

 

 

For other alternate history fiction, check out Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series. Where dragons exist and are used as the air force during the Napoleonic Wars.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Does everyone only read fantasy books on here?! 
 

 

 

[Steve O]

The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum - really enjoyed the first and third, could have done without The Bourne Supremacy...haven't read the more recent Bourne series.

The Bobby Lee Swagger trilogy by Stephen Hunter - Point of Impact (movie is Shooter,) Black Light, and Time to Hunt. Hunter later wrote a prequel based on Swagger's father Earl, Hot Springs, which is excellent assuming you like the first three. Also has several stand alone books, my favorite of which is Dirty White Boys.

[DrDawkinstein]

I'll go with some basic, popular sci-fi classics...

 

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series. 5 books, all great, all quick easy entertaining reads, and some of the most famous and legendary quotes ever.

 

The Foundation series by Issac Asimov. There are like 8 books, but really just the first 3: Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation. About to come out as a series on AppleTV too.

 

And in newer sci-fi, Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars). from wiki: That chronicles the settlement and terraforming of the planet Mars through the personal and detailed viewpoints of a wide variety of characters spanning almost two centuries. Ultimately more utopian than dystopian, the story focuses on egalitarian, sociological, and scientific advances made on Mars, while Earth suffers from overpopulation and ecological disaster.

[DrDawkinstein]

On 8/24/2021 at 2:36 PM, Simon said:

 

I'm finishing up John Scalzi's Interdependency Series right now and would suggest it as well.

It's not overloaded with action but it's very well written with some really funny characters.

 

I had started Old Man's War and got distracted/sidetracked by Andy Weir's new Project Hail Mary which has been a really great "addition" to The Martian. Not a sequel at all, but written in that same first person, journal-type method. Need to pick OMW back up again.

[BuffaloBud]

On Cold Mountain

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Where the Crawdad's Sing

Anything from Jim Harrison

 

[Chef Jim]

H.P. Lovecraft.  Psychological horror. If you like Steven King you'll love HPL as King was inspired by him. I got his complete works for my Kindle for a whopping $.99

 

Many of his stories are short but the themes are often carried on from one to the other.  Not is a serial fashion just thematically.   Good stuff!

3 hours ago, BuffaloBud said:

On Cold Mountain

 

 

 

Do you mean Cold Mountain?  If so I read that years ago.  Good one!  I have an autographed first edition.  I collect first editions.  I have a first edition of Lovecraft's The Outsider and Others.  Damn thing is worth about $2k!  

[ndirish1978]

On 8/24/2021 at 12:29 PM, May Day 10 said:

It sounds cliche, but a song of ice and fire is fantastic, although, who knows if it gets completed.

 

Dark tower series by Stephen King.

 

I started reading the first law trilogy and it is really good so far

 

First Law is very well written

 

On 8/24/2021 at 1:16 PM, PastaJoe said:

If you like alternate history fiction, the Harry Turtledove book series are good. I read the 3 book series where aliens invaded Earth during WWII. But he also has ones such as where the South wins the Civil War, or the US uses nukes during the Korean War. Real historical events with a twist.

 

I'll check this out, thanks!

 

On 8/24/2021 at 1:39 PM, Metal Man said:

Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind is very good.

 

I'll second Dark Tower and First Law trilogy as well as Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove described above.

 

Song of Ice and fire is excellent but I'd avoid it as it may never get finished.

 

Just started reading the first book in a series called The Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson.

It is a pretty unique story about a WW2 destroyer that somehow ends up in an alternate Earth where evolution went much differently. I am really enjoying it so far.

 

I'll check out Destroyermen thanks! Goodkind I have issues with, he has a real problem with not doing homages, but lifting entire premises and just copying them from other authors. I know a lot of people are not aware of this. I'd recommend giving this a watch 

 

 

On 8/24/2021 at 2:17 PM, Simon said:

I would go with Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs series, particularly books 2 & 3 (Broken Angels and Woken Furies). Book 1 was "OK" and you don't need to read it to get the other two books, which are just brilliantly written.

They attempted to make a Netflix series out of it but it was just horrible in comparison to the written works.

 

Read it a few years ago also. Interesting concept but as the series moves along it sort of runs out of steam and gets a bit repetitive.

Enjoy the first one but if you find yourself getting bored eventually, don't feel compelled to keep going.

 

I'll try reading the Takeshi Kovacs books. I saw the first season on Netflix and it seemed like a great concept that was poorly executed; was not aware the series was based on books.

 

 

If anyone is into fantasy I have a few recos for series I love:

• Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson - This is my favorite current series, it's in the epic fantasy genre.
• Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson - he's just a great writer. Fantasy, but more post-apocalyptic. Sanderson is a prolific writer and churns out at least a book per year and currently has about 3 series going. A lot of his series are set in the same universe on different planets so every once in a while you might run into a character and think "this person seems a lot like person A from that other book.. and it usually is." None of it is spoonfed to you and I like easter eggs in my books.
• Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks - This was one of the first fantasy series I read, it's pretty good. 
• Gentlemen Bastards Series - Scott Lynch - Fun worldbuilding
• Kingkiller - Patrick Rothfuss - Excellent writing, but the third book may never come out while the first two are classics.
• Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan - I recommend this with a couple caveats: 1- These books spawned many tropes and copycats. You might read something and think "I've seen this angle before" and you'd be right, but that's because Jordan wrote it first and was copied by half the genre, so it can seem derivative to people who've read other authors who followed. 2- The series is 15 damn books long, I dunno if I'd recommend it to someone just checking the genre out, that's a huge commitment.  

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by ndirish1978

[Metal Man]

17 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said:

 

I'll check out Destroyermen thanks! Goodkind I have issues with, he has a real problem with not doing homages, but lifting entire premises and just copying them from other authors. I know a lot of people are not aware of this. I'd recommend giving this a watch 

 

 

 

Goodkind is definitely a pretentious $%#! from everything I have ever read about him and he definitely gets very political heavy in some of the later Sword of Truth novels. I get why he turns a lot of people off.

 

Also even though most fantasy is derivative at some level the similarities to Wheel of Time are pretty evident.

 

All that being said though the first 3 or 4 books of the Sword of Truth series are highly entertaining.

 

 

25 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said:

• Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson - This is my favorite current series, it's in the epic fantasy genre.

 

25 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said:

• Kingkiller - Patrick Rothfuss - Excellent writing, but the third book may never come out while the first two are classics.

 

 

I have heard nothing but good things about Stormlight Archive and even more great things about Kingkiller Chronicles. However I have promised myself to never start a series again that isn't finished after waiting 20 years to get the ending of Wheel of Time and more than likely being burned by Song of Ice and Fire. 😀

[ndirish1978]

4 minutes ago, Metal Man said:

I have heard nothing but good things about Stormlight Archive and even more great things about Kingkiller Chronicles. However I have promised myself to never start a series again that isn't finished after waiting 20 years to get the ending of Wheel of Time and more than likely being burned by Song of Ice and Fire. 😀

 

You can rest assured Stormlight will be finished in a timely manner. Look at the top right corner of Sanderson's webpage, he gives weekly updates on his writing and what stage a project is in. 

 

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/

[Metal Man]

Just now, ndirish1978 said:

 

You can rest assured Stormlight will be finished in a timely manner. Look at the top right corner of Sanderson's webpage, he gives weekly updates on his writing and what stage a project is in. 

 

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/

 

For sure. I love how Sanderson has a progress bar on his website for his projects.

 

It is a nice change up from Rothfuss getting annoyed anytime someone asks him about the last Kingkiller book or the BS that Martin keeps saying about Winds of Winter being right around the corner for the last 5 years.

 

[Chef Jim]

8 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

Does everyone only read fantasy books on here?! 
 

 

 

 

I'm reading A War to be Won on WWII.  It's a great book but damn is it sleep inducing.  

[ndirish1978]

Have any of you read those Jack Carr's James Reece novels? They're a decent read. Fairly predictable, but good. Reminds me of the old days with Tom Clancy when he actually wrote books himself and it wasn't a team of writers purporting to be him releasing books.   

[BuffaloBud]

20 hours ago, Chef Jim said:

H.P. Lovecraft.  Psychological horror. If you like Steven King you'll love HPL as King was inspired by him. I got his complete works for my Kindle for a whopping $.99

 

Many of his stories are short but the themes are often carried on from one to the other.  Not is a serial fashion just thematically.   Good stuff!

 

Do you mean Cold Mountain?  If so I read that years ago.  Good one!  I have an autographed first edition.  I collect first editions.  I have a first edition of Lovecraft's The Outsider and Others.  Damn thing is worth about $2k!  

 

Good catch, yes - Cold Mountain.

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Harry Bosch Novels by Michael Connelly (crime, drama, suspense)

 

Anything by Harlan Coben (thrilller, suspense, mystery)

 

Ohh also the Alex Cross novels are a great series 

Edited August 28, 2021 by EmotionallyUnstable

[Simon]

On 8/26/2021 at 4:15 PM, Chef Jim said:

It's a great book but damn is it sleep inducing. 

 

 

  

I'm going to suggest that the latter is clear evidence that the former is not true.

Or are you just so old that you instantly fall asleep every time you put on reading glasses?

 

On 8/26/2021 at 3:20 PM, ndirish1978 said:

I'll try reading the Takeshi Kovacs books. I saw the first season on Netflix and it seemed like a great concept that was poorly executed; was not aware the series was based on books.

 

Just fantastic writing; among my very favorites and I'm a giant booksnob.

If you're going to give it a shot, skip the first one and go with either the second or third; you can go back to the first if you like the others.

If you're only going to read one, go with the third one. Woken Furies is definitely the best of the lot, imo.

 

 

On 8/26/2021 at 9:36 AM, DrDawkinstein said:

I had started Old Man's War and got distracted/sidetracked by Andy Weir's new Project Hail Mary which has been a really great "addition" to The Martian. Not a sequel at all, but written in that same first person, journal-type method. Need to pick OMW back up again.

 

 

I didn't love Old Man's War as much as most people did but that seems to be more on me than others. 

Thanks for the tip on Project Hail Mary as I wasn't aware of it. Loved the Martian (but not Artemis so much) and am glad to have a chance to read something similar in style and tone. Does it start off as good as The Martian, in which the first four words were "I'm pretty much f***ed"?

I was instantly hooked 

 

[Chef Jim]

33 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

 

  

I'm going to suggest that the latter is clear evidence that the former is not true.

Or are you just so old that you instantly fall asleep every time you put on reading glasses?

Go ahead suggest away.  History is and can be incredibly fascinating and dry at the same time. 
 

And reading glasses.  What pray tell are those?  😁

Edited August 28, 2021 by Chef Jim

[Simon]

1 hour ago, Chef Jim said:

Go ahead suggest away.  History is and can be incredibly fascinating and dry at the same time. 
 

And reading glasses.  What pray tell are those?  😁

 

Like this....

 

 

And if you want to say awake, put down the John Eisenhower and pick up some Antony Beever, you stubborn old mule.

[Chef Jim]

8 hours ago, Simon said:

 

Like this....

 

 

And if you want to say awake, put down the John Eisenhower and pick up some Antony Beever, you stubborn old mule.

 

Stubborn old mule?  Me?  Nah...

[DrDawkinstein]

16 hours ago, Simon said:

I didn't love Old Man's War as much as most people did but that seems to be more on me than others. 

Thanks for the tip on Project Hail Mary as I wasn't aware of it. Loved the Martian (but not Artemis so much) and am glad to have a chance to read something similar in style and tone. Does it start off as good as The Martian, in which the first four words were "I'm pretty much f***ed"?

I was instantly hooked 

 

 

 

Hahaha, it doesnt start with as good a line, but it does drop us straight into the action right from the jump. Same tone and pace. It's like The Martian with a cool sci-fi twist and all the real science to go with it.

[Mark90]

On 8/24/2021 at 6:42 PM, ndirish1978 said:

Any readers here? I'm looking for a new series of books to read. I read a bunch of non-fiction but try to give myself a mental vacation enjoying some fiction everyone 2-3 books. I got really into the Stormlight Archive (highly recommended) but the next book won't be out for at least 3 years, so I'm looking for some fun fiction series I can tear through. 

I recently read Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau and now it is one of my favorite books!

Edited October 1, 2021 by Mark90

[SinceThe70s]

I used to read a lot, not so much recently so these are probably dated.

 

Tom Clancy was my favorite but his books required an investment in time. I read them out of sequence which was OK, they all stand on their own. Without Remorse was a fave.

 

On the other hand Nelson DeMille was usually an easy read with a great story.

 

When I finished a DeMille book I couldn't wait for the next, when I finished a Clancy book I needed some time off