By-Tor.com

Currently reading a lot to occupy my tiny mind, enabling a temporary escape from my (well documented) demons .
Rereading 'The Belgariad' fantasy series by David Eddings (humour, great characters and plot) and my fav series 'The Discworld' by Terry Pratchett, kinda comic/fantasy/satire (from which I derive my 'Ogg' psuedonymn). I also enjoy Stephen King, Anne Rice, JK Rowling, Clive Barker and James Herbert.
Neil Peart influences are so pat so please, care to pass any (original) cool authors/novels my way? The first mention of Ayn Rand will recieve heavy sarcasm .

I really loved Slaughterhouse 5 and Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

For fun reading that's not too deep, you can't beat Michael Crichton IMHO. Try Airframe, Sphere, or Prey.

Hmmmmmmmm....tempting with the sarcasm, I almost recommend Rand, but thinking about it, hows about John Barth? I found his style to be quite different from anything I had read before, but I had never encoutered a post-modernist writer before (too sheltered in my classics, I guess).

If you don't mind having your mind bent in half-a-dozen ways it shouldn't go, I'd certainly recommend Phillip K Dick. A new anthology of five of his novels, entitled Five Great Novels and featuring The Three Stigamat of Palmer Eldritch, Martian Time Slip, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Ybik and Through a Scanner Darkly, has just been released. In addition, go for The Man in the High Castle and any short story collection that features We Can Remember it for You Wholesale.

Other authors I'd recommend are HP LOvecraft, Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, Guy Gavriel Kay, Raymond E Feist, Piers Anthony and Anne McCAffrey.

despite heavy sarcasm Rand RULES! hehe, not recommending just stating my opinoin. ( aka teh right one )

Thanks, got a rare afternoon off tomorrow so I'm raiding all of the local second hand bookshops . I've compiled a list of your fav's and will let you know how I get on.

Oh this should be fun! Yes, do tell what you find and any that were not mentioned also.

the MYST series are the best books i've ever read! of course, it depends on what YOU like to read, but i'd definitely recommend them. the first one's a little dull, the second one's MUCH better & the third one is just as good as the second, if not better!

just thought i'd make some recommendations! happy reading, ogg!

carolynn

Well, I browsed through the second hand book shops. Visited Oxfam, British Heart Foundation and various other charity shops. Took me two hours but could not find any on your lists apart from Raymond E Feist (and that was ?10 for the hardcover!). I ended up with a Philip Pullman Trilogy (books upstaits, cant be bothered to check titles), A Kate Bush unofficial bigraphy and a large print edition of a Terry Pratchett novel to add to my collection (for a mere 50 pence ). Thankyou.

Oh yes, happysmilies007, you mentioned the 'Myst' series. Is this anything to do with the three pc games? Does it feature lost worlds, the D'ni civilasation etc etc? I love the games, I think I once read of the existence of such a book(s).

Ogg wrote:I ended up with a Philip Pullman Trilogy (books upstaits, cant be bothered to check titles)

you'll love those, they're really creative! don't look forward too much to the end of the amber spyglass though, it's pretty disappointing!

Ogg wrote:Oh yes, happysmilies007, you mentioned the 'Myst' series. Is this anything to do with the three pc games? Does it feature lost worlds, the D'ni civilasation etc etc? I love the games, I think I once read of the existence of such a book(s).

it has LOADS to do with the D'ni civilization! the 1st bk is about the fall of the D'ni empire, and the other two are about attempts to rebuild it. they're SOOOOOOOO good!! go to www.half.com and look for them, the site has real good prices if you're interested. the titles are:

1st -- MYST: The Book of Ti'ana
2nd -- MYST: The Book of D'ni
3rd -- MYST: The Book of Atrus

the second two are the best, so if you're on a budget i'd read them!

of course, this is me rambling on about MY opinion! you get whatever you want, Ogg!

carolynn

Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy trilogy. wonderful books, although I hear that Discworld is done better. yet to find out.

the books are:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaraunt at the End of the Universe
Life, The Universe, and Everything
So Long, and Thanks for All The Fish
Mostly Harmless

yes, a five-book trilogy. go figure. another really, really good book is The Dictionary of Imaginary Places. pages and pages and pages of the greatest fantasy settings of all time. I love it. then, if you feel like getting back to the basics, Its a Magical World by Bill Watterson is one of my all time favorite pieces of literature. if you can't find it, ask for Calvin and Hobbes.

for good fantasy, check out any and all of R.A.Salvatore's books. particularly the ones about Drizzt. hey, I'm a fan. what can I say? (Entreri's better, though).

allright. I'm done.

Adams' trilogy is grand. I got a copy of it (all five in one volume) for 50 cents at a church sale!