I need a new book to read!?

Question

I've just finished reading God Emperor of Dune having gone through the original Dune tirlogy (first was awesome, went slightly downhill after) so now I need a new book to read.

I'd like something with decent scope, good character development and some level of intrigue.

I like sci-fi and fantasy, and favourites have included Lord of the Rings, Dune and the Dark Materials tirlogy. I also quite liked 'Soon I Will Be Invincible' by Austin Grossman.

For the record, I absolutely hate things like Harry Potter.

Any good suggestions then?

(Oh, and just for the record, I will react very badly to answers pointing to other questions. I asked this question for an answer, not so you can point out your own questions. Thats just really, really lame.)

Answer 1

lord of the rings twilight series or dr who books  

Answer 2

Once by James Herbert is a real good read - sounds like it may suit your style of reading.

:)

Answer 3

After reading some of the other answers, they all contained books I would have suggested, so I racked my brains, went through to my 'library' and had a good look.

I would suggest you try Simon R Green, his books include Blue Moon rising and Beyond the Blue Moon, very funny and pure fantasy with wizards, demons, knights, unicorns, talking dogs etc.

David Farland writes a series called the Rune lords which is very good, there are 7 books in that series.

Anne MaCaffrey's Pern, Crystal Singer, Petaybee, Talents and Freedom series are all great books too.

Trudi Canavan Black Magician triology is also a good set to read, very enjoyable.

Happy reading and I hope you find something you enjoy.

Answer 4

If you're such a big fan of DUNE, you might enjoy the 9 or so novels written by Brian Herbert (Frank's son) and Kevin J. Anderson.  They started with a trilogy leading up to the very beginning events of DUNE, did a trilogy aboutt the "machine wars", and in fact have a new book coming out in about 2-3 weeks called PAUL OF DUNE.

You also might enjoy the novels of Sherri Tepper, especiallly GRASS and FAMILY THREE.

Answer 5

Try some of these, its a mixed bag of good books!

Children/Young Adult

Last Chance by Sarah Dessen

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Inkheart and Inkspell by Cornelia Funkt

Ingo series by Helen Dunmore

Whistling for the Elephants by Sandi Toksvic

The Book Thief by Markus Zusack

All the Harry Potter books

Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling

The Railway Children - E Nesbit

Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carol

Treasure Island and Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Dating Hamlet by Lisa Fielder

Adult

No! I don’t want to join a Book Club by Virgina Ironside

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir......and her other books

The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Neffenigger

Best of Fathers by Anne Baker

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

Cell by Stephen King

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Swimming with the Fishes and Swimming without a net by MaryJanice Davidson

Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Mr Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

My Legendary Girlfriend by Mike Gayle and his others

Mr McGreggor, The Last Lighthouse Keeper, Animal Instincts, Only Dad, Rosie, Love and Dr Devon all by Alan Titchmarsh

Pillars of the Earth and the sequel World Without End by Ken Follett

Anything by Stephen King, John Saul, John Connolly, Alexander McCall Smith, Terry Pratchett, James Herbert

Classics

Lord of the Flies and The Inheritors by William Golding

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Gulliver's Travels by Johnathan Swift

Sons and Lovers - D H Lawrence

Great Gatsby - Scot Fitzgerald

1984 and Animal Farm - GeorgeOorwell

Mrs Dalloway - Virgina Wolfe

I Claudius - Robert Graves

Rebecca - Daphne de Maurier

Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh

Women in Love - D H Lawrence

Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad

A Portrait of an Artist as a Young man - James Joyce

Goodbye to all That - Robert Graves

Shirley - Charlotte Bronte

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Brave New World - Aldais Huxley

Anna Karnina - Tolstoy

The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

Lolita - Vladimer Naborkov

Tarka the Otter - Henry Williamson

Burning Bright - John Steinbeck

Travels with my Aunt - Graham Greene

The Pearl - John Steinbeck

A Room With a View - E M Forster

Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo

Les Miseriables - Victor Hugo

Lorna Doon - R D Blackmore

Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe

Brideshead Revisted - Evelyn Waugh

War and Peace - Tolstoy

Anything by Jane Austin

Series

Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz

The Arthur Trilogy by Bernard Cornwall starts with Winter King

The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind starts with Wizards First Rule

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King starts with The Gunslinger

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon starts with Cross Stitch

Answer 6

Let's see...decent scope (I take that to mean LARGE), good character development...intrigue.  

My prescription from what I've read this year:  

The Beggars trilogy from Nancy Kress:  Beggars In Spain, Beggars And Choosers, Beggars Ride.  I'll also include Kress' Crossfire/Crucible duology.  

Greg Bear's Eon, Eternity, Legacy.  BTW Legacy appeals to me partly because I also like Brin and the writing style of Joseph Conrad.  It kept reminding me of "What If" Heart of Darkness occurred in the Uplift universe :-)

Speaking of David Brin, if you've not yet read either of the 2 Uplift trilogies, heed Starsky's advice and DO IT!  

masvx800

Answer 7

Try the Boudicca Dreaming series by Manda Scott. Or if you loved LOTR, read The Silmarillion it's the beginning of everything, Elves, Goblins, Middle Earth, the lot!

Answer 8

The Spellsinger series may be up your street, forgot the author but he wrote Alien also.

Answer 9

I would recommend The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.  It is very different from his other horror style books.  There are 7 books in all so should keep you busy for a while.  I am re-reading all 7 for the second time and I think wanting to re-read is a good sign.

It begins with 'The Gunslinger' and his search for the mysterious Dark Tower - it is set in a different world to ours but is very much like it - there is a suggestion that once the world was like ours is now but something terrible happened and now society has broken down and nothing works anymore - they have had to go back to an old fashioned way of living.  It is really a fantasy kind of series - in the second book he finds doorways to our world and draws three people from New York to help on his quest - some of them not so willingly.  From then on it is about the group of 4 on their quest.  Characterisation is interesting and keeps you going as you get snippets of information about the main character and only gradually get to understand what drives him.  

Check this out - http://www.stephenking.com/darktower/the...

Answer 10

These are some really good books that I've read and thoroughly enjoyed:

-the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud*****

-the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer*

-The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen(any book by her)

-Hawksong(series) by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes(any book by her)

-The Shannara series by Terry Brooks*****

-Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

-Watership Down by Richard Adams

-Great Expectations by Charles Dickens*

-Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter

-The Counte of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas*

-The Princess Bride by William Goldman*

-Discworld series by Terry Pratchet*****

-Battle Royale by Roushun Takami*****

-Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

*s are the ones I really REALLY recommend for anyone to read, and the ones with five *s are the best books I've ever read in my life!!!!

I think you would really enjoy the Shannara trilogy a lot!

Answer 11

i always reccomend "Ivy" by Julie Hearn

sorry, i don't have much time for a description but here is a page about it on the authors site

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl...

Answer 12

I've recently discovered two series by Jim Butcher - the Dresden files and the Furies of Calderon.  The Dresden files are set in modern day Chicago about a modern day wizard, who battles vampires, demons, werewolves, and members of his own order.  The Calderon books are more traditionally fantasy, and the furies of the title are elementals which the characters can call on to assist them.  I've thoroughly enjoyed both series, and they are both very different in style.

Answer 13

Hello!

Can I recommend The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobbs. It's a litte different from the ones you've named above but I liked Hobbs and your favourites too which is why I'm suggesting it.

I know that the first one "Assassin's Apprentice" won British Fantasy Award for best novel when it first came out.

I was going to do a quick synoposis for you but then realised how complicated it was! Fitzchivalry is the b*****d son of King In Waiting, Chivalry. His mother's family is sick of having to keep him and have given him up to the royal family. They, embarassed by him, hand him over to Burrich the King In Waiting's stableman who adopts him... and the King's behind the scenes advisor and family assassin (as you do) Chade, who takes to teaching him his trade.

Fitz possesses a magic called The Wit, something considered perverse by most people as it gives the owner a bond with animals. He also has inherited the royal magic, the Skill, a form telepathy that the the Kings use in time of war to communicate with his men and to share strength with them.

Complicated, I know and there is much much more to it. It's about loyalties, family, politics, war etc etc.

I just can't do it justice have a look at these:

http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ques30.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Apprenti...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin's_...



Hope that helps. Even if you don't read it right now, do remember them for later on!