Enchanting novels

The Princess Bride

 

Hmmm...I was reading some interesting stuff when I was a kid. I really can't recall being enchanted by much of any of it though. I can tell you that authors like Peter Benchley, Steve Alten, and a smidgen of Robin Cook do have a way of holding my attention. Having just recently finished both the Hobbit and LOTR, i'd have to say that these held my attention as well. I found it amazingly easy to envision the scenes playing out in my head. Of course, long nights spent playing Rolemaster probably helped.

 

Steve Alten I never really liked, I think he's on his third book now. But I can tell you it was a bitch tracking down all of Benchley's out of print books.

 

"Speaker For The Dead" by Orson Scott Card. Wow.

 

This may not be enchanting per se, but a book series I absolutely loved when I was younger was the "Fudge" series by Judy Blume. I probably could still read them and get the same enjoyment I did back then.

 

Fudgie! (and Pe-tah too!)

Those books were so fun.

Eat it or wear it!

 

- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I've read this one so many times the cover is falling apart
- Shadow of the Moon. i forgot who wrote this, but it's a very good book. a historial romance.
- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. interesting take on the Arthurian legends. from the perspective of women, i can't say that i agree with much of the book, but i couldn't put it down.
- the Heir to the Empire trilogy by Timothy Zahn. the first Star Wars novels that i really got into. the way Zahn wrote them really put it in movie format in my mind.
- the Hand of Thrawn duology by Zahn. ditto, plus the Luke/Mara romance.
- the Thoroughbred series by Joanna Campbell. this series has suffered recently through the takeover by new authors, but the early books are awesome. they're addicting, and while the later ones have gotten controversially worse, they are still supported by a fiercely loyal fanbase.
- King of the Wind by Margorite Henry. the same author as Misty of Chincoteague; this book is beautifully written and follows the journey of the Godolphin Arabian (Sham) from a stud in his home country in the Middle East to his new life at a stud in France, where he heavily influenced the development of the Thoroughbred breed.
- the Black Stallion by Walter Farley. classic tale, Walter Farley did a great job of describing the bond between human and horse.

these are my absolute favorites.

 

Charlemagne19, I was just thinking of the Oz books!

I must've read all the Baum books except for the Wizard of Oz when I was a kid. Those books were excellent when I read them and I recommend them to everyone. It's frustrating when people only know about the first movie (Disney made a sequel) or the first book.

Dahl's books are also enchanting, especially that Henry Sugar tale one and the one with the boy and his dad who hunt or something. It's been a long time but they were good.

Lord of the Rings is the best book I've ever read too. Ender's Game is high up there too.

I've probably missed a bunch, but if I had to choose a SW one, it would have to be Starfighters of Adumar.

 

I loved Stardust! LotR is a given.

 

Alten has 3 books out so far Mastadge. MEG, The Trench, and Domain. Goliath will be coming out in Feb, and he'll have two more coming out over the course of the next 2 years or so. I guess I dig his work because it usually involves big monster sharks. What Benchley have you read Mastadge?

 

Hmmm... Tough one. I have read so much since I learned to red when I was a toddler (3 or so) And I have nop idea what it could be... I think that it could be Mika Waltari's Egyptian. I've held three presentations of it (Elementary, Secondary, another Secondary) and have read it at least dozen times. It still packs one helluva wallop. Of course, I'm lucky because it's written on my mother tongue, so I don't have to rely om translations.

On the more recent smash hits on me... I, Jedi. That book has given me even more thoughts than Egyptian. I held a two-hor lesson about the book once, and had to translate parts of it... That made me realizr how great the book was: To translate not even properly Mike's spectacular work of three pages, I spent five hours. And that wasn'r even good, my work, I mean.

I was very shocked, when people's reactions on me presenting the book were like "You're a girl you can't like Star Wars and read stuff like that" AND "It's ENGLISH?" I mean, our school system is supposed to give us the ability to read a book in English when we're on secondary, and what do we get? I'm an anomaly. *Sigh* And not the obnly one. TOo bad...

Now I'm ranting again... I had a History Final today... Wrote an essay, six pages long on Vikings...

Anyway, this was my two cents' worth.

Ara
(Oddly enough, getting better. No more approaching elephants when I blow my nose)

 

All time favorite book.....Do Androids dream of Electric sheep? By Philip K Dick. I think the book works on so many levels it's unbelievable. At the centre of it all is what it is to live and be human and that has always been something that has enchanted me.

I'd also highly reccomend any of the Culture books by Iain M Banks, particularly Look to Windward, which in retrospect draws interesting similarities to the crisis which has engulfed the USA and may now engulf the world.

 

RingoJuna,

I've read
JAWS
BEAST
RUMMIES
WHITE SHARK

and
THE DEEP
THE GIRL OF THE SEA OF CORTEZ
the one about the pirates (maybe THE ISLAND?)

I haven't read Q-clearance and I forget the titles of any others.

 

i would have to say that lord of the rings are my favorite books. closely followed by the the dragonlance chronicles series by margaret weis and tracy hickman.

 

I've read Jaws so many times that i've lost count. Beast and White Shark were really good as well. The Island is about pirates, but i've never read it. You've listed all of his books but one. His newest is called Amazon, I think it's the start of a new series or something. Oh, and if you liked Jaws, you might want to give Jaws 2 a read. It's a whole lot better than the movie.