Phx Recommended Reading List

Might as well. These books have come up now at both "meetings." Alright. For starters...

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
1. The Eye of the World
2. The Great Hunt
3. The Dragon Reborn
4. The Shadow Rising
5. The Fires of Heaven
6. Lord of Chaos
7. A Crown of Swords
8. The Path of Daggers
9. Winter's Heart


The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (obviously!!)
0. The Hobbit (yes, read it first)
1. The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Two Towers
3. The Return of the King

Feel free to add on to the list!
kreleia ^.^

 

The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn (Somebody has to put a few Star Wars books on the list)
1) Heir to the Empire
2) Dark Force Rising
3) The Last Command

I'm at work right now, so I'll add more later.

 

ABSOLUTELY!! **grin** Yes, SW books are a MUST! hee hee! Here's my addition:

The X-Wing series by Michael Stackpole (Scottsdale man!) and Aaron Allston
1. Rogue Squadron
2. Wedge's Gamble
3. The Krytos Trap
4. The Bacta War
5. Wraith Squadron
6. Iron Fist
7. Solo Command
8. Isard's Revenge
9. Starfighters of Adumar (only one I haven't read)

Rob thinks I read too much. And, yes, Michael Stackpole lives here. He does book signings at a bookstore up in Scottsdale frequently. I believe it's called The Poison Pen, but I could be wrong. I don't remember exactly.

kreleia ^.^

 

kreleia: the last book is Starfighters of Adumar written by Aaron Allston.

 

Excellent. And still in time for me to edit my previous post.

kreleia ^.^

 

DUNE! The first is a must, the next three are good, once Maud'dib's gone though they get boring.

 

..and for some reason, that reminds me...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by ... and of course, now I can't remember his name. aw well. 42 y'all.

and

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
1. ... and the Sorcerer's Stone (or Philosopher's Stone if you have the Brit edition)
2. ... and the Chamber of Secrets
3. ... and the Prizoner of Azkaban
4. ... and the Goblet of Fire

Excellent reads all!

^.^

 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. (42, kreleia!)

Neuromancer by William Gibson. The definition of cyberpunk.

The Black Company series by Glen Cook
The Black Company
Shadows Linger
The White Rose
The Black Company is a mercenary band who joins with the Enemy! [face_shocked] This is a very good fantasy series. Glen Cook's specialty is in writing about armies and tactical movement. The entire series is actually like 8 or 9 books, but the first three are the best.

Just about anything written by Orson Scott Card. Seriously, OSC is probably my favorite single author. My personal favorites are:
Ender's Game
Enchantment
Wyrms
The Homecoming series
The Memory of Earth
The Call of Earth
The Ships of Earth

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. This series is right up there with Tolkien. (Note: this list has the books listed by the timeline within the story itself, which is not the order in which they were published and consequently is not the order I read them in.)
The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

(Here is the order they were published in, which, IMO is the way to read them. It adds a bit of mystery and will make the last book much better.)
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Horse and His Boy
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
The Magician's Nephew

I'll leave it up to you as to how you read them (as long as you do read them). Very good books, IMO.

 

Good suggestions! Especially C.S. Lewis. Thing is, I remember The Magician's Nephew coming before The Last Battle. I swear that's how my series had them ordered, anyway. (And, yes, my series started with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe too.)

Been wanting to read Orson Scott Card for a while now, too. Guess I should, eh?

Here's some good "classic" books that I also recommend:

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - You'll *hate* it while you read it, you'll *love* it afterwards. It's one of those really bizarre stories.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - read it for fun, not when you're forced to, and you'll see how good it is.
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - again, read it for fun, not when you have to.
Fahrenheit 451 by Kurt Vonnegut - the book that got me into science fiction.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman - one of the funniest fairy-tales EVER! (it's just as good as the movie)

and, to get back to Star Wars,

I, Jedi by Michael Stackpole - one of the best "stand alone" SW novels written. It helps to be familiar with the X-Wing series, though.

I'm done. (for now)
kreleia ^.^

 

How could I forget 1984? I believe it is an absolute must read for every freedom loving American.

 

I, Jedi is one of my favorite SW books. I recommend the Dragonlance books by Weis and Hickman for those who are into fantasy.

 

I hate to correct you, kreleia, but wasn't Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury, instead of Kurt Vonnegut?

I really can't remember for certain what the order is on the Narnia books, to tell the truth. The list I posted is how it appeared on the internet. And it wasn't easy to find that list. Most places had them listed the first way, by story chronology. But I'll try to find a difinitive list by date published or copyright or somthing like that and get back to you.

India Alpha

 

Ok, it looks like you're right, kreleia. According to the Library of Congress (go straight to the top, right? ) Magician's Nephew was copyrighted in 1955 and Last Battle was 1959.

India Alpha

 

IA, you're right. Fahrenheit 451 *was* written by Ray Bradbury. I remembered that the other day, and just forgot to correct my post here. I'm not sure why I thought it was by Kurt Vonnegut. The only book I've read by him is Slaughterhouse Five, and I really *did* hate that book. **laugh** Thanks for the prod.

kreleia ^.^

EDIT: I *knew* The Magician's Nephew came first! I distinctly remembered that one being numbered as 6 and The Last Battle as 7. I wish I could find my old set of those books. I think they're in storage up in Utah somewhere. -.-;

EDIT 2: Have you read any of the Alvin Maker books (by Orson Scott Card), IA? Just wondering if they're any good...

 

I am the king of double posting!!

India Alpha

 

I think I started reading the Alvin Maker series once and could never quite get into it. *shrug* Maybe I just hadn't read enough, or maybe I was distracted by something else at the time, I don't know. I get the impression that they're fairly popular, though.

India Alpha

 

I really enjoyed the first three of the "Alvin Maker" series - Seventh Son, Red Prophet, and Prentice Alvin. However, the ones after that, which Card wrote years later, are not as good.

My favorite book by Card is "Songmaster", with "Ender's Game" running a close second.

 

Hey Dustchick, long time no read!

 

Songmaster! Good book, dustchick.

India Alpha

 

Alright. It's settled then. As soon as I'm finished (re)reading the Wheel of Time series, I'll start devouring Orson Scott Card. I think I'm going to start with Ender's Game. I've been eyeing that one for a while now, but just haven't ever picked it up (no real reason why, either). I'll have to give the Alvin Maker series a shot too, it sounds like. Thanks for the opinions, guys!

kreleia ^.^

 

I saw HP on the list, and must confess I'm a major fan of the series. Sirius siriusly rocks, I tell you.

Anyway, I thought I'd pass along the info that the next book is called Order of the Phoenix

Cool, no?

~*~Bria

 

Hey Bria, any idea when we can expect to get our hands on that one?

 

I've heard spring, June, and October.... so I'm really not sure.

I can help you out though if you're interested in reading about things that JKR has confirmed for OOTP, rumors about what's in it, and speculations...

~*~Bria

 

Thanks, but no, I'll try to stay spoiler free.
And btw, I agree with you Sirius is awesome! He and Dumbledore are my favorite characters. Well, I also have a weakness for Snape, I can't wait to learn more about his past I suspect its more complicated than has even been suggested so far.

 

Alright. I avoid SW spoilers, but I just couldn't help myself with reading the HP rumor stuff on Mugglenet.

I like Sirius and Dumbledore, but Snape. One of the reasons PoA is my favorite HP book so far is because of him... how I love what happens to him in it. The Maurader's Map, Lupin's DADA lesson... it was so much fun seeing him teased. I do agree with wanting to learn more about him though. He was one of Voldie's gang, and yet Dumbledore trusts him. I want to know why he does, what the backstory behind that is, but so far JKR has just given tidbits...

~*~Bria