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Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny. Brilliant, prescient, and genuinely a great work of literature all at once. The story of Rild, the telling of the metaphor about fire, so much else, it’s been all these years and I’m still quoting it.
Bridge of Birds, Barry Hughart. When my will to go on falters, this is one of the books I turn to for comfort. It’s beautifully written, it’s hilarious, and it just makes me feel better.
Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon, Spider Robinson. I genuinely have handed this book to a troubled young person and had them find a better understanding of the human condition between its covers. I didn’t expect that, I thought I was sharing a cool book with them that was something I’d found influenced how I am, but it happened. It’s kind of a big deal. It’s also actually a lot of fun to read, it’s just a collection of short science fiction stories set in a bar, right? …right?
Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers, Lawrence Watt-Evans; Watt-Evans is largely a moderately obscure (as far as I can tell) fantasy author. I love the rest of his work because it’s much more human than a lot of fantasy, with people who are bumbling and desperately trying to handle bizarre problems they’re ill-equipped for and sometimes making their problems worse than they dreamed and also there are wizards. (I also like some of his worldbuilding choices, but let’s get on with this). This one short story (that won a Hugo and stuff), though, lives rent-free in my head forever; it’s got a simple point, which is that the world we’re actually in has a lot of cool stuff, go enjoy it, but it makes it in a very fun way and, well, okay, enough, I love it.
Calvin and Hobbes. All of it. Bill Watterson is a visionary genius.
I can go on, I haven’t mentioned Douglas Adams or Sandman or Transmetropolitan or fnord or ten thousand other things, but I have other things to do and should content myself with finite length.
I love Bridge of Birds… It’s a phenomenal book, I’m so glad to see another fan.
I’m not a big reader these days but back in the 90’s I was. The ones that really stuck with me and have been reread once or twice.
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks
Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It’s the first in a trilogy of six books. I haven’t read the last book but I would recommend reading 1 to 5.
The radio series and audiobooks are all worth a listen as well. There is a version narrated by Douglas Adams himself and another narrated by Stephen Fry and Martin Freeman. Both are great.
One of my favourite quotes from the Hitchhikers:
“You know,” said Arthur, “it’s at times like this, when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.” “Why, what did she tell you?” “I don’t know, I didn’t listen.”
I also love this quote from the fourth instalment of the series So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish:
The storm had now definitely abated, and what thunder there was now grumbled over more distant hills, like a man saying “And another thing…” twenty minutes after admitting he’s lost the argument.
The whole series is worth a read. You’re bound to laugh over and over reading them.
In no particular order,
- Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle
- Albert Camus, The Stranger
- J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
- David Foster Wallace, Brief Interviews With Hideous Men
- Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
- Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
I can’t pick a single title for Camus or Vonnegut, but those two respective titles are near the top.
The Dune series. Especially books 1 and 4 left such a deep impression on me. Hard to put into words. Haven’t experienced something similar yet.
Contact by Carl Sagan
Far too many to list but some of my favourites are -
The Belgariad series by David Eddings
The Magician series by Raymond E Feist
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
Pretty much anything written by Dan Abnett, Terry Pratchett and R.A. SalvatoreLove all of those with the exception of Bernieres, gonna need to check them out
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin surprised me. It’s such a bittersweet and emotional book. It hooked me right from the start.
Definately project hail mary by Any Weir
A chain of voices - Andre Brink
Cosmos - Carl Sagan
The name of the rose - Umberto Eco (so much better than the movie)
A prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
I used to read a lot when I was younger. Now I’m down to max two books per year. I miss it.
I was the same way, I felt guilty for reading or like I could never sit still long enough to finish a book. I really recommend audiobooks… Now I just listen to a book while I’m doing chores, driving, playing games, etc. I’m back to reading a book or two a week!
a few of importance to me:
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Guards! Guards!
Piranesi
The Scar
The Lies of Locke Lamora was so good I had to take a break from reading afterwards cause nothing could compare.
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On mobile, too tired to write but… So many… But I honestly think Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is as close to the perfect book as I can imagine (for me!). Also, Kafka for me is like the Final Boss, once you go through him, everything else pales in comparison
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Same. Its the book series that most shaped my younger years and love of world building and fantasy fiction.
Recently:
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The Three Body Problem series by Cixin Liu is devestatingly good. It’s a vast, prescient science fiction series that’ll make you feel existential dread toward physics. It’s great.
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The Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky is another fantastic science fiction series. The most compelling first person view into truly alien minds I’ve read.
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Everything Terry Pratchett ever wrote is worth reading.
I am currently reading the Three Body Problem series and I can only agree. I finished the first book in two days, it is an extremely creative and well-crafted story.
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