Paperback Series

A Dogs Best Friend said:
Jack Vance sounds like sci-fi or perhaps thriller to me. I'll check him out also. Thanx!
Click to expand...
He writes mainly sci-fi and fantasy (his Dying Earth books are considered classics in the genre) but has written mysteries as well under various pseudonyms. The Demon Princes is probably his most accessible work, containing action, adventure and inter-world intrigue with a uniquely capable protagonist and some rather bizarre foes (see Hildemar "Beauty" Dasce).

If this series hooks you, you will want to move on to the Dying Earth series and the Lyonnesse trilogy. Trust me, it's all good.
 
TorzJohnson said:
He writes mainly sci-fi and fantasy (his Dying Earth books are considered classics in the genre) but has written mysteries as well under various pseudonyms. The Demon Princes is probably his most accessible work, containing action, adventure and inter-world intrigue with a uniquely capable protagonist and some rather bizarre foes (see Hildemar "Beauty" Dasce).

If this series hooks you, you will want to move on to the Dying Earth series and the Lyonnesse trilogy. Trust me, it's all good.
Click to expand...


Torz, I looked over the link you provided. The Demon Prince series looks to be very intelligent and ingenious, even. It seems that Vance created a richly detailed "world" with a multitude of well drawn characters. These deserve a close look. Thanks a bunch for the feedback. ADBF
 
Ludlum is great but his books can get a bit repetitive. What I mean is that he has a few formulas and most books fit within those forumlas.

I'd recommend the Bourne books (all 3, in order) and I'd recommend Road to Gandolfo. Can't go wrong with those. I like all of his books but as I said, he gets repetitive.

If you like horror novels, make sure you check out Peter Straub. One of the best writers out there.

If you like military action/suspense novels, make sure you look at Dale Brown.

But if you want a good series, so to speak that will also cater to your nonfiction likes, read all of Clive Cussler's books, starting from the beginning with Pacific Vortex. Ignore any recent books with co-authors and that don't star Dirk Pitt. He likes to mix in alot of historical background that tends to be very interesting. CC is adventure at its FINEST.

Mark
 
I cannot get into Cussler. I think that I was so turned off by the story about the Confederate gunboat in the middle of the Sahara that I have never been able to reas anything of his since.
 
Authors I have enjoyed reading that have good series of books include:-

Raymond E Fiest- long running story ark in a fantasy setting, good characterisation and it follows the characters well ovr a long period of time with lots of plots. Magician is the first book n the series.

Anne McCaffry- a sci-fi/fantacy writer. Main set is fantacy based but with a sci-fi twist. Also had another set of about 4 books which is sci-fi though set in modern day.

David and Leigh Eddings- both fantacy authors that write books together ( I think early books were only listed under his name but then both get credit on later books)

I am going to have to check out some of the writers listed here I haven't read yet myself though I have read a few of the sci-fi (gibson, asimov, ) I can heartily reccomend the Hitchikers books forget the new film the books are better (the original tv show is good too) as are Douglas Adams Dirk Gently books.
 
There is a British author whom I discovered last Spring whom I have found to be quite good, if a bit on the odd side. That is Neil Gaiman. Two of his novels are American Gods, which is marvelous, and Neverwhen, about a fantasy world that underlies London and is generally accessible only to those born there. But the hero is a normal topsider who happens to slip into the crack and finds himself in the undercity London.

Some good modern detective fiction includes James Lee Burke"s David Robicheaux series, Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee novels set on the Navajo Big Reservation, J.A. Jance's "Sheriff Joanna Brady" novels, and, a very special case, Peter Bowen's "Gabriel DuPre" series. This latter group are about the MOST unPC, Sagebrush Rebellion sorts of books that you'll ever read this side of out and out rebellion and they are funnier than Hell in the bargain. Imagine a Crow Indian FBI agent named Harvey Weasel Fat. That's how his name translates into English and that's what his pals call him.

Here is a list of historical whodunnit writers that I have enjoyed:
Ellis Peters' "Cadfael Chronicles"
Lauren Haney's Lieutenant Bak Egyptian police procedure novels
John Maddox Roberts' SPQR series set in Rome of the1st Century BCE
Steven Saylor's Gordianus the Finder series set in Rome of the 1st Century BCE
Anything by P.C. Doherty, Paul C. Doherty etc., a most prolific writer of great mysteries
Sharyn McCrumb writes two types of stories, her very somber and even scary "Ballad Series", such as Ghost Riders and her funny romps, such as Highland Laddie Gone. The former are, quite simply, some of the very best mood stories that I have ever read while the lattter are just silly fun.
 
In addition to the many good reads mentioned here (especially by Hugh) there is a mystery series by an author named Don Donaldson. He is a professor of Anatomy at the University of Tennesee Medical School, and the main characters work in the New Orleans coroner's office, or something like that. I recommend them for a good read.
 
FullerH said:
I cannot get into Cussler. I think that I was so turned off by the story about the Confederate gunboat in the middle of the Sahara that I have never been able to reas anything of his since.
Click to expand...

I didn't have a problem with Sahara. Some of his books are definitely better than others but I have yet to read a 'bad' Dirk Pitt novel. I haven't read the most recent two though. But if you think he has gone downhill since Sahara, I hope you read the 10 books previous to that...

Mark
 
I got a couple...

Try Yvonne Navarro. (Horror/SciFi) She had a good 'series' of 2 called "Deep Impact" and "Dark Shadows". Her best was Afterage, but it's only one.

Clive Barker:
The Books of Blood.

If you like Crichton, you'll LOVE:
Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child:
Try "Relic" and "Reliquary". "Riptide" was RIVITING!

Anne Rice:
The "Vampire" Series
The "Witches" Series

Try the SPY authors like:
Len Deighton who has a LOT of series.
John LeCarre
and of course Ian Flemming with the James Bond stuff.

All of Peter Benchley's stuff might as well be a series and it's lots of fun.

You've never read horror until you've read Richard Matheson, especially "I Am Legend" and all the short stories at the end of that book.

Don't leave this earth without reading a bunch of George Orwell's books. Besides the obvious ones, "Down and Out in Paris and London" and "Burmese Days" are interesting.

Hemmingway.

Peter Straub is a little like Stephen King, but different enough to be interesting.

Then there's all the Cook medical thrillers like "Coma", etc.

WHEW! THAT'll keep you busy. It kept me busy for years. :)

.
 
Are 'Reliquary' and 'Riptide' as good as 'Relic?' That was a great book and a pretty good movie. Liked the casting in the movie. I've read all the Fleming stuff a long time ago and I'd forgotten about LeCarre. Thanks for the recommendations. I'll grab the other Childs and Preston books in any case.
 
A Dogs Best Friend said:
Are 'Reliquary' and 'Riptide' as good as 'Relic?' That was a great book and a pretty good movie. Liked the casting in the movie. I've read all the Fleming stuff a long time ago and I'd forgotten about LeCarre. Thanks for the recommendations. I'll grab the other Childs and Preston books in any case.
Click to expand...

Reliquary isn't as good, but Riptide might be better. It contains the single most frightening scene I've ever read in any book and I've read probably a hundred horror novels.

Mount Dragon is pretty good too.

.
 
Fulloflead's mention of Anne Rice reminded me of her sister, Alice Borchardt, who has a series of books out that I found ever so much better than my one attempt to read Rice. They are, in order of publication, The Silver Wolf, The Night of the Wolf, and The Wolf King, all set around a tribe of werewolves that live as a count of a high alpine kingdom and his retinue. They go from the Rome of the 7th-8th Century CE back to Rome of Julius Caesar to Northern Italy in the time of Charlemagne in the late 8th Century. They are really quite well-written and very exciting. Reasonably good history, too.

Now, Borchardt has started a new series, a take on the King Arthur stories from the point of view of Guinevere as a Pictish princess taken under the wing of and raised by, and here's the connection, the werewolf of the prior series. It is called "The Tales of Guinevere" and the first two books are The Dragon Queen and The Raven Warrior.

Mentioning these latter puts me in mind of Jack Whyte's "Camulod Chronicles", a superior take on the Arthur and Merlin stories if you can get by the cover art on the first book. Another good, if rather hostile to religion, take on the Arthur tales is Bernard Cornwell's "Warlord Chronicles"; The Winter King, The Enemy of God, and Excalibur. All of Cornwell's books tend to be hostile to religion but they are still rip-snorting good tales, from his world-famous "Sharpe's Rifles" series set in the Napoleonic Wars to his "Grail Quest" series set during the Hundred Years War (The Archer's Tale, Vagabond, and Heretic) to his newest series about the time of Alfred the Great, The Last Kingdom. Just don't waste your time with his "Starbuck Chronicles" about our War Between the States. He tries to put himself into the persona of a Southern American during that war and he doesn't pull it off at all. I threw the first book out, it was that bad.
 
Simon Greene's Deathstalker series or Hawk and Fisher are excellent
David Eddings Belgariad
R.A. Salvatore - His Forgotten Realms stuff is great mind candy.
Stephen King - The Dark Tower
David Gemmel - I don't think I ever picked a book by him I didn't like - not saying I've read all his works just the ones I have have been great.
 
Fuller, I couldn't get past halfway in the Rice book I tried to read, also. Real boring IMO.

For those with a religious mindset, specifically Christianity, a friend of mine from work lent me a book of his once, written by James Byron Huggins. It was called 'The Reckoning.' Man, it was an awesome read. Action all the way through, with a fantastic cast of characters, to boot. The main hero is an ex "super-soldier" type named John Gage. Gage is a really compelling hero in the sense that he's an awesome soldier, but not invincible. He bleeds, in other words. There are gunfights, knife-fights and more in this book, enough to satisfy the most action oriented reader. But there's also a very strong element of intellectual sophistication. So, it's not just an action book, through and through.

Huggins also wrote Leviathan, about a lab created Dragon. Very good. And two other books of his that I read are 'Cain,' about a lab created super-being. And 'Hunter,' about, again, a lab created monstrosity. It sounds repetitive, theme-wise, but the stories, characters and plots are all very unique and well worth the read. Great stuff. Makes me want to read them all again. As a matter of fact, I have read The Reckoning three times already. Never boring.
 
I recommend Vince Flynn.
He has a series of about 5 or six novels involving Mitch Rapp, CIA Assassin.
Good readin' right there.
 
Another vote for Lawrence Block. He's by far my favorite writer. I read a lot. The stories are good, the writing is excellent, very crisp and clean.
 
CArl Hiaasen and Terry Pratchett have been keeping me entertained lately. Both have offbeat humor that I love, and really good stories and characters.
 
My partner recommends the "Necroscope" series of books by Brian Lumley. A very different take on Vampires that makes Count Dracula look about as scary as "The Munsters"

Debs
 
tknife said:
CArl Hiaasen and Terry Pratchett have been keeping me entertained lately. Both have offbeat humor that I love, and really good stories and characters.
Click to expand...
*Slaps head* How could I have forgotten Carl Hiaasen? He is wonderfully off-center and a riot to read. I think that his best is Native Tongue, followed by Strip Tease, but please don't judge the book by the movie that they made from it. The ONLY good part of the movie was Burt Reynolds' performance as a lecherous drunken corrupt congressman. Oh yes, Demi Moore can't act worth a damn, but she is nice to look at, very nice, as a matter of fact.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top