Book recommendations part 1
After seeing my post on my top 20 picks for best fantasy and science fiction novels, nicosomething created his own list complete with a brief explanation about each novel or series, and suggested I do the same. Because I'm lazier than Nico, I'm going to have to break my recommendations down to groups of five. So here are my first five favorites and why I think you should read them.
1. Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart. The story of Merlin's childhood. More than any other novel, this one made me believe in Arthurian Britain. Stewart creates three dimensional characters and a magical tale.
2.Doomsday Book, Connie Willis. A 21st century history grad student is given the opportunity to travel back in time to 14th century England. This novel gets so much right. People in the 14th century speak Middle English! And the grad student, who is as fluent as one can be in a dead language, can't understand peasants because their dialect is just too different, and is not represented in the writings that have survived to modern times. This novel was a full immersion into 14th century English culture, and yet also a nail-biter. Every Scadian should read it.
3. Dune series, Frank Herbert. I want to steal nicosomething's description - world-building at its finest, and delightful political intrigue. A 15-year-old Duke's son is uprooted from his home planet and travels with his family to the desert planet Dune, where his father's rule is overthrown. He must survive on an alien world while trying to understand the various and competing prophesies about himself. The series as a whole spans millennia and galaxies, with a wide variety of cultures, religions, and planets.
4. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card. The only military sf I've ever read that I actually enjoyed. The Earth is threatened by insect-like aliens, so Earth's militaries gather up children who show potential as military geniuses to train them to fight the aliens when they arrive. A character study of one of the children, Ender, the novel also has a few very well done plot twists (which have probably been spoiled since the series has been around for a while now.)
5. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. A frightening and occasionally prophetic book about a time when reading is outlawed. The resistance memorizes books. This novel actually inspired me to try to memorize Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey, just in case Fahrenheit 451 came to pass. At one time I had the first chapter down.
P.S. to wishesofastar: I'd love to see you get into this game.
1. Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart. The story of Merlin's childhood. More than any other novel, this one made me believe in Arthurian Britain. Stewart creates three dimensional characters and a magical tale.
2.Doomsday Book, Connie Willis. A 21st century history grad student is given the opportunity to travel back in time to 14th century England. This novel gets so much right. People in the 14th century speak Middle English! And the grad student, who is as fluent as one can be in a dead language, can't understand peasants because their dialect is just too different, and is not represented in the writings that have survived to modern times. This novel was a full immersion into 14th century English culture, and yet also a nail-biter. Every Scadian should read it.
3. Dune series, Frank Herbert. I want to steal nicosomething's description - world-building at its finest, and delightful political intrigue. A 15-year-old Duke's son is uprooted from his home planet and travels with his family to the desert planet Dune, where his father's rule is overthrown. He must survive on an alien world while trying to understand the various and competing prophesies about himself. The series as a whole spans millennia and galaxies, with a wide variety of cultures, religions, and planets.
4. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card. The only military sf I've ever read that I actually enjoyed. The Earth is threatened by insect-like aliens, so Earth's militaries gather up children who show potential as military geniuses to train them to fight the aliens when they arrive. A character study of one of the children, Ender, the novel also has a few very well done plot twists (which have probably been spoiled since the series has been around for a while now.)
5. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. A frightening and occasionally prophetic book about a time when reading is outlawed. The resistance memorizes books. This novel actually inspired me to try to memorize Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey, just in case Fahrenheit 451 came to pass. At one time I had the first chapter down.
P.S. to wishesofastar: I'd love to see you get into this game.