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Scoobes said:
Riachu said:
Scoobes said:

I mainly read fantasy/sci-fi, so books I've recently read that I think are worth mentioning:

A Song of Ice and Fire (series)- George R.R. Martin (An amazing series, can't recommend this one enough. Very dark fantasy series with some brilliant characters. HBO are doing a TV show of the series too)

The First law (trilogy)- Joe Abercrombe (Fantastic characters, each with their good and bad points, and all with their human side and a varying but delightfully evil one)

Dune- Frank Herbert (Classic sci-fi, don't think much more needs to be said)

The Malazan Book of the Fallen (series)- Steven Eriksson (Be prepared for a very long and difficult to read series of books though. Eriksson likes to shove you in the deep end early and forces you to grasp his other-worldly concepts. Rewarding if you can keep with it)

The Name of the Wind (Will eventually be a trilogy!)- Patrick Rothfuss (This book is so well written that he can describe normally boring events and make them seem special. I swear, this guy could write about someone taking a crap and make it interesting)

The Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man (trilogies)- Robin Hobb (Well written, interesting characters. Just a very good series of books)

The City and the Stars- Arthur C. Clarke (The only Arthur C. Clarke book I've read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A good sci-fi novel)

Nineteen Eighty-Four- George Orwell (A classic must-read. Possibly more relevant today than ever before)

The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini (A highly emotional story of 2 boys raised together in pre-Soviet invaded Afghanistan, but who end up on very different paths)

Magician- Raymond E. Feist (A lot of books in his series about Pug the Magician, but I still think the first one is the best. read the revised version)

Wizard's First Rule- Terry Goodkind (OK, a lot of people in this thread have already stated everything wrong with the series, but the first book is probably still worth a gander if you like fantasy. Be prepared if you go further though, as he pushes his political and philosophical views on you, and rather obviously too)

 

I realised some of the books above are a bit hardcore or depressing, so for some lighter reading :P

The Black Magician (trilogy)- Trudi Canavan (An easy to read series of fantasy books. A bit slow in places and she's not the best writer, but a good series nonetheless)

Dark Materials (trilogy)- Phillip Pullman (Designed for teens, but still readable for the hardcore reader)

 

I was thinking of checking out A Song of Fire and Ice and The Kite Runner.  Heard nothing but great things about them.  I mainly read fantasy and science fiction as well but I am willing to delve into other genres as along as it is not romance.

I would recommend:

The Hunger Games(trilogy) by Suzanne Collins- very well written  and the characters are very well developed especially the main character, Katniss.  I would not call it light reading(despite being aimed at teens) mainly because the violence be quite brutal and it deals with mature subject matter.  There is a reason this series is popular with adults.  The third book, Mockingjay, comes out in August.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher- well written and with a pretty intriguing fantasy setting, just be warned that the book starts a little slow since the male and female protagonists(Finn and Claudia, respectively) do not meet each other until over 1/4 of the way through the book (if I remember correctly)

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld- very good book and with a unique twist in that the male protagonist wants to avoid war at all cost while the female protagonist is exciting about fighting in a war.  Just be warned that the concept is a little wierd.  It is an alternate history of World War I( not II) where Austria Hungary uses steam powered mechs and the British(or was it Germans?) use fabricated animals.  Not for someone who is a fan of historical accuracy.

Definately get into A Song of Ice and Fire. It's really amazing, well written, very dark (everyone is a shade of grey, no good/bad), with some stand out moments. Kite Runner is very emotional, a brilliant read.

Never heard of the 3 you mentioned, so I'll be taking a look next time I'm in a book store. We seem to have similarish tastes so I look forward to reading them. Thanks for recommendations!

Trying looking in the YA section.  That's where you will most likely find those books.