Recommend me... Anything!

[Adumbration]

So here's the deal: I'm going off to study at an university this autumn, all fine and good... but, before that, I have a crapload of time to spend. Seriously, haven't been able to find a job (well, okay, haven't looked that hard either).

Recommend me anything from any medium of any genre. Be it fantasy, sci-fi, crime, thriller, anime, manga, tv-series, book, comic book, novel or play, give me your best shot.

The more suggestions the better, since I am a huge consumer of books, so it may be that I've already read what you're suggesting, or that my library lacks it. Particularly with sci-fi and fantasy. Same thing with movies and tv-series - I watch tv a lot too.

Of manga, I've only read Death Note and a few by Ghibli studios. I've watched most of Miyazaki's anime films, which I loved. Of anime tv-series I've watched first season of Haruhi Suzumiya and Shakugan no Shana - which was okay - and a few episodes of Record of Lodoss war (gave up after there was that horrible swordfight with the dragon. I mean, seriously? No offense to any fans).

To give you an idea of what I've liked in the past, here's a list:

Television series:
- Avatar: the Last airbender
- Heroes
- NCIS
- Top Gear
- The Deadliest warrior
- Supernatural
- Mythbusters
- The Simpsons
- Futurama

Authors/books/series:
- Alastair Reynolds
- Robin Hobb
- Glen Cook (Black Company)
- Terry Pratchett
- Song of Ice and Fire
- Wheel of Time
- Isaac Asimov
- Iain M. Banks
- David Farland
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Jean Rabe (the dragonlance books)
- Terry Brooks (Shannara stuff)
- JK Rowling (got me into reading, so I'd be rude not to mention her)
- Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot particularly, although it's been a while since I read her)
- and loads and loads more: my memory fails me.

Movies:
- too many to list.

So. If you have something good that's not on that list, please point me to it. If I can manage to find it, I'll watch or read it, and tell you what I thought of it. :smallamused:

Seriously, I'm bored. Help!

List of propositions that I haven't watched/read/listened to before:
Comic books:
- Watchmen
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- V for Vendetta
- Ultimate Sandman books 1-4
- Y the Last Man


Books/authors:
- Short stories by Harlan Ellison
- Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
- Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughn
- Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis
- Everything by Kurt Vonnegut (Cat's Cradle is my favorite)
- Everything by John Steinbeck (favorites include East of Eden, To A God Unknown, and Cannery Row)
- Everything by Clive Barker (favorites include The Great and Secret Show, the Abarat Series, and Everville)
- Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things, Smoke and Mirrors, American Gods
- Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
- J.D. Salinger: Nine Stories, Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey
- Berserk
- Vinland Saga
- Anything by Robert Holdstock
- Trudi Canavan
- The Haruhi Suzumiya light novels by Nagaru Tanigawa.
- The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
- The Dresden Files
- First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
- Eaters of the Dead
- Cryptonomicon (Neal Stephenson)
- Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson)
- The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson)
- The Baroque Cycle (Neal Stephenson)
- The complete book of Amber by Roger Zelazmy
- Hell Gate by David Weber and Linda Evans
- One Hundred Years of Solitude.
- Gene Wolfe.
- George R. R. Martin's books The Dying of the Light and Fevre Dream.
- Dean Koontz
- The Vorkosigan Series and the Sharing Knife Series, both by Lois McMaster Bujold.
- Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy by Tad Williams.
- Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille by Steven Brust

Tv shows:
- Northern Exposure
- Glee
- Weeds
- Doctor Who
- Burn Notice
- Castle
- Chuck
- Community
- Eureka
- How I Met Your Mother
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Psych
- Sanctuary
- Stargate SG-1/Stargate Atlantis
- Babylon 5.


Movies:
- Withnail & I
- Silverado
- Let the Right One In
- Better Off Dead
- movies by Christopher Guest
- Once Upon a Time in the West

Anime:
- One Piece
- Inuyasha
- Cowboy bepop
- Ghost in the Shell

Music:
- The Beatles
- Rolling stones
- Passion Pit
- Say Anything
- Rush

Sound novel:
- Umineko No Naku Koro

Video games:
- League of Legends

[BendakStarkiler]

Find anything by Harlan Ellison he is a short story writer (he doesn't write anymore) His style is best describe as "magic realism" but there's a ton of sci-fi in his work. "The Complete Ellison" is a good place to start it covers 50 year of his writing but if you don't want something that huge try to track down "Troublemakers" its one of my favor collections.:smallbiggrin:

[Dr.Epic]

Watchmen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
V for Vendetta

I recommend reading each of those at least twice to full understand them.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

TV shows:
Northern Exposure
Glee
Weeds

Books:
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughn

Movies:
Withnail & I
Silverado
Let the Right One In

There ya go. That should be a fairly eclectic spread.

[Brewdude]

Ultimate Sandman books 1-4. Should run about 60 dollars each for a total of 240 bucks american.

480 episodes of one piece! 160 episodes of inuyasha! muahahahahhahaha

Better off Dead, the movie

The only thing I'd suggest though, is avoid mmorpgs like the plague. They are crack for geeks, causing all but the the most resistant to neglect responsibilities in favor of making time for the game. You can start playing them when you retire and have enough money in the bank that you don't have to work any more.

[Dogmantra]

Everything by Douglas Adams. I suggest the Hitchiker "Trilogy" first, then Dirk Gently, then The Salmon of Doubt. It's in order of accessability.

Films, I'd say everything directed by Christopher Guest. Although some are better than others, all his films are great.

[X2]

The Beatles.

Music was absent from your list.

[Innis Cabal]

I'll actually come in and say "No, don't listen to the Beatle's." and offer the Rolling Stone's instead. If you were going to try some old school tunes. If your into more modern music, there are still tons better artists then the Beatles to choose from like Passion Pit if Electronic is your thin, Say anything if punk is your deal. The list goes on really.

[Cealocanth]

As far as music goes, I suggest Rush. They're songs have deep meaning.
( I know they're old and I'm too young to truly understand them. I can still like their songs.)

I've been getting into the tales of Alvin Maker lately. You might enjoy those as well.

[Tar Palantir]

Doctor Who. You can watch the 5 seasons of the new series, and if you've still got time to kill, there are dozens of seasons in the old series. Plus, it's the Doctor :smallcool:.

[Starscream]

Doctor Who. You can watch the 5 seasons of the new series, and if you've still got time to kill, there are dozens of seasons in the old series. Plus, it's the Doctor :smallcool:.

Seconded, very much. The most recent season was awesome.

In the comic book department, I'm currently reading Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis, and it's highly entertaining. Imagine a cross between Futurama and Fear and Loathing in Law Vegas, starring a 23rd century version of Hunter S Thompson.

[Vaynor]

Here's a list of some of the books or authors that I love:

Everything by Kurt Vonnegut (Cat's Cradle is my favorite)
Everything by John Steinbeck (favorites include East of Eden, To A God Unknown, and Cannery Row)
Everything by Clive Barker (favorites include The Great and Secret Show, the Abarat Series, and Everville)
Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things, Smoke and Mirrors, American Gods
Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
J.D. Salinger: Nine Stories, Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey

Also did you make a mistake or was Firefly not on your list on purpose? :smallwink:

And some T.V. shows that I like:

30 Rock
Burn Notice
Castle
Chuck
Community
Eureka
How I Met Your Mother
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Psych
Sanctuary
Stargate SG-1/Stargate Atlantis

[Adumbration]

Watchmen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
V for Vendetta

I recommend reading each of those at least twice to full understand them.

I've watched all three movie versions, but haven't read the comic books. I'll try and find them.


TV shows:
Northern Exposure
Glee
Weeds

Books:
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughn

Movies:
Withnail & I
Silverado
Let the Right One In

There ya go. That should be a fairly eclectic spread.
You've managed to find completely strange names for me. Fascinating. I'll definitely give them a shot.


Ultimate Sandman books 1-4. Should run about 60 dollars each for a total of 240 bucks american.

480 episodes of one piece! 160 episodes of inuyasha! muahahahahhahaha

Better off Dead, the movie

The only thing I'd suggest though, is avoid mmorpgs like the plague. They are crack for geeks, causing all but the the most resistant to neglect responsibilities in favor of making time for the game. You can start playing them when you retire and have enough money in the bank that you don't have to work any more.

Geeze, that's expensive. :smalleek: I'll have to see if I can find it used somewhere.

I actually play WoW occasionally, it's just that I get bored of it too fast. May also have something to do with the fact that I've never gotten to level 80 - my highest is Paladin 66.


Everything by Douglas Adams. I suggest the Hitchiker "Trilogy" first, then Dirk Gently, then The Salmon of Doubt. It's in order of accessability.

Films, I'd say everything directed by Christopher Guest. Although some are better than others, all his films are great.

I have the Hitchiker 'trilogy' on my book shelf, I just completely forgot about it. I have in the past attempted to find Dirk Gently books, but unfortunately my library doesn't have them, and apparently not (m)any book stores either.

I'll look into Christopher Guest.


The Beatles.

Music was absent from your list.

My big sister is a big fan of them. Unfortunately she's abroad right now, but once she get's back I'll ask her to borrow me some.


I'll actually come in and say "No, don't listen to the Beatle's." and offer the Rolling Stone's instead. If you were going to try some old school tunes. If your into more modern music, there are still tons better artists then the Beatles to choose from like Passion Pit if Electronic is your thin, Say anything if punk is your deal. The list goes on really.

Going on to my check list.


As far as music goes, I suggest Rush. They're songs have deep meaning.
( I know they're old and I'm too young to truly understand them. I can still like their songs.)

I've been getting into the tales of Alvin Maker lately. You might enjoy those as well.

I'll look into Rush too. Read... nearly all tales of Alvin the Maker, but unfortunately I've missed couple of the final books.


Doctor Who. You can watch the 5 seasons of the new series, and if you've still got time to kill, there are dozens of seasons in the old series. Plus, it's the Doctor :smallcool:.

I've heard good things about Doctor Who. I'll start watching some of the first episodes.


Seconded, very much. The most recent season was awesome.

In the comic book department, I'm currently reading Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis, and it's highly entertaining. Imagine a cross between Futurama and Fear and Loathing in Law Vegas, starring a 23rd century version of Hunter S Thompson.

Soudns interesting. Goes into my list.


Here's a list of some of the books or authors that I love:

Everything by Kurt Vonnegut (Cat's Cradle is my favorite)
Everything by John Steinbeck (favorites include East of Eden, To A God Unknown, and Cannery Row)
Everything by Clive Barker (favorites include The Great and Secret Show, the Abarat Series, and Everville)
Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things, Smoke and Mirrors, American Gods
Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
J.D. Salinger: Nine Stories, Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey

Also did you make a mistake or was Firefly not on your list on purpose? :smallwink:

And some T.V. shows that I like:

30 Rock
Burn Notice
Castle
Chuck
Community
Eureka
How I Met Your Mother
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Psych
Sanctuary
Stargate SG-1/Stargate Atlantis

Read some of the stuff by Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker (American gods and the Abarat series, respecitvely) and watched 30 rock and some of Stargate. Other names are moderately unfamiliar. I'll try and find them at my library/elsewhere.

I haven't been able to procure the Firefly series - I've watched the film, though. :smalltongue:

EDIT: Making a list of things to do in the first post. Keep 'em coming - although I promise to give each a chance, I can't promise I'll like them enough to finish them - particularly with tv-series and anime. Books are an exception - if I can get my hands on them, I'll finish them.

[UnChosenOne]

Berserk
Vinland Saga
Y the Last Man
Anything by Robert Holdstock
The Death Gate Cycle
Once Upon a Time in the West

[Atelm]

and a few episodes of Record of Lodoss war (gave up after there was that horrible swordfight with the dragon. I mean, seriously? No offense to any fans).



Well, I did mention that the age might work against it, it is fairly old after all. (not that that's the only reason, they cut corners while animating the thing, a lot) :smallamused:

Some non-anime/manga stuff: (as I already gave you a huge list of recommendations personally)

- The Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan, and the prequel Magician's Apprentice and sequel Ambassador's Mission (the two sequels after that have yet to be published, but it has been planned out as trilogy). And, although I haven't read it myself, Age of the Five trilogy by the same author.

- The Haruhi Suzumiya light novels by Nagaru Tanigawa. If you liked the anime adaption, you'll like the original novels even better. Three of the first ones (out of nine, so far) have been officially translated and published in English.

- The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. My favourite fantasy novel, published originally sometime in the 60's and therefore, despite reprints, might be difficult to find. However, definitely worth reading. It's a sort of mix & mash of fantastical horror and comedy.

[Eldan]

I can recommend the Dresden Files: they are reasonably cheap, short novels you'll read through in a handful of days each, but highly entertaining (not so much the first one, but they get better and better). Modern fantasy set in a Chicago inhabited by sorcerers, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, dragons and fairies. And in the middle, Harry Dresden: Wizard (no endless purses, no love potions, no party tricks), private investigator and all-around huge nerd (he prefers playing barbarians with huge muscles).
Since you've listed fantasy, modern fantasy, detective novels and comedies as things you like, you should like these. Because they are all of that.


As for Anime: my favourites are Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell.

Cowboy Bebop seems to be the kind of thing everyone I've met likes. It is set in the near future and follows the adventure of a group of bounty hunters, consisting of Spike Spiegel, ex-triad hitman and martial artist, Jet Black, ex-cop from the moons of Jupiter, hobby-cook and cyborg, Faye Valentine, cryogenic amnesiac and con-artist and Ed, little girl (?) and computer-genius. They travel around between Venus, Mars, the asteroid belt, saturn and jupiter, hunting down robbers, terrorists, drug-dealers and assorted scum, while causing excessive property damage and avoiding various gangs out for their blood. Highly entertaining, offers both comedy and drama episodes and some of the best music out there.

Ghost in the Shelll... not everyone likes it. Also in the near future, but a very different setting. I think it's called Post-Cyberpunk. Anyway: in near-future japan, just about everyone is a cyborg. The series concerns section 9, a heavily-armed, semi-secret unit concerned with high-profile cyber-crime. And in this world, cyber-crime is serious: a good hacker might try and take over the prime mininster's brain, after all. Strange pacing, good music, and a very special mix of philosophy and action scenes. The movies are the most beautiful thing ever, in my opinion.

[mallorean_thug]

Hmm, I'll bite and make three recommendations:

Literature wise, you seem to have similar tastes to me in the realm of fantasy, so I would like to humbly recommend the books of Joe Abercrombie, a relatively new UK fantasy author. His First Law Trilogy is where you would start, and it has a lot of fun deconstructing fantasy tropes and character archtypes, while still being a good character based fantasy romp with great fight scenes.

As you've enjoyed Agatha Cristie, I would guess you like mystery, so I'd also like to recommend my current obsession, the sound novel Umineko No Naku Koro Ni. A sound novel is a book that you read on a computer because it also has pictures and music to go along with it. The story is a serial murder mystery set on a private island allegedly committed by a witch. Here (http://witch-hunt.com/hist.html) is the official introduction to the series. If you've never read a sound/visual novel before, it will be a little weird at first, but it is very, very good.

And on absolutely no basis, if you're looking for a game to pass the time, I would recommend you try League of Legends. Its a free to play online game after the model of the Defense of the Ancients. If you don't know what that is, think about it as 5v5 pvp with an objective to destroy an opposing base. Its a little intimidating at first, but a lot of fun to play. Some would also call it a free to play trap, because you can pay to unlock content, but everything can be unlocked with enough playtime and the only things that give an advantage in game cannot be bought with real money, only unlocked. If you do like it, add me (username: mallorean thug) and I'll gladly play a couple games.

[Adumbration]

Added all the new suggestions. I'll be hitting the library tomorrow with a printed list of all the suggestions so far - we'll see what I can find easily. I'm pretty sure there's at least the more classical stuff, like Kurt Vonnegut, as well as some of the more profilic fantasy authors (Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman for example). I'm also pretty sure I've seen books by Robert Holdstock - I've never read them, though, due to the lack of cover description. Shallow, I know.

I'll also definitely consider purchasing the League of Legends. I'm a big fan of DotA, and a fairly good player too.

[Moff Chumley]

For the sake of keeping things short, my five favorite bands (that haven't been mentioned) from several decades:

60's: The Zombies, The Who, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Animals
70's: Steely Dan, King Crimson, Parliament/Funkadelic, Stevie Wonder, Kraftwerk
80's: Metallica, Talking Heads, Oingo Boingo, Herbie Hancock, George Clinton
90's: Primus, Nirvana, Spock's Beard, Stardust, Astral Projection
00's: Gorillaz, LCD Soundsystem, Justice, TV On the Radio, Porcupine Tree

There ya go. :smallsmile:

[mallorean_thug]

Well, as I said, you don't actually have to buy League of Legends, you just won't own any of the heroes off the bat. If you pay money, you can start with the original heroes unlocked, and you can buy things piecemeal. If you don't, there are 10 heroes free each week, balanced across the different roles, and then you can use Influence Points you earn from playing games to unlock heroes.

People tell me that Heroes of Newerth is better, and it is much closer to Dota, but thats because its a blatant clone, with about 40 of its heroes taken directly from Dota (with Icefrog's permission, but still . . . ) If you want Dota with online matchmaking get HoN, but if you want something new but similar, get League of Legends.

[UnChosenOne]

Nitpicking (or well actually just fixing problems posibly caused by my own laziness) Y the Last man probaly belongs to Comics and Once Upon a Time in the West belongs to movies.

Well found some books that might also be worth of reading: Eaters of the Dead (repulished as The 13th Warrior). Also The Lost World and Jurassic Park are both far better as novels than movies. All them are writen by Michael Crichton.

[Vaynor]

Read some of the stuff by Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker (American gods and the Abarat series, respecitvely) and watched 30 rock and some of Stargate. Other names are moderately unfamiliar. I'll try and find them at my library/elsewhere.

I haven't been able to procure the Firefly series - I've watched the film, though. :smalltongue:

Hulu has 5 Firefly episodes posted at a time, in ascending order, and at the moment they're nearing the end of the series (and will start again soon, so watch out for them).

[Atelm]

Unfortunately Hulu can't be watched outside of the US. :smallannoyed:

And, definitely, infinitely seconding the Umineko sound novels. :smallsmile:

[Dr.Epic]

Books:
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

What about Sandman by Neil Gaiman? I read the first book in the series, loved it and have been meaning to get around to the others.

[Brewdude]

The complete book of Amber by Roger Zelazmy

Every book written by Neal Stephenson, Particularly:
Cryptonomicon
Snow Crash
The Diamond Age
The Baroque Cycle

Hell Gate by David Weber and Linda Evans

[Cyrano]

Music:

Electronic stuff:
Justice -
Excellent stuff. My favorite electronic group, kinda heavy stuff.

Air
-Lighter, pop sort of deal

The Field

Folk-y stuff:
Fleet Foxes

Iron and Wine

Bon Iver
-Kind of a mix of folk and harder stuff, with some electronic highlights. My favorite of this section - seriously, they're great.

Experimental weird stuff:
Battles
-Seriously, listen to Battles. Like, a couple of times. You'll get used to it, and then it'll be worth it.

Stuff that I'm too lazy to think up classifications for stuff:
Arcade Fire
-My favorite band. Their first album's one of the best things I've ever heard. I admit I miiiight be a bit of a fanboy, but seriously. Try them.

Wolf Parade
-First album pop-y, second album prog-y, third album rock-y, all of them good, but it's possible at least one of them will not be to your tastes. Try the others though.

Sufjan Stevens
-Illinois is the most acclaimed of his albums, for good reason. Definitely a solid choice - you could probably pass on his others. They're not BAD, but not as good.

Patrick Watson
-Can get a little weird, can be very straightforward, generally good

Books:

I'd add Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere to the list of his books. American Gods is still, imo, his best, though.

One Hundred Years of Solitude.
- I guess this is one of those "classics" but still I adored this book to death.

Gene Wolfe. (Particularly: The Book of the New Sun.)
- Not necessarily the most accessible, but in my view, the best science fiction writer around. The Book of the New Sun is his "masterpiece", I guess, and would bear reading around, I dunno, 4 times to "get" it.

George R. R. Martin's books The Dying of the Light and Fevre Dream.
- SF and a steamboat-era sort of almost-horror novel, respectively, so a far cry from ASoIaF but I love both of them to death. The Dying of the Light in particular has an incredibly well conveyed atmosphere.

T.V. shows:
Babylon 5.
-Has no one really recommended this? I can't be sure, I only looked at the original post, but, damn. I mean, Babylon 5 is not a show without its flaws. Season five sucked due to a cancellation scare, so you can do away with that one. The show took a while to get on it's feet, I suppose you could say, and I detested the pilot episode I will admit. But by the season one finale it became my favorite show. The season one finale is ridiculously well done, and the epic, multi-season story just really hit it for me. Maybe the CG is dated, I don't know. I still love it and all the little explosions. So, yeah. Babylon 5.

I'll prolly think of some other stuff later.

[Dr.Epic]

I've watched all three movie versions, but haven't read the comic books. I'll try and find them.

Major differences:

There's a squid.
Evey Hammond's character is completely different in the book.
Every character in the League is more gritty and flawed in the comic.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Okay, let's see...

TV Shows: alas, I must also recommend Firefly, and it is sad if you can't procure it. A work of art, that. In my honest opinion. Also, I've heard Burn Notice is pretty good.

Anime: Cowboy Bebop is one of the best anime series I've seen to date, if not...no, it really is the best. Amazing and subtle characterization, and a weary old soul that's all too human. One of the few bits of art that I've felt shows humanity.

Books: Check out some of Dean Koontz. Sole Survivor, By the Light of the Moon, and One Door Away from Heaven are some of my favorites, as well as the Odd Thomas series. He writes paranormal thrillers interspersed with depraved serial killer thrillers. His hallmark is the average Joe with a dark backstory, who comes into contact with big, scary things, supernatural or not. By the Light of the Moon is something like a really weird take on the Heroes idea. Odd Thomas is about a short-order fry cook who can see ghosts. It's great, especially because of the narrator.

[jlvm4]

Okay, staying away from stuff people mentioned, even if it's super good *cough* firefly *cough*:smallsmile:


Books

The Vorkosigan Series and the Sharing Knife Series, both by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy by Tad Williams.
Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille by Steven Brust (his Taltos Series is pretty cool, too, though the early ones are better)
I'm assuming you've read Lord of the Rings :smallsmile:


TV

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (80's Sci fi animation)
If you're a comic fan Teen Titans, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited are very cool
Due South (just don't expect a serious cop drama, it's not)
Simon and Simon (pure 80's silliness and fun)


Movies

Legend of Baggar Vance (and this is coming from someone who hates watching golf)
Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl (Pure popcorn fun, just pretend the others don't exist)
Star Wars IV-VI. Had to be said. Just once

[Adumbration]

Sorry about my tardiness, haven't been able to make it to the library today. I've been playing League of Legends. :smalltongue:

Haven't been able to find out how to invite friends though.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

You've managed to find completely strange names for me. Fascinating. I'll definitely give them a shot.


Yay! I'm helpful!

I'd also have recommended Firefly, but since everyone recommends Firefly (and rightly so) I thought I'd go for things a bit off the beaten path. Well, except for Glee. Can't get much more beaten-path at the moment than Glee. But it's awesome. And stupid. It's awesome-stupid. Seriously. It works.


What about Sandman by Neil Gaiman? I read the first book in the series, loved it and have been meaning to get around to the others.

Same here, actually. Preludes and Noctures was pretty amazing. Can't wait to get a hold of the others. Kadrey's Sandman Slim is entirely unrelated, though.

[Fable Wright]

The Dresden Files (novels).
They are technically sci-fi, but have a fantasy feel; a wizard registered in the phone book in modern day Chicago. Sy-Fi channel made a series based on it. And the main character has a sarcastic, amusing personality and animates a zombie dinosaur in book 7. 12 books out so far, so it may take time to read the series(:smallbiggrin:), and they grab interest. Adult content included. (Mentioned to prevent minors from reading the series and being scarred for life.)

[Eldan]

Can I ask why you'd call them SciFi? Because I can't see anything that isn't fantasy there. Crime, perhaps, or Noir, but certainly not SciFi.

[Adumbration]

Update! Been gone for the weekend, but I did hit the library before I went to our summer cottage, and managed to find a few of the books recommended.

Picked up Harlan Ellison's Approaching Oblivion, which I read yesterday (was pretty good, although I disliked the author's attitude towards the reader - but nevertheless, a pretty good read, thank you), Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, which I haven't started yet, as well as The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, which I'm currently reading. Kinda depressing, but well written.

I also know now that my library has available some of Kurt Vonnegut's works (including Cat's cradle), some books by John Steinbeck, Fragile things by Neil Gaiman, Steppenwolf (translated) by Hermann Hesse as well as The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. They were all either loaned or in a different branch of the library, so I'll have to order them later.

Concerning futher suggestions: don't worry if I don't respond/quote them straight away. I now have a large quantity of things to do - thanks to good people here - but I'll bookmark this thread and return later for more. If posting comments then is not thread necromancy, I'll update on what I've read. :smallsmile:

[Brewdude]

Library eh? That means older authors.

Jack Vance.
Larry Niven.
Robert Heinlein.
Anne McCaffery