This section was created to share with the universe some of my favorite books, the ones that stay on the shelf no matter how long its been and are brought back down for a re-read whenever I'm looking for something familiar. I recommend these books to you, if they sound interesting you might give them a try.
As you might see from a quick look through the library I like action books, whether the action takes place on a spaceship, on horseback, in a tank or the Mystical Plane. My tastes tend to range to the simple escapist fiction rather than complex mysteries (as I can't figure whodunit even after the explanation) or powerful dramas. So I tend to favor westerns, fantasy, military fiction and science fiction.
However recently (the last couple of years) I've begun expanding into a totally different field. The real-life adventure story. I find it personally very interesting to sit in my armchair and follow the exploits of someone reaching the top of Mount Everest or bicycling from Alaska to the tip of South America. There is a yearning inside of me to follow these authors out on great adventures and who knows...perhaps someday I will, but for now I read...and dream.
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkein) - Of Course.. Tolkiens work is amongst the best in the world. But wait! You've probably read it before, but how long has it been? You probably know the storyline, how Bilbo was selected by Gandalf the wizard to help the dwarves reclaim their mountain home which had been taken over by Smaug the Dragon. The first meeting with the ogres, the attack by the goblins, the meeting with gollum and the finding of "The Ring" the ring that could turn him invisible, the trek through Murkwood forest and the attack by the giant spiders, the capture and escape from the Wood Elves and the terrible battle with Smaug, and the even worse battle over the treasure...these are unforgettable scenes.
But do you remember all the details that made it such a classic: What did Bilbo forget when he went on his adventure which caused him so much grief? How did the adventurers escape when they were treed by the singing wolves? What trick did the band play on Beorn so they would not be kicked out of his house? How did Bilbo convince Thorin to leave the lonely mountain once they got inside? Can you name all the players in the climatic "battle of 5 armies?"
If you don't have a ready answer to some of these questions (and these are not nitpicking trivia, these are pivotal plot points!) maybe its time to pull it off the back shelf and read it again.
South - A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage (Ernest Shackleton) - This is hands-down the most amazing tale I've ever read. Written in a factual dry manner that cannot disguise the enormity of the tale.
This is the true story of the ill-fated expedition that attempted to cross Antarctica in 1913. They never even made it to land, locked in the ice 100 miles from land itself they stayed marooned in the little ship for over a year before the ship finally was destroyed by the ice, dropping the entire party onto blocks of ice sitting on top of the ocean hundreds of miles from any land. The story of their struggle to stay alive, to haul 3 dinghies over the icepack towards the open ocean miles to the north in the dim hope of sailing them across the ocean to land.
This is also the story of the most impressive rescue ever made as 4 men (including Shackleton himself) sailed off in a rowboat into the open ocean for 800 miles to land at the only island left before the wide Pacific itself and the subsequent forced march over glaciers and mountains with no food or sleep to reach a fishing village where they could contact the outside world and arrange for recovery of the rest of the crew.
If you want to read a book that will fill you with pride to think that inside of humanity beats the kind of will that these men possessed. If you want to read a story of the most incredible "never say die" attitude ever demonstrated. If you want to read a story of the strength and courage men can show in the face of unbelievable odds, then pick up this book. Be warned though, this is not light summer reading, it will grip you and change your mood as you begin to empathize with what these men went through.
Grunts - (Mary Gentle) - Everyone knows what an Orc is, a lowbrow axe-wielding foot soldier in the Evil Horde of Darkness. Everyone knows that in the upcoming final climatic battle of good vs. evil, good will be unbelievably outnumbered but will still win (they always do) and the Orcs will die by the thousands. But what happens when a particular band of Orcs stumble across a cache of weapons, bizarre weapons with names like: Bazooka, Surface to Air Missile, Grenade Launcher, M16, Abrams Battletank, etc. and a book explaining "The Way of the Marine". Weapons that are completely unmagical in nature in a land run by magic.
And what would happen if evil really did win the great battle and had to wake up the next day and start running things.
A great book that keeps you laughing and keeps expanding its horizons right to the end. I think you will be very surprised by how it all turns out at the end, a perfect book for some light and fun reading.
The City Who Fought (Ann McCaffery) - The greatest of her books about human brains linked into equipment. In this installment Simeon is a human brain that controls a space station. He likes to play war games in his spare time. Then the station is attacked by aliens whose whole life is dedicated to war, who consider war an art form. Simeon must use all his wits to hold off the aliens until the human warships arrive. A great storyline, real characters and good writing that moves right along.
FootFall (Larry Niven) - the finest modern day alien invasion book I have ever read. The ??? arrive in orbit and systematically begin taking over the planet. Looking like elephants they subdue humanity. The books title comes when humanity fights back and the aliens hit the Earth with an asteroid ( a "foot"). Although it bogs down a little in the alien language translations (why do all aliens have to have unpronounceable names?), the aliens are a truly different culture and give a unique perspective and the ending is enormously satisfying.
The Sword Of Shannara (Terry Brooks) - obviously inspired by Tolkeins work, nevertheless this book stands on its own. and also is the first of many books about the land of Shannara. All of them are great but this one is my all-time favorite!
Thousands of years ago the evil warlock Brona attempted to conquer the world, he was defeated by the combined armies of the Dwarves, Elves and Man, and then only by the power of the Sword of Shannara, a magical sword given to the elf-king Shannara (and his descendents). But Brona the Warlock Lord did not die, kept alive by sheer force of evil, now thousands of years later he has again assembled an invincible army to conquer the world. This time though, he began by killing every single descendent of King Shannara, so there would be nobody left who could use the sword, and to make doubly sure, he captured the castle that housed the Sword itself.
As the story begins, young Shea Ohmsford is the adopted son of an innskeeper in quiet little Shady Vale. The mystic Allanon finds him and informs him that he is the last living descendent of the fabled King Shannara and is the only person left in the world who can use the Sword against the Warlock Lord. Of course this also makes him the prime target for every evil force in the world, and as the armies of the world prepare for battle, Allanon leads Shea and a small group on a desperate quest to try to penetrate enemy country, break into the evil-infested castle and recover the Sword.
Starting out as a simple adventure/quest story, it keeps growing in complexity and scope as the characters involved flesh out into real people, each with their own problems and issues to deal with as the shadow of the final inevitable conflict hangs over everyone.
If you have never read this book, I recommend it without hesitation. I have read it to my sons (10 and 13) and they said this was the most exciting book they have ever listened to, better than the Hobbit even.
Battlefield Earth (L. Ron Hubbard) - Ignore the movie, it didn't do the book justice at all. This is Space Opera at its finest. This gigantic book details the far future after humanity was wiped out casually by aliens who wanted to mine the Earth. Only a few survived in remote areas like the Scottish highlands and mountainous regions.
The story follows Johnny who uses his most advanced weapon - a club - on an alien (with no effect of course). The alien decides to bring him back to their camp for fun and teach him to read/write/talk so he can be laughed at and appreciate the jokes. Of course he escapes and starts a long quest to bring the Earth back under human control and eventually in charge of the entire universe. That's right, at the beginning he is a caveman and by the end he is the most powerful person in the universe. Not bad for 1050 pages!
Well written, the book moves along at a frantic pace and like the old Star Trek never worries if the technology is realistic or not, but like Star Trek is never ridiculous, never goes so overboard as the movie..... The story is the important thing and the writer as well as the reader has fun with it.
Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold (Terry Brooks) - Imagine you are a bored millionaire and one day you see an ad that says you can buy a real live magic kingdom and be its king! That is just what ???? does in this book.
It turns out the deal is real but the whole thing is a scam run by the original owner. Once he gets there things are not all rosy though, after dozens of losers have shown up and then left, the people don't believe in the new king, the magic is starting to fade, the kingdoms magical protector doesn't show up anymore and a real-live demon is trying to take over.
How an ordinary guy solves all this makes for an excellent book. If you liked any of the Shannara books by Terry Brooks you will love this one also. There are several well written sequels also.
The Mote In Gods Eye (Larry Niven and ?) - The best "future humanity meets a really different civilization out in space" book I've ever read. Humans discover a alien civilization that is internally logical (i.e. it could really have evolved like that) but is so different from humanity that things do not go very well. I tended to get a little lost at times but the alien civilization is fascinating and their big problem which the humans gradually discover is a frightening one. Interestingly enough the humans do not come up with a solution this time but I won't reveal the answer. A "hard" science fiction story with lots of techno-stuff in it but still well written.
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