[The Tyrant Lizard]

I know its a pretty tough question, but what are your favourite three books? I'm of the opinion that if a book makes it into someone's top 3 its probably worth me reading it. (notwithstanding people like john wayne gacey, who probably like books I wouldn't even want see let alone read. But I think I'm safe from people like that on here... at least I hope I am.)

My Big Three are;

David Gemmel's Waylander - this was a benchmark book for me, and the novel that single handedly got me hooked not only on Gemmel, but on fantasy as a whole.

Steven Erikson's Memories of Ice - quite simply because I think the MBotF is the best series out there, and I rated this one as the best of the best. (without julia robert's kung fuing brother)

Stephen King's Salem's Lot - I put this here because I'm a King fan, and a horror fan, but mainly because this is probably the only novel I've read start to finish in pretty much one hit. I literally couldnt put it down, and then subsequently I could go into the basement, couldn't go near the haunted house up on the hill, couldnt not wear a cross. Everything of Stoker's Dracular, but with a modern twist, and with King's brilliance.

[caladanbrood]

Memories of Ice - Best book I've ever read, no doubt of it.

Neil Gaiman - American Gods. Infinite re-readability

Neal Asher - Brass Man. Asher is my favourite sci-fi author, and this is his best book. Mr Crane is a superb character, and the whole book is based around him.

[Dr Trouble]

The Count Of Monte Cristo I suppose.

I can't choose just one Erikson novel They all complement each other to the point that I can't read one without the other. thus it being unfair!

So what in place? Hmmm. Magician and I guess the Bible.

A strange assortment I know.

[Binder of Demons]

3 seems like too few to me, but I'd be pretty happy with the following

3. ALFRED BESTER - The Stars My Destination

2. ROGER ZELAZNY - Lord of Light

1. FRANK HERBERT - Dune

I'm more of a sci-fi person than fantasy, despite my love for all things Malazan.

All of these are easily re-readable. Dune is quite dense, which i actually appreciated more when re-reading it, since you could concentrate even more on the specifics.

I'm a big fan of Zelazny's irreverent sense of humour. And in Lord of Light I think he really delivers a great story too, full of interesting characters.

The Stars My Destination is a great book. Quite short, but absolutely crammed full of ideas. When i first read this i couldn't help but think of how many sci-fi writers have been influenced by his work.

At a push i could maybe replace one of these three, but it's a real struggle to think which one.

[Skywalker]

Assuming we keep SE out of this... because unless you count MBoTF as one story there's no fair way to pick just one or three...

I'd go with...

3) Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham...

2) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (never mind the philosophy and skip past Galt's speech... I just think it is a very exciting tale told exceedingly well)

1) The Lord of the Rings - not the best epic fantasy out there by a long shot, but this was the book I will fondly remember as opening my eyes to a genre I have grown to love dearly

[relentless]

Three? Ouch. I think I'm gonna make it easier on myself and stick to (fairly) straightforward SF... so no magical realism or general literature or whatever.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Surely, everyone has seen (and liked) the movie. Well, the book is easily as good, if not better.

Distress by Greg Egan. Enough good ideas for five books. Seriously, when other books present maybe one decent central idea and hinge a story on it, Distress just keeps going and going. Gives you glimpse of what it must have been like reading Asimov in the 50s.

Crash by JG Ballard. About people who think car accidents are sexy. After reading it, you might, too.

Honorary Fantasy mention: Little, Big by John Crowley. Some real magic there. Would have easily made top three if it wasn't for the fact that he tangles the magic up with politics/intrigue somewhere along the way.

[HoosierDaddy]

War and Peace - Tolstoy

Les Miserables - Hugo

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling. Don't care if I get flamed. I absolutely loved this book and get emotional every time I read it.

[amphibian]

1) A Fire in the Sun by George Alec Effinger.

Here's an edited version of my review from Amazon:

Quote

Don't read the other Effinger books. They're not as good as this one. The narrative in 'When Gravity Fails' is uneven; Marid in particular is supposed to be a relatively uneducated son of a prostitute, yet he compares himself to Hamlet. Eh?

'A Fire in the Sun makes no pretensions and slips like that. It is the fully contained story of Marid's struggle between his old life of the Buyadeen hustler, and the new life in "Papa" Friedlander Bey's employ. No background or further reading is required. Just enjoy this book.

Effinger often makes a point of the supposed paradox between religion and reality; in this case he chooses Islam, in part for its beauty and depth, but also in part because 'A Fire in the Sun' could happen nowhere else.

Anyone interested in a story with heartbreaking reality behind slick lines should read this one. I'll go as far as to say that it's one of the finest books I've ever read.

2) Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram.

This book is ridiculously good. The first half of it is the story of the best fighter pilot America has ever produced. The second half of it is his struggles to create the best fighter planes inside the backstabbing and evil Pentagon bureaucracy. Also, in the second half is the creation of the OODA Loop and other important theories used today primarily by the Marine Corps. He didn't quite win enough of his battles to become famous or successful, but his work led to the F-15 and F-16 and just about every fighter pilot in the world follows his doctrines. This book is so good.

3) The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene.

Wow. Right from the beginning, Greene makes it clear that we fight others on just about every level of life and that those who are good at dealing with conflict will get ahead in life. There are really cool notes, quotes and comments in the margins as he discusses historical examples for his strategies and they're all exactly on point. You can tell Greene put a LOT of time and thought into this book and it changed my life.

[Gwynn ap Nudd]

1) Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

2) Live from Golgotha: The Gospel According to Gore Vidal

3) Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut, jr.

4) The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky


I could have added a number of others from Vonnegut or Heller, but Catch 22 is Heller's best and Timequake one of my favourites as well as the one I still remember in the most detail. And honestly, I couldn't bring it down to three.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Catch 22 is one of my favorites also. Too bad the sequel is fail. If you liked Catch 22, Cryptonomicon should appeal to you.

[Zanth13]

This is really hard, because I have alot of fav. books, not to mention series....

so we will go for Nostalgic value

A. A Spell for Chameleon - Piers Anthony

B. Test of the Twins (or what ever the last twins book was)- Weis&Hickman

C. The Once and Future King- White

----------

with special nods to

The Road
To Kill a mocking bird
American Gods
The Dresden Files
The First Black Company book

and of Course this is all excluding the Malazan books who belong close to the top of the list.

This whole list can change as my mood changes, and as I remember some more books

[stone monkey]

Three really is far too few. Although a hundred would also probably be far too few as well.

But anyway, off the top of my head and at thismoment, mine would probably be:

Collected Fictions - Jorge Luis Borges
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
Aegypt - John Crowley

[Optimus Prime]

1. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. Quite simply the most moving and beautiful tale I've ever read.

2. Gardens of the Moon-I picked this one because it started it all for me. Totally changed the way I view literature as a whole.

3. 1984 by George Orwell. Brilliant and terrifying.

[Battalion]

Dracula: Bram Stoker.
Godfather: Mario Puzo.
A Quest for Lost Heroes: David Gemmel.

I liked most of the MBotF books, and if we were talking about a series of books, that'd be in there, just can't pick one of them.

Also, Dean Koontze, Phantoms was a great book, made me sleep with the light on for a few years.

[acesn8s]

Battalion;352276 said:

Also, Dean Koontze, Phantoms was a great book, made me sleep with the light on for a few years.

Affleck you the bomb in Phantoms, Yo!


I think my current picks would be:

The Three Musketeers by Dumas
Faire Tale by Feist
The Tarnsman of Gor by Norman . . . err I mean
Neverwhere by Gaiman

[Bauchelain the Evil]

1)Memories of Ice(best book ever)
2)Delusion Mater by T.Lee
3)A.D 2000000 by A.E Van Vogt

[Dr Trouble]

stone monkey;352258 said:

Three really is far too few. Although a hundred would also probably be far too few as well.

I think 100 would probably be a good number. That would be an interesting list, im sure.

[Use Of Weapons]

Genre:
Player of Games -- Iain M. Banks
The True Game -- Sheri S. Tepper
Dune -- Frank Herbert

Non-genre:
The Selfish Gene -- Richard Dawkins
An Equal Music -- Vikram Seth
The Baroque Cycle (yes, all of the them) -- Neal Stephenson

[Biggles]

1. Chain of Dogs

2. Dune

3. The Illiad

[Salt-Man Z]

This is hard, as often my favorite books are actually part of a series, and the single book doesn't really stand on its own. (Ender Quartet, Gap Cycle, MBotF, etc.) So I'll try to give my favorite three that don't need to be read as part of a series:

1) Shardik by Richard Adams - I first read this book in middle school, and I've now read it more than any other book: 8 times. (My second most-read book is 4 or 5 times.) A fantasy without any real magic or fantastical elements, but Adams created a rich, detailed world that I absolutely love, and his use of language is simply amazing.

2) Treason by Orson Scott Card - Originally "A Planet Called Treason", the highly-revised version titled simply "Treason" is superior, but both are very good. Technically a sci-fi setting, but it might as well be a fantasy. Lots of twists and turns, and powerful writing from back when Card was at his best.

3) Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover - Yeah, it's part of a series, but they can all be read independently, and this is the first book anyway. I picked this up merely based on how good Stover's "Star Wars: Traitor" was, and immediately had to revise my list of 3 Favorite Authors (Adams, Card, and Donaldson) to four. Hard-hitting, non-stop action, with a deeper level that's there if you want it to be, Stover writes "balls-out for glory". Even with 2 MBotF books out this year (stateside) the third volume of this series is my most-anticipated book of 2008.