Novels FReepers Love (discussion)

April 4, 2004 | me

[Long Cut]

Over at THIS THREAD, discussing Tom Clancy's movies, one FReeper lamented the lack of threads discussing books we all might like, like Clancy's, or those of Clive Cussler, Matt Reilly, Patrick Robinson...The list is almost endless, as writers with a conservative tilt have long produced works that appeal to a wide audience of Americans, not just conservatives.

So, ever willing to help out, herewith such a thread. I'm not totally motivated by altruism here, as I am working on my first book right now, and opinions matter to me. Also, I love discussing my favorite works. I started reading at the tender age of four, and kept most of the books I read starting with Treasure Island. I married an English Lit major, and even today I attempt to consume as many books as possible.

What say you , FReepers? Let's chew on some books, shall we?

[RightWingMama]

simply cannot wait to read FReeper Travis Mcgee's book, Enemies Foreign And Domestic. I loved John Ross'sUnintended Consequences, and Travis seems to be carrying on in that fine tradition ably

Enemies Foreign and Domestic was one of the best books I have ever read. Not just for the theme, but the story held your attention and got your heart pumping. It was just a great read. My husband read it in one day and it took me two.;-) Once you start, it is hard to put down.

[RightWingMama]

I roundly loathed Rainbow Six, which I felt was more of an advertisement for a video game than a book. I also thought it was ghosted. Red Rabbit flat-out sucked.

No kidding!

[writer33]

Nope. I didn't read the book. Saw the movie, but as usual, it probably didn't do the book justice.

(The 13th Warrior)

[Tribune7]

Dean Koontz "Dark Rivers of the Heart" is a CLASSIC. Great secret govt agency skullduggery novel.

That's probably one of the few I don't think I've read. I shall check it out. Thanks.

[Tribune7]

:-)

[Tribune7]

Actually, I've been meaning to check out your book too.

[Trinity_Tx]

Like most of you other bibliophiles, I have way too many favorites to list. Clancy, Rand, old classics and historical bios...

But having read the thread and noticed a trend in our tastes, I'm going to limit myself to recommending this one that might have been missed, but I really think most of y'all would love: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. (He also wrote Snow Crash and others...)

It is an incredible techno-thriller novel that goes between ww2 and present day... with a lot of nonfiction elements, delving deeply into the beginning of computer tech, cryptography (awesome depth there), espionage, and the present day Internet. If you like Clancy, you'll love this.

I found it impossible to put down... fast paced (tho very long)... intelligent... And aside from some rough language, I really love Stevenson's style.

(Off to order Travis' book now...)

[Tribune7]

Earth Abides was a good book.

[AnAmericanMother]

I'm seeing a lot of what I call "Popcorn Books" listed here.

Bite yo' tongue, boy!

Trollope is not "popcorn." Neither is Donn Byrne, although not well known he is a fairly deep read. Dorothy Sayers' mystery stories stand well as serious novels (especially The Nine Tailors which as a bonus provides ample information on the arcane British art of change-ringing.) Georgette Heyer appears on casual examination to be popcorn, but she is making game of you.

(I realize your condemnation was not universal but general - but I couldn't resist.)

[Squantos]

Is that the book the highlander series on Teee Veeee is based on ???

Stay safe !

[AnAmericanMother]

I find Grace Livingstone Hill to be very uneven. Some of her books are dramatic, effective, and hang together well. The Seventh Hour is very much a 1930's period piece but I like it. Others fall flat or don't seem to end in a coherent way, I think when she got outside her area of expertise, so to speak, she got overwhelmed. I'm thinking particularly of Blue Ruin, where she tried to have an anti-hero and he got away from her - so far as I could tell she was apparently horrified by the result and just ended the book as quickly as she could to get rid of him.

[RightWingMama]

I enjoy reading William W. Johnstone who recently died. He is the writer of the famous Out of the Ashes series,

My husband loves that series. Unfortunatly, he reads so fast that authors can't keep up. LOL

[AnAmericanMother]

Earth Abides was a good book.

Well done but too pessimistic - suffers from having an absolutely materialistic outlook.

[Tribune7]

Oh, come on. The concept is how tribe, family culture trump material feats. I think the writer was truely inspired by Ecclesiastes, which of course pretty much declares the works of man to be a vanity. :-)

[RightWingMama]

You'll love it. It's all extremely realistic, except that the part about the space aliens landing in the amusement park with the dinosaurs seemed a bit of a stretch.

That wasn't real???? Does that mean the part where PeeWee Herman becomes the Master of the Universe wasn't real either?

[Long Cut]

Nope, the two are wholly unrelated.

In Casca's case, no matter how badly he gets wounded, he heals. He literally cannot be killed. of course, there's side effects, too. One is, he feels the pain of a wound TWICE, once when it occurs, and then a second time, equally, when it heals. He is unable to sire children, as well, and his blood will kill anything touching it.

He's even survived, at GREAT pain, being burned at the stake.

Being cursed by Christ on Golgotha apparently ain'tno joke.

[Long Cut]

Crichton's book of "The 13th Warrior" is actually called Eaters Of The dead. It's a great premise...a re-imagining of the ancient myth of Beowulf as it might have been originally recorded.

I've read it, and I have the DVD starring Antonio Banderas. It's a favorite in my house...lots of Viking sword-swinging and adventure, and some good, old-fashioned HONOR and STRENGTH and COURAGE for themes to get that blood to pumpin'. I was even willing to overlook the main character being an Arab, albiet one from when they were smart.

[Long Cut]

if we're talking about detective stories, my absolute favorites have always been the grandaddy of them all...Arthur Conan Doyle's immortal Sherlock Holmes. Mrs. Cut just finished reading a compendium of all the Holmes stories and novels she found in a bargain bin for five bucks, hardcover. I can't wait to get home on leave to read it myself.

I've got a weakness for those old, Victorian-era tales.

[Poohbah]

Novel I'm reading:

Black Star by Robert Gandt

Read lately:

Fortunes of War by Stephen Coonts
Recovery by Steven L. Thompson

[Long Cut]

One book I can never get tired of reading is Anne Rice's The Witching Hour. To me, it's her finest work...sweeping from the Middle Ages to the present, following a family with strange powers throughout its history, and it has an absolutely KICKING ending that leaves you breathless.

It is truly a ghost story for the ages...NOT to be read on a dark and stormy night.