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Looking for a good story? Don't know what book to read now? Well, other fans of HDM have submitted the following books as books that they enjoyed greatly. Check them out! If you have a suggestion for a book to be added to the list, send an e-mail.  Watership Down (Richard Adams) - a top-notch book, personally my favorite. The images are stunning, the characters are great (as close as you'll get to Lyra), and the message Watership Down has is as powerful as you can get. I highly recommend getting it.  The Redwall Series (Brian Jacques) - an enjoyable 14 volume series that follows the lives of various inhabitants of Jacques' animal world. Some phenominal descriptions, along with a few powerful scenes per book. Go out and get it.  Dune (Frank Herbert) - I've only read the first book in this series, which is titled simply 'Dune'. This book is for all the sci-fi fans out there. It won the first Nebula award, along with various other prestigious awards in the field of sci-fi. Very exciting.  The Belgariad/The Mallorean series (David Eddings) - two great fantasy series (Belgariad is first) that are set in one of the best created fantasy worlds I've ever encountered. The characters are also great in this one, and fans of Lord of the Rings should enjoy this.  The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R Tolkien) - a bit epic in scale, but good nonetheless. Probably the most well known fantasy series ever (not the best, but the most well-known). I recommend it to people who are able to keep track of characters and their very long and hard to pronounce names.  The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis) - exact opposite of HDM, but I didn't read HDM for its message, I read it for the characters, setting, and details. Narnia is a great read, and I highly recommend reading it if you haven't already.  A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens) - a little slow at first, and perhaps a little challenging, but the end is almost as good as the end of TAS. Beautiful love story, a classic. Following reviews written by "Posmella."  Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card) - Sci-fi that won the Hugo and Nebula, adapted from a short story that is featured in various magazines and the book 'Maps in a Mirror'. A moral tale following the life of Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin, a genius child who is emotionally, physically and mentally manipulated to be a child commander in the Battle School. Ender is being trained to fight the 'Buggers' and insectoid alien race, and time is running out... Really really good. Probably 14+ years... sad ending. Yada yada yada.  Songmaster (Orson Scott Card) - A emotional novel about the Songbird Ansett following his life from 3 years old until death. Trained at the Songhouse for the Emperor of the Universe, Mikal, Ansett is a tool in the plotting of rebels, and can be used as a weapon. Ansett's voice is so special, he can use it as a weapon to manipulate people's emotions, and as a cold child, is unpredictable. However, his love for Mikal and the Songhouse keeps him going on this rollercoaster ride of a novel that was also adapted from a short story, and won the Hugo and Nebula awards. Extremely sad at the end, and hauntingly beautiful. 16+ years.  Magician (Raymond E. Feist) - The beginning of the acclaimed fantasy saga 'The Riftwar Saga' and it's companion 'The Serpentwar Saga' and other linked novels. Set on the world of Midkemia, Magician follows the childhood of Tomas and Pug, from humble beginnings as servants to the hugely powerful and respected characters they are now. Set in an intricate and complete fantasy world, Magician is not to be missed. A great, modern classic of fantasy. 14+ years. The Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling) - Harry Potter has gotten much acclaim and notice from critics and readers 'round the world, and if you're into wizards and spells and crazy sports on BRoomsticks, then heck, give HP a spin. However, I must offer my personal warning on this one. Entertaining, HP is. Great Literature, HP is not. It is humorous and filled with wonderful little quirks, but it does seem to lack something in my eyes (now before all the HP fans out there come at me with clubs and pitchforks, let me point out that I did enjoy the books, and I am certainly NOT condemning them. There's just better stuff out there that I'd rather read instead). Give the series a try - you probably won't be disappointed. The Face on the Milk Caron ???? - I'll get the author in a minute, hang on... - Personally I have never read this, but I heard good reviews by many people about it, and since Scott Hayes submitted it to me, I gladly put it up. I'm going to amazon.com to get a summary in a minute, so be patient... check back later. The Giver (Lois Lowry) - A top notch book, one of the modern "Negative Utopias" following in the tradion of 1984 and Brave New World, The Giver is about a boy named Jonas and the perfect, but unhuman world where he lives. When Jonas is selected as the new Reciever, he begins to glimpse the truth about the pain, fear, and pleasure of our own world that has been lost to his time. A great read, I highly recommend it. 1984 (George Orwell) - While we're on the subject of Negative Utopias, 1984 is top notch as well. This is the world of Big Brother and the dreaded Thought Police, as well as poor Winston Smith, a man who can't help wondering what the world was like before Big Brother. A good read, though I warn you, it gets a bit graphic at times. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) - Another great Negative Utopia, Huxley's Brave New World is about a world where marriage is such a silly idea (why would anyone want to commit themselves to just once person?- the idea!) This is also the world where no one has parents- instead, everyone is grown in bottles in a labortory. Brave New World's main character, known as The Savage, is a man who was raised on an Indian Reservation- and reads the forbidden Shakespeare. Horrified at this "Brave new world" that he encounters (he is quoting Miranda in Shakespeare's The Tempest at the time) he... well, I guess you'll have to read it, won't you? (Another warning about appropriate content). Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury) - I can't believe I left this off my list! Fahrenheit 451 is one of the greatest works of the 20th century, and tells the tale about a world without books (I shudder at the thought). Read it. Now. The Chocolate War ???? - Again, I personally have not read this, but Scott Hayes has suggested it, so I added it. I will get more info from amazon.com as soon as I can. The Once and Future King (T.H. White) - Perhaps one of the greatest of the books about King Arthur, Once and Future King is not to be missed. Anyone who is a fan of the fantasy genre, or of Arthurian lore, absolutely has to read this! I just finished it myself (615 pages in 3 days!) and I must admit that I cried at the end. You should easily be able to find this at bookstores and liBRaries, so what are you still here for?? (Also, if this book appeals to you, Malory's L'Morte De Arthur should also be on your list). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) - This five book trilogy (yes, you read that right) is one of the funniest, most ingenius pieces of sci-fi humor that I have ever read. When Arthur Dent, a normal human being living in England has his home destroyed by the zoning commitee to make a new highway, he thinks the world has come to an end. Actually, it has. The Vogons, a mindless alien race, demolish the earth to make way for an interstellar highway. Arthur manages to escape with his Betelguesian friend, Ford Prefect, and soon winds up with characters such as Zaphod BeebleBRox, the totally hip and out to lunch president of the galaxy, the attractive Trillian, and the chronically depressed robot, Marvin. A must read on anyone's list. Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Salman Rushdie) - submitted by Erin Bright --Haroun and the Sea of Storiesis about a boy who's father is a story teller who finds out that all the stories that his father has told him are true and goes to another world to save the existance of stories. Themes in the book touch on the way people have problems accepting things that are different and the importance of imagination in our society. Thats all for now, We'll add more books as soon as we can. Again, if you want to suggest a book, just send an e-mail. Return Home |
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