The Campaign Builder's Guild

I'll confess that that's a shame.  While I too preferred the movies, Tolkien did have a great vision - a majesty that wasn't truly captured on film.  I didn't like his books, but I've got to give him that much credit.

QuoteThe House of Blue Leaves. Now this is a strange book, and you'll be working that little gourd of yours to figure out just what the hell it all means. His style alone is a wild ride, let alone the subsersively alien plot it contains. If you haven't checked it out, you'd better do it. SOON.

Did you mean "House of Leaves"? if so, i have, and i did. I'm at the part where it gets exciting and simultaneously crazy--where the expidition is lost and trying to run back inside(/outside?) Good stuff. Hard to follow. ;)

Oops.  Yeah, House of Leaves.  'Blue Leaves' is an entirely different thing altogether...

I read Tolkein back in middle school, when the only other fantasy I'd read was the Hobbit, and the only SciFi the White Mountains trilogy and Wrinkle in Time. Way back then I loved it. It still didn't beat the Hobbit or Wrinkle, but then (for whatever reason) nothing has.

Speaking of childhood faves, I'm surprised to see Herbert's Dune and Asimov's Foundation not making the list.

Well if you put them forward, they are on the list.

George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire
If you have not read this, you are cheating yourself. It is quite simply incredible. I have never before or since found myself so captivated by a story, or so emotionally invested in its characters. I cried. I smiled. I hurled small objects around the room in a blind rage. The series is incredible. Drive to the library or the bookstore right now and get it and read it.

Roger Zelazny - the Amber Chronicles
Totally different style, still marvelous. Zelazny has this way of description... he paints vivid pictures with remarkably few words. I want to learn how to do that. But the Amber books are a class all to themselves.

Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere, American Gods, etc.
How Gaiman manages to be both chillingly dark and enchantingly innocent at the same time-- that completely mystifies me. Reading Neverwhere made me feel like I was eight years old again-- there were terrifying monsters in the dark again, I could be king of the world again.

Interestingly enough, the House of Blue Leaves is the name of a play I was involved in, freshman year in college. It's about a washed-up and talentless piano songwriter, and I recorded the piano snippets used in the play and taught the cast the songs. Evil, catchy, horrible little songs. :yumm:

I keep getting told that I'm missing out with the whole "Song of Fire and Ice" thing, but quite frankly, I'm just not yet willing to start yet another series that has an indeterminable amout of time before it's done.

Quote from: IshmaylI keep getting told that I'm missing out with the whole "Song of Fire and Ice" thing, but quite frankly, I'm just not yet willing to start yet another series that has an indeterminable amout of time before it's done.

but this one is worth it

Quote from: beejazI'm surprised to see Herbert's Dune and Asimov's Foundation not making the list.

everything[/i] by Asimov. :)
I didn't like the second foundation i think. Where like, it's decided that all of humanity bond with the hive mind? I hate hive minds.

Dune... I thought the first book was pretty fun. I don't think i really enjoyed later ones. (preachy, maybe?--it's been a while.)

QuoteAasimov

can't i spell[/i]? :(

Terry Pratchett.  Hands down the Modern Master.  The Discworld characters are some of the most satisfying protagonists and antagonists in our literature.  
Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Tarzan has never been done justice, never even close, in film.  

Tolkien.  Considering the rhyme and reason behind writing the LOTR, the finished product stands out.  

Zelazny.  Amber I find annoying and unfulfilling. Isle of the Dead, To die in Italbar, Lord of Light, Night in the Lonesome October are so much more amazing.

Harry Harrison.  The Stainless Steel Rat rocks.

Star Trek.  The original only. And the movies 2-6.  Shatner is the franchise, all the others are just wannabes.

Farscape.  Well written, well acted.  Frelling freaky.  I still love it.

Venture Brothers.  I grew up in an era inundated with Johnny Quest, Mystery Inc., The Hardy Boys, ad nauseum.  The Venture Brothers not only spoof the lameness of such, but manages to distill out a unique feel.  Go Team Venture!

Doctor Who.  All of them.  Daleks, Yeti, Cybermen, Autons, more Daleks, the Master, the Rani, new Daleks, Sea-Devils, U.N.I.T.  All great cheesy sci-fi goodness!

Star Wars.  Great stuff.
Flash Gordon, Sam Jones version.

I read a lot of books, be it fantasy horror or science fiction.
But there is only one series i recomend when someone asks me what to read, and that is Dresden Files.

Other books i liked(except some obvous ones nearly everyone here mentioned) are
-Song of earth and power(fantasy)
-Brain Plague(Sci fi)
-Saga of the seven suns(sci fi)
-Tears of artamon(fantasy)
-Risen empire, Killing of Worlds(sci fi)
-Vampire earth(near future)
-The Shadow saga(near future)
-Broken Crescent , Wiz Biz (both treat magic as programing language, first is serious, secont is somewhat comic)
-Perdito street station(didn't realy like his other books)

From campaign settings i like Iron kingdoms

Well of the Unicorn
I heard of this book once, in an article on the realisticness of fantasy novels. No, it's not some boringly realistic novel, though it doesn't possess any non-human races either. I found it exceedingly useful for designing my own Campaign Settings with politics and geography in mind. If you know your history, you'll see a tantalizing corrolation between the events in the book and the events unfolding between the Holy Roman Empire, the Danish people and various kings that attempted to assert themselves over viking age denmark. Furthermore, it can be bought for ~$1 on Amazon. One thing, however, the regional accents can be confusing if you don't just go with the flow and go for just the gist of what they're saying. Oh, and the background legend can be a bit confusing as well, but that didn't stop me from loving it.

Dune
What can I say, it deserves mention even if it can be agonizing to read at times. Although, I must admit, I couldn't make it past the first few chapters of God Emperor before be bewildered and finding it took way too much effort to figure out what was going on.

Machiavelli's The Art of War and The Prince
Not exactly a novel, but these two books are still very interesting. The Art of War less so unless you're a fan of military history, but The Prince is a very intereting analysis of politics of renaissance italy, something that is similar to many campaign settings.

Game of Thrones
I've only read book 1, but it was great, and again, very intellectually stimulating for the geo-political makeup of your campaign setting. Do you see a trend in my books yet?

Robin Hobb: Everything I have read thus far

Tad Williams: The books with three swords (the translation was poor, so I never remember the names of those). Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. They were mentioned earlier.

Martin: Song of ice and fire is good.

Pratchett

Zelazny: Amber, especially the first half of books, where Merlin was not involved.

Gaiman: Especially Sandman

Katherine Kerr: The books that have something to do with Deverry and possibly silver daggers. It's been a while.

Rather than split it up between fantasy/sci-fi I'll just mix it up if that's okay.  And they're in no particular order.

Bladerunner - The greatest film ever.  With the plethora of 'dark future' films that came after it (Highlander II, for instance), its hard to really appreciate how original it was.  The odd plot which doesnt quite make sense (how many replicants) and the beautiful language and imagery.  Never bettered.  

Imagica by Clive Barker - IMHO Barker hasnt written a decent novel since this.  Its almost as if he blew all his creative energies on one book.  But what a book...both a map across five realities and a grand unifying mythology to boot.  Oppressive partriarchies, secret societies dedicated to destroying magic, transgender assassins, vengeful goddesses, clones and lots of gratuitous sex from all kinds of angles!  Also check out Weaveworld, his other decent novel.  

Star Wars - I love all the Star Wars except the Return of the Jedi, which is just a damp squib rehash of Episode IV. One day I'll have to sit down and watch all six movies in one sitting.  

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine - I liked the original series and ST:TNG, but this was by far the best series, perhaps because it focussed on other cultures and not just the Federation.  There was a great deal of moral ambiguity as well, which is rare for Star Trek.  Voyager was alright, but Enterprise seems to have sunk the franchise.  Best Star Trek movie is of course Wrath of Khan, but First Contact runs it a close second.  

The Riftwar Series - Riftwar probably worked because it felt like a Dungeons and Dragons novel, long before Dragonlance.  You have to be a dedicated reader as you quickly lose track of who's related to who.  Its also a pretty good representation of a feudal society.  I wasnt as impressed by the Serpentwar Saga however.

The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks - Banks writes space opera on an absolutely massive scale, set in the galaxy-spanning post-modern, materialistic, atheisitic Culture.  The Culture is genuinely alturistic, it just has a tendency to spread its ideals through co-opting questionable individuals via its Dirty Tricks department.  'Use of Weapons' is well-recommended, but my favourite is 'Consider Phlebas'.  Essentially it a wild rollercoaster of a story set against the backdrop of a galactic clash of cultures.  The whole novel hangs on one sentence, right at the end of the book, but that sentence transforms a routine romp into something almost unbearably sad and poignent.  The title of the book comes from the T. S. Eliot's poem 'Death by Water', and at the end of it - like the poem - we are left reflecting on someone who loses absolutely everything.      

Right, just as I am writing this a friend I havent seen for a year has just popped in to say hullo, so I think I'll continue this another time...    

Quote from: Wrexham3The Riftwar Series - Riftwar probably worked because it felt like a Dungeons and Dragons novel, long before Dragonlance.  You have to be a dedicated reader as you quickly lose track of who's related to who.  Its also a pretty good representation of a feudal society.  I wasnt as impressed by the Serpentwar Saga however.

everything[/i] Feist has written except for the Riftwar Saga.  All his sequels seem to be poor imitations of other stories; expecially those that focus on various expeditions to other kingdoms to help stem some brooding war (that's about 9 of them, I believe).