Reddit mentions: The best historical fiction books

The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

..with the caveat that it's really only almost fantasy. It has the tone, and there's one or two fantasy type elements here and there, but it's a real-world setting. That said, I loved this book. It's one of my favorites.

>Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister— dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA.

Ursula K. Le Guin is pretty reliable when it comes to mixing up PoCs into her books, so I'd search that. Bonus, she writes both science fiction and fantasy iirc so she might have something in between.

Isabel Allende -- she's technically a Latin American literary type author, but a lot of Latin American literature is uhhhh.... I think the term for it is "magical realism." They're typically set in South America, often the characters or themes relate to native populations, and I recall a secondary character in one book who was essentially a MtF transsexual.

Aha! I found it. It's Eva Luna.

>As the years pass and her imprudent nature sends Eva from household to household—from the home of a doctor famed for mummifying the dead to a colorful whorehouse and the care of a beautiful transsexual—it is Eva’s magical imagination that keeps her alive and fuels her ardent encounters with lovers of all kinds. And as her South American homeland teeters on the brink of political chaos, and Eva’s fate is intertwined with guerrilla fighters and revolutionaries, she will find her life’s calling—and the soul mate who will envelop her in a love entirely beyond her mystical inventions.

It has the same issue as Oscar Wao (actually for the same reason, probably): they're not "fantasy" in the sense of world-building and dragons, but "with fantastical and magical elements."

I also used to really like books by Sheri S Tepper, and a few of them had women's rights themes, but I can't remember any PoCs or non-cis main characters off the top of my head. She writes sci fi, but they were enough on the fantasy end of the spectrum that I could handle them. I'm not really a sci fi person.

I also dug up this Amazon list: "Multicultural Speculative Fiction".

Also, I found a "Multicultural Graphic Novels" list which probably isn't for you but looked too awesome to not mention.

Editing to add:

"The Privilege of the Sword": technically Young Adult, I think. The uncle is gay. Or maybe bi. I think he had orgies. Yeah, that would make him bi, I think.

Patricia Briggs: Mercy Thompson. This entire series. The protagonist is half native american, and she works in a garage. The entire series is pretty imaginative, although I can't remember that her heritage is really dealt with other than "and that's why she can turn into a coyote." Patricia Briggs has been one of my favorite writers pretty much since I was a teen. Before she got popular. I'm a hipster.

Another Amazon list: "Some Lesbian Fantasy and SF Favorites". I recognize a lot of the authors' names, but the only one I've read anything by is Tanya Huff. She's very good, and the rest that I recognize have high reviews and good reputations.

Another list along the same lines

I know some of these have already been mentioned, so just consider this a second vote for those titles. Also, my list skews heavily towards sci-fi/fantasy, because that is what I tend to read the most of.

By women, featuring female protagonists:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

The Female Man by Joanna Russ

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Circus in Winter by Cathy Day (It's not entirely fair to characterize this as a book about women; it's really a set of interconnected stories featuring both male and female characters. On the other hand, many of the most memorable characters, IMO, are women, so I'm filing it in this category anyway. So there!)

The Protector of the Small Quartet by Tamora Pierce, beginning with First Test (Really, anything by Tamora Pierce would fit the bill here. They're young adult novels, so they're quick reads, but they're enjoyable and have wonderful, strong, realistic female protagonists.)

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (Heyer wrote really fun, enjoyable romances, typically set in the Regency period, though These Old Shades is actually Georgian. This one is probably my favorite, but they're really all quite wonderful. Not super heavy stuff, but don't write her off just because of the subject matter. She was a talented, witty writer, and her female protagonists are almost never the wilting "damsel in distress" type - they're great characters who, while still holding true to their own time and place, are bright and likeable and hold their own against the men in their lives.)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Another young adult book. And, again, I think it's worth noting that L'Engle's books almost always feature strong and interesting female characters. This one is probably her most famous, and begins a series featuring members of the same family, so it's a good jumping off point.)

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi


By men, featuring female protagonists:

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (This is another one that is perhaps not a perfect fit for this category; the titular unicorn is female, but the book is as much about Schmendrick the magician as it is about her. However, there's also Molly Grue, so on the strength of those two women, I'm classifying this book as having female protagonists.)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (It's a children's book, but there's plenty to enjoy about it as an adult, too.)

By women, featuring male protagonists

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

First and foremost, don't be ashamed of what you love. Tale of Two Cities is considered one of the greatest books ever because it is. It's a masterwork. And you shouldn't be ashamed of recognizing that.

Other people have suggested some great classics. You can't go wrong with those. But it sounds (to me) like you might be looking for something a bit more modern, and perhaps a bit more niche. So I'll make some suggestions along those lines:

The Thousand Autums of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell

Let me admit this up front. I've been immediately buying everything this guy writes. I'm a fan. But dangit, he's been nominated for two Man Booker prizes. He can write.

The Thousand Autumns is set in 1800 in a small town in Japan, where Westerners are permitted to stay, but are forbidden to enter the rest of Japan. Jacob is a trader with the Dutch East India Company who comes to make his fortune so that he can marry his Dutch fiancee. When he arrives, he meets a Japanese midwife named Orito with a scar on her face. Jacob falls in love. But this book is not just a love story. Every character is richly drawn, and each has their own arc. Politics and culture feature prominently. It really is a beautiful book. And it shares some of the epic reach of Tale of Two Cities.

Having said that, I would heartily recommend anything by David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas is probably his best known book, and it's a wonderful group of inter-connected stories from different genres tied together by a central theme and with a unique structure. I've recommended that one to friends, and they all praised it.

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami

This one is a bit different, and definitely a bit more niche. Murakami is a Japanese writer who became sort of hip here in the U.S. a few years back. He writes with a style that I've heard described as "magical realism." It's is utterly realistic in its presentation, but then it will have a talking cat or an alternate dimension. His stories sort of feel like modern fables. And there's a sense of loneliness and fatalism in his books.

I'm not sure that any plot description is going to do a Murakami book justice, but I'll give a short one anyway. Toru loses his job, and wife his orders him to find their cat before disappearing herself. Wind Up Bird is mostly about the cast of characters and events in the subsequent journey.

I almost suggested 1Q84 instead of Wind Up Bird because it felt (to me) more similar to Tale of Two Cities. But 1Q84 is a very long book, and a very slow burn. When I was about 500 pages in, a friend asked me whether I was enjoying it, and I ended up talking about Murakami's style, and not this story. Because the story hadn't grabbed me yet. While I ended up enjoying 1Q84 more than Wind Up Bird, I'm not sure I can recommend that you slog through 1,000+ pages without being pretty sure you're going to enjoy his style. Wind Up Bird is a better -- and shorter -- introduction to Murakami, and it's considered his classic anyway.

Alright I hope you get this. Sounds like you are a lot like I was growing up. I would read a book a week and listen to two. haha. these were books i had to grow into a lot of times. so don't get discouraged. some of these are tough but they'll help you in the long run. promise.

anyways.. here's my list.

Foreign Policy

-Dying to Win- Science and strategy behind suicide terrorism

-Imperial Hubris- good book by a CIA vet on what to expect because of US foreign policy

-Blowback- Same type of book as above, but better.

-The Looming Tower- a good history and account for Sept 11






Economics and Money

-Freakonomics- Ever wonder about he economics of drug dealing, including the surprisingly low earnings and abject working conditions of crack cocaine dealers? This book is fantastic.

-Outliers- Gladwell is a master of minute detail. This book helps you focus on the future.

-Blink-Great book on intuitive judgement

-The Age of Uncertainty- the best book I've ever read on the fight between Capitalism and Communism

Biology and Science

-Why Do Men Have Nipples- a general Q&A book. Good for info you can use at a party or to impress somebody. really random stuff.

-A Short History of Nearly Everything- Humorous take on some heavy heavy science. Easier to read than people think.

-The Ancestors Tale- It was hard picking just one Dawkins book, so I gave you two.

-The Greatest Show on Earth- Dawkins is the world-standard for books on biology and evolution in layman's terms.

Good Novels

-1984-Hopefully no explanation needed

-A Brave New World- a different type of dystopian universe compared to 1984. read both back to back.

-The Brothers Karamazov- My favorite piece of Russian Literature. It made me think more than any other book on this list honestly. I can't recommend it enough.

-Catch-22- There are so many layers to this book. So much symbolism, so much allusion. You must pay attention to get the full affect of this book. Great satire. Masterfully written.

-Alas Babylon- Yet another dystopian novel. This time about what would happen after a world wide nuclear war.

-Slaughterhouse-5 Vonnegut is a badass. And that's really all there is to know. I read this book in one day. It was that good. Satire on WW2.

Philosophy

-Sophies World- Good intro to a lot of basic principles of the major philosophers

-Beyond Good and Evil- Nietzche can get REALLY depressing because he is a nihilist but this book is extremely quotable and will give fresh perspective on a lot of things.

-Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand's masthead. Its a novel, but its also a commentary on her precious objectivism.


So there you have it. My short list of books to read. I can get deeper into certain subjects if you want me to. Just PM me.

Age: b

M

I think they are quite different for the most part. You can usually tell a genre novel by it's cover.

Aesthetics do not overly influence my choice. I do like some covers more than others, but it will not prevent me from reading it's contents if I was already interested. When I was younger and aimlessly wandering around libraries, I would pick up and read a book if it looked neat. Lately, my tastes have been more defined and I have many recommendations to go off of, from this site and others. I usually have a pretty good idea whether I will like the book or not before I buy it, and the aesthetics are not a factor.

I do most of my shopping online, so the cover is not a big factor. I do like them to be consistent, however. I am sure others can share my frustration when a series changes it's style part way through...

I really like books that have illustrations. One of my all time favorites is Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess' Stardust. I think it would be great if more started adding more artwork as I feel it can enhance the story. At the end of the day though, it is all about the story, so if that is quality, I am content.

I do not know how much improvement there has been. I think there is room for it. I think overall they are a bit too busy. I prefer more a minimalist approach, personally.

Regarding the Movie Covers...is loathe a strong enough word? I am not a fan. However, even they are not a deal breaker. I own a few, and while I would obviously prefer them to look differently, I can and have enjoy the story.

I do not think e-books will affect it too much over all. For the people it matters to, it will continue to matter, no matter the format.

I think they may be, slightly. But I do not know by how much. Personally, I will take my story in whatever format I can get, be it paper, electronic or audio. I prefer physical books though.

For an example of what I personally consider to be an aesthetically pleasing book, take a look at Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. The cover, the footnotes, the chapter titles, the scattered illustrations. All serve to heighten what is already a remarkable book.

After years of playing DW games, I finally did, and really enjoyed it. I read this abridged version (~$30) initially, and it was alright. Some pretty big pieces are cut out, although it does make for a considerably shorter read. However, if you really want the full experience, I'd recommend this 4-book set (~$25) that I picked up later. I can't really say if it's better or worse than others, as it's the only full copy I've read, but it seemed good to me, and I've seen it recommended by other people as well. You could also check out this website, which has the whole thing available to be read. I don't think I could manage that much reading online, though.

If you do start reading, good luck. It can be quite a daunting task, as the scope and style of it can be off-putting. It took me a couple years of off-and-on reading to get through it, and I'm someone who enjoys reading (although I was younger at the time). Have fun with it though, it's a great read, and you'll likely have an easier time than most, as you're already familiar with many of the names.

Hope that helps!

gnostics are mystics, basically. gnostic christianity is to regular christianity in somewhat as sufism is to islam. the general idea is that you reach god through "gnosis", some sort of higher understanding achieved through personal development.

gnostic christianity has a couple branches as i understand it, but the general idea is that there was undifferentiated bliss, and a schism between good and evil created the physical world. there are demiurges bound to the physical world who seek to have dominion over it, and those are archons. the true god simply wants for us to attain gnosis and return to undifferentiated bliss.

more or less. the gnostic view of the death of jesus was not that sacrifice was necessary to redeem oneself, but that he was simply done and was going to return to undifferentiated bliss. the recently found gospel of judas claims that judas was in fact his closest disciple, and he alone understood his actual teachings. when the guards came for jesus, judas bought him some time by leading them off in another direction and then leading them to jesus later. but then the remaining disciples who were less developed sold judas out.

i find gnosticism interesting because it maintains that the reason we feel alienated in this physical world is that our consciousness is a "spark of the alien divine", and we do are not in fact of this plane. it helped me be more at peace with the alienation and terror i feel at existing in a fucked up reality, and gave me resolve to restart developing myself and my consciousness.

i've always been a little interested in gnosticism, having been raised around catholicism but with knowledge of eastern religions as well. but i got really interested in it when i read Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, which is a western built on these heavy gnostic themes with an archon-esque character. it's an amazing book and you should read it, though be warned it contains lots of violence. he also wrote No Country For Old Men, and anton chigurh is supposed to be like an archon of material avarice.

i still haven't read much about gnosticism directly and the bulk of my knowledge is from editorialized summaries. i have purchased some translations of the gnostic gospels, though, as well as what is supposed to be a superior and heavily footnoted translation of the five books of moses by Robert Alter, a comparative linguist and professor of hebrew who was inspired by the writing of authors such as Cormac McCarthy.

my interest in gnosticism also led me to read Gurdjieff's Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, which is an allegorical summary of his belief structure told from the perspective of an alien being describing us, developed through many years of travel in remote areas of the world talking to spiritual masters of many disciplines. it has really changed my view of life, even if you ignore the spiritual aspects, and i consider it to be the most important book i've read. in any case, he's got a much broader gnostic view that is not restricted to gnostic christianity.

cheers. :)

EDIT: also, wikipedia on gnosticism, and archons

> This is where I'd disagree with you. I think you should maybe check out some higher level apologetics, or philosophical defenses of theism, to see how believers attempt to respond to that charge.

Fair enough. I will withhold judgment until I've had a chance to understand how higher apologetics deals with evidence.

> If a Christian says "our claims in no way rely on modern claims of X supernatural ability" then it's hard to see how modern claims of supernatural happening can really relate to theist claims. Again, I think the keys are the Resurrection and the Incarnation.

I remember being taken aback when I first realized that James Randi considered religious claims as perfectly eligible for the $1 million dollar prize. So I can understand that religious people don't see themselves reflected in ghost hunters, or UFO abductees. But on the other hand, I suspect that users of homeopathic medicine would similarly take umbrage at being lumped in with cryptozoologists. Whatever you commonly practice doesn't seem strange to you.

What I'm struggling with is how an outside observer might distinguish Christianity from other superstitions, or from other religious traditions. As I said above, I'll withhold judgment until I can read some higher apologetics.

> I'd reply with the question of what sort of claims that are scientifically testable does classical theism make that have not been verified

Unfortunately, it's been years since I read it, and I gave my copy to a friend. I vaguely remember several items, but I doubt I could do them justice. I also hesitate to recommend it, as it's really not that great. It makes a lot of bald assertions, but it doesn't actually get into much detail - presumably to keep the book suitable for general audiences. You essentially have to trust Strenger's good word as a physicist.

I did find it to be the most compelling of the "new atheist" books, though, due to its focus on facts and its lack of rhetoric.


> I'd suggest wondering why they are considered to be among the greatest minds of all time by many people who are vastly smarter than you or I

No worries there - I have little doubt that the issue is mine and not Hegel's.

That said, one thing that surprises me about philosophy is the manner in which it is taught. Even beginner texts on the subject, such as Sophie's World seem to be merely a whirlwind tour of the key thinkers and their ideas.

Contrast this with mathematics. As undoubtedly brilliant as Newton and Leibniz were, no student today still learns calculus from their original texts. Indeed, with updated notation and 300 years of refinement by admittedly lesser minds, modern treatments of the subject are simply better than the originals.

I'm surprised that philosophy doesn't seem to go through a similar process.

> You can't expect to simply read a 1000 year old highly technical philosophical argument without a lot of grounding in the time period, vocabulary, and relevant philosophy that is simply assumed by the authors

That's good to know. I feel kind of sheepish admitting that I was underwhelmed by Plato. I'll have to tackle him again when I have a better grasp of his environment.

> 1.) you're not simply reading yourself into their works ... or 2.) you're not simply saying "oh these philosophers are the best because I understand what they're saying and they agree with what I already believed."

Criticism accepted. Appreciate the advice.

Well duh, otherwise you wouldn't be posting in this subreddit, but there's a lot of different types of fantasy/scifi. Do you tend to like adventure novels a la lord of the rings, 'farmboy becomes savior' novels like the wheel of time. Do you like suspense? Or do you typically enjoy more 'character driven' stories? Etc. Fantasy is really just a setting.

Imajica by Clive Barker is a mystery/horror novel that generally gets strong reviews and the audiobook is 37 hours long so you get a lot of bang for your buck.

The golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is a character driven novel about a Golem and jinni who are both learning to live in a early 1900's new york city. It's also over 30 hours long.

Others mentioned ready player one and the martian. Ready player one is great. The primary criticism you'll see is that it's too 'fanservicy' to eighties/videogame themes. It's the 50 shades for video game nerds. The martian is also great, though chances are you saw the movie. It's a suspense novel about a man stuck on mars.

Yes. I became interested in Viking culture not long before I heard of the show, but the show has definitely helped keep my curiosity going. My interest in Norse history goes like this:

• Interest spiked after realizing Immigrant Song by Led Zepplin is about Vikings (around mid 2012-ish)
  
  
• Started looking into the culture, discovered Wardruna
  
  
• Bought a book about runes, the myths, etc
  
  
• Vikings comes out on History channel (I remember thinking, "Man, Wardruna should do music for this show!" And then mfw)
  
  
• Recently started looking into Asatru and stuff that is still going on in this age that can be tied to Vikings
  
  My interest in the Vikings isn't necessarily about the specific dates, locations, etc. It's more about the lifestyle, the myths, the attitude they had. And Vikings does a great job, IMO, of keeping that interest going. It's inspiring me to get in touch with nature again, learn how to do things I've never done, etc. Plus it's entertaining!
  
  EDIT: Here's the two books I've bought (so far) regarding Viking history. You'll note that they're basically children's books. The first one deals with the myths on a children's story level, the second has more in depth analysis on the myths, but without the pictures. I think simply reading about the things the Vikings may have lived by is better than just learning what date Bjorn raided "whatever-land". Anyways, here's the two books I have:
  
  Book of Norse Myths: Kid's book with pictures, walking you through the myths on an introductory level
  
  The Norse Myths: A much more comprehensive book about the myths
  
  I also have two other books related to Norse history or culture:
  
  Practical Guide to the Runes
  
  Practical Heathen's Guide to Asatru: For learning about the way a heathen's mind works and how he lives his life. I don't follow the stuff in the book, but I'm putting some of it into practice as I explore my ancestral connections

The King in Yellow was arguable Lovecraft's biggest influence.

Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books might be a good fit.

Haruki Murakami in my opinion does "dreamlike" better then anyone else I have read. The Wind up Bird Chronicles, might be a good start.

For something like Stardust, I would recommend John Crowly, particularly Little Big, Winters Tale, and maybe Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

I think Clive Barker hits the tone you are looking for sometimes, but not in all of his work, maybe someone who has read him more can give a better recommendation.

If you have not read China Miéville Perdido Street Station would be a good start.

I just started The Drowning Girl so can't really give a full review, but so far it seems like it would also be a good fit.

For something that is not really what you asked for, but is a fun read for a Lovecraft fan I would recommend Charles Stross' The Laundry Files Series, Starting with The Atrocity Archive A semi comic story about the bureaucratic side of the secret agency that deals with the impending lovecraftian nightmare apocalypse, a little pulpy, but lots of fun.

Outlaws of the Marsh, also known as Water Margin, is a classic of Chinese literature. It is a great book with an expansive world contained within. At the beginning of the book, an inept government official releases 108 demons from a sealed room in a monastery. These 108 spirits are reincarnated as the protagonists of the story, sent to earth to crusade against corruption and restore the throne to the rightful emperor. One by one, the 108 heroes (who are actually outlaws, I guess) collect at a bandit stronghold in the mountains before the government sees their deeds and tasks them with driving out foreign invaders. My favorite character is Lu Da, who I suppose you could compare to Barrett in some ways: big, strong, brash, and loyal. He is a military man who becomes a fugitive after killing a butcher. He is sent to a monastery to hide out, but his appetites and vulgarity prevent him from being a convincing monk, so the other monks kick him out. His story is pretty hilarious, involving a lot of drunken ass-whoopings.

Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle. Not fantasy, but it has political intrigue and a really wild plot twist. I don't know that it is really all that similar to FF to be honest, but if you're a nerd like me then maybe you'll find something in it.

H.P. Lovecraft's stories are centered around a few central mythologies and offer a lot to the reader. Barnes and Noble printed his complete fictions in handsome synthetic leather binding. The short stories range from a few pages to a few chapters, so you can kind of pick and choose how much you want to read. You'll want to keep reading though. I've spent entire nights glued to the page, story after story. His dream cycle is more on the fantasy side, but he is known more for his cosmic horror. The Cthulu mythos has inspired a lot of creepy creature art. Related authors include M.R. James and August Derleth, but I have yet to get around to their works.

Perhaps you've already gotten him a book by now, but here are my recommendations for him and anyone else who reads this thread. I'm a martial arts researcher and a former martial arts teacher. I even wrote my Master's Thesis on martial arts. I've read literally hundreds of books on the subject. There are a lot of terrible books out there on the martial arts but you can't go wrong with any of these.

If he studies Shotokan, the best place to start is with the guy who invented it.
Karate-Do: My Way of Life is written by the founding master of Shotokan, Gichin Funakoshi.
http://www.amazon.com/Karate-Do-Way-Life-Gichin-Funakoshi/dp/1568364989/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411959258&sr=1-10&keywords=shotokan


My number one recommendation is When Buddhists Attack by Jeffery Mann - This is an very well researched book on the history of the relationship between Zen and the Martial arts. It is a fantastic book that will help him deepen his understanding of martial arts instead of intentionally mystifying it more to try to sell more books like most martial arts books do.
http://www.amazon.com/When-Buddhists-Attack-Curious-Relationship/dp/4805312300/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411958781&sr=1-1&keywords=when+buddhists+attack



If he's more into stories, I'd recommend Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. It's a novelization of one of the most famous samurai to ever live. It's an exaggeration of his life but very entertaining.
http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X


If he'd rather learn about the real person I'd recommend The Lone Samurai by William Scott Wilson. Wilson is a famous translator and historian, his work is very well researched and enjoyable to read.
http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Samurai-Life-Miyamoto-Musashi/dp/1590309871/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411958941&sr=1-1&keywords=the+lone+samurai


I'll end with a list of books NOT to buy. These are books are really popular but are full of misinformation, outright fabrications, or worse.


Joe Hyams - Zen in the Martial arts
Eugen Herrigel - Zen in the Art of Archery
Inazo - Nitobe - Bushido

Hope this helps! If not, you have gift ideas for next year!

Anyways, having looked over my bookshelf, here are some recommendations purely for the sake of recommending. Maybe not spot on what you're looking for, but why not...

Neverwhere. A book I've read about nine times. Because it's awesome.

Time Traveler's Wife. Kind of established/re-ignited my hope and sense of romance. My father isn't much of a reader and usually takes months to go through a single book, but after losing his wife, my stepmother, he went through this in a week and thanked me profusely afterwards.

Island. I'll tell you right off, it's one of those 'intelligent reads'. The end is proclaimed early, it comes as predicted and it's depressing, but the book overall is nice. You read it first, to check :)

Gates of Fire.

Born To Run. Just read this recently. Fun, interesting, quick.

I also really loved A Suitable Boy. I think it's brilliant.

For a completely contrasting look at India, I recommend the white tiger by Aravind Adiga.

I think The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is absolutely brilliant, one of the best novels of the last decade.

White Teeth is another really wonderful book about multiculturalism and immigrant life that really stands out.

For a rip-roaring old-fashioned adventure yarn, you can't do better than
Sea of Poppies.

Finally for some superior storytelling and brilliant narrative experimentation try Cloud Atlas or Ghostwritten

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon.

To steal a description from Amazon: It's 1939 and Brooklynite Sammy Klayman dreams of making it big in the nascent world of comic books. Joseph Kavalier has never seen a comic book, but he is an accomplished artist versed in the "autoliberation" techniques of his hero, Harry Houdini. He effects a great (and surreal) escape from the Nazis, arrives in New York, and joins forces with Sammy. They rapidly create the Escapist, the first of many superheroes emblematic of their temperaments and predicaments, and attain phenomenal success. But Joe, tormented by guilt and grief for his lost family, abruptly joins the navy, abandoning Sammy, their work, and his lover, the marvelous artist and free spirit Rosa, who, unbeknownst to him, is carrying his child.

The description doesn't do it justice; it's a fantastic book that just feels cinematic. Lots of pre-WW2 Mad Men-esque office scenes mixed with absurdist magical realism.

When I started watching this show a few years ago I ended up buying quite a few books about Norse Mythology and Asatru (the reconstruction religion that is becoming more popular).

Here are a few good ones

The Norse Myths This is a good basic breakdown of the stories in the Sagas/Eddas and is easy to read.

Viking Age: Everyday Life During the Extraordinary Era of the Norsemen This is a fantastic book that really isn't related to the myths (there is a religion section) but this is a great book that goes over the everyday lives of Vikings and their families. Everything from political structure down to what they ate and how they dressed. It also has great illustrations.

The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics) - one of the source materials of the myths.

The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok - I dont have this one personally but it is on my list to buy.

If you want to read about the reconstruction religion that has gained in popularity since the 70s check this book out. Essential Asatru: Walking the Path of Norse Paganism - This is another easy to read book that not only goes over the basics of the Myths/Gods but also goes over the ceremonies and rituals of those who choose to practice today what the Vikings practiced. Minus the live sacrifices... those have been replaced with food and drink thankfully.

If you are just wanting to dip your toes into learning about the myths I cannot recommend the first link more than enough. It is far easier to read than the Eddas/Sagas and from what I understand from other subs is a widely regarded starting point.

Also check out /r/norse and /r/asatru.

'Einstein's Dreams' by Alan Lightman.

It's a fictional book that itemizes Einstein's dreams leading up to his creation of the theory of relativity. It's a really fun read and gets your head thinking about time and what time is. It's short, with each "dream" lasting only a handful of pages. It's been one of my favorite books to come back to anytime I can.

You can read reviews on Amazon as well as read the first few pages. Clicky for Amazon.

Once you read this you'll probably find that you want to read more of Lightman's books in the hopes of finding other really enjoyable reads. While his other books are good, they're not the same. I haven't found anything that's quite like this book so far, which is a shame. Would love to hear suggestions from folks who have read this and found other books similarly enjoyable.

"The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet's Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India" by Rodger Kamenetz was an absolutely wonderful book. It chronicles the first (known) meeting between a Jewish delegation and the Dalai Lama. So in this way, it's a thrilling adventure of historic importance. At the same time, Kamenetz (a non-observant Jew) finds himself finding a deeper connection to Judaism as he interacts with the rabbis he's traveling with and the Buddhists he meets.

If you're interested in Jewish mysticism, "The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism" by Daniel C. Matt is a great and poetic translation of some primary sources. For the Hasidic movement, Elie Wiesel has a beautiful collection of legends titled, "Souls on Fire: Portraits and Legends of the Hasidic Masters." "Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism" by Howard Schwartz is a great book on Jewish mythical stories found in ancient Jewish texts and folklore. If you want something completely different "Jewish Magic and Superstition" by Joshua Trachtenberg is an amazing (if somewhat dry) book on this strange and magical Jewish sect that flourished in the Rhineland from the 12th through 13th centuries (and it's available for free!). Also, Rabbi Arthur Green has written a book called "Radical Judaism" on utilizing ancient (primarily mystical) sources to recenter Judaism in the modern era. Green's book is somewhat fun, but frivolous and controversial times.

If you're interested in fiction, I cannot recommend "The Golem and the Jinni" enough. The author, Helene Wecker, draws on her (Jewish) family's immigrant stories and also those of her husband's (Syrian Christian) family. It's a book about the immigrant experience in New York City at the turn of the century. However, the main characters are not members of these communities, but creatures of their folklores. A golem (Chava) is brought to life, and is forced to not just acclimate herself to American culture, but also humanity as well. Meanwhile, a jinni (Ahmad) likewise finds himself released (but bound) in New York City. He's forced to adjust to the present rather than dwell on his majestic past (like a formerly wealthy immigrant who finds himself a pauper in his new home). It's truly a great book.

If you enjoyed Journey to the West, I'd also expect it to recommend Water Margin (a.k.a. Outlaws of the Marsh), Three Kingdoms (a.k.a. Romance of the Three Kingdoms), The Tower of Myriad Mirrors (a.k.a. A Supplement to Journey to the West), Quelling the Demons' Revolt (a.k.a. The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt, a.k.a. The Sorcerer's Revolt), or (if you enjoy short stories), Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

For each of these, I've generally linked to the translation that I understand to be best, though I'm not an expert. But regarding Quelling the Demons' Revolt, I've linked to an upcoming translation by someone well-known for their translations of 17th C. Chinese literature. Its previous translations are very different, because they're based on different texts--a shorter "original" and a later version doubled in length by a similarly famous writer--and I'm not sure which of those the new translation will be based on.

Anyway, Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the Four Great Classical Novels along with several of those listed here, but if you enjoyed the wild adventure elements of Journey to the West, I think you'd want to know about these others too. On the other hand, if Dream of the Red Chamber's plot appeals to you, then you should know about The Plum in the Golden Vase--I'm nearing the end of volume four (out of five) at the moment, and it has been an amazing read.

I personally consider the Bioshock series my favorite, and I absolutely loved Metro 2033 and Last Light, and I recommend you play both. The game isn't all that similar to Bioshock, but it shares a claustrophobic feel and the constant dangers that lurk around each corner. Metro 2033 does have a stealth element to it, while Bioshock doesn't really, so if you don't like stealth to some extent, I would stay away. Either way, both of the metro games are amazing and have good stories.

Also, you said you wanted to learn more about Bioshock. If you haven't already, I highly recommend the book Bioshock: Rapture. It gives some more insight to what went into building Rapture, and I found it very interesting because I also wanted to learn more about the games.

EDIT: I also would recommend Singularity to people who like the Bioshock games. It is heavily inspired by it and is in a very similar vein.

I loved these books for their beautiful writing and narrative structure:

• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
  
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
  
• In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
  
  Other suggestions, also well written but not quite in the same class as the ones above:
  
  
• Tell a Thousand Lies by Rasana Atreya
  
• 
  The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
  
• Anything by Jane Austen. Though the stories were a bit romantic for my taste, her writing style is just brilliantly precise.
  
• pretty much anything by Chuck Palahniuk. Note these may be more aggressively written, but I still find the narrative structure of Rant to be pretty awesome.

Hello mate, I would recommend you this order: First of all, The Norse Myths:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394748468/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687622&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002HLAF32&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=5ST3KMPDJ47HVWWV2AW4

The who´s who in nordic pantheon. Has the most known myths plus a superb introduction to cosmology. Myths are in chronological order, from Ginnungagap to Ragnarok. The writing is very good, adult-oriented with some touches of dry humor.

After it go for the 2 Eddas. Why is important to know about the myths or the gods? Because all the books you are going to read name or make references to the gods or to myths or both. You will want to know what on Midgard are they talking about.

After that, if you want to know more about Asatru specifically, read in this order:
The Asatru Edda
https://www.amazon.com/%C3%81satr%C3%BA-Edda-Sacred-Lore-North/dp/1440131783/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473832369&sr=1-1&keywords=asatru+edda

The Norroena Society made a superb job publishing this Edda taking away all the christian influence. Really great job. They made with the Eddas what Dr. Viktor Rydberg did with the teutonic myths.

Next in line:
A Practical Heathen's Guide to Asatru

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Heathens-Guide-Asatru/dp/0738733873/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8M3GCMHG28EVGP5090FX

Exactly what it says.

Now, if later on your path you feel the itch to learn more about teutonic myths, their social construct, history etc etc let me know that I can recommend more books depending on your needs.

I recommend the book Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell to anyone who likes deep fantasy. This book, however, is really not for you if you love action scenes, or descriptive violence. This book has a big, big weird world. It's influenced by "faerie" stuff and lore. It's not a black and white morality book like a lot of fantasy.

Mostly, it's totally interesting, and weird, and funny, British dry-humoury. I recommend it if you like fantasy, but not necessarily traditional tropes of sword-carrying, dragon-slaying heroes.

EDIT: Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Strange-Mr-Norrell-Novel/dp/0765356155
The first review is pretty helpful to get a gauge on how you'll like it (or not!).

This is precisely with I think places like /v/ have much better conversations than /r/gaming in general. Whenever a movie-videogame thread appears nobody goes into this "better-than-thou" attitude. Everybody knows it's a joke, everyone does it for fun. Nobody is trying to appear all smart and intellectual because they are repeating what's already obvious.

It really is fun to see people speculate about which actors would play which characters, for example.

Also, Bioshock:Rapture is proof enough that quality adaptions are possible as long as you have talented people behind it.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. The book provides a loosely based historical account on a scalp hunting expedition in the 1840s southwest. It touches on many themes like manifest destiny and the nature of evil in mankind.

And to build on the other AskReddit question about improving your vocabulary, this book has a plethora of unique words. This quote was taken from a study that was done on the book by Christopher Forbis. He writes:

> The book, although only 334 pages of text, contains 10,257 individual unique words. Some of these words
occur on nearly every page but a large percentage occur only once within the text. In fact, 5,308 words occur
only once in the book representing nearly 52% of the unique words used to create this masterpiece.

Here's the link.

And I also imagine there's many people who've already read this book who might be looking for additional interpretations on it. And for these people might I suggest John Sepich's Notes on Blood Meridian. This book does a phenomenal job of weaving together the historical sources that McCarthy used to write this work. It also contains literary criticism and interpretations of themes and symbols throughout the book.

If you're looking for a page by page reference of the book--translations of Spanish to English, background information on cities, definitions of words--then I suggest getting A Reader's Guide to Blood Meridian.

I'm a huge fan of this book and I've learned a lot more about it by reading these two books. I think the books becomes more enjoyable and you start to admire the way in which he put this book together after you read these two books about the book. The subject matter is brutal, and this turns most people off, but if you make it through it I think you're rewarded with a truly outstanding novel.

Start with shorter stories - much like running or anything else, there's an element of having to build yourself up to reading something longer like a novel. You could also try reading books that connect to the video games/movies/shows/etc that you like. It can be hard to get into a book if you don't care about the characters - but if they're from something you're already familiar with, it can be easier. If you're a fan of Bioshock, for example, there's a great book about how Rapture came to be.

Good luck! :)

might I recommend the excellent bioshock rapture by john shirley?! believe it or not, the audiobook is quite good as well; narrator seems to shift his accent to mold to each decade the chapters take place in. i truly enjoyed both mediums. great prequel story to jump into, as long as you've played some of the games.

I'm pretty sure the details of their training have been lost to time, but there is a way to at least get the "feel" for their training.

It would be safe to assume that their program was probably not unique for the time. Meaning, the Spartan way of combat was not different from Athens or Korinth. Like the vast differences between Kung Fu and Karate and Tae Kwon Do. That's not to say there was no difference between them, but that difference was the men who comprised the armies.

You see, the Spartans trained all the time because they were rich enough to do so. The Helots did all the farming and Perioikoi did the artisan work. An Athenian or Boeotian farmer came off the farm and joined the Phalanx with little training. Indeed, hoplite warfare----until, to some degree, the Thebans and really the Macedonians come along----is deceptively simple. You lock shields, march straight ahead, then jab your spear in the other guys face until one side breaks. While there were all kinds of nuances and politics as to who lined up where and which city did what, it was really a bunch of guys running in one long line. (See Victor Davis Hansen's The Western Way of War for a spectacular explanation of the psychology behind the hoplite).

I'd argue that what made Sparta different from the other Greek armies was their upbringing and experience in battle. They were taught from a young age to fight to the death, and would have been kicked out of Laconia (which did occur frequently, even a King was exiled for what was perceived as cowardice or weakness) went to war just about every summer. They were always fighting someone. And so until their later period, when Greece was always at war with itself, the Spartans had more experience than their foes. Another aspect of Spartan culture often overlooked, is they had to keep their slaves in line. So much of their "off" time might be spent engaging in psychological warfare on the enslaved helots and/or killing the bravest of them to make an example of them.

You can't really recreate their childhood education (which had a lot more singing and dancing than you'd expect) because stalking around stealing from people is frowned upon in our society. You can't really create their famous diet. Spartans spent much of their free time trapping and hunting game, so you could that. Also chariot racing, which is harder to get in to these days. So what's left?

This is conjecture, but, I'd argue, sound conjecture. Their exercise regimen was probably comparable to Olympic athletes of the day. The Olympians of that time were mostly from very wealthy families, who had "leisure time" to train in sports. Spartan men (and even a woman) often won Olympic victories. So where does this leave you and your regimen?

Sprinting would be good, and this would transfer well into the charge of the Phalanx. So too would push ups, pull ups, and throwing large rocks. Spartans were extremely competitive and I could see many competitions about who was strongest. Running in armor was a great Olympic event back then, so maybe buy a weighted vest and run around the track? There was the javelin, the discus and jumping too. Also, the Spartans loved to sing and dance and being unable to do was seen as a deficiency. So strut your stuff bro and belt a tune while you do it! Also, find eight or so buddies to train with. Then you all should move out of your house, into a barracks and live together and train together every hour of every day. You can see your wife/girlfriend at night but you can't sleep over, and if you don't give her a baby fast enough she'll cheat on you. But I digress.

Learning a little about Pankration might be a good place to start. It's basically a mix of western boxing and Olympic wrestling (with fewer rules actually). I know of no Pankration gyms. A boxing gym would be easy to find but wrestling instruction outside of high school and collegiate levels is hard to find. I'd argue modern MMA is pretty similar to Pankration, especially the spirit of the sport. Jiu Jitsu bay be Japanese with a Brazilian flair, but those joint locks and the concept of tapping out echoes of ancient Greek wrestling matches. Minus the Thai round kick or San Da side kick, MMA is how I'd imagine the Spartans sparring one another.


Some books to check out: The Spartans
is great. A great mix of history and culture, highlighting their rise and fall.


Gates of Fire is fiction, but it's the best show of hoplite warfare and the Spartan spirit that I have read.

And just to keep you well rounded, Lords of the Sea tells of Athens, whose navy and the men who manned it were nothing short of spectacular. They are to the sea warfare what Sparta was to land.


Hope that helps.

This is like the third time I've recommended this book but it's perfect for what you're looking for. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang has a couple of stories that fit your criteria and they're excellent. The titular story and also "Liking What You See: A Documentary" are both set in present or near-future worlds. Here's a link for the latter so you can determine if you like his writing.

I finished 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy. It was narrated by Richard Poe. I've enjoyed McCarthy's books for a long time, and I finally got my hands on a copy of this one, it's an amazing piece of work and definitely not for the faint of heart for it is filled with horrors and violence. I didn't realize until I was about halfway through the book, that it has a basis in reality, effectively detailing the exploits of John J. Glanton during the Mexican-American war in the latter part of the 1800's; that realization really cranked up some of the horrors that are represented in McCarthy's amazingly beautiful prose.

I want to include one of the best sentences I've read in a long time...."…they rode infatuate and half fond toward the red demise of that day, toward the evening lands and the distant pandemonium of the sun.”

I also want to mention, I think this might be the first work that I've heard read by Richard Poe. He did a fantastic job. If you're a Frank Muller fan, like I am, you'd probably enjoy Richard Poe reading.

I FINALLY have free time to read. I started on Cloud Atlas at the suggestion of a friend, and... well, I'm not far into it, but the vocabulary is fantastically challenging. I'm reading it on my Kindle, and I have to look up ~1-2 words per paragraph. I like books that teach me new words :).

The book was made into a film, which I hope to see once I've finished reading the novel. The soundtrack is great!

Thanks for the recommendation. I will have to check it out.

I was also thinking of books to go along with the game and came up with these.

• The Assassin's Creed Odyssey official novel (obviously).
  
• The gates of fire by Stephen Pressfield:An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae: You can consider it as the prequel to the world of Odyssey since it covers the battle of Thermopylae. Can't say enough good things about this book. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
  
• Tides of War by Stephen Pressfield: I haven't read this but it's one of my next books since it covers the story of Alcibiades’ bodyguard and assassin and what was happening during his era.
  
• The song of Achilles:A novel: Covers the story of Achilles right before and during the Iliad (war on Troy). Again a prequel title for the world of Odyssey but an excellent read with an interesting story which covers the Gods/human interactions pretty well.
  
• The Peloponnesian War: If you search amazon, there are many books that cover the Peloponnesian War in great depth. Might not be the best read in terms of story but they're probably the best source for understanding what was really happening during the era (and how closely the game follows the actual events).

I am an norse enthusiast who has only superficial knowledge.

I found this book Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland. It is a book for people exactly like me - people who don't have extensive knowledge of the Norse Myths and are yet interested in the overall culture. The book has each myth as a story and it is cyclical - it begins with the creation of the world and ends with Ragnarok. So basically, it contains all the stories in the Eddas - in a much more reader friendly manner than the usual academic works.

All in all, a very enjoyable book. I'd highly recommend it.


...although, the price mentioned in Amazon seems pretty high. I bought a different version of the book at my place for less than half that price.

I really really enjoyed The Night Circus. It's not like any other book I've read before and it has such an interesting... flavor? For lack of a better word? The only other way I can think to describe the tone of it is this song. It is intricate and fascinating and I loved it.

Note to self: don't read sad books while you're on an airplane. Thanks for the contest! :)

This translation seems to be a bit awkward personally. Although this is good if you just want to get the basics of the story, if you want to own and truly enjoy the book I strongly recommend buying a Moss Roberts unabridged translation. Absolutely stellar, flows and reads as if it was in English originally. My version also came with citations and a large section of notes at the back of each book that has a lot of helpful information to understanding the many obscure references the character's make, among other helpful information. It also includes maps and other illustrations throughout the book which makes it a lot more easy to understand and just enjoy.

123

My goal is to find the proper doctors so I can fix my depression. I'm doing my best to keep my head up (even bought myself a mala to meditate and keep positive) but it's a day to day thing. I'd like to feel normal for once sometime in the future :)

Forgot to link amazon items, derp! This or [this](http://www.amazon.com/Saga-Vol-Brian-K-Vaughan/dp/1607066017/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2WSLHM9JYNVDB&coliid=I2YG8R3KXF2ZDR] or this would be lovely :)

Hey OP, for an awesome back story, Play bioshock 1 first, then get a hold of the book Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirleyhttps://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351










its an amazing 430 page book I just finished yesterday. It gives you an awesome back story to bioshock 1, and makes some references to Bioshock 2. But it has spoilers in it so play 1 first! Welcome to Rapture!

Oh man, I could recommend so many.

Kung Fu and Taoism:

The Making of a Butterfly is one of my favorite books. It is about a white kid who starts learning Kung Fu out of a Chinese master's basement back in the 70s, well before Kung Fu was popularized in the West.

Chronicles of Tao by Deng Ming Dao is excellent, a narrative perspective of how Taoism intertwines with the life of a Kung Fu practitioner.

American Shaolin by Matthew Polly is an entertaining and illuminating story that disseminates a lot of the mysticism surrounding the Shaolin Temple.

The Crocodile and the Crane is a fun fictional book that is basically about Tai Chi saving the world from a zombie apocalypse.

My next goal is to tackle The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Of course, I highly recommend the Tao Te Ching and the Art of War as well.

Buddhism: I highly recommend anything Thich Nhat Hanh. Anger and Peace is Every Step are two of my favorites.

Karate and Japanese Arts:

Moving Toward Stillness by Dave Lowry is one of my favorite books, taken from his columns in Black Belt Magazine over the years. A really excellent study on Japanese arts and philosophy.

Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings by Kenji Tokitsu is wonderful. It includes the Book of Five Rings as well as some of Musashi's other works, including many of his paintings.

The 47 Ronin, by John Allyn, a dramatization of the Genroku Ako Incident, is still quite poignant in 2016.

I don't know about awe-inspiring, but I think 'The Crossing' by Cormac McCarthy is one of the most moving pieces of fiction I've ever read.

'Blood Meridian' is usually considered his best and most literary work, however, and it is quite good.

'Stand on Zanzibar' by John Brunner is really good and surprisingly predictive of our current world.

The original "Suikoden" is a famous novels about resistances (exaggerated historical facts) written in China over 500 years ago.

Konami's Suikoden is called "Gensou Suikoden" in Japan. Meaning "Fantastic Suikoden". It continues to maintain a strong respect for the original novel at the plot level. (108 members and their waterside castle, the mighty empire...)

If you challenge this project, please read the original novel once.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/7119016628

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804840954

/u/Toptomcat nailed it. Wholeheartedly agree in reference to Bubishi, not very practical but interesting nonetheless. I loved Draeger's CAFA and Unante is comprehensive thesis on the historical origins and lineages of the Okinawan fighting arts. These titles might not be for everyone but I am a history buff in addition to a martial artist so I enjoyed them.

Couple of others:

• Book of the five Rings-Miyamoto Musashi
  
  
• Karate-do: my way of life- Funakoshi
  
  A few off-topic but related titles:
  
  
• Ways of the Peaceful Warrior
  
  
• Autumn lighting
  
  
• American Shaolin
  
  
• The Ronin
  
• Musashi-perhaps on of my favorite novels of all time
  

It's been a while since I've checked in. Last week I finally finished the Chaos Walking trilogy by getting around to reading the third book Monsters of Men. I absolutely loved this series and I seriously hope the author is planning on writing more. It was nice, he wrapped up the storyline but also left it a point that was basically the starting of another story. I really wanted to find out what happens next. This series is definitely one of my favorites of the year so far.

I've started on Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I'm trying really hard with this one but it just doesn't seem to be working for me so far. It isn't calling me to keep going back to it. I've had it on my shelf for quite some time now, and have been meaning to get to it, but haven't. When I saw the trailer for the movie, I got re-interested in it again and want to read it before the movie comes out. I've only gotten like 50 or 60 pages in though after a couple of days, so I am worried I might give up on it. It's definitely more difficult than some of the other books I have been reading so I think that might be giving me some trouble.

I am also working on Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. I've been wanting to get into this one for a few months. I've been in a steam punk kind of mood and this one seemed interesting. It's a alternative version of the events leading up to and during World War I in Europe. It's fun but it's a lot more simple and easier than I was expecting. Shouldn't take long to finish this. I attempted to set a to-be-read list for the next couple of months to get to ones I really wanted to but already this one is making me deviate from it...

[the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Amazing-Adventures-Kavalier-Clay/dp/0312282990) is one of my all time favorites. one of the main characters realizes he's gay later in the book. I always thought it was a very honest and realistic portrayal, and a very thoughtful addition to an already great book.

If you liked Dan Brown, you could give Umberto Eco a try with Foucault's Pendulum or In the Name of the Rose - His books are more intelligent and were written before Brown was around.

I read a lot of historical fiction, if that is of interest you could start with The Gates of Fire by Pressfield or The Last Kingdom by Cornwell

Mystery, action, and fantasy all rolled into one - Dresden Files might be of interest to you - it is kind of a detective noir mixed with fantasy. Also, the series vastly improves as it progresses.

If you would like a coming of age story, The Power of One follows a boy in turn-of-the-century South Africa and examines class and race relations in a very accessible way.

If you want to try reading some of what are considered "The Classics" I would recommend All Quiet on the Western Front and To Kill a Mockingbird

Tried to think of some of my favorites across several very different genres...If any of these appeal, I can expand on them with more similar suggestions.

After reading a couple of the replies, it came to me that you might enjoy reading Sophie's world. It's a novel, but also a general introduction to Philosophy. Since you're sort of 'starting over' in terms of personal philosophy and looking at the world in a new way, you might find Sophie's journey comforting and fun as well. I picked it up a few years ago while I was living in Japan and couldn't put it down:

http://www.amazon.com/Sophies-World-Novel-History-Philosophy/dp/0425152251

note: I'm linking to the Amazon page because it describes the book better than the Wikipedia page, imho.

Hi there! I'm Sierra and welcome to RAoA! I just learned how to sew so I would love any of the sewing patterns I have on my wishlist, you can only have so many of the same skirt in different fabrics lol. I also love Bioshock and Fallout 3 and if you haven't read Rapture by John Shirley you should! It gives you an awesome insight into what Rapture was like before the fall.

So here's some of the textbooks I read (and still own) from my Asian History courses at college. All are worth reading over, but you'll also want teachers to help you, to talk with historians from China, and eventually just to go to China and see a lot of stuff for yourself.

The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, by Patricia Ebrey.

Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook, edited by Patricia Ebrey.

Quotations from Mao Tse-Tung, written by the man himself.

Fiction:

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie.

The Outlaws of the Marsh, by Shi Nai'An and Sidney Shapiro.

The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu and Ken Liu.

These are a relatively good start to help you get a grounding in China's history. Everyone in this thread has also given some good suggestions. And visit /r/askhistorians; they'll have some better sources you can check out.

I know I must be missing some, but these are all that I can think of at the moment.

Fiction:

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges

The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

White Noise by Don Delilo

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot

Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by DFW

Infinite Jest by DFW

Of these, you can't go wrong with Infinite Jest and the Collected Fictions of Borges. His Dark Materials is an easy and classic read, probably the lightest fare on this list.

Non-Fiction:

The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy

Chaos by James Gleick

How to be Gay by David Halperin

Barrel Fever by David Sedaris

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris

Secret Historian by Justin Spring

Of these, Secret Historian was definitely the most interesting, though How to be Gay was a good intro to queer theory.

You should check out Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It's got magicians, but more in a real life sense. Has been described to me as a more sophisticated and grown up version of Harry Potter. It's long, has great characters, and the epic cranks out more and more as the book progresses. I loved it.

Just want to give a little bit more detail!

> Lu Bu was considered a good warrior, although I don't remember reading about him slaying 1000 people per battle.

While Lu Bu's actual legacy does not include killing thousands or defeating multiple generals in duels, he was still known as incredibly strong, with especial prowess in archery and horseback riding.

>Cao Cao was not viewed, as I read it, as particularly more evil than anyone else.

Definitely not, the only truly evil thing Cao Cao did was the slaughtering of Xuzhou citizens when he was seeking revenge for his father. Arguably you could say Cao Cao controlling the emperor was "evil" but the Emperor was fair game during these times.

>Sima family (Sima Yi being most prominent in the game and the novel) eventually replaces the Cao family and creates their own dynasty, Jin.

More specifically, Jin wasn't founded until well after Sima Yi's death, when his grandson Sima Yan founded Jin just before conquering Wu.

>I highly recommend both Records and Romance of the Three Kingdoms if you're into that era.

If anyone is interested in reading ROTK, I highly recommend the Robert Moss translation. People tend to read the free version online which is not translated as well.

Outlaws of the Marsh (This was a very fun read back when I was in highschool, there's a bit of dark humor too. Of the books listed here Outlaws of the Marsh is the funniest and very epic)

https://www.amazon.com/Outlaws-Chinese-Classics-Classic-Volumes/dp/7119016628/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=outlaws+of+the+marsh&qid=1558135198&s=gateway&sr=8-1

​

Romance of the Three Kingdoms (The novel is intriguing and epic but might get too confusing depending on the age and person reading it- lots of characters and politics both personal and national)

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3Q6KP7GL4E200&keywords=romance+of+the+three+kingdoms&qid=1558135222&s=gateway&sprefix=Romance+of+the+three%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-3

​

Journey to the West (The Monkey King. I admit I personally don't like the Monk & Su Wu Kong chapters and mostly enjoyed the Su Wukong's creation, desk job in heaven chapters and his rebellion. My man Su Wukong should've rebelled again, screw working for a living in heaven and their stupid workplace bureaucracy)

https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Chinese-Classics-Classic-Volumes/dp/7119016636/ref=sr_1_4?crid=C0DF58D83YS3&keywords=journey+to+the+west&qid=1558135303&s=gateway&sprefix=Journey+to+the+west%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-4

​

There's also Dreams of the Red Mansion but I never finished it so can't really recommend it.

I've read that The Thinking's Woman's Guide to Real Magic is like an adult oriented Harry Potter book.

The Night Circus is a fantasy romance novel involving magic and a circus. This is set in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

Monstrumologist and its' sequels are really interesting monster hunting novels. This is set in the late 1800s.

Have you read the Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman yet?

Jonathan Strange & Mr.Norrell was a great read. It's another book about magic. I have a copy and I really like it.

Military academy and wall street a-hole here...here's my take. Your mileage may vary.

First and foremost, there is no substitute for initiative. Well done. It may make you seem like a keener to people who are less committed to succeeding but, in my opinion, it is the first step to leading.

The second step is a desire (passion) for outworking everybody. Cultivate it in yourself. Commit to doing it everyday. Embrace the grind.

Now for the hard part...where it becomes more of an "art" than a science...

The best leaders I've been around in life and sports practiced servant leadership. It seems counter-intuitive and your work will never be done but servant leadership is the tide that lifts all boats and if can make it part of who you are it will serve you well in sports and life. Even if you're on a team with a bunch of losers who don't get on board it is a tremendous character builder and you'll be a better person for it.

How to begin:

Always be the first one at practice and the last to leave.

If there's "shitty" or "not fun" job to do, always be the first to jump on it and recruit help when you need it...don't try to do it all yourself...that's a "hero", not a "leader" and will eventually burn you out. Do that shitty job everyday with a positive attitude. When a shittier job shows up, jump on that and delegate others to do the less shitty work you were working on. (shagging balls after practice, lining fields, setting goals up, keeping the locker room clean, gathering the team for talks from the coach, etc). If you can't find anything that needs doing, ask your coach if he's got anything. Do this every day.

When someone is struggling be the first to jump in and help/coach them up, always positive and always working harder than anyone else. Do this everyday.

Personally, I fucked it up when i was a player. I busted my ass, I was first and last at practice every day, I jumped on the shitty jobs and did all of that stuff but I failed because I was not positive with teammates who were struggling. I rode their asses like dogs because I thought that's what leadership was and I regret it a lot. If a guy is struggling the last thing he needs is some hard charging teammate berating him. Doesn't mean you have to coddle a struggling player, stay on him just keep it positive. Help him figure out a way to get it done, whatever "it" is. Always be looking out for the little guy. If you can help a bench player contribute, you've improved your team and helped yourself.

Good luck!


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership



EDIT:
If this resonates with you in any way I recommend you spend a couple bucks on amazon and grab one or both of these books:

https://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Dong-Ha-Bluejacket-Books/dp/155750587X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473342236&sr=8-1&keywords=bridge+at+dong+ha

https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/055338368X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473342915&sr=8-1&keywords=gates+of+fire

One is nonfiction the other is fiction based on real history. Both are great reads.

There are quite a few books like this. K. C. Hanson is very good, also consider Jodi Magness, Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus. This is much more detailed than Hanson, but also a little more academic.

If you are interested in something a bit lighter, the "Week in the Life" series is fun. These are novels written by NT Scholars: A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion by Gary Burge (review here) or James L. Papandrea, A Week in the Life of Rome (review here), Witherington, A Week in the Life of Corinth and John Byron, A Week in the Life of a Slave. For each of these there is a bit of a story with numerous sidebars and pictures to illustrate practices. Or you can read A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome: Daily Life, Mysteries, and Curiosities by Alberto Angelo, a Roman historian writing short chapters on aspects of Roman life.

https://www.amazon.com/Legions-Rome-Definitive-History-Imperial/dp/1250004713/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1554330687&sr=1-1 This a reference book rather then a story but one of the best books on the subject.

https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Romans-Robert-Knapp/dp/0674284224/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=invisible+romans&qid=1554330866&s=books&sr=1-1

Looks more at the average people

​

https://www.amazon.com/Day-Life-Ancient-Rome-Curiosities/dp/1933372710/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SQM52LIXLPEI&keywords=a+day+in+the+life+of+ancient+rome&qid=1554330990&s=books&sprefix=a+day+in+the+life+of+Anc%2Cstripbooks%2C175&sr=1-1

This one is more story then dry text book.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Around-Roman-Table-Feasting-Ancient/dp/0226233472/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HXK35FACBK1&keywords=around+the+roman+table&qid=1554331210&s=books&sprefix=around+the+roman+%2Cstripbooks%2C168&sr=1-1

Translating Roman recipes mostly from Apicius but with other sources.

Not all may be what you are looking for but I own them and have enjoyed them. I really mean it about the first one.

And if you buy good condition used books your not even half way through your allotment at this point.

Definitely, after playing the whole series its nice to see it all come together as a whole! Don't worry I got you on the book info! Here's a actual link and what not : [Rapture the book] ( http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351 ) its fantastic book during the creation of rapture with all your favourite characters. You get to see alot of the universe in the book, also it uses alot of the dialogue that was used audio diaries within it. All of it is in written from Bill McDonagh's pov from the creation of rapture as a city to the fall of rapture as a city.

We're dorks, so the two gifts I've received from him have been pretty nerdy on the surface. Our first Christmas together he got me a tribble (I was raised by two trekkies and I like fluffy cuddly things). For my birthday, he got me Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, which was sweet because he was leaving for weeks on a dig and knew I was going to be bored during the summer, and because we both hate Twilight.

I like these gifts because they weren't all that expensive, but they took some thought. It's obvious that he didn't just go out to the mall and buy the first thing he saw. That's probably the most important part of a good gift! :)

Oh wow that's crazy tounread that in fourth grade! I don't know if I could handled that so young. i could barely do it at 15!



I love them too! I love that you get to play through the second game as a Big Dadsy and get to interact with the Little Sisters more. It's really cool to explore Rapture from a different perspective. Is it this book. I have this book and have yet to read it. Did you not like the second one? Doesn't seem like many people do.



It is a lot, and a World History class should be broken down into like 5 classes or so cause that's a ridiculous amount of history to know. I also get mixed uo on differenr battles.-. There really is too much too remember, but finding one or two things that makes it fascinating or ar least stands out, always helped me remember the rest of the "story." Haha I've heard of that, I definitelt have the english/history brain. I can compehend most math, but science goes right over my head. I've always been envious of people who can actuallt understand science. High school does cram a lot way too fast. Going to college I was surprised at the difference in how there was less of a rush to learn it all.

Hi there!

I always try to run a Borges circlejerk here in /r/Spanish, but today, according to what you say, I'd suggest you read the Spanish version of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz.

I hear the Spanish version is excellent. Its the story about this Dominican-American nerd and his neckbeard struggles to find love in a wonderful narration that incorporates elements from comic book and science fiction references to Dominican jargon. Also, its not too long. Have a go at it!

Ninja edit: Linked the English version, so here's the Spanish Kindle reference.

I LOVE your penny book contests!!! Cryptonomicon is the book I'll choose for this one. Looks super interesting. Thanks so much for the contest! Gimme a book, Pancakes!

I have 2 suggestions for you:

The Night Circus is a great fantasy story that is a great page turner.

If you're looking for a good series Alan Bradley writes the Flavia de Luce mystery series. Fast reads with great characters and keeps you wanting more.

Michio Kaku does a great job of explaining advanced concepts of physics in layman's terms. He describes 14 dimensions in the book.

read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Hyperspace-Scientific-Odyssey-Parallel-Universes/dp/0385477058/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1291998866&sr=8-3


DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON!
get it elsewhere please.


edit: OOH! since you mentioned time. This will help you learn to conceive alternate states of such....and is a really kick-ass book.


http://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291999070&sr=1-1

DON'T BUY THIS ONE FROM AMAZON EITHER! plz.

In the modern literature category

Dave Eggers - What is the What. Or A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius by him is also pretty good.

A.S. Byatt - Possession

Also, someone else mentioned Neal Stephenson, I cannot second this recommendation strongly enough! Very fun reads that don't shy away from intellectual engagement. I read Cryptonomicon by him recently and loved it.

I also note you don't mention Don DeLillo although you mention many of his contemporaries. Check out White Noise by him and go from there.

I could probably make some more suggestions, but it depends what genre's and styles you're really into? Do you want hugely post-modern? Do you enjoy the classics? (I notice your list had no Shakespeare, his tragedies are as famous as they are for good reason)

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is a classic. Takes in Bletchley Park, among much more. It is a novel, not a text book, so it won't actually teach you anything as such - but crypto is running through the book, along with much other tech stuff, plus it is a brilliant story. Not really "light" but I wish it took me longer to read I enjoyed it so much.

Well, fair warning I did read them 12-13 years ago when I was 14-15, so I've forgotten quite a bit, not to mention a lot went over my head at that age.

I loved them. They were truely an epic, and the ebb and flow of the kingdom over the years was great to follow. Also, seeing where a lot of the stages and characters from DW "started" was fantastic.

This is the one I bought, if you are interested.

It's hard. I would probably compare it to the Iliad and the Odyssey, but those books together cover about 20 years with a few hundred characters. Three Kingdoms spans about 110 years and has a few thousand characters. There are parts where the writing is dry, the ridiculous attention to detail means that every significant event from history (as well as folk stories that didn't actually happen) is described and contextualized in great detail, and it totally loses steam at the end when the most interesting people are basically all dead.

That said, I'm clearly a huge fan and would recommend it to anyone who has the patience to get through it and an interest in the subject matter. Although there is a more recent translation by a different translator, to my knowledge, this is still the gold standard for the English translation, and it's not super expensive. You could probably also find a copy at your library, although you might have to settle for an abridged version.

I would first recommend Shogun by James Clavell. It's an epic story with a great plot. I don't believe it's too accurate, but it's a good read.


If you want to continue on with historical Japanese literature you can't go wrong with Musashi or Taiko both by Eiji Yoshikawa.


Moving on to more western stuff, I recommend the many James Michener books, but they can be boring at times. My favorite of his is Hawaii.


I'd also recommend Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield about the Battle of Thermopylae.

Oh gosh, I'm actually kind of horrible about reading! Some of my favorite little books are:

• Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. It's a bunch of short stories about different universes based on some of Einstein's theories. For example, one of them is kind of like, "In this universe, time flows backwards. A woman picks a moldy peach out of her trashcan, puts it on her counter to ripen..." They're really interesting! It's a quick and wonderful read.
  
  
• Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman is similar to the aforementioned book. Short stories about different afterlives. It's not a religious thing though. I was actually rereading it this afternoon! Really interesting ideas, some romantic, some ironic, cute, sad, etc. I think it could spark some great conversation.

I would love [this Bioshock book] (http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351/ref=wl_it_dp_v_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2HTHRVKNRES31&coliid=I3H35UJVT4H98X) because I have played the games and I love the environment. I want to get the city better and this book will allow me to do so.

So it goes.

You might enjoy The Golem and the Jinni...It's set in turn of the century New York, and has strong cultural and religious overtones. The magical aspects of it are quite secondary to everything else.

A Winters Tale...the movie apparently sucked, but the book has stuck with me for quite some time. It's a lyrical piece of magic realism, much stronger on the realism. Another book on turn of the century New York.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell may be a bit more magic than you'd like, but it's astonishingly good. It's what Jane Austen would have produced if she'd decided to write a fantasy novel.

The Night Circus is good.

Oh! I love that. Rapture by John Shirley is a really neat read into the rise and demise of an underwater utopia-turned-dystopia. It really hits the nail on the head for your genre, and, you're right, I'd love to read more like it.

It really depends on what you are interested in. There is quite a lot to choose from, even in English.

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder is a great novel, especially if you're interested in philosophy. Although I first read it as a teenager; so it could be I remember it with rose tinted glasses.

Popular Music from Vittula Is a really funny coming-of-age story set in rural Sweden in the 1960s.

You could try Hunger by Knut Hamsun if you want a classic.

Some of the good Rome books I've read over the years:

In the Name of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy

Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy

The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy

Rubicon: the Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland

A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome by Alberto Angela

Now, as someone lucky enough to have lived 6 weeks in Rome, the best prep is to somehow get yourself to La Città Eterna and visit where it all went down. The Palatine Hill and the Appian Way are places with less tourists and allow you to contemplate the power and splendor of Rome.

I would highly recommended this book as an introduction to Norse mythology. It's easy to read without being dumbed down, and it's very fun and engaging. Really fantastic read.

ALL OF THEM.

I just like reading. Reading's my favorite.

And physical copies. Because dat book smell. So good.

I'm currently reading Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni and it is super good.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Both are Pulitzer Prize winners, guy-ish and accessible literary fiction.

Also, James Elroy's L.A. trilogy, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential and White Jazz. An omg his autobiography My Dark Places.

My husband recommends anything by Jim Harrison.

EDIT: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Fucking fantastic good person. Once you read the book however you will realize that the book is waay better. If you judge it as just a movie, yes you will enjoy it, however, if you compare it to the book, according to details, it is nothing like so.

I would check out The Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It starts out historical moves forward into sci-fi and then goes backwards to historical again. It's hard to explain but it is a very rewarding read and one I pick up periodically just to reread again.

I also liked Girl In Landscape by Jonathon Lethem and Dune by Frank Herbert a lot and both have been good rereads.

Oh! And The Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling which I inhaled.

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean is really good and set very much in the modern day (ignore the crappy cover). I am pretty sure it was part of the whole Terri Windling gang.

Also, it's not a fairy tale exactly, but Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke is one of the best books I've read in the last several years. It's awesome.

Night Circus is a great book. It draws you in and captivates you until the very last page. A user here gifted it to me when I first started out here and I absolutely loved it! I definitely recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307744434/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_RSyrxbZZ68A3B

I can't believe no one has mentioned the most important collection of short SF published in the last few decades: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang.

Another great single author collection, if you can get it, is Greg Egan's Crystal Nights.

Also, I highly recommend the New Space Opera anthologies, volumes One and Two. Some of the best recent hard SF published anywhere.

This immediately made me think of the fantastic novel by Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell wiki
I don't want to go into detail because spoilers. I think I can get away with saying that someone is half-given to a faerie who transports the person magically every night - they end up sleep deprived and no-one can understand why they are so tired and lose all strength to live with. You could certainly spin it around some similarly dark invisible drawback.
I HIGHLY recommend the book. It's also available in a well regarded TV series
Perhaps the pixie might even pass on her 'ownership' as a gift to a higher ranking and more powerful fae Lord or Lady?

I really enjoy historical fiction. Here are a few that I really like:

War and Peace - the ultimate historical fiction novel.

Horatio Hornblower books

Aubrey/Maturin books

Sharpe's books

Gates of Fire, of course, and some of his other books.

Massino Manfredi's Alexander trilogy

And Pride of Carthage

Some of these are more fiction than history, but I think all are pretty enjoyable.

If you like video games and delving into backstories...

Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley

Sci-Fi / Horror(?)

I particularly like it because it was able to capture the feel of the Bioshock series - dark, mysterious, dramatic and sometimes creepy. I love the fact that radical political ideologies come into play, and the story line is much deeper than most common video games out there. It enriches your experience for the series, and John's writing is easy to read.

Cool, thanks! I wish more games had book companions. I read Bioshock: Rapture and thought it was very well written. And of course there's the F:NV graphic novel and the Witcher series. Are there any other good examples of books expanding on a VG universe?

For more about the time period read the book romance of the three kingdom https://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 or try watching the 2010 tv show Romance of the three kingdoms its really good if you can deal with subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcZ2zq82ebA&list=PLQgby8Rb0ImEP4108x04Feg2dBvuDADJG, there is also some youtube videos from kings and generals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOGkH_8K_xg, Three kingdoms oversimplified by Oversimplified https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=26EivpCPHnQ. Cody Bonds channel has overview of all the starting characters in the game with some historical context heres one of them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZOfQAAnSKU I'm sure there is a lot more other could suggest.

Would this book be okay, used is A-OKAY! YAY BOOKS AND YAY YOU!


What kind of books do you like to curl up with?

The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. I'm a fan of time-travel, and history, and I was completely sucked into it. She's got a number of books in the same universe- some comedic, some very dramatic, but The Doomsday Book is my favourite.

If you're at all interested in high fantasy, I'd recommend either Tigana or The Fionovar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. You either love his prose style or hate it, but if you love it, it will definitely take you away.

If you like SF and haven't read them, I'd try either Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos, or David Brin's Uplift Series (I'd skip Sundiver until later, and start with Startide Rising.)

If you're looking for more light-hearted/quirky, I'd try Christopher Moore- either Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal , or The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror. If you're into a mix of horror/sf/comedy, try John Dies at the End. They're not deep, but they're fun.

Non-fiction- if you haven't read it yet, Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air is very difficult to put down. If you're travelling with someone who doesn't mind you looking up every few pages and saying "did you know this, this is awesome, wow-how interesting", I'd go for Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants or Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life. They're all very informative, fun, interesting books, but they're even better if you can share them while you're reading them.

'Marabou Stork Nightmare' by Irvine Welsh. It's deliciously twisted and has a very interesting premise. I read it over 10 years ago and it still sticks with me.

Another good one, and perhaps one of my all time favorite books, is Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian: Or The Evening Redness in the West'. Just an incredible read, dark and powerful, a visceral look at westward expansion in the mid 1800's.

I haven't read that one myself (though it wouldn't surprise me if /u/Aleglad has), but I can give another recommendation. The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland is a fantastic prose retelling of many of our stories. He does a good job at combing all the versions of the stories he can find and trying to make educated choices on which version of things to use where the tellings diverge from one another. Including explanations of the differences between sources and why he chose the paths he did. Entertaining and informative.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon is one of my favorite novels ever and so is Beloved by Toni Morrison. They both have some metaphysical aspects to them and are awesome novels.

i would throw cormac mccarthy's name into your selection, too. both "the road" and "no country for old men" are great introductions to his style. If you get a taste for his writing, definitely pick up "blood meridian." it's my favorite work of his. he's got a good sized catalog of 10 books if you get a taste for his style.

The best fantasy book I ever read was Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It's a slow burn, but the world building is second to none. There was a BBC miniseries as well. I haven't watched it but it's well-reviewed.

Some others I really like:

Hoity toity literature: Moby Dick (way more fun than it's reputation lets on), Notes From the Underground by Dostoevsky.

Non-fiction: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (chronicles the building of the World's Fair in Chicago alongside HH Holmes building his Murder Castle), The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddartha Mukherjee (history of cancer).

Great sci-fi: Dune, Canticle for Leibowitz, Fahrenheit 451.

Books that are really fun to read: Anything by Neil Gaiman, Dresden Files series.

It's called Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. It's in his short story collection Stories of Your Life and Others, which you can buy on Amazon. It's worth it just for this story, but all of them are excellent. Ted Chiang is often cited as the best living SciFi author to never have written a novel.

https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang/dp/1931520720

Best memoir I've read to date:
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Shores-Viktor-Leonov/dp/0804107327/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301539345&sr=8-1

A few other good ones:
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Sniper-Eastern-Front-Pilyushin/dp/1848841205/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

http://www.amazon.com/GUNS-AGAINST-REICH-Memoirs-Artillery/dp/1844159310/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

A very well written account of Poltava and warfare in the eighteenth century:
http://www.amazon.com/Battle-That-Shook-Europe-Poltava/dp/1860648479/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

Best WWII fiction:
http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Glory-Steven-Edward-Rustad/dp/157566397X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301539373&sr=8-1

Steven Pressfield has a lot of great stuff, although I hated his book on Rommel. But try 'Gates of Fire':
http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/055338368X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301539446&sr=8-1

Anything by Bernard Cornwell.

I couldn't help but notice the video game-related titles on your list. If you played/enjoyed the original Bioshock game, I would recommend Rapture by John Shirley. Just one book, but I thought it was great.

Edit: My eyes completely skipped "series" for some reason...sorry about that. My recommendation stands, maybe as something to put on your "read later" list? I'll second the Dresden Files series. Again, sorry!

If anyone else happens to like those short-format thought collection-style books, two other interesting ones that I really like are:

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

I come back to both of these books repeatedly for creative inspiration, I like them so much. I have yet to read Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, but from what Grey said, I feel like the two that I mentioned might be a little bit more in-depth and may require a bit more work to understand in some cases.

Let's get grammared this weekend!

I <3 your phrase! :D

My last final is on the May 12th, so I'm not done yet.

Anyway, Happy Almost Birthday!!!! My b-day is coming up soon too: May 26th

I'm sorry I don't read much but the last book I read and loved that seems to be in your realm of interest was:

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Same book on paperbackswap.com

feudal Japan is a fascinating topic. I recommend Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa,as a fun intro to an amazing time and place.

The only times this has happened to me were

The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger and
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

I couldn't tell you what it was about them that sucked me in so drastically, but they were pretty good books. :)

I've no answer to your question (if I did I'd be God), but I just want to share a book that you might be interested in - Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. It considers time from a lot of different, fascinating angles.

If you post the URL like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X/

You can still get to the item minus any referral codes, but I guess you'd need to clear cookies and revisit the page if you're intent on not wanting someone to get an affiliate credit. Or, you could optionally add ?tag=Reddit-20 to have that credit apply to Reddit when you buy that or whatever else.

Thanks to an ordering mistake, I read a novel about this called The Cloud Atlas, not to be confused with that somewhat more famous book.

They were both pretty great.

I love reading books! One of my all time favorites is Cloud Atlas! Anything by Jeffrey Eugenides is good too! <3

Yes! I read a great book eons ago about this very subject. Basically Roman nobility wouldn't get ostracized or in trouble for having relationships with their slaves if they had those relations in the right way. I.g. a male nobleman would never perform oral sex on a female slave. That would be beneath him.

Let me see if I can figure out what this book was called. It was a pretty great read! It didn't just focus on sexual relations but on day to day life in ancient Rome as well. I'll make an edit if I can find it!

Edit: I feel like this is it. I could be wrong though. It has been well over ten years since I read it!

A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome: Daily Life, Mysteries, and Curiosities https://www.amazon.com/dp/1933372710/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_fV2yDbDDRA1NF

I should also mention that Eric Whitacre spent nearly half his lecture preaching about how great the Cryptonomicon is and turned me into a huge Neal Stephenson fan.

He was also (this is 10+ years ago...) really excited about his opera. If it ever opens in NYC, I'll go see it!

I literally didn't have to leave my chair to pull it off my shelf to double check the title ( :) ) but you can find this, and several other excellent Ted Chiang short stories in the collection Stories of Your Life and Others. I was going to go through and recommend some specific stories from the collection... but it turns out I loved all of them.

Sounds like you might enjoy Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. I think Snow Crash is meant to be in the same universe - it's hilarious but not as dense. You might also like his Cryptonomicon, though it's not technically Sci Fi.

Tad Willams' Otherland Series is Epic Sci Fi with a huge amount of detail. Might be right up your alley.

Dune, Neuromancer and The Enderverse if you haven't already read those.

A ruler, an Xacto knife, a steady hand, and a lot of patience. I imagine if I had legit striping tape and wasn't just using scotch tape it would have been WAY easier, LoL.

And The Night Circus is a book by Erin Morgenstern. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews, and maybe it's just because I love circuses, but I really liked it.

Now, I'm guessing you're looking for a movie recommendation, but I would highly recommend the book Blood Meridian as the best thematically similar experience you will likely have.

The first in what I hope will be a series of stellar Ted Chiang adaptations!

ANYONE who is into beautiful, idea-centric sci-fi will benefit from the book this is based on! http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang/dp/1931520720

Have you ever read Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa? If not and you like big, long books, I'd highly recommend getting yourself a copy. It's the greatest book I've ever had the pleasure of reading in my 35 years, and I've read a shitload of books in my 35 years.

Strong recommendation for David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Dutch clerk in late 18th/early 19th century Dejima, lots of depth, gorgeous prose) and for Walter Moers's Rumo and his Miraculous Adventures (fantastical but oddly profound; I'd pick it up even if it doesn't sound like something you'd enjoy). I finished both of these very recently and they were amazing. They hopped right on my list of favourite books, if I'm honest.

Otherwise, I'd very much recommend my all-time favourites: Le Petit Prince (in French or English), Under Milk Wood, Cloud Atlas, and To Kill a Mockingbird (which is always worth a re-read, too).

I included Amazon links so that you know exactly which books I'm talking about, but please consider buying from local bookshops!

Tried reading the book?
It's pretty good if you're super into the lore, even if the writing isn't top notch. Ken Levine gave it his blessing...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Bioshock-Rapture-John-Shirley/0765367351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497403795&sr=8-1&keywords=bioshock+rapture

No, it is just long. A little over 2000 pages. The text is pretty straightforward and all third person. The link below is for the set I have. The translation is solid but the only issue is the spoilers at the start of every chapter.




I honestly wouldn't bother with it unless you are into Chinese history and culture or liked the games though.

Three Kingdoms (Chinese Classics, 4 Volumes) https://amazon.com/dp/7119005901/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_sId4Cb73PP05H

This is probably a bit outside what you intended but the Chinese classics Outlaws of the Marsh and Three Kingdoms have many really good political intrigue plot lines to steal from as well as hundreds of npc archetypes. And they are both fun to read as well.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It's one of the best books I've ever read. It's pretty long, but the chapters are decently short, so you should be able fit in some of it anytime you have a little time to spare.

Happy (almost) birthday and I hope don't cry on your party. ;)

Here's something for the raffle -been on my to-read list for a long time but there's no translated version in my country or easy way to get the original - Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Insanely good point.

There is a book that goes really deep into the history and story of rapture before you ever set foot into the game and gives insight into a lot of what you mentioned. Very good read if you get the chance

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351

I feel also like BioShock:Infinite delves a lot into the whole 'Lower vs High class' thing too with Comstock going full out armageddon on the Fitzroy resistance.

Yes. Loved that one as well. I would say that Anathem is far more philosophical and cerebral than Cryptonomicon.

I tried in vain to get my brother to read it who says he only likes non-fiction.

I was particularly enamored by the passages where he charts masturbation/prostitution/creativity. That hit close to home. ;)

EDIT: Found the section in Amazon's Look Inside, start on page 679.

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman

Each chapter is about 3 pages long (its a novel), it revolves around the nightly dreams that Einstein is having during the time period that he is coming up with his theory of relativity. Each chapter/dream describes worlds where time moves/is defined differently.

Highly suggest it, easy read, beautifully written. Really leaves you sitting there thinking.

Worth emphasizing: If you are intrigued/interested by the story of Bioshock, seriously consider reading BioShock: Rapture by John Shirley. It's a prequel to the first Bioshock game. Not officially recognized as part of the canon, but Ken Levine served as a consultant so I think you can consider it pretty official.

It's good.

Might be a bit of a stretch, but I'd recommend The Amazing Adeventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.

My favourite short stories (that aren't by Bradbury, that is) are Light is Like Water by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The Gospel According to Mark by Jorge Luis Borges.

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman isn't exactly an anthology, but it's nice to pick up every once in a while if I want dreamy food for thought (if the premise sounds interesting to you, you should also read Bradbury's Frost and Fire).

If you like westerns, you should read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. If TV series are your thing, then the overlook yet brilliant Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco is something not to be missed. Can't go wrong with McCarthy and Eco. It's hard to compare Cranston to McShane though. It's like apples and oranges there.

There are so many great books! The Brontes' work, Jane Austen, War and Peace, everything by Dostoyevsky....Sometimes it takes a while to get into certain of the great books, but they always pay off.

Also, in case you haven't read them, check out David Mitchell's early work--Ghostwritten, Number9Dream, and Cloud Atlas all are brilliant.

If you enjoy the longer, more exploratory work of Murakami in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or 1Q84, as well as the interconnected plotlines of works like Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, I recommend Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon.

I've just finished playing both Bioshock 1 and 2 for the first time, back to back, and I've fallen in love with the franchise. I'd love to get this book so I can keep reading about Rapture.

Just posted this in the other sub xD

Recently got back into reading after a looooonnnnnnggggg dry spell (years) and I'm reading some fun ones!

• Letters to a Young Poet
  
• The Night Circus
  
• Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children
  
  Have you read any of those?!

The Elder Edda is definitely the better of the two; Snorri's Edda is very christianized and therefore doesn't stay true to Norse mythology.

One of the best books would be Kevin Crossley-Holland's The Norse Myth. It's very simple to read yet keeps the essence of the myths.

If anyone is interested in this topic, I highly recommend Einstein's Dreams. A very small book filled with different extreme worlds in which time is different than our own, including one like the OP is talking about where people try to live in tall buildings and only the poor scurry about at low altitudes. It's probably my favorite book, and I've read such masterpieces a the novelization of Adventures in Babysitting.

Dark Star - Alan Furst


The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon

The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler

The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett

The God Engines - John Scalzi

Connie Willis is a great sci-fi author. Doomsday Book is a great place to start.

This may be too simplistic for what you're looking for, but Sophie's World is a pretty good introduction to philosophy.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is phenomenal.

I also really enjoyed Summer of Love by Lisa Mason

I'm just going to keep editing this post until I think of 5.

---


The Bear and the Nightingale - a recent read, beautifully written, retelling.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - I like classic literature, and Clarke's writing is known for how reflective it is of that. A wonderful story. Plus, magic. Long.

How about some Romance of the Ivalice/Hydaelyn/Vana'diel/etc Kingdoms?

I'm actually bothered by how many people don't know that Dynasty Warriors is based off Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong and has led countless video game and media. Romance of Three Kingdoms Series, Dynasty Warriors, Destiny of an Emperor, and way more than I can even list. There's even a TV series that is just phenomenal! The first fight between the three brothers and Lu Bu is typical Chinese fighting fare, but is a REALLY long fight. And all the intrigue is there.

Sorry, I absolutely love everything to do with the Three Kingdoms era, so I love to introduce the uninitiated to how deep and rich it is.

The idea of "Thieves Guilds" is not a new idea and did occur many times in history. Secret Societies and mafia like organizations can be found in many places in and in many periods. I specialize in Chinese history, and can answer your question in this context. For a great novel on a Chinese "Thieves Guild" read the Water Margin you can buy the best translation here The original was written in the Ming Dynasty about a group of loyal bandits who go together to form a Robin Hood style band. The idea of a "Robin Hood" band of bandits is not new, and forms the basis of a thieves guild found in many fantasy stories. Secret Societies often were an outgrowth of increased discontent or a way to bring order where centralized rule was lacking. The stories associated reflect real organizations. In China these societies included the Heaven and Earth Society, The Elder Brotherhood society, and can be traced many Rebellions such as the White Lotus Rebellion, Yellow Scarfs Rebellion, and many others. The "Guilds" or secret societies therefore played large roles in bandit organization which could lead to the overthrow of a local leadership.

"Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson. A fantastic book; one of those that you hate when it ends!
You may also enjoy "the Baroque Cycle" by the same author. It does not go back and forth to modern times (Crypt. does), but is another great story about science, the beginnings of physics, and the start of money, among other things

Oh gosh it's been a long time since I read this book, but I recall that The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (a sci fi author who has won both the Hugo and Nebula awards) deals with this. I believe the main character has something go awry with her translation software as she travels back to England in the dark ages and has to learn the language. Her mastery of the language isn't the central plot point but it's important to the story. I thought it was a great book!

To this day there is still no greater book for opening up the world of thought than Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy. This book is indispensable.

Aside from that the best advice, as many here have noted, is to simply read widely and often. Here are some other books I can personally recommend as being particularly insightful:

• Wind, Sand and Stars
  
• Einstein's Dreams
  
• Family Happiness
  
• Borges
  
• Kafka
  
• Tao Te Ching
  
• Book of Job
  
• The Stranger
  
• Prometheus Rising
  
• Shakespeare

...you’re posting THE HISTORY (and legacy) of forced sterilization and you literally tried to sneak in links about the Canadian sterilization to make it seem like you have links on the American one.

You honest to god thought just responding with a block of unrelated links would make it seem like a witty shutdown?

Well here’s what I have to say to you, good sir.

https://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/badgers

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Meridian-Evening-Redness-West/dp/0679728759

http://www.small-cabin.com/forum/2_2885_0.html

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-w-58hQ9dLk

Jealous that you're enjoying them for the first time! When you finish the game, i highly recommend picking up the book it serves as a prequel to the first game and it's really great stuff.

READ THIS BOOK - it is one of the best books I've ever read. Just amazing vision and scope. I had no idea they were making it into a movie. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

A couple of suggestions for you, as a fellow lover of magical realism:

Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith by Gina Nahai

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaimen (my favorite of his - it is more magic realism than most of his other fantasy/slipstream style books)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Nights at the circus by Angela Carter

Stories of your life and Others

by Ted Chaing

Some of the best sci-fi short stories I've ever read. 'Stories of your Life' was just fantastic.

Not necessarily hard/biology, but there's a wonderful little book (literally, it is little) called "Einstein's Dreams" by Alan Lightman. It's a series of vignettes of what life would be like if time/gravity, etc. had different properties. One scenario that i recall is that time moves faster the closer one is to a center of gravity, so people build their homes on tall structures, on top of tall mountains, etc. in order to live a fuller life; eventually this becomes a status symbol, so the wealthiest live at higher altitudes and the poor at sea level. It's very thought provoking and whimsical.

I'm a little confused by the question. You mean the most aesthetically pleasing cover? And you only buy books if you really really like the cover?

Anyway, I like the 25th Anniversary Edition as far as covers go: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Meridian-Evening-Redness-West/dp/0679728759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405309538&sr=8-1&keywords=blood+meridian

If you're asking about a single-volume compilation of all four, I doubt there are any -- at least, none that aren't also major abridgments. A boxed set is possible, but when I went looking for editions, the one that ended up looking best to me was actually a group of sets issued by a single publisher -- 16 volumes divided between 4 boxes. Here they are:

• Three Kingdoms
  
  
• Red Mansions
  
  
• Journey to the West
  
  
• Outlaws of the Marsh
  
  I can't personally vouch for the translations, since I don't read Chinese, but they seem to be well reviewed.

I read The Night Circus a couple years ago and it was a-ma-zing! Everyone (who enjoys young adult lit) who I have recommended this to has also enjoyed it.

This was my first Norse book to buy on Amazon, I completely love it and recommend it.

I borrowed this from the library recently and it was pretty good. 8.5/10 would recommend:

https://www.amazon.com/Norse-Myths-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394748468/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Win, I'm currently reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer It's amazing.

Sure!

Cryptonomicon

Snow Crash

The Electric Church

Neuromancer

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

That should get you started. :)

The unabridged Moss Roberts translation. The abridged version is good, but its lacking in much of the detail that makes the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" awesome. It's an easier read, but come on, we're ASOIAF fans, we don't shy away from thick tomes.

This is a dense epic on the line of ASOIAF, it is well over 3000 pages (by word count it may be even longer than ASOIAF, the font is tiny), and tells the story of thousands of characters, their families, retainers, eunuchs, and plots. The political intrigue and plotting are thick as dozens of factions contend with, ally together, and betray each other. In terms of action, there is no shortage of epic battles, duels, and military strategems. The start is a little bit slow, but quickly picks up as the late-Han dynasty descends into chaos and disarray.

The prose flows very well, and the songs/poems are translated beautifully. The first line still gives me chills thinking about, it and sums up the Chinese view of history - cyclical:

>The empire, long divided, must unite. The empire, long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been...

If I'm allowed one more small spoiler, one of my favorite warriors is Xiahou Dun - a general in Cao Cao's camp. In one battle, he takes an arrow through his helm and into his eye; without hesistation, and in the midst of battle, he rips out the arrow with his eyeball still skewered, and devours it. To rally his troops who thought their general had died, he screams out:

>Essence of my father, blood of my mother, I cannot throw this away!

Such a fucking hardcore warrior. Made more epic since the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is part fiction, but part history. Xiahou Dun actually did this in real life.

Happy Zambambo!

Thanks! Happy birthday!

Shallow: Deep Storm by Lincoln Child

Deep: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

I've never read Crichton, but you might try some Michael Crichton, such as Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, even if they're "outdated."

Edit: For really shallow thriller fun, you need to read Deception Point by Dan Brown. I swear it's every episode of X Files thrown together with Jaws, Red October, and a volcano. Stupidly awesome.

In case anyone is interested, this is the cover to "Bioshock: Rapture" by John Shirley. Great book. Link: http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351

There are several versions I believe... This is the one that I read for the first time. I'd highly recommend it - a lot of useful and interesting footnotes.

Here's my best thoughts:

1. The Monomyth / Hero's Journey
   ----
   Lucas said he read the book Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. This isn't referencing any one myth, it is referencing loads and loads of them. Campbell's conclusion is to build upon the work of Max Muller and Otto Rank's ideas that there are common patterns in myths and fairy tales. Also it is worth noting that Campbell wouldn't have read Propp's Morphology of the Folktale because it wasn't translated into English until the mid-1950s, even though there are a lot of similarities here. Also worth noting Propp's work is exclusively referencing only Russian folktales.
   
   
   
   
2. The Lord of the Rings back to the Ring Saga
   ----
   You might notice, there are striking similarities between the three Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings trilogy: Obi-wan dies at the same time as Gandalf falls, the stages of the Monomyth (aka Hero's Journey) are very similar: Call to Adventure, Threshold Crossings, etc. This sort of makes sense as LoTR was cool when Lucas was a teenager.
   
   Now Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was very heavily influenced by Wagner's Ring Cycle which would have been cool when Tolkien was a teen, therefore having at least unconscious influence, though I'm fairly confident Tolkien was highly aware of Wagner's Ring Cycle and its roots in the Nibelung Saga.
   
   When you get into the Nibelung Saga, there's a story about a cursed ring, a hero whose father was an amazing warrior, the need to re-forge his father's sword, etc. There's lots of other pieces that weren't there, but there's definitely a lot there which is very similar.
   
   
   
   
3. The Knights of the Roundtable
   ----
   This leads us to the other European idea: Arthurian folklore. The very idea of a Jedi Knight comes from the Knights of the Roundtable. From here, you have the combination of warrior with the idea of a monk or sacred influence (Parsifal becomes a monk in one story, as does Lancelot.) These are the noble warriors who are fighting for a sacred ideal. Of course in these stories, warriors don't have magical powers, but Merlin is running around so you can see Star Wars as a combination of these.
   
   Further, in the Knights of the Roundtable stories, there are lots of evil / dark knights and dark wizards so you have to include those too.
   
   
   
   
4. Eastern Myth of Samurai with a dash of Zen and Taoist Koans
   ----
   At the time Lucas was young was the "discovery" of easter martial arts by the west. So, to include some of that would be cool. Also, Lucas loved the early samurai films of Akira Kurosawa. Campbell's argument is these ideas exist everywhere so are good to move together. If you include the ideas of archetypes, knights become very similar to samurai because they are both sacred warriors. So now we can add a moment of this. If you read the book Musashi (a novelization as now Musashi has become a legendary figure in Japan) there are striking similarities between this and the story of Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Both come from no-where, raised in the wild, but have a talent which is theorized to be some sort of amazing lineage.
   
   Throw in a little green guy whose name Yoda is based from Yuddha, the sanskrit word for 'war / warrior' and who talks very similarly to a taoist or zen monk's paradoxical statements (koans) and you get that character.
   
   ----
   
   So basically, to finish: I don't think Lucas did a lot of mythological research apart from reading Campbell. So to argue it is based on a lot of folklore specifically is tricky. There are even articles which say that Lucas' ex-wife Marcia came up with some of these ideas and no one has asked her what she was reading.

A book that I can recommend and actually considered placing in the title is Alan Lightman's Einstein's Dreams.

It has a similar format as Sum, however each short story considers what life would be like if time behaved differently as opposed to what the afterlife could look like: if time went faster the closer we were to the Earth, or if there were three directions time can take, etc etc.

One of my favorites is one which imagines that time are birds. If a bird is caught one can hold onto a moment forever, because time is "caught." Those young enough to catch a bird and stop time don't care to, because they are young. The ones that want to hold onto time are too old and so too slow to catch a bird. Gives me the same feeling that most of the stories in Sum do.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but does anyone know if this version of Moss Roberts' translation is the same as the Two volume set?

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QWT3NW5RQ2T252YWV2JR

I just like the design a lot more with this version, and four volumes seems easier to handle than two.

Arthur C. Clarke - The Collected Short Stories.

Nothing else can compare to how those things made me feel when I was growing up.

Beyond that, Ted Chiang's "Stories of Your Life: And Others" is an absolute masterpiece. Absolutely astonished the man's not better known- he's that rarity- a sci-fi author that writes beautifully.

a good starter is this book http://www.amazon.com/Norse-Myths-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394748468 (sorry about the link, i'm on mobile). the author puts the myths in order as best as he can, and in the back he has an appendix discussing the source material he used.

If you get a chance to read the rapture book they sort of talk about rapture when it was running. I would absolutely love to explore it

Don't know what you like to read so I'm going to go a few ways, but these are good ''stuck in bed'' books. By Author (because thats how i like to read):


Haruki Murakami:

• Kafka on the Shore **
  
• The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
  
• After Dark
  
  Hunter S Thompson (and related):*
  
  
• The Rum Diary
  
• Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
  
• Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo
  
  Manuel Puig (these are shorter):
  
  
• Eternal Curse on the Reader of these Pages*
  
• Kiss of the Spider Woman
  
• Boquitas Pintadas
  
  Not by same authors, but would be good together:
  
  
• The Tin Drum- Gunter Grass*
  
• House of Leaves
  
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
  
• Earthly Powers- Anthony Burgess **
  
  Favorites
  
  Feel Better!
  
  

I've read it 4 times. This is the one I have. I love it. As stated in here, first chapter is slow and boring but is moreso a history lesson. Afterwards it picks up and then becomes an easy read for those of us who know the characters from playing the games.

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367549860&sr=8-1&keywords=three+kingdoms

EDIT: I see this one was linked already.

If you liked Pillars of the Earth, you'd love The Domesday Book