Reddit mentions: The best mystery & adventure books

Since this subreddit asks for more info in a top-level comment...Hi! I'm Jesse. About two years ago I put out a novel called Physics Incarnate, but I didn't even know of this subreddit at the time. This week, I've launched the sequel to that story, Physics Reincarnate.

What are they about? Well, to sum up the series, they're centered around a physics professor named Emmett Eisenberg who happens to be a super-human endowed with the power to manipulate physics. It's in the title, really! Anyway, ten years ago Emmett and some colleagues were involved in a research project aimed at using super-human abilities to improve humankind. This project did not end well.

Ten years later, in the first book, Emmett is enjoying life as a teacher at a college, and everyone around him (including the reader) has no idea about what Emmett's history was. He's even dating the associate chair of the psychology department, who just happens to be writing a book on delusions of grandeur! Some of Emmett's old colleagues convince him to have a reunion. At first this all seems well and good, and our physicist friend seems happy to be talking to his old buddies again! It doesn't take long before it becomes obvious to his girlfriend (and the reader) that these guys aren't normal; at first, it's easy to dismiss them as a clique of paranoid nutters. At the "twist" of the book, Emmett's superhuman nature is revealed to the reader as well as his girlfriend, who predictably freaks out. From that point on, Emmett has to face his past and make amends as best he can - after all, just because there are super-heroes in the world doesn't mean Emmett was always strictly on their side.

Our second book, the one released this week, picks up with Emmett having to bail his colleague James Lowery out of jail. Jim is endowed with the power of superhuman senses - balance, hearing, sight, whatever. He isn't super-strong or super-fast, but his skill makes him incredibly deadly, and his alcoholism makes him a danger to himself as well as others. Jim is distressed that he's been asked by his contacts at the CIA to investigate an odd radio broadcast coming from Alaska - in particularly, coming from near one of Emmett's new research facilities on climate change. This leads Emmett, Jim, and their group into a death-match with another super-human organization, one that is all too prepared for Emmett's old crew.


Now for the goodies. You've read this far - you deserve 'em! Both novels are available in paperback (I linked to the Reincarnate paperback edition). However, they are also available on Amazon's Kindle. And, on August 21st and August 22nd, the first book (Physics Incarnate) is available for free on the Kindle. Here's the links!


http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Incarnate-ebook/dp/B00702TU98 (Physics Incarnate, Kindle; FREE August 21 and 22)

http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Incarnate-Jesse-Pohlman/dp/0615591566
(Physics Incarnate, Paperback)

http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Reincarnate-Incarnate-Series-ebook/dp/B00ENUW0Q0
(Physics Reincarnate, Kindle; The paperback edition is the primary link, here)


Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think of it!

I don't mean to hijack your promo and wish you all the best. However, I think it is worth pointing out to those unaware, that your account can only use this method to accept a free book once per account.

So if you accept this title from the author via the share/onebook program, you won't ever be able to use this program to get a free book again.

Likewise, if you already have redeemed a title through this program, the link the author sends won't give it you for free.

Which is fine. I mean, you've got to get A free book, might as well be this one as it looks awesome. Is a good length, and narrated by the awesome Simon Vance.


Just thought people should know this limitation however.

Here is a link to the title on Audible. (Wrong book, same author, see edit.)

http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Exodus-Towers-Audiobook/B00EF5NFTY/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1465331565&sr=1-1

It is also Whispersync enabled. You can grab the Kindle version first and get the Audible title for a combined $14. (Wrong book, same author, see edit.)

https://www.amazon.com/Exodus-Towers-Dire-Earth-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00BO4GQYU

Good luck mate! I may pick it up on my own since I've already used the share feature to get a book.

Edit: Also, I don't think you need to a member.

Edit 2: I linked to the wrong books, :(.

Here is Zero World, the book the author is promoting on Kindle. The total Whispersync combo is $6!

https://www.amazon.com/Zero-World-Jason-M-Hough-ebook/dp/B00RKO3UEW?ie=UTF8&qid=&ref_=tmm_kin_swatch_0&sr=

Here it is on Audible.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Zero-World-Audiobook/B012HQ76TW/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1465333936&sr=1-1

Funny you should ask. I'm a novelist in this genre as well, and I've done a bit of research on the market. As you might imagine, this is a fairly niche space. I'd probably be making more money if I wrote vampire romances, but you gotta write what you love, right?


Anyhow, the advice about the Fantasy>Superheroes category on Amazon is real good. There are a lot of books directly tied to licensed properties, like DC and Marvel characters, but I can't tell you much about those since I work in my own universe. There are also excellent lists on GoodReads. Here are some of the examples I used to figure out my keywords and categories (I haven't read any of these yet, but they're on my list):


Soon I will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman. I hear this is awesome.

Confessions of a D-List Supervillain by Jim Bernheimer.

Good Intentions: A Supervillain Story by Michel Crider.

Meta by Tom Reynolds.

The Second Super by Logan Rutherford.

ULTRA (The Last Hero Book 1) by Matt Blake.


And, I hope this isn't a violation of the self-promotion rules (if it is, please let me know and I'll edit this out), but I can't help but add my own novel, The Hero Beat!

Based on your list, it seems you're a video gamer, too. Nice, so some of your fiction titles reflect that.

• Phantoms by Dean Koontz -- I'm guessing you like Silent Hill or Resident Evil type games. While this book by Koontz doesn't involve zombies, it is centered around a mysterious town. Suddenly everyone in a small American town has disappeared and it's up to a visiting sister and a sheriff to solve the mystery. The plot ramps up quickly and escalates (big time), and it's one of my favorite books. Lots of action, too, with great mix of horror (and a little sci-fi). While Dean Koontz has written some clunkers, early Dean Koontz really rocked.
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001RWQVSK/
  
  
• Andromeda Strain by Micheal Crichton -- One of Crichton's earliest novels and it deals with a team of scientists trapped in a facility as they try to contain a viral outbreak that can destroy the world, but they are running out of time. It's a really thrilling read and was made into a great film, too. Your titles you posted often deals with pandemics or viral attacks so I figured you'd enjoy this.
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/Andromeda-Strain-Michael-Crichton-ebook/dp/B007UH4EPS/
  
  
• Sphere by Micheal Crichton -- Since you mentioned Dead Space series so here's some sci-fi horror. Another one of my favorites from Crichton. While it does deal with aliens and a spaceship, it's actually set on Earth, where instead of something buried in ice (like with The Thing), an alien ship is deep underwater. A team of scientists have to delve deep into the ocean and try to breach the alien ship known as the Sphere.
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/Sphere-Michael-Crichton-ebook/dp/B007UH4G9C/
  
  
• Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell -- this is the horror/sci-fi short story that the The Thing and it's remakes were based on. While written in 1938, it's still a great read (and available on Kindle). The author, Campbell, was a giant figure in the Golden Age of Science Fiction as he was also the editor of Astounding Fiction Magazine, the landmark magazine that ushered in Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, AE Van Vogt, Henry Kuttner and other legendary sci-fi writers.
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/Goes-There-RosettaBooks-into-Film-ebook/dp/B003XVYLGW
  
  
• Vault of the Beast by A.E. Van Vogt -- another sci-fi horror story from the Golden Age of Science Fiction, this one a short story (on Kindle for only $1.49). Van Vogt's stories are a huge influence on horror and sci-fi writers, influencing Stephen King, Koontz, John Carpenter and many others. I love this creepy tale that is a must for lovers of the The Thing. Here's the first line: "The creature crept. It whimpered from fear and pain, a thing, slobbering sound horrible to hear. Shapeless, formless thing yet changing shape and form with every jerky movement. It crept along the corridor of the space freighter [...]"
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/Vault-Beast-E-van-Vogt-ebook/dp/B001M0N0FO
  
  
• The Nightrunners by Joe R. Landsale or The Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale -- since you like Evil Dead, Joe R. Lansdale is known for his mix of occasional humor and extreme horror. Like the Evil Dead films, he can get gory, but not at the sacrifice at making creative plots and great characters. Lansdale does also westerns, texas noir, crime novels, etc, which are all great, so he covers a ton of genres. Early Lansdale tended to do more horror, however, as you see from these two books. One of my favorite authors, and great if you want some hi-octane fun.
  
  Kindlie link Nightrunners: https://www.amazon.com/Nightrunners-Joe-R-Lansdale-ebook/dp/B00634UDHC
  
  Kindlie link The Drive-in (book 1 of 3): https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Joe-R-Lansdale-ebook/dp/B00H1L5D9E
  
  
• Natsuo Kirino horror novels (Real World / Out / Grotesque) -- Since you mentioned The Ring which was originally written by Japanese author Koji Suzuki, so maybe try some horror from other Japanese authors. Kirino's works are equally unsettling reads, so I'd recommend checking any of her titles out. You could also try Ryu Murakami, who writes some twisted stuff, like In Miso Soup or Coin Locker Babies.
  
  I also agree with others for their recommendations for Laird Barron, John Langan, Shirley Jackson, Dan Simmons, H.P. Lovecraft, Paul Tremblay, and of course Stephen King. For King, try the Dark Tower series as that's a mix of Western and horror, kind of like if Red Dead Redemption video game went into the horror territory but on an epic scale. Great series. Also check out The Stand which is epic post-apocalyptic tale. I quite liked The Shining as someone else has mentioned and I also liked Salem's Lot.
  
  Lastly, for a great (and free) short story that is a nice twist on The Thing, check out this story that has a similar premise, only it's from the alien's point of view. It was quite cool, and an interesting idea to see how things would look like from the alien's side.
  
  All the Painted Stars by Gwendolyn Clare -- available to read online here at Clarkesworld Magazine website
  
  
  

A Perilous Journey by B.S. Hornigold

Fiction written as a real life memoir. An adult take on those great intrepid adventure stories many of us loved growing up.
B.S. Hornigold is a hard-drinking, womanizing, rugged anti-hero. He travels the world living off a meagre and minimal income trying to find fame, profit and notoriety as a 21st-century tomb raider and treasure hunter.

In the first novella of the series we meet Hornigold as he reunites with an old friend through violent circumstances in the Honduras jungle. This friend tells him of a strong lead on rumors of a great lost city, and the two decide it's worth a shot to check out if there's actually any truth to these rumors. Their search takes them deep underground on the other side of the world in Borneo, where unbeknownst to them a treacherous secret awaits....


I have set the minimum pricing on this everywhere so it costs 0.99 pounds/dollars/euros etc. For some reason the US link is displaying $1.24 but on my pricing page it says it's displayed at $0.99, either way still a cheap buy! It's free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Here's that link one more time! I hope you enjoy it, and if you do then please feel free to give it a rating on amazon as it still isn't displaying any.

Thank you

This is a lovely way to remember your mom :) She sounds like she was a lovely person and raised a lovely child :)

My Mom is always cool and calm, and always ready for a laugh. She takes shit from nobody, and doesn't give a rats ass what you think about her. I strive to be more like her :)

this book is about dinosaurs and I haven't read it yet :) Used, please!

"Hey Bean!"

1. I really didn't think I had anything that was gray!! But this is! And so is this! WOOO!
   
   
2. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. But I've never been there.
   
   
3. Not crazy, but still, unusual, right?
   
   
4. This whole list is for the people and animals that I work with!
   
   
5. If you've seen the movie YOU HAVE TO READ THE BOOK!! There's so much more excitement and detail!! Everything makes sense!
   
   
6. Fifteen cents.
   
   
7. We use this for some of the smaller cats at work!! Put a little treat or some whole fresh catnip, and AWAAAAY THEY GO!!
   
   
8. These. so freaking gorgeous!
   
   
9. Just to see and hear Tom Cruise sing. Or Alec Baldwin sing. Or really, the whole thing goes back and forth from awesome to awesome-er, as long as you don't have a lot of expectations.
   
   
10. If you can hunt for food in silence, the zombies won't know where you are!!
    
    
11. This is on my dream list for the hubs to see. My computer is dead and I have to use the kiddo's. I miss my photo editing software, all my files, etc...
    
    
12. I don't believe this, but I have absolutely NO add-on items on any of my wishlists. wow.
    
    
13. See #11. I'm desperate to have a computer back. DESPERATE!
    
    
14. I could carry a breadbox in this thing.
    
    
15. Totes smaller.
    
    
16. Sandalwood smells incredible.
    
    
17. HEXBUGS ARE MY FAVORITES!!
    
    
18. you have to have an awesome pencil case to go back to school!! Or, maybe this one?
    
    
19. RAoA is my favorite obsession. And yeah, that's on my WL!!
    
    
20. I can't get over how gorgeous, or cheap, this is!! Also, the kiddo has this bookmarked on the Senior Year WL. Absolutely gorgeous. And expensive.
    
    

    BONUS!!
    

    
    Yes. Cherries. need them now.
    
    
    
    

Some of the best books I've read came from people recommending them to me. Please don't ever feel terrible for asking.

It might be a good idea to start with some fun books:

• Matthew Reilly's Ice Station is like an action movie in book form.
  
  
• Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a fun, fantastic, silly ride.
  
  
• Jim Butcher's Dresden Files is just a great series that gets better with each successive book.
  
  
• Dean Koontz Life Expectancy is one of my favorite books.

I actually read a bunch this month!

• _The Ballad of Black Tom_ by Victor LaValle is a Lovecraftian horror story told from the perspective of a black musician living in Harlem in the 20s and a white police officer who get caught up in a plot to awaken Cthulhu. The novella deals with 20s racial politics as well as Lovecraftian horrors. Been recommending this one because its good, short, and $3 for Kindle.
  
  
• The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin is her follow-up to this year's Hugo winner, The Fifth Season. Great fantasy novels about a world where geology and magic are tightly intertwined, and where civilizations have been rising and falling for tens of thousands of years. Highly recommend them.
  
  
• Survival by Julie E. Czerneda. I just started this even though it's been on my to-read list for so long that I don't remember how it got on there. Czerneda is a marine biologist, as is her main character, and the biology in this novel is on-point. In addition, there's a cool galaxy-spanning mystery going on. I'm only about 1/4 of the way through it so just really getting into the full plot, but enjoying it so far.
  
  
• A Door into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski. I picked this up b/c we'd read it a few months ago in r/SF_Book_Club, and people seemed to really like it. However, I found it pretty boring and the characters rather shallow, so I quit after about a 100 pages. I doubt I'll go back to this one unless I hear something really compelling about it.
  
  
• Saga vol 1. Comic book that I've been hearing about for ages. Really good so far, although I'm not that far through it. Looking forward to reading it up to its current run.
  
  
• Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Another comic run. August saw the completion of the last arc and the beginning of the latest one. The first few issues had some pacing issues, but Coates seems to have found his voice and is barreling ahead with the story of the warrior king whose previously peaceful kingdom sees a popular, feminist uprising. There aren't good guys and bad guys, just shades of grey, which is a nice change from the usual Marvel way.
  
  
• Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold. I picked this up because of the sheer volumes of praise and recommendation that the Vorksian Saga gets here in r/printSF. However, I'm finding it rather forgettable so far, to the point that I actually forgot that I was half-way through this book and had to edit this comment. The premise is interesting, but it's somewhat clumsily handled and the plot and writing aren't keeping my interest very well. It also suffers REALLY BADLY from the "20th century morals in a far-future world" problem that makes a lot of older Space Opera feel really dated.

That movie was based on a book series called The Destroyer. I grew up reading these pulp adventure books back in the 70s-80s, they were AWESOME! A new one would come out about every month or so and I had a whole box full of them and would reread my favorites whenever I couldn't wait for the next release. The movie is a tiny drop compared to the ocean that is the book series. Together they describe a secret Korean assasin clan and thier system of martial arts called Sinanju. Chiun is the one and only master of this system. In the books there are detailed descriptions of how the system works and the methods they use. They learn to control thier bodies with such perfection that they can actually run across water because they can feel the water pressure on thier feet and they curl thier feet to make it possible to hold them up for a brief fraction of a second on each foot fall. They can kill you by severing a small nerve cluster 6 millimeters behind your temple with a flick of thier fingernail and with such speed that the victim never even knows it happened. Remo is the first ever caucasion to be allowed to learn Sinanju, but he becomes almost as powerful as Chiun ultimately after many years of training. The book series is a long slow evolution of Remo from NY cop to master assasin that would be impossible to capture in a single film. The stories are fun and fast paced, perfect for a couple of days of immersive reading. While I enjoyed the film mostly out of the novelty of seeing my childhod heroes on the silver screen, it only partially captured what is there in the books. If you enjoyed that movie even a little bit, you gotta go check them out.

http://www.sinanju.net/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Destroyer_%28fiction%29

http://www.amazon.com/Created-The-Destroyer-Warren-Murphy-ebook/dp/B00AJWEYYW

Firstly, what are you reading? Are you feeding your mind? You have a professional obligation to be reading voraciously. Required reading, Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman. A very cute tongue in cheek novel about a superhero and a supervillain, but also a very compelling page-turner.


As deeper research, you might want to read Mutants And Mystics, a book of essays about the origins of superhero comics. Did you know a lot of the guys who create the superhero genre were themselves having profound mystic/supernormal experiences? Back in the 50's, if you told people you were having a "kundalini awakening" like they talk about in yoga classes these days, guys in white coats would show up in a van and cart you off to the nearest asylum. So they had to sublimate these stories into fiction as a way of working out what in heaven was happening to them.


On a more fundamental level, I'd start outlining your characters. Not just their powers, but who they ARE as people. For instance, maybe your strongest superhero is really strong, but he's a health freak. He's a 100% raw vegan who only eats organically grown fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. And it's complex. He has to get a certain amount of calories, or (psychosomatically) he believes he'll lose his superpowers. And if you know anything about raw vegans, it's hard to get enough calories eating that way. Fruit is basically just water. Many people binge on raw nut butters and then pass out from all the fat, or sit around eating dozens of bananas at once, and then crash from the sugar. (30 bananas a day is an online community for raw vegans). This is just one example. Tie in your superheros with real life things people do to try and be superhuman. You could have a super-genius superhero who hangs out with "Masters Of The Universe" on Wall St. And maybe he believes that he has to make $250,000 per day on the stock market or he'll lose support of the big corporations who are doing dark rituals or something to empower him. Maybe his power comes from the "mastermind" council of these corporate overlords, and if he doesn't maintain that profitability with his supermind, they'll stop doing the ritual and he'll be cut off, or killed or something.


These are just some examples. It's just raw creativity, man. Like a painter or a tattoo artist (hopefully) grinds their own ink, you have to sit down and grind on your characters. As you learn more about them, the story ins and outs will become at least clear enough for you to get started. I wouldn't invest a lot of time in a super duper detailed outline of the whole book, because as you're writing more things will occur to you, and that will pull you off your outline. Stay agile. Be willing to go on digressions. Just get to a point where your characters are dynamic and fun enough to write and then play jazz with the story, you can always fix inconsistencies in post.

Gregory Benford might be to your liking, Eater hits a lot of those old hard SF buttons in particular. The Hyperion Cantos may also do the trick. C.S. Friedman's In Conquest Born and This Alien Shore are favorites that have that classic sci-fi feeling.

I would also give Stephenson another shot.. it's really good stuff, but yeah Snow Crash is a little over-the-top (very much so for the first chapter or two, but it does settle down a good bit). I mean, the main character is named Hiro Protagonist... there's obviously going to be a certain level of tongue-in-cheek, self-aware ridiculousness going on, but it's quite amazing how well he foresaw much of the modern computing world. Cryptonomicon is awesome and is one of those rare books that somehow feels like science fiction even though there's nothing out of the ordinary in it. Anathem and Zodiac are also quite good and more traditional in tone and style.

Ok, now we've got something to work with.

Have you read any of Chuck Palahniuk's books (author of Fight Club)? If not try Choke and Fight Club. Like the movie they are dark and brooding, but if you liked the movie, you should enjoy the books.

Since you are into science, you've got an excellent trove of books to dive into by Michael Crichton. A lot of films have been based off the books, but pretty much every book was better than the movie, yes even Jurassic Park. Crichton started to get lazy later on, and a bit preachy, so I'd recommend his earlier stuff. Read: Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strand, Congo, and Sphere.

If you would like to try some hard science books, you can try out either Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, or perhaps Richard Dawkin's The Selfish Gene.

Some personal favorites:

• The Source by James Michener
  
  
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
  
  
• Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
  
  
• The Junction Boys by Jim Dent. This one isn't very well written, but I enjoyed the story.
  
  
• Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey.
  
  
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. This one can be read in an afternoon. It's perfect for enjoying a pipe and some sweet tea on your back porch. Start after lunch and you'll probably be done by dinner.

> However I do think superheroes in film have had essentially no evolution the way other genres have, and they've stagnated massively. Essentially every Marvel film is identical, and for some reason the few unique ones all choose for the ultra edgy grimdark path. At least with Westerns, a similarly long-beloved genre, new ones are expected to innovate. Not so with superheroes.

I think thats a combination of the superhero genre only becoming really big recently and the monopolization of the films under the Marvel/DC label. Marvels had success with making their films light so theyve become hesitant to step outside their wheelhouse with regards to film (TV is completley different however) and DC seems to think that darkness is the only way to react to the "fun" of Marvel. My hope is we'll see more interesting films play with the concept as the "superhero age" drags on someone will take on the melancholy Soon I will be Invincible or the bleak realism of Worm and succeed outside of the Marvel/DC wheelhouse and hopefully impact the genre for the better

I would suggest C. S. Friedman. She has a lot of the flawed character thing going on in many of her books. She does a bit more sci-fi than fantasy, but honestly either way she's great.

This Alien Shore is good, and a stand-alone:
http://www.amazon.com/This-Alien-Shore-C-S-Friedman/dp/0886777992/ref=la_B000AQ1TUO_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410005630&sr=1-9

Feast of Souls is the start of a good trilogy:
http://www.amazon.com/Feast-Souls-Magister-Trilogy-Book/dp/0756404630/ref=la_B000AQ1TUO_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410005630&sr=1-5

And Black Sun Rising is also the start of a good trilogy:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Rising-Coldfire-Trilogy-Book/dp/0886775272/ref=la_B000AQ1TUO_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410005630&sr=1-1

I'm not saying I understand the industry ONLY because I'm a DJ, but rather, being a DJ allowed me to explore the business/revenue sides of the traditional model as well... I have been very fortunate so far in my career because I had the experience of both sides - both on the air, and sales wise/distribution. Hell, Budweiser paid me to go on the air with my on-air name as "Budweiser." It was a pilot program that I got to lead and run for two years rather successfully, in part because of what I had learned about self-promotion and the business side of the industry.

From what I'm getting on this last comment, it sounds like we almost agree in principle, I can't say for sure one way or another - you make an excellent point that the signal to noise ratio in a free-sharing model will be much higher. My point is, I still believe the cream will rise to the top, and even if shit also rises, everyone (all those artists) will still make tons of money, which is why anyone becomes an artist to begin with (that and sleeping with hot chicks out of your league... anyone who says otherwise is a lying liar or a pretentious twat).

I see what you're saying on how I'm still a small business and to a point I agree with that. However, by embracing piracy (which I did in fact do... not on the Amazon page, but rather I included a blurb at the end of my book thanking the reader and encouraging them if they want, they are more than welcome to put it on The Pirate Bay). You can find my book here:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Twelve-Stones-ebook/dp/B0070CSKE4

(but I'm more than happy to send you the Kindle/nook file for you to see the blurb at the end for yourself if you like. I am walking the walk if you'd care to see).

My whole argument is predicated upon the point that the internet is/has changed the medium, and the traditional model has to adapt to it or be left behind.

Also, don't be mad at yourself for arguing with someone... along with pirating media, arguing ad naseum on the internet is what this whole thing is about. For the most part, you've conducted yourself far and above most people arguing on the internet do. So Karmic upvotes for you my friend. I appreciate the spirited discussion.

Check out Drood by Dan Simmons. I picked it up on a whim, and couldn't be happier that I gave it a chance. It's a total trip, and suspenseful in a laid-back / behind-the-scenes sort of way.

Also, I find anything by Michael Chrichton to be utterly "un-put-downable". I'd recommend starting with Congo or Prey, but definitely give Sphere a shot before you move on.

Edit: Sorry I meant Micro instead of Prey. Prey was "meh" but Micro is great. Also definitely check out Timeline! (Sorry, I'm basically obsessed with Chrichton)

Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, is another favorite of mine. But, it's been so long since I last read it that I can't really remember why. I'm going to be rereading that one again soon.

>In Conquest Born

Yeah, that was good. I have had This Alien Shore on my bookshelf for over a year. Her books are thick, but rich with characters and settings. I might give it a shot. I am finishing Chris Moriarty's Spin Control and it is not as good as the first Spin State.

I would also give an honorable mention to John Scalzi and his Old Man's War series. They were great too.

My son doesn't need this, but he would love to read it. He loves the movies. Thanks for the offer.

did you read MR. ROBOT: Red Wheelbarrow book by Sam Esmail the creator of the television series Mr. Robot.

I highly recommended Jeff Aiken Series [Zero Day, Trojan Horse and Rogue Code] by Mark Russinovich this guy is well known among the Security Research Community, co-author of the Microsoft Press Windows Internals books, and co-author of the Sysinternals Administrator’s Reference. He also authors and publishes the Sysinternals tools, which include dozens of popular Windows administration and diagnostic utilities. He is a featured speaker at major industry conferences, including Microsoft TechEd, RSA Conference, BlackHat and BUILD.

Cyberpunk genre: William Gibson Probably the most important author of the genre, his first novel Neuromancer was published in 1984 and won the Hugo, the Nebula and the Philip K. Dick awards for that year. He is credited with coining the term "cyberspace".

• The 'Sprawl' Trilogy
  
  1- Neuromancer
  2- Count Zero
  3- Mona Lisa Overdrive
  
  The next highest acclaimed cyberpunk author after William Gibson is Neal Stephenson, he's also written a lot of non-cyberpunk fiction as well.
  
  1- Snow Crash
  2- The Diamond Age
  3- Cryptonomicon
  4- REAMDE

This is an interesting series of novels. Not really necessary to read them in any particular order, but set in the same universe with some really neat ideas. Expendable, James Alan Gardner. I'm a stickler, so I like to read in order and this is the first.

http://www.amazon.com/Expendable-League-Peoples-Bk-1/dp/038079439X/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267371733&sr=8-8

I'd also add C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

http://www.amazon.com/This-Alien-Shore-C-S-Friedman/dp/0886777992/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267371906&sr=1-8

And if you haven't read them, the Halo book series is surprisingly good.

http://www.amazon.com/Books-Flood-First-Strike-Reach/dp/0345473043/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267373681&sr=1-4

Michael Crichton; he does a lot of books like The Martian. His books are based on real scientific points that blur into fiction to make it more realistic. I like to describe them as "approachable science fiction."

He's most famous for his books-turned-movies: Jurassic Park, Timeline, Congo, and 13th Warrior.

But he also has great approachable ones like Andromeda Strain, The Terminal Man, and Next.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is a great novel, intense and clever. Quite different and much better than the movie. 📚

Seconding Soon I Will Be Invincible.

After The Golden Age was pretty good.

I have a copy of Powerless in my classroom, and my kids seem to enjoy it. It's a YA novel.

Jurassic Park is a great read! I'm sure he'll love it.

I am a writer, my work is self-published (and reviewed pretty well) and would love a better cover. A buddy did this one and... eh. Anyway you can find it here. It's a thriller. With dragons. Sort of.

https://www.amazon.com/Ziggurat-Marduk-Fletcher-Helle-ebook/dp/B00MY9VK3Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486512644&sr=8-1&keywords=ziggurat+of+marduk

the Species Imperative books look at humans and aliens as species that are living in the same environment, competing for resources. the scientist as reluctant hero is pretty great.

I always stick to 3 books at a time.

Main:

Jurassic Park by Michael Critchon. I love this book. I have about 9% left and will finish it during bedtime tonight. Crazy thing is everyone tells me The Lost World is the superior novel. Will start on it after I'm done with this.

Secondary:

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway. Gustavo is just getting his fish to bite. It's okay. I don't have a ton of time to read it, but once it's my main book, I'm sure I'll put a lot more time into it.

Just Starting:

Slobberknocker: My Life in Wrestling by Jim Ross**.** I'm a huge wrestling fan, and this is the autobiography of Jim Ross, a man that has been in the business for many decades. I am only a few pages in, but I know I will kill this book in a few days once this is my main book.

Next Books to Start:

The Lost World by Michael Crichton

Without Remorse by Tom Clancy

Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama (Suggested by a Reddit User's post)

Note: I DO NOT have an Amazon Associates account so I do not get any income if you click on the link or not. I just wanted to make things easier for anyone who may wish to purchase or get more info without copying and pasting into google and whatnot. :-)

I'm not going to call any of them "literature", but I've read and enjoyed a bunch of new-ish books recently.

• Ready Player One
  
  
• Little Brother/Homeland
  
  
• John Dies at the End
  
  
• Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates (and pretty much anything else by Tom Robbins)

ANYTHING by Matthew Reilly. i started with Temple, but his Scarecrow series is awesome.

seriously, the most action packed stuff i've ever read. it's like an adrenaline shot, but with a book.

1. Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates - by tom robbins
   
2. 9.5/10
   
3. Humor/Literature
   
4. It is the best piece of american literature ever. every sentence is perfect.
   
5. http://www.amazon.com/Fierce-Invalids-Home-From-Climates/dp/055337933X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344605797&sr=8-1&keywords=fierce+invalids+home+from+hot+climates

The first novel I read was [Jurassic Park] (https://www.amazon.com/Jurassic-Park-Novel-Michael-Crichton/dp/0345538986/ref=tmm_mmp_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=). It created in me a love for reading solid captivating novels that has lasted over the last 25 years.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

Sounds like a plan! I can't remember what got me hookedon reading. It may have been the Percy Jackson series that make me looove books.



And if you haven't read it, I highly recommend Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Greatr ead. Currently my favorite book.

A few works by an excellent female science fiction writer, Julie E. Czerneda.

• In the Company of others
  
  
• The Species Imperative series (in order):
  Survival,
  Migration, and
  Regeneration
  
  Czerneda is a fantastic author.

https://www.amazon.com/Project-Nemesis-Kaiju-Thriller-Saga-ebook/dp/B00A7FQ5O8

If you have any interest in Kaiju books, this is a fantastic series. I love the audiobooks.

https://www.amazon.com/Island-731-Thriller-Jeremy-Robinson/dp/0312552475

This has some crossover characters eventually.

You can try Cuckoo's Egg: http://www.amazon.com/The-Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-Espionage/dp/1416507787

And if you like it, here's the movie about the book: http://youtu.be/EcKxaq1FTac

It's one of my favorite books of all time.

If you haven't read Mitnick's other work, he has the Art of Intrusion which is pretty nice.

Fatal System Error is also a nice read: http://www.amazon.com/Fatal-System-Error-Bringing-Internet/dp/B004NSVENM

If you're into fiction, read this: http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Day-Jeff-Aiken-Novel/dp/1250007305/

... not sure if you're joking or not, but

The Force Unleashed

The Force Unleashed II

Both great books that add some depth to the already good stories in-game. They are both in my top 5 of Star Wars novels (although I'm a little behind on some of the newer ones after Plagueis).

I definitely recommend it, especially if you like books and action.

If you like sci-fi I strongly recommend This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman. VR and Augmented Reality is just part of life and in the background, it makes it even better than having it be the sole focus. It's so key to society at that point that it is implanted at birth. Poor people get the government version which can be crappy, but it's law that everyone has access. Some people aren't happy with crappy outdated hardware and turn to back-ally brain surgeons...

Multiple personality, corporate espionage, humans as our own aliens, on board technology, hacking, controlled madness, xenophobia... it's an amazing book that had a background which could rival the best world building authors out there but it's a stand alone book not a series.

A little guidance in your taste of literature would help. However, because I like you, I'll recommend Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, or really anything by Tom Robbins.

Other works of fiction that contain the concept of a metaverse;

Books

• The Otherland series, by Tad Williams, beginning with City of Golden Shadow (sidenote, this series also has an MMORPG based on it, currently in closed beta, and recently (October of last year) brought back from the dead)
  
  
• The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons, beginning with Hyperion.
  
  
• The Golden Oecumene, by John C. Wright, beginning with The Golden Age.
  
  
• Accel World, by Reki Kawahara, beginning with Kuroyukihime's Return. (If you are familiar with the manganime Sword Art Online, this is by the same author, and shares the same universe)
  
  
• This Alien Shore, by Celia S. Friedman. (amazon link)
  
  
• The Sprawl Trilogy, by William Gibson, beginning with Neuromancer.
  
  
• Accelerando, by Charles Stross. (free e-book link)
  
  Anime and Manga
  
  
• The .hack series, specifically .hack//SIGN
  
  
• For a lighter feel, there's Summer Wars (available on CrunchyRoll) and the INCREDIBLY similar second Digimon movie, Our War Game!. Also I guess by extension, but not really explored as much, the entire Digimon series, as it takes place in an analogy for the internet.
  
  
• Serial Experiments Lain
  
  
• Okay fine, here's Sword Art Online (CrunchyRoll link)
  
  Film
  
  
• The Singularity is Near, a speculative documentary based on the Ray Kurzweil book of the same name.
  
  
• The Thirteenth Floor, a crime thriller about the owner of a VR simulation company getting murdered.
  
  ----
  
  I know I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the genre, because if there's one thing humans are good at, it's writing fucktons on what we like.
  
  So feel free to comment additions to this list, or opinions on what I've currently included. I have by no means read/watched all of these, so having someone with actual experience with each of these weigh in would be nice.

One thing I like in fanfic is deconstructions. Two deconstructions I've enjoyed are Soon I Will Be Invincible and Redshirts.

What I enjoyed as a teenager, and among the easier reads are Ender's Game, Animal Farm, and Ringworld. Less 'literature' are Rogue Warrior, X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, and Ice Station. Actually, I've never read a book by Matt Reilly (Ice Station) that I didn't finish in one day - they're hard to put down.

I, also, would recommend the Ex-Heroes series by Peter Cline.

I liked Austin Grossman's Soon I Will be Invincible which has chapters alternating between the POV of the main Villian and a Rookie who has just been drafted into their version of the JLA.

I have a few more recommendations if you want

I don't think this book is bad on purpose but if it was it is the greatest book ever written. Temple by Matthew Reilly.

Really good sci-fi book that plays around with this question.

This certainly looks like it

https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Species-Imperative-Julie-Czerneda/dp/0756402611

Really cool book about the genetic experiments and biowarfare 60 years later, Island 731 by Jeremy Robinson.

Pretty creepy, kinda reminded me of Lost.

Close plot but not the book I was looking for. After an extensive search through the intense action novel genre I have found it: Ice Station

In all honesty, the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are pretty tough to get into, since they are practically the ur-examples of fantasy, written back when a lot of commercial fiction methodology was still being developed.

When i read a book, I worry first and foremost if I'm entertained, if I am, I'll give it my recommendation, regardless of the flaws. These are the ones I think you'd find best for jumping in with.

YA/Middle Grade Books

• The Maze Runner Trilogy by James Dashner (post-apocalypse)
  
  
• Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan (modern kid finds he's the son of Poseidon)
  
  
• Leviathan/Behemoth/Goliath by Scott Westerfeld] (World war 1 with mechs and genetically engineered animals)
  
  
• Eragon by Christopher Paolini (a kid finds a dragon egg and fights the big bad guy. As a warning, it uses the exact same monomyth structure as Star Wars so the similarities are... apt.)
  
  
  Fantasy
  
  
• Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (a gang of thieves try to rob the evil overlord)
  
  
• Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (a brutal war between about a half different factions over who gets the crown. Gets really complex fast so it might not be a great one to start with.)
  
  
• Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (I always say it's Oceans 11 written in the Game of Thrones world)
  Discworld by Terry Pratchet (I'd recommend not starting at the beginning.)
  
  
  Sci-Fi
  
  
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (it's Ender's Game. You must read this)
  
  
• Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Not sure how to pitch this. It's space marines fighting everyone)
  
  
• The Sector General Series by James White (It's like House, but in space with aliens. Not without flaws but very underrated in my view)
  
  
  Urban Fantasy
  
  
• The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (a hard boiled private eye who is also a wizard)
  
  
• Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia (Band of mercenaries hunt monsters. The author is very libertarian/right wing so if you can't stand that, you might not like the books. The kindle edition has to be bought from the baen.com bookstore)
  
  
• Grimnoire Chronicles by Larry Correia (1930's with magic, zeppelins, etc Same warning as above, but it's more subdued here.)
  
  
  Thrillers/Suspense
  
  
• Da Vinci Code/Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (even though I think Brown really needs to improve his writing style, he still can get the books going pretty intensely)
  
  
• Jurassic Park, Timeline, Congo, etc by Michael Crichton (a bit tougher reads since they're pretty scientific, but still good stuff)
  
  
• John Grisham's early work such as A Time to Kill, The Firm, Runaway Jury, etc. (legal thrillers but not hard to get into. I'm not a huge fan of his later stuff)

You might enjoy Soon I Will Be Invincible.

Half of Soon I Will be Invincible is from a supervillains point of view, aaaand it's awesome, full of gems like:

>You don't build a 100 ft robot out of nothing.....there's rumors and gossip, trace evidence. There's a shadow economy out there, where these things get done.

and

> Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor.

It's been a while so I'm not 100% sure, but I think Soon I Will Be Invincible fits the bill. Literally superheroes/villains, I'd say comedy.

Right. I get all that. I was just pointing out that there are many books where you see things like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Played-Fire-Millennium/dp/0307949508/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373500736&sr=1-3&keywords=girl+on+fire

http://www.amazon.com/Jurassic-Park-Novel-Michael-Crichton/dp/0345538986/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373500809&sr=1-1&keywords=jurassic+park

Here is my review!

edit-I linked to it, is that ok? I can't do a screenshot right now because I don't have a computer and I can't do screenshots at work.

This Alien Shore by C. S. Friedman. I'm not sure how many people have read it, but I don't see it mentioned very often, which is a shame because it's a great book.

Also, pronounced in vuh lid. I've looked like an idiot telling friends about this book.

I strongly suggest you guys read the book. It goes even deeper than the video game.

Check out Pines by Blake Crouch. It's a fun mix of The Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks, and The Fugative.

I'm not sure how much you've read by Stephen King, but many of his books are not all that intense. Two recommendations are 11-22-63, about a time-traveller trying to prevent the JFK assassination, and Sleeping Beauties (with son Owen King), about an apocalypse where all females succumb to an unending coma if they fall asleep.

You might also check out creature-feature books like Jaws, The Meg, Jurassic Park, or my book The Dinosaur Four.

On the zombie front, consider World War Z by Max Brooks, an "oral history of the zombie apocalypse," and Mountain Man by Keith C. Blackmore is about a loner who drinks his way through the zombie apocalypse. If you're an audible member, there is a free short story prequel to Mountain Man called The Hospital.



Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of The Dinosaur Four

This one. Although, I can't seem to find the exact edition I read. It had a different cover.

It's where the movie came from. I would recommend it. It gets more into the science part of the science fiction than the movie does, and it's also more graphically violent. Plus, there are several pretty epic parts that didn't make it into the movie, and a lot of the characters are more fleshed out.

There is this really good book called Soon I Will Be Invincible about Superheroes in the same realistic vein that Worm resides in. It's told from alternating POV's of a Super villain and a new Superhero.

Link's for everyone's convenience:

Amazon

Wikipedia

Book!

You should read Matthew Reily's Ice Station. :V

Assuming "reboil" is an autocorrect of "ebook", does this not work?

Have you read This Alien Shore by CS Friedman? It might cover some of what you are thinking of.

[link] (http://www.amazon.com/Jurassic-Park-Novel-Michael-Crichton-ebook/dp/B007UH4D3G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418639897&sr=1-1&keywords=jurassic+park)

I clicked the link thinking What Einstein Told His Cook, but after reading your description, I think the closest I have for this category is Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0345538986/ref=tmm_mmp_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1540518292&sr=8-18

Survival by Julie E Czerneda (Species Imperative 1) has a different twist, the series is about migration patterns and such, you will also notice Julie is a biologist.

Soon I will be Invincible made me laugh, its told from the villains point of view.

This Alien Shore is one of those single books that actually make me want to read more in that universe.

Stranger in a Strange Land is controversial, thought provoking, and while a couple of characters will show up in later Heinlein books, it isn't part of a series.

+1 Anathem (2008) by Neal Stephenson

+1 The Speed of Dark (2002) by Elizabeth Moon

It may also be http://www.amazon.com/Ice-Station-Matthew-Reilly/dp/0312971230

Main character wears reflective sunglasses to cover scarring over his eyes. The members of the research team at the station find a aircraft thousands of feet under the ice by swimming in through a tunnel in the ice. That tunnel opens inside their station. The station does get destroyed.

There is some background stuff set in the 70's involving a presidential aide that you find out was behind building the aircraft. His transport plane crashed and his disappearance was a mystery.

> https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0345538986/ref=tmm_mmp_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1540518292&sr=8-18

I actually have the Kindle version of it on my device. I've got all Crichton novels. I've just never got around to reading it for some stupid reason.

This Lost World edition is from 2012, and is probably the newest one. Amazon's stupid review system seems to have mixed it up with Doyle's Lost World though, haha.

Here's a similar edition of the first book.

Try Mark Russinovich. Zero Day, and Trojan Horse are supposed to be similar. Also, Daniel Suarez has another book out called Kill Decision.

David Brin's Uplift Series is exceptional (at least the first three are: Sundiver, Startide Rising, The Uplift War)...Startide won the most awards, but imho it's the least fun of the three.

There is a really interesting stand alone that a lot of people haven't heard of called This Alien Shore, by C. S. Friedman...It's a hell of a book, and not as well known as it deserves to be.

There are so many I have no idea how someone can not be aware of them.

Just go through the wikipedia article and follow the references that interest you.

To skim over it a bit. We could accidentally put in a gene that damages the soil, put in something that messes with the soils bacteria ecosystem, put in something that kills an insect that is an important part of the ecosystem, create an invasive species that becomes impossible to control, accidentally leak GMO material into non-GMO plants which is happening to a lot of corn in the United States, cause the plant to produce an allergen it wasn't producing before, it goes on and on.

Which is how you know that anyone who thinks there's nothing to worry about with GMOs is either completely ignorant about science or a shill. This unexplored territory and we should use caution as we explore it instead of economically exploiting it as quickly as possible like idiots.

This is a very common theme in Michael Crichton's books about the recklessness of capitalism with scientific discovery. This is stressed in the book version of Jurassic Park, read that if you don't understand the general risks that come with any new technology.