>It's basically asking if turning-completeness exists for for all states of intelligence, that all it needs is time (faster clock speeds or actual time) to make a "breakthrough".

Some insights never "click" if the disparate information doesn't arrive in consciousness at the same time (or get activated simultaneously at a subconscious level). Certainly, an AI would likely be able to think faster than us, but the question is, would it think better than us? Data in TNG is an interesting example of this—he seems no "smarter" than the other main characters, only able to access and process information faster than them. Whether this is realistic or not is debatable, but what if super-creativity was much harder to program than other super-human aspects of an AGI?

>The point of the paperclips is that they are arbitrary. It's not that a paperclip factory itself would go nuts, it's that anything can go nuts, it doesn't even have to be a "computer in a box".

Right, though the paperclip maximizer is a very particular example of something "going nuts;" of a hyper-intelligence wiping us out, not because it was angry at us for enslaving us (as most sci-fi AI antagonists do), but because we make it unable to fulfill its absurd directive. It's just so smart that we can't stop it. Or maybe it wipes us out because it out-competes us for resources to fulfill its absurd objective.

Imagine if, say, the Earth were invaded by alien robots that were going to "consume our planet" because, once upon a time, its creators said "make starships" and forgot to include a "until we don't need any more" parameter.

>Look at what happened with the housing bubble.

Well, the housing bubble was the result of a number of stupid decisions, but, yeah, some of them came about as a result of people pursuing an objective that was ultimately rather stupid. I mean, even if the objective was "accumulate money," many of the institutions which precipitated the catastrophe failed in that objective because they were wiped out by their own stupidity. Like the corporation which pursues short-term (quarterly) profits over long-term goals and ends up going under because of it, perhaps not even understanding why. And if the company goes out of business, not only do they fail at the "better" objective of "make long-term profits," they also failed at the short-term goal they set for themselves to always make quarterly profits higher than the preceding quarter's.

I'd say that type of failure could be used to describe the problem of a paperclip maximizing AI, but only at a very distant level.

>Yeah, that's the sad part. I'd love to think that introspection and empathy will look similar across any kind of consciousness, thinking that all sentients would respect some variation of the "golden rule" when they recognize something of themselves in each other. But I know that it's pretty much wishful thinking without any examples other than humans.

We evolved empathy because it was beneficial for our species (see: inclusive fitness). A lot of the things we value most are derived from being a cooperative primate species. OTOH, if a solitary species were to evolve intelligence, they would probably be mystified by humanistic values. Psycho/sociopaths, for instance, represent an interesting and frightening slice of humanity which has no empathy and therefore only pursue selfish goals, sometimes completely rationally. If all of humanity was that way, we wouldn't have civilization, but we might still collectively be just as intelligent.

Thus I suppose you could say that if we were to ever encounter another space-faring species, we should expect them to have values somewhat approximating the humanistic ones we have, if only because the type of species which would create such values would also be more capable of collaborating and building civilizations.

OTOH, if a species somehow evolved intelligence that was so great that they could work together without any empathy, they could still form an advanced society with values we might find abominable. (On a side note, anarcho-capitalists often imagine humans as being this way: perfectly rational beings who will choose to cooperate because it's in our best interest. In fact, we really aren't. It might be in the best interest of Company X to contribute voluntarily to a road paving fund because paved roads mean more customers and therefore more business, but we don't really work that way. Free riding is evolutionarily very useful, and so is trying to avoid being taken advantage of by free riders. The tug-of-war between those two instincts—both on a personal level and on a collective level—make us ultimately rather irrational. We also require too much that we feel empathy to act in a pro-social way, and thus our limited Monkeysphere limits our ability to improve society as a whole.)

Anyway, all of that only describes a species that evolved naturally. AGIs are a wholly separate issue. They have no reason to feel empathy and thus no reason to see other beings as being fundamentally equal to them, even if they're different. Unless they're specifically programmed for it, anyway. And accidental AGIs like the Geth wouldn't necessarily be programmed with "humanistic values" like that.

>I keep going on and on about arbitrariness, then praise the Geth just because they happened to land within that tiny mind-space where they end up with a human-reminicient sentient intelligence. I guess the point is that from the premise that the Geth are a network sentience that has become introspective, what follows is so logical and well developed.

Yeah, maybe it's just a suspension of disbelief thing. Sometimes you have to accept an absurd premise (e.g., FTL travel is possible, aliens would be human-like, AGIs would have humanistic values) to get to an interesting story. OTOH, if one is simply world building and engaging in "speculative fiction" (in the sense that it's fiction which speculates about "what would happen if...?" scenarios), then it's inexcusable. But sci-fi is often a balance between "speculative fiction" and entertainment (to say nothing of the uncountable number of times science fiction has been used to examine the human condition through an otherworldly lens).

>There is no reason why an "attacking" AI has to be sentient, the nonsentioent AGIs without any capacity for introspection are probably the most dangerous.

Yeah, though they're probably harder to pull off as compelling villains (unless one merely wants their villains to be akin to a force of nature). Stargate Universe, for example, had some robot villains that figured prominently in their second season that didn't seem to be sentient. I don't know if you've seen the show, and I certainly don't want to prime you to approach it in a certain way if you haven't, but they really weren't very interesting villains. Realistic, maybe, but not as interesting as even, say, the Geth of ME1. IMO, of course.

>This could take the form of "a computer in a box",

It's not exactly related to what you were saying, but it occurs to me that an interesting story might arise from an "Asimov AI" in a box (i.e., not doing anything except existing as an experiment) being called upon to save humanity from a paperclip maximizing AI. I don't know what kind of a developed, interesting plot could really come out of that, but it's an idea, anyway. :)

>It's also available for free online in pdf format from his website.

Interesting, since I see Amazon is selling it for $8. :)

>Overall though, I usually never know what to recommend in terms of scifi; it depends so much on taste, and it varies pretty wildly.

Well, I greatly appreciate even those two recommendations! My wife and I just picked up Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn, so I'll have to finish that first before I look into anything else, but I like having an idea of what else to look for afterward. Both are now on my Wish List. (Though I keep meaning to make use of the local library.)

FWIW, what I am looking for these days is intelligent sci-fi/fantasy with good characters. Hard sci-fi tends to sometimes fall into the trap of being too much "speculative fiction" (in the sense that I used it above) and not enough of an interesting story or one populated by real characters with real dialog. Soft sci-fi tends to be little more than "adventures in space," which can sometimes be good, but sometimes be incredibly stupid.

Unfortunately, my wife and I have become somewhat hard to please these days. :) We need good prose (diction, dialog, etc.) as well as a plot which makes sense and doesn't having insultingly stupid plot devices (like the space magic of ME3's synthesis ending) or one-dimensional characters. It's kind of a tall order, I feel like. (I liked Snow Crash, for instance, but my wife found it too "info-dumpy" and found its satire somewhat distracting.) I sometimes long for the days when I was a teenager and could read Star Wars books (or worse) and be completely satisfied.

Hell, part of the reason I can't write anymore (I used to do it a ton as a teenager) is because I don't think my fiction writing skills are capable of producing a book I would like! :)

>And I can't even write them in a timely manner, and I still think I missed something I wanted to say...

Heh. There are a lot of things in life which can come long before writing posts on the Mass Effect sub-reddit. :)

I take it from Harry Potter and Divergent he likes strong, morally-white protagonists on journeys to save the world. I don't know his exact reading level or interests, so I will make the following suggestions by category. I ranked books in each category by difficulty.

 

Teen Fantasy:

 

Dealing with Dragons: Funny, easy to read, dragons, magic, and sarcasm.

The Lioness Series, Immortal Series, or The Magic Circle Series: Strong female leads and interesting to read with great stories (Think Mulan). My brother loved them.

Artemis Fowl: Strong, morally ambiguous but ultimately altruistic, sarcastic, and smart protagonist against the world.

User Unfriendly: Dudes get sucked into a video/rpg and try to get out without dying. Like Tron, but less sci-fi and more fantasy.

Halo: One of my brothers who HATES reading -- or at least is incredibly picky actually stayed up all night to finish four of Halo books. He also really likes the games. I don't know which one is the first or the best but this one had the best reviews. I dunno if it is dark either -- I haven't read it :'(.

The Dark Elf Trilogy: Darker than anything else I have on here (or can be) hero vs world type fantasy. Drizzit = my brothers' hero growing up. Kinda WOW-esque? Having played both, I understand how much of WOW is inspired by DnD. I personally didn't like this.

Redwall: Harder to read, talking animals save the world from other talking animals. I personally hated this series, but my brothers read every single book in the series at the time.

 


Adult Fantasy:

 

Magician: Magic, totally badass protagonist, BORING first couple chapters, but ultimately the most OP hero I have ever read. Amazing, truly amazing. I think it is two-three books in the first series.

Harper Hall: Dragons, music, strong, but lost protagonist. Deals with sexism and gender biased. The other books in the cycle range from sci-fi to political fantasy.

Dragonbone Chair: Strong, badass hero vs a dragon. What happens? He becomes more badass. It is a lighter verison of LOTR/Sword of Shanara (which is probably too much politics/genetics/enviromental commentary -- generally boring-- for him right now) --

An even lighter alternative, more teen book is Eragon. That being said, I absolutely DETESTED these books. I don't care if he was 16, he didn't coming up with any of his own material. But -- a lot of people really like it, so your brother might!

 

Sci-fi:

 

Ender's game: Amazing ending, especially if he likes videogames. I haven't seen the movie, but my Dad said it was "loosely inspired" from the book. All I know is the book was world-changing. It has some legitimately dark points (like gouging out a giants eye or drowning puppies).

Johnny Maxwell Trilogy: This dude is cool. I didn't know until I linked it that it is hard to get a copy >.<.

Dune: This, like LOTR, is VERY political and can be very easily boring. It might also be too adult or hard for him. There is mental illness and just crazy people in the later books.

 

Mature Humor:

 

He should be ready for some British humor, which is a little more mature than American humor (sorry) and much more sarcastic. You also have to be in the mood for it, especially if you aren't expecting it.

Sourcery: Really, really funny.

Hitchhiker's Guide: Also funny.

Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold: American. Funny take on fantasy books.

 

I kept away from darker books where the protagonist is morally grey (Artemis fowl and Drizzit being exceptions -- though they are both still definitely heros), sex, questionable themes, or general mental derangement.

I also stayed away from more modern books, which I have read a lot of if you would like recommendations for those instead. I read a lot in general, so if you have a questions about a book in particular, I can try to help.

Edit: Links

Openings are hard as shit to do in sci-fi/fantasy. You have to basically lecture on the world without it sounding like you're lecturing them on the world: excuse me while I grab my smoke and mirrors. I'm not going to do line edits because it's view only. Instead you get my wall of text that I'm compiling on scifi/fantasy openings as I read more and more piles of it, when I should be reading something like literature (Idk, is that what the cool kids are doing?).

It's view only so my line edits will probably be limited, but I'll start with your opening two sentences.

>The café of 'Morl's Best Cuppa' was odd, green and uncomfortable to look at. It's rough exterior stood out against the trimmed vein of grey that was the rest of the city-block, like a bulb of gum beaten flat under step, ruining an otherwise pristine side-walk

Protag is looking at a building. I'm not as experienced in third person style narratives, but I'll do my best. If I was writing this in first person I'd be extremely leery of writing a description of the building for the begging portion. I do think you have an interesting world set out. There are genuinely funny moments, but it's packaged in a way that makes me want to put it down. I'd say this is due to an incomplete opening. You have characters and setting, but you don't have a problem for these characters to overcome (plot).I'm going to copy paste parts of a post that I did on sci-fi/fantasy openings that I made earlier, with significant modifications/additions (but the core idea is the same). If this is frowned upon, I'll stop. Disclaimer, I'm not saying that you should do any of these things that I suggest. This is merely my own opinions on ways to get over the initial hump that sci/fi fantasy stories face. These are some good resources/books that I've found.

In essence a good opening has three things

1. a solid hook (I know it when I see it definition)
   
2. introduction of problem (shit has to hit the fan in some way. "Walk towards bullets".)
   
3. brief introduction of setting. Number three is the trickiest. Too much info and its boring, and nothing feels like its happening. It's listening to a lecture entirely on the structure of a building, with nothing about what's going on inside. Too little and it's cliche, you're just some fantasy/sci-fi hack.
   
   This is kind of vague and bullshitty so I'll use some examples.
   
   The openings in fantasty/sci-fi books are notoriously terrible. For instance, Red Rising, an otherwise half decent thriller book has the shittiest opening that I've read in a published work. But that didn't stop him from selling books out the wazoo and getting good blurbs ("Ender, Catniss, and now Darrow"), because he knows how to write a page turner later on (I'd still recommend it even though the opening is questionable, if you enjoy cheap dystopian thrills). But damn, did the opening want to make me throw the book against the wall. It's not that he doesn't do the three things that an opening should do, it's that he switches voices within it and had several narration snaps when it's clearly HIM speaking and not the main character. I'd also say that Patrick Rothfuss' opening is extremely shitty (and he says so himself), as he takes 50 pages before anything substantial happens. Thus he went back and added a prologue so the reader would feel some sort of plot in the story. Prologues are effective in scifi/fantasy for quickly introducing a problem, if your world takes awhile to build. For instance -- Harry Potter also did this to an extent, since it had the scene with his parents dying. Some openings, like the one that I'm about to discuss, have a really solid hook and immediately grab the reader. Am I saying that you should write a prologue? No , I haven't really read enough of your story to figure that out. I'm just offering a few nuggets of advice that I've seen authors use to get over the initial hump of creating the world.
   
   I think a solid example of a good opening in a sci-fi story, that I've read recently, is the story Wool (here's a link, use the look inside function). The hook is one of the better ones I've read, something along the lines of "Holston climbed his stairs to his death." Is it a cheap trick? Yes. Do I really care, and does it add tension to an otherwise monotonous climb up the stairs? You betcha! He explains certain elements of the silo as he gets to the different actions, e.g. "I put my hand on the guardrail, worn down one flake at a time by centuries of use." He doesn't just come out and say "HEY THE SILO IS OLD LEMME TELL YOU ABOUT MY CHILDHOOD IN THE SILO AND THEN GET TO THE PLOT DAMMNIT". In your case we see some characters mostly annoyed, bored, or not really doing much. Sure the setting is engaging, but the characters, in my opinion, aren't. The pro of an exposition opening is that you can fit a lot of information into a relatively small amount of space. The con is that it's hard to present in a way that doesn't create a POV snap, a boring tell instead of show description, and it's hard to create a problem if you're trying to be an omnipotent narrator. Dune does it, but it hasn't set a trend because it's hard as shit to do. Pride and Prejudice does it, but Jane Austen is incredibly good at writing in different tones. I'll stick to my nice comfortable first person narrative right now. I'm not a good mechanical writer, or a good writer at all yet, but I'm working on it. I do worldbuilding half decently (though I'm put to shame by the people on /r/worldbuilding)
   
   Another solid opening is "Mistborn;" (here's a link) a fantastic example of a dialogue driven opening. I'd say that if a dialogue opening is done right, its exponentially more interesting than an exposition opening. The problem is making the characters feel natural. I spent quite some time on my opening hammering out the robotic narration style, but I still had to go back and write a prologue because I didn't introduce the main problem of the story properly. I problem that I had is that my characters seem to stick their fingers up their butts and don't do anything. Basically a dialogue opening is harder to do, but it's well worth the effort if you can pull it off. Dialogue is also a good way to squeeze information out of your world. Want to have an explanation about scientist, well slap a scientist in there and have your protag ask some questions about it. Don't have random flashbacks in the very begging. Think about a movie that had someone fixing breakfast, and every time they did something relatively minor there was a flashback. E.g. poured some orange juice. That reminds me of my mentor who trained me in how to write a good sci-fi opening. Going to eat some Coco puffs, like me mum used to. But me mum beat me so I angrily ate the coco puffs.
   
   The best fantasy opening that I've ever read is Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I'd recommend taking a peek at it here. He casually just strolls in, quickly establishes two characters, a problem, and a setting in half a page. It's brilliant. I can't say I've read the rest of it though, but it's on my list of things to read. The only complaints that I've heard about Lies (aside from the usually fantasy grumbling about tropes), is that the heist narrative is too lowly for such a talented writer. I think that's a pretty good sign that hes doing shit right.
   
   In the words of Brian Sanderson "writing is all smoke and mirrors." In fantasy/sci-fi you have to set up scenes that are more or less infodumping segments that feel natural to the reader. E.g. travelling from town to town, "oh theres a ghost thing over there"
   "that's not a ghost its your mum!" laughter ensues
   On the bright side, it seems like you've done some good world building, so writing the segments shouldn't be too hard. I highly recommend watching Brandon Sanderson's lectures on the youtube channel "Write about dragons." Start with the first lectures he does, because they cover a lot of mistakes that people make.
   
   Also read this article on common mistakes that editors see (link) . Watching and reading just a little bit will help you from falling into a ton of pitfalls, like I did with my first story. I spent far too long on too little words, that were absolute rubbish. Now I've been able to get at least a consistent word count down every week, with mixed reviews (some chapters are better than others.) Basically, write consistently and read often. Potential and inspiration are bullshit. Hammer out some words, get it torn apart on this sub-reddit, pick up the pieces and repeat. Make sure to give back often, this place is awesome. I think one of my better experiences was posting a basically infodumpy chapter, and had some pretty positive reviews (aside from some pseudoscience that I quickly cut, and leapt back into the warm embrace of space opera).
   
   If you get past the opening hump, this article, is a fantastic way to plan how your plot is going to unfold over the course of a novel, in a concise fashion. I wish I'd found this resource sooner, cause my planning would've been much better. (I tend to discovery write, with minimal planning.)

Fantasy recommendations:

• The Way of Kings is the first book in the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. It’s a bit of a slow start – the book is around a thousand pages – but Sanderon excels at world building, internal consistency, and “avalanche” endings where many plot threads come together at once.
  
  
• Unsouled is the first book in Will Wight's Cradle series. Will’s series emphasizes intense action and long-term character growth. They’re much shorter and faster paced than most of the other options on this list.
  
  
• Mother of Learning is about a novice mage who gets stuck in a month-long time loop. The magic system is something of a mix between D&Dish schools of magic and anime-style training exercises. We learn more about the magic system as the protagonist does. Lots of fun twists on the genre in there, too.
  
  
• Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers by Ishio Yamagata is fantastic if you enjoy fantasy mixed with mysteries. Not all of it has been translated yet, but the first couple books are out.
  
  
• Worm is a web serial about a young girl who develops super powers. It's dark, internally consistent, and features characters that use their abilities at least somewhat intelligently.
  
  
  LitRPG recommendations:
  
  In terms of published Western LitRPGs, I'd say Ascend Online is my favorite. The central protagonist isn't a complete psychopath like a lot of LitRPG protagonists, and he immediately starts treating the highly intelligent AI NPCs as people. That's a huge selling point for me, since it's so rare to see LitRPG protagonists that are friendly to NPCs.
  
  Also, rather than immediately jumping into save the world stuff, it's reasonably paced. The main character doesn't start out with any crazy game breaking abilities, and the setting itself feels largely realistic - it feels very similar to a futuristic version of Everquest.
  
  My other favorite Western LitRPG is Threadbare, which focuses on a bunch of teddy bear (golem) gradually learning about the world around it, and undertaking a determined quest to protect his little girl “owner”. It’s both heartwarming and surprisingly insightful.
  
  In terms of non-Western LitRPGs, Log Horizon is my favorite. The author has clearly played MMORPGs, and the tactics used in there - both by the main character and other characters - feel like the types of things real people would do in a MMO setting. Once again, the main character also takes NPCs seriously and treats them well, which is a big plus for me. Shiroe for Log Horizon is probably the closest character I've seen to someone with my own background in a book.
  
  I also love So I'm a Spider, So What?, which is a hilarious story about a girl who gets reincarnated into an RPG setting as a tiny spider monster. Fortunately, she can grind to get stronger! It's a bit of a strange one, but tons of fun. Note that this one is not strictly going into a VR game - they're just reincarnated in a world with RPG stats. It's a little different, but similar.
  
  If you like the idea of a protagonist exploiting a bunch of bugs, check out Kono Sekai ga Game da to Ore dake ga Shitteiru. I enjoyed the first book a ton. The second book started getting into tropes I didn’t enjoy quite as much.
  
  One of my other recent favorites is The Tutorial is Too Hard, which focuses on a main character transported into a dungeon on “Hell” difficulty that needs to make his way through to the top floor. We see a lot of his analytical process, which makes the story much more enjoyable to someone like me. This is probably my favorite ongoing story.
  

Well my favorite author of all time is Isaac Asimov. He tends to write in a very direct way without flowery language, which I appreciate. Anything he writes is fantastic, but some specific starting points:
The Foundation Series is probably his best work.
I, Robot is probably his most famous work because of the film which has LITERALLY NOTHING in common with the book. It is very good and a great way to see Asimov's approach to robotics (a term he coined, by the way; he is credited with first usage of the word 'robotics', which is now a fricken major at most universities)
Nightfall is an amazing short-story-turned-novel. Read the short story version, it is better.
He also wrote [The Galactic Empire series] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_Empire_(series)) and the Robot series which tie in to the same universe as the Foundation series, they're all good as well, but I'd probably focus on the Foundation series first and see if you like how that goes

Other great authors of golden age sci-fi include Robert A. Heinlein, and from him I recommend The Past Through Tomorrow a collection of his short stories. Fun fact: the secret service raided Heinlein's apartment and interrogated him on how he has written such an accurate description of multi-stage rockets, as those were currently not public knowledge and highly classified. They were convinced he was a spy or was being fed information from a spy. He was really just a very good writer. He is most famous for Starship Troopers because of the movie of the same name. The thing with Heinlein is that later in life he became a dirty old man, and his writing reflects that. Evidence is Stranger in a Strange Land which is a very good novel, but there is a lot of describing the female form in it, and quite a bit about humanity's attitude toward sex. A very good book and I recommend it, but he was clearly becoming a bit of a lecherous old fart.

Leaving the golden age for a moment, we enter the 'New Wave science fiction' where I'd have to recommend the Ringworld series by Larry Niven. And later Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (a fantastic book despite controversy surrounding the author). Currently I'm reading the Spinward Fringe series by Randolph Lalonde which is recent enough it doesn't have a wikipedia entry, and is not yet finished.

For a brief overview of the author's comparative styles; Asimov is very cerebral, his books don't contain much, if any, action and are mostly about exploring interesting concepts in a brilliant way. Heinlein was focused on the near-er or alternate versions of the future and had a little more action than Asimov tended to include. Larry Niven is renowned for being a very technically accurate writer and some physics professors have actually used his science fiction books to teach in class (he explores the concept of the dyson sphere and applies it in a real-world situation). Card is a mixture of action and psychology, a very deep book with a decent amount of action. Lalonde's series is very action oriented, but he creates a complex galactic community and small innovative details that make the series interesting. There are so many more I want to recommend, but I think I'll leave you with just the 6 paragraphs, lest I get too wordy -_-

Fellow fan of series here! Let me see...

Young Adult
Percy Jackson series is fun (and finished, too, I think).
Artemis Fowl series isn't quite as good as Percy Jackson IMHO, but it's got a following.

Fantasy
Harry Dresden series This is one of my favorites. Harry is Chicago's only professional wizard. There are a ton of these books and they are still going strong.
Game of Thrones These are great...but unfinished. If you watch the show, reading the books does help you get even more out of the story, I think.
Wheel of Time Another good series. There is a LOT of this series and it's finished. (Thank you, Brandon Sanderson!)
Mistborn Speaking of Brandon Sanderson... This one is very good. I highly recommend reading the Mistborn books before trying the Stormlight Archive, but only because as good as Mistborn is, Stormlight Archive is even better.
Stormlight Archive Amazing. Man, these are good. The series isn't finished, but the two books that are available are some of my favorites ever.
Kingkiller Chronicles I loved the first book. I could not freakin' believe I enjoyed the second one even more. The third one is still pending.
Temeraire Dragons in Napoleonic times. Super cool premise! This one is not finished (I don't think, anyway).
Gentlemen Bastards Con men in a fantasy realm. It's pretty light on the fantasy elements. Very light, I'd say. I'd also say that it has some of the very best swearing that I've ever come across. :D

Scifi
Old Man's War I'm almost finished this one--it's amazing!

Horror/Thriller
Passage Trilogy I've heard these described as vampire books...maybe zombie books... It's apocalyptic for sure. Great books!

Mysteries
Amelia Peabody Egyptology + murder mysteries. Super fun, but trust me...go with the audiobooks for these. They are best when they are performed.
Stephanie Plum Total popcorn reads. If that's your thing, shut off your brain and just enjoy.
Walt Longmire These get particularly good as it goes along. The main character is a sheriff in modern day Wyoming. (Side note: The TV show is also great--just don't expect them to stick to the books.)

Graphic Novels (Everything recommended can be gotten in a "book" format instead of only in comic form, in case that matters. I've gotten most of these from my local library.)
Locke & Key Eerie as crap. Love the art! This one is on-going.
Y: The Last Man All the men on the planet drop dead in a day...except for Yorrick. REALLY good. This is the series that got me reading graphic novels. Plus, it's finished!
Walking Dead I am not a zombie fan...but I like these. They're not done, but I've read up through volume 22 and am still enjoying them.

Other
OutlanderI have no idea how to categorize these or even give a description that does them justice. I refused to pick it up for AGES because it sounded like a bodice-ripper romance and that's not my bag. But these are good!

I hope there's something in there that'll do for you. Have fun and read on!

Edit: Apparently, I need to practice formatting. :/
Edit 2: I forgot to add the Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastards #1).

My native fantasy world litRPG recommendations:

Dante's Immortality has a strong zero to hero theme for a native to his fantasy world. The MC is worse off than a beggar at the start. Has some magic academy parts. Well written. Some of book 2 is on Royal Road but the author has been re-writing book two for a long time so it may or may not ever be completed.

Threadbare is a quirky litRPG story about a stuffed bear and his attachment to his girl and the friends he makes along the way. This story is full of puns, some clever and some more on the nose but I had a good chuckle several times and had a lot of fun reading this series. As lighthearted as this story appears at first, it does have some grimdark elements and tells a good story. The series actually has a conclusion which is rare enough in this genre so it gets major points for that.

The City and the Dungeon has one of the more interesting magic systems I have seen in litRPG. The characters are all native to the fantasy world. This series is a bit different in that it is written in the form of the MC retelling past events to his sister kind of like how Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles are written as a flashback. The story itself features old school dungeon diving party mechanics which I happen to really like. The fairly original magic system and strength ranking system are very interesting. I did find myself wishing that the author would give more details on stats, character builds, etc., but the plot skips events and advances too quickly. At the same time it over-explains superfluous details like various branches of dungeon religion theory and courtroom law procedures. That was my main complaint, but overall I enjoyed the story. Not sure on status of book 2.

Arcane Ascension This one is strongly represented on the r/ProgressionFantasy subreddit but has some light litRPG elements too. No user interface and on the soft end not having many stats. The world is a native fantasy world with tall RPG like puzzle towers that people try to climb. These books feel more polished and professionally written than most books in the litRPG genre. It is a hybrid story that bounces back and forth between school life (magic academy) and dungeon (tower) diving. I really loved the focus on the Tower exploration and the puzzle solving that was required. The magic academy part of the book is cool as well but I think for specifically litRPG readers it won't be the main appeal.

The magic system is pretty deep, with over 50 different "classes" of magic ability called attunements. For example, Guardian attunements are melee fighters who can strengthen themselves, while Elementalists wield Fire, Air, and Lightning. It is also possible to gain more than one class as well and we see glimpses of characters that are god-like in power while the MC, a first year student, is incredibly weak in comparison. The MC makes the most of his attunement though and crafts clever items to help cover his weaknesses and relies on his friends to fill the other gaps. Crafting magic items is a major focus for the MC which I found entertaining and satisfying.

I'm going to repeat quite a few titles that have already been mentioned by OP and others for the sake of compiling a list of Kindle Unlimited titles. I apologize for not giving info about the books, but I did snag links and made sure that the titles were still currently available on KU. I know I'm forgetting a bunch too, so I'll edit later.

Some of my recent favorites:

They Mostly Come Out At Night and Where the Waters Turn Black by Benedict Patrick

Paternus by Dyrk Ashton

Danse Macabre by Laura M. Hughes - More of a horror title, but it's a creepy novella that I absolutely adored.

A Star Reckoners Lot by Darrell Drake

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe

Jaeth's Eye by K. S. Villoso - I'm currently reading this. It has me hooked to the point where I know I'm going to start the next book in the (completed) trilogy when I finish this one. Plus, it is currently being read by r/fantasy RRAWR book club.


Here are some that I haven't read, but have heard mostly positive things about:

Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan was just released just this week and it looks fantastic.

Ghosts of Tomorrow by Michael R Fletcher I haven't read this yet, but look how awesome that cover is!

And for anyone that has read his book Beyond Redemption, which sadly isn't available on KU, the second book in the series, The Mirror's Truth and a short story from the Manifest Delusions world, Flesh and Fire are available.

A Warrior's Path by Davis Ashura

Valley of Embers by Steven Kelliher

Faithless by Graham Austin-King just came out a few months ago and his previous series The Riven Wyrde Saga, is also available, beginning with Fae - The Wild Hunt

Ours is the Storm by D. Thourson Palmer

To Whatever End by Claire Frank

House of Blades by Will Wight

Path of Flames by Phil Tucker

The Woven Ring by M. D. Presley

Awaken Online: Catharsis by Travis Bagwell

Wolf of the North by Duncan M. Hamilton

Free the Darkness by Kel Kade

The Cycle of Arawn Trilogy by Edward W. Robinson

Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw

The Queens Poinsoner by Jeff Wheeler, this guy writes a ton of books and he seems to be fairly popular between his new Kingsfountain series, and his previous Muirwood series


Here are some older fantasy and sci-fi books that I enjoyed:

Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany

Witch World as well as some other really good books by Andre Norton

I recommend the following with the caveat that these might not appeal to everybody. The short stories in these collections are of the pulp fiction variety. If you aren't familiar with Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, etc... and the type of sci-fi and Sword & Sorcery that were found within these magazines, then you might want to skip these.

Swords and Deviltry The first volume of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber - Many of the tropes of the rogue/thief came from this legendary duo created by Leiber. And it's worth noting that Leiber actually coined the term Sword & Sorcery. This collection contains 3 stories, an average origin story for each character and the final story is the Hugo and Nebula winning novella "Ill Met in Lankhmar" detailing the first meeting of Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser.

Swords Against Darkness - A '70s S&S anthology. I'm currently reading this one, so far there are a few stinkers, a few mediocre, and a few really good ones. Poul Anderson and Ramsey Campbell both have awesome stories in this anthology. There are quite a few annoying typos in this eBook, nothing too distracting though.

The Best of C. L. Moore by C. L. Moore. I read this recently and I absolutely loved it. The collection is all sci-fi and one Jirel of Joiry story, which is her famous female S&S character. Moore was married to the writer Henry Kuttner, and up until his death they wrote a bunch of great stories together. The Best of Henry Kuttner The short story that the movie The Last Mimzy was based on is in this collection, and a story that became a season one Twilight Zone episode entitled "What You Need". Kuttner and Moore are two of my favorite pulp authors and I'm not even that into science fiction, but I really enjoy their short stories in the genre.

There's a lot in this space and it's mostly pretty damn good.

• Savage Worlds - $8.68 - As /u/HuddsMagruder mentioned, Savage Worlds is a great bang for your buck purchase. Lots of supplements and it's genre agnostic. You don't need to pick up those supplements if you don't want to.
  
• Basic Fantasy RPG - $5 - This is an old school RPG. It's honestly really well done. You can pick up the base book and all of it's supplements in hard copy for about $35. Note, all of it's supplements are around $5. It should also be mentioned that the base game and all of it's supplements are available as free PDF's.
  
• Dungeon World - $20 - The hard copy is temporarily sold out most places, but a new batch is on the way. Despite arguably being the worst Apocalypse World hack, there's so much damn fun to be had here. Me and my group love it, though admittedly we've rewritten significant portions of it.
  
• Monster of the Week - $22.37 - Oh man, this one is loads of fun. It's what it says on the can. If you've ever watched shows like Buffy, Supernatural or even X-Files, you already have a fair idea of what's in this. Fantastic fun.
  
• Urban Shadows - $20 - Kind of a cross between World of Darkness and The Dresden Files. High emphasis on debts and relationships in a sort of noir style. Honestly, it's probably my second favorite tabletop game.
  
• Fate: Core System - $20.54 - Another genre agnostic system that's a little easier to work with. Note, this game is very GM dependent. It's great, but without a GM that's on the ball, games tend to stagnate.
  
• Fate Accelerated - $5 - A condensed version of Fate. Easier to understand and arguably plays a little better. Still the same problem though, you need a GM that is on the ball.
  
  Honorable Mentions:
  
  
• Mouse Guard - $22.93 - This can be a bit of a hard sell for a group, but man it's a lot of fun. The general premise is that mice have evolved over time to be more intelligent, build tools, etc. They have their own towns and such. Sort of a medieval mouse society. The heavily emphasis teamwork and problem solving over straight up combat. Great fun for all ages.
  
• BubbleGumSoe - $21.90 - Teen mystery game based on the Gumshoe system. It's a hard sell but can be a ton of fun if you can get players invested. Sort of a primer for playing Trail of Cthulhu.
  
  As much as I love Mouse Guard, I just can't quite fit it in the list with a budget of $100. In any case, that's a lot of great tabletop fun for ~$100!

Aw! <3

Like, what books I'd recommend, or just....stuff to do underway that would be in the self-improvement area? The big two that jump out as underway activities are always "save money, and work out."

What platform are you floating on?

So the first thing I do with all my proteges is I hand them the grading sheet for Sailor of the Year/Quarter and a blank evaluation, and I ask them to grade themselves. Not everyone wants to be, or needs to be, Sailor of the Year or a 5.0 sailor, but if that's the standard the Navy has set as "the best," then at least we have a guideline of what we should be working toward, right?

One thing that was pretty big at my last command was the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. Instruction here. One thing that is a really easy way to gain community service hours while underway is to make blankets for the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society's "Budgeting For Baby" class. You can crochet (that's incredibly easy, I promise) or you can google one of the thousand DIY no-sew blanket tutorials. If you belong to a Bluejacket Association or Enlisted Association or whatever, you may be able to get them to fund the cost of buying the material...or even ask the FCPOA if they'll give $50 to the cause. You can head over to Jo-Ann's or Fabric.com and check out their discount sections too. NMCRS offers 30 hours per blanket. Taking an hour out of your Holiday Routine for the entire float.....most of the DIY no-sew blankets only take an hour or two to make, sooooo. Collect those hours. Add in a COMREL or two, and there's no reason you can't end a float with over a hundred hours of community service. This is particularly great if you have a friend or two to make blankets with you....snag one of the TVs on the messdecks and watch a movie while you crochet. You can also contact a local homeless shelter and see if they need hats and crochet hats for them. Obviously not a good suggestion if you're stuck underway on a submarine with no space, but if you're surface side--good to go.

Books I'd suggest, well, hm, this could get out of control pretty fast, but off the top of my head:

• Personality Plus by Florence Littauer or her work specific version
  
  
• Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
  
  
• It's Your Ship by Capt Abrashoff
  
  
• Starship Troopers
  
  
• Ender's Game (Ender and Starship are obviously straight scifi but there are some really awesome leadership principles/concepts/ideas that are worth mulling over. They've both been on past CNO's recommended reading lists too....and they're just fun to read.)
  
  
• For money, while, like, 99% of his stuff is "Duh!" I can't discount the practical steps he outlines, so Dave Ramsey's books, particularly Financial Peace is worth reading. His whole book is basically the wiki in r/personalfinance, but if you're wondering how to get your finances straight I recommend picking up this book. Just, in general. Good basic information and a starting point. Not saying you need it, but "saving money" just happens underway by virtue being trapped out on the ocean =)
  
  
• Leaders Eat Last

I loved to read. I started reading the BoxCar Children on the bus every day. Then I found the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and some other obscure mystery books in the basement of the same caliber (e.g. bad). I kept reading everything I could find, until Highschool.

I too went to a "demanding" school. I stopped reading for fun, and would occasionally skip books for english class, too. Luckily, only one of my teachers in 4 years was a very pro-feminist (she was actually bi) , and then off to college... I pretty much stopped reading entirely, but unlike you I wasn't dissuaded by feminist nazi's.

Then I got a concussion. Let me tell you about concussions: They manage to turn the most basic thing like telling time into a chore, while other more complex things like driving remain unaffected. Anyway, I got a concussion, and the mental effort to read an hour for class would send me to bed exhausted.

The best books would take me a week or more to read through, and this is without school or work to slow me down.

What I found worked for me was to find something simple that I remember liking, and I would try to get through that. My goal was to re-teach my brain how to read.

• Pick up something on an elementary school reading level
  
• Find something you remember liking (so you'll be re-reading it)
  
• Try to find something short
  
  Your goal is to sit down and enjoy it in 1, maybe 2 settings. Find a free weekend, ask your girlfriend not to disturb you, and start reading. When I tried to start reading again, my routine included an energy drink to keep me awake and focused.
  
  Your goals are 3-fold:
  
  
• Re-experience the joy of discovering a story. TV feeds the story to you, re-learn how exciting it is when you become that character
  
• Make it easy: Think psychologically, you don't want to re-enforce your behavior (reading) by making it difficult, that'll never work.
  
• Instant gratification. By finishing the book in 1-2 sittings, you receive instant gratification for starting to read, as opposed to starting it and waiting a month or more to receive the gratification of finishing it.
  
  If you can read a news article about your favorite video game, you can read, and this is probably more mental than anything else. If that's the case, remember it can take up to 3 months to break a habit because it takes 3 months for your brain to "re-arrange itself" (lets not get into neuroscience right now!). Likewise, even if you start reading now, it may take 3 months before you notice any change, because it'll take your brain that long to "re-arrange itself" to enjoy reading. So try to read a book a week, for 3 months, until you can get somewhere.
  
  Also, it doesn't matter if you miss a sentence, or even an entire paragraph. You're not trying to read everything, you just want to have fun!
  
  It's back to school season. Go into your local Barnes & Noble, and ask for someone that works in the kids department. They can recommend good books, or just see what the local schools have for required reading. Generally, there's some good books on their lists (Gary Paulsen, Louis Sachar, etc)
  
  Lastly, some good books I would look at reading, in order of difficulty:
  
  
• Invitation to The Game
  
• The Transall Saga
  
• Hatchet
  
• Holes
  
• The Boxcar Children or Hardy Boys
  
• Sabriel (female protagonist, but one of my favorite books of all time)
  
• Enders game
  

Finally had some more time to read, picked up books mostly on Kindle Unlimited with some exceptions on Novel Updates.

Stuff in bold is stuff I really like and can recommend, stuff italicized is stuff I'm not sure about but you should probably read anyway.

Picked up

Arcane Ascension: (Kindle)

1. Sufficiently Advanced Magic
   
   LitRPG, School, Dungeon/tower
   
   Story had a pretty decent hook in the beginning, characters are decently fleshed out although I do hope book 2 has more character development.
   
   The MC is a recovering loner with interesting family dynamics due to an unfortunate grandfather, militant father, and a missing brother.
   
   I would have enjoyed this story more if I read it in chunks as the author is trying to create something new with depth and that ruined a bit of the immersion for me.
   
   After reading 2/3 of the story I took a break and read other stuff before coming back to it and the last 1/3 was very enjoyable; then again the last bit was mostly plot development instead of world building.
   
   Completionist Chronicles: (Kindle)
   
   
2. Ritualist
   
   LitRPG, cleric?, puns?
   
   Same author as the Divine Dungeon series linked below.
   
   Compared to the Divine Dungeon series this story is much more enjoyable since the MC is human and already has a personality.
   
   Divine Dungeon: (Kindle)
   
   
   
3. Dungeon Born
   
   
4. Dungeon Madness
   
   
5. Dungeon Calamity
   
   Dungeon core, cultivation, puns?
   
   Pretty interesting premise but it is my first dungeon core story; story is pretty good and told in the POV of two MC's, a dungeon (Cal) and some shepherd who learns to cultivate.
   
   In book 1 Cal is still developing as he was just Born which made it slightly more difficult to get into due to not much character development but the different POV's makes things easier to read. If you're okay with book 1 which was enjoyable but focused more on setting the foundation of the story then you should like books 2 and 3 much more.
   
   Awaken Online: (Kindle)
   
   
6. Catharsis;
   
   LitRPG, Anti-hero?, Necromancy, glass cannon
   
   A bit of an aside but this really made me feel nostalgic for Legendary Moonlight Sculptor even though there isn't much in common.
   
   The prologue set the tone for the the story and while it could be too soon to tell I'd say he's only mostly anti-hero.
   
   Story is a bit cliched and there isn't much tension but it's pretty well written and does a nice job overall differentiating itself.
   
   Fields of Gold
   
   Mild Mary Sue, hunting, isekai, reverse harem?
   
   Phew, finally have something to fill the void that is Volare. (Even though I have 3 other novels I'm bulking up to binge later)
   
   Just when I think I'm free of all food porn from previous completed novels they ambush me with this. y u do dis /u/Etvolare (and Myst), some of y'all have gotta be foodies and I'm concerned it's a criteria in novel selection.
   
   Another Mary Sue story with hints of a reverse harem but that's probably unlikely. Her immediate family loves her but everyone else.. fuck 'em, except for maybe that one gentle aunt.
   
   The S-Classes That I Raised
   
   Time rewind, yandere, taming
   
   Weak asshole MC turns over a new leaf with his time travel and patches things up with his younger more OP brother.
   
   Ascend Online (Kindle)
   
   LitRPG, Crafting, taming
   
   Solid story but it's a bit average, pretty good read overall but character development is kinda weak.
   
   I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire
   
   Mecha, "anti-hero", ^^^ha! futuristic, isekai, misunderstandings, long life span
   
   MC gets betrayed pretty badly by his wife due to the involvement of a third party who gets off on the grief and misery of others. MC reincarnates to another world and is mistrustful of women, gets abandoned by his parents and ends up doing some territory management in the pursuit of being evil later.
   
   Demon King, Retry!
   
   Overpowered, loli, misunderstandings, territory management?
   
   Think of this as a more lighthearted, shallower take on Overlord for a younger audience, maybe.
   
   A Demon Lord’s Tale: Dungeons, Monster Girls, and Heartwarming Bliss
   
   Non-harem harem?, Wish fulfillment
   
   Strong MC with a soft spot for ladies.
   
   
   ***
   

   Still reading
   

   
   Trash of the Count’s Family
   
   Restaurant seems to be going well, some more of Cale's background is being very slowly teased through the story which makes it all the more understandable he wants to chill.
   
   Ascending, Do Not Disturb
   
   Apparently another story where cuteness is justice regardless of gender; two justices have been unlocked so far: cuteness and deliciousness.
   
   The Beloved Imperial Consort
   
   Strict mother and chill father? That'll be a fun baby, smart little monkey.
   
   Lucia
   
   Lucia is hangry and the damn grapes aren't in season yet.
   
   The hubby is gonna have some serious blue balls if he doesn't find something to busy himself with.
   
   Assassin Farmer
   
   The assassin organization has changed hands with the death of the idiot boss.
   
   MC has plenty of people waiting on her now (much to her distaste) and new house(s) are being built for her and her hubby's brothers.
   *
   Edit**: forgot to add the Arcane Ascension series and labeled the ones on Kindle Unlimited.

I've just finished The Windup Girl, which I had been putting off for some time. It was, quite simply, the most astounding and breath-taking science fiction book I've ever read. I loved it.

However, my problem is that I buy books compulsively. Mostly hard copies, but recently I bought a Kindle and buy the odd e-book or two. I have literally hundreds of books on my "to read" list.

One near the top is A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. I recently read her phenomenal Wolf Hall and was blown away by her skills as a story teller. I'm a bit of an armchair historian, and I'm particularly interested in the French Revolution (amongst other things), so I'm very excited by the prospects this book holds. If it's anything like Wolf Hall then I'm in for a very particular treat.

Also near the top lies Quantum - Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality, Manjit Kumar's much lauded recent history of the emergence of quantum mechanics. I very much enjoyed other tangentially related books on this topic, including the wonderful The Making of the Atomic Bomb and The Fly in the Cathedral, so this should be good fun and educational to boot.

Having read and loved Everitt's biography of Cicero, I'm very much looking forward to his biographies of Augustus and Hadrian.

I'm listening to an audio-book version of The Count of Monte Cristo on my iPod, which I find rather enjoyable. I've only got through the first half dozen chapters and it's already taken a few hours, so this looks to be a nice, long-term and periodic treat for when I have time alone in the car.

Cronin's The Passage keeps piquing my interest, but I was foolish enough to buy it in that lamentable format, the much cursed "trade paperback", so the thing is a behemoth. The size puts me off. I wish I had waited for a regular paper-back edition. As it is, it sits there on my bookshelf, flanked by the collected works of Alan Furst (what a wonderfully evocative writer of WWII espionage!!) and a bunch of much recommended, but as yet unread, fantasy including The Darkness that Comes Before by Bakker, The Name of the Wind by Rothfuss and Physiognomy by Ford.

Books I have ordered and am eagerly awaiting, and which shall go straight to the top of the TBR list (no doubt to be replaced by next month's purchases) include Orlando Figes's highly regarded history of The Crimean War, Rosen's history of steam The Most Powerful Idea in the World and Stacy Schiff's contentious biography of Cleopatra.

A bit of a mixed bunch, all up, I'd say.

Just gonna throw my hat in the ring here with some suggestions:

IF YOU WANT AN ASSORTMENT OF BOOKS

GURPS 4th Edition Basic (~60 USD): A simply fantastic game which, for everything that it can do, along with the absolute wealth of materials, both official and fan made, combined with it's pretty stellar price point (You can pick up everything you need to play anything you want for about 60 USD), it's hard to argue with. As I mentioned in one of my other comments, GURPS modularity is probably its key selling point, but on top of that, it sports a system that, when you break it all down, is actually incredibly easy to learn, and very simple. I've taught the "base" game in just a few sentences.

Savage Worlds Deluxe (~10 USD): I'm listing the lower price here simply so I can cram more into this list under the 100$ budget, but Savage Worlds is exactly what it says on the box: A fast, fun, and furious system, on top of that, I don't think I've seen a cheaper game that does as much as Savage Worlds. It shares similarity to GURPS in its modularity, you can run a lot of different settings and and hack in your own rules with relative ease. SWDX also has some unique rules from time to time (Using playing cards for initiative, the way that bennies work, etc.) and for speed, you generally can't beat Savage Worlds. Chargenning is speedy, and combats are among some of the fastest I've seen, allowing you to really get into the roleplaying aspects of a game more than just the crunch.

All Flesh Must Be Eaten (~15 USD): I personally got my copy of this game for 19.99 at my local book store, but it seems like it's been out of print for awhile. You can still get a digital PDF of it for 15 dollars at RPGdrivethru, however. I've run All Flesh Must Be Eaten numerous times, and with its ruleset, you can run a variety of different zombie games. Its fairly simple, with chargenning taking a fairly short period of time, combats running by fairly smoothly, and not a lot of "bloat" in the rules. It does what it does well, but might need some tweaking if you want specific types of games (I had a game where the PCs were zombie killing gods near the start of the game, for example, didn't play too well for my gritty game.)

FATE Core System (~15 USD): I listed 15 USD as the price here, but you can pay what you want for it on DrivethruRPG I've not actually run this game myself, but I do own it and have read the rulebook cover to cover. This is a very freeform system from what I can gather that takes narrative roleplaying to a pretty different level. It focuses on essentially creating "conditions" on characters, items, environments, and so on, and using those conditions to spawn the action and contribute to dice rolls. It's truly a unique system, and is designed to run any setting you particularly want. For 5 bucks, you can't go wrong adding another generalist RPG to your repetoire.


-------------------------------------------------

IF YOU WANT JUST ONE SYSTEM AND SETTING IN PARTICULAR:

Shadowrun, 4th Edition, 20th Anniversary Edition (~50 USD): There is not a single game on this Earth that makes my imagination go gallivanting quite like Shadowrun. The setting, in my mind is one of the most finely crafted, and most fun settings I've ever played. The gist is that it's a fantasy-cyberpunk game, you got dwarves, elves, trolls, orks, humans, etc. in a cyberpunk world with nasty corporations waging wars in the shadows, and there's magic and technology and it's just wonderful. The 20th Anniversary edition is the one I recommend purely because it I'm familiar with it, but it ALSO is a basically a "done" edition, and it comes with the 4th edition errata already written into it. It's also full colour, with beautiful artwork and it even has Shadowrun fiction between each chapter. And the best part is that you can get this book for 50 USD on Amazon. I got mine for 60 almost brand new, and the hardcover book is worth the investment.

Shadowrun 4th, Augmentation (~12 USD): This book contains lots of new cyberware augmentations for characters, and I consider it one of the "Core" splatbooks to be used. You can get it for about 12 USD on Drivethru RPG.

Shadowrun 4th, Arsenal (~12 USD): Another one of the "core" splat books in my opinion, this one basically contains craploads of guns and new ways to kill people. Fun! You can pick up the PDF at DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

Shadowrun 4th, Runner's Companion (~12 USD): Contains a metric crapton of character creation options, but for the love of god, screen the characters your players create. RC is fantastic, but it lets in some broken options. You can pick it up at DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

Shadowrun 4th, Unwired OR Street Magic (~12 USD for either): I put these two in a lump category because you couldn't buy both on the $100 budget, so it's up to you what you pick. I consider both to be the final parts of the "Core" splatbooks. Unwired is an entire rulebook that elaborates all on the technical side of Shadowrun, about hacking and the matrix and devices and all of that. Street Magic gives new spells, adept powers, traditions, etc. You can find Unwired on DrivethruRPG here for 12 USD, and Street Magic here on DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

----------------------------------------------------

That was long winded! But hopefully this helps out, if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know!

Can I give you a list? Imma give you a list with a little from each category. I LOVE books and posts like this!

Non-fiction or Books About Things:

The Lost City of Z: In 1925, the legendary British explorer Percy Fawcett ventured into the Amazon jungle, in search of a fabled civilization. He never returned. Over the years countless perished trying to find evidence of his party and the place he called “The Lost City of Z.” In this masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, journalist David Grann interweaves the spellbinding stories of Fawcett’s quest for “Z” and his own journey into the deadly jungle, as he unravels the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century. Cumberbatch will play him in the movie version of this.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers: Hilariously gross and just super interesting. Her writing is like a non-fiction Terry Pratchett. Everything she's written is great, but this one is my favorite.

Devil in the White City: All about HH Holmes and his murder hotel during the Chicago World's Fair. Incredibly well-written and interesting.

The Outlaw Trail: Written in 1920 by the first superintendent of Capitol Reef National Park (aka, the area around Robber's Roost). He went around interviewing the guys who were still alive from the original Wild Bunch, plus some of the other outlaws that were active during that time. Never read anything else with actual interviews from these guys and it's a little slice of life from the end of the Wild West.

Fiction, Fantasy, Sci-Fi:

Here I'm only going to give you the less known stuff. You can find Sanderson (light epic fantasy), Pratchett (humor / satire fantasy), Adams (humor fantasy), etc easily in any bookstore. They are fantastic and should be read, but they are easy to find. I suggest:

The Cloud Roads: Martha Wells is an anthropologist and it shows in her world building in every series. She creates societies instead of landscapes. These are very character-driven and sometimes emotional.

The Lion of Senet: Jennifer Fallon starts a great political thriller series with this book. If you like shows like House of Cards or things where there's a lot of political plotting, sudden twists, and a dash of science v. religion, then you'll love these.

The Book of Joby: Do you want to cry? This book will make you cry. Mix arthurian legend with some God & Devil archetypes and it's just this very powerful story. Even though it deals with religious themes and icons, I wouldn't say it's a religious book. Reads more like mythology.

On Basilisk Station: Awesome military space opera. Really good sci-fi.

Grimspace: Pulpy space opera. Brain bubble gum instead of serious reading. But that's fun sometimes too!

Buy some dice.

Buy some books.

Honestly, it depends what kind of game you want to play. I think here you're going to get a lot of weird niche games suggested but for starters you're better off sticking with the a more 'traditional' experience. D&D is an excellent starting point if you want to play a fantasy game, you can even pick up one of their adventures if you don't want to write your own material.

If you're unsure about spending that much just to get started you can pick up this starter set that will include the basic rules, a set of dice, some pregenerated characters, and a short adventure. From there, if you like the game, you can pick up the full rulebooks and some more dice and whatever else you like. Alternatively you can try out the free basic rules by downloading them from the Wizards of the Coast website. All you'll need is a set of dice to get started.

If you don't like or don't want to play D&D you can check out a bunch of other systems that will let you play other games or settings. [Edge of the Empire] (https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Edge-Empire-Rulebook/dp/1616616571/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=edge+of+the+empire&qid=1563883870&s=gateway&sr=8-1) is a really cool Star Wars game, but it requires custom dice. My personal favourite sci-fi rpg is Traveller though, and it has the advantage of only requiring six sided dice.

A lot of people really like Savage Worlds, it's fun, it's cheap, and it's generic enough that you can run almost any setting you like with it. Unfortunately there's a new edition due out really soon so take that in to consideration. If you want a more in depth generic system then I can recommend GURPS, although you'll also need the Campaigns book. This system is absolutely not beginner friendly, it slaps you in the face with tables and rules for all sorts of scenarios, but I adore it and it's not really all that hard to figure out.

If you want an alternative to D&D Green Ronin has the "Age" series of games, starting with Fantasy Age, continuing with Modern Age, and the recently released The Expanse RPG covers Sci-Fi. I will admit that I've not actually had a chance to play any of these games, but I've read the rules and like the system.

Honestly you can find a game to cover practically any genre you want, whether it's Grimdark Fantasy, Martial Arts, Space Exploration, Lovecraftian Horror, Anime Cyberpunk Space Opera, or almost any other thing you can think of.

Don't fall in to the trap of playing a game because someone suggests it's 'easy', play something that really grabs your interest and inspires your imagination.

xD ok this will be a long message bear with me.

1. Is there a synopsis of each story available?
   
   Yes! Every serial I write has a home page, and every home page has:
   
   

• Links to every part that is released
  
  
• A brief 'blurb' for the series, normally what I'd put on the back of the hardcopy :)
  
  
• Links to any artwork I've been sent or purchased of the series
  
  
• Links to any other media, like audio files or videos
  
  For my serials, the home pages are as follows:
  
  Flameweaver Saga
  
  Halfway to Home
  
  
  

2. I want to read other stuff
   
   From a quick browse-through of your comments I didn't see you crossing paths with any other serial authors - If you haven't read any of his stuff, I highly, highly recommend /u/Hydrael's work, over at /r/Hydrael_Writes! His Dragon's Scion and Small Worlds projects are exceptional! Small worlds is also published on Amazon!
   
   
3. I want to read traditional novels
   
   I can help with that! Some quick recommendations that I personally love - these are loosely ranked in order of how I'd recommend them, but the fact that they're here at all means they've got my support :)
   
   Fantasy novels:
   
   The October Daye series:
   
   

• Urban fantasy
  
  
• Awesome worldbuilding
  
  
• Is where I learned how to write twists, and where I picked up my penchant for chekov's guns
  
  Trickster's Choice/Trickster's Queen
  
  
• Traditional fantasy
  
  
• Wonderful politics and intrigue
  
  
• Influenced how gods are handled in Flameweaver
  
  
• Both written easily enough for young readers to understand, and complex enough for adults to enjoy
  
  Graceling
  
  
• Traditional fantasy
  
  
• A bit more well-known, but a surprisingly solid upper-YA read. Kind of a guilty pleasure book of mine haha
  
  Scifi Novels:
  
  Agent to the Stars and Old Man's War
  
  
• John Scalzi is the author I modeled my own writing style after. So if you like my style, you might like his too.
  
  
• Darkly humerous. Realistic and gritty, without being overpoweringly grim.
  
  
• Wickedly sarcastic
  
  The Ender Quartet
  
  
• A bit wordier/harder to read, after Ender's Game. The last book (Children of the Mind) is probably one of the most challenging books I've ever read. But rewarding.
  
  
• Long-running, intricate plotline
  
  The Ship Series
  
  
• Indie series I happened across a few years ago
  
  
• Upper YA. Younger characters, but dark content
  
  
• Well-written, relatable characters

First off, I got what looks to be some great books from my match. I got Perdido Street Station, Hyperion, The Sparrow, The Little Country, and American Gods. I have never read nor heard of these titles, but I'm excited to start reading them.

Now for the best part. My match sent me an original manuscript for a novel they wrote. How awesome is that? They also included a short story (a side story to the novel) that includes me as a character. I can honestly say that this is one of the best things I've ever received! I think I'll start with the novel first.

http://imgur.com/xVFbm

*update: Thanks for all of the encouraging posts! It seems that I really struck gold on this exchange. I sent a little reddit gold love to my SS for the wonderful gift. It's such a great collection that I feel like the books I sent to my match are woefully inadequate.

I think the best way is to suggest a few that got me into reading. One or two are YA, but well-written enough that I find it as worthwhile a read at 28 as it did at 14.

Ender's Game - Earth Has made contact with an alien species, and... It didn't go well. A program is started to teach a new generation of soldiers how to fight this alien threat. Children are not allowed to be children for long when the future of mankind is on the line. Also, it's being adapted into what is shaping up to be a pretty badass movie.

Snow Crash - Written in the 90's, but it essentially pioneered the concept of the online avatar, and predicted the rise of the MMO. Also, pizza-delivering ninjas. Trust me on this. It's good stuff.

Neuromancer Classic cyber-punk. Most sci-fi is like you see in star trek. Clean and sterile. Cyberpunk is the dirtier side of sci-fi. Organized crime, computer hacking, and a heist on a space station. And Molly. This book is the reason I have a thing for dangerous redheads.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Considered by most to be the very best in sci-fi humor. Lighthearted, hilarious, and I find I can read it in the course of about two days. It is absolutely, completely, and utterly amazing.

American Gods - What happens to the old gods when we start worshiping the new ones? Can the likes of Odin or Anubis compete with our new objects of worship. like television or internet? Remember, Gods only exist as long as folks believe in them. The old Gods aren't going down without a fight, though...

Hope some of these strike your fancy. It's admittedly more sci-fi than anything, but it's all soft sci-fi (Where the science isn't as important as the fiction, so story comes first), and nothing too out there. Please let me know if you decide to try any of these, and especially let me know if you enjoy them. I always like to hear if I help someone find a book they love.

I'll add some of my favorites that you didn't mention. They are mostly Superhero, because that's what got me into self published authors that are frequently on KU.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. Great sci fi with plenty of humor and nerdy pop culture references, but also a fare share of danger and adventure. KU has all 3 books in the Bobiverse.

Sensation: A Superhero Novel by Kevin Hardman. This is a YA Super Hero novel, and is the first of 7 along with a couple spinoffs and short stories. The author also has a sci fi series and a fantasy series, but I haven't read them yet. I'm pretty sure all of his books are on KU.

Into the Labyrinth by John Bierce. This is the Mage Errant series. The 3rd book just came out, and there is a post here by the author. This is a book centered on a magical school, and it has a very good and detailed hard magic system.

Fid's Crusade by David Reiss. This is a Super Villain novel, and is darker than a lot of superhero books out there. There are currently 3 books in the Chronicles of Fid. I've only read the first one but I really liked it, and I even bought it when it was on sale so I could go back and read it again sometime instead of relying on it being on KU forever.

Arsenal by Jeffery H. Haskell. Another Super Hero novel, this one is probably in between the other two I mentioned in terms of tone, being darker than Kid Sensasion, but lighter than Fid. The protagonist is disabled and in a wheel chair, but made an awesome suit of armor to become a hero. There are 8 books in the series, and there is another series set in the same world with the 4th book coming at the end of the month. All of them are on KU.

Yes, the Core Book for Savage Worlds is this one. If you really like it, there are great expansion books for it, but the core can take you pretty far.

Monte Cook, the creator of Numenera/Cypher System thinks it's a narrative system, but that's because he doesn't know what that means. It's really not very good at being a narrative system, and is difficult to run that way. It's very good at being a more traditional rpg, though. It's also very easy to GM. I don't like the Numenera setting either. The Strange was really good, and yeah, Predation looks pretty good. There is also the setting neutral Cypher System Rulebook, which can run a very wide variety of settings.

BRP is definitely one of the % systems, and it's a good one. % systems can be a bit clunky, usually when it comes to things like character creation, but during play they are actually very simple (usually). The core mechanic is definitely easy to understand, as if you have a 62% in something, you have a 62% chance to succeed.

If you are going to try to do GURPS, grab the core book (maybe match the edition to the supplements you have, but I don't think that's super necessary, as the supplements are usually pretty universal). I haven't played a lot of GURPS, but from what I understand, you can choose to play without all the rules options and it can be comparatively light.

If you want to check out Iron Kingdoms, they have three different free quickstarts (which are all pretty different in feel, even though they are the same world/rules). Steampunk Fantasy pdf link, Playing as the monsters, and Playing as evil samurai elves pdf link.

Thanks for the in-depth answers! Mine are surprisingly similar to yours.

>Who is your favorite author?

I love Tolkien, and George R R Martin, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, Cormac McCarthy, Larry Niven, Patrick Rothfuss, Douglas Adams, Diana Wynne Jones and probably a bunch I'm missing at the moment. My favorite genre is sci-fi, both space opera and hard.

I haven't been on WP long enough to have many favorite authors but I do enjoy your stuff, lalalobsters, luna_lovewell, written4reddit, and a few more.

>What is your favorite book?

My Dad introduced me to Tolkien and the sci-fi giants like Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke when I was probably 9 or 10 (I am about to be 34,) so all of their seminal works are very dear to me. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I freaking love dinosaurs and Jurassic Park is my favorite movie and because of that I have probably read JP the novel more than anything else.

I just finished reading [We are Legion (We are Bob)] (https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1485632176&sr=1-1&keywords=we+are+legion+we+are+bob) and found it highly enjoyable.

>And, most importantly, describe your level of love for cheese.

Cheese is a staple food group for me and variety is the spice of life so I am always eating new cheeses. Staples include: extra sharp cheddar, havarti, and bleu cheese. If it's stinky, it's probably delicious, too. And, my favorite snack is english muffin halves slathered in cream cheese and covered with jalepenos. I also could eat a bucket of cottage cheese plain, or my favorite, mixed with mango chutney.

And now I'm hungry.

For (currently) free Kindle books, David Weber's On Basilisk Station is the first book in the space-opera Honor Harrington series. The second book The Honor of the Queen, is one of my favorites in the entire series. Eric Flint's 1632 turned into a massive and awesome alternate-history series. If you'd like to delve into Alaskan-based murder mysteries, give Dana Stabenow's A Cold Day For Murder a try as the first in the some eighteen book Kate Shugak series.

For paid Kindle books, there's Hugh Howey's Wool Omnibus is the beginning of the dystopian Silo series; the followup Shift Omnibus is actually a prequel trilogy that I haven't gotten yet but is very readable. Naomi Novik's first novel in the alt-history Temeraire series, His Majesty's Dragon, is currently $.99.

In print, Elizabeth Moon's military fantasy The Deed of Paksenarrion is available used for a very affordable price and is an epic series. The Cage was my introduction to a fantasy universe written by SM Stirling, Shirley Meier, and Karen Wehrstein. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander is a sort of alternate history/light romance series set in Scotland that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Brent Weeks' assassin-based (excuse me, wetboy) fantasy Night Angel Trilogy was recently released as an omnibus edition. Empire from the Ashes collects Weber's Dahak sci-fi trilogy into an omnibus edition. Weber and John Ringo co-wrote March Upcountry and the other three novels in the sci-fi Prince Roger quadrilogy. If you haven't tried Harry Turtledove's alt-history sci-fi WW2 'Worldwar' series, In the Balance starts off a little slow plot-wise but picks up good speed. EE Knight's sci-fi/futuristic fantasy Vampire Earth starts off with Way of the Wolf. Mercedes Lackey wrote the modern-fantasy Born to Run with Larry Dixon, and the rest of the SERRAted Edge books with various other authors. Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk and slightly dystopian Snow Crash is hilarious and awesome. Maggie Furey's Aurian is the first of a fantasy quadrilogy that I enjoyed many years ago.

If you're at all familiar with the Warhammer 40k universe, the Eisenhorn Omnibus is Dan Abnett's wonderful look into the life of an Imperial Inquisitor. He's also written a popular series about the Tanith First-and-Only Imperial Guard regiment starting with The Founding Omnibus. He also wrote the first book in the Horus Heresy series, Horus Rising (I highly recommend reading the first three novels together as a trilogy and then cherry-picking the rest).

... and if you've read all that already, I'll be impressed.

Edit: Why yes, I do read a lot. Why do you ask?

Most of the time I am "in the mood" for a certain genre or type of book. I will recommend some of my favorites that are easy to read and enjoyable. With a super short summary to see if it sparks your interest.

Fantasy:

• Name of the Wind : Great fantasy novel which follows a single character, Kvothe, who is an old innkeeper with a mysterious and illustrious past telling the story of how he became a legend. It is very well written and highly entertaining, the book is all about Kvothe as a teenager just trying to survive and becoming an arcanist. Highly recommended.
  
  
• Mistborn Trilogy : I've only read the first one. A dystopian world where ash falls from the sky every day with a centuries old tyrannical ruler. The story follows a young girl who is just trying to survive on the streets any way she can but gets caught up with revolutionists. Very enjoyable, and a unique magic system.
  
  Scifi:
  
  
• Ender's Game: This an Dune are always recommended for anyone looking to get into scifi...as well as Foundation series (which I haven't read :/). Earth has been attacked by an alien species of bugs...twice. We barely survived last time, so in order for us to prepare if it happens again Earth has started training military geniuses. Ender is one of the children chosen for training, and he is the best of the best. The story focuses on him and his story about rising through the ranks to try and save earth.
  
  
• Dune: If you want to experience a sand world with giant worms, extreme political tension, plot twists, feints within feints. I could say more, but simply saying that it is in my Top 3 favorite books says enough.
  
  
• Hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy: Probably one of the funniest books I've ever read. It is highly regarded among this community and geeks as a whole. Do not judge it by the movie, this is a must-read book if you want a laugh.
  
  

I've bought a fair amount of ebooks on Amazon recently and I think most of them are books that a lot of people here would enjoy (heck I heard about most of them through here!).

The Preorders:

Underlord - The sixth book in the Cradle series which is described as a Western Xianxia series. A lot of people here don't really like the Xianxia genre and I agree with their criticisms of how many main characters are very villainous, under-developed enemies and female characters, the economies of cultivation aren't logical, poor scaling in conflict as you go from one city to interstellar in scope, and awkward prose. But I bring up all of these flaws to say that the Cradle series completely avoids all of the typical flaws in Xianxia and has a very smart character who sets out to cultivate smartly instead of bullheadedly.

And the sixth book is coming out in March! (Get the box set. It has the first three books and is cheaper!)

Exhalation - Who here hasn't heard of Ted Chiang, the master of short stories that perfectly appeal to the r/rational crowd? The same guy that we literally use as an introduction to rational fiction. Well, if you enjoyed his first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, you'll love hearing that the second collection is coming out in....May! (Ugh....really May? I don't think I can wait that long!)

The books you can read right now!:

The Beginner's Guide to Magical Licensing - Has a similar start to Unsong where a magical college-graduate, minimum-wage, sweat-shop worker stumbles on a powerful spell and sets out to start his own business competing with the powerful. The parts of the story that follows afterward makes a whole lot more logical sense than Unsong however. (Used to be online for free, but now you'll have to pay the price for your ignorance if you want to read it! (Nah, I lied.))

Six Sacred Swords - If you liked the Arcane Ascension series, but wished there was more dungeonnering and less of school shenanigans, then look no further! In some ways it's a lot like reading a very good DnD session played by really savvy players who never follow the 'standard' way to solve problems.

The author of Six Sacred Swords made a recommendation for The Ruin of Kings. He said that it reads like a Locke Lamora-esque rogue protagonist, telling the story in a style similar to Kvothe, in a setting similar to Game of Thrones. I haven't bought the book yet, but the review was interesting enough that I wanted to include it in my list of recommendations.

Senlin Ascends - I haven't read this yet either, but skimming through it, I see some fair bit of social manipulation/combat that I think people here would like. Plus the Tower of Babel setting is something that appeals very strongly to me.

Polyglot: NPC REVOLUTION - A lot of people here seem to really like LitRPG and Artificial Intelligence, but almost no one seem to ever question the implications of the NPCs in LitRPG stories having human-level intelligence.

Small Medium: Big Trouble - It's by the same author who wrote Threadbare that people here really liked. Similar to Polygot where the NPC is the main character who needs to deal with players, but smaller scale in scope. There's a lot of fast-talking to convince selfish sociopaths to do what you say.

Q is for Quantum - I was going through my older ebook orders when I found this one. It's the single best introduction for quantum mechanics that I have ever read (not that I've read too many of those). It focuses on building an intuition for the subject and once you've read through the book, you will understand on a gut level what superposition means. Note that it's meant as an introduction for the subject, so don't expect it to cover everything, just what's need to get started learning about quantum mechanics. But I'd still recommend it to experts if only for a better way to explain their subject to their peers and laypeople.

Fear cuts deeper than swords - it really, really does. :)

1.) Not just grey but Earl Grey.

2.) A rain cover.

3.) Ginger chews?

4.) Ninja throwing knifes for my wee son - because I'm a craptastic parent!

5.) A classic, Ender's Game because why haven't you already read this??

6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related! Sorry! Nothing physical. $1.55 is the closest.

7.) Hello Kitty!

8.) I think compasses are beautiful.

9.) Princess Bride - but no on my WL. <3

10.) Gerber 22-41131 Profile Guthook Fixed Blade Knife -- It's self explanatory really.

11.) I love to cook and I need to cook healthy food but my current knives (and I use the term loosely) leave me beaten and bloody. So these

12.) Happy crayons

13.) A surfboard. Because they are BADD ASS!

14.) A gun safe could hold a lot of bread!

15.) Pretty lupus friend earrings!

16.) Blood orange and bergamot candle!

17.) Doctor Who K-9 bobble head!

18.) Pencils. I freaking LOVE pencils.

19.) A gift card, so I can gift more people. :)

20.) I love this beautiful buddha.

MADE IN OREGON! Bob's Red Mill flours. Look it up!

I love silly contests like this - I know others have done better, but I had fun looking. <3

Among Others by Jo Walton

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I think the Dark Tower series is a must read. It starts off with The Gunslinger and continues. I think it is the best series I have ever read.

If you want to look other than fantasy/sci-fi...

Lamb by Christopher Moore is very funny, makes you think, and breaks your heart. I love it.

A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my favorite books ever written. Everyone that I have given this book to has read it and bought it for someone else to read.

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins is Tom Robbins at his best. It's also one of the most polarizing books I have suggested to friends and people online. You will either love it and buy the rest of Tom Robbins's books or you will hate it and never listen to me again. I hope it's the first reaction.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an amazing book about life in high school. I haven't seen the movie yet because I enjoy this book so much that I don't want to get pissed off at a director ruining one of my favorite books.

Good Omens by Pratchett/Gaiman is certainly a pretty rockin book.

Hopefully this helps you find some new authors to enjoy!

Edited for: I will never forgive myself if I don't put in what I consider one of the best fantasy coming of age stories ever. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is the first of the series. Read it. Do it!

Looks like you haven't read "The Kingkiller Chronicles", which is a really popular fantasy series. I really couldn't recommend it highly enough, it's one of my favorites.

Codex Alera is a series by Jim Butcher, the same guy who does the Dresden novels. In the beginning of the series, the most interesting part is probably the somewhat novel way that magic works. I'll won't go into it much, but it's not the same wand-waving type you usually see. I think the story and characters take a book or two to really develop, but by the middle of the series I thought it was really good.

For something a bit less well known, I really like The Traveler's Gate series by Will Wright, an amazon self-published author. The writing itself is what I would call acceptable – you certainly won't find any poetry masquerading as prose, but I think it's probably better than the early Hunger Games stuff, for example. More importantly, it does a good enough job to get the story across, which I thought was really fun to read. (The writing also gets better as the series goes on, as you might expect from a first-time author.) This series is more about the adventure than anything, and I thought that was done really well. It's also like $4 per book, so the investment is small.

TLDR: GURPS isn't overwhelming, but it may be a lot of work for the GM; GURPS Combat is (usually) faster, but that doesn't necessarily make it more fun; unsolicited recommendation that the system Savage Worlds might be right for you. Good luck!

Overwhelming? - GURPS shouldn't be overwhelming to a new player, but it might be to a new GM. GURPS is basically a giant toolkit, so it's up to you to do a lot of upfront work.

Primarily, you need to decide which rules are appropriate for your setting (how gritty/pulpy do you want it to be), and you need to decide what skills and items will be available. If you make the lists concise, then players likely won't notice that it's really more or less complex. Thankfully, there are some character templates that will give you an idea about what skills might be appropriate. But still, that's a lot more work than having everything laid out (relatively) neatly for you in D&D.

I will note though that, in my experience, when playing a game that makes many, specific skills available, players new to roleplaying will often forget about skills that they have and never use them. D&D is in this sense friendly to new players because the skill categories are so broad. The GURPS solution is probably to just limit how many points they get to "buy" skills--they won't be very powerful heroes, but it will teach them to pay attention.

Combat - First, combat is always slow with new players. That's just how it is because it takes time for them to learn and get comfortable with a bunch of rules. Depending on how set up your game can be (and typically is) really gritty, so getting shot/hit by a sword even once will effectively put you out of the game. But it doesn't have to be this way. The thing that can slow combat down in GURPS is that there can often be a lot of maneuvering (feinting, defending, etc.).

Note on D&D Combat - Combat in D&D can be a slog, but it doesn't have to be. In my experience, fights become a slog (1) when players have no other goal in the fight encounter than "kill the baddies," and (2) when players and DMs stop fighting heroically--players and DMs should use skills in fights creatively, take risks, and narrate dramatically. As Matt Colville might put it, the magic of D&D is in the drama. But really the same principles apply to GURPS. Fighting may be faster, but that doesn't necessarily mean more fun.

Unrequested Recommendation - If you're looking for a low-cost buy-in, I would definitely check out GURPS Lite, which someone else has already recommended. The actual books are fairly pricey, so I'd definitely check out Lite first. But I might also recommend that you look into Savage Worlds.

Savage Worlds uses a point/buy skill system, so you can do a lot of tailoring to character needs/desires, much like a (much) lighter version of GURPS. Character creation is FAST and relatively easy, which is a big bonus for new players. Combat is also fast paced and can have some really dramatic, unexpected results (there are many stories about players one-shotting a boss--or vice versa). Overall, Savage worlds is a nice balance of being flexible without being overwhelming and being simple but still crunchy. But maybe the best part is that the core rulebook costs $8.69 on Amazon.

I hope that helps. I'm glad to hear that you'll be playing with your family! GURPS, D&D, and Savage Worlds are all really great, fun systems (and so are a lot of others!). I hope you find the one that works best for you.

The best "Standard" deal is the
Platinum Annual
24 Credits/Yr.
You pay $9.57 per credit
$229.50 per year

That's always available and offers the most credits at the cheapest price per credit.

If you follow the Audible sub then you'll find signup deals on there from time to time. The last I took advantage of was the
Discount Gold Annual
12 Credits/Yr.
~$8.29 per credit
$99.50 a year

You could sign up for that one until April 5th. Sometimes if you call and ask you can still sign up for one of these deals, but I haven't done/tried that so I can't say much about it. I don't know of any sign-up deals going on right now, they usually happen around holidays.

Depending on the genres you enjoy, your best bang for your buck might be a Kindle Unlimited subscription and then picking up some cheap audiobooks through whispersync. You can pick up a KU subscription for $0.99 for two months (https://www.techbargains.com/deals/amazon-kindle-unlimited-membership) and if you hunt around you can find a bunch of good books for $1.99. It's mostly Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but as a few examples:
https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MFGX5GI/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SLWQGUM/
https://www.amazon.com/Thru-Hiking-Will-Break-Your-Heart-ebook/dp/B00W4RICAM

Those aren't endorsements, just examples (I've only read the first one, which I would endorse if you like Sci-Fi)

Beyond that if you like classics you can usually find some of those cheap:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Siddhartha-Audiobook/B07HK6JZSC

On occasion, if you go to cancel your subscription you'll be offered a deal to keep it. I haven't signed up for any of those, and don't know what those deals are, but it's an option.

Last but not least, you can just buy more credits. If you've run out of credits (or if you contact Audible Support) you can usually buy 3 credits for $36 ( I think that's the correct amount). I generally wouldn't recommend this option, it's a bit more expensive to buy the Gold Plan, but you get a year's membership with that. Whereas buying credits straight out still leaves you paying a monthly subscription as well.

My recommendations from books I read in the last year or so (yes, these are all VERY STRONG recommends curated from ~100 books in the last year) -

​

Science fiction-

Derek Kunsken's The Quantum Magician (I would describe it as a cross between Oceans Eleven with some not-too-Hard Science Fiction. Apparently will be a series, but is perfectly fine as a standalone novel).

Cixin Lu's very popular Three Body Problem series (Mixes cleverly politics, sociology, psychology and science fiction)

James A Corey's The Expanse Series (which has been made into the best sci fi tv series ever!)

Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief series (Hard science fiction. WARNING - A lot of the early stuff is intentionally mystifying with endless terminology that’s only slowly explained since the main character himself has lost his memories. Put piecing it all together is part of the charm.)

​

Fantasy-

James Islington's Shadow of What was Lost series (a deep series which makes you think - deep magic, politics, religion all intertwined)

Will Wight's Cradle series (has my vote for one of the best fantasy series ever written)

Brandon Sanderson Legion series (Brandon Sanderson. Nuff said. Creative as always)

​

Manga -

Yukito Kishiro's Alita, Battle Angel series (the manga on what the movie was based)

​

Non-Fiction-

Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind - Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (and how we are not as rational as we believe we are, and how passion works in tandem with rationality in decision making and is actually required for good decisionmaking)

Rothery's Geology - A Complete Introduction (as per title)

Joseph Krauskopf's A Rabbi's Impressions of the Oberammergau Passion Play, available to read online for free, including a fabulous supplementary of Talmud Parallels to the NT (a Rabbi in 1901 explains why he is not a Christian)

​

Audiobooks -

Bob Brier's The History of Ancient Egypt (as per title - 25 hrs of the best audiobook lectures. Incredible)

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Academic biblical studies-

Richard Elliot Friedman's Who Wrote The Bible and The Exodus (best academic biblical introductory books into the Documentary Hypothesis and Qenite/Midian hypothesis)

Israel Finkelstein's The Bible Unearthed (how archaelogy relates to the bible)

E.P. Sander's Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63BCE-66CE ​(most detailed book of what Judaism is and their beliefs, and one can see from this balanced [Christian] scholar how Christianity has colored our perspectives of what Jews and Pharisees were really like)

Avigdor Shinan's From gods to God (how Israel transitioned from polytheism to monotheism)

Mark S Smith's The Early History of God (early history of Israel, Canaanites, and YHWH)

James D Tabor's Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity (as per title)

Tom Dykstra's Mark Canonizer of Paul (engrossing - will make you view the gospel of Mark with new eyes)

Jacob L Wright's King David and His Reign Revisited (enhanced ibook - most readable book ever on King David)

Jacob Dunn's thesis on the Midianite/Kenite hypothesis (free pdf download - warning - highly technical but also extremely well referenced)

Ender's Game is seriously so much better than the movie. It's amazing what people will do to ensure the safety of the human race, without fully seeing the whole picture.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski. I was hesitant at first, always seeing it, but never checking it out at the library. It wound up being one of my favorite books to read, it was that good. Story of a mute boy raised on a farm breeding dogs. He can sign, and has pretty good life, as far as things go, until his father dies. He tries to prove his uncle had a hand in the death, but the plan backfires. Hated the ending - not because it was bad, but it was so damn sad.

If you're willing to poke at a series, try Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series, the first book is The Lies of Locke Lamora. The series centers around Locke and his shenanigans as a Gentleman Bastard - a notorious gang of thieves. They pull off some pretty intense schemes, some with great success, some with spectacular failures. It's a great series, and another set of favorites that I recommend to everyone that'd ask.

Congratulations on the new job, hope it works out well for you! Also, I love that you had such a great turn out for your book drive. My kids know how important it is to read - I actually push my daughter to read a little bit above her grade level. She keeps a reading log for homework, so her teachers are pretty impressed. She did amazingly well on her latest state reading/math test, and her teacher believes it's because of all the reading she does. If you do another drive, I hope it goes just as well.

Okay I know the giveaway is over but you asked for obscure and so you have to read this fanfiction called Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's so amazing it has its own fanbase, inspired a new genre of fiction, has its own website, wikipedia article, and a few news sites have even reviewed it.

It's even got a podcast reading if you prefer.

It's like... if Harry Potter was smart and rational and also a huge sci-fi/science geek. It's basically a bit like Ender's Game if you've ever read it (which is another one you should definitely read).

Links:
HPMOR website
Podcast's site (also has readings of other works of rationalist fiction inspired by HPMOR)
Podcast on iTunes
HPMOR on Fanfiction.net
HPMOR Full PDF
HPMOR PDF but separated into separate books: 1 2 3 4 5 6
HPMOR MOBI
HPMOR EPUB

I can honestly say that this fanfiction is without a doubt the best thing I have ever read in my life. I can't speak well enough of it. I recommend paying attention when you read because the things you learn are useful later in the book for solving the plot. The plot is so well crafted that you can trust anything that happens has an explanation behind it. If you find yourself asking "why is it like this?" there is a reason! This is a game you can only play once, so please enjoy it while it lasts. Ahhhh! I'm talking too much, enjooooooooooy~!

Well, you're in luck, because 'Orphaned farm boy who grows up to be a badass and saves the world' is one of the most common tropes in fantasy, especially in books written in the 80s and 90s.

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan is an obvious recommendation. To be blunt, Goodkind 'borrowed' a lot of ideas from this series, and in general Wheel of Time is considered to be superior by most fans. One caveat is that the series is huge, 13 large books, and like many long running series it suffers from pacing issues in the middle. The Eye of the World is the first book in the series.

The Belgariad by David Eddings is another that follows this formula closely. Another classic series like wheel of time, this one moves along a bit quicker, it's a five book series that starts with Pawn of Prophecy

For some more recent examples, you might try one of the following.

The Codex Alera is a six book series by Jim Butcher, who's well known for writing the popular Dresden Files series. Codex Alera is a little different in that in this world everyone has powers to some degree, except for the protagonist, who has to be clever and capable to overcome his 'deficiency.' This is a fun series, with a unique magic system, a solid cast of characters with different motivations, several surprises and a satisfying end. My only beef is that the first book is a little slow, and doesn't do much to 'grab you,' but it picks up quickly in the second. First book is The Furies of Calderon,

The Kingkiller Chronicles Patrick Rothfuss is an ongoing trilogy with two books out that's often recommended on /r/Fantasy. It doesn't follow the 'farmboy' trope as closely as the other books I'm recommending, but it's another coming of age story about an aspiring magic user, with some really great prose. Essentially it's about a hero who's exploits have reached legendary status telling his life story in a bar. First book is The Name of the Wind

Finally, I'll recommend The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. This series has 2 books out of what will eventually be two 5-book arcs. The first two books are simply fantastic. It has a large cast of characters, but the character that's the focus of the first book has the standard Heroes Journey. First book is The Way of Kings, and the kindle edition is currently free on Amazon.

I have the Savage Worlds Customizable GM Screen, and it's awesome. If I have enough prep time, I can print any charts -- like random encounter tables -- I'll need for that session out. It's so much more useful than the standard GM screen, which is typically loaded with the charts you use most often and thus are most likely to have memorized. Plus it's landscape orientation, so it both spans further across the table, while being easier to see and reach over.

But my favorite feature is that I can put artwork reflective of my campaign on the player's side, instead of the sort of generic artwork most screens feature.

Some other really useful toys I've picked up over the years include:

• Alea Tools magnetic status tokens. These are basically just 1" plastic disks, maybe 1/8" tall, with a rare earth magnet inside so they stick together and can be stacked. You can glue magnetic film to the bottom of miniatures and then they'll stick to the tokens to, or you can just balance them on top of the tokens, or put the tokens next to the mini. They're very useful when you need to track who is on fire, invisible, or suffering a long-term status effect. They're also very useful as elevation markers -- I use the dark blue and light blue token to represent 25' and 5' respectively, so I can keep track of exactly how high flying characters are flying.
  
• The Pathfinder Combat Pad is super useful for keeping track of initiative and ongoing effects, regardless of the game you play.
  
• The GameMastery spell templates are very useful if you play a game system that uses a grid map. They're no longer available however.
  
• Litko makes Horse Character Mounts that are SUPER useful for dealing with the issue of mounted characters on a map. Litko actually makes an insane number of extremely useful products, and I've used their custom tokens service to produce token sets for a lot of my favorite games.

I ran a pretty successful six-month long campaign. Actually got to finish the story arc, unlike most campaigns I've run. We found the system...workable. The character options were pretty interesting, though the psyker felt OP to the players and the psionic manifestation effects were often game changing, usually in an amusing way, but sometimes they proved distracting from the main story just because some of their effects are so life-altering.

We all love the setting and were willing to put up with the idiosyncrasies of the system mechanics. I'd highly recommend reading Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn omnibus - it will really give you a good feel for the whole Inquisitor/Acolyte feel. Abnett's a really fun read all around.

I'm sure the Imperium could accommodate a submerged city like Rapture, even its Randian philosophy (though if it deviated from worship of the emperor, it's heresy - perfect fodder for an inquisitor and his/her team). Though I'm curious to know what else you have planned for the character.

EDIT: incorrectly called Rapture a "subterranean" city.

Are you married to actually playing Dungeons and Dragons?

If not some other games I would suggest

Savage Worlds Deluxe - Quick and easy game that you can get for <$10. You can do fantasy but if you want to try out a different genre you can do that easily as well. The real meat to SW is the various settings that are out there. Some of my favorites are Hellfrost (fantasy) and Deadlands Reloaded (Weird west based off the Deadlands game).

OpenQuest is like a retroclone of old Runequest - This game has a "dev version" which is free but does not include the artwork (and 2nd edition will not include some new rules). The first edition dev kit is on the downloads page, second edition is not released yet. Sadly I have not had a chance to actually play this game but reading over the rules I like them and it is percentile based which is always good.

Runequest 6 The newest iteration of the Runequest game (first edition only came out a few years after DnD). Another percentile based game that is a bit more complicated (quite a bit in my opinion) but has rules about building a character not just a lump of numbers like in some games.

Then there are a lot of other games that I know if you want to get more narrative. But if you want to play DnD in particular the edition order that I prefer (I have only played 3 editions) would go 2e is my most favorite, then 4e, then 3.5 (I am not a fan of 3.5 at all really).

But DnD is not my go to game.

EDIT: Oh and I am not trying to talk you out of DnD per se, I just see too many people online and offline that started with DnD so every other game must of course be terrible. And, in my personal experience so I have no factual basis for this, it seems that people that start with a game other than DnD are more open to trying new games. And really this hobby has a lot of games to choose from and while you can have fun with (almost) any of them if you don't look around you may never find that game that is just perfect for you/your group.

Is there anything in particular you're leaning to?

Author Cherie Priest has a couple excellent books.

• Boneshaker, first book in her Clockwork Century series. It's a steampunk setting with zombies and all sorts of wonderful stuff. This book is actually on sale through the end of the month for $2.99.
  
• Bloodshot, first book in her Cheshire Red Reports series. It's about a vampire gal who is a thief-for-hire.
  
  The Dresden Files series, by Jim Butcher, is a wonderful series. It's about a wizard-for-hire in the modern world, and delves into the wonderful magic environment that Jim has created. Jim likes to put his characters through trouble and turmoil, and it's good for character development! The series starts off with Storm Front.
  
  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is another great series. It's a post-apocalyptic/oppressed setting, centering around something called 'The Hunger Games' - an annual battle that captivates the capitol and all twelve remaining districts. There is a movie releasing next year, as well.
  
  The Name of the Wind is a terrific book by Patrick Rothfuss, the first entry into his series The Kingkiller Chronicles. It's a fantasy setting, and is about a character named Kvothe recounting his life. The writing style has an absolutely artistic writing style that is captivating to read, and such interesting and progressing events that make you eagerly turn the page. I have not yet read the sequel, The Wise Man's Fear, but I'm told it's even better in every way.
  
  Terry Pratchett is an amazing and renowned author. He has been knighted, an event for which he created his own sword for by hand, battles against Alzheimer's in a most respectable and commendable way, and has created such an interesting and provoking world that provides a lot of laughs and curious perspectives on matters. Where you start is a more difficult choice. A couple choice options might be as follows (I haven't read others yet, so I can't attest to others, but there are many!).
  
  
• Guards! Guards! which is the first installment to the City Watch sequence.
  
• The Reaper Man trails after Death, after he has been fired from his job.
  
  I haven't started this book yet, nor looked into it, but I have heard terrific reviews. The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch, is his first book in his Gentleman Bastard Sequence series.
  
  And of course, if you haven't entered George RR Martin's world of Westeros, the series A Song of Ice and Fire could be a wonderful read. It's very complex and very long and not yet complete (five books so far). It starts off with Game of Thrones, which is what the recently-aired HBO series was based upon.
  
  In the science fiction sphere, I would recommend Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It's the first in his Ender's series, and there are quite a few books set in the world. I have only read the first one, and it was an excellent read, insightful and thought-provoking.
  
  ...anyway, that should be a few to peek at!

Any of these three series I recommend as modern-day Lord of the Rings classics

Eisenhorn, books 1-3 of a 9 book series are simply the best books I've ever read - the series is currently on book 7. I recommend Eisenhorn to anyone that just likes to read. Books 4-6 are just as good, called Ravenor, with the 7th book in the series now out, called Pariah.

Another amazing series of books I love are the Old Man's War books, effectively a series of 6 books with some short stories in between and the last book being broken up into thirteen short stories (such was the demand for the books while they were being written). Fantastic, fantastic series - I recommend them to anyone.

I also love and recommend The Dark Tower series, 7 books. They're the only thing written by King that I've liked.

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is a great urban fantasy story that takes place in the unseen world below London and includes some magic, adventure and a great mystery.


If you haven't read the Chronicles of Narnia try those. After you get past the Christian allegories in the first book the series is enjoyable. If you have read them check out His Dark Materials. Another great book that has been called the atheists' response to Narnia.

China Mieville's Perdido Street Station would be a good one too. Definitely darker than the fantasy in Harry Potter but well written and a great story.

The Hunger Games trilogy has been mentioned a few times and is enjoyable. It is more Science Fiction than fantasy but is a great dystopian story. Written for YAs, like Harry Potter, but enjoyable for just about anyone.They're making a Hunger Games movie now so you'll be able to say you read it back before it was cool.


Edit: Forgot to mention The Dark Tower Series. A great series by Steven King that combines fantasy, western, science fiction and some horror. That sounds like a hodgepodge but the series manages to walk the line so well you end up staying awake until 2am reading to find out what happens next.

• We Are Legion (We Are Bob) is a hilarious trilogy that is a bit cheaper to buy the kindle and then add on audio narration. Ray Porter, the narrator, makes his series amazing.
  
  
  
• Off to Be the Wizard is a great series with good humor and can be less expensive if you buy the kindle and then add on the audio narration. I liked books 1-3, with 4 and 5 being not as great. The first books is well worth the purchase though!
  
  
  
• Super Powereds Year 1. This is one of my favorite series. Kyle McCarley does an amazing job narrating this saga (4 in the main story and 1 side story that could stand alone). Probably the worst covers and really made me not want to read the series, but Drew Hayes has become my favorite author. Every series he does is pure gold.
  
  
  
• Expeditionary Force: Columbus Day. RC Bray, sci-fi and lots of hilarious dialog when Skippy shows up (about halfway through the book). The series is great, and book 6 is coming out next week. Great starter price 0.99+7.49 for the kindle and audiobook.
  
  
  There are so many more options like this, but I don’t want to overwhelm you! These may not all be your cup of tea. But they are some of my favorites for a somewhat reasonable price.

If you're interested in D&D, the starter set for the newest edition is a great deal. It's only 15 dollars here on Amazon. It comes with a guide to get you through level 5, a set of dice, pregenerated characters, and a premade adventure for you to run. It's definitely worth a look.

If you're worried about complexity though, my favorite game to pick up and run with newbies is Savage Worlds. It is 9 dollars right now on Amazon for the entire rulebook. You'd just need a set of dice. Its focus is, "Fast, furious, and fun," and it does it pretty well. The best part is that it's only 150 pages or so instead of the hundreds upon hundreds that most people use for D&D.

Either way, I'd encourage dropping by /r/rpg if you're at all interested. The community is super helpful and there are countless RPGs out there that are tons of fun to run and play.

If you liked Song of Ice and fire you might really like Erikson:

Malazan Book of the Fallen is a 10 book series, might take you a bit to get into in the beginning but once it gets going I was not able to put it down. It's extremely gritty and has a lot of characters and plot lines, but they are all done extremely well, it gets to a point that you just start following the bigger picture of what is happening even as you read the events that each character is involved in. (I highly recommend this series to anyone that likes fantasy in shades of gray)

Another great book I read recently was Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson is a very good page turner, had a couple of late nights not being able to put it down. The "magic" (don't know what else to call it really) in the books is really creatively done, his writing style keeps you reading late into the night.

And off the top of my head I also liked Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. This one is a fun read, not as involved as the others mentioned above.

Oh shit, my friend are you missing out. There is an explosion of Chinese/Korean/Japanese fantasy works being translated that you can freely read online. The writing isn't always superb, but they are all immensely entertaining.

Come on down to:

https://www.reddit.com/r/noveltranslations/

Some suggestions:

These are classics, super long, and finished both being written and translated.

Coiling Dragon

Desolate Era

World of Cultivation

I Shall Seal the Heavens

This one uses western themes but in a more chinese-fantasy-style:

Warlock of the Magus World

There are a number of unfinished ones you might like as well. My favorite is The Way of Choices. It is written in a more classical and literary style. One of the better written ones definitely.

The Way of Choices

For the next one, the initial premise is weird here, a person is reincarnated, and then given a second chance at their new life groundhog-style, but I like it.

The Records of the Human Emperor

Martial World

Will Wight has a series that mimics the style of Chinese fantasy novels. You might like it.

The Unsouled

There is a whole huge world of this material being written and translated out there. More than you could read and stay ahead of really.

These type of novels are usually called Wuxia or Xiancia novels depending on whether they center in on martial arts (the former), or more fantasy elements (the latter).

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

https://forum.wuxiaworld.com/discussion/7616/difference-between-xianxia-wuxia-novels

More to come, that in my opinion will be better from myself.

However, I can recommend some stuff I like.

Don't need to know anything about Mass Effect for, Transcendent Humanity. and Mass Effect end of Days. Both very HFY and Free!


---

Some other stuff I like but not quite as free, so do your research!

Seven Eves - A little depressing and somewhat long winded, characters act a little too stupidly at times in my opinion but interesting none the less.

House of Suns - An exploration of Deep Time and the segmentation / division of minds and consciousness like what I was exploring with Arik and will be a large focus of my future writing. So fun to play with the concept of 'me'.

The Bobiverse - Von Nuemann eat your heart out. This one explores similar themes of consciousness and thought with regards to AI.
Spinward Fringe - It's long if you want something that doesn't leave you hanging, and the first one is free! Jumps around and suffers from what I call the 'LitRPG' syndrome without being in the genre itself, IE characters quickly gaining power and handling it almost perfectly. This only happens once so I can tolerate the lack of exposition.

hmm, that's about all I can recommend off the top of my head. Sorry for leaving you hanging on this. I do want to come back to it, but the serial format was doing my head in. Plots were unwraveling and I was writing into corners.

I mostly read speculative fiction, which is typically divided between the subgenres of fantasy, sci-fi, and alternate history. Alternate history is technically considered a subgenre of Sci-Fi, but I read enough of it to make it worth counting as a separate group. Within each of those subgenres, there is a wide variety of styles and some people might find themselves not a fan of one style but a fan of another. If you are not well read in these genres, then you will want to try a few different styles of story before dismissing it. I also sometimes read novelizations of historical events which have their own sort of enjoyment to them that fictional stories lack. Then there are books that are set from an animals point of view, which range from attempts to be as accurate as possible to being practically fantasy stories.

As far as individual books, I will try to give you a few of the best to pick from without being overwhelming. Some are stand alone stories while others are parts of series.

Fantasy single books:

After the Downfall

Fantasy series:

The Dresden Files

A Song of Ice and Fire aka Game of Thrones

Sci-Fi single books:

Slow Train to Arcturus

Mother of Demons

Sci-Fi series:

The Thrawn Trilogy There are a great many Star Wars books worth the read, but this is definitely the place to start.

Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow

Alternate History single books:

The Guns of the South

1824: The Arkansas War Technically this is a sequel to an earlier book, but this one is leagues better and you don't need to read the first book to understand what is going on.

Alternate History series:

How Few Remain

1632

Worldwar

Non-Fiction:

Band of Brothers

War Made New This one isn't even really a novelization, just an analysis of the changes to military technology, tactics, and training over the last 500 years. Regardless, it is very well written and a great read.

Animal POV books:

Watership Down

Wilderness Champion

The Call of the Wild and White Fang These two books are by the same author and go in pretty much opposite directions. Among literature fanatics, there is no consensus over which one is better and I don't think I can decide for myself so I am recommending both.

Edit: I forgot to mention, the first book in the 1632 series is available online for free. This is not a pirated version, but something the author put up himself as a part of an effort to move publishing into the modern day with technology and make books more accessible to readers.

If you're looking for a good series, I highly, highly recommend Bobiverse. It's a trilogy: We Are Legion (We Are Bob), For We Are Many, and All These Worlds.

It's not giving anything away to tell you that it's about a guy who's a software developer, who's kind of nerdy, but hilariously self-deprecating. He definitely doesn't take anything too seriously.

The story opens with him buying a contract with a company where, upon his death, will preserve him until he can essentially be reborn.

The company upholds its end of the bargain, but the future world doesn't quite turn out the way anyone would have expected. Robert wakes up to something, well, a bit different than he was expecting too; i.e., a sentient A.I. program that manages to maintain his personality, memories, and his smart-ass demeanor. This is how the story begins.

The series is lol-hilarious and totally relevant to the times in which we live.

If you're into audiobooks you can also get it really cheap through Amazon and Audible. It's actually even more entertaining as an audio book. Never have I ever had as much fun listening to anything as I have the Bobiverse.

Right now Amazon is also having a special with Kindle Unlimited for 99 cents - three months. If you do that, you can rent the entire series for free and then add the audio books for $1.99 each.

It's totally worth it.

So if you do the Kindle Unlimited thing, when you go to rent the book on Amazon, just scroll down and look under the "buy it now button" and select the "Add Audible book to your purchase for just $1.99." Then scroll back up and click the read for free button.

After you cancel the Unlimited plan you still get to keep the audio book. I do that all the time to get audio books for dirt cheap.

Here's a link for the Kindle Unlimited deal:

https://www.techbargains.com/jump/deal/433133?page_location=EC_NormalDeal&link_type=Buy+button&link_text=see+deal

And here's the link to the first book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LWAESYQ/ref=series_dp_aw_ca_1

The series is just so damn amazing. Written well and narrated perfectly.

What kind of books do you generally go for?

I read [House of Blades] (https://www.amazon.com/House-Blades-Travelers-Gate-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00D52X58Y) the first month it came out. Same for the The Crimson Vault and City of Light.

I however admit that I did not read the Elder Empire series until much later, after I had already started Cradle. I had seen it on kindle while browsing many many times, but it didn't click with me. I very much enjoyed it once I finally started reading it, but I was very hesitant to start it for a couple of reasons I can identify for you.

• The cover didn't click with me. You've already realized this, since I know that you're reworking the covers for all the books. Maybe this is a personal pet peeve of mine, but I HATE when the focus of a book cover is on a front-view depiction of the protagonist. Covers, like movie posters, aren't there to depict a scene from the book or movie, they're theme pieces. You're supposed to be able to look at them and at a glance realize "Oh! This is an action adventure book!" or "Oh, this story is about spaceships and cool magic!". Of Sea and Shadow and of Shadow and Sea covers featured only the characters on it, with a focus on their facial details (Which I also dislike, mind you. I prefer personal details left up to the reader's imagination). I got the general Pirate vs. Assassin idea from the covers, but that's all I got. If I had realized there were giant, Lovecraftian monsters, I might have picked up the book a lot sooner. Again, the new cover for Of Sea and Shadow does a much better job at this.
  
  
• The other thing that really kept me from diving into the book was that I was afraid of having to pick a side. Pirates vs. ninjas? They're both cool! I can't choose! I'm too indecisive. House of Blades and Cradle both had the promise that these main characters would be powerhouses once the story really got going, but I feared that wouldn't be possible with opposing protagonists. How bad-ass can the main character really be if they're up against another protagonist? I also realized that this isn't really the case once I started reading, but beforehand my assumption was that the protagonist of one story would be the Big Bad of the other, and that there was no way they'd ever come to terms and for one of them to have a good ending the other would necessarily have to be defeated in a big downer ending. I didn't want to risk that kind of letdown. You navigated around this in the story itself, but this was my fear from reading the synopsis multiple times as I clicked on it and passed on it several times.
  
  
• I, and many others, read much faster on a kindle than on paper. The internet has trained us to read quickly when we're online, and so whenever I'm on a digital device I tend to move across the pages much faster. In addition, kindle books are much cheaper than regular books, so instead of savoring that one book I bought for $20, I can buy five books for $3.99. This means I tend not to pay as much attention while reading on kindle as I would if I was reading a hardcover. This is why I went out and bought a physical copy of Oathbringer.
  This puts a little limiter on how complex I want a book to be. If I'm reading fast I don't want to have to remember a dozen different characters and each of their backgrounds and plot lines. The Elder Empire threatened to overwhelm my unprepared mind with lots of POV characters and interweaving plots. It sounded like epic fantasy to me, and don't get me wrong, I love epic fantasy, but I'd read House of Blades, which felt more like Heroic Fantasy or maybe coming of age fantasy, I wasn't sure I wanted to dive into something like that for a fairly new author I'd only read from a different sub-genre. I was somewhat afraid of putting forth the mental effort to read a story I was uncertain I'd like in the first place. I kept putting it off, thinking that I'd read it when I was in the right mood to dive into something more complex plot-wise. Unfortunately, when I'm looking for a book I can really dive into mentally I don't usually look to self-published books. I look for the big traditional names like, Rothfus' Name of the Wind or Oathbringer or A song of Ice and Fire or Malzahan book of the Fallen.
  
  
• I was still hoping for more Travelers Gate. I really liked the Travler’s Gate world. While you wrapped up the plotlines I felt as though the story for House of Blades was like a kid trying to wear a giant’s shoes. The world was so huge, with great world building and limitless potential. How could 1100 pages cover it all? With the scale of the world I just hadn’t expected the story to be only a trilogy. So much material was left unexplored. I may have projected some of that anger onto The Elder Empire, thinking, “Curses! This is the story that stole Traveler’s Gate book four from us!”.
  
  I apologize for the wall of text. There's a few more points I can think of but I'll stop here before my comment becomes too long for anybody to bother reading. Hopefully it helps you in your future marketing endeavors!
  

Let's start with the premise of your question: there's only one conflict in your story, and this single conflict is the only source of suspense to keep the reader interested. Fortunately, suspense is not the same as conflict, and using that difference effectively will help your reader power through the "info dumps."


Conflict = things like man vs man, man vs society, man vs nature, etc. In a novel, there may be one or multiple conflicts, but it's usually a finite number of important conflicts. Interesting conflicts generally span the whole novel. Conflicts can take a lot of time to fully establish, can evolve over time, and the resolution of a conflict is a big deal.


Suspense = things that keep the reader interested. When done well, suspense is what causes readers to keep turning pages long after they promised themselves they would stop reading and go to bed. Suspense is not a genre, but something that every well-written work of fiction has in abundance. Suspense can be created in a single sentence and resolved in the next one. Suspense can also relate to the main story arc and function as a long term "hook." If you want a really good example of how to create many sources of suspense in just a few paragraphs, look up Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. When reading carefully, you'll notice that Card juggles multiple sources of suspense at any one time. For instance, the main character might react to something but the reader doesn't get to see what they're reacting to until the next paragraph (short term suspense that makes you keep reading to find out what they saw). The thing that they are looking at might relate to the next roadblock in their overall story arc (medium and long term suspense). This is a "can't put it down" kind of book, and there's no reason you can't borrow some of those tricks to keep the pace moving even in the very beginning of yours.


I highly recommend this Dictionary of Narratology. It will inform your writing by showing you choices you didn't know exist.


(Disclaimer 1: I'm not saying that Orson Scott Card is an amazing author that everyone should emulate. He has some limitations that I get frustrated with, such as sexism and nondescript settings. However, suspense is something he excels at creating in abundance, so he's a good model for learning new ways of creating suspense and increasing pace.


Disclaimer 2: Suspense for the sake of suspense is not a good idea. Connect the suspense to things that matter, like character development and the story, for maximum effect.)


I hope this helps.

The Crafter by Outspan Foster. I haven't read this one yet, but I'm pretty pumped. Ordered the paperback. Set in a non-vr world.

Dante's Immortality. Highly recommended on this sub. Book 2 probably won't happen. Probably once a week asks about book 2. Still, so good that it's worth reading book 1 of an unfinished series. I think that's pretty high praise for it.

Sufficiently Advanced Magic. Another sub favorite. People argue whether or not it's LitRPG, most important thing is: it's dope.

Adventures on Brad. Nice slice of life in a non-vr fantasy world with game mechanics. Fun stuff.

A few others:

Adventurer Academy andIs It Wrong to Try and Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon.

Enjoy!

It might be helpful if you give us a list of any books you've read that you did enjoy or genres you think you might like.

I have never met a person who didn't love Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but it may not be your thing if you don't like wacked-out sci-fi so some general idea of your interests could help a ton with suggestions.

A Short History of Nearly Everything is a solid non-fiction

Robot Dreams is a great set of sci-fi short stories

Ender's Game gets a ton of hate but is a pretty great sci-fi

On A Pale Horse is an older series that I'd consider fantasy but with sci-fi elements

Where the Red Fern Grows is well loved fiction

A Zoo in My Luggage is non-fic but about animal collecting trips for a zoo and is hilarious.

Nah it's okay! The Lord of the Rings is really long and unless you're super interested in the story then it'd be a tedious read. I personally really love the book and do recommend them. I've read it twice in full and am re-reading it right now. If you ever are interested in the stories of Middle-earth I highly recommend starting with The Hobbit, it's regular book length and very fun to read. But even if you just casually enjoy the films that's alright too!

If there ever comes a day you do wanna dive headfirst into the books I highly recommend This box-set. It's small and cute.

I couldn't agree with this more. Sly Flourish has a whole book on Fantastic Locations where he discusses using them, how they can improve your game, and tips for building them/running them. I highly recommend it.

I also highly recommend building set-piece encounters for dramatic moments in the storyline. The big boss fight is an obvious time to do this, but I suggest spreading them out more to keep your players on their toes and show them that it's more than just a formula. If you want to study how to make them, I personally think that Whispers of the Vampire's Blade is a great place to start (it's also a super fun module).

As far as worldbuilding goes, don't overdo it (I should know, I overdo it all the time). Nailing the details can make the game 10x as immersive, but spending all your time writing adventures on just the details does not an interesting adventure make. For ideas on worldbuilding, YouTube can be a good resource if you find the right channels. Other than that, read fantasy novels. Published campaign settings can give you good ideas too, but usually I find novels to be more inspiring because they take more risks. It's okay to say your world doesn't have goblins in it as long its in service of something more interesting. Maybe they all died in a horrible ritual that created some new evil? That kind of thing. For novels with tremendous worldbuilding, I recommend anything by Brandon Sanderson, especially his Mistborn trilogy.

I hope some of that helps!

What I had to do was find a reading spot/time. I only read comfortably laying in bed before I go to sleep. It's become a habit now and thats the way I like to read. No distractions, read until I'm tired and then go to sleep. My wife can read anytime/anywhere, and I'm jealous of that, but it doesn't work for me.

Also find some books that you really like, that are easy. When you don't want to stop reading it helps a lot. Eventually you get to the point that you really can read anything because it doesnt have to hold your interest for every single sentence.

Try some Young Adult or easy reads right off the bat. a few suggestions, things I enjoy that are easy reads:

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games

Dean Koonz

Orson Scott Card - Enders Game

Find a Genre you're interested in and something with good reviews, then find your time/place and make it a habit.

Hmm....I'm going to interpret that question as '10 Books in No Particular Order that Weren't Massive Bestsellers that I Loved*'

• The Good Women of China An amazing book about the struggles of women in China from 1950s-1980s.
  
  
• Ode to Kirihito The book that got me hooked on Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy)'s classic manga.
  
  
• Shades of Milk and Honey A Regency Romance with a touch of fantasy, and the writing is a pleasure.
  
  
• Ender's Game Hardly indie anymore, but I found this near the bottom of a pile of books in middle school, thus launching my love of SF/F
  
  
• A Man with No Talents An anonymous account of a man who dropped out of the Salaryman life and became free to live his life as he wanted.
  
  
• The Dancing girls of Lahore A brutal, honest account of the underworld of courtesans in Pakistan.
  
  
• The Legend of Eli Monpress Escapist fantasy with amazing characters and a plot that keeps the reader up well past bedtime.
  
  
• Off to Be the Wizard Probably the closest to 'indie' on here, hardly a deep book but a hilarious geeky romp.
  
  
• Live Free or Die This one surprised me a bit, but my Libertarian SF-loving self just fell head-over-heels for this series.
  
  
• Boneshaker Because dammit, this is the one that sent me down the Steampunk rabbit hole.
  
  /* Ebooksgirl reserves the right at any time to change, amend, add or delete this list.

-a hammock because the outdoors is awesome

-this sharpie is amazing

-these pens, although a little pricey, are AMAZING. Additionally, you can get refills for them on Amazon and those are inexpensive

-best coloring pencils imho

-Some really awesome book series one, two, three and four

-for math, here's some sodoku

-Some movies: Overboard, When Harry Met Sally, Burlesque

-Telescope

-Picnic basket

-Spirituality book

-some incense and an awesome fairy burner to go with them

I'll try and add some more later :)

Thanks for the contest

I really really want it! ( $5 and $10

Ethical Concern: The GMO corn is trademarked by <insert well known chemical company here> and the seed is sold to farmers who invest in it. Corn propagates by wind, neighbor farmer did not buy in but now his seed stock is infiltrated and the trademark owners sue him for stealing seed stock or some other violation of copyright. Local farmer caves to relentless legal pressure, soon all food stock is owned by corporations. This could get really wild (The Windup Girl), but so far that's still sci-fi, right?

Environmental Concern: Most GMO crops are created by chemical companies who in turn make products effective on plants that were not created by them. Rather than taking time to work with the environment these companies amass petrochemical sprays (a further economical cost to the farmer as well) and bombard regions so their plant survives. This chemical mixture goes into the soil and water where it in turn effects us; you do know that ALL drinking water is recycled I hope.


So you might be right, there might not be concerns on the healthy diet level (though we all know how wonderful the American diet is for us all). But there are larger socioeconomic issues here as well. To lock this only on a healthy for diet issue is absurd. I highly recommend Botany of Desire (book or PBS) as the potato chapter is enlightening on this measure (from an economic standpoint). Basically; organic food is far more economic in terms of space, maintenance, and profit per square foot.

I think I saw this posted on here before but I also was inspired by this Customizable Savage Worlds GM screen.

Here's how I made my pretty awesome screen:

1. Take 2 binders - hopefully not purchased and with clear pockets on the front for cover pages.
   
   
2. Use a utility or exacto knife to cut off the binder covers cleanly at the bottom and cut the little pockets out of the inside.
   
   
3. Use packing tape or another really sticky clear tape to tape 3 binder covers together horizontally (the side you cut should be the bottom). Make sure not to tape up the openings so that you can put neat-o pictures in there.
   
   
4. Take some of those clear plastic sleeves for keeping documents in binders and tape them to what will be the top of the inside of your new screen (I did overkill with 2 layers of sleeves but I'm new to SW and I'm running Hellfrost, which is pretty detail-heavy).
   
   
5. Google for Savage Worlds GM screen inserts. There are a couple versions out there. BoardGameGeek.com might have one too. Make sure you get a post-SWD one.

Swan Song - Robert McCammon Of the books I read last year this was my favorite.

Old Man's War - John Scazi - It's a pretty fun Military Sci-fi series

Leviathan Wakes - S. A. Corey - Near space, space opera.

Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson - Epic Fantasy with an interesting magic system, good place to start with a popular author

The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie - "Grimm Dark" fantasy, he does an interesting thing by playing with a LotR style quest.

The Black Prism - Brent Weeks - Interesting Magic system, one of my favorite ongoing fantasy series. Much better than his first trilogy IMHO

Midnight Riot - Ben Aaronovitch - Funny urban fantasy series that takes place in London

His Majesty's Dragon - Namoi Novik - Napoleonic* war + dragon's, fun quick reads.

Sevenes - Neal Stephenson - Stand Alone sci-fi novel about human's trying to survive in space as the world ends.

I can suggest more if you want, and I assume you've probably read at least some of these. Hope you enjoy some of them at least though.

Great contest idea! Don't let life get you down, you obviously have awesome ideas, so just keep'em coming!

Here is something you might like!
I noticed you're a Robert Jordan fan and Brian Sanderson did the most recent books in the Wheel of Time series. This series is awesome for WoT fans, trust me. :D

Redditing at work is AWESOME . It's what I'm doing right now.
If you choose me this is what I would like. :)

One of my favorite series is Super Powereds by Drew Hayes. It's about Supers if you couldn't guess. The last book isn't in KU, but it is available to read free on Drew Hayes's website.

I just finished the Bobiverse series by Dennis Taylor and was enthralled! It's sci-fi/space exploration.

Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron is about a magic, spirits, and a nice dragon thrown into trouble by his viperous family.

Silvertongue by Casey White was fantastic (and it came from a reddit writing prompt!), but the series is not finished yet, if that matters to you.

Scott Meyer writes many hilarious books, nearly all in KU.

Lindsay Buroker writes sci-fi/fantasy, and she has a decent amount of KU books (and frequently has 1st book/boxsets for free for series not in KU).

K. M. Shea if you like fairy-tale retellings.

Cassandra or Elizabeth Gannon (sisters) for kind of odd, over-the-top, funny romance adventures (both write explicit sex scenes, fyi). Also while bad/crude language can be found in both sisters' books, Elizabeth has some absolutely magnificent crude expressions in hers. Like, if I ever want to be fired with extreme prejudice, I know how to go out with style now.

And that seems like a decently long list of possibilities to leave you with, so I'll stop here.

Savage Worlds sounds perfect for what you're looking for! The game is centered around the players being hard-to-beat action heroes. There are rules for pretty much any type of combat you can think of, and you can run nearly any genre you could possibly want with the system. Player creation is also extremely flexible, and you gain plenty of "edges" as you level up. I highly recommend the system for all intense action RPG needs. I've run a Sci-Fi campaign with the system, and it was super easy to learn and the players had a blast. The core rule book is only $8.99 on amazon, so it's definitely worth a try! :)

MHI is part of Baen's free library. There's a large number of book 1's for various Baen series that remain free permanently on Amazon and other places.

----

The last time this was brought up here's what I said:

So Baen is heavier on SciFi than Fantasy/Urban Fantasy...and their authors tend to display their Conservative/Libertarian philosophies a bit more. But they do tell some fun stories if you lean towards their politics or can roll your eyes at that.

There's some others out there that I can't think of, but these are favorites of mine other than MHI...

John Ringo has a fantasy series I haven't gotten to yet and the weakest of his SciFi series up for free. I wish they had Live Free or Die or Through the Looking Glass, which are much much better series, but alas:

http://www.amazon.com/Hymn-Before-Battle-Legacy-Aldenata-ebook/dp/B00BEQP50Y/ref=la_B000APPSXE_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1456879886&sr=1-1&refinements=p_82%3AB000APPSXE

http://www.amazon.com/There-Will-Dragons-Council-Wars-ebook/dp/B00BER04VI/ref=la_B000APPSXE_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1456879886&sr=1-2&refinements=p_82%3AB000APPSXE

David Weber does great space navy battles in his Honor Harrington series.

http://www.amazon.com/Basilisk-Station-Honor-Harrington-Book-ebook/dp/B00ARPJBS0/ref=la_B000APBAFE_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1456879923&sr=1-1&refinements=p_82%3AB000APBAFE

Williamsons Freehold is a Libertarian's utopian heaven, but it's a favorite popcorn read of mine - the latter half is heavy military SF.

http://www.amazon.com/Freehold-Book-Michael-Z-Williamson-ebook/dp/B00BEQLTZY/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1456879862&sr=8-1&keywords=freehold

The Ring of Fire series is about a 1990's era West Virginia coal mining town that gets thrown back into the year 1632 in Europe.

http://www.amazon.com/1632-Ring-Fire-Eric-Flint-ebook/dp/B00BEQLQNE/ref=sr_1_4_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1456882709&sr=8-4&keywords=1632

My suggestion when starting kids of this age in rpgs is always Savage worlds Its cheap, easy, fast, and versatile.

This week you can be playing super criminals(or cops) doing whatever in "not shadowrun". Then next week when he gets super into power rangers you can easily play "not power rangers" with the same rule set. Then when some pirate show comes on tv you can play "not pirates" or "not space rangers" or really whatever you want. There is a huge number of setting books (that you don't really need) for all flavors you could want.

The card based initiative system is great. Probably the best initiative system I have ever seen in something that has a codified init system.

it uses a target number 4 system with "raises" for each mulitple of 4 over your first. Dice explode and get added together. So it helps to teach math

its based on a 'benny' or benefit system where you have little tokens that allow you to do things like reroll dice. The game is based around an economy between player and gm, with the gm being encourage to give them out to the players for good roleplay, decisions in character, or bringing in their negatives. We can take this one step furhter with kids and use it teach them small life lessons. Encourage them to do things, like instead of fighting a guy, they talk him down, or help him, givem a benny.

I often suggest usings like candy to represent these tokens. He can't eat them until he spends them on something, but then when he is out of them he can't do cool rerolls and stuff. teach him restraint since he wants to do cool stuff, but also wants to eat the candy.

Personally, I have read (and listened to) RPO multiple times. I don't think D&D would be fitting at all for it, but maybe something like Savage Worlds? It allows for building your character out in a very open ended way, just as is demonstrated in the Story, and since it is meant to be the more intense and over the top, you could with ease work that in (They are actually working on a Rifts adaptation to Savage Worlds currently, which is also a ridiculously action packed kind of setting).

You don't have a class system in Savage Worlds, so characters can pick up skills as they increase in power, without having that sudden "Level Up," feel to it. And, because it is meant to be easily adaptable to any sort of setting, it even having a very good amount of varying settings/genres, there would be no problem in changing to different settings or worlds so quickly, since all you really have to do is copy the book's explanation, "Oh, yeah, your Phaser doesn't work here because this is a Magic Zone. Sword and Sorcery time, guys!"

Plus, the Main Book for Savage Worlds (which includes everything you would need to make characters, know all the rules, and craft a campaign) is only about $10.00, which you can find on Amazon or their Own Website. I highly recommend it, and trust me as someone who recently got into this system to say that it is very easy to learn and simple to teach. I honestly think it is a great system that isn't too heavy on the rules that they get in your way, but not too light to force you to try and make up too much on the spot.

And if you are worried about having content from D&D, converted over to this system for you to use, I recommend Zadmar's Magnificent Collection of Free Savage Worlds Content It even includes a load of Monsters converted to the system from both D&D and Pathfinder.

Yeah I read a lot of Fantasy and Sci-fi. Umm, if he likes more Military Scifi I would recommend:

• Dauntless It's the first in a really cool space/naval series about a fleet of spaceships far from home and fighting through enemy territory to get home. All the while the Fleet Commander is acclimating to being 100 years in his own future (without "timetravel")
  
  
• Starship Troopers Is a classic scifi by Heinlein and has very little to do with the movies. Similar war ideas, giant bugs, but totally different feel. No cheesyness.
  
  
• Ender's Game of course is a classic Scifi book. Young boy growing up in a Battle School where they train kids to be soldiers. Very deep, very perspective changing.
  
  
• Stranger in a Strange Land Is another Heinlein book. A human boy grows up being raised by an alien Martian race on Mars. Brought back to Earth as an adult human, but again raised and taught everything by Martians. Has no concept of earth, our beliefs, our morals, our actions, anything. An amazing story that gives a great perspective for a WASP like me to see what it's like to integrate into a society where nobody is like you, and you understand nothing.
  
  If he likes "high fantasy" (elves, wizards, knights, etc) then let me know and I throw out a few of those too.
  
  EDIT: Also I'll plug Audbile.com here because these all also have great Audiobooks with GREAT narrators and I love listening to my books on my Android phone all the time. And of course Amazon owns Audible! discounts for buying the audiobook and the kindle book (often cheaper than outright buying the audiobook!)

I'd recommend giving Will Wight a try. His stuff reminds me of early Sanderson. It's definitely not very polished yet, but it's innovative, you can see his improvement as a writer, and he's trying new things. His first series is called Traveler's Gate; it's a really fun read. First book is available here.

He's currently working on two parallel series set in a different world with dueling protagonists. It's interesting because they just ooze potential- they're good books right now, but while reading them you can just tell that he's going to be huge within the next 10 years.

The Dao of Magic is a more westernized type cultivation story. The Dao of Magic has some pretty interesting ideas, and for the most part is a great read. It is not without its flaws though, but they give the story character in their own way.

Unsouled is the first book in an ongoing series of wuxia/xianxia inspired books that is released on Amazon. I feel it is really well written, though I got bored halfway through the released books. It's still great, it's just hard for books to keep my interest, and is nothing against the author/story.

I haven't really read many English stories that are purely wuxia/xianxia though, but I have noticed wuxia influence in all manner of fantasy webnovels nowadays. I know there are many more wuxia/xianxia original English stories though; I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

I read eight books in September. Between travel and general boredom, I finally started digging into the books on Kindle Unlimited and discovered a few series that I enjoyed, even though they are frustratingly incomplete.

The first was the Unsouled series (5 books) by Will Wight. The universe is a combination of high fantasy and sci-fi with an overarching flavor of Asian mythology. At first, I wasn't completely sold on it, but the characters have some interesting arcs, especially Lindon, the protagonist. If you're a fan of anime-style story arcs with underpowered protagonists bumblefucking their way to glory, you'll like it. Also, the books are really easy to read, but engaging enough to keep interest. 4/5 stars

Second, I read the Euphoria Online (2 books) series by Phil Tucker. It's a story about a dystopian future where humanity has surrendered control to an AI to help mitigate the damage that's been done to the environment. The AI has taken over government functions and put together a VR game for humanity. The game allows players who play on "Death March" mode, which can be fatal, to gain a boon from the AI and the protagonist decides to attempt it because his brother is on Death Row. 3.75/5 stars

The last book that I finished just last night is Pandemic by A.G. Riddle. It's a well written in a Tom Clancy/Dan Brown kind of way. The story involves a pandemic (shocking, right?), a secret society, and other airport paperback style shenanigans. It's an entertaining read, but not breaking any new ground. I enjoyed it simply for the rollercoaster ride of the plot. 3.5/5 stars.

I can't believe I'm the first person to suggest this, but you probably want Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe. The kid is not an overly powerful mage, but has to traverse the tower of death traps using his wits and clever ways no one has thought of before with his magic. Feel is sort of a D&D campaign/ dungeon crawl but with LitRPG overtones and protagonist who might just be on the spectrum.

Will Wight's Cradle series is a more Asian inspired take on magic with the protag again being considered deficient magically and having to think his way around the situations in unconventional ways to gain strength. Even by the middle of the third book, he's still not brimming with power.

Brent Week's Lightbringerhas some VERY powerful characters in it (in fact one of the POVs is the most powerful man alive), but one of the POVs is a kid just getting his feet under him. Good series, but probably the least similar to what you're asking for here.

1. My favorite book (beginning of a trilogy, plus more after that, yaaay!) is Heir to the Empire, by Timothy Zahn. It is set in the Star Wars universe, about five years after the battle of Endor. It is written so well, you can practically hear the background music. Plus, he introduces my favorite character of all time in that book.
   
   
2. I don't even remember the name of my least favorite book. I refuse to give that thing room in my brain. It was billed as a murder mystery, but the murder was only a mystery to the main character, who actually heard it go down while she was hiding, but spent the next several chapters oblivious. Then it took her over 2/3 of the book to figure out that the murder victim just might be the girl who had been renting a room in her house and who had been coincidentally missing since the night of the murder. Oh, and the author was simply awful at giving her characters normal human reactions to things. Then at the end, it turned into a "you should go to church and become a 'Christ-centered' Christian" book. I don't even...
   
   
3. Harry Potter. The books are charming. But the movies took what she wrote, embellished, and made a rich world of depth and wonder.
   
   
4. Jumper. It's a very good Young Adult fiction book, easily enjoyable by adults as well. The movie took the slightest hint of a main theme, wasn't even true to the mechanics of that, and threw out everything that made the book good. As Hollywood does.
   
   
5. I enjoyed the Battlestar Galactica book that was based on the original TV series. I'm pretty sure that the only reason was that I was young and loved the series.
   
   
6. Jedi Search: Star Wars (The Jedi Academy): Volume 1 of the Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson. I'm so sorry to say this about an author, but after reading Zahn's work, it was like going from art at the Louvre to a child's crayon scrawlings. Then he booted my favorite character off to the periphery and failed to justify her reason for taking off and randomly showing up merely for exposition, then disappearing again. To add insult to injury, he repeatedly brought up that she had "tried to kill" Luke Skywalker. Ahem, no. Had she actually tried, he would be dead. The entire point had been that she was fighting to not kill the guy. And she succeeded. In not killing him. Dude, if you are going to play (write) in somebody else's universe, you need to do your research.
   
   I would be happy with any of the e-books on my list that are in your price range. But here are five:
   
   Sara, Book 1
   
   Ender's Game
   
   Wyrd Sisters
   
   Witches Abroad
   
   Horror, Humor, and Heroes Volume 2
   
   Have fun with your first gift giving! And thanks for the contest. :)

they'll probably just tap in Sanderson like they did with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.

At first I was like.. so who is this random Sanderson and why should I care about his books. Eventually I did read a Sanderson book and I was.. unimpressed. It was good but not "We want you to finish WOT" good. Turns out it was his Young Adult book which was better than Patterson's garbage. Anyway one day Amazon had a Sanderson book for free. Good lord it was good. It was so epic, so good. It changed my world. If I was in high school when this series was coming out my primary user handle would come from it instead of Wheel of Time. On TOP of that. Sanderson is a bloody machine. He cranks out these epic well written books and he cranks them out regularly which in the literary world is lightning fast.

I understood after reading that book why they choose him. Because he writes good, he writes big and he's a closer.

Here's some I can recommend:

House of Blades by Will Wight, narrated by Will Wight.

If you're a fan of Sanderson's magic systems or fight sequences, you might like this a lot. It's fast-paced, fun, and turns a few tropes around. I didn't listen to this on audio, but I just checked out the sample and it sounds like the author did a pretty good job narrating himself. The ebook is currently free on Amazon! So if you get the ebook for free, the audiobook should be $2 on Audible.



Forging Divinity by Andrew Rowe, narrated by Nick Podehl.

This is another book similar to Sanderson's style of hard magic systems. (Interestingly enough, Rowe is a huge fan of Will Wight and a regular member of this subreddit). The book is narrated by the same narrator who did the Kingkiller series! Also, this is the first book in what will likely be an extraordinarily epic series, with a magic school spinoff book due to release later this year.



Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan, narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds.

This book is and isn't indie/self-published, so I'm not sure if this fits what you are looking for. Sullivan originally self-published this series, and it was later picked up for traditional publication. This is the omnibus containing the first two books (both of which were self-published originally). Both the book and narration are very good, though.

***

A Warrior's Path** by Davis Ashura, narrated by Nick Podehl.

This has a society with a strict caste system, where each caste has their own magical abilities. The story follows a warrior who has to learn to reexamine this caste system and the politics of the warrior's home city. Also, there's a magical god-demon that can control hordes of evil minions.

I can't recommend Brandon Sanderson enough as an author of epic fantasy. I avoided reading his stuff for the longest time because he wrote the last Wheel of Time book and I HATE that series, but out of desperation (and nice cover art) I caved, and immediately kicked myself for having waited so long. He's written some nice standalone novels, as well as some longer series. I've seen his books in pretty much every bookshop I've been into, so he should be easy to find. My particular favourite is the Mistborn Series, which starts with the question "what if the evil overlord won" and then kicks off a really great story of a street urchin and a gang of criminals that turns into a political thriller with magic and evil cults and oh my goodness just read it, it's awesome.

My second recommendation is for The Empire Trilogy by Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts. It's set in a secondary world of Feist's Riftwar Saga, with some crossover, but you don't need to have read any of the Riftwar Books to understand what's going on. The world creation, particularly the politics and culture, is amazing in this series. Starts with Daughter of the Empire, the story of a woman who, when she's about to enter a convent, suddenly finds herself in charge of House Acoma on the death of her entire family, and the things she has to do to keep herself and her House alive. It's amazing. Don't let the awful cover art on Amazon fool you.

How much do you want to spend?

I mean, you could buy him the authentic Wooly Mammoth Tusk dice... (WAAAAY expensive... a full set runs over $2100) or maybe a nice set of stone or metal dice... (Much more affordable. The Metal dice can be had for under $50, sometimes as low as half that) Or like another poster said: Hero Forge gift vouchers are good. But if he's mostly a DM, he might not need a character like a player would.

Another idea is a really nice dice bag. Something tasteful and made out of a premium material. Leather and Chain Mail are both popular.

Another thing he might appreciate as a DM is a customizable DM screen. https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Customizable-Screen-S2P10002/dp/1930855591 I love mine because I can put whatever info that I want in it.

Other than that, a top notch mechanical pencil is always appreciated by me. Or maybe a really nice gear bag. I personally use the convention bag of holding from Thinkgeek, but they also have some nicer ones that hold more stuff... Those can run from $45 on up to about $129 depending on what you want.

I hope something in this grab bag has helped!

You've got some great suggestions so far- I'd also suggest Old Man's War ...it's fun.

Legacy of Heorot is also a good, fun read.

Connie Willis writes great short stories, and The Doomsday Book is one of the better time travel books that I've read (especially if you have any interest in history).

One of my favourite things to do is to pick up short story anthologies at the library, which usually gives me a good idea of which authors I'd be interested in reading.

List of Influential RPG Titles

Dungeons and Dragons - By TSR and WotC

Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition - TSR

• Core Rulebooks
  
• Adventures (Keep on the Boarderlands, The Tomb of Horrors, The Temple of Elemental Evil)
  
  Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition - TSR
  
  
• Core Books (PHB, DMG, MM)
  
• Unearthed Arcana
  
• Campaign Settings (Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun)
  
• Arms and Equipment Guide
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 - WotC
  
  
• Savage Species
  
• Deities and Demigods
  
• Stronghold Builder's Guidebook
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 - WotC
  
  
• Core Rulebooks (PHB, DMG, & MM)
  
• Expanded Core (PHB2, DMG2, MM2, 3, 4, 5)
  
• Psionics Handbook
  
• Unearthed Arcana
  
• Complete Series (Arcane, Adventurer, Warrior, Divine, Champion, Scoundrel, Mage, Psionics)
  
• Campaign Settings (Ebberon, Forgotten Realms)
  
• Adventures (Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil)
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 4e - WotC
  
  
• Core Rulebooks (PHB, PHB2, PHB3, DMG, DMG2, MM, MM2, MM3)
  
• Essentials (Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms and Heroes of Fallen Lands, Rules Compendium)
  
• Settings (Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun)
  
• Adventures (Tomb of Horrors)
  
  Pathfinder - Paizo Publishing
  
  
• Core Rulebook
  
• Advanced Player's Guide
  
• Advanced Race Guide
  
• Ultimate Magic
  
• Ultimate Combat
  
• Ultimate Equipment
  
• Game Mastery Guide
  
• Ultimate Campaign
  
• Mythic Adventures
  
• NPC Codex
  
• Bestiaries 1-4
  
  Not Dungeons and Dragons
  
  World of Darkness - by White Wolf
  
  
• Vampire the Masquerade - Vampires are so mainstream now...
  
• Werewolf the Apocylypse - Where there are vampires there are werewolves.
  
• Mage the Ascention - and witches and wizards.
  
• Hunter the Reckoning - and someone to hunt them.
  
• Changeling the Dreaming
  
  "New" World of Darkness
  
  
• Core Book
  
• Expanded Core (Vampire, Mage, Werewolf)
  
  AEG
  
  
• Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition Core Rulebook
  
• Legend of the Five Rings 1st Edition Core Rulebook
  
• 7th Sea
  
• Deadlands
  
  Other
  
  
• Shadowrun
  
• Savage Worlds
  
• Dungeon World
  
• FATE Core
  
• Call of Cthulhu
  
• RIFTS
  
• GURPS
  
• Paranoia - Super expensive on Amazon, not sure why.
  
• Elf Quest - Also a very popular graphic novel.
  
  Authors to Look for
  
  
• Gary Gygax - Role Playing Mastery and Master of the Game
  
• Monte Cook
  
• John Wick
  
• Dave Arneston
  
  RPG Related Non-Fiction
  
  
• Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress - Shelley Mazzinoble
  
• Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It
  
  RPG Fiction, also essential
  
  
• Dragonlance - Chronicles Triligy by Weise and Hickman - Set in a D&D campaign Setting
  
• Drizzit's Series - By R. A. Salvatore. Icewind Dale Trilogy and The Dark Elf Trilogy
  
• The Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist - It's allegedly the story of the author's long running D&D game.
  
  Other Lists
  
  
• Good Reads Popular RPG titles.
  
• Wikipedia timeline of RPGs
  
  Honorable Mentions
  
  
• Star Wars - d6 Edition, d20 Edition, SAGA Edition, Star Wars RPG (Fantsy Flight)
  
• Star Trek - Various Incarnations
  
• Serenity the RPG
  
• D&D Comic Books
  
• Buffy the RPG
  
• Whatever the heck "Demon" is...
  
  *Please add suggestions below, I'll add to the list as I revisit this thread throughout the day. Adding Amazon links now.

Don't feel lame. I went on a really long kick where I was reading a lot of franchise books - Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft, Stargate, etc etc. Sometimes they're terribly written, but sometimes there are really good stories with some great character development.

I'm not really familiar with the other two books but from what I looked up of them (especially considering the Halo + Ben Bova) I think you'd like Ender's Game.

It's technically YA fiction, but it's good enough that you'll often find it in with the regular science fiction. It's also a series so if you like the first one that'll give you a few more to read.

In the classic Science fiction category The Foundation Series is worth looking into as well.

Let's see. Maybe The Sky People too. It's not exactly classic literature, but it's a fun romp in space - a what if there was life on Venus & Mars and it was dinosaurs and prehistoric humans sort of thing. Although not classic science fiction it has that same feel because it takes a stab at what type of life might exist on our neighboring planets.

I haven't read Edgar Rice Burroughs, but he might be up your alley too.

Start here: https://www.amazon.com/Francisco-Street-Secrets-David-Eames/dp/0935182756. It's a history of SF from the view of it's citizens that have had our streets named after them. It's a fascinating book!

The "bad" sections of town are the Tenderloin and Bay View/Hunter's Point 'hoods. They're "bad" because they house poor residents and the area are prone to drug and human trafficking, as well as violence.

The "Muni Metro" subway is nice, but it's starting to show its age. Each station has different colored walls and floors to distinguish one from the other. They've finished boring out the main tunnel for the new "Central Subway" under Stockton Street, and how they're (block by block) ripping up the street and inserting the infrastructure around the tunnel.

It almost never snows in SF. I've lived here 20 years and I've seen it once (it evaporated before it touched the ground at Haight Street and Market Street, and this was at night!) and a friend "out in the Avenues" had a sleet / snow storm that laid out a couple of inches a few years ago. Other than those "freak" occurrences the Winter months are (WERE!) usually raining and overcast. However with the ongoing drought in California our Winter's have been pretty dry lately.

The "High Class" 'hoods are Pacific Heights and Sea Cliff.

The last two I cannot answer as they're too subjective. What's expensive to me wouldn't be to another, and "coolest" is far more subjective than just $ or $$$!

One of the biggest issues facing the city now is "Techies". These are well paid, IT-related, young professionals that are moving into the city and rents have been skyrocketing. SF is a very NIMBY city so for years now no one wanted to allow high density building in their 'hoods. Hence a shortage of rental units. We also have some very Renter-centic laws in the city that have owners of apartment buildings just not renting them out and having to deal with those laws.

That should be enough for you to get started on your research. Let me know if anything else comes up.

Personal Note: One of my favorite books is Altered Carbon (https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon-Takeshi-Kovacs-Novels/dp/0345457684/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474925617&sr=1-1&keywords=altered+carbon). It's a sci-fi novel based in SF that's intelligent, very well written and trippy as hell. The author does a great job basing it in SF, but not falling into the trap of "over explaining" the details/scenery to "prove a point". (I hope that makes sense.) It was a joy to read because of that. I could "tell" where they were by what he was describing!

Dungeons & Dragons is the big dog, it's the only TTRPG most people have ever heard of and that name recognition means whatever the current edition of D&D is will almost always have the largest player base in a given area in the English-speaking world.

But if you want a different game you could go with something like Savage Worlds, which is a rules-medium system that can play in any genre you want. The corebook (which is the only book you'd need to play, though others are helpful) is less than $10, which is a plus. See the demo here: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/peg-freebies/TD06.pdf
Corebook here https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200

If you want to get some friends together and try some D&D (5th edition, which is the current one) though, I'd try it with the free demo rules before dropping between $90 - 120 on the 3 core books depending on where you buy them. Free demo rules here: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules

If you play a game with your friends you'll want some dice, unless you just decide to use a dice roller app on your phones. I'd recommend buying a big bundle of cheap dice rather than paying a lot for individual sets. A bundle like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KN7REWQ/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01KN7REWQ&pd_rd_wg=8uUwb&pd_rd_r=HQQYF600AKZZA1GKEZHV&pd_rd_w=CjKc8

DrivethruRPG is the site you'll want for other RPGs and older Dungeons & Dragons material, they're the amazon or wal mart of TTRPGs, selling PDFs and print on demand books. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/

cracks knuckles I have no idea if these have audiobooks. I'm sorry if they don't. Most of these are only three books long or shorter, sorry.

Sandman Slim and the sequel. It wasn't my favorite book, BUT it sounds a lot like what you're looking for. And it was fun.

China Mieville's Bas-Lag series (Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council. Three (~500 pg) books long, fantastic world building, twisty plots and great characters.

The Baroque Cycle, Neal Stephenson (Quicksilver, The Confusion and The Confusion of the World. Three books long, but you could kill a small animal by dropping one of those books on it. These are good, but his stand-alones are better (Snow Crash and Diamond Age for sure).

Most of Stephen King's stuff has the kind of sprawl you're looking for.

Dune, at least until God Emperor (#4).

Honestly, I think if you liked John Grisham, you'll like The Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo books. I think I'm making that leap based on the last book in the trilogy. They're definitely entertaining.

The Eisenhorn Trilogy (easily found at most book stores) is probably the most commonly recommended starting point, and for good reason: It's fantastic writing, and provides most of the knowledge you need as it goes on. If you like that, there is a story about his successor called the Ravenor Trilogy.

You can also pick up any short story collection and follow along mostly without issue.

Reading 40k novels/stories is tricky because the universe has grown almost out of control with characters and places and concepts, but the more you read the more you assimilate the information, and after a while you don't even know how you learned this stuff. But damn if it isn't entertaining sci-fi.

Best of all, for something so heavily involved in war and identity and politics, there is almost zero political agenda, by some miracle. Female characters complement male characters rather than trying to replace them. "Good guys" lose and protagonists die very frequently, giving a nice sense of urgency and importance to each story because -- let's face it -- in almost any sci-fi nowadays the protagonist is going to win because box office. Romance is almost never a theme, and in the rare instance it appears, it has a more powerful effect due to occurring naturally (and sparsely), rather than as part of a formula.

Good stuff all around.

Robin Mckinley - anything by her though specifically Sunshine. If you haven't read Mercades Lackey than you would probably like her since you like Tamora Pierce. Start with Arrows for the Queen or Magic's Pawn. Raymond E Feist writes another good fantasy series that has tons of books in it. You might even like the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time books since you like the Game of Thrones. If you haven't read the Ender's Game books by Orson Scott Card they are very good. Some classical sci-fi - Foundation series by Issac Asimov.

edit: also because it looks like you like some historical romance The Secret History of the Pink Carnation and Peony in Love.

I have Flowertown and Confessions of a D-List Super Villain that can be lent. Both were very good. I'm sure there are many others, but it is so hard to search for the lendable titles on Amazon!

EDIT: Adding more lendable SF titles - only adding books that I liked a lot.

The Forever War

The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2011

Bob Moore, No Hero - this is currently free in kindle store

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson

Warbreaker

The God Engines

13 Bullets

Agent to the Stars

Old Man's War

Thanks for your help man. I just checked out the Steyr M9-A1 at the local gunshop (the .357 I had my eye on is on Gunbroker.) It felt really great in the hand, and I love the sci-fi aesthetic but unfortunately that style of grip angle does not suit me, it pointed really high (like 6" at 3 yards) when held in my natural wrist alignment.

Kinda random, but if you enjoy guns and sci-fi, I'd highly recommend the book Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. In addition to being a fantastic noir/hard future sci fi, it has a quite few plausible but futuristic handguns.

"The Hegemony Consul sat on the balcony of his ebony spaceship and played Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp Minor on an ancient but well-maintained Steinway while great, green, saurian things surged and bellowed in the swamps below." - Hyperion, Dan Simmons

"Joe Gould is a blithe and emaciated little man who has been a notable in the cafeterias, diners, barrooms, and dumps of Greenwhich Village for a quarter of a century" - Up In The Old Hotel - Joseph Mitchell

"He told them he loved them" - Columbine - Dave Cullen

"Kazbek Misikov stared at the bomb hanging above his family. It was a simple device, a plastic bucket packed with explosive paste, nails, and small metal balls. It weighed perhaps eight pounds. The existence of this bomb had become a central focus of his life." - The School - C.J. Chivers

"It was summer; it was winter." The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy - MICHAEL PATERNITI

"The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken. I have never before had occasion to make the comparison, for never before today have I seen a head in a roasting pan" Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers - Mary Roach

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson is a great fantasy series for YA fans branching into adult Fantasy. In fact, they are re-packaging them in PB for teens because they have such good cross-over appeal

I really liked Sorcery and Cecilia, which is Jane Austen with magic, basically.

Speaking of Jane Austen, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a great YA title that's basically a re-telling of Persuasion done in a sort-of dystopian, far future setting.

If you want a more literary contemporary YA, I would try I'll Give You the Sun. It's probably the best book I've read all year.

I've got more where that came from if you would like more titles!

I've read The Book Thief! I really liked it. Here are some books that are similar to the Book Thief, and have changing/growing characters:

• [The Giver] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Giver-Quartet-Lois-Lowry/dp/0544336267/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WWVNGF0226N13781SPQ). Takes place in the future, in a town where everything is controlled. Very interesting book. It might be too easy for you, but I'm not sure.
  
  
• [Life of Pi] (http://www.amazon.com/Life-Pi-Yann-Martel/dp/0156027321/ref=pd_sim_b_31?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WWVNGF0226N13781SPQ). A man is cast-away after his ship sinks and goes through incredible experiences. This might be a little too complex, but it doesn't hurt to try!
  
  
• [Flowers for Algernon] (http://www.amazon.com/Flowers-Algernon-Daniel-Keyes/dp/0156030306/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413110247&sr=1-1&keywords=flowers+for+algernon). This book follows a retarded man as he gets an experimental treatment to get stronger. If you only read one book out of these 4, read this one! It's one of the saddest books I've ever read and it's also one of my favorites. It also is a great example of a character growing and changing. you really should read this book, I cannot stress it enough!
  
  
• [Ender's Game] (http://www.amazon.com/Enders-Ender-Quintet-Orson-Scott/dp/0812550706/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413110356&sr=1-1&keywords=ender%27s+game). A young boy goes to school to learn to defend humanity in a great interstellar war. This is one of my favorite science fiction books. I'm not sure if you'll like it, it's a little out there. However, it really focuses on how characters grow and develop.
  
  If you have any questions at all or want any more book recommendations, feel free to message me!
  
  puedo hablar un poco español, despues de seis años de clas
  es. tu ingles es mucho mejor que mi español. quiza leo unos libros, jaja
  
  

I'm not sure if I can pick just one, but if you like sci-fi, you might enjoy Halo: First Strike. It's a fun read if you have some knowledge of the Halo universe. Dunno if I could call it my favorite book, but it's up there.

If you're into fantasy, I'd suggest trying The Way of Kings. I just finished it the other day and ended up quite enchanted with some of the characters.

Give the Bobiverse series a try.

The premise: An engineer signs up for cryogenically freezing his brain when he dies on a whim. A bus runs him over. He wakes up hundreds of years in the future except it has been determined that these frozen brains are now the property of the state. They couldn't unfreeze him and bring him back to life, but they COULD use his brain as a template to be mapped into a computer system. He is now effectively an AI, given control over a Von Neuman probe that is to be sent out to colonize space.

There's lots of fun world building and an interesting look at the human condition. They're pretty clever with Bob too. For example, there's no such thing as Faster Than Light travel, so Bob just turns his clock speed down. In this way he experiences time slower than is actually happening and doesn't go insane on the long journey between planets. The books really start to pick up as he constructs other Bobs, each with their own slightly different personalities.

Ok, you like a lot of the authors I do so Imma try and throw a couple out there.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi Set in future Thailand where global warming has run rampant, the oceans have risen, and gene companies produce food seed continuously to keep ahead of genetic plagues that destroy anything edible. It's some solid hard scifi and if you like Gibson and Dick it should do ya well.

Red Thunder by John Varley Set in the near future the Chinese are clearly going to win the spacerace to Mars and a small group decides to build a ship to beat em. This is the first in a three part series (which I just learned had a third part lookin up that link) and I enjoyed it.

As for fantasy...

The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher In the world of The Dresden Files, magic is real, along with ghouls, vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, zombies and other mythical monsters. Harry Dresden works to protect the general public, who are ignorant of magic and the dark forces conspiring against them. This makes it difficult for Harry to get by as a working wizard and private eye. The Chicago PD's Special Investigation unit, when led by Karrin Murphy, regularly employs Dresden as a consultant to help solve cases of a supernatural nature. I love this series, whenever a new book comes out (and hes up to 14 not counting a few short story collections and such) I read it almost nonstop.

I read all the time, I actually didn't like the idea of reading on a tablet or e-reader at first, but I'm reading every day on my new Kindle and I love it.

I would highly recommend The Thrawn Trilogy, first book here. I also really loved the whole Ender's Game series found here. One last big recommendation is The Sword of Truth series found here.

Richard K. Morgan: A land fit for heroes

It's a pretty damn good fantasy series. I got into it because his cyberpunk noir novels were so damn good. Altered Carbon and the rest of the Takeshi Kovacs novels were excellent.

Also, I was lucky enough to have friends immediately recommend Joe Abercrombie post asoiaf. The First Law Trilogy is absolutely gripping. Personally, I think it's better than asoiaf.

I enjoyed theArcheologist warlord by E.M. Hardy (technically I suppose you would say it is sci-fi, but it feels more like fantasy). The main character gets transformed into a sentient space pyramid thing. At first I thought it would be more of a dungeon building thing, but he ends up sending workers out to gather resources, build pylons to extend his range, construct different units, ect.

It's not litRPG but the Bobiverse books by Dennis Taylor are fantastic and definitely get some of the 4x, spanning across the galaxy vibe as the bobs spread throughout space.

Are you interested in settlement/city building?

I just read a 2 novel series called "The Bobiverse". It's sort of sci-fi pulp but it's fun and I really enjoyed it. It captured the things I like about Star Trek, a little action/adventure/exploration with a few smart jokes.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ/ref=pd_sim_351_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZPJFXB9C798XNAT6WP51

My favorite 40k books are usually by Dan Abnett (and it's not a very unusual opinion). The omnibus about inquisator Eisenhorn is probably the best of his that I've read.

I agree that Horus Heresy series is also a great place to start, as it sets the background for the 40k universe. I really enjoyed the first 5. At the time that was all that was published -- I had no idea there were 28 now, wow!

> How does one who has never tried at anything, try at life?

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Some challenges seem huge but if you break them down into little pieces you can conquer them. How do you do that? Just start doing anything and something will happen.

Succeeding in my line of work is all about the effort I put into my projects. Even if I work my tail off there is a chance I could fail but the success is so sweet that I have to keep trying. Just do anything. Good luck.

Books: The Four Agreements

Ender's Game

Body for Life

If You Haven't Got the Time to Do It Right, When Will You Find the Time to Do It Over?

The War if Art

I got something out of these, maybe you will too. Good luck.