h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*Cleans up the cups of coffee, and tea. Organizes the magazines and books. Starts up the list for Books You MUST Read or You Will Die *

Okay, I know that we have readers out there so let's get back to discussing one of my favorite topics .... Books.

Phil and I have been speaking about Robert Silverberg's anthologies. What is everyone else reading? What books would you recommend as the best book ever?

Courtesy

Hmm the best book ever, dificult to say as it depends on the mood and what I've just read

Reading the intro to the Legends anthology, it looks like the version I have could be a cut down version of one published elsewhere. Silverberg talks of 11 stories/authors when there's only 6 actually printed in the book. Is this currently in print in the US as the counterpart to Far Horizons? (fantasy to science fiction)

Current book on the go is The Mabinogion, medieval Welsh tales - probably older as that was when they were first written down.

*bookmarks the book she was reading in the corner and starts to listen to the conversation*

Best book ever would have to be Dune for me. It deals with so many things on so many levels. The epic sweep of the novel and Frank Herbert's writing just make it.

A close second would be Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, great, great read.

As for recent reading, you should see a series of reviews in the POST, but I have read Sundiver, Flatlander, Lord Foul's Bane, The Illuminatus Trilogy, Schrodingets Cat Trilogy, Protector, The Book of Five Rings, and am currently reading an anthology of Vampire stories.

Alien, great to see you, any input?

Here is some input, just added the forum to my page
Back later when I have some more time, sorry.

No, not really... Don't know the the books you're talking about & have no time to read anything IRL right now... That's why I sit in the corner with this... *shows a book titled "All those stories you've always wanted to read but never had time to"*

No worries alien, hopefully RL will settle down

I have to admit that I stick mostly to Science Fiction, some Fantasy, however, finding good Fantasy that isn't a rehash of Tolkien is hard

Any topics are welcome.

Courtesy

Sci-Fi and Fantasy are great... It's hard to find any recommended books around here though...

But isn't that what the internet is for, ordering books

Where could I order books for free? It's too expensive otherwise...

True enough. I mostly try and buy second hand books to read for myself and occasionaly buy new books. The other thing is joining the local library service and borrowing books from there.
Where are you in the world then if getting books is hard?

I frequently read secondhand books, new books and library books... Plus borrowed books... But the problem was getting my hands to those fantasy/sci-fi/whatever-series which have been discussed in these threads because they haven't been translated & I can't find originals anywhere either... And, as I said, web-bookstores are too expensive...

(I'm in Finland, btw... )

I thought that you would do all the usual stuff to get books

So it's hard to get good (or even any) translations and the english prints (UK & US) don't get imported too often either
Perhaps there's a business oportunity here

Very probably...

And one more comment: If translations exist, they are good!!

So can you get German translations (I've noticed you are advertising a german page here on H2G2) in Finland?

Another thing is the quality of translation, are there any books you've read in both English and Finnish? Was the translation any good?
Any books not in English that I should learn the language to read?

I just speak english so I don't know about the world of non english books

I too just speak english so I'm not used to thinking about translation problems.

Have you tried buying books on ebay? I have gotten books for $1.50 US, including shipping and handling, and they tend to have a great selection.

Recommendations -

Dune - (6 books) The entire series, but skip the "preqel" by Herbert's son, the only good thing about that book is that it is an alternative fuel source
Ender's Game

Fantasy -
The Lord of the Rings - of course
David Eddings - The Belgariad (5 books) & The Maloriad (5 books, a continuation of The Belgariad)

Courtesy

No, we don't get German translations in Finland... Some books originally in German probably... The reason I'm advertising a german page is because I'm trying to learn it better...

And books I've read both English and Finnish include the HHGG... And the translation -is- good though the original is always the original...

There are many non-english books you could probably read... I don't know how qualified the translations -to- english are, but I guess it would be the best if one always could read the original... *hopes that she could know more languages*

I've read one Finnish book I found especially good and that's Mika Waltari's Sinuhe... And btw, I heard some time ago that another Finnish book, "The Unknown Soldier" has been terribly badly translated to English and that it's like a completely different book... That's a shame though I didn't like that book very much...

Can't find the Dune here... But I've read all of the Eddings!! And LOTR of course...

What's ebay?

Sorry to hear about not being able to find Dune It's one of the most published books in Science Fiction.

Ebay is an online auction house. If you go to www.ebay.com you can search the online auctions. I have found several out of print Asimov books And, if what you are looking for is pretty main stream (not signed or out of print for years) the prices tend to be VERY reasonable.

I would recommend Asimov also, as a Science Fiction author.