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

The Belgariad series by David Eddings was good. The Mallorean sequel not so good, but still readable. Can't comment on the newer books, Elenium etc. as I haven't got around to reading them yet.

I'm going through a classic book phase at the moment, re-reading Sherlock Holmes and will probably read the Three Muskateers afterwards, which I've never actually read before (I started on Holmes months ago but got distracted and now I have to start over again cos I can't remember what happened).

Are you guys sure about the new Dune novels? Because the other stuff by Herbert's son has been really dire.

And in terms of dire I'd put Eddings firmly in that camp.
If you want plot lines signalled 3 books in advance so you know exactly what's going to happen all the way through then go for it.

but I can't stand Eddings - the only passable one was the Elenium for me.

I put Eddings in the same catagory as McCaffery - comfy old slippers. If McCaffery's Pegasus and Tower and Hive stuff catch your imagination then try Julian May. Start with Intervention and then go to The Saga of the Exiles. For more standard fantasy fare try Feist and his Magician trilogy (then go and read his and Janny Wurts's Empire series).

On the SciFi side of things anything by Baxter or Reynolds.

For the best SciFi/Fantasy cross find Hugh Cook's Chronicles of an Age of Darkness (available in all good second hand bookshops - as they are out of print ) Until later....
BCNU - Crescent

For a fantasy series with strong female characters one couldn't do better than the WitchWorld series by Andre Norton. Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmerman Bradley is also good.

Someone earlier discribed Joanna Russ as a good read. This is true. 'The Female Man' is one of the best books I have ever read but it is not an easy read (especially for a male).

there's always the Gormenghast trilogy for weird fantasy stuff too

"Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmerman Bradley is also good" yes, very much so, and it is very much written from a female pov. She could def. give lessons to some of the more dire female writters out there.
Tad Williams - wants to be JRRT really badly but doesn't manage it. Read his memory/sorrow/thorn right through and was OK but the LoTR parallels were too much really for me.

Seem to recall the Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts collaboration Daughter/Servant/Mistress of Empire was quite good. Liked them.

Sister Light Sister Dark by Jane Yolen I seem to recall as being OK.

There's at least one series by Maggie Auriel which is female pov with strong female lead - although to be honest it's a bit of a curates egg. I got quite annoyed with the wilful irrationality of the lead character - I don't mind awkward characters if that is their nature but here I felt sometimes it was just a plot device to get her into trouble/meet other characters. But I did read all of them so can't be that bad.

Eddings is in the same category as Gemmell, although both are no-brainers for reading.

I also quite liked Chaz Brenchleys Dead of Light (http://www.chazbrenchley.co.uk/deadlight.html) although some of his other stuff is horror, this I would not put in that category. Just a really good idea.

Oh, and last but definitly not least, Ken MacLeod for his SciFi which is different and very good. Based in a post capitalist, mechanical based (i.e. not electronic computers) technological future. Several books to try.

oh, and I have to mention Neal Stephenson. A bit 'real' and graphic at times in some of his novels but very good for atmosphere and just hard to describe but good. Snow Crash was my intro to him. But he also did the favourite Cryptonomicon.

There was one other and I can remember neither the titles nor the author. But it starts of about a bloke who comes to on a battle field with no memory. We follow him around and it turns out he is in a empire which is somewhat despotic. There's a few clues to his origins as the empire gets attacked by raiders and when he picks up one of their swords he finds he's an expert at it. He travels around as 'the god in the cart' (I think). He also has discussions with either a supernatural entity or his own delusions which seem to imply he is a destructive god himself but in human form for some reason. Later on he returns 'home' and finds out more about himself. This ring any bells? Trying not to put too much plot in as may spoil for those who ain;t read it. The books tend to be single colour cover (I remember a blue and a red one) and the title is written in a sort of slashes-by-a-sword type script and are single words.

The only Stephenson Book I've read is Diamond Age - that was really good
Always did mean to read another one. On the to do list.

To my mind, the key differnce between 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' and 'Lord of the Rings' is the subtext. I've noticed that almost all of Tad Williams' work (in all genres) has an underlying theme of a peaceful people cast out from their home by some kind of European style invader and seeking revenge. I often wonder whether Tad has Native American heritage, or just massive angst about it. The villain in MS&T has a reason (if not a justification) for behaving the way he does, which becomes key in the finale. That finale is, for me, the best thing about the series - in a good way!
I think I'm going to have to write a Guide entry about Tad.

fair enough, I mean it weren't so bad I never finished it (although few books are that bad) but he could have done it an awful lot better. Plus his interminable ramblings (the bit when whatisface with the hair is trying to get out of the castle tunnels especially) leads to much page turning and loss of momentum.

Depends what you like in a book I guess. It was that bit in the tunnels that gripped me in what I'd considered a rather boring book up to that point. You couldn't get me away from the rest of it. I think I read it all in about two weeks, which isn't bad for what must be 2000 odd pages.

oh and what was the series... by Stephen Donaldson? It started with Lord Foul's Bane and seemed to be a trilogy that suddenly had a lot of sequels.

That'd be the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Sho. That was real 'bang your head on the book hard' stuff I haven't read too many books where you want to shoot the hero yourself.

Well I think that's rather the point with that series. Or at least one of them.

I've read both chronicles of Thomas Covenant (although there is a third currently part way through now) and although good they rather overdo the dark side of things for me. Really really depressing stuff sometimes - you may want to shoot the hero but often you want to shoot yourself too.

Worth a read though

Isn't there like 6 books or something? I think I read the first one when it came out and then I reread all the books so far, from scratch, every year that a sequel came out eg for book four I'd read the first one 4 times, the second one 3 times etc

I've done that with other series too but that one was agony. The follies of youth. Yeah I should have shot myself.

Ah yes, The Chronicles of Thomas the Unbeliever. I read them, ages ago. And I agree, highly annoying. But then that is his style. I also read the Gap into Conflict series which is similarly annoying *but* is possibly the first and only set of books which I have read purely out of curiosity as to where he was going to take it and if it would suddenly become really good. It had the potential but unfortunately did not live up to it.

oh my! I've never mentioned the book that I read to anyone. I thought I must be missing something!

maybe I need to read it again. Now I have a question for you since you all seem to know about it... I'll put in a bit of spoiler space in case - and after all that up there I'm not sure anyone will - anyone is going to read it...
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Isn't there a bit where he rapes a relatively young girl?

Apologies to those if any who have already mentioned him, but what about Kurt Vonnegut.

Cats Cradle

Sirens of Titan

Breakfast of Champions

are all good books but perhaps the best Science Fiction Book could well be Slaughter 5.

Pingu, maybe you can turn your assignment into an entry for the guide