I thought this would make an excellent topic for this crowd, seeing as how many of us apparently like to read.

Lets make this a thread where we can suggest book and give opinions on them.

I'll start out:

The Incarnations of Immortality Series:

1. On a Pale Horse
2. Bearing an Hourglass
3. With a Tangled Skein
4. Wielding a Red Sword
5. Being a Green Mother
6. For Love of Evil
7. And Eternity
By: Peirs Anthony

One of my favorite series, it falls under both scifi and fantasy, merging the two like I have never seen before or since.

If i had to suggest any book or book series it would definitely be the dragonlance series. It is an amazing book series i would really suggest anyone who's interested in dragons and epic battles and such to check out the series.

Only books i have every really read are in class but i liked
1. Cacther in the rye
2. The great gatsby
3. Angelas ashes.

(Most are which kinda depressing rofl...)

nah "the perks of being a wallflower" is THE most depressing book youll ever read...i
was like super emo for a week after reading that book.

I've read all of those books by Piers Anthony. Very good read.

I personally have a few dozen I actually read

The Black Company series and accompanying series (cant remember their names) By Glen Cook

A lot of Michael Creighton's old stuff as well.

Then authors like Elaine Cunningham, Ed Greenwood, R.A. Salvatore....

I would definitely recommend the Belgariad and the Malloreon series by David Eddings to anyone who is a fan of awesome fantasy, which I imagine is most of you.

As for Piers Anthony, I find that the later books are really just not as good as his previous works. The Incarnations of Immortality series was wonderful, and most of the earlier Xanth novels are fairly good too.

maggie furry and terry goodkind... both excellent writers... also if you want a lighter read but still pretty darn cool the Wrinkle in Time series is great

I'm shocked, other people who have read them? My absoulute favorite series.

Second that about David Eddings. One thing though - if you really like David Eddings, I command you to read the Ellenium and the Tamuli. Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress are great too. As well as the dreamers series. And his earlier books. Hell, its all good XD

Um, as well as Eddings, I like Michael Crichton (Prey), Robin Cook (Chromosome Six) and Stephen King (anything is great). Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan are also okay.

I dunno about you guys, but I can't stand R.A. Salvatore.

neither can I

I've never heard of him, but Ill jump on the bandwagon. Death to Salvatore!

yea his writing does kinda suck the big one

I like really, really long books. I mean, there are short novels that are ok, but I will pick up a book based solely on length, just because I read really fricken fast.

So I read the Warhammer Fantasy Gotrek & Felix books, there are like 8 novels, and the first six are in two compilations. I used to play a lot of warhammer, way back in the day, so I remembered the setting and such... the adventures of the Dwarven Slayer and his hapless human sidekick were a lot better than I was expecting, and at over 2,000 pages for $20, a deal.

I've also been reading Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books. Not bad....

I work at for a financial printing company, so I often pirate books, print them and read them... I need to do it actually, I did the math once, and if I actually paid for every book I read, it would be cheaper to do coke.

Has anyone here read Dennis L. McKiernan?

I really enjoyed the reimagined perspectives of a basically very Tolkien tale.

Those in question:

The Iron Tower Trilogy

The Silver Call Duology

Hel's Crucible Duology

i would reccomend almost anything by terry pratchet

Terry Pratchet is like unto a god to me.

I own tons of Discworld related paraphenalia, even 'Nanny Ogg's Cookbook' and the Build Your Own Unseen University.

he rocks.

Something I read recently, that was brilliant, was 'World War Z: Oral Histories of the Zombie Wars' by Max Brooks... it's a completely deadpan, serious sounding, future history of the coming zombie apocalypse. He also wrote the Zombie Survival Guide, but WWZ is much funnier, as well as much more terrifying. I don't think there's ever been such a good 'What if?' book on the subject.

I confess, I've never read Discworld, seems like I've missed out. I tend to gravitate towards more serious works...well, with the exception of Xanth...

i would also really reccomend the book 'wicked' and if you are into graphic novels 'midnight nation' is probably the best ive read lately- seriously its a required text for one of my courses right now the first half blows but the ending in amazing

I'm a rabid fan of Gaiman and Moore, who wrote Midnight Nation?

J. Michael Straczynski

Wait...Discworld...is that the one with the Luggage?...If so I think my husband might have a book about Discworld, I could start with that...

Oh, and while we're on silly, What about the MYTH series, Like MYTHdemanors?

Yep, the Luggage was Discworld... the first two books, then a couple of the later ones. Men At Arms and Guards! Guards! are two of my faves, along with Small Gods, which is simply amazing, then there's the witch books, Weird Sisters, Witches Abroad and Lords & Ladies...

it's all good, really, but he's gotten better over the years.

Very deep and scary but true.

i love the wee free men personally :-p

I recognize alot of Fantasy greats here. What about Sci-Fi, any interest there?

house of the scorpion by nancy farmer... it isnt super out there sci fi, but i think it fits that genre. its really human rights alot too, but still sci fi... lol, i can never explain ^^;

The MYTH books are good too... I loved they ones Lynn Asprin edited, the Thieves World books.

Hey, Michael....Straczynski?...that name seems familiar...Did he by any chance have anything to do with Babylon 5?

Sci Fi is good... Larry Niven, Neil Stephenson, Robert Heinlein, Rudy Rucker, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling (Schismatrix is, IMO, the absolute best work of furturism ever)... yeah, thos are my favorites, that I can remember, off the top of my head.

yup, he was a primary writer for that

Husband loves Heinlein, but...I dunno so much...it isn't that I don't think it is well written it is...but I really don't like Lazarus much, I don't know why

Switching Gears....
Thoughts on the Elric Saga?

Oh, well, I faithfully watched that til the end of the Shadow war. Sorry Katex, I just realized you answered me there...

I love Moorcock.

Steven Brust is very Moorcockian... heh, Morecock.. BWAH.

I have a lot to add.

Heinlen is indeed good. Cant remember the name of the book I have read though.. Child Of Man?

Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files. Series starts with Storm Front. Synopsis: People dont believe magic exists, but it does. Just ask Harry Dresden. You can find him under "Wizard" in the yellow pages. No love potions or curses though! Even though people dont believe in Magic, Harry is doing his best to help fight local demons and rogue warlocks while dealing with a war between the Vampires and Warlocks.

Laurel K. Hamilton, Anita Blake series. Starts with Guilty Pleasures. This series is REALLY good for about 5 books or so... It starts off with a Necromancer for hire also doing some legal Vampire slaying. She works for the cops in really messy otherworldy cases. Oh, and the local Master Vampire is dead set on getting her to be his. The Lycanthropes look to her for protection... Shes got a LOT on her plate to deal with.. And then after about book 5 or 6... the whole series evolves from Mystery/action, to XXX Sex.

E. E. Knight, The Dragon Champion. Great series focused around Dragons. Reading these books, you can honestly believe that these dragons could have been real. Knight writes with such brutal realism about these mythical beasts, that I honestly believe that if they were real, he would have them perfect. Grusome at times, hilarious at others, These books are about a dragon Family's struggles as their species edges nearer to extinction. They are crafty, cunning, ruthless, and vicious in their search for revenge and for more of their kind.

Neil Gaimen, American Gods. Gods are real. They exist. They are forgotten and they live on. Who really wants to live on forgotten when they used to have so much power? This book is a serious mind fuck that I really cannot describe very well. Its a damn good book though.

Favorite Anime Series!!!!

Fruits Basket - Girly. A family is cursed to turn into the animals of the chinese zodiac when they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex. Tohru Honda is determined to help them in any way that she can, even though the head of the Family hates her and wants to keep her away from everyone.
Ruroni Kenshin - If you dont know what Kenshin is, you really fail at life. Wandering Samurai. Assassin. Master swordsman. He is fighting to save his country.
Chrono Crusade - Rosette is a nun who has entered into a contract with a Demon who has lost his power. He can only use his strength and power to help her fight other demons, by using up time off her life. Why might not live to see 30 the rate things go. She is on a journey to find her brother who has been taken by demons.
Battle Vixens - Pure, Gratuitous T&A layerd over bloody brutal fighting. These girls get off on throwing a punch. Yeah, there is a story.. They are the decendants of ancient Feudal Japan, locked into the same battle. The same fates. They cannot find a way to break the cycle.. and so they continue fighting and betraying.. reliving an ancient war all over again with every generation.

OMG fruits basket!! i have all that are out right now if you like shojo you should look into the series 'NANA' by Ai Yazawa.. it is SO good, theres only four out now too so it isnt hard to get ahold of them all to read. trust me, they are wonderful

oooh, you said the magic words! Downloading now.

This is a great series of books, I really enjoyed them, and he is still writing more, Dzur was released less then a year ago. He also has a series that takes place a few hundred years prior in the same setting with many characters you will reconize (Moralon, Sethra, Aleria, etc) that are very good. The Pheonix Guards, Five Hundred Years After, Sethra Lavode (The Viscount of Adrilankha), The Paths of the Dead (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Book 1), The Lord of Castle Black (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Book 2)

If you enjoy Fantasy Series I would also Recommend Roger Zelazny Amber Series, there is a compliation book out that contains the first 10 Chronicles
The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber)

I'm reading Dzur right now, actually.

I want to check out his other books, and find out what the hell's up with Sethra, etc... the more mysterious side characters. I love his characters.

And the Amber series is DEFFO on the must read curriculum.

1. The Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy - Robert J. Sawyer
1a. Far-Seer
1b. Fossil-Hunter
1c. Foreigner
2. Evolution - Stephen Baxter
3. Temeraire Trilogy - Naomi Novik
3a. His Majesty's Dragon
3b. Throne Of Jade
3c. Black-Powder War
4. Iterations - Robert J. Sawyer
5. Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett
6. Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett
7. Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett (Hehe, a personal "go fuk urself nub" to Anne Rice)
8. The Mammoth Trilogy - Stephen Baxter
8a. Silverhair
8b. Longtusk
8c. Icebones
9. Hiero's Journey - Sterling E. Lanier
10. The Eyes Of The Dragon - Stephen King

Lemme tell ya about some. My favourites. XD

The Quintaglio Ascension
I love dinosaurs. Lifelong obsession of mine. Fellow Canadian and awesome sci-fi author (also hilarious guy overall, met him at my local library promoting his Neandertal Parallax Trilogy) Robert J. Sawyer shares trhe same mindset, as is obviated by this trilogy (as well as a lot of his other work). Basically, think sentient nanotyrannusaurids in their rennaisance of their society. The three book, Far-Seer, Fossil-Hunter and Foreigner basically chronicle the major events of the lives of the Quintaglio (the dinosaurian race around which the series revolves) equivalents of Galileo, Darwin, and in Foreigner, Freud. Well, in Foreigner, it's not MAINLY about Freud. I didn't do the series justice in this summary; but if I tried, I'd go on for like, 5 paragraphs.

Temeraire
A new favourite; think The Napoleonic wars... BUT WITH DRAGONS. Sentient dragons, of different breeds and abilities. Basically, a Naval Captain by the name of William Laurence comes into the posession of a dragon egg, and the newly hatched dragonet bonds to him, putting him to the life of an aviator. He very quickly becomes attached to his dragon (just as all aviators are, the relationship between captain and dragon is something like sibling/child/pet, all rolled into one), who is MUCH more than he seems. This is a great series for dragon fans, and you'll be relieved that there's no asinine one-man-to-a-50-tonne-dragon combat, each dragon of combat weight is crewed by at least 10 men, including riflemen and bombers. Great approach to dragons as living creatures, and as thinking, feeling beings. Again, I regret I don't do the series much justice with my summary, but honestly worth a try.

Uhm, I can't even begin to describe Terry Pratchett, but he's pretty popular, I doubt I need to. >>

Hiero's Journey
Great classic sci-fi. The author is, I'm proud to say, Canadian, and one of GREAT descriptive talent. It's a post-apocalyptic deal involving telepathy, mutation, and the evil of technology. Hiero, a telepathic and highly-trained Priest of The Metz Republic's Abbeys (The Metis, people of French/First Nations decent, are basically one of the only surviving races in Canada after The Death, the great nuclear/genetic holocaust that is the token apocalyptic event of the series, due to their general geographic isolation from the rest of society) sets on a quest to find a piece of ancient technology (I won't spoil that for you) with, and this is the best part, his PSYCHIC MOOSE, Klootz. They meet up with a telepathic bear and a few other remarkable, memorable characters.

Including a black hippy druid, who I idolize. Brother Aldo FTW.

Unfortunately, Mr.Lanier died before writing the third novel in the series, so only Hiero's Journey and The Unforsaken Hiero are finished. D=

Well, I've done my favourite novels a great misjustice, but it's really cold, I'm tired, and I still got homework. Peace.

Oooh, I read a bit of Vlad Taltos. >> Couldn't really get into it. But I'd like to read some Moorcock, especially the books featuring Elric. Could you gimme a lead as to which book to start with?

The Chronicles are good, but the characters are insane I tell you!

Speaking of insanity, The Nonborn King by Julian May, is a nightmare within a nightmare. So descriptively horrific!

The Stand by Stephen King is my favorite book, Michael Crichton is also pretty good.

The Stand? Is it a recent one?

Nope. XD I think it's his first.

>> I can't detect sarcasm over the innuhnetz.

I had the pleasure of reading The Shining last year. I loved it. And; the only Michael Crichton I've read is Jurassic Park... 'cause I'm a dinosaur nerd.

DON'T READ RAPTOR RED. IT SUCKETH.

I can't remember if it's been mentioned. , and I'm too lazy to check.

Sci fi
Dan Simmons: The Hyperion series

All I can think of at the moment

Piers Anthony is where the English language goes to die. Seriously, he's several magnitudes of terrible over almost any writer I can think of. Not to mention that he is a creepy creepy creepy quasi-pedophile.

I likes me some George R. R. Martin, some Richard K. Morgan, a touch of the Gaiman and that fellow that wrote House of Leaves whose name I can't remember because I'm completely toasted. I absolutely fucking adore Thomas Pynchon and Philip K. Dick to an absolute degree, and Vonnegut is fun. And I've heard that Gene Wolfe is very very very good, but I still need to check him out.

I kind of skimmed over the last couple pages, so forgive me if any of these are repeats.

Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time series. George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire series. The Coldfire trilogy by C. S. Friedman. One not many people seem to have read but I really like is the Aquasilva trilogy by Anselm Audley.

You guys have covered all the good fantasy (which feels like an oxymoron to me, the only thing really well written these days is Martin's Song of Fire and Ice) so I'll interject my Sci-Fi reccomendations:

Everything by Neil Gaiman. It's strange, and somewhat lighter than other sci-fi, but he has rich, complex characters and unique plots.

Everything by Dan Simmons. He is a master of the sci-fi genre. Hyperion is mind-blowing.

Orson Scott-Card. Stop reading after Speaker for the Dead, if you value your time at all.

Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Everything else is ok. This is phenomenal.

Neil Stephenson. Snow Crash is the most fucking awesome action adventure cyberpunk novel ever written.

Phillip K. Dick. Ever heard of Blade Runner? Minority Report? Paycheck? Screamers? Yeah. This guy.

Ursula LeGuinn has a lesser known series of science fiction and an amazing book about dystopia called The Disposessed.

I would also suggest to everyone that they pick up one of the gigantic anthologies of science fiction next time they're at the library. A lot of the really good, cutting edge stuff is in there.

That's enough for now, methinks.

Alright, I just picked up Relics and Rituals: Excalibur today and I'm kind of itching for this kind of reading. Anyone know of any good fantasy books with a heavy emphasis of the Arthurian style genre? Not necessarily books about Arthur and/or Camelot.

well, here is a "favorite books" list of mine I posted on another site, I am just copy-pasting it:

Singles: Battlefield Earth (L. Ron Hubbard), The Fire's Stone (Tanya Huff), Bridge to Terabithia (Katherine Paterson), Into the Dream (William Sleator), Number of the Beast (Robert A. Heinlein), Elfstones of Shannara (Terry Brooks), If I Pay Thee Not In Gold (Piers Anthony), Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt)

Series: Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin), Black Jewels Trilogy (Anne Bishop), The Deed of Paksenarrion (Elizabeth Moon), Gravitation (Maki Murakami), The Harperhall Trilogy (Anne McCaffrey), Anita Blake (Laurell K. Hamilton), Redwall (Brian Jacques), The Gaean Trilogy (John Varley), Discworld (Terry Pratchett), Young Wizards (Diane Duane), Animorphs (K. A. Applegate)

Authors (ALL of their stuff): Robert A. Heinlein, Tanya Huff, William Sleator, Piers Anthony (Prior to 10 years ago), Edgar Rice Burroughs, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Diana X. Sprinkle


However, lets give my top 10 series/books here in order:

1. The Fire's Stone
2. The Deed of Paksennarrion
3. Song of Ice and Fire
4. Black Jewels Trilogy
5. Battlefield Earth
6. Bridge to Terabithia
7. Number of the Beast
8. The Harperhall Trilogy
9. Into The Dream
10. Redwall


1. Th Fire's Stone, by Tanya Huff: one of the top love stories I have ever read in any format. The actual quest the characters embark on is not too original - very reminiscent of a D&D campaign, actually. But the love story, and the story of self-discovery also mixed into the book, are absolutely exquisite.

2. The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon: This trilogy is an amazingly accurate portrayal of a hero becoming a hero - the main character, Paks, is believable in every way. She stuggles for every inch of her abilities, going through hardships along the way that forge her into one of the greatest, most enticing heroes I have ever read of. Nothing is handed to her, you watch her develop her skills. This trilogy covers her journey from runaway farmgirl, through mercenary, through becoming thee greatest paladin of all time, the greatest champion of right her world ever knew. Absolutely amazing series, written eloquently, and with stunning detail.

3. Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin: This series of books is currently out through book 4, with book 5 expected any time now, and 7 total promised. Epic story of a struggle for control of a kingdom, the horrors inflicted on it by the warring rival kings, and the battles and struggles of many major "players" in this world. The books follow a LARGE cast of characters, nearly every one enthralling in their own way. The author is extremely adept at making the reader like and hate whom he wants, so you will find your feelings changing for certain characters as the story progresses. At first, you have very clear-cut good guys, whom you like, and bad guys, whom you are led to hate. However, this author can make you UNDERSTAND those characters you hated, see things from their viewpoint, feel thier pains, and you just cannot dislike some of them anymore. Granted, some few are truly evil, and there is no redeeming features of some. But the cast of "bad guys" is whittled away, until mostly there are just individual threads and stories in the bigger picture, which you follow along fascinatedly. WARNING: The author has NO COMPUNCTIONS killing off characters for any reason whatsoever. If something would befall a character, and that something would kill him, it very often DOES. so you will spend a book and a half getting to love a character, to have it summarily killed. But this realistic view, that just being a hero or good guy, or even important, does not make you invulnerable, is one of the fresh, exciting points of the series. DEFINITELY worth reading.

4. Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop: An amazing, and largely unique, story of a kingdom dominated by magic users, and specifically women, who use their magic to subjugate, torture, and enslave men, and the struggle to fix this situation. This series is DARK. Very, very DARK. with vivid descriptions of tortures , both physical and mental, it is not for the squeamish. However, these descriptions are not gratuitous. they only add to the story, and the series would not be the (largely) unique masterpiece it is without them - they drive the story, and are essential to the motivations of the main characters, and to drawing the readers in as far as it does. I have honestly only rarely been drawn into a book or series as far as I was with this one. It is amazing.

5. Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard: Yes, this is the man who invented Scientology. But this book has NOTHING to do with that, and should not be looked down upon merely because of other crap the author has perpetrated in his time. This book needs to be taken on it's own merit. And also, DO NOT equate this book with the movie, even if you HAVE seen it. This book is truly epic. There is constantly something going on, throughout its 1000+ pages. This book is in a post-apocolyptic, aliens-own-the-planet world. it is set in around the year 3000. The Psychlos, an alien race, took over the world about 1000 years earier, poisoning humans almost into extinction before ever setting foot on the planet. Due to a series of events begun by the greed of a beaurocratic, mean spirited Psychloin a managerial position, one human is taught to speak the Psychlo language, to read, and learns what has happened to the world. (The aliens consider the humans as just another form of wildlife, honestly, with herdlike behavior, and nothing at all to bother about.) He organizes a resistance while pretending to follow the orders of the Psychlo, and actually manages, through no small amount of luck, to win back the earth, and defeat the psychlos. THIS IS LESS THAN 1/3 OF THE BOOK! This is where the movie ends it's completely retarded and bastardized version of the story, though. After this point, several more huge challenges confront the humans before they can be truly victorious. The main character uses his intelligence, cleverness, and a LOT of luck to meet all these challenges. But this book is EXTREMELY well written, and well deserves it's place among my top 10.

6. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson: This book is rather short, being written for young adults. However, it is one of the single most emotional books I have ever read. I read it only once, and that was years ago. However, it completely tore me apart. I cannot take it a second time, is the only reason I have not read it again. I will NOT be seeign the movie, as, if it messes up the book, I may have to murder some people, namely those responsible for the movie. And if it gets the movie RIGHT, well, I doubt I could take it - it was, to use a MUCH overused word, incredibly powerful. And by "incredibly", I truly mean to levels that are simply impossible to credit . This book destroyed me for several weeks after I read it. (And that is a good thing. No, an AMAZING thing, that it was able to affect me so.) I am going to tell you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the book itself. Just go read it.

7. Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein: It is difficult for me to actually choose a favorite book by this man - I love so many so dearly. However, if I absolutely HAVE to make a choice, I suppose this one floats a bit higher than the others in my view. Heinlein represents the absolute pinnacle of science fiction writing - allof his books are worth reading, and many of them are truly innovative. This book, though, represents a turning point in his writing - in this books, the main characters have invented a drive that allows them to travel time, space, and dimensions. They explore, and they start finding places they were not expecting to come acriss - such as Oz, the land created by Frank L. Baum, or the Mars of Edgar Rice Burroughs' works. They realize that everything written about exists somewhere, and develop the theory of "world as myth". They meet with various characters from other of Heinleins' books, too. And after this book, his characters are able to freely intermingle. And this brings about some of the most fascinating books of his career, and indeed that I have ever read by anyone.

8. The Harperhall Trilogy by Anne McCaffrey: McCaffreys' pern books are pretty good in general. But this particular trilogy, while all much shorter than her other novels (all 3 together are about as thick as any 1 other of her novels), they are LEVELS above her other writing. I do not know what was different here, but whatever it was, something went wonderfully right. these three books follow Menolly, a girl who wishes to become a harper, even though this profession is currently limited to males. Her family is embarrassed of her aims and interests, and tries to keep her hidden, even trying to sabotage the healing of a nasty wound on her hand, so she would no longer be able to play instruments. She eventually runs away, and that is only the first few chapters of the first book. This trilogy is definitely worth the read, and is the absolute pinnacle of McCaffreys' work. if ALL of her pern books had been on this level, well... I cannot come up with anything to follow that last statement with, but it would have been amazing.

9. Into the Dream by William Sleator - this author, William Sleator, is the single best writer for young-adults. His books are ALWAYS innovative, giving fresh stories and new twists on old ones. He is decently prolific, with a vast selection of books uunder his belt. This one in particular is my favorite for mostly sentimental reasons - it is the first of his books I have ever read, and was my favorite book of all for years when I was a child. Even as an adult, I keep up with his works - they are brilliant, and never fall in quality. Go find some books by him - read 2 or 3 at random, and you will see what I mean. His works also force you to think, and go "Hmm... what if?". I believe they fall into the category, mostly, of Science Fiction. Most have to do with other planets, aliens, future technology, singularities, time travel, dimension travel, telepathy, spirits, and the like. But not in the same old ways...

10. Redwall series, by Brian Jacques: these books are really good books of battles, seiges, good vs. evil, quests, and the like. The characters are all animals, but that fact in no way detracts from the story - it merely makes it more fun and accessible for children. These books make great bedtime stories for kids - but they are wonderful reads in and of themselves. There is only the smallest of reasons to read them in any order - each is a self-contained story, most taking place generations apart from each other. They center around Redwall Abbey, a holy place built in the middle of Mossflower woods, a beautiful refuge from the world that welcomes any and all withing it's walls. Across the generations, however, there come warlords, pirates, evil kings, and the like, who covet this place, and try to take it over. About 3/4 of the books center on this place, with the remainder still very much recogniseable as the same world, but taking a change of scenery. There is always a hero to rise to the challenge, too. Redwall Abbey has a protecting spirit, Martin the Warrior, who guides whomever is chosen by him as protector to victory over the foes. A very critical person may say the stories don't really change all that much, are kind of formulaic, and get old after too many. But there truly is something in these stories that is uplifting, exciting, and as fum to read about the 20th time as it was the 4th. I read each new book as it gets published, loving every one. And the writing does NOT, it is important to note, go downhill. no matter if you read 2-3 or all of them, it doesn't matter if you choose the most recent one or the first one - you will not be getting an inferior book. All are worth the read, so definitely pick up at least a few.


These are my top ten, chosen after much anguish and indecision - I have read more thousands of books in my life than I can count, let alone remember. I began to teach myself to read at age 2, frustrated by all this around me I didn't understand (writing). I read my first full-length novel just before I tuned 6 - Moby Dick. My family did not own a television until I was 12, and even then I rarely watched it. I nearly failed every single class and grade 1-12, because I was sitting in the back of the class, reading a book, instead of paying attention or doing work. I would skip school and go to the library instead, not leaving until they closed for the night. And several times, they didn't notice me, and I got locked in, spending the entire night reading until they re-opened to find me passed out on some chair the next day. Books are very important. And these are among the best I have ever found.

Yours,
-Me

How long did you write that for O.o I mean, the first time.