I need a good book.

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Any SF from Poul Anderson. His novel, "Boat of a Million Years" is great. He is probably one of the best educated SF writers, and it shows in his books. He also has a strong Libertarian/Freedom themes in his work. Amazing imagination and he always know what he is talking about.

Also books by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournell are good. Douglas Adams books are very funny and well written. Larry Turtledove writes alternative history and is good as well. Issac Asimov and C.S. Lewis are also a sure fire, can't lose SF writers.

I've read a couple of Hienlien books and don't know what the big deal is all about. He has great concepts for stories but his style is very simplistic. Almost like books for young adults, IMHO. I do like his themes, I just don't enjoy his writting style.
 
the two tom clancy books that i've read are hunt for red october and rainbow six. if you've never read hunt for red october, it's WAY better than the movie. rainbow six is great because there's lots of gun stuff and there are 3 different plots going on and you don't know how they fit together until the end.
also, i just remembered, killer angels by jeff shaara is a wonderful book. it's basically the battle of gettysburg and what the movie "gettysburg" is based on.
 
Sci-Fi:
Robert Heinlein -- ANYTHING by Heinlein is worth reading. Start with the big 3 though, Moon is a Harsh Mistress , Starship Troopers (nothing like the movie really), and Stranger in a Strange Land .

Robert Jordan -- The Wheel of Time series

J.V. Jones --- any of the books she has out so far are great but start with The Bakers Boy and it's 2 sequels as they are awesome.

L.E. Modesitt -- again, most of his stuff is worth reading. Try The Parafaith War to start and his fantasy/sci-fi series The Magic of Recluce .

Neal Stephenson -- Snowcrash is AWESOME. I love the main character, "Heiro Protaganist." Wonderful cyberpunk flavored novel with a great storyline.

Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea -- The Illuminatus! Trilogy . This one is not necessarily for everyone. It has been described as "a fairy tale for parranoids" and occasionally had muck thrown at it but I found it very entertaining. The authors took a bunch of the Illuminati/conspiracy theories of the time and wrote a novel with a whole bunch of interlocking conspiracies throughout...they threw in just enough facts to mess with your head!! :evil:

L. Neil Smith -- Awesome libertarian inspired fiction. Read The Forge of the Elders and The Probability Broach first.

David Eddings -- .The Belgariad series is very good.

I'll post more when I can think of them.
 
First three books of the "Wheel of Time" (The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, and the Dragon Reborn). It's a huge series, and Jordan is dragging it out IMHO, but it's still pretty good. The first three books are fantastic.

Heinlein rocks it hard. "Starship Troopers" is awesome; probably the most related to RKBA/being a citizen. Forget the stupid Nazi-satire movie version :). Also check out "The Forever War" and the Ender's series.
 
anything by Heinlein or Neal Stephenson is a good start.

"A Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin is the best historical fantasy I've ever read.

I recently read the first five books in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian (first book titled "Master and Commander")

Fascinating stuff - I'm going this weekend to buy the rest of them.
 
Books

Heinlein.

Secmat recommended Carl Hiassen. Deffinetaly a wacky, entertaining read, exposing the seemy side of South Florida...but, if you read some of his newspaper articles(he writes for the Miami Herald) I think he would qualify as an anti.

If you are in a TEOTWAWKI mood, I can heartily recommend 'Lucifers Hammer' by Niven, or 'Wolf and Iron' by Gordon Dickson.

Also by Dickson, I can recommend The Dorsai Saga. Good military Sci-Fi.

Finally, Mpayne mentions Alistair MacLean. He used to be my favorite author, until I found Heinlein. Just start listing the books: Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, Where Eagles Dare, and my favorite, H.M.S. Ulysses. If you want a book that makes you thank you lucky stars for not being stuck in the British Navy during WWII, this is it. My only problem with McLean is, as I have learned more about firearms, you realize McLean was kind of winging it sometimes.
 
Anything written by Elmore Leonard, Joseph Wambaugh or W.E.B. Griffin.
Tarot by Peirs Anthony is... interesting.
 
I can't believe only one person has mentioned Stephen Hunter. His "Bob the Nailer" books are really great. There just hasn't been a better gun book written than Point of Impact.

If you're into a little nonfiction, try Mindhunter by John Douglas. He was one of the first FBI Profilers. Great read on why some people become serial killers.

And, for a little time being silly, I heartily suggest any of The Bathroom Reader series. They really are great books for the rest room!
 
Heinlein

Almost like books for young adults,
Click to expand...
Actually, you're right on the money. Starship Troopers, Rocket Ship Gallileo and several other early books are indeed aimed at the teenage reader. Although when they were written, the average teenager could read far better than many of today's college grads.

And I almost totally forgot, SPIDER ROBINSON! The Callahan's Saloon books are great.
 
Where can I find Heinlein? Help!

Obviously some of you know. I took my son to the library and was looking for Heinlein, and there was nothing. Are they usually available there. I would like to reread them myself. Oldtimers has set in and I am privileged to be able to reread many great books again with a blank on most of the strories. Heinlein was my favorite.
Also, I agree with the few that mentioned Stephen Hunter. Wonderful for gun guys. My personal favorite, "Time To Hunt". It ain't about duck hunting.
Mystery, read some of John D. MacDonald's work. Some of his late stuff was not as good, but he could paint characters better than anyone. His bad guys made me cringe. Travis McGee series was great, with a few exceptions late in his life.
War-read "Shots Fired in Anger" by John George, a champion marksman that served in Guadalcanal and with Merrill's Marauders in Burma. You will get a new perspective on the M1 carbine with that book.
Now how about some help with Heinlein.
 
The library!

Wow...all the libraries up here by my have at least SOME Heinlein. Usually, they will carry Starship Troopers, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Friday. Those seem to be the most commen around here.

You could also go on Ebay...you can find people selling lot's of 5-8 of his boks for like 10 dollars.

greg
 
Libraries have funky selections. If there is a good used book store in your area you can find an AMAZING collection of sci-fi fantasy from the golden era of the genre. Lots of people collected boxes and boxes full of paperbacks and then sell them when they move or get married etc. great selections and they run around $1-$2.
 
The Bible - Various Authors
Without Remorse - Tom Clancy
Rainbow 6 - Tom Clancy
This Present Darkness - Frank E. Peretti
Rogue Warrior - Richard Marcinko
 
I'm in the process of finishing up the last of 4 books in the World War Series by Haryy Turtledove. Alternate history stuff mixed with heavy dose of sci/fi. Fun read.....I think that I'll move on to the Stephen Hunter books next and then mayve some Ayn Rand. I got a $100 Barnes and Noble card for Christmas so I'm set for a few months on book purchases:D
 
Books to be read...

I'll also recomend Heinlein, with the exceptions of 'Number of the Beast' which iis more of a text on how to and how not to write fiction. His 'youth' novels such as Starbeast, Have space suit, will travel and the like are a good starting point. If you only get one though, pick up The past through tommorow, a collection of his shotr stories.

L. Neil Smith - The Probability Broach & The American Zone

F.M. Busby - Risa Kergalan (I think thats how its spelled, been 25 years since I read it, lost my copy)

H. Beam Piper - Little Fuzzy and its follow ups

Glen Cook - The Annals of The Black Company, starting with The Black Company. This is a set of 10 novels spanning some 30+ years in the life and trials of a band of sell-swords and the demigod wizards that employ them.

Also by Cook, any Garret Novels (Deadly Quicksilver Lies, Petty Pewter Gods, etc). A war vet takes up life as a Private Gumshoe (detective) in a wold of intrigue, organized crime, magic and elves. Where else can you find tough guy giants named Doris and Marshia? :)

Robert L. Forward - Dragons Egg, and Starquake. Life develops on the crust of a Netron star!

Esther Friesner - Chicks in Chainmail series, collects of short stories about female sellswords

Harry Tutledove - World War series. Aliens bent on conquest come to Earth, expecting Dark Age society and tech, land smack dab in the middle of WWII and human development of 'exploding metal bombs', much to their dismay.

Larry Niven - Ringworld and its sequals. Any of the Man-Kzin wars, which while not written by Mr. Niven, are based on his works.
 
In addition to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged read The Fountainhead.

The Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson is a lot of fun. Note that Jack gets his (illegal) weapons from the Isher Sporting Goods store.

Maybe you have noticed that The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has been on the bestseller list for about 40 weeks. That's because it is a great read, although not strictly firearms related.

The Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton features a lot of gunplay and Hamilton knows his firearms. Don't think of the awful Dean Martin movies from the '60's. :barf:

Any Dean Koontz but especially Watchers.

Any Larry McMurtry.

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth.
 
If you liked the Lord of the Rings, try Iron Tower Trilogy by Dennis L. McKiernan or any of his other books. R.A. Salvatore writes books along the same lines as does David Gimmel and David Farland.. All are top notch Science Fantasy writers.
 
Two more I forgot yesterday: Let Us Prey and Devil's Hole by Bill Branon. If you like guns you'll love these books. Branon knows his stuff. Unfortunately, these books are out of print and copies are pretty expensive. If you can borrow them from a friend or the library, do it.
 
Lots of good selections here. Whenever someone asks me this question my first response is always go back to some classics. You know those books you should hav read way back in high school. I promise you if you read them now out of pleasure rather than force they will be wonderful.

I have also found Alan Furst very enjoyable. He writes some pretty interesting early WWII era spy type novels.

My final recomendation is a book just introduced to me. Daddy by Loup Durand. It may be harder to find but it is probably one of the best books I have ever read.
 
I also like Alan Furst's historical spy novels, set in Paris and Eastern Europe in the years leading up to and including WWII.

Stephen Hunter is reliable. Read Point of Impact first.

One person said: "Any Larry McMurtry."
I have to disagree. Larry writes some outstanding stuff, such as Lonesome Dove, Last Picture Show, All my Friends are going to be strangers. But he writes some awful stuff, too, of the kind that makes you wonder if he had an alimony payment due or something.
By the way, if you are in north central Texas I highly recommend a trip to Archer City, Larry's home town, where he has established a truly amazing used book operation. It's ten miles from nowhere, but worth going there anyway. Larry is often there, sorting through books to price them and place them on shelves.
 
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