I don't know if I can take anymore Orson Scott Card books. I've been so disappointed in him so many times. I did really enjoy Empire and he has a sequel to it but it's another one of his Kinda-the-same-but-not-really sequels like his God Awful Homebound series (still makes me angry). I'll keep it in mind but I prefer to think of him as the author of Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow and not start hating those two just because of the authors dribble since.

I know I know I know. That's why I said it's so different. It has none of the characteristics of Card writing except awesomeness. I feel sadness every time I heard anybody say they read any of the Homebound garbage. I know you know I feel this way, but he basically hasn't done anything reliably good since, oh I don't know, the Alvin Maker trilogy (the first one). Except for Pastwatch.

But again, let's not restart this conversation all over. Just go read it and ignore everything else.

Given your repertoire, it is impossible that you haven't read it. Somehow it was missing from the top 100 list Cram posted and from all the previous recommendations. Anyway, classic great (if outdated) read:

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Actually, I have never read Neuromancer. It comes up on my TO READ list all the time but I think I somehow equate William Gibson with another author Steven Baxter and so I always avoid it. I hate Steven Baxter and he's fooled me with book descriptions that sound like a "Can't Miss" but always take forever to get to the actual plot and then he wraps it all up nice and neatly.
I will give Neuromancer a read very soon.

As an update, I read the first of the Flinx series and enjoyed it. It was a good story and kept me going and it also was exactly what I was looking for at the time. I am now almost finished with a book called "Right Ascention" By David Derrico. It is a futuristic Military Space novel along the lines of Star Trek (sometimes a bit too much). The characters are familiar because they are basically the same as in any other of this genre, but the science of it is sort of cool. It's not in depth stuff. It's a really good Beach Read (meaning you just want to have something to read but don't wanna think too hard). The author never does any thing just because and so parts of it get predictable where several times I said out loud "Like I didn't see that coming". Even with those failings it was entertaining.

You've probably read all these, but some sci-fi classics that I didn't see mentioned:
Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Dune
Foundation trilogy (sextilogy?)
Illuminatus!

Actually I liked most of Robert A. Wilson's stuff. His non-fiction is a pretty fascinating perspective.

Dune I read many many years ago and the AWESOME story has now been ruined for me through too many made for TV crapiness. Not sure about the Foundation series...it sounds familiar but I will have to look it up along with the other two that I don't think I have ever heard of.
Non-Fiction is never a problem when I am in the mood for that because I can always read any book on baseball, Anthropology, physics, or Crazy Ass modern Philosophy (which usually consists of justifications for past actions, nothing new).

Foundation is Isaac Asimov's work, probably one of his best known series. It's complicated to draw bounds around the series itself, as it ties into other stories in his universe, including the robot books (in which I would include i-Robot, though that may be somewhat controversial).

The base series (which stands alone pretty well and is the best place to start, IMO) is composed of Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. Asimov later wrote four additional Foundation novels that are prequels (and a sequel?) to that trilogy.

Clive Barker Weave World or Steven King / Peter Straub's Talisman both good or try Cat's cradle by Vonnegut all good stories

I am convinced now that I was conceived on this planet for the sole purpose to introduce to you SIR the most amazing epic books Ever for your enjoyment.

You want to read and sweat and take breaks because of all the adrenaline pumping through your neurological system in your BRAIN?! Ok ok...

"The Dark Elf Trilogy" its a special edition that has 3 books in 1. The story starts from the book "Homeland". followed by "Icewind Dale Trilogy"... There are more to the series so don't worry you have a lot of amazing content to read.

I am pretty sure you will tear through the pages like a madman and enjoy the crap out of it so much that you might OVERDOSE and burn out your eyes...

Happy reading my friend... Drizzt Do'Urden is probably the badest character I have ever been introduced to...and his tale is just too Epic.

Going out on a limb here, I'm guessing Risky has already been introduced to Salvatore. Also, he's not 15 (when, to be fair, Drizzt really was awesome, or as you put it, "the badest").

Risky, if I'm way off, then this may actually be a good rec. You can probably get through the first two trilogies in a week or so, and much like Catcher in the Rye, while reading them as an adult won't change your life, it's still a somewhat pleasant experience even though you realize you'd have been better off reading them in your adolescence.

kinetix, I have seen the series many times but Salvetore is an author that I just try to stay away from. Nothing against him or his writing, it's just I do not want to get sucked into any series that will never end. David Gemmel is an example of an author who wrote (R.I.P) great stand alone books but when he went to write series, he never knew how to end them and so they just went on and on until he died and his son started finishing them (or not finishing them). I have never once picked up Wheel of Time and have no desire to finish off Sword of Truth because the stories just go too many directions. Dude, anybody want to tell me what the deal was with the chicken that wasn't a chicken?
Now, that being said, I do have some series that I read religiously that will probably never end, but they aren't trying to tell an epic tale, they just use the same characters and the books only come out once a year, which annoys me while waiting for them, but when I read them I feel like I get so much more out of them.
Let's be clear, I am not a snob when it comes to books. I read lots of stuff, good and bad, and enjoy them equally a lot of the time. Right now I am reading a book based on the video game God of War. It's telling the story of the video games and what I am enjoying right now is reading the book and having how I defeated that section of the game running through my imagination. I even think that I got past a boss in a way that I wasn't supposed to after reading the book. It is co-authored by Matthew Stover who wrote Heroes Die and I consider that book to have the most Badass main character ever and he's much like Kratos in a lot of ways so I wanted to see what Stover would do with it. It's enjoyable right now, but I think just because of my love for the author and the video game.
Next up (probably later today if people don't start taking turns or I start doing actual work) is Ex-Heroes about retired Superheroes who are called back into service when the dead start rising from the grave....Zombies and Superheroes is a really exciting premise for The Risky One!
Anyways, I stumped after that so I'll be rereading this thread and I'll let you know if I took any suggestions.

Ex-Heroes about retired Superheroes who are called back into service when the dead start rising from the grave....Zombies and Superheroes is a really exciting premise for The Risky One!

Holy Crap that sounds amazing.

Salvatore isn't all that bad for never-ending stories. Much like Card, he would write a trilogy that ended pretty decently and then years later he'd start hankerin' for a paycheck and he'd go back to the well. You could read the first Dark Elf trilogy and feel satisfied at the end, I think.

Yes it is true that when I read the Drizzt books I was younger but I read read the first 2 trilogies not long ago and was still so pleased with it.

Risky, these books do end almost every trilogy actually so you will be satisfied. It just takes a new direction each time and grows differently. I honestly think it would be sin for you not to check these books out, read homeland at least and see how much you will love it.

This I can agree with.

Out of curiosity, has anyone else here read the R. Scott Bakker Prince of Nothing books? I posted about it earlier, but didn't see any recognition of that series, which is perhaps not that surprising since I don't think the press run was very large. However, it's an absolutely fascinating series that's unlike just about anything I've seen before -- the characters evolve constantly in response to the expanding plot, and the ones you're rooting for are constantly shifting, so by the end of the 2nd book, you have no idea what to expect because there's no longer a clear "good" guy or "bad" guy (well, the latter's debatable). Anyhow, Bakker develops some of the deepest characters you'll find in one of the more ambitious and unique plotlines around. It almost reminds me a little bit of David Farland's Runelords series in the way the characters evolve over time, though far less clumsy, in my opinion.

I saw your post earlier about R Scott Bakker and originally thought is was Steven Baxter who is the author I would most like to bash over the head with a bear bottle.
I checked out this series's reviews and it seems like something I would be interested in, however it is not available on the Kindle and as I shant ever touch paper again, it is not one I will read until that time. I did request the first one to be put on Kindle and I am currently 4-9 in having books I requested available shortly thereafter, so we'll see what happens and I'll be sure to let you know if I start reading them.

RiskyBack wrote: bash over the head with a bear bottle.

Sounds big, scary, and hairy.

As a corollary, never go back and reread the books you thought were awesome when you were younger. Exceptions include books that might have been far over your head at the time, and pure humor such as Hitchhiker's.

Drizzt books are so classic they will never get old and rereading them was awesome. It's the only books I have ever even considered to reread and I wasn't disappointed!

So I've been following this thread a bit and others that talk of the Ender series. I have never read it before, but your talk piqued my interest and after hitting all 8 of the city's libraries yesterday, I was able to check out the entire series. I started and finished Ender's Game today.

I enjoyed the book, but the ending left me with a feeling like he didn't really know where to stop the book, so he kind of just kept writing for a little bit. But I found the rest of the book enjoyable enough to keep going.

Now my question to you who have read these books, is this: Should I read them in the order they were written in, or the order that they fit into the End-verse timeline? From what I have read on Wikipedia, there seems to be some differences there.