books

[Azred]

IMHO, Stephen R. Donaldson tops the list. After that, include R. A. Salvatore, Tolkien, Lovecraft, Ayn Rand (ok--she's a mixed bag), James P. Blaylock, Asimov, and Joseph Campbell (not really a novelist, but if he wrote it then I'll read it). This series had no single author (a collective world) but I really liked the Wild Card novels--the Astronomer is probably the most sick and twisted person you could find (thanks to Lew Shriner) and (trivia) Dr. Tachyon once appeared (albeit slightly altered) in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (can you name which one, and who wrote the episode?).

[Melusine]

WOW! I can't believe anybody on this board actually knows Pynchon!!! Good for you, Mr Underhill (nice name!). If anyone wants to read him (do it do it do it!) The Crying Of Lot 49 is a good book to start with as it's quite short and easy. James Joyce is a different case altogether; while you're free to try it, remember that this is very, very difficult stuff. I study English lit and some of my professors have been in a reading group for 20 years, half of which was spent trying to figure out Finnegans Wake!!! This is perhaps the most difficult book by him, but if you're up for a challenge anyway try the classic (Ulysses). Does anybody know Iain (M.) Banks? I definitely recommend him! The books written under the moniker Iain M. Banks are SF (but not like any SF you've ever seen before) and the books without the middle name are 'regular' literature. For an instant shock-experience, try reading the Wasp Factory...DON'T flip over to the end first!!!! Hmm... I think I'm drifting farther and farther off-topic with non-fantasy books, but what the heck... if only one of the people on this board reads one of these books and finds it has changed their lives, I can die happy
What about my own favorites? Prepare for a long list... no I'll just name a few
A.S. Byatt, Ch. Marlowe, Shakespeare (corny I know but READ HIM), Keats, Poe, Chaucer, Wilde, Yeats, Banks, Atwood, Eco, Donne, Milton, Anthony Burgess, and some fantasy I like: Tolkien Eddings Pratchett Some random books: Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Goethe's Faust & Leiden des jungen Werthers, Beowulf, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon series (anyone read the new one yet?), Byatt's Possession, Burgess's Earthly Powers

Oh, they guy who says Aleister Crowley books are hard to come by: not at all! Just check Amazon.co.uk and there're numerous titles, also a lot of good bookstores sell him but I don't know where you live. If you're into his stuff, a good book to read would be the biography 'The Beast Demystified' which does precisely that it's fun to read!

God I love books

Oh, all the books mentioned here are recommendations which you can safely read

[Mr. Underhill]

Melusine, Hello thanks for the Aleister Crowley tip, but I know of many of his in print books, New Falcon Press puts out a large portion of his works. I'm kinda referring to some of his more esoteric rants, stuff he actually published, there is some extremely strange and interesting reading if your willing to search for these texts. I must appluade your choice of litarature(A.S. Byatt, Ch. Marlowe, Shakespeare (corny I know but READ HIM), Keats, Poe, Chaucer, Wilde, Yeats, Banks, Atwood, Eco, Donne, Milton, Anthony Burgess, and some fantasy I like: Tolkien Eddings Pratchett Some random books: Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Goethe's Faust & Leiden des jungen Werthers, Beowulf, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon series (anyone read the new one yet?), Byatt's Possession, Burgess's Earthly Powers,) some real classics. No Kafka or Dostievsky, perhaps in your expanded list ehh.. Your certainly right about James Joyce, pretty impenitrable reading, I have made many atempts to read Finnagins Wake, but to no avail. I always realize, there is still a great deal more, I need to learn before any true comprehension is possible. Hehehe!! Well any ways I've heard of Iain (M.) Banks, but have yet to read any of his writings, there is so much to read out there, you most certainly understand, but I assure you I have bumped that to the top of my to read list, thanks for the recommendation.

wow there is a lot of good books! but in the mist of all this no one has put down Kingdom for sale\sold by Terry Brooks. that has to be one of the best books he has ever made. If you have not read it you should.

[Melusine]

Mr Underhill: I knew I'd seen someone with the Law of Thelema quote in his signature but I had no idea it was you! Yes I have read some Kafka and Dostoyevsky but for now I'm trying to concentrate on English lit as there are soooooooooooooooo many books out there, so one has to be selective
although I occasionally read some German and French stuff. Best titles from Banks are prolly Walking on glass/The bridge/ Wasp factory/Consider Phlebas/complicity. For the Crowley stuff, you might want to check biographies, as biographers often have access to special texts and refer to those in their bibliography/List of references. Perhaps you can find some of the unpublished stuff there. I find the era which he comes from (Victorian age/fin de siecle) extremely interesting, do you read anything about the whole group of people around for example the Golden Dawn? I think Yeats is the most interesting figure of these, although of course he and Crowley could drink each others blood. But I think this thread is getting to far away from the subject matter of this Message Board, so I apologise to everyone and will now cast Silence '15 on myself.