Dave's World of Neat Books

Hello! Obviously, since I'm at college right now, I don't really have a lot of time to spend reading.... (or sleeping or eating...) but I'll do my best to make this interesting.. :)

First, we'll start things off with a list of some of the books that i consider to be the best I've read...

The Hollow Man, by Dan Simmons: Once again, Dan Simmons has lived up to his reputation as my favorite author. This book is loosely based on a short story of his, "Eyes I Dare Not Meet In Dreams", which apppeared in his book "Prayers to Broken Stones". Its about a man, Jeremy Bremen, who has psychic powers. He is married to a woman named Gail, who also shares these powers. (It was this ability that originally allowed them to meet each other) Only problem is, Gail dies. So... Bremen starts to lose control. This book is incredibly interesting, because we get to watch as Bremen "goes insane", we get to see what is happening inside of his head. It's thoroughly fascinating, and I can't think of anything else to say about it that would help you get any better idea what the book is like.. so.. just.. read it. :)
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card: A staple of science fiction. a must-read. this book should not be missed if you enjoyed star wars even the slightest little bit.. or even if you didn't.. it's about a little kid named Andrew Wiggin, who is a military genious without meaning to be... and who destroys an alien race that attacked Earth in the past without meaning to... good book, go read it.. now.. (by the way, Ender's Game won the Hugo and Nebula awards... and if thats not good enough, the sequal, Speaker for the Dead, which you WILL want to read after reading the first one, ALSO won both the Hugo and Nebula awards...) (Ender's game is a stand alone book, you don't need to read the sequal to get the whole story... i know how much it annoys me when books do that, so I'll put your mind at ease, this book doesn't do that. :) If you wanted to read a much more accurate review by someone who actually knows what they're talking about, go here.
Fear, by L. Ron Hubbard: A very short book, but a really good one nonetheless. Even if you're not usually a fan of horror (I'm not...) you should definitely check this book out anyway.. The basic idea of the plot is that the main character (forgot his name.. its been awhile since ive read it) loses his hat. When trying to think back to where he might have lost it, he realizes he has no memory of the last 4 hours. that's really gives you no idea about any part of the book, the story, the mood, anything, but it'll have to do. Just be satisfied in the knowledge that this book is extremely demented... but not in a bad way.. the dementia actually helps the book. In fact, it makes it into one of my favorites.. (imagine that..) but, you should definitely not miss this one.. and you don't have an excuse not to read it either, since its less than 200 pages long...
Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons: This is a set of two books.. longer than Ender's game and Fear, but no less interesting... In fact, this set of two books is actually much more interesting.. (if you ask me..) it just takes a little longer to read is all... the first book, Hyperion, won the Hugo Award.. and I believe the second book won something as well, but I can't remember what right now... The basis for these two books is an anomaly on a frontier planet named Hyperion, called the Time Tombs. What they are is an area on the planet that has been contained by a fluctuating anti-entropy field.. In other words, they are travelling backwards through time. Now, another interesting part of the Tombs is that they contain the Shrike, a nine-foot tall living monument to pain.. (if you want a better description, just read the book..) the Shrike is worshipped by a cult (as any major strange anomaly is in modern society.. :) who, each year sends a pilgrimage to the Tombs.. That's all in the past.. in the present, society is spasming, for a variety of reasons.. many believe it might have something to do with the shrike.. the cult then suddenly gets new prominence, and they decide to send a special pilgrimage.. The first book talks about the events up until their arrival at the Tombs, and gives the stories of the pilgrims up until that point, and also why they are on the pilgrimage.. the second book is extremely thought provoking, as it moves on to encompass the entire human empire, including the network of fully sentient AI's (artificial intelligences) who run most of the technology humans use... it turns out that the AI's have been planning a mutiny for quite some time... in fact it turns out that the plan for extinction of humans by the AI's is already frighteningly near completion.. the only thing that's holding it back, despite the three factions in the AI world, is the Shrike, because it is the only thing the AI's cannot predict.. it is the only bit of uncertaintly left in their models.. so they don't quite know what to do with it.. Somewhere in there, you learn the true reason for it, and it will simply blow you away.. I did an absolutely pathetic job describing these books, but just believe me, you have to read them. :) you won't regret it...
The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov: A traditional favorite.. If you consider yourself a fan of science fiction, and you haven't read this, you should be so ashamed of yourself that you shouldn't want to go out into the world anymore.. I personally haven't read prelude to foundation or forward the foundation yet, but i can tell you that the fourth and fifth books don't deserve to share the name "Foundation" with the first three.. so.. don't bother with those two, just read the original three. :) the background is that a man named Hari Seldon develops a peculiar social science that is really really good at predicting things.. and using this science, he realizes that the Galactic Empire is about to end, and when it does, there will be a 30,000 year long period of barbarianism before a second glorious empire develops. He then creates the Foundation, who will protect the collective knowledge of humankind, and sets up a plan of action for them that will lead to the development of the second Empire in only 1,000 years.. the three books are about what happens during those dark ages... sounds boring, but in actuality these three books will make it so that you just want to sit at home reading until theyre done.. good series. :)
The City and the Stars, by Arthur C. Clarke: It's been quite awhile since I've read this one, so all I can really tell you as far as background is that the basic situation consists of two cities who, a million years ago, decided that the only way to keep from destroying each other and the planet would be to cut off all communication between them... completely... so.. the story begins in one of the two cities.. the city has moved underground for the most part, and has been enclosed completely by a big bubble.. so.. since the population hasnt seen outside in hundreds of thousands of years, everyone's afraid of it.. etc... also, they forgot about the other city somewhere along the lines... so.. one day.. there's this kid who accidentally stumbles upon the transport system that used to take people between the two cites.. so uhh.. you can imagine what happens.. awesome book.. I need to go back and read it again...
The Robot Novels, by Isaac Asimov: The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, Robots of Dawn (I think that's right), and Robots and Empire.. The first three of these books are essentially science fiction detective books, packed to the brim with the type of satirical logic that Asimov is famous for.. quite entertaining.. :) the main two characters are a man whos name escapes me at the moment, and R. Daneel Olivaw, his robot companion.. who was designed to be as humanlike as possible... so.. obviously, nobody realizes he's a robot.. these books (along with I, robot, a book that i wouldn't really waste my time with if i were you) were the books that introduced Asimov's famous three laws of robotics.. something like.. 1) a robot may not harm a human or, through inaction, allow harm to come to a human.. 2) A robot must obey the instructions given it by a human, except where they might interfere with the first law... and 3)a robot must practice self-preservation, except where it would interfere with the first or second law... the last book takes place much later, and concentrates mostly on Olivaw, who, being a robot, doesn't get old and decrepit like everyone else.. (he also makes a cameo appearance at the end of the fifth foundation book, when the characters finally find the lost Earth, and discover that it long ago pretty much got destroyed.. Olivaw and a some other robots are on the moon for some reason I can't think of right now.. it was kinda cheesy, but it was neat to see Olivaw again.. :) but anyway.. very good books, like the rest of them on this list...
The Darksword Trilogy, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman: It's been since middle school since I've read these, so I've forgotten all about them, except the fact that they were incurably good books.. I should go back and read them again some day...
Labyrinth of Night, Clarke County, Space, Orbital Decay, and Lunar Descent, by Allen Steele: these are all stand-alone novels.. I just listed them together because I just want to tell you what kind of writer Steele is.. :) These books definitely fall into the category of "near-future science fiction".. I know you know the type.. Imagine the movie Outland.. (the one with Sean Connery).. or perhaps Bladerunner.. (Harrison Ford..) The type of atmosphere in those books (the dirty, dusty type of future vision...) is the setting for Steele's books.. extremely entertaining.. I'd recommend reading something by him if you haven't already...
Timelike Infinity, by Stephen Baxter: Awesome story. Background: humans learn how to make a wormhold capable of being traversed.. so they make one, with the ends both at the same place at the same time.. then they put the entrance to one end on a spaceship, which they send on a roundtrip to the center of the galaxy and back.. so. when it gets back, because of Special Relativity (thank you, Einstein.. :) it has developed quite a time difference with the end that stayed home.. so.. bingo, instant time tunnel... thats just what the story is based on.. thats where the story starts.. the story itself is great.. :)
Battlefield Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard: An epic, in the traditional sense. (very long. :) aliens conquered the earth awhile ago.. (the final resistance by humans: the aliens believed it to be Earth's finest (also Earth's last).. we later find out that it was simply the Cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy being loyal to their race, and not going quietly.. :) go USAFA!! go Colorado Springs!! :) but anyway.. there has been a small enclave of humans surviving in the mountains... (but since there's traces of uranium there, which reacts explosively with the air that the aliens breathe, they havent gone in there to find them) this is the story of what happens.. really good, if you have the time to read it all.. makes you feel proud to be human.. because... we fight back!! and we win!! (yay) so.. yeah.. there ya go..
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley: Just a fascinating book.. In most movies its portrayed as just being a sleezy horror story.. but thats missing the entire point.. This book is about how society reacts to differnetness.. Its simply fascinating.. good book.. not too long either.. :) and just for the record, there IS no Igor in the book... I don't know WHERE they came up with that...
Codgerspace, by Allen Dean Foster: this book, when you look at it, looks cheesy and stupid... it looks like it could be amusing, but really stupid.. well.. it is amusing... it is stupid too, but not REALLY stupid.. in fact, it turns out to be a truly good book.. Background: a worker brings a self-heating cheese sandwich to work one day.. opens it up, and forgets about it.. so.. some melted cheese falls out, and lands on the main cpu of an appliance plant.. (all appliances are mild AI's in the future that the book takes place in..) so.. after that happens, every appliance that comes out of the factory is on a quest to find God.. so the actual story involves six senior citizens from a nursing home, and a mobile food processor on a quest to find higher things.. very entertaining.. :)
Fox in Socks, by Dr. Seuss: Well, i've never actually read it, but Diane says its really good. :) (so therefore ill assure you it must be excellent. :) I have no idea what its about, how long it is, or anything, so if you really wanted to know, ask her.