Book Thread

[Markpyro]

My idea: To present a title and author, to explain why they liked the book, and a brief summary, compared to the "What are you READING now" thread, some people might get some ideas for a new book to read.

I have asked a mod already about this, and he had no objections. If you feel different, please PM me about my wrongdoings...

Anyways, Include:

Title:
Author:
Summary/Why you liked it:
Genre:
Rating* :


(*rating: on a scale of 1-10, 10 being Extremely well written and with almost no flaws and 0 being so horrible that its a wonder that it was published. But, please dont post any books you dont like, it defeats the purpose of this thread. Judge critically.)

-MP

[xodkrm]

Title: (series): Wheel of Time
Author: Robert Jordan
Summary: Three chosen ones fight to ward off the evil.
Rating: 10/10
Genre: Fantasy
Reading time: Each book has about 800 pages. It takes a long time to read the first book- its hard to understand like all fantasies.

I really recommend this book to all of you. There are around 10 books intotal, I didn't mind spending 200 dollars on the books....they rule. Like the New York Times said,' Robert Jordan has come to dominate the world Tolkein began to reveal'. It is also an acclaimed national best seller.

[Modred]

I don't think a 10 would be all without flaws, per se, since many alleged flaws are due to preconcieved opinions of the reader. And without further adieu...

Title: East of Eden
Author: John Steinbeck
Summary/Why you liked it: I refuse to give you a summary, however I will tell why it is good. This is a tale of good and evil, much as the title alludes, and focuses on the ability of a person to choose between what he or she believes qualifies as good or evil. East of Eden is a classic book due to what I believe Steinbeck does best, character development. There are really only three characters who are present throughout most of the novel, but those who remain for only a part are often no more minor than the protagonists. Even after leaving the plot, the impact of a few key characters carries through to the end. In short--good characters, good theme, good writing.
Rating:10

[Protoss_Honor]

Title: Any Star Trek: TOS or Star Trek: TNG book in existance
Authors: Numorous Authors more than I can count.
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: 100/10
Why I liked it: Because it's Star Trek and I'm a UberTrekkie.

Also:
Title: Redwall (Name of the first book in a series with the same name. I recommened the entire series. along with it.)
Author: Brian Jaques
Genre: Fantesy I guess.
Rating: 100/10
Why I liked it: Because it has amazing story lines. Colorful characters. Funny dialog. Basicly, I like it because it is perfect.

[bluemicrobyte]

Title: The Sword of Shannara
Author: Terry Brooks
Summary/Why you liked it: For those of you who loved the Lord of the Rings movies, and the Harry Potter books, this is the book for you. It combines the excitement of both books and has almost no boring parts (except chapter 2). Unlike most books which feature a climax where all the exitement takes place, this book has intense exitement from page 3 or so, until the end of the book. This is the kind of book that keeps you up at night (reading, of course, not cowering in fear. lol). This book leaves out many of the "boring" details, so there aren't too many sections where you skip lines to get to the action.
Genre: Sci-Fi (takes place in a Lord of the Rings ish setting)
Rating* : 9/10

[Mindslaver]

Title: Das Kapital (Volume 1) (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/)

Author: Karl Marx

Summary/Why you liked it: I have taken the capitalist society that I live in for granted. But this book opened my eyes, and made me realize all the processes that, when combined, create the economic situation that we in the United States live in today.
When I say it changed the way I think, I'm not joking.

Reading Time: It's about 1089 pages, and that's just the first volume, of which there are three. The second is shorter, and the third is about the same as the first. But the first one is most important, IMO.

Genre: Political Economics/Philosophy

Rating* : 10/10

[DragonPaladin]

Such great books, I love this thread! Let's see if I can remember a book or two. I'll edit this post to include a book. Just wait.

Title:The Testament
Author:I don't remember. He also wrote, "The Last Will".
Summary/Why you liked it: Well, it was a nice read and the plot is intriguing. It is about a man who is the 10th richest in the world. Now he has 5 ex-wives(Not Polygamy) and several uncouth children. He doesn't want to leave any of his money to them because they will just waste it all. However, if he tries to sign a will which leaves them out of the inheritence, they will have him tested for mental competence. And the catch is...the doctors are bribed to declare him incompetent if he offers such a will. I'll spoil the fun for you, don't read it if you want to read the book.
*Spoilers*
He plays with the families' minds and pretend to be competent. But at the last moment, instead of signing the will created by the family, he pulls out a hand-written will which gives EVERYTHING to his unknown daughter and then throws himself out the window. The will can not be contested because he was proven to be sane and can not be re-tried for he is dead. The families, of course, will fight a legal battle for this, but it will be tough. The story reverts to a broker in the dead man's law firm. He has to track down the daughter, who conviently hide herself somewhere in South America as a Missionary(Protosschick) to Indians. I'll leave the rest to you...
Genre:Fiction
Rating* :8

[UnHoly-Assassin]

Title: Swan Song
Author: Robert McCammon
Summary/Why you liked it: It's a novel about the post-apocolapyse era when the entire world self-destructed upon itself with nuclear warheads. A girl, named Swan, is rescued by a group of people and wherever she goes she manages to restore hope into the people. Hope that someone else is trying to destroy. It goes deep into a plot to destroy the entire world, led by a "god" on top of a mountain near Washington DC (hint hint). The eerie thing about this is...this can become quite true except for the "mysterious powers" part. *WARNING* This book is very descriptive about certain elements such as gore and torture.
Genre: Fantasy? I ono...
Rating*: 9 (The only downside is that the "gift" to revive plant life which Swan posseses and the main culprit makes the story a bit unrealistic)

[iHawk]

Title: The Lucky Starr Series ("David Starr Space Ranger", "Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids", "Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus", "Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury", "Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter" and "Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn")
Author: Issac Asimov (Writing as: Paul French)
Summary: Councilman David "Lucky" Starr traverses the solar system solving mysteries.
Why you liked them: They are the kind of books that can keep you entertained for hours. And beause they have suspence, danger, action, technology, humor and mystery.
Genre: Sci-Fi/Mystery
Rating from book to book: 9.5/10

Overall good books I recomend them to readers of all ages. :)

[Markpyro]

Title: The Andromeda Strain
Author: Micheal Crichton
Summary/Why you liked it: If you've read "Jurassic Park", You'll get the same action and scientific view.
The andromeda Strain is about a government group that sends several sattelites into space to try and collect extraterrestrial bacteria. When the fifth sattelite crashes down to earth, they find that, in the city where it landed, all of the people died mysterious deaths. So, they collect several scientists to try and figure out how the people died, and to discover how the lethal bacteria worked.
My description may sound boring, but the book is full of action and I highly reccomend it, as it is one of Chrichton's bests works.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating* : 9/10

[kongurous]

Title: Halo: Fall of Reach
Author: Eric Nylund
Summary/Why you liked it: The official prequel to the Halo series, it provides a bit of backstory to the Spartan-II project, introduces you to the side of Master Chief you don't see in the game, and also makes Master Chief out to be a victory-driven man who doesn't talk much. A good book for sci-fi fans, and a good book for Halo fans
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating* : 9/10

[singo]

aww crap, I just read Deathstalker legacy, by Simon Green (I think) and went and got addicted, to make matters worse the local library has no more of the series so I will actually have to SPEND MONEY on it.

Book: Deathstalker Legacy

Author: Simon R Green (I think, please correct me If I am wrong)

Why like?: Well, it has lots of chopping of people, big reptiloid aliens, A King and Parliament rather than a president. It is well written and flows easily, it has an absolutely EPIC plot, Guys like the judges (think Dredd), only a BIT less extreme. Oh, flying ESP-ers, A big empire, and the hero has a really good name, c'mon DEATHSTALKER! what a name. The plot is twisty enough to be exiting but not difficult to follow.

Genre: Sci-fi

Rating: 10/10 - I love this book!

[DFIK]

Title: Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy

Author: Douglas Adams

Summary/Why you liked it: A better question is why wouldn't I like it? I won't give a summary, since HGTTG has many different storylines all at once, so I'l ljsut say it was a great book, that had me laughing on the floor the entire time. A great, great, great book.

Genre: Humour/Scifi

Rating: 10/10

[Kazansky]

Title: Crime and Punishment
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
Summary: Raskolnikov, an empoverished former university student, is having trouble with a pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna, an old woman who is hated by all due to the fact that she has a bad attitude problem and that her deals are unfair. Raskolnikov decides to kill the bitch and steal all of the pledges in her posession in hopes that he can raise himself up from poverty and save the lives of all the people she has tormented. But in the end, Raskolnikov loses himself and goes completely mad, and is exiled to nine months in SIBERIA.
Genre: Detective/Psychological
Rating: 10/10

[Mindslaver]

Title: Dune
Author: Frank Herbert
Summary: There are two important families (Houses) - House Atreides, and House Harkonnen. When the Emperor gives the order for the Atreides to move from the planet Caladan to the desert planet Arrakis (aka Dune), the Harkonnens sieze a golden opportunity to finish off the Atreides. The Harkonnens also want Arrakis back, because they were the original owners of Arrakis. Before the Harkonnens extinguish almost the entire Atreides line on Arrakis, Paul and his mother, Jessica, escape. Paul seeks revenge against the Harkonnens, and learns that he is something called the Kwisatz Haderach - basically, he's a prophet. With his powers, he avenges the traitorous plot against his family.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 10/10