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Blacksilk
Caldari Redcoats
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Posted - 2009.12.29 18:51:00 -
[1]
I know some months back there were a couple of threads on sci-fi and fantasy titles, but I wanted to widen the net a little bit and include non fiction (history/politics etc.)
I just happen to have been given a ú30 book voucher for xmas that I'm looking to spend.
Previous reads include:
Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan Devices and Desires - K J Parker The Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks Gates of Fire - Simon Pressfield
The Messianic Legacy - Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh & Henry Lincoln Impossible Journey - Michael Asher
All suggestions welcomed.
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Kin'Tarr
Minmatar Amok. Minor Threat.
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Posted - 2009.12.29 19:00:00 -
[2]
Perdido Street Station - China MiTville (sci fi, but more steam punked/mystical).
K.O.S
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Elora Danzik
Caldari Idiots In Spaceships Psychotic Tendencies.
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Posted - 2009.12.29 21:06:00 -
[3]
The What If? series I beleive there are two books. Basically Historians imagine things like what if Socratics was kill when he was in the army.
Guns Germs and Steel and Collapse Jared Diamond.
A History of Warfare by John Keegan Postulates that von Clausawitz was wrong then proves his point.
Reading Lolita in Tehran - gives a very good account to the background of current unrest in Iran.
The Last Samurai: the Life and times of Saigo Takamori - he's the guy the movie was very loosly based on.
just a few off the top of my head.
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Karma
Vortex Incorporated
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Posted - 2009.12.30 00:02:00 -
[4]
Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
just read the back of the cover and you'll know whether you want to read it or not ;)
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FunzzeR
Death of Virtue MeatSausage EXPRESS
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Posted - 2009.12.30 07:34:00 -
[5]
Edited by: FunzzeR on 30/12/2009 07:39:32
Go for Iain M. Bank's Culture novels
Consider Phlebas The Player of Games The Use of Weapons The State of Art Excession Look to the Windward Inversions Matter
You won't regret it.
EDIT: Just noticed you wanted historical nonfiction.. Sorry..
But my recommendation still stands. PRAISE THE SCOTTISH FOLD!!
THEIR WILL SHALL BE DONE!! |
Intense Thinker
Minmatar
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Posted - 2009.12.30 07:47:00 -
[6]
Anything by Dr Seuss
Originally by: a51 duke1406 The girls just dont understand that sunday is pvp night, not cuddle on the couch watching tv night.
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Neyro7830
Gallente The 5th Freedom Wildly Inappropriate.
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Posted - 2009.12.30 09:06:00 -
[7]
Rogue Squadron series was pretty good IMO, and anything by Michael Stackpole :p
I likes me some star wars EU :p ___________________________________ The views expressed by me in my forum posts are in no relation to my Corporation or my Alliance. I swear my cat made me type them. |
Rolk Anderson
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Posted - 2009.12.30 18:48:00 -
[8]
Originally by: Neyro7830 Rogue Squadron series was pretty good IMO, and anything by Michael Stackpole :p
I likes me some star wars EU :p
Would that be history or politics?
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Imperator Jora'h
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Posted - 2009.12.30 19:07:00 -
[9]
Originally by: Elora Danzik The What If? series I beleive there are two books. Basically Historians imagine things like what if Socratics was kill when he was in the army.
^^This in a big way (per what the OP is asking for). Great books. Lots of fun. Very informative (yes they are by nature "fiction" since it is speculation on what might have been but they give you the real history first and the speculation is informed speculation by real historians...fascinating stuff).
-------------------------------------------------- "Of course," said my grandfather, pulling a gun from his belt as he stepped from the Time Machine, "there's no paradox if I shoot you!"
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Santiago Fahahrri
Galactic Geographic
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Posted - 2009.12.30 19:08:00 -
[10]
The Hyperion books by Dan Simmons are excellent if you have not read them.
Hyperion Fall of Hyperion Endymion Rise of Endymion
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Atomos Darksun
The Maverick Navy IT Alliance
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Posted - 2009.12.30 19:32:00 -
[11]
I cannot give enough praise for Name of the Wind (big plus for me, because the author lives not 2 hours from me ) and Hyperion.
Name of the Wind is a fresh injection to the ever recycled world of fantasy novels, and Hyperion is quite frankly a pure work of art. A friend of mine even went so far as to not read the rest of the Hyperion cantos, lest it ruin his memories of the book.
In fact, it's odd that two different people beat me to mentioning either of those books...normally they're pretty far down the list in previous threads >.<
Originally by: Amoxin My vent is talking to me in a devil voice...
Linkification, Baby. |
Chipan Asty
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Posted - 2009.12.30 19:58:00 -
[12]
For non fiction I recommend 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins.
If you are already an atheist then it's still a fascinating read. If you are religious then you may even get lucky and be cured.
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KPPA
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Posted - 2009.12.30 20:08:00 -
[13]
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
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Elora Danzik
Caldari Idiots In Spaceships Psychotic Tendencies.
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Posted - 2009.12.30 20:29:00 -
[14]
couple of more I thought to add
War is a force that gives us meaning
and
American Facists both by chris hedges.
DO NOT read War if you are depressed or otherwise mental unstable. It is a depressing but, yet informative. I would reccommend playing Hello Kitty online after your done just to return to normal.
Facists goes after American Fundementalist in a big way.
Enjoy.
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Magnus Nordir
Caldari Nordir Industries
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Posted - 2009.12.30 21:31:00 -
[15]
Science/sci-fi
Non-fiction:
Ray Kurzweil - The singularity is near Stephen Wolfram - New kind of science
Fiction:
Charless Stross - Accelerando Neal Stephenson - Anathema James L. Helperin - The first immortal Neal Stephenson - Snow crash
--------------------------- Only those who surrender are lost |
Blacksilk
Caldari Redcoats
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Posted - 2010.01.01 16:49:00 -
[16]
Thanks very much for all the replies folks. In addition to these I'm also considering Freedom Next Time by John Pilger.
http://tinyurl.com/yd4thm4
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Lareon Denery
Band of Cateteris Looney Toons.
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Posted - 2010.01.01 20:07:00 -
[17]
What-if: - Fatherland, one of the best what-if books I ever read
Historical: The ones of Bernard Cornwell. Mainly I love two series: - The Sharpe stories (11 books setted during Napoleonic wars) - The Saxon stories (5 books for now, setted during the Danes invasions of England, in the 9th century)
Fantasy: Hmm... Terry Pratchett? xD
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Malcanis
Vanishing Point. The Initiative.
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Posted - 2010.01.01 20:16:00 -
[18]
Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire. That'll keep you busy for a while, and will leave you considerably better educated to boot. Not an easy read, but an outstanding work.
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The AEther
Caldari Perkone
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Posted - 2010.01.01 22:40:00 -
[19]
if you want to read about a lot of people dying in various gruesome ways irl i'd recommend The Great Mortality by John Kelly - when i picked up this book one of the comments on the back page was "master stroryteller" and after reading it i now see how right they really were, he is
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Jin Nib
Resplendent Knives
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Posted - 2010.01.01 23:08:00 -
[20]
Keegan has written some fine history books.
Also I agree with Malcanis. Patrick O'Brian's Aubery-Marturin series is one of the best sets of novels ever written. -Jin Nib Trading on behalf of Opera Noir since: 2009.03.02 03:53:00
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Niccolado Starwalker
Gallente Shadow Templars
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Posted - 2010.01.01 23:39:00 -
[21]
Edited by: Niccolado Starwalker on 01/01/2010 23:42:01
Originally by: Blacksilk I know some months back there were a couple of threads on sci-fi and fantasy titles, but I wanted to widen the net a little bit and include non fiction (history/politics etc.)
I just happen to have been given a ú30 book voucher for xmas that I'm looking to spend.
Previous reads include:
Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan Devices and Desires - K J Parker The Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks Gates of Fire - Simon Pressfield
The Messianic Legacy - Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh & Henry Lincoln Impossible Journey - Michael Asher
All suggestions welcomed.
Theres only one book on top of the throne that everyone should read, and that is the book by Niccolo Machiavelli "The Prince". And how good is that book? Well, my main characters forename is partly based on this statesmans name!
Originally by: Dianabolic Your tears are absolutely divine, like a fine fine wine, rolling down your cheeks until they flow down the river of LOL. |
Kyden
Gallente Interstellar eXodus BricK sQuAD.
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Posted - 2010.01.02 02:33:00 -
[22]
get Steven Kings "Dark Tower" series, best books ever written IMO
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Sazkyen
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Posted - 2010.01.02 04:52:00 -
[23]
Edited by: Sazkyen on 02/01/2010 04:52:13 If you are into post-apocalyptic stuff then I recommend the Deathlands and the Outlanders series.
Very relaxing. They are also available in audiobook format from Graphic Audio.
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Toshiro GreyHawk
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Posted - 2010.01.02 09:46:00 -
[24]
Terry C. Johson has written several fairly extensive series of historical novels on the 19th Century American Frontier. He uses the letters and biographies, often auto-biographies, of actual participants in the events to provide the history while he has his fictional central character move about to be the witness to these events. Very well done.
The First Man in Rome series of historical novels by Collen McCullough. Very entertaining look at the internal politics that led to the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Empire. If you pay attention - you will notice that it wasn't about the Good Republic being done in by the Evil Empire - as I Claudius and Gladiator (both of which are well done in their own way) would have you believe.
If you like Alternative History - virtually everything written by Harry Turtledove is alternate history. The guy was a history professor before he became a novelist and he's very fond of the might have been's.
Fire In The Sky and Touched by Fire by Eric M. Bergerud, are two outstanding analyzes of, respectively, the air and groud wars in the Southern Pacific from 1942 to early 1944. Not really chronological histories - these books analyze the struggle between Japan and it's opponents the USA and Australia, examining not just what happened but why it happened.
Kipling's works on British Colonial Life in India are fascinating. They provide a view of the world that you are NOT going to see in the politically correct portrayals of today. Whatever the evils of colonialism - and there certainly were some - you can see today - that the imperialists were right when they said that the tribal societies they governed were, by and large, not ready for self government. The cry to "Let us make our own mistakes" of the nationalists of the mid twentieth century led to ... one hell of a lot of corruption, death and destruction in the former colonies. Seeing things through the eyes of the Imperialists themselves is very interesting - and helps you understand why so many new nations formed after the Europeans abandoned their colonial possessions ended up failed states. These weren't just a bunch of jingoistic, uncaring people. A lot of them understood the people they were governing very, very well - better in fact than many of these people understood themselves. You also get to see some of the peculiarities of Victorian society - which is interesting in it's own right. Though most of Kipling's works are fiction - you can get a real flavor for the societies being depicted by reading them.
Julius Caesar's The Conquest of Gaul and The Civil War are both fascinating reads. Obviously Caesar is somewhat self serving in his portrayal of himself but the man was a very good writer and it is something special to get to read such extensive works written by the prime participant himself. It may not be objective - but it does give you things from Caesar's point of view.
For a source of numerous ancient historical works - look for The Penguin Classic's series and you can read a lot of ancient history written by ancient historians.
As to Keegan - he is a very good historian though I'd not go so far as to say that Von Clausewitz was wrong ... Read Von Clausewitz's On War - and judge for yourself. Also - just for the hell of it ... Sun Tzu's The Art of War is a very quick read. Then contrast Von Clausewitz and Sun Tzu - and you will see who knew what he was talking about and who was handing out clever little catch phrases to support his own career as a military adviser ...
The German Army 1933-1945 by Matthew Cooper is a very interesting study of the politics and structure of that army.
Stonewall in the Valley by Robert G. Tanner is an interesting study of the early Shenandoah campaign.
Lee's Lieutenants by D. S. Freeman is the definitive work on the Army of Northern Virginia.
Anything by John Toland is great.
The Pitcher and the Well - RAF bomber crew in early WWII.
Ah .. and I'm out of
Orbiting vs. Kiting Faction Schools |
Marie Hartinez
Gallente Aries Munitions and Defense
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Posted - 2010.01.02 09:55:00 -
[25]
For history I'm recommend:
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer Three Who Made A Revolution by Bertram Wolfe
The first grabbed my attention in a book store one day as I'm a bit of a WW2 history buff, especially the war in Europe. The second I actually found in the road one day as I was returning to work from lunch. I believe it was actually a first print, but unfortunately I have since miss placed it and never did finish it. Surrender is still your slightly less painful option. |
JordanParey
Minmatar Suddenly Ninjas
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Posted - 2010.01.02 10:40:00 -
[26]
The Jack Ryan/John Clark books by Tom Clancy, i.e. The Hunt for Red October, The Bear and the Dragon, Rainbow Six, The Sum of All Fears, etc.
The Dirk Pitt series by Clive Cussler, and the OREGON Files series by Clive Cussler.
Jack Whyte- Knights of the Black and White (Templars) Raymond Khoury- The Last Templar
Voyage of the Basset- This is a kids' book, really, but the story and the illustrations are so cool that I thought I would include this, my favorite of childhood bookds. Fantastical creatures, gods and goddesses, fighting, travel through otherverses, etc. Very deep stuff for a kid to read O_o Set in Victorian England and it goes from there.
Linky: Linkage
Examples of the art in the book: Professor image.
Another example of this guy's fantasy-style paintings, this is similar to the stuff in the book.
Please, PLEASE, give Voyage of the Basset a try. You won't regret it.
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