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Old 11-17-2010, 12:56 PM   #1
Jordan!
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Default I need some book recommendations

Specifically World War II themed books. But I also like Fantasy and Sci-Fi. Are there any good recent Star Wars books?

I'm open to any suggestions and am even contemplating the George W. Bush memoir.

I just bought the Wifi Kindle.. I love reading but hate books, this solves that issue for me!

Thanks in advance!
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Old 11-17-2010, 01:02 PM   #2
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If you'd be interested in a WWI book, Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden is outstanding.
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Old 11-17-2010, 01:03 PM   #3
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I've been chewing my way through Peter Hamilton's books. Specifically the Reality Dysfunction trilogy and Pandora's Star (2 part series). Both are science fiction.

Both are great, though I enjoyed Pandora's Star more. Read it on the Kindle. Considering the size of these books, having it on the Kindle is a friggin godsend... the actual print books are mammoth tomes.
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Old 11-17-2010, 01:05 PM   #4
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Old 11-17-2010, 01:07 PM   #5
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If you want a war book, you must read this:

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Old 11-17-2010, 01:10 PM   #6
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A buddy of mine lent me this book and it was a fascinating read. Not so much about WW2 combat, more about concetration camps.

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Old 11-17-2010, 01:27 PM   #7
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I'm currently plugging my way throught the Fate of the Jedi series of Star Wars that is currently being published. It is an interesting exploration of the nature of the Force and the Dark Side and how Jacen solo was corrupted. It seems to just be getting to that point a few books in now, but after reading the last series I am enjoying how the political and social repercussions of the fall of Jacen Solo for the Jedi Oder are being explored.

I always wish that there were a few more authors that would get into a nore thorough exploration of the philosophical differences between the aspects of the force, and there is at least some of that in these books, although still not at the depth I would like.
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Old 11-17-2010, 01:28 PM   #8
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I was looking through the book store the other day and found out that book Twelve of the Wheel of Time Series came out last year.. I picked that up, a Gathering Storm. It is currently in the queue to read.

I think Book Thirteen is releasing soon as well.. Towers of Midnight. Book fourteen is set to the the final book now.. A Memory of Light.. will be released this time next year.

If you haven't touched George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice, please go read it now. I hesitated as well to start it but once I did I literally could not put it down. I have read pretty much every fantasy novel series worth a lick out there, and nothing even comes close to Martin's, not even Tolkien.

I just finished Tao of Wu by the RZA. I know, a bit off the charts but it was actually a very interesting read and is very short.. a couple sittings could have it read. Very insightful is the way I would review it.
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Old 11-17-2010, 01:38 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenLantern View Post
I think Book Thirteen is releasing soon as well.. Towers of Midnight.
It came out two weeks ago.

Memory of Light has been delayed further.

The Wheel of Time series in general is a cheap pickup to read on the Kindle (6 bucks a book I think until about Knife of Dreams). I've started from scratch and will probably make it to Book 14 by time it comes out.
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Old 11-17-2010, 02:02 PM   #10
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I forgot about The Rza's books! I grew up being fanatical about the Wu-Tang Clan
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Old 11-17-2010, 02:10 PM   #11
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The Man In The High Castle (Dick) is an alternate history WWII book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_in_the_High_Castle

The Man in the High Castle (1962) is a science fictionalternate historynovel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It won a Hugo Award in 1963[1][2] and has since been translated into many languages.

The story of The Man in the High Castle, about daily life under totalitarian Fascist imperialism, occurs in 1962, fourteen years after the end of a longer Second World War (1939–1948). The victorious Axis PowersImperial Japan and Nazi Germany — are conducting intrigues against each other in North America, specifically in the former U.S., which surrendered to them once they had conquered Eurasia and destroyed the populaces of Africa

My favorite fantasy series:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is an epic fantasy series written by Canadian author Steven Erikson, published in ten volumes beginning with the novel Gardens of the Moon. As of August 2009, nine novels in the series have been published leaving only the final volume forthcoming. Erikson's series is complex with a wide scope, and presents the narratives of a large cast of characters.[1][2][2][3][4][5] Erikson's plotting presents a complicated series of events in the world upon which the Malazan Empire is located. Each volume is relatively self-contained for the first five novels, in that the primary conflict of each novel is resolved within that novel. However, many underlying characters and events are interwoven throughout the works of the series, binding it together.

I'm currently reading Gateway by Pohl,

Gateway by Frederik Pohl
Gateway: an artifical spaceport, full of working interstellar ships left behind by the mysterious, vanished Heechee. They are easy to operate, but impossible to control -- some come back with discoveries which make their pilots rich; others return with their remains barely identifiable.


then Childhood's End by Clarke.

http://www.sfsite.com/12b/ce118.htm

http://www.sfsite.com/home.htm

http://www.sfsite.com/lists/award-hugo01.htm

The Hugo awards are presented at an evening ceremony during the World Science Fiction Convention. Nominations are as result of ballots cast by the convention members who vote by mail. They are counted using a weighted method whereby ballot entries, listed by preference, are assigned a value and then tallied. Those who fail to meet the cutoff or have the least number are dropped and the counting is redone until such time as a clear winner appears.

Last edited by troutman; 11-17-2010 at 02:16 PM.
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Old 11-17-2010, 02:14 PM   #12
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I'm currently reading 'How Hitler Could Have Won WWII'. It gets into a little too much detail about some of the battles, doesn't really add to the book in my opinion. However, the insights into Hitler's fatal errors, as well as the competency (or lack of) of many generals in the war is very interesting and eye opening.
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Old 11-17-2010, 02:15 PM   #13
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I just finished A Man Called Intrepid by William Stephenson (about British Security Coordination in WWII), and could not put it down. It's one you'll probably have to find used, but well worth the hunt.
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Old 11-17-2010, 02:21 PM   #14
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I read this book a few years ago and it was phenomenal! I've been dying for book two to come out . . . Can't wait till March



The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss

The riveting first-person narrative of a young man who grows to be the most notorious magician his world has ever seen. From his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that transports readers into the body and mind of a wizard. It is a high-action novel written with a poet's hand, a powerful coming-of-age story of a magically gifted young man, told through his eyes: to read this book is to be the hero.
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Old 11-17-2010, 02:22 PM   #15
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Are you looking for fictional WWII or non fiction?

War of the Rats is a great book about the battle of Stalingrad in a fictional non fictional sense.

Hitler's germany covers the whole war.

Fatherland isn't really about WWII but it theorizes what happened after the German's won the war.
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Old 11-17-2010, 02:23 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bouw N Arrow View Post
Specifically World War II themed books. But I also like Fantasy and Sci-Fi.
If you are looking for a mashup of the three, Harry Turtledove's "WorldWar" series is pretty neat. His alternate history books are intriguing and fairly easy to read.
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Old 11-17-2010, 02:32 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chemgear View Post
If you are looking for a mashup of the three, Harry Turtledove's "WorldWar" series is pretty neat. His alternate history books are intriguing and fairly easy to read.
I thought that his books got weird when the aliens invaded and the allies teamed up with Hitler to beat them back.
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Old 11-17-2010, 02:34 PM   #18
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More on war of the rats

the movie enemy at the gates was based on it, and the book is very historically accurate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Rats

David Robbins also wrote some other WWII books that are highly regarded.
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Old 11-17-2010, 03:25 PM   #19
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"And No Birds Sang," Farley Mowat's recollections of his World War II experiences in the Canadian Army, is a veritable classic, hilarious and tragic . . . . . and probably one of the great anti-war books you might read.

World War II and science fiction are melded together in the very interesting John Birmingham trilogy which I can't remember the title of just right now (google his name).

I liked the Peter Hamilton books mentioned above as well . . . . although there is always a hint of the horror genre in Hamilton's work.

Dan Simmons Illium trilogy and then the Hyperion trilogy are, I thought, great reading.

Kevin J Anderson has a series of about seven books on The Saga Of The Seven Suns that's Asimov-like reading. Really fun actually.

A pair of books that are probably obscure and not necessarily well reviewed that I liked were Scott Westerfeld's Risen Empire series. "Risen Empire" and "The Killing of Worlds."

Most of Jack McDevitt's stuff is interesting sci-fi.

William Dietz has some mindless, military-style sci-fi that's entertaining.

Ian M Banks is a very good author. Space opera kind of stuff.

Lots of others probably . . . . .

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Old 11-17-2010, 03:29 PM   #20
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I went ahead and purchased Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege by Anthony Beevor

https://www.amazon.com/gp/ays?ie=UTF8&asin=B002UZDTG0

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