Favorite Books
This page is dedicated to some books that have left an impression on me.
Fantasy
- The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
- The story starts as a reclusive woman is visited by a man to deliver an abandoned baby. Evolving from a typical fantasy story into something more complex and emotional around the half way point, it unexpectedly becomes more real and impactful.
- Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin
- The author who wrote Game of Thrones delivers a character-driven story following a steam-boat captain's experience meeting with a rich and he later learns, vampire, investor. Well-written historical fiction with an interesting take on vampirism and racism.
- The Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman
- A neighbour gifted me this book (with this cover) as a birthday present when I was about 13. The His Dark Materials trilogy mixes metaphysics, religion, and science and somehow makes it an interesting children's series. I read Northern Lights more than any other book in the trilogy.
- The Fortress of the Pearl by Michael Moorcock
- A short story in the book Elric in the Dream Realms, where Elric of Melniboné (an anti-hero) ventures into dream realms to retrieve a lost pearl, giving the author freedom in making observations on sleep and dreams with unusual insight. Lucid dreamers will appreciate this story.
- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Ursula Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea series is brilliant but the story from the first book is the most memorable to me. A wizard in-training named Ged learns more about the forces of magic that surround him and has to overcome dark magic that stalks him.
- Page by Tamora Pierce
- Book 2 in the Protector of the Small quartet is memorable to me for the relationship between Kel the page and her maidservent Lalasa. Tamora Pierce's books are great because they usually have a pretty realistic and grounded first-person female perspective.
- Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
- Although I do not agree with the author's recent controversial opinions, I cannot disassociate completely from the Harry Potter series. It was a huge part of my childhood and I still read fanfiction from this series occasionally. Fantasy escapism at its best.
- Sweep by Cate Tiernan
- I wish I had found this book about ten years ago, I am sure my younger self would have loved it. Sweep is a young adult series about a teenage girl discovering Wicca/Paganism and all the coven secrets of her home-town. She learns that she is a powerful witch.
Science Fiction
- The Cornelius Quartet by Michael Moorcock
- The Jerry Cornelius novels. Jerry is a hot mess (ex-scientist, ex-priest, assassin) who chaotically travels across time in an attempt to save himself. Start with The Final Programme and go from there.
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- My first exposure to Dune was a 3-hour fancut of the 1984 film. Dune is a complex political story about spice mining on a hostile desert planet. Spice is a psychoactive substance, so Dune has an interesting mix of science, religion, and metaphysics.
- The Stars, My Destination by Alfred Bester
- It starts with a scientist documenting his experiments into teleportation, then sets the story in society who can teleport. The story follows Gully Foyle who cannot teleport and his quest to exact revenge on a spaceship which left him to die in deep space.
