I just picked up a Nook and now I need to start loading it up. Satire, fantasy, and sci fi are my overall preferred genres. Books China related are good too.
Books/Authors I like:
Christopher Buckley
Christopher Moore
Neil Gaiman, particularly Neverwhere
Everything by Pratchett
Almost everything by Iain M. Banks
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Malazan series
Song of Ice and Fire
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Elephant and the Dragon
Thanks for any suggestions!
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Anything by Vonnegut.
The sequel- Wise Men's Fears comes out soon too.
I also second the Vonnegut recommendations. Seems up your alley.
Everyone needs to read a lot more Gene Wolfe.
Kind of like Pratchett set in China.
Guy Gavriel Kay is a little outside of your tastes, but if you feel like something a bit more lyrical, check out Tigana or The Lions of Al-Rassan.
Oh, and the Ender series, by Orson Scott Card. His Alvin Maker is really good, too.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson too!
Thissssss, especially the Hyperion Cantos. Four books, all awesome.
Also second/thirding Hyperion Cantos and PKD short stories.
If you like GRRM, you might want to pick up the two volume Dreamsongs collection of his short stories. I really loved them, especially some of the sci-fi ones.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Especially given your line of work, I think you would really enjoy Charles Stross' Laundry series. You'd probably like everything he wrote, but start with those.
Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn is good. Though I've only read the first book so far.
Define "Older". Are you referring to Frank Herbert/Asimov/Heinlein?
I heartily recommend everything Neal Stephenson up to Cryptominocon (system of the world series is lackluster IMO)
William Gibson is good, but after Neuromancer his books all have mostly the same formula (still entertaining though)
I just started Pillars of the Earth, and it's excellent so far.
Fixed that one.
I've only just started reading one of the two books i've got from him, but i think it might appeal to your neverwhere sensibility.
These finally came out in digital form, at least on the Kindle. I'm assuming they either are available on the Nook as well or will be soon. Buy them and do your part to convince publishers that there is a large intersection of people who love hard scifi and people who own e-readers.
On a similar note Vernor Vinge's books are on there too. A Fire Upon the Deep, Deepness in the Sky, The Peace War, and Marooned in Realtime- all quite good.
If you like Pratchett you might also like Scott Lynch- Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies are out now, with a third one out this month.
The Girl Next Door - Jack Ketchum
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
I've read parts of the Temeraire series and though the premise is pretty good I can't recommend it.
Golden Age era and a few decades after, yeah. Which isn't to say I don't like any of it, but that tends to be the exception rather than the rule, so I prefer to leave those books to trips to the library.
Different genre, but you could do the same with all the Sherlock Holmes stuff.
It's been a few years since I've read it but, Sir Apropos of Nothing was a hilarious twist on fantasy. The 1st book is superior by far, though.