Favorite Non-Covenant book?

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This is the one I was thinking of danlo: Hammer of God - Arthur C Clarke. (Got the title right too for a wonder. )

The review in that link is lousy though, and it's been too long since I read it for me to comment on it's accuracy.

I'll keep an eye out for the Niven one though

Canticle has always been one of my favourites too. Still reread it regularly.

--A

[danlo]

Ah! I've read tons of Clarke but not that one...we should start an "asteriod" book club exchange: I'll read Hammer of God if you read Lucifer's Hammer--provided we don't have to watch Armageddon together after it LH really is a killer book. However my true favorite hurtling spacial object book is Heart of the Comet by David Brin and Gregory Benford

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Haha, I'll definitely look out for LH. Unfortunately, I can't recommend HoG for the simple reason that I no longer have any idea what it was about...just that it existed. Can't even remember if I enjoyed it or not.

I don't like Armegeddon though, if that's any consolation. Much preferred Deep Impact, although that's not saying much. At least in that one some of the asteroid hit the earth.

--A

[danlo]

That was my intended joke--except for a couple of good one liners--and some Liv eyecandy--I couldn't handle the flick. Anytime it started to get good Affleck came along and opened his mouth... Clarke's weird sometimes he can be trancendent and sometimes he can drop the ball out of nowhere, like in Beyond the Fall of Night...it's like what the heck happened here? Is someone else writting this, or did he leave this as an afterthought to come back and finish after he completely lost the rhythm?

(Ok, to be techincally fair that pesky Gregory Benford did help Clarke write that book but you can tell where AC lost his rhythm and tryed to keep writting)

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I vaguely remember that one...didn't he write it in collaboration with somebody else?

--A

[danlo]

Yes, see my edit quickdraw It's a modern sequel to Against the Fall of Night (aka The City and The Stars), which was written soley by Clarke in the 50s, yes I agree cut him a break as he was just beginning, but still he was powering some amazing concepts and then all of a sudden it felt like he was having tea and you were worried he was getting senile all of a sudden. Maybe these two books (which are often cramed into a double book) are an unfair example. ATFON too early in his career? BTFON to late and pressured by either Benford's enthusiasm, some happy-go-lucky-publisher? Or both? ATFON was a cult fav in the 60s...

Spoiler

that bizarre 'tree intelligence/transportation thing got the environmentalists all 'goofy and gushy'

Anybody else looking at this don't be put off by this, at least give ATFON a go. It was an amazing attempt on something totally new...and, in my book, is required Sci-Fi 101 reading.

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I was just about to say something about enjoying the "first half" and not the second, when I realised that I'd read them in one of those "omnibus" editions. The first half I remembered enjoying was ATFON.

I don't think I even finished BTFON, now that I come to think of it.

--A

[Drundaar Rockheart]

One of my favorite books was Airborne. Has anyone else read it?

[Cord]

The Education of Little Tree was written by Forest (Asa) Carter. I became familiar with it as a "book-monkey" work-study at the UNM Press--while I agree it is a very good groundbreaking book for it's time it was originally and immediately exposed as a fraud, but people liked it so much they tryed very hard to forget who actually wrote it. Here's a fascinating aticle about the whole controversy: archive.salon.com/books/feature/2001/12/20/carter/

OMG

All my illusions shattered in one go!

[Drundaar Rockheart]

Almost anything by George Orwell is a true classic (at least I feel that way).

[Foamfollower1013]

- Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix
- His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
- Lord of the Rings (of course)
- Harry Potter
- Riddlemaster trilogy by Patricia McKillip
- The Mists of Avalon series by Marion Zimmer Bradley
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

Apparently I don't have any stand-alone favorites. They're all series!

~Foamy~

[Cail]

Hmmmmm.

I'd have to go with On the Beach, plus my usual assortment of PK Dick.

Oh, and definitely The Stand.

[A Gunslinger]

Wow. Gotta agree with Cail. "The Stand" it is! There is just something about that book...Kings greatest (singular) work.

[iQuestor]

Not in any particular order:

The eyes of Light and Darkness - Ivan Cat
The Well World Series by Jack Chalker
The farseer, LiveShip, Tawny man trilogies by Robin Hobb
The Stand, It , The Talisman by Stephen King
The Madness Season - (forgot the author, awesome book)
War with the Chtorr 1 - 4 by David Gerrold
Enders Game and Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card
The Chaos and Order series by L. E. Modesitt
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Great Sky River by Gregory beneford
The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

[DukkhaWaynhim]

I also enjoyed Jitterbug Perfume, even though I read it as a literature assignment.

I also enjoyed Eddings (Belgariad, Mallorean), and I remember it fondly, however, it's rereadability is pretty low for me, especially compared to Donaldson.

I also enjoyed the Dune trilogy.

I remember really liking the Orion books by Ben Bova, but I haven't reread any of them since high school.

DW

[earthbrah]

O Lost (aka Look Homeward, Angel) by Thomas Wolfe

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Ishmael and The Story of B by Daniel Quinn

And to add a few non-fiction books...

Food of the Gods by Terrence McKenna

Tertium Organum by PD Ouspensky

Meetings with Remarkable Men by George Gurdjieff