Your must read recommends

Jo Zebedee

Jo Zebedee

Aliens vs Belfast.
Supporter
Joined
Oct 5, 2011
Messages
19,507
Location
blah - flags. So many flags.
Hi all, as some of you know, I run a bookstore. We’re going live on a site called bookshop.org next week (American members will probably already know it) and it utilises lists of books - and I’d love to do one with awesome real readers of sff recommendations and to also give the chron a bit of publicity. It will be called The Sffchronicles must read books!

a few caveats - only traditionally published books can be included as it links to a wholesaler for the catalogue
for the same reason, authors not published in the U.K. (the likes of Bujold) won’t appear on it
it runs on isbns so if you can include them, thats great. Also I love nice editions so if you have a lovely edition that you like, that isbn would rock
for the same reason as above, they need to be in print now.

:) Jo
 
"The Eyre Affair" - Jasper Fforde - ISBN-10 : 9780340733561 (lifted off Amazon). I adore the whole Thursday Next series would recommend them all. I can look up the rest of the ISBNs if that's helpful.

"Rivers of London" - Ben Aaronovitch - ISBN-10 : 9780575097582 - again a wonderful series and I can get the rest of the isbns if that helps.
 
Before the mad scramble, there are a few decent lists amongst threads passim amongst some of the less disciplined lists.

We did the 10 best books of the 50s, 60s, 70 s a few years ago.
 
hitmouse said:
Before the mad scramble, there are a few decent lists amongst threads passim amongst some of the less disciplined lists.

We did the 10 best books of the 50s, 60s, 70 s a few years ago.
Click to expand...
yes I thought of accessing existing threads but decided that I wanted people to know what it was for (so I didn’t look like I was farming the chrons) and I also thought the concept of what we, as a forum, would recommend to the wide world :D
 
Biskit said:
"The Eyre Affair" - Jasper Fforde - ISBN-10 : 9780340733561 (lifted off Amazon). I adore the whole Thursday Next series would recommend them all. I can look up the rest of the ISBNs if that's helpful.

"Rivers of London" - Ben Aaronovitch - ISBN-10 : 9780575097582 - again a wonderful series and I can get the rest of the isbns if that helps.
Click to expand...
I love the rivers of London series
 
Danny McG said:
@BAYLOR
You're up mate!
Click to expand...

Many of the books I know are not likely not published in the UK. :unsure: I have no idea who the major UK book publishers are and whether they have any of the books im familiar with .:oops::(

One I could suggest though is

The Star Rover by Jack London Modern Library edition . I suspect there is likely an English or two edition of this book .:unsure:
 
BAYLOR said:
Many of the books I know are not likely not published in the UK. :unsure: I have no idea who the major UK book publishers are and whether they have any of the books im familiar with .:oops::(

One I could suggest though is

The Star Rover by Jack London Modern Library edition . I suspect there is likely an English or two edition of this book .:unsure:
Click to expand...
It’s really only publishers like Baen
 
Jo Zebedee said:
It’s really only publishers like Baen
Click to expand...

Mythago Woods by Robert Holdstock
The Ship of Ishtar by Abraham Merritt
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Darker then You Think by Jack Williamson
The High House by James Stoddard
The Tales House by James Stoddard
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers.
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem
Past Master by R A Lafferty
Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright
Deathbird Stores by Harlan Ellison
Lest Darkness Fall by L Sprague De Camp
Time and Again by Jack Finney
Silverlock by John Myers Myers
Jurgen a Comedy of Justice by James Branch Cabell Terry Pratchett fans would love Cabell.
Way Station. by. Clifford Simak
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
The High Crusade by Poul Anderson
Jack Faust by Michael Swanwick
The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
Empire of the East by Fred Saberhagen
The Forgotten Beast of Eld by Patrica McKillip
The Nightmare and Other Tales of Dark Fantasy by Francis Stevens
Donovans Brain by Curt Siodmak
The Dreaming Jewels by Theodore Sturgeon
The Black Company by Glen Cook
The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook
The P I Garret Series by Glen Cook

1. The Map of Time by Felix J Palma
2. The Map of The Sky by Felix J .Palma
3. The Map of Chaos by Felix J. Palma

New any of these listed helpful or useful ? :confused:




What about Nightshade books ?
 
Last edited:
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein. Don't give me that look. Someone was going to say it.

The Red Tree (ISBN-10: 0451463501) & The Drowning Girl (ISBN-10: 9780451464163) by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (ISBN-10: 1529402654) - out this year and I think lives up to the hype
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (ISBN-10 : 9780099588115) - probably an obvious one, but I'm mentioning it anyway
Experimental Film by Gemma Files (ISBN-10 : 1771483490) - weird fiction somehow merging a mother's insecurity over raising her autistic son and her vocation as a film critic with an attempt by a supernatural entity to enter our world
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (ISBN-10: 0143122355) - probably an obvious one, but I'm mentioning it anyway

I second The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers (ISBN-10 : 0441004016) and also suggest The Stress of Her Regard (ISBN-10 : 1892391791)


Randy M.
 
It's a bit old fashioned and it's historical/possibly magical realism.

But
Mist Over Pendle by Robert Neill.
  • ISBN-10 : 0099557037
  • ISBN-13 : 978-0099557036


It's an amazing book if incredibly historically inaccurate. All the others you would probably know. I have a couple I think you should get that aren't Sci Fi/Fantasy but will find another way to recommend them lol
 
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin
The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
River of Gods by Ian McDonald
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
 
So, a couple of newer ones, and a couple of older greats, off the top of my head, all of which wowed me.

Record of a Spaceborn Few , by Becky Chambers (third in the Wayfarers series, but reads as a standalone, and is the best so far). ISBN 1473647614

On the Edge of Gone, by Corinne Duyvis (apocalyptic YA brilliance; although I could only find the hardbook number). ISBN 1419719033

Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis (deserved winner of the Hugo and the Nebula, but bleak). ISBN 0575131098

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, by Angela Carter (do I need to say anything about this?). ISBN 0099588110

Two of the above are parts of series, but read as standalones. As is:
Ack-Ack Macaque, by Gareth L Powell (insanely funny steampunk mayhem from an author in the Iain Banks vein). ISBN 1781080607

I could go on, but don't want to spam the thread with endless recs. ;) Maybe The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, by Holly Black? ISBN0316213098
 
Last edited:
Currently reading this, not classic but entertaining and been told the series gets better with each book.

The Girl in Red, Christina Henry
ISBN: 9781785659775.

A modern take on a classic fairy tale.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
Jo Zebedee Beta readers needed - must be familiar with Blake's 7 Writing Discussion 2
Brian G Turner Which are the best must-read novels of Arthur C Clarke? Arthur C Clarke 58
B 9 New Must Read Fantasy Books of 2017 Book Discussion 7
Fishbowl Helmet Hugh Howey - Must Read... Publishing 25
clovis-man 50 "Must-Read" Science Fiction Books Classic SF&F 136

Similar threads


Back
Top