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POLL: Top 5 books

Discussion in 'Booktalk' started by Turandil, Sep 2, 2002.

  1. Turandil Gems: 7/31
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    What are yours? And why?

    Mine are:

    1:Silmarillion
    2:Wheel of time
    3:Hitchikers guide to the galaxy
    4:Lord of the rings
    5:Icewinddale trilogy

    1:Epic, fantastic, best!
    2:Gigantic, wonderful, love the political games.
    3:Extremly funny and great!
    4:So good! Think all ye know...
    5:Wonderful fight scenes, and Artemis Entreri!

    Poll Information
    This poll contains 1 question(s). 13 user(s) have voted.
    You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

    Poll Results: Top 5 books (13 votes.)

    Top 5 books (Choose 1)
    * I DONT WANT ANY DAMN POLLS!!!!!! - 100% (13)
     
  2. Wildfire Gems: 23/31
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    1) The Bear and The Dragon by Tom Clancy (Really, this could be replaced by any of the Jack Ryan/John Clark novels by Tom clancy, or indeed, Red Storm Rising, but I think that this one is slightly better than the rest)

    2) The Book of Ultimate Truths/Raiders of the Lost Carpark by Robert Rankin. (Couldn't decide between the two, and the first follows on to the second, so I counted them as one :) )

    3) The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Although all his books are very good)

    4) The Belgariad by David Eddings (I can't remember the individual books in this as I read it all in one go, so I'm just putting it as one entry)

    5) Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (The rest of the series is very good up to where I'm at (book 6), but I felt this one was better than the rest.)

    Also, that poll was rather pointless was it not...?

    As for why:

    1) Just the sheer scale of the books and how Clancy starts with multiple plotlines that are seemingly unrelated and weeves them together to form a cohesive and enthralling sotry.

    2) The books are just plain hilarious.

    3) See above :)

    4) A very good read - I remember staying up late on several occasions to finish it, and any book that does that to me is good :) I just loved the world that Eddings made and the characters.

    5) Again, the whole world that Jordan creates is very interesting and vivid, and I just generally really like it.

    [ September 02, 2002, 02:21: Message edited by: Wildfire ]
     
  3. Javalar Gems: 4/31
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    Ugh, Bear and the Dragon is by far the worst and most far-fetched of the plots he's come up with so far.

    Plus, it's blatantly racist when it comes to characterizing the Chinese. He's really gone off kilter with this one.

    IMHO, Clancy was at his best during the Cold War, with Hunt for Red October, Cardinal in the Kremlin and Clear and Present Danger.

    Since Sum of all Fears, I think they've all gone down hill.
     
  4. Wildfire Gems: 23/31
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    Hmm.. I would have said that Rainbow 6 was the most far fetched one so far with the whole 'killing everyone in the world apart from a select few' plot.
     
  5. Yerril Gems: 22/31
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    [​IMG] 1. LOTR :rolleyes:
    2. The World According to Garp
    3. The Belgariad
    4. A Prayer for Owen Meaney
    5. The redemption of Althalus
     
  6. Frostmage Gems: 11/31
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    1. Lord of the Rings
    2. The Dragonlance chronicles
    3. The Icewind dale trilogy
    4. The weel of time
    5. Farseer: Royal Assassin

    and the reasons:
    1. How could you NOT like it?
    2. I just love Sturm and Raistlin :D
    3. Far better than the Legacy of the drow.
    4. Would probably be first if not for the political games. I just hate it. :mad:
    5. Don't really know why... Robin Hobbs is just a damn good writer.
     
  7. Shadow Assassin Gems: 13/31
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    1. LOTR
    2. Lays of Beleriand
    3. Anything Koontz
    4. ABC's for Barbarians
    5. '97 June Playboy

    as for why

    1. it's LOTR, nuff said.
    2. How can you go wrong with Tolkien?
    3. My Personal favorite contemporary autor
    4. Everyone should teach a Barbarian to read now and then (lil morrowind humor)
    5. Purely for its literary value :rolleyes:
     
  8. NTCryst Gems: 1/31
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    1. God-Emperor of Dune (F. Herbert)
    2. Children of Dune (F. Herbert)
    3. Dune Messiah (F. Herbert)
    4. Dune (F. Herbert)
    5. Chapterhouse: Dune (F. Herbert)

    Bi-lal kaifa. :D
     
  9. Falconhand Gems: 1/31
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    1. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
    2. One Hundred Years of Solitude by G. Garcia Marquez
    3. Earthsea trilogy by Ursula LeGuin
    4. Something from John Irving, let't say A Widow for One Year
    5. Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

    Reasons
    1 & 2. magical realism, great, read it!
    3. great, classic fantasy story
    4. I like all Irving's books I've read so far
    5. really hilarious

    Other writers that sometimes make it to my changing top 5 list are e.g. Peter Hoeg, Toni Morrison, J.R.R. Tolkien, Terry Pratchett and Astrid Lindgren, just to mention some.
     
  10. Volar Blackmane Gems: 16/31
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    Hmm, apparently the topic starter himself is slightly confused about if the topic's about books or series. :p

    1) The Riftwar Saga (Raymond E. Feist)
    2) The Empire Trilogy (Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts)
    3) Anything else by Feist.
    4) Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan)
    5) Hyperion/Endymion (Dan Simmons)

    Oh, and Lord of the Rings doesn't even make it to a top twenty list. Sucks to be me :p
     
  11. Eze Gems: 24/31
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    1.Lord of the Rings
    2.Silmarillion
    3.Wrong Shui
    4.The Little Book of Crap
    5.The Little Book of Crap No. 2

    1&2 Umm, they are the greatest books ever written.
    3&4&5 The most hilarious books you will ever read. I'm not lying. : )

    Ezellohar
    (YAY! A new gem. BOO. An Iol gem. I hate them. I want a Rogue Stone)
     
  12. OKHouse Gems: 1/31
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    1. The Deed of Paksenarrion--Elizabeth Moon
    2. The Liveship Trilogy--Robin Hobb
    3. Absolutely anything by Terry Pratchett
    4. Ender's Game--Orson Scott Card
    5. The Prydain Chronicles--Lloyd Alexander

    OK, mostly series but (almost) everyone else is doing it.

    1. Journey of a peasant girl who becomes the most famous paladin of her time.
    2. Amazing way storylines are woven together--and way that most hated character becomes most admired one.
    3. He makes me laugh out loud.
    4. I just love the way that you feel Ender's triumphs and disillusions.
    5. My favorite when I was a kid. I just re-read them to my kid, and I love the way the character grows from a naive boy who wants to be a hero into a complete and complex adult.
     
  13. Astra Gems: 3/31
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    [​IMG] Wow... fellow Clancy fans. Anyone started on Red Rabbit yet? I just got it. I was a little surprised to find out instead of picking up after The Bear and the Dragon, it fills in the rest of Jack's assignment in London after Patriot Games.

    My favorites:
    1. Contact by Carl Sagan
    2. Patriot Games by Tom Clancy
    3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
    4. Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
    5. The entire Hitchhiker's series because I can't narrow it down

    1. A billion times better than the movie. Wonderful, thought-provoking story.
    2. Fast-moving action/CIA fun.
    3. Creepy totalitarian sci-fi. Makes 1984 look like a picnic.
    4. Great non-fic on viewing the world with logic and reason, as well as the nature of religion.
    5. Obvious.
     
  14. AMaster Gems: 26/31
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    1. Starship Troopers (Heinlein): See, great books CAN be less than 80k words
    2. Jack Ryan series (Clancy): has been going downhill since Debt of Honor, but still good
    3. Heir to the Empire Trilogy (Zahn): wow, the spirit of star wars in print.
    4. Hammer's Slammers series (Drake): all the emotional impact of Saving Private Ryan
    5. Wheel of Time (Jordan): nice. very nice.
     
  15. joacqin

    joacqin Confused Jerk Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    1. Wheel of Time (A series that I have read some books of 10+ times must be good.)
    2. Enders Game and Enders Shadow (Truly great, the other Ender books arent very good)
    3. A song of ice and fire (I think it is better than Jordan but WoT got to me first)
    4. Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy (Hilarious, nuff said.)
    5. Servant of the Shard (I am not a huge fan of Salvatored book but this one is amazing! And I had trouble coming up with another book, this spot is shared by a whole lot of books that might not be fresh in my mind at the moment.)
     
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