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Reading GAF, Recommend a Good, Lengthy Book

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ProudClod

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Alright, so I have a 25 dollar gift card to Indigo/Chapters/Coles, and I'm in desperate need of a new book to bite into. I finished Under the Dome last week, and I loved absolutely every single page of it. The last 3 books I've read were incredibly lengthy (Under the Dome, The Stand, and Dark Tower VII, all roughly 1100 pages), and that's the type of thing I'm looking for. Taking books like this on is immensely gratifying :) As you see, I am a HUGE Stephen King fan. I love sci-fi. I love fantasy. I love apocalypse/post apocalypse novels. Dystopia novels can be lots of fun too.

Any recommendations? :)
 
Your thread has reminded me that I want to read Infinite Jest. That's roughly 1100 pages I think.

I don't know much about it other than that though, so I don't know if recommending it would be a good idea.
 
I came in here to suggest Under the Dome, but I see you've already chewed through that one. How about Insomnia by Stephen King? Although you've probably read that one since you say you're a fan of his.
 
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ProudClod said:
I love apocalypse/post apocalypse novels.
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A Canticle for Leibowitz and The Postman are phenomenal PA novels. I highly recommend either of those.

And since someone will do it anyway, I'll cut them off at the past and recommend Dune and The Long Ships while I'm at it.
 
I finished reading Underworld by Don DeLillo earlier this summer, and I highly recommend it. It's about 750 pages long, covers the second the half of 20th century, was runner-up for the NYTimes best fiction of the last 25 years, but most importantly, it's incredibly good. :D
 
I recommend it to everyone:

musashi.jpg

More graceful than grisly, this is the account by one master of another master’s life. Whether you choose to read this book for its historical content, its study of martial arts, its celebration of Japanese culture, its portrayal of human transcendence, or simply as a heroic piece of writing, you will not be disappointed.
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The above suggestions of 19th century Russian novels are very apt. If you want a meaty epic you can't do much better them. Another huge classic novel is the hilarious Don Quixote.
 
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Warday, and the Journey Onward. Two journalists traveling the US in the years after a nuclear apocalypse. Written 1984, 515pp.

The book is written documentary style.

I read it in high school. It's depressing at times, uplifting at times, but altogether amazing.
 
Well if you haven't read either the GMMR ASOIAF books or Erikson's Malazan series, go for that. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville.

For sci-fi you can check out Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy, which is kind of bloated but is the biggest trilogy I know of. Accelerando by Charles Stross is fantastic.

You could also check out the Stieg Larsson Millennium trilogy, each book is pretty big and they're great character-driven crime fiction.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is good, as is Anathem. For post-apocalyptic, check out A Canticle of Leibowitz. The Takeshi Kovacs series by Richard Morgan are good reads.

Getting a Philip K. Dick short story collection is a good idea as well. The Scott Lynch Gentleman Bastard series is also great.
 
Peter f. Hamiltons "nights dawn" trilogy is thousands of pages of epic sic-fi goodness.

Erikson is fantastic as well, his books will keep you up nights trying to figure things out.

I would mention jordans wheel of time series, but I'd wait till Sanderson finishes it. Martin is so damned good, he gets an exception :p
 
jason10mm said:
Peter f. Hamiltons "nights dawn" trilogy is thousands of pages of epic sic-fi goodness.

Erikson is fantastic as well, his books will keep you up nights trying to figure things out.

I would mention jordans wheel of time series, but I'd wait till Sanderson finishes it. Martin is so damned good, he gets an exception :p
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I agree with all of these except for Jordan's stuff. It gets really bogged down in excessive description, trivial character drama and subplots after the first three books. For the last three books I literally skipped all of every chapter that featured Egwene, Nynaeve, Elaine or Perrin as POV characters and I literally missed nothing from the main story.
 
First thing I thought of is my "biggest" book, the complete and total collection of Sherlock Holmes. Yeah, thats my recommendation.
 
The_Technomancer said:
First thing I thought of is my "biggest" book, the complete and total collection of Sherlock Holmes. Yeah, thats my recommendation.
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If collections are in, then The Young Hornblower omnibus by C.S. Forester, and the Mortdecai Trilogy by Kyril Bonfiglioli are unmissable.

What OP should be reading - as indeed should the rest of GAF - is Royal Flash, by George MacDonald Fraser.
 
j_k_redtail said:
Warday, and the Journey Onward. Two journalists traveling the US in the years after a nuclear apocalypse. Written 1984, 515pp.

The book is written documentary style.

I read it in high school. It's depressing at times, uplifting at times, but altogether amazing.
Click to expand...

I came to post this. One of the best post-apocalyptic books written.
 
Gormenghast trilogy - lots of words! dark fantasy(ish)! betrayals, backstabs, treason and treachery, mad twins and a white wave of cats, it's got it all. highly recommended, available in a single book with a lovely cover (and some unfortunate copy errors :/)
 
For the millionth time...

THE LONG SHIPS


Good length, excellent adventure. If this doesn't spark a sudden interest in the 1000 A.D. time period I don't know what will :lol
 
ProudClod said:
Alright, so I have a 25 dollar gift card to Indigo/Chapters/Coles, and I'm in desperate need of a new book to bite into. I finished Under the Dome last week, and I loved absolutely every single page of it. The last 3 books I've read were incredibly lengthy (Under the Dome, The Stand, and Dark Tower VII, all roughly 1100 pages), and that's the type of thing I'm looking for. Taking books like this on is immensely gratifying :) As you see, I am a HUGE Stephen King fan. I love sci-fi. I love fantasy. I love apocalypse/post apocalypse novels. Dystopia novels can be lots of fun too.

Any recommendations? :)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anathem
Seriously, 940 or so pages, and I think it's just what you're looking for.
 
The Passage by Justin Cronin is 740 pages long, very good, and probably right up your alley.

Other good recommendations are Game of Thrones, Crime & Punishment or Brothers Karamazov, and pretty much all Neal Stephenson books. For King, why not read The Stand or Duma Key?

Oh, and just so Lit-GAF mocks the recommendation: Atlas Shrugged.
 
If you have not read Dune and the sequels DO IT. Must reads if you're a fan of science fiction.
 
TeethMummy said:
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Already read The Stand. Loved it.

So, from this thread, I'll be purchasing these books (not in this order):

Anathem
A Song of Ice and Fire series
Swan Song
House of Leaves
Dune
Infinite Jest
The Passage
Warday
Stranger in a Strange Land

If I didn't mention the book you posted, it's because I read up on it, and it didn't seem interesting to me. Everyone has different tastes in fiction, and I'm thankful for all the suggestions you guys posted. I simply can't get into certain themes/time periods/genres.

Now, help me decide which of these I should get with the gift card.
 
ProudClod said:
Already read The Stand. Loved it.

So, from this thread, I'll be purchasing these books (not in this order):

Anathem
A Song of Ice and Fire series
Swan Song
House of Leaves
Dune
Infinite Jest
The Passage
Warday
Stranger in a Strange Land

If I didn't mention the book you posted, it's because I read up on it, and it didn't seem interesting to me. Everyone has different tastes in fiction, and I'm thankful for all the suggestions you guys posted. I simply can't get into certain themes/time periods/genres.

Now, help me decide which of these I should get with the gift card.
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The two novels are highly regarded for their respective genres. I haven't read Dune, but I haven't heard anyone say anything negative towards the first book. Anyone I know who read Dune has loved it.

The Song of Ice and Fire seems to be a hit-or-miss with most people (with majority of people loving it). I would recommend "A Games of Thrones" and see how you like it. You may love it or you may feel lukewarm towards it. Depends on the type of stuff you like to read. AGoT, from my experience, doesn't hit the typical fantasy's tropes, which is why I love it so.

So, Dune and AGoT is what you should use your gift card towards. :-)
 
If the OP likes Stephen King, he should check out Elmore Leonard. King himself loves the dude. Lots of funny crime thriller novels. Hit-and-miss most of the time, but some great novels are there too.

Also check out Lee Child--great, awesome thrillers. Another one of King's favorites.
 
The_Technomancer said:
Fixed
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QFT.

Dune is an absolute must if you haven't read it. The sequels are more of a mixed bag - some love them, some don't. The first book is unmissable, though.
 
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