Post/Author/DateTime	Post
prettyripples 10-25-05, 09:14 AM	Hey guys, something on another thread got me wondering: what do you guys read (do you even read at all?). I'm guessing for most of you, it's Fantasy; for others, Science Fiction as well; and perhaps the Action genre. Hey, someone surprise me: who's really in to cookbooks? Anyway, here's me asking: --- i) Favourite Genre - Fantasy ii) Favourite Author - Janny Wurts ---
Dinue13 10-25-05, 09:25 AM	my bookshelf has about 2 tiers of dragonlance books including an annotated hardcover version of chronicles. several DnD books (all the core + some of the complete series) and all my school books (alot of calculus and physics stuff)
scout989 10-25-05, 09:36 AM	Terry Pratchett- lots and lots of Terry Pratchett. Other than that, yeah, it's almost all sci-fi and fantasy. Oh, wait, I mean including that.
Vornsarth 10-25-05, 10:34 AM	Ha ha! I have to go to class in 5, so I probably shouldn't get started. To clarify, I'm a history/political science student, so my book lists is a little odd. Anything by Timothy Zahn (especially the Conqueror's Trilogy) Terry Prachett R. A. Salvatore Death Gate Cycle by Weis & Hickman Terry Goodkind Robert Ludlum Alistair Maclean Robert Aspirin The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Every DM should be good at chess) The Prince by Machevelli (You want LE, this is the epitome) That's all off the top of my head, gotta go though.
Flushpuppie 10-25-05, 10:40 AM	favourite writer: Robin Hobb
Draco Strang 10-25-05, 10:44 AM	Let's see here: Any Star Wars fiction/sourcebook/picturebook that I can lay my hands on 100+ D&D books, from 1st ed. to 3.5 Various other gaming systems 100+ Forgotten Realms and Dragon Lance novels Hornblower Saga by C.S. Forester Richard Sharpe series, by Bernard Cornwell Anything by Patrick O'Brien Lots of random fantasy and Sci-Fi by the likes of Pratchett, Moorcock, Vance, Heinlen, and countless others History-related texts out the wahzoo, particularly the Middle Ages, Napoleonic Wars, Civil War, and anything about the British Empire Lots of automotive-related books, vintage sports cars in particular, and anything I can find in general. A lot of other stuff I can't recall At last count I had 2500+ books, and the collection's growing.
SilverSabre25 10-25-05, 12:33 PM	Mostly science-fiction and fantasy, for me. A lot of the fantasy I read is young adult stuff (I'm twenty, but I still read YA novels. Many of them are really good). Favorite authors include: Mercedes Lackey Tamora Pierce Diane Duane umm...whoever wrote The Giver and probably a bunch of others whose names I'm forgetting. I get a lot of my inspiration from the first three authors, though. I'd say, read what you're interested in, and if you have a group that you play well with, what you're interested in should provide you with ideas for things your players will like, too.
KGodwin 10-25-05, 12:40 PM	I have far too many authors for me to remember. =0 But basically it is a collection of authors like Weis, Goodkind, and R.R. Martin. I have a few John Grisham and Chrighton (god I can never spell that man's last name) novels for good measure. I even have the old Doom novels from when I was in elementary/jr. high. Hah. I think it is safe to say most DMs like to read and own 100+ books. And it seems I am not alone in the thousand plus club. If you guys want photos that can be arranged. =0
Murrdox 10-25-05, 12:51 PM	It's been awhile since I've had time for serious reading. One thing I'll say is that in all the years I've been gaming... crap almost 20 now? Am I that old? I've only bought 2 D&D related novels. I hated them both. I've never been able to get into D&D fiction. I love READING the FR sourcebooks and fluff material, but I just find the novels themselves so BAD!!!
JStegmaier 10-25-05, 12:56 PM	I have a few hundred books (not including D&D books.) Something like 95% of those are science fiction and fantasy (leaning more toward science fiction.) My favorite author, far and away, is Isaac Asimov. I have everybook he's written, including collections of his short stories. Second to him would be a tie between Orson Scott Card and Harry Turtledove. I have many books by both of them (both science fiction and fantasy.) After that, my collection tends to contain a few books by each of several authors
DragonDeadite 10-25-05, 01:07 PM	Alright, I'll be the first to say HIS name then... HAIL TO THE KING!! Stephen King that is. Good monster ideas in his books and good concepts for horror themed adventures. Once ran a game based on his short story The Mist that was just AWESOME! Anyways... Sara Douglas is good, The Wayfarer's Redemption is good, haven't read the third book in the series though. David Eddings: The Belgariad, The Malorean Terry Brooks: Magic Kingdom of Landover is just cool! I prefer it to the Shannara books really. And the trilogy that he finished a couple years ago. No name to it and it's a present setting but still very good. Running with Demons and Anglefire East are two of them, I can't remember the name of the book inbetween though. Interesting concepts there! And whoever wrote the Thomas Covenant series. The first set is the best, but the second has it's place. Very much ADULT books but well worth reading if you can stomach it. No laughing here, but I've still got all the old Fearstreet books too! They were good stories!!! I need a new set of book shelves though, I'm out of room! Also like the Clive Barker stuff, Weaveworld and In the Flesh are the best! Okay, I'm done... :dragon:
Murrdox 10-25-05, 01:09 PM	My favorite author, far and away, is Isaac Asimov. My Dad gave me a copy of "I, Robot" when I was like 10. I was in love. I devoured the original Foundation series soon after. By the time I was 15 or 16, I think I'd polished off all the Robot novels, the additional Foundation books, and his other short stories and such. I still go back and re-read "I, Robot" occasionally. And I want to shoot whoever decided that basing the Wil Smith movie on the book was in any way, shape or form relevant.
prettyripples 10-25-05, 01:18 PM	I was sure that someone on these boards would come out in favour of Asimov (I'm a bit of a fan myself!). Dragon Deadite, the Thomas Covenant books were written by the excellent Stephen R. Donaldson, who also wrote the Gap sci-fi series. And, as you don't seem to have noticed, he's just begun the third and final Thomas Covenant series with Runes of the Earth.
gleep 10-25-05, 01:43 PM	I have quite a few shelves full of books in my library. Notable authors range from classic SF and Fantasy (Schmitz, Asimov, Zelazny, et all) to more contemporary authors (Ringo, Flint, Weber, Butcher, etc). When I'm bored at work I wander over to http://www.baen.com/library/ and download something new. :D I'd say my favorite authors, though, are C.J. Cherryh, Iain Banks (with or without the M.), and Glen Cook. All are amazingly imaginative and incredibly versatile with writing techniques. :D --gleep
prettyripples 10-25-05, 01:54 PM	I went through about a year of reading the Baen Free Library a lot. Now there aren't really any books left there that I want to read, so... I rarely visit. Still, it's worked well in my case: I've got a lot of reading out of it, and I've also ended up buying books from several of the authors after reading what they've put in the library. Oh, and Gleep: I've never heard of Cherryh or Cook (hey, congrats - I guess that means you read more obscure authors than anyone else on this thread). Could you recommend any books from them?
Conshey 10-25-05, 01:58 PM	Lets see... Hail to the Lord and Master of the genre, Isaac Asimov. My absolute favorite author by 1000%. Alot of history, Tolkien, i can't believe no one has brought that up, 90% of all the Star Wars books, Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore(met him), history books...alot of history books. Alot of misc. fantasy and such, 200+ club. and 90% of all the 3rd edition+ D&D books (im missing 6, i think). Conshey
widowermaker 10-25-05, 05:30 PM	My shelves are full of Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, some Salinger and stuff like that. The only fantasy I really have is the G RR Martin books. Anthony Bourdain isn't your run of the mill chef and writes great books.
prettyripples 10-25-05, 05:39 PM	Hey, someone surprise me: who's really into cookbooks? Anthony Bourdain isn't your run of the mill chef and writes great books. Never let it be said that us DMs aren't a varied bunch.
Jayr 10-25-05, 05:40 PM	Horror (especially Clive Barker) Romance (preferably the kind where everybody dies in the end) Nonfiction (mostly travel guidebooks, pastry cookbooks, and sociology texts) Short stories (generally fantasy, horror, or both) Manga (horror or romance in English or Japanese) Manga count, right?
Cymraegmorgan 10-25-05, 05:43 PM	Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Heinlein, Mary Stewart, Tolkien, Haggard, Michael Moorcock, Zelazny, Rawling. Historical Fiction: Anya Seton, Kenneth Roberts, Tasaki. Classics: Shakespeare, Chaucer, Poe. History/Culture: Marvin Harris, Gwyn Jones, Emil Ludwig, Paul Kennedy, George Trevelyan. And A Modern Herbal by Mrs. M. Grieves.
laxrulz7 10-25-05, 05:51 PM	Favorites: Terry Pratchett, Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game is perhaps the best book ever written), Terry Brooks, Robert Asprin Others: Tom Clancy, Arthur C. Clarke (the Rama series ended as crap though), Grisham, Crichton, Star Wars Books
mike_beavers 10-25-05, 06:06 PM	tolkien, Stephen King, David Eddings, George RR Martin, David Webber, Roger Zelzany, Michael Moorcock, Arthur C Clarke, HP Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, Fritz Leiber, MIchael Crichton, Edgar Rice Bourroughs, John Toland(historical), Barbara Tuchman(historical), Stephen Ambrose(historical) are the major books in my library. Theres been soo many others that I cant remember their names
AlphaSquirell 10-25-05, 06:12 PM	Favorites: Terry Pratchett, Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game is perhaps the best book ever written), Terry Brooks, Robert Asprin Others: Tom Clancy, Arthur C. Clarke (the Rama series ended as crap though), Grisham, Crichton, Star Wars Books Huzzah, an Ender's Game fan! (I've read all 8 Ender's series books, and got Shadow of the Giant signed by Orson Scott Card himself!) I've read almost all Star Wars books. (got a few prequel era books and the X-wing series left to read) Lord of the Rings is awesome. (Hobbit included, of course) Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow I, Robot. (stupid hollywood and their darn, innaccurate movie representation of books) Bourne series Left Behind (awesome series, even for those non-Christian people) Robert A. Heinlen outdoes ANY other Science Fiction writer in existance. (Stranger in a Strange Land, Friday, Job: A comedy of Justice, and Time Enough for Love are the BEST books I've ever read; and only 1 other person mentioned him....) Currently reading a book called Blood Games by Jerry Bledsoe.... (any D&D fan who has never heard the story needs to get a copy of the book, or at LEAST watch the documentary...)
revnk 10-25-05, 06:13 PM	It's been awhile since I've had time for serious reading. One thing I'll say is that in all the years I've been gaming... crap almost 20 now? Am I that old? I've only bought 2 D&D related novels. I hated them both. I've never been able to get into D&D fiction. I love READING the FR sourcebooks and fluff material, but I just find the novels themselves so BAD!!! Funny, I got my first set of D&D rules (a bootleg photocopy of the 1974 Basic rulebook) from a kid on the schoolbus when I was in grade school--that would have been around 1982 or '83. And in all that time, I have never purchased a D&D related novel, have only read a few pages of one here and there--and I've never been impressed by what I read (that's not true: I recently was impressed by how bad the first page of one was when I looked at a preview on eReader's website). Yeah, the sourcebooks and fluff are always good, but the novels are so, so, so very bad. Back onto the thread subject-- Favorite fiction: Don DeLillo and Phillip K. Dick. Favorite nonfiction: Stephen Jay Gould. Favorite old-school fantasy: J.R.R. Tolkien Favorite new-school fantasy: George R.R. Martin (really looking forward to Feast Of Crows!) Current e-book: Michael Flynn's The Wreck of the River of Stars. Current real book: Haruki Murakami's Kafka On The Shore. Other favorites and honorable mentions: T.C. Boyle, Franz Kafka, David Foster Wallace, H.P. Lovecraft, Saki. --Enough fanboy gushing! I could add a dozen more, dammit!
Aneul 10-25-05, 06:30 PM	I've got a lot of random books floating around, but I have this one bookshelf were I keep nice editions of my favorites, which is currently dominated by: -Tolkein (The Silmarilion, LoTR) -Garth Nix (Old Kingdom trilogy- yeahs, hes a kids author, but its fun anyway) -Inkheart by Cornelia Funk (another good kid's author) -Thoreau (Walden, Civil Disobedience) -Shakespear (Waterside Collection) - R.A. Salvatro (the early stuff only, I found it to get progressively worse after the Dark Elf Trilogy). -Arthur Clark (Childhood's end, The 9 Billion Names of God- or wait, maybe its 9 million) -Dune Other then that, a medly of fantasy and Sci-Fi, plus my school books, which change yearly due to the nature of public high school's rather poorly thought out curiculum.
Delryn 10-26-05, 03:39 AM	Terry Pratchett Stephen King Isaac Asimov Spider Robinson Terry Prachett - have I already mentioned him oh and Terry Prachett
Fixxxer 10-26-05, 04:01 AM	I'm guessing for most of you, it's Fantasy; for others, Science Fiction as well; and perhaps the Action genre. Hey, someone surprise me: who's really in to cookbooks? That would be me, though I blame that on the fact I'm a professional chef. I have a lot of Dragonlance novels. Actually, I have an entire 6-shelf bookcase full of Dragonlance novels, soft and hardcover (including a hardcover of "The Doom Brigade" signed by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin and a copy of "The Annotated Chronicles" signed by M. Weis, D. Perrin, L. Elmore, R. Knaack and D. Niles. I can tell you're jealous. ;)) There's also quite a few Stephen King novels, mostly in hardcover...though I prefer his "fantasy" novels (such as The Dark Tower and Eyes of the Dragon) to his horror novels. I have lots of Piers Anthony (no Xanth, though), Frank Herbert, Issac Asmov and Robert Heinlein. My collection of George R. R. Martin is steadily growing (A Feast For Crows is two weeks away!) and I've been collecting the Robert Howard short story anthology books as they are released. Additionally, I have a very large bookcase full of history books and books on metallurgy (I'm a hobbyist baclsmith). This shelf has several books about Templars and Hospitallers as well as Samurai, Ninja and Ashigaru. My history collection spans the globe and touches on civilizations from the Picts to the Zulus to the Incas. If there was any real "focus" to it, I would say it was the Romans, as I have more books about the Roman Empire than any other historical subject. Naturally, this is completely discounting my shelf of D&D material. In addition to having close to 300 d20 books, I also have half of a 42 inch shelf filled with issues of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. The other half is dedicated to publications like Realms of Fantasy, the BudK, Atlanta Cultlary, Windlass Steelcrafts and Museum Replicas quarterly issues (I like to have some inspiration for many of the metal items I create) and the Florida Artists and Blacksmith Association monthly periodical. Then there's my collection of dictionaries and phone books... ;)
Delryn 10-26-05, 05:11 AM	Then there's my collection of dictionaries and phone books... ;) Can't forget those most valuable resources
Toby 10-26-05, 07:17 AM	I'm not sure where to start but here go's.. Mainly fantasy novels inc The Dragon lance books, R. A. Salvatore, Terry Pratchett, David Gemmel (prob the favourite) Tolkien (of course), Raymond E Feist, Chris Bunch, William King, James Clemens, James Barclay ( The legend/chronicles of the raven. Very good for d&d campaign ideas), Terry Brooks A few sci-fi stuff by Dan Abnett Other bits n pieces include English Lit classics Macbeth, Pride & Predjudice, Grapes of Wrath, (Doing english Literature at college) Also got stuff like Steven King, Dave Pelzer, The Dalai Lama Lots and Lots of gardening books (am a qualified horticulturalist) Thats most of them, I would strongly recommend David Gemmel, Feist and James Barclay, Barclay is a bit like the d&d books but more grown up and without the cheese, but dont take my word for it go read them for yourself.
Herald of Jupiter 10-26-05, 07:32 AM	Dan Abnett (great Warhammer 40.000 SF!), Sarah Ash (Tears of Artamon series - recommended reading), J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling ( books be good, movies be evil!), some Dragonlance books,...
Tarus 10-26-05, 09:11 AM	Bleh to Fantasy books. I got burned out on those quite a while back. The only fantasy books that I continue to reread: Tolkien, Howard, Glen Cook and Moorcock. Other than the aforementioned, as well as Lovecraft and the Classics, I mostly just read history books.
Twisted Puppy 10-26-05, 10:34 AM	I have about six large bookshelves, plus a few boxes in the laundry room. I have Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series, Patriot Games through The Bear and the Dragon. A smattering of Star Trek and Star Wars books Mercedeys Lackeys Mage Winds and Mage Storms trilogies. Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series. Naval fiction, CS Forrester's Horatio Hornblower series, Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho series, and David Weber's Honor Harrington series. Quite a few books on military and naval history. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy My favorite book is Shibumi, by Trevanian. Also have The Eiger Sanction (fantastic book, bad Clint Eastwood movie) and The Loo Sanction by the same author.
Owiercyn 10-26-05, 11:11 AM	I can't believe Feist was only mentioned once. If you want to get a handle on nobility, lineage, and extra-planar relations, you really ought to take a look at Raymond E. Feist's awesome saga, beginning with Magician. I believe modern publishers have separated Magician into two smaller books nowadays. Also, on my shelf are Salvatore, Tolkien, anything Star Wars, Eddings, a few Dragonlance novels, the Lone Wolf series, Glen Cook's Black Company (great to learn about the struggles of mercenaries), Michael A. Stackpole's stuff in BattleTech, the new Conan compilations of the original author Howard, and many, many, many Dungeon Magazines. I also have a lot of military fiction on the shelf.
prettyripples 10-26-05, 11:22 AM	I believe modern publishers have separated Magician into two smaller books nowadays. No, it's still in one book - in fact, it's a good 15,000 words longer these days (Feist got to put the 'cut' bits back in), and has been for the last few years. In fact, I think I saw yet another new edition of it in Borders this morning.
Belgarath 10-26-05, 01:32 PM	Favourite genre - Fantasy Favourite author - David Eddings
DmMagnus 10-26-05, 01:59 PM	favorite genre: fantasy! favorite author:There are so many! I love the books Thore hansen (norwigian guy) have written. BUt they are not translated to english I think
Red_Ninja 10-26-05, 02:10 PM	Other than the DMG, PHB and such I have no D&D books, no dragonlance or anything...though I did read them when I was younger (and then gave them to my kid brother...) My shelves hold mostly English Lit and classics... Moby Dick, Sun Tzu, C.S Lewis (read the Screwtape letters!), I recently bought The DaVinci Code and the prequel... I have numerous books on economics, real estate, and other "learning topics", since I prefer learning/history to fiction. For D&D inspiration I draw heavily on movies, this works well for me since most movies are character driven, divided into scenes (encounters) and 2 hour ideas (adventures) and at times, trilogies (campaigns). I also draw heavily on video games... the most inspirational games for me have been Final Fantasy 1, 7, 9, and X, Arcanum, diablo 1 and 2, and others
Elzaban the Ethereal 10-26-05, 03:13 PM	I need to build up a bigger library. At the moment, I just have a few books of my own and just read whatever's in my parents' library. Aside from the shelf of D&D books of various editions, there's some Salvatore books, a few Terry Pratchetts, a few miscellaneous FR and D&D novels, The Divine Comedy, some of Orwell's stuff, Michael Crichton, a few of Scott Adams' business books, some things by Farley Mowatt, a few science and programming books, some gamebooks from the 90's, and some scripts from Monty Python. There's also a nice stack of dictionaries, encyclopedias from the 80's, thesauruses and Bibles. I'll stick with Fantasy as my genre of choice, and Terry Pratchett is hands down the best.
NiQil 10-26-05, 03:14 PM	Lots of stuff here... Frank Herbert - Dune Chronicles Anne Rice - Vampire Chronicles and The Lives Of The Mayfair Witches Stephen King - all (favorite is The Stand) Tom Clancy - all fiction (favorite is Without Remorse) Terry Brooks - entire Shannara series except the newest one (waiting for paperback) David Eddings - Belgariad/Mallorean series, Elenium/Tamuli series Anne McCaffrey - Dragonriders of Pern series Melanie Rawn - Dragon Star/Dragon Prince series Robert Jordan - The Wheel Of Time series (probably my favorite series of books) J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit/Lord Of The Rings Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series
Draco Strang 10-26-05, 03:20 PM	Naval fiction, CS Forrester's Horatio Hornblower series, Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho series, and David Weber's Honor Harrington series. Bolitho? Ugh. He's gotta be the most self-loathing, damn depressed naval hero EVER. If you want a rollicking good time, try Patrick O'Brien's Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin chronicles or perhaps Dewey Lambdin's Lewrie series. Though I'll admit, they're starting to get a little tasteless with overly-details gratuitous sex scenes.
Harmonica 10-26-05, 03:28 PM	Favorite Genre: Fantasy (and SF) Favorite Author: Steven Erikson. Ca'n't believe this mans work hasn't been mentionned here before. It is available in Holland for over two years now, this can't be the first place his books have been published (come on Holland???). Anyhow, his world is the richest and most detailed I have read about in years and he realy just dumps you in the middle of a story. Through reading and your own reasoning you discover what is going on and you immerse even deeper in the world trying to figure out what is happening and why. It is a style I like very much: assuming the reader has some wits AND that he has read the previous books (no repeats in book 2 about book1: blegh!). Fortunately I have dug up a girlfriend, who is also into fantasy. By moving in with her I quadrupled my library and we now "collect" books. She is happy also, because now she has a boyfriend who can make extra shelf space after a visit to the english book store :D . Other works I have read include Asimov, Tolkien, Heinlein, David Brin (favorite SF), Steven Donaldson, Brooks, Terry Goodkind, M. Furey, Frank Herbert, Harry Harrison, Tanith Lee, Weiss&Hichman, Terry Pratchett, David Eddings, Orson Scott Card, R.E. Feist, R.A. Salvatore, J.K. Rowling ;) , Robert Jordan, Elizabeth Moon and many more I may have forgotten. But I'm still not tired of either genre and will re-read many of these again; in fact this post has given me an urge to do so.... tnx guys.
prettyripples 10-26-05, 04:23 PM	Steven Erikson's been out in England for three years or so, now. When he was released, he was over-hyped as just about the best new writer in the last hundred years - but you're the first person I've met who particularly liked him. I thought he was good enough to finish the book, but... he's one of those authors where you feel he's actually going to take a thousand words to describe a picture. The ones I look up to are those who can paint a picture with each sentence. His world is unusually detailed, though, although I've seen richer. I guess it comes of writing ten or eleven novels (I think that's how many he claimed to have planned out already on releasing the first).
TalonofTiamat 10-26-05, 04:44 PM	I'm a big SF and Fantasy fan, although I do enjoy the occaisonal cookbook now and then. My favorite serious author is Jim Butcher with his two great series "The Dresden Files" and "The Codex Alera". My favorite comedy writer is definitely Douglas Adams.
q'afuu 10-26-05, 04:57 PM	Favorite Author: Steven Erikson. Ca'n't believe this mans work hasn't been mentionned here before. He's Canadian, but I've heard it's very difficult to find his books in the States (not here in Belgium though). I wasn't really taken by his last Malazan book (Midnight Tides) at first, but I got into it after a while anyway. The first ones were absolutely top notch though. To mention a few others that haven't gotten any credit on this thread yet: Tad Williams - the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy - and George Lucas/Chris Claremont (of Star Wars and X-men fame respectively) - the Shadow War Chronicles trilogy, the sequels to Willow - and definitely Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere & American Gods. In the sci-fi department there's mostly been mention of the classics of a (little) while ago. I'd add Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon - and William Gibson (slightly less recent, but you just can't neglect to mention the man who coined the term cyberspace) - Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Count Zero.
MortalPlague 10-27-05, 02:09 AM	Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" is possibly the best read I have ever enjoyed. His "Neverwhere" is up there, too. He has an excellent writing style.
braindead345 10-27-05, 04:36 AM	Let's see here: Richard Sharpe series, by Bernard Cornwell That is one of the best series I've read. Cornwell has a real flare for warfare and the end results (the maiming of survivors, the looting of the dead, and the impact on non-combatants). Other stuff on my bookshelf (and I'll limit myself to non-comic books): Donald Westlake's Dortmunder series (great inspiration for rogue characters and rogue adventures). Lawrence Block's Burgular series and Matt Scutter novels. Elmore Leonard's books. The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich (a laugh riot). Tony Hillerman's Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn mysteries (excellent descriptions of nature and differences between cultures) Robert Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, Friday and Stranger In A Strange Land. Zelazney's A Night In The Lonesome October is perfect Halloween reading. ...and of course a lot of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Robert Asprin, J.K. Rowling, and Tolkien.