# I need a fat, page-turner book(s) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377 "2009-05-05T01:25:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/21 "2009-05-05T03:08:43Z")
The Malazan series? (Not sure if you’d count it as a page-turner, though) ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/22 "2009-05-05T03:16:54Z")
The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, by Steven Erikson. Eight books have been published so far, with two more coming(one is due to be published this year, and if Erikson keeps up his current pace the last will be published in 2010). They’re all huge books – the first is over 700 pages in trade paperback, and the rest approach 1000. It’s my favourite fantasy series at the moment, just edging out Ice and Fire. I call it epic fantasy, but it’s not a LotR clone – Erikson takes great delight in deconstructing fantasy cliches. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/23 "2009-05-05T03:19:21Z")
_Kristin Lavrandsdattar_ by Sigrid Undsett – I think it was originally published in three volumes. It’s the story of a woman in Norway in the 1300’s. You will swear that Undsett was there, watching, writing things down. One of the best things about it is that there’s not a lot of exposition. Exposition ruins historical fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/24 "2009-05-05T03:29:01Z")
If you can take the writing, Harry Turttledove has several series of books that many people find to be real page turners. I might suggest some of WEB Griffin’s [books](http://www.webgriffin.com/thebooks.html). In particular you might like the [Brotherhood of War](http://www.webgriffin.com/brotherhood.html) series. A good portion of the first book takes place in Germany. While his books are not everyone’s cup of tea, I find I can’t put Griffin’s books down. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/25 "2009-05-05T03:29:44Z")
You could get a [Kindle](http://www.amazon.com/Kindle) and load it up before you leave with as many books as you can think of, including anything on Project Gutenberg or otherwise in the public domain, for free. You won’t be able to send anything to it wirelessly while in Germany (that only works in the U.S.), but you will be able to download documents (like PD books) to it from your computer. It’s a \*\*lot \*\*easier to transport than a whole bunch of big books. I’ve had mine for about a month now, and I really like it. I’ve only put free PD books on it so far. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/26 "2009-05-05T03:31:08Z")
I was going to suggest \*Pillars Of The Earth \*and _World Without End_, but since you’ve already read them, I’ll go with _A Fine Balance_, by Rohinton Mistry. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/27 "2009-05-05T03:43:30Z")
I have to agree with **Auntbeast** about the Outlander series. The romance was just too heavy. The first book was okay, I mainly kept reading because I wanted to find out the resolution to the time travel plot. The romantic mushy kissy-kissyness of the second book just made my skin crawl, and I couldn’t read more than a few chapters. Plus, the Mary Sue elements are pretty heavy. (If the main female character has unusual eyes, you know you are edging into Mary Sue territory.) My recommendation for a big damn book is _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_. It’s set in an early 18th century England where magic exists. It’s like the wry humor of Jane Austen blended with Grimm’s fairy tales. Lots of people have reported they can’t get into it, but I could not put it down, the first _or second_ time I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/28 "2009-05-05T03:45:02Z")
Michael Crichton–it’s not exactly good, but it’s fun and goes very fast. I remember reading the Lost World and Jurassic Park and they didn’t take long but were really fun to read. Still are. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/29 "2009-05-05T03:48:48Z")
_Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_ is nice and of goodly size. It was gripping enough that one my my exam grades suffered for my having bought it. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/30 "2009-05-05T04:07:48Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > May I suggest Neal Stephenson’s “The Baroque Cycle”? Three books (in the hardbound version anyway, they split them up for paperback) weighing in around 900 pages each. And a hell of a read. About half of this series is swashbuckling or sweet birth-of-science geekery, but the rest is some really convoluted political machinations that will have you wanting to keep a notepad with all of the characters, their aliases and titles, and connections between them. It’s great once you put some effort into it, but also kind of a big commitment. The first time I read it, I took the books on a family camping trip with no alternate reading material, and it was basically a waste of time. I read it, but since the overarching plotline was so convoluted and I was reading with a “lazy beach book” mentality, I kept getting lost–cool things happened, but their significance was totally unclear. Next time around, I took it in slowly and had some fluff reading on the side, and the experience was infinitely more satisfying. For a fun Stephenson novel (super-sized) I’d recommend starting with _Cryptonomicon_. The historical stuff is much less remote, so you will spend a lot less time lost and confused (unless you are a 17th century history geek, which I am definitely _not_). Yes, it’s espionage, not pirates and politics, but it’s very fun in its own way. > [@Pyper](#): > > My recommendation for a big damn book is _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_. Yes. Absolutely. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/31 "2009-05-05T04:07:53Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > I’d recommend Tom Clancy’s books. His earlier original novels about Jack Ryan that is, not his later ghost-written stuff. I would also recommend Clancy, but more of his more “stand alone” books: - “The Hunt for Red October” - “Without Remorse” - “Rainbow Six” But not: - “Debt of Honor” -\> “Executive Decisions” And not “The Sum of all Fears” I also think that reading Ludlum in europe is one of the best reading experiences: - “The Bourne Identity” (which I read in 3 days while I was working in Germany) - “The Parsifal Mosiac” - “The Materese Circle” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/32 "2009-05-05T05:19:50Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > You could get a [Kindle](http://www.amazon.com/Kindle) and load it up before you leave with as many books as you can think of, including anything on Project Gutenberg or otherwise in the public domain, for free. You won’t be able to send anything to it wirelessly while in Germany (that only works in the U.S.), but you will be able to download documents (like PD books) to it from your computer. > > It’s a \*\*lot \*\*easier to transport than a whole bunch of big books. > > I’ve had mine for about a month now, and I really like it. I’ve only put free PD books on it so far. This. You can take an entire library with you. And what I’ve found, when traveling, is that once I get there I don’t necessarily feel like reading what I thought I’d like. Get a Kindle, and stock it with a lot of variety. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/33 "2009-05-05T06:10:43Z")
If you liked _Shogun_, then I’d suggest you try Clavell’s _Noble House_ and _Tai Pan_ as well. Big books, large cast of characters, intricate plots. Both are great reads. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/34 "2009-05-05T10:45:03Z")
George RR Martin’s series [Song of Ice and Fire](http://georgerrmartin.com/bibliography.html). It’s awesome! But the series isn’t done, so you’ll be left wanting more. Or my personal “best book ever”, [The Long Ships](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Ships), by Frans G Bengtsson. ---
**Author:** ![chromaticity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@chromaticity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chromaticity)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/35 "2009-05-05T10:50:35Z")
Apart from the Baroque cycle suggested above, I would recommend the “Nights dawn” trilogy and/or the “Common wealth saga” (2 books) by Peter F Hamilton. Its good sci-fi with lots of interesting sub-plots to keep you thinking. All books are about 1200 pages. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/36 "2009-05-05T10:57:38Z")
I loved [The Name Of The Wind](http://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicles-Day/dp/0756405890/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241520995&sr=1-1). However, we’ve waited more than two years for book two and they have pushed it back (without telling when it will be released.) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/37 "2009-05-05T11:36:30Z")
Taylor Caldwell’s Captains and the Kings Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged The Bible ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/38 "2009-05-05T11:42:24Z")
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber ^All ‘bricks’ ,as I call huge books, that I really enjoyed. You might also pick up the Chronicles of Narnia. I have all seven in one paperback volume, it took me a good part of the summer to finish and it brought me back to childhood. I second the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/39 "2009-05-05T11:51:59Z")
There is always Robert Jordan’s “endless” Wheel of Tiime series. I am into S.M Stirling right now, these two trilogies were pageturners:“Dies the Fire” and Island in the Sea of Time" If you’ve read LoTR you, try the Silmarion and the adventures of Tom Bombadil or if you’re really into “classic” books, Homer’s Iliad or The Odyssey. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377/40 "2009-05-05T11:54:25Z")
If you like historical novels, you can’t beat James Michener for heft and length. My favorites include _Chesapeake_, _Caribbean_, and \*Centennial. \* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-fat-page-turner-book-s/495377.md?page=3)