Like almost everyone else on this board, it seems, I am really enjoying LOST. However, with the end of season on us now, I'm looking for a way to fill the void. So my question is simple - does anyone know of any good fiction novels which are similar in style to LOST? By this I mean:
[ul]
[li]It should be mysterious in some way. I want to be guessing what’s going on.[/li][li]Cliffhangers are good. Something to keep me interested, just like with Lost.[/li][li]Lots of suspense and/or action.[/li][/ul]
I realise a lot of this would fulfill most people's ideas of "pulp fiction" but I don't really care about that. I just want something light and fun, but preferably with these qualities. It doesn't have to be a literary masterpiece - although if anyone knows of any (doubtful) then great!
The only book I've ever read which comes close to these particular Lost-like qualities is "Sphere" by Michael Crichton. Again, it's hardly a deep story or a literary triumph, but it was a page turner and kept me hooked in a similar fashion to what I am with Lost.
Anybody have any other suggestions?
Have you read any of the Riverworld series by Philip Jose Farmer? If not, you have a treat in store. I’d think that most fans of “Lost” would enjoy reading Farmer.
You might want to give Haruki Murakami a shot. I’d recommend Wild Sheep Chase and its sequel, Dance, Dance, Dance and particularly Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
Mysterious? Ooooooh yeah. This is really why they remind me of Lost. They keep you wondering whether it’s something supernatural, or a vast conspiracy, or whether everything turns out to be a big metaphor, or all three.
Suspense? Well, some bits more than others. And this isn’t Michael Crichton; Murakami is much denser reading, and can drag sometimes.
Action? Not quite as much, but there is an oppressive sense of peril and impending doom. The main characters don’t tend to be the action-hero types. But there’s a moderate amount of running around and fearing for life and limb.
Gosh, I wouldn’t think so. Though I bailed on Lost and I bailed on House of Leaves so they do have that in common! Actually, considering how drawn out both of them are, maybe it’s not a bad suggestion. See? I’m changing my mind mid-post.
For the OP, don’t hit me, but The DaVinci Code?
Dick Francis, Nelson DeMille, Jeffrey Deaver all popped into my head.
I don’t watch Lost, and I don’t know what the book involves, but there is actually a novel with a Lost tie-in, Bad Twin by the psudonymous Gary Troup. The story is that this manuscript was supposedly found on the island Lost takes place on. Hyperion (which is owned by Disney, just like ABC and Lost producer Touchstone Pictures) has even put out advertisements similar to book attack ads you see in real life, commenting that the Hanso Foundation has taken offense at the secrets revealed about them in the book.
Count me as another HUGE HUGE fan of Haruki Murakami - Wild Sheep Chase and Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World are amazing books that take you to wonderful, mysterious places.
Are they like Lost? In terms of being tranportive, yes, but not with similar cliffhanger construction.
The two most obvious books that come to mind:
the Magus by John Fowles - set on a mysterious island, featuring a lead character trying to find out who he is within the context of what might be real and might be a game and involves love and death…
and a much bigger reach
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin - not surreal or a thriller at all - but written in short, satisfying snippets featuring characters you really care about where their lives go through big change cliffhangers - oh yeah…