# Reccomend a Mystery, Fantasy, or Other Fiction Book for Me, Please! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386 "2002-09-14T03:01:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/21 "2002-09-15T07:43:58Z")
shell scot mysteries are pretty good if ya like the hard boiled type there by richard s prather although ive only found 2 of them There like 150 pages or so so ya can read them in a hour or so Anything by dashiell hammet incluiding the contiental op stories Rex stout is nero wolf is good A few years ago t the stout estate was having modren mystery writers write new wolfe books are they still doing this ? ellery queen and earl gardner books are good including perry mason ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/22 "2002-09-15T10:21:51Z")
Go read **Camber of Culdi** by Katherine Kurtz. Not the first Deryni book she wrote but the first chronologically and a very good book. I still have a soft spot for Piers Anthony’s **Bio of a Space Tyrant**. But it gets very heavy. I mean VERY heavy. But his book **On a Pale Horse** is much lighter and very fun. **Magic Kingdom for Sale / Sold** by Terry Brooks is both funny and good. As well as his Shannara series, though I wouldn’t say it’s funny but he does borrow HEAVILY from Tolkein. **Sweet Silver Blues** by Glen Cook is difficult to find but an excellent start to a really enjoyable series. Cook and Kurtz are the two I most recommend. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/23 "2002-09-16T06:24:37Z")
For a bit of fantasy, a bit of mystery, a bit of love story and a pile of horror story in the strangest setting go for Johnathon Carroll’s [The Land of Laughs](http://www.jonathancarroll.com/land.html) . Absolutely marvelous and the rest of his works are just as quirky. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/24 "2002-09-20T19:33:26Z")
I’ll always recommend Terry Pratchett. The Discworld books are all good, and some are excellent. His other books are equally entertaining. Humorous fantasy that always makes me laugh no matter how many times I’ve read a particular book. If you start at the beginning of the Discworld books, The Colour of Magic, that’s a good book, but not one of the best. He started to hit his stride with the second book, The Light Fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/25 "2002-09-20T20:10:33Z")
For Mystery books I would suggest the Cadfael series by Ellis Peters. They are very good and set in Medieval England on the Welsh border with a crime solving monk. Or try In the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. See a trend here? It is also set in Medieval England and about a crime solving priest. Decent fantasy books: the Dragonlance Chronicles/Legends series by Weiss and Hickman. Other fiction: Pick up something that looks literate. I read the Saga of Egil (one of the early Icelandic sagas) recently. It was really interesting how different and praised Egil was when he finally showed up in the book. ---
**Author:** ![Anubis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Anubis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anubis)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/26 "2002-09-20T23:57:34Z")
There’s always the Hitchhiker trilogy if you want a humorous Sci-fi book, though you probably already read it. So many people have, I wouldn’t be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/27 "2002-09-21T00:35:27Z")
**A Fire Upon the Deep** by Vernor Vinge- Space epic taking place several thousand years in the future. Vinge is an astrophysicist by trade and a Hugo award winning scifi writer. He manages to tell a story that is remarkably original and believable. **Microserfs** by Douglas Coupland- What is like to be coder at the bottom rung of Microsoft? Turns it’s a lot of work, a little geek love, and lots of joking around. This book is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/28 "2002-09-21T04:21:17Z")
As far as mysteries go \*\*Dennis Lehane \*\*is good, eh writes about PI’s who operate out of Boston. **Robert B. Parker** has written nearly 30 **Spenser** mysteries/novels, which are about a Boston PI named, Spencer. They are a fairly fast read, I finished the last one in about 4 hours. Parker’s descriptions of food are quite good and his dialogue is first rate, thoug it does tend to run towards the smart-ass end of the scale. The main problem with the Spenser series is that Spense has gotten built up into an almost invincible warrior. But the books are still entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/29 "2002-09-21T05:24:27Z")
I’ve always liked _Back to the Moon_, by Homer Hickam. It he tended to reference technical “Gimmicks” a little too much (The use of the famed “Rescue Ball” was a nice nostalgic touch, though), but all in all, it’s a good read. Maybe not a pulitzer winnner, but it’s a hell of a lot better than Danielle Steele. Ranchoth ---
**Author:** ![Doggeez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b19c9b/32.png) [@Doggeez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggeez)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/30 "2002-09-21T06:02:47Z")
This might be a little late for light summer reading but I just read “Anonymous Rex” by Eric Garcia. It’s a very enjoyable private-eye novel with a fun mystery. The best part is he’s not only a detective but also a dinosaur (it’s funnier than it sounds). I had a lot of my friends read it and they liked it too. ---
**Author:** ![Leonora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7bcc69/32.png) [@Leonora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leonora)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/31 "2002-09-21T06:37:00Z")
How about Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series? “Magic’s Pawn, Magic’s Promise, and Magic’s Price.” Stephen Donaldson’s “Into the Gap of Conflict” and the following books. His books “The Mirror of Her Dream” and “A Man Rides Through.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/32 "2002-09-22T04:27:21Z")
I see that nobody’s mentioned the Chronicles of Prydain yet, by Lloyd Alexander. They’re kids’ books, but don’t let that stop you. The series is _The Book of Three_, _The Black Cauldron_, _Castle Llyr_, _Taran Wanderer_, and _The High King_. Very like Tolkien, but the influence is Welsh rather than English. And for mysteries, I can say that all of Asimov’s mysteries are great, except for his mysteries. When he writes things _classified_ as mysteries, he has a tendancy to either spell out the name, all pseudonyms, motive, and method of the perpetrator fifteen chapters before the protagonist finally figures it out, or he bases the solution on a combination of pieces of knowledge so obscure that no person other than Asimov knows all of them. Neither is any fun. But on the other hand, his stories which _aren’t_ mysteries are generally good mysteries. Read the _Foundation_ series, for example. And when **Epimetheus** mentioned the Dune chronicles, he surely just meant _Dune_. There are no sequels. Really. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/33 "2002-09-22T15:38:24Z")
Thanks for all the suggestions so far! I’ve picked up a **Nero Wolfe** book (_Murder in E Minor_) and I’v read about half of it so far. Pretty enjoyable. The author is Robert Goldsborough. I’m assuming Rex Stout is dead and this Goldsborough chap has taken over the franchise. Is this true? Also, should one read the Nero Wolfe series chronologically? If so, could someone provide me with a list of titles in chronological order? TIA ---
**Author:** ![Giselle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Giselle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giselle)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/34 "2002-09-22T19:24:41Z")
You’ve probably read this already, but if you haven’t . . . **Good Oments**! Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Fabulous book. Oh, and if you’re into satire, read Steve Martin’s **Picasso at the Lapin Agile**. Yes, I _know_ it’s a play. ---
**Author:** ![Merejane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Merejane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merejane)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/35 "2002-09-22T23:22:28Z")
If you’re in the mood for funny mysteries, I recommend Donald E. Westlake (especially the Dortmunder series, although a lot of his other books are fun), Carl Hiaasen, and Joe Gores’ DKA series (especially _32 Cadillacs_). Westlake wrote some great books that aren’t mysteries, including High Adventure, Kahawa, and Trust Me on This. Trust me on _this_: you will enjoy these three books. ---
**Author:** ![Merejane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Merejane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merejane)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/36 "2002-09-23T00:03:50Z")
Another mystery writer whose books I recommend (I forgot to add him to my last post): Robert Crais – especially his _Elvis Cole_ series. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/37 "2002-09-23T00:37:18Z")
**Raymond Chandler** ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/38 "2002-09-23T02:21:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rastahomie \* > could someone provide me with a list of titles in chronological order? [Here](http://www.danlhos.com/wolfe/) you go! ---
**Author:** ![New\_Improved\_Scott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f17d59/32.png) [@New\_Improved\_Scott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Improved_Scott)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/39 "2002-09-23T13:53:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Giselle \* > \*\*You’ve probably read this already, but if you haven’t . . . > > **Good Oments**! > > Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Fabulous book. > > Oh, and if you’re into satire, read Steve Martin’s **Picasso at the Lapin Agile**. Yes, I _know_ it’s a play. \*\* As fantastic a book it is, it is called **“Good Omens”** , as it is a bit of a play on “the Omen” and all. Just clearing that up, so if you do look for it (you should) you’ll be able to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Go\_alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_alien)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386/40 "2002-09-23T15:41:22Z")
Erik Stevenson - _Gardens of the Moon_, the first in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Book four due out in November. The story stands by itself. Dark, complex and well written with believable characters (well, the human ones are :D). And it is NOT another “hero saves the world from evil lord”, which is a refreshing change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-a-mystery-fantasy-or-other-fiction-book-for-me-please/128386.md?page=3)