# Recommend a series for me to read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423 "2019-05-03T15:22:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/41 "2019-05-04T05:16:44Z")
Since you liked the _Bernie Rhodenbarr_ series, I’m guessing you would like the _John Dortmunder_ books by **Donald E. Westlake**. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/42 "2019-05-04T06:39:37Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I would suggest Worldwar by Harry Turtledove. > > (snip) > > The series is five books. There is a sequel series that is not as good. At the risk of annoying nitpickery – the initial “Worldwar” series (1942 and succeeding years) comprises four books. The sequel series (events 20 years later on) comprises three. I personally consider Turtledove’s “Worldwar” cycle good throughout – save for the one final book _Homeward Bound_, set chronologically later than the rest, which seems generally reckoned – including by me – awful; I don’t recall ever finding anyone with a good word to say for it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/43 "2019-05-04T08:45:31Z")
For a science fiction set of books all set in the same universe, try the **Culture** books by **Iain M Banks**. It doesn’t really matter what order you read them in, but good ones to start with would be _The Player of Games_, _Look to Windward_ or _Consider Phlebas_. There are also a few non-Culture science fiction books. Iain Banks also wrote non-science fiction books under that name. When he died he 2013, people like me were as gutted as the Pratchett fans when he died. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/44 "2019-05-04T10:03:37Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > The _ **Flashman** _ series by George MacDonald Fraser Seconded, also Hornblower. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/45 "2019-05-04T12:01:21Z")
Christopher Fowler’s [Bryant & May novels](http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/blog/the-history-of-bryant-may/) are great fun. > [@](#): > > Arthur Bryant and John May are Golden Age Detectives in a modern world. They head the Peculiar Crimes Unit, London’s most venerable specialist police team, a division founded during the Second World War to investigate cases that could cause national scandal or public unrest. Originally based above a London tube station, the technophobic, irascible Bryant and smooth-talking modernist John May head a team of equally unusual misfits who are just as likely to commit crimes as solve them. > > The novels are written chronologically, but can just as easily be read out of order (in fact, some volumes benefit from doing so, the exceptions being ‘On The Loose’ and ‘Off The Rails’, which should be read together). The cases take on the different styles of the classic detective stories. Here are the novels so far, in reverse order… They are also available in Audiobook. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/46 "2019-05-05T05:27:58Z")
If you like references to other works the Magic Ex Libris Series by Jim C. Hines is full of them since it centers on Libriomancy; the magical art of manifesting fictional things from the books they are written in. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/47 "2019-05-05T07:20:36Z")
you’d love the stainless steel rat series of books…there light and funny sci-fi > **[Stainless Steel Rat - Book Series In Order](https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/stainless-steel-rat/)** > > Complete order of Stainless Steel Rat books in Publication Order and Chronological Order. warning wikii has spoilers for some of the books…[The Stainless Steel Rat - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat) ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/48 "2019-05-05T13:18:05Z")
OP: not sure from your post how much use – if any – you have for historical fiction. Anyway – with a great variety of material being offered on the thread – I’ll submit for consideration, a novel series for which I have a great liking. The Matthew Shardlake novels by the British author C.J. Sansom – describable as, largely, murder / espionage mysteries from the times before detectives were invented – and more than purely “whodunnits”. Set mostly in London, in the latter years of the reign of Henry VIII. Shardlake, the hero and first-person narrator, is a lawyer – highly honest, ethically upright, and humane; but cantankerous enough to be saved from being a total male “Mary Sue” – and IMO a very likeable character. Also a favourite of mine is his “sidekick” Jack: a short-tempered and foul-mouthed “man of his hands”, but nonetheless on the side of the angels, and an engaging guy. Historically, painstakingly accurate so far as I can tell; and giving an interesting view of what it might have been like to be a subject of " 'Orrible 'Enry" well below the top of the food-chain. A considerable amount is seen, though, of life at the royal court – Shardlake and associates keep being drawn, usually against their will, into perilous situations and intrigues involving doings of said court. Long, detailed novels – seven of them to date, seemingly a new one every couple of years. I gather that the author plans to keep them going, up into the reign of Elizabeth I : how Shardlake – become a sceptic about religious matters, but with inclinations Protestant rather than the other way – will fare under Mary Tudor’s rule, I dread to think. IMO anyway, splendid stuff. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/49 "2019-05-05T13:45:11Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > you’d love the stainless steel rat series of books…there light and funny sci-fi > [Stainless Steel Rat - Book Series In Order](https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/stainless-steel-rat/) Well, of course you will… > [@silenus](#): > > If you are into historical fiction of the alt-history kind, there is always the _163x_ shared universe of Eric Flint., which is up to fifty bajillion books by now. Of varying quality and interest, but the mainstream novels are pretty good. I’m, also a Ring of Fire fan, but stick with Flint’s books at first; even those he co-authors (except 1633/1634 with David Weber) are uneven and some stand-alone ones are not good at all. But even so you’ll have millions of words to read, and Flint has a rather wry sense of humor that does come through. One more: David Weber’s Honor Harrington series, 17 books IIRC (he’s done with the current arc but may revive it with her children) of pretty decent space opera, the earlier books are better IMHO, the last 3-4 are not up to those standards, but well conceived and great characters (Lots and lots of characters…) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/50 "2019-05-05T13:52:29Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > you’d love the stainless steel rat series of books…there light and funny sci-fi > [Stainless Steel Rat - Book Series In Order](https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/stainless-steel-rat/) > warning wikii has spoilers for some of the books…[The Stainless Steel Rat - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat) [“Sandy Mitchell”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Mitchell_(novelist)) put out a sci-fi/Warhammer 40,000 sort of Flashman pastiche series starring “Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium”. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/51 "2019-05-05T14:24:24Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > The Matthew Shardlake novels by the British author C.J. Sansom … Seconded. I found all of the Shardlake novels consistently engrossing. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/52 "2019-05-05T14:38:54Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > At the risk of annoying nitpickery – the initial “Worldwar” series (1942 and succeeding years) comprises four books. The sequel series (events 20 years later on) comprises three. I personally consider Turtledove’s “Worldwar” cycle good throughout – save for the one final book _Homeward Bound_, set chronologically later than the rest, which seems generally reckoned – including by me – awful; I don’t recall ever finding anyone with a good word to say for it. Oops. You’re right. I miss remembered the number of books. You’re also right about the final book. It was so bad it soured me on the entire follow up series. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/53 "2019-05-05T15:35:45Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I’ve enjoyed Jim Butcher’s [Dresden Files](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dresden_Files) novels. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Likewise Ben Aaronovitch’s [Rivers of London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Grant_(book_series)) series. > … > > I’ll also second (or third) the various Jasper Fforde books. Incredibly clever, funny and well-plotted stuff (apart from the Nursery Crime books which are a bit rough). > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The Old Man’s War series by John Scalzi - military sf, thought-provoking, funny and thrilling in all the right places. I’ll +1 all these series, and -1 Xanth, and then add a couple more recommendations: 1. [The Rook](https://www.goodreads.com/series/89879-the-checquy-files) is the first in a series, of which only two are written, but they’re both long and self-contained. They follow a London government agency that deals with supernatural threats, which is a super-hackneyed idea at this point, but they’re really fun, and actually made me laugh aloud a couple of times. 2. [A Crown for Cold Silver](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22875083-a-crown-for-cold-silver?from_search=true) is the first of a completed trilogy, epic fantasy with a fair amount of gross-out humor (I remember the phrase “bloody snot-rockets” describing a form of magical travel) and protagonists who are, shall we say, _flawed_. It’s not especially silly, but it’s got a lot of bleak humor, a lot of moments of horrified laughter. I enjoyed them immensely. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/54 "2019-05-05T17:50:46Z")
_The Spellman Files_ novels by Lisa Lutz. Mysteries that had me howling with laughter. Must read in order, as there are arcs of character change and development and people and events. ---
**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, 2019, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/55 "2019-05-05T23:10:41Z")
Thanks for all the great suggestions, folks. I have read all of Sherlock Holmes, and my father is a published Sherlockian, member of the BSI, etc. I have read one or two Ellery Queen novels, but they just didn’t grab me. I also read at least one Stainless Steel Rat book, and enjoyed it. I may look at some of the others. And I’ll start looking over the many interesting recommendations here, some of which I’ve heard of but never read (Flashman), but most of which are new to me. BTW, here’s another short series I really enjoyed that perfectly typifies what I’d like more of: Zakour and Ganem’s _Plutonium Blonde, Radioactive Redhead_, etc. Funny satirical sci-fi. Thanks again, and keep them coming. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’ll find something interesting to read here. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/56 "2019-05-06T15:34:34Z")
I’m currently working my way through the [Commonwealth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_F._Hamilton_bibliography#Confederation_universe_(1996%E2%80%932000)) works of Peter F. Hamilton. These are mainly space operas that span through the course of centuries. I finished _Pandora’s Star_ and am halfway through _Judas Unchained_. You say you like mysteries, and there is a long-running mystery through these titles that has yet to be resolved (grrr), and the ones responsible are slippery, ingenious, and tend to die when they get caught. At first, the protagonists hear conspiracy theories that sound too much like hack fiction, but later turn out to be true. This is running underneath space exploration, alien invasions, and VIPs who preserve themselves for centuries so their dynasties don’t die. I’ve also read the _Void Trilogy_ (which takes place 1200 years after the above) and _The Night’s Dawn Trilogy_, which is a different universe, but the same level of galactic detail. I’ll take up _The Chronicle of the Fallers_ series next. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/57 "2019-05-06T16:53:05Z")
For your consideration: Ellis Peters’ **Brother Cadfael** series. A 12th century monk who suffers from Jessica Fletcher’s disease: Whenever he’s around people seem to die under mysterious circumstances. Brother Cadfael is a well-traveled man, having served as a Crusader in his youth, and is currently the abbey’s herbalist. He pokes into the various mysteries with a skeptical eye and what passes for a scientific worldview in that time and place. Not great literature; the series is somewhat formulaic. However, it gives a very entertaining view of an interesting time and place: England and Wales during the reign of Stephen, with perpetual civil war between him and the Empress Matilda. Both have reasonable claims to the throne and roughly equal forces. The common folk are generally keeping their heads down, going about their daily business, and hoping the war stays far, far away. The view of the daily business of the common folk is very well done; the characters are not archetypes, but ordinary people. Recommended. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/58 "2019-05-06T17:24:06Z")
Cadfaell is a good series, and Ellis Peters gave me permission to use the name for my Society for Creative Anachronism character. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/59 "2019-05-07T02:10:20Z")
I don’t know how well they’ve aged since I read them as a teenager in the 80s, but I really enjoyed the _Fletch_ novels by Gregory McDonald. They were fun, irreverent, sexy, and addictive. There was also a spin-off series based on a police detective character (“Flynn”) from one of the Fletch novels. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423/60 "2019-05-07T09:39:20Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Another vote for Jasper Fforde. Plenty of chuckles, tons of literary references (more than half, I’m sure, went completely over my head), very entertaining. I still can’t help but giggle every time I see a “TJ Maxx” store. 😃 > > One note of caution: you definitely want to read them in order. A friend of mine gave me a copy of “The Eyre Affair” (the first in the series) and then I just read the others whenever I could find one at the local library. Several plot points made no sense until I read an earlier book that I had skipped. Yes, this is important - Fforde sets up some things literally a couple of books in advance of their payoff, and you need to read them in order to get the full benefit of it. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If you want humorous fantasy then I would suggest: > > - [Myth Adventures](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078F1GBP5?ref=series_rw_dp_labf) series by Robert Aspirin I enjoyed these (particularly with the Foglio illustrations) but they run into the problem of every book ending with “We’ve solved _this_ problem, but now we have a _bigger_ problem!”. There is no closure ever. > [@](#): > > - [Xanth](https://www.amazon.com/Spell-Chameleon-Original-Xanth-Book-ebook/dp/B000FBFOFU/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=piers+anthony&qid=1556915658&s=digital-text&sr=1-2) series by Piers Anthony (frankly he went way too far with those and they got tiresome but good fun for several books) Nope. I’m not saying there’s nothing worth reading in the Xanth series but there are so many better books to spend your time reading, especially considering that the books rapidly just become strings of bad puns sent in by readers. Also, the whole underaged sex thing (although it’s less of an issue in the Xanth books than in some of his other writings). > [@Quartz](#): > > I’ll echo the recommendations of Flashman and Rivers of London. I gave up on the latter after two poor works and the author seeming to concentrate no graphic novels but was persuaded to return with the latest in which he closes off the first arc. The graphic novels are not required reading for the series, although they are occasionally referred to. I have to admit I haven’t really liked any of the graphic novels apart from “Detective Stories”; if you can borrow them (my library had all but the first one) they’re worth reading for completeness’ sake but otherwise you’re not missing much. Oh, and there’s a character in “Cry Fox” who is important later in the series but again, it’s not necessary as such. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-series-for-me-to-read/833423.md?page=2)