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Good book as addicting as Harry Potter?
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If you read two Clancy books they should be Red Storm Rising, Non-Stop Action, the ultimate WWIII story and Hunt For Red October.
I recently reread RSR, and it's getting really, really dated. Hunt for Red October was and is still and AWESOME book and movie.
For newer stuff, try "The Windup Girl" (can't recall author's name), and pretty much anything by Cory Doctorow. Most of his stuff is available in free eBook form from manybooks.net. I bought my teenaged son hard-copies of several of Doctorow's books for Christmas, after reading the free versions, and he devoured them, despite the draw of new video games.
I suggest starting with "Little Brother", which should be required reading in all schools in the US.
This is my suggestion. You could start with the TV show first to see if you like it, or you have the option of reading it and watching the TV show afterwards (both of which are awesome)
If you like space combat along the lines of Horacio Hornblower I'm currently reading an incredible series featuring a heroine, Honor Harrington. The first book, On Basilisk Station is posted entirely online so you can see if it hooks you or not.
If you enjoy David Weber, I highly recommend his Safehold series. It's sci-fi but deals with low tech and I actually enjoyed it more then the Honor Harrington series (which I liked).
I see that in an earlier post mkrishnan recommended the Prydain Chronicles - they are charming and exquisitely well written. Agree with huntn re The Hobbit - I also read it before embarking on TLOTR trilogy, and I have to say I really liked it.
Garth Nix and Philip Pullman, I've already mentioned as excellent; another writer whose stuff I love is Scott Lynch (The Gentlemen Bastard series), utterly brilliant.
Moving beyond fantasy, personally I found the Millennium trilogy by Steig Larsson to be utterly addictive.
Garth Nix and Philip Pullman, I've already mentioned as excellent; another writer whose stuff I love is Scott Lynch (The Gentlemen Bastard series), utterly brilliant.
Moving beyond fantasy, personally I found the Millennium trilogy by Steig Larsson to be utterly addictive.
Glad you're enjoying it. By "utterly addictive" I mean that they kept me from sleep several nights in a row, as I just "had to read one more chapter" before switching off the light. So, I was reading until 3.30-4.30 a few nights in a row, when I had to get up at 7.30 for work......just addictive. But really terrific.....
Actually, I've given the trilogy as a present to a number of friends, and they, too, have all confessed to having found them....completely addictive.
I recently reread RSR, and it's getting really, really dated. Hunt for Red October was and is still and AWESOME book and movie.
Bear and the Dragon reminds me quite a bit of RSR, actually. Feels like the illegitimate child of RSR and Debt of Honour
I'm enjoying them but, maybe in this case, the audio books are not quite as good since I don't find them addicting. It may be because they take place in Europe but I didn't find some of the criminal and government responses realistic. I also got annoyed by the occasional lack of common sense by the main characters that was used to advance the plot (although it was not nearly as bad as "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown).
I found Angels and Demons to be a very good book, but then I read a few of the others and realised that they are all essentially the same story with different details.
To the OP, I once read a great book when I was younger, called Solitaire. I'm not sure how good a read it would be now as I can never find it in book stores, but it's something that's always stuck with me, so it must be good on some level. If you see if I definitely recommend it.
Re the trilogy, it's not that they take place "in Europe", but specifically, that they take place in Sweden which is a country with an unusually accountable & transparent (at least in theory) set of Government institutions & structures, even by European standards. This conflict between what is supposed to be (ideal government practice) on the part of Government, and what actually has been experienced by some of the characters - abuses of power - is one aspect of what gives the books their frisson - at least for Scandinavians.
It makes you wonder about the author's death. Even though it was fiction, I imagine there were people not happy about the trilogy.
The real Steig Larsson actually edited a radical investigative magazine or periodical not entirely unlike the one that his fictional alter-ego does in the books and - in real life - received death threats from the ultra-right. And his partner in real life seems to have played a role not entirely dissimilar to that of Eva in the books. Likewise, I get the sense that some other aspects of his books have a sort of quasi-autobiographical feel to them. Clearly, it's a classical thriller writing device, to use the "skeleton" - or excuse - of an investigation or murder to allow you to focus a sort of forensic (interrogating) microscope on your own society.
The fact that Sweden (along with the rest of Scandinavia) regularly tops the UNDP HDI (Human Development Index), and TI (Transparency International) etc ratings, and enjoys a sterling reputation for public probity, excellent public services, accountable and transparent Government, honest police forces, a commendable amount of money spent in foreign aid - and top class colleagues when working abroad on international missions (as I can attest), excellent gender rights and laws and protections, green legislation, etc, etc all means that when someone writes racy thrillers about the seedy sleazy and very imperfect underbelly of such a notionally perfect society, it causes waves.
I've no doubt that Larsson's death was not greeted with grief by those who disliked him. However, his lifestyle, (and it's written about non-stop in the books), endless coffees, too much smoking, drinking, no exercise, endless stress, not eating properly while addicted to the adrenaline rush of approaching deadlines.....well, I suspect this also may have contributed to his death at the age of 50 from a heart attack having run (run!) up several flights of stairs because the elevator was broken.