I want to pick up reading and I need a little help...

I have reading experience from the Halo novels, The Infernal City, Cherub, Ozzy Osbourne's Autobiography and Zombie Survival guide... So it's not much. I'm 16 (if that helps...) and I'm interested in fantasy, sci-fi, crime, etc... I bought A Game of Thrones last year and couldn't follow along with it all, I was a 'little' perplexed 50 pages in... So basically I'm in search for a book/book series that fits the genres above, but is easy for a new reader. I'll eventually get better and I'll probably make my return to A Game of Thrones, but for now, gimme suggestions

The Stand, the Spooks series, Percy Jackson( I actually prefer this series to Harry potter) ,Narnia,anything by Andy McNab.Series of Unfortunate events, 20,00 leagues under the sea, To Kill a Mockingbird......... Phew

Have a read of "The Day of the Triffids", very easy to read, and an excellent read at that. Rather short novel as well.

You actually just reminded me of Harry Potter, I said I was going to read the books a while back because all my friends are a little obsessed with the series. I enjoy the moviest, and I want to get into it more than that.
But thanks for the suggestions! I'll look into them

Harry Potter is definitely worth reading. I never liked them when they were first released but went back to them last year and loved them all.

The Stand could be a bit heavy piece for a new reader. Definitely worth a shot, though.


I'd suggest Congo or Jurassic Park from Michael Chrichton. They somewhat fit with the scifi/fantasy genre.

I'll make sure to check them out then :happy:

Curious George Goes to the Apple Store
Resident Evil: Nudie Bar

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (Sci Fi)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Sci Fi)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (Fantasy)
The War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells (Sci Fi)
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne (Sci Fi)
Journey To The Center Of The Earth by Jules Verne (Sci Fi)
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (or so we think) (Fiction)
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (Sci fi)
The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre by B. Traven (Western)
True Grit by Charles Portis (Western)
The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (Fiction)
Masters Of Doom by David Kushner (Video Games)
The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Fantasy)
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (Sci Fi)
Edit: Harry Potter series is extremely good


All I can think of off the top of my head, many are classics. Some are my personal favorites other than the stuff they show you in school. If you want anymore I read everyday so don't hesitate to ask.

In fantasy I can recommend:

Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter
Darren Shan Vampire Series
Darren Shan Demonata Series
Artemis Fowl (this is actually a fantasy / sci-fi / crime mixture. And it's for "young advlts" so I think this is the best fit. Seriously.)

If you like sci-fi/zombie fiction, check out the Day by Day series by J.L. Bourne. The first two books are simply amazing, and the third should be out sometime this year.

Robert Howard's Conan stories are very good and very accessible fantasy. There's a lot of Conan crap written by other authors, stay away from that. I think that The bloody crown of Conan, The conquering sword of Conan and The coming of Conan the Cimmerian have all the stories written by Howard, so you may want to look for those. I don't think any of them exceeds 150 pages, so its good practice to help build your attention span until you can read all six Dune books, which will be amongst the best sci-fi you'll ever read.

Though you'll probably have to read some more before starting on that

Yeah around 1500 pages can definitely be overwhelming

The Coming of Conan. It's the first stories the R.E Howard wrote about our beloved Cimmerian hero. Then there are the following collections, The Bloody Crown of Conan and the Conquering Sword of Conan

The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's fairly short, very enjoyable and quite humourous. The sequels are a little more odd, though.

Simple, straight forward and entertaining?

Matthew Reilly's novels sound like they are right up your alley. I also second Michael Crichton's works. Timeline, Jurassic Park, Congo and The Andromeda Strain are all very accessible - his other works are equally as good. Airframe, Rising Sun and Eaters of the Dead are also fantastic.

The Hobbit.

Eragon.

For starter:
Starcraft: Ghost
Starcraft Trilogy
Mass Effect: Revelation
Mass Effect: Acension
Dresdon Files Series
Icewind Dale Trilogy
Hellgate: London Trilogy (The writing skill is very mediocre, but the story hooks are well placed. Atmosphere is well presented.)
Any D&D novels

Moving forward:
James McGee's Hawkwood series
Horus Heresy Series
Conan Chronicles

Advanced pick:
Dracula
Vampyr
Camila
Black Company Chronicles
A Song of Ice and Fire
Dune

Some interesting pick:
step 1: Pride and Prejudice (could be boring, but you may read one chapter, then read something else, then come back)
step 2: Pride and Prejudice and Zombie. (You'll laugh to the core once you've done step 1)

Expand that to John Wydnham books in general. Very good author. Isaac Asimov is another classic writer who's worth giving a go. He written loads of short stories, which might be a good place to start.


One quick read you can get onto right away is http://www.doomworld.com/10years/doomcomic/comic.php! A man, a demon, and a search for a bigger gun.

I dunno how you'd go reading Peter Hamilton's http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Mindstar-Rising-Peter-Hamilton/9780330323765, but it is one of his shorter books, and he is a good writer. Hard sci-fi. The http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Ciaphas-Cain-Sandy-Mitchell/9781844168835 (that collection is thick, but the individual books within it are only a few hundred pages each) are soft sci-fi set in the Warhammer 40k universe, and quite fun. http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/V-for-Vendetta-Alan-Moore/9781845762278 has very dark themes and plenty to think about if you're that way inclined (possible downsides), and I recommend reading it. http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-06-12 is a good, fun webcomic, and has the big pro of being free to read. I'd give some fantasy suggestions, but for some reason they're just not coming to me .

I might chuck you some more later.

Try some of these:

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. One of my all time Sci-Fi favorites.

Homeland by R.A. Salvatore. Chronologically, the first of about 19 fantasy novels featuring the legendary Drow Ranger, Drizzt Do'Urden.

My girlfriend told me the book firebird is supposed to be really good. I am hoping it will be, because she told me she will pick out one book for me to read over the summer out of her friggin library she has collected...

I also recommend anything by Michael Crichton, he masterfully covers a wide variety of settings while maintaining the same core themes.

Issac Asimov was also a favorite of mine, he wrote one called Caves of Steel as a big "screw you" to the critics who said that sci-fi and mystery were mutually exclusive genres. He also wrote the outstanding Foundation series.

When I was 16 I also went through a lot of Stephen King, I prefer his short story collections but that's not to say that the very full length novel have anything wrong with them. Though the novels have the advantage of interrelation, that is sometimes you have people/items/entities from one book showing up in others so it almost feels like they are a series.

If you're just beginning, you'll probably want to start off with something basic and easy to follow. All of the recommendations I'll give are pretty easy to read, though you might find some more boring than others.

Stuff I've read or enjoyed in my, admittedly short, life that you may as well:
The Hobbit (fantasy)
Ender's Game & Speaker for the Dead (sci-fi; the first time I really liked sci-fi)
I am Legend (zombie/vampire/loneliness)
American Gods (fantasy; good [censored], has a zombie in it)
Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep (sci-fi/apocalyptic/cyberpunk)

And since you're 16, Wheel of Time (fantasy with three young male protagonists that are probably easy for you to identify with; does get boring and slow after a bit, though)
Also check out videogame books, and Star Wars books
And d&d books. They're very popular with teenage boys, I hear (like Twilight, but YOU'RE the target audience!).

I'll recommend what I always recommend in a book thread: The Night Angles Trilogy by Brent Weeks.