MrE's Monkey Education Program

[Onix]

I'll second Enders Game, I read it when I was a teen and I just picked it up a bit ago for my son to read.

I'd also recommend The Sherlock Holmes books. You can pick them up for free over at project gutenburg. They're somewhat predictable but I think that's because every mystery novel is somewhat influenced on them. And even then, they were quite an enjoyable read. My daughter and I raced to see who could finish them first and see how many we could guess the mystery in.

The I Robot series is also a great series. There are a lot of really interesting ideas in the books that don't specifically have to do with robots. A lot of gems that I think get passed over because they're not the theme of the book.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

You guys aren't spying on me, are you? I mean just about everything here, so far, agrees with my sensibilities.I've read "The Great Gatsby", and "Ender's Game" - both are good, while "I Robot" is one of my favorite story collections. Forever War and Dune are on my reading list.

We need some Arthur C. Clarke. "Rendezvous with Ramma" or "2001 a Space Odyssey" are probably the two best known and easiest to find. Of course, he did write thirty-three novels and a few hundred shorter works so we've got some options.

Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" has action to keep you interested, rants to keep you arguing, and the historical significance of introducing the idea of power armor. "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is also on my to read list.

Superluminal by Vonda McIntyre tends to reappear for me. I'm pretty sure there is a game on 1km1kt.net that mirrors book pretty closely, I just can't recall the name of it.

For a break from the SF, how about "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?" Actually, that is kind of a break from absolutely everything. "On the Road" might be a bit more restrained.

You can't forget the original cyberpunk - "Neuromancer" by William Gibson - or back to Heinlein with "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep."

I think I'll just give a shout-out to the and call it a day for now.

[Onix]

[kylesgames]

If I had to suggest a handful of books to an aspiring tabletop game writer/book club for similar minded people I'd suggest:

The Great Gatsby and Ender's Game as per earlier suggestion(s).
Either a Tom Clancy novel or a Ludlum novel (espionage/war focus), and a Shadowrun, Earthdawn or Battletech novel (example of a tabletop game spawning stories, examples of pretty well-thought out settings).
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (a collection, if not the entire works)
H.P. Lovecraft (again, a collection, preferably annotated since I've found an annotated volume does wonders for understanding the works)
Lord of the Rings (Again, maybe just one volume, probably all would be best, great example of millenia-spanning lore)
Of Mice and Men (Characterization!)

EDIT: Not sure where "industries" came from. I typically blame stuff like that on autocorrect, but this was my computer.

[misterecho]

[misterecho]

I think we should start voting for Novembers book. Just so the participants have time to order it!

I vote Enders game

[maledictus]

My vote for november is also Ender's Game.

[kylesgames]

Ender's Game is a great start. Plus, I've already read it, so I won't feel too horrible about missing out on reading it due to classes/papers/Shadowrun sessions.

[Onix]

I just started reading The Lost World and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I find it interesting that I'm half way through and there hasn't been any Dino action yet. Really the whole story is a question of what will they find so as soon as they see one, the rest is just getting back to tell the tale (and marry the girl).

[misterecho]

I'm not making good progress on Dune, although I am enjoying it.