Nerd Mentality

Shortdude123

Some non-fiction books ARE good.

They may be well written and all, but it's just that the stories don't appeal to me. I think videogames may have affected me in a way that it has become much harder to get impressed by anything.

Thanks for your suggestions. I have partially read Animal Farm and I hated it though. I guess I'm more of a fan of epic stories.

No Harry Potter

Have you read any of them (and I mean really read, not watched the movies or listened to the opinions of others?) If you have and decided you didn't like it, cool. But if you haven't, get the first one from a library and give it a try. If it appeals to you, trust me, you won't regret it.
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Publisher's Weekly

Let's take this out on a limb. Let's say Tasker's third novel (after Silent Thunder and Buddha Kiss) set in urban Japan in the 1990s is one of the best hardboiled detective novels ever written. Let's say Tasker himself is one of the smartest writers in the genre: book smart, in the remarkable lyrical quality of his prose or the frequent brilliance of his imagery; street-smart, like Elmore Leonard, in that his streets and the often terrible people that walk them are so mundanely real; socio-economic smart, in that his dark, almost heartbreaking, depiction of Japanese society is so believable. One feels that outside the novel's action, his characters are real people leading normal lives. A Tokyo-based British writer and partner in a money management firm, Tasker puts his knowledge of Japanese business to fine use. Detective Kazuo Mori, a former youthful rebel whose indignation at social injustice has mellowed into a weary acquiescence, is a tough guy only when necessary. He gets his information by deception, pretending to be a figure of authority. His investigation into the alleged natural death of a government official leads him into the most secret places in Japanese society: corporate files. Angel, a young woman he rescues from a Yakuza boss, may appear to be a damsel in distress, but God help anyone who crosses her. Both she and Mori are pursued by a Yakuza hitman, George the Wolf Nishio, who like so many of Leonard's criminals is frighteningly real. The publicity citing U.K. reviews plays up the Japanese manga comic books angle, but this is pure American hardboiled and it's outstanding.

And I believe there is a MGS Graphic Novel available,in readable form and a Digital Graphic Novel for PSP,so if you cant get enough of MGS, then look into those,just wait for the MGSDGN to drop in price first.

Pariguayo

Damn,I'm not sure if I've read a book that has a crazy of a story as MGS does,but if there's a book slightly similar in the sense of it then definitely check out Samurai Boogie,its a detective thriller,here's the story line:


And I believe there is a MGS Graphic Novel available,in readable form and a Digital Graphic Novel for PSP,so if you cant get enough of MGS, then look into those,just wait for the MGSDGN to drop in price first.

I've looked all the suggestions up on amazon and Samurai Boogie is the one that appealed to me most. I'll give it a try.

And about Harry Potter, I just hate the whole setting and characters.

kinopio

Some really excellent books were recommended in this thread, but not many took the original poster's tastes in consideration. You don't go from Samurai and Videogames novels to Hunter Thompson just like that, come on guys!


Some acclaimed scientific and geopolitical thriller authors like Tom Clancy, John Grisham and Michael Crichton may have served as inspiration for the Metal Gear story (directly or indirectly via their theatrical adaptations). I haven't read much of those though, so I am no expert on the subject.

There are also many novelizations of popular videogames and movies franchises, like Halo or Starwars. If you liked the story of Eternal Darkness, that was an hommage to H.P. Lovecraft's universe, so give his short novels a try.


And Lord of the Rings is definitely very epic.

Finaly, thank you so much!! I just loved the story of Eternal Darkness.

I've seen the movies of Lord of the Rings though and it was pretty boring imo (storywise)

Stabby

And about Harry Potter, I hate the whole setting and characters.

How would you know you didn't like the characters if you hadn't read it?

I'm not one of these obsessive fans who can't accept that someone else doesn't like their favourite book series (or movie or whatever) I just don't like to dismiss something unless I've tried it, and I guess I project that onto other people. So I'm not trying to pressure you or anything. Just don't judge the books by the movies or the merchandise saturation (which I will admit would probably have turned me off anything to do with Harry Potter if I hadn't gotten into the series before all that started).

Oh yeah, and REALLY do check out Life of Pi if you're at the library some time. Seriously, it's fantastic.

I've thought of a few more books if you're in the mood for humour:

Either The Dilbert Principal or The Dilbert Future by Scott Adams. They're both hilarious and the latter has a very interesting "serious" chapter at the end.

Maybe someone could recommend me a book that's similar to the story of Metal Gear Solid? That's the genre that appeals most to me.

Something like a Tom Clancy book would be the closest I can think of, although I find everything written by him to be boring as hell.

I've seen the movies of Lord of the Rings though and it was pretty boring imo (storywise)

Then don't go near the books, trust me. I quite liked the movies but I just couldn't get into any of them (or anything by Tolkien, come to that)
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Iris

How would you know you didn't like the characters if you hadn't read it?

I'm not one of these obsessive fans who can't accept that someone else doesn't like their favourite book series (or movie or whatever) I just don't like to dismiss something unless I've tried it, and I guess I project that onto other people. So I'm not trying to pressure you or anything. Just don't judge the books by the movies or the merchandise saturation (which I will admit would probably have turned me off anything to do with Harry Potter if I hadn't gotten into the series before all that started).

The setting just doesn't appeal to me. It looks similar to Road Dahl's books which I actually did read. I thought they were horrible.

Oh yeah, and REALLY do check out Life of Pi if you're at the library some time. Seriously, it's fantastic.

I'll do that

CuBi

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

Tales of the Otori, a series of fantasy books based on feudal Japan. Very good reads.

Fuck yeah, that's the stuff. I haven't finished them yet though, I never picked up number 3. Across The Nightingale Floor and Grass For His Pillow were both awesome though.
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gonestarfishing

Also, another one of my favorites is The Jungle by Upton Sinclaire. Why a book detailing the horrors that occurred in the turn of the century Chicago meat packing district is my favorite book of all time is a mystery to me. It follows a recently immigrated Lithuanian family and their desperate struggle to rise above poverty amongst horrible living conditions, contrasted with the elite in Chicago. Oh yeah and the stuff about the meat packing factories is really gross and cool. This book sparked the formation of the FDA. The story is made up though the stuff about the factories is true.

No offence, but that sounds horrible. I have zero interest in those kind of stories.

In fact, this topic made me realize why I'm a gamer and have never given books a chance. There must definately be some that I will like though.

I just can't understand why there aren't any MGS-like books, cause that would kick ass.

Varleran

A lot of people have said that, but once they read it, they love it. I suggest you at least give it a shot, but hey, your loss.

It's only 7$, so I'll give it a shot.

And why does Amazon suck that hard? I just made my order at Amazon and it seems that they will ship my books at 8th december. Delivery estimate: january 2007. **** that ****. Consider myself owned

Anyway, I'm going to make a second order next month, so every suggestion is still welcome. I cancelled the Halo books, so once again I'll ask if they're any good.

btw are the mass market paperback books of good quality? I might actually wait 10 years or even more before I get to reading one of the books and I'm buying them with that in mind.

And why does Amazon suck that hard? I just made my order at Amazon and it seems that they will ship my books at 8th december. Delivery estimate: january 2007. **** that ****. Consider myself owned

It never takes as long as it says to ship anything from Amazon. My orders usually ship within a week.

And read Ender's Game, it rocks. I should have said that at the start, but it slipped my mind.
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Iris

It never takes as long as it says to ship anything from Amazon. My orders usually ship within a week.

Really? How long does Amazon tell you to wait before they ship? Same as me, 2 months?

And read Ender's Game, it rocks. I should have said that at the start, but it slipped my mind.

Definately. Looks like I'm starting to build up a pretty nice book collection

kinopio

Dune is awesome, but like Pelican said don't expect much fast paced action and stuff. Also Dune is actually just the first book (or first two depending on editions, so beware of that) in a much longer series.

IIRC Lost World is just as good if not actually better than Jurassic Park. So get both, eventually.

I'll just read the first book of each and order more if I like them.

A last thing: Have you considered Stephen King?

I've read summaries of his books and they're the kind of horror stories I don't like.

Stabby

Really? How long does Amazon tell you to wait before they ship? Same as me, 2 months?

Yeah, always some ridiculous amount of time that turns out to be way off. It will probably take longer or shorter to arrive depending on where you live (I'm in Ireland and it's about 7-9 days on average).

I don't know how it goes if you're planning on getting a bunch of stuff at the same time, the most I ever buy is 2 items.

I've read summaries of his books and they're the kind of horror stories I don't like.

I don't like Stephen King's horror books, but his other stuff is great. Make sure to read The Shawshank Redemption (or Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, to give it it's full title). It's only a novella, but it's better than most other full-legnth books I've ever read. The Dark Tower series is also good, albeit extremely odd in places.

IIRC Lost World is just as good if not actually better than Jurassic Park. So get both, eventually.

How similar are the books to the movies?
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