Some fiction stories or series to read?

Comikkaze

Comikkaze

I really wanna get into reading fiction to work on story development but I don't know of any good fiction stories. I would prefer for them to be series but hopefully something that hasn't been made into a movie cause chances are I've seen the movie already lol. If you have any series that are out now that you are into can you let me know? Thanks :)
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
I'm going to try not to be facaetious with this answer but what you really want are novels.

They are the purest, most uncontrived, form of storytelling available to us as humans.

Don't look for novels that are series because they tend to be, to make a rash generalization, less good. I'm sure you don't need me or anyone here to tell you which novels you should be reading but if you do want recommendations then feel free to ask.

The best books are the best way to learn about story. Full stop.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
NickClapper said:
I'm going to try not to be facaetious with this answer but what you really want are novels.

They are the purest, most uncontrived, form of storytelling available to us as humans.

Don't look for novels that are series because they tend to be, to make a rash generalization, less good. I'm sure you don't need me or anyone here to tell you which novels you should be reading but if you do want recommendations then feel free to ask.

The best books are the best way to learn about story. Full stop.
Click to expand...

You know I was actually thinking that maybe individual novels would be better when I posted this... I would really like some recommendations though. I just want something that can take me away from what I'm dealing with right now. If I can learn some good story telling techniques along the way then that's just gravy :lol:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Here's a few of my favourites

"Scarecrow" series by Matthew Reilly
"Jack West Jnr" series by Matthew Reilly
(Or any stand alone novels by Matthew Reilly)
"Lachlan Fox" series by James Phelan
"Jack Ryan" series by Tom Clancy

Hope this helps
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hmm... difficult to make specific recommendations without knowing the person but you might like to try things like Jane Eyre, Catch-22, Brideshead Revisited..etc but if you'd like something more modern then I'm a big fan of Coetzee, Ishiguro, Franzen, David Mitchell (not the comedian)...etc.

If I had to recommend just one book?

Disgrace by JM Coetzee, it changed the way I write.

Or maybe The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, that's an almost perfect novel.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks for the suggestions... thats why I love this community, you guys are the perfect mix of helpful and hurtful to get someone going in the right direction lol. The perfect blend of people to give advice
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
There are excellent short story series that were written back in the pulp days. Robert E. Howard's "Conan" stories for example, are incredibly entertaining, although obviously these rights are not available. But there are many others, and many great novelists began in this format. Much of Lovecraft's work is public domain, and there are hundreds of old "Black Mask" detective and noir-ish stories that are available. I'd say that public domain pulp is a great place to get stories or story ideas.

Good overview here:

http://www.publicdomaintreasurehunt...-domain-pulp-fiction-is-a-whole-lot-more-fun/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Try reading Umberto Eco.
Top notch literature.
'The name of the rose' was deemed unfilmable, but was translated into film anyway. (Maybe a cool case to study transfering written stories to the screen?)
'Foucault's pendulum' is a masterpiece as well.
Eco's books won't literally teach you how to write a script, but they are worth reading!

Frederique Forsyth knows how to build characters and stories as well, but a lot of them are made into movies (Dogs of war, The negotiator, Day of the Jackall).

I like to read fantasy.
So I can recommend:
'The Etched City' by Bishop (starts like western :cool: )
'Street Station Perdido' by China Mieville (great, compelling and insane)
'The Malazin Books of the fallen'-series by Steven Erikson: very original, great characters, but a little bit complex as well.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Seconding both Wheel of Time and Foucault's Pendulum! I was also particularly fond of Baudalino. Some others of my favorites (I read a LOT):

Charles de Lint: various newford stories and novels. Start with Dreams Underfoot which blurs the line between a short story collection and a novel and then read Onion Girl. Urban fantasy/folklore/borderline soap opera stuff, and amazing. Knowing a bit about Celtic music, folklore and Native American spirituality will help, but isn't necessary (and you WILL by the end!)

Clive Barker's "Mr. B Gone". Really any of his books (Weaveworld and The Great and Secret Show are standouts), but Mr. B has an interesting take on metafiction, 4th wall and post-modern horror. Speaking of:

Mark Danielewski "House of Leaves". Brilliant book. Creepy, hypnotic, confusing and aware of the medium.

Neal Stephenson: anything by. "Snowcrash" is fun cyberpunk fare. "The Baroque Cycle" is historical fiction about Isaac Newton, banking and calculus. With pirates. His recent "Anathem" is about an alternate world monestary. He's got a wonderful, casual, hip and witty style that should be inappropriate for what he writes, but somehow it works.

Salaman Rushdie: "the Ground Beneath Her Feet". Dense symbolist magical realisim. All his books are good, but this is my favorite (possibly because as a musician I connected most with it).

Again, I read a lot, so if you want more recommendations, let me know. I do gravitate towards horror, fantasy and sci-fi, but not exclusively. Everything is worth reading at least once!

addendum: don't overlook something because you've already seen the movie. comparing and contrasting different adaptations is something that will help you when it comes to screenplays.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
I second Disgrace. That was a very good book, however also made into a movie with John Malkovich-not a bad rendition though.

I'm gonna go ahead and say Water for Elephants and Portrait of the Artist. If you go slow, its not that hard, and its great for recognizing conflict and resolution, and how to provide events that shape characters into how you wanna write them.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
For pure storytelling ability, I'd say anything by either Stephen King or Neil Gaiman. Two of my absolute favorites.

For specific books, try King's Needful Things, Salem's Lot, or The Dark Tower series, or Gaiman's American Gods, Neverwhere, or Stardust (which is also available as a graphic novel, though this one has been made into a movie).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
WalterB said:
Try reading Umberto Eco.
Top notch literature.
'The name of the rose' was deemed unfilmable, but was translated into film anyway. (Maybe a cool case to study transfering written stories to the screen?)
'Foucault's pendulum' is a masterpiece as well.
Eco's books won't literally teach you how to write a script, but they are worth reading!
Click to expand...


+1 I just finished rereading F's Pendulum yesterday. Great story. If on ly that could be made into a film, that does the book justice.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jeffrey Archer is somewhat underrated in the states

Tom Clancy is very technical and verbose, if you like that kind of thing.

Hunter Thompson writes an interesting fiction/non fiction hybrid

Ray Bradbury sometimes writes regular fiction that's quite unique

Chuck Palinchucknik writes dark and unique works

Micheal Crichton

Dean Koontz

and the obvious, Steven King
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) spins a good yarn.

I like "historical" novels; you may want to check out James Clavell (start with "King Rat" and "Shogun") and Herman Wouk ("The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance").

Orson Scott Card is another fave of mine ("The Lost Boys" is terrific, and horrifying if you're a parent).

Don't get me started on Sci-Fi/Fantasy...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top