Its pretty much always a gaurantee that i'm in the middle of a book. If i'm not in the middle of reading a book, then its time to start worrying about me. I've been an avid reader pretty much since i learned how to read. As a kid i liked reading Mark Twain, Hank the Cowdog series, Bunnicula Series, Where the Red Fern Grows, and the Chronicles of Narnia. Those were my favoties that i remember. If you notice a patern, i'm really into adventure and fantasy. Nothing has changed. Below is a list of some of my favorite books.
Currently Reading:
Just Read:
Star Wars:
Of COURSE Star Wars books have their own section.
Dur!
I'll be the first person to say that most Star Wars books suck ass. The books below are
the exceptions.
(not all of the exceptions tho)
(For more info on SW books that suck ass, see the bottom of my Star Wars page)
X-wing Series
These are the first four books of the X-wing seies,
written by Mike Stackpole.
These books follow the exploits of Rogue Squadron and Wedge Antilles, and also introduced
the character of Corran Horn, the second most popular expanded universe character next to
Mara Jade. These books were the first ones to follow characters other than the big
three, and they brought humanity (figuratively speaking) back to the Star Wars galaxy.
These four books are my favorite books of all time.
These are Aaron Allstons contributions to the X-wing Series, with the Wraith Squadron books. While not as profoundly profound as the first four books, Allston managed to bring humor to the Star Wars universe. Some of my favorite quotes are from these books. :) I mean really. Who can ever forget "Yub Yub Commander!"
"Pirates!"
"Well Pirates to you too!"
Cant leave thissun out. This is Stackpoles book to wrap up what he started in the first four.
But alas, didnt i just say that book wrapped up the series?
There's prequels of COURSE. Dur!
These, my friends, are the Rogue Squadron comics. These are my bread and butter.
They kept me alive during college, living month to month, waiting for the next
comic to come out. When the series ended i thought it was the end of the world.
These comics cover most of the the back story to the books. The old Squadron,
Wedges history, Baron Fel's history, and even appearances by heroes and villains that will
later play a major role in the history of the Galaxy. The best one of these is The
Phantom Affiar. (The first mini-seies isnt shown here. There's actually one
more)
This is I, Jedi, also by Mike Stackpole. Not part of the X-wing series, but its Corran Horns story, so i think it belongs here. This is, i believe, the only Star Wars novel to be written in first person. This is an EXTREMELY good book. By far one of the best Star Wars books ever written, and the only one i've bought in hardcover when it first came out.
Thrawn Trilogy
These are the books that brought an end to the Dark Times.
Written by Timothy Zahn, the first book, Heir to the Empire, was released in 1991.
Before that time, no new Star Wars merchandise or books or Star Wars ANYTHING had been
produced since the release of Return of the Jedi.
These books revived the worlds interest in Star Wars.
They also introduced the most popular Expanded Universe character, Mara Jade.
And these are the books that saved the Expanded Universe from itself.
Spectre of the Past and Visions of the Future, also by Timothy Zahn are the books that put
an end to the reckless stupidity of other Star Wars books. These books are what set
shit straight, and for that i am forever grateful.
The best part: Luke and Mara hook up FINALLY!
If you're wondering what i'm talking about, see the bottom of my Star Wars page.
New Jedi Order
The New Jedi Oder is a unique thing in the world of Star Wars publishing. I dont recall who exactly concieved of it, but Lucas Licensing gathered the best of the Star Wars authors, threw them together in a small room, and told them to come up with a plot. Not just any plot. A massive, profoundly profound plot of extreme importance. Something so amazing, so unbelieveable, so disturbing, and yet so... Star Wars, that no more post- Return of the Jedi books need ever to be published again. They did just that. That is the New Jedi Order.
This is Vector Prime, by R.A. Salvatore. What amazed me the most about this book was the use of characters. The characters were so real, so fleshed out, that it just blew me away. For the first time the Solo kids were people, not plot devices or two demensional characters. Chewbacca was a character with personality, not just stuck in there because Chewie had to be squeezed in there somehow. And of course there's the thing that this book is most fameous for: the death of Chewie. It wasnt the wasted or unjust death, that seems to happen to so many Star Wars characters. This book made me cry, and drove home the profound profoundness of the New Jedi Order.
<
Onslaught and Ruin by Mike Stackpole.
As you can tell the New Jedi Order books arent brimming with happiness and glee. :)
The rest. Books by poeple other than Mike Stackpole. ;)
The best part: the birth of Luke and Maras kid. FINALLY. :)
There's a new one out, Star by Star, but i havent read it yet because its only out on
hardcover.
I'm currenly really pissed at the Star Wars Insider for giving away an important part of
the ending. :(
One of my favorite characters dies, apparently. }:(
How rude!
Sooooo! At this point (if you even made it this far) you must be
asking yourself:
"Does The Tekeness read ANYTHING not Star Wars or Harry Potter!?"
She Does! And most of it is by Mike Stackpole! LOL!
Battletech:
Believe it or not.... These books are by Mike Stackpole.
LOL.
I read them originally just because he wrote them.
The Battletech universe turned out to be far cooler than i ever imagined.
And they Just get better and better.
These books are some seriously good shit.
I dont think i need to say who wrote them.
And then there's my favorite BTech book, Assumption of
Risk which i dont have a pic for.
Also by He-Who-Need-Not-Be-Named. ;)
Forgotten Realms:
Look! Something not by Mike Stackpole!
I was so impressed after reading Vector Prime, that i wanted to read the books that R.A.
Salvatore were fameous for, the Icewind Dale Trilogy, and its friends. Each one of
the above books is actually three books in one, and theres one more i havent read yet, Sea
of Swords. My favorite is the Dark Elf Trilogy. Talk about character
development... This is more like character evolution. Hell, character life.
I think that perhaps Drizzt Do'Urden is one of my most favorite fictional
characters of all time. I was just blown away by The Dark Elf Trilogy. Its
strange tho, i tried reading other things by Salvatore, but they just arent that
interesting. He's no Stackpole.
The Lord of the Rings:
Wondering when i was going to get to it, werent you? LOL.
These books are a little hard to read because they're real heavy on description, and the
language used in the style of writing is more than a little unusual. Dont forget,
Tolkien was a linguist. Its all good tho, because LOTR and The Hobbit just woldnt be
the same without the weirdness. And the singing, dont forget the singing....
(Cant say i terribly miss Tom Bombadil from the movie, LOL)
If you've never read LOTR and are a little worried about understanding
the movie,
(or if you're just curious) click here.
Anne Rice:
I havent read Anne Rice is YEARS, but i'm putting her here because when
i liked her, i REALLY liked her.
Anne Rice books helped me thru high school. :) I really liked all the weird
gothicness, and the gothic weirdness.
My favorite Anne Rice book is The Witching Hour. This book is longer than the Bible. No Joke. And its like tiny print on tissue paper. This book tho... I was amazed by it because of the feel.. the setting, the place. The... i guess ambiance is the best word. Its so creepy and entrancing, and fascinating. I've never read anything like it, even in her other books.
The Mummy was a cool one. I liked it a lot.
The Vampire Chronicles! Hooray! :) I stopped with
Memnoch the Devil.
That was supposed to be the last book of the Chronicles, and so it shall be for me.
Screw Armand. :P
George R.R. Martin:
I dont know a damn thing about the guy who wrote these, but they're
durned good books!
Not to mention REALLY long, so they'll keep you busy for a while. The longer the
story the better IMO.
Mike Stackpole:
AND he has his own section!? By the Gods....
Talion:Revanant. The first novel the Mighty Mike wrote, which also
happens to be my favorite.
I actually had a little discussion with Mike about that. He's a little put off
because he said one would think that as he gained experience, he became a better author.
Oh well! I like this one! LOL. Too bad! Experience
Exshmerience. :P
Ah, the Chaos books. :) When i read A Hero Born, i was like
"hey this is pretty cool!" When i read An Enemy Reborn, i was like
"Magic evil boots with eyeballs in San Rafael, CA? Weird!" Weird?
You have NO idea. I fell in love. LOL.
(A word to the unwise: I used to live about ten minutes from San Rafael, and i was
actually IN San Rafael, right near the mall where the scene takes place, when i read that
part. Weird!) Oh, this is also one of Stackpoles Chess books. You see,
he's apparenly very fond of chess, and incorporates playing chess into a lot of his
stories. I bet he liked Harry Potter. ;)
This book has Elves in it. I read it when i was just starting to get into fantasy. I was of the mind that elves were short people who made toys and cookies. Boy was i silly! This book set me straight.
I was suprised when i read this book. He put all kinds of strange things in here. Everyhting from religious stuff to airships like in Final Fantasy. The best part: A blind guy (old silver eyes over there) playing chess. But of course CHESS. This is Stackpole, would you expect less?
I havent read the sequels to this yet. This book isnt long, but
damn is it cool.
Its like a mix between Blade Runner, Final Fantasy 7, the X-files, and of course the mind
of the Mighty Mike. The last time i talked to him (which was a long time ago) he was
recommending me try to adapt this book to screenplay. Apparenly Mighty Mike wants a
movie. :) Good Man.
Dark Glory War. Wow. Good shit.
The best part: Tarrant Hawkins is a hottie. The worst part: unhappy
highly disturbing ending!
Well kids thats it! Get reading! You have a lot of catching
up to do dont you?
So many Mike books, so little time...
