SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Hi,

Currently I'm exceedingly broke and my parents would kill me if I spent any money on them, so I'm doing something a little different for my step dad for Christmas/Solstice: I'm putting together a list of book ideas that he might like with synopses, reviews, etc. I was hoping you all could help me out with ideas. He likes weird and quirky books.

The two books he read most recently and loved were Matt Ruff's Bad Monkeys [ Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; :]and Door Number Three by Patrick O'Leary [Just when you thought nothing new could be done with time travel, lucid dreaming, alien abduction, shapeshifting, and World War III, along comes Patrick O'Leary, fusing them in a grand, sardonic comedy of consensual reality gone awry.:] I'm pretty sure he'll love Jennifer Government [In the horrifying, satirical near future of Max Barry's Jennifer Government, American corporations literally rule the world. Everyone takes his employer's name as his last name.:] and I think he would love Snow Crash [It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should.:]

So, any ideas of books he might like? Thank you in advance.

I'd look into Good Omens if he likes some comedy in his weird and wacky. Also Jasper Fford's Thursday Next books might be worth a look. And if he likes Lovecraft at all or spy/mysteries with a with a spin to the bizarre check out Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross.

Vacation by Jeremy Shipp would probably fit the bill.

Argh! I can't believe I didn't think of Connie Willis!

Sewer, Gas and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy if he likes matt ruff

Anything by A. Lee Martinez! He takes traditional fantasy motifs and turns them into sweet satire. They're highly addictive!

Tom Holt novels are pretty quirky.

These are all great! I definitely think he'll like To Say Nothing of the Dog and the Thursday Next novels. I liked those, too. I have a Tom Holt novel I haven't read so I'll look at that and all these other suggestions. Thanks so much! (And keep 'em coming!)

Kelly wrote: "Hi,

Currently I'm exceedingly broke and my parents would kill me if I spent any money on them, so I'm doing something a little different for my step dad for Christmas/Solstice: I'm putting togeth..."

Would Gaiman be weird enough for him? American Gods and Anansi Boys have quite a bit of quirkiness to them.

I want to thank you all for these suggestions (and if you come up with more, I'm still taking titles!) I thought you all might like to see the list I've come up with so far from your recommendations and suggestions from elsewhere.

The books in bold I loved. The ones in italic I liked a lot. Infinite Jest is the only one I hated. Thanks to you all I've expanded my own to-read list!

A. Lee Martinez: Anything
Angela Carter: The Infernal Desire Machines Of Doctor Hoffman
Barry Hughart: Bridge Of Birds
Carlton Mellick III: Fishy-Fleshed
Charles Stross: Atrocity Archives
Chris Genoa: Foop
Christopher Moore: Practical Demonkeeping
Connie Willis: To Say Nothing Of The Dog
Connie Willis: Bellweather
Connie Willis: Impossible Things
Daniel Handler: Watch Your Mouth
David Foster Wallace: Infinite Jest
David Gerrold: Man Who Folded Himself
Diana Wynn Jones: Dark Lord Of Derkholm
Ian M. Banks: Whit
Jaspar Ffords: Eyre Affair
Jeremy Shipp: Vacation
Matt Ruff: Sewer, Gas And Electric The Public Works Trilogy
Max Barry: Jennifer Government
Neal Gaiman: Good Omens
Neal Gaiman: American Gods
Neal Gaiman: Anansi Boys
Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash
Nick Walker: Blackbox
Ra Macavoy: Tea With The Black Dragon
Rob Grant: Incompetence
Sean Stewart: Mockingbird
Terry Jones: Starship Titanic
Terry Pratchett: Colour Of Magic
Tom Holt: Anything
Matt Ruff: Bad Monkeys
Patrick O'Leary: Door Number Three

Thank you again!

Three come to mind if you are still working on this:


Space-pop:
The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad

Dark weird fantasy:
The Scar
Lye Street

FUN:

Ben Bova: The Sam Gunn Omnibus

Awesome fun read.

Have to check out Liberation by Brian Francis Slattery. best book i read all year.

Try this classic if he hasn't aready read it: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

-Vince

Vincent wrote: "Try this classic if he hasn't aready read it: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

-Vince"

I'm reading this as an ebook on my BlackBerry this month (when I can tear myself away from the Best of Robert E. Howard anthology. :)

I'm sure you'll enjoy it, Jon!

It's fairly short, so you'll probably finish it within a few days.