What Books really rock/shock your world?

Here's a trilogy of untamed,super squeamish,visceral,apocalyptic,alien invasion barnstormers from Scott Sigler...
A possible ATS member judging by the ideas in the books I think.

Book1:



www.amazon.co.uk...=nb_sb_ss_i_0_14?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=infected+scott+sigler&sprefix=infected+scott%2Cstripbooks%2 C249

Infected,Man what a ride...Guy gets a space bug which starts to take over his body and mind.

Book 2 is called "Contagious"
Book three "Pandemic"

Seasoned ATSers will spot all manner of "alternative"ideas from Morgellons,to black knight satellitte,off the books black projects and beyond.
An awesome yet nauseating adrenalin fuelled struggle to prevent a new world order of a different,an alien kind.
Not to be missed if you like that sort of subject matter,read these ASAP folks!

The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart is a brilliantly conceived book and very cleverly written. It was a cult book in the 80s

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Can you believe I only just now realized that this thread is in existence ?!




I've got my pen and paper in front of me writing down a whole bunch of books that sound interesting and grab my attention... awesome thread !




I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention this book yet:

"A Canticle For Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller Jr

It's not necessarily a "life changer" but it was certainly one of the first books that made me stop and think about the world around me and coming to the realization that humanity truly is on a neverending cycle of repeated death and destruction... over and over again.

It's a sci-fi novel that takes place in the far off future 600 years after a nuclear war causes the survivors to fear all science and technology ultimately resulting in the world stepping back into a "dark age".... and then carries on through the ages for another 1800+ years following humanity's gradual evolution towards the long lost knowledges of science and technology once again.

a reply to: CranialSponge

Hey nice 1 cranial sponge-I haven't heard of that book,but I will try to grab a copy.
Sounds like a good one.
Cheers!

a reply to: CranialSponge

I am also finding many recommendations! This is a great thread for those who are always seeking new (to them) authors and unread books.

Thanks,

Some may have read Graham Hancock's most famous book "fingerprints of the gods"about ancient long lost civilisations and their knowledge.I have just read his latest book-Its a novel(1st of a trilogy)about the Spanish conquest of Mexico,from the point of view of both sides,the Spanish Conquistadores led by Hernan Cortes,and the natives of Mexico(Mayans,Aztecs).

This is a great read,and well researched by Hancock,with a diverse cast of characters and lots of religious mysticism added to the mix.
For anyone who read the OP in this thread,you will notice my second reccomendation was the almighty "Aztec" by Gary Jennings.Hancocks take on the same story is excellent,although I have to say it didn't have the same effect on me as Jennings masterwork-No waking up screaming in a cold sweat after dreaming I was being ritually skinned alive by Aztec priests!
But that's not a bad thing.
Anyway,for folks interested in this period of history,"War God,Nights of the Witch"is one heck of a good read IMO.Its interesting to see the story unfold from characters on boths sides,which seems to really add to the futility of the blood spilt by both sides-Both for their god,both brutal,both inhuman.

There is a scene which really sums this up-A monk of the inquisition is burning villagers to death because they were doing human sacrifice and worshiping idols-the remaining villagers have no concept of christianity,so they believe that the Spanish are simply sacrificing their people to this new god of Spain...As for the Inquisitor himself-Hancock may have just created one of the most loathesome,evil characters I have ever read.Read the book to find out more!



www.amazon.co.uk...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406120280&sr=8-1&keywords=war+god

The second book of the trilogy is out in October this year BTW.

a reply to: the_philth

Great book, read this about 40 years ago. It sowed the seeds of how the sheep cannibalised and martyred/created a god out of a spaceman. (obviously Heinlein was referring to Christianity).

If you like SF try Greg Bears Forge of God, and Eon..I love Bears imagination

a reply to: jiggerj

How can I forget Thomas Covenants First and Second Chronicles. The Power of White Gold in a Wounded Land...held by an Antihero!

Before I forget...A book published in 1968 John Brunner: Stand On Zanzibar


en.wikipedia.org...
The primary engine of the novel's story is overpopulation and its projected consequences,[2] and the title refers to an early twentieth-century claim that the world's population could fit onto the Isle of Wight – which has an area of 381 square kilometres (147 sq mi) – if they were all standing upright. Brunner remarked that the growing world population now required a larger island; the 3.5 billion people living in 1968 could stand together on the Isle of Man (area 572 square kilometres (221 sq mi)), while the 7 billion people who he (correctly) projected would be alive in 2010 would need to stand on Zanzibar (area 1,554 square kilometres (600 sq mi)).[4] Throughout the book, the image of the entire human race standing shoulder-to-shoulder on a small island is a metaphor for a crowded world.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevski, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alghieri,


and Mile Zero by Thomas Sanchez (a novel about Key West and a bunch of interesting characters, including criminals, refugees, cops and a beautiful island woman of the gypsy type). Book Details

Thus spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzsche
The Critique of Pure Reason - Immanuel Kant
The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding - David Hume
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion - David Hume

These are just a few which come from the top of my head, there are definitely many more.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Two books really did this for me: 2150 by Thea Alexander and Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach.

"The Secret" Ronda Byrne

I've read a lot of books in my time and it's been a long while since I read one I couldn't put down. The most recent in years would have to be The Transhumanist Wager by Zoltan Istvan.

www.amazon.co.uk...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467723401&sr=8-1&keywords=The+transhumani st+wager" target="_blank" class="postlink">www.amazon.co.uk...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467723401&sr=8-1&keywords=The+transhumanist+ wager

I recently read a book called 'leaning towards infinity' that really just shook my world up a bit, but instead of a disorganized mess resulting it actually made thing a lot clearer.