This is tricky (even though I think it's one of my questions). I read a lot of classics, which means I often start with books that are already famous or well regarded.
Unless, I think of something better, I'll say Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice.
A lot of casual Rice/vampire fans act as if she wrote 3 vampire books, but she's written 13 so far and this is #5. With this one, she really opened up her cosmology, elaborating on vampire origins but also covering heaven and hell (literally) with religious mania thrown in. Heavy stuff for a sequel.
I could EASILY go for Department 19 here, since it seems not the greatest amount of people are aware it exists. I'm not going to, though, because the first one that came to mind was this:
This was written by Drew Karpyshyn, who used to work for Bioware, and was a writer on Mass Effect 1 & 2, before leaving after working on Star Wars The Old Republic to work on his fantasy book series, with Children of Fire being the first in the series. I really did enjoy this book. It's a good concept (at least to me), and it seems as though not many people think it is good, or even knows about it. Here is a synopsis, if anyone is interested:
Wizard, Warrior, Prophet, King. The Immortal Daemron, know as the Slayer, was all these things before his ascension.
Trapped in a realm of Chaos for centuries by the Old Gods, using a magical barrier known as The Legacy, a last desperate ritual will herald the return of Chaos to the human world, and the lives of four children will never be the same.
The mortal realm is a balance of secular and religious authority, with The Order of the Crown holding much power over humanity, its members gifted with amazing abilities and all children with magical talents are theirs to claim.
Cassandra, Vaaler, Scythe and Keegan grow up in different places and with different lives, but all share the taint of Chaos magic. As various factions struggle to find the best solution to the coming return of Chaos, the fate of the world is in their hands.
I've got to mention this, though:
I'm mentioning this for pretty much the exact same reasons as I did Children of Fire. With this, I didn't know a single thing about it going in. I started this, and it seemed to be your standard YA sort of stuff. It's about this kid called Will Drake, who's made a name out of escaping different prisons. These talents landed him on The Rig, a specialist juvenile facility in the middle of the arctic.
It seems like your standard prison break sort of stuff, until the introduction of Crystal-X, a substance that can provide superpowers, of sorts. As I mentioned, It's kind of X-Men meets Prison Break. It's a great book, and I think more people should read it. What I learned about this book last week was that it was wrote in 11 days. That shocked me a little. Again, here is a synopsis if anyone is interested:
Fifteen-year-old Will Drake has made a career of breaking out from high-security prisons. His talents have landed him at The Rig, a specialist juvenile holding facility in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. No one can escape from The Rig. No one except for Drake...
After making some escape plans and meeting the first real friends of his life, Drake quickly realises that all is not as it seems on The Rig. The Warden is obsessed with the mysterious Crystal-X - a blue, glowing substance that appears to give superpowers to the teens exposed to it. Drake, Tristan and Irene are banking on a bid for freedom - but can they survive long enough to make it?
Originally posted by Avatar Aang
When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.
Day 20: If you could meet and discuss literature with any author past or present, who would it be?
While there are MANY authors I would love to discuss literature with (Including Dickens and Shakespeare, as Space Cop put), I don't think I could pick just one, and among others, two I always wanted to discuss literature with were these two:
Jules Verne and H.G. Wells
Originally posted by Avatar Aang
When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.
It would be interesting to get them in the room together since Verne was critical of Wells (I personally find Wells easier to read) and his less scientific approach.
I'm not the biggest fan of Shakespeare, but I really love the rendition of Macbeth starring Ian Mckellen that I had to watch for my English class in high school, so I'm going with that.
Day 22: Favorite Poem
Without a doubt, my favorite is The Divine Comedy.
Day 23: Favorite Novel not yet adapted to a movie or show? Do you want it to be?
I've already mentioned quite a few (Department 19, The Rig, Ready Player One), but today, I'm going for this:
Originally posted by Avatar Aang
When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.
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