\n\tIf you received an Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble gift card this holiday season and you like to read, here are more than 30 book suggestions that cover various aspects of geekery. The list features a mix of fiction and non-fiction and new releases and classics. Most of the books featured are available in Kindle and Nook editions, so you can easily substitute the paper versions linked here for a digital version. If you prefer to view the recommendations in list format, please go to this Geekend post.
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\n\tFifth in the A Song of Ice and Fire series (or, perhaps better known as the Game of Thrones series), A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin continues the epic tale of the Seven Kingdoms where kings and lords, mythical beings, and normal humans exist together in total lack of harmony.
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\n\tIn Dr. Stephen Hawking’s lifetime, he has explored more scientific theories than nearly anyone else and draws rock-concert-sized crowds at his lectures. This latest biography Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind by Kitty Ferguson is the result of more than a decade of firsthand experience with the incredible scientist.
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\n\tCelebrating the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit — and coming out about a year ahead of the highly anticipated movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — Art of the Hobbit is a collection of sketches, drawings, paintings, and maps by Tolkien himself while writing the book, many of which have influenced readers’ imaginations of the world of Bilbo Baggins.
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\n\tIn the games Diablo and Diablo II, Deckard Cain provided quests and story information. Diablo III: Book of Cain is a collection of Cain’s writings as collected by Blizzard Entertainment.
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\n\tThe Star Trek Vault: 40 Years from the Archives by Scott Tipton covers the first 40 years of Star Trek history including an amazing collection of memorabilia — both drawings and items tucked into built-in pockets throughout the book. It also highlights the cultural impact of the Star Trek franchise.
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\n\tStar Wars: The Complete Vader by Ryder Windham and Peter Vilmur is the most definitive collection of information and minutiae on the Dark Lord of the Sith. This book contains information gathered from on-screen appearances, as well as tidbits from books, comics, and video games and memorabilia and collectibles.
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\n\tOne of the most popular science fiction/fantasy/horror/suspense authors of our time, Stephen King returns with 11/22/63: A Novel. Adding to the popular science fiction sub-genre of alternate history, this book looks at what would be like if someone traveled back in time to attempt to stop the Kennedy Assassination.
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\n\tThanks to Jay Garmon and Vicki Huckabee Dixon via Facebook for the suggestion.
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\n\tAnother popular alternate history book, 1632 by Eric Flint is more than just a book; it has several sequels by the author and several by other authors, as well as a massive amount of canon fan fiction, plus the very popular 1632.org official fan site. Fellow Geekend contributor Jay Garmon has mentioned this book before and even lobbied for it to become a movie. I would add, especially with the advent of shows like Terra Nova, that it would make a great TV series. While this book is not available in a Kindle or Nook edition, it is available for free download from the publisher (as well as the first sequel, 1633, and the first fan fiction collection, Ring of Fire).
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\n\tTechRepublic editor Selena Frye is planning on reading Embassytown by China Mi\u00e9ville. It’s a story about a human ambassador in the distant future who interacts with an enigmatic race called the Ariekei whose language is only speakable by a few select, altered humans. This novel does what Mi\u00e9ville does best — push the limits of the entire field of writing.
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\n\tIn a parallel universe, a Gotham-like New York has fallen into a dark age where evil lurks around every corner and its former heroes have devolved into petty feuds with one another. This is the story of Empire State by Adam Christopher.
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\n\tThanks to Jay Garmon for the suggestion.
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\n\tFool: A Novel by Christopher Moore is the story of a moronic king, his daughters, a ghost, and multi-layered plots, as told by the court jester. It’s bound to be witty and funny.
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\n\tThanks to member BurnedSalamander for the suggestion.
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\n\tFor you Girl Genius fans, there’s Agatha H. and the Airship City by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio, the first novel based off the Girl Genius webcomic series. As TechRepublic member BurnedSalamander describes it: “‘Gas Lamp Fantasy’ Steampunk with monsters, mad science, mythology, and a wee bit of magic.” Sure to be a good read for fans of Girl Genius.
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\n\tWhat would you do if you could never die? Or, at least, never stay dead? In the Company of Ogres by A. Lee Martinez is the story of “Never Dead Ned” who dies with alarming frequency — just to rise again from the grave a short while later.
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\n\tThanks to member BurnedSalamander for the suggestion.
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\n\tOne of the most popular books of 2011 is the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It is based on 40 interviews with Jobs, as well as hundreds of others with people who had contact with him over his lifetime. Read Jay Garmon’s Geek Gifts 2011 review of the book.
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\n\tTechRepublic member phelanwolf75 recommends the Kingkiller Chronicles by Partrick Rothfuss. The first in the series, The Name of the Wind, begins the tale of Kvothe, a young man who grows to become a notorious and powerful magician. This novel carries you through his young life in a troupe of traveling players to being an orphan in a crime-riddled city to his bid to enter a school of magic.
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\n\tLeviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey is set in a future where humanity has colonized the moon, Mars, and the asteroid belt. Centered around Jim Holden, the XO of an ice mining ship, this novel delves into a mystery that could mean the death of many.
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\n\tYou’ve probably read at least one Tom Clancy novel or seen a movie based on one, especially those starring Jack Ryan. Clancy’s latest novel, Locked On, continues that story. Jack Ryan, Sr. is running for president again in order to help his country through a dark hour. Meanwhile, his son and the secretive agency “the Campus” are investigating a potential conspiracy.
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\n\tIn recent years, author Seth Grahame-Smith and others have modified classic literature to include zombies, vampires, and other mythical creatures. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith is one such novel.
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\n\tThanks to member BurnedSalamander for the suggestion.
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\n\tIf you combine nearly all of the classic cult science fiction ideas — things like giant Japanese robots, Blade Runner, The Matrix, and flying DeLoreans — what do you get? Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.
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\n\tThanks to Jay Garmon for the suggestion.
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\n\tIn Star Trek, the Mirror Universe is an alternate timeline first discovered in the Original Series episode Mirror, Mirror (“evil, goatee’d Spock” should help you remember). In that time period, the peaceful Federation’s counterpart was the evil, menacing Terran Empire. By the time we visit the Mirror Universe again in Deep Space Nine, the Terran Empire has long-since been overthrown and the humans are little more than slaves (and rebels) to the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance.
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\n\tStar Trek: Mirror Universe: Rise Like Lions by David Mack is the latest in a long line of novels set in the Mirror Universe. It details the final years of the Terran Rebellion and ushers in the new Galactic Commonwealth (an organization not dissimilar to the Federation of the “normal” timeline).
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\n\tWith the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG comes a series of books set in that time period. Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived by Paul S. Kemp is the second such novel, which centers around a Sith named Darth Malgus and the young Jedi rogue who is tracking him down.
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\n\tWell known for his work in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Terry Jones once again seeks out the middle ages with Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives. This largely non-fiction book begins with the medieval archetypes and ends with some colorful characters.
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\n\tThanks to member BurnedSalamander for the suggestion.
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\n\tAnother alternate history series, The Age of Unreason by J. Gregory Keyes follows Ben Franklin and Sir Isaac Newton as they uncover the secrets of alchemy and battle supernatural forces. Newton’s Cannon is the first in the series.
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\n\tThanks to member BurnedSalamander for the suggestion.
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\n\tIn The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Harry Dresden is a wizard who works with police forces to decipher the strange and magical things in the world. Storm Front begins this series.
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\n\tThanks to member phelanwolf75 for the suggestion.
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\n\tFor those of you zombie thriller fans, Zone One: A Novel by Colson Whitehead tells the tale of a post-apocolyptic era where humanity is divided into the uninfected and the infected, the living and the living dead. Now, the provisional American government is trying to reclaim Manhattan from the infected squatters when things start to go wrong.
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\n\tThanks to Jay Garmon for the suggestion.
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\n\tOne could read the Belgariad series (Volume 1 and Volume 2), then read the Malloreon series (Volume 1 and Volume 2), and then follow those up with Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress, but what would you do after that? Why, read The Rivan Codex: Ancient Texts of THE BELGARIAD and THE MALLOREON by David and Leigh Eddings of course.
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\n\tThanks to member phelanwolf75 for the suggestion.
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\n\tReaders of Spin and Axis will surely enjoy Robert Charles Wilson’s new novel, Vortex. Set 10,000 years in the future, when Earth is a dying world and quarantined and humanity is scattered across a chain of planets linked by a series of gateways, this novel will lead the reader on a suspenseful and mysterious journey to solve a prophecy about the Hypotheticals.
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\n\tPhysicist Michio Kaku, inspired by such science fiction staples as Star Trek, Star Wars, and Back to the Future, explores the amazing technologies that appear in these franchises with an informed and serious eye in Physics of the Impossible.
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\n\tThanks to Zelalem Adugna via Facebook for the suggestion.
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\n\tJonathan Smillie told us on our Facebook page that he is currently reading The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. This is the story of how the Oxford English Dictionary was initially created. It might sound boring, but it’s not. For instance, over 10,000 definitions were submitted to the OED by Dr. W C. Minor, an American Civil War veteran and inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane.
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\n\tIf, instead of gift cards this holiday season, you received a shiny new Kindle but are strapped for cash to pick up books for it, you might want to check out the massive amount of classic science fiction, fantasy, and other genres available completely for free. Several examples include Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, and many, many more. If you have another brand of eReader, you also check out sites like Archive.org to download millions of free eBooks.
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