i need some help with finding good books?

Question

so...harry potter seven, i finished it in about twelve hours and i believe i am now ready to move away from my secure and fixed location of the young adult section in the library to bigger and better things, i am madly thirsty for a novel that will suck me in just as much as harry potter did. a thick book though, something over 500 pages or it's just childs play. any suggestions? i love wandwaving, magical adventures, quests, i love books in a series and something that's a slight challenge to read. thanks for the help. no harry potter or tolkien, something adult, nothing for little kids. thanks.

Answer 1

I have answered this question so many times, I decided to dedicate a web site to answer this question. Here it is:

http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com

Included is a list of only the best sorcery fantasy books, grade reading level, and a short review of each book. After reading your request, I would recommend either the 1000 Nights and a Night, Tales of the Dying Earth, or The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Thomas Covenant might not qualify as a challenge to read, although it really is *interesting* to read because of his writing style. Dying Earth has some real hum-dinger words in it (I suspect that some of them are made up, but I find many of them in online dictionaries), and it's 700+ pages (4 books combined). 1001 Nights uses some very unusual words as well, many specific to the British occupation of Middle Eastern countries in the late 1800s, and I have had to spend *some* time finding them (there are "phrase and fable" dictionaries online that have proven invaluable). You *can* get modern, scholarly translations of 1001 Nights (for example href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FBook-Thousand-Nights-One-Night%2Fdp%2F0415045436%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1187156210%26sr%3D8-3&tag=wwwjimpettico-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325 ), but the price is fairly hefty, as you can see, and I have not had the chance (or $) to compare any of them to Burton. Burton's complete work on CD http://www.greatworkspreserved.com/nights/index.html (I have this, and it is quite legible, with illustrations), and I also believe that is is available as an ebook (no illustrations) on the web.

I hope this helps.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 2

Hmmm....Well this book is short but its great and I love love LOVE It, Its the Lightning Thief By Rick Riordan. It has that sort of thing with quests and magical adventures. Personally I'm excited to find out what happens next. Although not as much as i was with Harry Potter, but then again no one can beat J.K. Rowling. :] Well i know the book is short and kid like, but i love it and its great.


BTW, wasn't Deathly Hallows amazing??? I loved every part, and how it turned out. Great book, will miss the series sooo much! And just like you i finished the book in some 15 hours. Sorry for suggesting Lightning Thief since its very much kiddish but just imagine it like a novel, just shorter, with bigger font size, and smaller words :]

Answer 3

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series currently consists of 11 published books each running close to or more than 700 pages and is about magic, a quest and the battle against terrible evil and its legions of terrible monsters.

David Eddings Elenium series is shorter but is about a magical quest and gallant knights.

Answer 4

If you want to read something that is a combination Salvador Dali, Silence of the Lambs and the Bible, try BLOOD MERIDIAN. It's based on a true story of a crazy judge who rampaged through Texas with a band of other crazies destroying Mexicans and Indians. Warning, though. The author uses a lot of old-fashioned words, so you might need a dictionary. But it's worth it. Try THE ROAD by the same author.

Answer 5

Can't believe nobody said "Lord of the Rings" yet. It's got all of that, but it can be quite plodding. Also, the Gormanghast novels by Mervyn Peake. Not a lot of magic, but dark and engaging. And if you want to just have a blast, try the "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. It's funny and a fast read.

Answer 6

Try Diana Gabaldon she has a series of- very thick-time travel novels. That start with magical places in Ireland after WWII and continue through a couple of generations in the same family. Lots of detail, you will connect with the characters and not be able to put the books down...but be prepared they are very lenghthy..but fun!! PS and NOT YOUNG ADULT FICTION!

Answer 7

Try The Road by Cormac Mc Carthy. You are quite right that you are ready to raise the bar and read something more substantial. Good for you. You are growing up in a literary sense. Congrats. That is a book you will never ever forget. Pax - C

Answer 8

The Grapes of Wrath- that's what I'm reading now. Dunno if it's 500 pages, but it's long.

The beginning was a bit boring for me, but there are some truly beautiful parts in it, very moving and touching and I'm only on page 37. Those parts were that good that I reread the boring parts, and they weren't boring anymore. I guess they were just boring cus I didn't understand them.

Lotsa symbolism! In every freaken page... That's why it takes me forever to read.

Answer 9

What should I read next?

The website that helps you choose books
to read after you’ve read Harry Potter!

http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com/

Enter a book you like and the site will analyse our database of real readers' favourite books (over 32,000 and growing) to suggest what you could read next.

http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/

http://www.gnod.net/

http://www.allconsuming.net/


Free e-Books

http://www.balajisebookworld.com/page_3.html

There are 19,000 free ebooks in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalogue.

http://www.gutenberg.org/

http://www.truly-free.org/

http://www.bibliomania.com/

http://www.readprint.com/

http://www.readbookonline.net/

Answer 10

I herd Angels and Deamons was a really good book. Then that is supposed to follow into the Da Vinci Code.