What book should I read next?

[Dweller Dark]

After a couple of months, I managed to finish reading 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I'm having a bit of a hard time deciding what to read next. The ones I have in mind are books that I already own, but haven't started or barely read through as of yet. I'd prefer to start reading a shorter book, but it's possible I'll be just as interested in a longer book as I was with A Space Odyssey. I could have done a poll, but I haven't done one in so long that it would be more confusing than just making a regular post. Anyway, I hope y'all can help me decide and thank you in advance to anyone who does. EDIT: No spoilers, please.

 

These are the options (I tried making a bulleted list but the button didn't work):

 

The Hobbit  - J.R.R. Tolkien (75th anniversary edition, with illustrations) 

 

The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury

 

Neuromancer - William Gibson

 

A Stranger in A Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein

 

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction - Drew Karpyshyn (I may read the rest of the trilogy if I end up getting through this one)

Edited March 10, 2023 by Dweller : Added info

[Redneckerz]

I read Neuromancer, so that one.

Perhaps this could be a poll.

[Wyrmwood]

Only read the Hobbit (Which I got with the ZX Spectrum edition of the text adventure) and Neuromancer. Neuromancer would be my vote from those two. 2001 has sequel, 2010 which is pretty cool too but I'm guessing these are books which you already own.

[Sneezy McGlassFace]

I've heard great things about The Hobbit, but I'd rather recommend Neuromancer. That's one of my all time favourites, hands down. 

I love the story and I love the vision of "near future" from the eyes of 80s tech. It's brilliant. 

[Insaneprophet]

I would have to vote for The Hobbit as it is the only one on the list Ive read and I am a huge fan of fantasy books. Tolkien essencially created the genre with that and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. He borrowed heavily from mythology and folk lore but created something quite magical and epic that has been hailed as a master work ever since. 

[Fiber Wire]

If you liked 2001 then you will definitely enjoy The Martian Chronicles. 

[smeghammer]

Second The Martian Chronicles. Also definitely read 2010 and 2061 by Arthur Clarke as well. 

 

Looks like you are into older SF - if you like A C Clarke suggest you try Eon and Eternity by Greg Bear and check out the SF by Stephen Baxter.

 

Fantasy wise I would definitely recommend The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson. Awe inspiring! Avoid his SF though...

[Dweller Dark]

9 hours ago, Redneckerz said:

I read Neuromancer, so that one.

Perhaps this could be a poll.

 

I had tried doing the poll initially, but the way I remembered it was you needed to make a post along with the poll. And the poll now seems to need its own title and a question on top of all that, unless I was reading it wrong. I didn't really understand how it worked and chose to do a regular post because it was less confusing at the time. The poll was the better choice, though, I agree on that.

[Dweller Dark]

9 hours ago, Wyrmwood said:

Only read the Hobbit (Which I got with the ZX Spectrum edition of the text adventure) and Neuromancer. Neuromancer would be my vote from those two. 2001 has sequel, 2010 which is pretty cool too but I'm guessing these are books which you already own.

 

I have heard of 2010 and the other sequel, but I don't own them yet. I do plan to get them eventually. As for Neuromancer, I've got the Penguin Galaxy hardcover with the Neil Gaiman intro thing at the start, it's a nice version of the book at least from a visual standpoint. 

 

Since it appears Neuromancer has the most votes/recommendations so far, that's probably what I'll read first. And then probably the Hobbit or The Martian Chronicles afterwards.

[BlueThunder]

17 hours ago, Dweller said:

 

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction - Drew Karpyshyn (I may read the rest of the trilogy if I end up getting through this one)

 

I have read this trilogy of books,  very good books,  alot of depth and background on the dark side and the rule of two if your a star wars fan like myself

[Xerenogan]

If you like Bradbury, you might like Asimov.
The Foundation trilogy by Issac Asimov.

[MrFlibble]

I have read The Martian Chronicles several times and I love it, definitely recommend. But The Hobbit is nice too.

[joepallai]

Stranger in a Strange Land was a great read though by now will come off a bit dated.  Neuromancer was probably my favorite book for the longest time so that's a good choice (it has it all).   Bradbury is excellent overall and most likely to be the best choice here.

[Misty]

You can't never go wrong with Hobbit and other Tolkien books. 

[Naarok0fkor]

Try Carlos Castaneda...

[Dweller Dark]

I figured I'd update y'all on how this went: 

 

So, I ended up reading The Hobbit and the little bit of Fellowship of the Ring that my physical copy includes at the end, and it was a great read even if it was a little more intensive for me to read (I find that some books with long chapters are a bit hard for me to get through, and the way Tolkien describes things is a little hard to follow sometimes). I don't have a physical copy of the LOTR book(s), so I'm gonna be reading one of the other books I mentioned. I'm leaning towards Neuromancer or A Stranger In A Strange Land, but I haven't really figured out which of the two I want to read yet. If they have long chapters like The Hobbit, it may be tough for me to get through them without causing myself mental fatigue.

[Dweller Dark]

Another update:

 

I finally finished Neuromancer a little while ago, and it was more enjoyable than I expected, but also a little harder to read than The Hobbit. I ended up consulting a Shmoop guide after reading each chapter to understand it better, which helped quite a lot. I found the story to be pretty good, albeit well-worn ground considering all the cyberpunk media that uses the basic idea as inspiration (heist story, basically). The technology described is also pretty good, even if some of it is a little antique and obsolete in 2023, and I like the moral/ethical/existential questions raised throughout. I didn't quite gist with all of the important characters, mostly because I had a hard time visualizing what they looked or sounded like, but they're all alright. 

 

With Neuromancer done, I think I'm going to work on reading more of the shorter novels in my collection. There's only about two books left in the shorter category, The Martian Chronicles and Masters of Doom, so it's gonna be one of those. I think Masters of Doom is just a few chapters shorter, so it might be that one.