HELP!!!! Which do I read first?

[Russell Nash]

A friend is moving to California for 5 years.  She lent me 2 boxes of books.  I need help deciding what to read first and what not to read.  I'll put up some of the books now and others as we go along.  I'd appreciate any feedback.

1) Ringworld & The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven.  Inside the cover it says part of the Known Space series.  Should I read the series in the right order or does it not matter?

2) Good Omens by Neil Gaimen & Terry Pratchett

3) Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson

4) Starship Titanic by Terry Jones

5) Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell.  Read it in middle school.  Should I reread it?

6) The Snake's Pass & The Liar of the White Worm by Bram Stoker.

I'll add more of the titles later.

[gelee]

Definately read Ringworld before Ringworld Engineers.  I haven't read Engineers, only Ringworld, but those are the first two of the series.
I would suggest re-reading 1984 if it's been at least 15 years since middle school.  If you're still in high school, you can definately get something more out of it, but until you're in the realm of 30, I don't think you can appreciate some of the issues Orwell is dealing with. 

[DKT]

I've only read 1984 and Good Omens.  I'd suggest you read Good Omens first, especially since you've been reading a lot Pratchett's stuff.  It's very funny.  1984 is great, though. 

Let me know how the Stoker stuff is.  All I've read by him is Dracula.

[Ocicat]

Thumbs up on Ringworld and the Engineers.  Do not go further in the series.  He wrote more, years later, after his poor mind had gone.  Do not attempt.

Thumbs up on Good Omens, and really, anything else by Gaiman.  I like Prachet and all, but Gaiman's work is more my style.  Here though their styles blend perfectly.

Quicksilver I haven't read.  I adore alternate history, but my friend who have read it don't recommend it.

Starship Titanic is alright.  Shouldn't be on top of the pile though.

1984 deserves a re-read, yes - particularly in light of today's politics.

I haven't read the Stokers, though I've seen the movie version of Lair of the White Worm.  Which is gloriously bad, in a very fun way.

[DDog]

Good Omens!

[Russell Nash]

She also gave me the complete disworld collection, all the way up to Making Money.

[Bdoomed]

i say you read 1984 again i loved that book, read it in middle school too!

[Russell Nash]

i say you read 1984 again i loved that book, read it in middle school too!

I was definately going to read it again.  It was more a question of  when should I start it.  Middle school was over twenty years ago, so I only remember the images with the female runner in the shorts throwing the hammer through the big screen with the guys face.

[DDog]

She also gave me the complete disworld collection, all the way up to Making Money.

Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor in total envy.

[Russell Nash]

She also gave me the complete disworld collection, all the way up to Making Money.

Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor in total envy.

When I finish reading them, I have to give them back.

[Heradel]

I think it's more of a "if I was single, I would be asking if she was single" kind of thing.

Also, if she's the kind of person that has to have all of them, how is she going to be able to not live with them for five years?

I have most of them. Still missing some of the earlier ones, and I only have Making Money in audiobook form right now.

[Listener]

Good Omens.

Then read it again.

I just read it last summer (for about the 10th time) and found something I'd missed.  I love when that happens.

[Russell Nash]

I think it's more of a "if I was single, I would be asking if she was single" kind of thing.

Also, if she's the kind of person that has to have all of them, how is she going to be able to not live with them for five years?

I have most of them. Still missing some of the earlier ones, and I only have Making Money in audiobook form right now.

Moving stuff from Germany to California is insanely exprensive.  She was up to five boxes she wanted to take when she realized she had to leave most of them.

[Heradel]

Hopefully there's a good public library near her then.

[Russell Nash]

Hopefully there's a good public library near her then.

She's going to be at UCDavies.  It's not far from San Fran and San Fran is lousy with second-hand bookstores.

[wakela]

My limited understanding of the Discworld series is that they can be read in any order.  The books have inside jokes and references to each other, but nothing plot-critical. 

I also vote for 1984.  I found it absolutely terrifying.

[Heradel]

My limited understanding of the Discworld series is that they can be read in any order.  The books have inside jokes and references to each other, but nothing plot-critical. 

I also vote for 1984.  I found it absolutely terrifying.

They can, but honestly it's a better read if you do them in order — at least character arc wise. So all the Watch ones together, all the Witch ones, and all the Moist Von Lipwig ones.

[Russell Nash]

My limited understanding of the Discworld series is that they can be read in any order.  The books have inside jokes and references to each other, but nothing plot-critical. 

I also vote for 1984.  I found it absolutely terrifying.

They can, but honestly it's a better read if you do them in order — at least character arc wise. So all the Watch ones together, all the Witch ones, and all the Moist Von Lipwig ones.

I'm reading all of the discworlds straight through from #1-#36? (is that how many there are?)

I always try to read an author's work in order if I can.

The question was more of what should I intersperse among the discworlds.

[Russell Nash]

Here are a few more:

Why You Should Never Beam Down in a Red Shirt by Robert W. Bly

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Osterman Weekend by Robert Ludlum

Nice by Jen Sacks

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

All of the rest are books I've read before plus several mythology books, a couple history books, and a few useless information books.

[Ocicat]

Highest marks from that pile go to Frankenstein for me.  A true classic that's never been done justice in film.

Alice in Wonderland (and through the Looking glass) are fantastic as well.  Very unique.  If you haven't read them, or just read them as a kid, you should really enjoy them.  At least if you like wordplay, math, chess, philosophy, or even just whimsy. 

[Planish]

The Ringworld Engineers[/i][/url] by Larry Niven.  Inside the cover it says part of the Known Space series.  Should I read the series in the right order or does it not matter?

There is a series of Ringworld-related stories, of which "Ringworld" is the first. It is set within his "Known Space" 'verse, which has many non-Ringworld novels and short stories.
The Ringworld sub-series could stand alone, but there are things in other novels that are referenced. I could name one in particular, but that might be a bit of a spoiler.

Re-reading Nineteen Eighty-Four as an adult - very different experience from when I read it in High School.

[Ocicat]

In general, you don't have to have read the Known Space series to appreciate Ringworld.  There are some short stories that take place beforehand and feature characters in common - Louis Wu is in "There Is A Tide", and the alien Puppeteer Nessus is in "The Soft Weapon".  Neither of these stories have much to do with Ringworld though.

Mostly, reading the short stories and other Known Space novels would just let you get to know the alien races involved and some of the tech that's around in the beginning of the book.  All that ground is covered quite well in the novel however.  Though if you want the background, "The Soft Weapon" is probably a fine place to get it.

As Planish said, there is another novel in known space that becomes important by the Ringworld Engineers.  Sadly, if I told you which one and that was the only other known space story you read, you'd be able to figure out the twist before it comes up.  And if you don't read it, everything is covered in the novel... you just don't get the "whoa!" moment.

[Heradel]

I'm reading all of the discworlds straight through from #1-#36? (is that how many there are?)

I always try to read an author's work in order if I can.

The question was more of what should I intersperse among the discworlds.

He's been writing ~2 a year since the mid 80s, so 36, with a couple YA ones thrown in as well (not to knock the YA ones, the first of his I ever read was The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. I got a lot of weird looks in middle school for recommending it/almost dying of laughter reading it in class and trying to stifle the laughter. I got bored in class a lot. I think I also just broke the parenthetical). I still haven't read all of them (still need to get around to some of the first few).

Quicksilver is good, but along with the other two in the Baroque Cycle it's a real effin' investment. I seem to remember skipping about a hundred pages at one point and not missing the political minutia it held, but the stuff with Half-Cocked Jack is great, and the ending-ending was all I needed it to be.

I read Frankenstein last year, and ditto to Ocicat.

I think I read 1984 first in middle school, then once a year every year in high school ( 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' is embedded in my mind for all practical purposes). It's a great middle/high book because you don't need to have read a lot of other stuff to appreciate it, which I seem to recall reading was Orwell's intent. 

[Opabinia]

Some of the early Discworldds -- particularly from Rincewind's POV -- are pretty bad. Fair warning. Don't give up; there are gems.

I'm not much of a fan of the Gaiman/Pratchett Good Omens. IMO, it managed to pull the worst from both their styles. It's readable, though, and a good afternoon's attention-keeping.

[Russell Nash]

Some of the early Discworldds -- particularly from Rincewind's POV -- are pretty bad. Fair warning. Don't give up; there are gems.

I'm not much of a fan of the Gaiman/Pratchett Good Omens. IMO, it managed to pull the worst from both their styles. It's readable, though, and a good afternoon's attention-keeping.

I'm currently up to number 13 in the discworld series.  I've already decided to read it all.  The boxes also included discworld maps, quizbooks, YA, graphic novels, and trivia books.  The collection is so anal it's scary.