A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have read A Christmas Carol more times than I can count. Charles Dickens is undoubtedly one of the best English Literature writers. I love so many things about the story, but one of the best things is the change that Ebenezer Scrooge goes through. Without that particular literary device, there is no story. He’s one of the most horrid characters imaginable and everyone loves the metamorphosis that Scrooge goes through. Scrooge is the quintessential character that everyone loves to hate. He proves that anyone can change. If Scrooge can be redeemed, then it’s possible for any one of us.
I also like this book because the language difference isn’t as difficult to get through as some old English stories. Shakespeare is by far more difficult to muddle through than anything Charles Dickens wrote. Also, nobody writes or talks like this any more.
Wizard’s First Rule
Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another book that I’ve read multiple times is Wizard’s First Rule. This book is captivating for it’s storytelling. It’s about a man named Richard who is a woods-guide. One day, he sees a woman in a white dress following the trail below him and also sees four men following her will ill intent. He decides to go warn her and his life is never the same again. Richard is given the magical Sword of Truth and named “Seeker” by his friend Zedd who turns out to be a wizard of the first order. Together, the three of them must stop an evil wizard named Darken Rahl from opening the Boxes of Orden and taking over the world.
This story has it all, there is life, death, love, sex, adventure, magic, creatures, caverns, dragons, swashbuckling, an evil Queen and her even more evil daughter, some S&M, betrayal, comeuppance, a happy ending, a Wizard’s Rule, and more. The details of the storytelling make the characters and places come alive for me.
Each book in the series presents a new Wizard’s Rule. Some are better than others, but the best one is the first rule. It’s the first rule because it’s the most important and it applies to our universe as well as the universe of Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd.
Ready Player One
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ready Player One is another story that had an impact on me. The movie is okay, but the book is better. [Isn’t it always?] This story is about a kid named Wade Watts who lives in the not-too-distant future where the internet has been taken over by a virtual reality program called The OASIS. The OASIS was designed by a game designer called James Halliday who grew up in the late-70’s/80’s. Having grown up in in the golden age of video games, Halliday’s OASIS is chock-a-bock full of sweet references to the eighties. From video games, to movies, television shows, music, Dungeons and Dragons, pizzerias, and anything else you can remember from the most awesome-est decade ever. At the beginning of the story, Halliday is dead and we only get to know him from Wade’s story-telling and Halliday’s OASIS avatar. Wade tells us how Halliday left an Easter Egg inside the OASIS. The first person to find the egg inherits Halliday’s vast fortune and control of the OASIS.
Wade is poor and lives in a dystopian futuristic trailer park, but is able to access the OASIS through the use of his Virtual Reality goggles and gloves he got through school. When Wade isn’t in school, he’s hunting for Halliday’s Easter Egg. There is an evil corporation called Innovative Online Industries or IOI for short. They’re using all the corporate resources available to find the egg first and take over the OASIS.
My favorite part of the story is that everyone, Wade especially, uses the OASIS as an escape from reality. At the end of the story, he learns that even though reality generally sucks, it’s the only place he can get a decent meal.
Bonus: The Hobbit
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I had to throw this one on here as a bonus book that impacted me. The Hobbit was one of the first fantasy books I’d ever read. I received a copy of it from my cousin as a gift for being the ring bearer in her wedding. This is just a great book! It’s not like the other books in The Lord of the Rings series. It’s a standalone adventure and has one of the best characters in all of literature, Bilbo Baggins.
Bilbo is a Hobbit, who lives in The Shire, a quiet, green place, and who is selected for an adventure by a passing Wizard named Gandalf. Twelve dwarves show up at his Hobbit Hole one night and he follows them on a life-changing adventure as their burglar. Along the way, he finds a magic ring that turns him invisible. They travel across Middle Earth to retrieve the dwarves’ treasure that is being held hostage by a dragon named Smaug.
The storytelling in this book is fantastic and you don’t have to work too hard to read anyone’s name. Bilbo, Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, Ori, Nori, Gandalf, Smaug, Bard, all reasonably easy-to-pronounce/read names. The adventure is fantastic moving from one part to the next. Danger abounds from giant piders to goblins, to orcs, to the big bad, Smaug. All the while, Bilbo yearns for home but finds himself along the way.
In summary
Clearly, I’m a fan of fantasy and each of these books hits the mark in a big way for me. When I read a story, I like to escape and be transported away from my humdrum life. Let me know what you like to read, I’m always looking for a good book to read.
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