The Earth-Toned Pill

The the spirit of High Fidelity's love of lists, here are my top 5 favorite books that I like to re-read from time to time:

1) Dune - Frank Herbert

A masterfully-written book, chock full of awe-inspiring locations, deeply intriguing characters, and a meticulously crafted universe. Herbert's difinitive sci-fi masterpiece that I regularly re-read.

2) Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein

Although considered one of Heinlein's so-called 'juvenile' novels, Troopers (to me) remains one of his most interesting and accessible scifi adventure stories. It helps that I like his take on future politics, and it's interesting to me how the novel fits in with the period in which he wrote it.

3) Soldat - Siegfried Knappe

There is lots of material out there on the German military during WW2, but none as interesting as this 'from the inside out' look at a specific German soldier's journey from teenage recruit to decorated general staff officer captured in the rubble of Berlin by the Soviets. A great personal perspective on the war.

4) Guns of the South - Harry Turtledove

I've always been fond of alternate history topics, and this is Harry 'master of alternate fiction' Turtledove's crowning achievement. The plot is interesting and the characters come to life before your eyes with suprising results.

5) Fatherland - Robert Harris

Another alternate history tour-de-force, featuring a victorious Nazi Germany during the 1960s where a burned-out police detective stumbles on the greatest atrocity of the 20th century. With this one, you can just feel how scary a place this world would have been had Nazi Germany still existed.