E.S. Raye

I’ve been an avid reader since I was young, so there’s no way I could accurately rate every book I’ve ever read. There are definitely some that should be on this list that I have forgotten, and certainly more that I haven’t read yet. So, let’s just call these 7 of my all-time favorite books today. Some have inspired me, some blew my mind, and some have stuck with me for years.

In no particular order…

Jurassic Park

The one that started it all.

When Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park was published in 1990, I was five and massively into dinosaurs. As such, and with no knowledge of what the book was actually about, my mother decided to read it to me when I was six or seven.

Everything was fun and games as I corrected her pronunciation of the dinos until Dennis Nedry’s demise (which, If you’ve not read the book, is a bit more graphic than what they portray in the film). She wanted to stop at that point, but I was completely invested.

And now I write sci-fi/horror. I’m not saying the two are connected, but, well, here we are…

Redwall

I wasn’t much of a fantasy reader when I was a kid (and that hasn’t changed much), so when my seventh-grade English teacher suggested Redwall by Brian Jacques, I was skeptical. Woodland creatures living like monks and fighting with swords and slings and bows and arrows? It seemed a little silly to me.

But she was right, and I was hooked. I consumed the first book, then read every entry in the series I could get my hands on. It’s far from high fantasy, and the only magic is subtle and deals more with fate than spells, but it remains near the top of my list when it comes to fantasy.

The Stand

I have been a massive Stephen King fan since before it was probably appropriate for my age. But I grew up on Goosebumps and my parents were big King readers, so they were always on our bookshelves. It was only a matter of time.

And while I could populate this entire list with King books, I’m limiting myself to only two stories (okay, the other is an eight-book series, so it’s a little bit of a cop-out, but it’s my blog, and I can do what I want!)

When I first read The Stand in high school, I carried the gigantic hardcover copy everywhere I went. The incredible tale of good versus evil in a post-apocalyptic America fascinated me. I still think it’s one of the best stories of the now well-worn genre.

Childhood’s End

My love for classic sci-fi started with Arthur C. Clarke’s 1953 novel Childhood’s End. My route to this classic was a little unusual. As a gift, I was given a copy of Barlow’s Guide to Extraterrestrials: Great Aliens From Science Fiction Literature. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it acts as a literal guide to aliens from the best sci-fi, complete with illustrations opposite a short writeup about their culture, biology, or habits.

The illustration and descriptions for the Overlords from Childhood’s End captivated me so much that I had to read the book.

And there I found a story about aliens unlike anything I had read up until that point: while they appeared monstrous to our eyes, they were not here to invade, and despite their name, not here to rule. Instead, they came to guide and to witness.

It’s been a while since I read it; it may be time for a revisit.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I only wish I could write like Douglas Adams. The man had a singular talent for absurdist humor. Blending that humor with the fantastical settings of the Hitchhiker’s Guide books and the extremely human perspective of his hero, Arthur Dent, was nothing short of genius.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series isn’t for everyone. The ridiculousness of some of the characters, the surreal concepts that take several books to get around to explaining, and Adams’s unique way of stating things can be hurdles for some and the entire reason to read the books for others.

Either way, this series’s impact on pop culture and my own sense of humor and view of the world is unmistakable.

Ringworld

I only recently read Larry Niven’s Ringworld for the first time, and it reignited my love for classic science fiction. Now, I’m usually big on plot and character; as a writer, I think they need to be central to any story I tell.

But Ringworld is a little light on both. I’ll grant the characters have their charm, but they have little in the way of arcs. The plot, on the other hand, is basically non-existent. They arrive on the enigmatic ring, and what follows is a lot of “oo-ing” and “ah-ing” at the technological wonder of what they’ve discovered.

And yet, that wonder was enough to carry me not only through the first book but two sequels as well. I guess when a setting is so good it inspires later properties from Halo to The Mandalorian, it’s all you need.

The Dark Tower Series

And finally, the second entry by Stephen King, The Dark Tower. Yes, it’s really eight books in total, but that would fill this list all by itself, so I’m counting it as one.

It’s a strange and compelling mix of horror, western, dark fantasy, and a little science fiction, and it is partially responsible for my decision to write my own seven-part series.

And to top it all off, it’s one of the original “shared universes” with a huge number of King’s other books tying in in one way or another – some only tangentially, others overtly and obviously. This is something else I’ve incorporated into my own writing… But I don’t want to give too much away yet.

What are some of your favorites? Share some in the comments!