(In no particular order . . .)
Fiction
Horatio Hornblower series – C. S. Forester*
Hour of the Dragon (Conan the Barbarian series) – Robert E. Howard*
The Corps series – W.E.B. Griffin
The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
Richard Sharpe series (first 8 books) – Bernard Cornwell*
The Fist of God – Fredrick Forysthe
Jack Ryan series – Tom Clancy*
First Man in Rome series – Colleen McCullough
Seabiscuit – Laura Hillenbrand
Oedipus Rex – Sophocles
Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett
Time and Again – Jack Finney
I, Claudius – Robert Graves
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad (what a writer!)
The Mote in God’s Eye – Larry Niven
The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester
Neuromancer – William Gibson (great imagery)
Dune – Frank Herbert
The Stainless Steel Rat – Harry Harrison
The Foundation Trilogy – Isaac Asimov
This Fortress Word – James E. Gunn (my first sci-fi read)
Starbridge – Jack Williamson & James E. Gunn (my second sci-fi read)
Voyage of the Space Beagle – A. E. van Vogt
The Door into Summer – Robert A. Heinlein (and almost all of his books)
Nero Wolfe mysteries – Rex Stout (all 72 of them)
Big Trouble – Dave Barry
Babylon 5 (TV series) – J. Michael Straczynski**
Stargate Atlantis (TV series) – Brad Wright
Non Fiction
Too Big to Fail – Andrew R. Sorrkin
I Am Spartacus! – Kirk Douglas
The Idler’s Companion – T. Hodghkinson (give yourself a break)
Until Proven Innocent – Stuart T. Taylor (frightening)
The World of Gilbert & Sullivan – W. A. Darlington
The Making of the Atomic Bomb – Richard Rhodes
The Shattered Sword – Battle of Midway – Parshall & Tully
The Fall of Berlin 1945 – Antony Beevor
The Prince – Niccolo Machiavelli***
The Face of Battle – John Keegan***
Carnage and Culture – Victor Davis Hanson***
Guns, Germs, and Steel – Jared Diamond***
The Ancient Engineers – L. Sprague de Camp***
On Writing – Stephen King (If you want to be a writer, read this first)
* Major influence on Sam’s writing style
** Watching show motivated me to start writing
*** Major content to Eskkar novels