Colby Donaldson at the end from Top Shot and Survivor. Cool dude.

FICTION: I don't think there is any disadvantage to reading fiction. Respecting your request, I list here novels that--though not fictional--can very extremely affect one's interpretation of reality.

"The Circle" (series) -- Ted Dekker (Christian-related fiction)
"Dark Tower" (series) -- Stephen King
"Return to Earth" (series)-- Orson Scott Card
"Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever" (series)-- Stephen R. Donaldson <-Fantastic
"Shadow Play" (series)-- Tad Williams <-Genius.

"This Day All Gods Die" - Stephen R. Donaldson (Last of the Gap series)
"Enchantment" - Orson Scott Card
"Stars Like Dust" - Isaac Asimov

All fantastic so far.

Awaiting:
"Against All Things Ending" - Stephen R. Donaldson (2nd to last in "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever")
"Green" - Ted Dekker

Tags for this video have been changed from 'donaldson, hopkins, burt munro, 2005' to 'donaldson, hopkins, burt munro, 2005, motorcycle' - edited by therealblankman

1 - The Stand - Stephen King : In my opinion, one of the best fiction books ever penned.

2 - The Dark Tower (series) - Stephen King : The sheer richness of his created worlds just blow my mind. Dynamic characters absolutely litter the plot. His incorporation of various different stories from history and from his own works make for great fantasy.

3 - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever - Stephen R. Donaldson : This serious is just mind-bogglingly good. I love a hero I can hate, pity, and admire at the same time.
3b - The Pearlsong Refounding - Michael D. Warden : This is an odd sort of clone of Thomas Covenant, with a Christian sort of background. I actually like this story even more than Donaldson's, but since it's not quite original, I only put it as a side note.

4 - The Christ Clone Trilogy - James BeauSigneur : Terrible title, great series. Take the Left Behind style end of the world story and give it to someone who can actually write well and this is what you get. It certainly starts out slow, but picks up to be a unique perspective on the Christian end of the world scenario. It's by no means a "best book" but I really enjoyed its perspective. There are two printings of this series. If you're interested, get the first one! They totally nerfed the second printing, cut out a lot of the violence and basically a lot of the reality.

5 - Return to Earth (series) - Orsen Scott Card : Card might be the best living fantasy/sci-fi writer we still have living. This is only number 5 on my list rather than higher due to the fact that it sort of pitters out at the end like most Card novels. It's essentially loosely based on Card's Mormon theology. If you liked Dune, you'll probably like this one too. It deals very much with social issues involved with maintaining power and control... plus any book that takes place 11 million years into the future has got to be fun.

Honorable mentions:
The Inferno - Dante (The other two in this series however, meh)
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Samuel Colridge
This Present Darkness - Frank Peretti
Paradise Lost - Milton (Paradise Regained however, meh)
Dune - Frank Herbert

BTW, I did enjoy the Chronicles of Amber (@ whoever recommended it to me a while back). Thanks.

No, it's not. It's the Bo Donaldson version. But hey, change it, don't change it. I don't give a shit.

In reply to this comment by lucky760:
I'd better leave it because I think I confused you! The version I posted is Paper Lace's.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
I didn't know anything about Bo Donaldson until you told me. Apparently, both versions were made in 1974 but you should probably remove the Paper Lace tag lest someone get confused.

In reply to this comment by lucky760:
Oh I see. Actually, according to my research, this is the original. Paper Lace wrote and originally performed the song in 1974. The later "remake" was by another band called Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods.

Is the other version the one that was the more popular one? (I'm assuming you're old enough that you were around for the song's popularity.) It did sound better to me, but the original is the only one with the good music video.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
In reply to this comment by lucky760:
What do you mean? The song is "Billy, don't be a hero." Am I misunderstanding your question? Is there something wrong in my post?

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Yes, that's all fine, but what is THIS song?

This is not the original vintage tune from the 70's, is my meaning. This is a really bad remake of "Billy."

I didn't know anything about Bo Donaldson until you told me. Apparently, both versions were made in 1974 but you should probably remove the Paper Lace tag lest someone get confused.

In reply to this comment by lucky760:
Oh I see. Actually, according to my research, this is the original. Paper Lace wrote and originally performed the song in 1974. The later "remake" was by another band called Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods.

Is the other version the one that was the more popular one? (I'm assuming you're old enough that you were around for the song's popularity.) It did sound better to me, but the original is the only one with the good music video.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
In reply to this comment by lucky760:
What do you mean? The song is "Billy, don't be a hero." Am I misunderstanding your question? Is there something wrong in my post?

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Yes, that's all fine, but what is THIS song?

This is not the original vintage tune from the 70's, is my meaning. This is a really bad remake of "Billy."

Current:
The Endless Knot (Song of Albion Series) - Stephen R. Lawhead
--It's OK I guess. Not too spectacular

Fatal Revenant (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) - Stephen R. Donaldson
--Finally, after 30 years, Donaldson finishes the series. Fantastic!


My Favorites:
The Dark Tower (series)- Stephen King
--Probably don't have to explain this series. One of the finest series ever written. Only fiction novels I've ever read a second time.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (series)- Stephen R. Donaldson
--Perfect anti-hero/hero you love to hate saves/destroys the world in every volume.

Homecoming (series) - Orson Scott Card
--Any details are spoilers for this series. Orson might be the best fantasy/sci-fi writer alive.

The Stand - Stephen King
--The apocalypse according to Stephen King.


BTW, I'm looking for more fantasy novels that are especially otherworldly. I'm bored by knights and wizards unless their world is distinctly different than ours. I also like stories where typical folks are dropped into weird other worlds. Any ideas?

whoa! check out sam donaldson... since when did he become a woman?

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I don't think I ever imagined I would see Sam Donaldson doing the simulated blow-job, tongue-in-cheek thing. My life is now complete. Germalists. ha.