I quite enjoyed ‘I am pilgrim’

Kinda like an up to date American James bond, retired top spy gets dragged back into service and things get messy.

Not the most intellectual book, but a good Holliday read.

Think it’s about 900 pages.

Historical: I really, really enjoyed ‘Sarum’ (a Novel Of England) by Edward Rutherfurd.

Hysterical: Don Quixote

Holeymoley: Duncton Wood

I’m a huge admirer of Steinbeck, I’m not sure a better writer has ever lived. You might like to try one of Robertson Davies trilogies, a really wonderful writer who I don’t think has ever been as widely read as his talent deserves.

Not a long book but if you enjoyed Wolf Hall, Bring Up The Bodies then I Claudius for me has the same power to transport you through time so that you actually feel like you’re standing watching the events being described.

Wilds of Mongolia?
Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world.

I enjoyed it. Not a novel obviously but good none the less.

Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights / Golden Compass series, some Jo Nesbo (Redbreast for instance) , and my multi-ethnic comfort read: Kim, by Kipling. Especially if you’re in northern Asia.

A Little Life – quite long and I really liked it, but do keep the sharp objects out of reach.

Bleak House

One of my very favourite books and Dickens’ best (IMO)

And plenty long

Cormac McCarthy – The Border Trilogy (All of the Pretty Horses, The Crossing & Cities of the Plain)

McCarthy is a fantastic storyteller – highly recommended.

‘The Pillars of the Earth’ (and its sequal ‘World Without End’), by Ken Follett; very highly recommended.

If you are willing to look at non-fiction, Trial by battle, vol1 of the Hundred Years war series by Jonathan Sumption is a doorstop,complex in it’s cast of characters but very readable.

Lots of choice here, so rather than suggest anything new I’ll give a +1 for Cloud Atlas and 11/22/63.

Cloud Atlas is beautifully written and very clever too. David Mitchell is an excellent author. The Frobisher and Somni chapters are probably my favourites.

11/22/63 is a cracking read and despite not being a horror offering is Stephen King at his best in my opinion. Great page turner.

Takeshi Kovacs trilogy

Very good, but if you want long it’s gotta be Peter F. Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn Trilogy – just 3600 pages in total.

For non sci-fi, and a bit more intellectual challenge (I found) I enjoyed (though it was tough going at times) Javier Marias Your Face Tomorrow trilogy – has lots of dialogue/inner dialogue/recounting of memories of in-depth conversations, conversations about history etc, secret organization assessing the behaviours of people and making decisions about how best to manipulate them etc.

‘The Pillars of the Earth’ (and its sequal ‘World Without End’), by Ken Follett; very highly recommended.

Definately this. I never really believe people when they say, ‘you should read …….’ But Pillars of the Earth was an excellent recommendation.

Justin Kronin’s trilogy:
The Passage
The Twelve
City of Mirrors

…is simply, utterly brilliant.

Booked marked this thread and have just ordered Hyperion. We need a STW book exchange! If anyone wants to read hyperion after me I’ll send it to you and you send me something back?

The Son by Philip Meyer
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (about the Vietnam war)
May we be Forgiven by A M Homes

All great in their own way, though not so sure about likeable characters. First two are epics; last one is dark and funny.

Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle. I really enjoyed it (read it years ago though) and it certainly qualifies as a doorstop book at something like 1,400 pages.

The other doorstop epics that spring to mind would be the Night’s Dawn trilogy by Peter F Hamilton. Three books, each over a thousand pages makes for a vast amount of space opera.

Booked marked this thread and have just ordered Hyperion. We need a STW book exchange! If anyone wants to read hyperion after me I’ll send it to you and you send me something back?

Nice idea, I’ll swap you as I Walked Out one Midsummer Morning, Laurie Lee, PM address. Other titles are available.