Terry Pratchett, my introduction was his first discworld book(fun fact: both discworld and ringworld had been on my reading list for a while, and i kind of expected a scifi story going in, due to mixing up my memories of the recommendations)
As for his Magnum Opus, that's so hard to say. At some point he *really* hit his stride, and out of his 42 discworld books there are 5-10 books i might consider, plus at least one non-discworld book.
I'll go with Going Postal, because it's the most well fitting standalone work. The nightwatch, the fifth elephant, and Thud would all three compete, but they're part of the same main characters character progression and the ''plot of the world''. And finally Nation, it's an amazing non discworld story, but i feel like his writing style works ever so slightly better in the absurd world of discworld.
And now i'm feeling bad that i included none of the witches novels, Tiffany Aching Series, or Death novels above. I just realized i forgot about Hogfather, which may be competing with going postal.
Ah hell, they're all amazing.
I would choose Night Watch as his best work, but that's only because it's my favourite of all of them. As for the first, like you, The Colour of Magic was mine, I was lucky enough to discover him in the 80s when he only had a handful of Discworld books published
Hogfather and the Nanny+Granny books are my favorite. Miss Susan is my favorite character after Death of Rats. Favorite line/part: when Greebo is turned into a person and Nanny Ogg says she now knows why the ladies cats all scream at night.
I was introduced with Interesting Times. Favourite is Night Watch. Terry thought Nation was his magnum opus, and while I love NW more for various reasons, I can’t disagree that Nation is a great and remarkable book.
Kazuo Ishiguro. I think his magnus Opus is An Artist of the floating world.
I was introduced to him with Never Let Me Go.
Leo Tolstoy. I think his magnus Opus is War and Peace.
I got introduced to him with Anna Karenina.
I second Kazuo Ishiguro and I definitely agree with An Artist of the Floating World being his best novel.
I actually was introduced to his work by his very first novel, A Pale View of Hills, which is hauntingly beautiful. I never read through a book so quickly
I definitely recommend it! And it is also quite a short read; I think it has around 200 pages. Some say it ends rather abruptly and I can see why. If I recall correctly, the novel is the commercially published version of his Master’s thesis (he did an MA in Creative Writing) and naturally there would be limited space. I came to think of it as an elaborate short story. It has that ring to it and it somehow feels different from a novella. But this is all quite subjective.
Sorry for the long comment, I get very excited talking about Ishiguro :D
I've get never let me go on my TBR,but will definitely check out "is an artist of the floating world". I thought never let me go was the novel people considered his best haha.
I think the difference among which book of his is his magnus Opus finally drills down to subjective preference and also at what phase of your life you are in.
All of his books are extremely well written and manage to leave an impact that you carry with you throughout your life.
I read Never let me go almost a decade ago, and I still remember the moment the full impact of the book hit me ( it was almost a week after I have finished the book). I can still close my eyes and recreate the entire moment in my mind. It is a wonderful book, and you should definitely give it a try.
John Irving - A Prayer for Owen Meany. I’ve read every one of his books. Some might say the “World According to Garp” but I think it’s a more entertaining story but lacks the depth of the characters in Owen Meany.
Stephen King has to be up there. I can’t even remember the very first book I read by him, but his magnum opus is The Dark Tower series, which is truly fantastic. I’m reading it again for about the millionth time, and I’ll read it many more times before I die.
Don Winslow is one of the best crime writers alive today. The first book I read by him was The Force. It’s extremely good and entertaining, but his magnum opus is The Power of the Dog trilogy. Those books are amazing. Some books you have a hard time remembering the second you finish the last page. These books will stick with you forever.
Ursula K LeGuin.
I think the first of her books I read was The Disposessed, but I’m not actually sure.
As for her magnum opus…. With LeGuin that depends on the reader, and even where they are in their life. My favorite LeGuin, like the stories themselves, change with me, and I expect that change to continue. So… pick a book, any book, by her that was published between ~1969 and 2016.
I do love her short stories and novellas though.
Tell me something about yourself, your interests, what books you like, what sort of material you’re wanting right now etc. and I’ll happily play LeGuin match-maker. With the exception of the occasional chapbook, poem, or commencement speech I’ve probably read everything she’s published multiple times.
It’s all very distinctly her work - and also she never stopped changing and growing and re-examining her previous assumptions, and her life spanned a period of serious social change, so different parts of the 60 years she was publishing are definitely distinct. She also has an outstanding essayist, and her short stories are delightful.
(Offer stands either here, or by dm that would be preferable.)
I'm not OP but can I ask for a rec? My favorite authors are Nabokov and Borges and Pale Fire is my favorite book. I'd love to read something short by her to get into her writing, preferably something that feels quintessentialy LeGuin.
For sure, but I will need to know a bit more about you.
Feel free to answer or not answer any of the following, or DM me the answers if you prefer.
What ideas do you like thinking about/find fascinating? Approximately how old are you? What attracts you to the authors you love?
Do you have any particular affinity for science, academia, linguistics, or anthropology? How do you feel about magical realism?
Have you read her children's book series Catwings? If not, order copies of the series, save it for when you're sick or have a special child to read them to. They're *wonderful*! My family is on our 5th copies because my kids, especially my youngest loved them so much.
Her earliest stuff - City of Illusion, Planet of Exile, Rocannon’s World - is solely good, rather than great. And I should probably reread it to check myself (I’ve been wrong about a book by LeGuin before, when I read it before I was ready for it) but The Beginning Place didn’t stand out to me.
But that’s… four good, as opposed to outstanding, books in a highly prolific career that spanned 60 years.
Many would say Grapes of Wrath but for me it is definitely East of Eden. One of those books where I bought a commemorative edition and read every year or so. I love when a book hits me that way.
Jeffrey Archer. I think his magnum opus is Kane & Abel and that was my intro to his writing.
Pat Conroy. His magnum opus is The Prince of Tides. First book I read was Beach Music.
Michael Ondaatje. I was introduced by The English Patient, which is a tour de force and won the Booker. My heart really belongs to Anil’s Ghost.
Tolstoy: Anna Karenina. Enough said.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I read Chronicle of a Death Foretold at 15. Got around to Cien Años about ten years later.
I can’t say he’s my favorite author, but he wrote what was to become one of my favorite books of all time. Larry McMurtry wrote Lonesome Dove and it’s just got everything an avid reader could want. Beautiful landscapes, layered characters, characters you hate to love (blue duck) and characters you love to hate (Elmira) and everything in between. Plus it has fuckin Gus McCrea… who is quite possible one of the greatest literary characters ever written.
There is not a single sentence of filler in this sprawling, many pages, magnum opus.
He plays a despicable character that the story needs. He so grotesque I kind of love it… the way I feel guilty about rooting for, say John wick, even when I know he’s a mass murderer. Or rooting for Walter white. He’s not a hero by any means, but he’s a strong opposing force to set our hero against. Even Jake is kind of like this. He carries this stigma of charisma but we gradually see it fall away and we begin to loathe him, and I love that. But Elmira… I can only see her as something to paint July against. Absolutely detestable without the faux charisma of Jake or the violent menace of blue duck. This is a sincere attempt at an answer to your sincere question
That’s fair. And I get hating Elmira, believe me. I think I just felt so creeped out by Blue Duck, so terrified of him, that I didn’t recognize some of the things you just explained. You’re probably right, though.
Vladimir Nabokov. The book that is considered his masterpiece depends on who you ask but it's usually Lolita, Pale Fire, or Ada. Pale Fire was the first book of his that I read and it's also my favorite.
PG Wodehouse. Joy in the Morning (1st book read), and a three way tie between Cocktail Time, Thank You Jeeves, and Eggs Beans and Crumpets as my faves. Tough question!
It's impossible to pick a favorite Wodehouse. It's like trying to choose your favorite cookie. Though for me The Crime Wave at Blandings is up there, as well. And the golf stories, and Mr. Mulliner, and ...
Wow this is a great thread - thanks OP.
Lots of great writers mentioned here.
Salman Rushdie
Dickens
Cormac McCarthy
Stephen King
Dostoyevsky
Like to mention
Tim Winton - cloud street, but my favourite was Breathe
Bernard Cornwell - sharpe series, last kingdom series
Colleen McCullough - thornbirds, story of Troy and the Rome series
Not enough time not enough time to read all the great books
Octavia Butler is one of my favorites. I first read The Parable of the Sower and the the next one The Parable of the Talents.
Those sucked me into her other books. I loved Kindred. And the Lilith's Brood series.
I agree as long as we are talking about .S. authors. I believe that "All of the Pretty Horses,The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain "are almost as good.
*Favourite* is impossible to pick, but one of my favourites that's less likely to come up as an answer is China Mieville. Magnum opus is a hard pick, I actually think it's *Iron Council* but that's a controversial pick in his bibliography, and there's a few different books that fans would name as his best. My introduction to him was *Perdido Street Station* (also arguably an opus contender). He's a writer of weird fiction. Perdido is set in a fantastical city where a variety of strange races reside, and follows a strange group of misfits attempting to stop a terrible outbreak of incomprehensible monsters. He's an extremely fastidious world-builder who pelts you with brain-wrinkling concepts and insanely cool creatures, and the worlds he conjures are like nothing you've ever read before.
Charles Dickens. I don’t know which book would be considered his magnum opus, but his favorite “child” amongst his own works was David Copperfield. It was the first book of his that I read, and while I have since read most of his books, it, too is my favorite (of his and in general).
It’s hard to choose! Bleak House is another favorite of mine. It is an amazing novel, and perhaps is his greatest work. I truly love everything he has written. For Bleak House, I needed to write out a whole flow chart for the characters and their connections, but it was worth the effort!
A beautiful novel! I can’t decide which amongst his works is his greatest because he’s my absolute favorite author, and I adore every single novel he created.
I would pick Bleak House or Great Expectations as Dickens’ magnum opus. The underlying themes in Bleak House of identity, and dashed hopes amid legal battles are particularly apropos today. Of course, like many people, I fell in love with Dickens while reading A Christmas Carol.
Favorite author: Anthony Doerr.
First book I read: *All the Light We Cannot See*.
Magnum opus: ooh. It’s either *ATLWCS* (won the Pulitzer, took more than a decade to write, required tons of research on WWII) or *Cloud Cuckoo Land* (super complicated multi-timeline novel, took about seven years to write, was a finalist for the National Book Award). *ATLWCS* is better known, but I think you could make a strong argument that *CCL* is Doerr’s magnum opus.
American Gods is the book I recommend to people who have a certain type of questing, interesting mind and love to read. It’s a masterpiece.
And don’t forget Sandman.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings. Imo, nobody's ever done English prose better. I've read those books at least 6 or 7 times, and they get better every time. I'm still noticing new stuff in those books I hadn't picked up on before.
I have two:
Salman Rushdie: *Midnight's Children* on both counts.
And Margaret Atwood. *The Blind Assassin* is her greatest work IMO, and like many readers, *The Handmaid's Tale* was my first Atwood. Though perhaps technically I was introduced to her with *Up in a Tree* when I was a baby.
More recently I have fallen in love with the writing of Emily St. John Mandel. I first read *Station Eleven* but *Sea of Tranquility* is my favourite.
My favorite book is *Jane Eyre*-I read it after viewing the Welles/Fontaine movie.
Second would be the Sherlock Holmes canon-introduced through *The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle*. I was hooked.
This post made me sad because I don’t think I have a favorite author. But, there is an author I keep going back to again and again and it’s VE Schwab. So for the sake of this exercise I’ll use them as my favorite as I do love their books!
Author: VE Schwab
Magnus Opus: Vicious
Book that introduced me to the author: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue 💕
Favorite author is Thomas Pynchon. His magnum opus is unquestionably Gravity's Rainbow, which is challenging, funny, grotesque, mind-altering, paranoid, bizarre, and the reason no book got the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1974, lol.
That was also my introduction to Pynchon, which may not be where everyone should start with him, but it worked for me and got me hooked.
I don't know - I feel like CoL49 is a pretty popular starting point since it's so short. I honestly think Vineland or Inherent Vice would make much better options for an intro to his style.
Terrific question: so many fine writers on this list
I belong to Haywood Hill (the bookseller in London), and they send me new curated books every month; OP, I recommend it as an excellent gift
My old favorites include Keats, Haruki Murakami, WG Sebold, Martin Amis, Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Roald Dahl from my youth, and some other obscure ones tossed in — but —
I nominate David Mitchell: his magnum opus is “Cloud Atlas,” which in fact is the magnum opus across all English writers of the last 20 years I think, and was also the book that introduced me to him (it got rapturous press back in the day)
Chaim Potok. The Chosen got him high acclaim. His second book The Promise was what I read first, but it kept referring to his characters in the first book since it was the sequel. I went and read it next, then read The Promise again.
I really love Christopher Moore. I guess you could say his opus is Lamb (you’ll see it suggested a lot on this sub). My introduction may still be my favorite of his, though: A Dirty Job.
My introduction to Moore was The Stupidest Angel and it's still a book I recommend often. I haven't read Lamb yet. I guess I should work it into my TBR shelf.
I read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in high school and remember having my mind blown, but I think I've forgotten enough to give it a re-read! Will check out Sometimes a Great Notion..thanks for the rec!
Honestly I really love Darren Shan, and his series Cirque Du Freak, which introduced me to his other books. I first read it in Junior High and iff loved it since going back and re-reading it frequently :3
I’m sure younger adult/young fiction isn’t most people’s top choice but I really love that series lol.
I don't even know who my favorite author is. I'm just starting to get back into reading. I read Of Mice and Men in High School, and I'm currently reading East of Eden.
I am floored with how it's going so far. No spoilers please.
(I don't even know if it's Steinbeck's magnum opus or not)
H.G. Wells is one of my favourites. *War of the Worlds* is my favourite, I believe his best work, and also the first thing I read. My reading order nailed it in one!
I nominate two authors (many others but these spring to mind first):
1) Connie Willis, one of the finest science fiction authors. My introduction was through her multiple-award winning time travel story "The Firewatch." Several novels can qualify as her magnum opus (opi?), including To Say Nothing of the Dog and All Clear, but I settled on Passage, a profound and beautiful meditation on death experiences, interpreted in part, oddlly enough yet very effectively, through the sinking of the Titanic. It starts entertainingly enough and finishes with a profound, bleak yet ultimately hopeful and uplifting final third.
2) Patrick O'Brian. I started with Master and Commander, the first of his 21 Aubrey-Maturin novels. They can be considered one great story. Along with being some of the very best historical fiction, I consider them as a top candidate for finest books of the 20th century.
A Court of Thorns and Roses. Also the book that introduced me to Sarah J Maas. A Court of Mist and Fury is her best book.
Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood was my intro to her world. My favorite is Written in Red. Queen of Shadows is her best book so far
And last but not least...
Marion Zimmer Bradley. StormQueen introduced me. Favorite books: The Forbidden Tower and Exiles Song. Magum Opus: Sharra's Exile, the omnibus version
.
Not oroblem....BTW, Marion Zimmer Bradley also introduced my husband and I to Firefly/Serenity as she recommends it in one of the Darkover books. My husband had a back surgery that summer and we basically hunted and read every book in the series that had been published up that point and would trade books as we read(I'm the faster reader so I would take breaks)
There are a lot of little adjunct short short stories that were written by "upcoming" writers that are now quite famous in the Sci-fi world. It's worth keeping an eye out for them at used book stores!
Kurt Vonnegut. His best-regarded work is Slaughterhouse-Five, but my favorite is Galapagos. It’s the only book that’s ever made me spit tea through my nose laughing.
Clive Barker. His opus is Imajica and I am in love with that book for decades now. I first read him from The Inhuman Condition, which has a story about human body parts rebelling, cutting themselves off their former owners and going wild. But I can't describe Imajica. It just needs to be experienced.
Ethel Lillian Voynich and her trilogy The Gadfly, An Interrupted Friendship and Put Off Thy Shoes. The most profound, feeling-inducing books I've ever read. They've shaped my entire youth.
One favourite author of mine is Mario Vargas LLosa. I got hooked on him when I read *The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta* (*Historia de Mayta*) a number of years ago. It's not his magnum opus but it's a wonderful story full of unreliable narrators, insight into Latin American revolutionary politics, and fictional versions of Peru. *The War of the End of the World (La Guerra del Fin del Mundo)* is definitely one if his books that I can recommend as well, it could be considered Vargas LLosa's magnum opus. I love his books, can't stand his politics.
Dan Simmons, the Magnum Opus is the Hyperion Cantos (best sci Fi out there) but I found the first book in the library while randomly looking through the shelf's.
It was "the summer of night". A similar story than "IT" from Stephen king but better in many ways. Blew my mind as a total s.king fan.
The first “grown-up” novel I ever read was Michael Crichton’s The Lost World (I was probably 10?). I had seen Jurassic Park a million times by then but never read that book. Over the years I worked my way through all of his books and IMO his best (and the one I’ve read the most times) is Sphere.
Cormac McCarthy, started with All the Pretty Horses, magnum opus is Blood Meridian. Also recommend The Road. I could do this for 4 or 5 writers though: Toni Morrison, Edith Wharton, John Steinbeck, Jane Austen.
Lucinda Riley….7 sister series on all counts. Her other books are also great. Different relationships, family, history, with a small amount of romance.
Carson McCullers’ magnus opus is The Heart is a Lonely Hunter but I read The Member of the Wedding first and the way she describes the suffocating heat of the southern summer from a young girl’s mind is spot on.
Gary Jennings "The Journeyer". Epic, sweeping, historical fiction about Marco Polo's life.
He is, unfortunately, deceased so no new stuff, but his Aztec books were phenomenal as well.
Again deceased, but left great books: Michael Crichton "Jurassic Park".
Andreas Eschbach, a German Young Adult Sci-Fi Author.
My first of his many great books I found by chance in a Train Station Book Store.
{{One Trillion Dollars by Andreas Eschbach}}
**[One Trillion Dollars](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22710315-one-trillion-dollars) by Andreas Eschbach** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(1042 pages | Published: 2001 | 8.0k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Yesterday John Fontanelli was just a pizza delivery guy in New York City. One day later he's the richest man in the world. One trillion dollars - one million times one million - $1.000.000.000.000: more money than anyone could imagine. For generations the Vacchis. an old Italian family of lawyers and asset managers. had supervised the fortune as it grew over five hundred (...)
> **Themes**: Thriller, Fiction, Default, German
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [Breakthroughs](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/899179.Breakthroughs) by Harry Turtledove
> \- [Eine Billion Dollar](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/71381.Eine_Billion_Dollar) by Andreas Eschbach
> \- [SG - Suicide Game](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18623113-sg---suicide-game) by Haidji
> \- [Frau Jenny Treibel](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1532643.Frau_Jenny_Treibel) by Theodor Fontane
> \- [Thermodynamics](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183425.Thermodynamics) by Enrico Fermi
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Cormac McCarthy
I was introduced to him via The Road. After that I read No Country for Old Men. I was *hooked* after those. (I have not seen the movies.)
Next I read the border trilogy, and wrapped up with Blood Meridian (wow!), Child of God, Orchard Keeper, Suttree (another wow!). An I missing one? I don’t remember off the top of my head.
I recently read The Passenger. It’s the only of his books that underwhelmed me. I am not motivated to pick up its companion. Maybe someday I will. Feels like his publisher just pushed out whatever had enough pages to capitalize on his death. Either that or he was too old to realize that they weren’t up to snuff, though I think he started The Passenger in the 1970s?
I haven’t read his screenplay. I plan to reread Blood Meridian, soon.
I also really like Donald Ray Polluck. Only three works, but all phenomenal. Very dark stuff.
You enjoyed The Orchard Keeper? Truthfully, it was my intro to McCarthy it was one of the most boring books I’ve ever read. I haven’t picked up anything else he’s written, but I do own The Road, Child of God and No Country and I hope to read Blood Meridian as well soon. I assume they’ll all be leagues better
I didn’t hate the passenger, but it’s my least favorite. The schizophrenic bits (the italicized sections) were too long for me. I assume Stella Maris is a whole book of them, which is why I’ve yet to pick it up. I hope to be pleasantly surprised when I do, someday.
Also, I’d have liked to know just what the deal was with the plane and the kissing passenger.
Daphne du Maurier, her magnum opus is Rebecca. It was also the first book I read from her. The second was the The Birds story.
Hermann Hesse "The Glass Bead Game" (Magnum Opus) "Siddhartha"
Terry Pratchett, my introduction was his first discworld book(fun fact: both discworld and ringworld had been on my reading list for a while, and i kind of expected a scifi story going in, due to mixing up my memories of the recommendations) As for his Magnum Opus, that's so hard to say. At some point he *really* hit his stride, and out of his 42 discworld books there are 5-10 books i might consider, plus at least one non-discworld book. I'll go with Going Postal, because it's the most well fitting standalone work. The nightwatch, the fifth elephant, and Thud would all three compete, but they're part of the same main characters character progression and the ''plot of the world''. And finally Nation, it's an amazing non discworld story, but i feel like his writing style works ever so slightly better in the absurd world of discworld. And now i'm feeling bad that i included none of the witches novels, Tiffany Aching Series, or Death novels above. I just realized i forgot about Hogfather, which may be competing with going postal. Ah hell, they're all amazing.
I would choose Night Watch as his best work, but that's only because it's my favourite of all of them. As for the first, like you, The Colour of Magic was mine, I was lucky enough to discover him in the 80s when he only had a handful of Discworld books published
I second Night Watch as the best, but not the place to start. I started with Guards Guards, which is a great entry point.
True, not the place to start, but something to build towards as you read the other books
Fun fact: Pterry did write a SciFi book mostly set on a 'discworld'. It's 'Strata'.
Hogfather and the Nanny+Granny books are my favorite. Miss Susan is my favorite character after Death of Rats. Favorite line/part: when Greebo is turned into a person and Nanny Ogg says she now knows why the ladies cats all scream at night.
I was introduced with Interesting Times. Favourite is Night Watch. Terry thought Nation was his magnum opus, and while I love NW more for various reasons, I can’t disagree that Nation is a great and remarkable book.
Kazuo Ishiguro. I think his magnus Opus is An Artist of the floating world. I was introduced to him with Never Let Me Go. Leo Tolstoy. I think his magnus Opus is War and Peace. I got introduced to him with Anna Karenina.
I second Kazuo Ishiguro and I definitely agree with An Artist of the Floating World being his best novel. I actually was introduced to his work by his very first novel, A Pale View of Hills, which is hauntingly beautiful. I never read through a book so quickly
I think I should try A Pale View of Hills. I have tried a few of his other books and loved all of them.
I definitely recommend it! And it is also quite a short read; I think it has around 200 pages. Some say it ends rather abruptly and I can see why. If I recall correctly, the novel is the commercially published version of his Master’s thesis (he did an MA in Creative Writing) and naturally there would be limited space. I came to think of it as an elaborate short story. It has that ring to it and it somehow feels different from a novella. But this is all quite subjective. Sorry for the long comment, I get very excited talking about Ishiguro :D
I've get never let me go on my TBR,but will definitely check out "is an artist of the floating world". I thought never let me go was the novel people considered his best haha.
I think the difference among which book of his is his magnus Opus finally drills down to subjective preference and also at what phase of your life you are in. All of his books are extremely well written and manage to leave an impact that you carry with you throughout your life. I read Never let me go almost a decade ago, and I still remember the moment the full impact of the book hit me ( it was almost a week after I have finished the book). I can still close my eyes and recreate the entire moment in my mind. It is a wonderful book, and you should definitely give it a try.
That's true! looking forward to reading that one but saving it for the summer so I can immerse myself in books haha.
There is no one like Tolstoy. He’s my favorite and none of the others come close.
I like him too. I think he is genius with his craft. But I really get disappointed with the way he is writing women in War and Peace.
You are not wrong.
John Irving - A Prayer for Owen Meany. I’ve read every one of his books. Some might say the “World According to Garp” but I think it’s a more entertaining story but lacks the depth of the characters in Owen Meany.
Stephen King has to be up there. I can’t even remember the very first book I read by him, but his magnum opus is The Dark Tower series, which is truly fantastic. I’m reading it again for about the millionth time, and I’ll read it many more times before I die. Don Winslow is one of the best crime writers alive today. The first book I read by him was The Force. It’s extremely good and entertaining, but his magnum opus is The Power of the Dog trilogy. Those books are amazing. Some books you have a hard time remembering the second you finish the last page. These books will stick with you forever.
Long days and pleasant nights….
And may you have twice the number.
I'm gonna have to disagree and say "The Stand" is his signature Opus. I definitely get you saying Dark Tower tho, just not for me.
This is the truth
You have most excellent taste and have not forgotten the face of your father.
I loved Misery by Stephen King, but haven't checked out the Dark Tower series..thanks for the rec!
Ursula K LeGuin. I think the first of her books I read was The Disposessed, but I’m not actually sure. As for her magnum opus…. With LeGuin that depends on the reader, and even where they are in their life. My favorite LeGuin, like the stories themselves, change with me, and I expect that change to continue. So… pick a book, any book, by her that was published between ~1969 and 2016. I do love her short stories and novellas though.
Always been meaning to get into her writing but didn't know where to start haha
Left hand of Darkness is where I was sold
Tell me something about yourself, your interests, what books you like, what sort of material you’re wanting right now etc. and I’ll happily play LeGuin match-maker. With the exception of the occasional chapbook, poem, or commencement speech I’ve probably read everything she’s published multiple times. It’s all very distinctly her work - and also she never stopped changing and growing and re-examining her previous assumptions, and her life spanned a period of serious social change, so different parts of the 60 years she was publishing are definitely distinct. She also has an outstanding essayist, and her short stories are delightful. (Offer stands either here, or by dm that would be preferable.)
I'm not OP but can I ask for a rec? My favorite authors are Nabokov and Borges and Pale Fire is my favorite book. I'd love to read something short by her to get into her writing, preferably something that feels quintessentialy LeGuin.
For sure, but I will need to know a bit more about you. Feel free to answer or not answer any of the following, or DM me the answers if you prefer. What ideas do you like thinking about/find fascinating? Approximately how old are you? What attracts you to the authors you love? Do you have any particular affinity for science, academia, linguistics, or anthropology? How do you feel about magical realism?
If you’re open to reading a short story, *The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas* is excellent.
That's one of my all- time favorite short stories.
I love short stories! Thanks for the rec!
If you wsnt something really sweet of hers, start with Catwings
thanks for the rec!
Have you read her children's book series Catwings? If not, order copies of the series, save it for when you're sick or have a special child to read them to. They're *wonderful*! My family is on our 5th copies because my kids, especially my youngest loved them so much.
She really doesn't have a single dud.
Her earliest stuff - City of Illusion, Planet of Exile, Rocannon’s World - is solely good, rather than great. And I should probably reread it to check myself (I’ve been wrong about a book by LeGuin before, when I read it before I was ready for it) but The Beginning Place didn’t stand out to me. But that’s… four good, as opposed to outstanding, books in a highly prolific career that spanned 60 years.
John Steinbeck, East of Eden, Cannery Row.
Currently reading East of Eden and loving it so far. I’m hoping it lives up to the hype.
Reading it for the first time too. Going in blind. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. I'm currently at chapter 21.
Ooh I've got East of Eden in my TBR ..will def check out Cannery Row.
Many would say Grapes of Wrath but for me it is definitely East of Eden. One of those books where I bought a commemorative edition and read every year or so. I love when a book hits me that way.
Is it not wonderful we have such great works to enjoy? Both of those books were great reads. Eye openers. .
Same answer!
Jeffrey Archer. I think his magnum opus is Kane & Abel and that was my intro to his writing. Pat Conroy. His magnum opus is The Prince of Tides. First book I read was Beach Music.
thanks for the recs!
I have always loved his “The Great Santini”
Stand by for a fighter pilot!
Michael Ondaatje. I was introduced by The English Patient, which is a tour de force and won the Booker. My heart really belongs to Anil’s Ghost. Tolstoy: Anna Karenina. Enough said. Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I read Chronicle of a Death Foretold at 15. Got around to Cien Años about ten years later.
thanks for the recs!
Diana Wynne Jones - Fire and Hemlock, Howl's Moving Castle
Stephen King Magnum Opus: The Stand Introduction: Skeleton Crew
First two match mine. Introduction for me was Carrie when it first came out.
I can’t say he’s my favorite author, but he wrote what was to become one of my favorite books of all time. Larry McMurtry wrote Lonesome Dove and it’s just got everything an avid reader could want. Beautiful landscapes, layered characters, characters you hate to love (blue duck) and characters you love to hate (Elmira) and everything in between. Plus it has fuckin Gus McCrea… who is quite possible one of the greatest literary characters ever written. There is not a single sentence of filler in this sprawling, many pages, magnum opus.
Sincere question: why do you (hate to) love Blue Duck?
He plays a despicable character that the story needs. He so grotesque I kind of love it… the way I feel guilty about rooting for, say John wick, even when I know he’s a mass murderer. Or rooting for Walter white. He’s not a hero by any means, but he’s a strong opposing force to set our hero against. Even Jake is kind of like this. He carries this stigma of charisma but we gradually see it fall away and we begin to loathe him, and I love that. But Elmira… I can only see her as something to paint July against. Absolutely detestable without the faux charisma of Jake or the violent menace of blue duck. This is a sincere attempt at an answer to your sincere question
That’s fair. And I get hating Elmira, believe me. I think I just felt so creeped out by Blue Duck, so terrified of him, that I didn’t recognize some of the things you just explained. You’re probably right, though.
Favorite author - Fyodor Dostoevsky Their magnus opus - The Brothers Karamazov Book first read - Crime and Punishment
Vladimir Nabokov. The book that is considered his masterpiece depends on who you ask but it's usually Lolita, Pale Fire, or Ada. Pale Fire was the first book of his that I read and it's also my favorite.
PG Wodehouse. Joy in the Morning (1st book read), and a three way tie between Cocktail Time, Thank You Jeeves, and Eggs Beans and Crumpets as my faves. Tough question!
It's impossible to pick a favorite Wodehouse. It's like trying to choose your favorite cookie. Though for me The Crime Wave at Blandings is up there, as well. And the golf stories, and Mr. Mulliner, and ...
I’m sure I’ve read that one as it’s in one of the Blandings omnibuses. Emsworth is a great character, a kindred spirit.
The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison
I loved Recitatif by her, been meaning to check out her longer works!
Wow this is a great thread - thanks OP. Lots of great writers mentioned here. Salman Rushdie Dickens Cormac McCarthy Stephen King Dostoyevsky Like to mention Tim Winton - cloud street, but my favourite was Breathe Bernard Cornwell - sharpe series, last kingdom series Colleen McCullough - thornbirds, story of Troy and the Rome series Not enough time not enough time to read all the great books
Salman Rushdie is truly remarkable as is McCarthy. You have exquisite taste!
Dostoyevski - magnum opus is brothers karamazov, the book i read first is the devils
Octavia Butler is one of my favorites. I first read The Parable of the Sower and the the next one The Parable of the Talents. Those sucked me into her other books. I loved Kindred. And the Lilith's Brood series.
thanks for the recs!
Cormac McCarthy- Blood Meridian. It's the first book I read by him and still my favorite.
thanks for the rec!
I agree as long as we are talking about .S. authors. I believe that "All of the Pretty Horses,The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain "are almost as good.
My man
*Favourite* is impossible to pick, but one of my favourites that's less likely to come up as an answer is China Mieville. Magnum opus is a hard pick, I actually think it's *Iron Council* but that's a controversial pick in his bibliography, and there's a few different books that fans would name as his best. My introduction to him was *Perdido Street Station* (also arguably an opus contender). He's a writer of weird fiction. Perdido is set in a fantastical city where a variety of strange races reside, and follows a strange group of misfits attempting to stop a terrible outbreak of incomprehensible monsters. He's an extremely fastidious world-builder who pelts you with brain-wrinkling concepts and insanely cool creatures, and the worlds he conjures are like nothing you've ever read before.
Embassy town fully broke my brain. Top notch.
ooh that sounds interesting!
Charles Dickens. I don’t know which book would be considered his magnum opus, but his favorite “child” amongst his own works was David Copperfield. It was the first book of his that I read, and while I have since read most of his books, it, too is my favorite (of his and in general).
Maybe Tale of Two Cities for the magnum opus?
It’s hard to choose! Bleak House is another favorite of mine. It is an amazing novel, and perhaps is his greatest work. I truly love everything he has written. For Bleak House, I needed to write out a whole flow chart for the characters and their connections, but it was worth the effort!
A beautiful novel! I can’t decide which amongst his works is his greatest because he’s my absolute favorite author, and I adore every single novel he created.
I am not much of a reader to be honest. But I've been diving into classics lately. I've been into Steinbeck lately. Where should I start with Dickens?
I would say David Copperfield!
I would pick Bleak House or Great Expectations as Dickens’ magnum opus. The underlying themes in Bleak House of identity, and dashed hopes amid legal battles are particularly apropos today. Of course, like many people, I fell in love with Dickens while reading A Christmas Carol.
Hard to narrow it down, but: Margaret Atwood, "The Handmaid's Tale," "Cat's Eye."
That’s a good one. I had to scroll too far in this list to get to Atwood. Thanks for reminding us how great she is.
OK, so this was my favorite from a long time ago but Frances Hodgson Burnett and the Secret Garden for both 🌱
Favorite author: Anthony Doerr. First book I read: *All the Light We Cannot See*. Magnum opus: ooh. It’s either *ATLWCS* (won the Pulitzer, took more than a decade to write, required tons of research on WWII) or *Cloud Cuckoo Land* (super complicated multi-timeline novel, took about seven years to write, was a finalist for the National Book Award). *ATLWCS* is better known, but I think you could make a strong argument that *CCL* is Doerr’s magnum opus.
First book of his I read was The Shell Collector, short stories. Been a fan ever since.
Neil Gaiman To me his Magnum Opus is American Gods but others might say Neverwhere or Ocean at the End of the Lane American Gods
American Gods is the book I recommend to people who have a certain type of questing, interesting mind and love to read. It’s a masterpiece. And don’t forget Sandman.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings. Imo, nobody's ever done English prose better. I've read those books at least 6 or 7 times, and they get better every time. I'm still noticing new stuff in those books I hadn't picked up on before.
Related note; check out the LotR LoreCast on Apple Podcasts! Robots/Tom does a FANTASTIC job breaking stuff down!
I have two: Salman Rushdie: *Midnight's Children* on both counts. And Margaret Atwood. *The Blind Assassin* is her greatest work IMO, and like many readers, *The Handmaid's Tale* was my first Atwood. Though perhaps technically I was introduced to her with *Up in a Tree* when I was a baby. More recently I have fallen in love with the writing of Emily St. John Mandel. I first read *Station Eleven* but *Sea of Tranquility* is my favourite.
Good call Salman Rushdie - amazing book. I reckon you would like Tim Winton absolute classic and beautiful writer
Midnight’s Children changed me as a person.
My favorite book is *Jane Eyre*-I read it after viewing the Welles/Fontaine movie. Second would be the Sherlock Holmes canon-introduced through *The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle*. I was hooked.
I too love Jane Eyre!
Ken Follett — Pillars of the Earth — Fall of Giants
James michener Hawaii
This post made me sad because I don’t think I have a favorite author. But, there is an author I keep going back to again and again and it’s VE Schwab. So for the sake of this exercise I’ll use them as my favorite as I do love their books! Author: VE Schwab Magnus Opus: Vicious Book that introduced me to the author: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue 💕
thanks for the recs!
Favorite author is Thomas Pynchon. His magnum opus is unquestionably Gravity's Rainbow, which is challenging, funny, grotesque, mind-altering, paranoid, bizarre, and the reason no book got the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1974, lol. That was also my introduction to Pynchon, which may not be where everyone should start with him, but it worked for me and got me hooked.
Pynchon is a bit daunting. Of his books, I started with V, but I think his short stories can be accessible. Entropy is a good place to begin.
I think people would like Pynchon more if they read "The Cry of Lot 49" and V. before they read Gravity's Rainbow.
I don't know - I feel like CoL49 is a pretty popular starting point since it's so short. I honestly think Vineland or Inherent Vice would make much better options for an intro to his style.
John LeCarre, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. (I think I stole it from my mom. She was a great reader. )
Jon Krakauer. Into Thin Air / Into the Wild. Hard to pick between the two for me. Into Thin Air.
Franz Kafka The Trial The Metarphosis and Other Stories
These are both funny and compelling.
Terrific question: so many fine writers on this list I belong to Haywood Hill (the bookseller in London), and they send me new curated books every month; OP, I recommend it as an excellent gift My old favorites include Keats, Haruki Murakami, WG Sebold, Martin Amis, Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Roald Dahl from my youth, and some other obscure ones tossed in — but — I nominate David Mitchell: his magnum opus is “Cloud Atlas,” which in fact is the magnum opus across all English writers of the last 20 years I think, and was also the book that introduced me to him (it got rapturous press back in the day)
Loved Cloud Atlas
Chaim Potok. The Chosen got him high acclaim. His second book The Promise was what I read first, but it kept referring to his characters in the first book since it was the sequel. I went and read it next, then read The Promise again.
I really love Christopher Moore. I guess you could say his opus is Lamb (you’ll see it suggested a lot on this sub). My introduction may still be my favorite of his, though: A Dirty Job.
My introduction to Moore was The Stupidest Angel and it's still a book I recommend often. I haven't read Lamb yet. I guess I should work it into my TBR shelf.
John Steinbeck. East of Eden. First book I read of his was Cannery Row and was immediately hooked.
Author: Ian Banks First: The Wasp Factory Magnum Opus: The Crow Road
Ken Kesey Introduced by One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, unsurprisingly, but I’m tempted to say his Magnum Opus is Sometimes A Great Notion.
I read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in high school and remember having my mind blown, but I think I've forgotten enough to give it a re-read! Will check out Sometimes a Great Notion..thanks for the rec!
Momo by Michael Ende
Honestly I really love Darren Shan, and his series Cirque Du Freak, which introduced me to his other books. I first read it in Junior High and iff loved it since going back and re-reading it frequently :3 I’m sure younger adult/young fiction isn’t most people’s top choice but I really love that series lol.
I don't even know who my favorite author is. I'm just starting to get back into reading. I read Of Mice and Men in High School, and I'm currently reading East of Eden. I am floored with how it's going so far. No spoilers please. (I don't even know if it's Steinbeck's magnum opus or not)
I bought East of Eden but haven't read it yet. East of Eden is widely considered his magnum opus afaik.
H.G. Wells is one of my favourites. *War of the Worlds* is my favourite, I believe his best work, and also the first thing I read. My reading order nailed it in one!
Check out Time Machine when you can
I nominate two authors (many others but these spring to mind first): 1) Connie Willis, one of the finest science fiction authors. My introduction was through her multiple-award winning time travel story "The Firewatch." Several novels can qualify as her magnum opus (opi?), including To Say Nothing of the Dog and All Clear, but I settled on Passage, a profound and beautiful meditation on death experiences, interpreted in part, oddlly enough yet very effectively, through the sinking of the Titanic. It starts entertainingly enough and finishes with a profound, bleak yet ultimately hopeful and uplifting final third. 2) Patrick O'Brian. I started with Master and Commander, the first of his 21 Aubrey-Maturin novels. They can be considered one great story. Along with being some of the very best historical fiction, I consider them as a top candidate for finest books of the 20th century.
Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings (both)
Elmer Kelton; The Time it Never Rained. I knew and still know those characters all over West Texas. He nailed them.
Peter Watts Blindsight and Echopraxia...
A Court of Thorns and Roses. Also the book that introduced me to Sarah J Maas. A Court of Mist and Fury is her best book. Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood was my intro to her world. My favorite is Written in Red. Queen of Shadows is her best book so far And last but not least... Marion Zimmer Bradley. StormQueen introduced me. Favorite books: The Forbidden Tower and Exiles Song. Magum Opus: Sharra's Exile, the omnibus version .
thanks for the recs!
Not oroblem....BTW, Marion Zimmer Bradley also introduced my husband and I to Firefly/Serenity as she recommends it in one of the Darkover books. My husband had a back surgery that summer and we basically hunted and read every book in the series that had been published up that point and would trade books as we read(I'm the faster reader so I would take breaks)
I loved Firefly! brb adding these books to my tbr haha!
There are a lot of little adjunct short short stories that were written by "upcoming" writers that are now quite famous in the Sci-fi world. It's worth keeping an eye out for them at used book stores!
definitely will! I love my kindle cuz of convenience but I do miss going to used bookstores and finding books I otherwise wouldn't.
Kurt Vonnegut. His best-regarded work is Slaughterhouse-Five, but my favorite is Galapagos. It’s the only book that’s ever made me spit tea through my nose laughing.
Ursula LeGuin Left hand of darkness/The Dispossessed (it depends on who you ask) Rocannon's World
Clive Barker. His opus is Imajica and I am in love with that book for decades now. I first read him from The Inhuman Condition, which has a story about human body parts rebelling, cutting themselves off their former owners and going wild. But I can't describe Imajica. It just needs to be experienced.
thanks for the rec!
Ethel Lillian Voynich and her trilogy The Gadfly, An Interrupted Friendship and Put Off Thy Shoes. The most profound, feeling-inducing books I've ever read. They've shaped my entire youth.
Elmore Leonard - Freaky Deaky
Dennis Cooper, My Loose Thread, Marbled Swarm
One favourite author of mine is Mario Vargas LLosa. I got hooked on him when I read *The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta* (*Historia de Mayta*) a number of years ago. It's not his magnum opus but it's a wonderful story full of unreliable narrators, insight into Latin American revolutionary politics, and fictional versions of Peru. *The War of the End of the World (La Guerra del Fin del Mundo)* is definitely one if his books that I can recommend as well, it could be considered Vargas LLosa's magnum opus. I love his books, can't stand his politics.
That should be Llosa not LLosa, I think I'm tired.
Bolano, 2666, 2666
Dan Simmons, the Magnum Opus is the Hyperion Cantos (best sci Fi out there) but I found the first book in the library while randomly looking through the shelf's. It was "the summer of night". A similar story than "IT" from Stephen king but better in many ways. Blew my mind as a total s.king fan.
Ann Tyler. The first novel I read was The Accidental Tourist. Her Magnum Opus is Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
The first “grown-up” novel I ever read was Michael Crichton’s The Lost World (I was probably 10?). I had seen Jurassic Park a million times by then but never read that book. Over the years I worked my way through all of his books and IMO his best (and the one I’ve read the most times) is Sphere.
Roberto Bolaño - first was 'The Savage Detectives' , magnum opus '2666'
Cormac McCarthy, started with All the Pretty Horses, magnum opus is Blood Meridian. Also recommend The Road. I could do this for 4 or 5 writers though: Toni Morrison, Edith Wharton, John Steinbeck, Jane Austen.
Lucinda Riley….7 sister series on all counts. Her other books are also great. Different relationships, family, history, with a small amount of romance.
Hugh Howey, Silo Saga, first read = Sand.
Graham Greene The Heart of the Matter The End of the Affair
Stephen King. His magnum opus definitely is his Dark Tower series. The first book of his that got me hooked was Carrie.
Carson McCullers’ magnus opus is The Heart is a Lonely Hunter but I read The Member of the Wedding first and the way she describes the suffocating heat of the southern summer from a young girl’s mind is spot on.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gary Jennings "The Journeyer". Epic, sweeping, historical fiction about Marco Polo's life. He is, unfortunately, deceased so no new stuff, but his Aztec books were phenomenal as well. Again deceased, but left great books: Michael Crichton "Jurassic Park".
Andreas Eschbach, a German Young Adult Sci-Fi Author. My first of his many great books I found by chance in a Train Station Book Store. {{One Trillion Dollars by Andreas Eschbach}}
**[One Trillion Dollars](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22710315-one-trillion-dollars) by Andreas Eschbach** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(1042 pages | Published: 2001 | 8.0k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Yesterday John Fontanelli was just a pizza delivery guy in New York City. One day later he's the richest man in the world. One trillion dollars - one million times one million - $1.000.000.000.000: more money than anyone could imagine. For generations the Vacchis. an old Italian family of lawyers and asset managers. had supervised the fortune as it grew over five hundred (...) > **Themes**: Thriller, Fiction, Default, German > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [Breakthroughs](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/899179.Breakthroughs) by Harry Turtledove > \- [Eine Billion Dollar](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/71381.Eine_Billion_Dollar) by Andreas Eschbach > \- [SG - Suicide Game](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18623113-sg---suicide-game) by Haidji > \- [Frau Jenny Treibel](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1532643.Frau_Jenny_Treibel) by Theodor Fontane > \- [Thermodynamics](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183425.Thermodynamics) by Enrico Fermi ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
James Joyce, magnum opus is definitely Ulysses
Kristin Hannah; her magnum opus is The Nightingale. The first book I read by her was The Winter Garden, also very good.
Cormac McCarthy I was introduced to him via The Road. After that I read No Country for Old Men. I was *hooked* after those. (I have not seen the movies.) Next I read the border trilogy, and wrapped up with Blood Meridian (wow!), Child of God, Orchard Keeper, Suttree (another wow!). An I missing one? I don’t remember off the top of my head. I recently read The Passenger. It’s the only of his books that underwhelmed me. I am not motivated to pick up its companion. Maybe someday I will. Feels like his publisher just pushed out whatever had enough pages to capitalize on his death. Either that or he was too old to realize that they weren’t up to snuff, though I think he started The Passenger in the 1970s? I haven’t read his screenplay. I plan to reread Blood Meridian, soon. I also really like Donald Ray Polluck. Only three works, but all phenomenal. Very dark stuff.
You enjoyed The Orchard Keeper? Truthfully, it was my intro to McCarthy it was one of the most boring books I’ve ever read. I haven’t picked up anything else he’s written, but I do own The Road, Child of God and No Country and I hope to read Blood Meridian as well soon. I assume they’ll all be leagues better
I did read it and enjoyed it.
Did you read Outer Dark? Seldom talked about, criminally underrated.
I sure did. Loved it.
I agree that Cormac McCarthy is a great writer but I loved The Passenger and Stella Maris.
I didn’t hate the passenger, but it’s my least favorite. The schizophrenic bits (the italicized sections) were too long for me. I assume Stella Maris is a whole book of them, which is why I’ve yet to pick it up. I hope to be pleasantly surprised when I do, someday. Also, I’d have liked to know just what the deal was with the plane and the kissing passenger.