What is the most gripping novel you've ever read? Fantasy or otherwise?

[Cambra]

The Brothers Karamazov made an impression, I also liked Fight Club, though that is a novella... The Three Musketeers was one of my favourites as a girl... The Secret History...

More traditional fantasy well ASoIaF was an eye opener and I really loved the first Kushiel trilogy as I did Robin Hobb's original Assassin series...

 

[acapes]

Robin Hobb's original Assassin series...

That's another great one, I was dragged through that story (all the books, really) it was emotionally taxing at times but the ending was really worth it I reckon

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

The Litigators is a good one. It's had me hooked so far. I also devoured all of the Dresden files.

 

[acapes]

The Litigators is a good one. It's had me hooked so far. I also devoured all of the Dresden files.

The Dresden books are heaps of fun I reckon, I'm flying through them now - something very appealing about the fantastical appearing in novels full of crime conventions.

 

[Cambra]

That's another great one, I was dragged through that story (all the books, really) it was emotionally taxing at times but the ending was really worth it I reckon

I cried when a certain character died and I haven't done that for years....

 

[acapes]

I cried when a certain character died and I haven't done that for years....

I was shattered too! Sometimes I think it's one of the more grueling reads in fantasy, but I still love it

 

[Cambra]

I was shattered too! Sometimes I think it's one of the more grueling reads in fantasy, but I still love it

Kudos to Robin she struck gold with that... It helps if you have pets.

 

[Zara]

The Hunt for red October is a thriller by Lee child
Gone girl
The Magicians

would be mine. and Little Women

 

[ThinkerX]

Been so many. The most recent one to really hit a nerve was 'The Flicker Men' by Ted Kosmatka. Via a variant of a baseline QM experiment, it slammed very hard into the issue of who has a 'soul.' Argument supported by things I'd noted long ago and wondered about pertaining to anthropology and religion. The 'solution' was both logical and chilling. The further implications...'can of worms' doesn't even begin to cover it.

 

[Russ]

The Hunt for red October is a thriller by Lee child
Gone girl
The Magicians

would be mine. and Little Women

I think Tom Clancy wrote Hunt for Red October. Great book too, as was Red Storm Rising.

I found Perdido St Station by Melville really carried me to the end.

 

[Steerpike]

The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky
Lolita, Nabokov
Victory, Conrad
Moby Dick, Melville
Gormenghast, Peake

More recently, thrillers by Lee Child, Robert Crais and Michael Connelly are gripping in other ways - compelling page turners.

 

[Stephyn Blackwood]

As far as fantasy goes, I'd say Before They Are Hanged. I got over halfway through that installment on the day I got it. Some people dump on that book, but I liked it better than both The Blade Itself and Last Argument Of Kings.

Before They're Hanged is also my favourite of the First Law trilogy, however it still doesn't come anywhere close to The Heroes in terms of how it gripped me.

 

[Gospodin]

Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
DUNE, Frank Herbert
Xenogenesis, Octavia Butler
Embassytown, China Miéville
The City and the Stars, Arthur C. Clarke

 

[Steerpike]

Oh yeah, Dahlgren is excellent. And Butler is always worth reading.

 

[Clearmadness]

The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson.

 

[BenjaminLocke]

The first book that ever grabbed me and made feel like I couldn't leave was blackout by Chris Ryan although that feeling soon wore off. Id have to say Stephen Kings 'Dark Tower' books have gripped me like none other, particularly the earlier books in the series. My current read though, Brandon Sanderson's 'Final Empire' has got its hooks in good right now!

 

[tiggywinke]

Possibly "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris. What a twisted book. It's better than the book version of "Silence of the Lambs," but not better than the film.

 

[AndrewLowe]

DUNNNEEE by Frank Herbert

 

[Ben]

I wish it was something a little more high brow, but Davinci Code is probably the one I really couldn't put down - every single chapter ended on a cliffhanger, to the point where I would groan audibly when I reached the end of a chapter.

Several books I wanted to read faster but paced myself to savor more because they were so good.

I loved fight club movie and thought I would be into Chuck P's books, the first one I picked up was Lullaby, it didn't work for me and I never went back, but I think I will give Rant a try based on what I've read on this board.

 

[Geo]

For me it has to be Seventh Son (Orson Scott Card). I started and couldn't put it down. Fortunately, it's not too long, because I didn't sleep until I was done. Of course I had to run to get the second one (Red Prophet) because the end it's just such a tease.