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[Scelly9]

Alright, minor necro here.

Anyway, I've been trying to find this book for a while,I remember listening to it a few years ago, probably while driving somewhere. All I remember about it is that the main characters escaped a prison on a hot air balloon, and where caught up in a storm. They dumped some stuff overboard, and managed to stay in the air long enough to crash on an island. They found tunnels throughout the island, and they had two matches, one shattered when they tried to light a fire, the other worked. They ended up creating nitroglyceroine for some reason and where attacked by pirates.

It's a bit of a stretch any of you know it, at least by those meager details, but I listened to it about four years ago, so no complaining.

[Silfurdreki]

That's one of Jules Verne's books, The Mysterious Island. The main characters are escaping from a siege in the American civil war and end up crashing on an island in the pacific.

Now to recommend some books of my own.

I'd second the recommendation for The Belgariad, I really like David Eddings in general, except for his later stuff which isn't all that amazing. I'll also heartily recommend Jospeh Heller's Catch 22. I really like that kind of nonsense-based humour.

Finally, I'll recommend the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. Alternate history early 1800's, wooden ships, iron men and dragons. Need I say more?

[RedWarrior0]

Well, since the thread started I've read Wheel of Time up to the current point, Safehold up to the current point, and Mistborn on the suuggestions of this thread. If you are a Safehold reader, Midst Toil and Tribulation came out. There isn't nearly as much naval combat. Significant quantities of land-based combat to compensate, however.

[Sirus]

Oh hey, I'm glad to see that my suggestion panned out

[Flying Dice]

Finally, I'll recommend the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. Alternate history early 1800's, wooden ships, iron men and dragons.

This. I was honestly expecting mediocre time-fillers when I started the first, but they're pretty damned good. She did a fair job of capturing the feeling of period naval stories and then applying it to a world where the Napoleonic Wars are being fought with bloody dragons.