Game of Thrones!

If you haven't heard of HBO's excellent adaptation of George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy series, consider: your house is a cave somewhere near Kandahar; you are in a coma, dreaming, and the pop culture references occurring in your head are stuck somewhere between Boy George and the Tony Rich Project; when you fill out your US Census forms you mark the box 'Other' and scribe in 'Amish/Mennonite' next to it............. or, more likely, you don't have HBO and the taste for epic awesomeness.

For the rest of us, George R.R. Martin's four-part Song of Ice & Fire is the current gold standard when it comes to the American fantasy series. A complexly figured, politically thrilling, and intensely personal Epic (--and brilliantly so), it's a series that's not to be missed, no matter how much your friends and family will make fun of you for reading it. 'Nerd' books are the best! Don't forget it!