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What are the great sci fi/fantasy out there?

PoS said:
My favorite Niven and Pournelle book is Footfall, possibly the best alien invasion novel since War of the Worlds- the ending alone is worth the big read. Inferno too was awesome and it helped drive me into atheism. :mrgreen:

My favorite old school sci-fi authors are Harlan Ellison, Robert Heinlein, Roger Zelazny (I wish somebody would make his Amber books into a tv show), Ursula K LeGuin, John Varley (his Titan trilogy is pretty good), John Wyndham (Day of The Triffids was my favorite as a kid) and of course Frank Herbert's Dune. I thought Philip K Dick had awesome story ideas but he was such an awful writer though.

Another book I would recommend is Liege Killer by Christopher Hinz, a very good action packed space opera about an assassin who inhabits two bodies. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is a classic as is Saberhagen's Berserker books, Hammer's Slammers if you like military themed books, oh and Justin Cronin's Passage trilogy is an awesome vampire series.

EDIT: Oh and David Brin's Uplift books!
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Big thumbs up for the Zelazny, the Varley(had not even thought about him in forever, fun stuff though), and Hammers Slammers. Throw Philip Jose Farmer in there too, much love for some of his stuff.
 
pinqy said:
Do a search for "David Weber orders a pizza."

Here's a small part of it:

"How David Weber orders a pizza
e.""
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Thats pretty good. He should write Hitchhikers Guide follow ups now that Adams is gone.

Douglas Adams - another must read
 
I just finished reading Exigency. Very well written first contact book.
 
Cardinal said:
I'm looking for some new sci fi/fantasy books to get addicted to. I've already gotten into authors such as Peter Hamilton and Patrick Rothfuss, if that helps to provide any clue of my likes. Though I'm not a crazy fan of Peter Hamilton's writing style, his vision of the future beginning with Pandora's Star strikes just the right balance between optimism and pessimism. Outright pessimism being defined as "Wool" by Hugh Howey and outright optimism as essentially anything by Isaac Asimov (though we sci-fi fans all love him just the same). And though I'm not quite sure what happened to Rothfuss's third book, his first two, The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear were some of the most extraordinary fantasy writing in modern history.

For the record, here's my pet peeve: I just want a story. Don't dump the entire history of the universe/kingdom/whatever on me and expect me to memorize a thousand goddamn names and dates in the first chapter. Not even Tolkein did that in the Hobbit. In fact, Tolkein especially didn't do that. The proper way to introduce a reader/viewer to an entirely new universe is to start with the main character that's a hick in some backwater of the galaxy/kingdom. Think: The Hobbit and Luke Skywalker. Both characters are introduced into the larger narrative of the story through other transitional characters (Gandalf, Obi Wan Kenobi) and continue their growth thusly. The worst (or at least most tedious) stories tend to begin like homework assignments combined with Wiki pages. Spare me that crap, if you can.

Thanks. And if you haven't read The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear, seriously, read that **** already.
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So how is the reading going?
 
Reading "The Cunning Blood" right now. Another one Id recommend. AI nano machines living in a prisoners body sent to a prison world with nano machines that eat electricity.
 
Redress said:
So how is the reading going?
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Well I bought the books you and Spud suggested. I was finishing off the Old Man's War series (awesome) but now work has demanded I become better at what I do, so if I don't want to make an ass out of myself in a few months I'm going to have to read up on some most-certainly-not-science-fiction material for a while: anatomy, chemistry, figure construction...real titillating stuff.
 
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1. Ender's Game is outstanding. The rest of the series is generally "meh", though Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide are allright.

2. Stanislaw Lem writes brilliant sci-fi, stuffed with philosophy, sociology, psychology. You really must read Solaris and Fiasco. Then you might also consider: Peace on Earth, The Invincible, His Master's Voice, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, and The Futurological Congress. (Also, the non-sci-fi Chain of Chance is quite good). I'd avoid "The Cyberiad" - it's supposed to be satirical but it's the only one I didn't like.

3. Philip K. Dick: All his short stories, and all his novels other than VALIS, The Divine Invasion, and The Transmogrification of Timothy Archer.

4. Asimov's Foundation series.



Some have recommended "The Quantum Thief" series, but I've not read them.
 
jonny5 said:
Thats pretty good. He should write Hitchhikers Guide follow ups now that Adams is gone.

Douglas Adams - another must read
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I'd say Douglass Adams is comedy; sure, the backdrop is sci-fi, but it's not about the sci-fi elements. Like the Red Dwarf TV series (also hilarious).



Praised be Douglass Adams.
 
Mr Person said:
I'd say Douglass Adams is comedy; sure, the backdrop is sci-fi, but it's not about the sci-fi elements. Like the Red Dwarf TV series (also hilarious).



Praised be Douglass Adams.
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The theme is science fiction. The style is comedy. His Dirk Gently stuff is pretty good too.
 
jonny5 said:
His Dirk Gently stuff is pretty good too.
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Yup.

Have you read "The Salmon of Doubt"? I'm tempted, simply because it's Adams...but it's also unfinished.
 
Cardinal said:
I'm looking for some new sci fi/fantasy books to get addicted to. I've already gotten into authors such as Peter Hamilton and Patrick Rothfuss, if that helps to provide any clue of my likes. Though I'm not a crazy fan of Peter Hamilton's writing style, his vision of the future beginning with Pandora's Star strikes just the right balance between optimism and pessimism. Outright pessimism being defined as "Wool" by Hugh Howey and outright optimism as essentially anything by Isaac Asimov (though we sci-fi fans all love him just the same). And though I'm not quite sure what happened to Rothfuss's third book, his first two, The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear were some of the most extraordinary fantasy writing in modern history.

For the record, here's my pet peeve: I just want a story. Don't dump the entire history of the universe/kingdom/whatever on me and expect me to memorize a thousand goddamn names and dates in the first chapter. Not even Tolkein did that in the Hobbit. In fact, Tolkein especially didn't do that. The proper way to introduce a reader/viewer to an entirely new universe is to start with the main character that's a hick in some backwater of the galaxy/kingdom. Think: The Hobbit and Luke Skywalker. Both characters are introduced into the larger narrative of the story through other transitional characters (Gandalf, Obi Wan Kenobi) and continue their growth thusly. The worst (or at least most tedious) stories tend to begin like homework assignments combined with Wiki pages. Spare me that crap, if you can.

Thanks. And if you haven't read The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear, seriously, read that **** already.
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going thru the thread lots of sci fi, and very little fantasy recommended

do you like epic reads?

if so, i heartily recommend two series

the sword of truth series

and the wheel of time series

both epic, both great story telling
 
gdgyva said:
going thru the thread lots of sci fi, and very little fantasy recommended

do you like epic reads?

if so, i heartily recommend two series

the sword of truth series

and the wheel of time series

both epic, both great story telling
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Sword of Truth books were very good, never made it through the Wheel of Time series though, read the first 6ish or so and gave up between the long waits between books. May have to set aside a couple of months and give them another go. IIRC the publisher actually gave out a free partial book of the first book, if they did, I'm sure I still have it somewhere. My daughter was one at the time the books started which kinda weirds me out.
 
gdgyva said:
going thru the thread lots of sci fi, and very little fantasy recommended

do you like epic reads?

if so, i heartily recommend two series

the sword of truth series

and the wheel of time series

both epic, both great story telling
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My favorite genre. Currently rereading Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. Great stuff. Sanderson is the author who finished writing WOT when Robert Jordan died before finishing the series.
 
spud_meister said:
I love the Furies of Calderon series by Jim Butcher. It's Pokemon in a cool, Roman setting. Also Dune, if you haven't already, read Dune.
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or if you want urban fantasy his Dresden files series is a lot of fun

you get a lot of characters and factions as time goes buy but you don't get hit with all of it at once no index
 
Dragonriders of Pern is a science fiction series written primarily by American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey,[a] who initiated it in 1967. Beginning 2003, her middle child Todd McCaffrey has written Pern novels, both solo and jointly with Anne. The series (as of June 2011) comprises 22 novels and several short stories. Most of the short fiction has been collected in two volumes or incorporated in one of the novels, so Dragonriders of Pern is sometimes identified with the 24 books.[1] Two of the novellas included in the first novel, Dragonflight, made McCaffrey the first woman to win a Hugo or Nebula Award.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonriders_of_Pern

another in a long series of books

a wonderful world of part sci fi/part fantasy

highly recommended
 
The "Vampire for Hire" series by J R Rain.

The man is a very good writer with multiple best-selling books on Amazon.

His Vampire for Hire is just a bit different - She's a middle-class, stay at home mom with two kids, who has a bit of a problem going outside in daylight.
 
gdgyva said:
Dragonriders of Pern is a science fiction series written primarily by American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey,[a] who initiated it in 1967. Beginning 2003, her middle child Todd McCaffrey has written Pern novels, both solo and jointly with Anne. The series (as of June 2011) comprises 22 novels and several short stories. Most of the short fiction has been collected in two volumes or incorporated in one of the novels, so Dragonriders of Pern is sometimes identified with the 24 books.[1] Two of the novellas included in the first novel, Dragonflight, made McCaffrey the first woman to win a Hugo or Nebula Award.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonriders_of_Pern

another in a long series of books

a wonderful world of part sci fi/part fantasy

highly recommended
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I loved those books when I was a teen. Lots of fun.
 
The Windup Girl was a great biopunk novel. Old Man's War was totally awesome. Altered Carbon is another fantastic book with a great and original plot. 2312 was enjoyable, but not everyone's cup of tea. Leviathan Wakes is another solid recent addition to the genre.

It's not new but if you haven't checked out Hyperion and the rest of the series.
 
Winchester said:
Sword of Truth books were very good, never made it through the Wheel of Time series though, read the first 6ish or so and gave up between the long waits between books. May have to set aside a couple of months and give them another go. IIRC the publisher actually gave out a free partial book of the first book, if they did, I'm sure I still have it somewhere. My daughter was one at the time the books started which kinda weirds me out.
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The first few Sword of Truth novels were good and then it dawned on me that Goodkind has some kind of rape fetish.

And really ****ing hates communism. He was pretty goddamned close to a John Galt Speech in... fourth book? Fifth maybe? Can't remember exactly.

Edit: Book six, it turns out.

Later on the Eeeeeevil Communist society gives way to the Even More Evil Pacifists, because anyone who doesn't fight against evil must be evil themselves. So naturally the Perfect Hero Protagonist starts murdering the pacifists.
 
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Cardinal said:
No, I'm looking more for the kind of sy-fie that explores our universe, aliens, technology, etc, but not necessarily so much hard action (though a little action is always welcome -- I just don't want it to be, you know, an action novel). I'm kind of getting fed up with these pessimistic stories that depict humans retreating inward instead of expanding outward and expanding on larger undiscovered concepts.

Wool and Dust were two excellently written novels, but left you with the feeling of, "Eh, screw the future, it's obviously a hopeless and dreary place that I want no part of." Whereas in the Peter F. Hamilton novels, I thought, "I want that future. Right. The hell. Now."
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Have you tried the Nights Dawn series of novels by Hamilton. Its a interesting mix of horror and science fiction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night's_Dawn_Trilogy
 
Redress said:
Which book covers? And yeah, Science fiction does tend to have some terrible covers.
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I had change over to the nook so no book covers concerns at all.
 
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