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Recommend your favorite Sci-Fi read

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Dray
C.O.D.E
#41 - 2011-10-20 09:30:58 UTC
Always loved Niven as I popped my Sci-fi cherry with Ringworld, but as someone has already mentioned his character development is poor as is his writing style, but his ideas are superb, has enjoyed most success in his collaborations as better writers flesh out his ideas. Still my number 1 choice though. To get the best of him look at his collaborations with Jerry Pournelle.

Dan Simmons is excellent as well, Hyperion Cantos/Endymion Saga is space opera at its best and Illium and Olympus blew me away, the Trojan war being played out on Mars with little green men building monoliths, not only does he make it work he also makes it plausible.

Someone mentioned House of Suns by Reynolds, I also thought this was really good solid space opera, currently working through Revelation Space atm, Chasm City. I didn't like Terminal World at all, had to force my way through it, other than the main protagonist I really hated the other characters, cardboard cut outs and cliched.

The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson, as always with Donaldson great character development and superb story telling, not Sci-fi but also worth reading is his Mordant Saga, Mirror of her dreams and A man rides through. Also if you buy the Gap series now they've merged Books 1 and 2, found this out when I replaced my books after they got damaged.

Read Iain M Banks first Culture book, Consider Phlebas, and enjoyed it and will be going back to that series after I get finished with Chasm City.

Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith is a great read but it's not full on Sci-fi.

I could be here all day tbh so I'll leave it with those.
Marsha Mallow
#42 - 2011-10-20 09:55:03 UTC
CCP Spitfire wrote:
Lutz Major wrote:
CCP Spitfire wrote:

I wish it was available in Kindle Store. Sad

May I ask why you prefer the digital book instead of a real one?


I actually prefer real ones (as evident by a near-total lack of spacein my apartment). The problem is it's not easy to buy English books in Russia (where I am currently residing) or order them here, so I have to purchase them whenever I go abroad. In this particular case (KSR's trilogy) I actually almost bought it a few years ago in London but I literally had no room in my luggage.

Besides, I like reading on the go, and it's a bit tricky with, e.g., a Dance with Dragons hardcover. Smile


The Red Mars trilogy sequence is available as free PDF/kindle downloads, just google the author and the individual titles to find them.

Ripard Teg > For the morons in the room:

Sweets > U can dd my face any day
Lutz Major
Austriae Est Imperare Orbi Universo
#43 - 2011-10-20 10:15:39 UTC
CCP Spitfire wrote:
Lutz Major wrote:
CCP Spitfire wrote:

I wish it was available in Kindle Store. Sad

May I ask why you prefer the digital book instead of a real one?


I actually prefer real ones (as evident by a near-total lack of spacein my apartment). The problem is it's not easy to buy English books in Russia (where I am currently residing) or order them here, so I have to purchase them whenever I go abroad. In this particular case (KSR's trilogy) I actually almost bought it a few years ago in London but I literally had no room in my luggage.

Besides, I like reading on the go, and it's a bit tricky with, e.g., a Dance with Dragons hardcover. Smile

*sigh* Christmas is coming and I was hoping for the last push to buy me one Big smile

I like the haptic of having a real book in hands, but I might have to travel a lot next year and as you said: reading on the go with a hardcover or even a softcover with 500+ pages is not so easy.
Myfanwy Heimdal
Heimdal Freight and Manufacture Inc
#44 - 2011-10-20 10:36:55 UTC  |  Edited by: Myfanwy Heimdal
Vicker Lahn'se wrote:
Hopefully this question doesn't get me stoned, but I have to ask:

Why on Earth do so many people like Orson Scott Card?

I read half of the books in the Ender's Game series, including ones involving Bean. I read the entire Homecoming Saga. You can't say I didn't give him a chance.
.


Ender's Game was a good idea and written in a fresh style which made it easy to absorb.

When it came out there wasn't that much god SF coming out (there still isn't; look at the names all suggested here - most of them are the very derserving 'usual suspects') and so it sold.

What happened then was that Card made the mistake of thinking that he were a writer and so he carried on. Speaker For The Dead was alright but nothing special. Then someone pubished a load of his work which was, rightly, rejected before (ker-ching!) and that really tarnished his name.

If anyone hadn't tried any of OSC's work then I would say try "Ender's Game" and stop at the final page of that book.

Pam:  I wonder what my name means in Welsh?Nessa: Why?
Myfanwy Heimdal
Heimdal Freight and Manufacture Inc
#45 - 2011-10-20 10:52:40 UTC  |  Edited by: Myfanwy Heimdal
Dray wrote:


The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson, as always with Donaldson great character development and superb story telling, not Sci-fi but also worth reading is his Mordant Saga, Mirror of her dreams and A man rides through. Also if you buy the Gap series now they've merged Books 1 and 2, found this out when I replaced my books after they got damaged..



I have bought this series about five times now as mine keep getting borrowed.

Donaldson really can draw characters, c an't he? None of them I would ever want around for tea; each one is magnificently flawed in their own way.

What I also like about his writing is that he can describe and write out plot machinations. Herbert's Dune series would just say "wheels wihin wheels" because Herbert was unable to write intreague, conspiracy and plot. Donaldson would do that superbly.

Also Donaldson has the ability to invent a SF sounding term and drop it into the book and because of the context we knew what it was. Furthermore, these 'inventions' were so well placed that even though we'd come across these things for the first time we somehow were led to believe that we knew what they were for years.

This is one thing that Peter Hamilton always seems to fall short at. When he comes up with a new gizmo it sticks out like a sore thumb or a badly written piece of deus-ex-machina.

I was looking on my shelves the other day and I see that Books 1 & 2 are missing. I will have to order another set.



Changing subject, or author. There are two British authors I would like to add.

The first is whom has never written a bad book. Much under sung and his book on 'Slow Glass' (Other Days, Other Eyes) has worrying 1984 connotations. He's even tried a comedic lampoon of Starship Troopers and it does come off. Sadly no longer with us.

The other British writer is Brian Aldiss. Now, I have to say that I am generally not a fan of his work., but one does stand out and deserves to be read -The Helliconia Series. It's in that fuzzy area between SF and Fantasy but since it's primitive SF it's not fantasy.

As a rule I don't do fantasy. Most of it is crap with the exception of Donaldson. Again.

Pam:  I wonder what my name means in Welsh?Nessa: Why?
Myfanwy Heimdal
Heimdal Freight and Manufacture Inc
#46 - 2011-10-20 10:52:59 UTC
Myfanwy Heimdal wrote:
Dray wrote:


The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson, as always with Donaldson great character development and superb story telling, not Sci-fi but also worth reading is his Mordant Saga, Mirror of her dreams and A man rides through. Also if you buy the Gap series now they've merged Books 1 and 2, found this out when I replaced my books after they got damaged..



I have bought this series about five times now as mine keep getting borrowed.

Donaldson really can draw characters, c an't he? None of them I would ever want around for tea; each one is magnificently flawed in their own way.

What I also like about his writing is that he can describe and write out plot machinations. Herbert's Dune series would just say "wheels wihin wheels" because Herbert was unable to write intreague, conspiracy and plot. Donaldson would do that superbly.

Also Donaldson has the ability to invent a SF sounding term and drop it into the book and because of the context we knew what it was. Furthermore, these 'inventions' were so well placed that even though we'd come across these things for the first time we somehow were led to believe that we knew what they were for years.

This is one thing that Peter Hamilton always seems to fall short at. When he comes up with a new gizmo it sticks out like a sore thumb or a badly written piece of deus-ex-machina.

I was looking on my shelves the other day and I see that Books 1 & 2 are missing. I will have to order another set.



Changing subject, or author. There are two British authors I would like to add.

The first is Bob Shaw whom has never written a bad book. Much under sung and his book on 'Slow Glass' (Other Days, Other Eyes) has worrying 1984 connotations. He's even tried a comedic lampoon of Starship Troopers and it does come off. Sadly no longer with us.

The other British writer is Brian Aldiss. Now, I have to say that I am generally not a fan of his work., but one does stand out and deserves to be read - The Helliconia Series. It's in that fuzzy area between SF and Fantasy but since it's primitive SF it's not fantasy.

As a rule I don't do fantasy. Most of it is crap with the exception of Donaldson. Again.

Pam:  I wonder what my name means in Welsh?Nessa: Why?
Myfanwy Heimdal
Heimdal Freight and Manufacture Inc
#47 - 2011-10-20 11:02:31 UTC
Myfanwy Heimdal wrote:
There was an issue with parsing this post's BBCode


Aaargh!

Pam:  I wonder what my name means in Welsh?Nessa: Why?
Pj Harvey
Red DUST Industries.
#48 - 2011-10-20 11:02:48 UTC
Also (again) nobody has mention H.G. Wells 'the war of the worlds' the great grand daddy of them all, it was written in 1898 and it has aged really well except for a few small things that are common knowledge now but weren't back then, a lot of 'classics' these days I've read have not been that good at all, but the war of the worlds is one classy book, superbly told story of alien invasion back before anyone had done seriously beforehand, the author observes 12 cylinders being shot from Mars and they arrive outside London at midnight every day for 12 days, the Martians emerge and starting killing everyone in their fighting tripods.

I read it recently during the London riots I found it funny how in the book the author describes 'several rambunctious youths with leery attitudes using obscenities nearby to the Martians pit, and arguing with a policeman so I retired to my home for some evening tee' thought it was such a stark contrast with the 'youths' marauding across London at the time a mere 113 years after this book was written, in fact every time some disaster happens the author 'retires to my home for some scones and tea and writes about it in his journal' which of course is the only classy thing to do when Martians invade your world when you're British.

Also the author uses the word 'ejaculating' a lot, he means it like, speaking vigorously and with concern, took me a minute to figure that out after reading of the authors neighbour 'following his wife down the hall ejaculating like furiously'
Gavin DeVries
JDI Industries
#49 - 2011-10-20 14:28:04 UTC
CCP Spitfire wrote:
I actually prefer real ones (as evident by a near-total lack of spacein my apartment).



You say you're out of book space?
Naturally you're out of book space.
Everyone's always out of book space.
If you're not out of book space,
you're probably not worth knowing.

I have no idea where the quote is from, but a book store I used to frequent back in the 80s and 90s sold t-shirts with this on it.

PVP is a question with no single right answer, but a lot of wrong ones.
CCP Spitfire
C C P
C C P Alliance
#50 - 2011-10-20 14:37:01 UTC
Gavin DeVries wrote:
CCP Spitfire wrote:
I actually prefer real ones (as evident by a near-total lack of spacein my apartment).



You say you're out of book space?
Naturally you're out of book space.
Everyone's always out of book space.
If you're not out of book space,
you're probably not worth knowing.

I have no idea where the quote is from, but a book store I used to frequent back in the 80s and 90s sold t-shirts with this on it.


You, sir, have just made my day. Big smile

CCP Spitfire | Marketing & Sales Team @ccp_spitfire
Greygal
Redemption Road
Affirmative.
#51 - 2011-10-20 18:37:43 UTC
Gavin DeVries wrote:
CCP Spitfire wrote:
I actually prefer real ones (as evident by a near-total lack of spacein my apartment).


You say you're out of book space?
Naturally you're out of book space.
Everyone's always out of book space.
If you're not out of book space,
you're probably not worth knowing.

I have no idea where the quote is from, but a book store I used to frequent back in the 80s and 90s sold t-shirts with this on it.


Too many books? No such thing... or is there...

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/5461/booksmore.jpg
http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/3720/bookslr.jpg

I'm almost embarrassed to show what my house used to look like...! I've since sold them all on Amazon, donated to the library and Goodwill those I couldn't sell, and now limit myself to JUST ONE bookshelf. Well, one bookshelf and a smallish pile on the night stand... and on the coffee table next to the couch in the living room... but ya, I limit myself now...Blink

And I bought a Kindle. I <3 my Kindle. Wish there was a way to put *more* books on it...

What you do for yourself dies with you, what you do for others is immortal.

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Louis deGuerre
The Dark Tribe
#52 - 2011-10-20 20:38:29 UTC
Greygal wrote:
Too many books? No such thing... or is there...


The obvious solution
Malcanis
Vanishing Point.
The Initiative.
#53 - 2011-10-20 21:43:38 UTC
In no particular order, and by no means a remotely exclusive list, here are 10 of the best:

Schizmatrix - Bruce Sterling

Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds

The Star Fraction - Ken MacLeod

Fairyland - Paul J McAuley

The Shadow Of The Torturer - Gene Wolfe

New Model Army - Adam Roberts

A Fire Upon The Deep - Vernor Vinge

A Million Open Doors - John Barnes

Neuromancer - William Gibson

Voice Of The Whirlwind - Walter Jon Williams

Desolation Road - Ian Macdonald

Each of these authors has written at least half a dozen other books of the very first rank, and I would unhesitatingly recommend any of them on purely literary merit even to people who "don't like science fiction".

"Just remember later that I warned against any change to jump ranges or fatigue. You earned whats coming."

Grath Telkin, 11.10.2016
Malcanis
Vanishing Point.
The Initiative.
#54 - 2011-10-20 22:11:21 UTC  |  Edited by: Malcanis
CCP Spitfire wrote:
So many wonderful books in this thread. Smile

it's really hard for me to pick one piece of science fiction that I love the most (although if I absolutely had to, it would have probably been something by Robert Sheckley, Ray Bradbury or Philip K. Diсk). The last novel I read -- and enjoyed immensely -- was Anathem by Neal Stephenson.



Robert Sheckley! ♥ ♥ ♥

You reminded me of one of the favourite forgotten authors!

brb, off to the Dimension of Miracles!


Oh.... and how could I forget the "Lord Of Language": JACK VANCE

Araminta Station & the Cadwal Chronicles is one of the series of books I re-read most often, along with The Planet of Adventure series.



Edit: Also:

Camp Concentration - Thomas M Disch.

Ten Thousand In Gehenna - C J Cherryh (Very EVE-like, this one)

Hyperion - Dan Simmons

The Story Of Your Life And Others - Ted Chiang

Life During Wartime - Lucius Shephard

"Just remember later that I warned against any change to jump ranges or fatigue. You earned whats coming."

Grath Telkin, 11.10.2016
Malcanis
Vanishing Point.
The Initiative.
#55 - 2011-10-20 22:17:18 UTC
**** you guys I just spend £200 on amazon

"Just remember later that I warned against any change to jump ranges or fatigue. You earned whats coming."

Grath Telkin, 11.10.2016
Malcanis
Vanishing Point.
The Initiative.
#56 - 2011-10-20 22:24:36 UTC
God dambit, Greg Bear. How the hell did he not get a mention?

Also:

Sundiver - David Brin

Jem - Frederik Pohl

Ringworld - Larry Niven

Paradox - John Meaney

[CULTURE] - Iain M Banks

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep -- Philip K ****

The Child Garden - Geoff Ryman

Great Sky River - Greg Benford

"Just remember later that I warned against any change to jump ranges or fatigue. You earned whats coming."

Grath Telkin, 11.10.2016
Shalia Ripper
#57 - 2011-10-20 23:18:25 UTC
Malcanis wrote:
God dambit, Greg Bear. How the hell did he not get a mention?

Also:

Sundiver - David Brin

Jem - Frederik Pohl

Ringworld - Larry Niven

Paradox - John Meaney

[CULTURE] - Iain M Banks

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep -- Philip K ****

The Child Garden - Geoff Ryman

Great Sky River - Greg Benford



I was going to mention him and Poul Anderson, but I drew the line at three edits.

Sig blah blah blah blah
Captain Tavius
Picon Fleet
New Eden Research.
#58 - 2011-10-21 02:51:47 UTC
Last and First Men, thanks to CCP Big Dumb Object for that one.
Headerman
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#59 - 2011-10-21 03:14:23 UTC
Pj Harvey wrote:
Also forgot to mention the Mars trilogy by Kim-Stanley Robinson, 3 books about the colonization of Mars using today's technology, red Mars was written in 1996 with conceivable technology for the day, the 'first 100' are trained in Antarctica and sent to Mars aboard the Ares, a ship using centripetal rotation for gravity, they are mostly Russian and American and a few Japanese, they land and begin construction of underhill, the first dwelling on Mars, as the years pass they make tent cities and tap the north pole for water, using rovers trains led by buoys, they make derrigables to move around and manufacture everything themselves, multinational greed and mass immigration eventually causes the first revolution in 2061 where they bring down the space elevator on Olympus mons causing the giant cable to come crashing down across the equator.

Green Mars is the second book, Mars now has it's own industry, terraforming has started and a whole new generation of 'locals' has been born there, the first 100 are largely still alive but quite a few were killed in the '61 revolution, they live in an underground society cut off from corporate controlled Mars and they lead the way for the second uprising, they sign a constitution called the dorsa brevia agreement and successfully revolt, Mars at this stage has a large transient population of people who live 'off the grid' in small tent towns and roving caravans of Arabs and Swiss.

Blue Mars is set across several hundred years, it deal with the colonization of other bodies in the solar system and Mars becoming an independent powerhouse of its own.

Truly a spectacular series of books, not to be missed if you like 'realistic' sci-fi as it's all very conceivable


I forgot these series of books, i must get a copy of them.

Another trilogy i forgot was a new Dune series by Brian herbert and Kevin J Anderson. The three books are:

The Butlerand Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin.

Basically it deals with humanity has expanded outwards and occupied hundreds of worlds. A small faction and some revered people have worked out how to remove their brains into a type of stasis jar, allowing them to live for thousands of years. The faction group have gone a step further and built massive robots to control directly with their brains. They have gone and invented a very good A. I. Eventually one of the faction gives too much power to it, and it takes control. The faction are now subservient to the AI, while the rest of humanity forces a stale mate with it.

The stories themselves deal with how humanity struggles to overcome the AI with slaves, new ships, and a herb found on only one desert planet... Dune.

It is a very good series

Australian Fanfest Event https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&find=unread&t=90062
CCP Spitfire
C C P
C C P Alliance
#60 - 2011-10-21 07:06:00 UTC
Headerman wrote:


I forgot these series of books, i must get a copy of them.

Another trilogy i forgot was a new Dune series by Brian herbert and Kevin J Anderson. The three books are:

The Butlerand Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin.

Basically it deals with humanity has expanded outwards and occupied hundreds of worlds. A small faction and some revered people have worked out how to remove their brains into a type of stasis jar, allowing them to live for thousands of years. The faction group have gone a step further and built massive robots to control directly with their brains. They have gone and invented a very good A. I. Eventually one of the faction gives too much power to it, and it takes control. The faction are now subservient to the AI, while the rest of humanity forces a stale mate with it.

The stories themselves deal with how humanity struggles to overcome the AI with slaves, new ships, and a herb found on only one desert planet... Dune.

It is a very good series


Is it on par with the original Frank Herbert's series? (I know that Brian Herbert is his son) I've always been interested in the early days of the Dune universe, so to speak, but it'd take a really talented writer to fill Frank Herbert's shoes.

CCP Spitfire | Marketing & Sales Team @ccp_spitfire