Need a recommendation on good Sci-fi books

[gerwen]

Thread derivative of this thread.

Got some good books to pick up from that one, so here's another genre to list out the best of.

My recommendations:

Robert J. Sawyer - Neandertal Parallax (trilogy), Calculating God, Factoring Humanity. Anything I've read of his has been great (and I've read almost everything.)

Niven & Pournelle - Mote in Gods eye, Gripping Hand. I've read Niven's solo stuff, and it's great, but he's even better with Pournelle.

William Gibson - Lots of stuff to choose from. Fast paced and stylish. Good at weaving separate threads into a complete story.

Robert Charles Wilson - Spin. Only thing by wilson i've read so far, but loved it.

Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash, same as above

Tad Williams - Otherland Trilogy


Ok, i'm out of ideas for now. Help me find something else to read.

 

[nageov3t]

Saga of the Seven Suns by Kevin Anderson is really good and not quite famous.

he's the guy that co-wrote the Dune prelude books, but his solo work is a lot better. I've really been digging the series so far.

 

[pontifex]

Dune series - Frank Herbert (his son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson wrote a series of prequels that are equally as good as the originals).

Lensman series - E. E. "Doc" Smith

Skylark series - E. E. "Doc" Smith (starts out really slow but then picks up and gets awesome)

Mars series - Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Tarzan)

Almuric - Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan & Kull) - Similar to the Mars series

I'll second William Gibson, Tad Williams, and Neal Stephenson.


I haven't read much Sci-fi in along time and most of the stuff I've read is older stuff.

 

[userman]

http://www.baen.com/library/067131985X/067131985X.htm

The 1st book you can read for free.

 

[StevenYoo]

Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash" was amazing, IMO. "Cryptonomicon" was also a very good read (especially if you're a programmer, which I am not)

I read Gibson's "Neuromancer", which i LOVED. His next book, "Count Zero" was horrible, though.

Dune just kicks major booty.

 

[gsellis]

If you are looking for series, I recommend the following:

Honor series by David Weber

Postleen series by John Ringo

Flinx series by Alan Dean Foster (also Spellsinger series)

I wish I could find the Lucky Starr series by "Paul French" aka Issac Asimov

The Retief series by Keith Laumer is humorous as is the Phule series by Robert Asprin (The Myth series is cool, but not sci-fi).

Edit - Must add the Fuzzy series by H. Beam Piper!

 

[sdifox]

Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide by Orson Scott Card Don't really care for the rest of the books.
Anything by Phillip K Dick
Nightfall by Asimov
Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land, Have spacesuit - Will travel, Starship Trooper, The Moon is a harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein
Hitchhiker Trilogy (in five parts) by Douglas Adams

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: pontifex
Dune series - Frank Herbert (his son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson wrote a series of prequels that are equally as good as the originals).

Lensman series - E. E. "Doc" Smith

Skylark series - E. E. "Doc" Smith (starts out really slow but then picks up and gets awesome)

Mars series - Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Tarzan)

Almuric - Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan & Kull) - Similar to the Mars series

I'll second William Gibson, Tad Williams, and Neal Stephenson.


I haven't read much Sci-fi in along time and most of the stuff I've read is older stuff.

the prequels of dune are not even half as good as the originals!

 

[Kadarin]

Peter F. Hamilton - Night's Dawn trilogy (inc. The Reality Dysfunction, etc)
Peter F. Hamilton - Pandora's Star / Judas Unchained
Dan Simmons - Hyperion series
Anything written by Jack McDevitt
Daniel Keyes Moran - The Long Run / The Last Dancer (both out of print)
Iain Banks - "Culture" series (inc. Player of Games, etc)
Joan D. Vinge - Snow Queen / Summer Queen
John Varley - Steel Beach / The Ophiuchi Hotline
John Varley - Titan / Wizard / Demon

On a lighter note, but still excellent:

James H. Schmitz - The Witches of Karres
Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, Dave Freer - The Wizard of Karres

 

[Fern]

Issac Assimov - Plenty of books with short stories. For a series - "Foundation" (this is probrably the best and most ambitious series. Tries to culminate in the meaning of life/the universe etc.)

Philip Jose Farmer - The "River" series

Frank Herbert - Dune series.

If you prefer short stories, Look for collections of "Hugo" winners. The "Hugo" is the top award for sci-fi. These books will introduce you to many award winning authors and their best stories. You can later zero in those authors you like.

Fern

 

[yllus]

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: pontifex
Dune series - Frank Herbert (his son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson wrote a series of prequels that are equally as good as the originals).

the prequels of dune are not even half as good as the originals!

Yeah, that's just a crazy-ass statement to make. Brian Herbert needs to be punched in his face.

I'll add Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen is the first book in what is the most original sci-fi trilogy I've read in decades.

 

[d4mo]

Star Wars Fans:

The Rogue Squadron Series ( GREAT books, especially if you are a Star Wars fan. They start where the movies left off)

Atlantis Series by Greg Donegan (Good plot, has some twists, great for conspiracy people.

 

[zinfamous]

Phillip
K
Dick

IMO, the only reason to read any science fiction

Then again...I know I'll get shouted out in this forum for that

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: yllus

Originally posted by: Ameesh

Originally posted by: pontifex
Dune series - Frank Herbert (his son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson wrote a series of prequels that are equally as good as the originals).

the prequels of dune are not even half as good as the originals!

Yeah, that's just a crazy-ass statement to make. Brian Herbert needs to be punched in his face.

I'll add Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen is the first book in what is the most original sci-fi trilogy I've read in decades.

what? i thought they were great. i thought it was awesome to see how the different groups came about.

 

[Bryophyte]

Card's 'Ender' saga
Stan Robinson's 'Mars' trilogy
Gerrold's entertaining, but unfinished |) 'Chtorr' series
Bujold's 'Vorkosigan' series, fun to read and easy to become fond of the lead character (Miles)
Simmons' 'Hyperion' series

 

[DaveSimmons]

Brian Daley - Requiem for a rule of worlds & the 2 sequels
L.E. Modesitt Jr. - Adiamante + others
James Schmitz - Eric Flint/Baen reissues of the Telzey, Trigger & Agent of Vega stories
Eric Flint - 1632
Poul Anderson - Time Patrollman & Guardians of Time
David Drake & SM Stirling - The General series (The Forge is first IIRC)

Already recommended above, just agreeing:

Dan Simmons - Hyperion series
Weber - Honor series, also the Ashes of Empire collection (Mutineer's Moon + sequels)
Ringo - at least the first couple
E.E. "Doc" Smith - Lensman series
H. Beam Piper - Fuzzies (above) + other books
The Retief series by Keith Laumer is humorous as is the Phule series by Robert Asprin (The Myth series is cool, but not sci-fi).

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: zinfamous
Phillip
K
Dick

IMO, the only reason to read any science fiction

Then again...I know I'll get shouted out in this forum for that

No, he's pretty good. I just forgot his name when typing my reply.

Fern

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: zinfamous
Phillip K Dick
IMO, the only reason to read any science fiction

Then again...I know I'll get shouted out in this forum for that

Some good stuff like Ubik, but that's saying "chicken cordon bleu is the only reason to any eat food." Broaden your horizons, try some other flavors.

 

[RayH]

Frederick Pohl - Heechee series

 

[Kadarin]

Apologies for the thread necro, but I've got a new recommendation.

Rainbow's End, by Vernor Vinge is now out in paperback, and so far it's excellent. It's a very vivid and realistic post-cyperbunk view of what the future 20 years from now could be. Check it out!

 

[Inspector Jihad]

the only sci fi book i read was one of the enders game books. it was great.

 

[angminas]

I think Snow Crash is way overrated. It's very imaginative, to be sure, but it's also rather sloppy, and it stretches my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. I don't necessarily mind those in, say, a music video, but in a 400(?) page novel, they're just not welcome. Stranger In A Strange Land is perhaps the biggest disappointment I've ever had in a book. I find it embarrassingly wretched. On the other hand, Have Space Suit, Will Travel is just as good as people say it is. I really admire its skillful integration of hard science into a young adult's story.

Ursula K. LeGuin is underrated, even with all her awards. The same might be true of Orson Scott Card. These two, though they have very different styles, both manage to combine great density and meaning with smooth and engaging readability- a rare ability. I have issues with their moral views, but that's true with just about any sci-fi or fantasy.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

Card's Ender's series is really good (everyone read it already, and everyone likes it, lol)

Simmon's Hyperion series is ...mehhhhhh... I'm on book 2 of "Endymion," (or rather, book 4 of "Hyperion") and its characters are forgetable. Some of the dialogue is a bit too comedic, and his descriptions really suck ass. I can never really grasp a vivid picture of the situation or objects like how any other author does. He's by far the worse author ever to describe the scenery or objects. His characters, thus far, sometimes have unintentional corny/funny dialogue. His naming scheme is just stupid. Mister or Miss is no longer in use, and it's replaced by just the letter M. Instead of saying "goddamn!," people will say "Cross damn it!" or something to that extent. thopters, ultramorph, farcaster, hawking drive..etcetc. The naming scheme for the future tech is pretty lame. There's waaay too many questions left unanswered (so far.. it's as if they don't matter, and the characters are the focal point. But that's the problem, his character development really sucks ass. I just feel no connection to the characters. They're just...there. So far, the 2nd series is a bit better than the first 2, since I suppose it's in the view of Raul Endymion and the Father Captain (LOL!! father captain! I lol'ed hard when I read that part. Simmons sucks @ fabricating potential future ranks/names, etc.). I thought the first 2 books pretty much sucked except for its concepts and imagination). The ending was stupid for the first two books. Since it ended with soo many things left unanswered, the main point of the series should be its characters on how they faced adversity and dealth with each other... right?!?!?! If the characters were supposed to be the main focal point, then make it that way. The Characters were almost like Dan Brown's characters: one dimentional, forgettable, characters full of unrealistic/cliche'd dialogue. The interaction sucked. Everyone seemed like they all just talked the same.

Other than that...
Philosophically and imagination-wise, the book is absolutely excellent. As I read through it, it seemed as if the matrix, johnny mneumonic (or however you spell that word), ghost in the shell, stargate (far fetched,...but only the farcaster part lol), and other sci-fi works got its influence from. I think that's why the book got the rave reviews. Just because it has insane far-future concepts, interesting philosophy, and extreme-psuedoscience (really lame and how a particular tech came to be was never described; instead describing it conveniently by saying that the AI in the book made it...)


Some of the tech/claims/imagination was a bit of a stretch though...

Cliffs:
Overall, the Hyperion series is just OK. Awesome imagination and philosophy, and pretty good pacing/storytelling, but piss poor visuals and descriptions, forgettable characters that all talk alike, laughable names for future tech and other stuffs...etc.