Ok, recommend me some sci-fi to read.

[UglyCasanova]

I'm looking for some good sci-fi to read while I have some time off from everything. I've never been much of a sci-fi reader (or hell, much of a reader period ) so I don't know what is out there, but what are some good things to start with. I'm NOT looking for fantasy though, just some good sci-fi. Preferably with giant spaceships and maybe some exploration and cool technology etc.

I've read Snow Crash already, and I'm not really looking for any other books by him. Are there any classic space opera books or something along those lines. Maybe even a good series, but I don't want to waste all that time reading it if it sucks (i.e. unoriginal, poorly written, boring, etc.).

 

[BatmanNate]

You would enjoy Robert Heinlein.

 

[etech]

The Mote in God's Eye

 

[brunswickite]

recommendations appreciated..

i have absolutly nothing to do this summer. I start full time work in aug and have over a month to kill.

 

[EarthwormJim]

Isaac Asimov, the king of sci-fi!!

Good place to start with him is either the Caves of Steel or the original Foundation trilogy.

 

[MaxDSP]

the 3 Halo books? They were pretty good, I blazed through all 3 of them in a week

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: UglyCassanova
I'm looking for some good sci-fi to read while I have some time off from everything. I've never been much of a sci-fi reader (or hell, much of a reader period ) so I don't know what is out there, but what are some good things to start with. I'm NOT looking for fantasy though, just some good sci-fi. Preferably with giant spaceships and maybe some exploration and cool technology etc.

I've read Snow Crash already, and I'm not really looking for any other books by him. Are there any classic space opera books or something along those lines. Maybe even a good series, but I don't want to waste all that time reading it if it sucks (i.e. unoriginal, poorly written, boring, etc.).

Try the Lensman books.

 

[CFster]

Originally posted by: etech
The Mote in God's Eye

One of the best ever.

Also liked anything else by Larry Niven.

Asimov's Robot series, followed by the Cave's of Steel books. Even though it carried through to the Foundation series I didn't like those so much.

Seems like all the good stuff was written more than 20 years ago. All the new stuff reads like a movie script.

 

[TerryMathews]

It's not Sci-Fi, but if you can appreciate a good military yarn, I recommend the books written by Dale Brown. There's about a dozen, but IMO start off reading Flight of the Old Dog and then Day of the Cheetah in that order. The rest of the books are optional (BIG IMO) and fit into that framework.

I hype this up to everyone I can - he's a great alternative to Tom Clancy and waaay underappreciated/unknown. Dale Brown was actually in the Air Force for several (8?) years. Clancy sold insurance.

 

[FoBoT]

as already mentioned, you can't go wrong with any Heinlein and check out the lensman series by smith

its old school sci-fi at its best

 

[ThePresence]

Michael Crichton - Prey

One of my favorite writers, He makes sci-fi believable. No giant spaceships though.

 

[shekondar]

The Dune series (Frank Herbert)

 

[CoveX]

I'd recommend Iain M. Banks' Culture books... cool tech, big space battles-- everything you need, basically. Start with the first published one, _Consider Phlebas._

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

blah blah blah, almost anything here.

 

[toy4x4]

Feng's Space Bar and Grill

Steven Burst

 

[DaveSimmons]

- David Brin's "Uplift" series, starting with Sundiver then Startide Rising, then the rest.
- James Schmitz, Baen has a nice reissue series edited by Eric Filint, start with Telzey Amberdon
- Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game

 

[Dulanic]

Raymond Feist, very very good books. Especially the Riftwar and Serpent War series (All his series are linked tho) the krondor books arent as good, but still good.

It's fantasy tho, but most Sci-Fi fans like fantasy too

 

[Gunbuster]

Peter F Hamilton ! Giant spaceships, Exploration, Ubercool technology, Sex, and Al Capone

also try:

David Brin

Alistair Reynolds

Kathleen Ann Goonan



It always seems like the majority of AT readers are stuck on the moldy oldy sci-fi (Asimov, Frank Herbert, Heinlein, .....)

You guys need to try some of the NEW writers!

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Isaac Asimov, the king of sci-fi!!

Good place to start with him is either the Caves of Steel or the original Foundation trilogy.

Asimov rocks.

I liked Nightfall. Ripped this description off the web:

Nightfall takes place on an Earth-like planet, Kalgash, in a different part of the
universe. Kalgash has people, animals, vegetation, commmunities, etc. just like those
on Earth. The main difference is that Kalgash has six suns; the people have never
experienced night, and they are afraid of the dark. It turns out that once every 2049
years, when only one of the smaller suns is in the sky, it is eclipsed by another
planetary body (Kalgash Two), causing Kalgash to be plunged into darkness for
several hours. There are no strange creatures on Kalgash; the humans do a good job
of destroying themselves and their civilization every 2049 years without help from
others. The short story ends as the eclipse begins; to get all the gory details of what
happens during and after the eclipse, you need to read the novel (crunch time).

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

I like Greg Bear's books, he tends to the apocoplytic setting.

I recently read a decent book titled "Chindi", which was an interesting read about human's search for ET's.

 

[TheWart]

Originally posted by: shekondar
The Dune series (Frank Herbert)

Most definitely.

The later books get kind of strnage, but the first few are most assuredly something worth reading.

I also liked any Asimov stories. A Canticel for St. leibowitz is also a very good book.

 

[Anubis]

Stranger in a Strange Land
Dune

 

[WTT0001]

Again anything by R. Heinlein and I also enjoy pretty much all of Timothy Zahns books

Good Luck,

WTT

 

[DeadByDawn]

Yeah, read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein. One of my favorites. :beer:

 

[Mik3y]

read star wars: the new jedi order series. their reallly really good. i read nearly all of them over the course of a couple yrs. its about when machine hating aliens from another galaxy take over this galaxy and etc. not to ruin it, but chewbacca dies and coruscant gets taken over and is turned into an organic planet.