Sci-Fi List

Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff

Sci-Fi List

Postby chillin » Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:43 am

Looking for some good sci-fi... please post a list of your 'don't miss this' type SciFi novels... leave out the obvious stuff like Dune, Cluster, Foundation, PDK anything, Uplift, etc....

Military SF
Redliners
The Honor Harrington series
Crown of Slaves

Hard SF
The Forge of God
Anvil of Stars
Blood Music - awesome Greg Bear
The Diamond Age

WTF? SF

Vurt
chillin
 
Posts: 596
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:56 am
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby Joe Hillshoist » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:58 am

Have you read anything of he Culture series by iain banks?
Joe Hillshoist
 
Posts: 10594
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:45 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby Joe Hillshoist » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:59 am

Oh Stanislaw Lem... How could I forget that.
Joe Hillshoist
 
Posts: 10594
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:45 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Trainites!

Postby annie aronburg » Thu Nov 15, 2007 6:36 am

The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner was always a favorite.

O
X

A.A.
"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.
User avatar
annie aronburg
 
Posts: 1406
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 8:57 pm
Location: Smokanagan
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby chillin » Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:38 pm

Picked up the Hugo Award winning Hyperion by Dan Simmons. The first page mentions receiving a burst message via decaying tachyons which to me means it will be a cool book.

I'm about half-way, cool story but it has one of the most offensive paragraphs I've ever read.
Last edited by chillin on Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
chillin
 
Posts: 596
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:56 am
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby chiggerbit » Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:39 pm

Well, Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series might be more like soft sci-fi, but I love them.
chiggerbit
 
Posts: 8594
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 12:23 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby Penguin » Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:44 pm

One forgotten master of scifi:

Jack Vance
http://www.jackvance.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Vance

My favorites from him include:

The Dying Earth trilogy set in distant Earth at a time when the sun is dying..A tale of a morally unscrupulous (anti)heros journeys on Earths last days..Magick already waning with the sun.

Emphyrio
To Live Forever

Vance has written tens of books, over several decades. Ive read maybe 20 of his books, and liked most.
Penguin
 
Posts: 5089
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 5:56 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby FourthBase » Wed Dec 26, 2007 6:43 pm

Do you guys who read military sci-fi read any Baen/Ringo books?
“Joy is a current of energy in your body, like chlorophyll or sunlight,
that fills you up and makes you naturally want to do your best.” - Bill Russell
User avatar
FourthBase
 
Posts: 7057
Joined: Thu May 05, 2005 4:41 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby chillin » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:35 pm

I've read some military sci-fi, The Baen Free Library has tons and it's free!. I've read 10 or so the Honor Harrington series, found it really enjoyable. There's a book called Crown of Slaves that takes place in the same universe. The free library thing sells books too, they get you hooked to an author - then you have to buy their stuff.

I've read the March to the Sea trilogy by Ringo and David Drake, it was pretty cool.
chillin
 
Posts: 596
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:56 am
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby Joe Hillshoist » Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:43 am

Ever read Micheal Morcock
Joe Hillshoist
 
Posts: 10594
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:45 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby chillin » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:30 pm

Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!

I've only read a few Elric stories though. For me that stuff is beyond fantasy the way Lovecraft is supposed to be beyond horror. Speaking of Lovecraft... a bunch of free stuff is here: http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/index.html
chillin
 
Posts: 596
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:56 am
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby pepsified thinker » Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:03 am

Frank Herbert's always good--

Dune, of course, but also some of his short stories and other novels.

Easy to see parallels between the Dune series and current events, a la 'spice' = 'oil', Arrakis = Arabia (or the general, oil rich regions of the middle east, etc. etc.

Along the same lines: Asimov's Foundation series is good: has a sort of elite, behind the scenes aspect (hope that's not a spoiler!) that looks a bit different to me now, after reading a lot here at R.I., than it originally did when I read it 10 or 20 years ago.

Also: Joe Haldeman's Forever War and Heinlein's Starship Troopers--but read Heinlein's S.Ts. first.

Last (for now) but not least: John Birmingham's Axis of Time alternate history series. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_Time)

--just a few I've enjoyed; maybe they're obvious, but if you haven't read 'em yet, you're in for a treat.
"we must cultivate our garden"
--Voltaire
pepsified thinker
 
Posts: 1025
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:15 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby Telexx » Sun May 03, 2009 1:00 pm

I'd recommend Iain M Banks' Sci-fi (as apposed to his "Iain Banks" modern literature, which is also v.good and worth checking out).

John Varley's "Steel Beach" is a great read. A masterpiece really...

Finally Gene Wolfe probably my favorite author.

Cheers,

Telexx
Me: Take your meta-model questions, and shove them up your arse.

Pedant #1: How, specfically, should I do that.

Me: FFS! Aiiieee. I don't care. Kthx.
User avatar
Telexx
 
Posts: 466
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 3:11 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby RomanyX » Thu May 07, 2009 6:16 am

Sorry if any of these are "obvious". Since the request was for Science Fiction novels, I'm limiting this list to stuff I consider to be SF (not Fantasy or Horror), and leaving out any collections unless they relate to a series.

Sheri S. Tepper's unnamed trilogy: Grass, Raising the Stones, and Sideshow. Read them in that order.

F. Paul Wilson's "LaNague" novels: Healer, Wheels Within Wheels, An Enemy of the State, Dydeetown World, The Tery, plus The LaNague Chronicles (anthology). And his "Sims" series: La Causa, The Portero Method, Meerm, Zero, Thy Brother's Keeper, and Sims (another anthology).

Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash.

William Gibson's Neuromancer and Count Zero.

John Shirley's City Come A-Walkin'.

Theodore Sturgeon's The Dreaming Jewels and Almost Human.

John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids.

Dean R. Koontz's Watchers.

More after I jog my memory...[/i]
Oh Perfect Masters,
They thrive on disasters;
They all look so harmless
'Til they find their way up there...
- Brian Eno, Dead Finks Don't Talk
User avatar
RomanyX
 
Posts: 231
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:22 am
Location: Northern California
Blog: View Blog (0)

Postby jingofever » Fri May 08, 2009 11:51 pm

RomanyX wrote:William Gibson's Neuromancer and Count Zero.

I have read Neuromancer (on a computer screen, appropriately) but not Count Zero. How do they compare? And are you leaving Mona Lisa Overdrive off your list on purpose?

By the way, the Guardian had a list of must read sci-fi. That is part one. You can find parts two and three in the sidebar.
User avatar
jingofever
 
Posts: 2814
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 6:24 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Next

Return to Book Forum

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests