[quote]TONEdef wrote:
Likewise anything by Terry Pratchett (I know it’s not SF as such, but he makes me laugh).
[/quote]
Cohen the barbarian ! ! !
The Gods Themselves - Asimov
The Number of the Beast - Heinlen
Rondevous With Rama - Clarke
Any of the above would be hard to put down.
Also, if you can find a copy, Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions, and The Science fiction Hall of Fame Vol 1.
Probably the two best anthologies ever published.
[quote]Aragorn wrote:
Ender’s Game is a classic as well. Read it in one sitting. I didn’t even get up to go to the bathroom.
[/quote]
Hell where do you think I read it.
[quote]beastblob wrote:
shannara series by Terry Brooks 9 books in the series so far.
[/quote]
Actually 14, soon to be 17. Not including the short story, or the companion book.
Shannara Prequel
Original Trilogy
Heritage quadrilogy
Voyage Trilogy
High Druid Trilogy
And the upcoming Pre-Shannara Trilogy.
I liked his Word and Void Trilogy also.
I used to read a lot of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but in the past few years I really haven’t read any fiction, other then Brooks. I have found that some people dislike his writing style.
Great suggestions, my favourites being:
Larry Niven
Phillip K. Dick
Neal Stephenson
Dan Simmons
Robert Heinlein
Arthur C. Clarke
But, nobody mentioned my top choice:
Michael Crichton
He’s not the greatest literary talent, but you learn things from his books, apparently he researches the topic for each book for a year, and the books contain bibliographies. Also, I wouldn’t hold it against him what Hollywood does to his stories.
Dan
[quote]drewmoore867 wrote:
Dan Simmons “Hyperion” series may be the most ambitious science fiction of the last 20 years.[/quote]
I was hoping I was going to be the one to bring it up… . Im quite into sci-fi novels and the Hyperion series is by far the best thing Ive ever read. …
mindblowing!
I’d recommend Richard K Morgan?s Broken Angels, or Altered Carbon. Broken Angels has more to do with aliens and Altered Carbon is a sci-fi detective story. Both can be read as standalone novels but they have the same main character. Richard K Morgan did a third book with the same character called Woken Furies but I did not find it as good as the first two.
[quote]Gl;itch.e wrote:
Im quite into sci-fi novels and the Hyperion series is by far the best thing Ive ever read. …quote]
If you haven’t read it, you might enjoy Tim Power’s “Declare.” It’s a slightly different genre (hard to describe) but very well crafted and gripping.
Anything by Clifford Saimak. Brothers Strugatskie are very good.
[quote]drewmoore867 wrote:
If you haven’t read it, you might enjoy Tim Power’s “Declare.” It’s a slightly different genre (hard to describe) but very well crafted and gripping.[/quote]
Ill keep an eye out. …
also gotta mention Michael Marshall Smith
Gheez, you guys. Not a single Robert E. Howard? How about some HG Wells? Oh! How about Timothy Zahn? Michael Moorcocks’ Von Beck series.
[quote]giff07 wrote:
I’d recommend Richard K Morgan?s Broken Angels, or Altered Carbon. Broken Angels has more to do with aliens and Altered Carbon is a sci-fi detective story. Both can be read as standalone novels but they have the same main character. Richard K Morgan did a third book with the same character called Woken Furies but I did not find it as good as the first two.[/quote]
True, it’s not quite as good, but still pretty good. I did like the view of Harlan’s World, and the look into what the orbital platforms really were. I heard that this was supposed to be the last novel with Kovacs in it, but I hope he continues to do more books set in the universe he’s created.
Oh, one awesome thing about Woken Furies: pirate ninjas!
I absolutely second the motion for VALIS by Philip K. Dick.
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/authors/philip-k-dick/
If reading the above link doesn’t stir your curiosity nothing will. It is pretty heavy going and some of it may be lost on people who aren’t too familiar with ‘alternative’ religions. Nonetheless, such an articulate viewpoint presented by a man who alternately refers to himself in both the first and third person as well as alluding to being God, makes for a very interesting read.
The trailer for ‘A scanner darkly’ looks incredible; a blend of live aciton and cell shaded animation, the cast is pretty damn stellar as well.
Lots of good recommendations already. I’ll add my endorsement to “Ender’s Game” – if you haven’t read it already, make that the next book you read. Also, William Gibson is excellent, but I actually found “Virtual Light” and its sequels more engaging than Neuromancer.
You might give Greg Bear a shot. His novels tend to have some very interesting ideas – very much “hard” sci fi, exploring the possibilities at the edge of current scientific knowledge. Unfortunately, his characters and plots can be a little flat, but still worth reading overall.
Carl Sagan’s “Contact” is quite good – MUCH better than the movie. The last page gave me goose bumps the first time I read it.
[quote]Gl;itch.e wrote:
also gotta mention Michael Marshall Smith[/quote]
I ordered “Spares” and “Only Forward” - should arrive Tuesday - thanks for the recommendation.
I can’t believe I omitted it from my list, but if you’re looking for something brilliant but utterly bizarre and occasionally disturbing, go with China Mieville’s “Perdido Street Station.”
If you like sci-fi fantasy (like sword and socery stuff) then David Gemmell is great, my personal favorite is The Sword in the Storm, book 1 of the Rigante Series.
Also Robert E Howard’s 3 main Conan books, which are short story compilations, are pretty cool.
The original 3 dragonlance novels by Margaret Weiss and Tracey Hickman started that whole world.
[quote]kroby wrote:
Gheez, you guys. Not a single Robert E. Howard? How about some HG Wells? Oh! How about Timothy Zahn? Michael Moorcocks’ Von Beck series.[/quote]
well, REH isn’t SCIENCE fiction but his stuff is by far the BEST weird fiction and sword and sorcery/fantasy out there. (can you tell he is my favorite author?)
be sure to get only the stuff which hasn’t been edited/destroyed by de Camp.
REH’s writings and Frazetta’s paintings are what got me started lifting and still sustain me twenty odd years later.
Ben Bova’s Orion series.
Philip Jose Farmer’s World of Tiers series.
Roger Zelazny’s Amber series.
Ok, well due to the other two mentions of scifi FANTASY, you need to look into…
LOTR–given, as this is the landmark that largely rejuvenated, no, resurrected, the epic fantasy genre. Also, Tolkien created 10 languages from scratch, you know, just to add depth. He’s a literary god.
Game of Thrones (1st book), and the rest of the “song of fire and ice” series (I think that’s the name) by George R.R. Martin. I’m in the middle of it. Totally unpredictable, which is very unusual for me. Pretty hard edged as far as fantasy goes (ie–not a classic, noble, Arthurian fantasy. This is down and dirty), and that’s a great thing here. I was/am [b]completely[/b] unable to figure out who is going to bite the dust.
[quote]campdirector wrote:
Armor by John Steakly is fantastic!
Anything by Neil Gaimon.[/quote]
You, sir, get 20 cool points for that.