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Fighterpilotjp
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Posted - 2004.06.10 14:58:00 -
[1]
I am a huge fan of the genre, but am not sure where to turn next. I was hoping some more sci-fi readers would have some recommendations for me. My favorite (and among the few at all) series are the Bolos books by Keith Laumer and the Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead series by Orson Scott Card. I read most of the Homecoming series also by Card, but I think some schoolwork or a sudden interest in another book stopped me from finishing the last one. I really enjoy reading about artificial intelligence, so anything with content about it would be a plus.
Thanks in advance!
combat Your Tachyon Beam Laser I hits Blood Arch Templar, doing 133.7 damage. |
HarryManback
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Posted - 2004.06.10 15:14:00 -
[2]
Well if your into AI i hope youve read the grand daddy on AIs books Isaac Asimov also his Foundation and Empire series is brilliant along with all the robots of dawn and caves of steel robot/detective novels which all tie in together.
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Spiderman reminds me of adolesence. One day a teenage guy wakes up with muscles, hair in new places and the ability to spray white sticky goo around the house. |
Fighterpilotjp
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Posted - 2004.06.10 15:20:00 -
[3]
I'll have to check the local library again, I saw some Asimov works on the shelf but was in a hurry and didn't pick them up. I read a collection of some of his stories titled "The Rest of the Robots" about halfway through a long time ago, and I'd like to see if I can find that again as well.
combat Your Tachyon Beam Laser I hits Blood Arch Templar, doing 133.7 damage. |
Omber Zombie
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Posted - 2004.06.10 15:35:00 -
[4]
I'll assume you've read the Ender's Shadow series so on to the otehr stuff:
Only Forward and Spares - Michael Marshall Smith
Vurt, Pollen, Automated Alice, and Nymphomation - Jeff Noon
Otherland series - Tad Williams
Night's Dawn series - Peter F Hamilton
that should be enough for the next few months
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"Remember people: Omber is the biggest evil ever created, DO NOT let it get to you!"
Waagaa Ktlehr, BDCI
I have a blog
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Fighterpilotjp
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Posted - 2004.06.10 15:43:00 -
[5]
 Originally by: Omber Zombie
I'll assume you've read the Ender's Shadow series so on to the otehr stuff:...
I just got the last book in the series, Shadow Puppets, but never started reading it yet. Following Bean after being so used to watching Ender was very enlightening. |
HarryManback
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Posted - 2004.06.10 15:51:00 -
[6]
Well he has alot of short stories which are awesome. At times i guess they may seem a lil dated compared to modern sci-fi but at the sametime alot of his plots and stories are vastly superior to alot of modern sci-fi writers imho.
The Foundation and Empire series is truly an epic which he comes back to many times from lots of different angles and always ties the events together superbly. Also if you enjoy the Eve factions you will prob like the series.
On AI I Robot is a good collection of stories along with Robot Dreams.
The Caves of Steel and Robots of Dawn are somewhat like detectyive novels but one of the main protaganists is a Robot.
What is truly amazing is how he ties all these stories together.
Just to give an example. One of his earliest novels is about the first deep space colonists who are travelling to a planet they have named aurora to settle it. This settlement in the robots of dawn series is the first of the settlements of the "Spacers" who dominate human space history for several centuries as the best scientific minds are on the first settlements. However events that take place in this second series bring about changes that makes earth the center of human achievment again and eventually brings about what becomes The Empire in foundation and empire. This isnt all done in a cheesy sequel manner either so you can pick up at any point and get into the stories. The links are there to be seen if you have read previous novels but they arent necessarily the intgeral parts of the story and if they are they are sufficently explained. Also they all take part centuries if not millienia apart which really adds to the atmosphere of antiquity to his stories.
The foundation series is pretty much the final installement in terms of the history but it also takes part over several centuries and has great plots such as searching for the first human planet which has become lost knowledge over time.
Sorry if im babbling but i dont get to rant about how great a writer asimov is very often so i always go off on one when i get the chance :P
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Spiderman reminds me of adolesence. One day a teenage guy wakes up with muscles, hair in new places and the ability to spray white sticky goo around the house. |
Perera
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Posted - 2004.06.10 15:55:00 -
[7]
Iain M Banks - his Culture novels. Excession is a work of genius.
Perera - Corp shrink!
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Perera
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Posted - 2004.06.10 15:59:00 -
[8]
Originally by: HarryManback
Well he has alot of short stories which are awesome. At times i guess they may seem a lil dated compared to modern sci-fi but at the sametime alot of his plots and stories are vastly superior to alot of modern sci-fi writers imho.
The Foundation and Empire series is truly an epic which he comes back to many times from lots of different angles and always ties the events together superbly. Also if you enjoy the Eve factions you will prob like the series.
On AI I Robot is a good collection of stories along with Robot Dreams.
The Caves of Steel and Robots of Dawn are somewhat like detectyive novels but one of the main protaganists is a Robot.
What is truly amazing is how he ties all these stories together.
Just to give an example. One of his earliest novels is about the first deep space colonists who are travelling to a planet they have named aurora to settle it. This settlement in the robots of dawn series is the first of the settlements of the "Spacers" who dominate human space history for several centuries as the best scientific minds are on the first settlements. However events that take place in this second series bring about changes that makes earth the center of human achievment again and eventually brings about what becomes The Empire in foundation and empire. This isnt all done in a cheesy sequel manner either so you can pick up at any point and get into the stories. The links are there to be seen if you have read previous novels but they arent necessarily the intgeral parts of the story and if they are they are sufficently explained. Also they all take part centuries if not millienia apart which really adds to the atmosphere of antiquity to his stories.
The foundation series is pretty much the final installement in terms of the history but it also takes part over several centuries and has great plots such as searching for the first human planet which has become lost knowledge over time.
Sorry if im babbling but i dont get to rant about how great a writer asimov is very often so i always go off on one when i get the chance :P
Not read the I, Robot books, in fact haven't read Asimov at all, don't know why, just never got around to it, although I might try out the Foundation books because they come with such high regard.
The I, Robot film looks swish however, although would I be right in thinking loosely based on his stories? 
Perera - Corp shrink!
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Moncada
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Posted - 2004.06.10 17:02:00 -
[9]
I Recommend any of the William Gibson novels.
Three books that are good according to me is.
Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona lisa overdrive.
Monşada
Cardinal Maledictus Sanguine
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Theladon
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Posted - 2004.06.10 17:47:00 -
[10]
David Brin
His uplift saga is great..
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Malikon
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Posted - 2004.06.10 17:57:00 -
[11]
Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn books are pretty good.
As are David Brin's Uplift books.
Dan Simmons Hyperion books are also good.
If you enjoy fantasy I HIGHLY recommend George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series (might have got the series name wrong but the first book is a Game of Thrones). Truly good stuff.
Another fantasy author to check out is Steven Erikson. Gardens of the Moon is the first book in his Malazan Empire series (again the name of the series may be off), but the stuff is truly great.
Reading Ilium now by Dan Simmons. Not far into it so I can't report on it. I hear its also good though.
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Styrmir
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Posted - 2004.06.10 18:03:00 -
[12]
I very much agree with the people praising Ian M. Banks and Isaac Asimov. Both are truly great.
I also have to meantion my favorite SF author of all: Stephen Baxter
Look him up. He is brilliant 
Founder and Manager of The Misneden Shuttle Museum |
Tar om
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Posted - 2004.06.10 19:10:00 -
[13]
Another vote for Ian M Banks here. Start with Consider Phlebas. You don't have to read them in the order that he wrote them, but I did and it worked well for me. (his non genre stuff is superb as well, Dead Air was a RUSH).
Baxter is a superb writer, but in the end I got a bit sick of living on a world that is doomed if we don't pay more to NASA ;)
If you are into dark Sci Fi, try Alastair Reynolds and his Redemption/Revalation series. Takes some concentration but the story is great.
Tar om
--
We are the Octavian Vanguard www.octavianvanguard.net
http://www.serenitymovie.com |
Xelios
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Posted - 2004.06.10 21:00:00 -
[14]
Well a couple of my favorite sci-fi books have been Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer and Vaccuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter.
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Gundog Prime
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Posted - 2004.06.10 21:04:00 -
[15]
As someone stated b4, Neuromancer...
Its the Grandaddy of the Matrix and if you've ever played or been interested in Shadowrun its a must
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Joshua Calvert, the true gamer's gamer |
Mi Canio
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Posted - 2004.06.10 21:15:00 -
[16]
Iain M Banks - The PLayer of Games, what a book
Greg Bear - Moving Mars, Eon, Eternity, The Forge of God,
Anvil of Stars
Peter F Hamilton - Nights Dawn Trilogy
Stephen Baxter - Any of his books but they can be very
depressing
Dan Simmons - Ilium, another great book
Olaf Stapledon - Star Maker, amazing to think this book was
written pre-WW2, his ideas are ground-breaking
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World
George Orwell - 1984, nuff said
H.G. Wells - The War of the Worlds, another man a century
ahead of his time...
I could go on for hours......
Ensign Mi Canio - MIL Div. - Combat Air Patrol
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Joe Blob
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Posted - 2004.06.10 21:39:00 -
[17]
Edited by: Joe Blob on 10/06/2004 21:41:42
If you like collections of short stories, written in the paranoia of the cold war, then I would highly recommend Philip K D.i.c.k. (the dots are there cos of the swear bot )
Two of his stories were made into films.... Blade Runner and Minority Report.
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Gundog Prime
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Posted - 2004.06.10 23:41:00 -
[18]
Bladerunner in book form is called 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'...
And you THINK i'm joking....
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[email protected]
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BEWARE THE CHEAP PAINT SIG
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Joshua Calvert, the true gamer's gamer |
Nariko Tenrai
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Posted - 2004.06.11 02:09:00 -
[19]
Some that I'd swear by:
"The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell is the best science fiction novel I've ever read. It's not about spaceships or lasers. It's about a Jesuit mission to Alpha Centauri, doing what Jesuits always did - trying to live within and learn about an alien culture. Something went very wrong, and Father Emilio Sandoz is returned to Earth physically crippled and publically disgraced.
"A Talent For War" by Jack McDevitt is traditional SF with a twist. We live in an age where traditional heroes are being deconstructed and cast down as inconvenient truths are exposed. "OMG, George Washington owned slaves... just like all the other Virginia planters!" The genius of ATFW is that it's an everyguy's travelogue as he discovers that his culture's great space hero was not the mythic figure he's been cast as.
"Island in the Sea of Time" by S.M. Stirling is arguably less science fiction than survival adventure. It postulates that modern Nantucket is thrown back to the Bronze Age by an unexplained phenomenon. A cast of right-of-center rugged individualists learn to survive in an age with no high tech manufacturing, and must deal with a cadre of bad apple empire builders among their own.
The "Night's Dawn Trilogy" by Peter Hamilton (Reality Dysfunction, Neutronium Alchemist, The Naked God) is a series of six books set in a well-imagined "hard space opera" world. Humanity is split between Adamists, the traditional technically-oriented spacer culture, and Edentists, who have a culture based on symbiotic biotechnology. I can't describe it the plot without instant spoilers. Suffice it to say there's an ancient calamity that happens again. The characters are weakly written (and often fall into simple archetypes like "cackling ebil sadist" or "oddly virile hero"), but the plot thunders in a Wagnerian way.
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I have measured and described the stars, their great and countless multitude. What man has seen their revolutions and entrances? Not even the angels see their number, yet I have recorded all their names.
- The Book of the Secrets of Enoch, Jewish Pseudepigrapha
We won't talk about how many cruisers I lost this weekend, nor how many nice railguns, or T2 enhancers. We're going to skip right over that. We're going to talk about my new Raven. It is like flying a small city, and the city's only export is missiles.
- Azeraphel |
Bobby Wilson
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Posted - 2004.06.11 02:25:00 -
[20]
"snowcrash" by Neal Stephenson (spelling of last name not 100% on). Hilarious, interesting cyberpunk.
BW
Originally by: Selim
Cool, congrats.
Oh, stupid idea by the way.
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Duncan
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Posted - 2004.06.11 06:00:00 -
[21]
ok here's my pick from my favorites:
Stranger in a strange Land from Heinlein, simply put AMAZING, for that matter cat who walks trough walls or Rolling Stone from same author is also really nice
The Demolished Man from A.Bester (my sig qote comes from this one), this is the first book to ever win the HUGO award.
Red, Green & Blue Mars trilogie from Kim Stanley Robinson, truly one off!!
Dune series & the foundation series rock BIG BIG time.
enjoy!
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PaulAtreides
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Posted - 2004.06.11 06:17:00 -
[22]
Edited by: PaulAtreides on 11/06/2004 10:47:05
Edited by: PaulAtreides on 11/06/2004 06:18:45
I cannot believe in a post devoted to Science Fiction that Arthur C. Clarke has not been mentioned. I bet he is rolling in his ... um.. sleep.
Arthur C. Clarke is the undisputed Master.
The City and The Stars
Songs of Distant Earth
Rama
Exceptional books.
A more publicly recognisable book title would be 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Want to work for me? |
Deidranna
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Posted - 2004.06.11 09:39:00 -
[23]
at the moment i really enjoy philip k. ****.
its all about time, baby
another fine read:
joe haldeman "the forever war"
about a "realistic" (many many years to reach your destination) - interstellar war.
john shirley: the eclipse trilogy
best books about a near future, nobody would like.
deidranna
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Rodj Blake
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Posted - 2004.06.11 10:48:00 -
[24]
Amongst my favourite novels are these SF classics...
Anything by Iain M. Banks (but particularly The Player of Games and Use of Weapons).
Neuromancer by William Gibson.
When Gravity Fails by George Alex Effinger.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
Dolce et decorum est pro imperator mori |
Jim Hawkins
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Posted - 2004.06.11 11:13:00 -
[25]
Non-stop: Brian Aldiss
War of the Worlds: HG Wells
I Robot: Isaac Asimov
The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams
Spares: Michael Marshall-Smith
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Richard Okuda
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Posted - 2004.06.11 13:56:00 -
[26]
Good topic, I think you'll find people are happy to share thier favorites. 
I used to read while mining back in beta it brings the best of both worlds, isk and culture.
My favorites included:
Childhood's end, by Arthur C. Clark (i love this book)
Actually i never met a Clark book I didnt like.
The foundation trilogy, by Isaac Asimov (the size of the book can be daunting, but i enjoyed every second)
I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov (another modern classic)
The hitchhikers trilogy, by Douglas Adams (actually 5 books, some of the best ive ever read)
The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells (doesnt matter if youve seen the movie the book is 1x10^100 better)
The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells (is this science fiction?  I don't know but its good)
The Time Machine, H.G. Wells (A glorious and imaginative book)
Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton (i read it before i saw the movie(s) still like the book better)
The Ring, I forget who wrote it (wormholes, time travel, aliens, spaceships, how can you go wrong?)
The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury (another true classic)
The dragon books (too many to name them all here ), by Anne McCaffrey (alright my mom introduced these to me but i still like them)
The chaos weapon, by Colin Kapp (a very original book, inter galactic travel, a trans universal conspiracy to wipe out humanity, and little lizard like gods, give this one a try.)
And many more! most of which I cant remember the names of . Alright you got me, beta didnt last long enough for me to read all of the books, many are from my childhood. I still recomend every single one of them. I hope this helps you with your reading list.
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Morlock
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Posted - 2004.06.11 14:03:00 -
[27]
/concurrance on the william gibson [burning chrome - short stories and neuromancer] and neal stephenson [snowcrash (truly excellent book) and cryptonomicon]
also richard morgan - altered carbon is a fantastic read. the sex scene with the pleasure engineered clone is truly arousing
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Severe McCald
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Posted - 2004.06.11 15:47:00 -
[28]
I agree with most of the above. Would add:
"Time enough for love" by Heinlien
"Tactics of Mistake" (and related books in trilogy) by Gordon R. ****son
"Shockwave Rider" (sorry, another author I cannot remember)
and anything by Poul Anderson and Clifford Simak.
Severe
And Moses was content to dwell with the man:and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom:for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. |
Fighterpilotjp
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Posted - 2004.06.11 15:53:00 -
[29]
Lots of great suggestions guys, thanks, I'm going to download all the pages of this thread for reference. I did read halfway through The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, and again was stopped for some odd reason or another.
I'm also curious about readers of the Bolos series by Keith Laumer; speak up if you've read it, definitely a type of story I'll be looking for in the future.
Since I, Robot is coming out as a movie, I will be drawn to read the book sometime soon, probably even before I see it in theaters.
I read Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, and got halfway through Perelandra. I was told the last book in the series is truly amazing, and I will see if I can get to it.
Too bad I have a reading assignment over the summer for school, I'm supposed to read through To Kill a Mockingbird. Surely it must deserve all the respect it receives, but unfortunately it never intrigued me, hopefully I will be drawn into it after all. |
Omber Zombie
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Posted - 2004.06.11 16:03:00 -
[30]
To Kil a Mockingbird is one of teh greatest stories ever written - take your time and enjoy it, you won't be disappointed.
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"Remember people: Omber is the biggest evil ever created, DO NOT let it get to you!"
Waagaa Ktlehr, BDCI
I have a blog
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