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Post by gjnoronh on Sept 20, 2017 14:38:41 GMT
Our Fantasy Favorites thread gave me some great ideas for authors I need to read (ordered an Abercrombie novel yesterday on Amazon)
Tell me about your top 5 Sci Fi series/authors
1. Dune Frank Herbert - not quite Tolkien level preeminence but IMO very close
2. Robert Heinlein - huge swath of production spanning close to fifty years IIRC. His perspectives are somewhat dated possibly but I think if read in context of his time they are truly great and groundbreaking. He has novels for juveniles and stuff targeted at Adults. Two books to recommend Starship Troopers (you see possible starts of 40K space marines here IMO) simple jingoistic coming of age story. Stranger in a Strange Land much more complicated and adult themed with more complex questions about society.
3. Isaac Asimov Foundation series- again old school but just great stuff.
quite a bit below but still quite good
Gaunts Ghosts by Dan Abnett - Black Library about Imperial Guard but really is good literature
What else is on your list
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Post by knoffles on Sept 20, 2017 18:03:37 GMT
Always loved Dune. Never realised starship troopers, the film, was based on a book (in fairness never looked into it as love that film) but will be looking into getting that now.
I haven't read nearly as many sci-fi as fantasy so can only offer:
Dan Simmons, ilium/olympos.
Timothy Zahn - Heirs to the Empire trilogy (Star Wars). Out of Canon now with the reboot but still a good read. (I also enjoyed the new Jedi series of however many books - also no longer valid as in that chewie died and Han/Leia had 3 kids...)
Ive also enjoyed almost all the space Marine battle series (maybe not to re-read but they are enjoyable nonetheless).
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Post by mottdon on Sept 20, 2017 18:28:40 GMT
Yeah, I really don't care for Sci-Fi nearly as much as Fantasy. I've read a few Rouge Force Star Wars books, but that's it as far as Sci-Fi is concerned. Aliens and Laser Pistols on weird planets just doesn't intrigue me nearly as much as Dragons and Knights in shining armor. Meh.
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Post by TheREALricksalamone on Sept 21, 2017 1:26:23 GMT
I've read a couple 40k books that I enjoyed. The first Gaunt's Ghost book, a Grey Knight book by Ben Counter, and my favorite was a book featuring the Iron Snakes space marines.
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Post by avatarofbugman on Sept 21, 2017 3:10:22 GMT
My favorite science fiction reads are as follows.
#5 Douglas Adams "the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" these books are just plain fun with no pretense.
#4 Brian Lumley' s "Necroscope" series. Such an amazing take on vampires and teleportation with a little bit of Greek mythology worked in by references to threads of life.
#3 The "Rogue Squadron" series, especially the first handful. These had the best writing in the Star Wars universe, period.
#2 Dan Simmons' "Hyperion" series. This series defines the term "space opera".
#1 The Dune series by Frank Herbert. This was read more than once by me. I love the world and when I start to forget I read it again
A one off book that you all should read is "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. This is totally a futuristic nostalgic piece that will have you wishing you were back playing Pac Man, only in VR.
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Post by Horace on Sept 21, 2017 6:21:11 GMT
Lots of great stuff here. Dune is one of my favourites, although it does get progressively worse the further through it you get. I will add the Red Dwarf novels, they are laugh out loud funny and probably better than the series. Is Red Dwarf a thing in the US? I'll also add the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Not sure if this qualifies as sci fi or fantasy  (Probably fantasy but I've already written this now) |
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Post by grandmasterwang on Sept 23, 2017 3:23:52 GMT
Yeah, I really don't care for Sci-Fi nearly as much as Fantasy. I've read a few Rouge Force Star Wars books, but that's it as far as Sci-Fi is concerned. Aliens and Laser Pistols on weird planets just doesn't intrigue me nearly as much as Dragons and Knights in shining armor. Meh. I'm 100% with you regarding sci-fi vs fantasy. To bring a 40k slant to this I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn trilogy for a sci-fi novel. I was very impressed when I was not expecting to be. |
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Post by gjnoronh on Sept 24, 2017 8:34:02 GMT
Eisenhorn and Ravenor series are both very very good.
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Post by Bureaucrat of Chaos on Sept 24, 2017 21:10:48 GMT
What should I read if I want scifi with:
- Strong, simple storyline
- Immersive world building
- Grey zones
- A subtile sense of humour/distance/tongue-in-cheek/irony
- Not too many political or philosophical overtones/implications
Thankful for any advice!
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Post by avatarofbugman on Sept 24, 2017 22:55:23 GMT
What should I read if I want scifi with: - Strong, simple storyline - Immersive world building - Grey zones - A subtile sense of humour/distance/tongue-in-cheek/irony - Not too many political or philosophical overtones/implications Thankful for any advice! The Rogue Squadron series. |
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Post by Bureaucrat of Chaos on Sept 25, 2017 20:34:15 GMT
Ah, Star Wars! Thanks!
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Post by Crazy_Dokta on Feb 21, 2022 6:15:20 GMT
It's a bit difficult to rank, but I'll try Robert Sheckley, Philip Kindred Dick, Stanisław Lem, Brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. - Any of their novels is awesome. Eric Frank Russell, William Tenn (aka Philip Klass). - They are masters of a short story. I have only one book of each, sadly. S.Snegov - "Men Like Gods" (not to be confused with H.G.Wells with the same novel). Herbert George Wells, Jules Gabriel Verne. - They are just one of the founders of the genre. There are so many of them, I'm afraid I might be missing someone. I've read "The Dune" (the whole original series by F.Herbert and some books by his son) and...meh. The first book is awesome. And all that follows is worse and worse, it's something like "Santa Barbara" TV-show, sorry . Hmm, perhaps it's a problem of all "long series". I haven't read Dan Simmons (besides "The Terror", and this one is awesome), but I guess I'd like all of his novels. Has anyone read that: Liu Cixin - "Remembrance of Earth's Past" (trilogy) ? I'm a little biased about these new ones. "Wow! This is the winner of [many loads of loads] Prize!" I don't trust them  |
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Post by mithras on Feb 21, 2022 8:31:34 GMT
I liked Larry Niven's Ringworld series a lot!
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Post by thegoat on Mar 8, 2022 16:00:32 GMT
I liked Larry Niven's Ringworld series a lot! Larry Niven is my favorite author. His "Known Space" universe has a good balance with limited fantastical technology and interesting consequences. Though he does tend to insert unneeded inter-species sex into his stories. So reader beware. Other good Sci-Fi books: - Dune series, but it jumped the shark once Duncan Idaho was resurrected the second, third, fourth... time
- Timothy Zahn's Star Wars post ROTJ stories -- so much better than what we got in the sequel films
- Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn trilogy
- Arthur C. Clarke's Odyssey Series
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(Probably fantasy but I've already written this now)
