Someone on the previous board recommended to me a series or book by Rojer Zelanzy. It had the main character doing Aikido, I think it may have been in a sci-fi setting ???. Well I was wondering if anyone knew the name of it, it sounded interesting but I've had no luck finding it on just the author's name.
I think the book you are looking for is called "Helm" and it's by Steven Gould.
He's a great author, and he's the author of my all time favourite fantasy book, "Jumper" one of the best teleporter's handbooks around
I'd gladly travel back in time, except I would have to wait longer for the next chapter of Fel's work...sorry, pass.
sancria wrote:
I think the book you are looking for is called "Helm" and it's by Steven Gould.
Thanks, I must find that book. I do however remember the name was Zelazny because it's definately a distinctive name. But thanks for the suggestion ;D, another author to read .
Abandon the search for truth; settle for good fantasy!
journeywoman wrote:
Someone on the previous board recommended to me a series or book by Rojer Zelanzy. It had the main character doing Aikido, I think it may have been in a sci-fi setting ???. Well I was wondering if anyone knew the name of it, it sounded interesting but I've had no luck finding it on just the author's name.
That may have been me, I recommend Zelazny to people frequently. :D
There are a variety of Zelazny stories where the main character practices some sort of martial art, although it's never really the center of the story. His book The Mask of Loki has a main character who studied Aikido; is that the one you're thinking of? It is more "contemporary fantasy" than science fiction, and is by no means his best work, but it's still pretty good.
I am not a big fan of the nuts-n-bolts school of SF. I prefer social science fiction as embodied by Le Guin or Vance. Some of the books that I recommend are out of print but not that hard to to find online in the used SF market.
Jack Vance
The Demon Prince quintet, Tales of the Dying Earth, Night Lamp, or just about any thing he has written
Roger Zelazny
Lord of Light, the Amber series (first 5 books ONLY), all of his short story collections, This Immortal
Ursula K. Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed
Sherri S. Tepper
The Gate to Women's Country, Grass, The True Game
Walter Jon Williams
Aristoi, Metropolitan or his humorous SF series about Drake Majistral (Crown Jewels, House of Shards & Rock of Ages), The Rift
Lois McMaster Bujold
Her Miles Vorkosigan series (start with Warrior's Apprentice even though it is not chronologically the first book, it was the first written)
Steve Gould
Jumper, Wildside
Garth Nix
Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen (Okay, these are fantasy not SF but they are awesome books. Yes, they are often shelved in the young adult section. Get over it.)
Tim Powers
The Anubis Gates, Last Call, Declare
James Blaylock
Homunculus, The Digging Leviathan
Dan Simmons
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, Phases of Gravity, Song of Kali (I will NEVER visit Calcutta after reading this book)
Nancy Kress
Beggars in Spain
Connie Willis
Doomsday Book, Lincoln's Dreams
Kage Baker
In the Garden of Iden (first of her books about The Company)
For funny scifi, you can't go past Spider Robinson, he of the famous 'Callahan's Crosstime Saloon' series, and his other one offs like 'The Free Lunch'.
Highly entertaining.
I'd definitely second any Neal Stephenson novels, and Alan Dean Foster does some fantastic scifi with his Flinx and Federation(?) series.
mattd wrote:
That may have been me, I recommend Zelazny to people frequently.
There are a variety of Zelazny stories where the main character practices some sort of martial art, although it's never really the center of the story. His book The Mask of Loki has a main character who studied Aikido; is that the one you're thinking of? It is more "contemporary fantasy" than science fiction, and is by no means his best work, but it's still pretty good.
Thanks, now I know I have a few books to look up when the holidays arrive ;D!
And on the topic of funny/crazy/wierd sci-fi there's always Douglas Adams' Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galazy !
Abandon the search for truth; settle for good fantasy!
brent wrote:Roger Zelazny
Lord of Light, the Amber series (first 5 books ONLY), all of his short story collections, This Immortal
I like also the next 5 books of Amber series (Merlin story). It is diferent kind of story, but still good. Also his stories/novels (short) "Damnation Alley", "Doorways in the Sand",... I haven't read all his books, though...
brent wrote:Ursula K. Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed
And of course her "Earthsea" trilogy (without "Tehanu"). Hain trilogy: "Rocannon's World", "Planet of Exile", "City of Illusions". Maybe "Four Ways to Forgiveness" for feminist side.
I AM DEATH, NOT TAXES. *I* TURN UP ONLY ONCE.
(Terry Pratchet, "Feet of Clay")
About 10-15 years ago I read a good comedic sf book that I have never been able to find since. It was about an alien ship crashing to earth and being found by a New York(I think) street gang and they figure out how to use it. Anyone ever read something like this and know the author and title? I always thought it was called Illegal Aliens, but never found it under that name.
Uncle Rand
Last edited by Uncle_Rand on Mon May 31, 2004 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If necessary, just get the last book. The included CD has a bunch of other E-books, including the entire Honorverse series, starting with "On Basilisk Station".
zc wrote:Don't forget David Weber's Honorverse series.
I too quite liked the Honorverse series... You can pick up the series at Baen Free Library (linked in a previous post).
zc wrote:
Honorverse series, starting with "On Basilisk Station".
I thought there was a short story prior to the Basilisk Station? or was it published after Basilisk? The story where Honor is fresh from the acadamy - her first posting (can't remember the name of it right now, and my PDA is in the other room).
I wonder why nobody mentioned Joan D. Vinge "Cat" series: "Psion", "Cat's Paw", "Dreamfall". And of course "The Snow Queen"/"The Summer Queen" saga.
As for the humour, don't forget Terry Pratchet (fantasy).
Last, but not least, the two great books I have read lately: "The Burning City" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle and "The Innkeeper Song" by Peter S. Beagle (the author of "The Last Unicorn"). Both fantasy.
I'm waiting now for the next books of the "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King. It is fantasy (kind of), not a horror. Extremly good.
More titles and authors to come soon.
Last edited by Shadowhawk on Tue Jun 01, 2004 5:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I AM DEATH, NOT TAXES. *I* TURN UP ONLY ONCE.
(Terry Pratchet, "Feet of Clay")
uncle_rand wrote:About 10-15 years ago I read a good comedic sf book that I have never been able to find since. It was about an alien ship crashing to earth and being found by a New York(I think) street gang and they figure out how to use it. Anyone ever read something like this and know the author and title? I always thought it was called Illegal Aliens, but never found it under that name.
Uncle Rand
Uncle Rand,
The book is entitled Illegal Aliens. It was by Nick Pollotta illustrated by the wacky Phil Foglio. Wildside Press has republished it. You can find it on Amazon.com or if you prefer a less evil empire, you can order it directly from Wildside Press. The direct link to Nick's books at Wildside Press is <http://www.wildsidepress.com/cgi-bin/mi ... =Pollotta1>.
Ta,
Brent
ps. I would have recommended Terry Pratchett but he is primarily a fantasy author and the thread was ostensible good science fiction books.
heustess wrote:ps. I would have recommended Terry Pratchett but he is primarily a fantasy author and the thread was ostensible good science fiction books.
I don't think that this thread is only for "hard" science fiction and fantasy has no place in it. There is sometimes very thin line separating those two, e.g. Piers Anthony "Proton/Phase" series. But if you feel like startin new thread for recommending fantasy books, you can do so. Although I think that it should be better to host all kinds of science fiction (including fantasy) here, maybe changing the name of the thread from "Good Boooks (SciFi)" into "Good Books (SF-F)", which can be easily done by changing/modifying the title of the first post in thread.
sancria wrote:Ok, I'm bored, starting a new thread..
Looking for good books to read, and I'm mainly interested in Sci Fi or related stuff. I love you Fel btw
(Emphasisis put by me). So...
But we better hear from the thread initiator, Sancria. Is it thread for discussing good fantasy book to read, also?
Last edited by Shadowhawk on Wed Jun 02, 2004 12:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
I AM DEATH, NOT TAXES. *I* TURN UP ONLY ONCE.
(Terry Pratchet, "Feet of Clay")
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