Good Books (Scifi)

[Deeb]

/me runs his grubby little feet over to Barnes and Noble Mine All MINE!

[fickle-godling]

uh..i dont know if anyone mentioned Alistair Reynolds? He's a pretty good Sci-fi writer...oh and you cant go wrong with Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series and Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series! Don't forget the Dragonlance Collections, those are some of the best fantasy novels and trilogies I've ever read!

[fickle-godling]

oh and isnt James P. Hogan a classic sci-fi writer as well? I came across one of his books, INHERIT THE STARS, and i found it to be pretty good!

[Ymarsakar]

Vernor Vinge's stories are excellent singular novels of semi-hard science fiction and human destiny themes.

His Peace War and A Deepness in the Sky are masterpieces.

http://www.webscription.net/m-2-tor-books.aspx

You can find samples of his books there, though the ebook webscription service is not ready.

Principally, I liked Vernor's stories because of the deep and intense psychological deception, manipulation, and plots imbedded amongst his heroes and villains. He really applies the various schools of psychology to create something of a spy-thriller really. A mild thriller of course, since this is mostly about science fiction, you know traveling across thousands of light years in a cryo bed.

The Hierarchy of Power theme was only applied to Peace War in my view. Meaning, the character starts off small and grows more powerful. In other novels, Vernor still does an amazing job of growing characters. There is quite a bit of introspection and redemption going on, akin to Fel's works. But the pure physical power inherent in a single person doesn't grow. This is a one book universe after all. Vernor's characters rarely if ever recur afterwards in a sequel universe-novel.

[kabalman2000]

Okay, I quickly read through the list (so I might of missed something) to try and avoid repeating others. I was thinking about books I read over and over. Here are a couple of good lesser known works.

"A World Called Solitude" by Stephen Goldin - A guy trapped for decades on a world that can't be found. It's just sooo depressing. Wonderful for a wallow.

"White Wing" by Gordon Kendall - A great book about the last of humanity where the other races think they're sub-civilized. Possibly one of the best crafted S/F books ever.

I don't think anyone mentioned Robert Heinlein (I probably missed it) and I'd say to start with "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress."

Of what has been mentioned. I'll go along with David Webber and the Honorverse, as well as "Path of the Fury" (now included with a prequel in "In Fury Born").

All of Elizabeth Moon, start with "Remnant Population" and "Speed of Dark."

Of Anne McAffery, the "Crystal Singer" trilogy, but don't miss "The Ship who Sang."

And any of the best hard S/F writer around, James P. Hogan. "Inherit the Stars" (now up to 5 books in the series) actually takes third place to "Voyage from Yesteryear" and "Thrice upon a Time" in my list.

[Ymarsakar]

For a weird Dune feel to a space opera novel that also had Star Wars atmosphere, try Deathstalker by Simon Green.

I kept getting impressions of multiple movies and materials in Green's universe. It wasn't jarring or off putting, but it was weird. Star Wars because of the Han Solo bit adventure and the similarity between Empire vs Rebellion.

Dune due to Espers and PSI powers, and the overall archaic traditions (sword usage on starships) and feudal politics (Families, Clans, inheritances)

[Tuga555]

Ok , here I have several good authors.
Mercedes Lackey.
David Drake
David Weber
John Ringo
Eric Flint

If you don't know them, here is this link for some free eBooks. http://www.baen.com/library
THIS IS NOT A PIRATE SITE !!!
Baen Books has in its site, a free library with old work from some of its authors. Check it out, you might find some you like.
Best wishes

[zebuddha]

Also a good sci-fi book is Larry Niven's Ringworld. However, don't bother with the last one of the series (Ringworld Throne I think?) - it's far below the first one. The second one (Ringworld Engineers) isn't bad either though.

Of course the two classics 1984 (George Orwell) and Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), and H.G. Wells (particularly War of the Worlds - much better than the movie - and The Time Machine).

Of interest to anyone who loved the Dune series - Frank Herbert - (and accordingly was frustrated by the way Chapter House ended) --> All the new ones by Brian Herbert & Kevin J Anderson - Not as good as the ones by the father, but still a good read and a very much necessary "completion" of the Dune saga/universe...

And for any self-respecting geek (or avid userfriendly.org reader as is my case) a must: HP Lovecraft (Go Cthulhu!)... dark stories... more horror-fantasy than anything really though...

Finally the best sci-fi author of all time (hands down): Douglas Adams (and his endlessly hilarious Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - and the various "sequels" of that trilogy in - was it 5, 6 or 7? - parts)

_____________

"It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever," he
said. "Have you thought of going into teaching?"
-- (Terry Pratchett, Mort)

- The rest have all already been mentioned... so why repeat what others have said? -

[Dvorak]

Found some great books in this post, and wanted to return the favor.

Lies of Locke Lamora: Excellent story regarding some con-men getting in way over their heads. There is some disjointed story telling, but you get used to jumping back and forth from the past to present. Scott Lynch is the author, and this series has had its movie rights bought by Warner Bros already. Its fairly similar to Oceans 11 but placed in a fantasy environment that is vividly imagined. Give this series a go, the second book Red Seas under Red Skies is fairly decent as well.

Jim Butcher's fantasy series, Codex Alera is decent as well... I

David Brin's Uplift novels are excellent. I do believe that SunDiver is the most well known, but the additional books are wonderful as well.

[Journeywoman]

Just finished reading an interesting Fantasy series. Its called the Dark Heavens Trilogy by Kylie Chan. Its an interesting slice of life type fantasy based on Chinese Gods and Demons and based in Hong Kong. I found it to be a good read, and a nice change to the usual build up to a massive battle type fantasy storylines. I look forward to reading the rest of the yet incomplete overarching story. For more information the author's website is http://www.kyliechan.com/.

[Finn]

Just finished reading an interesting Fantasy series. Its called the Dark Heavens Trilogy by Kylie Chan. Its an interesting slice of life type fantasy based on Chinese Gods and Demons and based in Hong Kong. I found it to be a good read, and a nice change to the usual build up to a massive battle type fantasy storylines. I look forward to reading the rest of the yet incomplete overarching story. For more information the author's website is http://www.kyliechan.com/.

I second this recommendation. If you're in any way chinese, you'll be able to tell that the author spent plenty of time in Hong Kong to write like she does from a western perspective.

[zedd]

I am not sure if this one has already been mentioned: «In fury born» from David Weber is a great book.

[Ledsmith]

What is every bodies opinion on "The Golden Compass", and it getting turned into a movie. I was considering reading it before it was turned into a movie but got side tracked with Matthew Rielly books (on a side note for those in England and Australia, how is "6 sacred stones"?) I know movies usually butcher the book version so I will most likely read the book and maybe skip the movie.

[Dvorak]

Golden Compass is a great book that I would recommend reading. Yaah, there is a good chance that the movie would butcher the book, however, New Line Cinema is not Walden Media so there is a much better chance of being made well. Also, the director tried to stay semi-faithful to the book even though he had to tone down the atheistic tones a bit.

[Finn]

What is every bodies opinion on "The Golden Compass", and it getting turned into a movie. I was considering reading it before it was turned into a movie but got side tracked with Matthew Rielly books

Hehe, I always found Matthew Reilley's books to be of the sort "Based on a BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE" style, rather than the other way around, but each to his own...

The books are very good, I found, they can be read, in ignorance of the anti-religious themes, much like Narnia books could be read while ignoring the dogma (although it may be more difficult now that you're aware of the themes)