Science Fiction book suggestions - Page 11
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ComusLoM
Norway3547 Posts
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travito
Canada88 Posts
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alpskomleko
Slovenia950 Posts
I forgot the title and the author: Our "hero" goes to work daily by foot, and is stopped on the street by an unknown man and asked about directions to a non-existant street/streets. The unknown man then continues talking about some weird unknown cults/religions, and our "hero" is intrigued. He decides to visit one of these rituals and follows the man through these hitherto-unknown streets (that somehow open up parallel to the usual streets). In the end it is implied that he is killed in a ritual or somesuch. As to the topic, I would just like to echo the few guys who praised Robert Charles Wilson's Spin. Best I've ever read. | ||
Wolf
Korea (South)3289 Posts
On October 26 2010 13:51 alpskomleko wrote: Can someone help me remember a short story I read about a month ago?+ Show Spoiler + I forgot the title and the author: Our "hero" goes to work daily by foot, and is stopped on the street by an unknown man and asked about directions to an unknown street/streets. The unknown man then continues talking about some weird unknown cults/religions, and our "hero" is intrigued. He decides to visit one of these rituals and follows the man through these unknown streets. In the end it is implied that he is killed in a ritual or somesuch. As to the topic, I would just like to echo the few guys who praised Robert Charles Wilson's Spin. Best I've ever read. I don't think that could be any more vague, unless you said "unknown places upon which people walk" instead of "streets". | ||
iGrok
United States5142 Posts
Armor by... shit i forgot his name. Look it up, its excellent. And of course the classic, "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. You know all those words that people use to describe technological stuff? this is where they came from. I mean words like "Microsoft". | ||
kef
283 Posts
The best sci-fi novel of all time. Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow are also awesome. I just read Neuromancer and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep this summer and they truly are classics, even if Neuromancer can be pretty confusing at times. But tbh I'd have to put Dan Simmons' Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion together as my number 2. No other story comes close to the scope of these two books. Ilium and Olympos, also by Simmons, are similar in their scale as well. Endymion and the Rise of Endymion are to the Hyperion series what God Emperor of Dune and everything after it are to the Dune Trilogy- not nearly as good, but they are decent and bring a good sense of closure to each series. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein is another classic that every sci-fi reader should check out. And my guilty pleasure: Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Stover are two of my favorites. If you're not averse to some fucked up shit and plenty of hilarious profanity, then check these out. Matthew Stover writes about the most riveting, realistic characters that I've read, and the techno/fantasy setting is not hokey like a lot fantasy worlds tend to be. I was introduced to him when I was reading Traitor (probably #4 on my list) from the Star Wars: New Jedi Order series (which I actually think was very good) | ||
KaiserReinhard
United States554 Posts
Vinge has a talent for designing really interesting alien cultures and I personally found the alien characters a lot more interesting to read than the human ones. Also I particularly liked A Deepness in the Sky where Vinge paints a very realistic picture of a space-faring human civilization where faster than light travel is not possible. | ||
ryanAnger
United States838 Posts
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Obsolescence
United States270 Posts
I have to second that recommendation, for everyone, if you haven't read Dune. Go read it now! | ||
Zaxro
United States261 Posts
Some of my favorites and books that I personally recommend The Culture Novels by Iain M. Banks-I've only read the first two (Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games) and they were both fantastic (The Player of Games is one of my top 5) and I've heard great things about other novels in the series The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin-My Personal Favorite SF book Dune by Frank Herbert-Everyone says it's great, and for good reason Hyperion by Dan Simmons-Great book, Canterbury tales-like structure gives really good characterization and world-building. Not so fond of the first sequel (The Fall of Hyperion) but I've heard the next two are better, so I'll get around to reading them at some point Spin by Robert Charles Wilson-Great Social examination and characterization. It's a newer book but it's one of the all-time best. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham Earth Abides by George R. Stewart I'm a big fan of Post apocalyptic novels and the three above are my favorites. All three are very different novels but all of them are outstanding in my opinion. Some good sources that I use to find new books. SF Lists-A site with a top 200 list of books based on votes/awards with comments on each book. Very good list (not necessarily that I agree with the order, but there are a ton of great books on it), also, take a look at the 101-200 section, some really underrated books there. Also has a link to a similar list for fantasy books. SFReviews.net-A site with a large number of SF/Fantasy reviews. I don't agree with the writer of the site's opinion on everything, but the books he recommends (4+) are generally pretty good Science Fiction Book Review podcast-Good reviews, though the podcasts are really long since the maker generally talks for as long of a time as he wants to about the books he is reviewing. Again, I don't always agree with him about book quality but the books he rates highly are almost always good, and his reviews have exposed me to new books and has me think differently about books I have already read. | ||
happyness
United States2400 Posts
On September 17 2010 02:15 EAGER-beaver wrote: I read most of stranger in a strange land, the book was exclusively about sex. It belongs in the harlequin romance section of a book store, not sci fi. Lots of the sci fi classics like 1984 are pretty awful, that's why I generally avoid the sci genre, so much of it is crap. Also the halo books were surprisingly good, I thought they'd be a joke but they're really fun quick reads, just don't expect anything too deep. And no, i'm not a halo fanboy, can't stand playing it. Last sci book I read was Fermat's last theorem the last book by arthur c clark before he passed. I wouldn't recommend it, the book starts off strong then gets weaker as it goes on. Is this a troll? I haven't met anyone who didn't like 1984, or at least be "moved" by it so to speak. | ||
happyness
United States2400 Posts
On October 26 2010 15:14 Zaxro wrote: I'm a big fan of Science fiction novels so I'm gonna give some recommendations Some of my favorites and books that I personally recommend The Culture Novels by Iain M. Banks-I've only read the first two (Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games) and they were both fantastic (The Player of Games is one of my top 5) and I've heard great things about other novels in the series The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin-My Personal Favorite SF book Dune by Frank Herbert-Everyone says it's great, and for good reason Hyperion by Dan Simmons-Great book, Canterbury tales-like structure gives really good characterization and world-building. Not so fond of the first sequel (The Fall of Hyperion) but I've heard the next two are better, so I'll get around to reading them at some point Spin by Robert Charles Wilson-Great Social examination and characterization. It's a newer book but it's one of the all-time best. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham Earth Abides by George R. Stewart I'm a big fan of Post apocalyptic novels and the three above are my favorites. All three are very different novels but all of them are outstanding in my opinion. Some good sources that I use to find new books. SF Lists-A site with a top 200 list of books based on votes/awards with comments on each book. Very good list (not necessarily that I agree with the order, but there are a ton of great books on it), also, take a look at the 101-200 section, some really underrated books there. Also has a link to a similar list for fantasy books. SFReviews.net-A site with a large number of SF/Fantasy reviews. I don't agree with the writer of the site's opinion on everything, but the books he recommends (4+) are generally pretty good Science Fiction Book Review podcast-Good reviews, though the podcasts are really long since the maker generally talks for as long of a time as he wants to about the books he is reviewing. Again, I don't always agree with him about book quality but the books he rates highly are almost always good, and his reviews have exposed me to new books and has me think differently about books I have already read. My friend just lent me A Canticle for Leibowitz and I really like it so far. So I'll have to look into your other suggestions. And thanks for the links! | ||
Arnstein
Norway3381 Posts
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SpaceToaster
United States289 Posts
If you're looking for something lighter I really enjoyed the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series. Nothing serious there, but if you like your books to satisfy you like an action flick, they're a fun read. | ||
m4gdelen4
United States416 Posts
I consider Dune to be required SF reading. Simply the best in this genre. | ||
redviper
Pakistan2333 Posts
Spin and Axis by Ian Banks. Ringworld by Niven. This Alien Shore, In Conquest Born and the Wilding by CS Friedman (despite her name she is a woman - zing!) | ||
emythrel
United Kingdom2599 Posts
The "Rama" Series by Arthur C Clark All 4 books from the Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy series (i would assume most have read this) Contact - Carl Sagan Oh and in about 2 years time look up a book called "PARXDOX - Future's Prologue". I am currently writing it and am around 100pages into what i estimate to be a 300 page book. I have plans for more books to follow the characters ;p | ||
ygor
Slovakia246 Posts
I strongly recommend The Light of OtherDays by A.Clarke and S.Baxter . It is a true "scientific" sci-fi. Clarke and Baxter invent just a single technical concept, but develop a very broad story around it with lots of imagination ... especially the exploration of the + Show Spoiler + past | ||
antas
Indonesia300 Posts
On August 10 2010 01:58 Zergneedsfood wrote: Speaker of the Dead was horrendously bad and unentertaining. It is the only book that I have never actually finished. Has anyone here suggested anything by Michael Crichton? That guy's a fucking boss. I would actually recommend Next by Michael Crichton. It doesn't have a very coherent storyline as it just jumps around from place to place, but it's a very interesting book that brings up a few interesting questions. Yes, Michael Crichton is definitely a good scifi writer. I read and love most of hist book, except Pirate Latitude which I don't really like it, perhaps because it's more historical than a scifi. I can recommend Next, Jurassic Park, Lost World, Prey, Sphere, Timeline from Crichton. Jurassic Park and Lost World probably are his most famous books. Other than Crichton's books, I don't really find any scifi book that really thrills me. I would like to read "Saga of the Seven Suns" but since it compiles of 7 books, I never tried to actually start to buy it :D Anyone read this books? | ||
pfods
United States895 Posts
the entire dune series by frank herbert stranger in a strange land by robert a. heinlein(read all of his books) the traveler series by john twelve hawk for extremely enjoyable and light reading, battle tech. gotta love mechs fighting. | ||
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