tbourner Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 I've read some previous book threads, but anyone got any other suggestions for sci-fi things to read? I haven't been a big reader, my favourite book is 1984 but I've not read much other than a few similarly styled ones like a couple of Aldous Huxley's, and some of Zoe's real story books about a teacher helping elective mutes! I think I'd like some more 'sci' in my 'fi' though, preferably with some real world theories in them. I'd heard that Gregory Benford was good for that, anyone read his stuff? Any other suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dash Rendar Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Read any Peter Hamilton stuff? It's very, very detailed, but good reading. Ian M Banks is good, if you don't mind the fact that almost everyone dies and there wont be 'feel good factor' when you're done! If you fancy a bit more fantasy than sci-fi for a change, I've been reading some books by Joe Abercrombie recently, and they're awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multics Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 One of my favourite sci-fi books is Hyperion from Dan Simmons. I've read pretty much everything from Philip K Dick, I'd say Ubik and The Man in the high castle are my favourite novels from him. If you like short stories then read some stuff from Harlan Ellison you won't be disappointed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Black Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 There is a triology Neutronian alchemist i think which is really good, think it was written by Peter Hamilton Posted via Mobile Device Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foodfreak Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 You could try the' Gap' series by Stephen Donaldson. The 'Dune' series ( Frank Hurbert has a good & long story line) Older books from Asimov are very clever. Nearly forgot...Arthur C Clarke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Can't recommend Peter F Hamilton highly enough. Start with Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained, then move on to the Nights Dawn trilogy. I'll back Dash up on the Iain M Banks recommendation as well, start with Excession as it's the most cheery of them all Don't start with Use of Weapons lol If you want bonkers crazy science go for Diaspora by Greg Egan. Very hard going but the scope of his story is mind bogglingly huge. -Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonball Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Donaldson... not the 2nd Covenant series (pants) LOTR - worth reading as lots more than the films and the daddy of just about every one of the genre Banks is excellent... Oldie but goodie - Riverworld series Philip Jose Farmer... Loads more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 I'm a fan of Peter F Hamilton too. I'm also a big fan of Charles Stross, Accelerando is available as a free download to get a taster of his work. http://www.accelerando.org/ His writings are all based on actual theoretical stuff, much of which you could believe possible in years to come. If you're not familiar Dyson Sphere's etc. then you might want to read along while looking up terms in wikipedia. Then there's the talking Russian lobsters.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dash Rendar Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Can't recommend Peter F Hamilton highly enough. Start with Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained, then move on to the Nights Dawn trilogy. I'll back Dash up on the Iain M Banks recommendation as well, start with Excession as it's the most cheery of them all Don't start with Use of Weapons lol If you want bonkers crazy science go for Diaspora by Greg Egan. Very hard going but the scope of his story is mind bogglingly huge. -Ian Excession is probably one of my favourites. My first Banks novel was Consider Phlebas, which was just twisted! Regarding the Hamilton books, I much preferred the Night's Dawn trilogy over Pandora's Star / Judas Unchained. The latter was a great concept, but after 2000 pages or so, the ending was a bit weak for my liking. Whereas with Night's Dawn, the end really was worth waiting for. (Even if it did take me three months and 4000 pages or so to get to!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downimpact Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Older books from Asimov are very clever. Yeah the foundation series is brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 Ooh my dad's got some Asimov books somewhere, I'll try and find them. He was the guy behind the 3 laws and stuff wasn't he? Michael, I saw your other post about Stross, I know the theory behind dyson spheres and stuff, in fact I remember seeing some artwork on one a few years ago - might have been him. I'm not sure what kind of sci-fi I'd like, I'm into robots and stuff, but I'd also like the spacey things with wormholes and crap like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dash Rendar Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Actually, I was going to flog my Judas Unchained / Pandora's Star books on Amazon, but if anyone here wants them, you can have them for free. (If you don't mind covering my postage.) They're in good condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 I'm not sure what kind of sci-fi I'd like, I'm into robots and stuff, but I'd also like the spacey things with wormholes and crap like that. Accelerando may just fit the bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Actually, I was going to flog my Judas Unchained / Pandora's Star books on Amazon, but if anyone here wants them, you can have them for free. (If you don't mind covering my postage.) They're in good condition. I've not read them! I'd love to take them for a modest fee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ark Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 The original book of Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein is a good read, and somewhat lighter reading than most Peter Hamilton. I enjoy Hamilton (halfway through Judas Unchained right now) but he has a tendancy to go off on red herrings during his books - night's dawn turned out at least twice as long as it needed to be IMO. Maybe he gets paid by the page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Oldie but goodie - Riverworld series Philip Jose Farmer... X 2 recommendation. If you liked 1984,you could try one of the books that influenced Orwell, We by Yehgevny Zamyatin - a very weird read indeed. I went through an HG Wells phase a coule of years back and liked The Sleeper Wakes,The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine - mainly because of the insights into the late Victorian mind, though. If you want sci-fi with a slice of humour and moral parable, try Kurt Vonnegut e.g. Slaughterhouse Five, The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, Galapagos, as well as the collection Welcome to the Monkey House. The above are all 'literary' SF writers - which fits in with your previous authors of Huxley and Orwell. I could add Ray Bradbury to that list, too,especially his short stories, such as I sing the Body Electric I find it hard to read full-blown SF writers now, but I cut my teeth on SF as a lad. I used to particularly enjoy: Philip Jose Farmer Isaac Asimov Harry Harrison Robert Heinlein (the politics might be right up your street ) Philip K.Dick I suspect that all of the above have dated really badly, with the possible exception of Dick, so Iain M. Banks and other more recent authors might be a better bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRalphMan Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Oldie but goodie - Riverworld series Philip Jose Farmer... x3 I guess... might have to pull em out to reread.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Right, just nipped up to my sci-fi shelves and discovered I also enjoyed Robert Silverberg and Brian Aldis. Has anybody on this thread read the Edgar Rice Burroughs 'Mars' stories or E.E. 'Doc' Smith 'Lensman' books? I can't recommend them - much too childish - but I absolutely loved them as a kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonball Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Right, just nipped up to my sci-fi shelves and discovered I also enjoyed Robert Silverberg and Brian Aldis. Has anybody on this thread read the Edgar Rice Burroughs 'Mars' stories or E.E. 'Doc' Smith 'Lensman' books? I can't recommend them - much too childish - but I absolutely loved them as a kid. Oh yes - good grief - memories!! Foundation series - Asimov was very good Rama series by Asimov one of the best ever (well first was - after that got weaker) Mote in Gods eye - who wrote that one (heads off to Google...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewen Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 One of my favorites is The Seedling Stars by James Blish. A collection of related short stories from the Pantrophy (?) series IIRR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherriff Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 An author by the name of Neal Asher writes good action packed Sci-Fi, either 'The Skinner' or 'Gridlinked' is a good start I've enjoyed all the books in the series so far Cheers, Sherriff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Peter F Hamilton? Good $deity people, that's meaty stuff for someone getting started on sci-fi. His donkey-chokers make me hesitate before picking up, and I've been reading sci-fi since I was 5! Richard Morgan - Black Man is a recommendation. If you like his style you can then try other titles by him - I'd go for Altered Carbon after that (1st of a trilogy). You'd probably enjoy Market Forces too. I also second suggestions on Asimov - the Foundation series got me interested as a tiddler. Iain M. Banks is another fave of mine as well, and I do enjoy Hamilton's books. What I read and thoroughly enjoyed were compilations of short stories from the 40's to 60's. You can probably find them in your local store. My guilty secret is that I love space opera, so the Saga of the Seven Suns series by Kevin J. Anderson is fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 I too can thoroughly recommend the Foundation series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanchan Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Peter F Hamilton? Good $deity people, that's meaty stuff for someone getting started on sci-fi. His donkey-chokers make me hesitate before picking up, and I've been reading sci-fi since I was 5! I'm surpirsed no-one has even mentioned, positively or negatively, the 2001 Space Odyssey series of books. I enjoyed the first couple but I never read the entire series so can't comment. I've been wanting to get into some sci-fi, but with a reading pace of I've read, and enjoyed, most of the Dune series, and have been recommended the Foundation series and Hamilton. Having read the opening few pages of Hamiltons' "Nights' Dawn" Trilogy, it'll be a while before I pluck up the courage to see one of his books out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdavies Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Dune, old but gold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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