# Recommend me some scifi or fantasy



## Alastair McDermott (Nov 14, 2015)

Looking for some recommendations in sf & f genres.

I like Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, GRRM for fantasy, Frank Herbert, Iain M Banks, Peter F Hamilton in sf.

I've read a lot of established stuff so looking for newer/recent. No YA or vampires please 

What you got?


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Seriously, though, Frank Schatzing's The Swarm is a SF/thriller I really enjoyed. It reminded me a bit of Hamilton's style, though the topics aren't really similar. He's a German author whose work was translated into English as well. http://www.amazon.com/Swarm-Frank-Schatzing-ebook/dp/B000GCFX7C

On the self-publishing side, I loved Mark Barek's Mind Engine. http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Engine-Mark-Barek-ebook/dp/B00M04MKYS/
Absolutely brilliant!

Great taste in literature, by the way. Frank Herbert and Peter F Hamilton are two of my favorites and Dune is my all-time favorite novel.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Perhaps some Alistair Reynolds for SF?

In fantasy, have you tried Patrick Rothfuss' "Kingkiller Chronicle" books yet? Very well written, though we're _still_ waiting for volume 3. (Maybe that's why they're well written: he really takes his time.  )


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

Have you read the Expanse novels by James SA Corey?

City of Stairs (The Divine Cities #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

all are great


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I read mostly older SF (and not much fantasy), but some of the contemporary authors I've read and liked are:

Jack McDevitt (most of his work)
Hugh Howey (_Wool_ omnibus)
Lois McMaster Bujold
Elizabeth Moon

As I said, I don't read all that much fantasy, but I do like:

Steven Brust
Frank Tuttle
Glen Cook (the _Garrett_ series, haven't read any of his others)

Mike


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

www.elitistbookreviews.com has great genre reviews of mostly newer stuff

oh!! try


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## scifi365 (Sep 12, 2014)

SF:

Traditionally Published: Dan Abnett's 'Embedded', Madeleine Ashby, Wesley Chu - sod it, anything published by Angry Robot books is sure to be awesome sauce. Find 'em here: http://angryrobotbooks.com/books/

Also, Stephen Baxter for hard SF, Anne Leckie, John Scalzi - it's a never ending list, really.

Indie Published: 'Anomaly' by Peter Cawdron, The Ambassador series by Patty Jansen, 'Thumb' by John Guy Collick, Lucas Bale's Beyond the Wall series, Andrei Cherascu's 'Mindguard' and 'The Vintages'.

That little lot should keep you in smart SF for a while.

Edited to add: Oh, I see Andrei has recommended 'Mind Engine' by Mark Barek. That's a brilliant book: if you don't like that, you don't like Science Fiction. Crazy good.

Double Edited to add: Another vote for The Expanse books by James Corey. A nice mash-up of Peter Hamilton's super-detail with space opera and lots of political/economic/social depth. Judging by the books you've mentioned, those will be will right up your alley. Er, so to speak!


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## Alastair McDermott (Nov 14, 2015)

Awesome stuff, thanks for the recommendations, some great stuff in there.  Already read Reynolds, Rothfuss (next one due out 2054), Howey, McMaster Bujold, Moon, Cook, Baxter, Scalzi. 

Haven't read McDevitt, Corey (meaning to just didn't get around to it - next!), Bennett, Chambers, Brust, Tuttle, Abnett, Ashby, Chu, Angry Robot (their stuff looks great but I need to go back to 2015, all the 2016 links are to pre-order), Cawdron, Jansen, Collick, Bale, Cherascu. Now that's a decent size list, should keep me going for a month or two! 

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions thus far, and feel free to keep 'em coming.


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## UnicornEmily (Jul 2, 2011)

Try Brandon Mull for fantasy, if you like young adult -- his Fablehaven books are very creative and wonderful.  M. L. Forman's Adventurers Wanted series is lighthearted fun, too.

Timothy Zahn has written some of the best science fiction I've ever read.  And no, I don't just mean his Star Wars books (though those are the best of the Expanded Universe).  Try his Quadrail series, starting with Night Train to Rigel.  Sheer awesomeness.

Have you read Stephen R. Donaldson?  He's my husband's favorite author.


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## ehhoward (Jun 26, 2013)

Have you tried Trudi Canavan? I thought the first couple of sets were pretty good.  Magician's Guild etc. Can't get into the latest, she's allowed to try a different style, but it just doesn't work for me.


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

I'll second Steven Brust, especially his Vlad Taltos series.

For SF, maybe consider Harry Turtledove, especially his World War series.


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## jeffaaronmiller (Jul 17, 2012)

I'll throw in my two cents and recommend Robert Charles Wilson's _Spin_ series. Beautifully strange and compelling story. It's a three book series: _Spin_, _Axis_, _Vortex_. The premise, if you will, is that one night the whole sky disappears, moon and stars, and transforms into a flat, black expanse. The effect is worldwide and seemingly permanent. The investigation into what it means and why it happened leads down some truly bizarre and interesting roads.


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## EvanPickering (Mar 8, 2016)

Also, the Death Gate Cycle is an awesome fantasy series. If ya haven't read it

Evan


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## Joseph J Bailey (Jun 28, 2013)

On the sci-fi side, I found the _Expanse_ series while looking for something along the lines of Alastair Reynolds' _Revelation Space_ arc and Banks' _Culture_ series. Amazing!

There are just too many... _Hyperion_ was enjoyable long ago as was _Foundation_, _The Forever War_, and _Ancillary Justice_.

On the fantasy side, I love the _Dresden Files_. Shotgun wielding wizard detectives are it!

_The Black Company_ is an enjoyable series as are _The Malazan Book of the Fallen_, _The Earthsea Cycle_, _The Book of the New Sun_, _The Kingkiller Chronicle_, _The Magicians_ trilogy by Grossman, _Discworld_, and Logan Ninefingers in the _First Law_ is a hoot. _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_ and _American Gods_ were nice reads as well.

Really, there are too many good books to list but this thread is a great start!


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## Spittyfish (May 12, 2016)

A.C. Crispin is a good writer.


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## Geoff Jones (Jun 20, 2014)

Check out Pines by Blake Crouch. It's a mix of The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive, and Twin Peaks.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Geoff Jones said:


> Check out Pines by Blake Crouch. It's a mix of The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive, and Twin Peaks.


And season 2 is getting ready to start on TV.


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## Geoff Jones (Jun 20, 2014)

I haven't watched the show yet, but I read all three books. How far does season one go? Does it map to the first book?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Aargh.  I'm not really sure.  It seems to me that there were some changes.  I think it ends more or less where the first book ends.  There was a gap between me reading the books and seeing the series and I don't remember details like that so much.  Maybe someone else can say!

Betsy


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## AndrewSweetapple (May 15, 2016)

Check out some of the Discworld books. I just read "Mort", the first book of the Death series and its pretty easy to get into. Fun writing style, good sense of pacing, Terry Pratchett is very good.


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## Alastair McDermott (Nov 14, 2015)

Joseph J Bailey said:


> On the sci-fi side, I found the _Expanse_ series while looking for something along the lines of Alastair Reynolds' _Revelation Space_ arc and Banks' _Culture_ series. Amazing!
> 
> There are just too many... _Hyperion_ was enjoyable long ago as was _Foundation_, _The Forever War_, and _Ancillary Justice_.
> 
> ...


Read most of those, but not _The Magicians_ trilogy by Grossman. Can anyone tell me if this is YA targetted? (I'm not a fan of YA stuff in general).


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Alastair McDermott said:


> Read most of those, but not _The Magicians_ trilogy by Grossman. Can anyone tell me if this is YA targetted? (I'm not a fan of YA stuff in general).


I only know I read the first one and it was way too angsty for me. But I think it wasn't something I'd have suggested to a teenager, maybe a college student. The characters are college age I think . . . .


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## Brian G Turner (May 19, 2016)

Alastair McDermott said:


> I like Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, GRRM for fantasy


If you like that sort of traditional historical fantasy, it might be worth picking up _Assassin's Apprentice_ by Robin Hobb, and /or something by David Gemmell - _Legend_ or _Sword in the Storm_ are among his most popular.


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## Libby13 (Jul 31, 2011)

Please tell me someone's already mentioned Philip K Dick and I just missed it.  Out there and trippy for sure.  I definitely recommend American Gods and the Discworld series as well.


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

scifi365 said:


> SF:
> 
> Edited to add: Oh, I see Andrei has recommended 'Mind Engine' by Mark Barek. That's a brilliant book: if you don't like that, you don't like Science Fiction. Crazy good.


Just a note. I went to "Mind Engine" and it had 5 five star incredible reviews. That makes me suspicious. So I checked all five and this was the only book they had ever reviewed. Sounds like friends and family to me. I have never read this book so I have no opinion al all, but whenever I see a small number of terrific reviews, I always check to see if the reviewers are real SF fans, or just friend and relatives doing a favor for the author. I could be wrong, but these reviews seem VERY suspicious to me.

Steve


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I've been reading and loving Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive books. Big books but never boring.


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## gerard_blalock (Jun 3, 2016)

For older things you may not have encountered, I highly recommend the Gormenghast books by Mervyn Peake, particularly the first one, _Titus Groan_.

For more recent things, I loved Kazuo Ishiguro's _The Sleeping Giant_. I know it had mixed reception, but I really loved it. Beautiful, heartbreaking, engaging work.


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## Warren Dean (May 10, 2015)

Someone mentioned Stephen Donaldson earlier. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is one of the best fantasy series you will ever read.



For sci-fi, Julian May's Saga of the Exiles always stands out for me.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Warren Dean said:


> Someone mentioned Stephen Donaldson earlier. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is one of the best fantasy series you will ever read.


I'd agree the First Chronicles is Very Very Good. The Second Chronicles not so much and by the time the Linden Avery Chronicles came I was probably over it and it just didn't entice me at all.

*HOWEVER*

Be advised that there is a fairly disturbing scene fairly early in the book that really makes you want to strangle the MC. In fact, overall, he's not a very likeable guy. If you can get past that, you start meeting other people who are just wonderful characters . . . . . the whole journey is to see if he Thomas Covenant can overcome himself, sort of.


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## Warren Dean (May 10, 2015)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Be advised that there is a fairly disturbing scene fairly early in the book that really makes you want to strangle the MC. In fact, overall, he's not a very likeable guy. If you can get past that, you start meeting other people who are just wonderful characters . . . . . the whole journey is to see if he Thomas Covenant can overcome himself, sort of.


Indeed.

For me, the real hero of the series is The Land itself. If I ever get to leave Earth, that is where I want to go.


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## editorialeyes (May 8, 2016)

My absolute favourite of the past few years, hands down, is Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief trilogy (The Quantum Thief, The Fractal Prince, and The Causal Angel). Hannu is a theoretical physicist who runs some crazy-smart think tank, and it's good, hard sci-fi that takes no prisoners--he doesn't pause to give you any explanations about the science, technology, social mores, politics, history, etc., of what's been going in the solar system, so you have to trust him and pick up clues from the book, which is part of the fun to piece together what's going on. At it's heart, the first book, set in a "dilemma prison" and then mostly on Mars, is a noirish mystery. The main character is a charming thief who finds himself at the heart of some serious intrigue--if only he could remember anything about his life before prison. Great stuff.

I just finished Cixin Liu's Three-Body Problem, also hard sci-fi and the first in a trilogy. Liu is one of the best-known sci-fi authors in China and has only recently been translated into English. As much as anything, it's really interesting to see the different approach to characterization and story structure, and to see a big sci-fi government conspiracy-type book set in China against the Cultural Revolution and onward. It's a little bit like Carl Sagan's Contact, though much more malevolent. I'm looking forward to picking up book 2.


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## Don DeBon (Jun 18, 2016)

If you like military sci-fi, then give Elizabeth Moon a shot.  I liked her Vatta's War series (starts with Trading in Danger if I remember right).  Or if you are into hard sci-fi try Gegory Benford.  I enjoyed his Artifact, among others.

I also like Alan Dean Foster, and Timothy Zahn is another fav.  I read a lot of sci-fi authors, but those are the top ones I have read recently.


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## Mskeakelso (Jun 27, 2016)

Anna McCaffrey - her dragon series is very good. Also John Wyndham for just beyond the bounds of what is currently possible sci-fi.


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## C.M.Estopare (Jul 20, 2016)

When it comes to high fantasy I'd recommend Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher series. The first book in the series is The Last Wish, which is more or less a collection of short stories by Sapkowski. My favorite book in the series would have to be the Blood of Elves. Sapkowski isn't one for flowery descriptions or censorship (of gore and such), so if you're into high fantasy with a dash of grimdark I'd say give him a try. Another author I'd recommend is Tamora Pierce and her Beka Cooper series. It's a coming-of-age not as dark as Sapkowski's series (in my opinion) but pretty gritty and realistic. 

When it comes to indie works, I'd recommend a Duel of Fire for the author's awesome world-building. I'd also recommend The Destroyer, but be warned the author is a bit...graphic when it comes to sex scenes. 

I'm still pretty new to the indie scene so please excuse my lack of knowledge when it comes to indie authors!


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

editorialeyes said:


> My absolute favourite of the past few years, hands down, is Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief trilogy (The Quantum Thief, The Fractal Prince, and The Causal Angel). Hannu is a theoretical physicist who runs some crazy-smart think tank, and it's good, hard sci-fi that takes no prisoners--he doesn't pause to give you any explanations about the science, technology, social mores, politics, history, etc., of what's been going in the solar system, so you have to trust him and pick up clues from the book, which is part of the fun to piece together what's going on. At it's heart, the first book, set in a "dilemma prison" and then mostly on Mars, is a noirish mystery. The main character is a charming thief who finds himself at the heart of some serious intrigue--if only he could remember anything about his life before prison. Great stuff.
> 
> I just finished Cixin Liu's Three-Body Problem, also hard sci-fi and the first in a trilogy. Liu is one of the best-known sci-fi authors in China and has only recently been translated into English. As much as anything, it's really interesting to see the different approach to characterization and story structure, and to see a big sci-fi government conspiracy-type book set in China against the Cultural Revolution and onward. It's a little bit like Carl Sagan's Contact, though much more malevolent. I'm looking forward to picking up book 2.


I bounced off Quantum Thief, maybe I should give it another try


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

reminder: we're in the book corner so it's not appropriate to recommend books you've written. Some posts have been removed.


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## PatrickNole (Aug 5, 2016)

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series is good, although I'm only a few chapters in...


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

stevene9 said:


> Just a note. I went to "Mind Engine" and it had 5 five star incredible reviews. That makes me suspicious. So I checked all five and this was the only book they had ever reviewed. Sounds like friends and family to me. I have never read this book so I have no opinion al all, but whenever I see a small number of terrific reviews, I always check to see if the reviewers are real SF fans, or just friend and relatives doing a favor for the author. I could be wrong, but these reviews seem VERY suspicious to me.
> 
> Steve


Steve, I don't know about the reviews because I didn't check them. I had the book recommended by a friend. I don't know the author, am not related to him in any way and in fact have not even found a way to contact him and tell him that I loved the book because he just seems to be absolutely horrible at marketing, but take it from me - the book is great! It's one of the frustrating cases where, as a writer, I just want to grab Mark by the shoulders, shake him hard and say, "Why the hell aren't you marketing this awesome book!"


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## Crissi Langwell (May 9, 2013)

I'm reading "Hell's Children," by John L. Monk. It's an apocalyptic story of what would happen if all the adults died and kids were left to fend for themselves. Very Lord of the Flies, and super compelling. I'd never heard of this author before, but he was on the Rocking Self Publishing podcast, and he had found great success with this book even though it was his first. Reading it, I can totally see why.

Crissi Langwell

_no self promotion allowed in the Book Corner -- Ann_


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## Amiedoll (Jun 29, 2010)

I second anything by Robin Hobb (she's amazing), and an oldie but a goodie, I can't go past David Eddings 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## bulrush (Aug 14, 2011)

I like some of the books by Ian Douglas. They are basically marines in space novels. 

I also like "Blood Music" by Greg Bear. Somehow microbes become intelligent community organisms that seem to be spreading fast, and in the process people are disappearing. But is this a bad thing or a good thing?


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## spellscribe (Nov 5, 2015)

McCaffrrey's Freedom books are ones I loved but never see recommended, though it had a light romance element to it.   Scalzi has some good stuff if you're after something modern and snappy and Ready Player One was great. Someone in another thread mentioned Fleetfoot Interstellar, which has that Mal-esque main character with his loveable crew. Vorkosigan books... I've only read the first but agree they d serve their classic status. Ancillary Justice on Audio was *superb*, but I actually think of have liked it less on paper. The narration by Andoh really brought it home. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## JuliaShupe (Aug 25, 2016)

Have you read the Extinction Point series by Paul Antony Jones?

Good Stuff!


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## Keith Blenman (May 31, 2009)

Masque by F. Paul Wilson and Matthew J Costello. Sadly it's not on the Kindle but you can get the paperback for a penny and I keep hoping if enough people purchase it the publishers will take note and make an ebook edition.

https://smile.amazon.com/Masque-F-Paul-Wilson/dp/0446606766/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

Really enjoying this one, 1/2 way through.... has a Firefly feel, but not derivative


Good series with the British Navy in Space "Hornblower feel" with similar odd pocket universe ship sailing like David Drake's Lt Leary series


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## H.C. (Jul 28, 2016)

I would second Stephen R. Donaldson.

There's a lot of good stuff out there.


_promotion of your own books is allowed only in the Book Bazaar, sorry -- Ann
_


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## 5ngela (Sep 7, 2015)

I recommend all Mr Douglas Richards sci fi books like The Cure, Amped, Wired, Quantum Lens, Split Second, Mind's Eye, Brain Web, Game Changer, and soon to be released. I like all of them.


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## mediamst (Nov 28, 2012)

I'm a huge fan or Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. If you haven't checked his stuff out it's fantastic. Fantasy with mages. My favorite kind of fantasy.


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## ronvitale (Mar 11, 2011)

There are so many books to list!

But I would say that in the last year or two, the following science fiction books that stand out for me are:

Binti
by Nnedi Okorafor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binti_(novel)

Annihilation
by Jeff VanderMeer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilation_(VanderMeer_novel)

Ancillary Justice
by Ann Leckie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancillary_Justice

I enjoyed these because they were atypical to what I normally read with complicated characters that weren't in the normal space opera type of science fiction. There are some wildly imaginative worlds in these books and well worth the time to read.

I hope this helps.


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## Brownskins (Nov 18, 2011)

A good sci-fi one is 

as well as .

For fantasy, I liked this one  and 

Let's trade feedback if ever you choose one of these. Enjoy!


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## 5ngela (Sep 7, 2015)

I don't know whether it has been recommended or not, but I say you could try Amped, Wired, The Cure, Quantum Lens, Game Changer, Split Second, Nick Hall series by Douglas Richards. It was really good.


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## going going gone (Jun 4, 2013)

I'm speaking purely as a reader (not a writer, not a buddy of this writer), but I just read and really liked Jerry Aubin's Landfall. (Prime Reading selection right now, so free if you have Prime.)


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## Joseph M. Erhardt (Oct 31, 2016)

As the decades roll on, classics become forgotten.

If you've never read E. E. Doc Smith's Lensman series, I can recommend that. Remarkably, many subsequent SF series echo the themes and progression of this set of books to an almost annoying degree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lensman_series

Other classics that I've taken the time to review on Amazon are the following:

Sinister Barrier, by Eric Frank Russell (to be read under the covers, at night, by flashlight):
https://www.amazon.com/Sinister-Barrier-Eric-Frank-Russell/dp/0345327608/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Sleeping Planet, by William R. Burkett, Jr.:
https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Science-Fiction-William-Burkett/dp/1489592822/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478009716&sr=8-1&keywords=sleeping+planet

We All Died at Breakaway Station, by Richard C. Meredith:
https://www.amazon.com/We-All-Died-Breakaway-Station/dp/0099388804/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478009684&sr=8-1&keywords=we+all+died+at+breakaway+station

Serious classics. And yes, some days I feel ancient.


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## Marc Rokoff (Aug 17, 2016)

I'm really enjoying the Nebula Awards Showcase 2016 edited by Mercedes Lackey.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26067712-nebula-awards-showcase-2016 
Took it out of the library and have been pleasantly surprised. A lot of anthologies aren't so consistently enjoyable for me.
The print is a little small though!


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## Clair St.Claire (Nov 2, 2016)

My dad really enjoyed "Cyberstorm"; he's a huge sci fi guy. 
(But this isn't my reputation going on the line for this one  )


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