# Science Fiction recommendations - COMBINED thread



## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

Hi all -- I'm a science fiction writer, and also a science fiction _reader_. I thought it would be interesting to hear what people like in their SF, what classics they especially revere, and what they enjoy in new stories and books. (I'm also new to the Kindle board, so I know it's possible you've done this a hundred times already. Is it worth doing again?)

Maybe I should start by mentioning a few of my favorites.

From my formative years: 
Heinlein juveniles -- esp. Starman Jones, Have Spacesuit Will Travel
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet -- esp. The Revolt on Venus
Milton Lesser -- Stadium Beyond the Stars

Nowadays: 
Lois McMaster Bujold -- the Vorkosigan series
Joe Haldeman -- esp. The Forever War
Cordwainer Smith -- stories of The Instrumentality of Man, such as "Game of Rat and Dragon" and "Ballad of Lost C'Mell"
Vonda McIntyre -- esp. Dreamsnake
Larry Niven -- Known Space series
Orson Scott Card -- Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead
Connie Willis -- Doomsday Book and many stories
Vernor Vinge -- A Fire Upon the Deep, Rainbow's End
Frederik Pohl -- Gateway and sequels
Alfred Bester -- The Stars My Destination and many stories
Toni Anzetti (Ann Tonsor Zeddies) -- Riding the Leviathan
Jack McDevitt -- The Engines of God
Scott Westerfeld -- Leviathan

Favorite of all time (fantasy, though, not SF): 
Tolkien -- The Lord of the Rings

You'll note that there aren't many very recent books on the list. That's because I'm not finding a lot of time to read anymore. When I do read, I'm often catching up on unfinished series from the past, rediscovering old favorites, or listening to audiobooks, which is highly dependent on what's available to download from my library.

What turns me on is a combination of great characters, good writing, a well-realized future, and interesting ideas and science. I also am more drawn to an optimistic outlook. There are a number of more recent stories that I've found well written, but just too downbeat for my tastes. I prefer to read about worlds that I think I might like to visit. What do you folks like?

Jeff Carver


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

If you're a big Science Fiction reader, I think you're missing a pretty big titan in Isaac Asimov. I'd look up Caves of Steel, and then move progressively forward into the Foundation Series. Phenomenal stuff.

David Dalglish


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> If you're a big Science Fiction reader, I think you're missing a pretty big titan in Isaac Asimov. I'd look up Caves of Steel, and then move progressively forward into the Foundation Series. Phenomenal stuff.
> 
> David Dalglish


I loved the good doctor's books when I was a teenager (probably should have listed them with early influences, but my starter list above was very much off the cuff). I tried to reread some of them years later, and couldn't. The same was true of other early loves, such as vintage Arthur C. Clarke (The City and the Stars, Childhood's End, etc.). They just haven't aged well for me, though I remember them with deep affection. But there's no doubt about how great their influence was on the field, and me as a young reader. I practically wore out the library copies of some of the early Asimov, Nourse, Norton, Wollheim, van Vogt, et al.

On the other hand, a fair number of people who have written to tell me they enjoyed my books have also mentioned Asimov as among their favorite writers. And I'm certainly happy to be put in that company.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Jeffrey,

Welcome to Kindleboards. I have a couple of your books in my TBR list but I haven't read them yet. <sheepish grin>

As a young, precocious geek, I read the old masters - Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, le Guin ... then I moved on to Piers Anthony, Jack Chalker, Larry Niven ...

Now my preferences are all over the place depending on my mood. I read all sorts of one off authors but I get pretty much everything written by Greg Bear, Orson Scott Card, Harry Turtledove, S.M. Stirling, Charles Stross, and a host of fantasy authors ...


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

Some (maybe most) of my favorites:

Clifford D. Simak - anything. Really.
Roger Zelazny - anything, but particularly the Amber series
Heinlein - early books (pre-_Stranger_)
James H. Schmitz - just about anything
Jack McDevitt - all
John E. Stith - all, particularly _Redshift Rendezvous_
Eric Frank Russell - everything
Ray Bradbury - anything (a lot of it is fantasy, though)
James Blish - _A Case of Conscience, Jack of Eagles, Cities in Flight_
Vonda McIntyre - _Dreamsnake_
Wilson Tucker - anything, but in particular _The Long, Loud Silence_ and _The Time Masters_
Hal Clement - _Needle, Mission of Gravity_
H. Beam Piper - anything (special mention to _Omnilingual_) 
Robert Scheckley - all
Frank Herbert - first _Dune_ novel
Andreas Eschbach - _The Carpet Makers_
Elizabeth Moon - _Serrano Legacy_ series
Fredric Brown - everything
Brian Stableford - the _Hooded Swan_ series
Damon Knight - _A for Anything_
John D. MacDonald - _Ballroom of the Skies, Planet of the Dreamers_ (yes, he wrote SF before the Travis McGee series)
Sam Merwin, Jr. - _House of Many Worlds_
Andre Norton - _Dane Thorson/Solar Queen_ series
Chad Oliver - anything. Again: Really.
Alexei Panshin - the _Anthony Villiers_ trilogy, _Rite of Passage_
Theodore Sturgeon - _The Dreaming Jewels, More Than Human_
Jack Vance - _Star Kings_ series

I confess a weakness of the work of A. E. van Vogt, despite the overblown writing.

I won't mention works by Jeffrey Carver, since it would just embarrass him. 

That should be more than enough for everybody.  

It's obvious I prefer the older works. Dunno why.

Mike


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## Dennis Phillips (Jun 19, 2010)

I especially like Arthur C. Clarke.  2001: A Space Odydssey; 2010 Odyssey Two.  Clarke also has some very enjoyable collections of short stories.  Clarke was a scientist.  He wrote a college text book entitled Interplanetary Flight.  He writes science fiction that is believable.  Clarke believes that much of what passes for science fiction today is really more like a western where combatants fly space ships shooting lasers and photon torpedos instead of being on horseback with six-shooters and bows and arrows and many have little or nothing to do with real science.  Clarke believes in taking a scientific concept, projecting that into the future, and asking the question, "what if?"  His thinking has inspired my own writing.
Good reading,


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Asimov's "robot" books were probably my first major SF influence, along with a smattering of Heinlein, John Campbell, and other authors of the '60s. In the '70s I read Asimov's "Foundation" books which I think were significant in how I viewed SF; and then I discovered my all-time favorite author, Roger Zelazny, who often blurred the boundaries between SF and fantasy. That also lead me to some of the more adventurous authors (in terms of how they wrote, not necessarily "adventure writers") such as Sam Delaney and John Varley. I also read a fair amount of more mainstream hard SF from those like Clarke and Robert Forward, as well as Larry Niven who then led me to Jerry Pournelle via their collaborations, which then led me to David Drake and his miliatry-oriented SF. Before that I'd also read a lot of Dickson, including his military-oriented Dorsai books.

These days I don't seem to be finding a lot of SF that really grabs me. I think part of that is that the military stuff no longer interests me, so much serious stuff is too depressing, and I have trouble with the "have spaceship will travel" stories anymore which simply gloss over the fact that it's very probable we will never have FTL travel. I do like Iaian Banks a lot, and Charles Stross pretty well, though I liked the latter's urban SF/fantasy stuff better than his "Sigularity" books. I guess I'm still looking for my next Zelazny: someone with imagination, interesting characters, and wonderfully creative and graceful writing.


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

I probably cut my SciFi teeth on Asimov's Norby books.  I then read the entire Robot, Galactic Empire, and Foundation story arc.

There was also a series of books that I read after being introduced to them in Boy's Life magazine, but for the life of me I can't remember their names.

Okay, a quick search shows me I'm thinking of The Tripod series by John Christopher.

Once I matured some, I started reading everything I could get my hands on.  I especially liked Ben Bova.  The Orion series was fun as an adolescent, as were the Voyager series and even the Exiles trilogy.  I got to meet Bova when I was in middle school.  I'd only read the Exiles trilogy at that point, but I think meeting him made me read more.

Certainly I read some Heinlein and others.  I could never get into Bradbury or Clarke, though.

I could argue that Tolkien did write SciFi, if you consider linguistics to be a science.  Certainly it is the "hardest" of the "soft" sciences.  I hate most fantasy, except Tolkien.  Certainly Robert Silverberg and OSC write some fantasy, but I prefer their work when it leans towards science fiction.

Greg Bear and David Brin are current favorites.  I love the Uplift Saga and its exploration of technology, morality, and religion set in Space Opera.  Nancy Kress' Sleepless series is also a newer favorite.

I collected old pulps for a while, and really started to appreciate short stories and novellas.  It's hard to beat some of the anthologies out there that collect all these authors together.

Also, I can't forget William Gibson.  Although for an interesting read in the cyberpunk vein, I might recommend Marge Piercy's He, She, and It.

Now I'm going to have to think of other books that have caught my attention.  I remember one from my early days of exploring the genre, but for the life of me can't find it after several searches.  It is certainly YA SciFi and involved a young boy who, in a standardized test, was found to be extraordinarily lucky.  He hooked up with some outer-space circus performers who were actually part of an underground movement to overthrow the government.  Eventually the main character makes his way to the emperor's (or galactic president or something's) throne room with help of some sort of cube that could cut through anything while he remained inside it.  Any help?

If you can't tell, I love sci-fi.  I just finished re-reading Dune.  In fact, it's the first full-length novel I read on my Kindle after getting it, I think.


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

Geoffrey said:


> Jeffrey,
> 
> Welcome to Kindleboards. I have a couple of your books in my TBR list but I haven't read them yet. <sheepish grin>


No time like the present.  And thanks for the welcome; it seems like a very friendly place here.

Jmiked, your list includes a lot of my favorites, as well. How could I have left Zelazy off my first list? Lord of Light is one of the all-time great SF novels. And he was a master of short stories. I had the privilege of working indirectly with Roger on one book: Clypsis (volume one of Roger Zelazny's Alien Speedway), which he sketched out and I wrote. That's my one book that is not currently available in ebook form, but I'm working on it. Simak, great stuff! Sturgeon, Eric Frank Russell, some of Silverberg. Hal Clement was one of the few classic writers I actually knew personally; it was very sad when we lost him a few years ago. Mission of Gravity is another stunning classic.

Arthur C. Clarke was certainly one of my favorites as a teenager. I was almost as excited seeing him on TV with Walter Cronkite during the first moon landing as I was by the landing itself! (And Bradbury, on TV when Viking landed on Mars.) I felt Clarke hit his peak with Rendezvous with Rama, and maybe Fountains of Paradise. Once he started cowriting with others for the sequels, his stuff didn't seem to have the same pizazz. But...I tried reading some vintage Clarke to my daughter when she was really into being read to, and also into SF, and...she finally stopped me and said, "Dad, this is just too slow. Can we read something else?" I reluctantly conceded the point. The City and the Stars does _not_ work as a read-aloud book. On the other hand, some of his short stuff is still inspiring. I use "The Nine Billion Names of God" in my writing workshops. Also Zelazny's "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," Kornbluth's "The Little Black Bag," Bester's "Fondly Fahrenheit," and--to go modern--Stross's "Lobsters."


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## lonestar (Feb 9, 2010)

Back in the day-
Huxley
Heinlein
Herbert
Bradbury
Asimov

Don't read much science fiction these days.


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## Nauman (Jul 6, 2010)

i m not very intrested in sf but like SciFi teeth on Asimov's Norby books


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

Martel47 said:


> I just finished re-reading Dune.


That's funny, I recently finished listening to a Dune audiobook! Hadn't read it in years, and really enjoyed it. I'd forgotten, though, how abruptly it ended. Had the same experience when I relived Ringworld via audiobook. It just cut off at the end.

Since I do a fair amount of teaching of SF writing these days, it's interesting to me to look at some of these classics and see what their strong points and weak points are. Ringworld, for example, is a stunning example of sense-of-wonder writing at its best, and also of the difficulty of structuring a long, episodic narrative.


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

I know I've read something of yours, but it escapes me now.  Oh well, I'll just download some of that free stuff you have on your website.

That picture of you on your website reminds me that I really like Haldeman, too.  I wonder how he feels about Ridley Scott wanting to make Forever War like Avatar.

It'll never be as good as the book.


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

Martel47 said:


> I know I've read something of yours, but it escapes me now. Oh well, I'll just download some of that free stuff you have on your website.


Enjoy! I suggest starting with Neptune Crossing, for my Chaos Chronicles. Or if the star rigger universe appeals more, Eternity's End.



> That picture of you on your website reminds me that I really like Haldeman, too. I wonder how he feels about Ridley Scott wanting to make Forever War like Avatar.
> 
> It'll never be as good as the book.


I think Joe is really happy to have Ridley Scott on the Forever War project. That book has been on the verge of being made into a movie lots of times, but I don't think ever with anyone with Scott's track record.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I don't have specific authors that I gravitate to, my real requirement when choosing sf books is that they should be grounded in reality, based on real science or current scientific expectations and set in the real world or a realistic, recognisable projection of the future. Basically I like science _fiction_ and not science _fantasy_. Stories set in completely made up worlds generally don't interest me though I think it's becoming increasingly more common and increasingly harder to find the stuff I do like.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

When I was in first grade, I was extremely fond of a series of books about "Space Cat".  Do those count?  

When I was a young punk, my introductory books were pretty standard....Originally Andre Norton.  Read pretty much her entire output at the time.  Moved on to Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, and not much later, Larry Niven's "Known Space" books.  I was also a big fan of A. Bertram Chandler's John Grimes stories (probably my only non-standard great love from that period).  I also enjoyed Poul Anderson and L. Sprague deCamp, though they would be a slightly lower tier of my pantheon.  I still find most of these guys hold up well, even if they aren't as gripping as they used to be.  I still re-read my Heinlein, Niven, and Chandler (bought the Chandler stories in ebook form from webscriptions recently), don't reread Clarke and Asimov so much though still find Asimov enjoyable when I do (not so much for Clarke).

After high school, added Jerry Pournelle, Fred Saberhagen, Harry Harrison, Mack Reynolds, David Drake, Keith Laumer.  Daniel DaCruz only wrote a few books, but I really enjoyed everything he wrote, especially Mixed Doubles, which is one of my favorite time travel stories ever.

Nowadays I read way less science fiction than I did, but it still fills a fair amount of my reading time, in fact I've re-read three Fred Saberhagen novels in the past couple of weeks and plan to re-read some more of his "Dracula" novels (actually I suppose those aren't science fiction, but I lump all his stuff together--Specimens is a great read and is definitely science fiction).  New authors I've added include Elizabeth Moon, Harry Turtledove, David Weber, and some of S.M. Stirling's work--The Drakka stories were ugly but gripping, and I liked his Nantucket books.  I really enjoy Harry Turtledove's work in general, but he lets his alternate history series go on for too long in many cases.  I wanted to throw Glenn Cook in here, but the great majority of his work, and all my favorites, are clearly fantasy rather than SF.

Consistent themes in my science fiction reading include time travel/alternate history, and ongoing space operas/yarns, especially military ones.  It can be argued that time travel is fantasy, but that's another thread.


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## DenverRalphy (Mar 24, 2010)

As a longtime Asimov fan, one thing I recommend about Asimov's books is this... Do not read his books in the order that any of his series fall chronologically.  Read them in the order that he wrote them (which for the most part will be chronological anyway, but there are a few occasions when it isn't).  It can get kinda tricky if you don't research it, but his Foundation books and his Robot novels eventually converge. If you read them chronologically based on the storyline, one book can ruin the next (or at least give away plotlines).

Larry Niven is the same way to a certain extent.  Read his "Tales of Known Space" books in order that he wrote them, and not how the books fall into place chronologically.  Which can be a bit tricky as he has a lot of short story anthologies within the mix. As well "Lucifer's Hammer" which isn't exactly science fiction, is a definite must read. And too his Ringworld series (also a part of his Known Space series but kind of stands on its own).

Another great set/series of books is Robert A Heinlein's "Lazarus Long" books.

As well Philip Jose Farmer... His Riverworld series is a must.


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## WilliamM (Feb 10, 2009)

Asimov..specifically the Robot and Foundation novel althouight Ive read the Galatic Empire novels as well as several of his short stories
I also enjoyed all the Dune series with the exception of the prequels written by his son
Jerry Pournelle/Larry Niven collaborations
The Rama novels
Im sure there is more but those are the ones that come to mind immediately


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## lorezskyline (Apr 19, 2010)

I used to read a lot of Sci-fi but had drifted away from it but recently found myself going back to the genre, books I revisted and loved:

Stand On Zanzibar by John Brunner
Man in the High Castle, Ubik, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, A Scanner Darkly and many others by Phillip K Dick
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
The Nights Dawn Triology - Peter F Hamilton


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

It's starting to sound as if we're all (self included) reading mostly stuff from the 70s and earlier.  Or at least that's what's sticking in our minds.  Is anyone reading newer authors?


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

I'm somewhat new to the sci-fi genre but so far, Ender's Game is my favorite. I also love the Lost Fleet series, by Jack Campbell (who was kind enough to allow me to interview him for my blog in April ), and Taylor Anderson's Destroyermen series. 

I tried some others, but never quite got into them. The ones that focused too much on the sci-fi and not enough on the characters, lost me. I have to have a strong central character to root for, and if there are too many 'main' characters and too many subplots, I get lost trying to keep track of them all.


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## WilliamM (Feb 10, 2009)

JeffreyCarver said:


> It's starting to sound as if we're all (self included) reading mostly stuff from the 70s and earlier. Or at least that's what's sticking in our minds. Is anyone reading newer authors?


Ive tried..none of the newer ones have grabbed me like the older classic ones
I was thinking of giving David Williams or Alistair Reynolds a try


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

JeffreyCarver said:


> It's starting to sound as if we're all (self included) reading mostly stuff from the 70s and earlier. Or at least that's what's sticking in our minds. Is anyone reading newer authors?


As I mentioned above, I'm not finding a lot of new SciFi that really draws me in these days. I'm not real sure as to why (is it me or them?); but it seems that most of the newer things I've sampled either are too dark/dystopian for my current reading needs (there's already plenty in the news if I need a downer), is too sloppy in its science, or is just uninteresting and/or poorly written. I do like several of Iain M. Banks's books quite a lot, and usually enjoy Charles Stross's work. I also am a fan of Steven Brust's writing, though he's more fantasy with an underlying SF "explanation," at least in his extensive Dragaera canon.


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## davidhburton (Mar 11, 2010)

DenverRalphy said:


> As a longtime Asimov fan, one thing I recommend about Asimov's books is this... Do not read his books in the order that any of his series fall chronologically. Read them in the order that he wrote them (which for the most part will be chronological anyway, but there are a few occasions when it isn't).


100% agreement here! Brilliant series.

Also, Robert J. Sawyer's WWW series (third book still to come) and his Neanderthal Parallax series are superb.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

davidhburton said:


> 100% agreement here! Brilliant series.
> 
> Also, Robert J. Sawyer's WWW series (third book still to come) and his Neanderthal Parallax series are superb.


Oh yeah, I read those too. His political views came across a bit strong for me, but loved the stories themselves.


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## karinlib (Jan 1, 2010)

I think the problem with the newer books is the violence.  Although, I have read, maybe 100 pages of Peter Hamilton, I found that it was stressful reading due to the violence.  I had the same problem with George R.R. Martin's books. Both Hamilton and Martin are good writers, I just couldn't handle them.  So, I find myself going back to the older books: Asimov, Herbert, where I can relax and read.  

I have 2 favorite series Asimov's Foundation, and C.S. Lewis'  Space Trilogy.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

These are my 5 stars science fiction novels from Goodreads. It only goes back to 1991, so none of the stuff I liked before my late twenties is represented.

_Behold the Man_ by Michael Moorcock
_Cryptonomicon_ by Neal Stephenson
_The Day Of The Triffids_ by John Wyndham
_The Diamond Age_ by Neal Stephenson
_Diaspora_ by Greg Egan
_Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ by Philip K. Dick
_Dune_ by Frank Herbert
_Earth Abides_ by George R. Stewart
_Hyperion_ by Dan Simmons
_The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ by Robert A. Heinlein
_Replay_ by Ken Grimwood
_The Skinner_ by Neal Asher
_Speaker for the Dead_ by Orson Scott Card


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## soesposito (Jun 12, 2010)

Linjeakel said:


> I don't have specific authors that I gravitate to, my real requirement when choosing sf books is that they should be grounded in reality, based on real science or current scientific expectations and set in the real world or a realistic, recognisable projection of the future. Basically I like science _fiction_ and not science _fantasy_. Stories set in completely made up worlds generally don't interest me though I think it's becoming increasingly more common and increasingly harder to find the stuff I do like.


I have to agree with you here and wonder if it's a female thing? (though I'm sure someone can prove this theory wrong on here ) I gravitate more toward sci-fi writers like Gregg Bear & Margaret Atwood (eventhough I realize the controversy surrounding her in the sci-fi world) It's the near future science rather than the space opera that I enjoy. Of course, I love Bradbury and my family didn't see me for months when I discovered Orson Scott Card.  Anyway, they say write the book you want to read, so I did. Literary near future science anyone? lol


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## redshift1 (Jun 20, 2009)

Nice to see Stephenson and Simmons on your list, I would add Banks, Morgan and Mieville for the best of the current writers.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

redshift1 said:


> I would add Banks, Morgan and Mieville for the best of the current writers.


_Use of Weapons_ by Banks and _Altered Carbon_ Morgan are certainly 4.75 to 4.99 star novels, but for whatever reason, at the time of reading, I only ranked at 4 stars. Under different conditions different novels would rise or fall in ranking. Mieville has been on the short list a long time and I'll get around to him someday.


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## lorezskyline (Apr 19, 2010)

JeffreyCarver said:


> It's starting to sound as if we're all (self included) reading mostly stuff from the 70s and earlier. Or at least that's what's sticking in our minds. Is anyone reading newer authors?


Of newer writers (well more recent than the 70's anyway) Neal Stephenson is excellent Snow Crash is a quick adrenalin rush of a book, The Diamond Age is slower but just as interesting. I also found Cryptonomicon an excellent read although it's not really sci-fi but it does feature technology heavily. A few people have mentioned Iain M Banks he has some excellent books. Michael Marshall Smith is also worth a mention although again not strictly sci-fi in that the technology doesn't feature prominently, Spares and Only Forward are good fun.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Can I say "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet"?  Okay, so that was a long, long time ago.

Frank Herbert - Dune
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game
John Dalmas - The Regiment
M.A. Foster - Warriors of Dawn
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller - Agents of Change, Carpe Diem
Elizabeth Moon -- Seranno and Vatta series.
And, of course:
Sharyn McCrumb - Bimbos of the Death Sun

Okay, so that last one really isn't SF and it isn't really that good, and it really isn't one of my favourites, but with a title like that, how could I leave it out?  

Herbert's Dune really got me interested in SF and inspired me to write, though a long time after I'd read him, so he has to top my list.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

If you want newer science fiction, might I suggest Mike Hicks (KB author) "In Her Name" series. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=in+her+name&x=9&y=16

Also Christian Cantrell's "Containment" was very good, I thought. http://www.amazon.com/Containment-ebook/dp/B0039PT4BO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1278504369&sr=1-1
He has others as well, but I've not read them yet.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Ooh, I almost forgot Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. Freaking phenomenal read.

David Dalglish


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## arshield (Nov 17, 2008)

I am a fan of Helein, I never really like Asmov that much.  I loved Ender's Game but find the rest of that series mixed.

Newer stuff, I agree I am less interested in the military science fiction.  Although I do like the Vorkosigan and Harrington stuff.  I also like some of the cyber punk stuff. I liked the first two of Morgan's Altered Carbon but then I got bored with the last one.


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## SusanCassidy (Nov 9, 2008)

The Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold are some of my favorites.  Also the Elizabeth Moon Heris Serrano and Esmay Suiza books.

I grew up on Heinlein, Asimov, Nourse, Herbert, etc. I wish the Lazarus Long books were all out for Kindle.   I am a huge fan of Niven and Pournelle collaborations, too.  I like Niven's "Known Space" stuff better than his other solo stuff.

Personally, I like military SF, and I particularly love the David Weber Honor Harrington series.  I just finished the latest one.  I also like his "Safehold" series.   I like the "Looking Glass War" books by John Ringo and Travis Taylor, the "Prince Roger" series by Weber and Ringo;  the "Council Wars" series by John Ringo; the Starfist series, by David Sherman and Dan Cragg.  The "Lt. Leary" books by David Drake are fun, too.  

Michael Z. Williamson's "Freehold" is very good.  I used to love the Gordon Dickson "Dorsai" books, but haven't seen them in ebook format.  Robert Buettner's "Orphan" series are quite good, and available for Kindle.  The "Lost Fleet" series by Jack Campbell are fairly good, and available from Amazon.

Old Man's War, by John Scalzi, and the sequels are excellent.

For fun space-opera that are somewhat military, but just overall fun, the Sten series by Allan Cole and Chris Bunch were really fun.  The only place I know of to get those is Fictionwise (Multiformat).

On a non-military list, the Liaden Universe books, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are very good.

Some of Spider Robinson books are very good, for non-military fans, especially the "Stardance" books, and the Callahan books are funny, but maybe not appropriate for everyone's taste.

Some of the William Dietz series (Baen) are pretty good.  Cheap, fun reads.

I have to admit that I like the older Anne McCaffrey Dragon books, and the Crystal Singer series.


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## SpearsII (Jan 16, 2010)

You know who should get honorable mention--Robert E. Howard. I know totally not Scfi but if Tolkien can get mentioned on this topic(Tolkien always gets mentioned) so can Howard. Have you ever read the original Conan stories? Great stuff. I enjoy his other stories as well. I wish I could write adventure as half as well as he did. Back on topic though, I like some not all of Ben Nova. His series on the resource wars in the asteroid belt were great.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

arshield said:


> I loved Ender's Game but find the rest of that series mixed.


I liked _Speaker for the Dead_ more than _Ender's Game_. Probably because Ender was adult, had more character depth, and was less the hero. Heros who save humanity are almost always less interesting than people with flaws. In the first book Ender was just too much the wunderkind to truly be a top notch novel.


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

A fellow Tom Corbett fan!  (All the TC books are available as free ebooks now, by the way.  All except the last one, which I didn't like, anyway.  It, apparently, hasn't dropped out of copyright yet.)  

I was wondering if someone would mention John Scalzi, who by the way just became president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).  I enjoyed Old Man's War, but haven't gotten to the sequels yet.  Also, Tobias Buckell is good, and I'm surprised no one has mentioned Cory Doctorow.  I liked Little Brother, and my daughter loved it.  James Patrick Kelly is an excellent short fiction author, and a lot of his stories are available as free podcast readings.  (He's a very good reader.)  My wife and daughter love Lee & Miller's Liaden books, but I haven't read them myself.  Are there any Allen Steele fans here?  Catherine Asaro?  Karl Schroeder? Robert Charles Wilson?  Kim Stanley Robinson? 

As I try to think of my own favorites, I find that I often like a couple of books by an author, then get sidetracked or bogged down and don't get back to them for a while.  I've loved some stuff by Brin, Bear, and Benford, then for one reason or another haven't gotten to any of their more recent work.  Brin, for example: Sundiver, Startide Rising, and--dang, what was the title (The Uplift War, I think?)--and then I lost the thread. That's partly just time, and partly the overwhelming amount of fiction being published.  Spider Robinson is another example.  I'd never finished the Stardance series, and in fact just recently started it again, this time in ebook format. 

I do try to read, or at least sample, the yearly finalists for the Nebula Award, so that I can vote intelligently.  And for that purpose, my ebook reader is the perfect solution.  I download the stories if they're available, tag them in Calibre so that they group together nicely on my Sony Reader, and read them that way.  Ditto the Andre Norton Award finalists, though they tend to be weighted toward fantasy.


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## Vyrl (Jun 7, 2010)

My favorites include:

_Dune_
_Rama_
_The Martian Chronicles_
_Brave New World_
_Starship Troopers_
_Ender's Game_
_The Use of Weapons_


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

By the way, if any of you are in the Boston area, don't miss Readercon this weekend! (http://www.readercon.org/) It's a great gathering for SF writers, editor, artists, and most of all readers. I'll be there, and will be signing on Saturday at 3 p.m. If you're there, please stop and say hello.


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## Joel Arnold (May 3, 2010)

For me, almost anything by Ray Bradbury or Phillip K. Dick.

Some recent reads I've enjoyed (although they're older books!):

Larry Niven's Ringworld
William Nolan's & George Clayton Johnson's Logan's Run


Joel Arnold


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## WilliamM (Feb 10, 2009)

JeffreyCarver said:


> A fellow Tom Corbett fan! (All the TC books are available as free ebooks now, by the way. All except the last one, which I didn't like, anyway. It, apparently, hasn't dropped out of copyright yet.)
> 
> I was wondering if someone would mention John Scalzi, who by the way just became president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). I enjoyed Old Man's War, but haven't gotten to the sequels yet. Also, Tobias Buckell is good, and I'm surprised no one has mentioned Cory Doctorow. I liked Little Brother, and my daughter loved it. James Patrick Kelly is an excellent short fiction author, and a lot of his stories are available as free podcast readings. (He's a very good reader.) My wife and daughter love Lee & Miller's Liaden books, but I haven't read them myself. Are there any Allen Steele fans here? Catherine Asaro? Karl Schroeder? Robert Charles Wilson? Kim Stanley Robinson?
> 
> ...


i read Old Mans War..it was a bit corny for me and the second on I coudlnt finish..great concept..the characters I just didnt care about


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## BrianJamesFreeman (Jul 6, 2010)

I read science fiction from time to time, and I'm not sure why I don't read more of it because it's a genre I do enjoy.  Just not enough hours in the day, I guess.

But lately I've been reading a ton of Jack McDevitt.  Started with The Engines of God, which I just happened to have on a shelf, and I've been catching up ever since.  

Brian


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

As I look at the postings here, which tend heavily toward the classics, I find myself wondering what the average age of the folk here is.  I'm guessing 40ish and up (the sky's the limit).  It seems to me that younger readers, wildly generalizing here, are more interested in fantasy than science fiction.  It's certainly true of my kids.


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

JeffreyCarver said:


> I find myself wondering what the average age of the folk here is. I'm guessing 40ish and up (the sky's the limit).


I'm 67 and started my SF and mysteries reading in the mid-fifties. I probably got imprinted, because I still like the 30s-60s SF more than _most_ of the recent stuff. I prefer hard science fiction, and the words "character-driven" aren't that big a recommendation for me.  

And stay off my lawn!

Mike
(currently re-reading _Neptune Crossing_ by that Carver guy)


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

JeffreyCarver said:


> As I look at the postings here, which tend heavily toward the classics, I find myself wondering what the average age of the folk here is. I'm guessing 40ish and up (the sky's the limit). It seems to me that younger readers, wildly generalizing here, are more interested in fantasy than science fiction. It's certainly true of my kids.


53 here. I think one of the differences is that the SF I read starting in the 60s was in general more optimistic. By no means overwhelmingly -- we were going through the worst of the Cold War, threatening ourselves with nuclear obliteration. Yet much of SF had a sense that we had the ability to make things right, in part via the technologies that would be developed in the future.

These days the theme that technology will be the problem is much more prevalent, and as a result there is often a gloomier view of the future. When I was younger (say, through my thirties) I enjoyed the occasional dystopian SF novel, but I find as the years go by I am less and less drawn to them. I suppose this is largely due to the current state of world affairs and how I view them, leaving me not wanting to read speculations on how they'll be just as bad -- or worse -- in the future.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

I'm a young'un (26) and had to actually hunt down the old goodies like Asimov and Bradbury. They're so...different, that I end up devouring them. It's like having eaten at McDonald's my whole life and suddenly biting into a nice juicy steak. Sure it'll take me a bit longer to eat it, but man does it taste freaking awesome.

David Dalglish


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

Mike -- I hope you're enjoying Neptune Crossing! Even if it is, at least from my perspective, character driven. 

I tend to agree with the view that SF has in some ways gotten less interesting the more _its_ viewpoint has tended toward the dark and dystopic. Not that there aren't interesting, compelling stories with dystopic visions, but I myself prefer more optimistic visions. I get my downbeat stories from the newspaper.



Half-Orc said:


> I'm a young'un (26) and had to actually hunt down the old goodies like Asimov and Bradbury. They're so...different, that I end up devouring them. It's like having eaten at McDonald's my whole life and suddenly biting into a nice juicy steak. Sure it'll take me a bit longer to eat it, but man does it taste freaking awesome.
> 
> David Dalglish


So we do have a youngling among us! Excellent. Your remarks remind me of an SF writing course I taught at MIT last year (standing in for Joe Haldeman when he was ill). The assigned readings included a bunch of classic stories, and a bunch of new ones. By and large, the students preferred the older ones. This surprised me, even though I sort of agreed--and troubled me a little, since I'm, er, writing new stories.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

53 here.  

Hmm, can't find free copies of Tom Corbett.  Kindle has a 7in1 for 99 cents (2.99 for me, I'm Canadian).  I don't know if I want it $2.99 worth.  I found a copy of the first one "Stand By For Mars" a year or so ago and re-read it.  They don't write them like that anymore.


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## lorezskyline (Apr 19, 2010)

JeffreyCarver said:


> As I look at the postings here, which tend heavily toward the classics, I find myself wondering what the average age of the folk here is. I'm guessing 40ish and up (the sky's the limit). It seems to me that younger readers, wildly generalizing here, are more interested in fantasy than science fiction. It's certainly true of my kids.


I'm 32 I got into Sci-fi when I was about 15 mainly through the route of Star Wars etc. Then when I was about 18 in the UK a publisher started reprinting classic SF stories and being a massive fan of Blade Runner and learning that the original story was written by a guy called Phillip K Dick it went from there, after that it was Bester, Brunner, Zelany etc. I still picked up modern Sci-fi as well but with a few notable exceptions (Gibson, Stephenson etc) the most memorable still seem to be the older sci-fi.


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

D.A. Boulter said:


> 53 here.
> 
> Hmm, can't find free copies of Tom Corbett. Kindle has a 7in1 for 99 cents (2.99 for me, I'm Canadian). I don't know if I want it $2.99 worth. I found a copy of the first one "Stand By For Mars" a year or so ago and re-read it. They don't write them like that anymore.


The Tom Corbett books are out there, but the search functions don't always pick them up the first time.

Gutenberg has them: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Science_Fiction_%28Bookshelf%29
Manybooks: http://manybooks.net/authors/rockwellc.html
Feedbooks: http://www.feedbooks.com/search?query=tom+corbett

The best version may be this omnibus on mobileread: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38428&highlight=tom+corbett or search multiformat here:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/search.php?searchid=3747512

Oh--I'm 60. (Can that be?)


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Well, Jeffrey, I'm not sure whether to thank or curse you.  So, I found them and downloaded them, just in case.  Yeah, right.  More non-productive hours.  Well, I'll give #2 a go, anyway.

Thanks.


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## RyanMWilliams (May 28, 2010)

JeffreyCarver said:


> It's starting to sound as if we're all (self included) reading mostly stuff from the 70s and earlier. Or at least that's what's sticking in our minds. Is anyone reading newer authors?


There's a lot of great older stuff that I love that's been mentioned. But I also really enjoy some newer books. Karen Traviss with her Wess'Har Wars books, Stephen Baxter's stuff, Peter F. Hamilton, all the recent books by C.J. Cherryh in the Foreigner series and her new Cyteen sequel Regenesis. Also I've been reading a lot more Kristine Kathryn Rusch like Diving into the Wreck. Oh, and Julie Czerneda.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

I'm 45.  When I was in high school I favored fantasy in the Michael Moorcock vain, but that fell away during college.  Recently I've been finding myself more and more unwilling to suspend disbelief for fantasy or supernatural horror.  I need some semblance of reality and prefer hard SF now.  Magic comes across as silly and jejune.

I also like gloomy, dystopian futures.  The science fiction I dislike are the Star Trek/Star Wars types.


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## MetalDragon (Mar 27, 2010)

Not sure if i seen some one mention Edgar Rice Burroughs - John Cater series


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

Like the Conan series and Tolkien works, I'd put Burroughs in the fantasy camp, not SF.


Mike


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

D.A. Boulter said:


> Well, Jeffrey, I'm not sure whether to thank or curse you. So, I found them and downloaded them, just in case. Yeah, right. More non-productive hours. Well, I'll give #2 a go, anyway.
> 
> Thanks.


 

My Tom Corbett favorite is #5, The Revolt on Venus.

Julie Czerneda, yes. She's another favorite, esp. of my wife and daughter. Julie has a background in biology, and is another excellent writer. Also, in that vein, Joan Slonczewski, a very good writer who teaches biology at Kenyon College.

So we've got a vote in favor of gloomy, dystopian futures. Keeping it interesting.


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## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

For a variety of reasons, I haven't read all that much written since 1995 or so until lately. Many of the books on my list have been mentioned elsewhere. There's a couple, though, that seem to have snuck through. That said, my favorites (in no particular order, and that order will change the next time someone asks):

_Dune _(Frank Herbert)
_Foundation_ (Isaac Asimov)
_Ender's Game_ (Orson Scott Card)
_Neuromancer_ (as if you couldn't tell from my avatar...) (William Gibson)
_The Diamond Age_ (Neal Stephenson)
_When Gravity Fails_ (George Alec Effinger)
_Ringworld_ (Larry Niven)
_Titan/Wizard/Demon_ (John Varley)
_Emprise/Enigma/Empery_ by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
_The City & The City_ (China Mieville) - borderline whether this is fantasy, sci-fi, or just noir.
The Tripods series from John Christopher

If I was going to duplicate authors on here, I'd add _Burning Chrome_ from Gibson, _Cryptonomicon_ and _Snow Crash_ from Stephenson, _Integral Trees_ from Niven, _Speaker for the Dead_ from Card, and the remainder of the series that the first two books start. (and yes, I read all of the first five _Dune_ books and enjoyed them all.)

Edit: oh, and I'm 44. Worked in a Tower Books during college, and that's where I got my first heavy dose of science fiction. Manager of the store was a science fiction freak.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

I've seen Neuromancer mentioned in many different places. What's the deal on that one? Title sounds interesting at the least.

David Dalglish


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## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> I've seen Neuromancer mentioned in many different places. What's the deal on that one? Title sounds interesting at the least.
> 
> David Dalglish


It is the definitive "cyberpunk" book. Nothing really like it had been written to that point, and it changed the game. In some ways it's never quite been topped, either. It won the Hugo, Nebula, and PKD.

It's hard-hitting and incredibly immersive. There are many great science fiction books that I wouldn't consider "must reads." This, however, is a must-read.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Hrrm. Off to look for a Kindle version.

David Dalglish


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm 39 and I remember reading most of those books in middle school and high school. If it was on the scifi section in the library, I read it. 

You do tend to get used to a certain era....70s and 80's scifi seems like home. The 50's stuff is okay but the dialog frequently strikes me as "hokey" (but still some great stories like the Lensman)

Love CJ Cherrryh, Ben Bova, that Dragon Rigger guy, and I am currently reading the latest Honor Harington novel (not my favorite, I think may be getting tired of the "Universe" and just wants to blow everything up)

Pretty much anything at Baen.com is good for me

How about guilty pleasures: scifi books you read more than once but aren't "literary"enough for the the list
heres mine: http://www.amazon.com/Starwolves-Thorarinn-Gunnarsson/dp/0445206438/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_8


*This thread makes me wish more mid-list out-of-print books were available as ebooks*


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## liannallama (May 29, 2009)

You are all listing some of my very favorites!  Especially the Classics--love 'em all! 

It's funny but I think I preferred fantasy when I was younger but now I prefer sci-fi or urban fantasy, though I have always loved them all! (I'm 43 in case anyone wonders)  

I'll try to list some of my favorite authors that I don't think I've seen mentioned yet.  Sorry if I post duplicates!

Dan Simmons
Joan Vinge
Steven Harper
David Brin
Julian May 
Greg Bear
CS Friedman
Janet Morris
Tad Williams Otherworld series
Douglas Adams (did nobody mention him yet?)

How about the Sci-fi classics Brave New World and 1984?  Loved those too!

Did anyone read the Shadowrun books from back when people actually did IRL role-playing?  I loved those poorly-edited pulp books!


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## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

liannallama said:


> Did anyone read the Shadowrun books from back when people actually did IRL role-playing? I loved those poorly-edited pulp books!


Sure did! And there's still a lot of role-players around... Not me, though. Moved on to other things.

Those Shadowrun books are my guilty pleasure. I've got nearly all of them in storage. They're pretty hard to find these days. (I believe there's new ones, but I'm kind of afraid to read them and soil the memories I've got of the originals.)


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

> Love CJ Cherrryh, Ben Bova, that Dragon Rigger guy,


Thanks. 



liannallama said:


> You are all listing some of my very favorites! Especially the Classics--love 'em all!
> 
> It's funny but I think I preferred fantasy when I was younger but now I prefer sci-fi or urban fantasy, though I have always loved them all! (I'm 43 in case anyone wonders)
> 
> ...


Joan Vinge is a terrific writer (Snow Queen), who's been quiescent in recent years. She's also married to my editor. 

Her former husband, Vernor Vinge (A Fire Upon the Deep), is also terrific.

I don't think anybody did mention Douglas Adams. I actually know his Hitchhiker's Guide books best from their radio-play incarnations, in particular an LP that was made many years ago, adapting and improving the original radio play. Speaking of which...

Do you all know what happens when you type "about:robots" into the URL box in Firefox? Go ahead and try it. See how many of the references you can identify. (I just made an offer on my blog to give a complete Chaos Chronicles ebook set to whoever posts all six references first.)


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

JeffreyCarver said:


> ...I don't think anybody did mention Douglas Adams. I actually know his Hitchhiker's Guide books best from their radio-play incarnations, in particular an LP that was made many years ago, adapting and improving the original radio play....


While I liked THGttG a lot and most of the sequels were good, I think my favorites of his were the Dirk Gently books, though I'm not sure if you'd classify them as SF or fantasy or both.

As far as a SF "guilty pleasures" go, I still pull out my copy of Ken Rolston's _Extreme Paranoia: Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Shot_ every two years or so for a good giggle or fifty.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

NogDog said:


> As far as a SF "guilty pleasures" go, I still pull out my copy of Ken Rolston's _Extreme Paranoia: Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Shot_ every two years or so for a good giggle or fifty.


Ooh new book!

Baen.com has anthology called "Laugh Lines" that you might like. Ben Bova has a short about ebooks and the pubs reaction to them written in the 80s that is pretty funny (or prescient)


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

NogDog said:


> As far as a SF "guilty pleasures" go, I still pull out my copy of Ken Rolston's _Extreme Paranoia: Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Shot_ every two years or so for a good giggle or fifty.


That looks good.

My next SF book is going to be Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat; I read the Deathworld books and hear these are better. I picked up the book with the hopes of reading it on vacation but couldn't get to it.

Elizabeth Moon is one of my favorite authors. In addition to her Serrano and Vatta series, I enjoyed Remnant Population and The Speed of Dark. And I now have several more books or my TBR thanks to this thread.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

imallbs said:


> ...My next SF book is going to be Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat; I read the Deathworld books and hear these are better. I picked up the book with the hopes of reading it on vacation but couldn't get to it....


They're fun books. Most of them I liked quite a bit, there were one or two (don't ask me to remember which) that were weaker. Some people found the main character a bit hard to take, but I enjoyed it, taking him as a parody of super-spy/thief/hero characters.


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## Lyndl (Apr 2, 2010)

The first sci-fi I recall reading was E.E. Doc Smith’s "Skylark" books.  I was about 11 or 12,  I think and I devoured them. I doubt if I could read them now.  Then I moved on to ERB’s John Carter of Mars. Couldn’t get enough of them.  Shortly after I discovered Dune. 

Lately, not a lot has appealed although I liked Peter F Hamilton's Night Dawn’s trilogy, even with it’s hokey ending. I trudged my way through Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars books, but I just couldn’t finish the last one. It was so boring.  I loved Tad Williams Otherworld series.


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## redshift1 (Jun 20, 2009)

Especially in SF I've noticed that many authors have a creative period, usually at the start of their careers when they produce their best original works. Their later efforts never quite live up to the original promise and are often thematic repeats with the same characters albeit different names.


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## lorezskyline (Apr 19, 2010)

Basilius said:


> It is the definitive "cyberpunk" book. Nothing really like it had been written to that point, and it changed the game. In some ways it's never quite been topped, either. It won the Hugo, Nebula, and PKD.
> 
> It's hard-hitting and incredibly immersive. There are many great science fiction books that I wouldn't consider "must reads." This, however, is a must-read.


Another great thing about Neuromancer when you think about the fact it was written in 1984 well before the internet etc were common terms it was well ahead of its time. Strange to think William Gibson actually had no interest in computers at the time.


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## philvan (May 26, 2010)

Here's an oldie no-one has mentioned  - 'A Canticle for Leibowitz' by  Walter M. Miller from 1960 - post-apocalyptic with a different slant.
Also a new one I've just finished - 'Harald' by David Friedman - military, planet-bound, good characters and interesting strategies, swords, bows, and brains


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## Groggy1 (Jun 21, 2010)

Thanks folks! There goes another 7 bucks    

I've been in a Weber/Brin/Ringo run lately.  Modesitt Jr. gets a nod just because I've enjoyed HAZE so much -  arguably his books are more about a philosophy based in a science fiction setting.  Where the science fiction isn't the key factor, but a tool to frame an argument.


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

Loved 'The Disappearance' by Philip Wylie.

_Edit: first published 1951 - an oldie but a goodie_


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I don't think i've seen James Blish mentioned yet, he's the kind of author I remember fondly, but can't actually remember the names of any of his books


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

Chad Winters (#102) said:


> I don't think i've seen James Blish mentioned yet, he's the kind of author I remember fondly, but can't actually remember the names of any of his books


_A Case of Conscience_
_Cities in Flight_ Series (particularly _Earthman, Come Home_)
_Jack of Eagles _(_Esper_)

All excellent. I re-read them all every once in a while.

Mike


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## Vyrl (Jun 7, 2010)

You've piqued my interest! I've been looking for some good new sci-fi. So thanks to everyone!


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

Miller's _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ is definitely one of my favorite classics. Also, Edgar Pangborn's _Davy_.

Are we allowed to put outside links here? I can't remember. In any case, I have a long Recommended Reading list on my website. (Nothing very current, I'm afraid.) Click the link to my website, Science Fiction Worlds, below, and look for Must Reads.

I've just come from the first evening of Readercon, outside Boston. If anyone happens to be attending, look me up!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I loved "Canticle" and would put it on a short list of must-reads for anyone looking to read some of the SF greats. Unfortunately, I don't recall ever running into anything else by him that I cared for at all. Thus I can't say Miller was a huge influence in my reading. Somewhat similarly, I loved _Dune_, but found little else by Herbert that made a significant impression on me, yet _Dune_ would also be on my short list of must-reads though I can't call Herbert a favorite author of mine.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

On the "about:robots" page, I recognize the first law of robotics and the Battlestar Galactica reference, but nothing else. I like the button that tells you not to click it again. Of course I did.

I once wrote Isaac Asimov because there was a news story about the development of military robots. I asked if he thought his laws of robotics would ever be implemented or if robots would be made to kill. He sent back a postcard with one sentence. He said he had faith in mankind, that they would do the right thing. (Not his actual words, just what I remember.)

In the age of predator drones I think his faith is not being born out. People still make the final decisions, but I'm sure the machines will make them soon.


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

R. Reed said:


> On the "about:robots" page, I recognize the first law of robotics and the Battlestar Galactica reference, but nothing else. I like the button that tells you not to click it again. Of course I did.


The button is from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As is "your plastic pal."

I was just at Readercon, where they have an annual award called the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award -- given to a author considered an overlooked, underappreciated, or forgotten gem. (Oh--and who is dead.) This year they gave it to Mark Clifton, who wrote in the 1950s. I hadn't read him, that I could recall. But I found several of his stories at gutenberg.org, and downloaded them.

Anybody familiar with Clifton?


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## SpearsII (Jan 16, 2010)

Any Cordwainer Smith fans? I have and love his short stories collection called _The Rediscovery of Man. _It is science fiction at its best. His stories are chronological over a vast amount of time.


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

SpearsII said:


> Any Cordwainer Smith fans? I have and love his short stories collection called _The Rediscovery of Man. _It is science fiction at its best. His stories are chronological over a vast amount of time.


Cordwainer Smith is one of the all-time greats. Just one novel, Norstrilia, and that wonderful story collection from NESFA Press. I also have his stuff in ebook, which is available in DRM-free multiformat editions on Baen Webscription.net. I was just speaking to the people from NESFA Press today, asking if they were thinking about adding ebooks to their program (which consists of very high quality hardcovers of classic work). Two of them looked a little horrified, but one nodded and said he thought it was coming.

Anyway, I just checked the Kindle store, and they just have a few isolated short stories of Smith's. Webscription is the place to go for that. (And while you're there, check out the Baen Free Library, which has more than just Baen books!)

Also, for new short stories--tor.com is worth checking out. They have a new free SF story every few weeks, selected by editors from Tor Books.


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## Bigal-sa (Mar 27, 2010)

Me I'm a big John Wyndham fan. It took me a long time to collect all his books as many of them are out of print.

I'm also a fan of the Pournelle/Niven combo and of the newer authors, I must also give Michael Hicks a thumbs up.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Dune
The Left Hand of Darkness (sadly, no Kindle version)
Stranger In a Strange Land (despite the dated sexism)
Dune

and Dune


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

JeffreyCarver said:


> Anybody familiar with Clifton?


I read his work back in the sixties. He wasn't a high-output writer as I recall. _They'd Rather Be Right_ and _Eight Keys to Eden_ are (or were) in the Kindle store. _They'd Rather Be Right_ has been called "the worst novel to ever win the Hugo award" by some. I don't agree with that.

Mike


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## RyanMWilliams (May 28, 2010)

Bigal-sa said:


> Me I'm a big John Wyndham fan. It took me a long time to collect all his books as many of them are out of print.
> 
> I'm also a fan of the Pournelle/Niven combo and of the newer authors, I must also give Michael Hicks a thumbs up.


Yes, I've really enjoyed Wyndham's work!


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

I was a fan of J. T. McIntosh when I started reading SF. He hasn't written anything since about 1980 (although he is still alive). I joined the Science Fiction Book Club in 1954 (still a member) and his _Born Leader_ was one on the three intro books I got, and it made a big impression on me. Later I read _The Fittest_ and to this day it give me the heebie-jeebies to think of it.

Come to think of it, I'm still a fan.

Mike


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## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

This thread has me spending money again...

I have drifted away from hard core SF in recent years but it was my favorite genre in high school-college.  Frank Herbert's "Dune" was the work that started it for me.  Recently, when I was culling DTB's from my library, I pulled out "The Jesus Incident," "The Lazarus Effect," and "The Ascension Factor," and re-read them.  I had forgotten how good those were -- all co-written by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom.  

I have added "Canticle..." to my TBR as well as "Neuromancer."  Gotta give those a try based upon what I have read here.  Oh well... it is only money...


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

Blanche said:


> I have added "Canticle..." to my TBR as well as "Neuromancer." Gotta give those a try based upon what I have read here. Oh well... it is only money...


Blanche, your border-collie avatar reminds me of a border collie named Sam that I had many years ago. Wonderful dog. I gave him new life in a short story called "Dog Star," about a spacefaring border collie. You can read it, if you like, from my free ebooks page (see link below). It's in a NASA-sponsored online anthology called _Diamonds in the Sky_, free to all to read. (And downloadable as an ebook.)


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## WalterK (Mar 2, 2009)

Been away for awhile.  Nice to see an SF thread on the forum.  I would venture that most of my favorite authors have been mentioned, with perhaps a few exceptions.  Favorites include:

Asimov - Foundation series and the Robotic novels.
Iain M. Banks - The Culture Novels (perhaps my favorite contemporary author.)
Gregory Benford - The Galactic Center Novels (one of my favorite series)
Alfred Bester - The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination
David Brin - Startide Rising.
Arthur C. Clarke - The City and the Stars, Rendezvous with Rama
Hal Clement - Mission of Gravity
Samuel R. Delaney - Dhalgren
Philip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle & Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said.
Gordon R. Dickson - The 'Dorsai' works.
David Drake - The Hammer's Slammers works.
Harlan Ellison - pretty much anything he wrote - probably my favorite all time author.
William Gibson - all of the cyberspace novels, but esp. Count Zero.
Robert Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land, Future History
Richard Morgan - The Takeshi Kovacs novels.
Larry Niven - Ringworld and Known Space series.
Alastair Reynolds - more of a fan of his short fiction vs. his novels.
Fred Saberhagen - The Berserker works.
Lucius Shepard - another author who I appreciate more in short form, esp. his collected works.
Dan Simmons - The Hyperion novels.
Roger Zelazny - Lord of Light.

Well, I could probably go on, but that's enough.

- Walter.


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## robertduperre (Jun 13, 2010)

Man, I think this may be my favorite sci-fi book ever.










Unfortunately, it's not available in Kindle yet, and it's out of print, as well. But damn, I love me some Swanwick.


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## vikingwarrior22 (May 25, 2009)

the orginal star trek series


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

robertduperre said:


> Man, I think this may be my favorite sci-fi book ever.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well, dang, I wish I'd seen that a few days ago. I was just chatting with Michael Swanwick at Readercon. He would have liked hearing your endorsement.


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## NicolaFurlong (Dec 4, 2009)

JeffreyCarver said:


> Hi all -- I'm a science fiction writer, and also a science fiction _reader_. I thought it would be interesting to hear what people like in their SF, what classics they especially revere, and what they enjoy in new stories and books. (I'm also new to the Kindle board, so I know it's possible you've done this a hundred times already. Is it worth doing again?)
> 
> Good topic, thanks. Your suggestions are excellent. I was blown away by The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell.
> 
> ...


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## john_a_karr (Jun 21, 2010)

Basilius said:


> _Titan/Wizard/Demon_ (John Varley)


John Varley is easily my favorite in SF. In addition to those Basilius cites, there's also Millenium and Mammoth. Didn't care for Steel Beach but you can't like 'em all. He's got others I need to catch up on as well. http://www.varley.net/Pages/Bibliography.htm


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## John Hamilton (May 6, 2010)

D.A. Boulter said:


> Can I say "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet"? Okay, so that was a long, long time ago.


"Tom Corbett, Space Cadet"? Wow! I used to know Frankie Thomas, got Xmas cards from him every year until he passed away in '06. What a great guy. They buried him in his Space Cadet uniform.

My favorite modern SF author has to be Dan Simmons, especially his "Ilium" series. Right now I'm reading a treasure I found for Kindle, an ebook version of Harlan Ellison's "Dangerous Visions." Hard to go wrong with that.


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## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

john_a_karr said:


> John Varley is easily my favorite in SF. In addition to those Basilius cites, there's also Millenium and Mammoth. Didn't care for Steel Beach but you can't like 'em all. He's got others I need to catch up on as well. http://www.varley.net/Pages/Bibliography.htm


And his novella (novelette?) _The Persistence of Vision_ is, by far, the best piece of short fiction I've ever read.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2010)

I seldom read SF but I thoroughly enjoyed Stephen Donaldson's _Gap_ series. In my distant youth I loved Harry Harrison's _Deathworld_ and _The Stainless Steel Rat_ books. I ploughed through a fair bit of Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Brian Aldiss too. Philip K. Dick always stood out as an excellent SF writer.


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## Bigal-sa (Mar 27, 2010)

Bigal-sa said:


> Me I'm a big John Wyndham fan. It took me a long time to collect all his books as many of them are out of print.
> 
> I'm also a fan of the Pournelle/Niven combo and of the newer authors, I must also give Michael Hicks a thumbs up.


I forgot, but I must also punt the OP's Chaos Chronicles.


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

NicolaFurlong said:


> I was blown away by The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell.
> 
> Cheers from southern Vancouver Island, BC.
> 
> Nicola Furlong


Both the title and the author are new to me. Thanks for the rec!

I love Varley, though it's been years since I've read him. Especially his early short stories set in--what did he call it?--the Nine Worlds, I think.


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## Five String (Jun 6, 2010)

It's been fun to read these posts and remembering a lot of the science fiction books I really liked. Depending on your tastes, I second David Dalglish from a few days agao and recommend going back and picking up old Ray Bradbury, like Fahrenheit 451 and the Martian Chronicles. Really haunting and affecting. His old short stories from the 50's aren't as good, pretty dated, but they're fun. My son and I watched a recent TV movie based on one of his, where a customer to a commercial time travel business visiting the prehistoric past causes ripples in time in the present by stepping on a butterfly. Not particularly memorable. In the Bradbury story they just shoot the guy who stepped on the butterfly.

It amazes me that Bradbury is still around and writing. 

I don't know whether Ursula K. LeGuin counts as science fiction but I really enjoyed The Dispossessed.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson was also quite affecting. The later books in the series less so.


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

I agree with the Asimov fans. Another fascinating read is Ray Bradbury's _The Illustrated Man_, a collection of short stories. What I love is that there are deeper messages to be found. It changes you and teaches you something without being pedantic about it.


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## Bigal-sa (Mar 27, 2010)

Five String said:


> IRed Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson was also quite affecting. The later books in the series less so.


Red Mars is one of my pet hates. The author suffers from verbal diarrhea - I have mentioned this in another thread.


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## Danielleqlee (Jun 21, 2010)

I really enjoyed Stephenie Meyers, "The Host" Very refreshing perspective.


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## Five String (Jun 6, 2010)

Bigal-Sa - Red Mars clearly isn't for everyone. I was surprised at how bad the later book, Blue Mars, was. I couldn't finish it.

Can anyone describe cyberpunk, and/or give me some examples of cyberpunk books? I've heard the term but I have no idea what it is.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

litchibi said:


> I agree with the Asimov fans. Another fascinating read is Ray Bradbury's _The Illustrated Man_, a collection of short stories. What I love is that there are deeper messages to be found. It changes you and teaches you something without being pedantic about it.


_Something Wicked This Way Comes_ is probably one of my favorite books ever. Hopeful, frightening, and with prose just wonderfully fluid.

David Dalglish


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## aslagle (May 17, 2010)

Hmmm. I'm hearing a lot of Niven/Pournelle, but with no one mentioning _The Mote in God's Eye_ or _Fallen Angels_.

I have been mining the Baen Free Library for years, and also have loved the CD's that were put in the last few DTB versions of the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. There's some gems in those CDs. I've read all the _Harrington_ novels: what really grabbed me when I was reading the first one (_On Basilisk Station_), was that he was writing a Horatio Hornbloweresqe series (is that a word?) but was making an effort to conform to Newtonian mechanics! Yes, he had to have a supra-light travel mechanism, just to get interstellar travel and communication times down - I'm not going to fault him for that - but once you're in a system, you have vector travel and all that jazz.


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

Five String said:


> Bigal-Sa - Red Mars clearly isn't for everyone. I was surprised at how bad the later book, Blue Mars, was. I couldn't finish it.
> 
> Can anyone describe cyberpunk, and/or give me some examples of cyberpunk books? I've heard the term but I have no idea what it is.


Cyberpunk is a movement within Sci-Fi literature that is usually set in a dystopian future where the lines between man and machine have blurred, where technology and biology are integrated, and where danger occurs in both reality and virtual reality. Cyberpunk often features some sort of anti-hero who is adept at manipulating technology, but is somehow down-on-his luck. In some ways it reminds me of the hard-boiled detective novels of Hammett, Chandler, etc. only with the advance in technology and scaled to involve corporations and governments rather than mobsters, petty criminals, and PIs (although all of those have their place in Cyberpunk, too).

Neuromancer by William Gibson is a good example of Cyberpunk. It also made a pretty good game on the Commodore 64! Gibson also wrote the short story "Johnny Mnemonic" in which he coined the term cyberspace.

Bruce Sterling is another of the founders of Cyberpunk. Check out his Shaper/Mechanist works.

I think I put this on here earlier, but a non-SF writer that ventured into cyberpunk is Marge Piercy who wrote He, She and It. I always found this one interesting with some of the broader themes it examined.


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

I guess I should add about Piercy, that William Gibson reportedly credits one of her earlier works (Woman on the Edge of Time) as the origin of Cyberpunk.  I've never read this book, though.


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## redshift1 (Jun 20, 2009)

Martel47 said:


> Cyberpunk is a movement within Sci-Fi literature that is usually set in a dystopian future where the lines between man and machine have blurred, where technology and biology are integrated, and where danger occurs in both reality and virtual reality. Cyberpunk often features some sort of anti-hero who is adept at manipulating technology, but is somehow down-on-his luck. In some ways it reminds me of the hard-boiled detective novels of Hammett, Chandler, etc. only with the advance in technology and scaled to involve corporations and governments rather than mobsters, petty criminals, and PIs (although all of those have their place in Cyberpunk, too).
> 
> Neuromancer by William Gibson is a good example of Cyberpunk. It also made a pretty good game on the Commodore 64! Gibson also wrote the short story "Johnny Mnemonic" in which he coined the term cyberspace.
> 
> ...


Richard Morgan's series with Takeshi Kovacs falls within your description although set more in the future than Gibson's works. Unfortunately he has drifted into the fantasy genre with no mention of when he will return to SF.


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## WalterK (Mar 2, 2009)

Actually, I believe it was "Burning Chrome" where Gibson first mentioned cyberspace; but that is a minor quibble.  

Along with Gibson and Sterling, I'd add John Shirley, Rudy Rucker (sometimes), and Pat Cadigan as prominent artists who worked the genre.  Neal Stephenson also comes to mind but the tone of his works doesn't exactly fit the genre, at least for me.

- Walter.


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

You're probably right about Burning Chrome.  Good catch; it's been awhile since I've read anything by Gibson.  But, this discussion is making me consider moving him up my "to buy for Kindle" list.


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## graykane (Jul 11, 2010)

Without a doubt:

Neal Stephenson's _Snow Crash_,
Philip K. Dick's _Valis_ and _The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch_, and 
Thomas Pynchon's steampunk novel, _Against the Day_!


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

Has Poul Anderson been mentioned already....some good classics there....


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

Chad Winters (#102) said:


> Has Poul Anderson been mentioned already....some good classics there....


I enjoyed the _Ensign Flandry_ series.

Mike


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

graykane said:


> Without a doubt:
> 
> Neal Stephenson's _Snow Crash_,
> Philip K. Dick's _Valis_ and _The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch_, and
> Thomas Pynchon's steampunk novel, _Against the Day_!


I've only read two Pynchon novels, and didn't realize he'd written steampunk! MUST FIND


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## graykane (Jul 11, 2010)

Martel47 said:


> I've only read two Pynchon novels, and didn't realize he'd written steampunk! MUST FIND


_Against the Day_ is by far his best written work. I strongly recommend it!


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## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

Martel47 said:


> Cyberpunk is a movement within Sci-Fi literature that is usually set in a dystopian future where the lines between man and machine have blurred, where technology and biology are integrated, and where danger occurs in both reality and virtual reality. Cyberpunk often features some sort of anti-hero who is adept at manipulating technology, but is somehow down-on-his luck. In some ways it reminds me of the hard-boiled detective novels of Hammett, Chandler, etc. only with the advance in technology and scaled to involve corporations and governments rather than mobsters, petty criminals, and PIs (although all of those have their place in Cyberpunk, too).


Another feature of Cyberpunk is an emphasis on setting (which must be gritty) and attitude (the "punk" part). Corporations have frequently taken control and are more powerful than governments.

Good cyberpunk works I haven't seen mentioned yet: Walter Jon Williams' _Hardwired_, Neal Stehpenson's _The Diamond Age_, and Charles Stross' _Accelerando_. And I'll plug George Alec Effinger's series again (_When Gravity Fails_, _A Fire in the Sun_, and _The Exile Kiss_.)


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## Martel47 (Jun 14, 2010)

Basilius said:


> Another feature of Cyberpunk is an emphasis on setting (which must be gritty) and attitude (the "punk" part). Corporations have frequently taken control and are more powerful than governments.
> 
> Good cyberpunk works I haven't seen mentioned yet: Walter Jon Williams' _Hardwired_, Neal Stehpenson's _The Diamond Age_, and Charles Stross' _Accelerando_. And I'll plug George Alec Effinger's series again (_When Gravity Fails_, _A Fire in the Sun_, and _The Exile Kiss_.)


I had hoped that the "hard boiled" aspect conveyed some of the "grittiness" and attitude required to be Cyberpunk. But, you're absolutely right.


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## liannallama (May 29, 2009)

This is such a great thread to remember some old favorites and find new ones!



> Do you all know what happens when you type "about:robots" into the URL box in Firefox?


 That is AWESOME! Thanks for the nerd "Easter egg!"


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## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

Martel47 said:


> I had hoped that the "hard boiled" aspect conveyed some of the "grittiness" and attitude required to be Cyberpunk. But, you're absolutely right.


It did, to a point, but I don't think you can over-emphasize its importance to the genre.

It probably wouldn't be out of line to call cyberpunk "SF-Noir." The Effinger series I mentioned, in particular.


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ is probably one of my favorite books ever. Hopeful, frightening, and with prose just wonderfully fluid.
> 
> David Dalglish


_Something Wicked_ is without doubt my favorite Bradbury novel.


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

JeffreyCarver said:


> _Something Wicked_ is without doubt my favorite Bradbury novel.


There was a fine movie made from the book as well.

Mike


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## john_a_karr (Jun 21, 2010)

Basilius said:


> And his novella (novelette?) _The Persistence of Vision_ is, by far, the best piece of short fiction I've ever read.


High praise indeed -- I didn't even know of it! I'll have to get it, thanks for the info.


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## JeffreyCarver (Jun 26, 2010)

How about James Tiptree, Jr.? (Real name, Alice Sheldon.) In the 1970s and and 80s, she wrote some of the most original and innovative SF around, particularly in short form. I have only seen her novel _Brightness Falls from the Air_ in ebook format, which is a shame, because it would be great to have her short work collected again.


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## WalterK (Mar 2, 2009)

I would love to see more of Sheldon's work released on the Kindle.  I enjoyed her short fiction a great deal.  A few titles that come to mind include: The Screwfly Solution, The Girl Who Was Plugged In, and The Women Men Don't See.

BTW, speaking of SF - The 2nd book in Stephen Donaldson's Gap Cycle made it to Kindle Wednesday which means the entire series is now available.

The Real Story
Forbidden Knowledge
A Dark and Hungry God Arises
Chaos and Order
This Day All Gods Die

- Walter.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

WalterK said:


> BTW, speaking of SF - The 2nd book in Stephen Donaldson's Gap Cycle made it to Kindle Wednesday which means the entire series is now available.


FYI, the GAP books have been available in ebook format for some time; however, here is a message form the author's web page:



> Readers of this site have mentioned that the text of the e-versions of the GAP books is significantly corrupt: corrupt in a way that commonly happens when a book is scanned and posted without proofreading. "Careless" is the kindest word I can think of to describe the problem. I have contacted Bantam/Spectra about this, but the editor declines to take any action unless I can provide specific examples (as many as possible?). Well, I don't have TIME to re-proofread the GAP books right now: I need to be hard at work on "The Last Dark". In addition, the mental gear-shift of going back into Angus and Morn while I'm working on Covenant and Linden would probably wreck my transmission.


I'm not sure if the Kindle versions have been re-proofread, so buyers should be very careful in downloading samples first.


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## WalterK (Mar 2, 2009)

Yes, I was aware that the other books in The Gap Cycle were available, I was chiefly commenting upon Book 2 - but that isn't why I'm posting...

There is an update on Stephen Donaldson's web site regarding the Gap Cycle and ebooks.

http://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/fromtheauthor/news.php?Status=current

There is more at Donaldson's site, but the first paragraph is as follows:

"As of yesterday, the "missing" GAP book, FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE, is now available as an ebook. At the same time, the CHAOS AND ORDER ebook has been proofread by its publisher, and the corrected version (which I haven't seen) is available as well. Meanwhile proofreading (dubiously called QA--quality assurance--by the publisher) is underway for the other three books."

- Walter.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Chad Winters (#102) said:


> Has Poul Anderson been mentioned already....some good classics there....


His Three Hearts and Three Lions has always been a favorite of mine.
I think it is the best of the many "champion eternal" stories by many authors.

Just sayin......


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## KMA (Mar 11, 2009)

This thread already includes some of my very favorites. I'll just chime in and ad Julian May. I very much enjoyed her _Saga of Pliocene Exile_ series and the _Milieu_ trilogy that accompanies it.


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## wcjulha0710 (Jul 23, 2010)

Warriors by George R.R. Martin










These days, George R.R. Martin is primarily (and deservedly) known as the author of the massively popular and acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire saga. Long before creating the world of Westeros, he had a long career in the genre as an editor of anthologies and the long running Wild Cards series. One of Martin's long-time colleagues and friends has probably the best reputation for anthology editing - Gardner Dozois. The two have gathered an eclectic mix of writers from all genres to tell stories about, you guessed it Warriors. Settings that evoke Ancient Rome, World War II, Planetary Romances, and a certain land within Seven Kingdoms.

The King of Norway by Cecilia Holland is the first story in the collection and starts it off well. As the title implies, a strong Norse flavor informs the story of warring tribes and conflicting loyalties.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

geoffthomas said:


> His Three Hearts and Three Lions has always been a favorite of mine.
> I think it is the best of the many "champion eternal" stories by many authors.
> 
> Just sayin......


Better than Moorcock? I better go find a copy....


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

I just noticed that Heinlein's The Puppet Masters has been added on Baen Books. I haven't read it since I was 11 or so, but I loved it back then ... it's definitely one of my favorites from Heinlein.


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Asimov gets my vote. He's one of the few authors I absolutely love reading over and over and over...well, you get the picture 

Sandy


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## SophieK (Oct 19, 2011)

Anyone have any recommendations for me?


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Where do I start? Science fiction has so many branches and different types of stories. Check Baen Books, they have tons of ebooks. Search Amazon. We have some other SF authors right here, who have mostly inexpensive books.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

If you want to stay in the post-apocalyptic domain of the sci-fi genre, my two favorites are _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (not enKindled  ) and _Lucifer's Hammer_ by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

If you're interested in a broader selection, you could check out my sci-fi ratings and reviews at Goodreads for some ideas: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2552661-charles?shelf=scifi.


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## Glen Hendrix (Sep 5, 2011)

One of my favorite sci-fi authors is Iain Banks. You can immerse yourself in space operas that span the galaxy. Consider Phlebas is his first "culture" books. One I'm reading now is very entertaining; Gabriel's Redemption by Steve Umstead. It is a near-future setting with some great characters and believable future-tech.


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## Rook (Sep 6, 2011)

It really depends on what you like to read: Sci Fi is a very broad idea and you can find something to suit any taste. If you want to start at the beginning, though, perhaps start at the very beginning with H.G. Wells or Jules Verne. For a newer classic, try Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.

(It isn't available on Kindle, but you might also be interested in a book titled--descriptively enough-- Science Fiction for People Who Hate Science Fiction edited by Terry Carr)


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## Brad Murgen (Oct 17, 2011)

*Anathem* by Neal Stephenson. Fantastic book.

Any of the Hainish books by Ursula K. LeGuin... *The Dispossessed*, *The Left Hand of Darkness*, those are the best ones.


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## Simon Haynes (Mar 14, 2011)

Like many genres, scifi is sliced into a hundred sub-genres. Big space battles, distant futures, near-future distopias, present-day alien invasions ... it's almost endless.

If you can give an idea of the sort of thing you've read and enjoyed (even movies) it'll be easier to point to similar books.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Sophie, I merged your post with the existing science fiction thread here. . . . .lots of suggestions in the first 5 pages!


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## Simon Haynes (Mar 14, 2011)

JeffreyCarver said:


> I loved the good doctor's books when I was a teenager (probably should have listed them with early influences, but my starter list above was very much off the cuff). I tried to reread some of them years later, and couldn't. The same was true of other early loves, such as vintage Arthur C. Clarke (The City and the Stars, Childhood's End, etc.). They just haven't aged well for me, though I remember them with deep affection. But there's no doubt about how great their influence was on the field, and me as a young reader. I practically wore out the library copies of some of the early Asimov, Nourse, Norton, Wollheim, van Vogt, et al.
> 
> On the other hand, a fair number of people who have written to tell me they enjoyed my books have also mentioned Asimov as among their favorite writers. And I'm certainly happy to be put in that company.


I started a re-read of the original Foundation books a year or two back, and it was touch and go for me. The opening of the first book was a bit clunky, but once I got into it I raced through all three of them. Enjoyed them just as much as I did before, but I did have to switch off my internal editor.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I posted this on the bargain book thread, but thought it would be good here too.

Tor has 3 excellent Sci-fi books at special 2.99 pricing 
I had already read the January Dancer and Sun of Suns, but had always wanted to start the Mageworld series so this was great for me

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/04/get-these-space-operas-for-299

Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder (First in the Virga series)

The world known as Virga is a fullerene balloon three thousand kilometers in diameter, filled with air, water, and aimlessly floating chunks of rock. Enter Hayden Griffin, a man bent on avenging the murder of his parents...

Amazon / B&N / Apple

The January Dancer by Michael Flynn

Full of rich echoes of the space opera classics from Doc Smith to Cordwainer Smith, it tells the fateful story of an ancient pre-human artifact of great power, and the people who found it.

Amazon / B&N / Apple

The Price of Stars by Debra Doyle and James MacDonald (First in the Mageworlds series)

The war with the Mageworlds is over. Now it's time for the real struggle to begin. Freebooter at heart, spacer by trade, Beka pilots spacecraft-as far from her famous family as possible, thanks very much.


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## LunaraSeries (Jun 19, 2011)

If you like Scifi Adventure, go with the Star Wars universe novels or the Star Trek universe novels.  I love those because they are easy to read and light on the scifi.

Dune is good too but a bit heavy by book 4 or 5.


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## ChrisWard (Mar 10, 2012)

I know this is an old thread, but no one appears to have mentioned Iain M. Banks.  Shame on you, the guy's books are unbelievable.  His sci-fi ones are great but some of his 'mainstream' stuff is very sci-fi, for example Walking on Glass and The Bridge, two of the best books I've ever read.  Brilliant.  Because he's Scottish he doesn't seem all that popular in America, but he's significantly better than the vast majority of American SF writers I know.


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## brianjanuary (Oct 18, 2011)

I'd like to recommend Keith Laumer and Robert Silverberg.


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## Joseph_Evans (Jul 24, 2011)

A very good sci fi novel is The Fade by Chris Wooding.


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## NanD (May 4, 2011)

This one is free right now 1st in Honor Harrington series by David Weber


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Hi, Nan!!  I've merged your post with our Sci Fi thread instead of my personal reading thread, as I'm reading from my already purchased books instead of taking recommendations.

Thanks for letting us know about freebies!

Betsy


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

NanD said:


> This one is free right now 1st in Honor Harrington series by David Weber


This is a pretty good series - this first one was in Baen's free library forever and the reason I got a copy in the first place. If you like Space Opera with an overlay of 19th Century English culture, then read this ...


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Geoffrey said:


> This is a pretty good series - this first one was in Baen's free library forever and the reason I got a copy in the first place. If you like Space Opera with an overlay of 19th Century English culture, then read this ...


Thanks, Geoffrey and Nan--

I've picked this one up through Amazon. I note that the others in the series seem to be $6.99 on Amazon...

Betsy


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Is showing free today as well.


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## MommaSaysRead (Feb 10, 2013)

The Lightbearers by Nora Garcia


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## Roberto Scarlato (Nov 14, 2009)

I'm a big fan of Richard Matheson and H.G. Wells. They are the perfect blend of sci-fi and fantasy.


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## Shane Ward (Jan 25, 2013)

I got interested in Kevin J Anderson's Sega of seven suns series, very good.


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## Adrian Howell (Feb 24, 2013)

I loved the Little Fuzzy series by H. Beam Piper.

Don't be fooled by the generic covers.


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## Nigel Mitchell (Jan 21, 2013)

MommaSaysRead said:


> The Lightbearers by Nora Garcia


Wow, just reading the description, this one looks pretty amazing. This one line blew my mind a little:

"Through a series of flashbacks two of their previous lifetimes are revealed beginning in Ancient Egypt and including 17th century France where they switched genders."


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## John C (Mar 23, 2013)

I'd like to add another mention for Iain Banks and Iain M Banks (same guy but the M denotes the harder sci-fi books). I don't know how well he is known outside the UK but he is brilliant. Unfortunately he announced this week he has cancer and not long to live which is a real tragedy. 
In addition if you like humour with your science fiction of course Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series is a must


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

John C said:


> I'd like to add another mention for Iain Banks and Iain M Banks (same guy but the M denotes the harder sci-fi books). I don't know how well he is known outside the UK but he is brilliant. Unfortunately he announced this week he has cancer and not long to live which is a real tragedy.
> In addition if you like humour with your science fiction of course Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series is a must


Sad news indeed about Mr. Banks. I can think of no current SF writer I'd rank above him. My first exposure to him was _Excession_, which positively engrossed me with its scope and originality, not to mention his fine writing. (Unfortunately, it is not yet enKindled, at least in the US store.) I highly recommend this and any of his other "Culture" novels, especially if you are tired of reading either dystopian/post-apocalypse SF and/or simple have-raygun-will-travel SF.


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

"The Lost Fleet" by Jack Campbell is my favorite SF series. A lot of military action and well written.


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

NogDog said:


> I highly recommend this and any of his other "Culture" novels, especially if you are tired of reading either dystopian/post-apocalypse SF and/or simple have-raygun-will-travel SF.


Do you (or anyone else) have any suggestions for a first Banks book to read that is enKindled? I confess to never having tried one.

Mike


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

jmiked said:


> Do you (or anyone else) have any suggestions for a first Banks book to read that is enKindled? I confess to never having tried one.
> 
> Mike


As no one book is jumping out at me as being notably better than the others, I'd probably just suggest starting with the first "Culture" novel, _Consider Phlebas_, although really they all stand alone pretty well, so sequence is not particularly important.


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## MommaSaysRead (Feb 10, 2013)

IF you haven't checked out Eden Plague by David VanDyke you're missing out! It's an amazing series!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SPb-rrPhL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA278_PIkin4,BottomRight,-69,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg[/IMG]]http://www.amazon.com/The-Eden-Plague-Book-ebook/dp/B008EMKJ6Q/


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## NanD (May 4, 2011)

Fairly recently I read John Scalzi's Old Man's War , The Ghost Brigades and The Human Division. ( The last one was published originally as single installments but now is available as a book). The premise is that when people get old, they can get new bodies, though they have to enlist in the Colonial Defense Forces to do so and leave Earth behind. Their new bodies are green. Great series!

Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk 2


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

It's not hard SF (which might be what the OP is looking for), but Kristine Kathryn Rusch's Retrieval Artist series is based on a not-too-distant future where the Moon is colonized and we've made contact with various alien cultures in the solar system. I'm completely hooked on the series, it's very riveting. Start with The Disappeared and go from there.



I haven't had much exposure to SF over the years, and I'm trying to rectify that now. I've also read I, Robot (Asimov, of course), and there was one by Nancy Kress, not Beggars of Spain  but Probability Moon, part of her Probability Trilogy. I picked it up on a whim at the library a long time ago, and was pleasantly surprised. Though it has more of a hard SF feel to it, I managed to get through it because I found the alien culture fascinating; the book definitely got better the more I read.


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## MineBook (May 31, 2013)

I like light science fiction books with some human emotion moments. So there is my list of recommendations:

-Suzanne Collins  "Hunger games"  trilogy.

[/i]


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## Ergodic Mage (Jan 23, 2012)

I'm going through a Hard SciFi period right now and would recommend John Lumpkin's Human Reach books:


Currently I'm enjoying Michael McCollum's Antares Series


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## Iolanthe (Mar 7, 2013)

I haven't read all seven pages of this thread, but I thought I'd put in my two cents, as the daughter of a devoted SF reader. When I was quite young, I read Podkayne of Mars by Heinlein, and Rite of Passage by Panshin. Those two stayed with me more than any others, probably because they had female protagonists I could relate to. I've read nowhere near the wide-ranging breadth of SF my dad has, but I thought Ender's Game was the bomb (hope the movie pulls it off) and I liked Friday, a latter-day Heinlein. Glory Road was another Heinlein I enjoyed. I'll make a list from some of the great reads listed on this thread.


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## MineBook (May 31, 2013)

Would recommend *Earth Unaware* (First Formic War) writen by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston.

Book is not the best of Orson Scott Card but there are great unique scifi moments in it. http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Unaware-First-Formic-ebook/dp/B00CBFPRQO/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370411310&sr=1-7&keywords=earth+scifi


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## 67499 (Feb 4, 2013)

There's a lot of good (and a LOT more bad) sci-fi out there, so I find myself going back to the grand masters when I want a sure read that will spark my thinking. The first science fiction I ever read (yep, under the blankets with a flashlight) was C.S. Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet" - and I still think it the best of all time.


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

I recently picked up _The City and the Stars_ on sale. 
Like what I've read so far.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

wcjulha0710 said:


> These days, George R.R. Martin is primarily (and deservedly) known as the author of the massively popular and acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire saga. Long before creating the world of Westeros, he had a long career in the genre as an editor of anthologies and the long running Wild Cards series. One of Martin's long-time colleagues and friends has probably the best reputation for anthology editing - Gardner Dozois. The two have gathered an eclectic mix of writers from all genres to tell stories about, you guessed it Warriors. Settings that evoke Ancient Rome, World War II, Planetary Romances, and a certain land within Seven Kingdoms.


OMG, how could I forget GRRM? One of my fave reads ever was his Tuf Voyaging, which is actually a collection of short SF stories that were originally published in Analog magazine. (Like Asimov's _I, Robot_, with interlinking commentaries/whatever.) Another one I read from the library ages ago (it wasn't in print at the time I got it from the library), but it looks like it's enKindled. Haviland Tuf is the main character, he's not the nicest guy going, but he is a cat lover (and I mean that in a good sense! ), so he's okay in my book. He has all sorts of troubles and tribulations in space.

They're not hard SF stories, thank goodness, because I probably wouldn't have read it if they were.

I think I may need to give this a permanent place on my Kindle.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

I don't enjoy Sci-Fi as much as I do Fantasy but I do have a few favorite authors and particular books.

Isaac Asimov to me is the Titan of Sci-Fi authors, with his humanity and humor elevating the story to a higher level than the typical gamut of authors who tend to focus more on technicalities and nuts and bolts than they do characters. ANY Asimov book is a "find" but *Pebble In the Sky * will sweep you away and is not an entire series. His short story anthologies are awesome, my own personal favorite being *The Ugly Little Boy*, which is in a class by itself among Sci-Fi short stories. It isn't often that Sci-Fi moves you to tears, with the exception of Spock dying at the end of *The Wrath of Khan*, but this little story definitely will.

Larry Niven can also be trusted to provide quality writing, my favorite being *Lucifer's Hammer*, which you can't put down from the moment you start it, and probably the scariest most-likely-to-occur novel I have ever read.

*The Twilight Zone * series is also a page turner, telling A LOT in a short amount of time.


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## FrankZubek (Aug 31, 2010)

If nobody has mentioned it yet- Alastair Reynold's Pushing Ice is a stupendous first contact story- in my humble opinion
'
'And yet I still haven't been able to pick up his newest Blue Remembered Earth after reading all the bad reviews

But yeah... Pushing Ice

Douglas Preston  and Lincoln Child's The Ice Limit    THAT'S a good one as well

Both of these can be considered too commercial and not in the class of the old masters but still a nice way to spend a few afternoons


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## jkkelley (Jul 3, 2013)

For me the standout is C.J. Cherryh. A course in tight writing, just watching how she does it; might also be the most interesting and, well, _alien_ aliens I've ever read about.

Always liked Frank Herbert, though I'm saddened to see what his son is doing to the franchise. While I don't like some of the more blatant Hornblower name/plot lifts in the Honorverse, the books have always entertained me anyway. I guess I'd better face the fact that I haven't been very outgoing in trying to discover new SF in past years.


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

Brian Spangler said:


> I recently picked up _The City and the Stars_ on sale.
> Like what I've read so far.


Another A.Clarke was the KDD today, saving 8 dollars. _The Songs of Distant Earth_.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Reviving this thread (couldn't find a more recent one).

Just finished this as one of my KU reads; it's the second book I've read by this author. I really enjoyed it:



It's told from both sides of an encounter between a expedition from earth to find other humanoid races who may or may not have originated from Earth. Great premise, well executed.

Betsy


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## Jennifer R P (Oct 19, 2012)

Blue Remembered Earth has bad reviews?

Huh.

Apparently people who loved Chasm City hate Blue Remembered Earth and Terminal World - both of which I adore. So...I guess it's to do with it being different from Reynolds' other work.

I'd give it a chance - library, maybe?

I just finished Peter F. Hamilton's Great North Road, which I think is one of Hamilton's better offerings.

However, I'm worried that Clones are going to be the next fad and I'll be tired of them before it's done.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

This thread has come around again? Oh, dear. I went back to see what I had written in it previously, and found out that I was 53 years old. Alas, that is no longer true.

However, I see that Agent of Change (Liaden Universe Book 4) is still free on Kindle. (Although it says "Book 4", this was the first one written in the "Liaden Universe", and although it can be read as a stand-alone, it's actually Book 1 of the Miri-Val Con series which continues with "Carpe Diem", "Plan B" and "I Dare".)


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

D.A. Boulter said:


> This thread has come around again? Oh, dear. I went back to see what I had written in it previously, and found out that I was 53 years old. Alas, that is no longer true.
> 
> However, I see that Agent of Change (Liaden Universe Book 4) is still free on Kindle. (Although it says "Book 4", this was the first one written in the "Liaden Universe", and although it can be read as a stand-alone, it's actually Book 1 of the Miri-Val Con series which continues with "Carpe Diem", "Plan B" and "I Dare".)


Love that book!!
I bought the omnibuses from Baen to replace the mobipockets from fictionwise I had in the olden days


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## lehelvandor (Oct 18, 2014)

Subversive sci-fi that was not understood by the censors was vitally important to me during my youth, so Philip K. Dick was (and is still) among my favourites. His short stories, astoundingly prophetic of our current societies and systems of values, and his novels like The Man in the High Castle were breathtaking on first contact with them.
Ray Bradbury's beautifully poetic style also got me hooked, even in translation. His Fahrenheit 451 was too obvious for the censors, but most of his other output was "OK" for them   
Stanislaw Lem, with his allegoric Cyberiad and, of course, Solaris, were my favourites when it came to philosophical escapism


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## David Wolf (Nov 3, 2014)

Hi--This is my very first post to this site. I am also a science fiction writer (and other kind of writer) and a reader of sci-fi. I recently joined a science fiction book club (50 miles from home!). I had fallen away from reading a lot of sci-fi in more recent years, so I welcomed a chance to reconnect with that genre, and also get some insights into what other readers of it seemed to like/dislike, etc. We're currently reading Anne McCaffrey's The Rowan, which I like quite a bit. We read Bester's The Demolished Man a few sessions ago, and that's one of my faves from long ago. We also read A Canticle for Liebowitz, one of the other sci-fi classics. From my youth, when I was reading tons of sci-fi, my favorite authors were Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury, Heinlein of course, Robert Sheckley, Arthur C. Clark, and the brilliant short stories of Frederick Brown. Too many others to list here! I understand I will be able to list my novel in the Author's Bazaar (I almost typed Bizarre!) so I will do that at some point soon.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I liked the Rowan series, definitely in the light sci-fi category


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## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

David Wolf said:


> Hi--This is my very first post to this site. I am also a science fiction writer (and other kind of writer) and a reader of sci-fi. I recently joined a science fiction book club (50 miles from home!). I had fallen away from reading a lot of sci-fi in more recent years, so I welcomed a chance to reconnect with that genre, and also get some insights into what other readers of it seemed to like/dislike, etc. We're currently reading Anne McCaffrey's The Rowan, which I like quite a bit. We read Bester's The Demolished Man a few sessions ago, and that's one of my faves from long ago. We also read A Canticle for Liebowitz, one of the other sci-fi classics. From my youth, when I was reading tons of sci-fi, my favorite authors were Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury, Heinlein of course, Robert Sheckley, Arthur C. Clark, and the brilliant short stories of Frederick Brown. Too many others to list here! I understand I will be able to list my novel in the Author's Bazaar (I almost typed Bizarre!) so I will do that at some point soon.


Welcome, David. The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination have been among my favorites since I first read them, more than half a century ago.


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## Ted Cross (Aug 30, 2012)

I love Richard K Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs novels and also the more obscure The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld. I love many more as well. 

The reason I wrote mine was because I had read so many books set far in the future using certain technologies, and I was curious about how life was when such technologies were just getting started.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I recently finished . Really really good book. Stayed up way too late to finish it. I recommend it highly -- even to folks who might _not_ be big Science Fiction fans.


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