Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: esarai on April 28, 2011, 01:29:49 am
-
Morning Hard Light,
I suddenly, shockingly realized that despite how much a SciFi and Fantasy fan I am, I am poorly versed in decent titles other than the most easily recognizable works ever. So I come to you for help. Could you give me some titles that are an absolute must read? And hell, even if they aren't in the genres, suggest them anyways.
-
Oh I thought you meant a custom title.
So you've read snow crash, Heinlein, Orson Scott Card and all that already, right?
-
I recommend looking into an author by the name of Charles Sheffield. He writes some good SF.
In particular, I liked Godspeed and Between the Strokes of Night.
-
Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, Anathem
Charles Stross - Accelerando, Glasshouse, Halting State, Saturn's Children, The Atrocity Archives
John Scalzi - Old Man's War
Richard Morgan - Altered Carbon
-
I've been reading Peter Hamilton for awhile now, yetcyo be disappointed. I guess he's reasonably recognizable though.
-
Oohhhh, How could I forget
Iain M Banks - The Player Of Games, Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, Excession, Surface Detail in that order
-
A little bit of Seth Dickinson never goes amiss i'm told ;)
-
Yeah, but it's not like his publications are easy to pick up in a book store.
-
A little bit of Seth Dickinson never goes amiss i'm told ;)
I can testify to this. :yes:
-
For good cheese, Timothy Zahn's "The Icarus Hunt" is a fun sci fi romp.
-
For good cheese, Timothy Zahn's "The Icarus Hunt" is a fun sci fi romp.
Zahn really was a good time. He's not very sophisticated but he's a good intro to SF.
-
"The Player of games" is a classic for me. Couldn't help but repeat the reading for it, I highly support E's recommendations.
... annnnd there's always Douglas Adams.
-
I generally enjoyed the books from the Honor Harrington books by David Weber. I obviously like science fiction and old Age of Sail books like the Richard Bolitho series and the Harrington Series is a nice meld of those themes. Its certainly harder scifi then Star Wars but not diamond dense as the stuff tutta usually advocates.
-
I liked the second Honor Harrington book a lot, but felt the series got long-winded and dry and a bit ridiculous as it went.
Listing off all of the ways Honor Harrington is overpowered by the eleventh book is a fun party game though.
-
I liked the second Honor Harrington book a lot, but felt the series got long-winded and dry and a bit ridiculous as it went.
Listing off all of the ways Honor Harrington is overpowered by the eleventh book is a fun party game though.
I generally go on a tear and just consume books like a fire when I get a decent series, to the point where I often forgive quite a bit.
-
Yeah, even though I am a fan of the HH series, I do consider the latest offerings (basically everything between and including Mission of Honor and At All Costs) to be a real low point in the series. The Shadow Of Saganami sub-series was rather good, but it seems that Weber is more interested in his worldbuilding than his characters lately, which has a real detrimental effect on the series. Mission Of Honor seemed to be a bit better than the rest, so I hope he can turn it around again, but that hope is relatively slim.
Also, while I am confessing to guilty pleasures, I must admit to being slightly amused by some stuff written by John Ringo. He's not a bad writer, if he can keep that raging right-wing-american stereotype of his in check.
-
O.K., i know that this is classic and you probably know it already, but just in case:
Isaac Asimov's: The foundation trilogy.
(the absolute masterpiece :pimp:)
-
"I, Robot" too (also classic and also by Asimov).
Also, you could try something by Stanislaw Lem, such as "Solaris" and "Invincible". They're both old style "hard" SF, much like most of Lem's works.
Kir Bulyczow's "Pass" and "Settlement" are very good, too.
-
The good ones I read this month:
Flood by Stephen Baxter (I think). Good book, I felt weird after reading it (at work we were moving large bodies of water around, so it resonated)
Endymion, by I don't know who. A strange novel. It is the third book in a series, but that didn't affect the read all that much.
Shine, which is a collection of short stories. There were some gems in this book.
Ivory, by Mike Resnick. About the Kilimanjaro elephant's tusks, throughout history.
Zima Blue, by Alastair Reynolds. More short stories.
-
Endymion, by I don't know who. A strange novel. It is the third book in a series, but that didn't affect the read all that much.
Skip Endymion, go to Hyperion, its far superior predecessor. Endymion is okay as a standalone but is so much worse than Hyperion as part of a series that it's painful.
-
I found Kim Stanley Robinson's - Mars trilogy a rewarding read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy
i will also +1 to the Asimov books
edit
I am surprised no one has mentioned Frank Herbert's Dune series, all good reads. His son in conjunction with someone else did a few prequel books and finished an incomplete work started by Frank continuing the series which are worth reading once you finished the original books.
-
I've never been able to get more than 30 pages into Dune before I confuse myself out of any motivation to read it.
-
Seconding the First two books of Dan Simmon's Hyperion series, as well as the passing up of both Endymion and it's sequel. I've also heard good things about his Ilium/Olympos books from friends though I have yet to read them myself.
-
I'm suddenly realizing that I've read essentially no great sci-fi works. (Man, my reading rate in general has plummeted over the past few years, too.) I'll have to jot some of this stuff down myself.
-
Seconding the First two books of Dan Simmon's Hyperion series, as well as the passing up of both Endymion and it's sequel. I've also heard good things about his Ilium/Olympos books from friends though I have yet to read them myself.
Ilium and Olympos are truly awful. Absolutely execrable. Well -Ilium isn't that bad but is rendered awful by Olympos.
Dune is a must-read. Amazing book, eminently readable, both deep and entertaining.
-
Oohhhh, How could I forget
Iain M Banks - The Player Of Games, Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, Excession, Surface Detail in that order
No love for The Algebraist (or Matter, for that matter)?
-
Oohhhh, How could I forget
Iain M Banks - The Player Of Games, Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, Excession, Surface Detail in that order
No love for The Algebraist (or Matter, for that matter)?
I wouldn't start with either of those, honest - they're both a little plodding.
-
I haven't read Algebraist, and compared to the novels I mentioned, Matter definitely loses. It's a good book, certainly, but not as good as those, IMHO.
-
Wow. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me.
-
It only came to mind because I just picked up a copy at a used book sale, but I highly recommend Carl Sagan's Contact if you haven't read that yet.
-
Seconding the First two books of Dan Simmon's Hyperion series, as well as the passing up of both Endymion and it's sequel. I've also heard good things about his Ilium/Olympos books from friends though I have yet to read them myself.
Ilium and Olympos are truly awful. Absolutely execrable. Well -Ilium isn't that bad but is rendered awful by Olympos.
Dune is a must-read. Amazing book, eminently readable, both deep and entertaining.
dune <3
just stick to the original six, all the new ones are just lame abominations. just today i found a copy of dune messiah at a thrift store. not the best book but its better than those lame knockoffs. been keeping an eye out for god emperor, because thats the one i want to reread.
-
I've never been able to get more than 30 pages into Dune before I confuse myself out of any motivation to read it.
Blasphemy!! Out with your head!
-
I've never been able to get more than 30 pages into Dune before I confuse myself out of any motivation to read it.
Blasphemy!! Out with your head!
cast him out into the desert so that shai hulud may judge him!
-
Morning Hard Light,
I suddenly, shockingly realized that despite how much a SciFi and Fantasy fan I am, I am poorly versed in decent titles other than the most easily recognizable works ever. So I come to you for help. Could you give me some titles that are an absolute must read? And hell, even if they aren't in the genres, suggest them anyways.
You mention sci-fi AND fantasy...
Brandon Sanderson is my new favorite fantasy author. The Mistborn series especially is some of the most fun I've had reading books for a long time.
And if you want a recommendation from the old school, I recommend Clarke's Rondezvous with Rama. It's one of my favorite sci-fi stories ever.
P.S. I never really got into Dune either. Read the first book (a couple of times) but was never enthralled enough to try any of the other ones.
-
People keep recommending Sanderson and that other dude Patrick Rothfuss, but I flipped through Warbreaker for a few pages and was really underwhelmed. :blah:
-
Not sure if it's been mentioned, don't recall seeing it anywhere, but:
Stephen R. Donaldson; The Gap Cycle
I've been carting them around for -years- now.
-
Oh, he's a really nice guy (and kind of handsome). I had the pleasure of hanging out with him a bit.
I could never get into Thomas Covenant, but I think I started it too young.
-
Brandon Sanderson is my new favorite fantasy author. The Mistborn series especially is some of the most fun I've had reading books for a long time.
I haven't read any of his other stuff yet, but I absolutely loved his original novel Elantris. A completely stand-alone work of fantasy in this day and age? It's a rare thing.
-
This.. is a very useful topic. Might be worth renaming it to "recommended sci/fi titles" (or something to that effect) and then sticky-ing it. Though I'm not sure about the policy of stickies in gd.
-
Any good free E-Books / .PDF's i could read on the old dog and bone en-route to work?
-
Any good free E-Books / .PDF's i could read on the old dog and bone en-route to work?
I went tried borrowing an e-book from the library once. They told me all the copies were lent out :(
-
But,...........i was srs :p
-
If you have any interest in.. gosh, I'm not even sure what to classify this one... Surrealism set in Detroit during the second world war? The main character is an assembly line worker at a Ford factory converted to the industrial production of golems to fight on the side of the Allies. Kind of an urban faerie tale sort of vibe, but set in an otherwise pretty accurate historical context.
The Narrows - Alex Irvine
I really enjoyed it. The author absolutely idolizes Philip K. Dick, and it shows in his writing (not in a bad way).
-
The irony that esarai was asking for titles but no rogue moderator gave him one amuses me.
-
That's because only rogue admins can do that :P
-
That's because only rogue admins can do that :P
Well that's awful, we should change that.
-
I was just waiting for someone to say, "Dolly Parton!"
-
That's because only rogue admins can do that :P
Well that's awful, we should change that.
It is awful isn't it....
I volunteer myself for an upgrade for the sole purpose of doling out Titles. :yes:
-
*Esarai is now quite scared.
I didn't mean a site title! I meant book titles!
-
Eh, it'd be kinda funny if you got a "Got exactly what he asked for" title.
Because you did. :P