Sci-fi book recommendations?

[pookha]

Any books you can find by Howard Waldrop (mainly a short story writer but dazzlingly good).

if you can find some of his short story collections.
especially his take on the war of the worlds.
the martian meet the texas rangers.
guess who loses..

really some authors did their best work in short fiction.
try and find the collection..
best of cordwainer smith for instance.

for something newer cory doctorow.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Hard SF?

Rendevous With Rama and the Odyssey series by Arthur C Clarke (well, anything by ACC, actually).

The Foundation and Robot series by Isaac Asimov.

Friday by Robert Heinlein, as well as just about anything else he wrote.

Ringworld by Larry Niven (and the sequels, if you like the original).

Across Realtime by Vernor Vinge, especially "Marooned In Realtime."

Chindi by Jack McDevitt, and the rest of the Patricia Hutchins series as well.

Telzey Amberdon by James Schmitz, and any other Hub-related stories as well.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Across Realtime by Vernor Vinge, especially "Marooned In Realtime."

This. ... is an awesome book. You won't look at time the same way again.

 

[Mistral]

Across Realtime by Vernor Vinge, especially "Marooned In Realtime."

This. ... is an awesome book. You won't look at time the same way again.

Yeah, I had this in my list. It's really good. His newer novel, Rainbow's End, took the Hugo recently and the Realtime books were nominated in their time, too.

 

[jadcox@mindspring.com]

And a push for Hyperion and its sequel.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Across Realtime by Vernor Vinge, especially "Marooned In Realtime."

This. ... is an awesome book. You won't look at time the same way again.

Yeah, I had this in my list. It's really good. His newer novel, Rainbow's End, took the Hugo recently and the Realtime books were nominated in their time, too.

"Marooned In Realtime" really has that epic sense of wonder that I read SF for.

 

[trekkiedane]

"Ubik" by PKD

Brilliant story, read it a while back and found it in a 2'nd hand shop recently -decided I had to own it

The Culture novels by Iain M Banks (start with Consider Phlebas)

Considering Banks' Culture-novels, I'd recommend beginning with something where The Culture itself is a little closer, The Player of Games, perhaps.
And, of course, his non-Culture SciFi is brilliant space-opera -even if he limits himself by not having FTL flight

Rendevous With Rama and the Odyssey series by Arthur C Clarke (well, anything by ACC, actually).

The Foundation and Robot series by Isaac Asimov.

Friday by Robert Heinlein, as well as just about anything else he wrote.

Of course... even if I do find most of Clarke a quite tedious read.

If you can find it: "Terra" by Stefano Benni is both fantastic, funny and a thrill-ride of strange environments and people.

Aldous Huxley's "Island" is a down-to-Earth utopia where the science is pretty real (for a 1962 novel).

Philip K. Dick is also worth a read. Mostly because his novels are a better read than the films Hollywood made loads of them into.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Of course... even if I do find most of Clarke a quite tedious read.

 

[trekkiedane]

Of course... even if I do find most of Clarke a quite tedious read.

He keeps repeating lines and generally writes as if he thinks his readers are idiots... but of course that's just my HO.

 

[sojourner]

Of course... even if I do find most of Clarke a quite tedious read.

He keeps repeating lines and generally writes as if he thinks his readers are idiots... but of course that's just my HO.

Well, I think yo Ho needs to take another look!

 

[RichMerk]

The John Grimes series by Bertram Chandler. Space Opera at its best. Follow John all the way from Lieutenant to Commodore to Rim Runner. Bubble helmets and bikini-clad space vixens.

 

[trekkiedane]

Iain Banks (without the middle initial that indicates SciFi) has just released his new novel "Transition".

It sounds a bit like 'fantasy' - I wonder if I should try and see what he makes of that genre...

 

[Davros]

The Deathworld Trilogy by Harry Harrison.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Of course... even if I do find most of Clarke a quite tedious read.

He keeps repeating lines and generally writes as if he thinks his readers are idiots... but of course that's just my HO.

I've never noticed either of those things. In fact, he writes directly to an audience that he assumes to be intelligent and well educated, as most SF writers do.

The John Grimes series by Bertram Chandler. Space Opera at its best. Follow John all the way from Lieutenant to Commodore to Rim Runner. Bubble helmets and bikini-clad space vixens.

I could use a little of that.

 

[Kegg]

Of course... even if I do find most of Clarke a quite tedious read.

He keeps repeating lines and generally writes as if he thinks his readers are idiots... but of course that's just my HO.

Honestly, of the traditional trinity - Clarke, Asimov and Heinlein - I'd consider Clarke easily the best and most readable. Asimov has much better ideas than he has prose, and Heinlein, well, he's a 'where to start' sort of guy.

 

[Australis]

I saw Banks's 'transition' in the bookshop, looks pretty cool.

If you haven't read any Culture novels, let me throw a few Ship names at you (Ships have their own Minds (AIs) and are classed as citizens in their own right, and can so choose their own name):

Nervous Energy
Prosthetic Conscience
No More Mr Nice Guy
Gunboat Diplomat
Just Testing
What Are The Civilian Applications?
Fate Amenable To Change
Shoot Them Later

And some of their chracters are... out there.

 

[Scout101]

I just started reading Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling. I'm really enjoying it.

Another vote for S.M. Stirling books. Most are generally quite fun reads, although with a bit of a pattern to them. All different flavors of alternate history. Island in the Sea of Time is a great book (and a great trilogy if you want to keep going). Takes a small, modern population (island of Nantucket, off of Cape Cod), and drops them into the distant past, as is.

"Dies the Fire" is the first book in another series, but plays off of the same event. This one stays with our world/timeframe, but all technology stops working (also screws with some chemistry, etc so that guns are out of the picture, essentially forcing people to go medieval/old school). Fun survival/rebuilding/end of the world series.

Hard SF?

Ringworld by Larry Niven (and the sequels, if you like the original).

Another good one. Kinda odd in spots, and when you finish the series, you feel like you didn't really scratch the surface of the Ringworld, but that's only because it's so well built up, with all kinds of crazy history and backstory, and unbelievably massive to boot. Also, you get the Kzinti species involved in the story, so there's a Star Trek connection there as well. Although, in actuality, it's because Niven wrote that episode of TAS (Slaver Weapon), so there's plenty of carry over there, with Kzinti, Slavers, and the stasis boxes appearing in both places...

And a push for Hyperion and its sequel.

Hell, i vote for all 4. The Hyperion Cantos is a great example of well-done world building, and split into two books of 2, seperated by a few hundred years. That makes it a little more fun, because you get very into these worlds, and then get to go back to those worlds later and examine the differences after the big changes at the end of the first duology. The first 2 books are set up similarly to Canterbury Tales, with a group of very different people on a pilgrimage, telling their stories of why they are going to Hyperion.

This series won all kinds of awards, and turned me on to Dan Simmons' other works, so I'm a big fan.

 

[TrekkieMonster]

Great thread, with some great suggestions. Thanks, Anthony.

I'm glad someone finally mentioned Dune. If I might suggest to those who haven't read it, though, consider stopping after the original; or maybe the first 3. IMHO, they just go downhill from there, but the original is brilliant!

Also, though I didn't really love the Uplift novels, I really enjoyed David Brin's Earth. It has its quirks, but I liked it.

And since no one else seems to have mentioned it, one of my very favorite "non-scifi scifi" novels of recent times was The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell (the sequel, Children of God is pretty decent, as well.)

Enjoy!

 

[Mistral]

The John Grimes series by Bertram Chandler. Space Opera at its best. Follow John all the way from Lieutenant to Commodore to Rim Runner. Bubble helmets and bikini-clad space vixens.

This is fun. I've been collecting the original First Editions where i can.

The Deathworld Trilogy by Harry Harrison.

Forgot about these-really worth a read. Fascinating concept and excellent resolution. Lots of fun.