SciFi Books

[Jon Miller]

I liked that one too (I like all of Donaldson's stories). Don't feel the need to read it in the near future either (the ending was alright, but I Think I liked the middle best).

Jon Miller

[Kindbud]

How about William Gibson? Burning Chrome is an anthology by Gibson and Bruce Sterling (some of the stories) that would make a great introduction. Neuromancer is Gibson's classic. Yeah, I will be surprised if you haven't read any of Gibson but he wasn't mentioned...

Heinlein wrote a great book called Friday or you could go farther back and look for the Heche saga by Pohl. In that same general time as the Heche books was the Beserker series by Fred Saberhagen. It's been a long time since I read any of those books but I have fond memories. I understand that Saberhagen's Lost Swords series is pretty good but I haven't read any of them...

Hey, let us know what you found and if it was any good. Peace...

[redbaron]

A few others nobody seems to have mentioned.

Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination (aka Tiger!Tiger!), The Demolished Man.

Cordwainer Smith - anything he wrote

Poul Anderson - Tau Zero

Samuel Delany - Dhalgren, Nova, Babel-17

Keith Roberts - Pavane

Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon

Hal Clement - Needle

Lois Bujold - The Vorkosigan series

[Lorizael]

I'm currently reading The Boat of a Million Years - Poul Anderson. He's a good one.

The City and the Stars - Arthur C. Clarke, great book, great author.

[Godraz]

Harry Harrison's Bill the galactic hero series is awesome i recommend it to anyone who enjoys not so hardcore sci-fi.

[Ming]

A few that I don't think have been mentioned yet.

Gordon Dickson (rest his soul)
His Dorsai books are excellent. Plus, he has written many... many stand alone novels worth reading.

If you are into military history...
There is a series written by Eric Flint and David Drake that is a must read.
The Belisarius series: with "An Oblique Approach" being the first book.
It's fast paced, well written, and makes you laugh out loud. Very entertaining.

[Mr. President]

Frank Herbert's Dune is fantastic. The many sequels and prequels I find less so.

If you're intrigued by the prospect of alternate history crossed with science ficiton, try the Worldwar series by Harry Turtledove. They're large books (600 pages plus) but quite fast-moving.

[redbaron]

Originally posted by Ming
The Belisarius series: with "An Oblique Approach" being the first book.
It's fast paced, well written, and makes you laugh out loud. Very entertaining.

You can download the first 3 books in the series (legally) from the Baen Free Library.

http://www.baen.com/library/

[Zoid]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns

I read a book by Peter F Hamilton (The Reality Dysfunction), I hated it intensly after 500 pages...

I have read the entire trilogy, and it has become one of my favourites of all-time. It does get a bit weird at about page 500, but is definately worth sticking with.

I have no problems with the weirdness, I just hate the main characters... Especially Joshua Calvert, the egoistic bastard

I can´t relate to any of the characters in the book, therefore it makes it uninteresting to read. I had the same problem with the books about Ender Wiggins, I didn´t care if the characters lived or died...

[Skanky Burns]

The rest of the trilogy isn't for you then.

[Zoid]

Nope, I actually bought all three books at first, when I put down the first book in disgust I returned the following two to the book store and bought some good ole Pratchett

[Ethelred]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
A few months ago, I re-read Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, the first sci-fi novel to win both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards. It's still a darn good read.

I hated that book. I have never read anther thing from Haldeman.

[Ming]

Originally posted by Ethelred
I hated that book. I have never read anther thing from Haldeman.

Well... many people would disagree with you. There is a good reason why Forever War won the Nebula and Hugo. Now, I would agree that the last book he wrote in that series isn't worth the money

You should try some of his other books. He is both a good poker player, and a good writer. Joe is a nice guy too

[Ethelred]

Originally posted by Ming


Well... many people would disagree with you.

Obviously or it wouldn't have won a Hugo. I still didn't like it. I dislike the, every single human is a clone of two single people idea, so much I couldn't like the novel. I suppose he has written better since. Sure hope so.

Some books I hate for philosphical reasons and The Forever War is one. Just as I hated Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. In both cases I thought humanity lost in the end but I was supposed to pretend that a major tagedy was a triumph of some sort. I can't pretend that hard.

[Ming]

Yeah... different strokes for different folks. I've also hated some of the more acclaimed SF novels. I vote for the Hugos most years... and my selections don't often win (I did vote for The Forever War)