Sci-fi novel recommendation thread

[Dracon II]

After a long, long period of non-fiction consumption... I found myself walking out of borders with P.K. Dick's "The Simulacra" and Gibson's "Neuromancer", wondering.... "how did these get in my bag? And what happened to that 50 dollar note I had????"

My subconscious was evidently trying to tell me something.... that or Borders were playing subliminal messages beneath the background music in the store.

Well, The Simulacra was weird, but good... and Neuromancer was terrific... and I'm hooked back on good fantasy/sci-fi... it's just, I've forgotten what's good!!

If anyone can recommend some really good stuff, I would be eternally grateful!

[JohnT]

Communist? Science Fiction?

You could do worse than Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars.

[Q Classic]

Has anybody read Altered Carbon? I'm curious about it.

Also, I found myself liking Starfish. It's premise:
The future is anarcho-capitalist, and has a severe energy crisis. To wean themselves off the world's foremost economic power, Quebec (They dammed up the Hudson Bay), the rest of North America starts building geothermal colonies undersea in the rifts. They send people to work undersea with lots of modifications, enabling them to breathe, swim, see, and what not underwater without needing suits. It's also found that the people best suited for work there are those who are psychologically damaged: sociopaths, abuse victims, and so on. We watch some of these people at Beebe station: a murderer, a child abuse victim, a molester... and things get worse from there.

[rah]

The Mars books seemed to peter out after awhile. I liked the first one but they seemed to get progressively more tedioius as you went on.

Lucifer's Hammer is always a classic. You'll never want to surf again.

A mote in God's eye is another.

I could list a few hundred good ones

[Zoid]

I have recently read all the novels (except the last one) by Alastair Reynolds, stunningly good sf IMO. My favourite is "Chasm City" with it´s mix of sf, cyber punk and mysterious detective story.

Arthur C Clarkes "Collected Stories" is also quite good.

And is it just me or is a well known and loved Sid game a blatant rip off of KS Robinsons Mars trilogy?

[St Leo]

Try Greg Egan's Distress. It's commie, Aussie, and scifi.

[-Jrabbit]

Recently, I discovered Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Gibsonesque, but jazzier. Very, very good.

Two long-time faves I always recommend:

Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward.
The Morphodite by M. A. Foster

[Adrian Hon]

Two great books by Neal Stephenson (already recommended by the Rabbit) are Cryptonomicon and The Diamond Age. Crypto is a huge, sprawling, very fun book that is set during WW2 and the present day, so is not SF in the strictest sense (but certainly retains SF sensibilities), while The Diamond Age is more straightforward SF but wonderfully written and a great story.

Possibly the best space opera novel of recent years is A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge - intelligent, gripping, but likable and easy to read.

[St Leo]

Originally posted by Kamrat X
And is it just me or is KS Robinsons Mars trilogy a blatant rip off of a well known and loved Sid game?

Technically, the chronological sequence of publication would suggest the opposite.

[St Leo]

My website has my personal Top Ten. Not too dated yet.

1. The Scar 2003 China Miéville Steampunk Fantasy
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Five Parts 1979 Douglas Adams Comic SF
3. Diaspora 1997 Greg Egan Hard SF
4. Deadhouse Gates 2000 Steven Erikson High Fantasy
5. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass 1865 Lewis Carroll Fantasy
6. Distress 1995 Greg Egan Hard SF
7. Red Mars 1993 Kim Stanley Robinson Hard SF
8. Foundation 1951 Isaac Asimov Soft SF
9. Grunts 1992 Mary Gentle Comic Fantasy
10. Ringworld 1970 Larry Niven Hard SF

[self biased]

asimov's foundation series.
saturn's race, by larry niven.

[Zkribbler]

Am I the only person here who thinks Asimov's Foundation series is absolutely abysmal?

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is superb.

[Aabraxan]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is superb.

Agreed. Ender's Game is on my short list of favorites. Also check out Eragon by Christopher Paulini (which, I realize, is fantasy rather than sci-fi). And, of course, Dune by Frank Herbert.

[-Jrabbit]

I am a long-time disser of the Foundation trilogy, Zkribb. Never could figure out what ppl see in it.

[Zoid]

Originally posted by St Leo

Originally posted by Kamrat X
And is it just me or is KS Robinsons Mars trilogy a blatant rip off of a well known and loved Sid game?

Technically, the chronological sequence of publication would suggest the opposite.

As you might have noticed I changed the question around after checking the publication date.