Recommend to me some decent Sci-Fi novels please..

Post Reply New Topic

I thought the film was a turkey. I dont know how anyone who watched the tv series could like the film. It was like a second-rate abridged version, a completely pointless remake (other than to make money).
The books are very enjoyable.

I hated the new film too, not because it was a bad film but because it just completely wasn't Hitch Hiker's. They'd replaced all the wit with slapstick, and bad slapstick at that, in my opinion. But I liked the opening, up to where the Earth was destroyed, and especially the demolition sequence. But it wasn't Douglas Adams at all. The old series may have been wobbly sets and dodgy effects but was much better even so (think of the success of Doctor Who!). And the actors actually gave witty performances there.

My favorite sci-fi novels are:
"Timescape" by Gregory Benford
"Agent of Chaos" by Norman Spinrad
"The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. LeGuin
"Dune" by Frank Herbert
"Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein
"Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov

Lord of Light - by Roger Zelazny
Kingdoms of the Wall - by Robert Silverberg
1984 - need I say?
Paradise - by Mike Resnick
Ender's Game - by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game is a must.

the Chanur novels by C.J. Cherryh, may be out of print

Anything by David Weber (military, definitely military)

Anything by David Brin, especially the Mars trilogy

Anything by Vernor Vinge

it's my favorite ! !!

Yes, I met Zelazny a few years before he died and I personally thanked him for Lord of Light. He was a really nice guy.

I grew up on the ABC's

Asimov
Bradbury
Clarke

Of the three the only one I really like now is Clarke.

There are some brilliant new writers out there now, try:

Wil McCarthy: start with "The Collapsium"
Robert J Sawyer
Greg Benford

i read about him only once on a website,
i'm probably a little jalous that you've met him, well it's too late anyway so...
wauw great you've met him !


it occurs to me that i encounter much more of my favorite actors, writers, musicians, etc here on Wrongplanet than in any conversation with others in RL

Yes, it was in 1991 at a smallish comic convention. I worked for Diamond Comic Distributors and had to drop off a load of something to one of the dealers. I carried the boxes in just as they were setting up, after dropping them off I noticed a guy at the next table, the sign said Guest of Honour - Roger Zelazny. He was just getting set up and I said "Wow! Roger Zelazny!!" Shook his hand and said I really loved Lord of Light! He chuckled and said thank you with a twinkle in his eye. The con organizers were giving me dirty looks so I had to beat a hasty retreat.

Some of my favorites.

Stranger In a Strange Land- Heinlein...can't say enough about it. All time favorite.
The Martian Tales Trilogy- Edgar Rice Burroughs...that's going waaay back. It's pretty hard to find in a store. Pulp Fiction...major influence on Heinlein.
Foundation Series- Asimov
The Number of the Beast- Heinlein...many of his fans hate this one, but it has good fluid motion. Some of his other stuff can drag a little. Pretty much his farewell to many of his previous characters and his homage to pulp fiction(the primaries are named after Burroughs characters).

Newer stuff...
Anything Neil Gaiman...especially being Aspies. Gaiman is a master at creating new worlds and many of his stories include multiple worlds bridged together. If anything, at least read some Sandman. You can't go wrong with the King of Dreams.

It's not a book...but there's a band called Coheed and Cambria. All of their albums are based on an amazing, gripping sci-fi story. There are a couple comic books and a graphic novel to go with some of it, with more on the way.

how about dune didn't like the sequel much though

um Gor series is good sort of a sword and spaceship type petters out though around the fith novel

Starship troopers: Robert Heinlein.

What it means to be a citizen

Flow My Tears is one of the best books I've ever read. It was amazing and I read it from cover to cover in one day.

this is where I find most of my sci-fi reading, most of the selections on this site are great!
http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes ... rank1.html

I've recently been reading Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, and for me that is probably the best novel I've read in many years, I think he's my new favorite author!

I'm a pretty big Asimov freak too!

right now, i am really obsessed weith neal asher who has been mentioned in this thread before.
as said, ""gridlinked" is a good book to start (because its the first of a longer -still unfinished- story arc), as is "the skinner" (which also got a sequel) - they both play in the same universe, too.
his writing is very refreshing to me. its flashy, lots of action, cool ideas, meticulously thought out biosystems... and after every page you think he possibly cant destroy something larger, and it continues with even more blam and boom. its really fun.

who doesnt write science fiction but still is very enjoyable fantasy-meets-steampunk is china mieville. his books are a bit deeper and go beyond the tolkienesque clichees of race-based war, which is nice for a change.
the first book in the so-called new crobuzon arc is "perdido street station", which is really great. one of my favorites... its sequel is "the scar". the third book in the series is "the iron council", which should be read when you liked the preceding two pictures. however, his extremely left-wing background shines through a bit much in this one. not much of an issue but he handled that a bit more subtle in the first books. still, a great read and totally worth its bucks.

a really weird read, but strangely enjoyable to me was "light" by m. john harrison. not much to say, except that it is quite freaky. and odd.