Reading Science Fiction

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Does anyone else here read a lot of science fiction? What are your favourite books, authors and series?

I've been on a fantasy binge recently, but I'd like to get back to SF a bit more. I read Chris Beckett's "Dark Eden" trilogy last year, a great piece of sociological SF set on a sunless world with bioluminescent, geothermal trees. More recently, various Doctor Who spin-off novels as comfort reading during Pandemic C19.

I don't read a lot of sci-fi, but for awhile I've had the idea of taking some elements from sci-fi but imposing them into a early modern tech level fantasy setting; in some ways imagine the mirror opposite of Star Wars where you have a great, magical world that is just starting to be understood in a more scientific manner (instead of super advanced tech but ultimately understood from a more fantasy perspective like Star Wars is).

I guess in some ways you might be able to compare it to pop understandings of WWII, where there's a big epic 'battle for society' going on, but it was won largely through scientific development and advancement.

I have to admit that now I just watch the movie, but I was an avid reader of sci-fi until I was in my 20s. I still download and reread some of my old favs on occasion. You can get a find a lot of early sci-fi at:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=sci%20fi

Currently rereading John Wyndham. Also like HG Wells, Spider Robinson, Ray Bradbury, Anne McCaffrey, Edgar Rice Burroughs, etc.

I read Omni Magazine religiously.

https://archive.org/search.php?query=omni%20%20%20%20%20%20%20magazine

Last edited by I love belko61 on 27 May 2020, 11:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Science fiction is the main type of fiction I read.

My favorite sci-fi novel is The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (my favorite author). Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis is my second favorite. Wells' other sci-fi novels and short stories are also quite good, largely because of the superior writing.

Children of Time by Adrian? Tchaikovsky was very good (albeit a bit disturbing). The sequel was less believable, less moving, and more dull/plodding, but the beginning was good.

The Jurassic Park novels were decent (good action but mediocre writing), but they're maybe more action/adventure than science fiction.

Others I enjoyed were Michael Moorcock, George Orwell, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, John Norman (fantasy), Robin Cook (medical), Kurt Vonnegut. I've heard Ursula K. Le Guin is very good but I haven't read her work.

^I like Le Guin- she's something a bit different. More quiet and contemplative than most SF. "The Left Hand of Darkness" is a good one by her.

^^I've read "Children of Time," but not the sequel. Will lower my expectations slightly!

^^^I get the impression there's a lot of interest in merging SF and Fantasy right now, so you could be onto something there.

I appear to have a whole shelf of Charles Stross. I went off him a bit, as later books in "The Laundry Files" were so-so, but he's a great ideas man. Knows a hell of a lot, and is good at mashing together different genres and ideas.

I don’t read SF as much as I used to. Left Hand of Darkness was a great one. I’m a fan of Octavia Butler. Early Asimov was excellent.

I will try some of the ones mentioned here.

I don't think that I have read anything published later than the mid 80's

I very much like most of the work of Philip Jose Farmer - I read his superb Riverworld series every couple of years.

Jack Vance is also a favourite and I particularly like his focus on sociological themes.

In a more traditional sense I sometimes revisit Azimov and John Wyndham (his anthology of short stories "The Seeds Of Time' is great)

I figured they were basically sci-fi set in the present.

I used to read a lot of sci fi, too, but I don't have much time to enjoy it nowadays.
I've started 'Children of Time' but only about a quarter in.
I'm very fond of the Murderbot stories by Martha Wells (mainly because I can empathise with the Secunit - who is essentially autistic).

I don't read Science fiction like I used to, being almost strictly a horror fiction guy these days. But I had enjoyed Frank Herbert's, Dune, E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series, and stuff by Alan Dean Foster.

Not sure if this counts as sci-fi, but Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite books and am reading another one of his works called The Big Trip Up Yonder.

Cat's Cradle (also by Vonnegut)

The Island Of Doctor Moreau by HG Wells

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Animal Farm by George Orwell

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Firestarter (also by Stephen King)

Oh, I'd forgotten all about this series! Yes, it's excellent, and the best part is that it's written from the perspective of a cyborg. I wouldn't call him/it autistic because he's not fully human.

Not nearly the degree of philosophical/speculative sci-fi I'm seeing here (which is awesome, I'm taking notes for future reading) - but, I am currently on the fourth book in The Expanse series (book is titled Cibola Burn) by James S.A. Corey (actually 2 authors), which is a series I really enjoy. It's much more space exploration/thriller sci-fi, although I would consider elements of it to be speculative like other genre staples. I think the series is a very nuanced look at a potential future for humanity, set in a time where we have already colonized in a few different locations in space - the authors explore the potential for cultural and physical differences that would naturally arise from living at certain locations, which I find interesting. There's also a bit of a horror element to them, although not extreme, but exciting nonetheless. The books are written with a variety of perspectives as they go on which I find really refreshing to read. I know there's a show for the series that's ongoing but I refuse to watch it until I'm through with the books.

Also, I noticed Martha Wells's Murderbot series referenced above, and I have read the first one of those so I think I need to pick up the remaining novellas since I always hear good things about them.

For me philosophical/speculative sci-fi is the best kind. My favorite book/movie is 2001: A Space Odyssey. I saw an earlier post in this thread that was mainly dystopias. I don't consider most of the famous dystopias science fiction because there's not much science in them. I've read a few of them and while they all describe possible futures there's little in them that talks about technological progress or discoveries. Those books are exceptions to what I usually read however. My favorite genre is optimistic science fiction. Seeing the good things people have envisioned for the future is wonderful, especially in times like these. 2001 has an insane computer in it but the world it describes is wonderfully optimistic. It's one of the few times I've encountered a fictional world I'd rather live in than this one.

I 100% concur on optimistic science fiction! It may be naivete but I certainly prefer to imagine a future in which things ultimately work out for the best. 2001 is one of my all-time favorite movies as well, and I was lucky enough to see it in a limited showing at a theater last year which was an awesome experience. I have had the book on my reading list for a long time but never have read through it in its entirety so this may be the push I need to start! I don't want to sound like a parrot, but at risk of just rehashing your points, I have a similar view to you in regards to dystopian fiction as well - I think it depends mostly on socio-political pessimism and does not explore the hope for a brighter and more advanced future (from my experience, the genre often displays a sort of regression of technology, discovery, and knowledge if anything, but my experience is somewhat limited). Although, I do love the mixing of themes with the so-called 'space western,' and am a fan of Cowboy Bebop and Firefly (tv shows, not books) but I love the technological setting of easy space travel with the somewhat familiar genre of the western.