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Post by ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48 on Dec 10, 2019 13:02:27 GMT -5
Another thread got me thinking about this...
What are some Sci Fi (and/or Fantasy) books that you dig? Can be any sub-genre.
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Post by ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48 on Dec 10, 2019 13:04:44 GMT -5
I'll go first:
For the most part I am a Military Sci-Fi junkie... which is probably considered low brow Sci-Fi... but w/e... It scratches my itch.
Authors I have spent entirely too much time either reading or listening to:
David Weber
John Ringo
Jack Campbell
Joshua Dalzelle
Richard Fox
Vaughn Heppner
Marko Kloos
B. V. Larson
The list is prolly longer but that's all I got off the top of my head.
Can get into what I like and don't like about some...
But I have to say that the one that got me into this sub-genre is still my favorite...
David Weber - In Fury Born
This book is a stand alone (although it was a merger of two different books into one) that takes you along for the journey of a young woman that goes from a hopeful Marine to a Galactic force with otherworldly and AI allies. It's got action of all kinds and is one of the few books from Weber that is not overly filled with too much detail. I still read all of his stuff... but I have learned to skip certain sections after the first read. This book is better and keeps the story going.
IMO, YMMV
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Post by Desc440 on Dec 10, 2019 13:12:23 GMT -5
The Eisenhorn/Ravenor series are excellent if you are at all familiar with the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
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Post by T-Town Striker on Dec 10, 2019 13:13:43 GMT -5
Interesting topic as just the other day I was interested in finding a well written modern Novel of outer space travel / adventure. Should be some good replies to original post .
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Post by Phycoshot on Dec 10, 2019 13:16:40 GMT -5
I really like reading sci-fi along with fantasy. Especially if it has some dystopian in it as well.
So far I'm really enjoying
Brandon Sanderson- what can I say with the Reckoners and if you could shove Mistborn in there that too.
Orson Scott Card- this is the author that really got me into sci-fi with Ender's Game, I now own both that series and the Ender's Shadow one, he also wrote the pathfinder series which is an interesting twist of fantasy and sci-fi.
James Dashner-While he is pretty famous for his mazerunner I really enjoyed his eye of minds series more, it's about a VR world and these three kids that start to mess around too much in it.
Those are my favorite, I have read others but these are just the ones that always stand out to me.
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Post by ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48 on Dec 10, 2019 13:27:10 GMT -5
I really like reading sci-fi along with fantasy. Especially if it has some dystopian in it as well. So far I'm really enjoying Brandon Sanderson- what can I say with the Reckoners and if you could shove Mistborn in there that too. Orson Scott Card- this is the author that really got me into sci-fi with Ender's Game, I now own both that series and the Ender's Shadow one, he also wrote the pathfinder series which is an interesting twist of fantasy and sci-fi. James Dashner-While he is pretty famous for his mazerunner I really enjoyed his eye of minds series more, it's about a VR world and these three kids that start to mess around too much in it. Those are my favorite, I have read others but these are just the ones that always stand out to me. At first I was steering clear of Fantasy but 「fluffernutter」 it... you brought Sanderson into this lol.
I like a LOT of his stuff... but damn if I am not blown away by The Way of Kings. So much character growth and a pretty damned epic world building timeline... just really good stuff.
OSC is definitely one I should add to my list... great author as well.
And Hell, Starship Troopers, the book moreso than the movies, although I still like the first one, is another favorite.
Oh, only one book by this guy, but Armor by John Steakly is another outstanding read. It has some elements that seem to make it a Starship Troopers clone on the surface (bugs and all)... but it's not... at all. Great book and I wish he had written more.
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Post by Phycoshot on Dec 10, 2019 13:31:57 GMT -5
I really like reading sci-fi along with fantasy. Especially if it has some dystopian in it as well. So far I'm really enjoying Brandon Sanderson- what can I say with the Reckoners and if you could shove Mistborn in there that too. Orson Scott Card- this is the author that really got me into sci-fi with Ender's Game, I now own both that series and the Ender's Shadow one, he also wrote the pathfinder series which is an interesting twist of fantasy and sci-fi. James Dashner-While he is pretty famous for his mazerunner I really enjoyed his eye of minds series more, it's about a VR world and these three kids that start to mess around too much in it. Those are my favorite, I have read others but these are just the ones that always stand out to me. At first I was steering clear of Fantasy but ?fluffernutter? it... you brought Sanderson into this lol.
I like a LOT of his stuff... but damn if I am not blown away by The Way of Kings. So much character growth and a pretty damned epic world building timeline... just really good stuff.
OSC is definitely one I should add to my list... great author as well.
And Hell, Starship Troopers, the book moreso than the movies, although I still like the first one, is another favorite.
Oh, only one book by this guy, but Armor by John Steakly is another outstanding read. It has some elements that seem to make it a Starship Troopers clone on the surface (bugs and all)... but it's not... at all. Great book and I wish he had written more.
I'm really gonna have to check all these boos out once I finish the Wheel of Time, Sanderson will always be where the books are lol |
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Post by ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48 on Dec 10, 2019 13:38:27 GMT -5
At first I was steering clear of Fantasy but ?fluffernutter? it... you brought Sanderson into this lol.
I like a LOT of his stuff... but damn if I am not blown away by The Way of Kings. So much character growth and a pretty damned epic world building timeline... just really good stuff.
OSC is definitely one I should add to my list... great author as well.
And Hell, Starship Troopers, the book moreso than the movies, although I still like the first one, is another favorite.
Oh, only one book by this guy, but Armor by John Steakly is another outstanding read. It has some elements that seem to make it a Starship Troopers clone on the surface (bugs and all)... but it's not... at all. Great book and I wish he had written more.
I'm really gonna have to check all these boos out once I finish the Wheel of Time, Sanderson will always be where the books are lol Yes he will lol.
I think he did a great job on finishing that series out. You could just tell it was not Mr Jordan, but only "just". I do wish that Jordan had made it through to the end of that series and beyond (some Age of Legends books would have been killer) but Brandon did the best he could with someone else's story, and in my opinion, wrapped it up as well as it could have been by anyone OTHER than RJ.
The Way of Kings, and it's following books, is along the same epicness, btw... LONG books and I would guess he's going to write at least 6 of them... if not more.
BTW... I think the series is The Stormlight Archives and The Way of Kings is just the first book. My bad...
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Post by Phycoshot on Dec 10, 2019 13:42:56 GMT -5
I'm really gonna have to check all these boos out once I finish the Wheel of Time, Sanderson will always be where the books are lol Yes he will lol.
I think he did a great job on finishing that series out. You could just tell it was not Mr Jordan, but only "just". I do wish that Jordan had made it through to the end of that series and beyond (some Age of Legends books would have been killer) but Brandon did the best he could with someone else's story, and in my opinion, wrapped it up as well as it could have been by anyone OTHER than RJ.
The Way of Kings, and it's following books, is along the same epicness, btw... LONG books and I would guess he's going to write at least 6 of them... if not more.
BTW... I think the series is The Stormlight Archives and The Way of Kings is just the first book. My bad...
Thanks, I've seen the stormlight archives but haven;t read them yet. And yeah I wonder what it would have been like if Jordan had actually finished the series |
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Post by Koalabear on Dec 10, 2019 15:06:19 GMT -5
I used to read a lot of SciFi fantasy. I think the last epic fantasy I read was Game of Thrones, but then the books took so long to come out that I eventually lost interest. Then, the show came on and it was faster/easier to watch the show. More eye candy too! The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan was amazing. But, the books came so slow, and then Robert Jordan passed, that I never finished it. I think I only ever got to book 9 of that series. While growing up, I loved reading David Eddings and Pier Anthony (well, until Piers Anthony started getting weirdly obsessed with girls underpants). As I got older, I really got into David Gemmel books. He has this fantastical way of writing epic fantasy in such a way that it's easy reading without too much heavy descriptions. His Jerusalem Man books are the basis of the Dark Tower by Stephen King (or maybe it's the other way around), but I much prefer Jerusalem Man over the Gunslinger. In terms of SciFi, I really like David Weber, but not John Ringo for some reason. I guess maybe I find John Ringo a little too militaristically heavy. The Honor Harrington books is one of my fave SF series. But, I also found that the later books got pretty heavy and started to focus on other characters rather than the lead character - which I didn't like. Other than that, I really liked the Mechwarrior books - especially the ones written by Michael Stackpole. He does SciFi better than fantasy. Oh, and in case anyone liked that movie Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, you have to look for an epub of this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Kill. That is the basis of the movie, and IMO, is much better. For one thing, you don't get a hollywood ending like the movie. The book is raw and emotionally powerful in some ways. |
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Post by Koalabear on Dec 10, 2019 15:11:56 GMT -5
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Post by Koalabear on Dec 10, 2019 15:15:52 GMT -5
Ok, slightly off topic, but those of you who have Netflix, you've gotta watch Altered Carbon and Love, Death and Robots.
Altered Carbon is based off a book. I went and read the book after watching the series, and honestly, the series blows the book away. That's pretty rare. The author had a very good premise, but the show's producers did a much better job I think in capturing the environment, atmosphere and emotional impacts.
Love, Death and Robots is basically a series of short CG films...but man oh man, some will blow your mind in how much story can be packed into a short film!
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Post by 乃ㄥ卂乙 on Dec 10, 2019 15:30:28 GMT -5
Ok, slightly off topic, but those of you who have Netflix, you've gotta watch Altered Carbon and Love, Death and Robots. Altered Carbon is based off a book. I went and read the book after watching the series, and honestly, the series blows the book away. That's pretty rare. The author had a very good premise, but the show's producers did a much better job I think in capturing the environment, atmosphere and emotional impacts. Love, Death and Robots is basically a series of short CG films...but man oh man, some will blow your mind in how much story can be packed into a short film! That space jump story was scary, and that foxy lady droid story was so disturbing... Talking cats were funny lol. Overall I liked love, death and robots |
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Post by Replicant on Dec 10, 2019 15:30:47 GMT -5
John Scalzi is pretty enjoyable. The God Engines is short and sweet. Old Man's War universe is interesting with a minimum of hand-wavium. Earlier books are better, but not by much. The Android's Dream was fun. For serious Space Opera, The Hyperion Cantos (four books) by Dan Simmons is pretty much my favorite. The Illium/Olympos cycle has a similar feel. Both draw heavily from classics; giving Lit. Majors an additional level on which to enjoy the story. The books are well written though. You won't miss Keats if you're not familar with him. I should probably include Peter F. Hamilton. I like his books, but he tends towards God-in-the-machine endings.
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Post by ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48 on Dec 10, 2019 17:52:25 GMT -5
I used to read a lot of SciFi fantasy. I think the last epic fantasy I read was Game of Thrones, but then the books took so long to come out that I eventually lost interest. Then, the show came on and it was faster/easier to watch the show. More eye candy too! Yeah I was pretty dismayed by how far from the books took the story, but over all was pleased up until they ruined it with Season 8. Freaking travesty in my opinion. It made me not even want to re-watch the rest whereas I usually will keep going back to a series that I get into like that (Jericho is one of those... I wish they would have kept it going a few more seasons... ah well... season 1 is great and I really enjoyed it)The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan was amazing. But, the books came so slow, and then Robert Jordan passed, that I never finished it. I think I only ever got to book 9 of that series. While growing up, I loved reading David Eddings and Pier Anthony (well, until Piers Anthony started getting weirdly obsessed with girls underpants). As I got older, I really got into David Gemmel books. He has this fantastical way of writing epic fantasy in such a way that it's easy reading without too much heavy descriptions. His Jerusalem Man books are the basis of the Dark Tower by Stephen King (or maybe it's the other way around), but I much prefer Jerusalem Man over the Gunslinger. You should definitely give TWoT another go... it's one that will always be in my repeat list. I'm definitely going to get Jerusalem Man... I really dug The Dark Tower.In terms of SciFi, I really like David Weber, but not John Ringo for some reason. I guess maybe I find John Ringo a little too militaristically heavy. The Honor Harrington books is one of my fave SF series. But, I also found that the later books got pretty heavy and started to focus on other characters rather than the lead character - which I didn't like. Truth, but I get what he was going for... sweeping view of the story from more than one PoV... but yeah. Other than that, I really liked the Mechwarrior books - especially the ones written by Michael Stackpole. He does SciFi better than fantasy. IDK why I have never looked into these with my Mech obsession... but I intend to.Oh, and in case anyone liked that movie Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, you have to look for an epub of this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Kill. Wasn't this a Manga to begin with? Or something along those lines? Anyway, I will check it out.That is the basis of the movie, and IMO, is much better. For one thing, you don't get a hollywood ending like the movie. The book is raw and emotionally powerful in some ways.Man, I can go on forever! I sometimes wish I could get back into reading these days, but I just don't seem to have the patience anymore. Audible. I have been collecting all my old stuff and any new stuff I think is interesting through Audible as it's the only way I can "read" a recreational book nowadays. Great for walks or drives or whatever. If it's an old book I like it better than music as background noise, if it's a new book I can listen to it whenever I get a chance instead of those long nights of page turning that end up never ending... "just one more chapter!"
Some decent "Audible Originals" from various authors exist there, as well. I'm telling you... it's more than worth it!
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Post by ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48 on Dec 10, 2019 17:54:06 GMT -5
John Scalzi is pretty enjoyable. I've heard of him... is on my "to read" list. The God Engines is short and sweet. Old Man's War universe is interesting with a minimum of hand-wavium. Earlier books are better, but not by much. The Android's Dream was fun. For serious Space Opera, The Hyperion Cantos (four books) by Dan Simmons is pretty much my favorite. The Illium/Olympos cycle has a similar feel. Both draw heavily from classics; giving ?millenial nonsense word?. Majors an additional level on which to enjoy the story. The books are well written though. You won't miss Keats if you're not familar with him. I should probably include Peter F. Hamilton. I like his books, but he tends towards God-in-the-machine endings. Will definitely check out these suggestions... cheers! |
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Post by Ⓑⓞⓑ Ⓓⓨⓛⓐⓝ on Dec 10, 2019 17:56:26 GMT -5
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Post by Replicant on Dec 10, 2019 21:10:23 GMT -5
John Scalzi is pretty enjoyable. I've heard of him... is on my "to read" list. The God Engines is short and sweet. Old Man's War universe is interesting with a minimum of hand-wavium. Earlier books are better, but not by much. The Android's Dream was fun. For serious Space Opera, The Hyperion Cantos (four books) by Dan Simmons is pretty much my favorite. The Illium/Olympos cycle has a similar feel. Both draw heavily from classics; giving ?millenial nonsense word?. Majors an additional level on which to enjoy the story. The books are well written though. You won't miss Keats if you're not familar with him. I should probably include Peter F. Hamilton. I like his books, but he tends towards God-in-the-machine endings. Will definitely check out these suggestions... cheers! Why the hell was the abbreviation for the name of the Major where you study literature replaced with ?millenial nonsense word?? |
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Post by runamok on Dec 10, 2019 21:20:58 GMT -5
James S A Corey for the Expanse books. Really good reads. If you've watched the TV show, the books are better imo.
Anthony J Melchiorri for The Tide series, zombie apocalypse
Michael Stephen hs fro Arisen, also zombie
A J Dalton is another good read for various books. Definitely an odd sense of humour, so it depends on the reader to some extent. Oh, mataphysical fantasy, or to me, simply fantasy fiction.
Terry Pratchett for his guards series of books, although Mort and others are just as good.
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Post by Browncoats4ever on Dec 10, 2019 21:25:21 GMT -5
I'm more into the Fantasy side:
Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
David Eddings
R.A. Salvatore
Terry Goodkind
and of course,
J.R.R. Tolkien
Hyperion by Dan Simmons was good too.
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Post by runamok on Dec 10, 2019 21:37:22 GMT -5
I'm more into the Fantasy side: Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman David Eddings R.A. Salvatore Terry Goodkind and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien Hyperion by Dan Simmons was good too. Goodkind was good when he started out, then the books just started to drag on.
Eddings did the Belgariad, didn't he? One of the granddads of fantasy fiction.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2019 21:38:07 GMT -5
Dune series by Frank Herbert. Ignore the junk that his son created.
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Post by Browncoats4ever on Dec 10, 2019 21:52:12 GMT -5
I'm more into the Fantasy side: Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman David Eddings R.A. Salvatore Terry Goodkind and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien Hyperion by Dan Simmons was good too. Goodkind was good when he started out, then the books just started to drag on.
Eddings did the Belgariad, didn't he? One of the granddads of fantasy fiction.
Yes, Eddings wrote the Belgariad. I've read all of his novels, even High Hunt.
I just started reading Goodkind (I've read 4 of his novels). I was a bit wary of beginning because his books were so long. |
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Post by Pulse Hadron on Dec 10, 2019 22:05:10 GMT -5
I enjoy the Sci-Fi classics, pretty much anything by Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. Haven’?t read him but my brother raves about Robert Heinlein..
Not as much into fantasy but again I like the classics: Ray Bradbury. Kurt Vonnegut, Phillip K. Di ck.
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Post by Replicant on Dec 10, 2019 23:16:16 GMT -5
<snip> The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan was amazing. But, the books came so slow, and then Robert Jordan passed, that I never finished it. I think I only ever got to book 9 of that series. <snip> I walked the same road. Wheel of Time really ticked me off though. The first book was great. After that it just dragged. The books were (as you said) slow to publish, and the plot made little progress considering the volume of dead trees involved. What finally did me in was the perfunctory way in which Rand cleansed the taint. After that I sold all my hardbacks and moved on. Eddings and Gemmell were much more enjoyable. |
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Post by schrotter on Dec 11, 2019 0:38:48 GMT -5
Another thread got me thinking about this...
What are some Sci Fi (and/or Fantasy) books that you dig? Can be any sub-genre.
OMG this is pure gold. ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48 thank you for taking the lead and starting this thread. Here one of my all time favorites: The Night’s Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton Epic, coherent, no lose ends and utterly awesome! |
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Post by grumpyking on Dec 11, 2019 1:25:58 GMT -5
I liked 'The Kingkiller Chronicles' by Patrick Rothfuss. Despite the fact that the third part of this trilogy is never to be written.
Glen Cook with his 'The Black Company' is a series I've read several times.
Terry Pratchett and his discworld stories are always great.
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Post by Phycoshot on Dec 11, 2019 2:29:40 GMT -5
Ooh, I see fantasy was added to the title
I really have enjoyed The Tapestry series by Henry H. Neff, really entertaining with strange creature and incorporates Irish mythology into the mix, although the last book in only available as an ebook
There are some of the classics like Narnia which are always great to read
There is of course Tolkien, can never forget him with some such as The Children of Hurin
There is Angie Sage's Septimus Heap series which are chock full of magic
And then there is an author that I like to read, Brandon Mull, he wrote series like beyonders and fablehaven that I really like
A more horrific series is The Last Apprentice which is basically medieval ghost busters
My favorite author however has been Chris D'Lacey simply because of his Last Dragon Chronicles-I mean clay dragons that come come to life?
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Post by Moosi on Dec 11, 2019 4:33:52 GMT -5
Phillip K. Di ck. Really got me thinking. Him and G J Ballard. Depressing as hell, both of them, though.
But my escape is usually to the past, and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series is nothing short of amazing. C J Sansom's Shardlake novels are great as well.
A bit off topic, just finished Submission by Michel Houellebecq. An important book IMO. I have friend who was a coworker, and we used to exchange books and talk about them at lunch no holds barred (PC is banned). Our lunch mates were going crazy about it (complaining, but always joining in, we could have sold tickets...). He recently got fired - no fault of his, company downsizing - and we still meet every week to exchange books and talk them over. The idea is, it can be any kind of book, children's book, whatever, as long as something in it got you seriously thinking. Submission is on its way to him.
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Post by Koalabear on Dec 11, 2019 7:41:04 GMT -5
For some great light hearted laughs, I love Robert Asprin's Another Fine Myth and Phule's Company series!
Oh, and who can forget the Taltos saga by Steven Brust!
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