Recommend a science fiction book

[JackARoot 2]

I just finished the latest in The Laundry series by Charles Stross. Pretty good, so what's next?

[Chronic Husker 85]

tek-war

[Bruce Benedict 0]

What have you liked in the past?

[edjr 5,567]

Decision Points: George W. Bush

[JackARoot 2]

What have you liked in the past?

Heinlein

Saberhagen - Berserker

RR Martin

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

 

to name a few...

[Blitzen 0]

Timescape by Greg Benford

 

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

 

If you haven't read the Foundation series by Asimov, that's a must

 

Flashforward by Robert Sawyer (enjoy most of his stuff)

 

Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson (ditto)

 

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - this one is definitely different...Jesuits and first contact

[southcarolina 166]

I dont read a lot of straight up sci-fi ( im more of an epic fantasy reader myself) and its been awhile since i read them, but i remember liking Stephen R Donaldson's The Gap series. The first book is The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story.

 

 

 

 

 

Tad Williams Otherland series is science fictiony, but not in the "spaceships and laser guns" kind of way. But it is one of my all time favorite series of books. Its huge and sprawling has like a billionty million characters, but i loved it

[Bruce Benedict 0]

Heinlein

Saberhagen - Berserker

RR Martin

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

 

to name a few...

Anything and everything by Alfred Bester. His one-man standing against evil bureaucratic odds themes will drive any fan of Heinlein or RPO wild. Plus, his stuff is genuinely classic. Start with The Stars My Destination or The Demolished Man.

 

Philip K. D1ck will probably also spin the wheels of anyone with that list of likes. He's got some of that same individual-man-versus-faceless-collective thing going beneath the surface, but his stories are a little more carefully crafted to evoke a slowly building tension. There's a reason everything the guy wrote eventually turns into a Hollywood blockbuster fifty years later. Just read the back or reviews before you choose one, because he has a few groups of books that are "unofficial trilogies," which you'd regret reading out of order. People seem to like Ubik a lot. I like all of his, so go with the crowd on this.

 

The Richard K. Morgan stuff might appeal to you, if you like that dark-futurey Ernest Cline stuff. Start with Altered Carbon. Probably the most decorated hard-boiled SF mystery evah. Also a little more modern than the other two suggestions, so if you like your SF more "up to date," in terms of technological potential, it would probably do the trick.

 

And I can't imagine anyone who liked RPO not liking Snow Crash. It's pretty much the book that launched the immersive MMORPG genre. Really edgy and fast, with an interesting take on the corporatization of the near future, and the ways people attempt to escape from it. Comes with the caveat that if you're REALLY hardcore into the...uh...political aspects of the Heinlein stuff, Stephenson's politics from that era may irk you a bit. Both guys are pretty heavy individualist/libertarian, but Heinlein pretty clearly gets there via the right, and early Stephenson rings a lot more left. But if you liked the way Stross uses language, you'd probably like Neal.

[Bruce Benedict 0]

Timescape by Greg Benford

 

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

 

If you haven't read the Foundation series by Asimov, that's a must

 

Flashforward by Robert Sawyer (enjoy most of his stuff)

 

Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson (ditto)

 

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - this one is definitely different...Jesuits and first contact

 

And this.

[posty 2,296]

tek-war

 

Don't know if you are serious or not, but I liked the series that Shatner wrote...

[NorthernVike 2,080]

The Quran

[Franknbeans 46]

Dianetics

[OldMaid 1,838]

The Quran

The Bible would have been a good choice, too.

[TimmySmith 2,782]

Tad Williams Otherland series is science fictiony, but not in the "spaceships and laser guns" kind of way. But it is one of my all time favorite series of books. Its huge and sprawling has like a billionty million characters, but i loved it

I read the first 3 of this series and really liked it. But each book was getting more and more campy and complicated. The best thing about it, IMO, was his take on the not too distant future. Very possible.

[Greedo 13]

Decision Points: George W. Bush

 

 

If you haven't read the Foundation series by Asimov, that's a must

 

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - this one is definitely different...Jesuits and first contact

 

See above - the Sparrow particularly is fantastic.

 

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is great - I like the other novels in the series less.

 

Anything by Piers Anthony is great - Bio of a Space Tyrant doesn't translate as well as it

did during the Cold War, but still pretty good.

 

Contact is a great novel as well.

[naomi 343]

Bible wise...since there are supernatural events covered, it certainly makes sense to me that someone who excludes supernatural from the realm of possible would necessarily regard it as science fiction.

 

In addition to those narratives though, there's also real natural insights in the bible. There are statements about the physical characteristic of the earth, life on it, and matter/phenomena in space that were mysterious sounding at the time of writing that we understand now (many of them not until the 20th century), and some that are still mysterious while communicated in the same manner (the statements don't follow metaphorical language structure) as the others. From a bible honoring perspective, it's funny/sad because you're suspecting that there's untapped insight, left by the wayside because of human pride/impressionability fueled aversion to it.

[JackARoot 2]

Bible wise...since there are supernatural events covered, it certainly makes sense to me that someone who excludes supernatural from the realm of possible would necessarily regard it as science fiction.

 

In addition to those narratives though, there's also real scientific insights in the bible. There are statements that were mysterious sounding at the time of writing that we understand now (many of them not until the late 20th century) and some that are still mysterious that are communicated in the same manner (the statements don't follow metaphorical language structure) as the others. From a bible honoring perspective, it's funny/sad because you're suspecting that there's untapped insight, left by the wayside because of human pride/impressionability fueled aversion to it.

Yeah, I would refer to what I like more as speculative fiction rather than science fiction. The Stross series I referred to in my original post dealt with the supernatural in this way i.e. What if magic/supernatural involved the use of advanced mathmatics to do things like open portals to other realities and harness energies that we haven't, up until now, been able to understand?

[MDC 5,892]

Harlan Ellison

[southcarolina 166]

I read the first 3 of this series and really liked it. But each book was getting more and more campy and complicated. The best thing about it, IMO, was his take on the not too distant future. Very possible.

 

Complicated, definately. But i like complicated. One of the things that really attracted me to this series was finding out how all these disparate people all over the world were going to end up being tied together. I know its not for every one....i recommeneded it to a coworker once and he didnt make it 100 pages in and he quit. Then again his favorite scifi book of all time was Battlefield Earth so it was an uphill battle to begin with

[Recliner Pilot 61]

"Dreams Of My Father"--007Bama

[Blitzen 0]

 

 

 

See above - the Sparrow particularly is fantastic.

 

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is great - I like the other novels in the series less.

 

Anything by Piers Anthony is great - Bio of a Space Tyrant doesn't translate as well as it

did during the Cold War, but still pretty good.

 

Contact is a great novel as well.

 

Ender's Game is excellent but predictable.

 

Good call on Contact.

[Bruce Benedict 0]

Ender's Game is excellent but predictable.

The ethics of drone warfare, novelized. Or: the moral ambiguity of genocide from a distance -- is it really murder if it's done from a Herman Miller office chair?

 

Card's an awesome storyteller, so the book is well worth reading, but I've always been a little skeeved out that this gets pimped as Y.A. lit, when it's really kind of borderline psychotic.

[Mrdirt73 0]

I like most anything by Larry Niven. Integral Trees, and The Smoke Ring are my favorites.

I also like some of the Dorsai! books by Gordon Dickson.

[jerryskids 5,206]

 

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is great - I like the other novels in the series less.

 

 

Agreed on both counts.

 

It's a bit of a teen SF book, but our whole family really enjoyed Card's "Pathfinder." In fact I just looked and saw that book 2 has been out for a few months.

[mmmmm...beer 691]

Just as a little background... I've read about everything decent out there for scifi/fantasy... all the Xanth, Robert Jordan's Wheel, The Dunes and sequels by his son, Ender series, Bolo Series, Raymond E. Feist's stuff, Simon R. Green's stuff, all the Star Wars series, the Forgotten Ream's stuff, the Drangonlance Stuff, Salvatore's stuff, David Drake's stuff, Kevin Anderson, Poul Anderson, Mercedes Lackey, SM Stirling, Jim Butcher's stuff, Bujold's stuff, Glen Cooks Garret stuff and the Black Company stuff, Joe Haldeman, Harry Harrison, George R.R. Martin's series... well the list goes on... I've read a lot of stuff over the years.

 

That being said.. here's my recommendations for newer great books.

 

Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard Series is probably some of the best new fantasy I've read in years. Starts with the

 

The Lies of Locke Lamora and then

Red Sea's Under Red Skies

 

Patrick Rothfuss's - The Name of the Wind and sequal - WOW... that book... very very good. One of my new fav authors and it was his first book.

 

John Scalzi's - Old Man's War - (Excellent Military Scifi and you'll probably like it if you liked Ender)

 

John Ringo - GREAT author that does quite a bit of military scifi lots and lots of good books.. a heavy favorite.

 

His March Upcountry series... fantastic

his Legacy of the Alldenata series starting with A Hymn Before Battle is almost unbeatable as far as military scifi goes

I'd say watch out for his Ghost series though... a little out there and not for everyone.

He's got a newer series starting with "Live Free or Die" - Military Scifi at it's finest.

 

Jack Campbell's newer series about a space commander that gets found floating in space after a battle 100 years in the past. I think the first one is Dauntless.... excellent military Scifi.

 

Peter V. Brett's series starting with "The Painted Man".... focking awesome.

 

Brent Weeks - "Black Prism" book... and sequels...

 

Christopher Paolini - Inheritance series starting with "Eragon" absolute sh!t movie... great book series

 

Jim Butcher's "Dresden" books are a great series as well...

 

I read most of my books on my smart phone... helps me clear my mind and sleep at night so I read a lot before bed.

 

Though... focking watch out for those John Ringo books if you start reading them before bed... there's many a reader pissed off at me the next day after I recommend it because they're up until 3am on a work day cause they couldn't' stop reading those fockers.

[mmmmm...beer 691]

 

 

 

See above - the Sparrow particularly is fantastic.

 

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is great - I like the other novels in the series less.

 

Anything by Piers Anthony is great - Bio of a Space Tyrant doesn't translate as well as it

did during the Cold War, but still pretty good.

 

Contact is a great novel as well.

 

Oh and you should have me be one of your readers Greedo... dammit.

[Chronic Husker 85]

Don't know if you are serious or not, but I liked the series that Shatner wrote...

Your posts featuring infant deaths have better plot.

[IGotWorms 3,315]

Bible wise...since there are supernatural events covered, it certainly makes sense to me that someone who excludes supernatural from the realm of possible would necessarily regard it as science fiction.

 

In addition to those narratives though, there's also real natural insights in the bible. There are statements about the physical characteristic of the earth, life on it, and matter/phenomena in space that were mysterious sounding at the time of writing that we understand now (many of them not until the 20th century), and some that are still mysterious while communicated in the same manner (the statements don't follow metaphorical language structure) as the others. From a bible honoring perspective, it's funny/sad because you're suspecting that there's untapped insight, left by the wayside because of human pride/impressionability fueled aversion to it.

 

Naomi, have you ever read On Writing Well by William Zinsser? If not, I think you should. You are a good writer. I think that book could make you a great one.

[drobeski 3,061]

Decision Points: George W. Bush

I'll raise you "dreams from my father" Barack Hussain Obama

[Frozenbeernuts 1,652]

 

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is great

If you have not read this book you must read it. I actually read enders shadow next and followed Bean's series instead of Ender's, and i really enjoyed all the books.

[JackARoot 2]

Funny, I've seen Bender's Game - Futurama, but haven't read Ender's Game ...

[mmmmm...beer 691]

If you have not read this book you must read it. I actually read enders shadow next and followed Bean's series instead of Ender's, and i really enjoyed all the books.

 

Yeah this... Enders Game was a great book... The two after it.. blew. The series got really good again with Enders Shadow and following.

[Blitzen 0]

For end of world/civilisation stuff:

 

Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle

 

Footfall by Niven and Pournelle

 

The Forge of God by Greg Bear (haven't read the sequel yet)

 

On the Beach by Nevil Shute (this one is more of a social study of a population facing impending doom but it's a great book)

 

Swan Song by Robert McCammon

 

End of world books I don't get:

 

I still don't get why people like The Road by Cormac McCarthy so much. I thought it was boring as hell.

 

Another end of world book I don't get is A Canticle for Leibowitz. Often listed as one of the best sci-fi books ever and I thought it was completely uninteresting. I thought it was going somewhere but it didn't.

 

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood...that story has been written many times often better than this one.

 

 

Next on that list for me is:

 

The Last Man By Mary Shelley of Frankenstein fame

 

Earth Abides by George Stewart

[Bruce Benedict 0]

For end of world/civilisation stuff:

 

Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle

 

Footfall by Niven and Pournelle

 

The Forge of God by Greg Bear (haven't read the sequel yet)

 

On the Beach by Nevil Shute (this one is more of a social study of a population facing impending doom but it's a great book)

 

Swan Song by Robert McCammon

 

End of world books I don't get:

 

I still don't get why people like The Road by Cormac McCarthy so much. I thought it was boring as hell.

 

Another end of world book I don't get is A Canticle for Leibowitz. Often listed as one of the best sci-fi books ever and I thought it was completely uninteresting. I thought it was going somewhere but it didn't.

 

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood...that story has been written many times often better than this one.

 

 

Next on that list for me is:

 

The Last Man By Mary Shelley of Frankenstein fame

 

Earth Abides by George Stewart

Likes: Plot driven fiction

Dislikes: Character driven literary fiction

 

Puts you in good company. But there are real and valid answers to the, "I don't get why people like it," idea.

 

McCarthy and Atwood are, quite literally, considered among the best living writers in the English language. McCarthy is dark and heavy to be sure, but has a skill level with language and character-building craft that can evoke landscapes (of both setting and psychology) that a guy like Larry Niven couldn't hope to match in his wildest book-writing dreams.

 

That kind of writing is going to bore you to tears if you go in hoping for Dragonlance. Because it forces an author to use a lot of his words to investigate nuances beyond plot. It creates works of far greater depth, that by necessity move far slower.

 

 

If you haven't read it, you'd love The Stand.

[Blitzen 0]

Likes: Plot driven fiction

Dislikes: Character driven literary fiction

 

Puts you in good company. But there are real and valid answers to the, "I don't get why people like it," idea.

 

McCarthy and Atwood are, quite literally, considered among the best living writers in the English language. McCarthy is dark and heavy to be sure, but has a skill level with language and character-building craft that can evoke landscapes (of both setting and psychology) that a guy like Larry Niven couldn't hope to match in his wildest book-writing dreams.

 

That kind of writing is going to bore you to tears if you go in hoping for Dragonlance. Because it forces an author to use a lot of his words to investigate nuances beyond plot. It creates works of far greater depth, that by necessity move far slower.

 

 

If you haven't read it, you'd love The Stand.

 

Actually, I go in hoping to get a good story with - and this is where I am rarely satisfied - an ending that brings it together. Think Life of Pi for instance - great book. The Road and Oryx and Crake were not good stories; you can tell me all you want about how well they are written and how great the style is but the stories blow. The Road: father and son arrive somewhere, face a problem, escape...rinse and repeat ad nauseum.

I get that the father wants to give his son hope but he knows he's sick and then they find this incredible cache of food no one has found yet and instead of staying for a bit longer and get healthy, he decides to leave immediately because others will find them. Others who haven't found the cache yet. Why will they suddenly find it? Take a chance and stay to get healthy. You're taking a chance by walking around anyway. So take a chance and hope you'll get better. Anyways, there is nothing to make the father believe his son will find protection by continually walking around instead of staying. The folks who find them at the cache could have been as nice as those who find them at the end.

 

 

The Sparrow is literary sci-fi and I enjoyed it quite a bit. About The Road, one thing I should say is that I have never been a fan of the "Quest/March across the desert" type book as I often find that they simply eat pages. What made me loathe them was The White Plague by Frank Herbert. That book could/should have been a novella and its ending is laughable. All the pages about the trek in the middle was page filler to bulk it up to book size. Then you read through that crap and you get an ending a 5 year-old could have written.

 

I have read a lot of the analyses of The Road (you know like the boy was actually the second messiah and stuff like that) and it still makes no sense to me.

[jerryskids 5,206]

Actually, I go in hoping to get a good story with - and this is where I am rarely satisfied - an ending that brings it together. Think Life of Pi for instance - great book. The Road and Oryx and Crake were not good stories; you can tell me all you want about how well they are written and how great the style is but the stories blow. The Road: father and son arrive somewhere, face a problem, escape...rinse and repeat ad nauseum.

I get that the father wants to give his son hope but he knows he's sick and then they find this incredible cache of food no one has found yet and instead of staying for a bit longer and get healthy, he decides to leave immediately because others will find them. Others who haven't found the cache yet. Why will they suddenly find it? Take a chance and stay to get healthy. You're taking a chance by walking around anyway. So take a chance and hope you'll get better. Anyways, there is nothing to make the father believe his son will find protection by continually walking around instead of staying. The folks who find them at the cache could have been as nice as those who find them at the end.

 

 

The Sparrow is literary sci-fi and I enjoyed it quite a bit. About The Road, one thing I should say is that I have never been a fan of the "Quest/March across the desert" type book as I often find that they simply eat pages. What made me loathe them was The White Plague by Frank Herbert. That book could/should have been a novella and its ending is laughable. All the pages about the trek in the middle was page filler to bulk it up to book size. Then you read through that crap and you get an ending a 5 year-old could have written.

 

I have read a lot of the analyses of The Road (you know like the boy was actually the second messiah and stuff like that) and it still makes no sense to me.

Interesting, because I liked The Road for the reasons you disliked White Plague -- I felt like he didn't feel the need to stuff words into it to make it artificially longer. The writing style combined with the personality of the Dad and the overall noir-ness caused me to read it very slowly, savoring it, almost hypnotic.

 

I haven't read anything else by McCarthy, but I hella liked that book.

[Bruce Benedict 0]

Right. You like plot.

 

Plot-driven fiction is, by necessity, forced into and centered on a type of writing that necessitates tying things up into neat little bundles in ways that rarely if ever happen in real life. It will always have a discernible and (hopefully) satisfying "ending," or it is of no value to anyone.

 

Character-driven fiction develops through the exploration and interaction of the characters with each other and their setting. It can't be formulaic if it's going to be the least bit successful, and it ends when the story is told. Which may or may not have anything to do with tying it up in a neat little bundle and achieving a plot-style "ending." But which always happens when the story of the primary thing happening to the primary character (or characters) completes.

 

There's nothing whatsoever wrong with plot-driven fiction. It's a lot easier to write, a lot easier to read, and leaves some people feeling very contented with a book...while it leaves others going, "why did I bother?" Lit fic scratches a completely different itch. It is what it is.

 

I can see why a big fan of plot would think The Road blows.

 

But there's a reason Cormac McCarthy wins Pulitzers. It isn't because he can't tell a story.

[Bruce Benedict 0]

Interesting, because I liked The Road for the reasons you disliked White Plague -- I felt like he didn't feel the need to stuff words into it to make it artificially longer. The writing style combined with the personality of the Dad and the overall noir-ness caused me to read it very slowly, savoring it, almost hypnotic.

 

I haven't read anything else by McCarthy, but I hella liked that book.

Holy Christ, go out of your way to read Blood Meridian.

[Blitzen 0]

Interesting, because I liked The Road for the reasons you disliked White Plague -- I felt like he didn't feel the need to stuff words into it to make it artificially longer. The writing style combined with the personality of the Dad and the overall noir-ness caused me to read it very slowly, savoring it, almost hypnotic.

 

I haven't read anything else by McCarthy, but I hella liked that book.

 

Part of the problem with The Road was also that I read reviews that seemed to present it as the best book in the history of words so I was likely going to be disappointed.

 

To me, character development is great and giving details to make the reader see/feel the surroundings better is great but it isn't the be all and end all. I mean Honoré de Balzac could describe the leg of a table over 5 pages, probably better than anyone before or since, but that didn't make the story more enjoyable to me. Books like the Foundation had GREAT character development but not excessive character development and the stories were absolutely great. The Sparrow certainly had great character development and story. The writing in The Road - short snippets and all - was an interesting device...but one of the best books? Not even close.

 

On The Beach has characters, characters that are really well developed, facing their doom and I thought that how they react made far more sense to me than how the father reacts in The Road.

[Blitzen 0]

Right. You like plot.

 

 

No I like both plot and character development in balance. I don't like books without any character development, like a Clive Cussler novel. But I don't like books where character development is used because there is no story, or very little of it. I've read many many books with great character development but where character development didn't feel like a crutch. The Sparrow is but one of those. Far far better if you ask me than The Road.