Books: SciFi & Fantasy

Terry brooks has nothing special, its all just a book. I think the same about fiest now unfortantly

Jordan is SOOOO commertial. Its so easy to tell he is in it for the money and not the story, his last book was nothing, and the one before that had barrly 2 chapters in it that developed the sierise. I have read them all and its easy to see that he gets WORSE as he goes along not better

Eddings and prachette (altho totally differents styles) are way above his league. They both show that they dont take there selves seriously, prachette through his whole world, eddings through his caricters especially people like silk and all the sorcers. Hell just look at belgarth, im sure he was baised on eddings himself. There is something very personal about him especially in belgarath the sorcer. Pratchette takes THIS world and makes his books the total oposite. I would love to meet him, what a MIND he must have. There are just so MANY levels to all his books. I belive prachette well outstripes tolken for his depth. The details he puts in, even going as far as to take the names of some of the scientific prinsipules and there meanings and giving them the funniest spin (example the big BANG theory and the uncirtanty princaple), in this they FAR outstrip jordan whos world seems to have nothing under it. Sure its good vs evil but that has been done to death so to speak and i want something more in my stories

I dont know what it is about pierce i liked so much, maybe my like of her books comes from my own "girly" side. Everyone likes to see love and romance a little and altho that may put some people off it is VERY well done and well worth reading even so
 
Just finished 'Red thunder' by john varley.

it is a rather pleasant book. I read it in one day (400+ pages). The story seems far fetched but John seems to be a master story teller. A group of young people building their own spaceship to go to Mars to beat the Chinese. It doesn't matter. The book is rather good. It is nice to see a change from the standard space opera shit we get nowadays.
 
It seems like a lot of good authors have just been skimmed over.......And if I just list them out it will happen again, so I will just mention a couple.

Most of Robert Heinlein's books are pretty good, with the exception of the ones published after he had been taken over by a pod person (e.g. Number of the Beast). I hated what they did when they turned Starship Troopers into a movie, though. They got rid of both the politics and the Power Armor, probably two of the best parts of the book.

The other is David Webber's Honor Harrington books. There really isn't much thinking in them, but they are nice for a bit of light stuff. And Treecats are one of the coolest species I have heard of.
 
I have to agree with Asquard on the Eddings issue, he was probably the first adult fantasy I read...when I was around eight...but I never get sick of him. I can reread his books and some of the newer ones are interesting too. Try the Redemption of Altalus and Regina's Song, although not fantasy is intrigueing.
I'm afraid I don't really like Jordan though. I loved the first couple books of his series, and after what 6 or 7 he was getting really old. Just the same stuff over and over again. I quit reading them somewhere around book 7 or 8 so if anything truly momentous happens let me know and maybe I'll start reading them again.
 
We seem to have a lot of fantasy listed here, so I'll go with some SciFi -
First off, I haven't seen anyone mention E E 'Doc' Smith, an absolutely brilliant author, though some aspects of his books sound a little dated nowadays.
Asimov is one of the greatest short story writers ever.
Heinlein - need I say more? The Moon is a Harch Mistress is easily his best (IMO), but everything before that is good as well.
Orson Scott Card's 'Unaccompanied Sonata' is an excellent collection of short stories.
Cordwainer Smith - his novellas are bizarre, but compulsively readable.
Oh, and I agree unreservedly with freeflight85's Heinlein comments.
 
*cough cough*
I've mentioned E E Smith once or twice, probably on this very thread, but that was a while back. I even have just abotu everything he has written, except the family d'alembert stories.

I need to read more Cordwainer smith though. And ive read most of Heinlein, can see some gaping flaws and his last books are a bit annoying, but hes still good.

Anyone read "the Wanderer" by Fritz Leiber? It was written over 30 years ago, but part of it near the end uncannily prefigures much of the modern big brained AI's with faster than light travel omnipotech wibble that is quite common in the bookstores these days.
 
The Cordwainer Smith I've read was a collection called the Rediscovery of Man, which was about £4 on Amazon, which is part of the SF Masterworks collection. Most of the series I've seen on Amazon were considerably cheaper than in bookshops.
BTW, whereabouts in Edinburgh are you? I started at the university this year.
 
About 8 miles south west of the city centre. (I am understandably reluctant to give out more details openly, but if youve got a map that narrows it down a bit.) Obviously your a student, which uni and subject?

Ahh yes, the SF masterworks. I'll probably get them sometime.

As for Smith, there were quite a lot going around 2nd hand, since he sold rather well in the UK in the 70's, especially the lensman series.
 
Edinburgh University, Maths and Physics Joint Honours. I'll have to have a look at some second hand book shops, I guess. I'll also keep an eye out for the Wanderer, thanks for the ideas.
 
Ideas of more books to read are good, thats what this thread is about.

HHmm, Edinburgh 2nd hand bookshops? I've been trying to buy fewer books this year due to lack of space to put them. I assume you know about down the university way out on Nicholson Street and CLerk street. Theres also "tills Bookshop" on Buccleuch street, as well as a couple of shops at the west port (ie the west end of the grassmarket). For SF these are the 2 main areas of bookshops, I would like to find more but havnt had time to go exploring.
 
Being a science student I'm mainly down at Kings Buildings during the day, and up until now I've had plenty to read, so I haven't really looked. I'll certainly have at least a quick browse after the exams are over.
Thanks again.
 
Been reading Stephen Baxter's latest book 'exultant'. Bloody good. Even better if you have been reading his previous stories on Micheal Poole and the Xeelee's and other stuff. It all comes back.

The previous book Coalescent is also really good with a suprising new look on human evolution.
 
Many good books and authors have been mentioned here, to name a few that haven't. . Einstein's Bridge by John Cramer
I haven't read anything else by him, but that was an excellent book. It makes sense of the cancelation of the superconducting supercollider project at a point where it cost almost as much to cancel it as to finish it. Another good one is Conquistador by SM Stirling . Also, I enjoyed The Reality Dysfunction by Peter Hamilton.
 
Wow. It's too bad this thread hasn't been kept up. Lots of very interesting new material here for me to look up! I may as well list some of the stuff I've read. Many have been mentioned several times but some of the best stuff I've read isn't here... so, on we go.

At the end of 1937 a young sci-fi writer by the name of John W. Campbell took over the editor's chair of a then struggling magazine known as "Astounding Science Fiction." He is considered the father of the "Golden Age" of sci-fi writing, as he went on to develop some of the grandmasters of science fiction. Jack Williamson, Theodore Sturgeon, A.E. van Vogt, Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov (Who credits Campbell with inventing the Three Laws of Robotics) were among many of the greats who went through Campbell's editing and refining process. "Astounding" became and remained the leading sci-fi magazine for decades, eventually being renamed "Analog"

As Don A. Stewart (his wife's maiden name was Donna Stewart) he was most famous for writing "Who goes there?" which has been made into a movie twice as "The Thing From Another World."

His most famous work however was "Anthology: Three Novels" which is out of print and the cheapest ones I could find at Amazon were $53 and $55 in only "acceptable" condition. I've read it at least 5 times in my life, the last time being two years ago when I unexpectedly found a copy at a nearby library. Unfortunately I've never actually owned a copy.

If you want to explore the best of early science fiction, this would be a great place to start. It is a jaw-dropping effort which makes you wonder why the man gave up writing to become an editor, though it can be argued that as an editor he had more influence on sci-fi than as a writer.

Also from the Golden Age:

"The Weapons Shops of Isher" by A. E. Van Vogt
"Nightfall" is the best Novella by Isaac Asimov
"The Last Question" is my favorite short story by Isaac Asimov
"Stranger In a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein
"The Legion of Space" series by Jack Williamson
"Of Men and Monsters" by William Tenn
"Childhood's End" by Arthur C Clarke

I hate time travel stories as a rule, but then I read "The Time Ships" by Stephen Baxter. Great story.

Recently I came across the "Night's Dawn Trilogy" by Peter Hamilton. Here in the States it came out as a six part series but I have the original British three-parter, with each book spanning 1000 plus pages. It is an awesome read in every sense of the word. If you have not heard of this writer or this series, do yourself a favor and at least check out the reviews at Amazon or even the jacket blurbs. Give it a shot, you won't be disappointed.

Other favorites:
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. Didn't like the sequels though.
"Homecoming" series by Orson Scott Card
"Riverworld" and the first two sequels by Philip Jose Farmer.

I cannot allow this post to end without mentioning one of the out and out best writers of fantasy and science fiction: Harlan Ellison. This man has terrified me, enlightened me and made me both laugh and cry with his writing. I cannot list his huge output here but I can begin with "I Have No Mouth and I must Scream" as a beginning to his mammoth bibliography. It's a short story that will haunt you forever. Also, if you can get it, he wrote the only screenplay for "I Robot" that was authorized by Isaac Asimov. That screenplay is the reason why I refused to watch the Will Smith movie when it came out. (And still haven't.)

Finally, the following is probably the greatest sci-fi novel I have ever read. I've lost track of the number of times I've read it in my life (I'm old) but everytime I read it it hits me as hard as the first time:

"The Stars My Destination" by the great Alfred Bester, the father of "cyberpunk," who unfortunately wrote only two novels. The first line reads, "He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead..."

Go read the rest!
 
Anteros said:
Wow. It's too bad this thread hasn't been kept up. Lots of very interesting new material here for me to look up! I may as well list some of the stuff I've read. Many have been mentioned several times but some of the best stuff I've read isn't here... so, on we go.

At the end of 1937 a young sci-fi writer by the name of John W. Campbell took over the editor's chair of a then struggling magazine known as "Astounding Science Fiction." He is considered the father of the "Golden Age" of sci-fi writing, as he went on to develop some of the grandmasters of science fiction. Jack Williamson, Theodore Sturgeon, A.E. van Vogt, Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov (Who credits Campbell with inventing the Three Laws of Robotics) were among many of the greats who went through Campbell's editing and refining process. "Astounding" became and remained the leading sci-fi magazine for decades, eventually being renamed "Analog"

As Don A. Stewart (his wife's maiden name was Donna Stewart) he was most famous for writing "Who goes there?" which has been made into a movie twice as "The Thing From Another World."

His most famous work however was "Anthology: Three Novels" which is out of print and the cheapest ones I could find at Amazon were $53 and $55 in only "acceptable" condition. I've read it at least 5 times in my life, the last time being two years ago when I unexpectedly found a copy at a nearby library. Unfortunately I've never actually owned a copy.

If you want to explore the best of early science fiction, this would be a great place to start. It is a jaw-dropping effort which makes you wonder why the man gave up writing to become an editor, though it can be argued that as an editor he had more influence on sci-fi than as a writer.

Hmmm ... never heard of. Whats it about?

Also from the Golden Age:

"The Weapons Shops of Isher" by A. E. Van Vogt Very good story.
"Nightfall" is the best Novella by Isaac Asimov Pretty good.
"The Last Question" is my favorite short story by Isaac Asimov
"Stranger In a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein Excellent, it's a scandelous fun ride.
"The Legion of Space" series by Jack Williamson
"Of Men and Monsters" by William Tenn
"Childhood's End" by Arthur C Clarke Pretty good.

I hate time travel stories as a rule, but then I read "The Time Ships" by Stephen Baxter. Great story.

Recently I came across the "Night's Dawn Trilogy" by Peter Hamilton. Here in the States it came out as a six part series but I have the original British three-parter, with each book spanning 1000 plus pages. It is an awesome read in every sense of the word. If you have not heard of this writer or this series, do yourself a favor and at least check out the reviews at Amazon or even the jacket blurbs. Give it a shot, you won't be disappointed.

Other favorites:
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. Didn't like the sequels though. Excellent! (your right abou the sequels.
"Homecoming" series by Orson Scott Card Interesting
"Riverworld" and the first two sequels by Philip Jose Farmer. Well written for the most part but it gets tedious,

I cannot allow this post to end without mentioning one of the out and out best writers of fantasy and science fiction: Harlan Ellison. This man has terrified me, enlightened me and made me both laugh and cry with his writing. I cannot list his huge output here but I can begin with "I Have No Mouth and I must Scream" as a beginning to his mammoth bibliography. It's a short story that will haunt you forever. Also, if you can get it, he wrote the only screenplay for "I Robot" that was authorized by Isaac Asimov. That screenplay is the reason why I refused to watch the Will Smith movie when it came out. (And still haven't.) If you didn't read the books it would probably be an OK movie.

Finally, the following is probably the greatest sci-fi novel I have ever read. I've lost track of the number of times I've read it in my life (I'm old) but everytime I read it it hits me as hard as the first time:

"The Stars My Destination" by the great Alfred Bester, the father of "cyberpunk," who unfortunately wrote only two novels. The first line reads, "He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead..."

Go read the rest!
Click to expand...

Oh, and earlier, did I mention "Lightning" by Dean Koontz? It's pure sci-fi surprisingly and pretty good at that.
 
When I was around age 12-15 I liked-

Piers Anthony's first three books of the "Adept" series are very very good.
I was always disappointed with his Xanth stuff and the Inmortality book are boring and cold.

Terry Brooks "Elfstones" was a favorite, later I read the "Sword" and it was ok but gagged on the stupidity of the latter books.

Mary Stewarts- King Authur series (the Crystal Cave, the Hollow Hills, the Last Enchantment, and the Wicked Day) are classic's. I love 'em and still re-read the series every once while.
 
Read the fantasy books by Robin Hobb. You must read them. I've been getting a high off them like I havnt had for several years. If you dont, your missing out on good writing.
 
If you want to explore the best of early science fiction, this would be a great place to start. It is a jaw-dropping effort which makes you wonder why the man gave up writing to become an editor, though it can be argued that as an editor he had more influence on sci-fi than as a writer.

Hmmm ... never heard of. Whats it about?
Click to expand...

As the title suggests, it's an anthology of three novels which are themselves collections of stories Campbell wrote in the early 1930's. Rather than writing a lenghty review, let me send you to a web site with much information on the matter:

http://www.troynovant.com/Grube/Campbell/Black-Star-Passes.html
 
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