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Recommend a good Sci-Fi Book

mdevine

mdevine

I'm heading on vacation in a few days and am looking for a few books to put on my Kindle. I prefer Sci-Fi/ Fantasy while relaxing on the beach. Any help would be greatly appreciated. To give you an idea of what I've found particularly suited to my tastes, I've listed some of my favorites from that genre;

  • Old Man's War by John Scalzi
  • The Player of Games by Iaian Banks
  • Anything written by Gaiman, Stephenson and Wolfe
  • Santiago by Mike Resnick
  • Morgan's Woken Furies and Altered Carbon
  • The Endymion series by Dan Simmons
  • The Talisman by Steven King
  • The Song of Fire and Ice series
  • And my most recent reads, Tigana, Wise Man's Fear and The Windup Girl
 
Niles

Niles

Maybe the Dune series, King's Dark Tower series, or Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy for humorous sci-fi if you haven't read them yet.
 
jlanger

jlanger

+1 on the Dark Tower Series
I'm a big fan of the Emberverse books by SM Stirling, that's more apocalyptic alternative time line stuff but a good read
1632 series by David Weber/Eric Flint Good reads as well, lots of fan fiction for it too!
 
mdevine

mdevine

I think I've read everything mentioned so far except the Emberverse series. I'll look that one up. They are all excellent recommendations. Please keep them coming. Three I've looked at so far are: Rule 34 by Charles Stross, The Line of Polity by Neal Asher and Killer Move by Michael Marshall. Any thoughts on these would be helpful as well.
 
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brady

brady

In an effort to give you some context of my recommendation I will give you some feedback on the works you listed. That way you can safely ignore me if needed.

  • I just finished Old Man's War, enjoyed the concept and book but I thought the dialog was a little weak.
  • Love Gaiman as well. I enjoyed American Gods and Anansai Boys but I thought he covered that ground much better in his Sandman series. Startdust might be the quintessential fantasy/adventure/coming of age novel. It reminds me of Piers Anthony's Xanth series. I'm a hopeless Gaiman fanboy and would probably read his grocery list if he published it.
  • I have always wanted to like Stephen King but I can't stand his writing style. Love his concepts.
  • I made it a little way into Fire and Ice but gave up because I felt like I was reading a Dickens novel with a cast of thousands that wasn't going anywhere. This might not be fair since I prefer books to be around 300 pages or less.

On to the recommendation. Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others is a collection of Sci Fi short stories that delves into science and religion in a way that is fascinating and unique. There are some big ideas in here so it may not be the best light beach reading. But big ideas are what make for great Sci Fi, IMHO.
 
QuantumX

QuantumX

Books by Neil Stephenson are good. I also enjoy books from Peter F. Hamilton (The Nights Dawn Trilogy, Fallen Dragon, Pandora's Star...)
 
professorchaos

professorchaos

  • Dan Simmons - Hyperion (then you will want to read The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion).
  • Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series (too many to list).
  • Joe Abercrombie - The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One), Before They Are Hanged (The First Law: Book Two), Last Argument of Kings (First Law: Book Three)
  • Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1), The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2)
 
xillion

xillion

QuantumX said:
Books by Neil Stephenson are good.
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Walter Sobchak said:
I recently read SNOW CRASH by Neal Stephenson. It was very good.
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+1 on Snow Crash and Hyperion.

Some other great books by Neal are The Diamond Age and Anathem.

Orson Scott Card's Ender Series is also good.

Fourth Realm Trilogy by John Twelve Hawks

Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History by William Gibson.

The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

And DUNE, of course...
 
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professorchaos

professorchaos

xillion said:
+1 on Snow Crash and Hyperion.

Some other great books by Neal are The Diamond Age and Anathem.

Orson Scott Card's Ender Series is also good.

Fourth Realm Trilogy by John Twelve Hawks

Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History by William Gibson.

The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

And DUNE, of course...
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The Book of the New Sun ... I don't have superlatives enough to describe how good it is. I wish I had found The Book of the Long Sun as compelling.
 
bakerbarber

bakerbarber

I really enjoyed the "Taken" trilogy.

By Alan Dean Foster.

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Found-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/0345461274/ref=pd_sim_b_2

The reviews are mixed, but I read all three in paperback over a few evenings and enjoyed them. I don't have an e-reader, but if you want the paperbacks I'd mail them to you.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Foster at His Best, July 9, 2006
By
Oz Griffin (Charleston, SC) - See all my reviews


This review is from: Lost and Found: A Novel (Taken) (Mass Market Paperback)
I love stories where the everyday man is thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and you can't get more extraordinary than being captured by a group of aliens to be sold on the market as a pet. This book is witty and full of suspense, but the key element to this book is Alan Dean Foster's ability to develop deeply flawed, likeable, realistic characters in bizarre yet believable settings. Excellent Book!
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kg0mz

kg0mz

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Phillip Dick, dated but still worth a read. I just watched Blade Runner last night, and Electric Sheep came to mind.
 
danparker77

danparker77

I'll "+1" for the Dark Tower and Dune series. If you lean into the sci-fantasy realm, most any David Gemmell book is well above good.
 
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