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Having just finished reading Dan Simmon's Hyperion series I'm not at a total loss as to what to start that won't feel like an anti-climax.

 

I tried The Stars My Destination but I couldn't get into it at all.

 

I suppose I'm in the mood for some ground-breaking sci-fi but I haven't found any yet.

 

Any suggestions?

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Hmmm, that is a great series. :)

 

Have you read Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series?

How about something by Neal Stephenson? Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon come to mind.

Also, The Gap series by Stephen R. Donaldson is a favorite of mine.

 

I'm assuming you have already read the Dune series. :wink:

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Thanks for the suggestions guys.

 

I tried to read one of Iain M Banks books before Raven, but didn't get beyond about fifty pages. It might have something to do with the fact that I wasn't a sci-fi fan at the time, but I'm a little reluctant to return to him even now.

 

I haven't read the Dune series Pixie, but from reader reviews I understand the books become worse as they go on, and I'm not sure I want to invest so much time in a series with diminishing returns. Oh, man, what a snob I sound.

 

The Gap series does sound good though, so I think I'll probably give that a bash.

 

Also toying with the idea of getting into some Neil Gaiman.

 

Thanks again.

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I tried to read one of Iain M Banks books before Raven, but didn't get beyond about fifty pages. It might have something to do with the fact that I wasn't a sci-fi fan at the time, but I'm a little reluctant to return to him even now.

 

I can understand that, some of his novels are pretty hard going (Against a Dark Background being one of the leading contenders).

 

His Culture books are a little more accessible, with The Player of Games being the most accessible of the lot.

 

It's one of my favourite books, and after reading it you'll never look at a chess board in the same way again!

 

 

 

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A few more suggestions:

 

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

Gateway by Frederik Pohl

The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton

The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham

Voyage by Stephen Baxter

Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

The Skinner by Neal Asher

 

All brilliant :)

 

I'd also highly recommend reading Dune on its own - it's fantastic, and you don't need to read the rest of the series to enjoy it :wink:

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Thanks for the suggestions guys.

 

I tried to read one of Iain M Banks books before Raven, but didn't get beyond about fifty pages. It might have something to do with the fact that I wasn't a sci-fi fan at the time, but I'm a little reluctant to return to him even now.

 

I haven't read the Dune series Pixie, but from reader reviews I understand the books become worse as they go on, and I'm not sure I want to invest so much time in a series with diminishing returns. Oh, man, what a snob I sound.

 

The Gap series does sound good though, so I think I'll probably give that a bash.

 

Also toying with the idea of getting into some Neil Gaiman.

 

Thanks again.

Dune does go downhill after the first book, unfortunately. You don't sound like a snob. You sound like you don't want to waste your time with something that would not interest you. That's called knowing your own mind. :wink:

 

One small warning about The Gap Cycle. Unlike Dune, the series gets better with each installment. The first book entitled The Real Story is really a mini-novel. Some people are turned off to the series with this first book. It's rather graphic and dark, and might seem pointless, but it is important for the rest of the series, as you will find out later. My advice would be to at least read the second book, Forbidden Knowledge. If you don't like that one, you probably won't enjoy the rest of the series.

 

Good luck in your search for other ground-breaking sci-fi, and I hope you find The Gap Cycle to be a compelling read, as I have. :)

Edited by Pixie
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Wow. Many thanks again folks. Looks like I'm going to be busy for a while then.

 

I've read reviews on some of the suggested books and they sound really good.

 

And you're right Pixie - I'm anything but a snob, unless you count being a wine connoisseur! :wink:

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Yeah, I gave up trying to keep up years ago.

 

For me, Star Wars just isn't the same without the Empire, Stormtroopers and Tie Fighters etc. Once they got shunted out of the books in favour of a galaxy-wide alien invasion I kinda lost interest (and what interest remained after that was then subsequently crushed by the prequels!).

 

One exception to that, which I believe you can still find in graphic novel format, was the Tales of the Jedi series they released in the early nineties, they were very good.

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