Renius Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Anyone have a reading suggestion for a good sci-fi, or even who the best sci-fi authors are. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I guess it depends what type, and/or what you've read before? I haven't read much sci-fi, but I do enjoy Arthur C Clarke. The Rama series is my overall favourite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolategal Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I would like to suggest any of the doctor who books, they are really gripping;) totally me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenmck Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Frank Herbert's "Dune" (Dune series) Robert Heinlein I like Anne McCaffery's "Rowan" series. (I also like the Pern books, but that's more fantasy than Sci Fi) Fred Saberhagen (The Beserker series is one of my favorites) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I second Arthur C Clarke. He's absolutely brilliant. As Michelle said, the Rama series is great, as is the Space Odyssey collection. One of my personal favourites is The City and the Stars. I also have a collection of pretty much every short story he wrote and I can highly recommend that as well. There's also: Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked this Way Comes) John Wyndham (The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos) HG Wells (War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man) Jules Verne (Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea). A few other big names (that I haven't yet read) are Isaac Asimov, Robert A Heinlein and Orson Scott Card. Ooh, I also recommend A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 John Wyndham is an old favuorite of mine - Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos and Chocky in particular (in that order). You could also always try the Granddaddy of modern sci-fi - Isaac Asimov. I've not read any myself (YET!), but I do plan to. Also Philip K Dick - he's another I'm planning on giving a whirl. Although Terry Pratchett is most famous for his Discworld series (which is more fantasy/satire), he also wrote a couple of sci-fi novels - Strat and Dark Side of the Sun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 John Wyndham (The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos) Ah yes.. I forgot him - they're generally short reads too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fireball Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Kell, I think of the three you mentioned, The Midwitch Cuckoos, was his most unsettling. I think that he above any author was the Grandfather of the future subj-genre Children gone bad, of just plain Evil Children. What do you say/think.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 It really depends what kind of SF you're after. Asimov is great for big picture romps across the galaxies, but not really much for characters or difficult ideas. My personal favourites tend to be more fractured future fiction, of the sort written by Philip K Dick (particularly Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, and The Man In The High Castle); and the stuff on the edges of SF, like JG Ballards books set in a very near future with some societal breakdown. Of the best modernish space opera stuff, Iain M Banks's books are good, and Orson Scott Card, particularly Ender's Game. Older stuff - like Heinlein - is often good, but sometimes quite shallow. Authors of that end, the American SF in space stuff, that I've enjoyed are Fred Pohl and AE van Vogt. Back with the fractured future stuff, the English have tended to write the stuff that appeals to me more by being slightly lower key. Brian Aldiss and Michael Moorcock in particular sometimes wrote utter rubbish, but sometimes nailed it with more interesting ideas than general SF. Lots of end of the 60s psychedelic influences on that stuff. I'll also add that I find that the big "SF in Space" hard SF stuff is generally better in short sotry form, or as really big grandiose epic style like Herbert's Dune or Asimov's Foundation (although they both went too far in their series). For a normal novel I prefer something a bit more grounded in reality, something that's clearly a development of modern society, which works in some respects as an exploration of how people cope in extreme versions of what we already have here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icecream Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Aren't Star Wars Sci Fi? I have heard that they are supposed to be very good but haven't read them yet (there are 9 for those who don't know anything about it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Kell, I think of the three you mentioned, The Midwitch Cuckoos, was his most unsettling. I think that he above any author was the Grandfather of the future subj-genre Children gone bad, of just plain Evil Children. What do you say/think.? Certainly a major contender for the crown! I just love his ease of style - his ability to present complex ideas in a very simple and easily understandable form without making the reader feel he's "dumbing down" at all is nothing short of genius. He was also well ahead of his time. Actually, I've just thought of another one that could be called Sci-fi. I know Dean Koonts is predominantly thought of as a horror writer, but his novel Lightning is certainly more sci-fi than horror and is excellent. It's my favourite of all his novels to date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramie Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 I bet you can't guess what I'm gonna say. Dr Who!! Ermm....Artemis Fowl could be described as sci-fi, it's also kinda fantasy...probably more, actually, but they're great books. By Eoin Colfer. The Supernaturalists and The Wish List - also by him - are also sci-fi. The Supernaturalists in particular (it rocks) ahm...can't think of any more although I read loads...I think some of them are probably more fantasy, though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblomov Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 I agree that authors like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Philip K Dick etc are the bog standard when it comes to classic sci-fi novels. But rather different are Sci-fi short stories, of which there are thousands, many with innovative storylines and brilliant ideas. The entire approach is different and a lot is left to the reader's imagination. I suggest you look for Sci-fi anthologies from the 50s & early 60s; Groff Conklin has edited the best Sci-fi short story collections, followed by those like John Carnell, Judith Merrill, Hans Stefan Santesson, Sam Muscowitz etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Anyone have a reading suggestion for a good sci-fi, or even who the best sci-fi authors are. Thanks Not sure if these would be strictly sci fi but I really enjoy the "Coyote" series by Allan Steele. Its the story of settlers on an alien planet much like earth but not. Very good I thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fireball Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Certainly a major contender for the crown! I just love his ease of style - his ability to present complex ideas in a very simple and easily understandable form without making the reader feel he's "dumbing down" at all is nothing short of genius. He was also well ahead of his time. Ohh you're right on that score. Complex he could be, and as you rightly say didn't do a dumbing down number on his readers. He certainly give one food for thought and know mistake. Actually, I've just thought of another one that could be called Sci-fi. I know Dean Koonts is predominantly thought of as a horror writer, but his novel Lightning is certainly more sci-fi than horror and is excellent. It's my favourite of all his novels to date. Hmmm, I rather liked his earlier novels myself, his newer ones don't have that 'something' his earlier novels had, something akin to very persistent draught that just can't found, but kept you in (for me anyway) dread and you couldn't wait to finish the book, but forced myself to slowdown in case I missed something.! The other American "spook" writer John Saul isn't to shabby either.! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 But rather different are Sci-fi short stories, of which there are thousands, many with innovative storylines and brilliant ideas. The entire approach is different and a lot is left to the reader's imagination. I suggest you look for Sci-fi anthologies from the 50s & early 60s; Groff Conklin has edited the best Sci-fi short story collections, followed by those like John Carnell, Judith Merrill, Hans Stefan Santesson, Sam Muscowitz etc. I'd agree with this - SF up until maybe 1970 was mainly published in SF magazines, so lots of the material was in the form of short stories. I got a good feel for which authors I enjoyed by finding second hand anthologies from the 50s and 60s. The earlier stuff was often really "pulp", in a "Hero saves the universe by shooting aliens" kind of way, but by the 50s and 60s authors were working much more with ideas. Although, as I said earlier on, I find the short story form to be far better for SF-of-ideas. As quite a lot of SF authors have been more concerned about the S than the F, and weren't really that good at characterisation and building up plausible relationships between characters, the short story, where the characters are often just 2 dimensional and a way of basing a story, becomes a good medium for playing with ideas. I think my favourite SF short (although I've read so many and hardly remember any) is Harlan Ellison's "I have no mouth and I must scream". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblomov Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 I'd agree with this - SF up until maybe 1970 was mainly published in SF magazines, so lots of the material was in the form of short stories. That's right, mainly Fantastic Universe and Fantasy & Science Fiction. I think my favourite SF short (although I've read so many and hardly remember any) is Harlan Ellison's "I have no mouth and I must scream". I too have read many great Sci-fi short stories; two of my favourites are Harlan Ellison's In Lonely Lands and William Tenn's Eastward Ho! I think Ellison had that special gift of being able to strike a chord with the readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 I LOVE Sci Fi, I would recommend (as some have already) Arthur C Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama, Childhood's End Asimov - The end of eternity (I must re-read that one day) C S Lewis - Out of the Silent Planet (Sci Fi with a spiritual bent) Bob Shaw - Who Goes Here (The funniest comedy sci fi book you will ever read) What wonderful reads you have ahead of you. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finrod Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 This book by Kilgore Trout aka Philip Jos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyRich Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 I'm a bit of a Sci-fi fan although not as widely read as some of the above. I like the Star Wars novels but I think you have to be a fan of the films to appreciate the books. Another vote for John Steinbeck from me - Day of the Triffids is my fave from him. And I suggest Kim Stanley Robinson as another Sci-fi author to try - Red Mars is a good book and I keep meaning to read it's sequels - Blue Mars and Green Mars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renius Posted January 20, 2008 Author Share Posted January 20, 2008 thanks for all the suggestions guys, keep them coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 I forgot to mention A Canticle for Leibowtiz by Walter M Miller Jr, which is probably my favourite of all post-apocalyptic future-fiction books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblomov Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Another very strange old Sci-fi book that I found oddly memorable is World Out Of Mind by the Scottish writer J T McIntosh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 If you have had the chance to see anything of the Warhammer 40k games then you should hop skip and a jump to the bookstore to buy the first part of the horus heresy series. Good dark sci fi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 My OH is reading the space wolf series at the moment (warhammer 40k). He seems to be really enjoying them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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