Post: #1

Looking to read something new.

Just finished Red Shirts (Scalzi).
Read The Peripheral (Gibson) last month.

Both were...mediocre imo.
Red Shirts for the dumb plot.
Peripheral for the lack of plot, been there already tech, and forgettable characters.

WIA

Post: #2

Ubik by PKD. One of my favorite books. PKD at his absolute best.

Starship Troopers by Heinlein. Way better than the movie. They're only similar in name.

ASOIAF by Martin. There's a reason these books are so popular. If you haven't already read them, I highly recommend doing so.

Mistborn Trilogy by Sanderson. One of the most enjoyable magic systems I've come across.

Saga of Recluse by Modesitt. Honestly these books are all fairly similar, but I enjoy how it explores a world through thousands of years. You'll read about a legend in one book, and then read the actual story behind that legend in another. Also has a great magic system.

I'm currently reading Zero History by Gibson. Enjoyable thus far. I haven't read The Peripheral, so I can't compare, but I'm enjoying it much more than Neuromancer.

Edit: fixed a typo.

Post: #3

Geez, I could recommend a hundred books off the top of my head. What are some books you liked?

In no particular order...

Footfall and The Mote in God's Eye, both by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven. Also Lucifer's Hammer, though I liked the other two more.

The first couple books in Niven's Ringworld series are pretty good.

Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds.

Larry Correia's Grimnoir Chronicles series is excellent. Pretty much everything Larry writes is awesome but those are more in the fantasy genre than his other books.

Nick Sagan's Idlewild series is good, and strange.

S.M. Stirling writes some good stuff. The Peshawar Lancers and Conquistador are my favorite books of his; they're both standalone novels. Neither book fits into the scifi/fantasy genre well, actually, but many of his other books do.

Heinlein's works are worth exploring of course. Glory Road is my favorite. However, I didn't even finish Stranger in a Strange Land or a few of his other more popular books.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series is worth checking out.

Jack McDevitt's Academy and Alex Benedict series both start out really well, but go downhill a few books in. Still, they're essentially standalone books and worth reading (but better in order). I think the Academy series is good through Odyssey, and the Alex Benedict series is good through Seeker. I also liked Eternity Road, which is not part of a series.

Joe Haldeman's The Forever War.

Scalzi's Old Man's War series.

Armor, by John Steakley. Also, Vampire$.

Pretty much everything by Michael Crichton is worth reading. Jurassic Park is notable for being ten times better than the movie.

Robert Rankin's The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse is strange but very amusing. I don't know about this rest of his books.

Terry Pratchett must be on the list, specifically the Discworld books. I like the Witches and City Watch storylines the best.

Gil's All Fright Diner, Divine Misfortune, In the Company of Ogres, and The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez.

Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson. I haven't read the rest of his books recently enough to recommend them.

Charles de Lint's The Little Country and Someplace to be Flying.

Sarah Hoyt's Darkship Thieves.

Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos. I didn't think it was anything too special, but lots of people disagree with me.

I don't have my book collection here or I would have many more recommendations, but that should do for now.

Edit - The Empire of Man series by John Ringo and David Weber. Can't believe I forgot that.

Post: #4

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

Post: #5

The Dice Man, by Luke Rhinehart
This is a bit of a headfuck book so be warned, fantastic for those that believe in the random nature of existance

Bluebeard and Sluaghterhouse five by Kurt vonegut is great for those who like a bit of satire in their Sci fi

Post: #6

Just my .02, but I don't think it gets better for sci-fi than below:


Space Marines travel light years away and wage war against an alien civilization that poses a threat to Earth. The Space Marines come back to Earth roughly the same age as when they left to find everything about their former lives has changed drastically and they don't fit into society anymore. As rough as the fighting was, they just want to go back to the "Bush." Because waging war is all they understand now.

Striking parallels between veterans coming home from Vietnam and our current wars.

Post: #7

Seconded - Forever War was gritty, powerful stuff that just sticks with you long afterwards. Having said that, I get regular warnings to avoid any of the followups to that book, they're apparently pretty crap.

For my own small contribution -- a book called The Legacy of Heorot by Niven, Pournelle and Barnes. It's basically Alien on a colony world, but the alien involved is beautifully thought up and rendered -- and it's pretty scary in parts.

Post: #8

The Hatrack River Series by Orson Scot Card. I think its out of print. As a kid in high school I read all of his stuff in the early 90's. I'd like to get back into fiction but I haven't read it in a long time.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20073...rack_River

Post: #9

The First Law trilogy, by Joe Abercrombie. One of my favorites.

The Sword of Truth series is another. I like how the magic has rules. There are things that can be done, and things that can't be done, and things that are theoretically possible but so dangerous that they're forbidden or even considered blasphemous or heretical to discuss. Also, has strong female characters that are still feminine, not this stupid sjw notion of "strong" women

I've recently ordered Prince of Thorns after reading about it on RoK. Read a few chapters on google preview. Seems good, and it was less than $5.

Post: #10

(12-22-2014 09:01 PM)Vaun Wrote:  The Hatrack River Series by Orson Scot Card. I think its out of print. As a kid in high school I read all of his stuff in the early 90's. I'd like to get back into fiction but I haven't read it in a long time.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20073...rack_River

Yeah Card has made some serious contributions to the genre.
Even his weirder standalone titles like Wyrms and Treasure Box are pretty good. Overall I like Orson Scott Card's work and enjoy a number of his better works.

Unfortunately he last Alvin Maker book (Crystal City I think) sucked so bad I figured he must have been pressured for years by fans to come up with it, naturally he went and published a complete turd.

I got a copy of his Folk of the Fringe a few years back and have been put off from his work since.

Even having read all of his books at the local library (entire Ender's Game series through Children of the Mind, Hatrack River series, some miscellany) I've hardly scratched the surface of Card's work. He's very prolific.

Edit: I don't care that Card is anti-gay or any of his political/religious stances, but he does have a lot of clear agendas in his fiction that RVFers might find disagreeable.

The one pussy-slaying minor character is damned for immoral behavior by the protagonist in one of his "Folk of the Fringe" short stories. I didn't understand it. Card is "red-pill" in that he shows that the women are very willing to sport-fuck this minor character, but for some idiot reason you're just not supposed to, because "religion" or "family". A very big trope of his is how succumbing to the desires of the flesh is "dangerous" but it's a common metaphor in his books acted out with supernatural beings or circumstances. The reason why is never answered.

The guy who invented Anton's Key in Shadow of the Hegemon ends up getting married for no other reason than to fulfill a biological urge (he says as much). Ender Wiggin dies a 2000 year old time-travelling destroyer-of-worlds virgin but adopts like ten kids with his whore-wife who refuses to put out for him; she eventually finds religion and goes to the nunnery to spite him with her unavailability, so he decides to resurrect an ancient evil that plagued humanity out of survivor's guilt.

Post: #11

Addendum: in the fantasy section, I am shocked, shocked, that Steven Erikson's Malazan series has yet to be mentioned. It's a mindfuck of a series; Erikson throws you right in at the deep end and you have to pay attention, but it's a gorgeously-constructed universe.

Also, Frank Herbert. Dune - and only Dune. If anyone says they actually liked any of the abortions Kevin "Call That A Franchise, I Can Write Ten Times Better Than That" Anderson and Brian Herbert came up with, I will be disappoint.

Post: #12

I'm thinking of getting "Prince of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence because it was on a recent RoK article. It's supposedly even grittier than Game of Thrones.

http://www.marklawrence.buzz/book/

Post: #13

^^^
My copy arrived in the mail today. 5 chapters in, and I am enjoying it. Not often you see a first person perspective that isn't awful.

Post: #14

My favourite Sci-Fi series are the Dune series (Frank Herbert) and the Foundation series(Isaac Asimov).

For fantasy both Game of Thrones and Wheel of Time series both start strong but fall off for the same reason. Both authors realize they found their meal ticket and watered it down till it was tasteless in order to spread it out over more books.

Another personal favourite fantasy series was the Dark Elf Trilogy(R.A. Salvatore).

Post: #15

(12-22-2014 08:23 PM)Paracelsus Wrote:  Seconded - Forever War was gritty, powerful stuff that just sticks with you long afterwards. Having said that, I get regular warnings to avoid any of the followups to that book, they're apparently pretty crap.

Confirmed - The Forever War is one of the best science fiction books I've ever read. Forever Peace is just painfully bad.

You can generally tell a modern sci fi book is shit because it won Hugo and/or Nebula awards. Those baubles haven't reliably denoted quality for a couple of decades now, since the awards committes got taken over by feminists and progressives.

Hugos and Nebulas are now mostly handed out by social justice warriors to social justice warriors, on the basis of how socialisty justicey their work is. The odd good book gets through, but the signal to noise ratio is awful.

Some of the best sci fi and fantasy I've read recently includes:

Larry Correia's Monster Hunter series
Larry Correia's Grimnoir trilogy
Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson
The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher
Wool, by Hugh Howey
The Martian, by Andy Weir

Post: #16

RULE 34 by Charles Stross is pretty good. In the near future somebody is knocking off Internet spammers and a special police unit is trying to find out why.

Post: #17

Thanks for the recs. I've already read some of the ones mentioned, will check out the others.

WIA

Post: #18

I finished two fantasy books, Blood Song by Anthony Ryan, and A Crucible of Souls by Mitchell Hogan. They were both truly fantastic reads. However, looking on Amazon, there seems to be a consensus that their follow-ups were botched. So on the one hand I don't regret reading these first installments, but I'll be legitimately saddened if the middle novels are half as bad as the first ones were amazing. There really was that much potential shown. They were so vibrant. Their writing styles are top drawer.

I still have to recommend them. Particularly Blood Song. Like how The Godfather would be worth seeing even if The Godfather II had turned out rotten. (I guess it's somewhat an exaggeration to compare Blood Song to The Godfather, but... if it is, it's not by much. If the sequel lived up to it, people would be talking about a second ASOIAF.)

Six-Gun Tarot I mention only for its uniqueness. I didn't finish it, but it's a steampunk postapocalyptic western taking place in Golgoth, Nevada. There's a dark fantasy atmosphere to it with the inhabitants and the seedier goings on about town, and I knew that it succeeded in being original, but I didn't like the lack of a central protagonist and how it followed a lot of POVs.

I liked Dan Simmon's Flashback. Original concept, the style and certain details like state of the USA felt a little similar to Snow Crash, but it's more serious, and emotional.

Tad William's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is one of the great fantasy trilogies. I would personally put it right below The Wheel of Time and The Lord of the Rings, and above A Song of Ice and Fire. Pure poetry, the way he writes.

Post: #19

All of William Gibson's' early work as well as Star Wars books and material that has emphasis on the Sith.

Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow i really dug as well as Starship Troopers.

Post: #20

I'm a huge fantasy and sci fi nerd. Love that stuff. Hands down the best fantasy I've ever read is RA Salvatore's Dark Elf books. There's a ton of them and they're all awesome. They're based off of the Dungeons & Dragons world (dunno how, I've never played). Trust me, they're incredible.

Other fantasy favorites:
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (like Darius said, starts off strong and gets weak. Books 6-10 are worthless)
The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind (I haven't finished this one but got to like book 5 and loved it)
Conan The Barbarian series by Robert E Howard
His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman (kinda childish but fun and an interesting concept)
Game of Thrones series by George RR Martin (book 4 SUCKS)
Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien (you've probably already read these)
The Dark Tower by Stephen King (really ties all of his books together)
The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffery (read these in junior high/high school and loved them, dunno if they hold up though)

Also fuck you guys in advance because I bet nobody will admit it, but I really liked Harry Potter.

Sci fi:
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (I liked the sequels too but they're a lot weaker than the first book)
Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson (so great, this is a must-read)
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (is this sci fi? Kind of? Great read)
Dune by Frank Herbert (never read the sequels)
The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov (read them all, gets kinda goofy towards the end but still a great series)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (didn't like the sequels though)

Can't remember 'em off the top of my head but I read a bunch of Philip K. Dick novels back in high school and liked them a lot.

Make sure you check out HP Lovecraft as well. Not really fantasy or sci fi but his short stories are incredible and often scary.

Post: #21

Has anybody read Vox Day's stuff? Supposedly it's pretty good but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Post: #22

Read all the Asimov books from the Robot series to Empire series to Foundation series. The end of the Foundation stuff does get a bit kooky, but the journey to it is incredible. Read the original I robot book of short stories too. It's not like the movie.

Dune, Dune Messiah are incredible. The rest of the series I'll leave or you to decide.

GRRM's main aSoIaF series obviously. Also his Dunk and Egg prequel novellas are a must read. They get better as you go on.

Post: #23

Try Piers Anthony's Xanth series, the first one: A Spell for Chameleon. Very good lightweight fantasy that has excellent characters and plot. I tried some of the other Xanth series and got quickly bored, though admittedly i didn't go very far past #3.

Koontz also delves into horror-fantasy on occasion. I just read a 6000 word short story of his called Snatcher about a pickpocket who snatches a purse from a witch and lives to regret it. If you like fantasy and The Thing, you'll love that story. Kept me up that night

Aziz mentioned Jurassic Park as being sci-fi. I always thought it very techno-thriller.

Post: #24

These are bit of a cheat and stretching the boundaries a bit, but if you're prepared to descend into movie novelisations, Alan Dean Foster's work on Alien, Aliens and Alien 3 are seriously good work, with recurrent images across the books even though they're almost a decade apart.

In the Star Wars franchise, there's a fair number of people who consider Matthew Stover's novelisation of Revenge of the Sith to be better than the film. Orson Scott Card's version of The Abyss is nicely done as well. And I like Vonda McIntyre's take on Star Trek IV for what it's worth.

EDIT: And how could I forget this in science fiction ... the late great Iain M. Banks' Culture series. I've only gotten hold of The Player of Games, but it was superb, and I've heard Use of Weapons and Consider Phlebas to be just as good if not better.

Post: #25

I'll throw my hat into the ring and recommend The Planets series written by Ben Bova.
I got into him with Venus when I was in college and I just couldn't put it down. The characters were so engaging and human, the narrative so well-planned and the scripting was spot-on.
Following on, there's other gems such as Saturn which does a very good job of analyzing political manoeuvres, Jupiter which examines the relationship between religious zealotry and science and many others.