[ot]sci-fi, good book -- any you like?

gjm · Post by **gjm** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:54 am

SimonPHC wrote:

he also mentioned he likes belgians, cause we're a mix between romance and germanic culture. that's bound to give some interesting collisions

Like Chocolate

SimonPHC · Post by **SimonPHC** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:06 am

and I realy like Vurt by Jeff Noon. psychedelica scifi

... a boy puts a feather in his mouth ...

ethios4 · Post by **ethios4** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:21 am

gjm wrote:
ethios4 wrote:
chrysalis33rpm wrote:Why on earth is HHG not sci-fi?
Haha, yea I don't know why I said that...
HHG shaped my thinking in a lot of ways. I always carry a towel when traveling, and its come in useful sooo many times!
Don't forget 'The Resturant at the end of the Universe' by the same author, Douglas Adams. Something about the subtle 'piss take' on intellegence and the fate of earth that really tickled me

The whole trilogy of four is awesome!

bigbadotis · Post by **bigbadotis** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:28 am

A few goodies by the ladies that don't normally get tossed around in these conversations but really really really should:

The Dispossessed / Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Handmaid's Tale / Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

The Dispossessed is the only account of functioning (albeit fictional) anarchy that I've ever read. Awesome.

Spackled Bat · Post by **Spackled Bat** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:42 am

bigbadotis wrote:A Handmaid's Tale / Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

I was just going to mention this. Thanks for this thread.
I've been looking for some good books lately. This is just the trick.

+1 for Phillip K. Dick. A few years back I read every book of his I could get
my hands on. Great ideas.

kettensaege · Post by **kettensaege** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:11 am

I should stop posting in OT threads only ... anyways ...

+1 for William Gibson, even if everything after the Neuromancer Trilogy didn't quite live up to the initial hype. Neuromancer for SF is like the opening riff of "Smoke on the Water" for Rock music, a classic you have to know
+1 for Hyperion, Space Opera doesn't get any better
+1 for Joe Haldeman, The Forever War, amazing little book
0 for Neal Stephenson. While I always really like the first part of his books, the ending can spoil it badly (Snow Crash: awful, Cryptonomicon: meh)
-1 for Phillip K. Dick, I really wanted to like his books, but they haven't worked for me (yet?)

Stuff I haven't seen mentioned here:
* everything by Iain Banks, especially the Culture series (start with Consider Phlebas or Look to Windward). You have to like the Culture series, if only for the ships AIs and their quirky names (We Haven't Met But You're A Great Fan Of Mine, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sh ... Culture%29). Very epic, too.
* Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan: reminded me of Gibson, but not as minimalistic. PI has to solve a murder in a time where most peoples minds are immortal through a device in their brains and shows what kind of consequences this has on life, society and crime. very nice read.
* everything by Frederik Pohl and Theodore Sturgeon. It's been a while since I read anything from these guys (+10 years), but they've always been a good read
* "The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven

best,
k

slatepipe · Post by **slatepipe** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:59 am

not strictly a book but i grew up with 2000ad. i still have the first 12 years worth

strontium dog, rogue trooper, robo hunter, inferno, flesh, ace trucking, invasion, judge dredd, abc warriors..........

they're probably all available as graphic novels now

snakedogman · Post by **snakedogman** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:00 pm

my favourites are Isaac Asimov (Foundation series, Robot series), Frank Herbert (Dune) and Dan Simmons' Hyperion.
I also remember enjoying Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels, although it's been a long time since I've read those.

Oh and don't forget the classic War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

chrysalis33rpm · Post by **chrysalis33rpm** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:11 am

ethios4 wrote:
chrysalis33rpm wrote:Why on earth is HHG not sci-fi?
Haha, yea I don't know why I said that...
HHG shaped my thinking in a lot of ways. I always carry a towel when traveling, and its come in useful sooo many times!

Sooooo true...but I always forget mine! no kidding.

Precision · Post by **Precision** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:18 am

slatepipe wrote:not strictly a book but i grew up with 2000ad. i still have the first 12 years worth

strontium dog, rogue trooper, robo hunter, inferno, flesh, ace trucking, invasion, judge dredd, abc warriors..........

they're probably all available as graphic novels now

I'm still a subscriber

chrysalis33rpm · Post by **chrysalis33rpm** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:07 am

+1 for Vurt and Ursula Le Guin. Interesting how science fiction by a woman author takes on a very different feel.

Its true that Neil Stephenson has trouble ending his books, but his ideas are (sometimes) just so damn awesome. Snow Crash was originally supposed to have been a graphic novel, I hear.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:18 pm

I think Iain M Banks is the king of the crappy ending.
It's like he just stops writing.

Warminstrel · Post by **Warminstrel** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:35 pm

Alan Dean Foster has written some great books, most famous for Alien of course:

&......

Spellsinger Series:

Spellsinger (1983)
The Hour of the Gate (1984)
The Day of the Dissonance (1984)
The Moment of the Magician (1984)
The Paths of the Perambulator (1985)
The Time of the Transference (1987)
Son of Spellsinger (1993)
Chorus Skating (1994)

Pip & Flinx:

Stand alone novels:
Midworld · Cachalot · Nor Crystal Tears · Voyage to the City of the Dead · Sentenced to Prism · The Howling Stones · Drowning World

Pip and Flinx:
For Love of Mother-Not · The Tar-Aiym Krang · Orphan Star · The End of the Matter · Flinx in Flux · Bloodhype · Mid-Flinx · Reunion · Flinx's Folly · Sliding Scales · Running from the Deity · Trouble Magnet · Patrimony · Flinx Transcendent

Good colourfull writer, paints great images on the brain; non of your 'janet & john' style of writing here.

Meef Chaloin · Post by **Meef Chaloin** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:52 pm

Vurt definitely

all about the yellow feather

Amanita · Post by **Amanita** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:10 pm

Angstrom wrote:I think Iain M Banks is the king of the crappy ending.
It's like he just stops writing.

I agree. Matter is 99% brilliant, but the ending just sucks. So many characters and story lines are wiped out about 90% thru - and then a mediocre ending.

Strangely though, his non-sci-fi stuff like Wasp Factory are stunning with good endings.

A