Science Fiction Novels

[Arcangel]

I really enjoy reading good Sci Fi Novels (Now I know that "Good" can be purely subjective...what one person or a group of people considers to be great or excellent...someone might say or think is crap! LOL!!)

Lately I have been voraciously reading such Hard Edge fair as Alistair Cook's "Redemption Space" "Chasm City" "Century Rain" "Absolution Gap" and "Pushing Ice"
Peter F. Lawrence's "Reality Dysfunction" series among others of his works

I have also been on a MAJOR Warhammer 40,000 Novel kick...which are a series of novels based off of a Role Playing Game of the same name and it blends Action, Adventure, War, Sci Fi and Socery-Fantasy into some pretty well written novels that I have totally enjoyed

So!
What are you reading Sci-Fi/Sci-Fi-Fantsy wise and what would you recommend?

[Ms Dynomite]

hey thanks for the suggestions. I'm totally in need of some new books. :) I heard about those warhammer novels. far too detailed for my patience though. :) I've been a bit hazy on what defines "sci-fi" anymore since the genre has changed over the past decades. Like where does Dune fall? Is that fantasy or sci-fi?

thanks to my guy I've been introduced to some of the genre classics: Snowcrash, Neuromancer / Count Zero / Mona Lisa Overdrive, some Heinlein (the titles of which are escaping me because I'm tired). plus some now "classic" early cyber punk.

[Arcangel]

Ah!!
"Dune"!!
The first two novels in the original series (Dune & Dune Messiah) were hands down my favorite, Children of Dune began to get a little TO out there...and after that? I tried to read God Emperor and it just gave me a headache and made me lose interest in the series altogether!!
Then a little while back the Dune Prequels came out (House Atriedes, House Harkonen, etc written by Frank Herbert's son and Brian Anderson) and they were pretty good. I enjoyed them
Then the Butlerian Jihad Novels came out...and the first time out I had trouble getting through them...just didn't care for the whole storyline at first...then a number of years later....I reread them and thought...meh, they weren't all that bad..but classics like the original trilogy? No way!

Yeah, the whole Classification of what is Sci Fi and what is Fantasy has been blurred in recent years for sure!

The novels you mentioned? I am familiar with! I have read a few William Gibson Novels in the past, he is an unusual read...some of his stories are pretty good.

Ohhhhhhhhh!
You gotta try the Warhammer series!!
Normally I am not into Novels based on RPG's (Role Playing Games) but those books? each and everyone I have read have been pretty kick ass! I recommend you try the Horus Heresy series...which is set in the very beginning of the Galactic Crusade and explains a lot of stuff that is alluded/mention in a lot of the older novels...it is a good starter to the rest of the series of various novels :)
But, then again, a series based on constant warfare in the future may not be for everyone :)

If you are reading Heinlein? (Never got into him all that much) I also recommend Philip K Dick, Asimov, Le Guin, Pohl, Brin, Bear and Bova too :)

[Christie V.]

I'm reading the Dune prequels now, actually. I loved the original Dune books. The later ones as much as the first two. I've read the first 4, up to 'God Emperor of Dune' several times.

My boyfriend starting reading the 6 books that were written after the original Dune series, but take place in time before 'Dune' and he loved them. The Butlerian Jihad books. He's completed them now and is rereading the original Dune books. So I started reading the prequels. I'm almost done with 'The Machine Crusade' now, and will read the others. I don't like them quite as much as the first 6 Dune books, but they are good. A lot of characters to keep up with in the first book. But after the second one can keep up.

Maybe when I'm finished with this series I'll read House Atriedes, etc. You said you liked them.

A sci-fi series I really liked is Arthur C. Clarke's and Gentry Lee's 'Rendezvous with Rama', 'Rama II','The Garden of Rama' and 'Rama Revealed'.

When I think of other good sci-fi and fantasy books I've read, I'll suggest a few more.

[ENIAD]

I will be sitting here with baited breath because I totally love science-fiction. Would love to write some myself.
However, I have no ideas what is being done nowadays. That is the problem when you live jacked up a pine tree in Northern Québec (for now).

I will eventually check the scene but it may take a while. I am still at Philip K Dick, Asimov, Le Guin.

Did not add anything to the discussion, did I?

Philip K Dick was a huge success in France and that then launched his career in English...something about the transaltion paring the material down, said he.

[gregor a.k.]

I think if you want to write sci fi, you're in a good spot: living in a pine tree and not knowing what's being done nowadays! I think knowing the trends only influences your desire to get paid, rather than just writing what is in your head. Good luck with that!

I really love the PKD stuff, Ballard, Wm. Burroughs, Rucker, and stuff like that. Although, I recently found a really amazing used SF bookstore near me, and I've been picking up tons of old pulp stuff like Stapledon, Farmer, Moorcock, Sheckly, Sturgeon, Van Voght, and some random stuff cuz the cover art is fun! So far, all this pulp is really great!

[Richard]

I've been a serioius Speculative Fiction addict. Should join an anon organization for it. Check out tor.com. Once in a while they let you download free books, and they have many excellent ones for purchase.

[Christie V.]

My favorite sci-fi book is still 'Startide Rising' by David Brin. I really enjoyed the whole Uplift series, but this one was the one I read first of the 6 books in the series. The first of the series, 'Sundiver', is not that good, though, and one can totally skip that one and not miss anything significant to this sci-fi story. Start with 'Startide Rising', you can read it alone for a great story, and if you like it go on to 'The Uplift War'. 'Uplift War' isn't as good as the others in the series, but does give parts of the story that are important for the later books. 'Brightness Reef', the 4th in the series is pretty good, and the last 2, 'Infinity's Shore' and 'Heaven's Reach', are truly wonderful sci-fi books. David Brin creates a wonderful universe to enter and escape in.

[Tone]

Are you being careful about the sound of your computer games? Muggles, zero-levels, and revenge artists seem possible. I'm reading The Quest For The Trilogy by Mel Odom. I'm not hooked yet, but the back reccomends it for the Potter crowd. The dialogue is drastic, that helped.