Dynaverse.net
Off Topic => Ten Forward => Topic started by: Acidrain on January 02, 2004, 06:40:20 pm
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Some of my favorite books are: Star Wars, Star Trek! thats about it! Late Acid
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Starship Troopers. Not the stupid movie version, the REAL book.. you know, the GOOD version.
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Quote:
Starship Troopers. Not the stupid movie version, the REAL book.. you know, the GOOD version.
Agreed!! "I am a 30-second bomb. I am a 29-second bomb. I am a 28-second bomb..."
I enjoy the alternate history sub-genre, particularly Turtledove's "The Great War" and "American Empire" trilogies.
The Proteus Operation by James P. Hogan is also outstanding.
Alan Dean Foster's Nor Crystal Tears is probably my favorite novel of first contact.
-
Ender's Game
The Left Hand Of Darkness
Lathe Of Heaven
1984
The Foundation series (Asimov)
Rendezvous With Rama
A Call To Arms (The Damned series, Alan Dean Foster)
-
The Foundation Trilogy
The Mote in God's Eye
Bio of a Space Tyrant
Stranger in a Strange Land
-
Anything by Robert Heinlein with Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land being my favorites. The Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle & SM Stirling CoDomimium and the later Second Empire of Man future history books with Prince of Sparta and The Mote in God's Eye being at the top of the list.
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Troopers was very good (emphasis on book, not movie)
Others include:
Lucifer's Hammer (okay, only kinda SciFi)
Forever War and Forever Peace
Man-Kzin Wars series (just to tie-in the Taldren SFC game if nothing else)
Foundation Trilogy (already mentioned above)
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I grok it...
-
There are so many...I think I'll take my time on this one...cya later
-
Anything by Asimov, especially the Foundation series and the Robot series.
P.S. I, Robot is being made into a movie!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/
-
Ok I got em now...not a a complete list and in no particular order...
Dune - Frank Herbet - classic SciFi..just darn good
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert
The Lensman Series EE"DOC" Smith - classic space opera decades before Star Wars...good vs Evil and the story of a family chosen to well, you know, save the universe. Dated but still good.
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury (collection of Short Stories)
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany - a curious and interesting work
Humanity Prime - Bruce McAllister - a little known work...but very well written and influential on me
Odd John and Sirius - Olaf Stapledon - well if you havn't rerad it then your odd...or maybe I am...hehe
Foundation by Isaac Asimov (and the other two)
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells...still pretty good
The Time Machine - H.G.Wells - read the actual work and see how every hollywood director missed the point...a modern alleghory
The Last Castle - Jack Vance (a novella) Vance influenced fantasy and fantasy gaming ...he is a giant...but he also wrote some pretty good SciFi
The Dragon Masters - Jack Vance
Evolution - Stephen Baxter ( a very good read)
Snow Queen - Joan D. Vinge
2001; A Space Oddessey - Arthur C. CLark
Childhood's End - Arthur C. CLark
Imperial Earth - Arthur C. CLark
I, Robot - Isaac Asimov (a great short story and anthology)
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Philip José Farmer I never liked Farmer until i read this one and its sequels...the highlight of the series came when Sir Richard F. Burton dueled Cyrano de Bergerac (both considered the greatest swordsmen of their age) in a titanic sword duel...incredible
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein ...I did not like Starship Troopers actually...
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Most of the above are novels...but many SciFi writers have done their best work writing short stories.
-
Indeed, still my all time favorite book is Shadows of the Empire, don't laugh. Ender's Game was a close second.
-
A few of my favorites I haven't seen listed yet:
Nueromancer- William Gibson
Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter Miller Jr.
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
Blade Runner- Phillip K. Dick
-
Dune
Beserker
Time Wars
Videssos Legion
The Vang
The World War : XXX The Balance
Hitch Hikers Guide (the four part trilogy)
-
Quote:
Most of the above are novels...but many SciFi writers have done their best work writing short stories.
If you get a chance, grab "The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Centurey" edited by Turtledove and Greenberg. 544 pages of scifi shorts (or excerpts).
Yes, not a very concise title, but it contains works by Clarke, Martin, McCaffrey and many others. Check out a short by Orson Card called "Ender's Game" ... fantastic.
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For being a Sci-Fi fan, I really have not read much sci-fi but Neuromancer would have to be near the top of my list as well as Vert. It is really a shame how Gibson's books just went downhill from there. Neuromancer was so tech-speak it was like reading a book in a different language. His books just got more and more ordinary in their subject matter and language. I think I must really read the Foundation Triology.
-
Lepton, if you want Gibson on steroids, read 'Burning Chrome'. It's a collection of his short stories, and are all thought provoking and powerful.
Funny, but I think very highly of short stories; they often carry a powerful punch without all the waffling about you have in novellas.
-
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
This is one book I'd like to read...
-
Gibson tried to make "new wave" SciFi but it didn't take...
-
My favorites would have to be:
Dune - Frank Herbert (and the rest of the series is good too)
Star Trek - some of them at least
BattleTech - not something that troubles your brain
Martian Chronicles - Bradbury (I really wish he had written something new in the last 30 years.)
Too many others to really list.
-
Dune- Frank Herbert (the first one really, then the first trilogy only)
Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
City on the Edge of Forever- Harlan Ellison
Orphans of the Sky- Robert Heinlein (or whatever the newer title is)
The Foundation trilogy- Isaac Asimov
Startide Rising- (David?) Brin
Spock Must Die- (man oh man, I forgot who and I'm going to amazon to figure it out, either)
and a few of Fritz Leiber's Fafherd and Gray Mouser stories
-
Protector, Ringworld, The Integral Trees, The Smokering - Larry Niven
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough for Love, Friday - Heinlein
Against a Dark Background, Excession! - Banks
The City and the Stars/Against the Fall of Night, Childhoods End - Clarke
The Cities in Flight series - Blish
The Chrysalids, The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckcoos - Wyndham
The End of Eternity, The Foundation series (just the first 3) - Asimov
Dune - Herbert
Dragons Egg - Forward
The Skylark Series - EE "Doc" Smith
Dragon Flight - McCaffery
Footfall, Lucifers Hammer, The Moat in Gods Eye, The Burning City - Niven & Pournelle
The Long Habit of Living, The Worlds series - Joe Haldeman
Strata - Pratchett
Tiger Tiger - Bester
Now, if I were to turn around and look at the bookshelves behind me... But no. We'd be here all day.
-
Add to many of the above
Dorsai by Gordan R Dickson
The Hammer's Slammers series by David Drake
Stainless Steel Rat series of Harry Harrison
Sandkings (a short story) by George R. R, Martin
Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard
Chung Kuo series by David Wingrove
Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke
Gateway by Fredrick Pohl
-
Quote:
Dune- Frank Herbert (the first one really, then the first trilogy only)
Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
City on the Edge of Forever- Harlan Ellison
Orphans of the Sky- Robert Heinlein (or whatever the newer title is)
The Foundation trilogy- Isaac Asimov
Startide Rising- (David?) Brin
Spock Must Die- (man oh man, I forgot who and I'm going to amazon to figure it out, either)
and a few of Fritz Leiber's Fafherd and Gray Mouser stories
James Blish, author of the novelisation of TOS, wrote Spock Must Die. It was the only original Star Trek novel he wrote, aside from the original short story about Harry Mudd, which he included in the book Mudd's Angels (later renamed Mudd's Enterprise) which contained the novelisation of the two Harry Mudd TOS episodes.
-
I have just about every star wars novel ever printed
The best decision Lucas made was to link events in one novel to the next....and create an ongoing story told by a variety of authors.
-
Tracey, thanks a million! I did enjoy it when I read it, so I a glad to be reminded of who wrote it. I like his translations of the screenplays to normal prose, too.
-
Eric Frank Russell
H. Beam Piper
-
A Matter for men
A day for damnation
A rage for revenge
A season for slaughter.
I know the titles sound like a bunch of bad Steven Segall movies but
the titles above belong to the 'War angainst the C'Thorr series'
David gerrold is a sick visionary. heh
-
Hmm...love me some sci-fi/fantasy...
Faves include:
The Gor series
The Horseclans series
The Sword of Shannara
Lord of the Rings
Battlefield Earth
Mission Earth dekology
Mars
Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels
Dune series
...anything by Miachael Moorcock
-
I was a bit of an Andre' Norton fan back in my school daze.... Anybody else remember him? (actually, I think it was a pseudonym for a her, but that's not important now)
And if we can include short stories, has anyone ever heard of:
For a Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny?
Thor Meets Captain America by David Brin?
...Two of my favorites _EVER_!
-
Quote:
A few of my favorites I haven't seen listed yet:
Nueromancer- William Gibson
Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter Miller Jr.
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
Blade Runner- Phillip K. Dick
Nice Cyberpunk list. Although I thought "Count Zero" was actually better than Neuromancer!
I agree with the William Gibson "Sprawl" novels and the Dan Simmons "Hyperion" novels.
Have to add Roger Zelazny's "Amber" novels which are both scifi and fantasy (a reviewer once said "Zelazny writes about magic like it was science, and he writes about science like it was magic..."
-
Martian Chronicles is WAY up there.. (Bradbury)
I will admit that in Fantasy... I would have to go with Harry Potter... (J.K. Rowling)
Anyone who can write a book that can be read an understood on so many levels is a genius.
GE-Raven
-
Time Enough For Love
Stranger In A Strange Land
The Number Of The Beast
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Anything else from Heinlein (GRHS)
The Foundation Series
Robot Series (Caves Of Steel, etc.)
The Currents Of Space
Anything else form Asimov
The Dosadi Experiment
The Whipping Star
Dune Series
-
Quote:
Quote:
A few of my favorites I haven't seen listed yet:
Nueromancer- William Gibson
Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter Miller Jr.
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
Blade Runner- Phillip K. Dick
Nice Cyberpunk list. Although I thought "Count Zero" was actually better than Neuromancer!
I agree with the William Gibson "Sprawl" novels and the Dan Simmons "Hyperion" novels.
Have to add Roger Zelazny's "Amber" novels which are both scifi and fantasy (a reviewer once said "Zelazny writes about magic like it was science, and he writes about science like it was magic..."
I read Canticle for Leibowitz in my literature of sci fi class in college. Cool book...
-
Quote:
I read Canticle for Leibowitz in my literature of sci fi class in college. Cool book...
How on earth did I forget that one... Read it back in 8th grade. I need to get it again, I am sure I would appreciate it MUCH more now.
GE-Raven
-
The Rama series by Arthur C Clark and Gentry Lee
Count Zero
Burning Chrome
Neuromancer
The Fleet series- a collection of shorts by authors such as Heinlein, Clark, Sagan, Anne McCaffery (Dragon riders of Pern) and many other sci-fi authors. A wonderful collaboration by this eras finest sci fi and fantasy writers. I believe some of them continued in the series Armada.
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (forget author, excellent read)
N-Space, a collection of shorts by Larry Niven.
Most Niven books are excellent.
I read so many back when I was in the army, I forget many of the really good reads. I gave all my paperbacks to a local reading foundation (about 80 paperbacks) back in 93.
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The John Carter of Mars series were my favorite. The Dragons of Pern as well. Been awhile since I've read them, or any novel.
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Just finished Star trek enterprise: by the book. Was interesting. Didnt like the way it was written at first, but I soon got used to it. Just bought Tng: Genesis wave, which looks pretty cool...got that whilst unsuccesfully searching for nwn: hotu *sobs*
-
Zelazny: Lord of Light
Jack of Shadows
Heinlein: Most everything
Asimov: See above
L. Neil Smith: Paratime series
EE Doc Smith: Everything
A. Bester: Most everything
And all the cover art from Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo (When men were men, women were women, and monsters were Monsters!!) 
Mike
-
Some of my favorite books are: Star Wars, Star Trek! thats about it! Late Acid
-
Starship Troopers. Not the stupid movie version, the REAL book.. you know, the GOOD version.
-
Quote:
Starship Troopers. Not the stupid movie version, the REAL book.. you know, the GOOD version.
Agreed!! "I am a 30-second bomb. I am a 29-second bomb. I am a 28-second bomb..."
I enjoy the alternate history sub-genre, particularly Turtledove's "The Great War" and "American Empire" trilogies.
The Proteus Operation by James P. Hogan is also outstanding.
Alan Dean Foster's Nor Crystal Tears is probably my favorite novel of first contact.
-
Ender's Game
The Left Hand Of Darkness
Lathe Of Heaven
1984
The Foundation series (Asimov)
Rendezvous With Rama
A Call To Arms (The Damned series, Alan Dean Foster)
-
The Foundation Trilogy
The Mote in God's Eye
Bio of a Space Tyrant
Stranger in a Strange Land
-
Anything by Robert Heinlein with Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land being my favorites. The Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle & SM Stirling CoDomimium and the later Second Empire of Man future history books with Prince of Sparta and The Mote in God's Eye being at the top of the list.
-
Troopers was very good (emphasis on book, not movie)
Others include:
Lucifer's Hammer (okay, only kinda SciFi)
Forever War and Forever Peace
Man-Kzin Wars series (just to tie-in the Taldren SFC game if nothing else)
Foundation Trilogy (already mentioned above)
-
I grok it...
-
There are so many...I think I'll take my time on this one...cya later
-
Anything by Asimov, especially the Foundation series and the Robot series.
P.S. I, Robot is being made into a movie!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/
-
Ok I got em now...not a a complete list and in no particular order...
Dune - Frank Herbet - classic SciFi..just darn good
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert
The Lensman Series EE"DOC" Smith - classic space opera decades before Star Wars...good vs Evil and the story of a family chosen to well, you know, save the universe. Dated but still good.
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury (collection of Short Stories)
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany - a curious and interesting work
Humanity Prime - Bruce McAllister - a little known work...but very well written and influential on me
Odd John and Sirius - Olaf Stapledon - well if you havn't rerad it then your odd...or maybe I am...hehe
Foundation by Isaac Asimov (and the other two)
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells...still pretty good
The Time Machine - H.G.Wells - read the actual work and see how every hollywood director missed the point...a modern alleghory
The Last Castle - Jack Vance (a novella) Vance influenced fantasy and fantasy gaming ...he is a giant...but he also wrote some pretty good SciFi
The Dragon Masters - Jack Vance
Evolution - Stephen Baxter ( a very good read)
Snow Queen - Joan D. Vinge
2001; A Space Oddessey - Arthur C. CLark
Childhood's End - Arthur C. CLark
Imperial Earth - Arthur C. CLark
I, Robot - Isaac Asimov (a great short story and anthology)
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Philip José Farmer I never liked Farmer until i read this one and its sequels...the highlight of the series came when Sir Richard F. Burton dueled Cyrano de Bergerac (both considered the greatest swordsmen of their age) in a titanic sword duel...incredible
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein ...I did not like Starship Troopers actually...
-
Most of the above are novels...but many SciFi writers have done their best work writing short stories.
-
Indeed, still my all time favorite book is Shadows of the Empire, don't laugh. Ender's Game was a close second.
-
A few of my favorites I haven't seen listed yet:
Nueromancer- William Gibson
Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter Miller Jr.
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
Blade Runner- Phillip K. Dick
-
Dune
Beserker
Time Wars
Videssos Legion
The Vang
The World War : XXX The Balance
Hitch Hikers Guide (the four part trilogy)
-
Quote:
Most of the above are novels...but many SciFi writers have done their best work writing short stories.
If you get a chance, grab "The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Centurey" edited by Turtledove and Greenberg. 544 pages of scifi shorts (or excerpts).
Yes, not a very concise title, but it contains works by Clarke, Martin, McCaffrey and many others. Check out a short by Orson Card called "Ender's Game" ... fantastic.
-
For being a Sci-Fi fan, I really have not read much sci-fi but Neuromancer would have to be near the top of my list as well as Vert. It is really a shame how Gibson's books just went downhill from there. Neuromancer was so tech-speak it was like reading a book in a different language. His books just got more and more ordinary in their subject matter and language. I think I must really read the Foundation Triology.
-
Lepton, if you want Gibson on steroids, read 'Burning Chrome'. It's a collection of his short stories, and are all thought provoking and powerful.
Funny, but I think very highly of short stories; they often carry a powerful punch without all the waffling about you have in novellas.
-
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
This is one book I'd like to read...
-
Gibson tried to make "new wave" SciFi but it didn't take...
-
My favorites would have to be:
Dune - Frank Herbert (and the rest of the series is good too)
Star Trek - some of them at least
BattleTech - not something that troubles your brain
Martian Chronicles - Bradbury (I really wish he had written something new in the last 30 years.)
Too many others to really list.
-
Dune- Frank Herbert (the first one really, then the first trilogy only)
Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
City on the Edge of Forever- Harlan Ellison
Orphans of the Sky- Robert Heinlein (or whatever the newer title is)
The Foundation trilogy- Isaac Asimov
Startide Rising- (David?) Brin
Spock Must Die- (man oh man, I forgot who and I'm going to amazon to figure it out, either)
and a few of Fritz Leiber's Fafherd and Gray Mouser stories
-
Protector, Ringworld, The Integral Trees, The Smokering - Larry Niven
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough for Love, Friday - Heinlein
Against a Dark Background, Excession! - Banks
The City and the Stars/Against the Fall of Night, Childhoods End - Clarke
The Cities in Flight series - Blish
The Chrysalids, The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckcoos - Wyndham
The End of Eternity, The Foundation series (just the first 3) - Asimov
Dune - Herbert
Dragons Egg - Forward
The Skylark Series - EE "Doc" Smith
Dragon Flight - McCaffery
Footfall, Lucifers Hammer, The Moat in Gods Eye, The Burning City - Niven & Pournelle
The Long Habit of Living, The Worlds series - Joe Haldeman
Strata - Pratchett
Tiger Tiger - Bester
Now, if I were to turn around and look at the bookshelves behind me... But no. We'd be here all day.
-
Add to many of the above
Dorsai by Gordan R Dickson
The Hammer's Slammers series by David Drake
Stainless Steel Rat series of Harry Harrison
Sandkings (a short story) by George R. R, Martin
Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard
Chung Kuo series by David Wingrove
Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke
Gateway by Fredrick Pohl
-
Quote:
Dune- Frank Herbert (the first one really, then the first trilogy only)
Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
City on the Edge of Forever- Harlan Ellison
Orphans of the Sky- Robert Heinlein (or whatever the newer title is)
The Foundation trilogy- Isaac Asimov
Startide Rising- (David?) Brin
Spock Must Die- (man oh man, I forgot who and I'm going to amazon to figure it out, either)
and a few of Fritz Leiber's Fafherd and Gray Mouser stories
James Blish, author of the novelisation of TOS, wrote Spock Must Die. It was the only original Star Trek novel he wrote, aside from the original short story about Harry Mudd, which he included in the book Mudd's Angels (later renamed Mudd's Enterprise) which contained the novelisation of the two Harry Mudd TOS episodes.
-
I have just about every star wars novel ever printed
The best decision Lucas made was to link events in one novel to the next....and create an ongoing story told by a variety of authors.
-
Tracey, thanks a million! I did enjoy it when I read it, so I a glad to be reminded of who wrote it. I like his translations of the screenplays to normal prose, too.
-
Eric Frank Russell
H. Beam Piper
-
A Matter for men
A day for damnation
A rage for revenge
A season for slaughter.
I know the titles sound like a bunch of bad Steven Segall movies but
the titles above belong to the 'War angainst the C'Thorr series'
David gerrold is a sick visionary. heh
-
Hmm...love me some sci-fi/fantasy...
Faves include:
The Gor series
The Horseclans series
The Sword of Shannara
Lord of the Rings
Battlefield Earth
Mission Earth dekology
Mars
Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels
Dune series
...anything by Miachael Moorcock
-
I was a bit of an Andre' Norton fan back in my school daze.... Anybody else remember him? (actually, I think it was a pseudonym for a her, but that's not important now)
And if we can include short stories, has anyone ever heard of:
For a Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny?
Thor Meets Captain America by David Brin?
...Two of my favorites _EVER_!
-
Quote:
A few of my favorites I haven't seen listed yet:
Nueromancer- William Gibson
Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter Miller Jr.
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
Blade Runner- Phillip K. Dick
Nice Cyberpunk list. Although I thought "Count Zero" was actually better than Neuromancer!
I agree with the William Gibson "Sprawl" novels and the Dan Simmons "Hyperion" novels.
Have to add Roger Zelazny's "Amber" novels which are both scifi and fantasy (a reviewer once said "Zelazny writes about magic like it was science, and he writes about science like it was magic..."
-
Martian Chronicles is WAY up there.. (Bradbury)
I will admit that in Fantasy... I would have to go with Harry Potter... (J.K. Rowling)
Anyone who can write a book that can be read an understood on so many levels is a genius.
GE-Raven
-
Time Enough For Love
Stranger In A Strange Land
The Number Of The Beast
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Anything else from Heinlein (GRHS)
The Foundation Series
Robot Series (Caves Of Steel, etc.)
The Currents Of Space
Anything else form Asimov
The Dosadi Experiment
The Whipping Star
Dune Series
-
Quote:
Quote:
A few of my favorites I haven't seen listed yet:
Nueromancer- William Gibson
Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter Miller Jr.
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
Blade Runner- Phillip K. Dick
Nice Cyberpunk list. Although I thought "Count Zero" was actually better than Neuromancer!
I agree with the William Gibson "Sprawl" novels and the Dan Simmons "Hyperion" novels.
Have to add Roger Zelazny's "Amber" novels which are both scifi and fantasy (a reviewer once said "Zelazny writes about magic like it was science, and he writes about science like it was magic..."
I read Canticle for Leibowitz in my literature of sci fi class in college. Cool book...
-
Quote:
I read Canticle for Leibowitz in my literature of sci fi class in college. Cool book...
How on earth did I forget that one... Read it back in 8th grade. I need to get it again, I am sure I would appreciate it MUCH more now.
GE-Raven
-
The Rama series by Arthur C Clark and Gentry Lee
Count Zero
Burning Chrome
Neuromancer
The Fleet series- a collection of shorts by authors such as Heinlein, Clark, Sagan, Anne McCaffery (Dragon riders of Pern) and many other sci-fi authors. A wonderful collaboration by this eras finest sci fi and fantasy writers. I believe some of them continued in the series Armada.
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (forget author, excellent read)
N-Space, a collection of shorts by Larry Niven.
Most Niven books are excellent.
I read so many back when I was in the army, I forget many of the really good reads. I gave all my paperbacks to a local reading foundation (about 80 paperbacks) back in 93.
-
The John Carter of Mars series were my favorite. The Dragons of Pern as well. Been awhile since I've read them, or any novel.
-
Just finished Star trek enterprise: by the book. Was interesting. Didnt like the way it was written at first, but I soon got used to it. Just bought Tng: Genesis wave, which looks pretty cool...got that whilst unsuccesfully searching for nwn: hotu *sobs*
-
Zelazny: Lord of Light
Jack of Shadows
Heinlein: Most everything
Asimov: See above
L. Neil Smith: Paratime series
EE Doc Smith: Everything
A. Bester: Most everything
And all the cover art from Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo (When men were men, women were women, and monsters were Monsters!!) 
Mike
-
Some of my favorite books are: Star Wars, Star Trek! thats about it! Late Acid
-
Starship Troopers. Not the stupid movie version, the REAL book.. you know, the GOOD version.
-
Quote:
Starship Troopers. Not the stupid movie version, the REAL book.. you know, the GOOD version.
Agreed!! "I am a 30-second bomb. I am a 29-second bomb. I am a 28-second bomb..."
I enjoy the alternate history sub-genre, particularly Turtledove's "The Great War" and "American Empire" trilogies.
The Proteus Operation by James P. Hogan is also outstanding.
Alan Dean Foster's Nor Crystal Tears is probably my favorite novel of first contact.
-
Ender's Game
The Left Hand Of Darkness
Lathe Of Heaven
1984
The Foundation series (Asimov)
Rendezvous With Rama
A Call To Arms (The Damned series, Alan Dean Foster)
-
The Foundation Trilogy
The Mote in God's Eye
Bio of a Space Tyrant
Stranger in a Strange Land
-
Anything by Robert Heinlein with Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land being my favorites. The Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle & SM Stirling CoDomimium and the later Second Empire of Man future history books with Prince of Sparta and The Mote in God's Eye being at the top of the list.
-
Troopers was very good (emphasis on book, not movie)
Others include:
Lucifer's Hammer (okay, only kinda SciFi)
Forever War and Forever Peace
Man-Kzin Wars series (just to tie-in the Taldren SFC game if nothing else)
Foundation Trilogy (already mentioned above)
-
I grok it...
-
There are so many...I think I'll take my time on this one...cya later
-
Anything by Asimov, especially the Foundation series and the Robot series.
P.S. I, Robot is being made into a movie!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/
-
Ok I got em now...not a a complete list and in no particular order...
Dune - Frank Herbet - classic SciFi..just darn good
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert
The Lensman Series EE"DOC" Smith - classic space opera decades before Star Wars...good vs Evil and the story of a family chosen to well, you know, save the universe. Dated but still good.
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury (collection of Short Stories)
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany - a curious and interesting work
Humanity Prime - Bruce McAllister - a little known work...but very well written and influential on me
Odd John and Sirius - Olaf Stapledon - well if you havn't rerad it then your odd...or maybe I am...hehe
Foundation by Isaac Asimov (and the other two)
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells...still pretty good
The Time Machine - H.G.Wells - read the actual work and see how every hollywood director missed the point...a modern alleghory
The Last Castle - Jack Vance (a novella) Vance influenced fantasy and fantasy gaming ...he is a giant...but he also wrote some pretty good SciFi
The Dragon Masters - Jack Vance
Evolution - Stephen Baxter ( a very good read)
Snow Queen - Joan D. Vinge
2001; A Space Oddessey - Arthur C. CLark
Childhood's End - Arthur C. CLark
Imperial Earth - Arthur C. CLark
I, Robot - Isaac Asimov (a great short story and anthology)
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Philip José Farmer I never liked Farmer until i read this one and its sequels...the highlight of the series came when Sir Richard F. Burton dueled Cyrano de Bergerac (both considered the greatest swordsmen of their age) in a titanic sword duel...incredible
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein ...I did not like Starship Troopers actually...
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Most of the above are novels...but many SciFi writers have done their best work writing short stories.
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Indeed, still my all time favorite book is Shadows of the Empire, don't laugh. Ender's Game was a close second.
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A few of my favorites I haven't seen listed yet:
Nueromancer- William Gibson
Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter Miller Jr.
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
Blade Runner- Phillip K. Dick
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Dune
Beserker
Time Wars
Videssos Legion
The Vang
The World War : XXX The Balance
Hitch Hikers Guide (the four part trilogy)
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Most of the above are novels...but many SciFi writers have done their best work writing short stories.
If you get a chance, grab "The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Centurey" edited by Turtledove and Greenberg. 544 pages of scifi shorts (or excerpts).
Yes, not a very concise title, but it contains works by Clarke, Martin, McCaffrey and many others. Check out a short by Orson Card called "Ender's Game" ... fantastic.
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For being a Sci-Fi fan, I really have not read much sci-fi but Neuromancer would have to be near the top of my list as well as Vert. It is really a shame how Gibson's books just went downhill from there. Neuromancer was so tech-speak it was like reading a book in a different language. His books just got more and more ordinary in their subject matter and language. I think I must really read the Foundation Triology.
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Lepton, if you want Gibson on steroids, read 'Burning Chrome'. It's a collection of his short stories, and are all thought provoking and powerful.
Funny, but I think very highly of short stories; they often carry a powerful punch without all the waffling about you have in novellas.
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Hyperion- Dan Simmons
This is one book I'd like to read...
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Gibson tried to make "new wave" SciFi but it didn't take...
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My favorites would have to be:
Dune - Frank Herbert (and the rest of the series is good too)
Star Trek - some of them at least
BattleTech - not something that troubles your brain
Martian Chronicles - Bradbury (I really wish he had written something new in the last 30 years.)
Too many others to really list.
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Dune- Frank Herbert (the first one really, then the first trilogy only)
Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
City on the Edge of Forever- Harlan Ellison
Orphans of the Sky- Robert Heinlein (or whatever the newer title is)
The Foundation trilogy- Isaac Asimov
Startide Rising- (David?) Brin
Spock Must Die- (man oh man, I forgot who and I'm going to amazon to figure it out, either)
and a few of Fritz Leiber's Fafherd and Gray Mouser stories
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Protector, Ringworld, The Integral Trees, The Smokering - Larry Niven
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough for Love, Friday - Heinlein
Against a Dark Background, Excession! - Banks
The City and the Stars/Against the Fall of Night, Childhoods End - Clarke
The Cities in Flight series - Blish
The Chrysalids, The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckcoos - Wyndham
The End of Eternity, The Foundation series (just the first 3) - Asimov
Dune - Herbert
Dragons Egg - Forward
The Skylark Series - EE "Doc" Smith
Dragon Flight - McCaffery
Footfall, Lucifers Hammer, The Moat in Gods Eye, The Burning City - Niven & Pournelle
The Long Habit of Living, The Worlds series - Joe Haldeman
Strata - Pratchett
Tiger Tiger - Bester
Now, if I were to turn around and look at the bookshelves behind me... But no. We'd be here all day.
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Add to many of the above
Dorsai by Gordan R Dickson
The Hammer's Slammers series by David Drake
Stainless Steel Rat series of Harry Harrison
Sandkings (a short story) by George R. R, Martin
Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard
Chung Kuo series by David Wingrove
Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke
Gateway by Fredrick Pohl
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Dune- Frank Herbert (the first one really, then the first trilogy only)
Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
City on the Edge of Forever- Harlan Ellison
Orphans of the Sky- Robert Heinlein (or whatever the newer title is)
The Foundation trilogy- Isaac Asimov
Startide Rising- (David?) Brin
Spock Must Die- (man oh man, I forgot who and I'm going to amazon to figure it out, either)
and a few of Fritz Leiber's Fafherd and Gray Mouser stories
James Blish, author of the novelisation of TOS, wrote Spock Must Die. It was the only original Star Trek novel he wrote, aside from the original short story about Harry Mudd, which he included in the book Mudd's Angels (later renamed Mudd's Enterprise) which contained the novelisation of the two Harry Mudd TOS episodes.
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I have just about every star wars novel ever printed
The best decision Lucas made was to link events in one novel to the next....and create an ongoing story told by a variety of authors.
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Tracey, thanks a million! I did enjoy it when I read it, so I a glad to be reminded of who wrote it. I like his translations of the screenplays to normal prose, too.
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Eric Frank Russell
H. Beam Piper
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A Matter for men
A day for damnation
A rage for revenge
A season for slaughter.
I know the titles sound like a bunch of bad Steven Segall movies but
the titles above belong to the 'War angainst the C'Thorr series'
David gerrold is a sick visionary. heh
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Hmm...love me some sci-fi/fantasy...
Faves include:
The Gor series
The Horseclans series
The Sword of Shannara
Lord of the Rings
Battlefield Earth
Mission Earth dekology
Mars
Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels
Dune series
...anything by Miachael Moorcock
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I was a bit of an Andre' Norton fan back in my school daze.... Anybody else remember him? (actually, I think it was a pseudonym for a her, but that's not important now)
And if we can include short stories, has anyone ever heard of:
For a Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny?
Thor Meets Captain America by David Brin?
...Two of my favorites _EVER_!
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A few of my favorites I haven't seen listed yet:
Nueromancer- William Gibson
Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter Miller Jr.
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
Blade Runner- Phillip K. Dick
Nice Cyberpunk list. Although I thought "Count Zero" was actually better than Neuromancer!
I agree with the William Gibson "Sprawl" novels and the Dan Simmons "Hyperion" novels.
Have to add Roger Zelazny's "Amber" novels which are both scifi and fantasy (a reviewer once said "Zelazny writes about magic like it was science, and he writes about science like it was magic..."
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Martian Chronicles is WAY up there.. (Bradbury)
I will admit that in Fantasy... I would have to go with Harry Potter... (J.K. Rowling)
Anyone who can write a book that can be read an understood on so many levels is a genius.
GE-Raven
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Time Enough For Love
Stranger In A Strange Land
The Number Of The Beast
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Anything else from Heinlein (GRHS)
The Foundation Series
Robot Series (Caves Of Steel, etc.)
The Currents Of Space
Anything else form Asimov
The Dosadi Experiment
The Whipping Star
Dune Series
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A few of my favorites I haven't seen listed yet:
Nueromancer- William Gibson
Snow Crash- Neal Stephenson
Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter Miller Jr.
Hyperion- Dan Simmons
Blade Runner- Phillip K. Dick
Nice Cyberpunk list. Although I thought "Count Zero" was actually better than Neuromancer!
I agree with the William Gibson "Sprawl" novels and the Dan Simmons "Hyperion" novels.
Have to add Roger Zelazny's "Amber" novels which are both scifi and fantasy (a reviewer once said "Zelazny writes about magic like it was science, and he writes about science like it was magic..."
I read Canticle for Leibowitz in my literature of sci fi class in college. Cool book...
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I read Canticle for Leibowitz in my literature of sci fi class in college. Cool book...
How on earth did I forget that one... Read it back in 8th grade. I need to get it again, I am sure I would appreciate it MUCH more now.
GE-Raven
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The Rama series by Arthur C Clark and Gentry Lee
Count Zero
Burning Chrome
Neuromancer
The Fleet series- a collection of shorts by authors such as Heinlein, Clark, Sagan, Anne McCaffery (Dragon riders of Pern) and many other sci-fi authors. A wonderful collaboration by this eras finest sci fi and fantasy writers. I believe some of them continued in the series Armada.
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (forget author, excellent read)
N-Space, a collection of shorts by Larry Niven.
Most Niven books are excellent.
I read so many back when I was in the army, I forget many of the really good reads. I gave all my paperbacks to a local reading foundation (about 80 paperbacks) back in 93.
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The John Carter of Mars series were my favorite. The Dragons of Pern as well. Been awhile since I've read them, or any novel.
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Just finished Star trek enterprise: by the book. Was interesting. Didnt like the way it was written at first, but I soon got used to it. Just bought Tng: Genesis wave, which looks pretty cool...got that whilst unsuccesfully searching for nwn: hotu *sobs*
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Zelazny: Lord of Light
Jack of Shadows
Heinlein: Most everything
Asimov: See above
L. Neil Smith: Paratime series
EE Doc Smith: Everything
A. Bester: Most everything
And all the cover art from Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo (When men were men, women were women, and monsters were Monsters!!) 
Mike
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I actually prefer Gibson's later stuff, though I truly can't put a finger on why. Idoru is one of my favorites. I have serious issues with the fact that he's hard to find. He's never on Books a Million shelves except for the newest of his new stuff, and finding anything at my local library is impossible.
Suppose there's always Amazon.com.
Let's see other sci-fi...
On Basillisk Station by David Weber. The later books in the series became rapidly more cartoonish and dryly political, but the first one was pretty cool. I tend to like the 'Honorverse' short story collections, though.
The Final Reflection by John M. Ford. Best Star Trek novel ever written.
The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford. Probably more fantasy than sci-fi with the elves and magic, but the semi-30's/semi-modern setting makes it feel like sci-fi to me.
The Venus Prime series by Paul Preuss and Arthur C. Clarke. Can't speak for anything beyond the first and second books, but I really enjoyed both of those.
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Frank Herbert!!!!!!
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Are you Herbert? ;)
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I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned Weber's Honorverse series. Military sci-fi at its best, imo. That's probably my favorite book series of any genre to date, and I wish he'd quit branching off to explore other parts of the Honorverse and get to the second Havenite War already!!! :banghead:
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My Favorites:
Gene Wolfe's New Sun series:
The Shadow of the Torturer
The Claw of the Conciliator
The Sword of the Lictor
The Citadel of the Autarch
Gene Wolfe writes more than just good science fiction. (If, indeed, Science Fiction is a broad enough term to describe what he's doing.) He delivers the best literature written in the English language today.
There is a standalone sequel:
The Urth of the New Sun
And two follow-on series (so distantly related to the first series that you might not even catch the connections) called the Long Sun series.
Other real winners:
The Mote in God's Eye
by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Dune by Frank Herbert
A true classic. None of the sequels rate here. The prequels by his son I do love, but they don't rate as great literature.
The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven
The best of the series. (So far at least)
Foundation By Isaac Asimov
-S'Cipio
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Oddly enough, I have a penchant for military sci-fi. Some of my favorites are:
Hammer's Slammers - David Drake
Dune - Frank Herbert
Dorsai! - Gordon R. Dickson
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein
Armor - John Steakley
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Berserker - Fred Saberhagen
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
The Adversary - Julian May
Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head - there are many, many others. In addition, most of the above books are just the initial offerings in a series - just those ten I listed probably have another twenty to thirty sequels, most of them just as good a read.
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I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned Weber's Honorverse series. Military sci-fi at its best, imo. That's probably my favorite book series of any genre to date, and I wish he'd quit branching off to explore other parts of the Honorverse and get to the second Havenite War already!!! :banghead:
Honor turns into way too much of a superhero in the books beyond the first one, at least for my taste. And he almost writes to a formula: Honor gets assignment no one expects her to succeed in, she then does very well, various political machinations to kill time, final battle where her ship gets torn to pieces and half her crew dies.
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If you like military Sci-Fi, then Saberhagen's Berserker series, and Dickson's Dorsai books (or Childe Cycle) are mandatory reading.
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I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned Weber's Honorverse series. Military sci-fi at its best, imo. That's probably my favorite book series of any genre to date, and I wish he'd quit branching off to explore other parts of the Honorverse and get to the second Havenite War already!!! :banghead:
Honor turns into way too much of a superhero in the books beyond the first one, at least for my taste. And he almost writes to a formula: Honor gets assignment no one expects her to succeed in, she then does very well, various political machinations to kill time, final battle where her ship gets torn to pieces and half her crew dies.
Got the War of Honor book out of local library, still had the Honorverse CD in the back leaf. Got the whole series now plus some of Weber's other stuff. :thumbsup:
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How about the M.Y.T.H. adventures...and which of you is the Pervert..errr..I mean Pervect :D
Actually, I just sent Stephan a load of books 'cause my wife is Spring cleaning, and I'd rather keep them in the community than let others paw through them and only offer me a nickle for a classic
Mike
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Battlefield Earth is a HUGE book, not only in page count, but in sheeer scope. I'd say it's 2 or 3 storied back to back non-stop.
The movie with John Travolta as Terl was a joke, but good enough to get me to check out the book. I'd love to see a Battlefield Earth miniseries.
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The Dr. Who series
anything StarTrek
anything Starwars
Starwolf
BattleTech
Robotech
I may add more ;D
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Was happy to see Ender's Game listed a couple of times in here. Has anyone read Ender's Shadow? Got it, but haven't started it yet.
I'd add, if it hasn't been mentioned already, the Forever War and Forever Peace. Also, the Man Kzin Wars series. Niven started the series, then let other writers take over his universe and it made for an enjoyable series since you got to read very different writting styles based off of a common theme.
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Here is a listing I found that has quite a few of the titles people have posted here ranked.
http://classics.jameswallaceharris.com/Lists/ByRank.php
Interesting to see the Domolished man at the top, as it is basically revolving around the same story as Doestoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment", only with telepaths. In my opinion Doestoyevsky was the greatest writer ever, so not really surprised that the SCIFI readers would also enjoy his ideas so well.
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I don't know that it counts as SF (I did buy it from the SFBC) but I recently read "ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR" by LIAN HEARN and it was a very good book. Alternate ancient Japan, feudal lords, assassins, etc. I have the second book but haven't had the chance to read it yet.