I am Legend dates to the 50's. It has been made into a movie at least three times, once featuring Vincent Price as the Last Man on Earth, Charlton Heston in "The Omega Man", and of course most recently with Will Smith in "I am Legend".

Sounds like every Kurt Vonnegut book.

Have you read JOB: A Comedy of Justice?

I have it in paperback, but it's coming apart at the spine. I've wanted to read it, but didn't know if it would be worth the effort of dealing with a disintegrating book.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a great book. I'd forgotten about that one. Might be time for a re-read.

Yes, I read it several years ago. In my opinion it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either.

Probably one of my favorites is The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag. I still remember one line in the book that made chills run down my spine when I read it. I won't give it away here, but I highly recommend the book.

Yeah, seemed to me that the time he spent bedridden caused him to overthink his morals. He might have been just pushing the envelope but there were some strong incestuous themes in his work. Just take a look at Farnham's Freehold.

I've read them all too. I remember when Friday came out and my dad said to me, "The old guy still has it." I'd say Friday was the best of his last work. I wouldn't call the rest of his last work crap but yeah, there was a noticeable drop off.

Oh, yeah, forgot about those, love that series.

At least in Farnham's Freehold the incestuous relationship was never consumated, and Hugh Farnham was appalled at the idea. I think Heinlein liked to write that the young women were the aggressors in these types of relationships because it was some sick fantasy that he had.

Having said that, I will say that Farnham's Freehold was one my favorite Heinlein books. But Starship Troopers was my absolute favorite: it almost made me want to go join the infantry.

If I had never read the Starship Troopers book, I'm sure I would have liked the movie a lot more. Whoever made that movie either completely misunderstood the real message of the book, or just didn't care and decided to go for a farce instead. The first time I saw the movie I was appalled. However, the special effects in the movie were so cool that I was eventually able to get over the differences between the book and the movie and enjoy the movie on its own merits.

I agree.

Something funny-when I saw that one part of my reply singled out, I vividly recalled that particular scene in my memory. I could see my dad sitting in his leather farting recliner, holding the book out to show me the cover, with his evil looking grin. My parents were divorced and I had spent the previous Summer living with him. I read every Heinlein book that had been published up to that point during that Summer. I am pretty sure I have that paperback edition of Friday in my bedroom right now. Thirty years later.

David Brin's Uplift War series is also awesome, well, the first couple books, then he switches focus from the main crew and it ends up not as good.

I've shied away from Fantasy and Sci-Fi lately but I've read a lot of Piers Anthony and R.A. Salvatore in the past. For Sci-Fi I like Burgess and Orwell .

Hey, Buck, if you have some time, maybe you could make a list of people highest recommendations in the OP? That would be so awesome. If you don't feel like doing it, that's totally cool too, bruh.

I will do it this weekend.

From this point out everyone can give me up to 3 of their must-read book or series recommendations and I will put in the OP. They can be all sci-fi, all fantasy, or a combination.

I just don't want sci-fi to be ignored in this thread, remember that when making recommendations.

I don't want to put 50 books per person. So let me know the 1-3 you want under your name in the OP.

1. Fritz Lieber's Swords Against series.
2. George R.R. Martin's SoIaF series [no brainer that will probably make tons of other lists]
3. Umberto Eco, Foucalt's Pendulum [a little more obscure/forgotten to make up for GRRM]

Neal Stephenson Snow Crash for scifi/cyberpunk. . Song of ice and Fire for fantasy. Since you like YA type stuff, try Little Brother by Doctorow for another cyberpunk.

Are these the 3 books you want in the OP or are you just recommending books, I can't tell.

Wait, because I liked Ender's Game I like YA stuff?

Hunger Games is YA as well. Nothing wrong with it. I read a lot as well. They're action driven page turners and probably the most popular publishing market currently.

Okay, but I've not once mentioned any desire to read it.

I thought you were a fan for some reason. Must be a different poster.

I didn't realize the other Charger fan was a member of CP.

Here's a pair of recommendations. Linky'ed to Amazon.com for more reviews if you are on the fence.

Sci-Fi: Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey. The author is actually a psuedonym for a pair of somewhat well-known writers, one being GRRM's protege, Daniel Abraham. This book was included as a throwaway gift when I pre-ordered Abraham's new fantasy. It turned out to be much more readable and I'm eagerly awaiting part 2 now. Has bits of noir, space opera, hard sci-fi, and space chases mixed together. In other words, it's gooood.

Fantasy: Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. Since you enjoy YA so much Hobb is the best female fantasy writer out there. This series isn't action-packed, and is a bit of a slow-burner at first, but don't let that deter you. Great concepts, fantastic world-building, and altogether emotionally riveting.

THANKS NEWCHIEF NOW I'M PEGGED INTO LOVING YA.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, any series

Robert Heinlein, everything he has written in chronological order (but read Starship Troopers first)

Doc Smith's Lensman series


If those are taken:

Jack L. Chalker, any series

Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant, or Battle Circle (Sos the Rope, Var the Stick, Neq the Sword)

Orson Scott Card's series starting with Ender's Game, or the Tales Of Alvin Maker

Larry Niven's Ringworld series

Nothing from Ray Bradbury. He annoys the shit out of me typically

Asimov is a typical Russian author. Very dry

I could go on but that's probably enough.

Top three is tough, but I'll try to go with ones you might not have already heard about:

1. "Book of the Long Sun" by Gene Wolfe
2. "Paradise War" by Stephen R Lawhead
3. "The Dragonbone Chair" by Tad Williams

Stephen King maybe too obvious to list, but IMO every SciFi fantasy fan should check out:

1. TALISMAN - Time and dimensional traveling werewolves set
in both modern and medieval times. The book almost has it all but unfortunately no human Roombas were not included.
2. The Stand- already read it? No problem! This book gets better every time.
3. Dark Tower Series - I can't wait for the new book. But will the new Book 5 and cause the old books 5,6,& 7 to become 6, 7 & 8?

BTW- if you liked Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule & Stone of Tears, but dropped the series because the third book of the Sword of Truth series sucked so bad (and it does suck), skip to "Faith of the Fallen" which many consider to be his master piece and then skip to the 3 Chainfire series books- which are all pretty fun once they get going (well, unless you hate climatic endings that have as much to do with violent Soccer death matches where severed heads can serve as the ball as they do with epic Battles).

[QUOTE=Jawshco;8486063]Top three is tough, but I'll try to go with ones you might not have already heard about:

Stephen King maybe too obvious to list, but IMO every SciFi fantasy fan should check out:

1. TALISMAN - Time and dimensional traveling werewolves set


That AND Black House are my two favorite King books. Well King and Schaub.

This was a great idea for a thread. My Kindle wish list has grown exponentially over the last couple of days.

(1) Dune - Frank Herbert
(2) The Stand - Stephen King (1000+ page unabridged)
(3) Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein (checkout the song by Yes, too. lots of great bass)


A lot of people like to bash on Koontz, but I like reading his books even if they are very formulaic. His Moonlight Bay series is particularly good. Currently, there are only two books in the series: Fear Nothing and Seize the Night. They're about a guy who has a (real) condition called XP that prevents his skin from being able to repair itself, so he has to avoid light. He roams the town at night, learning about the nefarious goings-on in his sleepy California coastal town, which include the nearby abandoned military base.

If you want a quick, entertaining page turner, check them out.

Thanks for the info. In the meantime, I dug the book out to see what shape it was in, and noticed I also had a similarly damaged 'The Past Through Tomorrow.'

Better? Worse? Worth a read?

Better.

Yeah, I liked Black House too - A rare climatic ending in a King book was a nice surprise. However, Talisman is an absolute awesome, must read, why isn't this movie yet, type of book.

BDTMWFI!

My three favorite fantasy series, based on if I would or have reread them are:

Raymond Feist - Riftwar Saga

Terry Brooks - Shannara series (starting with the Knight of the Word books)

Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

I left out LotR as it is too obvious. It would be my true number one series.

If I'm limited to 3, then it's Dune at number 1, Song of Ice and Fire at number 2, and Azimov's Foundation series at number 3.

Best book series I have read!

Another Tad Williams fan? Awesome! I don't know a lot of people who know him.

He writes such long books. I read his Otherland quadrilogy and it was pretty good, but I'm not sure it was a great value on a per page basis.

A NASA expedition to check out an asteroid goes horribly wrong.

The crew ends up on an alien world millions of light years from earth.

At first glance it seems like a dead world. They explore fantastic ruins..and begin to discover things....AMAZING things...

Otherland was kind of long but still enjoyable, especially if you like cyberpunk. I also really liked the Shadowmarch series. War of the Flowers was kind of weird but still a good read.

Just got back from Barnes and Noble. What the **** is the deal with every fantasy book only coming in the Mass Paperback that tries to get the smallest pages as possible, with the fewest pages as possible, with the smallest print as possible? That pisses me off. I guess all my Fantasy will be on the Kindle. Here's my haul. Some of which were suggestions in this thread. (Post-Apoc on left / Sci-Fi on right)

http://i.imgur.com/DPajv.jpg

The book I'm most upset that I didn't end up buying was Neuromancer, but it was $16 in the store and only $8 online, so I'll be going that route.

Also they didn't have Hyperion. WTF is up with that?

They had like every other iteration of that saga, except for the first one. There wasn't even an empty spot for it on the shelf.

Hey Buck, Triplanetary is free on Kindle. It is the first book in the "Lensman"series. I just grabbed it.




<=== on my Fire right now.

Used book stores are the best place to get classic sci-fi/fantasy.

You haven't read Dune, Buck?

Holy ****, I envy you. Such a good read. Dune Messiah and Children of Dune are really good, too.

Skip the rest of that shit. ROFL

I didn't start reading for fun until about 2 years ago. I didn't start seriously reading for pleasure until about 2 months ago. I have a lot to catch up on.

I read the Tovacs trilogy based of your suggestion a few years ago and it was easily some of the most purely entertaining stuff I have read.

You should read JAWS and BEAST by Peter Benchley, Buck.

I have both Leviathan Wakes and The Dragon's Path (that's Daniel Abraham's solo fantasy work) waiting on the shelf, but it'll probably be months before I get to them. I have 7 Shadows of the Apt books to finish first.

If you like the stupid inner monologues.

Raymond Feist

The Riftwar Saga
Magician (1982)
Republished in two parts in the United States:
1.Magician: Apprentice (1986)
2.Magician: Master (1986)
Silverthorn (1985)
A Darkness at Sethanon (1986)

The Empire Trilogy
Daughter of the Empire (1987) with Janny Wurts
Servant of the Empire (1990) with Janny Wurts
Mistress of the Empire (1992) with Janny Wurts

Krondor's Sons
Prince of the Blood (1989)
The King's Buccaneer (1992)

The Serpentwar Saga
Shadow of a Dark Queen (1994)
Rise of a Merchant Prince (1995)
Rage of a Demon King (1997)
Shards of a Broken Crown (1998)

The Riftwar Legacy
Krondor: The Betrayal (1998)
Krondor: The Assassins (1999)
Krondor: Tear of the Gods (2000)

Not a big fan of his latest works though.

I've read Memory Sorrow and Thorn and To Green Angel Tower. Long books but full of detail and excellent story lines IMO.

All I know now is that I have a shit load of reading to do.

Also WWZ, I wouldn't recommend it unless you specifically want to read about Zombies.

I just like the story of Paul. Those three books bring it full circle.

great book, I lent it to a girlfriend becuae she lived in Yonkers NY and never got it back. I think I'll find it used and re-read it.

I Am Legend gets a 10/10 from me. Wow, what a great story.

I am pissed that they didn't make the recent movie like that.

I love the Wheel of Time series, but it's a hell of a commitment. It'll take you a year to get through them all unless you've got a LOT of free time.

I began reading it back when it was maybe half written. By the time I got to where I was waiting for the.next books to come out, I realized that my anticipation was more about a sense of duty to keep going than actual excitement to further the story.

I've considered going back and trying again at times, but the books just didn't pull me in enough to warrant me giving a second chance to such an enormous tale.

Dune is absolutely a classic.

I re-read Dune nearly annually. It's probably my favorite novel of all time in any genre.

Great idea for a thread Buck. Surprised to see you haven't read any Asimov if you are a sci-fi fan. He is part of the foundation of sci-fi, please forgive the pun. There are some great books and series in this thread. I'd like to nominate some story collections.

1. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 1, 2A & 2B books are a gold mine for sampling the evolution of sci-fi. (below)
2.The Nebula Awards and Hugo Awards (selected yearly, pick a year)
3. Years Best SF Annual publication, pick any volume from 1 to the current volume 17



Author Story Title Year of first publication
Stanley G. Weinbaum "A Martian Odyssey" 1934
John W. Campbell "Twilight" 1934
Lester del Rey "Helen O’Loy" 1938
Robert A. Heinlein "The Roads Must Roll" 1940
Theodore Sturgeon "Microcosmic God" 1941
Isaac Asimov "Nightfall" 1941
A. E. van Vogt "The Weapon Shop" 1942
Lewis Padgett “Mimsy Were the Borogoves” 1943
Clifford D. Simak “Huddling Place” 1944
Fredric Brown “Arena” 1944
Murray Leinster “First Contact” 1945
Judith Merril “That Only a Mother” 1948
Cordwainer Smith “Scanners Live in Vain” 1948
Ray Bradbury “Mars is Heaven!” 1948
Cyril M. Kornbluth “The Little Black Bag” 1950
Richard Matheson “Born of Man and Woman” 1950
Fritz Leiber “Coming Attraction” 1950
Anthony Boucher “The Quest for Saint Aquin” 1951
James Blish “Surface Tension” 1952
Arthur C. Clarke “The Nine Billion Names of God” 1953
Jerome Bixby “It's a Good Life” 1953
Tom Godwin “The Cold Equations” 1954
Alfred Bester “Fondly Fahrenheit” 1954
Damon Knight “The Country of the Kind” 1955
Daniel Keyes “Flowers for Algernon” 1959
Roger Zelazny “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” 1963
Author Novella Title Year of first publication
Poul Anderson "Call Me Joe" 1957
John W. Campbell "Who Goes There?" 1938
Lester del Rey "Nerves" 1942
Robert A. Heinlein "Universe" 1941
Cyril M. Kornbluth "The Marching Morons" 1951
Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore "Vintage Season" 1946
Eric Frank Russell "...And Then There Were None" 1951
Cordwainer Smith "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell" 1962
Theodore Sturgeon "Baby Is Three" 1952
H.G. Wells "The Time Machine" 1895
Jack Williamson "With Folded Hands" 1947
[edit] Volume Two B
Author Novella Title Year of first publication
Isaac Asimov "The Martian Way" 1952
James Blish "Earthman Come Home" 1953
Algis Budrys "Rogue Moon" 1960
Theodore Cogswell "The Spectre General" 1952
E.M. Forster "The Machine Stops" 1909
Frederik Pohl "The Midas Plague" 1954
James H. Schmitz "The Witches of Karres" 1949
T. L. Sherred "E for Effort" 1947
Wilmar H. Shiras "In Hiding" 1948
Clifford D. Simak "The Big Front Yard" 1958
Jack Vance "The Moon Moth" 1961

Cool, I added that to the OP with a link to this post.

Yep....I read Dune and Lord of the Rings every year. I love the original Dune, it was the perfect blend of politics, religion, science, and tech ever written. Too bad the sequel books went of the deep end.

I just started reading the Nine Princes of Amber by Roger Zelazny. About 25% in so far, and it is very good. Not sure why I had not gotten into this series earlier in life, since it was written awhile ago.

I actually read that beginning to end in February. The whole series I mean. It was pretty good. Definitely different.

They seem to be very quick reads so far. Have finished Nine Princes of Amber and moved on to book 2, The Guns of Avalon. Enjoying the series so far....different is probably the best description, but different in a good, well written way.

Yeah, that and the author up and frigging died before completing the saga. The ghost writer guy is ok but....
Did he write the last one yet?

I believe the last one is set to come out sometime this year.

It's Brandon Sanderson. He's a pretty big name in current fantasy.

Fantasy. He hasn't written any science fiction that I'm aware of.

He's okay. Nothing mind-blowing yet, but he writes a ton of stuff.

I read several of those books back in the early 80s and thought they were pretty good. I don't know if the whole series was even out then, but I don't remember finishing it. How many books are in the series?

Right, sorry, I had sci-fi on my mind coming into this thread.

I can't believe I had forgotten about that series. Very enjoyable.

There were 10 in the omnibus I have. Like 1100 pages total. The last one came out in '91 I think.

Great list. Definitely several classics in there.

Yeah, I probably stopped reading them in '86 or so when I started my first real job.

Buck, if you want to give Piers Anthony a try (other than what is already mentioned), Incarnations Of Immortality and the first few books of his Zanth series are fun. I'm trying to remember when his Zanth books turned to shit. Maybe around book five or so. Much of the rest of his stuff is crap.

I wish I could read every recommendation in this thread now, but I've already stocked myself with over 3 or 4 months of reading at this point.

Reading The Stand currently. Got to this part today and started cracking up at work.