Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Only Thread

[Buck]

There is a great thread in the lounge about Books in general, but to be honest, all I really want to read is Sci-Fi (including post-apocalyptic), and Fantasy.

In this OP I will compile every poster's top 3 Fantasy/SciFi suggestions if they give me them. I will try to keep the posters in alphabetical order in case you want to find someone's suggestions easier.

CP POSTER SUGGESTIONS

Baby Lee
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]

Frosty
1.Raymond Feist - Riftwar Saga
2.Terry Brooks - Shannara series (starting with the Knight of the Word books)
3.Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

Huffmeister
(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)

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

listopencil
1. Edgar Rice Burroughs, any series
2. Robert Heinlein, everything he has written in chronological order (but read Starship Troopers first)
3. Doc Smith's Lensman series

vailpass
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
See Post 142

[Buck]

Well this is extremely disappointing.

[Bowser]

I listened to Childhood's End on CD; never have read it. The book held up incredibly well for being 60 years old, imo. You can tell that book laid the foundation for a ton of sci-fi to come after it.

[Bowser]

I tried the audio route with Name of the Wind, but couldn't get into it. The narrator just wasn't working for me. I'll have to give it a try the old fashioned way.

[Buck]

I went to the store and bought the larger version of The Wise Man's Fear, started to read it, and realized maybe I want to read a different book in between these two.

I'm going to read Ship of Fools before I start The Wise Man's Fear.

[QuikSsurfer]

Originally Posted by Buck

I went to the store and bought the larger version of The Wise Man's Fear, started to read it, and realized maybe I want to read a different book in between these two.

I'm going to read Ship of Fools before I start The Wise Man's Fear.

This book is fantastic!!!
I seriously can't recommend it enough.

[jspchief]

Really struggling finding good fantasy lately. Everything seems so juvenile.

Think I may have to fall back on sci-fi. So recommendations? Starship Troopers good?

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Really struggling finding good fantasy lately. Everything seems so juvenile.

What have you been reading? There's tons of good new mature stuff out there.

[Loneiguana]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Really struggling finding good fantasy lately. Everything seems so juvenile.

Think I may have to fall back on sci-fi. So recommendations? Starship Troopers good?

I really enjoyed Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon.

http://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon...Richard+Morgan

In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning. . . .

If you haven't read anything by China Mieville, do so, any book is great.

And, as this is the first time I have seen this thread, how is the Wheel of Time series not listed in the opener?

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Loneiguana

I really enjoyed Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon.

http://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon...Richard+Morgan

That's part of a trilogy, also has Broken Angels and Woken Furies.

It's very, very adult, just as a warning. Graphic sex and violence. Which I think is great, but some people are offended by it.

He has a really good fantasy series running as well, called A Land Fit For Heroes. It too contains graphic sex and violence, although this time with more of a homosexual bent. Two novels so far, The Steel Remains and The Cold Commands, with the third and I think final, The Dark Defiles, due sometime next year.

[Loneiguana]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

That's part of a trilogy, also has Broken Angels and Woken Furies.

It's very, very adult, just as a warning. Graphic sex and violence. Which I think is great, but some people are offended by it.

He has a really good fantasy series running as well, called A Land Fit For Heroes. It too contains graphic sex and violence, although this time with more of a homosexual bent. Two novels so far, The Steel Remains and The Cold Commands, with the third and I think final, The Dark Defiles, due sometime next year.

I have Broken Angles, haven't read Woken Furies yet.

I'll have to check out his fantasy. Thanks for the suggestion.

I don't mind the adult content. One of my favorites parts of the books was how he showed the affect of being able to download into a new body on people like hookers.

Which brings me around to another Fantasy series: Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth Series. There is an author who uses rape everywhere.

I'm also going to throw out Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Erikson.

[keg in kc]

I just started Erikson's series. I've found the first book to be okay, but hard to get through at times. I've heard it gets better in ensuing volumes. I think I have the 2nd and 3rd Malazan books waiting on the shelf.

I tried reading the Sword of Truth series, but thought it was terrible. Just cliche after cliche, and not very well-written in a general sense.

I'm sure I mentioned him earlier in the thread, but anything by Joe Abercrombie is good, whether it's his First Law trilogy, or the stand-alone books in that world.

I keep hearing good things about R. Scott Bakker, but I've had a hard time getting through his stuff. Just another name to throw out there, in any case.

I've liked Daniel Abraham's Dagger and Coin books a lot, The Dragon's Path, The King's Blood and the Tyrant's Law. He's also co-authored a solid science fiction series called The Expanse under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey. Novels there include Leviathan Wakes, Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate.

[Mr. Laz]

Runelord series my David Farland
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
The Dresden Files
Dragonriders Of Pern Anne Mccaffrey
Terry Brooks (Shannara series)
The Belgariad Series - David Eddings (read them years and years ago though)

[Rausch]

1) 1984 - it's not a theory it's a game plan for control. It's a warning to the world about how once complete control is given to the government there is absolutely no escape.

It's an eventuality. And you can hope and dream but once we hit that tipping point it's over.

2) A Clockwork Orange - I think the time has come and gone but the argument is mind control and behavior modification. If I can make you behave the way I want you to does that solve or create problems?

3) Farnham's Freehold - a very bold and honest view of how world dynamics would change if the Northern hemisphere decided to go nuclear. The science in the science-fiction is very wobbly but it's a damned good book that makes you think about just how you see people...

[Bowser]

Has anyone here tackled Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson? I'm doing the audiobook route with this one, as it is Game of Thrones long (34 discs!). Fantastic story taking place on three or four different stages at once, all getting tied together. Great read/listen.

For those that go the audiobook route, the narrator is William Dufris. He does as good a job reading this book as Roy Dotrice did on the first three books in the ASoIaF series. I may go find other audiobooks he has read just because he worked on them.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Has anyone here tackled Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson? I'm doing the audiobook route with this one, as it is Game of Thrones long (34 discs!). Fantastic story taking place on three or four different stages at once, all getting tied together. Great read/listen.

For those that go the audiobook route, the narrator is William Dufris. He does as good a job reading this book as Roy Dotrice did on the first three books in the ASoIaF series. I may go find other audiobooks he has read just because he worked on them.

Cryptonomicon is one of my favorite books. There is a passage near the middle, that involves fecal matter, that had me laughing so hard I was in tears. Stephenson is one of my favorite authors as well. The Baroque cycle has characters related to the characters in Cryptonomicon.