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

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by DaFace

By the way, if anyone has any interest, the Way of Kings is free right now on Kindle. Just be ready for a long ride - it's book 1 in a 10-part series, all of them probably in the 1000-page range. #2 is out, but that leaves 8 to be written.

Yeah, I picked that up. I usually hate to start a series before it's done so may hold off on reading it for a while, though.

[NewChief]

Finished the final book in Lev Grossman's The Magicians series, the Magician's Land.

Absolutely fantastic. The whole series. A lot of people call it Harry Potter in college, but that's a pretty poor generalization. It's such a smart series, and I think would appeal to anyone who is a fan of fantasy because of the sort of meta nature of it.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by NewChief

Finished the final book in Lev Grossman's The Magicians series, the Magician's Land.

Absolutely fantastic. The whole series. A lot of people call it Harry Potter in college, but that's a pretty poor generalization. It's such a smart series, and I think would appeal to anyone who is a fan of fantasy because of the sort of meta nature of it.

Glad you mentioned that. I need to finish that series up. Really liked the first two.

Also need to grab Brent Weeks' The Broken Eye, Daniel Abraham's The Widow's House, Abraham and Ty Franks' Cibola Burn, and get started on Mark Lawrence's Red Queen's War series and Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea series.

Reading all of the Recluse series and all of the Malazan series has taken up too much of my attention this year...

[Buck]

I started A Canticle for Liebowitz last night and got through the first act (out of 3 I think).

The end of the first act left me completely stunned and I had no desire to read on anymore.

I don't want to spoil it, but I'm sure a lot of you know what I'm referring to. I'm not a heavy reader, but I do t think I've ever read a book that used that specific plot technique before.

Spoilers for what I'm talking about below.

Spoiler!

Brother Francis, the only POV of the story so far, was killed a third of the way into the book. It was very upsetting and reminded me of my own mortality and how quickly and unexpectedly it could all end.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Having read the rest of the trilogy at this point and now in the middle of Sanderson's Way of Kings (much more "epic" fantasy), I can tell you that Sanderson tends to meander around a bit in the middle of each book, but the endings are all incredible. Enjoy.

I'm having a lot harder time getting into the second Mistborn book. The first was really good but this one is pretty slow.

[hometeam]

I am going to start the entire anne rice vampire chronicles for the second time after the game~

[keg in kc]

Finally finished Erikson's Malazan series, took me almost a year, although part of that was losing some steam during Dust of Dreams and spending a couple of months reading another fantasy series.

In the end, I thought the latter half of book 9 and then the final book did a really fine job at finishing up the series. Much better than, for example, Sanderson's work on The Wheel of Time. But of course Erikson finished his own series, so there's that distinct advantage. In any case, for the density of the writing, and the crazy number of plot threads, I thought he did a pretty amazing job at bringing everything together at the end. Actually a bit sad to be done with it.

[Miles]

Originally Posted by Miles

Currently reading Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and really enjoying it.

Midway though the second book of this 3 part series and it has been pretty damn good. Like that it is more character and maneuvering for power driven while the fantasy elements work their way in. Reminds me a little of Game of Thrones in that aspect.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Finally finished Erikson's Malazan series, took me almost a year, although part of that was losing some steam during Dust of Dreams and spending a couple of months reading another fantasy series.

What kind of series is this? Is primarily a political fantasy?

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by Frosty

I'm having a lot harder time getting into the second Mistborn book. The first was really good but this one is pretty slow.

Third one is even slower. There's a stand alone Mistborn book that's essentially a western that's pretty damn good though.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

Third one is even slower. There's a stand alone Mistborn book that's essentially a western that's pretty damn good though.

The first book was fun but the second has been all political maneuvering, which I find pretty boring.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Frosty

The first book was fun but the second has been all political maneuvering, which I find pretty boring.

As more warning then, both the second and third have a decent amount of that. I like it personally, but it's not for everyone.

I promise the endings are good though.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by DaFace

As more warning then, both the second and third have a decent amount of that. I like it personally, but it's not for everyone.

I promise the endings are good though.

I'm not saying it's bad. I just want more magic, less politics.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Frosty

What kind of series is this? Is primarily a political fantasy?

I'm not sure how I'd define it to be honest. I don't think political is a word I'd use, although there are politics involved. It's about as epic as epic fantasy gets, covering thousands of years and a seemingly endless cast of characters. I'd relate it to Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series (much better than Covenant IMO) and Cook's Black Company series more than to, say, Tolkien or Wheel of Time.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I'm not sure how I'd define it to be honest. I don't think political is a word I'd use, although there are politics involved. It's about as epic as epic fantasy gets, covering thousands of years and a seemingly endless cast of characters. I'd relate it to Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series (much better than Covenant IMO) and Cook's Black Company series more than to, say, Tolkien or Wheel of Time.

Thanks. I ordered the first book. I'll probably start on it when I finish the Mistborn series.