[Books] Science Fiction

[sp00n]

i would reccomend battlefield earth buy L. Ron Hubbard that is actually the first book i took the time to read. it is the book that got me interested in reading becasue it is such a good book good luck

For anyone wondering if you should actually read that one: L. Ron Hubbard is the found of Scientology and the book is said to be even worse than the movie. Go figure.

[Xenogeist]

For anyone wondering if you should actually read that one: L. Ron Hubbard is the found of Scientology and the book is said to be even worse than the movie. Go figure.

Nobody says that. The book is quite good.

Some of my favorites have already been mentioned
Dune
Hyperion
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Old Man's War
Kurt Vonnegut's stuff
C.J. Cherryh's stuff

There is also a ton of military sci fi out there that will keep you occupied for those 7 months.

[Eisaderfrau]

Deeper reads:
Orson Scott Card
Greg Bear
Ben Bova
The Dark Path series - Walter H. Hunt

Military Sci-Fi (my personal favorite)
Anything by David Weber (His current Safehold series is quite good and more in-depth then his earlier works. The Honor Herrington series was just fun start to finish)
John Ringo
Steve White
Eric Flynt
Ian Douglas

A word of advice... a lot of the military sci-fi authors do co-authored books. It seems like anything co-authored by 2 of the above ends up being good, but when one of them goes with some random other person it's a crap shoot. Sometimes it's a good way to find a new author you like. Other times you just go "wow, glad I wasted 9 bucks on this book."

[Deficineiron]

I will throw some things out, fyi I enjoy alastair reynolds and enjoyed vernor vinge's deepness/fire 2 books.

glen cook - the dragon never sleeps - my favorite SF by him
brian stableford - you could get anything from him from 1970's to try, The ruins of Tartarus, The halcyon drift?
Have you read poul anderson, or larry niven (older, not newer) and/or jerry pournelle?
CJ Cherryh's 1980's stories I enjoyed a lot, 1990-forward generally bores me to tears. Human condition - How about the Cyteen triology (or just Cyteen, I think, omnibus)
Peter hamilton, the fallen dragon (standalone book!)
that is just off top of my head, if you enjoyed any of the above or not, and reply, I can maybe suggest other stuff.

---------- Post added 2011-09-15 at 02:13 AM ----------

Alastair Reynolds is one of the best current space-oprah science fiction writers. His "Revelation Space" books are flat-out amazing. They can be read in order or independently. They're based in the same universe but are separate stories. If you only read one, get Chasm City. One of the best books I've read in years. EDIT: (Oops just reread your post and saw that you've read his work.)

Armor by John Steakley is my favorite book. I've read it so many times that the book keeps falling apart and I have to buy a new one. It's one of those once-a-year-must-read books. Luckily I've made the switch to a Kindle so no more wrecking my books.

The Gateway series by Frederik Pohl is another fantastic, genre-defining set. I believe there's 6 or 7 books.

If you want some fun, light reading I'd suggest the Mag Force 7 series by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin, as well as their Star of the Guardians books. Fast paced fun about a group of mercenaries running around saving the universe.

Greg Bear is another of my favorite authors. He tends to do more more hard-core science fiction. Blood Music is a classic. Darwin's Radio and the sequel, Darwin's Children are about the next step in human evolution and it's effects on society.

we have a lot of common interests. I thought redemption ark's 'ending' was among the worst I have ever read, though I have since read he had a deadline, first novel as full-time-author, etc. I enjoy every single other thing he has written.

bear changed at some point (during the writing of vitals). I haven't enjoyed anything since then nearly as much as his earlier works.

steakley passed away with armor II just a few pages long, as far as I know. Armor is one of my single favorite books, so amazing that the guy made that (and vampires) and didn't follow up. (looking at both titles a few feet from me)

to the OP - other things I have read in the last 6 months that aren't as well known - the windover tapes, warren norwood (4 book series, maybe 800 pages total)
Hal Clement - hard sf stories, unique in my reading.
The northworld trilogy, david drake

[koljach]

Since i have read it, i am in love with Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars" trilogy. There are 3 books that describe colonisation of mars, terraforming of mars, and long term consequences of terraformation. Not only it is very interesting, but it is full of scientific details too, so it is recommended for everyone who likes that kind of SF. I recommend it to everyone, and hope there are more Red Mars enthusiasts on this forum.

[Herecius]

The Hyperion series is the best sci-fi I have ever read.

Ever. Yes, I've read Dune.

[pickley]

All of the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series, they are all really good funny sci-fi books.

[Asteve92]

as people have said already, Dune and the Saga of the Seven Suns. absolutely amazing. also i dont know if youre into this kind of book but all the Warhammer: 40k are great.

[Deficineiron]

as people have said already, Dune and the Saga of the Seven Suns. absolutely amazing. also i dont know if youre into this kind of book but all the Warhammer: 40k are great.

I really like the eisenhorn trilogy, and most of abnetts other stuff to a lesser degree.

I have read that stableford wrote some for BL and have the titles here (brian crag?), but haven't read them. No idea how well he does when handed an outline.

[Epox]

Most of the Dune saga books are quite good, some are not that good, sadly. P K Dick is probably one of my favourite SF authors desipite me not reading that much SF, he usually touches on philosophical questions about our minds and perception that are really interesting. Does'nt really matter what book you choose, some of them are a bit more strange than others tho, Do androids... or The Man in the High Castle are probably the easiest ones to start out with, Valis and Ubik are the strangest ones imo.

I read Neuromancer when I was on holiday this year and it's really the epitome of Cyberpunk, in retrospect, it could be viewed as quite cliche if you've seen or read any other SF book, seen a film or played a videogame for the last 20 years (But then again alot of SF are based on his ideas). I also read Metro 2033 which, in my opinion, was quite decent.

1984/Brave New World are classics that will probably always be worth a read. Writers like Card (especially the first Ender book), Bradbury, Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse 5 actually had me laughing out loud a bunch of times),Asimov, Clarke, Lem, Adams that others have mentioned are also worth a read.

I try to stay away from franchise books like WH:40K and Starcraft so I really have no diea if they are good, I had some really horrible experiences with some D&D books back in the day and still feel kinda meh about it. Don't know if 2033 is considered a franchise book, which one came first?

For anyone wondering if you should actually read that one: L. Ron Hubbard is the found of Scientology and the book is said to be even worse than the movie. Go figure.

Well it seems like they based a whole religon around his books so I would consider him at least smart, if not a good writer. I haven't read them myself but I've heard people both bash it and praise it.

[Deleted]

Read the replies, and have seen two others who have suggested sci-fi books that I'd also recommend.

"Saga of the Seven Suns" by Kevin J. Anderson - the story is a continuation over 7 books.

and

Warhammer 40k books - these may not be written by any particular well known authors, but the stories and the lore behind them is really great. Once I'm done with my current (non-fiction) book I'll be returning to a 40k book most definately.

[Wrenneth]

To add to the list of names:

China Mieville -- Perdido Street Station, The Scar, The City and The City, and most recently Embassytown. I will read anything he writes as soon as it comes out.
Neal Asher -- Possibly my favorite British sci-fi author after Iain M Banks and Peter F Hamilton (I live in the US and order his books from the UK--that's how much I like him). His Ian Cormac series is lots of fun but my heart belongs to the Spatterjay Trilogy.

[Tethrys]

I read the Ender's Game/Shadow series, about 9 total I think? I loved them. Orson Scott Card is the author and thought he did a great job

[Brightamethyst]

30+ posts without a single mention of Jack Chalker makes me sad :(

[Zinnin]

the entire Legion of the Damned series by William Deitz is amazing, also one of my favorite book is Eon by greg bear.