[Books] Sci-fi/fantasy book suggestions

[Kyira]

The Star Trek Novels by William Shatner are a good read if you're a trekkie especially the Mirror Universe Saga.
Spectre
Dark Victory
Preserver

Jurassic Park is one of the best books I've ever read too.

[Skelington]

for fantasy read HP Lovecraft stories.
for Sci-Fi read HG Wells novels.

Best stories ever written in my opinion.

Can never go wrong with these.

[Notalent]

Jurassic Park is one of the best books I've ever read too.

Jurassic Park is extremely underrated. I think a great many people think the book and the movie are the exactly the same and write it off as such without reading it. In truth the Book is much much darker and more serious, it also does away with a great many of the Hollywood fallacies that usually pop up in other books (I.E traq'ing the T-Rex takes almost half an hour before it actually kicks in)

[belfpala]

Jurassic Park is extremely underrated. I think a great many people think the book and the movie are the exactly the same and write it off as such without reading it. In truth the Book is much much darker and more serious, it also does away with a great many of the Hollywood fallacies that usually pop up in other books (I.E traq'ing the T-Rex takes almost half an hour before it actually kicks in)

I'd agree with this. The book is worth reading, and if not for the movies and sequels would probably make my top 10 sci-fi list.

The list: (no particular order, every single one worth reading)...

1. Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game [this tops the list, imo, for storytelling]
2. Frank Herbert, Dune [this goes second, for scope]
3. Douglas Adams, A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [this goes third for awesomeness]
4. Robert Heinlein, [this is difficult so I'll put three books here], Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Starship Troopers (HE INVENTED THE ZERG).
5. Phillip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? [Bladerunner is based on this]
6. Larry Niven, Ringworld [this is "hard" sci-fi]
7. Aldous Huxley, Brave New World [pure classic]
8. Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughter-house 5 [despite the name, it isn't a sequel to anything, and it's probably the second best example of post-modern literature ever written (the other being Catch-22, but I wouldn't call that sci fi)]
9. Michael Crichton, The Andromeda Strain [sure, he wrote Jurassic Park, but this one is better]
10. H.G. Wells, The Time Machine [This guy was far ahead of his time, and it's essentially the "original" sci fi novel; nobody should live their life without reading it.]

[Muzjhath]

To use books no one has mentioned.

Peter F Hamilton - Fallen Dragon (Most of the rest he's written is also good, but that novel is by far the best imo).
William Gibson - Neuromancer
Joe Abercrombie - The First Law trillogy

[pickley]

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was a good read.

[Skizzit]

If you like Dean Koontz may I suggest Phantoms.

If you have nothing against reading young adult books I would also suggest the Pit Dragon series by Jane Yolen. It's a great series about dragon cock fights in space. Also despite what people say and rip into the books for, the inheritance series (Eragon, Eldest, Brisinger) can be quiet enjoyable. If you want a much heavier read I would suggest the Chronicles of Conan.

ALSO, if you want something that's more based around humor then fantasy/sci-fi I would suggest Don Quixote, or Lamb by Christopher Moore or perhaps Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson.

Holy crap, you have no idea how happy I am right now. I read the Pit Dragon series way back in middle school and have been trying to remember what it was called for years!

Also, bonus points for being the only other person besides myself I have seen recommend Christopher Moore. Love his stuff. If anyone is looking for a really good, and damn funny, vampire read, you have to check out his "Love Story" trilogy. Starts with Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story.

I am probably going to repeat a bunch of things already mentioned but:
Anything by Neil Gaiman. Personal favorite is Neverwhere, but the guy is amazing.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. At least the first 3 books, gets a little weird after that. It is a classic for a reason
Jurassic Park, Adromida Strain, The Sphere, and Timeline by Michael Crichton are all good
Ender's Game and all its sequels/spin offs. Amazing stuff.
the Dune series is good
Tolkien's stuff of course, LOTR and The Hobbit for sure.
Orwell's 1984
Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land
If you are interested in cyberpunk, Gibon's Neuromancer and Stephenson's Snow Crash are awesome.
Tad Williams who is more known for his fantasy work wrote a series called Otherland that I am a big fan of. About virtual reality mostly, but is hard to pin down.

And I am starting to think I am the only person on earth who did not like Game of Thrones. I just could not get into it.

[Aphrel]

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss
Mistborn triology by Brandon Sanderson
A song of ice and fire series by rr martin
Wheel of time series by robert jordan
The first law triology by joe abercrombie
Cold fire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman