Best Books: Science Fiction

Post by **Spartan Termopylae** » 12 Jan 2012, 03:24

Good.....morning. Apparently. Here, this is self explanatary. Talk about your favourite sci-fi books, recommend authors. Note. Do NOT discuss fantasy. Book shops may put them together, I dont...

To start. Footfall, by the fantastic partnership of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Elephant-like aliens invade Earth in the 90s. The book is from the 80s, and is a product of the Cold War. Saving the almost complete lack of anti-Soviet propoganda.

Based in a world where the USSR never collapsed, aliens begin to invade starting with the Russian space station. Says it all. Told through the eyes of both human and invader, it recounts the tale of struggles on a worldwide scale, but it also deals with the stuggles of the Common Man, not just hero astronauts and presidents.

Unless you read a poorly copied ebook, it is an exceptionally well written book, with believable science and characters you can connect to. A must read (Ive read it a dozen or more times in as many years)

Post by **Tim** » 08 Feb 2012, 03:57

On an all around basis, I enjoy Asimov's writings

Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card are also quite good.

Post by **Spartan Termopylae** » 08 Feb 2012, 11:24

Enders Game is epic. Cannot disagree there. The spinoffs...not so much

Post by **wabbitslayah** » 08 Feb 2012, 12:02

What? The Shadows Saga was awesome!

Thought Transference · Post by **Thought Transference** » 08 Feb 2012, 17:29

I agree with Asimov and the Ender's series. Sorry but I liked most of the spinoffs too, for the background on that "world" as well as for the stories.

I'm not familiar with Footfall yet; but it sounds interesting. Thanks!

I'd like to add to the pot "something old, something new".

First the old: Robert Heinlein. I'd like to specify just one title but I can't. Every time I pick up one of his books, I find myself thinking "Oh yeah, this was another really good one!" It's not necessarily that I always like the worlds he portrays, but I always recognize something about them that rings true, and I can't recall looking at any of his characters and thinking they were improbable and didn't work. And he avoids that nasty feeling of deus ex machina whenever something gets awkward.

The new: Tad Williams, Otherland. Funny thing is: reading them goes along with discovering NS for me. I'd just finished reading book 4, and stumbled on NS. I guess I've brought a little of that with me.

Another new: Steven Hall, The Raw Shark Texts. Be ready for something different, and take your time getting into it. It'll repay you with a real twisting of the mind.

Post by **Spartan Termopylae** » 08 Feb 2012, 18:17

Isnt Tad Williams fantasy as opposed to science fiction?

Heinlein, though.... Starship Troopers is good. Farnhams Freehold is...unusual. Its all Ive managed thus far. But I do like them. I have read a few Phildickian works, which I like. Also read an Arthur C. Clark book about a moon rescue. A Fall of Moondust or something. Its a good book, especially if you ever liked Thunderbirds.

Enders Game is exceptionally well written, and has a strong story to it. The Shadow books arent as strong as this classic. And I struggled with the clone aspect. I didnt like it

Thought Transference · Post by **Thought Transference** » 08 Feb 2012, 18:45

Is it fantasy? I didn't think so. The central idea is that people play online MMRP games on an advanced version of the web, not by using keyboards, mice, joysticks, VDUs, headphones and so on, but by jacking their bodies into the web electronically. It's not unlike the Matrix in that respect, but trust me, this is no Matrix rip-off. These 4 books feature the worldwide pre-occupation with one particular game, "Otherland". The world in which the games are played is a world created by programmers and hackers --- not a magician or unicorn in sight, except for bits of computer code written so that they seem to be such within the context of the game being played. Imagine what would happen if you could *be* your avatar in Second Life, and if Second Life had to have optional safety controls because you're playing the game in what amounts to a massive online holosuite, and without the safeties you can be injured or die in RL. Now imagine that the programmers of some of the sub-games in the game you're playing choose to turn off the safety controls, and they have less savoury motives for their sub-games.

To me that's scifi, not fantasy.

If you want a look at just how bizarre a world Heinlein can create, try Stranger in a Strange Land. I'm surprised no one has tried to make a movie of it. Back in my day it briefly was on the high school English reading list on the basis of his other works, until some teacher actually read it and decided it should be rated "18 only".

Post by **Spartan Termopylae** » 08 Feb 2012, 19:15

I have Stranger....but not got round to reading it yet. I was under the belief that Tad Williams is normally fantasy, as I think my mumz read his stuff. She dont do scifi. But what you describe there reminds me of I think a series by Stephen Barnes called Dreamtheater, I think. Not something Ive read. But authors dont always stick to one genre, so I must admit I dont know Williams. Card has done fantasy

Philip K Dick's Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is a wierd world. Kinda trippy...

Thought Transference · Post by **Thought Transference** » 08 Feb 2012, 20:30

Stranger was really a big deal when I was in school --- it was newly published --- so much so it gave us a load of slang that some of us from that time still use. And in a strange way it was a scifi meets beatniks kind of story, which gave it extra kudos with us.

I know what you mean about how some writers cross over. It has confused me occasionally when I've read an author, thought I knew what to expect from him, and then had him surprise me by writing totally different stuff. Stephen Lawhead did that to me early on --- or to be precise, I did that to myself with his books. I found Dream Thief in a 2nd hand shop one cold rainy day. Since I'm interested in human psychology in my scifi, I found it irresistible, and I sat by the fire and devoured it. But the next thing I read of his, a few years later, was one of his Celtic myth-fantasies. It was a good read but at the time I just had this nagging feeling that I wanted more psycho-scifi. Ah well.

Post by **wabbitslayah** » 08 Feb 2012, 22:31

Dune by Frank Herbert
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Halo Novels by various authors

Post by **Spartan Termopylae** » 08 Feb 2012, 23:39

Most of the Halo books are quite well done, actually

Post by **wabbitslayah** » 09 Feb 2012, 02:31

Agreed.

Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

Abbey Anumia · Post by **Abbey Anumia** » 10 Feb 2012, 00:47

Zaolat wrote:
08 Feb 2012, 20:31
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I generally find it harder to get into sci-fi books than others, but thiiiiiiiis

I'm doing my best to demolish the whole series in a few weeks, without massive long reading sessions (cause then I could probably read the lot in a day or two)

Post by **Spartan Termopylae** » 10 Feb 2012, 01:46

I cant read books ive read a million times that fast. I picture the too much. But Hitchhiker isnt one ive been hugely tempted to read, though i did see the film a few years back

Thought Transference · Post by **Thought Transference** » 10 Feb 2012, 02:20

Don't let the film ruin HHGG for you, Spartan. The books are awesome. I don't blame the film for being so inadequate --- they couldn't help themselves. Adams' brilliance with words and his ability to create intricately entangled subplots couldn't be captured in an ordinary film. The books, OTOH, just might take you for the ride of your life.

Post by **Spartan Termopylae** » 10 Feb 2012, 02:56

I liked the film....

Thought Transference · Post by **Thought Transference** » 10 Feb 2012, 11:34

Yeah, I enjoyed it, even while I was saying to myself "But they left out [__________]! ... And now they've left out [_________]! ..."

But afterwards I felt so dirty for liking it.

Post by **Spartan Termopylae** » 10 Feb 2012, 12:46

I knew that deep down you were a dirty person :-P

Thought Transference · Post by **Thought Transference** » 10 Feb 2012, 16:27

Liking the movie of a book ... Oh, the shame of it!

Post by **Spartan Termopylae** » 10 Feb 2012, 20:00

Least they tend to be better than the game of the film...

Ringworld is another classic. Larry Niven. Possibly with Jerry Pournellr

Post by **Tim** » 11 Feb 2012, 04:04

Spartan Termopylae wrote:
08 Feb 2012, 09:24
Enders Game is epic. Cannot disagree there. The spinoffs...not so much

I would argue.

I found Enders Shadow a much better read than Enders Game. It is a much more in depth book and I believe that Bean is a much more intriguing character than Ender

Post by **Tim** » 11 Feb 2012, 04:05

Zaolat wrote:
08 Feb 2012, 20:31
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

YES.

Hilarious and well written

Post by **wabbitslayah** » 11 Feb 2012, 15:58

Tim-Opolis wrote:
11 Feb 2012, 02:04
Spartan Termopylae wrote:
08 Feb 2012, 09:24
Enders Game is epic. Cannot disagree there. The spinoffs...not so much
I would argue.

I found Enders Shadow a much better read than Enders Game. It is a much more in depth book and I believe that Bean is a much more intriguing character than Ender

I agree to an extent, I prefer how Julian (Bean) was developed over Ender but Ender's Game is very great itself.

Spoiler Alert

Post by **Zyonn** » 25 Feb 2012, 04:35

I really liked The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman, though it reads almost more like a war novel with an alien race and time dilation... As the war goes on, the main character ages only a few years, but relative to Earth, during each mission hundreds of years pass him by. It's interesting (and kind of sad) to see how he becomes a relic to future generations of soldiers.

If Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut counts, that one is awesome. Also has an 'unstuck in time' theme.

We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin is also fantastic. One of the original dystopian novels, told from the point of view of a mathematician building a space ship called the Integral. Also has one of my favourite quotes ever: "If they will not understand that we are bringing them a mathematically infallible happiness, we shall be obliged to force them to be happy."

Also if anyone is a comic book geek, I cannot recommend Transmetropolitan enough.

yumyum36 · Post by **yumyum36** » 27 Oct 2012, 22:16

Flashforward.

The Rejected Realms

The Rejected Realms