Your Sci-Fi book recommendations? (1 Viewer)

[Seth Paxton]

Two of my favs are cyberpunk books
Neuromancer by Gibson and
Crystal Express by Sterling (really the first half called the Changer/Shaper stories or something like that)
I also really enjoyed the compilation of Asimov short stories in The Complete Stories. Vol 1 is pretty easy to find, Vol 2 is out of print though. :frowning:
Neuromancer one the Hugo award back in 84 I think. Along with the film Blade Runner it's one of the foundations of the cyberpunk movement that has brought us Ghost in the Shell and Matrix, among other works.

 

[Max Leung]

Many excellent recommendations. I can guess the age of a poster by the novels he/she recommends. Jack, you need to read some new stuff otherwise we'd all think you're an old codger.
I've been trying to keep up with the latest SF work, but am failing miserably...I am inundated with my non-fiction backlog (Fast Food Nation, Non-zero, Guns Germs & Steel, Secret Life of Dust, 2 years worth of the Nature journal...ugh, Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts, E.O. Wilson's Diversity of Life, etc.). Hehe it's fun to name-drop books.
Anyhow, here's a list of "new" authors that are writing excellent works:
Linda Nagata
Peter F. Hamilton
Iain Banks

 

[Samuel Des]

That line could you get banned forever from here. Lucky for you I'm almost as forgiving as the emperor

I'm sorry! that really was unnecessarily harsh! :b But I also agree with Jack RE: "young" readers.
Actually, Jack, the reason why I mentioned the editions, is because I have always enjoyed the cover art for SF books. I really liked the book club edition cover for The Sheep Look Up written by John Brunner. I still don't know who did the painting.
Wanted to put in a plug for Galaxies by Barry Maltzberg. This is a pseudo-novel, a critical study on the field as a whole. "Trenchantly observed" as they say, and highly recommended for those as interested in discussing SF as they are in reading SF.
There is also the Roderick books, a robot who is SF's Candide, making the best of living in "the best of all possible worlds." Nod to Asimov-fans: Roderick has "Asmiov circuits."
PS - Forgot to mention: the blurb on the back of galaxies was written by Marltberg himself. You'll get a huge kick out of it, once you read it in context, i.e., making fun of the traditional SF blurbs that have virtually nothing to do with its contents.

 

[Samuel Des]

Max's comment:

) Maybe, having won, we have to dismantle the war machine and send the colonels home, pension off the troops, and find something else to do. It did its job too well, leaving behind the detritus of science fiction — a slowly, inexorably aging audience not being replaced, and a real feeling of recession. It seems to be in its twilight. But I have to remind myself, I don’t think it feels that way to David Brin, say, or Gregory Benford or Kevin J. Anderson. A critic said of an old and nearly incoherent John dos Passos, that he 'had confused an old man’s deterioration with that of the world.' I don’t want to do that.

It does seem to be in its twillight in some ways, what with all the Star Wars/Star Trek/Buffy books -- genre genre fiction.

 

[BrianB]

It does seem to be in its twillight in some ways, what with all the Star Wars/Star Trek/Buffy books -- genre genre fiction.

There's *just as much* good science fiction out there - just ignore the cash-ins.

The likes of Bruce Sterling, Jeff Noon, Michael Marshall Smith are all writing incredible science fiction *right now*.

 

[Craig Robertson]

it's been mentioned a couple of times already, but i'll list it again, Slan by A.E. Van Vogt.
my wife's uncle gave it to me as a gift and i let it sit for a while (judged it by it's cover!) before i read it. once i started reading, i couldn't stop.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Guys, it's Roger Zelazny--second "z" in there. Met him a number of times at Worldcons and regional cons. Really nice guy, polite and humble--the diametric opposite of, oh, Harlan Ellison.

As for the newer writers, some are pretty good. However, I don't get that sense of literary ambition from many of them. The late Theodore Sturgeon could easily have produced a novel of "serious literature" and have been regarded highly in the New York literary circles. His prose transcended the limitations placed on it by genre.

Baxter? I read Voyage and was appalled by it from a literary and story standpoint. What a goofy alternative-history set of circumstances he put in place. Kennedy surviving the assassination attempt? And jointly particpating with Nixon in a telephone call to the Apollo 11 astronauts? Now, that's really science fiction!

I applaud Baxter's pro-space stance, but he needn't have altered the timeline so radically to crank out a story about a manned expedition to Mars occurring in the 1980s. All he needed to do was alter the history at the point of Apollo 11, having the mission's success result in a huge groundswell of pro-space enthusiasm within the population at large--coupled with a serious wind-down of the Vietnam War.

As for Greg Bear, I've read a lot of him. David Brin is better (I like him personally).

But these new guys and gals simply don't resonate literarily. I'm waiting for the hotshot new SF writer who comes along and possesses literary ambitions as well. He or she will arrive eventually, to take his or her place among the pantheon of greats. The waiting game, however, is still on.

Tanith Lee? Kinda "soft," don't you think, Cees? She seems to possess the same aversion to science that Ray Bradbury (a fantasist, not an SFer) does. Couple that with an ignorance of what makes literature work, and I find it difficult to elevate Lee above the genre fray. She has to learn how to make those large insectoid aliens able to work somehow within the context of literature. She doesn't. She is therefore forever and always nothing more than a genre pulp writer. (This is precisely where Ann McCaffery fails; hard to take those darn dragons seriously.)

Jack Vance is strictly pulp, too. But he has long accepted that fact and attempted nothing more than to deliver a rousingly good adventure story. His work can be described as Andre Norton-on-steroids. It's just as wacky and non-literary, but it's easier to connect to. Big Planet is classic genre fiction, even if it doesn't begin to approach literary fiction.

All my opinions, of course.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I've always been more inclined to read short stories in the SF genre, some of my favorites are:
Ray Bradbury - usually more fantasy than SF, but The Martian Chronicles is essential SF reading, IMO.
Harlan Ellsion - as noted by Jack above, hates being classified as an "SF writer". The earlier work is usually better, there is something utterly compelling about the stories and ideas. Huge ego, but has the talent to back it up. His non-fiction essays are also the stuff of legend.
Richard Matheson - one of the best ever, IMO. Stephen King owes his entire career to Matheson's body of work.
Alfred Bester - finally started reading his stuff, The Demolished Man is great. I have to note that Harlan Ellison's constant praise of Bester turned me on to him.
Haven't read much modern SF, this thread is making me think of a trip to the library to see what I've been missing.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Don't forget Algis Budrys. Fine, fine critic; fine author.

 

[Dana Fillhart]

Jeff's the only one I've seen here mention Jack Chalker. I personally found his Well World saga (the original 5 novels) to be highly entertaining. I also liked his Rings of the Master series. I tried reading G.O.D., Inc. but couldn't get into the second book (the first was fantastic). He's quite a prolific author, and has his own website (Link Removed).
It's tricky to delineate sci-fi from fantasy at times; Chalker often straddles this line, and most of the time it works very well.

 

[Samuel Des]

But these new guys and gals simply don't resonate literarily. I'm waiting for the hotshot new SF writer who comes along and possesses literary ambitions as well. He or she will arrive eventually, to take his or her place among the pantheon of greats. The waiting game, however, is still on.

Agreed. I think that you and I are "New Wave" fans, no? Sturgeon wrote some truly marvelous pieces. Who can forget: "They caught the kid doing something disgusting under the bleachers."
Anyone up for a "book club" reading?

 

[Jack Briggs]

"They caught the kid doing something disgusting under the bleachers."

I love The Dreaming Jewels almost as much as "Baby Is Three"-cum-More Than Human!
Yup, loved the New Wave! Dangerous Visions--first volume. The British stuff. Samuel R. Delaney. Those were heady years. Which is why I look at such things as "cyberpunk" with certain bemusement. Kids, the New Wave was pushing the boundaries in a major way. Though I am glad we eventually dumped the term "speculative fiction"!

 

[Philip Hamm]

Sorry I'm late to the conversation. I used to read a lot of sci-fi but haven't read much in the last, oh, 10 years.
But I want to agree with and comment on some of the above.
First of all I join with everyone in recommending Childhood's End By Arthur Clarke. It's a must read.

Re Niven's "Known Space" series--agreed, Robert! I love the insultingly superior Puppeteers. I think the Kzinti are adorable pussycats great at making warfare. Love Louis Wu's take on the world.

Hey, isn't Louis Wu the guy who ate the potatoes? No that was Brennan.....
I like Niven a lot. I recommend "World of Ptavvs", "Ringworld", "The Ringworld Engineers", "A World Out Of Time", "The Integral Trees", "The Smoke Ring", "Protector". You can't really go wrong. Even his fantasy stuff like "The Magic Goes Away" is great.
Asimov's Foundation Trilogy is so important in the history of the literary style that it's worth reading for that alone.
Hey, anyone here ever read any Kim Stanely Robinson? I love his Yeti/Everest Novellas (included in "Escape From Khathmandu"), as well as many of his novels. The Orange County series is very compelling, particularly the first one. I used to love his stuff, but lost interest about halfway through "Red Mars" after absolutely devouring ALL of his earlier stuff (including buying magazines for short stories and novellas).
Zelazny is real fun to read also, but far from "Hard" SF. I loved "Roadmarks", and of course the Amber novels are a lot of fun.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I have to plug Dan Simmons' Hyperion books again. These were a great read, with really mind (and time) warping premise. They would make an awesome film. One of his concepts involves some sort of wormhole system that you have in your house, so the living room is on the moon, the bathroom is on Mars, etc. Add that to characters moving in opposite directions in time, and it takes some serious grokking to wrap your head around.

 

[mike_decock]

Hehehe... Any mention of "grokking" always puts a smile on my face . Dan Simmons' "The Hollow Man" was also an interesting read, though not completely sci-fi.
-Mike...

 

[Julie K]

I enjoyed Hyperion but really couldn't stand the Endymion books.
Jack,
If you think I'll love The Door Into Summer then I'm left with no alternative but to give it a try

 

[Max Leung]

I'm waiting for the hotshot new SF writer who comes along and possesses literary ambitions as well.

Something tells me you've never read Iain M. Banks or David Wingrove. These men can write. And then there's Ian Watson, Kim Stanley Robinson, etc.

I find Banks quite a talent...one of the few authors that can mix genres in one book and pull it off in an incredible work of literary virtuosity. Just pick up Banks' "The Bridge" and you'll see what I mean.

I think you're letting your prejudices run amok, Jack! Stop living in the past! Get with the program! 0% down, no interest! Limited time only! Yadda yadda...

 

[SteveGon]

Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Moving, funny, and hip - a great novel with a haunting finale. Highly recommended.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Okay.

Harry Harrison: The Stainless Steel Rat

Robert Silverberg: Dying Inside

We could debate for ages what's hip.

But what lasts?

The current issues of Analog and F&SF continue to disappoint--though the latter publication still echoes its former glory. Asimov's, after all these years, still struggles to rate favorably, in my view, in terms of consistency. And I don't care how many Hugos its stories may have won.

Instead of dipping into the tried and true, now might be an excellent time for a truly interesting writer to establish her or himself. The field is ripe for exploitation.

 

[Yee-Ming]

I second the recommendation of Julian May's Saga of the Pliocene Exiles, and the prequel/sequels Intervention duology and Galactic Millieu trilogy. but it's not "hard" SF, since it deals with mental powers (telekinesis, ESP etc).

also, I agree with the caution NOT to proceed beyond Children of Dune. God Emperor is really boring. Heretics was slightly better, but there's little connection to the first three books. I haven't been able to bring myself to read Chapterhouse, even though I borrowed a copy about 3 years ago :b the owner must be a bit miffed with me by now...

with Foundation, some feel that the original trilogy is it, the subsequent two and the two prequels were stretching it. I wouldn't be so critical, I rather enjoyed some of these. and the "new" trilogy by the "Killer B's" wasn't bad either, although the writing style is of course quite different from dear old Asimov's.