Sci-Fi reccomendations for a sci-fi noob

[DOrmisher]

I know there's probably hundreds of threads on here like this, but they will most certainly not be tailored to my own tastes.

I'm just wondering if anyone can reccomend some science fiction I might like. I spend most of my time reading fantasy novels, generally I like ultra-violent, ultra-epic stuff like Steven Erikson and Geroge RR Martin, but I now want to read a bit of sci fi.

The only science fiction I've ever read, but who also happens to be one of my favourite authors, is PK Dick. I've been a big fan for quite a few years now, I like the brilliant ideas present in his work, the general wow factor of the **** he comes up with. I'm not really into space opera stuff, I'd like to read stuff by authors simillar to Dick, stuff that really raises questions to me.

Can anyone help?

 

[D_Davis]

Dick is my favorite sci-fi author, so I can definitely suggest some similar stuff. I, too, am not a big fan of space opera.

I would start with Theodore Sturgeon - the man was brilliant. A real writer's writer. His prose, ideas, and execution are all amazing.

Check out:

More Than Human
To Marry Medusa
The Dreaming Jewels


You may also like Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination - the great grandfather of cyberpunk, and one of the most punk rock books I've ever read.

I would also suggest some Rudy Rucker, perhaps his mathpunk masterpiece, White Light. Rucker was the winner of the very first PKD award.

If you like short stories, I cannot recommend The Best Science Fiction Short Stories of J.G. Ballard enough. It is a fantastic collection of speculative fiction.

I consider all of these authors to be similar to PKD in some way or another, but they also each have their own unique voice.

Hope this helps!

 

[Overread]

ultra epic -- violent!
that sounds like a crie for Peter F. Hamilton's works!
Check out his Nights Dawn Trillogy (starts with Reality Dysfunction) - gripping tale of operatic space adventure and warfare! Don't let the start throw you, once you get past all the technical jargen of the start you begine to see more and mroe that there is a great storyline here - (well several lines actually!)
After that take a look at his second series - startin with Pandora's Star (its only 2 books long - but a new trillogy in that world has also just been started.

 

[Urlik]

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Shockwave Rider by John Brunner

both of those have some brilliant ideas (although those in Starship Troopers might not be apparent first read through)

 

[j d worthington]

Space Opera is only one very tiny portion of what sf has to offer. I'd suggest looking into a writers such as J. G. Ballard, Ursula K. Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, Kate Wilhelm, Joanna Russ, Thomas M. Disch, John Brunner, Roger Zelazny, Theodore Sturgeon, C. M. Kornbluth, Frederik Pohl, Michael Moorcock (perhaps especially the Cornelius books, Breakfast in the Ruins, and the like), Pamela Zoline, Brian W. Aldiss....

I'd also suggest looking into the following anthologies:

A Science Fiction Argosy (ed. by Damon Knight)
Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions (ed. by Harlan Ellison)
any of the New Worlds anthologies (ed. by Moorcock, Platt, Bailey, et al.)
or any of the Year's Best SF edited by Dozois or Wollheim or Merrill or Hartwell

Each of the anthologies mentioned above would be a very good way to find a wealth of writers who might appeal to you, without laying out a lot of time or money to begin with (once you find some, that's another matter....)

 

[DOrmisher]

cheers fellas, im sure il find enough in all this to keep me occupied for a few months initial research!

 

[Rane Longfox]

I have a list of sci-fi authors that I recommend to everyone who asks, they work for you too - the book you should start with is in brackets:
Richard Morgan (Altered Carbon); Peter F Hamilton (Reality Dysfunction); Neal Asher (The Skinner); Iain M Banks (The Player of Games/Consider Phlebas); Al Reynolds (Chasm City - possibly the best sci-fi book I've ever read); Dan Simmons (Hyperion/Ilium); Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash)

Read the big works of those authors, and wise in the ways of sci-fi, you shall be

 

[chrispenycate]

If you want to maintain the "ultra violent" side you could try David Drake ("Redliners" as a standalone) or John Ringo (March upcountry)

Obviously, if you want the maximum contrast between the two genres, ignore this.

 

[The Ace]

For general work, rather than a bloodfest, you could do a lot worse than Heinlein's, "The Past Through Tomorrow," an anthology that is little short of brilliant.

 

[Quokka]

Violent space opera? you may also want to check out Stephen Donaldson's The Gap series.

 

[chopper]

Violent space opera? you may also want to check out Stephen Donaldson's The Gap series.

personally i found that one as torturous on the reader as on the characters themselves. definitely violent though.

 

[Hedrigall]

My non-sci-fi-reading friends have all enjoyed Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, and I still recommend it even though I like Card less and less these days. Ender's Game is a really harrowing story about a very young boy who's sent to a military academy which orbits the earth, where he's trained to be, firstly, a soldier, then later a battle strategist. It's ruthless and tense almost all the way through, and it's got one of the best twists in sci-fi.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is another sci-fi book that anyone can get into and enjoy the hell out of. It's even better than the movie, and the science doesn't seem too dated even though the book is, what, 20 years old?

Someone recommended Altered Carbon, it's got great ideas but I just thought I'd put my 2 cents in and say I absolutely despised all the characters, and the book itself by proxy. I haven't read any of the sequels.

 

[Quokka]

personally i found that one as torturous on the reader as on the characters themselves. definitely violent though.

I'd actually misread the question I thought he was looking for violent space opera, which The Gap series fits into. It's far from a favourite series but I did think it raised some intreresting questions not just the storyline but in regards to what readers want and will accept in characters and personally I found it more readable than Thomas Convenant.

... but back on topic, Ursula Le Guin is a favourite and writes some excellent 'makes you think' sci-fi but if you're new to science fiction i don't think you can go wrong with the SF Masterworks collection (which includes a lot of the authors/stories mentioned so far), the worst ones I've read of them are still a good read and many of them have been exceptional.

 

[DeepThought]

Ender Game has been already mentioned so...as lot of others so:

try Card's Speaker for the Dead.
Dune, Frank Herbert



Cheers, DeepThought

 

[Spade]

Just read Dune.