One book to get started

[Quokka]

Why not go back to the begining and try HG Wells' War of the Worlds? (ok so there's no begining but it was a begining and I'm going to stop there before I get sued for plagerising ).

 

[iansales]

Ian, this is what I thought of Dune when I last read it (if you've not seen it before...)

Omphalos - bit of a tough call, I suppose, since FH expanded several stories into novels. I don't recall reading 'Greenslaves', the story on which The Green Brain is based, but I do like the writing in the novel.

 

[Connavar]

It depends. Peter F. Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction is now considered something of a classic: it's been out for nearly thirteen years, it's absolutely festooned with reccomendations (there's three or four pages of rave reviews in the front cover, including from authors like Iain Banks, Colin Greenland, Stephen Baxter, Gregory Benford and David Langford) and it's jam-packed with great ideas set in an imaginative and colourful universe with a page-turning plot told extremely well. I'd recommend it to a newbie without a problem. It may be 1,200 pages long in paperback but those pages will fly past a lot quicker than books half its size. Hamilton is simply a damn fine storyteller, which in SF is rarer than in fantasy.

So that would be my reccomendation, especially if you like things like Battlestar Galactica. For other types of SF, Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon is well-recommended for cyberpunk-style detective fiction and Christopher Priest's The Prestige is an excellent example of character-driven SF set in the past.

I agree fully on Altered Carbon IMO a sure fire to become classic cyperpunk in the near future. The Prestige has the famed movie to appeal to newbies.

But other wise i have tried and tried with modern SF, newbies ask for classic works more often than not in my experiance. Personally i havent read 100s of modern SF but i recommend the ones people recommend to me to newbies.

 

[Fried Egg]

Although the Foundation stories might be regarded as lacking in certain areas (particularly when judged from a conventional literary point of view), it more than makes up for this in other ways (concepts, breadth of vision, etc.). Therefore, it certainly should be highly recommended to someone new to SF.

Sure, not everyone will get on with it's writing style, but the same could be said for almost any other book.

 

[iansales]

If someone had asked us to recommend a detective novel, why would we suggest one by Dorothy L Sayers? I still don't get this insistence on so-called "classic" sf novels. They're only relevant with the history of the genre. and, let's face it, bar a few exceptions most early sf writers were poor stylists.

 

[Werthead]

On the 'classics', something like Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination or Richard Matheson's I Am Legend both stand up very well now, as does Dune. Asimov, not so much. I think you have to read Asimov at a younger age. As an adult, it's hard to be so forgiving of his simplistic prose and plotlines. There's still good stuff in there, though.

Clarke's Childhood's End is still a really good read, as is Rendezvous with Rama, but again some of his other work has dated badly.

The Prestige is a very good film, but the book is much, much better. The Separation is probably even better.

But seriously, SF is in very good shape at the moment (despite those decrying its imminent death) and authors like Priest, Hamilton, Reynolds, Morgan, Iain Banks, Neal Asher and John Scalzi are all very good reads. I've never understood the idea that something is 'better' just because it's old.

 

[Connavar]

I never said older is better if you thought so.


SF just happen to have my favorit writers from the old days. Richard Morgan is one favorit of mine too. Just like Banks,Scalzi didnt work for me with their first books of their famous series.

I hope Reylnolds,Hamilton,Asher are authors i can enjoy. Their SF sounds interesting.

 

[Quokka]

If someone had asked us to recommend a detective novel, why would we suggest one by Dorothy L Sayers? I still don't get this insistence on so-called "classic" sf novels. They're only relevant with the history of the genre. and, let's face it, bar a few exceptions most early sf writers were poor stylists.

Personally I think they're only relevant if they're still an enjoyable or interesting read (preferably both ). When someone is looking for recommendations I recommend what I've enjoyed and in the case of SF I've read mainly older SF, not because it's better or worse then modern writers but mainly just because I've been consitently happy with the SF Masterworks series.

I figure if we all post what we've liked new or old paulwalker71 will pick what sounds good to him.

 

[Omphalos]

Ian, is that really what we are talking about here? Old books or new ones only? I thought we were just trying ot come up with a good list. I personally would put more older books on that list, but some new ones too.

Paulwalker71, I sent you a PM. Did you get it?

 

[Clansman]

Had you read Canterbury Tales prior to reading Hyperion? Did not having read it spoil your enjoyment of the book? What about all the references in it to Keats' poetry? See, if you can read a sf novel and miss all the literary references and inspirations, why can't someone else read it without prior knowledge of the sf references and inspirations?

Yes, and yes. I read Chaucer back in 1987, because I had to, in the middle English in which it was written (English Lit, 101), and also in modern translation. Brilliant story, and I was particularly fond of the Wife of Bath. I saw the comparison in Hyperion very quickly. John Keats is one of my favourite poets, except for Lord Byron and The Bard. Simmons' title is taken from Keats' Hyperion: A Fragment. Ode on a Grecian Urn is the quintessential Romantic poem (as in the Romantic Era, not the modern use of the term), and Ode to a Nightingale is one of the most poignant poems ever written, in my humble opinion.

A reader who does not know those references does not suffer for reading Hyperion. I would not, however, pass Hyperion to someone whose sole experience had been not-so-literate SF. Paul set out some things that he liked, and stated that he was not adverse to a challenging read, so I suggested Hyperion.

A reader who does know the literary references referred to by Simmons, would, I think, get a little bit more out of the experience.

 

[paulwalker71]

Thanks to everyone for their replies, and thank you Omphalos for your helpful PM.

It's clear that there are many, many good books - more than I could possibly read! I've been scanning reviews of many of the suggestions and - of course - opinions vary widely.

I'm leaning towards having a crack at Hyperion. I don't fancy Dune or I am Legend simply because I've seen the films and I'd rather read something that comes to me 'fresh'.

 

[Tansy]

Dune trilogy is great and I'm not a science fiction fan as such - don't dislike it but not something I go out of my way to read, I loved Dune years ago

 

[Urlik]

Ian, is that really what we are talking about here? Old books or new ones only? I thought we were just trying ot come up with a good list. I personally would put more older books on that list, but some new ones too.

I tend to agree
but for a first dip into SF, I would go for an anthology. several writers with varying styles gives a much broader picture of the SF from any particular time.

 

[j d worthington]

but for a first dip into SF, I would go for an anthology. several writers with varying styles gives a much broader picture of the SF from any particular time.

Or, with some anthologies, from a wide range of "times". Some of the old Arbor House anthologies did this, dipping into nineteenth-century authors as far back as Poe, and going to stories written shortly before the anthology was published (the early 1980s). Others have done something of the same thing, only earlier: Damon Knight's A Century of Science Fiction, for instance (which contains Edgar Pangborn's "Angel's Egg", which is almost worth the price of admission on its own):

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And speaking of Pangborn, I'd also highly recommend A Mirror for Observers and Davy, as well as Earth Abides (George R. Stewart)....

 

[kcs_hiker]

Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War
Allan Steele's Coyote trilogy

both easy and fast reads

or maybe that old classic and still one of my all time favorites

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

with a nod to The Puppet Masters by the same author

 

[paulwalker71]

Hey everyone

Thanks for the responses. There are no doubt very many extremely worthy books here, enough to keep me going for a good while. But, I've decided to start with one that got a lot of positive recommendation...

So, I just ordered Consider Phlebas from Amazon.

I'll let you all know how I get on

 

[Werthead]

Excellent novel and a very good choice!

 

[chopper]

...and as it's 20 years old, a very good "middle-point" from which to start....

 

[Connavar]

I hope paulwalker likes it more than i did, one of SF few books i have bought and not bothered to finish.


If it doesnt work for you Paul, try another from this thread as library book if you have good library near you.