Looking for some specific recommendations.

[taoofjord]

I'm new to sci-fi literature though I'm a big fan of it in other mediums. I recently picked up Childhood's End and fell in love. It packed so many interesting ideas in just 210 pages. I was also pleasantly surprised to see how it inspired many things I love. I'll definitely be reading more of Clarke's books in the future (eyeing Rendevzous with Rama right now actually).

On to the recommendations:

1) I'm looking for something that covers the main themes seen in the ghost in the shell anime and movies. I'd imagine there's a book out there that does what GiTS does a million times better but I haven't found it yet after spending a couple hours browsing the amazon.com user lists.

2) Next, I'm looking for some great sci-fi short stories. The kind that take a "what if" and spin it into a short tale. Not sure what kind of genre of sci-fi that is (soft?).

3) I'm looking for some of the best sci-fi stories to be released in the last 5-10 years. I've done a lot of searching and it's pretty easy to find what the older classics are, but finding the modern ones are quite a bit more difficult.

4) What are generally regarded as the best sci-fi space operas? I'm a huge fan of the new Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, and Cowboy Bebop and I'd love to read a nice epic tale along those lines.

5) I want to read some books that have incredible atmosphere. The movie Children of Men is one of my favorite movies for that reason. I keep thinking of the video games ICO and Shadow of the Colossus and the book The Road in regard to this recommendation.

6) Last, I'm looking for a dark/creepy sci-fi book. I am hesitant to use the word horror because I generally feel that most horror movies are awful. I like the cheesy stuff once in a while but what I really want is something that doesn't use "jump out at you" tactics and instead builds a feeling of unease. The only comparisons I can come up with is the Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters and the video games System Shock 2, Bioshock, and Silent Hill.

By the way, I've already got the following books on my to-read list:
Dune, Starship Troopers, 2001, The Martian Chronicles, Perdido Street Station, City of Saints and Madmen, Heavy Liquid, Hyperion, Snow Crash, Lord of Light, Book of the New Sun, I Robot, Foundation Trilogy, Slaughterhouse-Five, 1984

I'll get to all of those after I read some of the specific recommendations I asked for above :]

Thanks for the help!

 

[taoofjord]

Oops, I forgot to put "sci-fi" in the title so keep in mind that I'm only looking for recommendations in that genre. :]

 

[chrispenycate]

Well, I din't know the ghost in the shell stuff, so I can't be any use there; but as regards short stories you could do a lot worse than rading some more Clarke. A couple of his, "The nine billion names of God" and "The Star" (in, I believe "The nine billion names of God" and "The other side of the sky" respectively) are all time favorites.

But all the writers of that epoch wrote short stories, and all the good ones wrote good shorts. It seems that SF generates a lot of ideas which are strong, but not in themselves big enough to expand to novel length; some great ones are very compact indeed.

It's possible that today's young authors are having these ideas, but the market demands multi-volume epics, so they are either diluted with unnecessary verbiage, or crowded together in vaguely compatible ghettos where they reduce each other's effectiveness.

Perhaps try some Frank Herbert short stories before plunging into his major work; I've got a collection of his called "Eye", and I think that's where I discovered Jori X McKee and the bureau of sabotage.

 

[taoofjord]

It's funny that you mention sci-fi is often strongest in short form. In the last week I've read that a lot from many different users on various forums. It makes sense.

 

[Somni]

The Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold is very good for the most part, the first is not so good but sets the scene and like all series there are weak parts. Also consider books by Elisabeth Moon e.g. Vatta series, these tend to be enjoyable, though not always as much as the Vorkosigan books. I think the two mentioned series count as space opera (though not sure of its exact definition).

 

[Connavar]

Dune,Foundation,Starship Troopers are good way to start. Three great authors in sf and their stories sound like what you are looking for.


For athmosphere :

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick Not PKD best book but good start.
Emphyiro by Jack Vance,

Dark SF :

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. The book is much different from the movie in mood,more SF like,creepy.

Action SF :

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. Its not dumb action sf like the movie versions but its cross genre of sf and crime. Very cool,nice action,still smart sf.

 

[DeepThought]

For Space opera, these are the cream of the crop:

Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
Culture Novels - Iain M. Banks
The Nights Dawn Trilogy, Commonwealth Saga - Peter F. Hamilton

 

[DeepThought]

"...I'm looking for a dark/creepy sci-fi book...what I really want is something that doesn't use "jump out at you" tactics and instead builds a feeling of unease..."

You'll have probably heard of HP Lovecraft? known more for his horror than sci-fi. If I'm not mistaken, in some of his stories, both these genre's overlap. They are dark, creepy and have excellent atmospherics. I can only remember one; In the Walls of Eryx. I'm sure other posters will come up with more suggestions.

 

[Scifi fan]

If you like Arthur C. Clarke, you should try his collections of short stories.

You should also try Isaac Asimov's classic works, but they're obviously not within the last 5 to 10 years.

But, before you go out and buy, I would suggest you make contacts with your local science fiction and fantasy bookstore - they know the genres quite well, and, once they know your tastes, they can make the recommendations.