Need recommendations - SCI-FI & Fantasy

[Nostra]

So I've been reading sci-fi's and fantasy since a few years and always had a 'oh that's gonna be the next book I read' in mind. But I find myself trough my list so I went to my local book store and found myself before the selection of SCI-FI and fantasy and for the first time had absolutely no clue as to what to get...

Here are a few of the books I've read over the last years and that I liked (so you get an idea what gets me going ):

- Stephen King - The Stand
- George R.R. Martin : A song of Ice and Fire (all 5 books)
- Peter Hamilton: Night's Dawn Trilogy
- Peter Hamilton: Commonwealth Saga
- Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle: Lucifer's Hammer
- David Brin: The Postman
- Terry Brooks: Genesis of Shannara trilogy
- Terry Brook: The Sword of Shannara trilogy
- J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings
- John Wyndham : The day of the Triffids
-Trudy Canavan: The Black Magician trilogy
- Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

That's about it I think... So any idea's on what I need be to picking up next?

 

[Mouse]

Anything by Robin Hobb.

 

[Nostra]

Anything particular from Robin Hobb to start at?

 

[Mouse]

I really like the Liveship Traders series, but go for her Assassins series as later it will link to the Liveship books.

 

[Vince W]

Dune by Frank Herbert. A classic that will never go out of style.

 

[Nostra]

Ah yes Dune. I forgot to add that one to the list I also read to 2 books after the first

 

[Vince W]

You might try the Malazan books by Steven Erikson and Ian Esslemont for fantasy.

 

[Montero]

All the rest of David Brin's books. Quite a range of backgrounds. Uplift Trilogy, Earth, Kil'n People - none of these are post-apocalyptic like the Postman but all have "big" backgrounds.

Vernor Vinge would be another for big sf with sweeping plots, especially the later books. There was a thread just the other week in here for Vernor Vinge, I'd search for it.

 

[jojajihisc]

- Stephen King - The Stand
- Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle: Lucifer's Hammer
- David Brin: The Postman
- John Wyndham : The day of the Triffids

Based on the above then maybe these:

Cormac McCarthy - The Road
Jim Crace - The Pesthouse
S.M. Stirling - Dies the Fire
Brian Aldiss - Hothouse
Thomas Disch - The Genocides

 

[Classysturgeon]

It's a little older, but I really enjoyed the The Dark is Rising series. It takes place in a modern setting, but ancient magic forces awaken and start messing stuff up. Lots of mystery and mysticism.

 

[Idealect]

Trudi canavan has other series that imo are as great as the macician's trilogy.

It's been a while since I read her but if I recall correctly she was great at chases and combat scenes, very intense.

Roger zelazny's chronicles of amber series is imo even stronger on that point, and the world it takes place in and its overall feel are quite different from anything else I've read. Maybe tilted a bit more towards being a thriller than an epic in comparison. I'm in awe of zelazny's combat scenes, -when they crop up.

I haven't read a lot of what's on your list but I gather some of it is a bit dark, so if you don't find disturbing characters and plots too offputting, the vlad taltos series by steven brust is really good imo. One of the book's devolves into a bit of communism proselytisation though, with the amoral main character as a foil, which may not have been deliberate but I think was really cheap. Overall great though, especially if you don't have an aversion to dark side kind of amorality in demonstration.

Another series that I was a bit put off by how dark it was, but still liked, was the Alex Verus series by benedict Jacka. The main character has the power of divination -seeing the future, and that's his only power (though there are various ways to use it/manifestations). A great set up I don't remember being done elsewhere and full of cool stuff. The end of the first book is SUPER COOL.

Terry pratchett's discworld books are another highly regarded humourous series (like hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy.) I think they're quite different. going from vague memory I'd say hitchhiker's guide is more absurdist and discworld is more sardonic, but both have such high reputations you have to try pratchett at some point.

A couple of general recommendations:

The dresden files series is great action imo, and consistently good. If you've seen the movie moonraker, the bit at the start where james bond jumps out of a plane without a parachute, to wrestle one off the fellow who jumped out previously, is the kind of thing this series is always setting up, -and pulling off. This series is top notch when it comes to COOL STUFF, and solid enough in every other respect. It may have other great strengths, but I wouldn't know -cool stuff.

I thought David eddings' belgariad series was very good. It's supposedly very derivative, or formulaic, but I think that's because the author himself played up that idea beyond what is actually the case: imo it's definitely 'derivative', and mildly formulaic, but it's extremely well done, and has a whole lot of twists and action and energy and actually quite an interesting world.

I think the first book of the drizzt the dark elf series is absolutely brilliant, the next few excellent or very good (don't remember exactly), and the next few alright to good.