Sci-Fi Recommendations - for the unenlightened

[psikeyhackr]

Kate Wilhelm's The Killer Thing

Hardly EVER see anyone mention that.

psik

 

[Michael Coorlim]

I need suggestions of modern (last 5-10 years or so) cyberpunk fiction. What have you read that's worth reading?

 

[Vince W]

Hannu Rajaniemi's Jean le Flambeur trilogy might fit your bill. Maybe a bit post cyberpunk, but the influence is definitely there.

 

[Tim Murray]

Since we've got a Fantasy one, how about your Sci-Fi favourites... Here are mine...

Arthur C Clarke
2061: Odyssey Three

Philip K Dick
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Kevin Anderson
Jedi Academy series
Jedi Search
Dark Apprentice
Champions of the Force

Sheri S Tepper
Grass

Greg Bear
Eon
Dinosaur Summer

Robert Silverberg
The Book of Skulls

L E Modesitt Jnr
Gravity Dreams

Joe Haldeman
Forever War

Samuel R Delaney
Nova

Larry Niven
Ringworld
Ringworld Engineers
Destiny*s Road

Robert A Heinlen
Starship Troopers

Harry Harrison
Stainless Steel Rat
Bill, The Galactic Hero
Bill, The Galactic Hero... on the planet of the hippies from hell
Bill, The Galactic Hero... the final incoherant adventure

Mary Shelley
Frankenstein

Alfred Bester
The Demolished Man

Richard Matheson
I Am Legend

STAR TREK STUFF

Jean Lorrah
Metamorphosis

Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Prime Directive

Diane Duane
Dark Mirror

Peter David
Imzadi
Vendetta
Star Trek: New Frontier Series (got all the books, but couldn't make a note of all the titles)...

2061 is a great read, loved it. Wish they would make a movie of it.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Reefs of Earth R A Lafferty

 

[psikeyhackr]

I searched the entire thread for mention of James P. Hogan. He didn't turn up until page 17 and that is about the Giants series.

I am advocating for

The Two Faces of Tomorrow

There are so many bad Artificial Intelligence stories it is ridiculous. And that includes Neuromancer and The Culture series.

Hogan was an engineer and computer professional so this has very good realism. Now we are about to give kids tablet computers and they are spreading world wide. We are in so much trouble.

LOL

psik

I just reread this again. It is a 1979 book. It is still quite interesting as an AI story, much better than most especially considering all of the AI talk these days and AlphaGo beating Go masters. It also has what we are now calling The Internet of Things.

Another point is comparison to Ready Player One in that both stories are set in about the same near future, 2044 with lots of computing but the Earth is a very different place. 1979 optimism versus 2011 pessimism, a 32 year reality shift.

psik

 

[Jojo999]

I just reread this again. It is a 1979 book. It is still quite interesting as an AI story, much better than most especially considering all of the AI talk these days and AlphaGo beating Go masters. It also has what we are now calling The Internet of Things.
psik

Reading The Two Faces of Tomorrow now. About 1/2 through. Started out pretty slow, was thinking of dumping it. But is moving along better now. So far, it's overly detailed with day-to-day personal interactions, which seem like space filler, rather than useful to the story.

 

[K. Riehl]

I met Kate Willhelm in the early eighties and when I mentioned that I liked The Killer Thing she grimaced and asked me to not judge her writing on that book. I told her not to worry as it led me to reading her entire back-list. She graciously signed my copy of Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang.

 

[Jojo999]

Reading The Two Faces of Tomorrow now. About 1/2 through. Started out pretty slow, was thinking of dumping it. But is moving along better now. So far, it's overly detailed with day-to-day personal interactions, which seem like space filler, rather than useful to the story.

I couldn't do it. Had to toss the book aside. Too frustrating to complete.

 

[psikeyhackr]

I couldn't do it. Had to toss the book aside. Too frustrating to complete.

What was frustrating?

psik

 

[Caliban]

I met Kate Willhelm in the early eighties and when I mentioned that I liked The Killer Thing she grimaced and asked me to not judge her writing on that book. I told her not to worry as it led me to reading her entire back-list. She graciously signed my copy of Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang.

My Favorite thing of hers I've read is Welcome Chaos I think. I havnt read the Killer Thing though.

 

[Jojo999]

What was frustrating?

psik

Perhaps the ideas seemed far-sighted and imaginative back in 1979 and the author thought that every little nuance needed to be explained? But from my perspective in 2016 with a long history of technology work, the dialog was banal and the book was plodding. I really did not care about the characters and so did not want to invest any further time in it.

This is a very rare thing for me. I've probably only thrown away three or four total books w/o finishing them in all the SF reading I have done.

 

[althea]

I met Kate Willhelm in the early eighties and when I mentioned that I liked The Killer Thing she grimaced and asked me to not judge her writing on that book. I told her not to worry as it led me to reading her entire back-list. She graciously signed my copy of Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang.

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang is a book I read many years ago.I really enjoyed it and have remembered it all these years.
I can't say that about many books.I found it horribly fascinating and truly memorable.

 

[S Blake-Smy]

Okay, so I thought I'd add a few to this list:

First the oft-quoted 'Usuals'

Iain M Banks - Any of the culture series (actually ALL OF THEM!).

Peter F Hamilton - Nights Dawn Trilogy (in particular), and the Void series (as a secondary).

Alastair Reynolds - The Inhibitor series.

Robert Heinlein - Stranger in a strange land.

Arthur C. Clarke - Rama Series.

Philip K. Dick - Ubik, Do Androids dream of electric sheep, Valis. (Ubik is definitely my personal favorite of his).

Greg Bear - The Forge of God, Eon/Eternity

Dan Simmons - Hyperion Cantos, Endymion. (I bought these as an omnibus, but I think they were separate books at first) and Olympos/Ilium

Greg Egan - Diaspora, Incandescence (I really should get around to reading more of his work)

Olaf Stapledon - Last and First men, Star Maker, Sirius.

The (maybe) more unusuals:

I don't usually read this type of book, but I had some spare money on my gift card and had no books I felt like buying at the time so ended up buying the first three books on the 'Horus Heresy' series.

Horus Rising - By Dan Abnett
False Gods - By Graham McNeil
Galaxy In Flames - By Ben Counter

Now Like I said, I really don't read this kind of thing and usually consider it glorified Fan Fiction ( I certainly never got into the whole 'lets-paint-little-pewter-people' tabletop gaming thing) but after reading these I actually went over-drawn till the following pay day and bought the next 10 in the series.

Also another book that I really liked was 'Cloud atlas' by David Mitchell. I watched the movie having read the book already; although I understand where people were coming from in terms of the critical reaction to the film... I thought they did a really good interpretation. (The book is better though obviously)

 

[Tanja Bisgaard]

So I am new here - and this is my first post. Great to learn about all these SF books! I have read Terry Bisson and Margaret Atwood. Just bought her trilogy MaddAddam - looking forward to reading it. Any know it?

 

[Vince W]

Welcome Tanja!

I've read other Atwood, but not the MaddAddam books, however, she is generally well liked.

 

[johnnyjet]

Hi Tanja! Welcome to the Chrons. You'll love this place. You should introduce yourself in the Introductions thread.

Yes, Margaret Atwood is an incredible writer, popular in literary circles as well as SF circles. Her The Handmaid's Tale is a classic. I haven't read the MaddAddam trilogy yet, but I plan to.

 

[Droflet]

Hey Tanja, welcome aboard. Take a wander around. Lots to do here. And Johnnyjet is right, let us know about you. We don't bite. Well, almost never.

 

[Tanja Bisgaard]

Thanks for your warm welcomes - didnt realise there was an Introductions thread So will do that. And The Handmaid's Tale was my first SF book ever

 

[Elventine]

Oh hum... I haven't really read any Sci-fi recently that I think is really worth sharing but some of the older series that I have read and are worth the mention are -

Finisterre universe by C. J. Cherryh is a Douolagy of Rider At the Gate and Clouds Rider.

I so enjoyed this series. I have no words!

Phules Company by Robert Asprin

A brilliantly funny series!

Time Scout by Robert Asprin

A more serious sci-fi from him but brilliant none the less. He actually really made a believable system for going back in time and how the tours could actually work.