Science Fiction Novels

[EdgarHF]

About every ten years I get into a science fiction kick where I read 10 to twenty science fiction novels. Once into the binge I get burnt out on the genre and sanity settles back in. I have just reread Ringworld by Larry Niven and have picked up Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space. Looks like it is binge time.

Is anyone else here into science fiction and can recommend some good stuff?

[hannigan]

If you ever get a chance, read "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein. A significant part of the story involves linear accelerators where a long curving track electrically launches payloads daily. The moon dwellers turn this into an awesome weapon.

The other major component of the story is about how revolution against tyranny can work using a cell system.

I also read a lot of Brunner.

[jkingma]

Mona Lisa Overdrive - William Gibson
Mind Killer - Spider Robinson
and the Rama trilogy - Arthur C Clark

[Starting 2 Old]

"The Speed of Dark" - Elizabeth Moon
All the "Uplift" books, especially "Startide Rising" - David Brin

[Seanycaster]

Heir to the Emprire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command. All three are Star Wars Novels by Timothy Zahn and are fantastic reads.

[Ptrallan01]

+ 1 on the Moon is a Harsh Mistress. One of the best ever.

If you want some lighter fare Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series.

The original Dune by Frank Herbert and his series Destination Void/The Jesus Incident. Some of his lesser known works are also great such as the Dosadi Experiement/Whipping Star

If you need a fantasy break the Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony.

And IF you can find them the Lensmen series by E. E. Doc Smith are a treasure.

Pournell and Niven are always a good read particularly the Mote in God's Eye.

And for the best of the 'modern' genre Orson Scott Card's Enders Game.

[Ironwolf]

Jerry Pournelle and SM Sterling - The Prince
Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven - Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall
Robert Heinlein - Time Enough for Love, The Number of the Beast and Starship Trooper

[Ptrallan01]

Lucifer's hammer was fantastic, footfall felt like a rehasing of the same story. It was good but it lacked the originality of Lucifer's Hammer imo.

Don't sleep Stephen King's The Tommy Knockers, bridges the gulf between Scifi and horror.

[EdgarHF]

Originally Posted by Ptrallan01

Pournell and Niven are always a good read particularly the Mote in God's Eye.

In my top 5.

[BuddyLee]

Does anyone remember a book about a future world where they dismantled all the nukes and WMDs and the nations agreed to settle disputes in an international arena with mortal combat? The opposing sides are given a choice between different historical gladiator get-ups like the dudes with the net and trident. And the fish-dude with the gnarly helmet and armor on his weak side.

The culture was a caste system and the masses were given different drugs to keep them happy. It was kinda like 1984 with more action.

This one time I was in Juvi I finished about half the book then got bailed out.

I would like to finish it but cannot remember the name. The cover was also torn off so I completely forgot.

I have been asking all my scifi friends for years, and no one knows it.

[PeteMac]

G'day guys

I'm perusing these lists as well. Like the o.p, I go on sci-fi benders every few years.
There's a couple of names here I'd forgotten about . . . Orson Scott Card - Brilliant stuff.

Edgar, I'm guessing you would have read Asimov's stuff already? If not, go at it.

[nvilletele]

Some lesser-known greats:

Alfred Bester
Henry Kuttner (aka Lewis Padget or Padgett, can't remember which)
Charles Beaumont (hard to find, used to write for Twilight Zone)
Richard Matheson (also wrote for Twilight Zone, and wrote horror as well)
C.M. Kornbluth (with or without Frederick Pohl, though Space Merchants is a classic)

[stratology]

Charles Stross is one of the best contemporary SF writers.

If you are into long, very well written, imaginative space operas, check out Peter F. Hamilton.

[6942]

Enders Game..........Orson Scott Card

Steve

[Jimmyspaz]

Anything by Robert A. Heinlein is worth reading.

[J-man]

Philip K Dick - While fitting into the genre of Science Fiction, his books usually have undercurrents of Philosophy.

Check out Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep. It's a fantastic book.

[EdgarHF]

Originally Posted by J-man

Check out Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep. It's a fantastic book.

Now, better known as Blade Runner

[Buckocaster51]

A Canticle for Leibowitz

[J-man]

Originally Posted by EdgarHF

Now, better known as Blade Runner

Blade Runner is indeed based on that novel, but it's a pretty vague basis, the majority of the film is completely different to the book.

[denny]

C.S. Lewis - Perelandria Trilogy
Gene Wolf - The Book of the New Sun Trilogy
L. Ron Hubbard - Mission Earth dekology - cheesy, decadent fun... Rocky & Bullwinkle meets Alien Invasion as told by Boris Badinov.

While not hard science fiction, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is a great read, and a ton of laughs, like Douglas Adams' writing Lord of the Rings - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Also the Amber series by Roger Zelazny.

[Weazel]

I'm not sure if this book classifies as SF, but China Mieville's King Rat is a great read.

[emarsupial]

Here are my personal favorites:

Pretty much anything by Philip K Dick (as J-Man noted) will give you a good combination of story and something to think about on a deeper level. My personal faves are Ubik, The Man in the High Castle, and Flow my Tears the Policeman Said.

William Gibson's Neuromancer is a must read.

Harlan Ellison: just about everything he's ever written - just pick up any of his short story compilations. It's been a while, but I think Deathbird Stories and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream contain some of his best classic work.

Kurt Vonnegut: His early stuff is SF based, but clearly more focused on the human condition and wry humor, but still good reading; Slaughterhouse 5, Breakfast of Champions, and Cat's Cradle are my faves.

JG Ballard: His early work is pure SF, his later work is "literature". I'd start with The Drowned World, or The Wind from Nowhere.

Cheers and happy reading,
ew

[tboy]

All the Arthur C. Clark stuff, Rendezvous With Rama, Childhood's End, etc... Asimov, of course. The Foundation & Empire, Second Foundation and Foundation's Edge trilogy novels are pretty amazing, if you haven't already read. The real birthplace of the Star Wars movies, without all the cheeso TV serial and WW2 references.

Also the Kurt Vonnegut books mentioned above are all great reads, IMO. And can't go wrong with Heinlein.

[Groovey Records]

Many of Philip K Dick's stories have been adapted to film with somewhat expanded story lines.

you've seen the movies now read the books

[EdgarHF]

Originally Posted by J-man

Blade Runner is indeed based on that novel, but it's a pretty vague basis, the majority of the film is completely different to the book.

What I meant is that they are now marketing the novel as Blade Runner with "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" as the subtitle.

[Justinvs]

Check out anything by Jack McDevitt, especially DeepSix. He writes great action/adventure SF, but with a very human touch.

CJ Cherry is amazing, but I really like her Merchanter series.
Beowolf's Children by Pournelle and Niven is great, as is the first one in that series. I really, really like Jerry Pournelle.

Oh, and if you get really desperate, check out Space Cowboy, and Timewalker by some guy named Justin Stanchfield. (Sorry, had to do a shameless plug)

Justin

[Groovey Records]

you can get a taste of quite a few of these authors work on line @ Google Books

[thekillingjoke]

I strongly recommend Robert Heinlein's Time Enough for Love, as well as Stranger in a Strange Land. Look at everything H.P. Lovecraft did as well; he was probably the first to effectively blend ideas of science fiction with horror.

In addition, definitely take a look at the work of Philip K. Dick. They are science fiction, but they are extremely philosophical as well.

If you can find it, I highly recommend Dr. Adder by K.W. Jeter. The novel predates Neuromancer by twelve years as the first cyberpunk science fiction book, although its publication was delayed for twelve years because of the violence and sex present.

It'd also be worth your time to take a look at Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, another piece of cyberpunk fiction.

[EdgarHF]

Originally Posted by Justinvs

CJ Cherry is amazing, but I really like her Merchanter series.

To be honest I picked up C J Cherryh's Foreigner along with Alstair Reynolds' Revelation Space. I started Foreigner first and 40 pages in I tossed it aside. It just made no sense to me. Maybe I started out with a bad one.

+1 on Jack McDevitt

[beep.click]

Anything by Neal Stephenson is a good bet.

If you can find it, Dhalgren by Samuel Delany is amazing. Never read another scifi book like it.

[Worn]

I like anything by Greg Bear, David Brin, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Robert A.Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke.

[nvilletele]

Someone mentioned Arthur C. Clarke - his short stories are even better than his novels. They are AMAZING. And of course, his novella Childhood's End (already mentioned above) is perhaps the most important science fiction book ever, IMHO.

Did no one yet mention Asimov? His robot stories are of course classic, as well as the Foundation series (which I frankly got somewhat tired of, but perhaps deserve a re-read now).

+1 on Harlan Ellison too. He once put his home phone number into a story of his, and I called it and it proved to actually be his phone number! This was many years ago, so probably no longer current, but it surprised the heck out of me then. He did not personally answer the phone, but the person who did confirmed it was Ellison's house.

[EdgarHF]

Originally Posted by Buckocaster51

A Canticle for Leibowitz

In my top 5

[Justinvs]

Originally Posted by nvilletele

+1 on Harlan Ellison too. He once put his home phone number into a story of his, and I called it and it proved to actually be his phone number! This was many years ago, so probably no longer current, but it surprised the heck out of me then. He did not personally answer the phone, but the person who did confirmed it was Ellison's house.

I talked to Harlan on the phone once. I used to be the Treasurer for the Science Fiction Writers of America, and I had to call him concerning some business stuff. I was scared to death, since he has a reputation for being a bit short-fused, but it turned out to be a really pleasant phone call. I actually enjoyed visiting with him.

Justin

[woodman]

Originally Posted by beep.click

Dhalgren

yep — deeply weird, one of a kind! i didn't think anyone else remembered it.

[Chuck 909]

No Phillip Jose Farmer fans? Oh man, you're missing out! Try the WORLD OF TIERS series or RIVERWORLD. He also has lot's of single books too that are cool, like THE STONE GOD AWAKENS or THE GATE OF TIME.

Jimi Hendrix (probably) got the Purple Haze idea from a Farmer story. Well, that and acid he took.

[EdgarHF]

Originally Posted by woodman

yep — deeply weird, one of a kind! i didn't think anyone else remembered it.

I read it (Dhalgren) as a teenager. I passed it on to a friend who was very creeped out by the explicit homosexual sex in the novel.

[neocaster]

Not a big Sci Fi reader, but three that I loved and still read over from time to time are:

Mona Lisa Overdrive -William Gibson
The Sparrow -Mary Doria Russell
A Canticle for Liebowitz -Walter M. Miller, Jr.

[dean]

I'll concur with titles already listed - here are my fabes:

A Canticle for Leibowitz

The Road - Cormack McCarthy

And for a great literature/academic/philosophical/cinematic adventure, read the Philip K. Dick stories that have been made into movies and then watch those movies. Here's a list of most of them:

• Blade Runner (1982) Based on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
• Screamers (1995) Based on "Second Variety"
• Total Recall (1990) Based on "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"
• Confessions d'un Barjo (French, 1992) Based on "Confessions of a Crap Artist"
• Impostor (2001) Based on "Impostor."
• Minority Report (2002) Based on "The Minority Report."
• Paycheck (December 25, 2003) Based on "Paycheck."
• A Scanner Darkly (July 7, 2006) Based on "A Scanner Darkly"
• Next (April 27, 2007) Based on "The Golden Man"

Dean D

[MaxCaster]

Big plus ones for Stephenson, Gibson, Niven/Pournelle, Farmer and Dick.

As for P.K. Dick, let's not forget The Man in the High Tower. Great novel, IMHO. If you like short stories, I'd strongly recommend Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions trilogy.