What are the best Sci-Fi books to recommend to a novice?

[ImaginalDisc]

The professor I have for Technical writing (That's memos, reports, instructions and so on) mentioned to me that is nephew is reading Ursula K. LeGuin, and he asked me to recommend some Sci-Fi books after we discussed the genre. He asked to send him an email with a short list.

He's an educated man in the humanities, but not so much in science and math. I explained the difference between hard and soft science fiction, and he seemed interested in both.

What would be your picks for the best soft Sci-Fi book and best hard Sci-Fi book to recommend to someone new to the genre? I was thinking of "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "Remnant Population", but I'm not so sure.

[Curnir]

Tunnel in the sky.

Enders Game

Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy

Starship troopers

Have spacesuit will travel

[Darat]

The professor I have for Technical writing (That's memos, reports, instructions and so on) mentioned to me that is nephew is reading Ursula K. LeGuin, and he asked me to recommend some Sci-Fi books after we discussed the genre. He asked to send him an email with a short list.

He's an educated man in the humanities, but not so much in science and math. I explained the difference between hard and soft science fiction, and he seemed interested in both.

What would be your picks for the best soft Sci-Fi book and best hard Sci-Fi book to recommend to someone new to the genre? I was thinking of "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "Remnant Population", but I'm not so sure.

The obvious selection would be to suggest he borrows some books from his nephew - after all LeGuin is rather good.

I'd also highly recommend Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow" and it's follow-up see: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/r/mary-doria-russell/sparrow.htm A modern classic in my opinion.

[TobiasTheViking]

Dune.Series
Enders game Series
And the accompanying Shadow series.
The Robots - Empire - Foundation series by asimov is also good, though some of them (mostly Foundation) start off pretty vague (ie, the writing feels empty and superficial in comparison to newer works).
Hitchhikers is always good.

I am also pretty fond of Dan Simmons Hyperion Series.
Ringworld is also a great scifi book.

I'm not THAT fond of 2001,2010,2061,3001 series, but i guess it is ok.

I prefer Rendezvous with Rama when it comes to ACC.

I just read Manifold by Stephen Baxter which is a very odd collection of 3 books. It claims to be hard scifi, but it has too many errors that piss me off.. Still, he might enjoy it. All three books occour at almost the same time, with almost the same characters, and the stories have the same purpose. But the conclusion is different, i really like the idea.

Currently i am reading the Xeelee Sequence by Stephen Baxter. It is odd, but i like it.

For both Manifold and Xeelee we don't really have a series of books, more like books in the same universe. But it isn't like any of the books are sequals to any of the others.

I will very much recommend that he DOES NOT read "The Night's Dawn Trilogy" by Peter F. Hamilton. Each book is about 1600pages, there are 3 books. And it ends with the biggest deus ex machina ever. I fail to see what, if anything, was accomplished through out the trilogy, which had about 20-30 main characters.

I also liked Greg Bear's - The Forge Of God series.

I'm sure i have forgotten some.

Even though it isn't scifi, i think he would enjoy Discworld.

[Worm]

Personally I don't think you can get much better than 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress', but for the sake of argument, and off the top of my head:

Dune - Frank Herbert
Player of Games - Iain M. Banks
Cobra - Timothy Zahn
I, Robot - Isaac Asimov
The Gods Themselves - Isaac Asimov
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick
Neuromancer - William Gibson

[ceo_esq]

I'd also highly recommend Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow" and it's follow-up see: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/r/mary-doria-russell/sparrow.htm A modern classic in my opinion.

I second.


* * * * *


ID,

Do you know what other types of fiction this fellow prefers? There are many subgenres within SF, and quite possibly one or more of them overlap with something he's more familiar with and partial to, which might provide easier entry into SF. For example, is he fond of detective novels? Political thrillers? Historical epics? Humorous writing?

When I was first getting into science fiction I read a number of paperback anthologies of award-winning short fiction. I quickly picked up the names of a lot of authors who seemed worth investigating, and if someone's writing left me cold I could just flip ahead to the next story.

[Bigt]

I highly recommend Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun series of four books, which now have been combined into two, consisting of Shadow and Claw and Sword and Citadel, although these might more be considered science fantasy. Still a damn fine read.

[kedo1981]

The Finale Encyclopedia

Calculating God

[Darat]

I second.


* * * * *

...snip...

Now why doesn't that suprise me? ;)

[alfaniner]

This is for the professor, or the nephew? Ray Bradbury's short stories are a good introduction. (The Martian Chronicles, R is for Rocket, S is for Space, et al)

[Hutch]

The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle

If he's pressed for time, a collection of short stories by Niven, Clarke, Asimov, Silverberg, et. al., will give him a good flavor for the genre (at least the 'hard SF part of it)

[Dragonrock]

When it comes to hard science fiction, I recommend starting off with short stories rather than full novels. Some people get tired of the hard stuff if they try to take in whole novels at one time.

[StewartP]

It was short stories got me into SF Robert Shekley, Ray Bradbury, Bob Shaw, Arthur C Clarke. Asimov's robot stuff

Mote in God's Eye, while a fat book, is one of the best first contact I've ever read. The aliens are different and very plausible. I also liked their book about the city that was a building, can't remember the title, and Lucifer's Hammer was good too.

[orpheus]

In a somewhat different sub-genre, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is outstanding. Very enjoyable. I also loved his Cryptonomicon - I think it may be his best, though I guess it's debatable whether or not it's really sci-fi. In any case, it feels like sci-fi.

Stephenson is an odd one - people either love him or hate him.

[orpheus]

Oh, and I almost forgot: Stanislaw Lem. Practically anything the man wrote. Solaris, of course, is the most famous - and it's wonderful. But I found Fiasco even better. Neither are very happy books, though - be warned.

He has a more fun-loving side, which surfaces in his short stories. The collections The Cyberiad and The Star Diaries are two excellent ones.

Also, he has a number of fascinating essays about sci-fi as a literary genre. (Check out The Stanislaw Lem Reader.

His death earlier this year was a great loss.

[Palimpsest]

I have a big huge collection of Arthur C. Clarke's short stories, from the 30's to the 90's. Awesome stuff, from a master of the craft.

My favorite novels of his: Rendezvous with Rama, The Fountains of Paradise, The Songs of Distant Earth.

You can't go wrong with Bradbury, although I wouldn't call his stuff sci-fi; even his Mars stories feel more like fantasy with rayguns and rocketships.

Dan Simmons' Hyperion? Oh hell yes.

And for another twisty time-travel story that'll leave your brain both shaken and stirred, I recommend The Last Legends of Earth (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385263937/sr=8-1/qid=1152314955/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0716493-1421400?ie=UTF8). It's apparently the last book in a series of 4, but it stands perfectly well on its own.

The Book of the New Sun is a trip, but very challenging. Not for the faint of heart!

[tkingdoll]

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
Anything by John Wyndham or HG Wells.
To ease him in to Asimov gently, I, Robot or the Gold and Magic anthologies
Hitchhikers as per everyone else's post
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

[Mojo]

Philip K. Dick: Martian Timeslip
William Gibson
Greg Egan
Gregory Benford: Timescape
Christopher Priest
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy
Brian Aldiss
For space opera, how about Iain M. Banks?

Oh, and what about John Sladek?

And I hope the Ursula LeGuin is The Left Hand of Darkness.

[kevin]

Card's Ender's Game, but not the rest of the series as much.
Asimov's Foundation 3 books
Asimov's I,Robot series of short-stories
Asimov's Caves of Steel, Naked Sun, Robots of Dawn
Delany's Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand
Brin's The Postman and Uplift series
Heinlein's juvenile series (have spacesuit will travel, starship troopers, tunnel in the sky), and future history short stories (the past through tomorrow)
Stephenson's Snow Crash
Gibson's Neuromancer
Clarke's 2001 (not so much the rest of the series), and short stories (especially those collected in the 9 billion names of god)
Bradbury's Farenheit 451
Douglas Adam's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

ETA: E.E. Doc Smith's Lensmen series and Skylark series

[Worm]

Oh yeah - Lensman rocks - in a sort of kitsch way.

[kevin]

Oh yeah - Lensman rocks - in a sort of kitsch way.

yeah, it's one of my favorite series even though the science is way, way out of date (written at a time when bigger technology was automatically better technology). I think it's a great read from a history of science fiction view point. Skylark even more so.

[TragicMonkey]

Tuf Voyaging by George RR Martin is pretty good.

[Esperdome]

The book that got me reading sci-fi, The Deathworld Trilogy, by Harry Harrison.

[Cheap Thrills]

I've always recommended Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination. Written in 1956, it hasn't aged in the slightest; this is the visionary book that kick-started the modern science fiction genre as we know it today.

[tomgv15]

Suggest anthologies: Hugo Winners, the Year's Best series, anything edited by Anthony Boucher.

Foundation series.

Joe Haldeman's Forever War.

[lofgoernost]

Here's a similar thread (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=20290) from a couple of years ago with some good stuff.

[Pope130]

Anything by H. Beam Piper. For a starter look for "The Complete Paratime" or "Federation", both story collections that give a good overview of his writing style. The "Fuzzy" books are quite popular, they gave us (for good or ill) the Ewoks.
My personal favorite is "The Cosmic Computer".

Robert Klaus

[slingblade]

A really good anthology by a really good writer (always a plus):

"Science Fiction 101 : Where to Start Reading and Writing Science Fiction"
by Robert Silverberg.

it not only has some classic authors and stories (Cordwainer Smith, Pohl, Aldiss, Damon Knight, James Blish), but Silverberg also offeres analysis of each story. "Scanners Live in Vain," "Fondly Fahrenheit," and Phil Dick's "Colony" ("I trusted the rug completely!") are just three good examples.

[c4ts]

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Rendevous With Rama by Arthur C Clarke
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Foundation by Isaac Azimov
The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle

[Fungrim]

NB: I think the hard/soft definition isn't very useful. However. As many classics have already been mentioned (see for example c4ts excellent previous post) here's some "newer" books.


Soft SF + (New) Space Opera:

The Hyperion Cantos - Dan Simmons (literary far future classic)
Kiln People - David Brin (social engineering / cloning)
The Gap Cycle - Stephen R. Donaldsson (pure space opera)


In-betweens:

A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernon Vinge (singularity classic)
The Star Fraction - Ken MacLeod (politics, science and great fun)
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds (dark, semi hard cyber-punk-ish)


Hard SF:

Darvins Children - Greg Bear (biology /evolution)
The Algebraist - Iain Banks (far future straight SF)
Singularity Sky - Charlie Stross (singularity)

[Morrigan]

Soft: Dune series.
Hard: Space Odyssey series.


Enders Game

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Avoid, avoid, avoid like the plague. This book is an insult to people with intelligence.

[Curnir]

Soft: Dune series.
Hard: Space Odyssey series.

I Agree

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Avoid, avoid, avoid like the plague. This book is an insult to people with intelligence.

:p

[Worm]

I was going to suggest Stranger In A Strange Land, but I'm actually not convinced that's it's sci-fi as such.

Like many of Heinlein's books, it's more about society then science.

[Mojo]

NB: I think the hard/soft definition isn't very useful. However. As many classics have already been mentioned (see for example c4ts excellent previous post) here's some "newer" books.


Soft SF + (New) Space Opera:

The Hyperion Cantos - Dan Simmons (literary far future classic)
Kiln People - David Brin (social engineering / cloning)
The Gap Cycle - Stephen R. Donaldsson (pure space opera)


In-betweens:

A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernon Vinge (singularity classic)
The Star Fraction - Ken MacLeod (politics, science and great fun)
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds (dark, semi hard cyber-punk-ish)


Hard SF:

Darvins Children - Greg Bear (biology /evolution)
The Algebraist - Iain Banks (far future straight SF)
Singularity Sky - Charlie Stross (singularity)


I've read all of these apart from the Stross, and of the ones I've read I can recommend all but the Donaldson: of that, the nicest thing I can say is: AVOID!

[Mojo]

I was going to suggest Stranger In A Strange Land, but I'm actually not convinced that's it's sci-fi as such.

Like many of Heinlein's books, it's more about society then science.Loads of good science fiction is about society rather than science. The science is often just a deus ex machina.

[Kevin_Lowe]

Nobody's mentioned CJ Cherryh, which is great injustice. Downbelow Station, Cyteen, and Rider at the Gate are all very good. The Chanur series a bit less so, in my humble opinion, but still good.

I also think a previous poster got their Vinge muddled. Marooned In Realtime is his singularity novel, A Fire Upon The Deep is based on a cosmology where the laws of physics get wackier the further away from the galactic core you get. Both are very good too.

[kevin]

I've always recommended Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination. Written in 1956, it hasn't aged in the slightest; this is the visionary book that kick-started the modern science fiction genre as we know it today.

stupid razzafraggin memory. That's what I meant to type instead of Delany's the Stars in my Pocket... Not sure why I always confuse them. great book.

[kevin]

Loads of good science fiction is about society rather than science. The science is often just a deus ex machina.

Yeah, Ender's Game (in fact Card's stuff in general) is very vague on the science. Most fans split the real sciency stuff into a Hard Science sub-genre.

Niven, Heinlein are big in this area, although I really like Robert L. Forward's stuff (and just realized on reading his wikipedia page that he died 4 years ago. bummer). I really liked his Dragon's Egg and Starquake.

[kevin]

The book that got me reading sci-fi, The Deathworld Trilogy, by Harry Harrison.
heh, I thought those were great, but his Stainless Steel Rat are more popular. And hey, the Rat is an atheist thief that doesn't kill people.

[kevin]

Like many of Heinlein's books, it's more about society then science.

Only boring science fiction is about the science. The good stuff is about the effects of science. Even the hard sf stuff is mostly about the story, not the ins and outs of the devices.

But I don't consider Stranger in a Strange Land to be one of Heinlein's better stories. Not bad though.

[hgc]

It depends on what you're looking for. Personally I prefer the more literary stuff. So I would add my recommendation to those who have already pointed to Lem and Vonnegut. Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 and Cat's Cradle are both masterpieces of American literature.

ETA: OH, and Bradbury too.

[Esperdome]

heh, I thought those were great, but his Stainless Steel Rat are more popular. And hey, the Rat is an atheist thief that doesn't kill people.

I'm reading The Stainless Steel Rat goes to Hell right now. Harry Harrison is one of many atheist sci fi authors.

[Dragonrock]

Brin's The Postman and Uplift series

I can honestly say that you are the first person I've ever seen recommend those books to anyone. The uplift series is a great idea with poor execution and I couldn't get through The Postman if someone held a gun to my head.

[ZirconBlue]

Roger Zelazny belongs on this list, somewhere, although, my favorites by him lean more toward Fantasy than SF.

[kevin]

I can honestly say that you are the first person I've ever seen recommend those books to anyone. The uplift series is a great idea with poor execution and I couldn't get through The Postman if someone held a gun to my head.

Interesting. I haven't read the Uplift books in awhile but I remembered enjoying them in college. I believe I've only read the first 2 or 3.

I thought the Postman a good end-of-the-world story. I remember having to read Earth Abides for a science fiction english course I took and I couldn't stand it. I thought the Postman a much the world-goes-kaflooie story.

[Meffy]

Someone mentioned Robert Silverberg but not his fiction. I'll plug "Lord Valentine's Castle" and the other stories in his Majipoor cycle. Beware: not everything by Silverberg is great story-telling. He was a legend for a long time, but then for a while he churned out awful hackwork. With "Valentine" he regained his old powers and his place as one of the greats.

The most literary science fiction I know of comes from Gene Wolfe. The most convincing worlds and people tend to be from Ursula K. LeGuin. The deepest, most cuttingly wry work is by Stanislaw Lem.

[edit] For old-fashioned adventure it's hard to beat L. Sprague DeCamp's "The ____ of Z____" books, aka the Krishna series -- The Hand of Zei, The Queen of Zamba, The Hostage of Zir, The Prisoner of Zhamanak, and so forth. Lotsa exotica and stuffs. Ripping yarns all.

[Dragonrock]

Interesting. I haven't read the Uplift books in awhile but I remembered enjoying them in college. I believe I've only read the first 2 or 3.

I thought the Postman a good end-of-the-world story. I remember having to read Earth Abides for a science fiction english course I took and I couldn't stand it. I thought the Postman a much the world-goes-kaflooie story.

The uplift books really were a good start. But that's it, a good "start". I've read 3 and only one of them had much of an ending, the rest just stopped. The idea that the human's wolfling technology being inferior but still better than the progenetor (sp?) tech was fun, and that's why I managed to get through three books. But, I grew frustrated at the lack of conclusion so I finally gave up.

[Kevin_Lowe]

Someone mentioned Robert Silverberg but not his fiction. I'll plug "Lord Valentine's Castle" and the other stories in his Majipoor cycle. Beware: not everything by Silverberg is great story-telling. He was a legend for a long time, but then for a while he churned out awful hackwork. With "Valentine" he regained his old powers and his place as one of the greats.


I thought it was total rubbish myself, even as a teenager. The Majipoor books were far too stupid to be hard science fiction and far too dull to be action/adventure. I filed them with Anne McCaffrey as stuff that is technically science fiction but, as science fiction, was a total failure.


The most literary science fiction I know of comes from Gene Wolfe.


Between you and me, Wolfe mostly just rewrote Vance's Cugel books with a more boring protagonist, a lot of archaic words and some "clever" literary devices that aren't used to improve the story. I think Wolfe is a decent if unoriginal craftsman but has been horribly overrated by the easily impressed.


The most convincing worlds and people tend to be from Ursula K. LeGuin.


I won't quibble with that, LeGuin is a goddess as far as I'm concerned. I think some of Cherryh's books, like Rider at the Gate and Cloud's Rider, rival LeGuin at her best though.


The deepest, most cuttingly wry work is by Stanislaw Lem.


I tried reading "Ring Around The Sun" and it read like Heinlein churning out a potboiler on sleeping pills.

[antihippy]

If he's interested in the humanities then I would recommend HG Wells and Bradbury. If he's a true novice Wells is certainly a good starting point. After that I would also recommend some Asimov and Ellison; not to mention Clarke. He also wouldn't go wrong with PKD and some Heinlein... Or even Frank Herbert's Dune books. Even John Wyndham. This is all based on the assumption he is into his humanities [and is also slightly older?].

In fact there are so many good authors it's difficult to know where to start.

Really it would be nice to know a bit more about what he's looking for.

Any specific themes?

EDIT:

He could buy from the 'SF Materworks' series of books. There are a lot of excellent titles listed in there.

[Meffy]

I think Wolfe is a decent if unoriginal craftsman but has been horribly overrated by the easily impressed.
*shrug* You may think of me as easily impressed then. I won't mind. I like Vance too but don't see much similarity between the two. My opinions differ from yours; not a problem, more enjoyable reading for me.

[Kevin_Lowe]

*shrug* You may think of me as easily impressed then. I won't mind. I like Vance too but don't see much similarity between the two. My opinions differ from yours; not a problem, more enjoyable reading for me.

You didn't originally say you liked Wolfe, just that he was the most "literary" science fiction you knew of. I don't think Wolfe's work is literary in any positive sense. It's just decent science fiction with a thesaurus, no more or less derivative than most other popular sci-fi series'.

Neuromancer by William Gibson is a book I'd describe as literary in the positive sense. Some of Iain Banks' scifi is literary.

[Morrigan]

I thought Ursula LeGuin was fantasy?
Also, I heard good things about her, anyone has recommendations on what to start with?

[alfaniner]

I found The Tripods trilogy by John Christopher to be an absorbing read, even more than once!

[ImaginalDisc]

I thought Ursula LeGuin was fantasy?
Also, I heard good things about her, anyone has recommendations on what to start with?

The Left Hand of Darkness

[Meffy]

@Kevin Lowe: Well, at least we have common ground on LeGuin. :-D

[antihippy]

I found The Tripods trilogy by John Christopher to be an absorbing read, even more than once!

Wow! I've not read that since I was a teen! Check out the BBC series (series one especially) if you've read it. Ok so the effects are rubbish but it's still a good series.

[Hutch]

Tuf Voyaging by George RR Martin is pretty good.

If you was a statuesque, beautiful woman instead of a waffle-eating gay monkey, I would marry you for that recommendation.

A couple of others I've thought of. James White's "Hospital Station" books, both short stories and novels, are good starter books for the novice SF fan.

For short stores, Lary Niven's "Tales of Known Space" or "Crashlander" are both enjoyable.

And how could I forget: Spider Robinson's Callahans' Crosstime Saloon (what a terrible title for such wonderful stories)

[Meffy]

I'm very fond of the Callahan's Place stories. They might not strike everyone as sufficiently science-fictional but they've carved out their own place.

I used to spend a lot of time in Usenet's version of Callahan's. Still drop in from time to time. Good place, good people, lately some unusually stupid and determined trolls but Callahaniacs can deal with that kind of thing.

[Kevin_Lowe]

While I think of it, Lois McMaster Bujold writes the least worst cliched militaristic space opera I know of. Like Wolfe (:p@Meffy) Bujold has some fans that are a bit overexited, but if you don't let them oversell the books to you before you read them I think most people will enjoy them a great deal.

Her first couple of Miles Vorkosigan books were underwhelming, but after that the series and the character improved immensely.

She also wrote a fantasy trilogy, of which I have only read the middle volume, Paladin of Souls. That was very good.

For that matter nobody has mentioned Vance's science fiction. Nightlamp is very good, and although I haven't read much else of his scifi I have a fair bit of faith in him so I doubt I would be disappointed by it.

[Meffy]

I'm not a Wolfe fan particularly. Just like his way of writing. Of Vance I'm definitely a fan. Dying Earth is a rich and amusing/frightening place. Right up there with Discworld in my estimation as a detailed and engaging imaginary world.

[Kevin_Lowe]

Does that mean I'm not getting squirted with foul-smelling musk? :)

[Meffy]

Good heavens, no. That's a defensive weapon only, the use of which is to be avoided at all costs. We mephits are trying to integrate into society non-disruptively, and hope you'll never experience such a dismaying exchange. *calculates briefly* ... Nor be within about three miles of one. =^_^=

[Jabberwock]

Some good suggestions! If he's into "Star Trek" type of science fiction try David Weber's Honor Harrington books,the first one is "On Basilisk Station." They have a very distinct kind of "Horatio Hornblower in Space" vibe and are a very good adventure SF type of series. Unfortunately, IMHO, it fails in the last couple of books when it becomes clear Weber has fallen in love with Harrington and she becomes an infallible superwoman.

[Hindmost]

with some reiteration...

Larry Niven's "Ringworld" has to be a primary pick for heavy science fiction. All of the "known Space" novels and short stories are great.

Asimov's foundation and robot novels should be read in the order that he wrote them and not chronologically--otherwise the story is spoiled. The three robot novels: The caves of steel, the naked sun and the robots of dawn are great sci fi and great mysteries...Asimov likes to include mystery in his works.

Don't forget Heinlein's "The Cat who Walks through Walls" as a good sci fi read and "Job:a Comedy of Justice" for fantasy.

glenn

[Elizabeth I]

I can honestly say that you are the first person I've ever seen recommend those books to anyone. The uplift series is a great idea with poor execution and I couldn't get through The Postman if someone held a gun to my head.

Hi, I'm new to the forum and - look! - a thread on one of my very favorite topics.

The only thing of Brin's I have read was The Practice Effect and I thought it was a fun read.

ANYTHING by Jack Vance, although he's hard to classify - a little bit fantasy, a little bit hard SF, a little bit sociological SF

In my opinion, just about the greatest "space opera" book every written was James Schmitz's Witches of Karres.

For humor, Robert Asprin's "Phule" series is good.

[kevin]

I'm very fond of the Callahan's Place stories. They might not strike everyone as sufficiently science-fictional but they've carved out their own place.

Seconded. I really liked the early short stories. Great stuff. The later novels are good too, but not as good as his early short stories. Although I did like the ones with Tesla in them.

[kevin]

Welcome to the forum!


The only thing of Brin's I have read was The Practice Effect and I thought it was a fun read.

I enjoyed this book, but it kind of drove me crazy as I really don't think it would be possible to violate the laws of thermodynamics like that.

For humor, Robert Asprin's "Phule" series is good.

I loved the MythAdventures books, but not really science fiction.

As for humor, hands down the single funniest science fiction book I've read is Illegal Aliens by Nick Pollotta & Phil Foglio.

http://studiofoglio.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=STF130&Category_Code=The_Books

[Stir]

Two of my favorites I haven't seen mentioned:
City (Clifford Simak)
Canticle For Liebowitz (Walter Miller)

[Hutch]

One other I found while browsing; an odlie but still a pretty goodie for a novice reader: The Weapon Shops of Isher by A.E. Van Vogt.


In my opinion, just about the greatest "space opera" book every written was James Schmitz's Witches of Karres.


Welcome to the Forum, your Highness..I had to go look up my copy of the short story the Novel was based on, because while the story did not really stick with me, I always for some reason remembered the first paragraph:

It was around the hub of the evening on the planet of Porlumma that Captain Pausert, commercial traveler from the Republic of Nikkeldepain, met the first of the Witches of Karres.

It was just plain fate, so far as he could see.

To slightly derail, the book I picked the quote from (The Astounding Science Fiction anthology edited by John W. Campbell) has so many good short stories that are just waiting for a 30 or 60 minute adaptation to TV, and apparently nobody in Hollywood reads them anymore. Instead we get Spielburg's Amazing (trite) Stories and whatever dreck the Sci-Fi channel comes up with. I mean, just in this book, I have:

Nightfall by Issac Asimov (do NOT bring up that excreable movie)
First Contact by Muray Leinster
Hobbyist and Late Night Final by Eric Frank Russell
Thunder and Roses by Theodore Sturgeon
The Witches of Karres by James H. Schmitz
Protected Species by H.B. Fyfe

(If you do not know these stories, try and get acquainted with them; you may not like them all (Eric Frank Russell can be an acquired taste) but any of them, well-adapted, would be so much better than anything the SF Channel or any other TV station is currently offering.

OK, rant completed, we now return to our regularly scheduled program.

[Foolmewunz]

There have been great "Year's Best" anthologies for years. They do actually represent a great introduction, and will bring him in contact with names he might not otherwise run into. I know that's where I discovered people like Samuel Delany and Terry Champagne....

First, though is whether you take the meaning of SF on the more "purist" side, i.e. that the premise has to be based on known scientific principles. The alternate to that is Fantasy, which by this strict interpretation includes several of the more popular "SF" novels and threads. Dune and its sequels being the best example of that.

I like Harlan Ellison's tag from the sixties - when he put together the legendary Dangerous Visions anthology, he started calling it Speculative Fiction. That let him encompass some real fantasists, some hard line scientific fiction writers, and a couple of entertaining Woos also (Theodore Sturgeon - loved him, but More Than Human is enough to make a skeptic cringe).

I second quite a few mentioned here. The first few of the Dune series, Le Guinn's Left Hand of Darkness, The original Foundation Trilogy, and the Robot stories..... I'd like to add (some Sci FI - some Speculative):
James Blish - Cities in Flight
Ellison's a.m. compilation Dangerous Vision - maybe the best sampler of original work, ever.
Ellison's A Boy and His Dog - a novella but teriffic (burn the movie if you get a chance)
Connie Willis - To Say Nothing of the Dog and The Doomsday Book

*Curious no one's metnioned the Otherworld series ..... is there a new genre now for Virtual Reality fantasy....

[kc440_]

I'm not the greatest Sci Fi fan, but when I was a kid, I read some books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He had the Pellucidar series. Men from the Moon, Martian novels, I don't recall what else. And the illustrations on the covers really grabbed you.

As for those who love Gothic, my favorite book was/is Green Darkness by Anya Seton. It's about love-crossed lovers. The bulk of it is written in old English, but you catch on right away. It's about reincarnation, mysticism, witchcraft, astrology charts and lust. It runs about 800 pages. The original illustration just bowled me over. I knew I wanted to read that book and I was right. I no longer have the illustration, and the covers I've seen no longer have that image: a monk and a young woman in the green darkness of a forest. This book has everything in it.

After that, you might like some books from Anne Rice.

kc440

[sillyhead]

Cool! When I read the OP, I thought, god, these people are going to be talking about stuff I've never heard of before, but nope!

I remember being most impressed as a child by:
I, Robot
KVJ
DNA (H2G2, and also Dirk Gently)
Bradbury
And, man, they used to have the BEST short stories in Ommi. Maybe they still do, but I got disgusted the last time I bought one and counted, and it's right at 50% advertisement.

I loved the fantasy stuff too, like Moorecock, Anthony (tell me the Xanth stuff wasn't addictive, as horrid as it was!) and Katherine Kurtz.

Fun stuff!

[sillyhead]

Ray Bradbury edited some books that were very good, short stores. I forget what they're called and am too lazy to google right now, but something like Best Science Fiction Short Stories of (insert year here). Tons of good authors.

[Brainache]

For hard science fiction you can't go past Stephen Baxter.
His Xeelee Sequence of novels rivals the best from any golden age you'd care to mention. His alternate Earth novels like Voyage and Titan show a detailed understanding of the insides of NASA.
His Manifold Trilogy is pretty darn good as well.
He wrote an excellent sequel to The Time Machine called The Time Ships.

He has some excellent Victoriana type SF - Anti Ice

Oh and he has told the family history of the human race in Evolution(he takes us into a truly sobering vision of the future).

I can't praise this author enough. If you haven't read any of his stuff I reccomend starting with "Timelike Infinity".(or Voyage if you like a bit more of a contemporary setting).

For the softer type SF:
A Canticle For Leiberwitz is good.
John Wyndham is excellent.
Brian Aldiss is pretty darn special as well.

I would also recommend The Years Best anthologies, The Hugo Winners, Penguin SF(all of the ones edited by Brian Aldiss)

That's all I can add to the many excellent suggestions posted by others.
Except for: I can't stand Stephen Donaldson.:p

[bluess]

Urg, Stephen Donaldson.

Sci-fi:
Lucifer's Hammer (about a comet strike on the earth) by Niven & Pournelle
The Mote in God's Eye, ditto
Colossus; The Fall of Colossus; Colossus and the Crab by DF Jones (the first was also made into a decent movie with Eric Braeden of All My Children early on)

Specuative Fiction/Fantasy:
John Varley's Titan trilogy
Andre Norton's Forerunner books (which actually have female protagonists)
Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time series

[scotth]

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Rendevous With Rama by Arthur C Clarke
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Foundation by Isaac Azimov
The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle

I can't believe it took 29 posts to get Ringworld.

To go with that one, "Protector" and "Ringworld Engineers"

Wow, there are some great books on this list.

[alfaniner]

...
Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time series

I read the first one in grade school several times. It was only a couple years ago that I found there were more in the series, so I bought the set. While they had lovely painted covers by Jodi Lee, I can't say I enjoyed any of the other books. Even though the characters are the same, there is virtually no continuity among them. The recent TV-movie based on A Wrinkle in Time was a decent adaptation, but very poorly done.

[Palimpsest]

I read the first one in grade school several times. It was only a couple years ago that I found there were more in the series, so I bought the set. While they had lovely painted covers by Jodi Lee, I can't say I enjoyed any of the other books. Even though the characters are the same, there is virtually no continuity among them. The recent TV-movie based on A Wrinkle in Time was a decent adaptation, but very poorly done.

Funny, for me it was the opposite. I thought the first book was good, the second better, and the third excellent. I didn't mind the lack of continuity in the mythology, and adored the twisty time-travel we-gotta-change-the-past-to-save-the-present plot of "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" YMMV