Recommended Sci-Fi Novels

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#1756189 4-Apr-2017 11:04

I just read "A sword into darkness" by Thomas A Mays. I'm really looking forward to the next part of the series coming out if its anything approaching this first part.

surfisup1000

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#1756213 4-Apr-2017 11:51

Stephanie Meyer sci-fi is pretty good. I enjoyed "The Host"

I also read The Martian , although the movie is pretty close to the book so maybe the story is a bit ruined if you've seen it.

Just about to read Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer -- sounds pretty awesome, hits the right genre cross of scifi / horror for me.

YadaMe

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#1756253 4-Apr-2017 12:29

Not really hard sci-fi but and just re-reading Daemon and Freedom™ by Daniel Suarez. Near future a gaming genius dies (think blizzard entertainment) and unleashes his gaming AI on the world. Some of it is dated but most of the tech is based on actual science. released before the iPhone so phones are still old school.

BlueShift

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#1756254 4-Apr-2017 12:29

Seconding and thirding most of the above. And in addition:

The Honor Harrington series for space naval action.

Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and The Diamond Age.

Anything by William Gibson, starting with Neuromancer.

Check out Baen.com for lots and lots of SF, including a whole swag of free samples in the Baen free library.

Oh, and definitely check out Ready Player One if you spent any time alive in the 80s. The movie comes out soon, so read the book first!

Rikkitic

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#1756261 4-Apr-2017 12:42

FineWine: I have about 95% of all of Robert Heinlein books. He was a bit of a socialist but he could still tell a good stories.

EDIT: forgot to mention I have about 1000 sci fi & sci fan books :)

Have you ever read Beyond This Horizon or Starship Troopers? Hardly what I would term socialist literature. However, I do second the vote for Heinlein, who was a brilliant writer (and I have no problem with socialism, or even objectivism, as long as the stories are good).

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#1756265 4-Apr-2017 12:47

Geektastic:

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He is not the messiah - he's a very naughty boy!

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Lias

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#1756318 4-Apr-2017 13:46

Lots of good stuff already mentioned, but specific +1's for

Old Mans War series (just reread the first book a few days ago)
Foundation (Well at least the trilogy, not as much of a fan as the others)
Vorkosigan Saga (I'm a few behind now but I've read most of them)
Honor Harrington / Honorverse (Arguably my favourite series of all time)
Anything by Heinlein (Read and reread and read again. and again.. A not small amount of my world view has been shaped by his books)

Stuff that's not been mentioned:

Horus Heresy & Gaunts Ghosts W40K series
Vatta's War & Familias Regnant series by Elizabeth Moon

Dratsab:

A novel series I really enjoyed reading many (many!) years ago was The Amtrak Wars by Patrick Tilley. I thought the TV series The 100 borrowed some concepts quite heavily from these novels.

I've read that series at least half a dozen times in the last 30 years, I might have to watch The 100.

*edit* Forgot to add the Seafort Saga by David Feintuch

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timmmay

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#1756323 4-Apr-2017 13:50

@Lias can you say more about Honor Harrington? Goodreads rates them very high but the outline seems pretty silly.

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#1756324 4-Apr-2017 13:51

the-wool-trilogy

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#1756327 4-Apr-2017 13:53

Rikkitic:

FineWine: I have about 95% of all of Robert Heinlein books. He was a bit of a socialist but he could still tell a good stories.

EDIT: forgot to mention I have about 1000 sci fi & sci fan books :)

Have you ever read Beyond This Horizon or Starship Troopers? Hardly what I would term socialist literature. However, I do second the vote for Heinlein, who was a brilliant writer (and I have no problem with socialism, or even objectivism, as long as the stories are good).

I must admit he did have a dichotomy of social theories. Socialist one minute (Stranger in a Strange Land), Fascist the next (Starship Troopers), then a melding of the two, right and left libertarian (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress)

WOW whatever, he was very good at exploring and pulling to bits; governments, religions, mysticisms, racisms and sexual norms, but so are ALL the good science fiction writers; Isaac Asimov (Foundation series) & Arthur C. Clarke who is/was the the epitome of futurism.

Anyway a lot of these authors I read at a young age and went wow, then as I got older and I firmed up my own general beliefs, I thought what a load of rubbish, to where I am now - they are all just really very good, well written stories.

Enjoy them for what they are, great entertainment.

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#1756329 4-Apr-2017 13:56

Lias: I might have to watch The 100.

A bit off topic but in the way I viewed The 100 in relation to the Amtrak Wars, I thought of the Sky People as a 3rd party from whose POV the story is told. Grounders = mutes, Mountain Men = Amtrak Federation. Initially I found the series a bit hard to get into as it was a bit too loudmouthed "teenage angst" for me but it settled down somewhat after 4 or 5 episodes and the second season was very well done.

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#1756333 4-Apr-2017 14:05

Peter F. Hamilton tells some great stories, though certain aspects of his writing style can grate a little.

Asimov is very enjoyable, especially all the Robot stories.

You should definitely read The Martian if you haven't already.

Starship Troopers is utterly different to the movie (and makes way more sense). The underlying theme is that citizenship, and the ability to vote, is a privilege, not a right. Still a good story though.

BlueShift

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#1756338 4-Apr-2017 14:08

timmmay:

@Lias can you say more about Honor Harrington? Goodreads rates them very high but the outline seems pretty silly.

Its space navy sci-fi. Horatio Hornblower in spaceships. Military space opera, but well written and plotted. The first couple are free on baen.com, so there's nothing to lose but some reading time.

fizzychicken

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#1756346 4-Apr-2017 14:20

also anything written by philip k dick. everything is great.

I recently finished The City & the City by China Miéville, not so much science fiction but a brilliant concept. Before that, Diaspora by greg egan, bit of decent hard science fiction.

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#1756354 4-Apr-2017 14:50

While there is some dispute over whether these books are sci-fi or not, I really enjoyed The Sparrow, and it's sequel Children of God, by Mary Doria Russell.

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