# Give a great SciFi suggestion



## columbo1977 (Jul 20, 2013)

I have been reading allot of Fantasy at the moment and I want to read a good series of SciFi, has anyone got any suggestions.

P.S. I love Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn Trilogy or Kevin J Andersons Saga of the Seven Suns. Just to give you an idea of the SciFi I like.

Cheers

Graham


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## OurJud (Jul 20, 2013)

I have a few suggestions, Graham, but from the titles you've listed (although I haven't read any of them) it sounds like you're at the other end of the sci-fi spectrum in terms of what I like.

I like my sci-fi dark and gritty and preferably set on earth.


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## columbo1977 (Jul 20, 2013)

I have read a great deal of SciFi to be honest so suggest away  I may have already read it.


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## Pluralized (Jul 20, 2013)

Have you read the Dune series?


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## Deleted member 53128 (Jul 20, 2013)

Don't know for sure if you'll enjoy them, but Philip K. Dick's books are fairly legendary. From his books I'd say that "The Eye in the Sky" and "Solar Lottery" are good for starters since his other stuff is quite heavy. Then there's of course Isaac Asimov, the father of modern Sci-Fi, his "Foundation" series is amazing. If you find that stuff too heavy, the "Horus Heresy" series of Warhammer 40K is amazingly good if you start from the very first book of the series. Oh and don't mind the fact that it's based on a strategy tabletop game, the books are still very very good, and you won't need any prior knowledge of the universe to understand them. 

Happy reading!


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## FleshEater (Jul 20, 2013)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Absolutely amazing.


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## columbo1977 (Jul 20, 2013)

NukeWithG said:


> Don't know for sure if you'll enjoy them, but Philip K. Dick's books are fairly legendary. From his books I'd say that "The Eye in the Sky" and "Solar Lottery" are good for starters since his other stuff is quite heavy. Then there's of course Isaac Asimov, the father of modern Sci-Fi, his "Foundation" series is amazing. If you find that stuff too heavy, the "Horus Heresy" series of Warhammer 40K is amazingly good if you start from the very first book of the series. Oh and don't mind the fact that it's based on a strategy tabletop game, the books are still very very good, and you won't need any prior knowledge of the universe to understand them.
> 
> Happy reading!



I don't think I have ever read the Dune series, just watched the films.

I have read the Foundation series, the Seafort Saga was a good series, although it got a bit strange towards the end.

I haven't read much of Phillip K Dick, will have a look at those.

G


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## Jeko (Jul 20, 2013)

Read Dick. He's a proper storyteller.

Alastair Reynolds, I believe, is also pretty good.


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## Skodt (Jul 20, 2013)

Dune is amazing. Easily my favorite Sci-Fi.


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## Govinda (Jul 20, 2013)

For some headier fair, you might try some Samuel R. Delany.  _Stars in my Pocket like Grains of Sand_ is a perennial favorite of mine.  I was also impressed with M. John Harrison's _Light_.  Anything by Miéville.  The man is a stonking genius.  _Embassytown_ and _The City and the City_ stand out, though the latter is more magic realism than science fiction.


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## columbo1977 (Jul 20, 2013)

Any of these a big series, I wanted something big like Riftwar or Sword of Truth (Fantasy obviously)


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## OurJud (Jul 20, 2013)

Noticed a few recommendations for PKD, but I've been rather underwhelmed by his collection of shorts in _Minority Report_. There's no doubting the man's imagination, but I find his style lifeless. The collection spans 1953 to 1969, but even taking this into account, some of the dialogue comes across as very corny and innocent.


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## Govinda (Jul 20, 2013)

columbo1977 said:


> Any of these a big series, I wanted something big like Riftwar or Sword of Truth (Fantasy obviously)




If that was directed at me, the answer is no.  :dispirited:  They are all one offs.  The prior suggestion of the Dune series is _de rigueur_.  Any lover of science fiction should commit entire passages to memory.    But read Frank's books, not the ones by his son, Brian.


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## Jeko (Jul 20, 2013)

> Noticed a few recommendations for PKD, but I've been rather underwhelmed by his collection of shorts in _Minority Report. There's no doubting the man's imagination, but I find his style lifeless_



Whoa, you can't dis Dick. He's a cornerstone of modern futuristic storytelling. Read _Flow my tears, the policeman said _and try to disagree.


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## FleshEater (Jul 20, 2013)

Cadence said:


> Whoa, you can't dis Dick. He's a cornerstone of modern futuristic storytelling. Read _Flow my tears, the policeman said _and try to disagree.



Or my prior suggestion, and also A Scanner Darkly. PKD is amazing.


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## OurJud (Jul 20, 2013)

Hey people, I feel bad dissing PKD. When I bought his collection of shorts I couldn't wait to get stuck in, and this was _after_ I'd tried and given up on _Do Androids Dream..._ so you can see I really wanted to like him. As I say, though, the few shorts I've read from this collection just seem flat and lifeless, which is probably why I gave up on _Do Androids Dream..._

Part of my problem with his writing - and I appreciate this is no fault of his own - is that while his ideas and imagination stand the test of time wonderfully, his writing is very much from the 50s/60s, and it's this that jars with me. I do like the fact that he's seems obsessed with having his characters smoke. Every single one of the shorts I've read so far has a smoking scene - I can really get on board with that!

Sorry. I will give some of his other stuff a go - _Flow my tears, the policeman said, _maybe.


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## FleshEater (Jul 20, 2013)

OurJud said:


> Hey people, I feel bad dissing PKD. When I bought his collection of shorts I couldn't wait to get stuck in, and this was _after_ I'd tried and given up on _Do Androids Dream..._ so you can see I really wanted to like him. As I say, though, the few shorts I've read from this collection just seem flat and lifeless, which is probably why I gave up on _Do Androids Dream..._
> 
> Part of my problem with his writing - and I appreciate this is no fault of his own - is that while his ideas and imagination stand the test of time wonderfully, his writing is very much from the 50s/60s, and it's this that jars with me. I do like the fact that he's seems obsessed with having his characters smoke. Every single one of the shorts I've read so far has a smoking scene - I can really get on board with that!
> 
> Sorry. I will give some of his other stuff a go - _Flow my tears, the policeman said, _maybe.



Well, he did fight addiction for many years, so maybe he likes to pull that little detail in there. What I find fascinating is the years in which he wrote these stories. What's scarier, is that sometimes they aren't very far off base with their predictions.


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## ppsage (Jul 21, 2013)

I recently read Brian Aldiss' _Helliconia Trilogy_ for the first time. It's big and sprawling with pretty intense world building and considerable swashbuckling. Not high tech except some quirks. Published '82, '83 & '86. Prose a bit dense but not excruciating and not old-fashioned. Good writing all round. Its ideas not world shattering, but solid classic sf. Lotsa cheap copies around. He has other stuff to offer, if you don't insist on a series.


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## OurJud (Jul 21, 2013)

FleshEater said:


> What I find fascinating is the years in which he wrote these stories. What's scarier, is that sometimes they aren't very far off base with their predictions.



No, the mark of a true visionary, certainly.


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## Origen (Jul 24, 2013)

The Valis Trilogy by PKD, which ends with one of my favorite books.  This was as close to a fictional version of the Gnostic Bible that anyone's ever likely to get.  
1. Valis
2. The Divine Invasion
3. The Transmigration of Timothy Archer


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## Caragula (Sep 5, 2013)

Helliconia is awesome.

But the best sci-fi novel I've ever read was 'The Stars My Destination' by Alfred Bester.  Closely followed by Earth Abides - George R Stewart and Clifford Simak's City


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## Morkonan (Nov 3, 2013)

columbo1977 said:


> I have been reading allot of Fantasy at the moment and I want to read a good series of SciFi, has anyone got any suggestions.
> 
> P.S. I love Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn Trilogy or Kevin J Andersons Saga of the Seven Suns. Just to give you an idea of the SciFi I like.
> 
> ...



Neal Stephenson, Iian Banks (RIP), Jack McDevit.


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## Grimball4 (Nov 7, 2013)

Alfred Bester & Brian Aldiss both rock.. But the true classics are Foundation Trilogy, Dune, Stranger in a Stange Land, Rondevu with Rama, and Martian Chronicles


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## Grimball4 (Nov 7, 2013)

Why haven't they made 'The Stars My Destination' into a movie? It would be much better then Ender's Game..


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## Olly Buckle (Nov 7, 2013)

I like something a bit different, Bob Shaw is great at taking a technological idea and exploring its consequences, I think 'Other days other eyes' is my favourite. Ursula Le Guin on the other hand is the daughter of social scientists. her mother wrote 'Ishi last of his tribe' and her father was  Alfred L. Kroeber, probably the socialscientist of his generation, who wrote 'Configurations of culture growth'. It shows in her work, the opposite of Bob Shaw's it explores social rather than technological possibilities, 'The left hand of darkness' is probably her best known.


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## Terry D (Nov 7, 2013)

Larry Niven's Ringworld series is outstanding 'hard' SF. Any of his books written with Jerry Pournell are good also, particularly, The Mote in God's Eye, and Lucifer's Hammer. Anything by Ray Bradbury.


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## Morkonan (Nov 9, 2013)

Terry D said:


> Larry Niven's Ringworld series is outstanding 'hard' SF. Any of his books written with Jerry Pournell are good also, particularly, The Mote in God's Eye, and Lucifer's Hammer. Anything by Ray Bradbury.



Niven, Pournelle, "Footfall." 'Nuff said. 

PS - I also loved the Heorot duology by Niven, Pournelle and Barnes.


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## Terry D (Nov 9, 2013)

Morkonan said:


> Niven, Pournelle, "Footfall." 'Nuff said.
> 
> PS - I also loved the Heorot duology by Niven, Pournelle and Barnes.



_Footfall_ might be the second best best alien invasion book ever (Nothing tops _The War of the Worlds_, imo):alien:.


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## Morkonan (Nov 9, 2013)

Terry D said:


> _Footfall_ might be the second best best alien invasion book ever (Nothing tops _The War of the Worlds_, imo):alien:.



Absolutely correct on both counts.


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## CorporateTool (Dec 14, 2013)

Richard K Morgan has some solid sci-fi offerings with Altered Carbon, Thirteen, Market Forces. Also might want to try John Scalzi, Old Man's War was lots of fun.


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## thepancreas11 (Feb 21, 2014)

For all the Science Fiction books I've ever read, my favorite is still The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's not quite in the realm of all these other authors or what you've suggested, but as far as creativity goes, you're going to be hard-pressed to beat that one. A depressed robot? Come on, who doesn't love that stuff?


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## bazz cargo (Feb 21, 2014)

Hi Clombo1977,
I got into sci fi through  R A Heinlein, my fav is Glory Road. 

Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series beats HHGTTG.

Lois McMaster Bujold is epic.

Zelazney is also epic.   

Enjoy whatever you read.


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## thepancreas11 (Feb 22, 2014)

Oooo anything that beats HHGTTG is worth taking a look at bazz! I'm in.


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## Grizzly (Feb 23, 2014)

_Time for the Stars_ by Robert A. Heinlein. Or anything by Tim Powers. 
Mr. Powers actually lent me Time for the Stars, and it was a lot of fun to read. Maybe it's because I haven't read SciFi or Fantasy books in a really long time, but I really enjoyed it. The ending was a bit out of the blue, but still one of my go-to books for vicarious experiences.


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## Ixarku (Mar 27, 2014)

Tim Powers is great.  "The Anubis Gates" is still my favorite time travel novel ever.  I've also read "Declare" and "Three Days To Never", both suspenseful reads.  What I particularly enjoy about his work, especially in "Declare", is how he takes a familiar genre and turns it on its ear.

I've recently picked up some of John Scalzi's stuff ("Old Man's War" and the sequels, "Red Shirts", "Agent To The Stars").  Completely different in tone & style.  What I'd characterize as light reads, great page-turners that aren't overly weighed down with unnecessary narrative.

And I'll _always _recommend Stephen R. Donaldson's "Gap" series.  There's nothing I've read by him that I don't love.


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## InstituteMan (Mar 27, 2014)

bazz cargo said:


> Hi Clombo1977,
> I got into sci fi through  R A Heinlein, my fav is Glory Road.
> 
> Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series beats HHGTTG.
> ...




Zelazny Zelazny Zelazny. Lord of Light is his best, but Creatures of Light and Darkness is also a great scifi read. Really all of his books are at least good, and usually great.


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## Ixarku (Mar 27, 2014)

I'm going to have to pick up "Lord of Light".  I've read Zelazny's Amber series (who hasn't who's a fan), but I've never read LoL.  I do have a hardback copy of "The Last Defender of Camelot", which I think I got from a book-of-the-month deal in the mid '80s.  It has some great short stories.  I think "For A Breath I Tarry" was my favorite.  I was also amused to find out, years after reading it, that "Damnation Alley" was turned into a movie in 1977.


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## InstituteMan (Mar 27, 2014)

Ixarku said:


> I'm going to have to pick up "Lord of Light".  I've read Zelazny's Amber series (who hasn't who's a fan), but I've never read LoL.  I do have a hardback copy of "The Last Defender of Camelot", which I think I got from a book-of-the-month deal in the mid '80s.  It has some great short stories.  I think "For A Breath I Tarry" was my favorite.  I was also amused to find out, years after reading it, that "Damnation Alley" was turned into a movie in 1977.



LoL is a surprisingly challenging read, but well worth the effort.


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## riven_hands (Mar 27, 2014)

So I'll be the tenth (or whatever) person to wholeheartedly recommend the Dune series.  I would just say that the first four are deep and engaging, by far some of my favorite SF.  The other two by Frank Herbert are rather weird and don't make much sense to me at least.  Read any of the ones by his son for entertainment value only; they are nowhere near as thought-provoking.

Neal Stephenson is another great suggestion.  You can't categorize his work as SF per se, but I'd say The Diamond Age is the most SF-ish thing I've read by him, and it was a great read.  Not really SF, more historical fiction, is Cryptonomicon which is great for unabashed geek factor.

Also, George R.R. Martin, lo and behold, used to write SF before Game of Thrones.  A lot of his stuff is collected in Dreamsongs.  I've only read the first volume, but the SF stories in there were great (and all the others, too) and some were also SF/horror hybrids that I was a particular fan of even though I don't go in for horror.

Plenty of solid suggestions here.  Quite a few I need to add to my list, too.


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## Ixarku (Mar 28, 2014)

riven_hands said:


> Also, George R.R. Martin, lo and behold, used to write SF before Game of Thrones.  A lot of his stuff is collected in Dreamsongs.  I've only read the first volume, but the SF stories in there were great (and all the others, too) and some were also SF/horror hybrids that I was a particular fan of even though I don't go in for horror.




I may grudgingly have to give Martin's sci-fi stuff a read.  My new project is intended to be sci-fi with some degree of horror, so maybe I'll get some inspiration there.  I still haven't forgiven Martin for book 4 of Song of Fire and Ice.  I'm like the only person in the universe who got irritated enough at the content in book 4, and the wait between books 3 and 4, and again between 4 and 5, to drop the series altogether.  I refuse to even watch Game of Thrones.  I've relegated Martin into that special closet that used to contain Robert Jordan -- when his series is *done*, then I'll pay attention again.


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## NerdyMJ (Mar 30, 2014)

Micheal Crichton wrote some great stuff before he died, most notably _Jurassic Park_. I absolutely loathed the book, but I know a lot of people loved it and it did go on to become one of the most famous movies of all time. If you haven't read that yet, then I'd recommend it.


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## Ariel (Mar 31, 2014)

FleshEater said:


> Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
> 
> Absolutely amazing.



Just finished reading that about a week ago and it was very good.  It made me sad, though.  If I could find my copy of Asimov's "I, Robot." I'd be reading that now.


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## kilroy214 (Apr 1, 2014)

HG Wells short stories are some if the best science fiction I've had the pleasure of reading; The Crystal Egg, The New Accelerator, The Star, The Empire of Ants, and one of my favorites, The Door in the Wall. Beautiful pieces of work.

Also, a personal favorite of mine I recommend to all sci fi fans; Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell.


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## A_Jones (Apr 1, 2014)

The latest spyfi I read was A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nyx.  It has fantasy aspects too.  I really liked it.  Very interesting!  But if you like really long in depth story its not for you.


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## Terry D (Apr 1, 2014)

Arthur C. Clarke. His short stories are amazing. His novels are fantastic: Childhood's End, Imperial Earth, and, my personal favorite, Rendezvous with Rama. hard SF at its best.


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## JimJanuary (Apr 6, 2014)

I don't read a whole lot of Sci-Fi but I did read 'The Expanse' trilogy by James S.A. Corey about a year ago and loved it. The character types and their dynamics are very similar to the characters in 'Firefly'. Oh and there's also vomit zombies :mrgreen:


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## Ixarku (Apr 6, 2014)

kilroy214 said:


> Also, a personal favorite of mine I recommend to all sci fi fans; Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell.




Ah, the story that led to 2 movies: "The Thing From Another World", and John Carpenter's 1982 version "The Thing" - my favorite horror movie ever.


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## Theglasshouse (Apr 8, 2014)

I recommend The Demolished Man, and The Stars my Destination.


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