Author Topic: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List (Read 28311 times)

zridling · « **on:** April 27, 2011, 07:08 AM »

Bob Sutor updated his science fiction and fantasy reading list recently and I'm wondering which of these other DC members have enjoyed. As more websites and blogs die, I have more time for reading.
http://www.sutor.com...ading/reading-scifi/

allen · « **Reply #1 on:** April 27, 2011, 07:35 AM »

From that list, I'm reading The Windup Girl now. It's pretty good.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is one of my all time favorite books. There's also a sequel, but he doesn't appear to have read that.

Recently I read the series "The Entire and the Rose" which I really enjoyed. Martha Atwood's "Oryx & Crake" and "Year of the Flood" is a pair of dystopian books that might be my favorite story right now. For relatively hard Sci-Fi, Sean Williams' Astropolis series is incredible in scope.

zridling · « **Reply #2 on:** April 27, 2011, 07:51 AM »

@allen:
Sean Williams' Astropolis might be exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!

housetier · « **Reply #3 on:** April 27, 2011, 08:07 AM »

I strongly recommend Neal Stephenson's "Anathem".

zridling · « **Reply #4 on:** April 27, 2011, 08:15 AM »

When a fantasy writer meets the web:
http://www.newyorker...ller?currentPage=all

George R. R. Martin has now sold more than fifteen million books worldwide, and his readership will likely multiply exponentially after the launch, this month, of “Game of Thrones,” a lavish HBO series based on “A Song of Ice and Fire.” He is committed to nurturing his audience, no matter how vast it gets. “It behooves a writer to be good to his fans,” he says. Still, a close relationship with one’s audience has its drawbacks. As Martin puts it, “The more readers you have, the harder it is to keep up, and then you can’t get any writing done.”

tomos · « **Reply #5 on:** April 27, 2011, 08:37 AM »

A Canticle for Leibowitz is one of my all time favorite books. There's also a sequel, but he doesn't appear to have read that.
-allen (April 27, 2011, 07:35 AM)

I read that years ago - I never would have guessed it's so old - 1961. A very good book all right.

wraith808 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 27, 2011, 10:52 AM »

The ones from the list:
American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson
Mirror Dance (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures) by Lois McMaster Bujold (Really... all of them)
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

Some others in addition that you might check out:
The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
The Sten Series - Alan Cole and Chris Bunch
The Axis of Time Trilogy - John Birmingham
The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
The Belisarius Series - Eric Flint
A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin
The Dune Prequels - Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
The Deryni Series - Katherine Kurtz
The Caine Series - Matthew Woodring Stover

Beth UK · « **Reply #7 on:** April 27, 2011, 11:40 AM »

The City & The City by China Mieville - though I preferred Perdido Street Station by the same author...

kyrathaba · « **Reply #8 on:** April 28, 2011, 07:41 AM »

Anything by Patrick Rothfus; you won't be disappointed.

40hz · « **Reply #9 on:** April 28, 2011, 08:07 AM »

If you're interested in what I consider one of the best cyber-scifi has to offer check out John M. Ford's 1992 Web of Angels. Has that rare ability to create a world simultaneously familiar yet so different that it brings you to a screeching halt for some deep thinking from time to time. Very literary - and almost poetic at times despite being pleasantly readable. A rare feat to pull off successfully in sci-fi. Or pretty much any other literary genre.

Other good choices: Stand on Zanzibar and Shockwave Rider by John Brunner. and the absolute "must read" novel Nova by Samuel R. Delany.

Oh god! There are so many...

rjbull · « **Reply #10 on:** April 28, 2011, 03:28 PM »

I thought Fred Pohl's Gateway one of the best SF novels I've ever read, and have great respect for Ursual K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. But there are plenty of good SF novels not on this list:

Paul McAuley - I specially enjoyed Fairyland and White Devils.
Ian Macdonald - River of Gods and Brasyl.
Adam Roberts - especially Salt, On, and Stone.
Chris Wooding - Retribution Falls and its sequel, The Black Lung Captain. These are actually fantasies in a steampunk SF leather jacket with a skull and crossbones on the back. Great fun.

But the list started with SF. I really love fantasy, and there's a lot of overlap, but it's really a different list.

phitsc · « **Reply #11 on:** April 29, 2011, 09:01 AM »

When a fantasy writer meets the web:
http://www.newyorker...ller?currentPage=all
-zridling (April 27, 2011, 08:15 AM)

Now that was interesting (although a bit lengthy). I started reading the series about 1 1/2 years ago and am now somewhere into the 3rd book (or is it the 4th?). I stopped reading a few months ago having got really bored with the book. The reason is not the story though, as it is really cool, unusual, well written and absorbing. The problem I have with it is the shear number of parallel story lines. There can be 7 or more at the same time, all telling the same story with the view of different characters. Now that is no problem if you can read a lot. But if you have time for only a few pages a day, it can take weeks until you can read on on certain characters. This started to bother me so much that I decided to put the book aside and read something else first instead.

Now, after reading the linked article, I might even wait reading on until the story actually has an ending

wraith808 · « **Reply #12 on:** April 29, 2011, 09:31 AM »

A bit OT:
I just saw the greatest thing I've ever seen, courtesy of that article. I've seen it over and over in the form of
entitlement- people expecting George R. R. Martin to devote his entire life to finishing the series. Apparently Neil Gaiman received an e-mail in regards to this whole issue, and his response is priceless!

He had one blurb that I loved:

Spoiler

George R. R. Martin is not your bitch

Classic!

http://journal.neilg...itlement-issues.html

Renegade · « **Reply #13 on:** April 29, 2011, 11:23 AM »

Kind of off topic, but some of my favorite artist are Boris:

Spoiler

http://vallejo.ural.net/

And Frank Frazetta:

And just because it is one of the most important images in fantasy art:

http://frankfrazetta.org/

And another brilliant artist, Ian Miller (my #1 favorite):

And even geniuses like Ian Miller worship at the altar of he who must not be named:

http://www.ian-miller.org/

Absolute brilliance.

wraith808 · « **Reply #14 on:** April 29, 2011, 01:30 PM »

^ Maybe relink them as thumbnails instead? Takes quite a while to load them...

40hz · « **Reply #15 on:** April 29, 2011, 02:45 PM »

Apparently Neil Gaiman received an e-mail in regards to this whole issue, and his response is priceless!
-wraith808 (April 29, 2011, 09:31 AM)

@wraith - Thanks for that Gaiman link! Found myself nodding in agreement and uttering the occasional Sandman-like "Indeed?" or "Quite so!" as I read Neil's wise words.

joiwind · « **Reply #16 on:** April 29, 2011, 04:13 PM »

A Voyage to Arcturus - David Lindsay

40hz · « **Reply #17 on:** April 29, 2011, 05:16 PM »

A Voyage to Arcturus - David Lindsay
-joiwind (April 29, 2011, 04:13 PM)

Excellent recommendation!

One of the best lesser known sci-fi fantasy novels out there. Thought it was better than C.S.Lewis' Silent Planet Trilogy even though it shared some similar concepts and themes.

Renegade · « **Reply #18 on:** April 29, 2011, 09:42 PM »

^ Maybe relink them as thumbnails instead? Takes quite a while to load them...
-wraith808 (April 29, 2011, 01:30 PM)

I put them in a spoiler. They're hotlinked with img tags.

erikts · « **Reply #19 on:** April 29, 2011, 09:45 PM »

A Voyage to Arcturus - David Lindsay
-joiwind (April 29, 2011, 04:13 PM)

+1. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1329

kyrathaba · « **Reply #20 on:** April 30, 2011, 07:15 AM »

A Voyage to Arcturus - David Lindsay

+1. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1329

Also, the Kindle edition is free.

rjbull · « **Reply #21 on:** May 01, 2011, 10:42 AM »

A Voyage to Arcturus - David Lindsay
-joiwind (April 29, 2011, 04:13 PM)

Excellent recommendation! One of the best lesser known sci-fi fantasy novels out there. Thought it was better than C.S.Lewis' Silent Planet Trilogy even though it shared some similar concepts and themes.
-40hz (April 29, 2011, 05:16 PM)

I read A Voyage to Arcturus because I'd read an interview with C.S. Lewis, where he recommended it. It seems to me, following Lewis, that it's not so much science fiction as philosophy fiction. I didn't understand it, but though I read it only once, and many years ago, I've always remembered bits of it. Especially the over-the-top names; Maskull, Nightspore, Sullenbode, and so on.

Renegade · « **Reply #22 on:** May 01, 2011, 12:09 PM »

I read A Voyage to Arcturus because I'd read an interview with C.S. Lewis, where he recommended it. It seems to me, following Lewis, that it's not so much science fiction as philosophy fiction.
-rjbull (May 01, 2011, 10:42 AM)

You've just elevated that book to a "must read" for me. I love Lewis (one of my absolute favorites, if not #1). He's brilliant. His apologetics are amazing. His essays are remarkable. A wonderful author for anyone to read, and if he recommends it, hey, it's got to have merit~!

cthorpe · « **Reply #23 on:** May 01, 2011, 02:23 PM »

Not on the list, but the book I always recommend to SF fans is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In case you didn't know, it is considered the first SF novel by many. It's one of my all-time favs.

C

kyrathaba · « **Reply #24 on:** May 01, 2011, 07:33 PM »

I love Lewis (one of my absolute favorites, if not #1). He's brilliant. His apologetics are amazing. His essays are remarkable. A wonderful author for anyone to read, and if he recommends it, hey, it's got to have merit~!

+1