Many of us on the forums are Fans of Science Fiction and Fantasy Books.

So I thought, why not ask you all for your all time favourite SF & Fantasy Authors, Books, Series, Etc. that you would recommend to a friend or a relative to get them interested in the Genre, or into reading in general (in case of young people).

Let me start off, in no particular order.

Science Fiction -

Isaac Asimov - Foundation Trilogy (The originals)
Isaac Asimov - Robots Series
Isaac Asimov - I, Robot Story Collection


Robert A. Heinlein - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Robert A. Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land
Robert A. Heinlein - Time Enough for Love
Robert A. Heinlein - Methulsa's Children
Robert A. Heinlein - Have Spacesuit will Travel
Robert A. Heinlein - Job, a Comedy of Justice
Robert A. Heinlein - Space Family Stone
Robert A. Heinlein - The Number of the Beast


E.E. 'Doc' Smith - Lensmen Series (A Bit Dated, but still so grand in scale)

Ann McCaffrey - Talent series (Rowen, Damina, etc)
Ann McCaffrey - Pegasus Series (To Ride Pegasus, Pegasus in Flight, Pegasus in Space )
Ann McCaffrey - Ship Series (Ship who Sang, Ship who Searched, etc)
Ann Mccaffrey - Nimisha's Ship
Ann Mccaffrey - Planet Pirates

Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (all 5)

Arthur C. Clarke - 2001 a Space Odyssey


Fantasy

Terry Pratchett - Anything and Everything by him.

David & Leigh Eddings - The Redemption of Althasus
David & Leigh Eddings - The Belgariad
David & Leigh Eddings - The Elenium

Ann McCaffrey - Dragon Riders of Pern (yes, it might be a little SF in the later books, but in the beginning it is classic fantasy)

David Gemmel - Drenai Series (Waylander, Druss, etc)

Stephen Donaldson - The Gap & The Land Series

Robin Hobb - Assassin Series

Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd & The Grey Mouser Series

Tom Holt - Grailblazers
Tom Holt - Only Human
Tom Holt - Expecting Someone Taller
Tom Holt - My Hero


This is by no means an exhaustive list, just titles that sprang to mind when I thought about it.

Good list and I'm very ashamed to admit that I've not read a single book by Asimov *or* Heinlein. Well as soon as my Sony 505 shows up I'll just have to remedy that! Anyway, let's see if I can add something useful here.

Science Fiction
Frank Herbert - Dune (classic and well know for a good reason, though I didn't care for the rest of the Dune books.)

Alastair Reynolds - Pushing Ice (first of his books that I read. Great space opera with a fair amount of solid science thrown in)
Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space / Redemption Ark / Absolution Gap (loved the series, but like most others thought the 3rd book was much weaker than the first two)

Tad Williams - The Otherland series (it's definitely not hard scifi, but I'd still say this is generally science fiction and good stuff)

Fantasy
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (not for someone new to fantasy, but I feel it's needed on any Fantasy list!)

Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy

Terry Brooks - Shannara series of books (this is more for someone new to fantasy I feel as it's a little light for me now)


That's what pops into mind quickly in addition to your list. I'll make notes as more people add items here for what I need to be reading. :)

So, most favories would be:

Terry Brooks
Swords of Shannara series
Magic Kindom of Landover series (on of my first Fantasy reads)

David Eddings
The Belgariad

Asimov's Robot Series
(still have foundation on the book shelf to read, believe it or not)

Other great ones...

Harry Potter (yes, I really enjoyed it)
Lord of the Rings (Tolkien of course)
Voyage of Jerle Shannara (Brooks)
Sword of Truth (Goodkind, some later ones not as good as the first 4)
Star Trek: The Captian's Table (mini sub-series)
The Mallorean (Eddings)

BOb

SCIENCE FICTION

The Star Beast - Robert A. Heinlein (If I was only going to suggest one book - this would be it!)

The Five Gold Bands - Jack Vance (An obscure but great intro to Vance - and far future science fiction in general)

The Stainless Steel Rat
The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge
The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You - Harry Harrison (A little ( A lot?) of light entertainment.)

Wasp - Eric Frank Russell (One Man - One country to destroy - With only a piece of chalk and stickers!)

The Shockwave Rider - John Brunner ( The Original Cyberpunk book)

Hammer's Slammers - David Drake (Just to remind you that humanity is not a tame animal...)


FANTASY

Silverlock - John Myers Myers (A MBA lost in the World Of Letters)

The first 4 MYTH books - Robert Asprin (Great fun for eerybody)

The Lord Darcy Series - (Magic and Mystery, all in one package)


This list is an add-on to the above lists. All gret reads, and are easily accessable to a non-science fiction/Fantasy reader.

Fantasy:

The Riddlemaster trilogy by Patricia McKillip
Riddlemaster of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the wind.
Anything by Terry Pratchett,
Belgariad by Eddings,
Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey,
Guardians of the flame by Joel Rosenberg


Sci-Fi:
The Honor Harrington Series by David Weber,
Foundation by Isaac Asimov

I'm surprised no one has listed:

Vorkosigan series by Lois McMasters Bujold
Starfire series by David Weber (and others)
The General series by David Drake (and others)
Belizarius series by David Drake (and others)
Draka series by S.M. Stirling
Warworld series by Jerry Pournelle

I just realized that I like Mil SF and some of y'all don't. Okay. To each his own.

I have a few favorites that I didn't quite see mentioned yet.

Fantasy
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Stephen R. Donaldson
Dragonlance Chronicles - Weis and Hickman

Scifi
The Gap Sequence - Stephen R. Donaldson
The Dark Tower Novels - Stephen King
Gateway/Heechee novels - Fredrick Pohl
Eschaton Trilogy (The Other End of Time, The Siege of Eternity, The Far Shore of Time) - Fredrick Pohl

almost forgot

A Fire Upon the Deep, and a Deep Within the Sky - Vernor Vinge

Just a few that have stuck in my head for quite a long time.
Devin

The ringworld series by Larry Niven though like Dune the first is the best
Vampire series by Anne Rice
Witch World series by Andre Norton, dated and for a younger crowd but good

Let us not forget the late Keith Laumer's Bolo series and the ever popular Retief series.

Anything by Heinlein or Laumer, also have the complete (trash) Perry Rhodan and Atlan US ACE releases (and the Starman that was to complete people's subscriptions) in the basement. I'm gonna miss ya 4E! Loved Asimov's writings, didn't particularly like him as a person. Great sense of humor but a real sleaze when it came to women.

In addition to many of the previous recommendations, I like a category mostly known as Alternate History. In general, books from this category take a real historical setting and tweak it with something else - aliens, a bigger natural disaster, magic, or even just the proverbial one little thing different - and then write about how stuff expands from there.

Three variations on this theme:

1. The ongoing classic is the 1632 series from Baen Books and Eric Flint, et al. Basic premise is an unknown alien process moves a 3 mile radius sphere around a West Virginia town in 2000 to a spot in the year 1631, in a semi-mountainous place is southern Germany (or better, "the Germanies") in the middle of the Thirty Years War. Lots of fun, romance, politics, basic technology, and very intricate thought about the interactions of religion have developed over a buncha books plus an ongoing online magazine.

2. Another dozen book series by Simon Hawke about time travel, but this one takes a literary work as the "historical" background to write a story about. First book is The Ivanhoe Gambit (with source from Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott) next is The Timekeeper Conspiracy (based on The Three Musketeers), and other books in the series go after The Scarlet Pimpernel, 2000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jason and the Argonauts, Gunga Din, etc. Lots of Fun!


3. A single book by Harry Turtledove, The Guns of the South. Ak-47s at Fredricksburg (after Gettysburg) in the American Civil War (via time travellers again). This one is complete in one book, but if you like Turtledove, he's got a multi-book sequence that start with Aliens arriving in the middle of World War II.

Michael Moorcock 'Dancers at the End of Time' series.
Peter F Hamilton 'Night's Dawn' trilogy.
John Christopher 'Tripods' trilogy (childrens).

Here goes:

SF
Iain M Banks: the Culture novels + The Algebraist (containing imho the coolest aliens in any SF book)
Richard Morgan (the Kovacs novels)

Fantasy
Robin Hobb (Assassin + Liveship + Fool's trilogies Yeah I know 9 books is a lot to go through)
George Martin (Song of Ice and Fire cycle)
and the great classic 'Cugel's saga' by Jack Vance (hilarious)

Books not yet listed which I'm glad to recommend:

Jack Vance's Lyonesse Trilogy
Susan Cooper's _The Dark is Rising_ pentalogy
Steven Brust's Drageara / Vladimir Taltos novels --- start w/ Jhereg
Barry Hughart's Master Li books, esp. _Bridge of Birds_

William

I've always had trouble determining whether something was scifi or fantasy, probably because -- at least to me -- many of the books I like are blends. But here are some that I like, in addition to many of those already mentioned:

The Recluse series by L.E. Modesitt
anything by Harry Turtledove and Isaac Asimov
The King Arthur series by Peter David
The Honor Harrington Series by David Weber
The Oath of Swords series by David Weber

C J Cherryh Foreigner Series, wish they were all available as legal ebooks.

Eric Van Lustbader : Sunset Warrior series of 3
Philip Jose Farmer : Fabulous Riverboat series ( though some better than others )
Alan Dean Foster : Flinx series
Stephen Donaldson : Land series and Mirror Rides Through ( 2 books )
Plus those of Anne McCaffrey , David & Leigh Eddings as mentioned by others .

Historical Fantasy novels by Diana Gabaldon based around the time of Culloden and emigration of Scots to America .

Its Great to see all the great suggestions.

Does it make me more of a geek that I know a lot of them, and while not having read all of them, am mostly familiar with most.:bookworm:


One thing I have to admit is that while they are all great books, I often don't refer many of them to newbies as they are heavy getting into.

Case in point J.R.R. Tolkein - Lord of the Rings. While I personally love the books, and love the Movie's even more, it took me 4 or 5 attempts before I could get through the whole story without just giving up. I actually ended up finishing it in one night after watching The Fellowship of the Ring the first time :o.

Similarly, I stopped recommending Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series after it started being extended and extended. I'll probably wait till the final part, based on his notes finally comes out.

Science Fiction

David Drake & Eric Flint - Belisarius
David Drake - RCN (With the Lightnings, Lt. Leary Commanding, etc.)
Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Orson Scott Card - Ender (the first four books, anyway)

Fantasy

Janny Wurts - The Wars of Light and Shadow
Raymond Feist & Janny Wurts - Empire
Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel
Douglas Adams - Dirk Gently
Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials
Rick Cook - Wizardry

Ok a few more that spring to mind :)

Fantasy setting, but really it's more sci-fi in it's themes and philosophy:
CJ Cherryh - The Morgaine Chronicles

Ursula K. Le Guin - the Earthsea novels (fantasy)
Ursula K. Le Guin - The Left Hand of Darkness (brilliant sci-fi, though a little dated now. come on this is where the Ansible concept came from!)

And speaking of the Ansible:
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game (and other novels in that setting)
...don't think I saw ^^^^ mentioned already.

Ok that's it for now, but keep 'em coming everyone! My 505 arrives *tomorrow* so I'm crazy about stocking up on ebooks. :D

Science Fiction (Too "old school" for SF)

Frederik Pohl's "Heechee" books
Gateway (1977)
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980)
Heechee Rendezvous (1984)
The Annals of the Heechee (1987)
The Gateway Trip: Tales and Vignettes of the Heechee (1990)
The Boy Who Would Live Forever: A Novel of Gateway (2004)

Fantasy

S. M. Sterling's "Island in the Sea of Time" series
Island in the Sea of Time (1997)
Against the Tide of Years (1998)
On the Oceans of Eternity (2000)

and

S. M. Stirling's "Dies the Fire" series
Dies the Fire (2004)
The Protector's War (2005)
A Meeting at Corvallis (2006)

and

Dennis L. McKiernan's Mithgar
Mithgar: The Iron Tower
The Dark Tide (1984)
Shadows of Doom (1984)
The Darkest Day (1984)

Mithgar: The Silver Call
Trek to Kraggen-Cor (1986)
The Brega Path (1986)

Ursula K. Le Guin - The Left Hand of Darkness (brilliant sci-fi, though a little dated now. come on this is where the Ansible concept came from!)

Actually, it appeared first in Rocannon's World (another great book).

Actually, it appeared first in Rocannon's World (another great book).
Uh oh... for some reason I always thought it was The Left Hand of Darkness that started that, but after a quick search looks like you are quite right and I've been wrong all this time. :smack:

Sorry to double post, but thought of another series so wanted this to have it's own post. :)

Naomi Novak - The Temeraire series
This is interesting in that it's alternate history, military history and fantasy rolled into one. I've yet to read the latest Empire of Ivory, though I'll be getting it for my new 505 soon.

Orson Scott Card's distinction is:

- science fiction has rivets
- fantasy has trees

(judging the book by its cover) from his afterword to the audiobook of _Ender's Game_.

My criteria is whether or no there's an effort to explain things using technology / physics.

William

Aside from Isaac Asimov, which I've devoured every book I could lay my hand on.

I strongly recommend Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles / Dream of Eagles series. They are very well written and filled with historical tidbit. They kept me awake to the wee hours of the night many time. :-)

Science-Fiction

I Love:

Honor Harrington by David Weber

Lensmen by E.E. Doc Smith

Dune by Frank Herbert

Vorkosigan by Lois McMaster Bujold

Belisarius by David Drake

I never understood why people liked Foundation by Asimov - it just goes on and on and nothing really happens for 100es of pages, it bored me to death (and I've read the whole 1400 pages of the original unshortened Don Quixotte)


Fantasy

I love:

Shola by Lisanne Norman (wonderful, slightly Sci-Fi)

Temeraire by Naomi Novik (wow what an original mixture of dragons and alternative history)

Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley (the middle years books are best, early ones are a bit undeveloped and late ones are just not that good)

Pern and Talents by Anne McCaffrey

Kushiel by Jaqueline Carey

Dragon Prince/Dragon Star and Exiles by Melanie Rawn

Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey (especially the Vanyel trilogy, the latest books aren't that great though)

I never understood why people loved Shannara by Terry Brooks - you'll come up with better story lines while playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Rama series - Arthur C Clark & Gentry Lee
Gateway / Heechee series - Frederik Pohl
Ringworld - Larry Niven
Uplift / Uplift War - David Brin
Commonwealth Saga (Pandoras Star, Judas Unchained, Dreaming Void) - Peter F Hamilton
Dune - Frank Herbert

I can also highly reccomend the Sci Fi Masterworks Collection by Gollancz if anyone is interested.

Fantasy

I love:

Pern and Talents by Anne McCaffrey


You'd classify these as fantasy?

The early Pern books may give the appearance of fantasy, but I think that the later books in the series bring the whole thing firmly into the SF "camp".

The "Talent" books are (IMHO) unquestionably SF.

I recall Anne McCaffery saying at a convention one time that she wrote the Pern books to mess with peoples' perceptions. Cool! Dragons! A fantasy! A computer? Whut the? One of my all time favorite series, right behind Discworld. Which is an SF series, as well.

What? They're splitting the thaum for Om's sake!

Lois McMaster Bujold is doing a new Fantasy series "The Sharing Knfe". Book 3 of 4 has just been released. I have hardcovers and eversions.

For SF, I keep rereading

Glen Cook - The Dragon Never Sleeps

For Fantasy

Sean Russel - The Swans War Trilogy

For middle ground

Melissa Scott - Empress of Earth trilogy

Naturally there are many more and it is hard to justify recommending something that is hard to find but those are at the top of my lists.

Fiacha

Fantasy

- A song of ice and fire
- Wheel of Time
- Lord of the rings
- DragonRiders of pern
- Prince of Nothing
- The First Law


Science Fiction

- Vorkisigan Saga
- Night's Dawn Trillogy
- Commonwealth Saga
- Hyperion Cantos
- Dune
- Ringworld

I tend not to like long series, as I feel the authors often run out of ideas after a couple of books. I understand the appeal-- people want to hear more about their favorite characters, or find out "what happens next" in their favorite world, but often the author has already told the most interesting or original story in that setting or with those characters, so once the original book or trilogy or whatever is done, everything after that feels like a real stretch.

Sometimes authors do find new life in old books later, though. In particular, I liked Ursula Le Guin's The Other Wind, and felt that in many ways it was stronger than the original Earthsea Trilogy. And I got tired of the later Pern books, but then I read The Masterharper of Pern and it was like old times again.

Most of the authors I read and re-read have been mentioned here (classics like Heinlein & older McCaffrey, e.g., plus many of Ian Banks' Culture novels), but I'd mention Garth Nix, Charles de Lint, Shannon Hale, and Tamora Pierce as more current authors that I follow closely. I don't draw so much of a line between science fiction and fantasy in my preferences, but I tend to avoid "high fantasy" as so much of it tends to be Tolkein knock-offs. I know a lot of people like that sort of thing, but most of the time I'd rather just read Tolkein, or read something really different and original. I tend the feel the same way about "space opera" or even "military sf."

I think it's like music -- tastes are very personal, and if you really like a genre, it's easy to tell, say, Mozart from Vivaldi, but to some people it all just sounds the same. :)

In addition to all the great reads mentioned above, I'll point out one of my favorites --- The Helliconia Trilogy by Brian Aldiss:
Helliconia Spring
Helliconia Summer
Helliconia Winter

I don't know quite how to describe it --- SF? Fantasy? Most of the trilogy is about hunter-gatherer shenanigans, but then there is a sudden disconnect as Aldiss talks about a space station of observers revolving the planet and reporting back to earth. I personally thought that this angle didn't add much to the storyline --- any other opinions on this?
:bookworm::bookworm:

Oh yeah, forgot to ask:

I'm thinking about getting Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" quadrilogy, but I'm a little gun-shy. Is it about some guy seeking redemption because he didn't torture someone enough? Sounds like a tough read...:eek:

Are the books worth getting?

You're right, they aren't pure fantasy, but they aren't Sci-Fi either...

Just because there's a computer and they colonized the world in starships doesn't mean it's Sci-Fi. The main plot point are still the Dragons which firmly belong into Fantasy (even if they are gene-engineered).

Talents I rate as Fantasy becuase the main plot point are the "Talents", but I guess you could argue it's Sci-Fi because there's an interstellar civilization and the talents supposedly are genetic mutations.


But really, let's not argue what is Sci-Fi and what is Fantasy - let's just say we love it!

You'd classify these as fantasy?

The early Pern books may give the appearance of fantasy, but I think that the later books in the series bring the whole thing firmly into the SF "camp".

The "Talent" books are (IMHO) unquestionably SF.

You're right, they aren't pure fantasy, but they aren't Sci-Fi either...

Just because there's a computer and they colonized the world in starships doesn't mean it's Sci-Fi. The main plot point are still the Dragons which firmly belong into Fantasy (even if they are gene-engineered).

Talents I rate as Fantasy becuase the main plot point are the "Talents", but I guess you could argue it's Sci-Fi because there's an interstellar civilization and the talents supposedly are genetic mutations.


But really, let's not argue what is Sci-Fi and what is Fantasy - let's just say we love it!

Makes for good conversation, though !

Let's have

Science Fiction,
Fantasy and
Science Fantasy

Is Star Wars "Science Fantasy"? That's what I've always called it. "Science" for the space ships and "Fantasy" for the utter disregard for physics. ;)

More seriously, I tend to think in terms of types of obstacles, characters, goals, etc. rather than wondering if it's Science Fiction or Fantasy. In the Pern books, there are some references to computers and genetic engineering, but those elements aren't really what the stories are about. And McCaffrey is not a scientist, nor does she claim to be, so the details of the "science" elements of her stories tend to be quite sketchy. Her stories are more about the interactions between people. (Madeline L'Engle was the same way.)

On the other hand, the Lord Darcy books are about figuring things out in a very science fiction kind of way, even though "magic" is used.

I like the term "Speculative Fiction" to cover both, but it's not in common use. :(

SF
Isaac Asimov - Foundation series
Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space series
Frederik Pohl - Gateway series
Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
Vernor Vinge - Deepness series (not really a series with only 2 books in the same universe)
William Gibson - Neuromancer series

Fantasy
Anne Bishop - Black Jewels series
Ursula K Le Guin - Earthsea series (except Tehanu)

Hi, I agree with all above (Eddings, Pratchett, Hobb, Maccaffrey), but I''m missing some of my favourites here!!
Mercedes Lackey, Patricia Briggs, Tanya Huff, the "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King, just to name some!

I read them all, and some of them I refound in e-book format.
(I don't have my Iliad yet, but I got about 110 e-books lined up on my pc already!!)

I could only suggest everything by Asimov, Harry Harrisson & Frederick Pohl (Heechee Series). On the fantasy side Roger Zelazny is the best one in my book.

In addition to many of the previous recommendations, I like a category mostly known as Alternate History. In general, books from this category take a real historical setting and tweak it with something else - aliens, a bigger natural disaster, magic, or even just the proverbial one little thing different - and then write about how stuff expands from there.

A great example of this style is the Kage Baker "Mendoza, the botanist" series (but I see (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18623&highlight=kage+baker) that most of her stuff is unavailable... pity...it's an hysterically funny look at immortality, humanity (& human nature), greed, and time-travel.

Others I love:

Lynn Flewelling - Nightrunner & Bone Doll (Tamir) Trilogies
C.S. Friedman - pretty much anything (PMA) esp. Coldfire trilogy
Raymond Feist - Magician series
Harry Harrison - Eden series
Dian Duane - Door into... series
Mercedes Lackey - Last Herald Mage series, or Valdemar series - PMA
John Varley - Titan series (and Millennium tho' not a series)
Vonda N. McIntyre - Dreamsnake series
Piers Anthony - the first oh-dozen or so of the Xanth series
- Double Exposure series

Oh, an of course
Madeleine L'Engle - Time Series (although the first "Wrinkle in Time" was IMHO her very best - *and* the first book I ever read on my own... my Mom was tired of reading to me one night and when asked for "one more chapter" she tossed me the book and she that if I wanted more, I could read it for myself, so I did, and she never read to me again or needed to... I think I was 6 or 7 so it holds a very special place in my heart.)

I, too, have always had my bedroom walls covered with paperback SF/F books (usually used), but I usually only have one or two of any series actually present at any one time... one of the things I'm looking forward to in my eReader is to have *all* members of series in one place at the same time... I notice that for several mentioned here, Amazon, so far, has only a couple of members of series available in Kindlebook format... hmmmm. *That* could get frustrating!

Hi, I agree with all above (Eddings, Pratchett, Hobb, Maccaffrey), but I''m missing some of my favourites here!!
Mercedes Lackey, Patricia Briggs, Tanya Huff, the "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King, just to name some!


One nice thing that LibraryThing does for you, if you enter all the books you have read (I am working on it) there is an "Author Cloud" which is pretty cool to look at. I'm learning things about my read collection that I never realized before.

BOb

I tend not to like long series, as I feel the authors often run out of ideas after a couple of books.

I totally agree (vis a vis Robert Asprin & Piers Anthony), plus, I remember in High School starting Stephen R. Donaldson's Unbeliever series only to discover that I had to wait *years* before getting satisfaction (the next four books!!!)- made a vow then and there to never start a series unless it was all written... a vow I seem to frequently break :smack:

I also, found Asimov's Foundation series, almost unreadable. The older I get, the harder I find it is to read S.R.D. as well.

Other I forgot above:
Robert Silverberg - Majipoor Chronicles
Harlan Ellison - PMA

To echo/reinforce others' choices:
Anne McAffrey - Dragons!!
Robin Hobb (*9* books, a trilogy of trilogies, worth every word!)
Frank Herbert - of course
Tolkien - of course (isn't it required reading)
Orson Scott Card - PMA ("Songbird" was the first book to make me weep)

TantricWarrior, I agree with a lot of your choices, but waitaminnit....

Vonda N. McIntyre - Dreamsnake series


Dreamsnake series??? What? Where? Why didn't I get the memo?!?

(Er, are you talking about the Cat series, by any chance? But I want a Dreamsnake series....)

There are a couple on your list that I haven't read, and I think I'll go hunt them down, given that we seem to have quite a bit of overlap in likes and dislikes. :D

TantricWarrior, I agree with a lot of your choices, but waitaminnit....


Dreamsnake series??? What? Where? Why didn't I get the memo?!?

(Er, are you talking about the Cat series, by any chance? But I want a Dreamsnake series....)

There are a couple on your list that I haven't read, and I think I'll go hunt them down, given that we seem to have quite a bit of overlap in likes and dislikes. :D

Nope, not Cat; Dreamsnake... a tale of post-apocalyptic Earth in which a small group of scientists start a school where genetic engineering (of snakes particularly) is used to help manufacture cures used by traveling healers. Sequel is: "Of Mist, Grass, and Sand" (the names of the healer's snakes) and there maybe a further sequel (I think I read that somewhere) I only have my ca. 1979 Sci-Fi Book Club edition of DS, can't find where I put MG&S... like I said I usually only have parts of series.

Thanks, I've enjoyed reading your other posts (http://www.mikemace.com/) -er that is if you are Michael Mace or are you just referring to his post on the infopad (http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2006/05/desperately-seeking-info-pad.html)? (which I'd love to have to, btw).

IAE, I'd love to hear of any other of your suggestions for readings (he said, looking back over the list). I can certainly say that once I get my CyBook, I'll be going over this list with a fine-tooth comb for my summer-reading-stockup!

Great thread :thanks: keep 'em coming!

Ah. No, I'm not Michael Mace, I just agree with him about wanting an infopad.

Regarding "Of Mist, Grass and Sand," that was the novella (took either the Hugo or the Nebula that year, I've forgotten which) that was later expanded into Dreamsnake. I've read both. Dreamsnake is an old favorite of mine, so I was quite excited at the idea that there might be a sequel.

Most of what I like best isn't available as (legal) ebooks yet, but you might try Patricia Briggs, particularly the trilogy beginning with Moon Called, which is available at Fictionwise. I'd also recommend anything by James H. Schmitz, and happily those are all available from Baen. :D

The closest to a long series that I'm currently enjoying are the Dragaera books of Steven Brust (http://astore.amazon.com/dragaera-20). Especially recommended for Zelazny fans. (Or, in some cases, Dumas fans. ;) ) Brust is currently looking into making his books available as ebooks.

FANTASY

R.A. MacAvoy: Lens of the World
1. Lens of the World
2. King of the Dead
3. Belly of the Wolf

All three books are available in eBook format. One of my all-time favorite series. The character development is superb.

Sheri S. Tepper:
1. Jinian Footseer
2. Dervish Daughter
3. Jinian Star-Eye

Unfortunately, out of print. Part of a larger series, Land of the True Game

Sharon Shinn: The Twelve Houses
1. Mystic and Rider
2. The Thirteenth House
3. Dark Moon Defender
4. Reader and Raelynx

Very satisfying romantic fantasy. Lovely characters. One of the few series I've read recently that I look forward to rereading.

My favorite fantasy writer of all is Guy Gavriel Kay.
His one series is the Fionavar Tapestry:
1. The Summer Tree
2. The Wandering Fire
3. The Darkest Road

Most of his other books take place in an alternate historical universe. For example, The Lions of Al-Rassan takes place in a land very similar to Spain at the time the Moors and Jews were driven out.

I love to reread Kay's books for the sheer pleasure of how he writes and tells a story.

To this list I would add Gregg Keyes' "Kingdom of Thorn and Bone" series.

It started slow and the romantic subplot thrown in suddenly threw me for a loop, but once part II of Book I started, I was hooked.

It's been described as a mix of George Martin and Terry Brooks, which is quite a...strange mixture.

Ah. No, I'm not Michael Mace, I just agree with him about wanting an infopad.
Whoops, sorry, but yeah, wouldn't that be nice... apparently Nemoptic (http://www.lockergnome.com/news/2007/05/16/nemoptic-launches-new-a4-high-resolution-e-paper-display/) is working on something like it.

Regarding "Of Mist, Grass and Sand," that was the novella (took either the Hugo or the Nebula that year, I've forgotten which) that was later expanded into Dreamsnake. I've read both. Dreamsnake is an old favorite of mine, so I was quite excited at the idea that there might be a sequel.
Again, whoops, sorry, got confused, it's been a long time since and I read them out of order (which must be why I thought it was a sequel). I wish she *would* do some more on that line...

Most of what I like best isn't available as (legal) ebooks yet, but you might try Patricia Briggs, particularly the trilogy beginning with Moon Called, which is available at Fictionwise. I'd also recommend anything by James H. Schmitz, and happily those are all available from Baen. :D

The closest to a long series that I'm currently enjoying are the Dragaera books of Steven Brust (http://astore.amazon.com/dragaera-20). Especially recommended for Zelazny fans. (Or, in some cases, Dumas fans. ;) ) Brust is currently looking into making his books available as ebooks.
I noticed that most of the books I recommended aren't available... *sigh* and I was hoping to *finally* have complete series in some format. I'll check out Brust (hopefully he'll be e-out soon).

I noticed that most of the books I recommended aren't available... *sigh* and I was hoping to *finally* have complete series in some format.
Grr... I'm running into the same problem. Very, very little of what I'm looking for is available anywhere as e-books (a lot of which is listed in this thread!)

I'm having a very hard time figuring out where to start when so much isn't yet available. /sigh.

I'll second that. Fionavar is one of my favourites as well.

I also forgot to mention

Dream dancer trilogy by Janet Morris

Robin Hobb of course



FANTASY

My favorite fantasy writer of all is Guy Gavriel Kay.
His one series is the Fionavar Tapestry:
1. The Summer Tree
2. The Wandering Fire
3. The Darkest Road

Most of his other books take place in an alternate historical universe. For example, The Lions of Al-Rassan takes place in a land very similar to Spain at the time the Moors and Jews were driven out.

I love to reread Kay's books for the sheer pleasure of how he writes and tells a story.

Grr... I'm running into the same problem. Very, very little of what I'm looking for is available anywhere as e-books (a lot of which is listed in this thread!)

I'm having a very hard time figuring out where to start when so much isn't yet available. /sigh.

I was actually surprised to see how much from Anne MacCaffrey and Alan Dean Foster were available. Seems like their full repertoire is available in e-format.

My picks for fantasy series are
Eddings: Belgariad
Goodkind: I liked the whole thing
Rowling: Unashamedly a fan of it
Brooks: Most of Shanara
Martin: Too many characters to follow, but still awesome

Why? Why?

has no one mentioned the Spellsinger series by alan dean foster!

every one go get them all now.

go on

Another vote for Pratchett (all) and Pullman's Dark Materials.
Quite enjoyed Trudi Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy, and the first two books of Justina Robson's Quantum Gravity are enjoyable but not too demanding (her 'Living Next Door to the Good of Love was much harder SF).
Quite liked Anne McCaffrey's Crystal Singer books, although it was AGES ago that I read them.

Many of the previously listed series would be included in mine. Below are some additional ones I didn't see.

SF

I consider my "most favorite" list to be books or series that I have read (or intend to read) MORE than 2x. Some of those below I have read only once or twice (so far) but I enjoyed them to put them on my "To re-read every few years list". Many of the ones below were written 20 or 30 years ago, but for the most part they seem have avoided the curse of having become 'dated' suffered by so many of the early classics by Burroughs & others.

SF

The "Dumarest of Terra" series by EC Tubb (probably my favorite series)
Harry Harrison's Deathworld Trilogy
Larry Niven's "Known Space Universe" series (Ring World, ARM etc).
Niven & Pournelle's "Motie" series
Harry Turtledove's "Worldwar" series
Chris Bunch "R.I.S.K" series
Bunch & Cole's "Sten" series
Andre Norton's "Time Traders" series
Dean Koontz's "Odd Thomas" series
Poul Anderson's "Flandry" series
Keith Laumer's "Retief" series

I know I'm forgetting some but these are they one that readily came to mind.

Tom

FANTASY
My favorite fantasy writer of all is Guy Gavriel Kay.
His one series is the Fionavar Tapestry:
1. The Summer Tree
2. The Wandering Fire
3. The Darkest Road

Most of his other books take place in an alternate historical universe. For example, The Lions of Al-Rassan takes place in a land very similar to Spain at the time the Moors and Jews were driven out.

I love to reread Kay's books for the sheer pleasure of how he writes and tells a story.You can argue that they are all part of a series. In my personal favorite, Tigana, there's an oblique reference to Fionnavar.

Kay's most recent work is closer to alternate history than fantasy. The only fantastic element I can recall in _The Lions of Al-Rassan_ is the ability of the son of a main character to always know what his father is doing, regardless of where Dad is at the moment. Kay states he was inspired by the Iberian peninsula when writing the story, in the same way that Tigana has roots in Renaissance Italy.

I'm very fond of The Fionnavar Tapestry. Kay tosses in just about every myth there is from the British Isles, with a healthy dose of the Arthurian mythos, and largely pulls it off. It's one of the few books that have made me cry.

But the Weaver at his Loom was weaving a tapestry with all the stories of all the worlds, and there's no evidence the worlds in Tigana and The Lions aren't in the tapestry somewhere.
______
Dennis

I'm not even going to try to separate SF from Fantasy. My favorites are:

1. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series -- Douglas Adams
2. Otherworld series -- Kelley Armstrong
3. Xenogenesis series -- Octavia Butler
4. Mercy Thompson series -- Patricia Briggs
5. Riddlemaster series -- Patricia A. McKillip
6. Nightlife, Moonshine and Madhouse -- Rob Thurman
7. My Soul to Keep and The Living Blood -- Tananarive Due (I haven't read the 3rd one, Blood Colony, which just came out last week.
8. Earthsea trilogy -- Ursula K. LeGuin

The Vatta series by Elizabeth Moon

I've just discovered Elizabeth Moon and devoured the Vatta Series. A total of 5 books starting with Trading in Danger

All Star Wars books written by Timothy Zahn

The Ringworld books and Tales of Known Space by Larry Niven.

All books written as a collaboration by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

For those who like speculative fiction, Earth by David Brin is very good.

Definitely the Vatta series. And the Deeds of Paksennarion, and the Serrano Legacy.

The Wheel of Time
The Belgariad and the Mallorean (not that keen on his others)
The Drenai Saga
The Riftwar Saga (and all the others)
Honor Harrington
The Phule series
Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Potter
His Dark Materials

I really could go on and on...

I posted before, but really have to add this.
The New Sun books by Gene Wolfe. The first book is a bit slow, but the pace really picks up int he 2nd. It is really a book where you have no idea what will happen in the next 50 pages. The world Wolfe has created is FASCINATING. And the good thing is, that there are many, many surprises, you will not understand how the world works just after a few pages.

One series I've recently gotten into that I really like is the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison.

One series I've recently gotten into that I really like is the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison.

That's a new one on me - what are they about, Jon?

The Belgariad and the Mallorean (not that keen on his others)

Stainless Steel Rat

I really could go on and on...
Both of those are series that I liked in the beginning but did not wear well.

I read the Belgariad with pleasure. Eddings has a smooth prose style and a flair for dialog. I read the Mallorean with far less pleasure. The strings were too obvious, as Eddings carefully dragged his characters to every not already visited part of his world. And the characters and settings became a little too pat. The whole thing got to feel like "paint by numbers" fantasy. Folks back then raved about the Belgariad, and wished it would go on forever. By the time I finished the Malloreon, I felt like it had.

And agreed about the other Eddings books. The problem is that Eddings has essentially one story to tell and one set of characters. New series get the names changed and the serial numbers filed off, but don't differ in essence from the older ones.

Harrison's original _The Stainless Steel Rat_ was a minor classic, and a long time favorite. I wish he'd stopped there. But Harrison (or his publisher, or both) decided there was series material there, and more Rat books appeared. The last couple I read read like Harry had essentially copied and pasted chunks of story from earlier books into later manuscripts, changing bits here and there.

My SO has met Harry and likes him (as I have and do), and defended him because the books made money and were easy for him to write. Perhaps so, but they aren't easy for me to read. I have higher expectations, especially from writers I've been reading for years and respect.
______
Dennis

I'm surprised so few here have mentioned George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. (First book: A Game of Thrones). These books are my favorite books of all time (for now, anyways). My biggest regret were I to die tomorrow in regard to unread books is not having been able to finish the series because he hasn't written it all yet.

I posted before, but really have to add this.
The New Sun books by Gene Wolfe. The first book is a bit slow, but the pace really picks up int he 2nd. It is really a book where you have no idea what will happen in the next 50 pages. The world Wolfe has created is FASCINATING. And the good thing is, that there are many, many surprises, you will not understand how the world works just after a few pages.
I concur. These are classics, and Wolfe is simply one of the best writers I know, in any genre.

Note that the books have a deeply religious underpinning, though you have to dig into The Urth of the New Sun to have it made explicit. (Wolfe is a devout Roman Catholic, and Christian themes and concepts underlie the story. But Wolfe is too subtle a writer to bludgeon you with it. Like the Narnia books of C.S. Lewis, they can be read with pleasure whether you get the religion or not.)

Wolfe's protagonist Severian is a torturer, working for the Autarch who rules a portion of a far future Earth. The sun is dying, and there are legends about a savior who will travel to the stars and convince the powers that dwell there to kindle a new sun and cause a rebirth of the Earth.

Wolfe is working in territory similar to Jack Vance's _The Dying Earth_, but with deeper concerns. Severian's journeys through the four books as as much spiritual as physical, as his experiences change him and prepare him to be the one who might just bring about the New Sun.

Just wonderful.
______
Dennis

For SF, I keep rereading

Glen Cook - The Dragon Never Sleeps
One of my favorites as well.

I also liked the Starfishers trilogy, and _Passage at Arms_, which is set earlier in the Starfishers universe.

For middle ground

Melissa Scott - Empress of Earth trilogy
Another favorite, and "middle ground" is a good description. I was tickled by Scott's idea that alchemy and science were both valid but antithetical models of the universe. If you used one, you couldn't use the other.
______
Dennis

Harrison's original _The Stainless Steel Rat_ was a minor classic, and a long time favorite. I wish he'd stopped there. But Harrison (or his publisher, or both) decided there was series material there, and more Rat books appeared. The last couple I read read like Harry had essentially copied and pasted chunks of story from earlier books into later manuscripts, changing bits here and there.
______
Dennis

Really? I think the first three (I think of them as "the slim ones") are all very good, and maybe A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born as well.

The first one introduces Slippery Jim and Angela as well as the Corps and is a fun, mile-a-minute adventure.

In The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge the twist is that he is actually married to Angela! This is a peek at what happens after the "happily ever after" that you rarely got to see (although this device is more common now). It is also the first appearance of the grey men and they are suitably chilling.

For The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World we meet "He" (loosely based on She/Ayesha one assumes) and have the first appearance of time travel. The social commentary gets a bit more pointed as Jim actually travels back to the Earth of our time. And the part when Jim tries to kill "He" with a bomb that will burn him with flame, burn him with acid, coagulate his proteins and so on is described hilariously in the book.

It is only after this that the series can start to become repetitive (ie: more time trips, ever more super-secret Corps, return of the grey men and so on).

Really? I think the first three (I think of them as "the slim ones") are all very good, and maybe A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born as well.
Yes, I'll agree with that, and endorse the first three as worth reading. (Memory is foggy on _A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born_, but it may well qualify, too.)

But some series drag on long past when they should, because there is a perceived demand for more, and really should have been stopped earlier. Books after the ones you mention in the Rat series fall into that category for me.
______
Dennis

Lots of great material in the posts in this thread, but I would like to change direction a wee bit and ask these questions:

1. What is your favorite scifi/fantasy series or book that is available as a free ebook?

2. What is your favorite scifi/fantasy series or book that is available as an ebook and is either self-published or published by a small press?

3. What is your favorite scifi/fantasy series that is a complete series available in ebook form?

Lots of great material in the posts in this thread, but I would like to change direction a wee bit and ask these questions:

1. What is your favorite scifi/fantasy series or book that is available as a free ebook?
There's a fair bit of choices there, especially when you have the Baen Free Library to draw from.

Off the top of my head, I'd list David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series (BFL), James H. Schmitz's "Federation of the Hub" stories (BFL and PG), and H. Beam Piper's "Paratime Police" and "Terran Federation" stories (PG, save for _Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen_ in the Paratime universe, whose rights Ace still holds.)

And for fantasy, E.R. Eddison's _The Worm Ouroborous_. (Here, among other places.)

2. What is your favorite scifi/fantasy series or book that is available as an ebook and is either self-published or published by a small press?Not sure off hand.

3. What is your favorite scifi/fantasy series that is a complete series available in ebook form?
See the answer to question 1.
______
Dennis

Wouldn't the Fuzzy books count as Terran Federation stories? I think one of them, at least, is not yet PD. (Probably Fuzzies and Other People, as that was published posthumously....)

Wouldn't the Fuzzy books count as Terran Federation stories? I think one of them, at least, is not yet PD. (Probably Fuzzies and Other People, as that was published posthumously....)
They are indeed part of the Federation universe, about mid-period when the Federation was still in full flower. _The Cosmic Computer_ predicts the fall of the Federation, as the war with the break-away System States Alliance emphasized the fault lines along which the Federation will fracture. _Space Viking_ is set after the fall, as raiding parties from colonies on the fringes of the former Federation raid back into what had been Federation space, and inadvertently provide the foundation of a new interstellar civilization.

I have Little Fuzzy in e-format, as well as a good deal of other Piper material. I haven't seen _The Other Human Race_ or _Fuzzies and Other People_ in e-form yet, but that may be a matter of folks just not being finished with the conversion. Ace had the rights to Piper's work, and inexplicably let all of it save _Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen_ lapse.

A friend is a small press publisher, busy returning Edgar Pangborn and E. E. Smith's "Lensman" series to print. He had been talking to Ace about the rights to do limited edition trade hardcover editions of Piper. Ace was willing, as his books weren't aimed at their market, but their rights and permissions folks were tied up with other things and hadn't gotten around the the paperwork for him. He was quite boggled when they let the rights lapse. Given some of the stories I've heard about publishing, I can't help wondering whether they let the rights lapse because they'd forgotten they had them.
______
Dennis

Given some of the stories I've heard about publishing, I can't help wondering whether they let the rights lapse because they'd forgotten they had them.
Probably, and just as well, to my mind. An organization that isn't doing anything with a work shouldn't be allowed to hang onto the rights and prevent others from doing something with it, in my opinion. :shrug:

Probably, and just as well, to my mind. An organization that isn't doing anything with a work shouldn't be allowed to hang onto the rights and prevent others from doing something with it, in my opinion. :shrug:
Ace had previously republished a lot of Piper's work, save the collaborations with John J. Macguire.

I was hoping to see returns to print, like a new anthology edition of the Fuzzy books. (The SFBC hardcover I have doesn't include _Fuzzies and Other People_, because that hadn't re-surfaced at the time the book was issued.)

Some years ago, I was at a talk given by Dave Hartwell, who is a Senior Editor at Tor these days. At the time, he was consulting for the Signet imprint of NAL, helping revise their SF line. He described it taking 7 months simply to find out what all they had under contract, and another 5 to cross I's, dot T's, and get contracts renewed. At that, they lost properties because they'd forgotten they had the rights but the author or author's agent hadn't, and promptly sent a letter asking that the rights be reverted as soon as they lapsed.

I haven't seen a lot that indicates publishing has gotten any better in the intervening years.
______
Dennis

That's a new one on me - what are they about, Jon?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollows_(series)

There are maybe some spoilers there.

Richard Morgan (the Kovacs novels)


I agree with you completely on Richard K. Morgan's Kovacs series.

Robin Hobb - All the triologies are great !
Trudi Canavan - Magicians Guild
Mercedes Lackey - Valdemar series (which is as far as I've gotten so far, but I will continue reading)
Peter F. Hamilton - The Night's Dawn Triology
Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series

Has anyone mentioned James Alan Gardner's League Of Peoples series?

The Snow Queen trilogy by Joan D. Vinge is very good. :2thumbsup

if you like alternate history type stuff, William Forstchen (civil war ship gets sucked into a universe where cannibals use humans as cattle...

Patrick Rothfuss Name of the Wind (check out his blog, search rothfuss blog on google, good stuff)

Scott Lynch Lies of Locke Lamora

George R R Martin

Steven Erikson

Larry Niven - all of the Ringworld books. I've reread them many times
Dan Simmons - The 4 book Hyperion set. Although I can never read Rise of Endymion again.

Patrick Rothfuss Name of the Wind (check out his blog, search rothfuss blog on google, good stuff)

I thought I once saw Name of the Wind on one of the ebook sites (for around $20, which is why I passed on it at the time), but now I can't find it anywhere. Anyone seen it?

Likewise Simmons Hyperion?

I have to add Mistborn from Brandon Sanderson, and I'm also recently reading Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series and it is very very good as well. I keep falling in love with characters in the Chrestomanci series, her characterization is that good. Previous recommendation of A Song of Ice and Fire still stands, of course.

Lois McMaster Bujold's SF Vorkosigan series has already had a mention, and I second that.

And I like her two fantasy series - Curse of Chalion et al and the Sharing Knife (Beguilement, Legacy, Passages) even more.

Regards, Alex

So, most favories would be:

Terry Brooks
Swords of Shannara series
Magic Kindom of Landover series (on of my first Fantasy reads)

David Eddings
The Belgariad

Asimov's Robot Series
(still have foundation on the book shelf to read, believe it or not)

Other great ones...

Harry Potter (yes, I really enjoyed it)
Lord of the Rings (Tolkien of course)
Voyage of Jerle Shannara (Brooks)
Sword of Truth (Goodkind, some later ones not as good as the first 4)
Star Trek: The Captian's Table (mini sub-series)
The Mallorean (Eddings)

BOb


The Belgariad is one of my all time favorites. Researching the series' availability in Kindle format once again leads to frustration with the series' publisher (Del Rey) who have released the second volume but not the first!

What possesses these publishers to do this? Time and again publishers omit the first book or books in a series when releasing the digital versions. I can understand, somewhat, this happening when a new title in a series has just been released and they want to capture digital sales to those who have read the previous titles in paper books but this series has been long in print.

Wouldn't you suppose that the publisher would realize that those starting the series now, who most probably are new to Eddings and the Belgariad and have never read the paper book versions might want to start at the beginning? Duh!

This, of course, is not Amazon's fault. Perhaps the ability to click on the Kindle request "button" will have an impact on this problem.

The most optimistic interpretation I can think of is that the publishers are all planning to jump onto the Baen first-taste-is-free bandwagon, so the first books aren't for sale because they're going to be given away, but the plans are a little slow getting started. :rolleyes:

The most optimistic interpretation I can think of is that the publishers are all planning to jump onto the Baen first-taste-is-free bandwagon, so the first books aren't for sale because they're going to be given away, but the plans are a little slow getting started. :rolleyes:
We can hope... :p

Ballantine/DelRey are a unit of the Random House Publishing Group, which includes Ballantine Books, Ballantine Reader's Circle, Del Rey, Fawcett, Ivy, Modern Library, One World, Presidio Press, Random House, Random House Trade Paperbacks, and Villard.

Random House is in turn a unit of Bertelsmann, which is active in an assortment of media areas:

* RTL Group, Europe's biggest broadcaster
* Gruner + Jahr (a magazine publisher, the biggest in Europe)[4]
* Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG)
* Random House, the world's largest trade book publisher
* Direct Group, the world's largest book and music club group
* Arvato AG, an international media and communications service provider

(The Direct Group includes US book club operations like the Science Fiction Book Club)

My impression is that Random House (and Bertelsmann in turn) is one of the publishers that simply doesn't get it in regards to ebooks.
______
Dennis

What possesses these publishers to do this? Time and again publishers omit the first book or books in a series when releasing the digital versions.

I think it's just bad luck. The publisher goes digital and starts releasing e-books after the first x volumes of the series are already in print. Ambiguous contracts or lossy workflows make it not worth the effort for the publisher to go make some older works available as e-books just because they happen to be the initial volumes of a series. Them's the breaks.

Just finished the third Greywalker novel by Kat Richardson (Greywalker, Poltergeist and the latest, Underground) and really enjoyed it. Harper Blaine is a Seattle PI who has had a near death experience which allows her to see ghosts and fragments of the past and other beasties that walk in the night - and allows them to see her. The first novel of the series has some bits where you'd like to smack her on the head and tell her to adjust and get over it (along with some cardboard and terribly convenient supporting characters), but by the third novel she's reluctantly accepted her new and very different life, and while she doesn't actually enjoy it, she's somewhat more comfortable with it.

I'm currently re-reading Doris Egan's Two Bit Heroes, which is the second in her "Ivory" trilogy (the first and third being The Gate of Ivory and Guilt-Edged Ivory). Sort of fantasy-science-fiction mysteries, I guess, but also very funny (especially this volume).

I would add Wen Spencer's Tinker series--fantasy--(if two books count as a series) as well as her Ukiah Oregon--Sci Fi--series.

Her standalone book A Brothers Price was an enjoyable twist on the girls outnumber boys story line.

I also give a big thumbs up for all of Bujold's books :2thumbsup

Are any of the Egan Ivory books available as downloads?

Are any of the Egan Ivory books available as downloads?
I don't think I've seen them as commercial ebooks. I own them in paper, so I was a bit... creative... in obtaining my ebook versions. :)

I would add Wen Spencer's Tinker series--fantasy--(if two books count as a series) as well as her Ukiah Oregon--Sci Fi--series.

Just as a note, Tinker is available for free on one of the Baen CDs. I've actually been interested in reading it since I saw Wen on a couple of panels at Noreastcon.

The only thing I have to add is that Piers Anthony's best series are non-Xanth. He's admitted himself that he pretty much does it for a paycheck. If I recommended anything, it would be the Incarnations Of Immortality.

Jason

Mercedes Lackey - Valdemar series (which is as far as I've gotten so far, but I will continue reading)


Yes! Yes! Yes! I especially liked The Last Herald Mage trilogy. :) Apparently, some of the Valdemar books are also available in digital form.

Other favourites of mine are
Pratchett's Discworld novels (of course)
Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern
Jennifer Roberson's Cheysuli series and the Sword Dancer series
and
Michael Ende's Jim Knopf books (okay, so two books don't make a series, but still!)

After skimming this thread, I miss one of my favorite authors: Eric Flint; especially his alternate history books about the town of Grantville, West Virginia, which suddenly will transferred into 30-year-war-Germany: The in-(?) ;) famous "Ring of fire"-Series + the Grantville Gazettes

These books are really great readings; and most of them are available for free via the even (in)famous Baen-CD's (http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/13-TheBalticWarCD/TheBalticWarCD/) ...

The only thing I have to add is that Piers Anthony's best series are non-Xanth. He's admitted himself that he pretty much does it for a paycheck. If I recommended anything, it would be the Incarnations Of Immortality.

Jason
Anthony's early work showed a great deal of talent. I liked and recommend _Macroscope_, _Prostho Plus_, the Orn/Omnivore/0X series, _Cthon_ and _Pthor_, and several of the others. The first Xanth book was charming with an original premise, but the series deteriorated rapidly.

The problem is that Anthony is one of the best in the SF field at taking an idea and running with it, but one of the worst at knowing when to stop. He runs ideas into and under the ground.

Yes, he does Xanth for the money. He takes the revenues and buys up undeveloped virgin land around him in Florida to keep it virgin and undeveloped. I admire the motive, but can't read the resulting work.
______
Dennis

my favorite series the "riddle master of Hed" by barbara hambly.

have you heard of a fantasy book, about a young boy sent by a wizard into another dimension so he could grow ten years in ten minutes, learning nothing but how to war? when he comes back he has a mace fitted to his right arm. and he and the wizard battle the king for this guy's birthright.

it was probably one of the first fantasy books i ever read and would love to read it again.

Sci-Fi:
The 1632 series, though It's nearly alternate history or a sort. Several books in the series are available free from Baen.

Fantasy: The Dresden Files, my current favorite series of books, it's made me a huge fan of urban fantasy.

my favorite series the "riddle master of Hed" by barbara hambly.
Er, that book is by Patricia A. McKillip, not Barbara Hambly. It's the first of a trilogy, followed by _Heir of Sea and Fire_ and _Harpist in the Wind_.
______
Dennis

Er, that book is by Patricia A. McKillip, not Barbara Hambly. It's the first of a trilogy, followed by _Heir of Sea and Fire_ and _Harpist in the Wind_.
______
Dennis

whoops, see what happens when you stay up late at night, you are correct and all three are the best.
i re-read them every year for the last 10 years. when ever i get incapacitated for a spell they are the first thing i break out to read and pass the time.