Howdy gang!

I'll be finishing my current book tonight (Empire of Ivory, book 4 of the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik) and I'd like to have my next one ready to go. I turn to those here for some suggestions on what to read next. :)

I haven't read much actual science fiction really because I've generally been more a fantasy fan, but lately I'm enjoying mixing it up more. That means there are TONS of sci-fi books out there just waiting for me to discover!

I'm in the mood for a good science fiction with solid science and engrossing characters. The last sci-fi I read that I really enjoyed were Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds. The 3rd book was a bit floundering IMO, but overall I definitely ate it all up. What might make a good next read for me that is available in some e-book format?

* I prefer the science to be fairly accurate as I'm a the sort that is bugged when it's obviously off. ;)
* Space opera is obviously ok considering my Reynolds enjoyment.
* Plot and character development should not be overshadowed by the science - I know some others get a little carried away.
* Stand alone books or series of books are all welcome.

Ok that's still pretty open ended there, but I figure it's a start. Whatcha got? :D

Night's dawn trilogy, by Peter F. Hamilton

Here's some reading for your edification...

Free - Baen book free library ($4 contributions accepted)

David Drake - Old Nathan - Historical Fantasy set in the 1830's Tennesee (by a hard science fiction writer)

Keith Laumer - Retief! (humorous satirical SF)

James H Schmidt - Tezley Amberdon - (telepathy)

James P Hogan - Inherent The Stars - (Space Opera, 1st in a trilogy)

Andre Norton - Time Traders - (Time Travel)

Eric Flint - 1632 - (Alternate History)

And if you can handle bad science in science fiction (for historical purposes)...The First readable Space Opera - Skylark Three (just to see where S/F has come from....) Project Gutenberg

A variety of types and styles, and competitvely priced.

There's a thread in here with the top20 (or so) Sci-Fi books that will change your life, your have to read, or something ... might want to check those out too.

Night's dawn trilogy, by Peter F. Hamilton
I was almost miffed at the lack of any description from you on this suggestion until I of course did a quick search on that author and those books in particular. That sounds like *exactly* what I'm looking for! :2thumbsup

Now I just have to decide if I should pay the extra $$ to get it through Sony for my 505 so it's correctly formatted, or get it through Fictionwise for a bit less, but then have to convert. Hmm. Probably worth the $1.50 per book to just get it nice and clean.

I'll come back at some point with my thoughts on the series - thanks for the suggestion!

There's a thread in here with the top20 (or so) Sci-Fi books that will change your life, your have to read, or something ... might want to check those out too.
Definitely a great thread there. I had already looked through that and yes most of those are now on my list to read sooner or later (if they weren't already hehe,) but for now I had a craving for something specific and I think I may have found it in leandroide's suggestion.

Wow I'm triple posting. Someone stop me - I'm outta control!

Anyway, after seeing some more fairly in-depth reviews I think I'm gonna hold off on the Night's Dawn Trilogy for now, but keep it in mind to try another time. Feeling extra picky today. :chinscratch:

EDIT
So... after seeing just how little is available as e-books from the crop of current hard sci-fi authors I think I may be right back to that Night's Dawn Trilogy. I'm frustrated by how little is available. Come on publishers! It doesn't take a genius to realize science fiction and e-books are made for each other! /sigh.

You asked for new?
The Electric Church by Jeff Somers
On fictionwise $8.99 and it has a Micropay Rebate: 25% right now on it.

I have not read it yet, bought it only yesterday, planning to read it over the summer.

I actually envy you a bit, just starting to read SF :2thumbsup !! I read tons of 'em and I find it hard these days to find something new and of good quality (I've grown critical too ...)

I'd second anything by Peter F. Hamilton.

So far i've read:

Pandora's Star
Judas Unchained
Fallen Dragon

The books tend to be on the hefty side (that being 1000+ pages), but all have been top quality science fiction.

I'd second anything by Peter F. Hamilton.

So far i've read:

Pandora's Star
Judas Unchained
Fallen Dragon

The books tend to be on the hefty side (that being 1000+ pages), but all have been top quality science fiction.

I've read these books too. Fallen Dragon is quite good. Pandora's star and Judas unchained are a good space opera too. But, as far as I have read, for me Night's dawn is "The space opera".

Hamilton is writing a now the Void trilogy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Void_Trilogy). But I am going to wait until the trilogy is complete. If I can...

L.

I have just remembered two more recommendations for you, Shadowplay.

They are "A fire upon the deep" and "A deepness in the sky" by Vernor Vinge.

L.

Now I just have to decide if I should pay the extra $$ to get it through Sony for my 505 so it's correctly formatted, or get it through Fictionwise for a bit less, but then have to convert. Hmm. Probably worth the $1.50 per book to just get it nice and clean.

Sony's versions have huge margins that waste screen space. I find it preferable to try to get a version that I can reformat according to my own taste. Plus, if you can get it without DRM (or if you can remove the DRM, like with MS Lit format) then you can keep the book for future ebook devices. The problem with Sony's format is that you can't do anything with it.

:bigwave:

When you suggest something, please make sure it's available as an eBook in a format that is for the Sony PRS-505 or can easily be converted such as MS Reader. Also, make sure the entire series (if you suggest books from a series) is available.

As an example, a suggestion for the Time Traders series was suggested. But the entire series is not available as eBooks as the series eventually switched publishers.

I'm new at this, but if you like a new story, check out www.huntersblood.net
It's a story about a bounty hunter after some extraordinary fugitives. There's a free download of the first chapter. Try it out, you might like it.:)

I enjoyed the Revelation Space series too.

What I also liked recently:
Linda Nagata - The Bohr Maker

Robert Charles Wilson - Spin and Axis (2 books)

Vernor Vinge - Deepness in the Sky and Fire upon the Deep (2 books, same universe)

Gene Wolfe - The New Sun series

Hmm, If you can stomach a bit of Bad science, Would suggest you read the Lensmen Series by E.E. 'Doc' Smith.

While the Science is definitely dated by our standards, it did help set the standard for most if not all modern space operas.

I believe that while Triplanatery is available from PG and from the E-Book section here, I'm not so sure of the rest of the series.

Sony's versions have huge margins that waste screen space. I find it preferable to try to get a version that I can reformat according to my own taste. Plus, if you can get it without DRM (or if you can remove the DRM, like with MS Lit format) then you can keep the book for future ebook devices. The problem with Sony's format is that you can't do anything with it.
AMEN!

I'll heartily recommend any of the books from Baen's free library. I'm enjoying reading them and as I find one I particularly enjoy, I buy the sequels from Baen/WebScriptions.

Also, on a whim I purchased Soothsayer by Mike Resnick -- first of his Oracle trilogy -- from Fictionwise. It's one of their "multiformat" books, which means you can download DRM-free formats including .lit, .lrf, and .prc. I finished it last night, enjoyed it very much, and hopped over to Fictionwise to buy the other two books.

I'll heartily recommend any of the books from Baen's free library. I'm enjoying reading them and as I find one I particularly enjoy, I buy the sequels from Baen/WebScriptions.

Also, on a whim I purchased Soothsayer by Mike Resnick -- first of his Oracle trilogy -- from Fictionwise. It's one of their "multiformat" books, which means you can download DRM-free formats including .lit, .lrf, and .prc. I finished it last night, enjoyed it very much, and hopped over to Fictionwise to buy the other two books.

I'm gonna put this on my list. Was it not on the Kindle store?

BOb

I'm gonna put this on my list. Was it not on the Kindle store? Dunno -- didn't look for it there. When you buy a Multiformat book from Fictionwise, you can download it multiple times in multiple formats. (I downloaded PDF, .prc, and .mobi) And, the books are guaranteed to be DRM-free. Anything I buy at Amazon, I have to rename to .prc or .mobi and then try it with MobiPocket Reader to see if I can open it. If I can, then it is DRM-free. 'Tis too much trouble for anything I find at Fictionwise in their Multiformat store.

If you're new to science fiction, then there is of course a huge back catalogue of SF to catch up with, much of which is available in ebook formats.

A couple of books which might fit your requirements:

The Mote in God's Eye -- Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle -- Human space empire in first alien contact. There's a sequel called The Gripping Hand, but I can't recommend it because I haven't read it yet.

Downbelow Station -- C.J. Cherryh -- Peaceful orbital station becomes refugee camp in the middle of an interstellar war. There are lots of other books set in the same fictional universe, of which my favourites are Merchanter's Luck and Forty Thousand in Gehenna. But it helps to read Downbelow Station first.

If you're new to science fiction, then there is of course a huge back catalogue of SF to catch up with, much of which is available in ebook formats.

A couple of books which might fit your requirements:

The Mote in God's Eye -- Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle -- Human space empire in first alien contact. There's a sequel called The Gripping Hand, but I can't recommend it because I haven't read it yet.


I've read The Gripping Hand It was every bit as good as The Mote in God's Eye. Then again, a loved every collaboration thats been written by Larry & Jerry!

I've read The Gripping Hand It was every bit as good as The Mote in God's Eye. Then again, a loved every collaboration thats been written by Larry & Jerry!

I disagree... I read both and I think that "The Gripping Hand" is much, much worse.

I tend to wander around Baen, trying stuff from the free library then buying up whatever looks good when I feel so inclined. Actually, I do more or less the same at Fictionwise. Plus I have one of the 20GB "library" torrents from the darknet that I'm slowly cleaning up and converting.

What I've read recently is mostly Fictionwise stuff: Gregory Benford "Beyond Inifinity"and "Eater" are both reasonable, Reynolds, Alastair-Galactic North is good, Crystal Rain - Buckell, Tobias is excellent is a touch soft science fiction-ish (less so that 1632/1633 but in a vaguely similar vein). The 2008 Hugo bundle is excellent value if it's still available, John Scalzi is shipping that and his "The Last Colony" is another night-eating book that I read in 3-4 hours of my "one hour" reading slot each night. But "Brasyl" made up for that, couldn't get into it so only read the first few chapters before giving up. Rollback OTOH is also excellent, although I did manage to read that over three nights so perhaps not quite as good as "Last Colony".

Hmm, last night I bought a bunch of books but Baen use really bad filenames so it's somewhat tricky to list authors. I bought the remaining Eric Flint 16xx series books at least, plus a pile of Pournelle, Bear and some Hugo winners compilations.

Hmm, last night I bought a bunch of books but Baen use really bad filenames so it's somewhat tricky to list authors. I bought the remaining Eric Flint 16xx series books at least, plus a pile of Pournelle, Bear and some Hugo winners compilations.

I wrote mobils (part of MobiPerl) for this:

fossum:~/mysvn/ebook/tor> ~/mysvn/mobiperl/mobils *
Daniel Abraham: A Shadow In Summer (Abraham, Daniel - A Shadow in Summer.prc)
NOAUTHOR: Reiffen's Choice (Butler, S. C. - Reiffeins Choice.prc)
Kate Elliott: Spirit Gate (Elliott, Kate - Spirit Gate.prc)
Cherie Priest: Four and Twenty Blackbirds (Priest, Cherie - Four and Twenty Blackbirds.prc)
NOAUTHOR: Sun of Suns (Schroeder, Karl - Sun of Suns.prc)
Harry Turtledove: The Disunited States of America (Turtledove, Harry - The Disunited States of America.prc)
Peter Watts: Star Fish (Watts, Peter - Starfish.prc)

Hmm, If you can stomach a bit of Bad science, Would suggest you read the Lensmen Series by E.E. 'Doc' Smith.

While the Science is definitely dated by our standards, it did help set the standard for most if not all modern space operas.

I believe that while Triplanetary is available from PG and from the E-Book section here, I'm not so sure of the rest of the series.
TriPlanetary is, as are several other Smith works not in the LEnsman universe. But most of the Lensman series is not. The stuff on PG is from magazine publications with separate copyrights that weren't renewed. The book versions are another matter, and I haven't seen them in legit ebook editions. Mike Walsh of small press Olde Earth books has the Lensman series out in trade paperback format, reproducing the original Gnome Press covers and interior decorations, and I bought a boxed set.

The science is not merely dated -- it's practically non-existent. But the books are fun and largely defined the genre of "space opera". Whenever you think Smith can't get any wilder, rest assured he has a topper up his sleeve, and a topper for the topper following behind.
______
Dennis

I was almost miffed at the lack of any description from you on this suggestion until I of course did a quick search on that author and those books in particular. That sounds like *exactly* what I'm looking for! :2thumbsup
They are splendid, and I've recommended them here before. The last book even has a Deus Ex Machina that works.
______
Dennis