Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > Reading Recommendations

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 11-16-2008, 11:35 PM   #1
mgrunk
Zealot
mgrunk has learned how to buy an e-book online
 
mgrunk's Avatar
 
Posts: 130
Karma: 96
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: metro Atlanta, GA
Device: Sony Reader PRS-505
Hard Science Fiction suggestions

I looked through and didn't see a topic for this - it's probably buried -but I need some new books - I totally don't like fantasy - I read Lord of the Rings simply because it's a classic and I should, but I don't like the genre at all. I also don't like ... war based? I don't know what you'd call it, but not an emphasis on military expansion - Semper Mars, -

I like more technology based sf and first contact - hate Darrel Bain, Archive was ok, didn't like Snow Crash by Stephenson, Hammerfall was ok, Resnick's Oracle was ok but wouldn't want to reread - I keep thinking I should like Resnick, but just can't find a click w/ him.

So, what I do like -

Asimov - not so much the Foundation series, but many of his others

Gregory Benford - Sunborn is ok, Matter's End - really liked,

Poul Anderson - most everything I've liked - Tau Zero,

Fredrick Pohl - most everything

Silverberg - liked most of them and have read them all

Kim Robinson - all the Mars books, Red, Blue, etc - loved

Hamilton -Night Dawn's Trilogy - would like to reread - but it's such a massive endeavor to get through it all and very bleak through most of it.

Egan - Schild's Ladder - ok

Heinlein - liked most of them - Red Planet but have read all his books

Greg Bear - most all, Blood Music really, really loved - I've read Darwins Radio and Quantico and Moving Mars

Contact - loved - need to find an e-book for it

Neal - Denizen - better than ok, not great

Gunn - The Listeners, really liked

Paula King - A Whisper of Time - really liked


So any suggestions - PS - I have a sony - so I can't get Amazon only books.

I forgot about Ben Bova too - can't find many at sony or fw though

Last edited by mgrunk; 11-19-2008 at 12:04 AM.
mgrunk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2008, 11:48 PM   #2
montsnmags
Grand Sorcerer
montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.montsnmags ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 10,155
Karma: 4632658
Join Date: Nov 2007
Device: none
David Zindell's Neverness, and the trilogy A Requiem for Homo Sapiens (The Broken God, The Wild and War in Heaven, though I confess to not having yet read the last, to my continuing dismay at my own procrastination). I would rate Neverness as one of the best SF books I have read, and it is not necessary to continue with the trilogy (Neverness is self-contained)

Cheers,
Marc
montsnmags is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2008, 01:05 AM   #3
AlexC
Connoisseur
AlexC will become famous soon enoughAlexC will become famous soon enoughAlexC will become famous soon enoughAlexC will become famous soon enoughAlexC will become famous soon enoughAlexC will become famous soon enoughAlexC will become famous soon enough
 
AlexC's Avatar
 
Posts: 58
Karma: 737
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Vancouver
Device: Apple iPad; iRex iLiad
Signal to Noise and A Signal Shattered by Eric S. Nylund might fit the bill.
AlexC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2008, 02:17 AM   #4
Sparrow
Wizard
Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sparrow ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 4,395
Karma: 1358132
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK
Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3
Stephen Baxter 'The Time Ships'.
Written as sequel to commemorate the centenary of Wells' 'The Time Machine', it's actually better than the original.
Sparrow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2008, 02:38 AM   #5
garygibsonsf
Addict
garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.garygibsonsf ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 321
Karma: 432192
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
I haven 't read Mike Brotherton - he has a blog at www.mikebrotherton.com - but he writes 'hard as nails' sf. His first novel can be downloaded free at his website as a promo for the new one.

You might want to try Iain Banks' Culture books, particularly 'use of weapons'.

I'm not a huge fan of Bova, but I enjoyed 'Voyagers'.

Robert Forward's Dragon's Egg is another 'hard as nails' novel.

I don't like 'high fantasy' either, but I'd still recommend Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, which is a science-fictional approach to mythology as a construct of the collective conscious of humanity but projected onto the real world.

I don't know, by the way, if all of these are available as ebooks - you'll know once you input them at fictionwise, etc. But I also have a sony, and know for a fact several of Alistair Reynold's books are available there.

If i were you, I'd check out Linda Nagata's 'Vast', which may or may not be an ebook.
garygibsonsf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2008, 02:51 AM   #6
mtravellerh
book creator
mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
mtravellerh's Avatar
 
Posts: 9,635
Karma: 3856660
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Luxembourg
Device: PB360°
John Scalzi is the new Heinlein.

Check Ray Gun Revival, too. Some good reads there for fans of hard SF.
mtravellerh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2008, 03:47 AM   #7
moz
Addict
moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.moz once ate a cherry pie in a record 7 seconds.
 
moz's Avatar
 
Posts: 370
Karma: 1553
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Melbun
Device: Kobo H2O
It would be really handy if people could link to the site that sells the books, as it's not always obvious. Fictionwise and Tor both have pages for each book they sell so it's an easy link to see a precis and review (often samples too).

thanks
moz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2008, 05:28 AM   #8
Dr. Drib
Grand Sorcerer
Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Dr. Drib's Avatar
 
Posts: 44,712
Karma: 55613375
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Peru
Device: Kindle: Oasis 3, Voyage WiFi; Kobo: Libra 2, Aura One
Hal Clement's novels.

A very popular "hard" science fiction writer from the 1950s, who is very highly regarded.


Don
Dr. Drib is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2008, 12:59 PM   #9
radius
Lector minore
radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.radius ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
radius's Avatar
 
Posts: 649
Karma: 1738720
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Aura One, Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e, Google Pixel Slate
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Drib View Post
Hal Clement's novels.

A very popular "hard" science fiction writer from the 1950s, who is very highly regarded.
If you decide to try Hal Clement, I would start with Mission of Gravity, which is probably the best novel he wrote. It is about a scientific mission to a high gravity planet.

I also second the Robert Forward suggestion. He writes books mainly about scientific expeditions to astronomically "interesting" regions.

You might like Vernor Vinge as well, as long as you stay away from his near future stories. Pick something like A Deepness in the Sky and you should be happy.

I'm suprised that you didn't mention Larry Niven. His Ringworld series should be up your alley, as should The Integral Trees and The Mote in God's Eye with Jerry Pournelle.

Last edited by radius; 11-17-2008 at 01:02 PM.
radius is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2008, 03:40 PM   #10
Dr. Drib
Grand Sorcerer
Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Dr. Drib ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Dr. Drib's Avatar
 
Posts: 44,712
Karma: 55613375
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Peru
Device: Kindle: Oasis 3, Voyage WiFi; Kobo: Libra 2, Aura One
Quote:
Originally Posted by radius View Post
If you decide to try Hal Clement, I would start with Mission of Gravity, which is probably the best novel he wrote. It is about a scientific mission to a high gravity planet.

I also second the Robert Forward suggestion. He writes books mainly about scientific expeditions to astronomically "interesting" regions.

You might like Vernor Vinge as well, as long as you stay away from his near future stories. Pick something like A Deepness in the Sky and you should be happy.

I'm suprised that you didn't mention Larry Niven. His Ringworld series should be up your alley, as should The Integral Trees and The Mote in God's Eye with Jerry Pournelle.
Actually, if you mean me, I'm also surprised I failed to mention Larry Niven. He was one of my favorite writers about 25 years ago. I devoured everything he wrote, but haven't read much of him lately.

Thank you for reminding me.


Don
Dr. Drib is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2008, 04:32 PM   #11
mgrunk
Zealot
mgrunk has learned how to buy an e-book online
 
mgrunk's Avatar
 
Posts: 130
Karma: 96
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: metro Atlanta, GA
Device: Sony Reader PRS-505
I forgot to mention Larry Niven - but I haven't read the Ringworld series - so now I have a nice list to start on. I've been reading quite a bit of mainstream - I realized last night, I just want to go back to my sf - it's my favorite genre and has been since I was a teenager

I've always felt like I was born about 200 years too early - and - couldn't get it together to get hired at NASA w/ my programming degree and will probably never have the money to actually make it on a space flight :-)
mgrunk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2008, 06:17 AM   #12
mtravellerh
book creator
mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.mtravellerh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
mtravellerh's Avatar
 
Posts: 9,635
Karma: 3856660
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Luxembourg
Device: PB360°
Elisabeth Bear (well, only the sf books of course)
mtravellerh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2008, 06:28 AM   #13
BlackVoid
Evangelist
BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BlackVoid ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 415
Karma: 510423
Join Date: Nov 2006
Device: Sony PRS-505
Alastair Reynolds would fit your needs. Start with Revelation Space.

Linda Nagata also has a series that is (nano-) technology centric. It starts with The Bohr Maker.
BlackVoid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2008, 11:33 AM   #14
mgrunk
Zealot
mgrunk has learned how to buy an e-book online
 
mgrunk's Avatar
 
Posts: 130
Karma: 96
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: metro Atlanta, GA
Device: Sony Reader PRS-505
Where might I find Revelation Space - Sony and Fictionwise only have the second book in the series?
mgrunk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2008, 12:42 PM   #15
slayda
Retired & reading more!
slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.slayda ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
slayda's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,764
Karma: 1884247
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: North Alabama, USA
Device: Kindle 1, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S+, Kobo Aura One
Spider Robinson is pretty good.
slayda is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Historical Fiction Suggestions jenieliser Reading Recommendations 75 05-11-2018 10:33 AM
Hard Science Fiction Recommendations tmclough Reading Recommendations 237 11-24-2013 11:46 PM
Historical Fiction to Science Fiction/Fantasy Georgiegirl2012 Reading Recommendations 12 11-13-2010 07:22 PM
Seriously thoughtful When science fiction meets science fact pilotbob Lounge 51 04-25-2009 03:30 PM
Soft on the Science - Science Fiction Domokos Reading Recommendations 0 01-29-2006 09:18 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:25 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.