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nekokami · 05-21-2008, 08:58 PM

Sorry, I've been really busy with work and grad school (and dealing with severe allergies) so I haven't been following new threads very well.

Other suggestions... Well, there's Madeline L'Engle, but I'm not even sure whether to call her books SF, even though they often get classified as such.

Part of my problem in recommending something is that a lot of the SF I like has plots that revolve around some point of science. To me, that's sort of the point of SF. Otherwise, it's just mystery/romance/westerns etc. in space. Which is ok, I guess, but not usually what I'm interested in. I like fantasy, too, but in this thread we're talking about science fiction.

But then, most people are more ok with some kinds of science than they might think. Sundiver might be a bit heavy on solar physics, but there's also a lot of very interesting character development. Another book by David Brin, Earth, has some stuff about black holes and computers in it, and a fair amount about ecological disaster, but also some very human stories. Cherryh's books don't worry about physics so much, but tend to have a lot of complex anthropology and linguistic elements (which I like). I'd really have to recommend Cherryh's Finity's End in this context, I think. IMHO, it's one of her most readable and engaging books. Another good pick by Cherryh might be Cuckoo's Egg. (I liked Cyteen, as well, but it's a much longer, more complex work.)

If I were going to recommend anything by Zelazny in this context, it would probably be Doorways in the Sand, which stands alone rather than being part of an extended series, is very readable, and only involves a bit of science around achiral chemistry that is pretty clearly explained.

How about Spider Robinson's Callahan stories? You have to like puns, though.

Oh! I know. Zenna Hendersons "People" stories, collected in Ingathering. Possibly Dreamsnake, by Vonda McIntyre, or perhaps James H. Schmitz' Telzey books (available from Baen). Of Heinlein's books, Double Star is much more about politics than science. For straight-up adventure, maybe Alan Dean Foster, either the Flinx books or Nor Crystal Tears (very good first-contact book).

I haven't read much in the way of Star Trek or Star Wars books, but I did like The Final Reflection quite a bit.

Edit: I meant to mention Joan Vinge's Cat stories: Psion, Catspaw, and Dreamfall. Her short story collection Eyes of Amber is also excellent.

05-21-2008, 08:58 PM	#59
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Sorry, I've been really busy with work and grad school (and dealing with severe allergies) so I haven't been following new threads very well. Other suggestions... Well, there's Madeline L'Engle, but I'm not even sure whether to call her books SF, even though they often get classified as such. Part of my problem in recommending something is that a lot of the SF I like has plots that revolve around some point of science. To me, that's sort of the point of SF. Otherwise, it's just mystery/romance/westerns etc. in space. Which is ok, I guess, but not usually what I'm interested in. I like fantasy, too, but in this thread we're talking about science fiction. But then, most people are more ok with some kinds of science than they might think. Sundiver might be a bit heavy on solar physics, but there's also a lot of very interesting character development. Another book by David Brin, Earth, has some stuff about black holes and computers in it, and a fair amount about ecological disaster, but also some very human stories. Cherryh's books don't worry about physics so much, but tend to have a lot of complex anthropology and linguistic elements (which I like). I'd really have to recommend Cherryh's Finity's End in this context, I think. IMHO, it's one of her most readable and engaging books. Another good pick by Cherryh might be Cuckoo's Egg. (I liked Cyteen, as well, but it's a much longer, more complex work.) If I were going to recommend anything by Zelazny in this context, it would probably be Doorways in the Sand, which stands alone rather than being part of an extended series, is very readable, and only involves a bit of science around achiral chemistry that is pretty clearly explained. How about Spider Robinson's Callahan stories? You have to like puns, though. Oh! I know. Zenna Hendersons "People" stories, collected in Ingathering. Possibly Dreamsnake, by Vonda McIntyre, or perhaps James H. Schmitz' Telzey books (available from Baen). Of Heinlein's books, Double Star is much more about politics than science. For straight-up adventure, maybe Alan Dean Foster, either the Flinx books or Nor Crystal Tears (very good first-contact book). I haven't read much in the way of Star Trek or Star Wars books, but I did like The Final Reflection quite a bit. Edit: I meant to mention Joan Vinge's Cat stories: Psion, Catspaw, and Dreamfall. Her short story collection Eyes of Amber is also excellent.