[AndrewH]

I've read Dune, the Foundation series, and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Dune is my absolute fav sci-fi book and series! I'll take it over anything done by Asimov and Bradbury.

You are going to be my new best friend. The six book Dune series, as written by Frank Herbert... not that garbage his son wrote, is my favorite sci-fi series. I've re-read it seven or eight times over the years. It was introduced to me in English class in high school and I enjoyed it so much I'd read the entire series before the assignment to read the first book was completed.

Originally Posted by din155

I have read Dune, 1984 and Foundation. Just out of curiosity, has anyone read later books of Dune series? I could not bring myself to read rest of the series as the characters got altered just too much for my taste.

I loved all six Dune books by Frank Herbert. The Dune books written by Brian Herbert... not so much.

Originally Posted by Yapyap

I've read 1984 and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell from that list; I can't say I ever thought of the latter as science fiction, though (seemed pretty straightforward alternative history fantasy to me, from what I recall).

Nothing at all sci-fi about it. Definitely fantasy, I don't know why it's on this list.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is, I think, a book will people will either love or hate. It's different, the story is meandering, there's almost no action, there's footnotes galore and the footnotes have their own footnotes (though the footnotes aren't fundamental to the story), the magic that occurs is fairly subtle, the humour is dry and witty. However, the prose is achingly beautiful, the dialogue is thick with subtext, and the story is brilliant. Reading it reminded me of driving leisurely in the country, occasionally pulling over to enjoy a breathtaking vista.