trying scifi/fantasy..

[kennyc]

Yes Zelazny, but (as we were discussing in another thread) none of his work is available in ebook form.

[ekster]

Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard Morgan (starting with Altered Carbon)

I'd also agree with Ender's series by Orson Scott Cards.

For fantasy, The Mistborn trilogy and The Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson are amazing, in my opinion.

I also remember enjoying The Riftwar Saga (Mainly Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master) by Raymond E. Feist

[Apache]

If you want to read Roger Zelazny in pbook I would recommend Lord of Light and Doorways in the Sand. Lord of Light won the Hugo in 1968 for Best Novel.
If you liked The Three Musketeers I would recommend The Kahvren Romances by Steven Brust. Also try his Vlad Taltos Series.
Apache

[DiapDealer]

Why does everybody always go straight to a series when someone is looking for a good intro to the fantasy/sci-fi genres? I'm just curious about the phenomenon more than anything... no rancor intended. I would think that someone who is admittedly a noob when it comes to the genre would be looking for something with very little overall investment (time/money/sanity). So I always tend to recommend stand-alone novels. You know... see if you like the milk before you start buying herds of dairy cows.

[elemenoP]

How about "sort of sci fi" like Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go?

eP

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Why does everybody always go straight to a series when someone is looking for a good intro to the fantasy/sci-fi genres? I'm just curious about the phenomenon more than anything... no rancor intended. I would think that someone who is admittedly a noob when it comes to the genre would be looking for something with very little overall investment (time/money/sanity). So I always tend to recommend stand-alone novels. You know... see if you like the milk before you start buying herds of dairy cows.

I never.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

How about "sort of sci fi" ... or Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go?

eP

WOW! I'm tath I was not aware of that but after googling and amazoning a bit, it's not very high on my TBR list!

Thank you!

[elemenoP]

I loved Never Let Me Go, just promise me you won't see the movie, before or after you read the book.

eP

[kennyc]

I'm not much of a move person, so little chance of that, but that is also likely why I was unfamiliar with the book/author.

[straygator]

Take a look at Kevin Brockmeier's The Brief History of the Dead.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Why does everybody always go straight to a series when someone is looking for a good intro to the fantasy/sci-fi genres? I'm just curious about the phenomenon more than anything... no rancor intended. I would think that someone who is admittedly a noob when it comes to the genre would be looking for something with very little overall investment (time/money/sanity). So I always tend to recommend stand-alone novels. You know... see if you like the milk before you start buying herds of dairy cows.

Depends on what the reader is looking for. Some series are perfectly reasonable as a starting point. In this case the OP has already read some pretty hefty series and I don't think any of the series on this thread are unreasonable.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

In this case the OP has already read some pretty hefty series and I don't think any of the series on this thread are unreasonable.

Oh I agree. I don't think any of the suggestions are unreasonable at all. I'm just always fascinated by how ingrained "The Series" has become in the speculative category. It's like it's just a given... for authors, readers and right on down to the publishers.

There's a lot of series I really enjoy. I just wish there was more of a balance between series' and true stand-alones in the genre. Three books worth of the same characters/world/story arc just tends to wear me out anymore.

[chrisanthropic]

Hey now, I did mention PKD and he was definitely not a series man. :P

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by chrisanthropic

Hey now, I did mention PKD and he was definitely not a series man. :P

Bless you.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Why does everybody always go straight to a series when someone is looking for a good intro to the fantasy/sci-fi genres? I'm just curious about the phenomenon more than anything... no rancor intended. I would think that someone who is admittedly a noob when it comes to the genre would be looking for something with very little overall investment (time/money/sanity). So I always tend to recommend stand-alone novels. You know... see if you like the milk before you start buying herds of dairy cows.

I think the tendency to recommend a series is natural. First, because most of us find that if we like a book, we want more of it. And a series gives you that. Plus a series already tells you that there was enough success to get the publisher and author to write more. (Note here: I'm talking series, NOT "trilogies" where the story doesn't finish in a single book. )

So, for example, Asimov's Foundation? Yes, it's a series, but it's also very much standalone. Or any of the books in the Liaden(r) Universe. Or the Cheryh Foreigner books. Each one is complete unto itself, and in most cases doesn't really require an earlier book in the series to be understood. (The Foreigner books less so, perhaps.)