Science Fiction - Page 2

Namekuseijin · 01-13-2012, 09:10 PM

Begin with a true classic: "The Time Machine", by H.G.Wells. Pretty short and sweet and yet retains the foremost rule of scifi: take a subject and speculate about it to the utmost consequences. He doesn't even incur into lame predictions for the next few decades, going instead well beyond current human civilization (thou by extrapolating social theories of his own time)...

It's also in the public domain and a free download.

After that, if you want something more hardcore, by modern authors and still freebies, you may try Accelerando, by Charles Stross or Afterlife, by Simon Funk, both very good reads, not lame space opera...

xg4bx · 01-14-2012, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbm

Do not start Monster Hunter International at night, because you will not be able to put it down until your are done with it. Then you will want to read it again.

http://www.baenebooks.com/c-108-mons...ry-coreia.aspx

enjoy bernie

and the weird thing is that its 700 pages but doesn't feel like it at all. it keeps moving and there isn't a single section that drags,gets dull or should have ended up on the chopping block.

his book Dead Six is also great. its like the world's greatest unmade action movie. again, like Monster Hunter, its about 700 pages but every one of them is a winner.

Larry Correia is depressingly underrated.

elemenoP · 01-14-2012, 09:55 AM

If you want to dive right off the deep end, try Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Quite possibly the strangest book I ever read. It's excellent, though.

Do you like dystopia and do you consider dystopia sci-fi? Hunger Games is great. I guess the darker version is Battle Royale, but I haven't read that myself.

eP

Steven Lyle Jordan · 01-14-2012, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xg4bx

unfortunately most of what i would recommend like Ringworld by Larry Niven or Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke aren't in ebook format yet for whatever reason.

I'm also waiting to see the Clarke catalog converted to ebooks. I consider his work to be the best, hands down.

kennyc · 01-14-2012, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

Here's a thread that will give you a good insight as to what folks on this board think is the best in Science Fiction:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=142009

Enjoy. It is a grand adventure that I've spent 45+ years on and never exhausted my sense of wonder.

Dean

Thanks. And yes there are a number of these threads. To the O.P.: good idea to do a search here as well.

kennyc · 01-14-2012, 10:41 AM

you could do worse than some of the classics like H.G. Wells or Edgar Rice Burroughs.

HarryT · 01-14-2012, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

I'm also waiting to see the Clarke catalog converted to ebooks. I consider his work to be the best, hands down.

Pretty much all - if not all - of Clarke's books are available as eBooks, published by Gollancz. Unfortunately, many of them don't seem to be available in the US. They are all available in the UK.

mitchell_iles · 01-14-2012, 07:02 PM

Wow, I have enough suggestions to keep me busy for months. I read The Time Machine in highschool. Maybe it's time to pick it up again.

Picked up The Shadow of the Lion and Monster Hunter International at night. If you don't hear from me for a few days it means I've fallen in the genre and haven't been able to get out ;-)

RDaneel54 · 01-14-2012, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Pretty much all - if not all - of Clarke's books are available as eBooks, published by Gollancz. Unfortunately, many of them don't seem to be available in the US. They are all available in the UK.

Argh! I'd so like to get more of his work on my Kindle.

Ninjalawyer · 01-15-2012, 11:10 AM

I think for cool, fast-paced adventure sci-fi, I would go with Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth or Void books. The author is very good at writing adventure stories and is little concerned with the science.

For more literary scifi, I'd probably go with Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion like someone already mentioned (I'm not a fan of the books after that), Frank Herbert's Dune books (avoid the later books by his son, they're excretable) or A Canticle for Leibowitz (personal favourite book of all time).

If you want something more realistic, I'd probably also read Spin, Axis and Vortex. Spin and Vortex were both very good books (with Spin receiving a Hugo award in the year it came out). Anything by Stephen Baxter is also good if you want really accurate science, but don't mind sometimes poor characterization.

JeremyZ · 01-15-2012, 10:48 PM

I think you should start with an old classic: H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. If you've seen the Tom Cruise movie recently, wait a while.

I thought it was pretty faithful, but there's nothing like the original.

357mag · 01-19-2012, 06:12 PM

You can try this site. It is kinda of like an IMDB for books, but rated by readers. This link is for the best SF books of all time:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3..._Fiction_Books

xg4bx · 01-19-2012, 09:01 PM

theres always the Dune series by Frank Herbert. imo God Emperor of Dune is one of the best books ever written. Frank Herbert wrote the 6 original novels but at risk of sounding like a heretic, only the first 3 are really worth reading.

AndrewH · 01-19-2012, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xg4bx

theres always the Dune series by Frank Herbert. imo God Emperor of Dune is one of the best books ever written. Frank Herbert wrote the 6 original novels but at risk of sounding like a heretic, only the first 3 are really worth reading.

God Emperor of Dune was #4.

I love the entire series. Well, the entire series as written by Frank Herbert... Brian Herbert's stuff is trash, IMO.

xg4bx · 01-20-2012, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewH

God Emperor of Dune was #4.

I love the entire series. Well, the entire series as written by Frank Herbert... Brian Herbert's stuff is trash, IMO.

yea, i just realized it was book 4 and was on my way to edit

lol

01-13-2012, 09:10 PM	#16
Namekuseijin affordable chipmunk Posts: 1,290 Karma: 9863855 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Brazil Device: Sony XPeria ZL, Kindle Paperwhite	Begin with a true classic: "The Time Machine", by H.G.Wells. Pretty short and sweet and yet retains the foremost rule of scifi: take a subject and speculate about it to the utmost consequences. He doesn't even incur into lame predictions for the next few decades, going instead well beyond current human civilization (thou by extrapolating social theories of his own time)... It's also in the public domain and a free download. After that, if you want something more hardcore, by modern authors and still freebies, you may try Accelerando, by Charles Stross or Afterlife, by Simon Funk, both very good reads, not lame space opera... Last edited by Namekuseijin; 01-13-2012 at 09:17 PM.

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01-14-2012, 09:55 AM	#18
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	If you want to dive right off the deep end, try Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Quite possibly the strangest book I ever read. It's excellent, though. Do you like dystopia and do you consider dystopia sci-fi? Hunger Games is great. I guess the darker version is Battle Royale, but I haven't read that myself. eP

01-14-2012, 10:41 AM	#21
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	you could do worse than some of the classics like H.G. Wells or Edgar Rice Burroughs.

01-14-2012, 07:02 PM	#23
mitchell_iles Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 202 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Burlington, KY Device: Kindle Fire	Wow, I have enough suggestions to keep me busy for months. I read The Time Machine in highschool. Maybe it's time to pick it up again. Picked up The Shadow of the Lion and Monster Hunter International at night. If you don't hear from me for a few days it means I've fallen in the genre and haven't been able to get out ;-)

01-15-2012, 11:10 AM	#25
Ninjalawyer Guru Posts: 826 Karma: 18573626 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Nexus 7 (2013)	I think for cool, fast-paced adventure sci-fi, I would go with Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth or Void books. The author is very good at writing adventure stories and is little concerned with the science. For more literary scifi, I'd probably go with Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion like someone already mentioned (I'm not a fan of the books after that), Frank Herbert's Dune books (avoid the later books by his son, they're excretable) or A Canticle for Leibowitz (personal favourite book of all time). If you want something more realistic, I'd probably also read Spin, Axis and Vortex. Spin and Vortex were both very good books (with Spin receiving a Hugo award in the year it came out). Anything by Stephen Baxter is also good if you want really accurate science, but don't mind sometimes poor characterization.

01-15-2012, 10:48 PM	#26
JeremyZ Addict Posts: 303 Karma: 1000702 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Chicago Device: Nook ST, Kindle 2, Samsung Galaxy Stellar phone	I think you should start with an old classic: H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. If you've seen the Tom Cruise movie recently, wait a while. I thought it was pretty faithful, but there's nothing like the original.

01-19-2012, 06:12 PM	#27
357mag Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 248 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: iPad and Galaxy S5	You can try this site. It is kinda of like an IMDB for books, but rated by readers. This link is for the best SF books of all time: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3..._Fiction_Books

01-19-2012, 09:01 PM	#28
xg4bx Are you gonna eat that? Posts: 1,633 Karma: 23215128 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Phillipsburg, NJ Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG	theres always the Dune series by Frank Herbert. imo God Emperor of Dune is one of the best books ever written. Frank Herbert wrote the 6 original novels but at risk of sounding like a heretic, only the first 3 are really worth reading.