Moving from SF to contemporary fiction recommends please - Page 2

TonyR · 12-31-2011, 06:25 PM

If you're thinking about crime fiction, you might look at the Parker novels, by Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark; you might also want to check out two Westlake non-series titles, The Ax and The Hook -- the latter two are pricey, but well worth it.

Most of the best James M. Cain and Jim Thompson titles are available as ebooks now. Fredric Brown excelled at mystery as well as sf, and several excellent mystery novels by Brown are available as ebooks. Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series and the short stories in Enough Rope might appeal. Barry Malzberg and Bill Pronzini collaborated on three suspense novels and two of those are available as ebooks.

Hope this helps. Have a good one.

apbschmitz · 12-31-2011, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrTeatime

David Mitchell is another good "transition" author: Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas have (some) SF elements, and are highly acclaimed (Cloud Atlas won the British Book Awards Literary Fiction Award).
:/

Definite second to the above. David Mitchell is a few steps removed from straight sci-fi. The structure can take a while to penetrate, but the books are rewarding. Similarly, the Glen Duncan book, The Last Werewolf, is a piece of vigorous writing that happens to be about werewolves.

flipreads · 01-04-2012, 04:19 AM

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

bill_mchale · 01-04-2012, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by owly

Michael Crichton has several like Jurrasic Park, the Andromeda Strain or Timeline http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#Fiction_2

Just a minor nitpick, but by any reasonable standard, all three of those books are science fiction since they deal with, respectively, cloning dinosaurs, an alien virus and time travel.

--
Bill

cjr72 · 01-04-2012, 02:43 PM

I'm a mostly science fiction reader who really enjoys Elmore Leonard's crime fiction. He's probably my favorite author when it comes to dialogue. His crime tends to focus on small-time hoods often trying to punch above his weight more so than a criminal mastermind type with designs on taking over the world.

TheSFReader · 01-05-2012, 04:31 PM

If you're ok with self-published authors, L.J.Sellers is quite good, and her "The Arranger" novel is set in a not yet cyberpunk universe.
Her other novels are "present" crime mysteries.

Angst · 01-06-2012, 05:55 PM

Barry Eisler - Rain Fall
Thriller along the lines of Robert Ludlum. His novels are set in Japan, so you get the rich detail of an 'alien' culture.

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12-31-2011, 06:25 PM	#16
TonyR Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kansas Device: Kindle, Jetbook Lite, iPod Touch	If you're thinking about crime fiction, you might look at the Parker novels, by Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark; you might also want to check out two Westlake non-series titles, The Ax and The Hook -- the latter two are pricey, but well worth it. Most of the best James M. Cain and Jim Thompson titles are available as ebooks now. Fredric Brown excelled at mystery as well as sf, and several excellent mystery novels by Brown are available as ebooks. Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series and the short stories in Enough Rope might appeal. Barry Malzberg and Bill Pronzini collaborated on three suspense novels and two of those are available as ebooks. Hope this helps. Have a good one.

01-04-2012, 04:19 AM	#18
flipreads Connoisseur Posts: 99 Karma: 433632 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: iPad	The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

01-04-2012, 02:43 PM	#20
cjr72 Groupie Posts: 172 Karma: 2900000 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: A Yankee in Texas Device: Nexus 6p, Nexus 10	I'm a mostly science fiction reader who really enjoys Elmore Leonard's crime fiction. He's probably my favorite author when it comes to dialogue. His crime tends to focus on small-time hoods often trying to punch above his weight more so than a criminal mastermind type with designs on taking over the world.

01-05-2012, 04:31 PM	#21
TheSFReader Groupie Posts: 172 Karma: 161634 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Nook	If you're ok with self-published authors, L.J.Sellers is quite good, and her "The Arranger" novel is set in a not yet cyberpunk universe. Her other novels are "present" crime mysteries.

01-06-2012, 05:55 PM	#22
Angst Cannon Fodder Posts: 2,878 Karma: 52253556 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Probably a library Device: PRS-350, Kindle DX, Kindle Paperwhite	Barry Eisler - Rain Fall Thriller along the lines of Robert Ludlum. His novels are set in Japan, so you get the rich detail of an 'alien' culture.

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