Looking for sci-fi/fantasy recommendations

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

Arthur C Clark Time Series and odyssey series. All his books and short stories are good.

His Rama series is awful. It's dry and boring.

[piperclassique]

His Rama series is awful. It's dry and boring.

I didn't think so, but that's only my opinion. Feel free to differ.

[fantasyISbetter]

Originally Posted by OverHaze

I'm getting stick to do death of reading variations on the "space US/Space UN vs the colonists" theme in contemporary Sci-fi. I want some cool aliens damn it! Wide vistas, unimaginable strangeness.

Try Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by OverHaze

I have read many books over this last year (including the first six Malazan books) and I have come to the annoying conclusion that I have loved none of them. I liked some of them, I really liked a few of them (Tigana, Memories of Ice, Midnight Tides) but not loved.

So I am looking for recommendations! I want something I will look forward to reading at night, not something to merely help me sleep.

My four favourite books of all time are in order, Anathem, A Deepness in the Sky, A Fire Upon the Deep, Let the Right One In.

I like big concepts, interesting likeable and outsider characters.

Any recommendations?

Going back to the OP on this one, The Goblin Series by Jaq D. Hawkins is one I really like for worldbuilding. I love going back there and hope she writes more for the series!

[fantasyISbetter]

You might want to take a look at the following, which are my recent favorite reads in the fantasy/SF realm, all fabulous:
Bennett, Robert Jackson City of Stairs (trilogy)
Liu, Cixin The Three-Body Problem (trilogy)
Jemisin, NK The Fifth Season (trilogy)
Wilson, Kai Ashante A Taste of Honey
Dickinson, Seth The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Hawkins, Scott The Library at Mount Char
Strugatsky, Boris & Arkady Roadside Picnic

[dworth]

Dan Abnett is worth a look. He's done plenty of titles set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and whilst these are very variable in quality on the whole, his are definitely a cut above the rest.

Amongst his works are the Gaunt's Ghosts series, which follow a squad of troopers through a massive interstellar war. They're rather similar to the Sharpe series of books except set in the far future with campaigns across entire star systems that feature billions of combatants. There's also the Eisenhorn series that describes the adventures of one of the Imperium's Inquisitors as he roots out heretics and traitors and uncovers plots within plots.

Abnett has also done a few novels set in the Horus Heresy period, which are set ten thousand years in the past from the perspective of the 40k universe amidst a galactic civil war, including the debut novel in the series, Horus Rising.

Action sequences are definitely his strong point, and whilst many of the 40k books feature cardboard cutouts, Abnett does properly rounded characterisation, even when describing the Space Marines (who despite being genetically engineered superhumans hell bent on religiously motivated genocide in the name of humanity, are often a bit... well... boring, when described by other authors)

[MickeyC]

If you'd like a good giggle, I highly recommend The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by MickeyC

If you'd like a good giggle, I highly recommend The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Seconded! Required reading for any SFF fan.

[HLS]

I am 3 chapters away from finishing "IT" and it is a very good book. I also read Cryptonomicon ( or how ever you spell it) which is a hard read. My father was a decoder in the Amy so it was somewhat fascinating to read but he was stationed in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia ( This was late 1950's to early 60's)

[gwynevans]

Just to mention a few favourites...

One's I think that were already mentioned in the thread - Hitchhiker's; Liaden; Deed of Paksenarrion; Mistborn ; Old Man's War ; Valor(Tanya Huff) ;Vorkosigan

Ones that may not have been (or I missed them!)

• Brian Daley - Alacrity Fitzhugh trilogy ; Echos of HHGTTG
• John Ringo - Black Tide Rising / Council Wars / Looking Glass /Troy Rising
• Mike Shepherd - Kris Longknife ; A bit lightweight but a decent read
• Michael Z Williamson - Freehold / Ripple Creek
• Weber/Ringo - March
• Elizabeth Moon - Vatta's War
• L E Modesitt - Recluce series
• Steve McHugh - Hellequin Chronicles ; a recent UK find that I'm enjoying
• Nathan Lowell - Trader Tales
• John Hemry - JAG in Space
• Simon R Green - Deathstalker / Forest Kingdom / Nightside / Secret Histories ; Generally worth it, although sometimes the series don't finish well..
• David Drake - Republic of Cinnabar
• Chris Bunch & Allen Cole - Sten
• Bill Baldwin - Helmsman
• Jean Johnson - Theirs not to reason why
• Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe

[Dngrsone]

Oh, man; I haven't read Daley in decades... I still have those books sequestered in a box somewhere. Mayhaps I should pull them out (or get digital versions).

[rguion]

FYI - The Fifth Season is on sale for Kindle in the US today:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...Q?tag=mr060-20

Originally Posted by fantasyISbetter

You might want to take a look at the following, which are my recent favorite reads in the fantasy/SF realm, all fabulous:
Bennett, Robert Jackson City of Stairs (trilogy)
Liu, Cixin The Three-Body Problem (trilogy)
Jemisin, NK The Fifth Season (trilogy)
Wilson, Kai Ashante A Taste of Honey
Dickinson, Seth The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Hawkins, Scott The Library at Mount Char
Strugatsky, Boris & Arkady Roadside Picnic

[OverHaze]

Maybe not great to ask this in a forum dedicated to ebook reading but are there any books in the Sci-Fi or fantasy space that do interesting things with publishing like S or House of Leaves? I kind of need gift ideas!

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by OverHaze

Maybe not great to ask this in a forum dedicated to ebook reading but are there any books in the Sci-Fi or fantasy space that do interesting things with publishing like S or House of Leaves? I kind of need gift ideas!

I'm not familiar with S or House of Leaves but you might check out Subterranean Press, they do short special edition runs of some books and have had some interesting releases. Nice leatherbound and numbered editions, etc.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

I also read Cryptonomicon ( or how ever you spell it) which is a hard read. My father was a decoder in the Amy so it was somewhat fascinating to read but he was stationed in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia ( This was late 1950's to early 60's)

I remember very much enjoying the first 80% of Cryptonomicon, and being totally lost through the last 20%. I'm still not sure exactly how it ended or how (if?) the story threads came together.

Spoiler:

I remember there was gold. And Nazis. Something like that.

ApK