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The song of Phaid the gambler - Mick Farren
Citizen of the galaxy - Robert Heinlen
Didn't say he was, but it's yonks since I read any SF, and I'd like to start again. Those three were the best I read. There's a lot of soft fantasy in that top 100 list, even Watership Down. So, once again, who's new writing hard SF?
33 off that list, but I would agree that some of them are not what I would class as pure Sci-Fi.
Has no one mentioned David Drake yet? Hammers Slammers is a pretty good series, as are the Michael Williamson books based around the "Freehold" universe. I'm slightly biased thoguh because I prefer more of the military side of Sci-Fi, although the Iain M Banks Culture books are well up there in my favourites list
Lots of pluses for "The Hyperion Cantos". Just brilliant.
And anything by William Gibson.
And a question - who is now writing hard SF in the tradition of Asimov, Clarke and Niven?
Alastair Reynolds is doing epic space opera stuff, Adam Roberts is doing very conceptual stuff, there's lots about.
That's my next few years reading sorted. I love owning a book so I always buy so let's hope I can find a fair few on eBay.
Thanks all , some brilliant suggestions. I'm going to start at the top and work my way down.
The Helliconia trilogy by Brian Aldiss
I'm reading "Abaddon's Gate" by James SA Corey, which is the third/final book of the 'Expanse' series ("Leviathan Wakes", "Caliban's War" being the others). They've been cracking reads so far!
slowoldgit - Member
And a question - who is now writing hard SF in the tradition of Asimov, Clarke and Niven?
Greg Egan is worth a try, very definitely hard SF rather than space opera. Some of Greg Bear's stuff would be another one to go for.
Oh, and 44 off that list.
I [i]don't like[/i] sci-if as a genre, but can definitely +1 the Forever War trilogy and Enders Game as just massively engaging and memorable reads.
So many good books out there but a few here
For The Win by Cory Doctorow
Any of the Takeshi Kovacs books by Richard Morgan
In a fantasy vein, any of Guy Gavriel Kay's books - Tigana always has me blubbing.
Another vote for Wool and I've just started the second in the trilogy Shift. The third is only out in hardback - c'mon!!
And a question - who is now writing hard SF in the tradition of Asimov, Clarke and Niven?
Try some Stephen Baxter - some of his books are very forward thinking.
Lots of good stuff here. I particularly like Zelazny, McCaffrey (Dragons and the rest) and of the modern writers Iain M Banks and Alastair Reynolds. A couple of authors I've not seen mentioned:
Samuel R Delany - Dahlgren is my favourite, but it's all good
M John Harrison - In Viriconium etc
To those who liked Snowcrash (or tech sci-fi) you should really look up Xenoform by Mike Berry. Seriously impressive stuff and really good writing style which is often a problem with sci-fi. Just reading his second book Macao Station and its another stunner but quite dark.
xenoform just bought. £2 is an easy choice
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It's basically Dark Star crossed with a physics lecture, minus the beachball.
How about some Jack Womack? Give Heathern a go.
Or Jeff Noon? Vurt is very good.
Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man and Philip K Dick - Ubik.
I'd recommend them to anyone!
Some of the Black Library stuff is good, specifically the Gaunt's Ghosts series by Dan Abnett and also the Eisenhorn trilogy (can buy a as a single omnibus).
The Contact Series, Redemption Protocol by Mike Freeman.
37 off the list.....
One fairly recent find is on it tho - the name of the wind, and the wise mans fear by Patrick Rothfuss - some of the best 'epic fantasy' I've read in the last two years. Nether third is due out 2014.
Dhalgren sold over a million copies in the late 70s - people were cooler in those days.onewheelgood - MemberLots of good stuff here. I particularly like Zelazny, McCaffrey (Dragons and the rest) and of the modern writers Iain M Banks and Alastair Reynolds. A couple of authors I've not seen mentioned:
Samuel R Delany - Dahlgren is my favourite, but it's all good
M John Harrison - In Viriconium etc
[i]Stars in my pocket like grains of sand[/i] is my favourite Delany novel - unique. He planned to write a sequel immediately but it never materialised for various reasons.
John Scalzi has written some good books
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller
Oh yeah, definitely that one ^^^ from mikey74.
Wasp by Eric Frank Russell (if you can find it)
If you like the Culture stuff, then Bank's Transitions is worth a punt..
Dragon's Egg was mentioned earlier, great book. Am enjoying for the win currently thanks to this thread. Just finished the two long earth books, first one better than the second, too many ideas not followed through.
Bumping this as I've just finished Jim Butcher's Ghost Story and it was excellent - it's part of the Dresden Files series and I've jumped in with one of the later books but i really enjoyed it, so I'm setting about reading the rest of the series in order
Most of the good stuff has already been mentioned but I think these are well worth a read:
Small World & Little Star Dominic Green. Lesser known, clever and very funny.
Angelmaker - Nick Harkaway. Possibly contemporary Steampunk rather than sci fi, but this guy is the son of John le Carre and the writing is great.
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Got the Dresden books lined up to read & am in the process of finishing the 'Expanse' series by James SA Corey, not exactly indepth stuff but I'd agree with the poster above, a good read. Got a bunch of William Dietz stuff to try too.
Currently I'm also going through Neal stephenson's earlier/lesser-known books (zodiac/interface/the cobweb), but I struggled with Anathem (Cryptonomicon being my favourite) and am scared I'd not enjoy his "Baroque Cycle" books - can anyone comment?
Adam Roberts - New Model Army
Sort of working his way into replacing Iain M Banks in the way conventions are challenged/overturned.
William Gibson's Bridge trilogy and the Bigend trilogy are worth a look.
Brin's Existence and Kil'n People.
Baroque Cycle is a prequel to Cryptonomicon with lots of familiar names that would easily consume you! Go for it. I have Anathem but can't start it for some reason.
I did struggle with Anathem at the start and didn't get into it like I have his other books, I finally clicked eventually but didn't find myself as 'sucked in' as his other stuff (Oh I forgot.. I didn't think the diamond age was that great either).
Cheers will give the Baroque cycle a go then.
Cheers will give the Baroque cycle a go then.
It's very similar in feel to Cryptonomicon, but with the birth of finance instead of codebreaking. And a bit more swashbuckling.
Don't really rate the Baroque cycle (although I'm a big NS fan in general). Classic case of all a writer's faults being on display with few of his strengths. It's actually boring for long stretches, which is unheard of for a writer of Stephenson's wit and style.
Quicksilver is one of the most disappointing books I've ever read, actually, when you look at the trajectory his writing was on, prior to.
Loved anathem, although it's a bit ropey in structure. Superbly imagined work IMHO. Reamde is total shite, but that was more an experiment by NS to write an airport thriller so it's not like it was a failure from that perspective. Intriguing to see what he will do next.
re: Stevenson, I didn't get a lot from REAMDE either. But loved most everything else.
Currently reading the Mortal Engines series with my boys, on to book 2 and they are really rather good.
I found large sections of the first of the baroque cycle boring, but stuck with it. Started the second but couldn't be bothered trudging through the first boring bit.
Nobody for Kurt Vonnegut yet ? Old school and lacking spaceships, but worth checking out.
Oooh yes, Cats Craddle or Breakfast of champions
re: Stevenson, I didn't get a lot from REAMDE either. But loved most everything else.
I really enjoyed REAMDE, but failed to really connect with his books after Diamond Age.
I think pretty much anything I could possibly think of to recommend has already been covered, now.
Actually, I've just thought of a really good series of books, well worth anyone's time, the 'Okies' series, by James Blish:
Perhaps Blish's most famous works were the "Okies" stories, known collectively as Cities in Flight, published in the science-fiction digest magazine Astounding Science Fiction. The framework for these was set in the first of four novels, They Shall Have Stars (first UK publication under the alternative title of Year 2018!), which introduces two essential features of the series. The first is the invention of the anti-aging drug ascomycin; Blish's employer Pfizer makes a thinly disguised appearance as Pfitzner in a section showing the screening of biological samples for interesting activity. (Pfizer also appears in disguise as one of the sponsors of the polar expedition in a subsequent book, Fallen Star). The second is the development of an antigravity device known as the "spindizzy". Since the device becomes more efficient when used to propel larger objects, entire cities leave an Earth in decline and rove the stars, looking for work among less-industrialized systems. The long life provided by ascomycin is necessary because the journeys between stars are time-consuming.
They Shall Have Stars is dystopian science fiction of a type common in the era of McCarthyism. The second, A Life For The Stars, is a coming of age story set amid flying cities. The third, Earthman, Come Home, is a series of loosely connected short stories detailing the adventures of a flying New York City; the title piece was selected as one of the best novellas prior to 1965 by the Science Fiction Writers of America and included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two.
For his fourth and final installment, The Triumph of Time (UK title: A Clash of Cymbals), Blish set the end of his literature's universe in AD 4004.[6] (The chronology in early editions of They Shall Have Stars differed somewhat from the later reprints, indicating that Blish, or his editors, may not have planned this at the beginning of the series.) A film version of Cities in Flight was in pre-production by Spacefilms in 1979, but never materialized.[7]
Has lots of interesting tec, like the Spindizzy Drive, that allows an entire city to become a spaceship.
I think I first read them at school, a really excellent writer, Blish wrote quite a lot of stuff.
E.C.Tubb's 'Godwhale' is also really worth looking out.
I struggled with Anathem (Cryptonomicon being my favourite) and am scared I'd not enjoy his "Baroque Cycle" books -
Personally I preferred the Baroque Cycle to Cryptonomicon. If you've got at least a slim grasp of history it's great. I've read them all at least three times.
Anathem was hard work for the first 3rd or so. Then it took off.
I suspect quite a few here would enjoy Eric Frank Russell's books. Devious sense of the ludicrous and sense of humour. In retrospect a lot of his stuff is subversive satire which I only realised years later - I'll have to read it all again now 🙂