Dragons Egg really is excelelnt – read it a few years ago but it’s stayed with me. Any other books like it?

Read enders game a few months ago – also very good, tho some of the later ones in the serious are a bit laboured.

Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, a pro SF writer and a NASA scientist team up to make the best current SF novel I’ve read.

Plus anything else by Niven, his known space stuff is mind-stretching. It would help to read it in order.

100 off that list. I set myself the target to read them all.

It stopped being fun after a while

I’m not surprised, that a not the best top “100 list” I’ve seen, stuff on there I read a young teenager & have looked at since and found it very poor..

Gunna add David Brin’s Uplift series to the my list, & Douglas Adams.. just because…

And a question – who is now writing hard SF in the tradition of Asimov, Clarke and Niven?

Umm Niven ain’t quite done yet…

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 don’t like 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

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.

onewheelgood – Member

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 Dhalgren sold over a million copies in the late 70s – people were cooler in those days.
Stars in my pocket like grains of sand 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.

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.