Sci-fi

[__earth]

Hey!

Have any of you got good new sci-fi book to recommend?

It has been awhile since I last read such genre. The last book sci-fi book that I read was the Martian triology. A really good book by Kim Stanley Robinson.

It is rich in detail so to speak and amazingly complex.

[cquayhl]

Earth, which sci-fi books/authors have you read bsides Robinson? I've read a bit of sci-fi/fantasy, but not Robinson. If you tell us what you like, that might give people a better idea of what to recommend. Charis

[The_Observer]

I have an old suggestion:

Read the Dune series by Frank Herbert.
Prelude to Dune series by his son, also can can...but the father's books much better... :D

[__earth]

Earth, which sci-fi books/authors have you read bsides Robinson? I've read a bit of sci-fi/fantasy, but not Robinson. If you tell us what you like, that might give people a better idea of what to recommend. Charis

I like a complex plots like the Foundation series or the Martian trilogy. and something with new concept like Arthur C. Clarke's Fountain of Paradise or the Ringworld.

is there any new sci-fi out there with new concept? I find it kind of hard to get a hard on sci-fi with new stuff. the only thing that i've found is Prey.

and observer, I've read most of classical sci-fi, including Dune. I've read all of Dune books. I like the first book the best. Which one is yours?

[cquayhl]

I like a complex plots like the Foundation series or the Martian trilogy. and something with new concept like Arthur C. Clarke's Fountain of Paradise or the Ringworld.

is there any new sci-fi out there with new concept? I find it kind of hard to get a hard on sci-fi with new stuff. the only thing that i've found is Prey.

Earth,

Sounds like you've probably read more stuff than I have. However, here are my suggestions.

Have you read Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels? There is no new concept here, perhaps, but the books are quite funny and very satirical. They're about 'Discworld', which is a disc, and is supported on the back of four elephants, which are standing on the back of a tortoise... His writing style reminds me a bit of Douglas Adams.

There is also Orson Scott Card, who wrote a series of books. The first book in the series is Ender's Game. Sketch of the plot: Earth is being invaded by aliens and this boy, Ender, is in the military, trying to save the planet.

Neil Gaiman is another newer writer. I like 'Neverwhere' best...it's about an alternative world that exists in the London Underground. I think Gaiman is better known for his graphic novels though and those I haven't read very many of.

Something a little older which you might not have read is C.S. Lewis's space trilogy: 'Out of the Silent Planet', 'Perelandra' and 'That Hideous Strength'. Unfortunately, I read these a very long time ago and cannot offer adequate commentary. There is Amazon.com though. :-) Most people know Lewis for the Narnia Chronicles, which include 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. Another older 'fantasy' author is Charles Williams, who was a comtemporary of Lewis and Tolkein. (They were all part of this literary group at Oxford called the Inklings.) I would recommend 'Many Dimensions' as a starting point.

I'm not sure if you're interested in fantasy, but there's Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' series, which starts with 'The Golden Compass. And Brian Jacques is a name I hear a lot, but I haven't picked up his stuff.

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
Charis.

[__earth]

thanks for the lead. i'll check it out.

[lintwhite]

I would recommend David Brin's Startide Rising, Heart of the Comet, Eart, Kiln People. Also, Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.

This is't exactly SF but it's interesting. Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. It's responsible for my current interest in cryptography and the reason why i'm trying really hard to understand the num theory in my crypto course.

ps. i'm old school, scifi is so space opera, SF more respectable!!! ;p

[jiinjoo]

How can you guys miss the epic sci-fi "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe" by Douglas Adams? :D

http://a9.com/The%20Ultimate%20Hitchhiker's%20Guide%20to%20the%20Galaxy%20

I like Isaac Asimov's writing, the foundation series and all. I wonder if I've time to read so much again, work is killing all of my time. Is there like a short-kick kind of sci-fi books around?

[cquayhl]

I'll second that recommendation! How could I forget indeed!

I think I've grown out of Asimov, but Adams I can still read. Well, that's just one data point.

Charis.

[rockjianrock]

Ta-da! Borders staff to the rescue! Some really good sci-fi you should read:

Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game"
This one is pretty good as well, although I cannot give you much about it. I think it got a Hugo, and in one edition's preface, Mr. Card cited Asimov's Foundation as an inspiration.

Phillip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
This book was also made into a film starring Harrison Ford called BLADE RUNNER. Blade runner now is considered a classic cult film.
Philip K. Dick writes a lot of good sci-fi. Three of his other works were also made into movies, which were Minority Report, Paycheck and Total Recall. This is how good he is. There's even a Science Fiction award called the Philip K. Dick award.

If I'm not mistaken, Philip K. Dick gets alluded to by Douglas Adams when Marvin the Paranoid Android starts writing poems and includes the line "dreaming of electric sheep".

And last of all, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is coming out this month!!!

Robert A. Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" and "Stranger in a Strange Land"
You may remember the bug-zapping, Halo-in-a-mirror-world movie that is enjoyably stupid. But Starship Troopers the novel is nothing like the movie. It deals with a society with complete equality of gender, a society that considers citizenship a privilege to be earned
instead of natural conferment, politics and war. Stranger in a strange land is considered to be one of his best works.

Edwin A. Abbott's "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions"
This is mind-blowing. Written in the 19th century, the author describes (a la More's Utopia) a universe where everything exists in 2d. Sentient life forms exists as shapes, and the more sides you have, the more elevated you are in society. Women, are single lines, and the high priest is a near-circle. Rain always falls from the north and gravity is always stronger in the South. Imagine what happens when a sphere from Spaceland comes to visit Flatland! Another person wrote a sequel in the 20th century, and he called it Sphereland.

[Shoblast]

For those who like philosophical little snippets of short stories, Asimov and David Brin's short stories will always get my recomendation. Asimov did a really ironic piece of work, where a man rediscovers doing sums on paper, in a world where it is completely computer dominated and we have conquered the solar system. The acadamie promptly coins it "Numerology", if i remember correctly, and all sorts of incredulity happens.

Earth, by David Brin, is good as well. The basic plot of the novel revolves around a young researcher, and about the mini blackhole he found in the middle of the earth's core. I liked it because Brin explored human society 50 years from the conception of the book, and leads us through the point of views of various characters, from a leading environmentalist, to a janitor who discovers learning, perspectives from a variety of people. Deals with quite a number of issues as well, environmentalism being one of them.

[Fire_Spectar]

I can't remember who the author of this book was, but the story was unputdownable...

The title is "Shadow of The Minatour" It's sci-fi mixed with mythology

[edcac]

How about The Host by Stephenie Meyer? I really enjoyed reading it!