Science Fiction worth Reading

[Commander Xillian]

Yo yo, Xill' here. Looking to broaden my horizons, as it were. Anyone here have any favorites that they recommend reading? I prefer faster books, not all action, but usually with some.

[Aaron]

Anything WH40K.

The Deathstalker series is worth a read. It follows an exiled aristocrat thousands of years in the future, he starts a rebellion, saves an empire, finds love. All the best of pulp fiction.

[Srelex]

Meh; some 40k books are barely readable trash, but check out the Ciaphas Cain series if you haven't. Other than that, I found Clarke's 2001 to be an enjoyable read, for one.

[Commander Xillian]

Deathstalker. Hm. Alright.

I'm a large 40K fan myself, study Librabium nightly, favorite book is fifteen hours. In the middle of Cadian Blood, His Last Command, and the Last Chancers Omnibus.

Also have the Ultramarines Omnibus. Not my kinda read...

[eion]

The Halo books outside of Halo: The Flood were entertaining.

[Aaron]

Meh; some 40k books are barely readable trash, but check out the Ciaphas Cain series if you haven't. Other than that, I found Clarke's 2001 to be an enjoyable read, for one.

Yeah avoid:

-The Soul Drinkers series
-Inquisition War (the author has a really odd fascination with dicks and shit, it also doesn't line up with the later fluff in a bad way)

[Commander Xillian]

Avoid Souldrinkers and Inquisition War. Got it.

I've been thinking about "Emperor's Mercy". Is that any good?

[Aaron]

Eh...it was horrible the first time around. The author is ADF and he tends to put alot of acronyms and stuff in the novel that don'tt really fit the setting. It was a lot better the second time around.

Flesh and Iron is a far better novel (by the same author) that shows the birth of the Chaos Warlord in Emperor's Mercy as a result of a massive IoM fuckup. It's a far more interesting book and the main character doesn't spend half the time unconscious. Beware of scattered odd political ramblings though.

[Commander Xillian]

... Why, does Warmaster Dubya Bush make a cameo or something?

"We must not allow the heretic to hereticalize the Imperium. We do a good enough job as is."

[Aaron]

Not quite as blatant as that.

[fgalkin]

Deathstalker. Hm. Alright.

I'm a large 40K fan myself, study Librabium nightly, favorite book is fifteen hours. In the middle of Cadian Blood, His Last Command, and the Last Chancers Omnibus.

Also have the Ultramarines Omnibus. Not my kinda read...

In that case, you should read the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies by Dan Abnett- probably the best 40k novels out there. I also like Relentless,as it's quite different from the generic BL novel. And, I gotta second the Ciaphas Cain books- they're great fun (just avoid Caves of Ice as your starting novel, it's the weakest in the series by far).

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[loomer]

It's not fast paced, but it's compelling enough to make that a non-issue, so try The Mote in God's Eye. It's an older, semi-soft sci-fi by Niven, the one that really got his name out there, and every one who wants to try different elements of sci-fi should try it.

[Simon_Jester]

Well, if you want to go back to the very beginning of the genre, there's the works of Dr. Edward Elmer Smith, which I always recommend in contexts like this.

Put it this way: Doc Smith wrote the kind of stories that George Lucas wanted to make when he grew up. Lucas was... mostly successful.

[Count Chocula]

Try Hammer's Slammers or Redliners for an intro to David Drake's tankwank mercenary universe. Fun reading, and Redliners IIRC is free at the Baen site. Keith Laumer's early Bolo books or Fred Saberhagen's Berzerker novels are also fun 'classic' reads.

Peter F. Hamilton's books are pretty damn good reads too IMO, with lots of action and a dash of the supernatural. If you just like action, by all means read the Honor Harrington series by David Weber or John Ringo's Posleen series. You'll find action and tech galore!

Alternatively, you could start with the classics and start with Robert Heinlein's Rocket Ship Galileo and proceed from there. Asimov, well, he's a little light on action and pew-pew explosions. I really like Van Vogt and Ron Goulart's novels, but the 'action' in them is more cerebral with an occasional lagniappe of boom.

EDIT: Just saw Simon Jester's post as I hit preview. How could I forget Doc Smith!? Read ALL of the Lensman books. Really. All of them. They are hyperbole squared, equationless massive force, impossible speed, superpowered supermen and superwomen bundles of AWESOME! If you want to know where George Lucas got his inspiration for Jedi and Sith, by all means read the Lensmen series. Good call.

[Edi]

Anything by Chris Bunch, especially The Last Legion series.

[Black Admiral]

The Halo books outside of Halo: The Flood were entertaining.

I'd add The Cole Protocol to that list; it's boring, for one thing, and includes rather a lot of jarring stupidity (as well as a hilariously unironic (& SoD murdering) use of the term "sticky grenade" on pg. 216).

Eh...it was horrible the first time around. The author is ADF and he tends to put alot of acronyms and stuff in the novel that don'tt really fit the setting. It was a lot better the second time around.

Flesh and Iron is a far better novel (by the same author) that shows the birth of the Chaos Warlord in Emperor's Mercy as a result of a massive IoM fuckup. It's a far more interesting book and the main character doesn't spend half the time unconscious. Beware of scattered odd political ramblings though.

Depends on your preference, I suppose - I found Flesh And Iron to be, frankly, boring, as well as far too close to outright "CHAOS IS AWESOME!!!" than I like. Basically I found it a major let-down after Emperor's Mercy.

As to the Inquisition War series, my recommendation would be to at least give it a once-over; it's pretty much binary in terms of opinion on them - you'll either find them boring and obtuse, or brilliant. There doesn't really seem to be any in-between point. I agree with the recommendation to avoid the Soul Drinkers series, though - at least, unless you want to laugh at how big a gullible retard Sarpedon is (and speculate on the other Imperial Fists-descended Chapters palming their "special" initiates off on the Soul Drinkers).

[Sinewmire]

My favourite sci fi book of all time is Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke, which features mankind's discovery of an Alien vessel. It provoked a real sense of wonder in me.

[Zed]

I recommend Hyperion, by Dan Simmons.

[Stofsk]

Ringworld's worth a read, including it's sequels (though I've only read up to Throne of Ringworld so far).

[aieeegrunt]

Ringworld goes down hill in Throne, I'd stop there.

Rather than citing all the indivicual works, I'm just going to do a blanket recommendation of Larry Niven; I've enjoyed all of his stuff. His short stories are better than his novels (which are still worth reading).

[Stofsk]

Ringworld goes down hill in Throne, I'd stop there.

Engineers is necessary, in my opinion, as Ringworld has an abrupt ending which lacks closure, and Engineers provides that. Throne... is ok, I guess. It was more of a hassle to read through than the previous two books. There's apparently a fourth book which I haven't read however.

Rather than citing all the indivicual works, I'm just going to do a blanket recommendation of Larry Niven; I've enjoyed all of his stuff. His short stories are better than his novels (which are still worth reading).

Yeah. Destiny's Road is a good book, IMO, but it does lack action.

[Lord Pounder]

Anything by Chris Bunch, especially The Last Legion series.

What did you think of the Sten books he co-wrote. Currently re-reading them at the moment and still find them enjoyable popcorn sci-fi. Love the nice touches such as the huge spider being called Sh'aarl't(sp?)

[Thirdfain]

A few recommendations:

1. "The Legacy of Heorot" by somebody and Larry Niven: Fairly short novel about Earth's first interplanetary colony, 40 years of travel away from the homeworld. Moderately hard sci-fi about their struggle to survive against an extremely hostile planet. Good stuff!

2. "Hyperion" and "Fall of Hyperion" by Dan Simmons: Totally awesome grand space opera partially based on the Canterbury tales. Evil AIs, barbarian space invaders, some of the best space combat in sci fi, and some real literary merit as well. Totally great. You might also like the sequel duology, Endymion, but I'd read Hyperion first. This was mentioned before in the thread, but it bears repeating.

3. "The Witches of Karres:" Classic science fiction about a space trader who accidently buys some slaves who turn out to be fabulously powerful. A fun, light-hearted book with a great retro feel.

[Darth Paxis]

The Robot Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. The interaction between Daneel and Bailey is pretty good, even if Bailey isn't that good of a detective.

[Zed]

Has anybody mentioned the Foundation Trilogy yet? The prequels and sequels to the trilogy aren't really bad either, but Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation are pretty damn good.