Spec me a Science Ficton author

Kermit said:
Even though you say 'modern' you should include Arthur C Clarke as many of his books still feel fresh and the technology/future depicted in them as clued up as many books written years later. Aside from the obvious Odyssey series, I recommend the Rama series, Time's Eye and pretty much all post 1968/2001 books as still feeling 'modern'. Wiki link of Clarkes books
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What this man says, Clarke is the daddy of this genre. His 2001 series is amazing.

2001: A Space Odyssey
2010: Odyssey Two
2061: Odyssey Three
3001: The Final Odyssey

Four epic novels about the Monoliths.
 
A bit older but Philip K Dick? Lots of decent classic sci fi books - Do Androids dream of electric sheep (what Blade Runner is based on), We can remember that for you wholesale (Total Recall), lots of others..
 
Tobeornottobe said:
Thanks - I'll give Hamilton a go first. Should I start with 'The Dreaming Void'?
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Need to read them in this order

The Commonwealth Saga
Pandora's Star (2004), Part 1
Judas Unchained (2005), Part 2

Then

The Void Trilogy
The Dreaming Void (2007), Part 1
The Temporal Void (2008), Part 2
The Evolutionary Void (2010), Part 3

These three follow the first two, same universe just set more in the future

Best books I have ever read, only got into Hamilton as Pandora's star was on offer, Couldn't put them down
 
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I suggest Patrick Tilley's "Amtrak Wars" which I thought was excellent but it seems to be very marmite. You either absolutely love it or absolutely hate it. :D
 
Iain M Banks Culture novels really hit the spot. He should be chained to his desk for the rest of his years to keep churning them out at least 1 every month.

Now all we need is a good movie, maybe even fully CGI but not for kids type thing and a MMPORG :)
 
hornett said:
Need to read them in this order

The Commonwealth Saga
Pandora's Star (2004), Part 1
Judas Unchained (2005), Part 2

Then

The Void Trilogy
The Dreaming Void (2007), Part 1
The Temporal Void (2008), Part 2
The Evolutionary Void (2010), Part 3

These three follow the first two, same universe just set more in the future

Best books I have ever read, only got into Hamilton as Pandora's star was on offer, Couldn't put them down
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What Hornett said, you won't regret it!
 
hornett said:
Need to read them in this order

The Commonwealth Saga
Pandora's Star (2004), Part 1
Judas Unchained (2005), Part 2

Then

The Void Trilogy
The Dreaming Void (2007), Part 1
The Temporal Void (2008), Part 2
The Evolutionary Void (2010), Part 3

These three follow the first two, same universe just set more in the future

Best books I have ever read, only got into Hamilton as Pandora's star was on offer, Couldn't put them down
Click to expand...

Right! Pandora's Star now on my Kindle.
 
If you like "older" Science Fiction, you could try Olaf Stapledon. A British writer from the Wirral, his writings influenced some of the greats such as Arthur C. Clarke.

"Star Maker" and "First and Last Men" are considered to be among his best works.
 
If you've read and enjoyed Bank's Culture novels (and his non-Culture SF), then you might enjoy Neal Asher's Polity universe, which is up to a fair old number of books now (although the Spatterjay trilogy can be missed unless you're a completist).

Baxter's Xeelee Sequence stuff is epic in scope, always worth a read, the Xeelee pretty much win award for most advanced hard SF race ever created.

Gary Gibson has a great trilogy called the Shoal Sequence, I think he's writing a 4th book at some point too. Pure space opera.

William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy... if you haven't read these you're not an SF fan!

The Ringworld books are... well, I liked the first one the most, but the others are pretty good. The scale of Ringworld still blows my mind.
 
Just finished Old Mans War by John Scalzi - based on the recommendation it was like reading a cross between Robert Heinlein and Joe Haldeman - really enjoyed it and would recommend it (and Joe Haldemans The Forever War of course)
 
John Scalzi's OMW series is great fun, it's worth reading all 4 books, plus the shorts (IIRC he's done one for Tor.com, and a couple of others).

Most of the authors I'd suggest have already been mentioned, I don't know if Ben Bova and Larry Niven have been yet, but i'd recommend them :)
The entire "Known space" series from Niven is good, especially when you read the Ringworld, then some of the stories from earlier in the sequence (things that get a passing mention in Ringworld get their own stories with a lot more information).
 
Most of the good series have been mentioned but I'd just add to read Gibson's Sprawl or at least Neuromancer first and remember when it was written, it's awesome :cool: Then read the Hyperion Cantos after, it's cool to appreciate all the ground broken by Gibson beforehand :cool:
 
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