A good Sci-fi read?

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

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I've had a quick search as this topic has come up before, but it's difficult to know where to start when it comes to finding a good Sci-fi book.

Basically my love of science fiction comes from TV shows such as Star Trek, and more recently Battlestar Galactica and even Firefly. I can't get on with perhaps more wonky shows (sorry guys) such as Farscape, Stargate etc. When it comes to movies I also like the 'obvious' classics like Blade Runner.

So I want to actually start reading some good Sci-fi. A while ago I tried reading Consider Phlebas but I kept thinking 'this would make a good movie, but it can't keep my attention'. To be honest I couldn't emphasise with the main character so I didn't really care. I am repeatedly told by friends of mine that Banks writes brilliant Sci-fi so I'm going to at least pick up another one, where to start?

So narrow down some alternatives for me. I'd like either some good conceptual stuff (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep perhaps? Neuromancer?) and also space-opera stuff. I don't however have time for old worn out ideas like some ancient civilisation that lay dormant since the Big Bang, which are actually lizard people who 'ascended' into a cloud of dust etc. and then came back to blow everyone up for no good reason.

I'm also concerned about getting some of the older stuff such as Neuromancer in case it feels 'dated'. Any ideas?
 
The Deathstalker (5) and Deathstalker Legacy (3) books by Simon R. Green.

Absolutely fantastic series.

Basically about a planetary ruler who is more interested in history books than anything else who gets exiled by the insane galactic empress for little reason and somehow ends up leading a rebellion, not exactly his choice.
 
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The Player of Games by Iain M Banks is more accessible than Consider Phlebas.

If you want an epic space opera try Excession also by Banks.

Then you have Look to Windward, Feersum Endjin, Use of Weapons, Inversions and some others :)

You can read them in pretty much any order you like as they don't rely on each other [ie, they aren't sequels] although Look to Windward is a very loose sequel to Consider Phlebas.
 
If your going to start reading Banks then Consider Phleabus is not the best one to start off with even though it was his first sci fi. I would start with Excession or perhaps Player of Games. Then start reading the rest of his culture novels.

If you really want a decent story with some good characters then read The Algebrist also by Ian M Banks. Its a mammoth of a book but one of if not THE best sci fi books i have ever read!

Against a dark background is also excellent.

I recently started reading as much Assimov as i can get my hands on and although they are a bit dated some of the ideas and concepts he has in his books are ammazing!
 
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Kim Stanley Robinson's - Red Mars, Green Mars, & Blue Mars trilogy.

Orson Scott Card - Enders Game

Ben Bova - Mars and Return to Mars

Peter F Hamilton - Nights Dawn trilolgy

I really recommend Kim Stanley Robinson's books
 
star wars are a very good read well some of them are.

this is a good one to try

Star Wars: Jedi Search (Jedi Academy Trilogy)
Star Wars: Dark Apprentice (Jedi Academy Trilogy)
Star Wars: Champion of the Force (Jedi Academy Trilogy)
 
Arthur C Clarke's Rama series is a good read:

* Rendezvous with Rama (1972) ISBN 978-0-553-28789-9
* Rama II (1989) ISBN 978-0-553-28658-8
* The Garden of Rama (1991) ISBN 978-0-553-29817-8
* Rama Revealed (1993) ISBN 978-0-553-56947-6

:)
 
By Harry Harrison:

Bill, the Galactic Hero

The Deathworld series

The Stainless Steel Rat series

All are awesome trashy vintage Sci-Fi.

Also, try and find a second hand bookshop and grab some second hand sci-fi compilations, some of the best and most striking/thought provoking science fiction ever written has been short stories :)
 
Alistor Reynolds Noir series are excellent too.

Revelation Space
Chasm City
Redemtion Ark
Absolution Gap
 
Use of Weapons would be my favourite Sci Fi book (by Ian M Banks).

Peter F Hamilton is also a good read, Dragon Rising a good one off, Nights Dawn Trilogy quite a weighty set which had some good ideas but seemed to lose it near the end. However the Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained are a pretty good couplet.

Other than that Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is a very good read and I was always partial to a bit of Heinlen.
 
Some Asimov? 'The complete robot' is the book I have, it is a collection of short stories he wrote, most of which revolve around the infamous three laws of robotics you hear of in the film (I, Robot), if you've seen it :)
 
i dont know what to classify this as but some Discworld novels have a sci fi element to them.
i would still recommend Discworld series if they are not.
 
As others have said Excession by Ian M Banks is a good read

I would also suggest the Honor Harrington series by David Weber (starting with On Basilisk Station) and the Serrano series by Elizabeth Moon (starting with Hunting Party although the first three books are available cheaply as an omnibus edition). The Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold are also good but working out what order to read them in can be problematic, The Warrior's Apprentice is probably a good starting point.
 
I have posted this a couple of times so you may have read it. I hope it helps but it may be out of date, so I apologise in advance.



Isaac Asimov

THE granddaddy of “robot fiction”, I highly recommend you read at least some of his short stories (you’ll find most robots from later authors borrow some of his idea’s)

His numerous books include:
I Robot, Rest of the Robots, The Complete Robot (short story collections exploring how robots may be treated and dealt with, also introduces the famous “3 laws of Robotics”)
Caves of Steel A great (detective type) story that introduces one of 2 very important characters for his later books (although you may not know it until you have read a number of his 500 or more other books)
Foundation Series (Foundation, Second Foundation, Foundation and Earth etc, great books to read)
Bicentennial Man

No known official site although plenty of other good ones


Iain M Banks (also writes fiction under the name Iain Banks) - My personal favourite!

His sci-fi books include:

Excession
Use of Weapons
Consider Phlebas
The State of the Art (a collection of short stories)

Most of his sci-fi books form part of his “Culture” series (but they are not really meant to be read in any particular order). Although many years ago now, I have read them all and found them utterly enthralling and very difficult to put down. I might even read them again come to think of it...

The official Iain M Banks site.

Ben Bova - Another recognised sci-fi God although I must confess to only reading one in my early teens and can't remember which it was, sorry.

Books include:

Mars
Return to Mars
Forge of God

The official site.


Arthur C Clarke

Credited as being the first man to think about and work out that a satellite could be placed in Geo-Synchronous orbit around the Earth (so you can blame him for Sky TV) in fact the geostationary orbit at 42,000 kilometers is named The Clarke Orbit

His numerous books include:

2001 - Space Odyssey
2010
The Fountains of Paradise
Waldo Inc (ever wonder why remote operated hands in things like power stations are sometimes referred to as “Waldo’s” this is it)

no known official site


William Gibson

Books include:

Neuromancer, the book that is accredited as starting the Cyberpunk style.

The official site.


Peter F Hamilton

Books include:

A Second Chance at Eden (a collection of short stories that build up the background for his Nights Dawn Trilogy)
Nights Dawn Trilogy (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, The Naked God), a great series of books that build an immense universe full of characters and places

no known official site


Robert A Heinlein

Books include: (among many others)

Starship Troopers – Much better than the film (apart from a lack of Denise Richards)
Space Cadet
The Puppet Masters – Donald Sutherland starred in the film

no known official site


Brian Herbert

Note: Son of Frank Herbert, teamed up with Kevin J Anderson to write the prequels to his fathers Dune series.

Dune: House Attreides
Dune: House Harkonnen
Dune: House Corrino

The official site.


Frank Herbert

Note: his son Brian Herbert has continued on prequels for his fathers books based on notes his father left behind.

Books include:

The Dune Trilogy (Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune)
The Second Dune Trilogy (God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, Chaptor House Dune)

All are highly recommended, although be warned they can be tough going at times.

The official site.


H.G.Wells

What can you say about HG Wells? He invented Science Fiction,

The War Of The Worlds is a classic everyone should have read at least once, and The Time Machine is still arguably one of the best novels about Time Travel ever! (At the Gates) Incedentally, the recent film was directed by Simon Wells, Herbert's great grandson, no less.

Books include:

The Time Machine
The War Of The Worlds
The Invisible Man
The Island of Dr. Moreau

no known official site


John Wyndham

Another often ignored writer but has written some of the best sci-fi books. The Day Of The Triffids is a certain classic, as is The Midwich Cuckoos. (Filmed as Village of the Damned)

Books include:

The Day Of The Triffids
The Midwich Cuckoos
The Kraken Wakes
The Chyrsalids
Chocky

no known official site


Kurt Vonnegut

Books include:

Slaughterhouse Five about Billy Pilgrim, prisoner of war, optometrist and time-traveller. An Anti-War Novel based on Vonneguts experience of Dresden in WW2.

Timequake - Time repeats making everyone in the world endure ten years of deja-vu and a total loss of free will. Funny.

The official site.
 
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