Mind = Blown! Best book I have read in ages!

Salsa

Salsa

Salsa

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Ok so I am probably arriving to the party as this book is a few years old now but I felt the need to post because it was so bloody good.

Have just finished the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. I was properly hooked from page 1 to page 779. Takes a while to get going but once there I could not put it down. Characters, plot, twists, tech and epic scale it was all done perfectly. To make things better it managed to weave in mythology, history and religion in such a way that half the time I never even noticed it was there and when I did it really added depth to the story. Suitably impresses and the best book I have bought in ages!

I am a huge fan of huge space opera and science fiction but have struggled to find anything that truly wowed me since Assimov's Foundation Series and Excession by Iain M Banks.

Anyone have any suggestions on what to read next? I am reading some Alistair Reynolds and while it is good I really want something to get my teeth into.

/Salsa
 
It is 4 books in total to complete the series.

Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion and then Endymion and Rise of Endymion.

I was referring to the first pair of books which I read as an Omnibus. Have the Endymion Omnibus on order and cannot wait. I hope it is just as epic. The Hyperion Cantos actually refers to an epic poem written by one of the characters throughout the series.

/Salsa
 
Salsa said:
Ok so I am probably arriving to the party as this book is a few years old now but I felt the need to post because it was so bloody good
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Why would you go to a party with a book? maybe a nice bottle of wine would be a better idea. :D
 
Some good stuff thats of the same genre:

'The Book of the New Sun' by Gene Wolfe - a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy.

'Diaspora', 'Incandescence' (and many others) by Greg Egan.

'The Night's Dawn Trilogy' by Peter F Hamilton - 3 huge novels. About 5 times longer than the Hyperion Cantos; not so poetic.

I hear great things about 'Spin' by Robert Charles Wilson but have yet to read it.

I take it you have read Ian Bank's other Culture novels? Consider Phlebas?
 
Would definetely suggest more Iain M Banks. About to finish Surface Detail, his latest book, and they're still a great read. Favourites so far are probably The Algebraist and Matter. Quite enjoying this one as well.

Also, The Night's Dawn trilogy is good. Plenty of action and the characters are all well developed. Still need to read the last book in that, so many books to get through.
 
Have bought and read all of Iain M Banks. His last 2, matter and surface detail, were sub standard. Waiting on more Simmons at the moment but in the mean time Alistair Reynolds is filling a hole.

Peter F Hamilton has always looked good but never taken the plunge.
 
jr1104 said:
Would definetely suggest more Iain M Banks. About to finish Surface Detail, his latest book, and they're still a great read. Favourites so far are probably The Algebraist and Matter. Quite enjoying this one as well.

Also, The Night's Dawn trilogy is good. Plenty of action and the characters are all well developed. Still need to read the last book in that, so many books to get through.
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These are the two I would most recomend.

I forget the author but the Ender novels are great. The first one especially was an astoundingly good read. After book 3 it slides (though only down to the level nost run of the mill authors still aspire to)
 
No1newts said:
These are the two I would most recomend.

I forget the author but the Ender novels are great. The first one especially was an astoundingly good read. After book 3 it slides (though only down to the level nost run of the mill authors still aspire to)
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Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card?
 
Salsa said:
Ok so I am probably arriving to the party as this book is a few years old now but I felt the need to post because it was so bloody good.

Have just finished the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. I was properly hooked from page 1 to page 779. Takes a while to get going but once there I could not put it down. Characters, plot, twists, tech and epic scale it was all done perfectly. To make things better it managed to weave in mythology, history and religion in such a way that half the time I never even noticed it was there and when I did it really added depth to the story. Suitably impresses and the best book I have bought in ages!

I am a huge fan of huge space opera and science fiction but have struggled to find anything that truly wowed me since Assimov's Foundation Series and Excession by Iain M Banks.

Anyone have any suggestions on what to read next? I am reading some Alistair Reynolds and while it is good I really want something to get my teeth into.

/Salsa
Click to expand...

If you havn't read the Endymion books yet then it might be worth leaving a bit of a gap before starting them, they are great books but not quite up there with the Hyperion pair and they alter your perception of some of the events in Hyperion which subtract from Hyperions epicness a little.

Dan Simmons Ilium and Olympos (one story) are also really good sci fi but be prepared to be dropped into a bizzare distant future with no explanation of what happened to make it that way.

Ian M Banks books are also good, personally I prefer the Comonwealth Saga but the Nights Dawn trillogy was also great. They aren't as deep as Dan Simmons stuff and can get a little cheezy in places but they are a lot of fun and some of my favourite sci fi all the same.
 
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