This a million times. Brilliant and epic in the true meaning of the word.
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The best Science Fiction novels?
- Thread starter eizarus
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This a million times. Brilliant and epic in the true meaning of the word.
My personal favorite novel by one of the best speculative fiction writer to ever live
And this book is just stunning.
I can't say what is the best but I can recommend my favorites:
Dune Series by Frank Herbert - I loved all of Frank Herberts Dune books. It's Sci-Fi's most important saga. Ignore his son Brian's shitty cash-ins
The Zones of Thought Trilogy by Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon The Deep, A Deepness In The Sky, Children of the Sky - I love these books dearly. Some of my favorite characters (and aliens) in fiction.
Stranger In A Strange Land, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein - "Stranger" is a must-read iconic work of the 20th century
Childhood's End by Arthur C. CLark
Pretty much everything by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
The Stars, My Destination by Alfred Bester - awesome story of a man's obsession with revenge
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - a not-so-subtle commentary on Vietnam
Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson - brilliant, hilarious, thrilling satire
Neuromancer by William Gibson - unorthodox heist story, foundational cyberpunk novel
The Cadwell Chronicles by Jack Vance: Araminta Station, Ecce and Old Earth, Throy - Just a really fun and jaunty mystery/conspiracy/adventure saga set in humanity's distant future
The Demon Princes series by Jack Vance: Star King, Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face, The Book of Dreams - Again, just really fun, by no means "deep". Another story about a man's life-long quest for revenge but in breezy 200 page episodic tales. In many ways it feels like James Bond in space.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells - A short book and an imoortant story for the genre. A classic.
The works of H.P. Lovecraft - generally considered horror but many of his stories equally fall under the Sci-Fi bill and have had big influences on the genre. At The Mountains of Madness being a key story in that regard, it's straight-up science fiction.
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Comedy-adventure, dry wit, delicious satire. Another classic.
I'm sorry but the latter 3 Dune novels are also excellent and God Emperor of Dune is my favorite book in the series.
Makes me angry that people tell other people not to read them, let folks form their own opinions. I can see why they alienated fans but they are good stories in their own right.
Dune Series by Frank Herbert - I loved all of Frank Herberts Dune books. It's Sci-Fi's most important saga. Ignore his son Brian's shitty cash-ins
The Zones of Thought Trilogy by Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon The Deep, A Deepness In The Sky, Children of the Sky - I love these books dearly. Some of my favorite characters (and aliens) in fiction.
Stranger In A Strange Land, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein - "Stranger" is a must-read iconic work of the 20th century
Childhood's End by Arthur C. CLark
Pretty much everything by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
The Stars, My Destination by Alfred Bester - awesome story of a man's obsession with revenge
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - a not-so-subtle commentary on Vietnam
Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson - brilliant, hilarious, thrilling satire
Neuromancer by William Gibson - unorthodox heist story, foundational cyberpunk novel
The Cadwell Chronicles by Jack Vance: Araminta Station, Ecce and Old Earth, Throy - Just a really fun and jaunty mystery/conspiracy/adventure saga set in humanity's distant future
The Demon Princes series by Jack Vance: Star King, Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face, The Book of Dreams - Again, just really fun, by no means "deep". Another story about a man's life-long quest for revenge but in breezy 200 page episodic tales. In many ways it feels like James Bond in space.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells - A short book and an imoortant story for the genre. A classic.
The works of H.P. Lovecraft - generally considered horror but many of his stories equally fall under the Sci-Fi bill and have had big influences on the genre. At The Mountains of Madness being a key story in that regard, it's straight-up science fiction.
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Comedy-adventure, dry wit, delicious satire. Another classic.
I'm sorry but the latter 3 Dune novels are also excellent and God Emperor of Dune is my favorite book in the series.
Makes me angry that people tell other people not to read them, let folks form their own opinions. I can see why they alienated fans but they are good stories in their own right.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Wild Seed by Octavia Butler is my favorite book hands down and it has the best most uncaring ruthless villain I've seen in any medium.
This is an excellent post. Good all around! 👍
Monocle
Member
This series isn't getting nearly enough attention in this thread.
The Book of The New Sun by Gene Wolfe is a big time investment, but so worth it. Don't you dare ignore the sequel, Urth of the New Sun, though. It does for the rest of the New Sun series what The Silmarillion does for The Lord of the Rings: Makes a great story into an insanely awesome story by turning your perspective on that world upside-down and blowing it wide open.
Random Painted HIghway
Member
I dont think this author has been mentioned yet, but I really liked Gregory benfords galactic center novels when I read them years ago. Not sure how I would receive them as an age adult, but there you go.
Edit: also really liked David brins books as a high schooler. Uplift series. earth, the postman etc.
Edit: also really liked David brins books as a high schooler. Uplift series. earth, the postman etc.
Any Questions
Member
Good choices, have read most. Ringworld was one of the first and still leaves a lasting impression. Great book. Some fun books are the agent Cormac series by Neil Asher.
The lack of Dune here is really disappointing. MOAR DUNE.
The first book is a masterpiece, the 2nd and 3rd are great. I personally enjoy the 4th a lot, but it's a deliberate change of style and not everyone likes it and the following sequels.
Avoid Brian Herbert's garbage sequels and prequels at all costs, he should be ashamed of what he did with his father's legacy.
The first book is a masterpiece, the 2nd and 3rd are great. I personally enjoy the 4th a lot, but it's a deliberate change of style and not everyone likes it and the following sequels.
Avoid Brian Herbert's garbage sequels and prequels at all costs, he should be ashamed of what he did with his father's legacy.
Oveja Negra
Member
I disagree.
While the "original" trilogy is indeed amazing and pretty much perfect, the other books that appeared later are super interesting as well.
I'll go even further to state both Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation are masterpieces too, at the same level of the trilogy.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Read The Culture novels by Ian Banks. I would actually start with Matter or Surface Detail (there's only very minor background continuity between novels) and if either of them grab you go back to the beginning and read them all
You can't go wrong with anything by Alastair Reynolds either
You can't go wrong with anything by Alastair Reynolds either
Some of the things I've read and actually remember being good:
Frank Herbert: The original six Dune novels.
John Wyndham: The Chrysalids, Chocky and Day of the Triffids
Poul Anderson: Brain Wave, Corridors of Time
Ursula Le Guin: The Lathe of Heaven
Arthur C. Clarke / Stephen Baxter: The Light of Other Days
Isaac Asimov: The End of Eternity, The Gods Themselves
Greg Bear: Eon, Eternity
Daniel Galouye: Simulacron-3
David Gerrold: The Man Who Folded Himself
Frederic Brown: all his short stories are amazing.
Frank Herbert: The original six Dune novels.
John Wyndham: The Chrysalids, Chocky and Day of the Triffids
Poul Anderson: Brain Wave, Corridors of Time
Ursula Le Guin: The Lathe of Heaven
Arthur C. Clarke / Stephen Baxter: The Light of Other Days
Isaac Asimov: The End of Eternity, The Gods Themselves
Greg Bear: Eon, Eternity
Daniel Galouye: Simulacron-3
David Gerrold: The Man Who Folded Himself
Frederic Brown: all his short stories are amazing.
bonesmccoy
Banned
This list is aces!
I enjoyed the Red Rising trilogy.
Not really 'pure' science fiction, but Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy, and his recent Bourne, are very interesting stories. (I like all Vandermeer's stuff. City of Saints and Madmen is a fave)
OP, if you want more pulpy stuff, Neal Asher's Cormac series is all right. Some neat ideas.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
My favorites are:
Dune
Altered Carbon
Ender's Game
The Forever War
Hyperion Cantos
The ones I thought were just alright:
Neuromancer
Cat's Cradle
The Book of the New Sun
Dune
Altered Carbon
Ender's Game
The Forever War
Hyperion Cantos
The ones I thought were just alright:
Neuromancer
Cat's Cradle
The Book of the New Sun
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
Otherland by Tad Williams is fantastic and I recommend it to anyone who wants to dabble in near-future fiction and how the internet and virtual reality can warp your sense of reality. Cant recommend it high enough.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Thank you. I was wondering when someone else would rep Octavia. I might need to check out Octavia again, I was trying to avoid her so I can experience other authors. I can't seem to like anyone other than her and J.K. Rowling.
More_Badass
Member
I really liked the slow cautious exploration of the first half of Redezvous; the second half felt faster-paced and more plot-focused compared to the awe and wonder and descriptions of the first
Oveja Negra
Member
I forgot to recommend something in my previous post, my bad.
Ted Chiang - The Stories of Your Life and Others
This book is a compilation of short stories by Chiang and while some of them I found them to be just ok, there are two of them that are absolute masterpieces.
The Story of Your Life, which Arrival movie is based on, and as you probably are correctly guessing, it's much much more better than the movie.
Understand, it's about a guy that suffer an accident and receives a experimental drug that end transforming him in a semi-god, but other extremely interesting stuff begin to happen. It's the kind of tale that once you start reading it, you just can't stop until you finish it.
Ted Chiang - The Stories of Your Life and Others
This book is a compilation of short stories by Chiang and while some of them I found them to be just ok, there are two of them that are absolute masterpieces.
The Story of Your Life, which Arrival movie is based on, and as you probably are correctly guessing, it's much much more better than the movie.
Understand, it's about a guy that suffer an accident and receives a experimental drug that end transforming him in a semi-god, but other extremely interesting stuff begin to happen. It's the kind of tale that once you start reading it, you just can't stop until you finish it.
Shadowhelper
Banned
OP please do not read Arthur C Clarke. He's even worse than Asimov. Both are extremely boring. Do not read Richard Morgan either. He writes terrible books.
Certainly read Philip K. Dick. Now that is more interesting and there is a reason they are making movies and tv shows based off his books. His works have stood the test of time, and deal with far more interesting themes and concepts.
And for a truly brilliant sci fi book read this
Certainly read Philip K. Dick. Now that is more interesting and there is a reason they are making movies and tv shows based off his books. His works have stood the test of time, and deal with far more interesting themes and concepts.
And for a truly brilliant sci fi book read this
Well, that's like your opinion... man.
sans_pants
avec_pénis
anything by the strugatsky bros - roadside picnic and hard to be a god are my favorites
anything by stanislaw lem - solaris of course but also fiasco and the invincible
neal stephenson - the diamond age and snow crash
roger zelazny - lord of light
alfred bester - the stars my destination and the demolished man
theodore sturgeon - more than human
then just any classic that hooks you with the synopsis
anything by stanislaw lem - solaris of course but also fiasco and the invincible
neal stephenson - the diamond age and snow crash
roger zelazny - lord of light
alfred bester - the stars my destination and the demolished man
theodore sturgeon - more than human
then just any classic that hooks you with the synopsis
smokeandmirrors
Banned
Dune
Foundation (all of them. The trilogy is great but the others are good enough in their own right imo)
Hyperion
The Forever War
Foundation (all of them. The trilogy is great but the others are good enough in their own right imo)
Hyperion
The Forever War
Prototype Viktor
Member
Code:
[IMG]http://www.scientology.org/theme/images/selection-from-dianetics.jpg[/IMG]ROUGE_BLOCK
Member
First two posts pretty much cover it
bonesmccoy
Banned
Actually, I just remembered the novel that put me on the sci-fi tip: Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers.
Hopefully OP hasn't seen the enjoyable B-movie take on it from the mid 90s.
Hopefully OP hasn't seen the enjoyable B-movie take on it from the mid 90s.
Snacks the sober sea lion
Member
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. Not a traditional "story," basically a series of elaborate descriptions starting with life on other planets and increasing in scale from there. Incredibly imaginative and even more impressive given that it was written in the 1930's.
More_Badass
Member
His book Last and First Men is just as impressive and ambitious too. He explores genetic engineering in the book's later civilizations, twenty years before the term "genetic engineering" even existed
Biggest-Geek-Ever
Member
I just finished The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin and found it to be a unique and interesting world and a relatively fast read. Also one of the few instances of second-person narration that ends up adding to the experience.
Shadowhelper
Banned
True but its the correct one.
Arthur C Clarke is a paedophile first of all. And he looks like a disgusting creep too. You should not be reading the works of a child rapist. Especially when they are also boring.
And there's a reason his popularity along with Assimov has waned while Philip K. Dicks has dramatically increased. The concerns of Arthur C Clarke and Assimov were boring or irrelevant, compared to Philip K. Dicks dealing with issues like advertisement, memory and identity.
Trust me on this. Read this book. It's better than almost any other sci fi book you have read. Its written by one of the greatest American writers of our lifetime. Perhaps the greatest.
sans_pants
avec_pénis
True but its the correct one.
Arthur C Clarke is a paedophile first of all. And he looks like a disgusting creep too. You should not be reading the works of a child rapist. Especially when they are also boring.
And there's a reason his popularity along with Assimov has waned while Philip K. Dicks has dramatically increased. The concerns of Arthur C Clarke and Assimov were boring or irrelevant, compared to Philip K. Dicks dealing with issues like advertisement, memory and identity.
Trust me on this. Read this book. It's better than almost any other sci fi book you have read. Its written by one of the greatest American writers of our lifetime. Perhaps the greatest.
thats not how opinions work
Patrick S.
Banned
Old Man's War.
This post is full of bad information. I like Jonathan Lethem, but his science fiction is largely a pastiche of other writers, and nowhere near either his best work or the best science fiction has to offer.True but its the correct one.
Arthur C Clarke is a paedophile first of all. And he looks like a disgusting creep too. You should not be reading the works of a child rapist. Especially when they are also boring.
And there's a reason his popularity along with Assimov has waned while Philip K. Dicks has dramatically increased. The concerns of Arthur C Clarke and Assimov were boring or irrelevant, compared to Philip K. Dicks dealing with issues like advertisement, memory and identity.
Trust me on this. Read this book. It's better than almost any other sci fi book you have read. Its written by one of the greatest American writers of our lifetime. Perhaps the greatest.
Regardless, you made your point the first time. There's no need to keep spamming your opinion.
Some excellent recommendations here. Props to everyone whos recommended Alfred Bester: The Stars my Destination and The Demolished Man are both stone cold classics.
Ive read a lot of Heinlein, but probably my favourite of his that seems to go forgotten is The Door into Summer. Its a bit preposterous at times, and a bit sappy, but man if it doesnt just fit together like a puzzle. I always want to reread it as soon as I finish.
Finally, for some good pulpy space opera, you cant go wrong with the Deathstalker books by Simon R Green. Theyre not Hugo-Award winning or anything, but if you want something tha could be easily described as Gritty, Amped-up Star Wars, youre in for a treat.
Ive read a lot of Heinlein, but probably my favourite of his that seems to go forgotten is The Door into Summer. Its a bit preposterous at times, and a bit sappy, but man if it doesnt just fit together like a puzzle. I always want to reread it as soon as I finish.
Finally, for some good pulpy space opera, you cant go wrong with the Deathstalker books by Simon R Green. Theyre not Hugo-Award winning or anything, but if you want something tha could be easily described as Gritty, Amped-up Star Wars, youre in for a treat.
FlexMentallo
Member
I'd recommend pretty obvious stuff :
- Red/Green/Blue Mars - these are my favorite SF books
- Neuromancer / Sprawl trilogy
- Mote in God's Eye
- Cat's Cradle
- Use of Weapons
- Player of Games
- Heart of the Comet
- Eon
- Rendezvous with Rama
- Childhood's End
- first couple of Foundation books
- Dune
- The Stars My Destination
- Stranger in a Strange Land
- Starship Troopers
- Forever War
- Expanse books
- Diamond Age
- the 5 or so short story collections of Philip K.Dick are awesome
- Altered Carbon
- Hamilton's Commonweatlh books are decent
- Only Ellison I've read is the short story collection Approaching Oblivion and its great.
This thread reminds me I have never read A Fire Upon the Deep nor Hyperion. I need to rectify those!
Also on the related to SF but nonfiction front - I have old hardcover copies of Clarke's Exploration of Space and the Promise of Space, which i highly recommend for the time travel factor when reading. The time & knowledge gap between those books is fascinating, let alone the gap from Promise of Space to the present day.
- Red/Green/Blue Mars - these are my favorite SF books
- Neuromancer / Sprawl trilogy
- Mote in God's Eye
- Cat's Cradle
- Use of Weapons
- Player of Games
- Heart of the Comet
- Eon
- Rendezvous with Rama
- Childhood's End
- first couple of Foundation books
- Dune
- The Stars My Destination
- Stranger in a Strange Land
- Starship Troopers
- Forever War
- Expanse books
- Diamond Age
- the 5 or so short story collections of Philip K.Dick are awesome
- Altered Carbon
- Hamilton's Commonweatlh books are decent
- Only Ellison I've read is the short story collection Approaching Oblivion and its great.
This thread reminds me I have never read A Fire Upon the Deep nor Hyperion. I need to rectify those!
Also on the related to SF but nonfiction front - I have old hardcover copies of Clarke's Exploration of Space and the Promise of Space, which i highly recommend for the time travel factor when reading. The time & knowledge gap between those books is fascinating, let alone the gap from Promise of Space to the present day.
So much tbis, and it's sequel, Echopraxia.
Reading this now. Only a few chapters in, but very good so far. The vampire thing keeps throwing me off, though.
PandaPedinte
Member
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
If you like Sci-fi universes, I'm fond of Peter F Hamilton works, and also Vorkosigan series for Mc Master Bujold.
And Dune will always be a high for me (books from *Frank* Herbert)
About this...
Though
But there's another thing I like related to Foundation: the "Foundations" books NOT written by Asimov but by the "Bs". I found interesting the way they tried to make the whole thing work, especially the very end of Foundation (which doesn't really make sense).
In fact, I love Asimov, but I think it's REALLY better with shorts than with novels.
And Dune will always be a high for me (books from *Frank* Herbert)
About this...
Well, for a huge fan, it's hard... in those books, you have a glimpse of some of Frank Herbert ideas, and at the same time you wish he was the one writing about them. I don't really enjoy the books, but I still want to read them somehow... Hard to explain.
Though
the Atreid / Harkonnen twist was welcome, at the very least
I think the prequel are interesting, but AFTER the first three Fundations books. And indeed, the last two are disappointing.
But there's another thing I like related to Foundation: the "Foundations" books NOT written by Asimov but by the "Bs". I found interesting the way they tried to make the whole thing work, especially the very end of Foundation (which doesn't really make sense).
In fact, I love Asimov, but I think it's REALLY better with shorts than with novels.