Fantasy...Sci-fi....what?

[AlistairSim]

Ok, I've never read any fantasy/sci-fi but keep hearing how popular it is, so does anyone have any recommendations?

I'm willing to take aliens, vampires, brave new worlds....so what's it to be?

Alistair Reynolds...has he been mentioned yet?

Revelation Space etc etc (can't remember his stuff without googling and am short of time!)

Loved all of his stuff, and Iain Banks.

Ooh - kind of fantasy but modern wizard in Chicago - The Dresden Files (do NOT watch tv show). Books are really good, well written & exciting

Oh- I had forgotten Dan Simmons- yes- Hyperion is really good.
Cote have you read 'Fire Upon the Deep' by Vernor Vinge?

No. Is it good?

They tell you NOT to judge by the cover, but they put a lot of effort into designing them, so tis wrong ot just ignore....

Mark Chadbourn is good for earth based fantasy - v good on mythology and legend with some hard edges.

James Whites Sector General is good - imagine a hospital dealing with space casualties from across the galaxy.

Yes Cote it is!

I recently went through some of the recent winners of the Arthur C Clarke award, as a good starting point for modern sci-fi.

Air, by Geoff Ryman was really good, about a remote village coming to grips with new technology, told from the viewpoint of an illiterate woman.

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville is more on the fantasy side. Can't describe it but intelligent, scary, inventive and well worth a read.

Agree with Cote Neal Stephenson is god. The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon are all fabulous, as is the Baroque Trilogy, though don't know if that's strictly sci-fi.

Some classics worth a read for me: The Man In The High Castle by Philip K Dick, a what if scenario had the Germans and Japanese won the 2nd World War; Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner, a brilliant portrayal of an overpopulated future earth running out of resources; More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon.

Ursula K. Le Guin crosses both sci-fi and fantasy camps, I read loads of her stuff as a teenager and keep meaning to go back to it.

Anne McCaffrey and now her son Todd are two of my favourites. I started on her Pern series with the Harper Hall stories in my teens then went onto her Tower series, then read the Crystal singer trilogy.
Trudi Canavan is a fairly easy read.
I went back to Ursula leGuin and found her to be quite different to how I remembered

Another vote for Neil Gaiman, which is sort of fantastic urban rather than fantasy if that makes sense. I particularly enjoyed "Anansi Boys and "American Gods".

I didn't think much of "The End Of Mr Y" - thought it was all trying to be a bit too clever for its own good.

Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series is fantasy rather than his usual horror and would keep you going for a while as it's 7 books.

Since there are quite a few sci-fi fans gathered on this thread, maybe someone can help me find an old book I borrowed from school library (20 yrs ago?) and can't remember the name of.

It has to do with the conflict of two races. Both human. One is telepathic and has red hair.

Anyone?

ooh yes Lapin the Glass Books that was a great read

there is a follow up?

I did think they had deliberately designed the cover of End of Mr Y to look a leedle bit like Glass Books to tempt us in

CoteDAzure... only thing I can think of is a short story called Contagion, its in an anthology called Women of Wonder. The red hair rang a bell. I think the author of the story was Katherine Maclean.The anthology was edited by Pamela Sargent.

I'm a huge fan of Sheri Tepper, she's a visionary and writes really well and creates other worlds so thoroughly. www.herebedragons.co.uk/hell/st.htm

I love Marge Piercey's 'Woman on the edge of Time

www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/marge-piercy/
I'm reading the 2nd of Kate Ellott's Crossroads trilogy at the moment

www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/e/kate-elliott/

forgot this one - amazed to see it has its own Wikipedia entry, and rightly so. It is the source for one of my fave movies, Tarkovsky's "Stalker" ,which makes me fill up just thinking about it. This is top notch stuff:

Roadside Picnio by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

and and and

if you are still in an Eastern European mood, have a look at Stanislaw Lem's Solaris. Again a Tarkovsky movie, again, its a two hanky pic for me
If you get to like Lem, the Pirx the Pilot stories are great, I like "Fiasco".

Don't forget these were written when USSR & Poland were communist countries and authors were not permitted to say things about freedom openly. These books are therefore fantastic if you love layer upon layer of meaning and are totally rewarding to read.

Also "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury is one of those classics that always has relevance and is YET ANOTHER ONE THAT MAKES ME CRY.

OK I'm feebleminded, I admit it!

terry pratchett

if you dont read terry you are braincell deficient

Terry Pratchett goes without saying, obviously!

Roadside Picnic looks interesting.

Sorry only just seen this thread. Terry Brooks Shannara series. There are loads of books:
Recommended reading order

Was just going to suggest the Shannara books, although more Fantasy than sience. Waiting impatiently for Gypsy Morph now!
Also along the fantasy lines, Ratmond E Feist or David Eddings.

Well David Eddings obviously because I'm in them
Raymond E Feist
Maggie Furey
Melanie Rawn
Robert Jordan
Terry Goodkind
terry Brooks
Stephen Donaldson
Tad Williams
Neil Gaiman

Will keep thinking

Have you read any Jonathan Carroll? He is my fave all time writer, is classed as fantasy (in the Fantasy Masterworks series) although I find his books are close to real life but with a surreal element that is very believable. It is quite accessible as an intro to fantasy stuff. He also has a wonderful poetic use of language. His first book was The Land of Laughs which is great, lots of his books are out of print so quite hard to get hold of.

He loves Neil Gaiman, I have never read any though - what book would you recommend to start with? (I see a number of you recommend him)

O-K

Terry Pratchett is a god - he started out parodying fantasy books, and ended up creating a world that satirises our own brilliantly.

Robert JOrdan's wheel of time, but I couldn't get past book four, the characters became sooooo tedious and one dimensional!

Raymond E Feist's Riftwar Saga is great, but the first book, Magician, is by far the best.

Garth Nix's Old kingdom trilogy - Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen are brilliant - a really original world.

Dont go near Modesitt - very ranty. I also couldn't get to grips with Robin Hobbs. Trudi Canavan's Black Magician trilogy is good easy reading fantasy. Ursual LeGuin's Earthsea Quartet is a classic - must read.

My current fave is the most AMAZING epic fantasy ever - Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. First book is called Gardens of the Moon. I am currently reading book 8 (Toll the Hounds) The characters are so brilliantly written that you feel as though they are real people. The world is vast and detailed, and totally unique.