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

97 replies

AlistairSim · 10/08/2008 11:00

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?

OP posts:
solidgoldbrass · 19/08/2008 10:48

CoteD'Azur: AHA! ANother Heinlein fan. I can certainly see his faults these days but stil have a soft spot for his books, particularly Time Enough For Love which was a fecking formative influence on me when I was about 18.
OP: I recommend (as I always do but have yet to find a fellow obsessive) the Bold As Love quintet by Gwyneth Jones. They are a near-future series, where the UK is breaking up into separate kingdoms and of course it's all going horribly wrong, the main characters are three rock stars and the whole thing is gorgeous and incredibly deep, touching on the nature of human consciousness, what democracy is, how to structure society, feminism, polyamory, magic.... I just love these books.

cyteen · 19/08/2008 10:58

Chukkypig - if you like sci fi that deals with questions about mutable identity etc. then you might enjoy C J Cherryh's Merchanter Universe novels. There's several and you can read them in order or not, although I'd probably start with Downbelow Station just because it's the first and sets you up well to understand the reality she's created.

A lot of people don't get on with her stuff because she can be quite unforgiving in terms of not spoonfeeding the reader information about the created reality - she just sets it up and assumes you'll understand it. But her characters and ideas are so brilliantly formed and expressed, it's worth it IMO. Cyteen is one of my favourite books ever (as my username probably makes clear). The Merchanter novels deal a lot with cloned humans and the ways in which people's personalities are shaped, artificially or otherwise. Downbelow Station is also a fantastic thriller.

She writes excellent fantasy too, again full of fallible, complex characters who make mistakes and don't spring straight back from a beating. The Chronicles of Morgaine is a great book, weaving some interesting sci fi ideas among the crunchy sword'n'horse action.

Otherwise my top fantasy recommendation is the same as always: George R R Martin, the Ice & Fire books. Massive, finely drawn, grimly amusing, realistic, often horrifying, always fascinating. The first three in the series are three of the most satisfying books I've ever read.

Recently finished China Mieville's Perdido Street Station and enjoyed it, once I realised I was reading a ripping yarn rather than a more subtle Mervyn Peake style introspective. His writing tends towards the overcooked - a good editor could easily lose at least 200 pages of repetitive, unnecessary description and the book would be much the better for it - but it's a good romp.

Blackduck · 19/08/2008 11:01

If you want to try hard core Sci-fi try:
Neal Asher - Polity series partic good
Richard Morgan -
Alistair Reynolds
Dan Simmons - Hyperion is fab...

TheHedgeWitch · 19/08/2008 11:14

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TwoWindyDays · 19/08/2008 13:40

The Blade Itself: Book One Of The First Law by Joe Abercrombie is a good read.

Also Robin Hobb and Robin McKinley's Hero's Crown and Blue Sword.

CoteDAzur · 19/08/2008 18:21

blackduck - I read some books by Richard Morgan, most recently his "Woken Furies". He is quite good, although very dark and violent. Not for those wishing for a happy ending or a likeable main character, but I like Takashi Kovacs'adventures.

Dan Simmons' "Hyperion" books are brilliant.

CoteDAzur · 19/08/2008 20:09

solidgoldbrass - I think I read all of Heinlein's books in my teens & early 20s. They were a big influence on me as well. In fact, while I was reading "Stranger in a Strange Land" at the age of 16 or so, I remember telling my father that when I get married, I will not mind at all if my husband sleeps with other women. He said he would kick my ass as well as my future husband's

It is a shame that only his short story "Starship Troopers" (which was arguably one of his worst) was ever made into a movie, and the story grossly distorted. It would be interesting to see "Time Enough For Love" on the big screen.

"Friday" is quite good and is a lesser known book of Heinlein. (Although I haven't read it in 15 years, so take the recommendation with a grain of salt)

solidgoldbrass · 19/08/2008 22:42

CotedAzur: I haven't read Friday in more than 20 years, remember being not that keen on it. I do love Stranger In A Strange Land though, and have a fair soft spot for Number Of The Beast, oh and what was the brain-transplant one? Of his other stuff, The Stars My Destination is quite good, but Farnhams' Freehold is unbelievably offensively awful and put me off reading any more of his stuff for ages.
(Hehe I once actually quoted Heinlein to Kilroy when I was on the show, he hadn't a clue).

christywhisty · 20/08/2008 00:16

I used to read
Roger Zelazny
Marion Zimmer Bradley - Darkover novels
Elizabeth A Lynn
Katherine Kurtz

thumbwitch · 20/08/2008 00:39

if you are still interested in vampires, zombies etc. then the Laurell K Hamilton "Anita Blake" series is quite good - but don't go for her Merry Gentry series unless you want to be bored rigid about how many different folk the fairies have to have sex with (YAAAAWN).

Also for sci-fi I liked the E.E. 'Doc' Smith "Lensman" series (except the last one which didn't really follow on and left me with a bit of an 'unfinished' feel) but they are quite old now.

Second TP of course, Pullman, Garth Nix, Kelley Armstrong for werewolves and witches, Anne Rice (I only got as far as the third book in her Vampire series).

cyteen · 20/08/2008 10:04

I hate Anne Rice's books, her prose makes me feel sick.

AnnVan · 20/08/2008 10:11

I may be wrong, but I think the Duncton Wood books are out of print these days. I only ever read one Ducton book. I preferred Kallanish by William Horwood.

TheHedgeWitch · 20/08/2008 11:43

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CoteDAzur · 20/08/2008 16:23

Anne Rice's prose only got sickening after the sixth or so vampire book. The first couple of books in that series are actually quite good. (Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, etc)

Her book "The Witching Hour" was also quite interesting, followed by "Lasher", although I thought the third book "Taltos" was a bit strange and took the story in a bizarre direction, although it 'makes sense' of the whole story.

CoteDAzur · 20/08/2008 16:25

solidgoldbrass, re 'brain transplant one' - do you mean the one where the ornery rich old man becomes a hot young woman? Some interesting ideas but a bit too focused on Heinlein's "Let's everyone have sex with everyone else" theme, I thought.

thumbwitch · 20/08/2008 16:50

I''m glad you clarified that about Anne Rice CoteD as I couldn't see what cyteen was on about. But then I had only read as far as Queen of the Damned.

The most sickening books I have read recently are the Karin Slaughter ones - I gave up after number 3 and decided that I couldn't cope with her villains' levels of depravity. I like Kathy Reichs though - but these are not sci fi so I'm wandering off the thread

cyteen · 20/08/2008 16:52

No, I don't mean 'make me feel sick' as in 'the content is sickening'. I mean 'make me feel sick' as in 'the prose is so very very bad, so overwritten, so pompous and wordy and crap that it makes me feel ill'. Sorry for the misunderstanding

CoteDAzur · 20/08/2008 17:03

I understood what you meant and that is why I quit reading Anne Rice's vampire books after the first 5 or so.

thumbwitch · 20/08/2008 17:12

Ah, sorry, I DID understand what you meant cyteen; I was just moving on in my head I suppose and didn't "explain the steps", something I always got marked down for in maths homework and now I can see why

mankyscotslass · 20/08/2008 21:45

Christywhisty, never came across anyone that has read Kurtz too! I like the Celtic influence!
Op, also try Terry Goodkind, although he can go on a bit!

oopsiedoopsie · 22/08/2008 11:29

I can heartily agree with the Robin Hobb / Tad Williams siggestions.
Guy Gavriel Kays Fionavar tapestry series is excellent also.

Chianna · 27/08/2008 12:42

I love sci-fi although I am not a huge fantasy fan.

If you like old school stuff no-one has mentioned Robert Heinlein yet. Some of his ideas are a bit dated now but at the time were really pretty radical (gay sex anyone). Stranger in a strange land is his all time classic.

For more modern authors I have to say that Neal Stephenson (Crytonomicon and Snow Crash especially), William Gibson are now 'classics'.

However don't think anyone has mentioned Neal Asher yet. His stuff is excellent. The Cormac series is fabulous but if you like you 'wildlife' Skinner and the Voyage of the Sable Keech are fantastic.

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