Modern Good Reads discussion

Hi everyone!

Welcome to our new group. Let's get things started with a simple recommendation thread--give us your favorite science fiction reads. Go!

My favourite SF book is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; Blade Runner or rather Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick; Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. These are my top three books to read.

I really liked all of those. Farenheit 451?

The demolished man and the stars my destination by Alfred Bester are pure epic. The sci-fi masterworks series is also a great starting point as well.

I've read most of the classics, from Wells to Scott Card, but recently I have been reading mostly sci-fi written by indi publishers/authors ranging from pure science fiction to sci-fi romance.

The Targon Tales series by Chris Reher is really good, starting with The Catalyst

I recently started reading There Goes the Galaxy for a bit of tongue in cheek sci-fi akin to Red Dwarf and Hitchikers Guide

Star Wanderers: Outworlder series is also great

I LOVED The Stars My Destination. It was a superb rewrite of one of my other favorites, The Count of Monte Cristo, but also a hugely creative book that took a new direction.

My favorite SciFi of all time...Dune! Oops should have put why.

Frank Herbert came up with an entirely new world that I (I really can't explain it) became obsessed with. Now I read the book first then the movie (you know how that went, it wasn't too bad, they didn't stray too far, but they left a lot out.)

All the intriguing and exciting characters, the plots within plots. Now that was an epic book!

Yelle wrote: "My favorite SciFi of all time...Dune! Oops should have put why.

Frank Herbert came up with an entirely new world that I (I really can't explain it) became obsessed with. Now I read the book first ..."

I like the Dune universe, but the books can drag a bit. Also, I was never really convinced by the whole Paul Atredies as the messiah thing going on.

R.M.F wrote: "Yelle wrote: "My favorite SciFi of all time...Dune! Oops should have put why.

Frank Herbert came up with an entirely new world that I (I really can't explain it) became obsessed with. Now I read t..."

I will admit when it came to the ending of Dune, it got a little corny. They made it even cornier in the movie lol but I still loved the universe, especially the reverend mothers.

I enjoy Stephen Baxter's books.

Does anyone fancy Warhammer 40K books? I was stunned to find how excellent they are. Dan Abnett is a really superb writer.

Idlewild by Nick Sagan and Alan Dean Foster's bug series are also marvellous. I really love Idlewild and VR. William Gibson anyone?

Michelle, first thanks for the invitation to the group - it seems there are very good topics raised and discussed :)
My number one sci-fi writer is Sergei Lukyanenko, unfortunately, only his fantasy books (which are pretty good too) are translated into English, but any of his sci-fi books is absolutely stunning!
And one more name is definitely worth praising - it's our all-time classic already - the Strugatsky brothers - the gem in Soviet science fiction, when only such far from reality genres could be looked down to by the censorship.

Also Philip K. Dick, Azimov, and some Bradberry stories are definite choices!

Marina!!! I must hear more about Soviet sci fi translations! My partner was born in Sevastopol and grew up reading Soviet sci fi. He has been trying to find translations for me ever since. The series sound so amazing!

:) Michelle, dear me! Such passion :) You mean Lukyanenko? He's not Soviet - he started writing after 1991. Or you mean the Strugatsky brothers? Then it's not a series - they were 2 brothers, sadly though, they both died (::: here's the link if you didn't look them up yourself http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkady_a...
Please clarify whom do you mean :)

And I love Sevastopol :) I was taken there all my childhood and then I have revisited this beautiful marine :) city many times to enjoy its warmth, the Black Sea, and most hospitable people living there :) Very nice memories:)

Honestly I just want to know more about Russian and international sci fi!

What exactly onyour mind? :) The topic is endleeeeees :)

Message me :D I need to get a list from Andrey!

Michelle, shame on us - we totally consumed the thread to ourselves :) Get your list (if he failed to provide you with answers:)) and message me yourself - we need to narrow down the topic somehow!

my favorite book is accross the universe by beth revis. and it sience ficktion. :-)

I'm partial to Robert Sawyer's Wake/Watch/Wonder series. I like the concept of an AI becoming sentient from the world wide web. I loved how he worked the characters into the story and how believable it was. Especially loved the ending. (I won't give it away in case someone hasn't read it.)

I'm a big Kim Stanley-Robinson fan, and his Mars trilogy are up there on my favourite SF books of all time. The story doesn't move especially fast, but the characterisation is really good and the details of how Mars evolves is incredibly in-depth.

Ironically I have not read enough classic sci fi for my own good. What do you all think of Asimov? Do you prefer offworld or Earth based sci fi?

Michelle wrote: "Ironically I have not read enough classic sci fi for my own good. What do you all think of Asimov? Do you prefer offworld or Earth based sci fi?"

Good question! I'm kind of torn, as my recommendations might suggest. For Earth-based stuff, I loved Neuromancer, Diamond Age, 1984, Brave New World, Accelerando and We. As for offworld stuff, there's pretty much the Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds, the Dune sage, and the Foundation series.

Neuromancer, BNW, and 1984 are my favorite sort! I guess off world sci fi is more hit and miss for me. Alastair Reynolds has some great short stories too!

Michelle wrote: "Neuromancer, BNW, and 1984 are my favorite sort! I guess off world sci fi is more hit and miss for me. Alastair Reynolds has some great short stories too!"

He does indeed! I loved his ideas and his world-building. It was just his penchant for third act twists and some of his weirder ideas that I sometimes found a bit distracting. I'm glad you like Neuromancer. Some people on here have been badmouthing it and I cannot abide their hatin'!

To be fair Neuromancer is literary and Gibson sometimes writes obtusely action packed stuff.

Michelle wrote: "To be fair Neuromancer is literary and Gibson sometimes writes obtusely action packed stuff."

True dat! I find that I am hit and miss with his works. For every one I understood, first reading, there'd be one that was totally incomprehensible, at least at first. As a result, I found myself reading his books with a fine tooth comb. But after reading Neuromancer for the second time, once I had my cyberpunk lexicon and the plot down, things seemed much more clear...

I really need to reread it! I also love Phillip K Dick.

I guess you could say I'm fanatical about stories that go heavy on action and light on exposition; I love being thrown headfirst in. What do you readers think? Do you like a slow warm up or do you like to be plunged in headfirst?

Headfirst for sure. I'm an action junkie. I feel the same way about movies, too!

Yeah, while I love Frank Herbert, his stories could take forever to build up, and I got places to be! Good pacing means some actions early on, then let's things slow down to do the whole plot development thing before the big climax!

Can't go wrong with Frank Herbert or O. S. Card! I'm surprised no one has recommended Robert Heinlein yet! Starship Troopers basically made my whole childhood, and Stranger in a Strange Land pretty much corrupted that same childhood. I'll read his books again and again.

The Honor Harrington books -by David Weber- are my favorite scifi out there. On Basilisk Station changed my life. Weber does an amazing job integrating both character and plot, and all the books are a joy to read.

The space battles, especially. Dear god, the space battles. Even thinking about them raises the hair on my arms. Brilliant.

Also, as a guilty pleasure, The Stainless Steel Rat is fun.

Yelle wrote: "R.M.F wrote: "Yelle wrote: "My favorite SciFi of all time...Dune! Oops should have put why.

Frank Herbert came up with an entirely new world that I (I really can't explain it) became obsessed with..."

The film version is one of my favourites for some strange reason. Probably because I'm a star trek fan and Patrick Stewart's in it.

Michelle wrote: "Does anyone fancy Warhammer 40K books? I was stunned to find how excellent they are. Dan Abnett is a really superb writer.

Idlewild by Nick Sagan and Alan Dean Foster's bug series are also marvel..."

Eisenhorn is a favourite of mine.

I LOVED the Ravenor trilogy. I need to read Eisenhorn.

God you two just made me so happy. Dan Abnett's books are so insanely good. Horus Rising remains my favorite book in the 40k universe.

I only wish Eisenhorn & Ravenor were available as reasonably-priced Ebooks.

Thomas wrote: "God you two just made me so happy. Dan Abnett's books are so insanely good. Horus Rising remains my favorite book in the 40k universe.

I only wish Eisenhorn & Ravenor were available as reasonably-..."

As good as his 40K books are, his fantasy books have stunk the place up! Hammers of Ulric was a major let down. The later Gaunt's ghosts books lost a bit of the magic, but when you consider how many he wrote, I suppose that was bound to happen.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham is my favorite sci-fi book.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons is by far my favorite sci-fi book :)

Rereading the thread! These look fantastic. If you want, you can also run by the thread Chris made and leave recommendations there for other people to add!

These are some heavyweight sci fi classics. I notice we have lots of stand alones and series here. Do any of you have short story recimmendations too?

Second question: do you like your scifi light or dark?

Michelle wrote: "Rereading the thread! These look fantastic. If you want, you can also run by the thread Chris made and leave recommendations there for other people to add!

These are some heavyweight sci fi class..."

I will be awkward and say I like my sci-fi inbetween light and dark :)

I gotta hear more about the happy medium. How much is too much?

Gregory Benford has a wonderful hard sci fi series called The Galactic Center series that at times is pretty dark. I like to read hard science fiction if the author can write, and Benford does a great job.

Here's also a vote for Heinlein for classic sci fi, as well as Harry Harrison, Arthur C. Clark and Isaac Asimov. I also have a weakness for military sci fi...

And I heartily recommend Allen Steele's Coyote series if you like stories about exploring new planets.

Michelle wrote: "I gotta hear more about the happy medium. How much is too much?"

I'm not being awkward, but it's hard to describe the middle ground! Star wars is too light weight, but Dune is too condensed.

My favorite SciFi book is Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh. She does a masterful job of creating a believable world blended with good character driven action. Of the old classic SciFi my favorite author is Andre Norton, I enjoyed all of her works as a teenager.

Cyteen is one of my favorite also. I think CJ Cherryh is very good at writing intriguing characters with moral ambiguity. My all-time favorite sf is probably still Dune b/c I love Frank Herbert's spectacular world-building.

Dune is a great story and Frank Herbert is a master at world building. I like Cherryh's writing style as its "easy, pleasant" reading; yet still entertaining and sparks the imagination. Both are good at making realistic characters, which I prefer, than the superhero captain type. I read some of those but for me they are not as captivating as writing by Herbert or Cherryh.