SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Does anyone have any recommendations for some light sci-fi reading? I like reading about science, but I don't have the energy now to read a long, dense book.

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke is both very good and nice and short.

Ringworld by Larry Niven, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer, Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg, and Under My Roof by Nick Mamatas are some other examples of good, short sci-fi novels.

Personally I enjoy the Dr. Who stories. The more recent ones have a lot less technical stuff.

Have you considered audio books? They're great when you're too tired to read.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is pretty short, and each chapter has a little twist. Plus, it's a Sci-Fi classic!

Blood Music by Greg Bear is short, and kept me reading.

Blood Music by Greg Bear is short, and kept me reading.

P.S. Okay, I must have read the novelette, because this paperback is 350 pages long. Still, the novelette was great.

Just about anything by John Scalzi would fit the bill.

Robin Parrish's stuff is fun; more comic-book, big-screen style sci-fi. I recently read Offworld. Fast-paced, enjoyable reading.

Steven Gould's Helm is a great book but an easy read. The first time I read it I went cover to cover in one sitting. I kinda think that it is the original idea for the tv series Chuck.

Try Shards of Honor or the Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold. Light entertaining.

Also look at early Allen Steele. He is a former journalist and his books usually are not long but have a good story.

Elizabeth Moon has a whole series of books about space traders who get into a war on trade. Female characters, good stories.

Andre Norton (an oldie but goodie) has a variety of sf books. Some favorite sf are The Beast Master, Star Man's Son 2250, Catseye

CJ Cherryh has books about an alien encounters with humans that starts with The Pride of Chanur. Very entertaining.

Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle is probably the pinnacle of post appocalyptic disaster when a huge object from space hits the earth.

The Practice Effect by David Brin is an excellent fast paced fun read.

Alan Dean Foster's Tar Aiym Krang and his "Flinx" books are very fun to read. The first three are real winners. Another favorite of his is Icerigger

Check out Zodiac by Neal Stephenson

Some newer authors you can look at are Wen Spencer -- both Endless Blue and Tinker are good.

Look at Karl Schroeder -- Sun of Suns is the first in his Virga series. This is really fun stuff and not dense or heavy.

If you like military sf you can try Death's Head by David Gunn is a top read

Fool's War by Sarah Zettel is also a marvelous read

Another book light Time Travel is "to Say nothing of the dog" by Connie Willis

Jeffrey wrote: The Practice Effect by David Brin is an excellent fast paced fun read.

I second this heartily.

The Host by Stephanie Meyers is very light with a bit of romance. I would almost classify it as young adult.
The Host

"Monkey See" by Walt Maguire is a very funny take on animal testing; talking monkeys, rioting apes, and super-secret plans for making your own monster-ape at home in your basement/garage/little brother's bedroom.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Sold as a young adult book, I don't know anyone who has read it that hasn't liked it.

Ami wrote: "The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Sold as a young adult book, I don't know anyone who has read it that hasn't liked it."

I'm not sure The Hunger Games is light reading despite the YA tag.

One of the best and most intense books I have ever read! The sequel,



is just as good.

If you like science and you're into something not too large or heavy then I would recommend some classic british sci-fi.

Why not try either Chocky or The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham? Then if you're feeling adventurous you could move on to The Day of the Triffids.

All good reads and way ahead of their time.

Mike wrote: "If you like science and you're into something not too large or heavy then I would recommend some classic british sci-fi.

Why not try either Chocky or [book:The Midwich Cuckoos|57828..."

The Kraken Wakes was pretty good as well.

The Flying Sorcerers Gerrold and Niven.

The wizard "Purple" creates enormous problems for an alien world's reigning tribal sorceror.

Mention My Name in Atlantis by John Jakes

Conax the barbarian as a mighty thewed warrior, strange aliens, Atlantis. What's not to love?

Phule's Company (plus sequels) By Robert Asprin (plus sequels). A rich weapons maker takes a team of cosmic misfits and makes an army that can take on any challenge.

The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison (plus sequels). Jim DeGriz, the most brilliant ethical thief in the Universe pits his wits against, well, everybody.

The Men from P.I.G. and R.O.B.O.T. also by Harry Harrison. A galactic secret agent armed with -- pigs -- battle ghosts and corruption.

Welcome to the Monkey House Kurt Vonnegut
(several other KV novels qualify as well, e.g. Slaughterhouse Five). Black humor by a SF legend.

Then if you want to go insane with one of the most talented SF authors of the late 60's and early 70s, try:

The Iron Dream
Bug Jack Barron and
The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde

all by Norman Spinrad. The Iron Dream is "Science Fiction by Adolph Hitler, as told to Norman Spinrad". It is the blackest of black humor. Bug Jack Barron isn't completely lighthearted -- it tells a pretty dark story, in fact. But it is also black humor and features one of the funniest ads (for "Acapulco Golds") in SF. The Last Hurrah, well, all I can say is you'll never look at Hordes the same way again.

All of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is worth owning. Ditto Hitchhiker's Guide. But I'm guessing you've read or seen the movie made from the latter, and the former is more a satire of fantasy than of SF.

Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster is lighthearted and fun, although not quite "funny".

Split Infinity (and endless sequels) by Pier Anthony are science fantasy or some such split -- very lighthearted (and full of puns). The only real problem is that the stories never end -- truly an eternaseries -- and the first few are the best.

Swords and Deviltry I don't know if you count any straight up fantasy, but if you haven't read the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series by Lieber (which are very definitely lighthearted), well, find them and read them. No fan of sword and sorcery can be said to be well-read until they have. Ditto The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny. Also Lord of Light by Zelazny is one of the all time classics of SF.

That's probably enough for now.

rgb

Shellie wrote: "The Host by Stephanie Meyers is very light with a bit of romance. I would almost classify it as young adult.
The Host"

But isn't that what all of the tweens and teens are reading nowadays anyway? Sorry, I'm staying away from that vamp business.

The host is sci fi not vamp.

We have been invaded and lost. The last hold outs of humanity are in hiding.


Good book

I must be thinking of Stephanie Meyer of Twilight fame. Sorry about that. Thought that was one of that particular series.

Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison. Satire on Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.

For another classic that's pacy and filled with black humour, try The Puppet Masters, also by Robert A. Heinlein

Do you mean lighter as in "happier" or as in "not so heavy language"? If the latter, I suggest "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester. I wouldn't call that especially happy, though.

Kathy wrote: "I must be thinking of Stephanie Meyer of Twilight fame. Sorry about that. Thought that was one of that particular series."

Actually, Kathy, it's the same Stephenie Meyer, but it's the one book she's written that isn't specifically for teens, and isn't part of her Twilight series. Still obviously Meyer (you'd find out how, should you decide to read it), but definitely much more bearable than her other books.

Not scifi so much in terms of anything overtly scientific (like advanced technology, biology, psychology, etc), it's kind of a different take on Invasion of the Body-Snatchers, where the narrator IS a snatcher.

I agree with the Wen Spencer Tinker novel, anything by Andre Norton, the Phule series and the early Flinx novels (later ones seems to be darker). Terry Prachett's Good Omens is not quite science fiction but an alternative world of good vs evil which is quite a bit of fun. JD Robb's (Nora Roberts) detective series (Eve Dallas) is set in the future and are fast reads. The "ship who sang" series are also on my re-read lists.
Have fun!

I liked Feed. It was a fairly short read that brought up a lot of questions. However, the science part of it was not overly stressed (or stressful to understand!).

Eva was also pretty short but interesting.

Some fun space opera is Partners in Necessity by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. That particular book is an omnibus edition of the first three Liaden books. I am unsure if the stand-alone novels are even being published right now.

I would classify the Host as sci-fi, definitely not hard-core sci-fi. It's quite fluffy, and, in my personal opinion, is poorly written. I would not recommend it.

I would agree with the recommendation of the Hunger Games. It's an easy read, but the subject matter is fairly heavy. I loved it and its sequel.

"Tunnel in the Sky" by Robert Heinlein. Actually, any Heinlein from his "juvenile" fiction days (not really that juvenile). "Have Space Suit, Will Travel", "Starman Jones", "Red Planet". They're short, but punchy and interesting. "Tunnel" is a great survival story.

"Jack of Eagles" classic SF by James Blish, or any of the "Cities in Flight" series.

"Re-Birth" by John Wyndham. (You might find it under the alternate title "The Chrysalids").

All of these are short novels, but very interesting.

The Legacy of Heorot

a few id recommend:

Ubik - my fav PKD.
Trouble With Lichen/The Midwich Cuckoos or anything by John Wyndham
Mockingbird

Two of my favorites,sci-fi but humor, not a lot of science, no romance ... are the first two "Phule" books by Robert Asprin. I've re-read them many times. Later there were several co-written by Asprin and Peter Heck but they are definitely not anywhere as good as the first two.

Phule's Company is the first and should be read first.

I gotta go with Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Saloon" series.

Dale wrote: "I gotta go with Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Saloon" series."

Callahan's Saloon rules. I think this was one of the few books which made people actually search for place in question on the Long Island where is is supposed to be.

Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation was rather light in tone, as I recall.

Trike wrote: "Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation was rather light in tone, as I recall."

I'm pretty sure your right. My memory of it is a bit fuzzy... It's the 1st John Scalzi book I read.

I've only glanced through my copy but is a sci-fi, fantasy, humor anthology.

Fuzzy Nation or Redshirts Both books I found very enjoyable and a fast read.

"Ready Player One" (Ernest Cline) or "Redshirts" (John Scalzi). I agree with others, pretty much anything by Scalzi makes for a light fun read. The only one I didn't like that much was "Agent to the Stars."

I would say Embedded by Dan Abnett. There's also House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds, Gun Machine by Warren Ellis, and All you need is kill by Chohei Kambayashi. I think a easy read would be Orion by Ben Bova, that's fantasy, adventure with time travel.

Ruth wrote: "Fuzzy Nation or Redshirts Both books I found very enjoyable and a fast read."

I'll endorse both of these. Good suggestions, Ruth.

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Art wrote: "Old Man's War by John Scalzi"
That one's good, too, but not as light as Fuzzy Nation or Redshirs.

I saw Redshirts in the bookstore while I was travelling, but had my limit for declaration to Canadian customs by then. It almost sounds like a comment that was made by DeForrest Kelley at a star trek convention in the early 80s, something to the gist, "It's only safe if you're not a junior officer on an Away team".

It definitely a Star Trek parody, but different. Not exactly what you might expect, but it's fun.

You might like the Time traders series or the Forerunner books both by the same author Andre Norton

Timetrap by Keith Laumer
Glory Road by Robert A Heinlein
And I must say "Welcome to the Monkey House" by Kurt Vonnegut was an inspired recommendation. ACES.
The Egg-Shaped thing---don't recall the author
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle--YA but one of my favorite books...ever...
ANYTHING by Lois McMaster Bujold--Her Vorgosigan tales are stellar..as it were...