SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Last August I made a fundamental shift from being a watcher to being a reader. Now, I spend hours in front of a book instead of a screen (my Kindle, of course, being the exception) and have not looked back.

Making this shift so late in life (at the tender age of 55!), I feel like there's so much out to get caught up on. To that end, I have tried in this first year to read many of the popular authors. I have labeled this part of my reading journey as Project Literacy: Year One.

As I'm about seven weeks away from closing out the year, I thought I'd reach out to the community to see if there are authors (or specific books!) that people love and recommend.

Below is a list of authors I have already read (George R.R. Martin is next.)

Authors I've read in year one:
JRR Tolkien
Robert Jordan
Robin Hobb
Joe Abercrombie
Brandon Sanderson
John Gwynne
Patrick Rothfuss
Scott Lynch
David Gemmell
ML Wang
Christopher Buehlman
Stephen King
Matt Dinniman
Martha Wells
James Corey
Terry Pratchett
Robert Jackson Bennett
Margaret Weiss / Tracy Hickman (reading now)

Also, if you're curious about the reading habits of an aging novice with an obsessive five-star rating habit, feel free to send me a friend request!

I will never not recommend Becky Chambers. I've also liked the Greenhollow duology by Emily Tesh. Chris Wooding is also one of my favorite authors by far.

I'm so pleased to see that you're having such a good time with reading!

I think your list could benefit from

Ursula Le Guin
NK Jemisin
Octavia Butler (heavy subjects, be advised!)
Anne McCaffrey
Vonnegut
Cinda Chima Williams
Andy Weir

Philip K. Dick
Alfred Bester

We're of a similar age, Bryan :) I agree with a lot of these recommendations, and I'd also toss in these for now:

Michael J. Sullivan
Steven Brust
Lois McMaster Bujold
Jack Campbell
Janny Wurts
Gene Wolfe
Glen Cook
CJ Cherryh

Nicky wrote: "I will never not recommend Becky Chambers. I've also liked the Greenhollow duology by Emily Tesh. Chris Wooding is also one of my favorite authors by far."

Thanks Nicky! I have both Retribution Falls and The Ember Blade on the TBR.

RF is one of my favorite books ever. I have yet to continue the series but I can confidently say Chris Wooding is amazing. I read TEB recently too and it was really good as well. Different, but just as good.

Allison wrote: "I'm so pleased to see that you're having such a good time with reading!

I think your list could benefit from

Ursula Le Guin
NK Jemisin
Octavia Butler (heavy subjects, be advised!)
Anne McCaffrey
..."
Thank you Allison for such great list and inspiring me to take immediate TBD action!

Both A Wizard of Earthsea and Dragonflight have been added, and I found it interesting that they came out in 1968.
The Inheritance Trilogy was on sale in April, so it was bought and it's waiting to go.
The heavy subject warning scares me a bit, but I added Parable of the Sower .
I remember lots of folks reading Vonnegut back in college, so I'll only be 38 years late to the Slaughterhouse-Five party.
Children of Ragnarök seems like a good place for me to try Cinda since I love a good Viking story.
Finally, Project Hail Mary has been on the TBD since January and has an excellent shot of making it into year one.

Faith wrote: "Philip K. Dick
Alfred Bester"

Faith, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? has been on my TBD since I started one as I love Blade Runner - great recommendation!

Also, I read The Stars My Destination back in September as a buddy (one of the people who inspired my switch to reading) was looking for a older uncommon UK printing of that book. I found a copy for him and had to give it a read before gifting it. I mean, it was just sitting there asking to be read. :)

Michelle wrote: "We're of a similar age, Bryan :) I agree with a lot of these recommendations, and I'd also toss in these for now:

Michael J. Sullivan
Steven Brust
Lois McMa..."</i>

<i>Michelle wrote: "We're of a similar age, Bryan :) I agree with a lot of these recommendations, and I'd also toss in these for now:

[author:Michael J. Sullivan
Steven Brust
[author:Lois McMa..."
Wow Michelle, out of you expansive list, you got an even split between new things for my TBD and reaffirming existing choices.

New to add:
Theft of Swords
Jhereg
Dauntless
The Pride of Chanur

Reinforced their belonging on the TBD:
The Curse of Chalion
The Curse of the Mistwraith
Shadow & Claw
The Black Company

Bryan wrote: "Michelle wrote: "We're of a similar age, Bryan :) I agree with a lot of these recommendations, and I'd also toss in these for now:

Michael J. Sullivan
Steven Brust
..."

I did not see Frank Herbert in these lists, so please do not skip Dune.

Definitely agree with the recommendations to read CJ Cherryh. I would suggest Downbelow Station and the four Morgaine books. Her new ones (with Jane Fancher) are excellent hard sf: Alliance Rising and Alliance Unbound.

For a mix of old and new (with plenty of contrast), pair Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy with Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb books (unfortunately, the last one is late so there are only three available) and for a final old and new set: Robert Heinlein's Glory Road and SL Huang's Water Outlaws.

I better stop here. Enjoy!

Give The Hyperion Cantos 4-Book Bundle: Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons a try. A little retro but in my view one of the best SF books around. I also enjoyed Ilium.

Another favorite is Margaret Atwood. Though she can be grim, she is also humorous and prescient. And she is very smart with a vast imagination. I enjoyed her The MaddAddam Trilogy: Oryx and Crake / The Year of the Flood / MaddAddam

For books that read very fast and seem light but often have a powerful kick, try John Scalzi. His The Old Man's War Series #1-6 is a great place to start. Scalzi is often amusing and insightful.

Some authors and series (or first books) that I would recommend:
Lois MacMaster Bujold: Shards of Honor and the rest of the Vorkosigan Series
SM Stirling: Island in the Sea of Time or The General series
Harry Turtledove: The Misplaced Legion and subsequent Videssos books
Dave Weber: On Basilisk Station and subsequent Honor Harrington books

Colin wrote: "Bryan wrote: "Michelle wrote: "We're of a similar age, Bryan :) I agree with a lot of these recommendations, and I'd also toss in these for now:

Michael J. Sullivan
[author:Steven..."

Great call on Dune , Colin! I am happy to say it's on the TBR. I did add other CJ Cherryh books (Downbelow Station and Gate of Ivrel .) In addition, both Foundation and Gideon the Ninth are now on there.

Monica wrote: "Give The Hyperion Cantos 4-Book Bundle: Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons a try. A little retro but in my view one of the b..."

Monica, I have been slowly reading through Hyperion and are about half way through. I have found I have set it down several times as I shifted to something else, but I will finish it.

Now, I did add Oryx and Crake . Also, it looks like I already had Old Man's War on the list.

Economondos wrote: "Some authors and series (or first books) that I would recommend:
Lois MacMaster Bujold: Shards of Honor and the rest of the Vorkosigan Series
SM Stirling: [book:Island in the Sea of T..."

Thanks Economondos! Those books and authors are all new to me, they have been added!

FYI- I moved this post to the recommendations folder.

Bryan we're of similar vintage and looking at your list of what you've been reading, similar tastes. I'll recommend some of my all-time favorites which are lesser known nowadays and don't seem to appear on many lists.

Jack L. Chalker - The Well World saga - If you like weird/cool alien races, this is one of the best.
Julian May - Galactic Mileu series - Absolutely epic involving the future as well as prehistoic past, humanity evolving metapsychic powers...its all in there.
Harry Harrison - Eden Trilogy - An alternative history where the dinosaurs were never wiped out but evolved into intelligent beings which eventually come into contact with humans who have evolved on a separate continent.

Happy reading!

It looks like many of my favorites have already been listed by others. I second the recommendations of Lois McMaster Bujold, Andy Weir, Ursula K. Le Guin, and N. K. Jemisin (in particular The Fifth Season). Some others to add:

Adrian Tchaikovsky (Children of Time was his breakout hit)
Neal Stephenson (lots of varied books but The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer and Seveneves are some of my favorites)

Melanie wrote: "FYI- I moved this post to the recommendations folder."

Thanks for fixing my error Melanie :)

Since the thread has been moved, I will go back and edit my posts to link books for easy navigation.

Stewart wrote: "Bryan we're of similar vintage and looking at your list of what you've been reading, similar tastes. I'll recommend some of my all-time favorites which are lesser known nowadays and don't seem to a..."

As someone who played Warhammer for years, I love alien races! Midnight at the Well of Souls in on the list! I have also added both Intervention and West of Eden . Thanks Stewart!

David wrote: "It looks like many of my favorites have already been listed by others. I second the recommendations of Lois McMaster Bujold, Andy Weir, Ursula K. Le Guin, and N. K. Jemisin (in particular [book:The..."

David, back in April I bought Children of Time as my first Adrian Tchaikovsky book (its still waiting to be read). I also could not decide which Neal Stephenson to add, so I added both The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer and Seveneves . :)

Congratulations! I've shifted slightly the other way, from reading to watching fiction more, but there are so many good books for you to discover.
I second Janny Wurts, given your list, but before you read 'The Curse of the Mistwraith', I recommend starting with To Ride Hell’s Chasm. It's just one book, and is very good. I think it's a better introduction, since the Mistwraith series is very long, and some of the books also very long. Very good, but an epic that takes a lot of time, with language that's not so easy to read (but rewarding for the effort, with its detail and precision). It's good for reading slowly over a few years (at least).

You might also enjoy Guy Gavriel Kay's books. He writes fantasy fiction based on history, with European and Chinese settings. My suggestions would be Tigana, and/or one of his more recent books.

One of my favourite authors is Stephen Lawhead. He has a gifted way of weaving together history (mainly Celtic-inspired), fantasy/the supernatural, and excellent character development. I'd suggest the Song of Albion trilogy (beginning with The Paradise War), the Celtic Crusades trilogy (beginning with The Iron Lance), and The Pendragon Cycle (beginning with Taliesin).