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good sci-fi?

rustypouch said:
An author I like, and don't think has been mentioned yet, is Ben Bova.
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Yeah, right, I forgot...

Mars
Return to Mars
Venus
Jupiter
Saturn

I haven´t read any other novel by him, yet.

The RAMA series (including the spin-offs), on the other hand, is too woo-woo IMHO. Too much god for my taste, especially the later novels.
 
varwoche said:

Thanks epepke and everyone. I've read lots of Asimov, unenthisiastic thumbs up (can be boring). Ditto Clarke.

I have tried and tried to get thru various Gibson books but can't. (Seems like I "should" like Gibson.)

I liked the Null-A series by Van Vogt (typical lousy sci-fi writer, awesome stories). I liked City by Simak. Maybe Vonnegut doesn't quite count, but Cats Cradle is an all time fave.
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OK, that narrows it down. Asimov and Clarke are fairly bland writers with some good ideas. Gibson is a Johnny One-Note with style over substance.

That having been said, I think you might enjoy the Killer Bs: Bear, Benford, and Brin. And maybe Greg Egan and Stephen Baxter as well. Their stories contain lots of good ideas but develop characters and interplay better than Asimov or Clarke. Bear's anthropology about how scientists really behave is quite good. Brin and Benford seem to have gotten a bit worse lately IMO, so start with some of the earlier ones.
 
Not the best science fiction out there, but...
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epepke said:
Brin and Benford seem to have gotten a bit worse lately IMO, so start with some of the earlier ones.
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I'm a huge David Brin fan. He's one of the only SF writers who takes on the Big Questions and can manage to do it with humor. As far as him going downhill, I don't really think so. The last Uplift trilogy was amazing I thought. I also liked Kiln People a lot, but it was easy to get lost with the metaphysical stuff that was going on at the end. But I can see where you're coming from. It's hard to beat the continual inventiveness of Sundiver and Startide Rising. Wouldn't Startide Rising make a great movie?

He recently released a graphic novel called "The Life Eaters" based on his old short story "Captain America meets Thor". It's one of the best things I've read recently.
 
I'm more of a action, space opera fan, so Startide Rising is my fave, but I've found that my friends that like mysteries or thrillers like Sundiver better.

Sundiver really is like a sci-fi Agatha Christie novel. Like Murder on the orient express with bug-eyed aliens with laser shooting eyes.
 
In my first year in college, one of the most interesting classes involved a professor who had just read a science fiction book. Instead of giving his normal lecture, he told us about this book he'd just finished reading.

The book was "Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke.

Now, the professor made sure not to spoil any of the the surprises in the book, but his discussion of the book was so fascinating that I ran to the university library afterward to check out the book. I read it cover-to-cover in one sitting. It was pretty darn good.

Years later, I saw the book for sale at a library paperback book sale, and I bought it and read it again. It was still pretty darn good.

The biggest problem with it is that it is somewhat dated (the story begins in the early days of rocket launches into space), and yet, the story could easily be modified to fit modern times.

This is a fun book to read aloud, because the characters all have unusual accents.
 
Ditto on Asimov and Gibson (I work with computers and Gibson annoys me). Sounds like you want better written stuff - you tried Roger Zelazny? 'Lord of Light' 'Eye of Cat" et al? 'Use of Weapons' by Iain M Banks. If you feel you should like Gibson try Peter F Hamilston's "Mindstar" books.
 
Well, you have to read Larry Niven (Ringworld, Trees, etc).

However, if you read cyberpunk (William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson), it'll ruin you on all other SF. Once you try cyberpunk, you can never go back...

Gibson: Neuromancer
Sterling: Islands in the Net
Stephenson: Snow Crash
 
Hexxenhammer said:


I'm a huge David Brin fan. He's one of the only SF writers who takes on the Big Questions and can manage to do it with humor. As far as him going downhill, I don't really think so. The last Uplift trilogy was amazing I thought. I also liked Kiln People a lot, but it was easy to get lost with the metaphysical stuff that was going on at the end. But I can see where you're coming from. It's hard to beat the continual inventiveness of Sundiver and Startide Rising. Wouldn't Startide Rising make a great movie?

He recently released a graphic novel called "The Life Eaters" based on his old short story "Captain America meets Thor". It's one of the best things I've read recently.
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Brin's my favorite too. I've tried to read everything he's ever written. His trilogy sequel to Startide Rising is also excellent. He creates by far, the most believable aliens of any other writer. His novel, "The Postman" was excellent. That butcher job of a movie they did was a travesty. They left out the very most important points, plus they completely changed the hero. (I'll never forgive Kevin Costner for that.)

I also like his short works, like "Thor meets Captain America." A couple of times on the Paranormal board, I've linked his short story Those Eyes because it is the best debunking (sensitively done) of space aliens that I've ever seen.

My other favorites (mentioned by others here) are Vinge and Simmons. Greg Bear is not bad either.
 
Tricky said:

Brin's my favorite too. I've tried to read everything he's ever written. His trilogy sequel to Startide Rising is also excellent. He creates by far, the most believable aliens of any other writer. His novel, "The Postman" was excellent. That butcher job of a movie they did was a travesty. They left out the very most important points, plus they completely changed the hero. (I'll never forgive Kevin Costner for that.)
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The Postman is a great book. The survivalists were seriously scary. I love the part where the two super soldiers barely pull on the fire poker and the middle starts to turn red from the heat as they pull it apart.

And the end gives a whole new meaning to "liberal vs conservative".
 
Just finished "Souls in the Great Machine" by Sean McMullen. I recommend it highly. Very, very imaginative, fast-paced, and a ton of really neat ideas.

I also forgot to mention in my earlier post, "The Years of Rice and Salt" by Kim Stanley Robinson.
 
Hexxenhammer said:
I'm a huge David Brin fan. He's one of the only SF writers who takes on the Big Questions and can manage to do it with humor. As far as him going downhill, I don't really think so. The last Uplift trilogy was amazing I thought. I also liked Kiln People a lot, but it was easy to get lost with the metaphysical stuff that was going on at the end. But I can see where you're coming from. It's hard to beat the continual inventiveness of Sundiver and Startide Rising. Wouldn't Startide Rising make a great movie?
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I agree with you. I liked Kiln People, but it isn't my favorite.

I have to revise my earlier post. I meant that Greg Bear was going downhill, not Gregory Benford. I was extremely disappointed by Vitals and Darwin's Children. Vitals seemed to me about equal parts of a) the first half of a good SF yarn, b) the first half of an X-Files, episode, and c) a lot of superficial moral proselytizing about how extending life is evil. Darwin's Children seemed to me the Jack Chick version of Darwin's Radio. A partial explanation of this is in the metamaterial in the back of the book. It seems Bear got religion.

Another author who changed quite a lot is John Varley. He's well known for punchy though somewhat dated social commentary. The datedness is partially redeemed by the fact that he has a tendency to skewer everyone: the scene where Robin Nine-Fingers realizes she's a closeted heterosexual is priceless. Still, The Golden Globe had the old Varley punch while being less dated.

His latests book, Red Thunder, in the spirit of Tom Sawyer Abroad, Explorers, every Mickey Rooney movie ever made, and that sort of thing. Extremely light fare, almost a children's book, except that the kids are actually over 18. I wonder what happened.
 
I pretty much agree with your accessment of Red Thunder; I couldn't help thinking....Movie Deal?

Hehe- I could almost see the guy who played the ex-astronaut from Northern Exposure in the role.

Still, I'll give anyone a clunker; I've enjoyed Varley's stuff for years.
 
All of Stephen R. Donaldson's books have been good. The Gap Saga will mess you up, but it's a real page turner.

C.S.S. Friedman has some thoughtful works. Even the scifi/horror stuff, like Coldfire Trilogy is good.

David Brin, yeah. Postman: great book, horrible movie. Startide series not to be missed.

Some of Piers Anthony's forays into sci-fi are very good, and not the least bit silly. Try the 'Bio of a Space Tyrant' series. Most of the rest are good, but silly.

I haven't read anything by Robert A. Heinlein that I didn't enjoy.
 
Bikewer said:
I pretty much agree with your accessment of Red Thunder; I couldn't help thinking....Movie Deal?

Hehe- I could almost see the guy who played the ex-astronaut from Northern Exposure in the role.

Still, I'll give anyone a clunker; I've enjoyed Varley's stuff for years.
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I'm not sure if it's a clunker. For what it is, if one likes that sort of thing, it's extremely well written. The bits about the Real Florida are as spot-on as any Carl Hiaasen novel.

It sort of reminds me of the fact that, during the Great War, several artists who had done challenging work before the war confined themselves to happy paintings. I wonder if Varley has done a similar thing in the wake of 9/11. Perhaps he feels that this simply isn't the time for challenges but rather the time for being reminded of childlike dreams.
 
Hutch said:

Larry Niven--If you haven't read Ringworld and his Known Space stuff, get thee to a bookstore. His collaborations with Jerry Pournelle are among the best SF has to offer.
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Eeeg, I don't know about that. I picked up the Mote in God's Eye on a rec like that and, well, I guess I'm just not used to sci-fi with such a 1950's view of women. It read like they *thought* they were being forward-thinking and emancipated but had no idea what they were doing. Seriously, the women in that book were ghastly. "Exploring space and contacting aliens is great but what I really want is a baby" level stuff. The line (spoken by one of the women to the aliens they've just met) about "nice girls" not using birth control was great too.

Which is why I'm not annoyed by sci-fi with no 'empowered' women in it... If the author doesn't understand strong women, best not to try to write them. Badly written women annoy real women something fierce.
 
A couple of mentions above, but I have always liked LeGuinn's Sci Fi...also, Zelazney (sp?), Lord of Light was a fun read.
 
ASRomatifoso said:
...
Neal Stephenson: ... Cryptonomicon
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Guh, NO!

The first SF book I've picked up in a while (and highly recommended by the SF bookstore clerk!). I slogged through 500 pages, and still had something like 1000 to go before I put it in the "garage sale" stack.

If nothing happens in the first 500 pages, ain't nothin' gonna happen...
 
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