[krazydawg005]

One of my favorite things about reading is the ability to have the story and/or universe progress over a series of books. Being sort of new to sci-fi, I'm unsure of alot of what is out there. Anyways, this summer, due to lots of free time, I really want to dive into a good epic sci fi series or two even. I'm interested in fantasy too, but I'll go ahead and post about fantasy on the other boards. Im not too picky about what I like to read. One thing I really enjoy is kind of the Star Wars thing, with a confederation/republic of planets/systems and wars and conflicts in between them. I of course also like Sci-fi that takes place on Earth. Finally, I'm not all that picky again, so feel free to throw out any series that doesn't meet those descriptions. Hopefully soon I'll choose a good series to jump into. Oh yes, I don't care if the series is completed or not. If its a series that is still being written, I'm still more than happy to get into it.

Thanks!

[Mugwump]

The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton: 3,500 pages (3 or 6 books depending on where you are located) of fireball wielding, soul-snatching zombies versus the most lethal weapons the future can offer. Hot women, bizarre aliens, deliciously evil villains and ultra-cool heroes converge to offer enough KICKASS action to keep you going for weeks. And it’s not dumb SF either.

I could recommend many other books that match your criteria, but I would be asking you to accept poor substitutes.

[krazydawg005]

Peter F. Hamilton is an author I've considered reading. Pandora's Star seems like an intriguing book (and was the first time I had heard of him). Maybe I'll check out these books first.

[Rob B]

Hamilton's Fallen Dragon was an incredible, epic book. Great story, great characters.

Dune of course is pretty epic in scope.

[Shehzad]

Epic scope? Probably the books to read in that case are Frank Herbert's Dune series, Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap series and Asimov's Foundation series. Also worth a mention are Timothy Zahn's Conquerors series (galactic space opera at its best)... And of course there are always the Star Wars books.

[UberDarkLord]

Hyperion Cantos
It's is a staple in Science Fiction, and probably one of the best epic tales in the genre. But actually, anything by Dan Simmons is good.

I second The Gap Cycle, by Stephen R. Donaldson.
Even tho' I hated his Covenant thingie, I absolutely loved this one. Character-driven plotting in a very well-fleshed out universe, Donaldson gives many other sf authors a run for their money. It is very violent and hardcore. Start with The Gap into Conflict: The real Story (a 200p 'teaser', intro to the saga that continues in 4 massive volumes).

Also cool, if you want something not neccessarily epic but more punkish, are William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and Richard Morgan.

[Hereford Eye]

C.J. Cherryh's The Faded Sun
C.J. Cherryh's The Era of Rapproachment
Jack Chalker's Four Lords of the Diamond