[StoneBurner]

Frank Herbert and Dan simmons.

I want to read more books that are as large in scope across time and space, breath taking in their creativity, and urgent in message. I know that many of you may consider authors to be better than these, and that's fine. I am not as familiar with sci-fi as I could be, but I know that i don't want to read any more Anne Mcaffrey type garbage.

Thanks in advance.

[FitzChivalry]

Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series comes to mind as another "history of the future" series.

[Shehzad]

Excellent recommendation Fitz... I second it.

You could also try Stephen Donaldson's Gap series

[Demandred]

Try Peter F Hamilton and his Nights Dawn Trilogy, and Orson Scott Card for his Enders Game - both ranked as high as your very good choice (IMHO)

[riotpoof]

Well, you might like the novels of David Zindell - Neverness, The Broken god, The Wild, War In Heaven.
Ender's Saga is great in scope and depth too.
Also, Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom's Pandora Trilogy: The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, The Ascension Factor.

[FitzChivalry]

In my opinion, the ender saga is hardly of the same scope as the series he mentioned.
The series he mentioned give a "history of the future" of our world, the ender books just deal with a few seperate scenarios in the future while not really covering politics, religion, etc.

Never heard of David Zindell, what are his books about?

[Erebus]

David Zindell is a former mathematician, whose first book, Neverness, was quite remarkable, at least in my opinion anyway! He followed this with a trilogy entitled, A Requiem for Homo Sapiens, which included the books The Broken God, The Wild, and War in Heaven, as riotpoof mentioned above.

Some may find the books a little drawn out and the mathematical comparisons a little daunting, but the overall story of Danlo Ringess, and his father, Mallory, is compelling, captivating, and at times, downright tragic! I loved the series!

Zindell's next project is a fantasy series, the first book of which is due out later in the year: The Lightstone - Book One of The Ea Cycle


[This message has been edited by erebus (edited July 31, 2001).]

[Hobbit]

The word on the streets is that the Lightstone series is 'rather good'. I have my order in ready!

Hobbit

[lemming]

Hmmm... might check out Kim Stanley Robinson's excellent Mars trilogy... Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars.

As you may guess, almost all the action is limited to one measly planet, but within that framework there's a comprehensive treatment of science, sociology, politics, and tons of future history. Can't recommend these too highly.

[vortexreader]

You could try the 'Culture' novels by Iain M Banks or the 'Xeelee' sequence by Stephen Baxter. Both are not quite like Herbert or Simmons in that the futures created are not tied to a single planet. But each author has a breathtaking imagination and their respective 'Universes' are huge in scope.