[theVodkaCircle]

Hello fellow SF freaks. This is my first post here and I'm looking for some suggestions. I have read Stephen Donaldsons Gap series probably 8 times through. I have not found any other sci fi that comes close. I grab every sci fi book I can but a lot seem to be light reading. Basically fluff. I have found nothing that has the gritty characters, engrossing and intricate storyline and plot, the believable technology etc etc

PLEASE can anyone give me some pointers if they have read the Gap series ? Doesnt matter if you liked it or didnt, do you know of anything similar ?

Thanks all.

[rloomis]

You can't go wrong with the Hyperion Series
by Dan Simmons...Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion.

[theVodkaCircle]

Yes I have one of those. Damn fine. Unfortunately, in Australia, those large books are amazingly expensive. But thanks for the titles of the series. Looks like a scour of the second hand book shops is in order. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif
Cheers

[Vitriol]

I have found nothing that has the gritty characters, engrossing and intricate storyline and plot, the believable technology etc etc

Llama's post on the Space Opera thread has just reminded; the closest books I've read to the Gap Saga are Bank's early Culture novels:

Use Of Weapons and Against A Dark Background are very similar in tone and style and well worth a look.

Player of Games, Excession and Feersum Enjin are extremely good, but somewhat lighter in tone. They're also more straightforward.

Consider Phlebas I don't like as much of the others; in tone it sits somewhere between his extremes.

Inversions and Look to Windward are more philosophical, and you should read the other books first to understand the Culture.

There's also State Of The Art, a set of short stories, on about the same level as Phlebas.

Anyway, I think I prefer a number of Banks' books over Donaldson's; they are nowhere near as closely knit a series but some (especially Player of Games) are exemplary books.

[Hobbit]

Yes, I'd recommend a look in the Space opera thread too.

Banks is probably closest to Donaldson. I would recommend Hyperion too.

Have you tried Frank Herbert's Dune (at least the first couple?)

Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn series is also good - start with the Reality Disfunction, or even his Greg Mandel series.

Could try Vernor Vinges Fire Upon the Deep and Deepness in the Sky too.

For violence and nastiness of a similar nature to the Gap series ( http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif ) I would also go for David Wingrove's Chung Kuo series. The first is called The Middle Kingdom.

Hobbit

[wildfire]

Alastair Reynolds Chasm City reminded be of the Gap series keeps you unbalanced about whats real and has a main charactor that is full of contradictions only one book but an excellent read

Wildfire