Recommendations

**Kamakhya** · March 10th, 2003, 09:26 PM

The SF group doesn't currently have a good recommendation thread, so I thought I would start one.

What books would you recommend to a newcomer to SF? What do you consider must-reads? Any books that make a good cross-over from fantasy to sf?

Perhaps you would just like to list your favorites, or maybe break them down by genre or date of publication.

I know, we do have past threads that touched on this topic, but a new current thread, to gain the attention of our new members is, imho, in order.

Kamakhya

**fluffy bunny** · March 10th, 2003, 09:56 PM

Agreed about the recommendation thread

Here's a good place to start:10 best science fiction novels

**Kamakhya** · March 10th, 2003, 10:21 PM

LOL, Fluffy Bunny, that was the thread I was thinking about. It was what drew me into this forum.

The following is my list from over a year ago, and quite frankly, my tastes haven't changed!
====

Ok...I don't have any idea how I can narrow down my top ten, but the following are books that I found so compelling that I still remember them. :*)

1) The Dispossessed - Ursula K. LeGuin
2) The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. LeGuin
3) The Word for World is Forest - Ursula K. LeGuin
4) The Snow Queen - Joan Vinge
5) Night's Dawn Trilogy - Peter F. Hamilton
6) Startide Rising - David Brin
7) Gateway - Pohl
8) Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse 5
9) Foundation Trilogy - Asimov
10) The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
11) The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Heinlein
12) Otherland - Tad Williams (at least the first 3)
13) Speaker for the Dead, Card
14) Miles Vorkosigan series, Bujold-McMaster
15) Earth - David Brin
16) Bellweather - Connie Willis
17) Mars Trilogy - Kim Stanley Robinson
18) A Deepness in the Sky and Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
19) Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
20) A Canticle for Leibowitz - Miller
21) 1984 - Huxley
====

I would add:

22) The Sparrow -- Mary Russell
23) Perdido Street Station -- China Mieville
24) A Canticle for Liebowitz or Gather, Darkness! -- Fritz Lieber
25) The Encylcopedia of Science Fiction -- John Clute and Peter Nicholls.

I might have second thoughts about a few books on that list, but I will stand by what I said.

Kamakhya

**Gravity's End** · March 11th, 2003, 11:30 AM

1984, by Huxley?! Oops, lol

So is it 1984 by Orwell that you wanted on the list, or something by Huxley?

**fluffy bunny** · March 11th, 2003, 11:52 AM

I'm sure I'm going to miss loads, but I'll give it a shot

- The Stars my Destination (Bester)- A must read Demolished man is also good
- Foundation (Asimov)- hated the rest of the trilogy
- Ender's Game (OS Card)- speaker for the dead's also good
- Day of the Triffids (Wyndam)
- Forever War (Haldeman)
- Lord of Light (Zelazny)
- Gateway (Pohl)
- Eon (Bear) - though the 2nd half put me off
- Sundiver (Brin) - for some reason I preferred this to Startide Rising
- Player of Games (I.M. Banks)
- Invisible Man (Wells)- most of Well's work is good
- Lots of short stories by Phillip K Dick
- Revelation Space- Reynolds

More to come when I can think of a few more that I liked- Dune and neuromancer are probably not going to get on the list though.

**Kamakhya** · March 11th, 2003, 01:00 PM

1984, by Huxley?! Oops, lol

So is it 1984 by Orwell that you wanted on the list, or something by Huxley?

Doh!!!

Sheesh, I should have caught that! I meant 1984, but, then again, Brave New World was an awesome book too.

Kamakhya

**trentdick2882** · March 11th, 2003, 01:08 PM

I actually think I enjoyed We by Zamyatin more than 1984, has anyone read that?

**almostvoid** · October 30th, 2011, 04:26 AM

Originally Posted by trentdick2882

I actually think I enjoyed We by Zamyatin more than 1984, has anyone read that?

talk about browsing to the right location: your head! 'We' as you know inspired Orwell as well as Huxley [back to front I know]
I found some others you might go for

Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky: Memories of the Future
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz: Insatiability
Vladimir Odoevsky: The Salamander and other Gothic Tales [predates Poe]

**Kamakhya** · March 11th, 2003, 01:31 PM

I read We when I was a teen, along with 1984 and Brave New World, and loved it. I am actually, currently re-reading it, but just haven't been able to get into it. But, there is no doubt, that it is a classic novel of the same ilk. I think the story of the author and its publishing is amazing.

I plan on finishing it up soon.

Kamakhya

**trentdick2882** · March 11th, 2003, 02:22 PM

I just thought the writing and all the imagery Zamyatin used was more vivid than 1984. But I haven't read 1984 in a while so I should probably re-read it. The way the character goes from writing like a machine to very poetic when he gets a "soul" and then back to a machine at the end is really great.

**fluffy bunny** · March 11th, 2003, 02:51 PM

in addition to above:

- Farenheit 451 (Bradbury)
- Chrysalids (Wyndham)
- Man in the High Casle (PK Dick)
- Pavane (Roberts)
- Rogue Moon (Budrys)
- Stand on Zanzibar (Brunner)
- Left hand of Darkness (Le Guin)
- Hyperion (Simmons)
- Ringworld (Niven)
- 20,000 leagues under the sea (Verne)
- Deathbird Stories (Ellison)

**Rob B** · March 11th, 2003, 04:50 PM

As you can all see, I've sticky-ed this here topic. Tomorrow when I come back, I'll post all the related topics.

**Rob B** · March 12th, 2003, 01:58 PM

Ok some of my recommendations:

Some Good Recent novels
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Warchild by Karin Lowachee
This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman
Metaplanetary by Tony Daniel
The Confluence Trilogy by Paul J. McAuley

Here's the links to relavent topics
Please add to the topics below at any time. As with the topic in the Fantasy Section any NEW (as in after this topic is posted) pops up, it will automatically be DELETED
You can NEVER go wrong with Philip K. Dick:
Favourite Philip K Dick novel?
Philp K. Dick
PKD Print vs. Film

Miscellaneous Recommendation Threads:
Favourite short stories
Science fiction for young readers
Ten Best Science Fiction Novels
Authors of Merit
What do I read
Required Reading
New SF Authors?
What to read in Scifi?
Favorite Science Fiction Book
Recommendable authors/books
SF Recommendations
Favorite Worlds in SF
Classic writers vs. the newer generations
First Sci-Fi novel that you read
Which of these four authors
WORST sci-fi ever
Best book/author in last 5 years...?

Sub-Genres:
Military Sci-Fi
Just what is "cyberpunk" sci-fi? Best "hard" Sci novels?
Favorite "Big Idea" Stories/Books
Alternative History??
Time Travel Books
Books on Mars
Post Apocolyptic Books Post-Apocolyptic Authors
Define "Hard" Scifi?
Best Space Opera
If Robots are your thing: AI - A fresh look On Androids, Robots, Cyborgs etc.. artificial intelligence A.I. Killers

Star Wars:
Has anyone here experienced Star Wars burn out?
Star Wars books Star wars

Here are the past monthly Reading Tallies:
March Reads February Reads January Reads
2002
December Reads! September Reads Reading in Agosto July reads June Reads May Reads April Reads What are you reading in March?

**Shunryu** · October 30th, 2005, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Rob B

Ok some of my recommendations:

Some Good Recent novels
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Warchild by Karin Lowachee
This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman
Metaplanetary by Tony Daniel
The Confluence Trilogy by Paul J. McAuley

Here's the links to relavent topics
Please add to the topics below at any time. As with the topic in the Fantasy Section any NEW (as in after this topic is posted) pops up, it will automatically be DELETED
You can NEVER go wrong with Philip K. Dick:
Favourite Philip K Dick novel?
Philp K. Dick
PKD Print vs. Film

Miscellaneous Recommendation Threads:
Favourite short stories
Science fiction for young readers
Ten Best Science Fiction Novels
Authors of Merit
What do I read
Required Reading
New SF Authors?
What to read in Scifi?
Favorite Science Fiction Book
Recommendable authors/books
SF Recommendations
Favorite Worlds in SF
Classic writers vs. the newer generations
First Sci-Fi novel that you read
Which of these four authors
WORST sci-fi ever
Best book/author in last 5 years...?

Sub-Genres:
Military Sci-Fi
Just what is "cyberpunk" sci-fi? Best "hard" Sci novels?
Favorite "Big Idea" Stories/Books
Alternative History??
Time Travel Books
Books on Mars
Post Apocolyptic Books Post-Apocolyptic Authors
Define "Hard" Scifi?
Best Space Opera
If Robots are your thing: AI - A fresh look On Androids, Robots, Cyborgs etc.. artificial intelligence A.I. Killers

Star Wars:
Has anyone here experienced Star Wars burn out?
Star Wars books Star wars

Here are the past monthly Reading Tallies:
March Reads February Reads January Reads
2002
December Reads! September Reads Reading in Agosto July reads June Reads May Reads April Reads What are you reading in March?

When I try to access these links I get a page that says:

The page you are trying to reach can not be found.
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**Erfael** · October 30th, 2005, 11:37 AM

The issue with those links not working has now been fixed. That was a relic from back when the forums were at sffworld.org...they all just needed to be made .com I went fast, so let me know if any of them aren't working now.