Books- Recommendations

[-=Ash=-]

I thought i might tap into your knowledge and experience to figure out what books may be worthwhile checking out at the bookstore.
I am interested in sci-fi and fantasy, and so far from the books i've read (english) i remember and like the LOTR series, the Wheel of Time series, Harry potter series, and Deryni series(Katherine Kurtz).
 From sci-fi i like Dune books, Foundation (Asimov), some of Bradberry stuff, the rest seems to be either russian sci-fi (i like it alot) or the short stories by various writers. I used to read a lot, we had to leave behind our own family library at home in russia, with many books probably irreplaceable.  Now with computer taking a grip on my free time, i dont even read much, and i feel that a lot of the books i read have been reduced to a residue of a memory.

This saturday i visited a local bookstore to see if i can pick up something new, and realized that with all the choices out there i am stuck trying out stuff at random. I ended up picking up 3 books from the "Saga of Recluse" series which turned out to be a lucky choice- i really like it so far.
Was wondering if you guys could post a few recommendations and opinions about good books to read- they dont need to be in sci-fi and fantasy genre.

[Nyt]

Hi Ash,

     My favorite author... Larry Niven.. cant recommend Ringworld triology enough.  Or any of the Known Universe books by him.   (he is mostly Sci-Fi)

     Second favorite.. Robert Heinlein..  Friday being my favorite of his, cant beat Stranger in a strange land for dinner converstation.   (again mostlly Sci-Fi)

     For more light reading...  Peirs Anthony and the Xanth series.  They are just soo much fun to read.  The Incarnation series is also very fun.  (mostly Fantasy)


           Nyt

[Rayne]

The Recluse books are a good choice, as is almost anything from Modesitt.  I also enjoyed the first three of the Corean Cycle.  Some of his one-off books are good too (Parafaith War comes to mind, Forever Hero was enjoyable, something Adamantium...).  However, after a while, they do tend to run together as he repeats his themes.  Still a very good author.

Right now I'm really hooked on the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher.  So far only three books with the 4th coming out in December.  I've read a ton of fantasy and these are outstanding.  I really enjoy his magic system.  And unlike the Wheel of Time series, which degraded over time, I found his 3rd book to be the best of the bunch.  He also has a very good SciFi series (well, fantasy set in modern times), The Dresden Files (you may be aware of the TV show on the SciFi channel).  I don't care much for the show, but enjoy the books.  Nice thing about Butcher is if you're new to him that's a dozen novels awaiting you, and he's still relatively young too!  Not like Robert Jordan who may very well die before finishing WoT (sadly he has a rare, incurable blood disease so the issue is definitely in doubt).

I didn't see Heinlein mentioned so if you've never read him you may enjoy his works.  He wrote Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, Glory Road, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and a bunch of other stuff.  I do find that I don't enjoy him nearly as much now as I did when younger, but haven't decided if it's because I know the stories too well, or don't have the same taste for him as I once did.  Also, some of his most recent works got a little, odd.  He liked to explore taboo subjects (e.g. incest) and I don't find the reading of that to be enjoyable.  But I still enjoy his "Young Adult" books a lot (Starship Troopers was one for example).

I don't know if you're into military Sci Fi, if so, there's a series from John Ringo that I really liked: Legacy of the Aldenata.  Really just the first four books though (they have basically the battle suits from Starship Troopers!).  He's a "hot author" right now, so he's also done a lot of books with others and they don't quite have the same flavor.  He also collaborated with David Weber on Empire of Man, which I really enjoyed.  And then David Weber has a ton of books also, most noted for his Honor Harrington series, which really isn't to my taste, but I think it's his bread and butter series.  I've enjoyed some of his other books.

Older stuff includes Arthur C. Clark (2001 Space Odyssey ring a bell?  Although I loved his Tales from the White Harte more than anything else), L. Ron Hubbard (ignore Dianetics, stick to Battlefield Earth), Pournelle, and I seem to be drawing a blank.  If you don't get tons of other suggestions I'll scan my bookshelves tonight.

[Mnemoth]

Loved the Recluse series. Some are a bit similar, but the later ones do a good job of mixing it up.

On the latest book of Wheel of time. I think the only reason I've kept reading that series is because I'm too stubborn to quit. There are some really good parts, but the vast majority is just a pain to sit though. That author really needs to get to the point.

I also really liked the David Eddings series. Been a while since I read it... think it was "the belgarath" or some such. I also liked the other series from the same guy. Main char was "Sparhawk"... forget the name of the series as well.

Mnem

[Shike]

I also would highly recommend David Eddings.  Both his large series are terrific reads. (Belgariad and Malloreon)
Salvatore's Drizzt books are terrific.  Icewind Dale trilogy would be a decent start.
If you like overly large books, Terry Goodkind is quite prolific. 
Margaret Weis does some fantastic DragonLance books.
"Druss the Legend" has one of the best main characters I've read. 
Raymond Feist is also an excellent author.

Sci-Fi?  Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card was good.  I also liked Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars.

[Nyt]

I forgot Anne Macaffery and the dragonriders of pern series.  My children have started reading them and love them as much as I did. 
         
               Nyt

[Dedolito]

For the sci-fi classics I like the following:

Ender's Game series was pretty good, tho it got kinda preachy by the end of it.  That said the author, Orson Scott Card, has a number of other good books as well.

A lot of the books that are a part of Larry Niven's expanded universe are pretty good.  The Man-Kzin wars, Protector, Ringworld, etc. 

I also like the Humanx expanded universe.  Icerigger triology, Sentenced to Prism, The End of Matter

In these 3 "universes" there are close to 100 books to read all told.  Will keep you busy for years.  Some authors are good, some not so, but all in all very worthwhile endeavors.

I'll second the Piers Anthony's Xanth series.  Light hearted fantasy that is pun-er-ific.  I think it stands at 30+ books now, not bad for a series that was meant as a trilogy.  He's also written other stuff that's pretty good.

Anne McCaffreys is also pretty prolific and generally talented, with the Dragons of Pern series, the Ships who Sang series, Crystal Singer series, Dinosaur Planet trilogy, and maybe another 20-30 or so books in various series and stand alones that I've not been able to get my hands on yet.

H. Beam Piper wrote the Fuzzy trilogy that I lilked.  It seemed like it was sort of a spinoff from the Humanx universe I mentioned above.

John Varley's Gaea Trilogy is good reading too. 

I've also really enjoyed Star Wars: The New Jedi Order -- takes place 30+ years after the end of the movies.  Most of the authors are top-notch, but a couple of the books don't read so well.  Not because they are badly written but more because they have the characters doing things that seem out of character.  The problem with following the same characters across multiple authors.

So many books, so little time

[Akika]

...Light, easy reading but I find it entertaining.  Anyone else a fan of Terry Pratchett books (Discworld series or his recent co-authored book "Good Omens")?  Its Fantasy- comedy and its also great on audio for the car or in the home while working on a project.

-Akisa

[Evelina]

green eggs and ham is a good one.

I like reading as much as I can however not much sci-fi.  But green eggs and ham is a sure bet! (ask Flinter....I think he has it by his toilet ).

[-=Ash=-]

Excellent info, much appreciated!
I know i will be coming back to this thread more than few times.
I'd like to also toss a few books in the mix that i think are worth knowing, from russian literature.
The problem is finding that stuff in english translation.
There are some books available immediately as a txt and html here.
I recommend reading Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita- a book many people read and re-read, every time finding something new.
The story talks about the dark one's visit to Moscow, the book is unique in many ways.

Also, Strugatsky brothers are famous in Russia for their sci-fi work, i'd start with the most famous one- Roadside Picnic (aka Stalker).

A.Belyaev is another very popular author, usually separate stories i can compare with the books of Jule Verne and G.Wells.
There is also a slew of new fantasy with slavic incline that appeared in the recent 10+ years in russia that also may be something new to people used to western fantasy and sci-fi exclusively. I have not done any research about how much of that is translated to english, but i'd be happy to refer you guys to any good books i hear about.

[Saean]

Salvatore's Drizzt books are terrific.  Icewind Dale trilogy would be a decent start.

Agree'd many of those books are quite good however my favorite Salvatore series is still the Cleric Quintet.

Also if you like Sci-fi the Ian M. Banks books are some of my favorites.

[Irulan]

I'll have to echo the Heinlein.  I'll have to say his works in the late 60's and 70's were a little preachy.  I really enjoyed his various juvenile books though.  Tops among them for me were Rocketship Galileo, Space Cadet, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, and Starman Jones.  I also like Starship Troopers despite the fact people claim that its a bit preachy.

I'll also second the vote for Orson Scott Card, but really only Ender's Game.  Ender's Shadow isn't bad either though.  I didn't much like the rest of the series.

If you are interested in the Heinlein, there is a bookclub set called "Outward Bound" that has Have Spacesuit WIll Travel and Startship Troopers in it.  Its readily available online, and is the first chance I had to get ahold of a hard back for Starship Troopers.

[Kerolyne]

Ender's Game is one of my favorite books.
Like others have posted, I also recommend Enders' Shadow... as well as First Meetings and Seventh Son (Alvin Maker series).

[Amyria]

Surprised no one has mentioned A Song of Ice and Fire books by George R. R. Martin.  Those along with The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind are my favorite books to read currently.  Of course I still have a place in my heart for any Dragonlance book done by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis (Chronicles is what got me into reading).

[Grimli]

Alright.. let's break it down

Fantasy

You really, really need to read the Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolf, and the Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K LeGuin, along with the 3 companion books. Those two authors, along with Tolkien, make up the top tier of fantasy writing. Everyone else is just in a different, and lesser, class of writing. If you only read two other fantasy authors in the rest of your life, read those. They'll change your life as much as Tolkien did.

Beyond those three, from modern authors there are the "His Dark Materials" books by Philip Pullman, "Song of Fire and Ice", by George RR Martin, and "Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville. It's also worth picking up Neil Gaiman's novels (Stardust, Neverwhere, American Gods) for a unique take on fantasy in a mostly modern setting. I'd also recommend John Gardner's "Grendel" (told from the point of view of the monster), Robert Holdstock's "Mythago Wood", and while they're probably out of print in the US, if you can find them,  Michael Scott Rohan's "The Winter Of The World" series.

After that there's the traditional classics - Fritz Lieber wrote genre-defining sword and sorcery (Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser), and there's Robert Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and of course Jack Vance (the books on which the original dungeons and dragons systems were largely based)

I'd advise not bothering any more with Wheel of Time. It's just a hack writer spinning out a franchise long after he ran out of material. There was enough for one book in the first three. There's enough material for the back of a cereal box spread between the other 184 books.

I'd also really, really recommend tim powers "Declare"

As to Sci Fi - well, that's easier and harder - there's a lot less exploitative hack writing in sci-fi - or rather, there is these days. fantasy now is going through what sci-fi did about 40 years ago. About 2/3 of fantasy is worthless garbage written for a market that'll buy anything that has a sword on the front and comes in at least 8 volumes  - it's populated in the majority by talentless weirdos with very strange ideas about women, but who survive on the back of a very undiscerning market

does that mean i'm a snob? maybe.

anyway, on to actual books - well, because there's so much out there that's good it's very much a question of taste, much more so than fantasy, where the issue of taste is subordinate to the issue of not wasting your time on appalling crap.

with that caveat, there's of course *anything* by William Gibson. He pretty much created a whole genre on his own with Count Zero and it's sequels. Ken McLeod's "October Revolution" books are amazing both in their exploration of the impact of technology on human society, and in their status as about the best political sci-fi ever written. Iain M Banks (Use of Weapons, Consider Phlebas, Look to Windward, Excession, State of the Art) is psychologically complex and thrilling far-future sci-fi that's better than anything else in that subgenre. neal stephenson's "snow crash" is also a modern classic.

in terms of *actual* classics - c.s. lewis was a sci-fi writer as well as fantasy - i'd strongly recommend his "out of the silent planet" books

lastly, though, if i have one recommendation of sci-fi that will change your life, it's three books by vernor vinge.

a fire upon the deep
a deepness in the sky

and seperate from those two but just as good

across realtime



cheers

grim