Favorite Sci-Fi Books - or "Why This Book Rocks"

[FatMatDuhRat]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]There's a very good ST author named [bost_uid0]Christie Golden[/bost_uid0]
who has her own website:
[bost_uid0]http://www.christiegolden.com[/bost_uid0]
And also, she's recently done an interview on [bost_uid0]Trek
Today[/bost_uid0] where she talks about the brand new [bost_uid0]ST:VOY
Homecoming[/bost_uid0] novels,
[bost_uid0]http://www.treknation.com/interviews...e_golden.shtml[/bost_uid0]
:bigsmile: :suspicious:[/colorost_uid0]

[Opium]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]I havent read much sci-fi, but I loved "A Swifly Turning Planet" when I was a kid...anyone know who wrote it? What other books they've written? Like, adult books?

And of course "1984"...I love it. Not sure if it's actual sci-fi now, but in 1949 it was...besides being a great modern classic, it's really entertaining, wierd, dramatic-it has it all.[/colorost_uid0]

[Sa'ar Chasm]

[color=#000000ost_uid0][bost_uid0]Opium[/bost_uid0]

I believe you're thinking of A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeline L'Engle (spelling is suspect). I think she wrote A Wrinkle In Time as well. I have no idea what she's written for adults, but I seem to recall some inane pre-teen girly book about hair-washing that I got halfway through before I realised it wasn't SF.[/colorost_uid0]

[NAHTMMM]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Yes, she wrote "Wrinkle" as well, plus another book the title of which I can't think of...[/colorost_uid0]

[Opium]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Yes, I remember it was a trillogy-I loved every one of the three books...but I cant remember the name of the third...maybe it was just some conspiracy to make us THINK there was a third book [/colorost_uid0]

[Sa'ar Chasm]

[color=#000000ost_uid0][quoteost_uid0]My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane[/quoteost_uid0]

Random thought just went through my head as NAHT's initial post went scrolling past: My Enemy, My Alloy. Same story as told by Isaac Asimov's robots.[/colorost_uid0]

[NAHTMMM]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]^ Which brings to my mind my brother's rambling, disturbing, on-the-fly telling of the story of [iost_uid0]Eye, Jedi[/iost_uid0]. :dead: [/colorost_uid0]

[Captain Galactic]

[color=#000000ost_uid0][quoteost_uid0]...Diane Dwane...[/quoteost_uid0]

Funny, she recently visted the school I attenend. I was the only person to ask a question about Star Trek. The school shoved that "So you want to be a wizard" crap down our throughts (sp) while completly forgetting other books she's written.[/colorost_uid0]

[BR48]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]I know this is a pretty old thread now, but I don't check this forum very often. However, I can never pass up a favorite book thread.

My favorite SF novel is, by far, The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks. Its an extremely thought provoking book with great characters and a great storyline. The book follows Morat Gurgeh, the Culture's greatest organic game player, as he travels to the Empire of Azad for a chance to play the ultimate game. While there, he sees first hand the dark side of a society that presents a facade of a somewhat eccentric, but unexceptional civilization. Facing threats to his life, Gurgeh refuses to surrender, and in the process learns what it really means to be a part of the Culture.

In this, and his other Culture-related novels, Banks paints a picture of a utopian society known as the Culture. Its a civilization with no poverty and little crime, with sophisticated AI's acting as leaders and caretakers, though the Culture has no formal government. Reading this, I don't doubt that you're skeptical about such a society, but the novels may just change your mind. After all, they made me believe in the Culture.[/colorost_uid0]

[PointyHairedJedi]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Wel, my favorite Banks novel out of all the ones I've read has to be 'Use of Weapons', which was incidentally the first IMB novel I read. Since then I've also read 'Against a Dark Background' (which was a bit too dark for my liking), 'Feersum Endjin', 'Inversions' (which initially baffled me no end) and 'Look to Windward' (which I've only just finished).

I wonder how many jealous stares I'd get if I were to mention that the book I'm reading at the moment is the Hitch-hikers 'Trilogy in five parts'?[/colorost_uid0]

[NAHTMMM]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]I've read the first book and [iost_uid0]The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul[/iost_uid0]. I don't know which is funnier, though I'm leaning toward [iost_uid0]Long Dark Teatime[/iost_uid0] right now.[/colorost_uid0]

[Things Are Good]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Douglas Adams=awesomeness.[/colorost_uid0]

[Sa'ar Chasm]

[color=#000000ost_uid0][quoteost_uid0]Douglas Adams=awesomeness.[/quoteost_uid0]

Agreed. Adams is my second-biggest influence, closely behind Terry Pratchett.

"The secret to flying is to hurl yourself at the ground and miss."

Sheer brilliance.[/colorost_uid0]

[Katy Jane]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Wow those were some long posts, mine wont be that long.
Right now I've been soaking up anything Voyager, most recently the flashback novelization. I thought the parts based on the ep were good but the original stuff was weak. And Bless the Beasts, witch i am in the middle of now, Its ok but I think Janeway is a little out of character. I also read marooned, witch i liked. I also liked Fire Ship (Jane way’s captains table story.) and of course I cant wait for Homecoming! Zeke, please disregard what is between the parenthesis(!!!)

i also recently read (part of) Surok's sole, the latest enterprise novel, and it was kind of a let down, too much like a bad fanfic based on The Seventh.

For the record I love "How Much For Just The Planet" especially the crew of the survey vessel, (I cant remember the name)

Maybe some one can help me I am also in the middle of book one of the brave and the bold and I know I should know the name Decker from somewhere but i cant place it.

Non-Trek: Hitchhikers all the way! Ahem... excuse me
I have not read much from Asimov, ok so only Nemesis, which was good except for the ending, it just kind of fizzled.
One of my favorites has always been Kurt Vonnaget jr (the short stories NOT his novels that have no plot.)

Wow, that was longer than I expected.[/colorost_uid0]

[Standback]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Hmmmm... So many authors, so little time...

As far as Star Trek books go, my general feeling is that most of them are lousy. To be precise, they're kinda fun, but really nothing more than something vaguely amusing to do to pass the time.

Exceptions are Peter David, just because his writing's so FUN, and to a lesser degree Michael Jan Friedman and John Vornholt. Seems I'm in disagreement with Things are Good 'bout Vornholt... but those were some of the best written ones, IMHO. On the other hand, I don't really read much Trek anymore, so these recommendations are mainly written by a 15 year old 4 years ago. My favorites are probably PD's Excalibur, because, A) they're Peter David, B) They're original, made for the actual books, C) They've got ongoing story arcs, which I'm a big sucker for (also why I'm willing to read the new DS9 books), and from C stems D) They're books in which significant events can and do happen, a opposed to all other books and most episodes, which end with "Well, all's back to normal."

In other science fiction, well, others have already mentioned Bradbury and Asimov (sheer brilliance, although he gets repetative if you read too much of him). I'd also recommend Hyperion, by Dan Simmons, which I recently read... It's five short stories, tied by an overarcing plot. It's the first of a series - I'm still waiting to get my hands on the rest.

I'm also looking forward to my upcoming trip to the States, and specifically to the Santa Monica Library, where I hope to immerse myself for many a day in the works of Philip K. Dick, who I'm not very familiar with yet - but soon, soon...

The one author I'm surprised no one brought up is Orson Scott Card. Sheer genious. Don't tell me no one here has read Ender's Game, you ignorant boors! And the follow up books, and parallel novels, and Pastwatch, and a dozen other books, all are very different, and really, really, really good. An author who writes amazingly well, but also makes you think and consider. I also found a mammoth collection of his short stories (in my last trip to the Santa Monica Library, year 2000), which were also brilliant...

Douglas Adams, of course, is in a class all of his own.

Now... what about fantasy books? [/colorost_uid0]

[PointyHairedJedi]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]For me Orson Scott Card is one of those authors that I've heard others enthusing about at length, but haven't actually read myself, which is mostly due to the fact that I've never seen his books anywhere, and I do mean anywhere (apart from Amazon of course). There's also another guy called David Zindell that is exctly the same.[/colorost_uid0]

[Standback]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Read. Him. Now.

Every decent-sized bookstore I was at in the States had half a dozen of his books. Many bookstores here in Israel have a book or two of his in English, and the vast majority will have a Hebrew translation (and I've heard it rumored that he's actually coming to a convention in Israel in about half a year! O, Rapture!). You should be able to easily find somewhere to buy or someone to lend you a copy of Ender's Game - and if not, it's definitely worth ordering.[/colorost_uid0]

[Sa'ar Chasm]

[color=#000000ost_uid0][quoteost_uid0]I'd also recommend Hyperion, by Dan Simmons, which I recently read... It's five short stories, tied by an overarcing plot. It's the first of a series - I'm still waiting to get my hands on the rest.
[/quoteost_uid0]

It starts off as a takeoff of Canturbury Tales - there's even a Priest's Tale. It does get beyond that, and kinda weird. I kinda liked it, although I found the villains of the piece to be somewhat derivative of the Terminator.[/colorost_uid0]

[Things Are Good]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]I gave Orson Scott Card a couple senteces in my first post.

Also, out of curiosity, where did I mention Vornholt?[/colorost_uid0]

[Wonko The Sane]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Defininately my biggest influence would be Douglas Adams, I even took "Wonko the Sane" from the Hitchhiker series, which I read many moons ago. I've even used the "hurl yourself at the ground and miss" line several dozen times, since I fly light aircraft in my off-time.

Aside from that, I've also enjoyed Starship Troopers, a bit of Asimov, and a whole slew of Star Wars novels (Timothy Zahn especially).

As for fantasy, I'm a huge fan of the 'Sword of Truth' series by Terry Goodkind, the 'Wheel of Time' series by Robert Jordan, and the Elric series by Michael Moorcock.

[Edit: On a completely seperate note, yesterday was my 19th birthday!][/colorost_uid0]