Good Books

[KaiserJ]

good to see another well-versed nivenite pxtl.

a mote in gods eye is a pretty damn good book, i own that one.

but what do you think... is niven better solo, or does he produce better work when teamed with someone else? i've discussed this at length with a friend of mine who also has read a lot of his work... the way that a niven/pournelle book certainly has a different feel to it than basic niven (as was "harlequins moon" which he wrote with brenda cooper, pretty good read there)

i dunno. although i still like the ringworld series the most out of his books, i feel that his collaborative works were more polished in terms of character development and narrative (although slightly lacking in the hard science aspect)

[Gertkane]

Anyway even shitty Sci-Fi is interesting, they either have at least a few good ideas or they are just a bullshit fantasy novel with laser swords instead of long swords while still keeping you entertained.

But Good Books are even better.

That goes without saying :D

[Pxtl]

@KaiserJ

I rarely like Niven's novels, since he doesn't seem able to properly fill out the scope - Protector is one of the few that really shines. That's why I think his collaborations work well... the problem I have is that his collaborations are usually with utterly reprehensible writers. To me, most of his novels succeed in spite of the story - his Smoke Ring books would be utterly forgettable if not for the OMG AWESOME setting.

Steven Barnes takes the concepts of fan-service to pornographic levels, and Jerry Pournelle's ham-fisted borderline-fascist propaganda is as revolting as it is clumsy.

However, the sequel to Mote in God's Eye ("The Gripping Hand") is really, really good. It's like "Mote" but set in space instead of the Motie homeworld, and lets Niven have a lot more fun with SF... and for some reason Pournelle's strawmen aren't as much of a presence.

[Forboding Angel]

Anyway even shitty Sci-Fi is interesting, they either have at least a few good ideas or they are just a bullshit fantasy novel with laser swords instead of long swords while still keeping you entertained.

But Good Books are even better.

The early 1900's tom swift books are probably what could be called shitty sci-fi, but they are still fun to read (which makes them "good" in my opinion). The point being is that only the person reading it can really make an accurate prediction of whether a book is "good" or not, usually depending on how much fun it was to read.

I really enjoy reading sci-fi from way back when (1950ish). The imaginations of some of these authors was awesome, and it strikes me as being a good time period to live in, where the sky is the limit (whether it actually was or not).

[tombom]

The capitalisation of good books was intended to mean books which are widely regarded as examples of the "literary canon" etc. Just saying the choice isn't between shit and good sci-fi.

[KingRaptor]

David Weber's Honorverse series

Every single one. Disclaimer: I've only read up to the fourth one so far

[Forboding Angel]

The capitalisation of good books was intended to mean books which are widely regarded as examples of the "literary canon" etc. Just saying the choice isn't between shit and good sci-fi.

Ahh yeah, gotcha, that makes sense.

BTW for good, light hearted, and fun sci-fi reading, check out the "Tom Swift in Space" series of books. I remember reading them when I was a kid, and to this day I still find them interesting and fun to read. They seem to have a bit of a following as well. The books for the most part have been out of print for ages, so they're fairly hard to find.

I've read a first edition of this book: Came out in 1910.

[1v0ry_k1ng]

pulled two extra night shifts, now I have £100 spare for bookin' ^_^

[SpliFF]

If you're into sci-fi, especially "space opera" there's three great authors of note:

Peter F Hamilton: "Pandora's Star", "Night's Dawn", "The Void"
Ian M Banks: Culture Novels, his shorter books are great too, esp "The Bridge"
Piers Anthony: Don't like all his stuff but highly recommend "Bio of a Space Tyrant"
Philip Jos├® Farmer: Riverworld Series

Also for horror:
Steven King: "The Stand" and "Graveyard Shift". His finest works.
Clive Barker: Very creative writing, almost trippy in its weirdness.
H. P. Lovecraft: Cthulhu Mythos and Necronomicon

[Spawn_Retard]

Richard Bachman = smurf of Stephen King
so based on your list i would obviously recommend his "Dark Tower" books. First book in english is called "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger"
It is an epic post-apocalyptic science fiction horror western.
If you already know some of his books, you will pick up lots of references etc.

I read the dark tower series.

The ending was well... a strange one, i dont know if i enjoyed the ending or not.

infact thinking about it, the whole reason i was so interested in the book was because i had no clue on how it was going to end, and with an ending it just doesnt give it justice. Not that im saying it was a great accomplishment of his to finish the story, but i think the mystery behind it should have died with stephen king, or maybe not thought up for that matter.

when he was writing the books, they spanned over many years and people wrote in pleading with stephen to know the ending. Infact many old and dying people promised to take the secret to the grave. Stephen king couldn't give them what they wanted of course because even he did not know how the series would end.


The reason i enjoyed the book was due to the imagination involed in it, each book that followed the last became twice as big, until the final 2 were like bibles. The first one, and the shortest one. Imo was the best, it drew me in for some reason and really tested your mind on what you could understand about the dark tower world.


My favourite book series ...
...No trolling please....

The Halo series.

yes this series is the books that were in the halo game universe.

This may sound like something a small child should read, but dont be mislead. They were very mature and gripped me right to the end. I think the main reason i liked them was that the books had different authors, each with their own writing style. But Halo : Fall of reach has to be my top book. It explains the backstory of why the war began, the spartan project and Master cheif and all the sacrifces he made in his life. infact i would go as far as saying i enjoyed this book more than the entire Halo game series.

[SpliFF]

My favourite book series ...
...No trolling please....

The Halo series.

yes this series is the books that were in the halo game universe.

This may sound like something a small child should read, but dont be mislead. They were very mature and gripped me right to the end.

I can't speak for all of them but the one I read (think it was "The Flood") was like reading a computer game:

master chief fires a rocket... master chief runs and jumps... master chief shoots an alien... master chief turns and shoots another... he shoots again... he runs... he shoots... he throws a grenade... he ducks... he drives a car... he shoots... he gets out... he fires a missile... he fires again... and so on for about 100 pages.

I only kept reading because it was so damn funny. I certainly wouldn't use the word "mature" to describe it. Not trying to troll, just providing another opinion in case anyone spends money on it thinking it's "deep" or something... it isn't, at least not this one.

[Spawn_Retard]

My favourite book series ...
...No trolling please....

The Halo series.

yes this series is the books that were in the halo game universe.

This may sound like something a small child should read, but dont be mislead. They were very mature and gripped me right to the end.

I can't speak for all of them but the one I read (think it was "The Flood") was like reading a computer game:

master chief fires a rocket... master chief runs and jumps... master chief shoots an alien... master chief turns and shoots another... he shoots again... he runs... he shoots... he throws a grenade... he ducks... he drives a car... he shoots... he gets out... he fires a missile... he fires again... and so on for about 100 pages.

I only kept reading because it was so damn funny. I certainly wouldn't use the word "mature" to describe it. Not trying to troll, just providing another opinion in case anyone spends money on it thinking it's "deep" or something... it isn't, at least not this one.

As i said they were written by different authors.
And thats true, the story does follow a sort of game path, as the book is to mirror the game you are playing, infact the dialogue and actions preformed in the first halo game are all im the flood book. From my point of view, playing the game i thought it was quite awesome to imagine doing that scene again only to have a different perspective of the fight, or maybe that peice of dialogue that was missed during a vehicle journey.


I say mature because it could have been just halo fanfiction number 329897 just branded as a book, but it actually had some depth and insight, and not some wild story about master cheif falling in love with a grunt or something like that.

I know your not trolling when you say it was probarbly silly to pick up and read, as i gave it my girlfriend, and she returned it not fully understanding everything.

Infact i wouldnt read something like Halo : flood off the bat unless you actually care about the game franchise, instead start from the start.

[Sabutai]

I can recommend "The Gap Cycle". It's some gritty piece of Sci-Fi by Stephen R. Donaldson.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gap_Cycle

Allready loved his "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" which is a dirtier and more human fantasy than Lord Of The Rings.

[BaNa]

I agree with the numerous recommendations that Neil Stephensons books got (Snow Crash, Diamond Age) and would like to add to that list his Baroque cycle (Quicksilver, Confusion, System of the World).

Those three books are slightly different from his cyberpunkish-scifi goodness that I came to love in snow crash, but IMO he pulls off a story set in the enlightenment age excellently.

I just read Neverworld, by Neil Gaiman, it was wonderful.

I loved all of the original Dune books, but only those written by Frank Herbert. The ones his son vomited up are to be avoided like the plague.

Enders Game and Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card - seconded

Protector and Ringworld by Niven - Again seconded

The Rapture Effect by Jeffrey A. Carver is a first-contact type book that I enjoyed.

Anything by Philip K. Dick is a guaranteed mindfuck, you know you want it.

Cities In Flight by James Blish - Very enjoyable scifi, I am suprised that it was written in the fifties.

[Licho]

Yeah Ender's game is interesting especially if you don't know the ending :) But I disliked the main character somehow.

[SinbadEV]

Piers Anthony: Don't like all his stuff but highly recommend "Bio of a Space Tyrant"

Piers Anthony is The Ultimate So Bad it's Good author. The ADEPT Series, The INCARNATIONS OF IMMORTALITY and The BIO OF A SPACE TYRANT are all immensely enjoyable, full of great ideas and worth reading. His Xanth series is overtly filled with fan-service, expressly using ideas that fans have sent in and featuring fan-favorite characters. Aside from the sex they are awesome books for 10 year olds, full of action and adventure and those clever "Pratchett-esque" plot-twists and foreshadowings that make the reader feel clever for having seen them coming, most of the characters are lovably one-dimensional, the villains are straw-men, the plots are formulaic, the creatures and settings are fantastical. All in all his Xanth stuff is really fun to read. His stuff is also pretty quick to read... unlike most authors, where the publisher let's them write longer and longer novels... he has been kept of a short leash so you can read the entire INCARNATIONS OF IMMORTALITY cycle over a weekend. Also, he writes fantasy like he's writing sci-fi and sci-fi like he's writing fantasy so I can recommend it fans of both... he's kinda got that Pratchett/Adams feel to his writing.

Another author of similar ilk is "Anne McCaffrey"... I read her dragon Novels in high-school... not really pinnacles of writing but Pern is a fun little world.

[Pxtl]

If you're into sci-fi, especially "space opera" there's three great authors of note:

Piers Anthony: Don't like all his stuff but highly recommend "Bio of a Space Tyrant"

(hotlinked)

Also for horror:

House of Leaves. The ultimate mindfuck.

[smoth]

I am sure some of you may give me crap about it.

however, I read many a conan novel as a kid. I enjoyed the action, adventure and exotic worlds.

on that note. I have to give a thumbs up to a golem in the gears by pierce anthony.

I also enjoyed forward the foundation so much that the foundation series has been on my "DO READ" list for years now.

Unfortunately I spend most of my reading time in language books . I read the entire oriely book on perl when I went to italy, and "why software sucks and what you can do about it" when I went to europe. On my way to australia I read a book on agile development using scrum.

[Pxtl]

Another Anthony lover?

Seriously, I read the whole Incarnations of Immortality series when I was a kid, and the first two Bio of a Space Tyrant books... and my blood boils whenever I think back to those days. Every tidbit that surfaces in my memory reminds me what terrible, terrible books they were.

Sure, I enjoyed them at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I come to realize that there is something fundamentally wrong with Piers Anthony.

Maybe it's the all the rape. Maybe it's the constant inclusion of justified pedophilia. Maybe it's the fact that he deals with dark social issues with all the gravitas of Barbara Walters. Maybe it's the completely absurd barbie-doll women. Or the rape.

Either way, everything I remember about the books is kind of icky in retrospective examination.

[smoth]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem_in_the_Gears

umm the sex was consensual in this book.