Any good sci fi recommendations?

John The Bad

Hi. In between reading the good stuff, I often like to escape with a good science fiction read.

But with all the dross out there - for example, Revelation Space; I read a chapter and a half of it before the boredom nearly killed me - it's harder and harder to find anything good.

When I was younger, I read Arthur C. Clarke non-stop, then a little Aldis and Asimov. Later on, I read, and loved, Dune.

But the stuff I'm looking for now is solid, overblown Space Opera. Think Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction and its two sequels, or, of somewhat more depth, Consider Phlebas by Banks. I guess, what I'm looking for is something like Hamilton's scope (with a little less shagging) but with a better ending.

This is what I want and find hard to find. The reason its so hard to find is that there's so much muck out there - space is quite large, you know.

So, if you have any suggestions, let's have 'em!

ZorbaTehZ

Idd there is an obscene amount of bad sci-fi out there.
I'm not really into the kind of sci-fi you mention - but I know someone who swears by Reality Dysfunction so Ill see what he says.

ZorbaTehZ

I don't know wether the Sci-fi & Fantasy forum gets much traffic - you could try posting there too for some advice. They seem to have a sticky here for good fantasy recommendations but I don't see a sticky for Sci-fi...

ixoy

I'll solidly recommend Dan Simmon's Hyperion/Endymion cantos. Four novels in total and it's got that space opera feel that you want - lots of characters, planets, death counts in seven figures, and epic scale. Very good series - hail to the Shrike.

I'd also recommend you check out Peter F. Hamilton's newer Commonwealth series - there's the initial duology and the first book of the Void trilogy out so far.

Alastair Reynolds is good as well, although he suffers a bit from weak endings. He's not quite in the same "space opera" field though, concentrating a bit more heavily on the funky science [Edit: I see you read and disliked him - fair 'nuff]. Richard Morgan again very good but not quite space opera.

Dades

John The Bad wrote: »

But with all the dross out there - for example, Revelation Space; I read a chapter and a half of it before the boredom nearly killed me - it's harder and harder to find anything good.

That was exactly my experience with Revelation Space!

Don't get into much space opera stuff - nowadays I just browse through the Sci-fi Masterworks series and pick up random books.

Although not sci-fi the best blind recommendation I ever got here was for the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series. You may have read them, or you may swear away from fantasy, but if you haven't it's an incredible world to get your teeth into!

remus808

Obviously the Dune Series..

The Nomad Of Time by Michael Moorcock... look into it, trust me! Fantastic book

John The Bad

ixoy wrote: »

I'd also recommend you check out Peter F. Hamilton's newer Commonwealth series - there's the initial duology and the first book of the Void trilogy out so far.

I'm reading Pandora's Star right now and it's only okay, nowhere near as gripping as The Reality Dysfunction. I lost a lot of time for Hamilton with The Naked God; such a disappointment.

I'll check out this Simmons guy.

Da Bounca

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson

Kind of cyberpunk/sci-fi.

Excellent read nevertheless. Recommend it to anyone.

fenris

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card
Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan

Both are the first books in a series but they stand on their own very well.

Lawless_Samurai

The Resident Evil Novels by S. D. Perry..... They are a very good read fan or not of the games/movies :):D

ixoy

John The Bad wrote: »

I'm reading Pandora's Star right now and it's only okay, nowhere near as gripping as The Reality Dysfunction. I lost a lot of time for Hamilton with The Naked God; such a disappointment.

A disappointment in perhaps it had the worst ending to a series that I can recall. p'raps?

The Commonwealth Saga duology is good and it does end better but overall, no it's not as good as the Night's Dawn series. The first book of the new Void trilogy though was very good and a lot more promising IMO - better flow, characters, potential etc.

I'll check out this Simmons guy.

Do - it has a lot of the ingredients of the space opera genre that you're looking for and quite a detailed story as well.

Also try Donaldson's Gap series - it can be hard to obtain but it's gripping stuff.

There's lots of decent sci-fi writers out there but space opera is a bit more narrow of a field and I'm interested to see what others come up with as well.

spadder

Try Ian M. Banks "culture" series. -superb.

It wasn't me!

spadder wrote: »

Try Ian M. Banks "culture" series. -superb.

Agreed. Masterful writer.

John The Bad

ixoy wrote: »

A disappointment in perhaps it had the worst ending to a series that I can recall. p'raps?

There's lots of decent sci-fi writers out there but space opera is a bit more narrow of a field and I'm interested to see what others come up with as well.

Terrible ending; so obvious that he had painted himself into a corner and couldn't figure out how to get out of it.

You're right, let's widen the net; not just space opera.

--

I read Consider Phlebas, what's next in the Culture series?

spadder

All of these are great,
he was on Pat Kenny a while back and he mentioned he will have a new culture book out in 2008

http://www.iainbanks.net/sf.htm

mcgovern

I love Reynolds so you probably won't like anything I reccomend but:

As fenris said, try Enders Game, or Ender's Shadow which is the first in a seperate but tied series. Just finished Speaker For The Dead (2nd in the Ender Series) and it got really good near the end.
David Brin's Uplift series is brilliant and Stephen Baxter's Xelee stuff can be good.
If you like Simmons and since we are moving away from just Space Opera, I think you'd like Philip K. Dick, really thought provoking, mind warping stuff!
Also, if you like Snowcrash (which is amazing!) then you'll like William Gibson's stuff. Again, not space opera (this is cyber-punk) but well worth the read.

You mentioned reading Asimov, have you read his Foundation series? The first few books are v.good, starts to go down hill though.

Zaph

ixoy wrote: »

A disappointment in perhaps it had the worst ending to a series that I can recall. p'raps?

You've obviously never read David Wingrove's Chung Kuo series then? Six excellent books destroyed by the most nonsensical finale you could ever imagine.

I second the earlier Dan Simmons recommendation, I re-read the Hyperion series last year and had forgotten how good it is. William Gibson is my favourite SF writer, and if you find yourself enjoying cyberpunk you should also check out Bruce Sterling, John Shirley and Richard Kadrey.

Dudess

I'm not a sci-fi afficionado - more of a dystopian fiction buff (which does contain sci-fi elements, but it's not strictly sci-fi). However Philip K. Dick seems to be the man when it comes to sci-fi.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian/speculative novel which contains elements of sci-fi - a superb book in my opinion.

dirkcee

Iain m banks culture novels have my vote.
I first read Look to Windward which was given to me by a friend and i just adored it. Banks is a fantastic writer his imagination is epic. immediately bought the rest of the series and was not dissapointed. couldnt recommend them highly enough.

John The Bad

I agree that Banks is the business and I shall return to him. I've read Gibson and I loved him. But this Dan Simmon's Hyperion/Endymion has grabbed my attention.

Now, I'm near finished Pandora's Star and it took 500 pages to get going but it finally did. Someone tell me please, is Judas Unchained worth getting?

mcgovern

John The Bad wrote: »

I agree that Banks is the business and I shall return to him. I've read Gibson and I loved him. But this Dan Simmon's Hyperion/Endymion has grabbed my attention.

Now, I'm near finished Pandora's Star and it took 500 pages to get going but it finally did. Someone tell me please, is Judas Unchained worth getting?

I think so yes, as far as I remember its a bit more fast paced than Pandora's Star.
I remember reading that at the recomendation of a few guys I work with and taking ages to get into it, but by the time I'd finished Judas Unchained I thought the series was brilliant!

P.S. Play.com have both the Hyperion and Endymion Omnibus's available, the single volume Hyperion is only €15.49 incl delivery.
I haven't read the Endymion books but I have read Illium + Olympus which are also quite enjoyable, though not solely Sci-Fi.

markw999

"Flow, My Tears, the Policeman Said" and "Martian Time-Slip" by Philip K Dick.

Especially Martian Time-Slip, gah!

Lands Leaving

Sirens of titan, kurt vonnegut.

BurnsCarpenter

Michael Marshall Smith's sci-fi stuff is great.
Definitely not space opera - more like crime novels set in the future.

ecoli

to be honest i lean more towards the fantasy rather than sc fi but David Gemmell books never fail to completely entrall me

"echoes of a great song" a personal recommendation just fantastic

John The Bad

David Gemmell books never fail to completely entrall me.

Did he write Lion of Macedon? I read a few pages of that but it failed to grab my attention.

Toche Guevara

Try Neal Asher's Polity books. Very good

Another thumbs up for Dan Simmons from me. Prefer his sci-fi take on Illiad(Illium/Olympos) to Hyperion/Endymion


Tricia Sullivan did a rather wonderful book Maul.

Charles Stross is a good sci-fi author,

AngryHippie

Decipher
I can't remember who its by, but its earth based, and a cool story involving the diaspora of human culture and putting it all back together in time to save the planet. Has many convenient hero/experts in it, almost in the Dan Brown vein of timing, but its not bad.

Morlar

I would second all the votes for the culture series - cant recommend them highly enough. After that and the obligatory gibson ones I would say the child garden by Geoff Ryman.

Eoin

fenris wrote: »

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card
Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan

Both are the first books in a series but they stand on their own very well.

I was about to recommend Altered Carbon as well (Ender's game is very good too).

I'm not a big sci-fi buff, so I preferred Altered Carbon to the sequel - Altered Carbon seemed more of a crime novel set in the future, if that makes any sense.

Toche Guevara

The problem with Richard Morgan is that his plotting lacks depth. If you read Alistair Reynolds Chasm City, you get a real crime-noir detective piece set in the far future. Its first person narrative style echo's Raymond Chandler's classic detective stories. But there is much more going on under the surface.