Sci-Fi recommendations please

Lorddrakul

I am looking for a sci-fi book for Chrimbo for someone who has specific tastes, but as I am not a big consumer of sci-fi, I am at a bit of a loss.

She loves Ian M Banks, but does not like Greg Egan. She recently enjoyed "The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi too.

Any suggestions then from avid readers of Sci-Fi?

Cheers,
LD

Morlar

Lorddrakul wrote: »

I am looking for a sci-fi book for Chrimbo for someone who has specific tastes, but as I am not a big consumer of sci-fi, I am at a bit of a loss.

She loves Ian M Banks, but does not like Greg Egan. She recently enjoyed "The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi too.

Any suggestions then from avid readers of Sci-Fi?

Cheers,
LD

Considering Iain M Banks then I'd say JG Ballard, Geoff Ryman & Phillip K Dick.

Lorddrakul

Morlar wrote: »

Considering Iain M Banks then I'd say JG Ballard, Geoff Ryman & Phillip K Dick.

Thanks mate. She has read all available Philip K. Dick, so spot on there. Not sure she has read much Ballard, but I'll look into Goeff Ryman.

Thanks a lot.

LD

Pookah

Check out Neal Stephenson.

John

Lorddrakul wrote: »

Thanks mate. She has read all available Philip K. Dick, so spot on there. Not sure she has read much Ballard, but I'll look into Goeff Ryman.

Thanks a lot.

LD

The Drowned World by Ballard is superb. Personally PKD doesn't do much for me and much prefer Ballard but I seem to be in a minority.

Not sure if it is up her alley (or if she's into sci fi she's probably already read it) but Dune by Frank Herbert is probably the best sci fi book I've read. The series doesn't keep up the same quality but the six books written by Frank Herbert all have their own merits. AVOID any of the Kevin Anderson & Brian Herbert Dune books. Muck!

Dades

A lot of the best SF are in the SciFi Masterworks series of books.
Has she read any of these? Two of the best I read were The Forever War (Joe Haldeman) and Ringworld (Larry Niven).

For something more mainstream maybe Eon by Greg Bear?

InvisibleBadger

Alfred Bester: The Demolished Man & The Stars My Destination are two excellent books, and both are in the Sci-Fi Masterworks series.

parker kent

Neuromancer by William Gibson is a classic. If she hasn't read it yet, it would be a great gift.

alphasun

A classic and among my favourites is Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars.
However, note that this is for fans of true Sci Fi, i.e. stories inspired by a vision of an imaginary and marginally possible future, not by the appetite for fairy stories in futuristic costume or swords and sorcery with spaceships.

Dades

alphasun wrote: »

However, note that this is for fans of true Sci Fi, i.e. stories inspired by a vision of an imaginary and marginally possible future, not by the appetite for fairy stories in futuristic costume or swords and sorcery with spaceships.

Like Dune you mean?! (Though granted, it reads more fantasy than sci-fi...)

parker kent

alphasun wrote: »

A classic and among my favourites is Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars.
However, note that this is for fans of true Sci Fi, i.e. stories inspired by a vision of an imaginary and marginally possible future, not by the appetite for fairy stories in futuristic costume or swords and sorcery with spaceships.

When was it decided what a so called "true" sci-fi fan was? If you like it, you like it. If you don't you don't. Anything that comes under the remit of "literary fantasy involving the imagined impact of science on society" is science fiction as far as I am concerned. I think that "Imagined" is the key word. Plus what you may currently think is an impossibility, may actually happen at some stage in the future.

ixoy

alphasun wrote: »

A classic and among my favourites is Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars.
However, note that this is for fans of true Sci Fi, i.e. stories inspired by a vision of an imaginary and marginally possible future, not by the appetite for fairy stories in futuristic costume or swords and sorcery with spaceships.

Are you saying that it's hard sci-fi, as in a story rooted in stronger science? That's just one flavour of sci-fi and it's one I enjoy (Greg Bear and Greg Egan are two good examples here).

There are other equally valid sub-genres though like space opera - Peter F. Hamilton has written some excellent books in this genre in recent years, for example. There's some dollops of science in there too.

And then there's more sub-genres and crossed genres, all of which are sci-fi - just with gradients of the science aspect perhaps.

alphasun

John Wyndham is another. All of his stuff is still worth reading. Science is only sketched in but still plausible enough, e.g. Day of th e
Triffids.

mikhail

Lorddrakul wrote: »

I am looking for a sci-fi book for Chrimbo for someone who has specific tastes, but as I am not a big consumer of sci-fi, I am at a bit of a loss.

She loves Ian M Banks, but does not like Greg Egan. She recently enjoyed "The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi too.

Any suggestions then from avid readers of Sci-Fi?

Cheers,
LD

Banks seems to be lighter on the science than Egan, though I've not read the latter so I don't know if there are bigger stylistic differences. Assuming that's the big difference, I'll recommend you try Vernor Vinge, specifically A Fire Upon the Deep. It's the closest thing to Banks I've read, with a similar scale and style.

BopNiblets

Richard K. Morgan for some futuristic hard boiled detective noir type stuff, Altered Carbon is his 1st Takeshi Kovacs one.

Pookah

alphasun wrote: »

John Wyndham is another. All of his stuff is still worth reading. Science is only sketched in but still plausible enough, e.g. Day of th e
Triffids.

mikhail wrote: »

Banks seems to be lighter on the science than Egan, though I've not read the latter so I don't know if there are bigger stylistic differences. Assuming that's the big difference, I'll recommend you try Vernor Vinge, specifically A Fire Upon the Deep. It's the closest thing to Banks I've read, with a similar scale and style.

If it's science you're after, I still recommend Neal Stephenson, as above, even if some of it is set in the past.

matrim

The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson is a great read

PandyAndy

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Finished it a few weeks ago and thought it was quite good. There are also three or four other books set after it too.

Also, not really Sci-Fi but set in the future back when it was written in the earlier half of the century, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Very good.

Grievous

Here ya go:

I would rate all of these pretty highly. Or run these choices by some other people you trust and respect who know their Science Fiction and see what they say.

The Stars My Destination--Alfred Bester.
The Demolished man--Alfred Bester.

Farenheit 451--Ray Bradbury.
Something wicked This Way Comes--Ray Bradbury.

Neuromancer--William Gibson.
Count Zero--William Gibson.
Mona Lisa Overdrive--William Gibson.

Foundation (Complete)--Issac Asimov.
The Complete Robot--Issac Asimov.

Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina--Various.

Dune--Frank Herbert.

Frankenstein--Mary Shelley.
The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde --RLS.

The Forever War--Joe Haldeman.

I Am Legend--Richard Matheson.
The Shrinking Man--Richard Matheson.

Do Androids Dream Of electric Sheep? --Philip K Dick.
The Man In The High Castle--Philip K Dick.

Slaughter-House 5--Kurt Vonnegut.

Ringworld--Larry Niven.
The Patchwork Girl--Larry Niven.

The Invisible Man--H.G Wells.
The Time Machine--H.G Wells.

jcrowbar

Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth saga is also well worth a read.

H. Flashman

Ilium

thegreengoblin

Rendezvous With Rama and 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke. You'd be surprised how many people have seen 2001 the film but haven't read the book. It's a gripping read.

Gneez

Would also recommend red mars by kim-stanley robinson

p to the e

Grievous wrote: »

Here ya go:

I would rate all of these pretty highly. Or run these choices by some other people you trust and respect who know their Science Fiction and see what they say.

The Stars My Destination--Alfred Bester.
The Demolished man--Alfred Bester.

Farenheit 451--Ray Bradbury.
Something wicked This Way Comes--Ray Bradbury.

Neuromancer--William Gibson.
Count Zero--William Gibson.
Mona Lisa Overdrive--William Gibson.

Foundation (Complete)--Issac Asimov.
The Complete Robot--Issac Asimov.

Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina--Various.

Dune--Frank Herbert.

Frankenstein--Mary Shelley.
The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde --RLS.

The Forever War--Joe Haldeman.

I Am Legend--Richard Matheson.
The Shrinking Man--Richard Matheson.

Do Androids Dream Of electric Sheep? --Philip K Dick.
The Man In The High Castle--Philip K Dick.

Slaughter-House 5--Kurt Vonnegut.

Ringworld--Larry Niven.
The Patchwork Girl--Larry Niven.

The Invisible Man--H.G Wells.
The Time Machine--H.G Wells.

several of the books i was going to recommend are in here so stick with it. also i've picked up some tips for myself. thanks

vangoz

Surprised not to see Alastair Reynolds get a mention yet. I've started the Revelation Space series and i'm reading the second book Chasm City and its brilliant so far (3/4 the way through)

Ellian

Pookah wrote: »

Check out Neal Stephenson.

Seconded - Cryptonomicon is a really great book and one I have given as a present to a broad demographic of tastes with almost positive feedback (my sister could not get on with the maths) But IMO a really, really great book.

johnnycee66

The Hyperion series of books (Hyperion, The Fall of hyperon, Endymion, thje Rise of Hyperion) by Dan Simmons were some of the best sci-fi I've read, reminded me of a futuristic Canterbury Tales. Check out China Mieville (Perdido St Station, The City Within the City) for newer gothic-type sci fi.

mikhail

vangoz wrote: »

Surprised not to see Alastair Reynolds get a mention yet. I've started the Revelation Space series and i'm reading the second book Chasm City and its brilliant so far (3/4 the way through)

At a guess, it's because he's at the hard sci-fi end of space opera, and the OP kind of hinted that that wasn't suitable. I love Reynold's books, but I find he tends to make a bags of finishing them - sudden, jarring endings (and odd pacing when he doesn't), ending with a whimper, loads of exposition near the end. It's like Clarke's weakness with characters - tragic flaw in an otherwise great writer.

ixoy

I'll throw in a vote for Neal Asher (among others listed here) - his Polity novels are like a grittier version of the Culture.

If it's the science that's a bit off putting for the OP, then pretty much any writer is softer than Greg Egan! He's the last author you want to read if the science angle bothers/bores you.

Spunj

A lot of good recommendations there.

I would add The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson.

I often use Literature Map, along with a trawl through Amazon.co.uk's Reviews and Reading Lists when I am looking for someone new to read.

Here's the link for Iain M. Banks: http://www.literature-map.com/iain+banks.html

Lorddrakul

Haven't bee on here in a while, so apologies for lack of response.

Some great recommendations there.

She's read all Arthur C Clarke, a few Neal Stephenson, all PKD and the Hyperion series.

I reckon I'll start with Geoff Ryamn and go from there, but there's a fair buying list from the suggestions already.

Thanks all.
LD