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[West Texas CEO]

Just finished reading War of the Worlds and Day of the Triffids. Two quite fantastic books. Never really been one for classic sci fi books tbh, but I’m hooked now(don't know why I love sci fi TV and film).

So give me your suggestions please? Just bought another of Wyndams books the Kraken Wakes, so that’ll probably my be my next port of call.
Is Childhood's End worth reading for an adult or is it just junior-high level fluff?

 

[GnomeChimpsky]

Dune is a must read.
The Rama books are neat too.

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Nice recommendation thread West Texas CEO Watched.

I've started Hyperion which was recommended by multiple posters in a recent tread so I'm good for now but always nice to see suggestions.

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Dune is a must read.
The Rama books are neat too.

How so?

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Dune
The Foundation

 

[ClanOfNone]

DUNE for sure.

Then anything by Bradbury or Asimov.

 

[INC]

Something that's not dune, but a head fuck from start to finish

I'd say its sci fi, but so many other genres involved, but still sci fi

Dean koontz - the bad place

I know most will snub DK, But I don't really read much, but this book always stood out to me

 

[ClanOfNone]

Koontz is mostly hot garbage, but some of his older stuff is pretty decent. I remember Midnight and Lightning being good.

 

[Snaggletooth]

The Gap Cycle by Stephen R Donaldson, 5 books.

https://www.audible.com.au/series/Gap-Cycle-Audiobooks/B00FS39AOQ

 

[GnomeChimpsky]

How so?

Because there still isn't anything quite like it. The mix of cultural influences makes it feel unique. Every character matters in their own way. The mystical elements are amazing and the whole ecology of Dune-thing is brilliant.

The Rama books are very imaginative, even if Clarke's characterizations are a bit too elitistic for my taste.

 

[JBat]

Blindsight by Petter Watts was pretty good. It gets philosophical about what is life and consciousness. Also there's a vampire....
If you like Dead Space you might like Salvation Day by Kali Wallace

Edit: over looked the classics part. Ringworld by Larry Niven. The second book got a little too far into the whole sex with aliens thing for me and I hear it gets worse in book three. Is that true?
Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams is always fun. Don't panic

 

[strange headache]

Anything Stanislaw Lem.

Stanislaw Lem - GOLEM XIV

Stanislaw Lem is probably my favorite science-fiction writer. He's best known for his novel Solaris, which suffered a dreadful Hollywood adaptation featuring George Clooney. When it comes to Lem's fictional output, Solaris is probably one of his weakest works, which may also be the unfortunate...

www.neogaf.com

 

[DeepBreath87]

Ender’s Game is pretty good. Movie is absolute trash, but the book is good. The whole Dune series is pretty good. I’m not sure if we consider stuff like 1984 or Brave New World sci-fi, but those are good. Starship Troopers is very good and completely different from the movie.

 

[Deleted member 820760]

Yes! Read Childhood's End.

Also check out Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead (the next book in the Ender series).

 

[AJUMP23]

I think you should read the John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. They are brilliant and fun and full of action and adventure. I did the audio books and loved them.

Barsoom series​

• A Princess of Mars (1912)
• The Gods of Mars (1913)
• The Warlord of Mars (1914)
• Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1916)
• The Chessmen of Mars (1922)
• The Master Mind of Mars (1927)
• A Fighting Man of Mars (1930)
• Swords of Mars (1934)
• Synthetic Men of Mars (1939) <- my brothers favorite book.
• Llana of Gathol (1941)
• John Carter of Mars (1964, stories from 1940 to 1943)

 

[CAB_Life]

Hyperion sequence is top-notch. Ian M. Banks and his Colony books are quite interesting too.

 

[kuncol02]

Stanisław Lem
- Eden
- Return from the Stars
- Solaris
- The Futurological Congress
- His Master's Voice
- The Invincible

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
- Beetle in the Anthill
- Snail on the Slope
- Far Rainbow
- Roadside Picnic

And I'm sorry for ruining modern sci-fi for you.

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Not so much a classic dear West Texas CEO but I feel like recommending it nonetheless..

Montauk Project - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Fact or fiction. That's for you to decide.

If you're eyes light up when reading about top secret intelligence projects/experiments that relate to dimensional/time travel, origins of remote viewing and other esoteric stuff you should give this a try for sure...

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Stanisław Lem
- Eden
- Return from the Stars
- Solaris
- The Futurological Congress
- His Master's Voice
- The Invincible

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
- Beetle in the Anthill
- Snail on the Slope
- Far Rainbow
- Roadside Picnic

And I'm sorry for ruining modern sci-fi for you.

Seeing as I'm not familiar with sci-fi literature, what makes *something* modern specifically and why are you sorry you're ruining one's perception of said *genre* ?? Just curious, themoreyouknow etc, ...

 

[Trogdor1123]

Flatland, almost anything from Asimov or Arthur c Clark, The Time Machine

 

[kuncol02]

Seeing as I'm not familiar with sci-fi literature, what makes *something* modern specifically and why are you sorry you're ruining one's perception of said *genre* ?? Just curious, themoreyouknow etc, ...

For me most of modern Sci-Fi literature (there are some exceptions like Watts or Dukaj whose books are available only in Polish and IMO untranslatable) is hollow, pointless and worst of all devoid of any new ideas.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Nice recommendation thread West Texas CEO Watched.

I've started Hyperion which was recommended by multiple posters in a recent tread so I'm good for now but always nice to see suggestions.

HA!

I saw the same post last week and snagged Hyperion. Loving it.

*EDIT* this isn't classic at all
For some PopCorn sci-fi check out the Bobivers series by Dennis Taylor. Easy reads and funny if that's your sort of humor.

 

[Omega Supreme Holopsicon]

Isaac Asimov I, robot, masterpiece(movie is trash creative take that doesn't resemble source, it needs at least a short miniseries)

Isaac Asimov, is godlike in his understanding of the world, few writers as good some like Mark Twain seemed to have reached his level of depth. But this is going to levels that appear to transcend the limits of the human mind.

A more recent writer of scifi, which I've not read, is the works of Vernor Vinge, one who has ideas about the singularity event that lay ahead.

Another good scifi book is permutation city, at least conceptually, though I've not had the pleasure of reading it, it's over 25 years old, but not sure that age classifies it as classic

All that is is permutation.

Permutation ( Definition, Formula, Types, and Examples)

A permutation is an arrangement of objects in which the order of selection matters. Visit BYJU’S to learn permutation with and without repetition, formulas with many solved examples.

byjus.com

The basis of reality is symbolic permutation. Of what? of ideas, of reality, of what you could call god, like the myriad pieces of a broken mirror.

 

[Ulysses 31]

It's very different from the movie.

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

But this is going to levels that appear to transcend the limits of the human mind.

 

[jason10mm]

Forever War, Joe Haldeman (NOT "Tomorrow War" from amazon
Armor, John Steakley
Ringworld, Larry Niven

For newer authors, stuff by Peter Hamilton (grand ole' space opera in the Night's Dawn series)
Expanse novels
Iain M. Banks Culture series

The field is SO broad, and so much better than all the derivative parts filtering down into popular media and games.

 

[Omega Supreme Holopsicon]

Someone reading the last answer, a work of Asimov




A creative interpretation of one of Twain's writings


I can give some context(that can help grasping such)







Same ideas appear in text game lain available on psx and in translated form online.(around 10 hour game). As well as serial experiments lain anime.

In some form it appears this information is also conveyed in the books of Alice in Wonderland.



Also this song seems relevant too.

edit these ideas were covered in work full metal alchemist, which were translated to animated form

 

[Dithadder]

If you like aliens, The Mote in God's Eye does a great job of filling the gap between "green skinned humans" and "unknowable clouds of mystic energy."

 

[macfoshizzle]

Another vote for Dune and Foundation

 

[Artoris]

This one is quite good

 

[LocalE]

This one is quite good

Agreed, though West of Eden would be my first Harry Harrison recommendation here.

 

[kruis]

Here are a couple of my personal favorites, most of them are either Hugo or Nebula winners:

Isaac Asimov - I Robot
Jack Vance - To Live Forever
Arthur C. Clarke - The City and the Stars
Richard Matheson - I Am Legend
Theodore Sturgeon - More than Human
Robert Heinlein - The Door into Summer
Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination
Ursula K. LeGuin - The Left Hand of Darkness
Dan Simmons - Hyperion
Larry Niven - Ringworld
Joe Haldeman - The Forever War
Greg Bear - Eon
David Brin - Startide Rising
Joan D. Vinge - The Snow Queen
Vernor Vinge - A Fire Upon the Deep

Happy reading!

 

[zeorhymer]

 

[macfoshizzle]

Vernor Vinge - A Fire Upon the Deep is another vote. Damn forgot about that one

 

[TTOOLL]

Bookmarking this thread. Also: Neuromancer. I had a hard time reading it but it was very good!!

 

[strange headache]

Some more:

 

[Trogdor1123]

I forgot to add the Crysalids to my earlier post.

 

[swarley64]

I’m not sure if it’s quite in the spirit of this thread, but Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun series is the first thing that comes to mind. It’s one of those “so far in the future that science is basically magic” type of series, but it’s incredibly well written.

 

[Toots]

You need to read:

Anything William Gibson if you want cyberpunk stories with net runners and stuff to hack. (Neuromancer is good)

frank Herbert’s Dune if you want the most epic sci fi story ever written



and of course Philip K Dick if you want the best (ubik is a masterpiece of storytelling)

 

[Porcile]

Ubik, The Sirens of Titan, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1984

 

[Cattlyst]

Some great suggestions here! Came to add 'The Stars My Destination' and 'The Forever War,' and see they've already been mentioned.

 

[pramod]

Could some HP Lovecraft stuff be considered scifi? I mean like Shadow Out of Time or Mountain of Madness.

Fahrenheit 451 if you haven't read it yet

If you want some pulpy, easy to read scif-fi (nothing mindblowing or award winning here):

Voyage of the Space Beagle (a lot of mainstream scifi shows took inspiration from this)

Berserker series by Fred Saberhagen

Stainless Steel Rat series

Hitchhiker's series like mentioned before.

Anyway, just a warning but the Asimov/Clarke/Dune books are classics, but they're not easy reads. They take dedication and patience to get thru.
Especially Asimov stuff is really "hardcore" scifi. Clarke's stories can also be a bit "dull". If you want a taste of Clarke I suggest starting with some of his short stories.

 

[Alx]

Anyway, just a warning but the Asimov/Clarke/Dune books are classics, but they're not particularly easy reads. They take dedication and patience to get thru.
Especially anything by Asimov was really hard for me.

That's funny, I always thought Asimov was quite easy to read especially as a non-native English speaker : straightforward style, mostly dialog-based, and sci-fi concepts that are quite clearly explained and detailed.
Now my favourite novel of his (the Gods themselves) did get some time to get into, I started it over three times IIRC, since the beginning is a bit bland and focus on hardcore scientific descriptions. But boy was it worth it. Much easier read is the beginning of the Robot saga (Caves of Steel, Naked Sun, Robots of Dawn), which are mostly detective novels in an intriguing social context.
Foundation is great, but I wouldn't start with it.

I didn't see any mention of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", I suppose it's a must-read at least for cultural reference (that being said I still need to read 1984 myself)

 

[kurisu_1974]

Some of my favorite classics:

Arthur C. Clarke

2001: A Space Odyssey
2010: Odyssey Two
2061: Odyssey Three
3001: The Final Odyssey
Rendezvous with Rama

Isaac Asimov

Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Second Foundation

Robert A. Heinlein

Starship Troopers
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Philip K. Dick

The Man in the High Castle
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
A Scanner Darkly

 

[pramod]

That's funny, I always thought Asimov was quite easy to read especially as a non-native English speaker : straightforward style, mostly dialog-based, and sci-fi concepts that are quite clearly explained and detailed.
Now my favourite novel of his (the Gods themselves) did get some time to get into, I started it over three times IIRC, since the beginning is a bit bland and focus on hardcore scientific descriptions. But boy was it worth it. Much easier read is the beginning of the Robot saga (Caves of Steel, Naked Sun, Robots of Dawn), which are mostly detective novels in an intriguing social context.
Foundation is great, but I wouldn't start with it.

I didn't see any mention of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", I suppose it's a must-read at least for cultural reference (that being said I still need to read 1984 myself)

Yeah sorry you're right, I think I got my authors mixed up. I think it was Heinlein that I found hard to read thru. Asimov stuff was not too bad, like Fantastic Voyage which was a really easy fun read.

 

[kruis]

I’m not sure if it’s quite in the spirit of this thread, but Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun series is the first thing that comes to mind. It’s one of those “so far in the future that science is basically magic” type of series, but it’s incredibly well written.

The series is also an acquired taste. The books are indeed beautifully written but also very dense and challenging. I wouldn't recommend it to a casual reader looking for something easily digestible. I've read a couple of series by Wolfe and there always comes that point when I have no idea anymore what's going on.

 

[RJMacready73]

Personally one of the best ones i've read is the Commonwealth Saga series of books, starting with Pandora's Star are absolutely fucking epic in scope with multiple storylines going on, believable future tech and a massive fucking war, its incredibly detailed and spans 2 massive books with another series "The Void Trilogy" also just as good but set thousands of years after..

Here's a brief synopsis..

On a distant planet, astronomer Dudley Bose performs the first detailed observations of a mysterious astronomical event known as the Dyson Pair Enclosure. Two stars, located roughly 1,000 light years from Earth (750 light years from the edge of Commonwealth space), disappeared some time in the past. The theory is that they have been enclosed inside Dyson spheres.

Bose's investigations reveal that the enclosing of Dyson Alpha and Dyson Beta (as the stars become known) occurred quickly and simultaneously. This implies that the technology of the Dyson aliens, or possibly of other unknown aliens, surpasses that of the Commonwealth; furthermore, did the Dyson Aliens enclose themselves, or did some other force enclose them? Was it for protection or to protect those outside the spheres?

 

[kruis]

Yeah sorry you're right, I think I got my authors mixed up. I think it was Heinlein that I found hard to read thru. Asimov stuff was not too bad, like Fantastic Voyage which was a really easy fun read.

Heinlein isn't hard to read. I'd say the opposite is true: he's immensely readable. But don't read anything he wrote after The Moon is a Harsh Mistress from 1966. His later works are considered rubbish compared to his early novels.

 

[Irobot82]

Neal Stephenson - Snowcrash

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

I didn't see any mention of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", I suppose it's a must-read at least for cultural reference (that being said I still need to read 1984 myself)

Bought it quite some years ago on a whim knowing it's mention next to 1984 but it didn't stick with me due to circumstances I guess and it was translated and I preferably have it in English..

Btw don't watch the series on Prime, it's not good. Trust me. Such a shame because the premise (?) is good...