Need Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book

[MinorHero]

Hello all,

Its come time for me to get a new book but I've seem to have hit a wall in finding one on my own. My usual habit these days is just to walk into a bookstore and randomly start picking things off shelves and read the back and/or the first page to see if it catches my interest. These days though it seems to take a lot longer to get one through this method. So I turn to you good folk of the interWEB!!

I'm only interested in science fiction or fantasy books and to give you a good idea of where I'm at here's a list of books I enjoyed:

Dune
everything by Asimov
most everything by Heinlein
Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained
Jim Butcher's two series
George R.R. Martin
Wheel of Time
Robin Hobb
Katherine Kerr
everything by Neal Stephenson


I didn't like:

Raymond E. Feist
Sword of Truth books
Shanara series (sp)
Belgariad
Tad Williams

I've read a lot more books then this, both ones I liked and didn't like, but those are the ones that come to mind immediately.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[AboveAvgCharles]

Try R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=prince+of+nothing&x=0&y=0) trilogy. I'd have to describe it as a cross between Dune and A Song of Ice and Fire, set in a very cool world. Very dark and mature, with a lot of high-minded philosophy and metaphysics. I highly recommend it.

Also Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+name+of+the+wind&x=0&y=0) is some really great fantasy. A great underdog hero story, set in magical academia. Sort of a more mature Harry Potter (in the first book, at least).

As far as Sci-Fi, since you like Peter F. Hamilton, if you haven't already, read some Dan Simmons. The Hyperion (http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1226153039/ref=sr_kk_2?ie=UTF8&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=hyperion%20dan%20simmons) series is a classic, and I really enjoyed Illium (http://www.amazon.com/Ilium-Dan-Simmons/dp/0380817926/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226153101&sr=8-1)and Olympos (http://www.amazon.com/Olympos-Dan-Simmons/dp/0380817934/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226153101&sr=8-2)as well.

These recommendations could all be classified as Sci-Fi/Fantasy hybrids, so I hope you enjoy.

[Mr. Murphy]

Oh man, I loved the Belgariad.
Try Timothy Zahn's first Star Wars trilogy, starts with Heir to the Empire. It was written before the prequels, and is the only Expanded Universe stuff I've every really felt was worth reading more than once.

[Arilin]

Ever read any David Gemmel (http://www.sfbookcase.com/author.asp?forename=David&surname=Gemmell)? His Drenai Saga is a very solid selection of books. I've not read anything from him outside those books actually, but I enjoyed all of them. Very good reads.

Also, ever read any Michael Stackpole? He's written quite a lot of work, but the one I enjoyed the most was the Dragoncrown Cycle. (It's a trilogy of books), but start with a book called "The Dark Glory War". It's prequel to the cycle, and it's really a starting point.

[Doctor Setebos]

I recently read the Old Man's War (http://books.google.com/books?id=_lO9ZroeXmgC) series by John Scalzi. Phenomenal military scifi without feeling like military scifi. Just fantastic, well-written scifi with excellent pacing. I loved it. And I love most of the same books/authors you mentioned, so, there's that. ;)

[Arilin]

And for the record, that old bearded bastard needs to finish the next book in the Song of Fire and Ice series. I want that freakin book :P I remember when Feast was released, he said he cut the book he wrote in half, and it was mostly done and would be out by the next year! So, cut to two years later and still no book :P

[biosc1]

Try some Neil Gaiman? Start with American God's? It was a decent book.

Another non-fantasy book I'm reading that you may like is Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth. It reminds me so much of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. Non-fantasy, non-sci-fi, but plenty of swords and deaths.

[MinorHero]

I like the sound of that "Prince of Nothing" book. And "The Name of the Wind" is actually reviewed on amazon by Robin Hobb so that was rather impressive. As for the others.

I have already read the Hyperion series and by accident "The Hollow Man" by Simmons. I thought the first book in Hyperion was decent but after that they each seemed to go more progressively down hill. By the time I got to the end the whole thing felt a little too preachy for me.

I've read the original Timothy Zahn star wars stuff and to be honest I think I would have had a better time of it if I had started reading it in high school when I was incredibly into Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance books. As it is I cringed every time Zahn made a movie reference and then spent the next page trying to ignore it.

I picked up "Old Man's War" about a month ago because the cover art appeared to by the same guy who did "Pandora's Star" or at least that type of style. I'm glad I got it. The first one was great and would probably make a great read for anyone that liked Starship Troopers and The Forever War. "The Ghostbrigade" was a lesser book but still decent. "The Last Colony" was a bit tired, and "Zoe's Tale" was absolutely and completely unnecessary in my opinion.

I've read Gaiman's "American God's" and also the two (it is two right?) follow ups with the Nancy Boys or whatever it was called. It was a decent read but I never found it engrossing enough to make it onto my list of top books etc.

[Ondo]

Most of my recommendations are fantasy, because that's my favorite genre. FWIW, while I very much liked Jim Butcher, George R. R. Martin, the Wheel of Time, and Robin Hobb, I also liked Tad Williams and the Sword of Truth.

Guy Gavriel Kay is excellent. Unlike most fantasy authors, he writes a lot of stand-alone novels (though many are set in the same world, but at very different times and places).

Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson, is good. I hear his Mistborn series is also good, but I haven't read it yet. He's also the guy Robert Jordan's widow picked to finish the Wheel of Time series.

Lois McMaster Bujord has some excellent books. I've read the Chalion series - each of the three is mostly self-contained. She's also got a newer fantasy series and a very long sci-fi series, and I've heard those are good.

I've read and enjoyed the first two Runelords books by David Farland - now there are a lot more.

Dave Duncan's King's Blades series is good, though again I've only read the first three. His earlier stuff is okay, but not as good.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer (of Twilight fame) is excellent sci-fi.

Stephen R. Donaldson has some good books. His most famous books, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenent, weren't that good, but the two-book series Mordant's Need was very good, and his sci-fi Gap series was alright (but unpleasant at times).

Steven Brust has some good books - the Vlad Taltos series is fun, but my favorites are the Phoenix Guards and following books, set in the same world much earlier, which are written in the style of Dumas. That makes them pretty much unique among modern fantasy, and I enjoy them immensely. FWIW, he's also written a book with Robin Hobb, back when she went by Megan Lindholm.

There's probably more I'm forgetting, but that should do for now. :)

[vuk]

Ever read any David Gemmel (http://www.sfbookcase.com/author.asp?forename=David&surname=Gemmell)? His Drenai Saga is a very solid selection of books. I've not read anything from him outside those books actually, but I enjoyed all of them. Very good reads.

Hey, cool! Someone else who actually knows Gemmell existed! I'll second Gemmell's stuff. I quite enjoyed his Stones of Power series (I haven't gotten around to reading his one-offs yet).

I also really enjoyed Gaiman's stuff, especially American Gods and Neverwhere.

I don't read much SciFi but remember my dad liking a bunch of Greg Bear stuff like Eon, then there's Ender's Game, Arthur C Clarke's Rama stuff, and something he read recently by Dan Simmons called Ilium which sounded really interesting. Though again, I haven't read these sci-fi books, just going by what he's talked to me about and liked.

[OrangePulp]

I ended up reading The Riddlemaster of Hed (http://books.google.com/books?id=5fY_AAAACAAJ&dq=riddlemaster+of+hed), and the rest of the trilogy it's a part of, after seeing it compared to LeGuin's Wizard of Earthsea, which is a comparison that I think holds up. I enjoyed it.

Oh, and if you haven't read A Wizard of Earthsea, be sure to check it out. It's good stuff.

[Blue]

I'll toss my hat in for Imajica by Clive Barker. Quite possibly my favorite book of all time.

[KingGorilla]

Try some Neil Gaiman? Start with American God's? It was a decent book.

I have to wonder what an uneducated audience would get out of American gods, I know my world religion history, and there were gods in that book that I had never heard of. I can immagine a lot of people being lost to the deeper roots in that story.

[5y1v4r]

I'll toss my hat in for Imajica by Clive Barker. Quite possibly my favorite book of all time.
And Abarat, technically a younger reader book but still excellent, I wouldn't delve too far into Barker's other books though, too much squicky stuff :-P The Great and Secret Show was an interesting read though.

I also second the recommendations for Stephen Brust and Neil Gaiman and add Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, huge tome of a book but really fun story about turn of the century British wizardry.

[5y1v4r]

I have to wonder what an uneducated audience would get out of American gods, I know my world religion history, and there were gods in that book that I had never heard of. I can immagine a lot of people being lost to the deeper roots in that story.
Yeah, while I loved American Gods, I can see it being kind of inaccessible. Personally I would actually say read Anansi Boys first even though it's technically a sequel just because it's a much tighter read and an easier setup for the world.

[KingGorilla]

I actually forgot to Contribute. But given the fare the OP mentioned, Stardust would be a good Neil Gaiman book to read. Fairly simple concepts, the world is not overly cluttered with inane jargon(like so much fantasy), and it tells a surprisingly complex and interwoven story of 4 main threads. There is the overarching story, and several underplots that all wrap up nicely.

[Blue]

And Abarat, technically a younger reader book but still excellent, I wouldn't delve too far into Barker's other books though, too much squicky stuff :-P The Great and Secret Show was an interesting read though.

I also second the recommendations for Stephen Brust and Neil Gaiman and add Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, huge tome of a book but really fun story about turn of the century British wizardry.

I'll also agree on the Abarat series, younger or not. Really great reads. Mind you I'm a huge Barker fan and would absolutely recommend every single one of his books (though his latest Mister B. Gone is a good idea that was pretty hit or miss), so I'm biased. Great and Secret Show is certainly good though I'd then recommend Everville and a play he wrote that takes place on a cruise ship set within the same "world" as those two novels (name of the play escapes me). The Thief of Always is also fantasy-like as is Weaveworld, both Barker.

[Lint of Death]

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny for Sci-Fi.

How good is Zelazny? As soon as the Nebula Awards came into existence, he won half of them. Two out of four. He has had a number of other award winning works, and Lord of Light along with the ten-books-in-one Chronicles of Amber are those that I have read. Those two also happen to be what I might consider my favorite stories of all time, even above Isaac Asimov and the Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko.

[5y1v4r]

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny for Sci-Fi.

How good is Zelazny? As soon as the Nebula Awards came into existence, he won half of them. Two out of four. He has had a number of other award winning works, and Lord of Light along with the ten-books-in-one Chronicles of Amber are those that I have read. Those two also happen to be what I might consider my favorite stories of all time, even above Isaac Asimov and the Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko.
oh wow, here I thought I was the only person who read the Night Watch books. Those are great ^_^

[Press Ninja]

I'm tossing my vote in for Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson. Cyberpunk pizza delivering hackers who battle against viruses that are based on old Summerian poems? HELL YEAH.

[Rune_74]

which series did you read from tad williams...his books are some of my favorites.

Also anything by clive barker, definately. Alot of good recommendations here, too bad gemmel died decent writer.

[vuk]

too bad gemmel died decent writer.

Yeah, that took me by surprise. Didn't make the papers here, and it wasn't until my girlfriend checked to see if he was doing new books to buy for me that she found out and told me. :(

After making the recommendation I went back to read his stuff starting from Legend.

[boratika]

Have you read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood? If not, do.

[VerseD]

I second Dan Simmons as good science fiction. You'll probably like him if you liked Neil Stephenson.

For fantasy, I recommend Glen Cook's Black Company series, especially if you're tired of high fantasy crap. The first couple books, available in a cheap collection (http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Black-Company-Glen-Cook/dp/0765319233/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226391377&sr=8-1), were written in the 1980s and blend sword and sorcery fantasy with Vietnam fiction.

The setting is real bleak and realistic, kind of like George R. R. Martin but less War of the Roses. It's told from the point of view of an average disillusioned grunt and focuses more on the goings-on between battles and bickering between captains than epic combat and princely heroes.

The characters are really fun, and the writing is tight and has a lot of voice. Definitely a good read.

[Lint of Death]

oh wow, here I thought I was the only person who read the Night Watch books. Those are great ^_^

It's torture to know that the English version of the last one's been delayed till January!

EDIT: WOAH just looked it up again, looks like it's actually coming out November 25th!

[Schnoogs]

Read any political book by a liberal..talk about fantasy

[Crittias]

I'll limit myself to two:

sci-fi: Altered Carbon (http://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/1596061855/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226420031&sr=8-1) by Richard K. Morgan
fantasy(ish): Perdido Street Station (http://www.amazon.com/Perdido-Street-Station-China-Mieville/dp/0345459407/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226420049&sr=8-1) by China Mieville

[Rune_74]

Anyone read Steven Erikson?

I have gardens of the moon to start but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Funny thing is the guy lives in my town.

[Schnoogs]

These two are an abolsute must

Enders Game
Hyperion

They will blow you away...judging by your taste I think you will fall in love with these

[nnanji]

Anyone read Steven Erikson?

I have gardens of the moon to start but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Funny thing is the guy lives in my town.

I was just about to speak up about Erikson. Frankly, I'm disappointed that GunnyMo didn't do so already.

Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen, Gardens of the Moon is the first book, is one of the best epic fantasy series out there. Trust me, I've read them all. If the OP liked the Wheel of Time series, he will be down for this. Big battles, epic magic, living gods, and best of all, the author isn't afraid to finish story lines. Great stuff.

I'd also nominate Moorcock's Elric books, another vote for Zelzany, and if you want some Scifi, try Alastair Reynolds.

[astranoir]

fantasy(ish): Perdido Street Station (http://www.amazon.com/Perdido-Street-Station-China-Mieville/dp/0345459407/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226420049&sr=8-1) by China Mieville

Someone else is reading this? Awesome! I am a little over 1/3 of the way through, and I really want someone with whom I can discuss this! I am absolutely loving it so far, it is just so dense and interesting.

[Crittias]

Someone else is reading this? Awesome! I am a little over 1/3 of the way through, and I really want someone with whom I can discuss this! I am absolutely loving it so far, it is just so dense and interesting.I've read all of his stuff. When you're done reading it, give me a holler, I'd be happy to chat. It's a great book.

[Xydarc]

Hello all,

Its come time for me to get a new book but I've seem to have hit a wall in finding one on my own. My usual habit these days is just to walk into a bookstore and randomly start picking things off shelves and read the back and/or the first page to see if it catches my interest. These days though it seems to take a lot longer to get one through this method. So I turn to you good folk of the interWEB!!

I'm only interested in science fiction or fantasy books and to give you a good idea of where I'm at here's a list of books I enjoyed:

Dune
everything by Asimov
most everything by Heinlein
Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained
Jim Butcher's two series
George R.R. Martin
Wheel of Time
Robin Hobb
Katherine Kerr
everything by Neal Stephenson


I didn't like:

Raymond E. Feist
Sword of Truth books
Shanara series (sp)
Belgariad
Tad Williams

I've read a lot more books then this, both ones I liked and didn't like, but those are the ones that come to mind immediately.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
You didn't like the Belgariad? There is no hope for you.:p

[Xydarc]

My sci-fi recommedation is Midshipman's Hope (http://www.amazon.com/Midshipmans-Hope-Seafort-David-Feintuch/dp/1857234340/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226436360&sr=8-1) and the rest of the Seafort Saga by David Feintuch.

[roboninja]

Glenn Cook's The Black Company series. This is a series that is quite long, but only the first three books are really truly related in that they are one complete story. I really enjoyed them. Some very gritty fantasy most of the time, aided by the fact it follows a mercenary company rather than the usual heroes.

[Rune_74]

I was just about to speak up about Erikson. Frankly, I'm disappointed that GunnyMo didn't do so already.

Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen, Gardens of the Moon is the first book, is one of the best epic fantasy series out there. Trust me, I've read them all. If the OP liked the Wheel of Time series, he will be down for this. Big battles, epic magic, living gods, and best of all, the author isn't afraid to finish story lines. Great stuff.

I'd also nominate Moorcock's Elric books, another vote for Zelzany, and if you want some Scifi, try Alastair Reynolds.

Hmm maybe I should see if I can contact him here in Victoria and see if I can't get him to sign some books:P

[Blue]

Glenn Cook's The Black Company series. This is a series that is quite long, but only the first three books are really truly related in that they are one complete story. I really enjoyed them. Some very gritty fantasy most of the time, aided by the fact it follows a mercenary company rather than the usual heroes.

Are these somewhat Conan-esque in style? I keep picking the collection of these every time i see them only to put it back down. Outside of Conan I typically don't do Swords & Sorcery style fantasy, but these looked pretty good despite.

[roboninja]

Are these somewhat Conan-esque in style? I keep picking the collection of these every time i see them only to put it back down. Outside of Conan I typically don't do Swords & Sorcery style fantasy, but these looked pretty good despite.

They are somewhat comparable to Conan's take on sword & sorcery. Definitely grittier than your usual fantasy fair, and more militaristic than most books. There is plenty of story that just happens during the tedium of marching with a some-what large force. I would say at least ry the first book to see if it hooks you.

EDIT: I noticed that nnanji mentioned the Elric saga. They are also great reads, if for wholly different reasons.

[5y1v4r]

You didn't like the Belgariad? There is no hope for you.:p
I don't know, while I did enjoy the Belgariad (note that I was eleven or so when I read it) I personally think the Sparhawk books are actually better, he doesn't hit you over the head with the story archetypes quite as much. The problem with David Eddings is that he has one story and one set of characters and he just keeps switching them around and writing new books about them

[GunnyMo]

Someone else is reading this? Awesome! I am a little over 1/3 of the way through, and I really want someone with whom I can discuss this! I am absolutely loving it so far, it is just so dense and interesting.

Make that another someone! Me! lol I like it a lot.

And damn nnanji straight to hell for getting in the awesome Erikson plug before me. His Malazan series is quite possibly the best fantasy lore I have ever read. E...V...A...R! Seriously, it will blow you away. If you like the Wheel of Time you'll love this series because guess what?! Not once will you ever find fifty pages of braid tugging, man hating and crossing of arms beneath breasts! Not once!

I will also agree with the Glenn Cook Black Company books. Another fantastic series. I think the quote on the back of the book, by none other than the aforementioned phenomenal Steven Erikson, comes down to saying Cook's fantasy is like "Vietnam war era fiction on peyote". Really, fantastic stuff.

Anyone read Steven Erikson?

I have gardens of the moon to start but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Funny thing is the guy lives in my town.

And you haven't sent signed, autographed and lovingly caressed copies of all of his books to nnanji and I yet? What's wrong with you?! :D

[Blue]

They are somewhat comparable to Conan's take on sword & sorcery. Definitely grittier than your usual fantasy fair, and more militaristic than most books. There is plenty of story that just happens during the tedium of marching with a some-what large force. I would say at least ry the first book to see if it hooks you.

I think my library has them so I'll certainly give the first a look. Been itching for something new anyhow. Appreciate the heads up.

[GunnyMo]

I think my library has them so I'll certainly give the first a look. Been itching for something new anyhow. Appreciate the heads up.

He's right on the money about Cook's Black Company. It's told from the perspective of an historian within the mercenary group, The Black Company. It's essentially modern military combat style prose but within a fantasy setting. Very gritty prose and outstanding characters.

[Blue]

He's right on the money about Cook's Black Company. It's told from the perspective of an historian within the mercenary group, The Black Company. It's essentially modern military combat style prose but within a fantasy setting. Very gritty prose and outstanding characters.

That actually sounds like it could be right up my alley. I love it when people approach fantasy (or sci-fi even) from a different perspective than the usual trappings. It's one of the reason I love George R.R. Martin and The Black Company could actually fill my need for dark fantasy.

and Gunny, I can't help but feel that you and I are writing back and forth together in multiple threads...we're taking over!

[GunnyMo]

That actually sounds like it could be right up my alley. I love it when people approach fantasy (or sci-fi even) from a different perspective than the usual trappings. It's one of the reason I love George R.R. Martin and The Black Company could actually fill my need for dark fantasy.

and Gunny, I can't help but feel that you and I are writing back and forth together in multiple threads...we're taking over!

Oh yeah. It'll fill your void, baby.

we rule these threads with a splendor not seen since the days of yor!

[Lint of Death]

I just found out that Orson Scott Card has just released a direct sequel to Ender's side of Ender's Game this month. As in, it takes place before Speaker for the Dead.