[Books] Sci-fi / Science Fiction Novels

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 5:41 pm

Books 3 and 4 collected are in my library book reading backlog.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 5:46 pm

Read the Silo series by Hugh Howey starting with:

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 10:45 pm

Moliere wrote:Read the Silo series by Hugh Howey starting with:

I hope it gets better, the starting pace is glacial.

Sabassis · Post by **Sabassis** » Fri Jun 10, 2016 1:23 am

Jaymann wrote:
Moliere wrote:Read the Silo series by Hugh Howey starting with:

I hope it gets better, the starting pace is glacial.

Amazing series, loved it. So good I bought his other books.

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Fri Jun 10, 2016 7:50 am

I'm the odd duck that didn't care for Wool. I never found it interesting.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:43 am

So I'm reading the 9th Honor Harrington book, Ashes of Victory, when Weber writes about a naval officer so low in rank and surrounded by higher ranks that they are "literally invisible".

Fuck you Webber.

edited: because fuck you

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:49 am

More evidence to make me not regret abandoning the series.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Tue Sep 06, 2016 12:06 pm

GreenGoo wrote:So I'm reading the 9th Honor Harrington book, Ashes of Victory, when Weber rights about a naval officer so low in rank and surrounded by higher ranks that they are "literally invisible".

Fuck you Webber.

It's his right to write how he wants.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Tue Sep 06, 2016 2:52 pm

Most of the Honor Harrington series are sort of "slow-motion train-wreck", as the conspirators slowly gather their attack and then how the good guys react to the attack with great sacrifice.

The truly "personal" adventures, like the first few books, like the one where she's fighting on Grayson, or early in carrier like debut On Basilisk station, and then "In Enemy Hands" (where she got captured) and the sequel (where she managed to fight her way into friendly territory) are the best, IMHO. Because the stakes are personal. The other books, the stakes are so diffuse you feel like you're at 5000 ft level, half way between strategic view and personal view that you're not sure which way to lean, that you can't really *care* any more.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue Sep 06, 2016 2:59 pm

In Enemy Hands is a definite jump in quality compared to the books that come right before it. It's the 7th book and like I said I'm on the 9th now.

I'm reading them mostly out of laziness (I have them, they are in front of me when I look for something to read) than anything else.

Jaymon · Post by **Jaymon** » Tue Sep 06, 2016 3:24 pm

rshetts2 wrote: His most recent I've read is Anathem, which I felt was his most straightforward novel yet.

I got about a hundred pages into Anathem, with out finding even a hint of a plot, just page after page describing a clock built by monks.

I really enjoyed the Nights Dawn trilogy, that was described in The 10 best action sci-fi books some pages back. There is a nice description beyond the link. But I like to describe it as "Satanists in Space"

hitbyambulance wrote: anyone yet read Cixin Liu _The Three-body Problem_? Chinese sci-fi, won the Nebula for "Best new novel".

Just finished this last week. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and looking forward to the others in the series. I had a lot of trouble grasping the various factions of the Chinese communist revolution, since all sides seemed to be named Red something, and wore green uniforms, but if you can push past that, there is a good story in there.

The David Brin Uplift series, mentioned multiple times, is a good old straight up space opera romp, and I enjoy all of them, with re-reads every couple of years.

Ann Leckie Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy. Finished all of these a couple months back. Good stuff there. most of what I could say would be a spoiler. One of the pieces I liked was that humans are not the top of the chain, aliens out there with a technology level that can only be described as Terrifying, who are deciding if Humans should be considered as Significant or Insignificant. The story is about one soldier with a poor understanding of pronouns, and her journey through a human empire that might be the evil bad guys.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Sep 06, 2016 3:28 pm

I had heard the Mars series (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) was supposed to be good and am 3 pages from the end of Red Mars. It has interesting concepts, but I find the writing style not to my liking. The author spends large chunks of the books describing the surroundings but only lightly skims over the interesting social and political dramas that make up much of the plot. It's really odd. I like it enough to keep reading (since I've bought them all anyways), but only just barely.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Tue Sep 06, 2016 3:39 pm

FWIW, my favorite SF author right now is Charles Stross. The Laundry Files are fun (more Urban/Spy fantasy than SF...), but kind of fluff, but Halting State and Rule 34 are both fantastic reads, and the Merchant Princes books are really interesting too. Accelerando had some fascinating moments, but those 3 books are a bit hit or miss - it's pretty obvious that he's still finding his writing style in them, but Glasshouse is also really interesting. I just started Saturn's Children - which he characterized to me in his book-signing we went to a month or two ago as his tribute to Heinlein's Friday (as well as Asimov's Laws of Robots).

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Wed Sep 07, 2016 12:45 pm

stessier wrote:I had heard the Mars series (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) was supposed to be good and am 3 pages from the end of Red Mars. It has interesting concepts, but I find the writing style not to my liking. The author spends large chunks of the books describing the surroundings but only lightly skims over the interesting social and political dramas that make up much of the plot. It's really odd. I like it enough to keep reading (since I've bought them all anyways), but only just barely.

That series was rough. Really rough. The payoff was great, but it was a definite slog at times to get there. I think I spent over a year reading Red Mars. I'd read it in short spurts. And often have to backtrack and re-read. The books are also really different in feel. Not sure about the writing "style" though... That may be the same. But the overall feel of the books is dramatically different.

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Wed Sep 07, 2016 2:09 pm

I enjoyed Red Mars and Green Mars when they came out. The ideas were interesting. On the other hand at that point my main pastime outside of my graduate work was reading. I don't think I have the patience to sit through them now even though the slow pace and description wasn't an issue at the time.

Blue Mars did not click with me. I finished it but I never became absorbed in the world like I had with Red Mars.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Wed Sep 07, 2016 5:19 pm

stessier wrote:I had heard the Mars series (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) was supposed to be good and am 3 pages from the end of Red Mars. It has interesting concepts, but I find the writing style not to my liking. The author spends large chunks of the books describing the surroundings but only lightly skims over the interesting social and political dramas that make up much of the plot. It's really odd. I like it enough to keep reading (since I've bought them all anyways), but only just barely.

I enjoyed Red Mars much more so because of the lack of the political. Green and Blue veer off that way much more.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 12:53 am

I know those books are highly rated, but honestly, I much prefer Mars by Ben Bova. I've read a lot of novels set on Mars, and I keep coming back to Ben Bova. He wrote two other sequels, but they aren't quite as good as the first and they get a bit more into his world-building politics which he only started creating after Mars was written.

My least favourite Mars novel is Moving Mars by Greg Bear. I really like Greg Bear, but this novel was not very good. It's as the title suggests, that Mars is moved, literally. I found it very difficult to get into the story and the heavy use of politics didn't help things. Politics commandeered the story at the expense of other things that could have been more interesting to focus on.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 8:46 am

I just finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.

Blake Crouch is perhaps best known for his Wayward Pines novels that were adapted into the TV series on Fox, and he's also the creator of TNT show Good Behavior.

It's hard to talk about the plot without giving too much away, so I'll keep it very high-level: Physicist Jason Dessen finds himself ripped away from the life he once knew, on the run from shadowy figures and confronting alternate realities.

Crouch spins a good yarn, and his experience in television and screenplays really shows in the novel. It's got the same pacing as an action/thriller movie, and some of the dialogue seems ripped right out of prime-time television. Kept me enthralled from start to finish, and his characterization tends to make up for some of the slight flaws.

Definitely suspend your disbelief at the door, because the novel uses some far-fetched ideas and doesn't make a lot of attempt at explaining them. The story is a minefield of potential plot holes, which Crouch deftly hops through by not giving you much time to dwell on them. Just go with it and you'll have a good time. Great crossover novel that blends sci-fi, action, thrillers, and a touch of horror.

While I was reading I was vividly imagining this as a movie, since it hits all the right beats to make an excellent film. So I was pleased to find out Crouch himself is writing the screenplay.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 1:35 pm

Jaymon wrote:I really enjoyed the Nights Dawn trilogy, that was described in The 10 best action sci-fi books some pages back.

This got me to Deathworld by Harry Harrison. Another version of his Steel Rat series. Entertaining, if not deep.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 1:58 pm

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming

One of the first essays included in his new collection "The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction". Worth reading for those interested in passing along their enjoyment of books.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 4:29 pm

Moliere wrote:
Jaymon wrote:I really enjoyed the Nights Dawn trilogy, that was described in The 10 best action sci-fi books some pages back.
This got me to Deathworld by Harry Harrison. Another version of his Steel Rat series. Entertaining, if not deep.

I don't know that I'd call Deathworld a version of the Stainless Steel Rat series, but I seem to recall it being entertaining when I read it roughly 33 years ago...

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 5:02 pm

Pyperkub wrote:
Moliere wrote:
Jaymon wrote:I really enjoyed the Nights Dawn trilogy, that was described in The 10 best action sci-fi books some pages back.
This got me to Deathworld by Harry Harrison. Another version of his Steel Rat series. Entertaining, if not deep.
I don't know that I'd call Deathworld a version of the Stainless Steel Rat series, but I seem to recall it being entertaining when I read it roughly 33 years ago...

It bears some passing similarities... it's almost a Proto SSR book.

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but The Stainless Steel Rat series was really a turning point in my young life. A relative that owned a book store gave me a copy of The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted when we visited once and it really sparked my life long love of science fiction and reading in general.

I've always thought it would be a great series to turn into a TV show, but then I have a soft spot for Slippery Jim.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 6:54 pm

SSR was awesome, but I think Vlad Taltos deserves a TV series.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 7:17 pm

Zarathud wrote:SSR was awesome, but I think Vlad Taltos deserves a TV series.

Not SF, AFAIK

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 7:18 pm

But I'd really like to see a Lensmen series...

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:07 pm

Zarathud wrote:SSR was awesome, but I think Vlad Taltos deserves a TV series.

It would be hard getting all of the flavor out of it when the main source of that flavor was the first person narration. I suppose you could still capture the mafia-meets-noir fantasy setting, though.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:31 pm

I finished "The Girl With All The Gifts" a couple of months ago. Very good, interesting ending.

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:33 pm

I'd love to see a good adaptation of Armor.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Wed Sep 21, 2016 9:10 pm

Grifman wrote:I finished "The Girl With All The Gifts" a couple of months ago. Very good, interesting ending.

yeah, I kind of liked it too. I'm just not much of a zombie apocalypse book person, but I found it interesting too.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 3:53 pm

GreenGoo wrote:So I'm reading the 9th Honor Harrington book, Ashes of Victory, when Weber writes about a naval officer so low in rank and surrounded by higher ranks that they are "literally invisible".

Fuck you Webber.

edited: because fuck you

Webber wrote: ...that an Imperial warship stand by with its hat literally in its hands...

Now in Webber's defense it is one of his characters saying this, so he could just be writing this character as a moron, but I suspect that's too much credit.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 3:55 pm

There's only one B in Weber. It's not like he's Spider-Man.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 4:04 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:There's only one B in Weber. It's not like he's Spider-Man.

I literally changed his name to Webber.

Now who's wrong, eh?

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 11:01 am

I could never get into Weber. Give me David Drake any day. His Northworld trilogy is one of my favorite series ever. I also like his Lt. Leary / RCN series a lot. Reminds me of the Patrick O'Brian series but set in the future.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 11:11 am

Try Michael Z. Williamson and his Ripplecreek series if you like David Drake.

David Weber writes detail universes and long games. If you need something more visceral it's Drake or Williamson.

Start with the free "Freehold"

The first book in Ripple Creek is Ripple Creek 1: Better to Beg Forgiveness

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 11:13 am

ColdSteel wrote:like his Lt. Leary / RCN series a lot. Reminds me of the Patrick O'Brian series but set in the future.

But that's EXACTLY what it is

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:15 pm

Moliere wrote:Read the Silo series by Hugh Howey starting with:

Finished this yesterday. Unfortunately did not leave me wanting more. YMMV.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 11:07 am

Delraich wrote:
hitbyambulance wrote:anyone yet read Cixin Liu _The Three-body Problem_? Chinese sci-fi, won the Nebula for "Best new novel".
Yes. Really enjoyed it (audiobook actually). It is not your typical sci-fi; hard sci-fi, takes place on earth. Not a lot of action, a whole lot of science. It can be a bit lecture-ish some time when explaining some (scientific) concepts and the prose is plain. But I found it a highly original and satisfying read.

The Hidden Mind

The Three-Body trilogy—a wild science fiction saga that attempts to tell the complete story of humanity's future, from its first encounter with intelligent alien life to its near-extinction to its eventual transcendence beyond this dimension—is a global literary sensation. The series sold 500,000 copies in China and won its author, Cixin Liu, a handful of Galaxy Awards before crossing over into the American market a decade later.

The opening book of the series, The Three-Body Problem, became the first translated novel to win a Hugo Award, given at WorldCon each year and considered science fiction's greatest honor. Accepting the award on the author's behalf in 2015, translator Ken Liu (no relation) noted the historical nature of the event and the appropriateness of the forum. "It's WorldCon," he said. "And this is the award for world science fiction."

Cixin Liu deserves more than this belated nod. Border-crossing books are invigorating speculative fiction—and bringing with them the realization that American parochialism has unduly constrained our vision of the future and of the capabilities of the human mind.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 1:21 pm

Is it too much to ask that the tree cats turn out to be emotional vampires, slowly sucking the life force from their hosts while plotting to one day turn humans into turnips on their emotion farms?

Spoiler:

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:23 pm

I'm not huge into Sci-fi and so don't read it very often (although I do love Dune), but I've been reading Dan Simmons' Hyperion books and they've been great.

The first book especially is sort of a sci-fi version of the Decameron; each of the main characters tells their tale of how they became part of the group. Perhaps most impressive is Simmons' take on the future tech. A lot of it doesn't seem that implausible (e.g. the datasphere of connected information that everyone can tap into). I also really like how he deals with space travel. Most travel requires a "time-debt"; passengers are in cryo-sleep and so don't age while traveling, but everyone else does. So, for instance, one guy reaches another planet after 100+ years of time have passed. Pretty cool stuff.

In any case, I'm sure this is old news for most of you guys (I think the first book came out in 1991). I'm about done with the 2nd (and last?) book. Have you guys read any other stuff by Simmons? If so, worth picking up?

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:42 pm

While not Sci-Fi and more historical fiction with a supernatural twist, The Terror by Simmons is pretty good. I found it hard to get into at first as it's slow to get going, but it turned out to be a great read. It's currently in the works as a miniseries.