I agree with many here.
Ender’s Game is a classic!
I’ve read MANY of Philip K. Dick’s short stories and books, but the names kind of blend together. Buy a compilation of his short stories – you will not be disappointed.
This is not a classic, but read Pandora’s Star by Peter F. Hamilton. Excellent book.
-Fireplug
[quote]Naphta wrote:
My favor Dick book has always been A scanner Darkly, can’t wait to see how the movie ends up.[/quote]
I’m partial to Valis myself.
I wish Hollywood would figure out that there’s other SF authors than PKD. Don’t get me wrong — he’s great. But it’s at the point where they take short stories he wrote and turned them into feature-length movies (almost never works).
I Am Legend is by Richard Matheson. This book was adapted for the movies as:
The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price
and Omega Man with Charlton Heston
Asimov’s I, Robot is really a collection of short stories exploring how the Three Laws of Robotics might not work in certain situations. The novels are murder mystery/SF.
MUST READS:
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
A Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Triplanetary by E.E. “Doc” Smith (this is where I suspect George Lucas got all the gee/wow/whiz bang of his space battles)
To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer, as well as the whole Riverworld series. Cool advaneture as wells as a good history and literarture lesson.
the Discworld series by Terry Pratchet.
Ender’s Game
Ender’s Shadow
Pretty much anything by Orson Scott Card or Issac Asimov. They are the former and current gods of sci-fi.
Also, Try “Gateway”, can’t qutie remember the author, but it was very very good (it has nothing to do with any tv show… ever).
Enders game series, theres 8 books in the series.by Orson scott Card.
shannara series by Terry Brooks 9 books in the series so far.
buffalokilla - I would agree with your recommendations 100% - Starship Troopers is nothing like the crappy Hollywood version, and the Doom series is also nothing like the game.
My addition, and personal favorite - 1984 by Orwell
[quote]markymark5 wrote:
buffalokilla - I would agree with your recommendations 100% - Starship Troopers is nothing like the crappy Hollywood version, and the Doom series is also nothing like the game.
My addition, and personal favorite - 1984 by Orwell[/quote]
Holy crap, someone else who’s read the Doom series!
You don’t happen to go by bighotmomma24 on Ebay, do you? Got into a bidding war over a boxed set once…
-Dan
[quote]Grimnuruk wrote:
Sims and Repairman Jack series especially The Tomb and All the Rage by F. Paul Wilson
[/quote]
Yes, Repairman Jack kicks ass! Definitely a great series.
I also recommend Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, and Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan. Really cool sci-fi, where human personalities can be digitzed and “resleeved” in a new body, if the old one is killed. Of course, assuming you have the money. All great reads.
…the ultimate in sci-fi: The Hyperion Saga by Dan Simmons!
I second Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein. It is one of the seminal works of science fiction EVER. A true classic if ever there was one (besides Dune. I have to bow down to Herbert. But don’t read his son’s crap. He got everything wrong, sucks as a writer, and seems to be trying to kill his dad’s legend. And I hate him for it.) You’ll finally get the “grok” reference in TC’s Atomic Dog archive. Did I mention I love TC for that reference? In a totally platonic way, of course…
Armor by John Steakley. I cannot say enough good things about this book. It is without doubt one of the finest books of any genre that I have ever read. It resonates on a very personal level with me. Maybe you’ll agree, maybe not, maybe it’ll just be a book to you. But you should give it a shot. And under no circumstances are you to read a review of it. Heck, I’d rather you didn’t even read the back of the book. Just tape that over and dive in.
Ender’s Game is a classic as well. Read it in one sitting. I didn’t even get up to go to the bathroom.
Time and Again by Clifford Simak. Short, sweet read.
Rest of the Dune series. I mean, come on…
More Heinlein (Time for the Stars, etc) He is also one of the giants.
The Darktower series by Stephen King. Yes, Stephen King. Unfreakinbelievable.
and the Halo series. No, really. Really good, fun reads, if not exactly earth shattering. Comparable to Starship Troopers the book vs. the movie. Only on a slightly lower level.
You might like Footfall too.
I could go on listing books forever, as I really do treasure my reading material. But that should do for now.
With the exception of Halo, Time and Again, and Footfall, all the books/series are too unbelievably amazing to rank. Just in different ways. I just can’t say too much about them…
Hail dagon!
Indeed.
You should try this sometime.Use that imagination.
You’ll be happy you did.
[quote]nolecat wrote:
Cthulhu wrote:
Shadows over inssmouth,by H.P. Lovecraft.
This should scare you out of a years growth.
Forgot about Lovecraft. Damn, these are some good suggestions. I may give up TV this summer and just read!![/quote]
Really?
It’s quite Self explanatory,my user name.
Ahh,very loud.
Makes the women orgasim.
[quote]TONEdef wrote:
Cthulhu wrote:
Shadows over inssmouth,by H.P. Lovecraft.
This should scare you out of a years growth.
Would never have taken you to be a Lovecraft fan
;-D Just out of curiousity what is your call like???
Tone[/quote]
Armor by John Steakly is fantastic!
Anything by Neil Gaimon.
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…the ultimate in sci-fi: The Hyperion Saga by Dan Simmons![/quote]
Oh yeah, forgot about those — let me second the motion!
While we’re on the subjcet, how about David Wingrove’s Chung Kuo: Middle Kingdom books? As epic as Dune, except on our planet 150 years in the future.
[quote]Cthulhu wrote:
Ahh,very loud.
Makes the women orgasim.
[/quote]
I take it that this is similar to an orgasm, but can only be carried out by the high priest of the Great Old Ones?
;^D
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
[quote]buffalokilla wrote:
Starship Trooper (not at all like the movie)
(don’t laugh outright) Doom: Knee Deep in the Dead. Not a conventional classic, but a great book to me.
-Dan
[/quote]
just read Starship Troopers. Interesting.
[quote]fireplug52 wrote:
This is not a classic, but read Pandora’s Star by Peter F. Hamilton. Excellent book.
[/quote]
Hamilton’s Mindstar series and “Night’s Dawn” trilogy are also worthy reading.
Almost anything by Iain M. Banks, I particularly liked “Excession.”
Obviously “Neuromancer,” and while you’re at it read the rest of William Gibson. This arguably started cyberpunk and I’ve never read anything quite like it.
Neal Stephenson’s “Cryptonomicon” is excellent - of the rest of his work I particularly like “The Diamond Age” and “The Baroque Cycle.”
Dan Simmons “Hyperion” series may be the most ambitious science fiction of the last 20 years.
If you want good old fashioned science fiction, you cn do a lot worse than Joe Haldeman - I would recommend “The Forever War.”
Brave New World - Huxley.
Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury.
Slaughterhouse-Five - Vonnegut.
The Man In The High Castle - PK Dick.
Neverwhere - Gaiman.
Anything by Douglas Adams (the man was a genius).
Likewise anything by Terry Pratchett (I know it’s not SF as such, but he makes me laugh).