For older stuff I just finished Rendezvous with Rama and liked that.
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I concur. I loved them.
“Sentenced to Prism” by Alan Dean Foster.
Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion are two of my all time favorite Sci Fi books. Dan Simmons had such great character devolopment throughout the story and some epic world building. But the last two books in the series Endymion and Rise of Endymion are awful. The religious undertones were prevalent from the start but it got a bit ridiculous in the end.
Peter F Hamilton is another amazing sci fi author in my opinion. I started with his Night’s Dawn trilogy which is someone adolescent in its presentation but still a great story. He wrote a great stand alone book Called the Fallen Dragon definitely worth reading. I am currently reading Judas Unchained which is the final book in the Common Wealth Saga. In my opinion this is his best work yet. Definitely worth checking out if you enjoy sci fi.
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I’m going to hit some more Hamilton after I finish Fall of Hyperion (about 1/4 through and it is just as awesome).
I’ve only read Hamilton’s standalone Great North Road - brick of a book. I’d like to read some of his series books. I also want to check out some James S.A. Corey books.
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It is so good isn’t it. I was fascinated with the Shrike and the Shrike tree. I forget what it was called. Tree of Death or Pain something like that. What a terrifying idea the Shrike was. Giant near indestructible creature made up of sharp points that would eviscerate anyone in its way.
Interesting side note apparently Hollywood’s Bradley Cooper owns the movie rights to Hyperion and for sometime has been working towards a film adaptation of the story. Would be interesting to see how that might turn out.
My brother is the one who turned me onto Sci Fi novels and he swears that the greatest sci fi ever written is the original Dune books written by Frank Herbert. For whatever reason I have never gotten around to reading them but I did watch the 1980s film adaptation with Sting in it. That was pretty awesome.
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IMHO , Richard K. Morgan is one of the best, especially these four:
Altered Carbon
Broken Angels
Woken Furies
Thirteen
For the best of all time: Dune and the next two in the series by Frank Herbert. Stay away from the crap his son writes.
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Tree of Pain… sounds rough. I’m looking forward to other Simmons books. He is a gifted writer. I heard a Hyperion miniseries is in the works on the SciFI channel with Cooper involved in the development in some way. A miniseries would make sense - it would be hard to give all seven of the pilgrims’ stories justice on top of the actual pilgrimage and war with the ousters. There is honestly enough material for a full fledge show.
I read the first 100 pages of Dune and put it down. It’s excellent but I had a hard time getting into it so figured I’d wait and attempt it later.
Another amazing series is Asimov’s Foundation books if you have not read them. Hyperion in some ways reminds of the series. Foundation can be a bit disjointed as it was written over a 51 year period (seven books) and adapts with actual real world technology. I read Prelude to Foundation first which was the last book written in the series. It was sort of like watching the Star Trek rebooted movies and then watching the original series… That being said, it’s a complaint you can look past easily - just sort of humorous at times.
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Highly recommend the “Hero’s Die” series Matthew Woodring Stover. I enjoy the grainy writing, and while it is futuristic it is mostly old school sword and sorcery.
As well as the “Matador” series by Steve Perry. The first book of the series is “The Man Who Never Missed”. However, there was a prequel written later on called “The Musashi Flex”.
These both are easy to get through but very enjoyable. I really enjoy the fight scenes.
Switched over to fantasy for a bit (just finished The Name of The Wind)…
Picked up The Blade Itself. I’m only about 100 pages it, but this book is fantastic so far. The fact that others, @Yogi1, @Waittz, say the series is great has me excited. Looking forward to digging into Abercrombie’s books.
Never read much fantasy in the past - seems I’ve been missing out. Thanks for the recommendation @mackison.
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Recently read the Lies of Locke Lamora, it was a very good read for anybody who likes stories about con artists or thieves. Not quite as dark as Abercrombie’s first law series, but similar to his Half A King series.
I just read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and it’s wonderful.
that’s been on my to-read list for about twenty years.
How true to the book is the movie?
In my mind the perfect science fiction series is Dune.
Not the shit his son and whoever wrote afterwards, because they had the rights, but the original series.
Joe Abercrombie is very good, though that is more fantasy, but Jesus, it gets dark.
As to “Do androids dream of electric sheep”, it is a Phillip K. Dick novel, which share certain themes, mainly the complete breakdown of the protagonists reality.
“The Lies of Locke Lamorra” is also good.
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The name of the wind is a great read and I loved the first law trilogy. When you’re done with them, let me know if you agree that the bloody nines evolution in the three books from a personality/behavior perspective didn’t bother you. I still loved them, that was my only gripe. It seemed like he was a different person between books at times.
The second book to the name of the wind - the wise mans fears is great too.
The Harry Dresden files series is worth reading if you like fast paced violence and the author becomes a more proficient writer and story teller, the further you read in the series.
The Stormlight archive trilogy took me about 5 attempts to get 100 pages in on the first book, but is fantastic too.
Honorable mention to Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw.
The Wool, Shift and Dust trilogy by Hugh Howey is the worst best rated series I read all year. Didn’t care for them at all after the mystery’s revealed.
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Wool is up there with ancillary justice. My guess is they printed too many copies so they turned the hype machine on.
Was ancillary justice good or overhyped as well? I also didn’t enjoy Lies of Locke Lamora and quit after 150-200 pages.
I thought The Way of Shadows felt similar but was a lot more entertaining.
Those books are huge, I don’t have the time to commit to 1000+ page book (at least right now). Brandon Sanderson is an incredible fantasy author, but I think more geared towards young adult or fluffy fantasy (not dark like Abercrombie). He took over and finished the Wheel of Time series and seems to crank out a new book at least once a year, which is refreshing compared to Martin or Rothfuss… seriously though, I’ve been waiting for the third book in the name of the wind series forever.
Sanderson’s mistborn series is good. He also writes novellas that are only ~100 pages and are perfect when you know you don’t have a lot of time and want a quick read. My favorite was The Emperor’s Soul, but Legion, Infinity Blade, Sixth of the Dusk, and the Perfect State were all completely different and unique quick stories. If you have a free afternoon you can get the kindle version for like $5 and enjoy a quick read.