anybody else a fan of Science Fiction & Fantasy? I'm a huge fan of this genre (or perhaps you can split it into 2 genre's?)....my favorite all time series are the Belgariad and the Mallareon by David Eddings. Somewhat chlidish but fun nonetheless
Another one of my favorites, Williams created a rather interesting world with a whole bunch of complex (almost TOO complex at times) charachters
I've enjoyed Memory Sorrow and Thorn so far. In paperback, it's 4 books, and I've read the first 3. All of Orson Scott Card's Ender books are worth reading. The two newer ones (Ender's Shadow and Shadow Puppets) are chronologically the same as the original Ender's Game; books 2, 3 and 4 in the series happen later. As I mentioned in the WOT thread, definitely think the best (non-Tolkien) series so far is George R. R. Martin's "Songs of Ice and Fire"... at least until I finish my novel, which will undoubtedly surpass them all.
Hyperion. While the series is ok, this single book is an outstanding example of all SF can accomplish.
Almost anything by Gene Wolfe is excellent, but the four books comprising the New Sun cycle (begins with Shadow of the Torturer and ends with Urth of the New Sun) are consistently as good as anything I've ever read in this genre.
SciFi Favorites (off the top-of-my-head): Dune A Deepness in the Sky Hyperion A Fire in the Deep Grass Rendezvous with Rama Ender's Game The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Ringworld Speaker for the Dead Gateway Doublestar The Demolished Man The Postman Neuromancer Snow Crash The Snow Queen Doomsday Book Starship Troopers I better stop at 20! Fantasy: The Lord of The Rings
Anything by Issac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Aspirin, Piers Anthony, Douglas Adams, or Harry Harrison is something I've probably read a dozen times. I think Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series is probably my sentimental favorite, though Asimov's Foundation series still blows me away, and Clarke's Rama series I think is perhaps some of the best pure Sci Fi I've ever read. And of course there's Hitchhiker's...
I met Robert Lynn Aspirin about ten years ago. Very odd guy, although if you've read the Myth-ing books that won't surprise you at all. Further name-dropping: Sci Fi fans: I also recommend Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War." Had a nice chat with him about it when he was guest lecturer at my Sci-Fi / Fantasy Lit class at U of M.
Favorite Fantasy: The Mallprean and the Belgariad Lord of the Rings Memory, Sorrow, thorn Sword of Truth Series (its kinda getting stupid though) Dragonriders of Pern and currently I'm reading Elizabth Haydon's series, 3 books, Rhapsody, Destiny, and something else...its actually pretty good....slightly odd though
You've been able to make it this far?? I liked book 1, although all the leather bondage stuff was a little odd. Book 2 was okay. By book three I had lost interest. It's up to what now, five? Six?
what does everybody think of Elizabeth Haydon's Requiem of the Sun? I'm thinking of buying it in Hardcover cuz I don't wanna wait any longer....is it worth it?
Any of you ever read the John Carter of Mars books by ER Burroughs (Tarzan fame)? I remember back in middle school tearing through the whole series like they were comic books. Lots of scantily clad hot Martian babes on the cover, etc. Fun pulp stuff, IIR, though I'm sure they would be laughable if I reread them now. Also, I'm not a Sci-Fi / Fantasy junkie, but I did read a Stainless Steal Rat novel back then as well, and remember thinking it was quite clever. And finally, Vonnegutt published a little known book called "Venus on the Half Shelf" under the pseudonym Kilgore Trout (character from Slaugherhouse 5). I remember laughing a lot when reading it.
I read most if not all the Tarzan books because a friend of my parents gave me their son's collection of them after he'd outgrown them. I was tempted by the Mars stuff, but by the time I was in the 5th grade I was hooked on Andre Norton (whom I fancied as an elite in the field).
Actually, the author was Philip Jose Farmer. Apparently, one day he was thinking about some recurring characters he liked who are (among other things) writers. He decided that it would be great to have a series of books written by some of these writers. He got the project started by writing Venus on the Half Shell as he thought Kilgore Trout would have. I know this because there is a Harlan Ellison anthology that includes a story he wrote (in the guise of his Screen Writers Guild pseudonym, Cordwainer Bird) after Farmer pestered him for months, or perhaps years.
he has all the Krondor novels right? I haven't read his boks in awhile but I seem to remember enjoyign them very much
Sorry, I'm having trouble remembering the titles now but I'm sure Norton didn't do the Krondor novels. IIRC, one of my favorites was Night of Masks. She did all kinds of stuff having to do with "psionics" and human exploration of the galaxy. It's all high adventure/low concept, with the main character usually being some sort of marginalized person who ends up playing a major role of some kind because fate has dropped him-her-it into a crucial chain of events. In other words, just the sort of stuff kids like to daydream about because it's easy for them to picture it happening to them. Geez, now I may have to go to the library and dig some of them up just for nostalgia.
Big fan of Isaac Asimov (Positronic Man is one of my all time favorite books, but they totally screwed it up with the movie version). I've read alot of good stuff from Timothy Zahn, and I almost always buy his new stuff.
I've been a fan of science fiction more or less since birth (not kidding, my father has copies of the Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy from before I was born). My favorites growing up were Philip Dick, Harlan Ellison and Samuel Delaney. In recent years I have added to that list Connie Willis, Alexander Jablakov, Sherry Tepper, Terry Pratchett and Guy Gavriel Kay. These are the people that I will buy just about anything new that they publish, unless my wife buys it first. Here's where I buy most of my SF: http://www.pandemoniumbooks.com/
I recently dug out a collection by Stanislaw Lem called Tales of Pirx the Pilot. His stuff is all pretty good but I have a special fondness for the Pirx stories, which give a greasy, hands-on feel to the space exploration theme. The last story in the book, "Terminus," is the best. It deals with the older Pirx (most of the early stories focus on his training years) and takes a decidedly eerie turn.