There is a great thread in the lounge about Books in general, but to be honest, all I really want to read is Sci-Fi (including post-apocalyptic), and Fantasy.
In this OP I will compile every poster's top 3 Fantasy/SciFi suggestions if they give me them. I will try to keep the posters in alphabetical order in case you want to find someone's suggestions easier.
CP POSTER SUGGESTIONS
Baby Lee
1. Fritz Lieber's Swords Against series.
2. George R.R. Martin's SoIaF series [no brainer that will probably make tons of other lists]
3. Umberto Eco, Foucalt's Pendulum [a little more obscure/forgotten to make up for GRRM]
Frosty
1.Raymond Feist - Riftwar Saga
2.Terry Brooks - Shannara series (starting with the Knight of the Word books)
3.Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
Huffmeister
(1) Dune - Frank Herbert
(2) The Stand - Stephen King (1000+ page unabridged)
(3) Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein (checkout the song by Yes, too. lots of great bass)
Jawshco
1. "Book of the Long Sun" by Gene Wolfe
2. "Paradise War" by Stephen R Lawhead
3. "The Dragonbone Chair" by Tad Williams
listopencil
1. Edgar Rice Burroughs, any series
2. Robert Heinlein, everything he has written in chronological order (but read Starship Troopers first)
3. Doc Smith's Lensman series
vailpass
1. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 1, 2A & 2B books are a gold mine for sampling the evolution of sci-fi. (below)
2.The Nebula Awards and Hugo Awards (selected yearly, pick a year)
3. Years Best SF Annual publication, pick any volume from 1 to the current volume 17 See Post 142 [Reply]
Pretty good. It's so old the "science" consists of vivisection and hypnosis instead of genetic engineering and internal shock collars, but it's still worth a read.
The Dark Brotherhood by August Derleth
Bad
The Lonesome Place by August Derleth (horror)
Not bad.
Old Nathan by David Drake
If you like Manly Wade Wellman's John the Balladeer tales you will probably enjoy these stories.
Case and the Dreamer by Theodore Sturgeon
I've read 12 of the 13 volumes of the collected short works of Theodore Sturgeon. This is probably the worst one yet. [Reply]
The entire six hours I listened to could have been condensed into less than half an hour. The world is ending and there isn't an ounce of drama. The moon exploding is covered in the first 5 minutes and then it goes into "bad Michael Crichton" mode where every minor character gets an uninteresting biography and every piece of science gets explained in excruciating detail. Hard science is fine, but it needs to be interesting and you shouldn't stop the story every other page to explain how morse code works in space or the best way to wipe your ass in space.
Part of the problem is that I have a hard time listening to full length audiobooks. They nearly always seem to drag. [Reply]
I've been listening to all of Craig Alanson's books, listening to the latest Maverick's book right now. R.C. Bray is the perfect narrator for the series.
Also, if you like Alanson's Expeditionary Force Series, you might try the three books in the Ascension series. It's fantasy, not sci-fi, but I particularly liked the audiobooks. [Reply]
Other than his WoT work I haven't read any of his stuff. I put Warbreaker on hold at my library yesterday so this will be my first foray into his original material. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Indian Chief:
Other than his WoT work I haven't read any of his stuff. I put Warbreaker on hold at my library yesterday so this will be my first foray into his original material.
He definitely has a style that you'll either love or hate. He doesn't paint a scene like some do, but the plots generally move quickly. Lots of magic, but very unique in that they all have a logic of sorts behind them. And he's known for the "Sanderlanche" toward the end of books where the pace accelerates rapidly and doesn't let up for a long stretch.
Warbreaker is solid and has some tie-ins with the Stormlight Archive that are interesting. I also recommend Mistborn for people getting into his style, though it's borderline young adult. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
He definitely has a style that you'll either love or hate. He doesn't paint a scene like some do, but the plots generally move quickly. Lots of magic, but very unique in that they all have a logic of sorts behind them. And he's known for the "Sanderlanche" toward the end of books where the pace accelerates rapidly and doesn't let up for a long stretch.
Warbreaker is solid and has some tie-ins with the Stormlight Archive that are interesting. I also recommend Mistborn for people getting into his style, though it's borderline young adult.
While I really enjoyed the first Mistborn book, the two after that weren't nearly as good, IMHO. The time skip Mistborn books where they basically skip to the steam age are great though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
He definitely has a style that you'll either love or hate. He doesn't paint a scene like some do, but the plots generally move quickly. Lots of magic, but very unique in that they all have a logic of sorts behind them. And he's known for the "Sanderlanche" toward the end of books where the pace accelerates rapidly and doesn't let up for a long stretch.
Warbreaker is solid and has some tie-ins with the Stormlight Archive that are interesting. I also recommend Mistborn for people getting into his style, though it's borderline young adult.
I also think he does natural dialogue well between characters and does a decent job with relationships. He usually does the required legwork to make character development feel earned. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
For any Brandon Sanderson fans out there, this is simultaneously sad, hilarious, and fascinating.
This was an epic slow roll/troll....He just kept pulling books out and slapping them on the table. Starlight Archive is only at five books out of ten...but I am feel much more confident that it will get finished before A Song of Ice and Fire. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy:
This was an epic slow roll/troll....He just kept pulling books out and slapping them on the table. Starlight Archive is only at five books out of ten...but I am feel much more confident that it will get finished before A Song of Ice and Fire.
Oh definitely. Dude can write and so amazingly prolific. Does any other writer today pump out as much volume while remaining high quality as him? [Reply]
