Request for reccommendations

[Glyn]

Good afternoon everyone.

I'm interested in finding some intelligent sci fi along the lines of John Scalzi's Interdependency series (The Collapsing Empire etc) I also really like the darkness of something like The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. A bit of a mix I know but does anyone have any recommendations?

Many thanks

Glyn

[Dan]

Hi Glyn,

I think it would be helpful to providing you recommendations if you gave a bit more information on what you're looking for.

Scalzi has some great works out there, and you can't go wrong going through his catalog. I found Fuzzy Nation and Red Shirts by Scalzi, John to be great fun (and still have is great writing style.

If you're looking for a laugh, you can't go wrong with Starship Grifters -- I laughed from start to finish.

If you want something a bit more serious Hyperion is the start of a great series.

Or if you're more into battles and action, right now I'm ploughing through a great series called Galaxy's Edge, which is a really awesome military sci fi. Check out book 1 Legionnaire

And of course, if you haven't read some classics, it might be time to pick up the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or another classic.

Hopefully that helps. If not, maybe give us some details on what you're looking for.

[Trike]

I can’t see what you’ve read because your profile is set to private, but a really great epic series that combines the snark of Scalzi with the cynicism of Donaldson is Jack L. Chalker’s Saga of the Well World. The first one, Midnight at the Well of Souls, acts as a standalone, but I think it really gets good in the four sequels. (Which are really two big books divided in two.)

If you like that, I’d also recommend two of Chalker’s other series, the River of Dancing Gods and the Four Lords of the Diamond. The former is Fantasy while the latter is SF.

[Ronnie]

For sci-fi shenanigans with some real laugh out loud moments, I recommend the Space Captain Smith series by Toby Frost.

[Priscilla]

You could always try The League series by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

[Glyn]

Thanks Dan, that's a perfectly fair question - the truth is I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for hence the request for recommendations.

I really like the world-building and characters of the Scalzi and Donaldson books. They were both serious and, in places, hard hitting - especially Thomas Covenant.

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll definitely check them out. I have made my profile open to Goodreads members so that might give you a better idea about what i've read (It's all over the place), I'm fairly new to this so the list is still being compiled.

Glyn

[Glyn]

Trike wrote: "I can’t see what you’ve read because your profile is set to private, but a really great epic series that combines the snark of Scalzi with the cynicism of Donaldson is Jack L. Chalker’s Saga of the..."

Thanks Trike. I've now opened my profile up to Goodreads members so you can see what I've read before. It's an eclectic mix of loads of different genres. I'm asking the question because apart from the Scalzi, Donaldson and Banks stuff (which I think that I still have to add to the list - I'm quite new to this site so I'm still populating the list) I've struggled to find any sci fi that has gripped me. Thank you for the recommendation I will definitely check it out.

Glyn

[Glyn]

Ronnie wrote: "For sci-fi shenanigans with some real laugh out loud moments, I recommend the Space Captain Smith series by Toby Frost."

Thanks Ronnie, there's always got to be room for some laughs! I'll check this out.

Glyn

[Glyn]

Priscilla wrote: "You could always try The League series by Sherrilyn Kenyon."

Thanks Priscilla, I'll take a look at this.

Glyn

[Betsy]

Glyn, I also liked The Collapsing Empire and I liked Old Man's War but wasn't able to get into the next in that series. I also liked Thomas Covenant, though it's been many years since I read that series and I'm less into fantasy now than I was 20 years ago.

If you like complex world building, you might try the Honorverse books. It's a very complex and I think realistic world. It's actually several interrelated series, but you should start with On Basilisk Station. Some people get put off by the amount of back story and detailed tech and politics, but I think it adds to the genuineness of the story.

Anyway, one of the things I would recommend you do is check out other people on Goodreads who like some of the same books you like and check out their shelves for other books you might like. You could do a compare books but that won't be very useful until you've added more books to your shelves.

[Ronnie]

I keep recommending the "USS Merrimack" series by R.M. Meluch.

Old fashioned "good guys vs. bad guys" space opera that reads like Star Trek meets Battlestar Galactica with a dash of Starship Troopers and a *huge* chunk of I, Claudius.

[Glyn]

Betsy wrote: "Glyn, I also liked The Collapsing Empire and I liked Old Man's War but wasn't able to get into the next in that series. I also liked Thomas Covenant, though it's been m..."

Hi Betsy, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my message. I too am not drawn to fantasy anymore really, but there's something about that Thomas Covenant series (especially the first series) that draws me back, I guess it's because there are times when I sympathise with and times when I hate the central character.

Thanks for the recommendation, I will definitely look into it.

Glyn

[Glyn]

Ronnie wrote: "I keep recommending the "USS Merrimack" series by R.M. Meluch.

Old fashioned "good guys vs. bad guys" space opera that reads like Star Trek meets Battlestar Galactica with a dash ..."

Thanks for the recommendation Ronnie, I will have a look at that one.

Glyn