SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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Leviathan Wakes is the first thing I thought of. Not too 'hard', good story but definitely SF. It gets a bit gruesome but as you read a bit of horror you should be ok.
One of my favorite forays into science fiction has always been the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov, another is The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, actually just about anything by those two authors would be a good way to get your feet wet
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might also be a nice and easy start. It's a fun story and Douglas Adams has a hilarious writing style. Maybe it's not your sort of thing since it doesn't have any horror in it ... but it's science fiction and nice and I guess everyone should at least read the first book. :')
More suggestions: Wool and anything by Iain M Banks
Look up Hell's gate by David Weber & Linda Evans. It's a book where two empires that travel to and conquer alternate Earth's meet and battle. One empire uses magic and the other empire uses science.I would also recommend Peter F Hamilton's Void trilogy where a fantasy story takes place inside a SF novel. I think you can read these without having read the first 2 books in the Commonwealth Universe, Pandora's Star & Judas Unchained, though I think they should be read as well.
Bradbury and Asimov are a great way to start. Bradbury, in particular, doesn't leap straight into hard sci-fi.
Nokomis.FL wrote: "I would also recommend Peter F Hamilton's Void trilogy where a fantasy story takes place inside a SF novel..."I'd actually recommend against that. Not that the trilogy is bad, it's not (Peter F. Hamilton is one of my favorite authors), but it's far too complex, and I really feel it is best read after Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained).
They set the historic scene for the Void trilogy. And do much of the world building.
All of these, despite the fantasy world stuff in the trilogy, are also pretty hardcore SF. Very complex world, the politics are quite involved and the world building is extremely deep.
Jumping into this world as a first go at SF could be pretty daunting.
No, if I were to recommend Hamilton, I'd probably go more for Fallen Dragon, which is a stand alone.
Or you could go totally leftfield and dip into something like Kurt Vonnegut. The Sirens of Titan comes to mind. Cool ideas, but a lot of it set in more or less real-world Earth, plus some dry Vonnegut humor, Martian invasions, made up religion, and a strange natural phenomenon: chrono-synclastic infundibulum (I have no comment about it, I just like saying/typing the phrase!)
OR...pretty much anything by John Scalzi.He's got some wonderfully funny work (grinningly funny, not laugh out loud funny).
Hi I'm Maci. I'm usually romance when I'm reading and leave scifi and fantasy to watching. But since I read more than I watch most times I'm indulging in my passion for the latter genre. Any suggestions? Oh I'm 18 btw so YA books are mostly desire but isn't the limit.
Cheers everyone. You've given me lots to think about.
@ Michael: I check it out it sound interesting. I'm going to give it a shot. Thanks.
So Carl, you're looking for something light and/or fun? Nothing to heady?
Sparrowlicious wrote: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might also be a nice and easy start. It's a fun story and Douglas Adams has a hilarious writing style. Maybe it's not your sort of thing since it doe..."
Be careful with this one. You'll either love it or hate it. Barely anyone is in between. My hubby loved it and kept recommending that I read it. He even bought the book for me. I read five chapters and couldn't push myself to read further. If you like silly to the point of sometimes being plain ridiculous, go for it. After all, It's humor. However if you don't stay away.
I'd strongly advise you read the sample first.
Any of the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold would work well. It's a long series, but each book is written so you can jump in with no prior knowledge. I actually started with Captain Vorpatril's Alliance and fell in love with the series.
G.G. wrote: "Sparrowlicious wrote: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy..."Be careful with this one. You'll either love it or hate it. Barely anyone is in between..."
Or better yet, listen to the original radio shows and/or watch the '80s TV series--because these were originally radio plays.
If I had read the books before seeing/hearing it, I would have disliked it as well. It was only after knowing the works that reading them became pleasurable to me.
Micah wrote: "G.G. wrote: "Sparrowlicious wrote: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy..."Be careful with this one. You'll either love it or hate it. Barely anyone is in between..."
Or better yet, listen to t..."
i never knew that, will have to check this out.
Yes Nokomis probably something light. Not sure I'm ready for some hard science.
Carl wrote: "Yes Nokomis probably something light. Not sure I'm ready for some hard science." For something silly, try Year Zero by Rob Reid. It makes fun of music piracy with aliens being the thieves.
For something nostalgic but fun try Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's loaded with 1980s references.
For something good but easy to read, try The Martian by Andy Weir, soon to be a movie.
For something a bit more serious, try Misspent Youth by Peter F Hamilton. It's the prequel to the Commonwealth books I mentioned previously but not as hard a read.
Old Man's War by Scalzi - perfect story, fun, entertaining, great characters, did I say fun, good plot....perfect place to start
I just started reading Blades of Winter and it's a ton of fun. It pretty much had me from the moment she unscrewed her kneecaps to oil her mods. The Practice Effect was something I read that was just incredibly creative and fun. It stands out as one of the most entertaining books I've read.
Nokomis.FL wrote: "For something nostalgic but fun try Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's loaded with 1980s references."
Actually, you can also enjoy this if you're not overly nostalgic. I liked the book - but I also like the Angry Videogame Nerd (at least when he's actually talking about games and not pulling some weird scenes with props). The book has looots of explanations about really everything so even if you weren't a teen in the 80s you'll still understand what's going on. (I'm 25, so ... obviously wasn't a teen in the 80s.)
Carl wrote: "Yes Nokomis probably something light. Not sure I'm ready for some hard science."I will second a couple books here.
The Martian is definitely hard science fiction (the author had actual NASA scientists give him tips when he put the rough draft online) but it's not difficult to follow, and the story is very straight-forward. It's mostly one guy trying to survive on Mars. After the complexity of Malazan, that should be refreshing.
Old Man's War by Scalzi is an easy-to-follow space opera. It's a lot of fun. If you end up liking it, there are four more books in the series, but you don't need to read them all. Get in on the ground floor before Syfy ruins it with their adaptation.
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is a classic for a reason. It's a fast read that just happens to be as good as its reputation. It's more serious in tone, but it doesn't weigh you down.
Protector by Larry Niven is terrific fun. It also has a limited cast of characters, but spans the galaxy and eons.
Jennifer Government is an interesting book of the near future where people are essentially "adopted" by the corporations they work for once everything has been privatized. So if you work for Honda, your name becomes Carl Honda. It's not deep but it is interesting and action-y.
Maci wrote: "Hi I'm Maci. I'm usually romance when I'm reading and leave scifi and fantasy to watching. But since I read more than I watch most times I'm indulging in my passion for the latter genre. Any sugges..."I'd recommend
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. It's called science fiction but it's really a Fantasy. If you like it, I think there are about 20 more books in the series, but the first three are the best in my opinion. Dragonflight, Dragonquest and The White Dragon.
Peeps by Scott Westerfeld is YA and an interesting twist on vampires.You might also like
After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. It's got a little romance with the daughter of superheroes as the main character.
Maci wrote: "Hi I'm Maci. I'm usually romance when I'm reading and leave scifi and fantasy to watching. But since I read more than I watch most times I'm indulging in my passion for the latter genre. Any sugges..."@
Maci YA sci-fi is cool
Try Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, or S Is For Space by Ray Bradbury and R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury, those last two were the first science fiction books I ever read. They're both collections of short stories
Man I've got so many books I like the sound of here. It's going to be a struggle which one to pick hehe :)
I always think short stories is a good start to science fiction :) There's a lot of really great ones out there, and they are usually a pretty light start, while leaving you craving for more. The Birthday of the World and Other Stories for example is a great, fairly light short story collection. It puts a lot of focus on how people live on other worlds. One of my favorites.
I, Robot is another one of my favorites. It's a classic for a reason! And if you find out you like Asimov you have a lot and lot of books ahead of you to explore :)
Anything by Bradbury is good, for short story collections, since they'll generally cover both sf and fantasy. Then there's The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula Le Guin if you can find a copy. It's one of my favorites.
Speaking of Asimov, I second the recommendation for his short stories. Also, the original FOUNDATION trilogy. The original three. For alternative history, a subgenre of SF & F, Philip K Dick's THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, Harry Turtledove's THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH (as a standalone it's fine), and Vonda McIntyre's THE SUN AND MOON (verges more into fantasy).
Walter Miller Jr, CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ
Frank Herbert, DUNE (stop there IMHO)
Arthur C Clarke, SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH, CHILDHOOD'S END (he also has a lot of good short stories)
Octavia Butler, but don't start with KINDRED. I started with LILITH'S BROOD (a trilogy), but SEED TO HARVEST (a tetrology w/the first two the best) is another good choice. She did some interesting things with vampires in FLEDGELING. She's also got a slim volume of short stories. ("Bloodchild" was the first thing I ever read by her.)
For comedic SF/F, there's Terry Pratchett. I started with GUARDS! GUARDS!
You now have a reading l list that will last you a year. :)
I just started my first "Space Opera" with Leviathan Wakes, I recommend you start with that one. Not to hard SciFi and story just sucks you right in.
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I am just starting the the last Malazan book after reading books 1 - 9 in a row and feel like I need to read something completely different afterwards. I think I may find it dificult to start another fantasy series and need to Un-Malazan myself.
I'm usually a pure fantasy guy with a little bit of horror reading on the side but I want to start reading some SciFi but have no idea on where to start. I don't want to pick up something too extreme and ruin my first foray into SciFi. So where is a good place to start?