Best books that are in (more or less) equal parts Sci-Fi and Fantasy

[Paolo]

Sci-Fi and Fantasy are genres that are closely associated with each other, yet still distinct from each other. A lot of times there will be a mix of both.

What are the best books you can recommend that you would say are in equal parts Sci-Fi and Fantasy?

[Aidan]

The first series that pops to mind is C.S. Friedman Coldfire Trilogy, beginning with Black Sun Rising. It deals with colonists on an alien planet that restricts the advancement of technology, forcing the colonists to live in a society that mirrors what we usually consider a fantasy world, complete with magic.

Very, very good.

[Trine]

Elizabeth Bear has written a sci-fi trilogy (Dust, Chill and Grail) where she uses various fantasy tropes combined with sci-fi subjects such as generation ships, AIs and nano-tech.

[Phil]

The Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony is literally half science fiction and half fantasy as the main character keeps flipping between a future world where he is a slave and a fantasy world where he is a wizard.

[Joanna Chaplin]

The Steerswoman

The series starts out feeling more fantasyish and gets more scifi as it goes.

[David Sven]

Peter F Hamilton's Void Trilogy features a fantasy world within a Scifi world.

My current read Eisenhorn I would classify as a mix of scifi and fantasy

[Dharmakirti]

Aidan wrote: "The first series that pops to mind is C.S. FriedmanC.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy, beginning with Black Sun RisingBlack Sun Rising. It deals with colonists on an ali..."

Great series.

[Sky]

Reminds me of one of my favorite adventure games of all time, The Longest Journey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long...

[Valentin]

Don't know if that counts as a book, but "Ra" has a pretty interesting combination of magic and technology: http://qntm/ra

[Valentin]

(Sorry, Link broken, try http://qntm.org/ra )

[[deleted user]]

The Tad Williams OTHERLAND series is technically sci-fi, but has a lot of fantasy trappings. And it is awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/City-Golden-Sha...

[Sage]

The Acts of Caine series by Matthew Woodring Stover is really brilliant. A futuristic Earth society sends "actors" to a fantasy realm where their exploits are watched via virtual reality.

[Paolo]

What about Lord of Light? Has anyone here read that book; and, how well does it fit into the criteria of the thread?

Thanks for all the replies so far!

[Joe Informatico]

Sharon Shinn's Samaria series, starting with Archangel.

Michael Moorcock's Hawkmoon stories. The main story arc is usually collected as The History of the Runestaff.

Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman have done this a couple of times. E.g., The Darksword Trilogy, but this isn't evident until well into the story. The Starshield series is more blatant at mixing SF and fantasy: depending on the printing the first volume is titled either The Mantle of Kendis-Dai or Starshield: Sentinels.

[[deleted user]]

The Kameron Hurley Omnibus: The Complete Bel Dame Apocrypha Series seemed difficult for me to pigeon hole neatly into one category or another. There are aliens and spacecraft and I guess that world is populated by humans (from earth), but those elements are actually not very central to the story. There is a lot of magic involved and it just reads more like fantasy than sci-fi to me.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

The Milkweed Triptych by Ian Tregillis
That starts with Bitter Seeds, which we read for Sword and Laser, is probably the best example I can think of.

[terpkristin]

Gene Wolfe's Sword and Citadel and the other books in his Solar Cyle definitely mix both.

[Darren]

Stephen King's Dark Tower series. (Wizard and Glass is my favourite, there..) +1 for Acts of Caine, or at least the first one, Heroes Die.

[Scott]

Paolo wrote: "What about Lord of Light? Has anyone here read that book; and, how well does it fit into the criteria of the thread?

Thanks for all the replies so far!"

I would say it fits. And it's a fantastic read regardless...

[Scott]

Almost any of the series by Jack Chalker would fit, especially the Soul Rider series, starting with Spirits of Flux and Anchor

[Trike]

Dragonriders of Pern, for sure. It's classified as SF, but the dragons do patently impossible things, which is Fantasy.

The Apocalypse DoorThe Apocalypse Door by James D. Macdonald is one where I found it impossible to decide if it's SF or F. Is the big bad a demon or an alien? Impossible for me to say, given the clues in the book.

Almost every superhero novel or comic, and there are plenty of good ones to choose from.

[AndPeggy]

Prentice Adept series as mentioned, and also Saga (graphic novel) which deals with warring parties, one of which is tech-based and the other sorcery-based.

[Mark]

The Shadowrun RPG is cyberpunk with magic; there are a lot of game novels set in that universe. They are game novels, but the few I read were decent reads.

[Kevin]

The Saga #1 comic book series. Great story that reads as a space opera but a lot of things are magic based or just plain weird.