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France1916 Posts
From Wikipedia: Perry Rhodan is the name of science fiction series published since 1961 in Germany, as well as the name of the main character. Perry Rhodan is a space opera, dealing with several themes of science fiction. Having sold over one billion copies (in pulp booklet format) worldwide, it is the most successful science fiction book series ever written. The series and its spin-offs have captured a substantial fraction of the original German science fiction output and exert influence on many German writers in the field. The series is told in an arc storyline structure. An arc — called a "cycle" — would have anywhere from 25 to 100 issues devoted to it, similar subsequent cycles are referred to as a "grand-cycle".
A friend told me about it, I haven't read it yet but it seems really cool.
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On August 09 2010 13:42 heishe wrote: what can you suggest to someone like me who loves the Mass Effect universe? I just like the setting, with humanity relatively fresh in space travel and not on their own (found alien artifacts and reverse engineered them), plus I like very "semi-realistic" settings - I mean with stuff that is completely made up but sounds very reasonable - Mass Effect is mostly realistic, at least what their faster-than-light travel is based on sounds reasonable (basically an element with zero mass, that can bend spacetime if it's exposed to electric current, its supposed to be dark energy), they also explain why the different alien races look the way they do etc. (for example the krogan with their thick skin because of the high radiation exposure on their planet) ? It should not make an astronomy-buff sigh every second line because something is totally inaccurate.
Erm... with the exception of the ME books of course.
You might be interested in books written by Peter F. Hamilton. His books tend to go into 1000++ pages but his crafted worlds are very detailed and enjoyable to digest.
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On August 09 2010 21:35 NEWater wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2010 13:42 heishe wrote: what can you suggest to someone like me who loves the Mass Effect universe? I just like the setting, with humanity relatively fresh in space travel and not on their own (found alien artifacts and reverse engineered them), plus I like very "semi-realistic" settings - I mean with stuff that is completely made up but sounds very reasonable - Mass Effect is mostly realistic, at least what their faster-than-light travel is based on sounds reasonable (basically an element with zero mass, that can bend spacetime if it's exposed to electric current, its supposed to be dark energy), they also explain why the different alien races look the way they do etc. (for example the krogan with their thick skin because of the high radiation exposure on their planet) ? It should not make an astronomy-buff sigh every second line because something is totally inaccurate.
Erm... with the exception of the ME books of course. You might be interested in books written by Peter F. Hamilton. His books tend to go into 1000++ pages but his crafted worlds are very detailed and enjoyable to digest.
I was just about to post the exact same thing!
Hamilton rocks, but don't touch the Void Trilogy unless you want to get caught up in bad, cheesy quasi-fantasy.
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On August 09 2010 21:36 snotboogie wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2010 21:35 NEWater wrote:On August 09 2010 13:42 heishe wrote: what can you suggest to someone like me who loves the Mass Effect universe? I just like the setting, with humanity relatively fresh in space travel and not on their own (found alien artifacts and reverse engineered them), plus I like very "semi-realistic" settings - I mean with stuff that is completely made up but sounds very reasonable - Mass Effect is mostly realistic, at least what their faster-than-light travel is based on sounds reasonable (basically an element with zero mass, that can bend spacetime if it's exposed to electric current, its supposed to be dark energy), they also explain why the different alien races look the way they do etc. (for example the krogan with their thick skin because of the high radiation exposure on their planet) ? It should not make an astronomy-buff sigh every second line because something is totally inaccurate.
Erm... with the exception of the ME books of course. You might be interested in books written by Peter F. Hamilton. His books tend to go into 1000++ pages but his crafted worlds are very detailed and enjoyable to digest. I was just about to post the exact same thing! Hamilton rocks, but don't touch the Void Trilogy unless you want to get caught up in bad, cheesy quasi-fantasy.
Yeah, I never thought about confronting the question of eternal life until Hamilton raised it in his books, and it gets you thinking on whether the concept of eternal life is that great an idea after all.
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Either way, Joe Haldeman's books of Forever War and Forever Peace can't be recommended enough by me. The books are short, and concise, but Haldeman has this talent of squeezing so much detail and imaginative world-building into these books. His descriptive of combat and the physical and emotional aftermath is very well-qualified indeed, for Haldeman's a 'Nam vet and he's seen it all before. Even Robert Heinlein of Starship Troopers fame praised The Forever War as the best war novel he ever read, and that's some high praise indeed.
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On August 09 2010 18:06 Random() wrote:Am I the only one who thought that Ender's Game wasn't that good I would take Dune and Hyperion over it any day.
I thought it was decent, but nothing great. The 2nd book (Speaker for the Dead) was so bad, that it's one of the few books that I never actually finished.
Also, there are a few good books set in the Warhammer 40K universe. Most of it is utter trash, however, Dan Abnett is the exception to the rule. He is an amazing writer and his books are some of the most enjoyable and action-packed sci-fi I ever read. The Eisenhorn Trilogy and Gaunt's Ghost are worth a try if you can handle the inherent cheesyness of the 40K universe
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On August 09 2010 21:50 Lann555 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2010 18:06 Random() wrote:Am I the only one who thought that Ender's Game wasn't that good I would take Dune and Hyperion over it any day. I thought it was decent, but nothing great. The 2nd book (Speaker for the Dead) was so bad, that it's one of the few books that I never actually finished. Also, there are a few good books set in the Warhammer 40K universe. Most of it is utter trash, however, Dan Abnett is the exception to the rule. He is an amazing writer and his books are some of the most enjoyable and action-packed sci-fi I ever read. The Eisenhorn Trilogy and Gaunt's Ghost are worth a try if you can handle the inherent cheesyness of the 40K universe
The only fun W40K book I ever laid my hands on was The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer.
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Asimov is good.
Oh and Day of the Triffids.
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I'd suggest the short stories collection Zima Blue, from Alistair Reynolds. Scifi & seriously philosophic stuff, I loved it.
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I know I'm just echoing previous posters here, but I fix my seal of approval firmly on the Hyperion Cantos and Neuromancer. And Dune, obviously, but unless you're really crazy about it I would only bother with the first book.
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On August 09 2010 21:38 NEWater wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2010 21:36 snotboogie wrote:On August 09 2010 21:35 NEWater wrote:On August 09 2010 13:42 heishe wrote: what can you suggest to someone like me who loves the Mass Effect universe? I just like the setting, with humanity relatively fresh in space travel and not on their own (found alien artifacts and reverse engineered them), plus I like very "semi-realistic" settings - I mean with stuff that is completely made up but sounds very reasonable - Mass Effect is mostly realistic, at least what their faster-than-light travel is based on sounds reasonable (basically an element with zero mass, that can bend spacetime if it's exposed to electric current, its supposed to be dark energy), they also explain why the different alien races look the way they do etc. (for example the krogan with their thick skin because of the high radiation exposure on their planet) ? It should not make an astronomy-buff sigh every second line because something is totally inaccurate.
Erm... with the exception of the ME books of course. You might be interested in books written by Peter F. Hamilton. His books tend to go into 1000++ pages but his crafted worlds are very detailed and enjoyable to digest. I was just about to post the exact same thing! Hamilton rocks, but don't touch the Void Trilogy unless you want to get caught up in bad, cheesy quasi-fantasy. Yeah, I never thought about confronting the question of eternal life until Hamilton raised it in his books, and it gets you thinking on whether the concept of eternal life is that great an idea after all.
I've always felt eternal life, in this universe at least, would be the greatest torture one can endure (though obviously Hamilton's characters can still choose to off themselves when they wish).
But the bad fantasy I was referring to was the whole Edeard thing, the bits that are inside the Void... they fill up more than 1/2 of the books and they're utter tripe. Just complete boy-becomes-chosen-one crap that was old 10 years ago. I knew where it was going after reading its first damn chapter. Fantasy has moved on since then (thankfully), but Hamilton, being a mainly sci-fi author who wanted to experiment with fantasy in this series, didn't realize that the genre has evolved.
I mean sure, go ahead and write fantasy, but do it in a separate book/series so I don't have to read it... why write a whole trilogy that's half awesome sci-fi and half crap? (And, in so doing, ruin the awesome Commonwealth universe)
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"It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion, It is by the Juice of Saffo, that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning, It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion."
Seriously, read Dune. Best and most original sci-fi imo.
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On August 09 2010 22:42 snotboogie wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2010 21:38 NEWater wrote:On August 09 2010 21:36 snotboogie wrote:On August 09 2010 21:35 NEWater wrote:On August 09 2010 13:42 heishe wrote: what can you suggest to someone like me who loves the Mass Effect universe? I just like the setting, with humanity relatively fresh in space travel and not on their own (found alien artifacts and reverse engineered them), plus I like very "semi-realistic" settings - I mean with stuff that is completely made up but sounds very reasonable - Mass Effect is mostly realistic, at least what their faster-than-light travel is based on sounds reasonable (basically an element with zero mass, that can bend spacetime if it's exposed to electric current, its supposed to be dark energy), they also explain why the different alien races look the way they do etc. (for example the krogan with their thick skin because of the high radiation exposure on their planet) ? It should not make an astronomy-buff sigh every second line because something is totally inaccurate.
Erm... with the exception of the ME books of course. You might be interested in books written by Peter F. Hamilton. His books tend to go into 1000++ pages but his crafted worlds are very detailed and enjoyable to digest. I was just about to post the exact same thing! Hamilton rocks, but don't touch the Void Trilogy unless you want to get caught up in bad, cheesy quasi-fantasy. Yeah, I never thought about confronting the question of eternal life until Hamilton raised it in his books, and it gets you thinking on whether the concept of eternal life is that great an idea after all. I've always felt eternal life, in this universe at least, would be the greatest torture one can endure (though obviously Hamilton's characters can still choose to off themselves when they wish). But the bad fantasy I was referring to was the whole Edeard thing, the bits that are inside the Void... they fill up more than 1/2 of the books and they're utter tripe. Just complete boy-becomes-chosen-one crap that was old 10 years ago. I knew where it was going after reading its first damn chapter. Fantasy has moved on since then (thankfully), but Hamilton, being a mainly sci-fi author who wanted to experiment with fantasy in this series, didn't realize that the genre has evolved. I mean sure, go ahead and write fantasy, but do it in a separate book/series so I don't have to read it... why write a whole trilogy that's half awesome sci-fi and half crap? (And, in so doing, ruin the awesome Commonwealth universe)
I totally agree. I'm still going to read TEV though, since it looks like Edeard's story is probably done now.
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Can't seem to see someone mention Kevin J. Anderson - the saga seven suns. Just finished the first book in the series and I'm hooked. Also takes place in a setting where humans discover ftl and start discovering/clashing with alien civilizations
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On August 09 2010 17:38 Kolean.Tellan wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2010 15:16 Stratos wrote:Well you can't go wrong with Roger Zelazny. He's not precisely sci-fi, it's more of a combination of fantasy + sci-fi, but you won't be disappointed. Probably the most famous work is Lord of Light, it's not the easiest of reads however, but any of you shouldn't miss it. It takes place in a space colony far away, where a handful of people decide to pretend to be hindu gods, they develop special powers and try to guide the rest of the people (well actually they force them to use praying machines etc.) When I first heard about that idea I wasn't interested at all.. but how awesome can that turn out? Check these out: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_151xaYaZnMs/SL271ZxVVAI/AAAAAAAAAVE/5gQ0EJsND7I/s1600-h/LOL Montage (small).jpgAnyways whatever it is from Zelazny, you can't go wrong and I mean that. He's a witty writer that will never bore you like Tolkien. If you search the internets you can also find his series of Amber narrated by him alone which is one of the things that'll always have place in my mp3 player. only just reading one book from zelazny (children of ashes) and i have to agree i enjoyed his writing ALOT! thx for giving me a flaschback gonna check more from him out now Check out the amber series it's really exciting.
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dune snow crash Ender's game(never read anything else by Card unless you like long philosophy rants) Anything by Celia S. Friedman(best new science fiction author) Asimov is good Heinlein is good once or twice Did i mention dune? Dan Simmons is a weird mother fucker. Hyperion and the Troy series were good, the second hyperion just too weird. Armour by Steakley Forever War was the most horribly depressing book with the happiest ending. EDIT: seven suns was alright, a little boring. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester is awesome as well.
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/ Has a large amount of Space/military/action sci-fi on it. To be honest most of them are awfulbooks.com, but there's a helluva lot of them, and they are all free so you may find something to your liking.
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Just going to throw in my 2 cents and sum up a little of what i've seen in this thread.
Eisenhorn Trilogy-Dan Abnett, easily the BEST warhammer 40k series period. Gaunts Ghosts was too drawn out, Abnett is a master of action though and if thats what you like you can stick with him Dune Series-Frank Herbert, the first was by far the best unless you like to immerse yourself in a very confusing world... Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land and pretty much anything by Robert Heinlein. Same goes for Isaac Asimov but i enjoyed the short stories more than his epic series Rama Series-Arthur C. Clarke Cats Cradle-Kurt Vonnegut, it isn't 'strict' SF but its fucking good A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky-Vernor Vinge, both are amazing but fairly long Fahrenheit 451-Ray Bradbury, lots of other good stories both long and short I see tons of people posting books by Orson Scott Card and i enjoyed him immensely but the same caveat about the Dune series applies... David Brin and Larry Niven are both great writers but nothing specific pops into my head right now Ursula K. Le Guin is an insane writer, she wrote EarthSea among other things The Time Machine and War of the Worlds-H.G. Wells, obviously much older but still great Hitchhiker series-Douglas Adams, the funniest SF ever written and there is so much depth within the humor
thats all i can think about off the top of my head i will try to post more later SF is the shit and it can keep you interested much longer than any other genre because it never ends...and because the output of most SF authors is enough to open a small library, Did you know that Isaac Asimov wrote textbooks?
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My recommendation is Samuel R Delany.
I really enjoyed a collection of SF short stories of his, called "Aye, and Gomorrah". It has a very unique timeless feeling, like the SF element just provides a background for the storytelling rather than being the whole point. He is also very good at describing pretty fucked up stuff in an everyday kind of way.
I've also started reading his (I think) most wellknown novel, Dhalgren. It's a bit challenging though since it's not really supposed to make sense and it feels more like an experiment than a real story.
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Must read: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Robert Heinlein)
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My forum nickname also recommends Dune by Herbert to you.
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