EPT[Books]Looking for some good sci-fi - Page 5
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T0MORR0W
United States101 Posts
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oldgregg
New Zealand1176 Posts
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sam!zdat
United States5559 Posts
On June 18 2012 09:46 oldgregg wrote: A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick. Great read +1 Also: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Ubik The Man in the High Castle Dr Bloodmoney | ||
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oldgregg
New Zealand1176 Posts
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sc14s
United States5052 Posts
On June 18 2012 08:21 Celadan wrote: thats fantasy btw, NOT sci-fi learn the difference. Good books though, but I think they are a bit overrated. ![[image loading]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uEqxUFfsfwA/ScEQRDpbCPI/AAAAAAAABDE/N_2kdWLa-Ds/s400/wrath_of_the_lemming_men.jpg) tada, A pretty fun sci-fi book :=) funny you should mention that as if you want to be literal fantasy is actually contained within the genre of science fiction.. just sayin  currently i haven't read any recent sci-fi , other than the novel blindsight, that has impressed me at all. Personally i would recommend reading some of the "classics" (at least by my standard) which includes: The foundation trilogy by asimov, Ender's game (the first book and the parallel series enders shadow + sequels), Dune (the first 3 books). I also highly recommend reading fantasy as well.. :D if you are interested i have an old fantasy thread that happens to have a few recommended sci-fi books in posts later on. http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=210337 | ||
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NukeTheBunnys
United States1004 Posts
![[image loading]](http://img1.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/s/4/s4qoaxxg7bwpoqxp.jpg) Its a interstellar colonization story full that where the main sources of conflict come from fighting to live on a new alien planet, the interpersonal conflicts arising in high stress situations, political intrigue and eventually + Show Spoiler + ![[image loading]](http://assets.diylol.com/hfs/aa0/890/3c4/resized/ancient-aliens-invisible-something-meme-generator-aliens-979d73.jpg) I promise its done well and is actually still mostly about politicsbest of all, its hard science fiction, the only hand waving that occurs here is the use of theoretical technology that we dont have yet (but have thought up) | ||
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DarkInfinity
121 Posts
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Manit0u
Poland17421 Posts
On June 18 2012 09:47 sam!zdat wrote: +1 Also: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Ubik The Man in the High Castle Dr Bloodmoney Well, you can simply recommend all of Dick's works. Anyone who's into sci-fi should read them. Just like Artuhr C. Clarke's, Stanislaw Lem's, Isaac Asimov's, H. G. Wells' and Strugatsky brothers' stuff. Then you've just scratched the tip of the iceberg as you can go deeper and deeper and you'll still just be scratching the top layers of good sci-fi when you discover that you won't have enough time in your lifetime to read everything you'd like  If I were to recommend just a few things for now I'd go with: ![[image loading]](http://merlin.pl/Hyperion_Dan-Simmons,images_big,27,978-83-7480-074-7.jpg) Hyperion by Dan Simmons ![[image loading]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WsnisDzY8ZY/TYwGSiJYdLI/AAAAAAAAB0A/CzDX8N9Cvzw/s1600/genesis5.jpg) Genesis by Bernard Beckett ![[image loading]](http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n52/n264374.jpg) Anathem by Neal Stephenson There's just too much to name just a couple Come visit my house, I have full library of good sci-fi books, no more place to keep new ones and my wife is constantly shouting at me for bringing more and more books into the house... Edit: And before you ask where you can get Hyperion with this awesome cover art, the answer is Poland. We're now getting all of Dick's works with Siudmak's artwork for covers (absolutely on top of my "must have" stuff right now). ![[image loading]](http://polish-art.info/siudmak/siudmak_5.jpg) <3 Siudmak | ||
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sam!zdat
United States5559 Posts
On June 18 2012 09:52 sc14s wrote: funny you should mention that as if you want to be literal fantasy is actually contained within the genre of science fiction.. just sayin As somebody who studies sf professionally, I think the entire debate over genre is pretty much pointless. You are never going to get anywhere with this. Most things that are just "fantasy" are not really worth reading, however, with a few notable exceptions (Tolkien, Martin) (edit: and the things that are good are just literature, who cares what the genre is) @oldgregg please pm me if you want more Dick recommendations after you read those, I know quite a bit about him  Well, you can simply recommend all of Dick's works. If you had read all of his works, you would not say this  | ||
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sc14s
United States5052 Posts
On June 18 2012 10:00 sam!zdat wrote: As somebody who studies sf professionally, I think the entire debate over genre is pretty much pointless. You are never going to get anywhere with this. Most things that are just "fantasy" are not really worth reading, however, with a few notable exceptions (Tolkien, Martin) @oldgregg please pm me if you want more Dick recommendations after you read those, I know quite a bit about him If you had read all of his works, you would not say this lol really you think i was actually trying to get anywhere with that? I just like to push silly sci-fi purists buttons. Also there are more than a couple of other "good" fantasy authors silly you should say martin as he is sort of overrated at this point with the TV show making him exessively popular, hardly the best fantasy author and if you really think he is.. damn you really haven't had enough exposure <.< | ||
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sam!zdat
United States5559 Posts
edit: also, can we talk about how the HBO series is like 5x too fast paced? seriously wtf | ||
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FinalForm
United States450 Posts
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Manit0u
Poland17421 Posts
On June 18 2012 10:00 sam!zdat wrote: As somebody who studies sf professionally, I think the entire debate over genre is pretty much pointless. You are never going to get anywhere with this. Most things that are just "fantasy" are not really worth reading, however, with a few notable exceptions (Tolkien, Martin) (edit: and the things that are good are just literature, who cares what the genre is) @oldgregg please pm me if you want more Dick recommendations after you read those, I know quite a bit about him If you had read all of his works, you would not say this I never said all of them were totally awesome or great. It's good to know more though (like with Herbert, have I not read later Dune books I wouldn't know that one author can write great things along with some pretty mediocre stuff) | ||
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Garaman
United States556 Posts
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sam!zdat
United States5559 Posts
I would not wish The Cosmic Puppets, for example, on my worst enemy. edit: this coming from a guy who's read it twice edit: also for example Voices from the Street is hilariously bad | ||
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sc14s
United States5052 Posts
On June 18 2012 10:05 sam!zdat wrote: What would you recommend. I'll admit I've read very little "fantasy" since like 8th grade, but I am a Martin hipster so don't go talking HBO to me! hmm good intro would be Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss or Robert Jordan. That would be my personal introductory books , but really its more dependant on the reader.. cerebral, epic, dark, fast paced, slow paced ect.. there are all diff styles sorta depends on what you want. My personal style of books is mostly high fantasy or dark fantasy (or both!) I posted a link on my previous post that you quoted that has a good listing of stuff, it was just edited after you quoted it. | ||
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sc14s
United States5052 Posts
On June 18 2012 10:07 Manit0u wrote: I never said all of them were totally awesome or great. It's good to know more though (like with Herbert, have I not read later Dune books I wouldn't know that one author can write great things along with some pretty mediocre stuff) I usually just recommend the first 3 of his dune books.. after that it pretty much falls off a cliff for me. | ||
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sam!zdat
United States5559 Posts
I've never heard of those other two. Game of Thrones, though, is a fascinating ideological text. It's the wish fulfillment of postmodern society. So interesting. Martin probably has no clue what he's doing (though he certainly knows how to construct a plot) | ||
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Umpteen
United Kingdom1570 Posts
On June 18 2012 03:17 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Major Bump. Has anyone read this series by Peter Hamilton, I am currently reading another one of his books "Pandora's Star" and saw this series, 3 books, on the shelf. Is it any good the Night Dawn Series? The problem with the Night's Dawn series is the same as with Hamilton's other books: he seems wedded to Deus Ex Machina. It's a shame because I found them utterly absorbing and imaginative, but the ending put me off ever reading anything of his ever again. For context, personal favourites include: The 'Ender' series, by Orson Scott Card It's sci-fi, but the 'sci' takes a back seat to the characters and the story. Iain M Banks 'Excession' was the first of his books I read, and I was hooked. Really crisp, imaginative, funny in the right ways and keeps you guessing. David Gerrold If you could judge a book by its cover or its title, 'The War Against the Chtorr' and its sequels ought to be the absolute pits. Instead it is by some margin the most intriguing, challenging, thought-provoking, occasionally disturbing series I've ever read - and he's still not done with it. This would be my number one pick. | ||
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sc14s
United States5052 Posts
On June 18 2012 10:13 sam!zdat wrote: I read the first nine jordan books when I was a kid, looking back on it I'm not sure what possessed me to finish the series (as it was at the time) I've never heard of those other two. Game of Thrones, though, is a fascinating ideological text. It's the wish fulfillment of postmodern society. So interesting. Martin probably has no clue what he's doing (though he certainly knows how to construct a plot) It feels to me like you are pretty much the opposite of me when it comes to reading. My reading style gets me completely engrossed in the characters i hardly even think about the philosophy of things in the book usually while i am reading it or even after i have finished it.. i read just to enjoy the reading xD I guess i am a bit of an escapist irl , thats the only reason i play video games too | ||
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