Sci-fi book recommendations

[rosco rathbone]

Stainless Steel Rat is satire, parasitic off the body of classic SF.

 

[Sean]

Stainless Steel Rat is satire, parasitic off the body of classic SF.

Funny, though.

 

[medjay]

hrm Octavia Butler is who I came in here to recommend.

Butler is great but so much of a downer. I read Parable of the Sower over five years ago and I still can't bring myself to read the sequel because I'm afraid it'll be even more depressing.

I bought the collected Patternist series last year and got through three of them before I had to take a break and read something cheerful for a change.

 

[rosco rathbone]

Funny, though.

I know I'm in a minority, but that whole genre gets on my nerves.

 

[Sean]

I know I'm in a minority, but that whole genre gets on my nerves.

You didn't like the Rat books? I loved them to bits. When Harrison decides to get heavy is when he bores me.

 

[rosco rathbone]

You didn't like the Rat books? I loved them to bits. When Harrison decides to get heavy is when he bores me.

I liked them as a kid, but I was reading them as straight sci fi then. The main one I remember was a knockoff of "Starship Troopers" and Joe Haldeman did the same thing, same anti-war spirit, much better in "The Forever War" without the...I don' t know what you call it. The Douglas-Adamsness.

 

[Sean]

I liked them as a kid, but I was reading them as straight sci fi then. The main one I remember was a knockoff of "Starship Troopers" and Joe Haldeman did the same thing, same anti-war spirit, much better in "The Forever War" without the...I don' t know what you call it. The Douglas-Adamsness.

Ah, his later ones aren't so good. If you read the early ones as caper movies, they work really well.

 

[Guest]

The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison

I preferred the Bill the Galactic Hero series.

 

[medjay]

Kinda space opera-ish without being too space opera ish-more military sci-fi.

Bio of a Space Tyrant is my personal favorite space opera. Even with all the military stuff.

I'd like to find something similar to Star Wars but not a part of the Star Wars universe.

 

[Sean]

Bio of a Space Tyrant is my personal favorite space opera. Even with all the military stuff.

I'd like to find something similar to Star Wars but not a part of the Star Wars universe.

Piers Anthony? I haven't read that in years. It wasn't so much space opera as US politics.

 

[medjay]

Piers Anthony? I haven't read that in years. It wasn't so much space opera as US politics.

Yeah, but it had a lot of sex and violence to appease the kiddies.

 

[SpeX125]

I preferred the Bill the Galactic Hero series.

I liked those,too. The Stainless Steel Rat,didn't grab me.
I'm pretty sure I still have those somewhere. I'm gonna have to dig them out,and re-read them as well.

 

[Weird Harold]

After all that I'm feeling rather overwhelmed and depressed. Something more lighthearted would be quite refreshing right now.

If you're looking for something lighthearted, check out Robert Asprin's Military SF and Fantasy series, Phule's Company and the Myth Adventures series

If you want something a bit more substantial (and downright educational) look into the 1633/Ring of Fire series/multiverse by Eric Flint.

(The book 1634: The Baltic War comes with a Baen Free Library CD Rom containing everything up to mid-2007 in several formats. The CD is free to copy and distribute as long as you don't charge for copies.

FWIW, everything on that CD is good reading for science fiction fans.)

Eric Flint, David Weber, and David Drake are all science fiction authors worth reading nearly anything with one of their names on it, but Eric Flint has the lighter touch and better sense of humor. They do tend to military SF or military Fantasy, with a lot of alternate history/time travel elements.

 

[rosco rathbone]

Keith Laumer had some good shit.

Larry Niven, of course.

 

[medjay]

A quick recommendation of my own:

The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. Nobody ever mentions this guy but these books are classic.

 

[Weird Harold]

Bio of a Space Tyrant is my personal favorite space opera. Even with all the military stuff.

I'd like to find something similar to Star Wars but not a part of the Star Wars universe.

Check out the Honor Harrington series by David Weber -- first book is On Baslisk Station, most recent is At All Costs (Like The Baltic War it was released with a Baen Free Library CD-ROM with the entire series and other Baen books in digital format(s).)

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

Have you ever read Spider Robinson? Awesome writer. My personal fave is Mindkiller...but he also has a really good sci-fi/fantasy series out: the Callahan books. Another good writer is Richard Grant. His book Through the Heart was awesome. Hmm also like Isaac Asimov. Just read some of his collected robot stories in Robot Dreams.

 

[HB1965]

Stainless Steel Rat is satire, parasitic off the body of classic SF.

So was Hitchhicher's. Both were exceedingly funny.

 

[ksmybuttons]

I love space opera. What a great escape, especially if there's good science in it...

If you like the star wars universe, the Liaden Universe of Sharon Lee and Stan Miller is great! Here's the Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaden_universe

7 books. Easy, light, read.

 

[Weird Harold]

Keith Laumer had some good shit.

Larry Niven, of course.

The Retief series by Laumer is timeless, classic anti-bureaucracy satire. Almost the perfect example of "more lighthearted."

Larry Niven is a brilliant collaborator -- primarily with Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- but I've always found his solo work to be somewaht lacking.

Another light-hearted space opera is the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMasters Bujold. "Like Star Wars" at times, but mostly just good fun.

Elizabeth Moon' Herris Serano/ Familias Regnant (Starts with Hunting Party) is generally space opera-ish, a bit slapstick in spots and seriously political for a volume or two, but overall an entertaining read.

 

[LostBaby]

I'm in the mood to do some sci-fi reading but I don't know what to pick up.

I'm not looking for anything too heady or philosophical; fun space-opera will do. I'm not really into the cyberpunk stuff. Golden Age is cool but I'd prefer something a little more contemporary (I read enough Heinlein when I was a kid).

I'm kind of out of the sci-fi loop these days, I don't know what's new or hot. Help a brother out.

For light, fun, and a bit old fashion Sci fi, try the juvenile section of the local library. Some of that stuff is a scream and very entertaining. The 1950's and 60's writers are the best. Other stuff that I have enjoyed, but may not fit with your desires are: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon, and the Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis.

 

[NewEnglandGirl]

Butler is great but so much of a downer. I read Parable of the Sower over five years ago and I still can't bring myself to read the sequel because I'm afraid it'll be even more depressing.

I bought the collected Patternist series last year and got through three of them before I had to take a break and read something cheerful for a change.

I love Butler, downer or not. The sequel did not grip me the way Parable did.
Parable gave me nightmares. One of the best books I have ever read. So believable.
I put it the same category as Handmaids Tale.

 

[HB1965]

For light, fun, and a bit old fashion Sci fi, try the juvenile section of the local library. Some of that stuff is a scream and very entertaining. The 1950's and 60's writers are the best. Other stuff that I have enjoyed, but may not fit with your desires are: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon, and the Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis.

The Perlandra Trilogy was good. The character of Ransome was based on Lewis' friend Tolkien

 

[jhenry922]

Most of the stuff by Larry Niven is worth reading. Esp: Tales of Known Space, Ringworld/Ringworld Engineers, N - Space, Playgrounds of the Mind

 

[LostBaby]

The Perlandra Trilogy was good. The character of Ransome was based on Lewis' friend Tolkien

I loved the "linguistics" spin! And of course I have read Tolkien and love him!