Best sci-fi book you've ever read

[thewaever]

It's a long thread so I'm skipping bits. Sorry if this has been said before, but just about anything by Iain M Banks, especially Excession & Looking to Windward.

 

[deckpunk]

So it goes...

Kurt Vonnegut, not a lot of mentions so far. "Cats cradle, Slaughterhouse 5, Sirens of Titan, Timequake, galapogos". There is too many to choose from so just read everything. "Mother night" is not sci-fi but it is truly a great story.

Also George Orwell "1984" and Ray Bradbury "The Illustrated Man."

 

[Tanis]

Mine is probably I,Jedi

Probably the best 'stand alone' Star Wars book.

But, for me:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night%27s_Dawn_Trilogy


Amazing group of books, deep as anything you've probably read and just an amazing story.

 

[Gustof26]

Also George Orwell "1984" and Ray Bradbury "The Illustrated Man."

Wowozers, I almost forgot 1984. Since the date of the title has past I've kept forgetting that it's Science Fiction.

 

[4173]

Ender's Game. The best book I've ever read. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy come in second.

I'll have to half agree by putting Ender's Game at second and Ender's Shadow first. Both books and the series' that follow each are amazing, just wish Orson Scott Card wasn't such a twat :/

I like you.

I'd probably doing something like:


1. Ender's Shadow
2. Ender's Game
3. Starship Troopers
4. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
5. Stranger in a Strange Land
6. The Diamond Age
7. Neuromancer

Then we get into a jumble of Heinlein's time travel world building stuff (except the god awful abomination that is Number of the Beast), Asimov, more Douglas Adams, the Darth Bane books etc.

 

[Vrud]

Consider Her Ways by Frederick Philip Grove.

 

[CrazyJew]

The Speaker for the Dead. Preferred it to Ender's Game, somewhy.

 

[massaffect123]

I'm a big fan of the Ciaphas Cain series by Sandy Mitchell. Some good, dark humor in the 40k universe.

 

[Craorach]

The Gaunt's Ghosts series is probably my favourite, although I'm really enjoying the Horus Heresy series as well. I don't read much sci fi outside of that kind of book however.

 

[StarCecil]

I can't say best book I've ever read, but a few series really stick out to me:

Jack Campbell's The Lost Fleet series was really good with some pretty realistic depictions of ship-to-ship combat in space.

Dann Cragg and David Sherman's Starfist series about Marines in space - sort of a realistic version of future combat with ground pounders.

Ian Douglas' Heritage, Legacy and Inheritance trilogy; nine books dealing with a dynasty of the Marines across a few centuries, ranging from fighting the French-led UN on Mars, to thwarting aliens at home and abroad, to shooting a star at a black hole. Very hard sci-fi and can verge towards the depressing at points. Highly recommended.

 

[WaywardHaymaker]

Ender's Game. The best book I've ever read. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy come in second.

I'm glad that the first post is just so... right.

 

[Jingle Fett]

Ender's Game, without a doubt my favorite book of all time. Ender's Shadow was almost just as good too.

The Christopher pike books come in a real close second though, he's my favorite author (they're mainly horror but usually have sci-fi elements). Monster, The Grave, Starlight Crystal, all amazing books...

The Arthur C. Clarke stuff is really good too, Rendezvous with Rama is outstanding.

*Reading the comments I'm pleasantly surprised to see so many people picking Ender's Game

 

[Nouw]

Starship Troopers with it's hard military science fiction. It gives interesting new outlooks on philosophy and morals too. Coming second is 2001:A Space Odyssey. I had to read the kiddie version first as it was pretty damn difficult for me but the full one was a damn fine book.

EDIT:Gasp! How could I forget Fahrenheit 451? It's a pretty good book too. The first book I finished with a craze for months. It broke my lazy-cycle.

 

[w1ndscar]

I haven't really gotten to read alot although I wish I could get into it more, but Pendragon by D. J. MacHale was pretty amazing, I also enjoyed Hitch Hikers Guide To the Galaxy

 

[Zakariaz]

Definately a tie between Dune, and the Hitchikers guide to the galaxy.

Cannot decide between the two as they appeal to totally different aspects of my nerdiness.

 

[thatgeekbronnie]

I really loved Phillip K. Dick's "Man in the High Tower" it's the book that got me into alternate histories in fiction. And a close second would have to be the first book in The Wheel of Time series.

 

[Zorak the Mantis]

Mine is probably I,Jedi

This x1000 :3

 

[Estevao Levy Lima]

The Man in the High Castle / Foundation

 

[gamefreakbsp]

Halo: Fall of Reach. Love that book so much. It gives what follows in the Halo universe so much more meaning.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Mine is probably I,Jedi

Good one, not my favorite of Stackpole's writings though...

My all time favorite is Neuromancer by William Gibson. Best damn prophetic book evar. No, not 100% accurate but he nailed the internet long before its time.