Recommended Reading

[Sibbo]

Dune. It might just be the greatest sci-fi book of all time.

Aw, man... no offense but... jeezes effing christ Dune is such a load of boring never ending sneezy piece of noise.

I read the first half because i thought "so many people like this book, it must start being awesome in a couple of pages."

The last half I read because I was already so far in it but God damn i hated reading that piece of excretion.

no offence.

Dune is good but a bit hard to follow at times and the ones done by his son can at times be frustating in the continuity of the series. But i hardly think you can call it "excretion". It was well written, the plot is deep and unpredictable.
Hitchikers(sci-fi/satire), Mathew Reilly books for mindless action (w00t), Tom Sharpe novels(satire).

maybe some of the tolkien paradoiys( the sellamillion etc.

 

[nightfish]

If you want to broaden your horisons i highly suggest Fyodor Dovstoevskies "The Brothers Karamazov". Probably the best novel ever written.

good book although i prefered crime and punishment

 

[Mursam]

The Kite Runner
Life of Pi
Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome Series (if you like a good read about ancient rome)

 

[Quistnix]

Jasper Fforde.

The guy has an amazing way with words, and is full of great, quirky ideas that somehow manage to become a good, coherent story.

So far he's written one main series (The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten and First among Sequels) and a spin-off series (The Big over Easy, The Fourth Bear.) The main series can be described as police-drama-satire-scifi, but that wouldn't do it justice. The spin-offs are more Noir/detective mixed with fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Something Rotten is the weirdest of the bunch, and also my favorite.


I also like Anthony Horrowitz. He's written a bunch of great twisted children's books, and William S. - a great thriller for grown-ups who're still in touch with their inner child.

 

[Frybird]

If you can relate to "hard sci-fi", the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons is a must-read.

These are two books, "Hyperion" and "the Fall of Hyperion", and they tell of an epic, slightly mystic journey, but are mostly focused on the characters and the world/universe around them instead of the Quest itself.

In fact, "Hyperion" is just the prologue of the main arc, and is more an collection of very individual short stories that describe the life of the main character.
For example: One of them reads like sort of an bizarre noir-detective story, one focuses on an relationship in the "space age", where people live and age differently from each other due to the long space-travels and another one is a rather heartbreaking story of a father and his daughter wich is very slowly dying in a surprisingly arkward and gruesome way.

But that said, the "Main Quest" has a great pay-off too. (also, there are two sequel books that are more of an adventure story, if you prefer that)

As i said, a must read for any Sci-Fi Fan.

 

[Cameoflage]

The Young Wizards and Cat Wizards series (same universe, different characters) by Diane Duane; I would describe it as "science fantasy", seeing as how the general feel is very similar to sci-fi -- for instance, there's aliens, and the characters spend a lot of time off-planet in general and on the Moon in particular -- but it's set in the present day and makes use of a highly scientific brand of wizardry (don't call it magic) rather than technology. The plot itself is about rooting out and quashing the Lone Power's (a quasi-deific entity who's basically Lucifer, although It and Its siblings are much more pan-religious than specifically Christian) attempts to screw over life as we know it, although that's a massive oversimplification.

There's eight books in the former series, and two in the latter; the Young Wizards portion is ostensibly a children's series, but the writing isn't dumbed-down or juvenile at all, it's just told from the perspective of characters ranging from ten to fifteen years old.

 

[Voodoo Child]

Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, starting with Northern Lights (The Golden Compass for you yanks.)

For those who have seen the movie and hated it, I can't blame you, and reading the books now won't make up for it. The first one is the most geared towards kids, but not as badly as the movie. The second and third books, however, are a lot more deep and complex.

However, do not read them if atheism is not your thing. The movie had all direct references to God and Religion removed, but the main 'evil' fought against in the books is the oppression of people by different religions, throughout our universe and parallel worlds.

Also from Philip Pullman is the Sally Lockhart series, if historical works are more your thing than fantasy. I've read Ruby in the Smoke, and I'm just starting Shadow in the North, and it's shaping up to be a really great series.

 

[Meliz]

Dune. It might just be the greatest sci-fi book of all time.

(basically me saying Dune is a piece of dung.)

no offence.

Dune is good but a bit hard to follow at times and the ones done by his son can at times be frustating in the continuity of the series. But i hardly think you can call it "excretion". It was well written, the plot is deep and unpredictable.
Hitchikers(sci-fi/satire), Mathew Reilly books for mindless action (w00t), Tom Sharpe novels(satire).

maybe some of the tolkien paradoiys( the sellamillion etc.

Thanks for not bashing me on my views but I honestly cannot swallow Dune. I found nothing about it well written, i found a lot that was needlessly long and repetitive. I found nothing deep, i found a couple things that were barely up to my ankles. I found nothing unpredictable, I saw pretty much everything as it was being set up.

Maybe we read a different Dune.

I read a book long ago, called "Reverend". I borrowed it from a friend's father and it was a pretty great read. A reverend that cleans out the streets of his city (I believe it was called Quarter City). Call it a Sin City on viagra.

 

[ingsoc]

You can try any of H.G. Wells seminal sci-fi novels. They are great, especially considering that Wells had nothing to draw upon when writing the. War of the Worlds is especially good. I have already seen 1984, Animal Farm and Fahrenheits 451 listed here. As you can tell by my screen name, ingsoc, I am an Orwell fan. These books are classics and are a must read.

Other books worth checking out are Atwoods' The Handmaid's Tale, virtually anything by Phillip K. Dick including Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (my personal favorite, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner), Ubik, and A Scanner Darkly.

Other notable classics include the late great Arthur C. Clarke's 2001, 2010, 2061 and 3001. The later two novels are not as good as the two previous but do provide a lot of information that fills in a lot of the gaps and answers a lot of previously unanswered questions. Max Brooks' (son of Mel) Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z are worthy reads.

Yeah, my taste in books is about as twisted as my taste in music or movies.

 

[Sibbo]

Dune. It might just be the greatest sci-fi book of all time.

(basically me saying Dune is a piece of dung.)

no offence.

Dune is good but a bit hard to follow at times and the ones done by his son can at times be frustating in the continuity of the series. But i hardly think you can call it "excretion". It was well written, the plot is deep and unpredictable.
Hitchikers(sci-fi/satire), Mathew Reilly books for mindless action (w00t), Tom Sharpe novels(satire).

maybe some of the tolkien paradoiys( the sellamillion etc.

Thanks for not bashing me on my views but I honestly cannot swallow Dune. I found nothing about it well written, i found a lot that was needlessly long and repetitive. I found nothing deep, i found a couple things that were barely up to my ankles. I found nothing unpredictable, I saw pretty much everything as it was being set up.

Maybe we read a different Dune.

I read a book long ago, called "Reverend". I borrowed it from a friend's father and it was a pretty great read. A reverend that cleans out the streets of his city (I believe it was called Quarter City). Call it a Sin City on viagra.

oh well everything is a subjective experience, but if you only read Dune then you havent experienced the series to its fullest, again only my opinion.

Far side of the world isn't a bad book (master and commander was based off it).
Also tomorrow when the war began series is good. Its a war action drama thing based in NSW Australia, a group of teenagers find themselves all of a sudden behind enemy lines and start a gurilla war.

 

[Nakross201]

Check out the Axis Of Time trilogy, its really good sci-fi/military/time travel fiction.
The books are:
World War 2.1 Weapons of Choice
World War 2.2 Designated Targets
World War 2.3 Final Impact.

The story is action-packed,moves at a fast pace, and the characters are great.

 

[ImperialPyromancer]

If you want good sci-fi then I recomend reading Ian M Banks' novels. Just make sure you start with his early works and read your way up.

Very good point! Also, Ian Banks (same author with M. omitted to indicate that it's not sci-fi)has written some intersting obscure stuff i.e Wasp Factory, The Bridge and various others. Good for reading, but heavy.

 

[Chavyneebslod]

If you liked S.T.A.L.K.E.R there is a Sci-fi novel on which it is based. Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. There is Ringworld by Larry Niven (inspiration for the Halo series), Up the line and Recalled to life, both by Robert Silverberg. Up the LIne is one of the best time travel novels I have ever read (The idea of time travel becoming a choice for holidaying). Recalled to life is about a machine that can bring back the dead.

 

[moosehq]

I know they've both been mentioned already but I really can't stress enough how good the work of Iain M. Banks and Dan Simmons is. The Hyperion Cantos by Simmons, in particular the first book, is an absolute work of art, it's an incredible mix of scholarship, history and very high minded sci-fi. By Banks Feersum Endjinn and Excession are my favourites although his sci-fi is consistently brilliant, his straight fiction ain't too shabby either. If you're looking for something of a more fantastical bent you can't really go wrong with Stephen Donaldson, his Thomas Covenant series while fairly traditional in terms of it's fantasy setting really offers something different.

I can't believe he hasn't been mentioned already, particularly for his geeky connotations, but you should definitely take a look at Neal Stephenson, he writes what could best be described as historical fiction. He takes a historical setting (WWII and the modern day for Cryptonomicon, Europe during the enlightenment for Quiksilver) and weaves these incredible stories around them. His history and setting is impeccable and he seems to have a talent for illuminating the real motivations and characters behind some of the most important events in history. If you like the discworld novels Robert Rankin is definitely worth taking a look at, he is best described as a mix between Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, although a lot of his humour may not translate well outside of the UK.

 

[Quistnix]

If you like the discworld novels Robert Rankin is definitely worth taking a look at, he is best described as a mix between Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, although a lot of his humour may not translate well outside of the UK.

That's how I'd describe Jasper Fforde, but he's a bit more serious in his weirdness most of the time. I guess I'll have to check some of Rankin's books someday.

 

[Anarchemitis]

The Mercer Report: The Book
Starring Rick Mercer.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

I'll second The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. He also had the premise turned into a short-lived TV show of the same name on Sci-Fi channel in the US. Not as good as the series, though.

yes the series was good, if they changed a camera angle or two you could have seen the theatre that had evil dead the musical or in the other way and would have seen the sky dome, err the rogers centre

that series was awesome and a hit and the dvd sold well but not in the demographic they wanted, they decided to renew it 3 months after the contract was up, way to go sc-fi network

 

[werepossum]

Thanks for not bashing me on my views but I honestly cannot swallow Dune. I found nothing about it well written, i found a lot that was needlessly long and repetitive. I found nothing deep, i found a couple things that were barely up to my ankles. I found nothing unpredictable, I saw pretty much everything as it was being set up.

Maybe we read a different Dune.

I read the series (what there was of it at the time) about 30 years ago, got the boxed set for Christmas. Thought it was okay at the time, but several years ago tried to re-read it and hated it. (That is the series where everyone has plugs installed into their hearts, right? Lamest. Gimmick. Ever.)

I liked A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin initially, but he killed off pretty much every character I liked in the first book. Bringing them back as rotting zombie corpses just doesn't cut it for me. I've read them all, but they were never as good after the first one.

If anyone likes mystery, try P.J. Tracey's books. P.J. Tracey is a mother/daughter team and they do better characters and dialogue than any mystery writer I've read.

 

[Mnemophage]

Here's a guy you've never heard of: Sean Stewart. He writes the most gorgeous prose I've ever seen. His novel The Night Watch features a scene of such tragic potency it almost made me throw up. To start with, I'd point you to his newest, Perfect Circle, which is about an aging punk, his disastrous family, and his mysterious and cumbersome ability to see and communicate with the dead.

 

[Syrio Forel]

Probably the best series of books I've read is A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. It takes place in a "low magic" medieval fantasy world ravaged by a war of succession. There's a huge cast of incredibly well-imagined characters that aren't just good or evil but many shades of gray. An absolute must-read. They are, in order:

A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords
A Feast for Crows

He's working on the fifth, A Dance with Dragons, right now, and I'm going crazy waiting for it!

And I'll agree with other posters about Neil Gaiman and the Flight comics.

I can second that. George RR. Martin is an amazing writer. And I can think of no series better than A Song of Ice and Fire.