Science Fiction

Author
Discussion

chunkymonkey71

Original Poster:

13,015 posts

197 months

Monday 5th November 2012
quotequote all
I'm looking for something new to read. Really liked "Communion" by Whitley Streiber and "Contact" by Carl Sagan.

Can anyone recommend something similar to these?

arfur

3,871 posts

213 months

Monday 5th November 2012
quotequote all
Evan Currie can be a good read, as can Elizabeth Moon.

My Kindle list is over 100 books from the Kindle store now, mainly Sci-Fi/High Tech.

plasticpig

12,932 posts

224 months

Monday 5th November 2012
quotequote all
Encounter With Tiber by Buzz Aldrin & John Barnes. Very good read and goes into quite a bit of detail on the engineering required for long range space missions from someone who actually knows his stuff.


chunkymonkey71

Original Poster:

13,015 posts

197 months

Tuesday 6th November 2012
quotequote all
plasticpig said:
Encounter With Tiber by Buzz Aldrin & John Barnes. Very good read and goes into quite a bit of detail on the engineering required for long range space missions from someone who actually knows his stuff.

Bought it today on Amazon! Looking forward to a good read.

nick heppinstall

8,054 posts

279 months

Tuesday 6th November 2012
quotequote all
Fade Out by patrick Tilley

Eric Mc

121,779 posts

264 months

Wednesday 7th November 2012
quotequote all
I'm still a fan of classic writers such as Arthur C Clarke.

I find Stephen Baxter's work quite close to Clarke in some ways although he has a generally pessismistic outlook about things.
He's a good old fashioned "nuts and bolts" style of SF writer.

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Wednesday 7th November 2012
quotequote all
Not familiar with the two mentioned so can't help in that respect.
Like EricMc though, I still have time for Arthur C Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, etc. - I even fondly remember L Ron Hubbard (yikes) - not read any in a a while though.

nick heppinstall

8,054 posts

279 months

Wednesday 7th November 2012
quotequote all
chunkymonkey71 said:
I'm looking for something new to read. Really liked "Communion" by Whitley Streiber and "Contact" by Carl Sagan.

Can anyone recommend something similar to these?
Fade Out is very much in the vein of Contact.

chunkymonkey71

Original Poster:

13,015 posts

197 months

Saturday 10th November 2012
quotequote all
chunkymonkey71 said:
plasticpig said:
Encounter With Tiber by Buzz Aldrin & John Barnes. Very good read and goes into quite a bit of detail on the engineering required for long range space missions from someone who actually knows his stuff.

Bought it today on Amazon! Looking forward to a good read.
Copy came today and I was about to read it when I noticed that ITS BEEN SIGNED BY BUZZ ALDRIN!!!

judas

5,963 posts

258 months

Saturday 10th November 2012
quotequote all
A few more to look at:

Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C Clarke
Eon - Greg Bear
Engines of God - Jack McDevitt


chunkymonkey71

Original Poster:

13,015 posts

197 months

Saturday 10th November 2012
quotequote all
I really want to read Encounter with Tiber now, but if its a genuine Buzz Aldrin signature then I'm not daring to damage it.

Just trying to find out how to get the signature verified.


cerbfan

1,159 posts

226 months

Saturday 10th November 2012
quotequote all
Personally love anything by Peter Hamilton, cannot go wrong with the Nightsdawn Trilogy or the Commonwealth Saga followed by the Void Trilogy. Probably the ultimate in Space Opera.

Halmyre

11,148 posts

138 months

Monday 12th November 2012
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
I'm still a fan of classic writers such as Arthur C Clarke.

I find Stephen Baxter's work quite close to Clarke in some ways although he has a generally pessismistic outlook about things.
He's a good old fashioned "nuts and bolts" style of SF writer.
That's the impression I get about Baxter as well - he's never going to write advertising slogans for Orange. Strange then that he's collaborated with Terry Pratchett on a novel.

plasticpig

12,932 posts

224 months

Monday 12th November 2012
quotequote all
chunkymonkey71 said:
Copy came today and I was about to read it when I noticed that ITS BEEN SIGNED BY BUZZ ALDRIN!!!
Good find! It's doesn't make it particularly valuable though unless it's a hardback first edition. AbeBooks list signed hard back editions starting at £20.
Always nice to have a signed copy though.



Mannginger

9,032 posts

256 months

Wednesday 14th November 2012
quotequote all
If you've not read The Culture series by Iain M Banks then stop what you're doing now, order them online and enjoy a simply superb Sci-fi series by an incredible author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#Novels


Leithen

10,800 posts

266 months

Wednesday 14th November 2012
quotequote all
Mannginger said:
If you've not read The Culture series by Iain M Banks then stop what you're doing now, order them online and enjoy a simply superb Sci-fi series by an incredible author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#Novels
+1

tertius

6,838 posts

229 months

Wednesday 14th November 2012
quotequote all
Leithen said:
Mannginger said:
If you've not read The Culture series by Iain M Banks then stop what you're doing now, order them online and enjoy a simply superb Sci-fi series by an incredible author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#Novels
+1
They are a decent read but every last one has a deus ex machina style conclusion which I find rather tiresome.

Brigand

2,544 posts

168 months

Thursday 15th November 2012
quotequote all
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is a good book, as is it's sequel Forever Free.

The Forever War is a great book that takes into account time dilation when it comes to long-range space travel, which makes for some interesting battles. Cruisers travelling at almost the speed of light trying to attack each other, where you spend weeks waiting for a missile to catch up to the enemy ship and hit; or spending several months out battling on a planet only to return home to find ten years have passed on Earth.

The sequel Forever Free is a continuation of the original story, but isn't quite as good. There is a third novel by the author called Forever Peace which seems to take place in the same universe as the other two, but is a very different story, interesting but not as gripping as the first novel.

tertius

6,838 posts

229 months

Thursday 15th November 2012
quotequote all
Brigand said:
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is a good book, as is it's sequel Forever Free.
Big plus one for The Forever War, very good indeed. Didn't find the sequels anywhere near as good.

Brigand

2,544 posts

168 months

Thursday 15th November 2012
quotequote all
tertius said:
Big plus one for The Forever War, very good indeed. Didn't find the sequels anywhere near as good.
It's being made into a movie by Ridley Scott apparently. I'd like to think it would stick close to the book but we know it probably wont, and after Prometheus I've lost faith in Scott. We can hope though!