Recommended a sci-fi book for a non sci-fi reader
Discussion
RogueTrooper said:
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
That, then the rest of the SF Masterworks series. A lot of the older ones are very approachable, being simpler human stories in recognisable futures.grumbledoak said:
RogueTrooper said:
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
That, then the rest of the SF Masterworks series. A lot of the older ones are very approachable, being simpler human stories in recognisable futures.Epic.. Loved it!
grumbledoak said:
RogueTrooper said:
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
That, then the rest of the SF Masterworks series. A lot of the older ones are very approachable, being simpler human stories in recognisable futures.
If you want to read Sci-Fi but dont have an interest in Science in particular, I recomend starting with military Sci-Fi.
Old Mans War by John Scalzi is a good place to start, after you finish that series (there are six books including one quite cringeworthy one), the Lazarus War series by Jamie Sawyer.
Old Mans War by John Scalzi is a good place to start, after you finish that series (there are six books including one quite cringeworthy one), the Lazarus War series by Jamie Sawyer.
This is a brilliant brilliant SF short story collection
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Aquila-Rift-Alasta...
Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds
It would be a fantastic entry to the genre, some of the stories are 20-30 pages, some are longer
Fab!
Like history, and sci-fi so advanced (quantum) it's like old fashioned magic?
Illum and Olympos by Dan Simmons.
they are both longish, but not silly tomes.
Terry Pratchett wrote two great sci-fi books in the 70s, Strata and Dark Side of the SUn, both way ahead of their time and very light reads.
Illum and Olympos by Dan Simmons.
they are both longish, but not silly tomes.
Terry Pratchett wrote two great sci-fi books in the 70s, Strata and Dark Side of the SUn, both way ahead of their time and very light reads.
A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - character driven story (the plot itself is extremely simple, and more of a background to the character's interactions), set in space but very light on the science. Two books set in the loose series so far. They're connected, but can be read independently.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - An AI formerly in control of a spaceship and hundreds of bodies ('ancillaries') is stranded in a single body. Quest to find out what happened and why. Again, very character driven, with some interesting concepts. First of a trilogy.
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey - 5 crew from an ice hauler find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy, in a stolen ship, fighting to save Earth. At the same time a cliché noir cop tries to solve the mystery of a missing rich girl. The series was recommended to me on the basis that the interactions of the crew has a similar feel to the characters in Firefly, in that they're more family than anything else. Also now a highly recommended TV series from Syfy, and shown on Netflix.
I'd also recommend anything by John Wyndham, HG Wells and Jules Verne for some classics.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - An AI formerly in control of a spaceship and hundreds of bodies ('ancillaries') is stranded in a single body. Quest to find out what happened and why. Again, very character driven, with some interesting concepts. First of a trilogy.
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey - 5 crew from an ice hauler find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy, in a stolen ship, fighting to save Earth. At the same time a cliché noir cop tries to solve the mystery of a missing rich girl. The series was recommended to me on the basis that the interactions of the crew has a similar feel to the characters in Firefly, in that they're more family than anything else. Also now a highly recommended TV series from Syfy, and shown on Netflix.
I'd also recommend anything by John Wyndham, HG Wells and Jules Verne for some classics.
TheFlyingBanana said:
If you are new to the genre it might be good to start with some of the classics - perhaps Isaac Asimov?
Try some of his anthologies of short stories - in fact try this short story - it is consistently one of his most popular (ten minute read, don't jump to the end!)
http://multivax.com/last_question.html
I'd then recommend contemporary British author Stephen Baxter who is both prolific and brilliant with an incredibly wide range and scope - from hard sci-fi to more "human" and historical stories.
Check out his catalogue on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stephen-Baxter/e/B000APWC...
You could even start by reading HG Wells classic, "The Time Machine", then read Baxter's briliant sequal, "The Time Ships" for a veyr nice intro into classic sci-fi that then turns into much more contemporary "big idea" science fiction.
I would also recommend Asimov short stories. It's what got me I to sci-fi.Try some of his anthologies of short stories - in fact try this short story - it is consistently one of his most popular (ten minute read, don't jump to the end!)
http://multivax.com/last_question.html
I'd then recommend contemporary British author Stephen Baxter who is both prolific and brilliant with an incredibly wide range and scope - from hard sci-fi to more "human" and historical stories.
Check out his catalogue on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stephen-Baxter/e/B000APWC...
You could even start by reading HG Wells classic, "The Time Machine", then read Baxter's briliant sequal, "The Time Ships" for a veyr nice intro into classic sci-fi that then turns into much more contemporary "big idea" science fiction.
Edited by TheFlyingBanana on Monday 30th October 15:04
LordGrover said:
Halb said:
The many many stories of GRR Martin, his stories in the 1,000 worlds universe are wonderful.
Isn't he the Game of Thrones johnny? Why does 'fantasy' forever get lumped in with sci-fi?
Is there a difference between fantasy and sci-fi? Do you feel GRR's sci-fi is less because he wrote a fantasy book? He wrote the Sandkings, which won a nebula and a hugo, he's a pretty big name in sci-fi.
Halb said:
Is there a difference between fantasy and sci-fi?
Yes,Fantasy deals with fantasy themes (elves, magic, swords and archers, typically themes associated with the past). Science fiction deals with more futuristic themes (space travel, other planets, lasers).
They're quite different genres, even amongst sci-fi there are distinct Genres. I.E. hard sci-fi, space opera, military sci-fi.
Just because some authors write both sci-fi and fantasy doesn't mean the two genres are the same. Iain M Banks (Culture novels) published his Sci-Fi novels as Iain M Banks but his fantasy novels were published as Iain Banks.
captain_cynic said:
Yes,
Fantasy deals with fantasy themes (elves, magic, swords and archers, typically themes associated with the past). Science fiction deals with more futuristic themes (space travel, other planets, lasers).
They're quite different genres, even amongst sci-fi there are distinct Genres. I.E. hard sci-fi, space opera, military sci-fi.
Just because some authors write both sci-fi and fantasy doesn't mean the two genres are the same. Iain M Banks (Culture novels) published his Sci-Fi novels as Iain M Banks but his fantasy novels were published as Iain Banks.
Most of those differences are superficial and in the head of the viewer. sci-fi can be in the past, fantasy can be in the future (can't recall the name of that famous fantasy work where dwarfs are deformed humans and metal robots exists alongside elves) THere's no tangible difference since a lot of what people would call sci-fi is a fantasy. That's one of the reasons I love Illium, it's classed as sci-fi but the tech goes so far that it might as well be called magic.Fantasy deals with fantasy themes (elves, magic, swords and archers, typically themes associated with the past). Science fiction deals with more futuristic themes (space travel, other planets, lasers).
They're quite different genres, even amongst sci-fi there are distinct Genres. I.E. hard sci-fi, space opera, military sci-fi.
Just because some authors write both sci-fi and fantasy doesn't mean the two genres are the same. Iain M Banks (Culture novels) published his Sci-Fi novels as Iain M Banks but his fantasy novels were published as Iain Banks.
SystemParanoia said:
Like the deterrence fleet 
I had to look that up, it looks interesting.http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/V...
THere's a theory that Game of Thrones is in a post apocalyptic world. That's interesting too.
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