# Another book post..sorry..Please could you list your favourite SciFi/Fantasy book **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2000, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484 "2000-04-21T16:06:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2000, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/81 "2000-04-25T09:15:00Z")
Derleth, You mean George Orwell, not Orson Welles. Even if you did mean Orson Welles, you misspelled his last name. Slow down and proofread your posts. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2000, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/82 "2000-04-25T14:28:00Z")
Ah, yes, more helpful, freindly commentary from the Great Wendell :eyeroll: I am glad someone finally mentioned _Farenheit 451_. It ought to be required reading in high school. For all of you mentioning Heinlein’s juvenile novels, may I suggest that you move up and read the really good stuff (not the silliness he wrote after 1962 with all the free-wheeling sex and such). _Puppet Masters_ is one of the most chilling novellas ever written; hopefully you haven’t seen the stupid movie they made of it. _Double Star_ also is pretty good, albeit there are others who have written the same idea before and after (e.g. _Man in the Iron Mask_). _Methuselah’s Children_ forces you to do some real thinking, often true of a good Heinlein read. And always read _Stranger in a Strange Land_ and remember as you read about _grokking_ and such that he wrote it in 1962, WELL ahead of the late-60’s peace and love movement. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2000, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/83 "2000-04-25T23:14:00Z")
Favorite SF book: _Staroamer’s Fate_ by Chuck Rothman Mostly because I have a telepathic link with the author, having known him his entire life. 🙂 More seriously, I’d consider these: _Dhalgren_ by Samuel Delany _Replay_ by Ken Grimwood _Titan_ by John Varley (the book that had the greatest influence on my life) _Bug Jack Barron_ by Norman Spinrad _This is the Way the World Ends_ by James Morrow _Parable of the Sower_ and _Parable of the Talents_ by Octavia Butler * * * “What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet. [www.sff.net/people/rothman](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman) ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2000, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/84 "2000-04-26T14:41:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by DSYoungEsq: > **For all of you mentioning Heinlein’s juvenile novels, may I suggest that you move up and read the really good stuff (not the silliness he wrote after 1962 with all the free-wheeling sex and such). _Puppet Masters_ is one of the most chilling novellas ever written; hopefully you haven’t seen the stupid movie they made of it. _Double Star_ also is pretty good, albeit there are others who have written the same idea before and after (e.g. _Man in the Iron Mask_). _Methuselah’s Children_ forces you to do some real thinking, often true of a good Heinlein read. And always read _Stranger in a Strange Land_ and remember as you read about _grokking_ and such that he wrote it in 1962, WELL ahead of the late-60’s peace and love movement.** Well, actually, I have read most of Heinlein’s novels (I’ve missed **Time Enough for Love** and some others of that era, and only gotten half-way through **The Number of the Beast** , but I’ve read most everything else). Hell, I’ve even published several of them. I like some of his '40s and '50s “adult” novels, notably **The Door Into Summer** and **Puppet Masters** , but I do think they are generally not as accomplished, serious, and important to the field as his “juveniles.” His early '60s work ( **Starship Troopers** – which was written as a juvenile – **Stranger in a Strange Land** and **The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress** ) are also major works, but, again, I think **Citizen of the Galaxy** or **Have Space Suit – Will Travel** are just about perfect Heinlein. * * * I’m your only friend I’m not your only friend But I’m a little glowing friend But really I’m not actually your friend But I am ---
**Author:** ![guitarmax\_99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@guitarmax\_99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guitarmax_99)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2000, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/85 "2000-04-26T19:59:00Z")
For me, Orson Scott Card Pretty much rocks. Especially his Ender series, but The Worthing Saga and The Alvin Maker series are very much worth reading. Card writes with a compassionate understanding of the human condition that is rare to the scifi genre Raymond Feist’s Riftwar Saga was fun, but if you really want a good read from Feist, check out Fairy Tale. Would Boys Life by Robert R. McGammon be considered fantasy? If not, it is still one of the best things I’ve ever read. Can’t leave without paying homage to the Lord Of The Rings too. ---
**Author:** ![horowitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@horowitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horowitz)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/86 "2000-04-26T20:18:00Z")
The Myth series by Robert Asprin * * * Hey Bevis better get one of the captain. ---
**Author:** ![Emustrangler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e480ec/32.png) [@Emustrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emustrangler)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/87 "2000-04-27T20:15:00Z")
The best recent sci-ft I’ve read is deffinatly the Mars series (Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars) by Kim Stanley Robinson. His science, his vision of the future and especially his characters are some of the most easily belivable I’ve encountered in Sci-Fi. While I’m posting, I’ll also offer a plug for Gibson’s Neuromancer and Stephenson’s Snow Crash. Both of these are Cyberpunk type novels which take advantage of scientific possibilities beyond the cliches of Starships and laser guns. They instead examine the world changed by trends like bio and computer technology and the growth of corperations and franchises into institutions more powerful the governments. ---
**Author:** ![Emustrangler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e480ec/32.png) [@Emustrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emustrangler)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2000, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/88 "2000-04-27T22:11:00Z")
The best recent sci-ft I’ve read is deffinatly the Mars series (Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars) by Kim Stanley Robinson. His science, his vision of the future and especially his characters are some of the most easily belivable I’ve encountered in Sci-Fi. While I’m posting, I’ll also offer a plug for Gibson’s Neuromancer and Stephenson’s Snow Crash. Both of these are Cyberpunk type novels which take advantage of scientific possibilities beyond the cliches of Starships and laser guns. They instead examine the world changed by trends like bio and computer technology and the growth of corperations and franchises into institutions more powerful the governments. ---
**Author:** ![fnord1966](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@fnord1966](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fnord1966)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/89 "2000-04-28T00:31:00Z")
armor by john steakley is sweet, fred Saberhagens Beserker series was amazing, dune is wonderfull the martian chrinicles as well, battlefiels eart isnt quite finished yet, i have about 100 pages to go, not bad considering its almost 1500 pages long, my personal favorite is the illuminatus trillogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. the fnords can hurt you if you dont see them. ---
**Author:** ![fnord1966](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@fnord1966](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fnord1966)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/90 "2000-04-28T00:38:00Z")
armor by john steakley is sweet, fred Saberhagens Beserker series was amazing, dune is wonderfull the martian chrinicles as well, battlefiels eart isnt quite finished yet, i have about 100 pages to go, not bad considering its almost 1500 pages long, my personal favorite is the illuminatus trillogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. oh yeah, the stainless steel rat Kicks Ass too. there was a young lady named bright whose speed was much faster that light; she departed one day in a relative way and returned the previous night. ---
**Author:** ![coosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@coosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coosa)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/91 "2000-04-28T06:44:00Z")
Hi, I tried to get in here last night to post this link but MPSIMS had escaped the asylum again and was somewhere in cyberspace peeking in people’s windows. Anyways, I’ve started a debate thread over in GD about what defines science fiction, what distinguishes good from bad, etc. to \*\*DSYoung{/b] and I could continue our conversation without interrupting the rest of you. If any of you are interested in voicing an opinion, here’s the link: [Fictional Debate](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001850.html) Yoohoo, **Anti Pro** , where are you? I’m slow, but I did get around to it! (Surprise, surprise - it’s actually a pretty hot thread!) * * * God is love. Love is blind. Ray Charles is blind. Therefore, Ray Charles is God. ---
**Author:** ![coosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@coosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coosa)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/92 "2000-04-28T06:46:00Z")
ACK! Screwed by the UBB code! I’ve lost my virginity! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484/93 "2000-04-28T07:16:00Z")
Hm, okay. I’ve been trying to read stuff other than fantasy lately, but it really is the most fun. \ ~WoT by Robert Jordan. I started reading it in 1994 when it wasn’t this long! The books have gotten steadily worse, but I’ve been reading them so long I feel committed to the series. The next one, _Winter’s Heart_ is due out in the winter. I’m hoping it returns the series to its former glory that got me so completely sucked six years ago. ~_Sword of Truth_ by Terry Goodkind. Very good, and people behave like actual adults! (As opposed to the characters in WoT.) Has some disturbing scenes of abuse, and right now it seems completely impossible that there will be a happy ending. Cannot wait for the next book. ~Anything by Robin Hobb. She is an extremely unconventional writer, and I’m dying for the third book in her whateveritscalled Magic Ship trilogy to come out. Her _Farseer’s Trilogy_ is very unusual. ~_A Game of Thrones_ by George R.R. Martin. Good writing, good plots, where bad things happen to good people. Can’t wait to ~_Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn_ by Tad Williams. I read somewhere that this is a response to LotR. I don’t really get it. I think I should reread LotR, I guess. I consider this to be an almost perfect fantasy series. ~Belgariad and Mallorean by David Eddings (I haven’t read the other two series). Kind of light, sometimes a little simplistic, but probably the funniest epic fantasy I have ever read. It’s also nice seeing the characters over such a long period of time. Fantasy Heroes DO grow up and have boring lives! This is just a selected list. I could go on and on and on. I won’t. I’ll just add: Tolkein, Feist, McKillop. Okay, going away now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-book-post-sorry-please-could-you-list-your-favourite-scifi-fantasy-book/16484.md?page=4)