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.
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.
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.
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
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.
The Myth series by Robert Asprin
Hey Bevis better get one of the captain.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
ACK! Screwed by the UBB code! I’ve lost my virginity!
Hm, okay. I’ve been trying to read stuff other than fantasy lately, but it really is the most fun. <g>
~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.