# OK, I finished "Dune": now what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 6, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404 "2018-07-06T18:45:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/61 "2018-07-07T20:03:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > My personal opinion is that you’re better off introducing somebody to an author in a work that is self-contained. Any book in a series, even if it’s a stand-alone story, will refer to events that happened in other books. > > This is especially a factor with Brin who has left several large gaps in the Uplift setting that he’s never written about. For lightweight Brin, read _The Practice Effect_. Definitely not Hard SF. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/62 "2018-07-07T20:15:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > No love for Ray Bradbury here? > > I loved _The Illustrated Man_ and _The Martian Chronicles_, for starters. > > (I didn’t read the whole thread, but did a search for “Brad” and didn’t get any hits). I’m somewhat embarrassed I haven’t read more of his. I think I saw\* Something Wicked\* on the list, which I’ve read and like but might not be something I’d think of suggesting to someone requesting science fiction. I do need to read the ones you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/63 "2018-07-08T01:25:47Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m guessing this is the anthology in question: [The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of All Time](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Hall-Fame-Greatest/dp/0380007959/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530982711&sr=1-5&keywords=science+fiction+hall+of+fame+mass+market+paperback). > > It really is a good anthology, and one that several of us have recommended here on the SDMB before. I might even go so far as to recommend it as my “If you only read one science fiction book…” selection. The downside is that it’s fairly old: it was originally published in, I think, 1970, and all of its stories are from well before then, so it doesn’t show you what’s been going on in science fiction since then. There was also a Volume II (split into IIA and II B), which contained novellas/novelettes. I have both the I and the II. VERY good stories in those. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/64 "2018-07-08T02:27:53Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I’m somewhat embarrassed I haven’t read more of his. I think I saw\* Something Wicked\* on the list, which I’ve read and like but might not be something I’d think of suggesting to someone requesting science fiction. I do need to read the ones you mentioned. Bradbury isn’t the easiest author to read, but he’s one of the most lyrical science fiction authors ever. He is science fiction only in the least scientific way possible, more science fantasy–and he’s absolutely brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/65 "2018-07-08T12:21:37Z")
Bradbury is an excellent author, but I have a very difficult time reading him, just because he’s so damned depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/66 "2018-07-08T15:01:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Bradbury is an excellent author, but I have a very difficult time reading him, just because he’s so damned depressing. You run into that a lot of times with Joe Haldeman as well. Haldeman’s a brilliant writer. But in the majority of his work, his characters end up miserable. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/67 "2018-07-08T15:08:41Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The downside is that it’s fairly old: it was originally published in, I think, 1970, and all of its stories are from well before then, so it doesn’t show you what’s been going on in science fiction since then. 1. And the most recent story in the book is from 1963. But the stories in the book were selected by the members of the Science Fiction Writers of America. Their purpose was to have a showcase for the stories that were written before 1966. That was the year when the SFWA began giving out the Nebula awards. So in a sense, the annual Nebula award collections are the “sequel” to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/68 "2018-07-08T18:56:14Z")
Still very much appreciating all of these. For what it’s worth, I ended up buying “Ancillary Justice” and “The Forever War,” and I’m a little more than a third through the former so far. Thanks to this thread, I will be kept busy reading for a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/69 "2018-07-08T19:07:34Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Still very much appreciating all of these. For what it’s worth, I ended up buying “Ancillary Justice” and “The Forever War,” and I’m a little more than a third through the former so far. > > Thanks to this thread, I will be kept busy reading for a long, long time. May your reading take you to a galaxy far, far away! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/70 "2018-07-09T15:21:52Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > There was also a Volume II (split into IIA and II B), which contained novellas/novelettes. I have both the I and the II. VERY good stories in those. I agree that The Science Fiction Hall of Fame volumes I, IIA, and IIB are well worth getting and reading (I don’t recall any “stinkers”). But avoid Volumes III and IV. They tried to continue the series, but didn’t use the same criteria for choosing the stories in the last two volumes. (Even if they are Nebula award Winners) It shows. There are a lot of good stories, but others I’d avoid > **[The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 3: Arthur C. Clarke, George W. Proctor:...](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Hall-Fame-Vol/dp/0380793350)** > > The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 3 \[Arthur C. Clarke, George W. Proctor\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 3 > **[The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (Volume IV): Carr, Terry: 9780380897100:...](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Hall-Fame-IV/dp/0380897105)** > > The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (Volume IV) \[Carr, Terry\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (Volume IV) I also agree that the anthology **Adventures in Time and Space** is great, even if it’s all pre-1950. Several of the stories in it got turned into movies, or are closely related to movies (like Raymond F. Jones’ contribution, which bears close similarity to his “This Island Earth”) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/71 "2018-07-09T15:57:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I agree that The Science Fiction Hall of Fame volumes I, IIA, and IIB are well worth getting and reading (I don’t recall any “stinkers”). I was thinking specifically of “The Weapon Shops” and “Scanners Live in Vain”. Both of which were, no doubt, influential, but neither of which was very good. The former is just puerile wish-fulfillment fantasy, and the latter really tried hard to set up a complex and believable world, but failed horribly. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/72 "2018-07-09T16:24:05Z")
In addition to Joe Haldeman’s _The Forever War_, I’d recommend his _Worlds_ duology (if that’s a word), consisting of _Worlds_ and _Worlds Apart_. I keep coming back to these two, even more than _The Forever War_. Officially it’s a trilogy, but the first two (fairly short) books tell a single story, and the third (_Worlds Enough and Time_) is superfluous - and not particularly memorable either, IMHO. Haldeman’s short stories are also very good, and he’s got at least three compilations of them in book form. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/73 "2018-07-09T16:36:47Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Still very much appreciating all of these. For what it’s worth, I ended up buying “Ancillary Justice” and “The Forever War,” and I’m a little more than a third through the former so far. Awesome–enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/74 "2018-07-09T17:07:16Z")
“100 Science Fiction Novels Everyone Should Read.” #52 - _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court_ Huh? ===== I thought _World War Z_ was a cool read … kinda of a unique plot style, apparently nothing like the movie … I found it light and airy, a delight to ponder through, not really cerebral but not really empty either … ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/75 "2018-07-09T17:28:59Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > #52 - _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court_ > > Huh? Why not? if you use a broad enough definition of “science fiction.” It involves time travel and advanced technology (i.e. that of the Connecticut Yankee’s era, which is advanced in the time of King Arthur’s Court). ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/76 "2018-07-09T18:43:33Z")
Already mentioned, but _Book of the New Sun_ by Gene Wolfe and _Lord of Light_ by Roger Zelazny. Long out of print, but if you can find it the _Dune Encyclopedia_ is great. It’s a fictional encyclopedia written in the Dune universe. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/77 "2018-07-09T19:45:56Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > In addition to Joe Haldeman’s _The Forever War_, I’d recommend his _Worlds_ duology (if that’s a word), consisting of _Worlds_ and _Worlds Apart_. I keep coming back to these two, even more than _The Forever War_. > > Officially it’s a trilogy, but the first two (fairly short) books tell a single story, and the third (_Worlds Enough and Time_) is superfluous - and not particularly memorable either, IMHO. > > Haldeman’s short stories are also very good, and he’s got at least three compilations of them in book form. Yeah, those are good and get pretty dark. I liked the Marsbound trilogy as well, but then, he’s my favorite author. Did you ever read Mindbridge or All My Sins Remembered? I love them both, but I’d love an objective opinion. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/78 "2018-07-09T20:23:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I was thinking specifically of “The Weapon Shops” and “Scanners Live in Vain”. Both of which were, no doubt, influential, but neither of which was very good. The former is just puerile wish-fulfillment fantasy, and the latter really tried hard to set up a complex and believable world, but failed horribly. The original short story “The Weapon Shop” (which is itself derived from an earlier short story, “The Seesaw”) is not a bad story. If you’re very strongly anti-gun, the implicit message that guns keep you free might not be to your taste, but the other aspect of the story (the difference between the public face of a government, and the private workings of it) is quite worth reading. The novel that was derived from the story (along with “The Seesaw” and “The Weapon Shops of Isher”), as well as the “sequel” were much less worthy of praise. The attempt to smash all the concepts into one coherent whole was much less impressive, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/79 "2018-07-09T20:30:25Z")
> [@Mr.Bill](#): > > Jack McDevitt - Really anything he has written. The\*\*\* Priscilla Hutchins\*\*\* novels are great, as are the _ **Alex Benedict** _ Novels. His one-offs are also good. I heartily agree about both the _Hutchins_ and _Benedict_ series of books. _The Engines of God_ is one of the better sci-fi books I have ever read. [QUOTE=Little Nemo;21069251 Peter Hamilton: Like Brin, he’s written some huge series. So I’d recommend starting with a single novel like _Fallen Dragon_ or _Great North Road_. [/QUOTE] Another massive vote for Peter F Hamilton from me. His space opera is so damn engaging with it’s blend of hard sci fi, great character development, huge worlds/galaxies, super intriguing ideas about AI development and biological enhancements, etc. I cannot state enough how much I love this author. He’s that good, at least to me. The _Commonwealth Saga_ and the _Void_ trilogy are some of the best books I have ever read. Real mind candy, that. > [@JohnT](#): > > If I was introducing someone to Peter F Hamilton, I’d give them Pandora’s Star, the first in a series. Isn’t _Misspent Youth_ the first book in that series? I thought _Pandora’s Star_ was the second. Nevertheless, they are all excellent. I also happen to think that some of Ben Bova’s stuff is pretty good, especially the series that focuses on a more close to present technology stuff like the mining of asteroids, colonization of the Moon and near planets, etc. Similar in some respects setting-wise to _The Expanse_ books, ALL of which I recommend, as well as the TV show. Did I mention that _The Expanse_ books are good? They are VERY, very good. Very engaging. For a real game changer, check out Liu Cixin’s _The Three Body Problem_ trilogy. He’s a Chinese sci-fi writer and his books are translated into English but what makes the books extra interesting in addition to the plot elements and characters is that not all Chinese characters translate real well into English, so there are various footnotes throughout the books to provide clarity. Not only are these books insightful into the possibilities of science fiction, but also Chinese and Korean culture. Those books have it ALL, I just finished them not long ago and I cannot urge you to read them enough. His first book, which has the same name as the trilogy carries (Three Body Problem), is a 2015 Hugo Award winner. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404/80 "2018-07-09T20:36:52Z")
I also just briefly perused that list in the OP. Strange, some of those books like _A Clockwork Orange_ barely register as sci-fi to me. It’s a great book, creepy as fuck, the movie too, but sci fi? I don’t know, man. And the list includes Hubbard’s _Battlefield Earth_? Really? That book is shit and the movie somehow managed to be even worse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-finished-dune-now-what/817404.md?page=5)