# Recommend a Science Fiction Book - Any Genera **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2015, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416 "2015-04-24T04:56:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [April 26, 2015, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/41 "2015-04-26T06:08:23Z")
I find Peter Hamilton’s operatic stuff extremely page turning and easy to get along with…provided you start with the first book in his series. The Commonwealth Saga series and the Void are my favorites and they aren’t five parsecs worth of reading either. Purists may scoff but those two series of books are really good IMHO. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/42 "2015-04-26T12:44:45Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Go to that wiki thingy and type in “Cordwainer Bird”, see what you get. This is a thread for recommending books not showing off your insider knowledge. A person looking to check out science fiction needs the name an author published under. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/43 "2015-04-26T13:53:59Z")
If you want some light reading, and can easily suspend your disbelief, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars books would be fun. Antique science fiction, light on the science, that inspired a lot of today’s stuff. Multi-limbed Martians, cloaks of invisibility, brain transplants, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/44 "2015-04-26T14:40:08Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Go to that wiki thingy and type in “Cordwainer Bird”, see what you get. [A picture of Harlan Ellison](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison) looking like a middle-aged woman with hairy forearms! ---
**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:** [April 26, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/45 "2015-04-26T14:49:02Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > [A picture of Harlan Ellison](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_Ellison) looking like a middle-aged woman with hairy forearms! It’s not an accurate likeness. He looks [much worse](http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjE3NDE4NDY4MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNDc4MzIzOA@@._V1_SX214_CR0,0,214,317_AL_.jpg) by now. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/46 "2015-04-26T22:49:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s not an accurate likeness. > > He looks [much worse](http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjE3NDE4NDY4MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNDc4MzIzOA@@._V1_SX214_CR0,0,214,317_AL_.jpg) by now. That link failed on me, but if you just [go to his own “webderland” site](http://www.harlanellison.com/home.htm), there is a more recent picture, with his trophy wife – more recent as in about 10~12 years back. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/47 "2015-04-26T23:19:50Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Which would you reccomend? > [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb\_sb\_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Peter+F+Hamilton](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Peter+F+Hamilton) I would start with the reality disfunction. Space, zombies etc it is awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/48 "2015-04-26T23:48:45Z")
Baen books has a library where they have many complete books available for free. [https://www.baenebooks.com/mobile/main\_search.htm#catalog](https://www.baenebooks.com/mobile/main_search.htm#catalog) Like any good drug dealer they offer the first hit for free. 😃 Personally I like Weber and Ringo but there are plenty to choose from and the price is right. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/49 "2015-04-27T00:44:28Z")
You’ve read Mote, might as well read [The Gripping Hand.](http://www.amazon.com/The-Gripping-Hand-Jerry-Pournelle/dp/1476791236) Prepare to be disappointed. Hell of a setting though. Which reminds me, since Stross is already mentioned in the thread, try his novella, [Missile Gap](https://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/spring_2007/fiction_missile_gap_by_charles_stross). It kills me that, to the best of my knowledge, he hasn’t done anything else with the setting. Does anyone know if it’s original to him, or did he borrow it from someone? I will sound like a broken record and urge you to give Alastair Reynolds a try. [Chasm City](http://www.amazon.com/Chasm-Revelation-Space-Alastair-Reynolds/dp/0441010644) is a decent take on _film noir_ and someone who’s already mentioned having Dick in the library ([Hey, phrasing?](http://memegenerator.net/instance/54151754)) should be comfortable with the narrative stream in this one. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/50 "2015-04-27T00:51:50Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > You’ve read Mote, might as well read [The Gripping Hand.](http://www.amazon.com/The-Gripping-Hand-Jerry-Pournelle/dp/1476791236) Prepare to be disappointed. . . . The third book, Outies, by Jennifer Pournelle, is actually quite good. Some problems, but it is (in my opinion) better than The Gripping Hand. TGH is pretty much a very long “chase scene in space.” Outies is a more detailed conspiracy/intrigue novel. It holds the reader’s interest (it did mine, anyway) quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/51 "2015-04-27T06:27:20Z")
Permutation City by Greg Egan. A hauntingly believable exploration of what it actually means to be a sentient individual. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/52 "2015-04-27T12:29:06Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Stross also has a short story collection “Toast” available for free at his site [After Appomattox, by Gregory Downs, reviewed.](http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2015/04/after_appomattox_by_gregory_downs_reviewed.html) > > Possibly because it was published as 9 separate novellas over the course of several years. Here’s the correct link: [http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/toast/toast.html](http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/toast/toast.html) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/53 "2015-04-27T12:30:42Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Here’s the correct link: > > [http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/toast/toast.html](http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/toast/toast.html) Thank you. That was an embarrassing mistake, for which I apologize. Let me make up for it by giving the correct link for Stross’ story “Bit Rot” [Short Story: Bit Rot - Charlie's Diary](http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/06/short-story-bit-rot.html) which was mentioned earlier in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/54 "2015-04-27T13:35:13Z")
Emergence, by David R. Palmer. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/55 "2015-04-27T13:59:34Z")
If you are looking for some more recent stuff, there are a few series I’ve been reading: The Empire’s Corps (sort of a fall of the Roman Empire in space) by Christopher G. Nuttall (he also has another series called Ark Royal which isn’t bad). Odyssey One by Evan Currie Star Carrier by Ian Douglas Man of War by H. Paul Honsinger (this series has just started and there are only 2 books in it so far…but the first two were really good IMHO) Star Force by B. V. Larson A bit older, but a good series IMHO is the Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell. The Honor Harrington series by David Weber is always good as well. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/56 "2015-04-27T22:37:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > With Hamilton, I’d recommend starting out with his Greg Mandel books: _Mindstar Rising_, _A Quantum Murder_, and _The Nano Flower_. These books are relatively short and lightweight in comparison to some of Hamilton’s other series (his Commonwealth series, for example, is over three thousand pages by now, spans several centuries, and has a couple hundred characters). Or you can tackle Fallen Dragon, which is a single book that has much of the quality of the Commonwealth books. If you like that, then Pandora’s Star + Judas Unchained (the first in the Commonwealth). The more recent Great North Road is also a stand-alone and I enjoyed it as much as the PS + JU. I tried the Night’s Dawn books and didn’t like them at all. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/57 "2015-04-28T17:50:50Z")
_Fountains of Paradise_ and _Rendesvous With Rama_ by Arthur C Clarke. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/58 "2015-04-28T17:56:15Z")
\*The Forever War \*by Joe Haldeman _Downbelow Station_ by CJ Cheryh ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/59 "2015-04-28T18:18:34Z")
**The Warrior’s Apprentice** by Lois McMaster Bujold. (Caveat: She begins this series with **Shards of Honor** and its sequel, **Barrayar** , but I believe the best book to begin with is this one, and then go back and read the others if you like it.) T **he Sage of Pliocene Exile** by Julian May, which begins with the novel **The Many-Colored Land.** **Hyperion** and **The Fall of Hyperion** , by Dan Simmons. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416/60 "2015-04-28T18:29:55Z")
_Startide Rising_ by David Brin [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-science-fiction-book-any-genera/718416.md?page=4)