# Recommendation's for good Sci-fi, Fantasy novels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326 "2008-11-05T19:02:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Super\_Van\_Uber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Super\_Van\_Uber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Van_Uber)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/21 "2008-11-06T02:36:25Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > I’ll second George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series. A Game of Thrones is the first book. > > If you want to read any books by authors similar to Stephen King, you could try Peter Straub. Ghost Story is really good, and has elements similar to Salem’s Lot. > > You could also give Michael Crichton a try. Sphere, The Andromeda Strain, The Terminal Man, Jurassic Park, and The Lost World are all great. > > If you like Time Travel fiction, check out Replay by Ken Grimwood. I read The Talisman years ago. King wrote that one and it’s sequel, The Black House with Peter Straub. Which, coincidentally is being made into movies to be released in 2009, 2011. But it looks like who’s directing it is kinda up in the air, so who knows when it’ll actually come out. I’ve also read some of Michael Crichton’s stuff. Although I think I somehow missed reading The Andromeda Strain, not sure how though. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/22 "2008-11-06T04:02:59Z")
Recent [thread=487723]thread[/thread] on the same topic. I’ll second The Left Hand of Darkness. Interesting book - and suddenly it’s a crackling adventure/survival story. Bruce Sterling’s Island in the Net - the book sucks me in every time. It’s the best near-future extrapolation I’ve ever read. Sterling is the best “idea man” in SF, but he writes great characters, too. Laura Webster’s arguments with her Mom are just like my sister’s arguments with our Mom, but more readable. I also liked The Zenith Angle and Heavy Weather. I didn’t care for The Difference Engine (with William Gibson) as much, but it does have just about the best (and most plausible) alternate history premise ever used. Babbage builds his mechanical computers, and the computer revolution occurs in the 1820s with many social changes from our time line. “What is your citizen number?” - asked a century before Orwell. :shiver: ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/23 "2008-11-06T04:31:12Z")
Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums, by Anne McCaffrey. IMHO, you can stay away from any of the other Pern books she wrote, as they’re not nearly as good. Her Ship Who Sang, and the collection of short stories called Get Off the Unicorn are good reads, however. Starship Troopers (which despite what some think, was **never** made into a movie) by Heinlein is good, as are most of his so-called “juveniles” (many of which take a pretty sophisticated view of the world). The Kiln People by David Brin. Blade Runner meets 24 is the best way to describe it, however, I will warn you that the ending is a bit weak. Any of Fred Saberhagen’s Beserker novels/short stories. Giant (and sometimes _not_ so giant) killing machines seek to wipe out all life in the galaxy. The Destruction of the Temple by Barry N. Malzberg. A bizarre tale of a director in a ruined America who is obsessed with making a film about the death of JFK. Worth a read, but damned if I know what the hell its about. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/24 "2008-11-06T04:31:15Z")
Have you read _Dune_, the series by Frank Herbert? These are my favorites and I’ve read them over many times. I’d also recommend Mary Doria Russell’s _The Sparrow_? It’s about a Jesuit mission to the first alien culture contacted by man. Very harrowing and beautifully done. I also love China Mieville’s series, starting with _Perdido Street Station_. It’s weird fiction, sorta sci-fi, sorta fantasy, mostly steampunk. His world-building skills are unparalleled. Also, I love Neal Stephenson, especially _Snow Crash_, but really everything. It’s cyberpunk, but highly intelligent. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/25 "2008-11-06T05:03:58Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Also, I love Neal Stephenson, especially _Snow Crash_, but really everything. It’s cyberpunk, but highly intelligent. I held off reading Snow Crash for the longest time because it was cyber punk, and I don’t really like that genre. But I was talked into reading Cryptonomicon and really liked it, so I picked up Snow Crash. I shouldn’t have resisted reading it. It really is a great book. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/26 "2008-11-06T05:58:41Z")
Am I the only one who liked _The Diamond Age_ better than _Snow Crash_? - sure it’s not all gritty and it’s much more fairy tale, but I loved it. Also, for early David Brin, I think _The Practice Effect_ was a good light read. His endings are always a little weak, though - even the books of his I really like, _Earth_ and _Startide Rising_, have weak endings. At some point I’ll get around to reading _Kiln People_ though. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/27 "2008-11-06T07:06:33Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Sterling is the best “idea man” in SF, but he writes great characters, too. Laura Webster’s arguments with her Mom are just like my sister’s arguments with our Mom, but more readable. I also liked The Zenith Angle and Heavy Weather. Seconding _Heavy Weather_ - cyberpunk meets global warming meets _Twister_(the movie, not the game!) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/28 "2008-11-06T07:46:26Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > Am I the only one who liked _The Diamond Age_ better than _Snow Crash_? No. Did you notice how he starts with a nearly perfect cyberpunk character and then: Kills him to show how obsolete and outdated he is in his society. That’s when the real story starts. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/29 "2008-11-06T08:52:52Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > At some point I’ll get around to reading _Kiln People_ though. _Kiln People_ is really excellent. I strongly recommend it. Possibly the best thing he’s written, though I haven’t read _The Uplift War_. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/30 "2008-11-06T08:53:28Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > Am I the only one who liked _The Diamond Age_ better than _Snow Crash_? - sure it’s not all gritty and it’s much more fairy tale, but I loved it. I’m another one. There’s nothing wrong with _Snow Crash_ but I liked _The Diamond Age_ better. I wouldn’t say The Diamond Age is not at all gritty; it does after all go into the nasty side effects of nanotech warfare and the complications that goods being cheap to the point of being free have on different classes of society. And that’s avoiding spoilers on the casual cruelty and nasty events of the main characters’ lives. Among them we’ve got child neglect and abuse, a child murdering an adult with a screwdriver, rape, a beating at the hands of the criminal justice system, being enslaved to a group mind for a decade, being blackmailed with the lives of a hundred thousand children, and a pair of overlapping wars. It’s just not the kind of gritty that beats the reader over the head with “Look at how depressing and violent everything is!” And nanoparticles have to count as grit. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/31 "2008-11-06T11:30:08Z")
I am a huge fan of Prince Ombra. I really enjoyed The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. The Man Who Never Missed was a fun SciFi series. (I would call it very light SciFi though.) ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/32 "2008-11-06T11:40:18Z")
Without wanting to sound too lazy, there’s a series of SF novels all under the “SF Masterworks” banner I’d recommend. I posted a link to them a while back, the collection does have a preponderance of Philip K. Dick but most of what was there met with approval from other posters. That lot and Iain M Banks’ works. I liked all his books with the exception of the second last (The Algebraist) and another which was released recently without me noticing. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/33 "2008-11-06T12:03:27Z")
As you mention SF/Fantasy series, how about: SM Stirling’s \*Island in the Sea of Time \*trilogy is good quality alternative history with a military slant. If you like them you might like the \*Dies the Fire \*series (now up to five with two more to go!) but some people - on this Board - hate them. Larry Niven’s _Ringworld_ books. Personally I didn’t care for the later ones so much but still worth a read. In fact all of Niven’s Known Space books fun. I’d also recomment Niven and Pournelle’s _The Moat in God’s Eye_ and it’s sequel \*The Moat Arounf Murcheson’s Eye \*(know as \*The Gripping Hand \* in the US)as good straight, hard SF. For fantasy, try Katharine Kerr’s Deverry books, particularly the first four, _Daggerspell_, _Darkspell_, _Dawnspell_, and _Dragonspell_. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/34 "2008-11-06T12:26:35Z")
The Left Behind series was a surprisingly good read. Oh, parts of it were beyond belief, like the web site that the forces of evil couldn’t find, not to mention the premise that only those who believed in a singular and particular incarnation of God were the good guys. But all in all it was an, again, enjoyable read. So much so that I went through a couple of books a day. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Van\_Uber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Super\_Van\_Uber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Van_Uber)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/35 "2008-11-06T13:47:20Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Have you read _Dune_, the series by Frank Herbert? These are my favorites and I’ve read them over many times. > > Also, I love Neal Stephenson, especially _Snow Crash_, but really everything. It’s cyberpunk, but highly intelligent. I can’t believe I forgot to mention Dune. Yep, read it first in high school and loved it. I’ve read I think the next 3 in the series. (Can’t remember how many there are) It’s been awhile since I’ve picked it up though. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/36 "2008-11-06T15:03:05Z")
I think the “Obernewtyn” series by Isabel Carmody is a really, really good series. Would love to hear if there are any other fans here. “The Carpet Makers” is a really special, tho creepy, sci-fi book. and has the OP really not read Lord of the Rings? Maybe he should give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/37 "2008-11-06T16:11:13Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > …I’d also recomment Niven and Pournelle’s _The Moat in God’s Eye_ and it’s sequel \*The Moat Arounf Murcheson’s Eye \*(know as \*The Gripping Hand \* in the US)as good straight, hard SF… The first is far better than the second, but both are worth reading (and it’s _Mote_, BTW). Thirded (fourthed?) as to Martin’s _A Song of Ice and Fire_ series. Huge, gripping, sexy, violent, delightfully and eternally unpredictable. Also check out Martin’s SF novel _Tuf Voyaging_ (actually a collection of interrelated short stories). It’s a funny, bitingly satirical look at absolute power, ecology, war and overpopulation. Another vote, too, for Ken Grimwood’s _Replay_, which I recently read for the first time after hearing it praised on NPR. A middle-aged guy dies of a heart attack in 1988 and finds himself back in college in 1963, able to live his life over again, but knowing what comes next… or does he? Fascinating and fun. _Dune_ by Frank Herbert, the first book in the ever-lengthening series, is great. All the rest suck, IMHO. You’ve just gotta read J.R.R. Tolkien’s heroic fantasies _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_, no question. Deservedly classics: incredibly rich, lyrical, fun, thrilling, bittersweet but uplifting books. Asimov’s _Foundation Trilogy_, although somewhat dated now, is a big, fascinating series about the fall and rise of galactic empires. Peter F. Hamilton’s _Night’s Dawn Trilogy_ is also very big and ambitious (about a galactic empire dealing with… well, let’s just say a crisis), and stumbles badly at the end, but until you get there it’s good fun. For Heinlein, you can’t go wrong with _Starship Troopers, Time for the Stars, Have Spacesuit Will Travel_, and _The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress_. ---
**Author:** ![Redwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@Redwing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redwing)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/38 "2008-11-06T16:31:28Z")
My SF reading group really like Richard Morgan, though he may be a bit dark for some (I liked _Market Forces_ the best, but geopolitics + carwars may not be to everyone’s taste). Ian M. Banks, as has been mentioned, is very interesting. Ken McCloud expresses some of the same ideals, but without the “post scarcity” economics that underlie the Culture. If you read Stephenson (and really, why wouldn’t you read Stephenson), beyond the normal works check out _Zodiac_. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/39 "2008-11-06T16:33:24Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The first is far better than the second, but both are worth reading (and it’s _Mote_, BTW). :smack: I knew something was wrong - just couldn’t see what … ETA I agree on the merits of the two books but I was still good to see things rounded off. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326/40 "2008-11-06T18:51:06Z")
Only one book is out yet, but I can just about guarantee from your tastes that you’ll enjoy _The Name of the Wind_ by Patrick Rothfuss. You can find it in paperback these days. The 2nd book of the trilogy is due out in April '09. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-good-sci-fi-fantasy-novels/471326.md?page=3)