This is one of my go-to SF recommendations. I don’t read that much SF, so I don’t tend to be able to recommend much, but the other one is In the Garden of Iden, by Kage Baker. First in a series of books about a future corporation that is able to travel back in time and create immortal cyborgs from children who would have died, who then live forward and collect valuable artifacts that would otherwise have been destroyed. The main character is Mendoza–a child rescued from the Inquisition and turned into a cyborg botanist.
The Skinner by Neal Asher - didn’t really know anything about this books when I started it; ended up really enjoying it. Set on a distant, far future, very strange planet – there’s a mystery/thriller element to it but mostly there’s just a lot of engaging characters.
Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross. In some ways its a very typical space opera but it has some intriguing and creative twists.
In fantasy, Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier - a retelling of the “Seven Swans” fairly tale, deftly told.
Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton - a victorian comedy of manners, except all the characters are dragons (who hold Victorian-era values). Strange little book; I liked it.
In fact, you might just want to check out the current crowd of British Space Opera authors:
Iain M. Banks
Stephen Baxter
Peter F. Hamilton
M. John Harrison
Ken MacLeod
Paul McAuley
Alastair Reynolds
Justina Robson
Charles Stross
And I tend to lump Robert Reed (USA) and Robert Charles Wilson (Canada) into this group.
Fantasy Working for the Devil by Lilith Saintcrow.
I think she is up to 4 sequels now?
Cyberpunk and demons, taken on by Wonderwoman. Personally, I like the early books better, when there is less stress on the romance side (not the major theme, but still, it’s there.)
The Sparrow and its sequel Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. Most concise summary being: Jesuits in space! If that doesn’t make you want to read them, I dunno what will.
Fast Eddie, King of the Bees by Robert Arellano–an, uh, postapocalyptic send-up of a classic bildungsroman? Maybe? I dunno, it was fun. FYI, the editorial reviews on Amazon are pretty much just straight recitations of the whole plot, so ignore 'em unless you want spoilers.
Try the “Legacy of the Aldenata” series by John Ringo. It’s moved along pretty far by now, but plenty of time (with winter coming on) to catch up on your reading.
I know he’s not the editor. But my understanding was that he wrote most of the original material (ie everything that isn’t attributed to another author).
Don’t read anything by Stephenson if you need an ending to the story. Stephenson can’t write a decent ending to save his life, so apparently he just doesn’t bother. The books I read by him were GREAT…until the last few pages. I need a resolution, or I’m not happy with the book. I’m not going to read any more of his books until I hear that he’s learned how to write a satisfying ending. I don’t demand a happy ending, just one that resolves the story.
I got on to Connie Willis through a recommendation on this board. “Passage” (2001) absolutely blew me away - “Doomsday Book” (1992 so a little out of our time range) is also fantastic. Nothing at all like “To Say Nothing Of The Dog” (which seems to be her most well-known one) - not comic at all, just very very good.
I totally did not think of Ringo. I suppose that, despite his work being one of my recent guilty pleasures, I think of him more as an adventure writer (or a “blows shit up real good” writer) than a science fiction author.
Haven’t read Eternity Road but I agree that Engines of God is good. I was taking archaeology classes when I was reading it and I could see he knew something about the subject.
I also liked this, especially the Elizabethan dialogue. Did you know Kage Baker gives classes on speaking Elizabethan English? The sequels weren’t that great, though. Not that they absolutely sucked, but the first was definitely the best.
My favourite is his Laundry series, about a secret British government agency devoted to fighting inhuman horrors. The magic here is not the New Age type, it’s actually more like computer hacking, which is an interesting angle to take. Half the conflict is over budgetary constraints and ISO-compliance which is pretty funny.
Yeah, that’s a good list, I hadn’t realized I’d been reading so much British sci fi. I don’t like all of them (I particularly dislike Peter Hamilton) but I love Ken Macleod and his socialist sci fi. What I like most is his Cosmonaut Keep trilogy, about European Union cosmonauts and their descendants marooned light years away from Earth on a planet full of intelligent dinosaur people and the descendants of humans kidnapped centuries before. His Fall Revolution series is also great, it deals with revolution, anarchism, and the struggle to live with posthumans (AIs, cyborgs, etc.). The overtly political orientation is refreshing after too much militantly apolitical Star Trek type sci fi.
Also, he’s clearly familiar with anthropology, which prevents ethnocentric ignorance which produces stupid statements like “We humans have two names, a personal name and a family name and we live in small social units consisting of parents and children.” You know how physics geeks nitpick the science of sci fi? Us social science types also do the same for our specialties.
It’s funny but it’s also quite tragic. I love the interpretation of the different iconic characters from DC and Marvel.
The first one was good old fashioned military adventure but then Sept 11 happened and the sequels got filled with right-wing rants. Couldn’t stomach it after that.
God yes. I’m not sure he could write an ending if someone held a gun to his head. I remember reading the end of Diamond Age and going, “Huh? What the hell, that was it?” It was like he suddenly realized he was going over the page limit and ended the story right there.
Anyway, here are two other books I liked: “The Years of Rice and Salt” by Kim Stanley Robinson and “The Time Traveller’s Wife” by Audrey Niffeneger. The first is an alternate history novel about the world after the Black Plague killed 99% of people in Europe, it follows different people at different points in that timeline, showing how this other history develops. The style of the stories even change from almost fable-like in the beginning and full of magical realism to a modern, psychologically-informed and novelistic style in the end. The central premise is ridiculous but the story is excellent, so it gets a pass from me.
The second is about a man who involuntarily time travels all through his life and how his condition affects those around him, especially his wife (obviously). She first meets him when she’s a child and he’s 30-something, but he first meets her when they’re both in their 20’s. Unlike the majority of time travel stories the plot doesn’t revolve around the mechanics of time travel (“You fool, that little boy you killed was the young Churchill!”), it’s always about the characters. Great stuff and very moving.
