# SF&F recommendations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847 "2008-09-30T14:25:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/21 "2008-09-30T17:44:05Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > Have you tried any of the Dresden books by Jim Butcher? If you like that sort of urban fantasy, there are several other authors I could recommend. I’m not the OP, but would you please? I absolutely love Dresden and that subgenre. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/22 "2008-09-30T17:57:37Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I’m not the OP, but would you please? I absolutely love Dresden and that subgenre. You’re not the OP and I’m not the person you’re talking to, but I recommend Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson books, starting with _Moon Called_. I also liked the first few of the Blood books by Tanya Huff, starting with _Blood Price_. I didn’t like the last in that series for personal, persnickety reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/23 "2008-09-30T18:06:01Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I’m not the OP, but would you please? I absolutely love Dresden and that subgenre. I like: Tanya Huff’s Blood books P.N. Elrod’s _The Vampire Files_ Charlie Huston’s Joe Pitt series (very violent, but excellent writing) Patricia Briggs’s Mercedes Thompson series Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire series ---
**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:** [September 30, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/24 "2008-09-30T18:17:13Z")
> [@](#): > > tried starnger in a strange land, and didn’t like it. worth trying others? Definitely – tryy his “juveniles” (written in the late forties and fifties for kids, but better than most adult SF) – **Citizen of the Galaxy, or Space Cadet, or Tunnel in the Sky** , or any of the others. You might also try **The Puppet Masters** (which reads like James Bond vs. The Body Snatchers, but which predates both Bond and The Body Snatchers) or **Double Star** or **The Moon is a Harsh Mistress**. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/25 "2008-09-30T18:20:06Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I’m not the OP, but would you please? I absolutely love Dresden and that subgenre. Sure, there’s the [Mercy Thompson](http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Called-Mercy-Thompson-Book/dp/0441013813/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222797108&sr=8-3) series by Patricia Briggs. The [Rachael Morgan](http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Witch-Walking-Kim-Harrison/dp/0061567191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222797262&sr=1-1) series by Kim Harrison. Some of the books are hit and miss, but overall I enjoy them. [The Kate Daniels](http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bites-Kate-Daniels-Book/dp/0441014895/ref=pd_sim_b_3) series is pretty good, although only two books have been written. There seems to be room for at least one more. [The Cassandra Palmer](http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Dark-Cassandra-Palmer-Book/dp/0451460936/ref=pd_sim_b_6) series has three books in it, and I think it’s complete, at least it felt that way. [The Nightside Series](http://www.amazon.com/Something-Nightside-Book-1/dp/0441010652/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222797508&sr=1-3) by Simon Green is pretty good, although it can be a bit dark. Kelly Armstrong has a _Woman of the Otherworld_ series that has some of the same characters and in the same universe, but the stories don’t all have to be read in the same order. I started out with [Dime Store Magic](http://www.amazon.com/Dime-Store-Magic/dp/B000MAH7G8/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222797617&sr=1-10) as the first one I read and enjoyed it. I haven’t read all of them, but the ones I did read I enjoyed. The [Kitty Norville](http://www.amazon.com/Kitty-Midnight-Hour-Norville-Book/dp/0446616419/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222798438&sr=1-1) series is pretty good. [The Weather Warden series](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=weather+warden&sprefix=weather+wa) is good, although I think the author is streatching it out a bit with the last few books. [The Southern Vampire Mysteries](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=southern+vampire+mysteries&sprefix=Southern+) by Charlain Harris are an enjoyable read. As is [The Night Huntress](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=night+huntress&sprefix=Night+Hun) series by Jeannie Frost. Note that even though a lot of books are listed, only the first two are currently available. That’s it off the top of my head, I’ll look through the bookcase when I get home and see what I’ve forgotten. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/26 "2008-09-30T18:39:11Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > David Brin, the _Uplift_ series. Seconded Also: _China Miéville_ - **Perdido Street Station** and others Raymond Feist - I quite liked the first Riftwar series for light reading. Also the Empire series. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/27 "2008-09-30T18:41:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Seconded > > Also: > _China Miéville_ - **Perdido Street Station** and others > > Raymond Feist - I quite liked the first Riftwar series for light reading. Also the Empire series. yeah I’ve read the riftwar stuff and the mistress of empire books, good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/28 "2008-09-30T18:56:13Z")
Forgot some others: add _Kiln People_ for David Brin (it’s a stand-alone; call it science-fantasy), and _Soldier of the Mists_ for Gene Wolfe (it’s the first in a series, but the best of the series and can be read alone just fine). _Hyperion_ by Dan Simmons – first and best in the series; it’s like sci-fi Canterbury Tales. Most anything by Patricia McKillip – particularly the _Riddle-Master_ trilogy, _the Book of Atrix Wolfe_, and _The Forgotten Beasts of Eld_. I quite like Tanith Lee – particularly her Four Lords of Darkness Series (Night’s Master, etc.). They come across as rather romantic fantasy. Also her duology of Don’t Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine (which I think got omnibus’d). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/29 "2008-09-30T19:59:00Z")
I enjoy the Honor Harrington military sci-fi series by David Weber; the first book is _On Basilisk Station_. I enjoy David Weber’s Norfressa Cycle, beginning with _Oath of Swords_. David Weber’s & Jon Ringo’s Prince Roger sci fi books are very good; the first is _March Upcountry_. Military/political/survival SF. You mention liking L.E. Modessitt’s Recluce books; pick up _The Spellsong Cycle_ if you haven’t. Simon Green’s _Drinking Midnight Wine_, _The Man With The Golden Torc, Daemons Are Forever,_ and his _Hawk and Fisher_ books and related novels are good. Eric Flint’s _Mother of Demons_ is a good space-castaways novel. Eric Flint’s _1632_ and sequels is good; it’s about a town mysteriously transported into Germany’s Thirty Years War, and it’s attempts to survive. They have just enough technology and resources that they don’t get immediately run over, but not so much that they can just declare “Grantville Uber Alles” and be done with it, which makes for a lot of politicking and battles. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/30 "2008-09-30T20:02:17Z")
Just a note, many of David Weber and Eric Flint’s books can be read for free at the [Baen Free Library](http://www.baen.com/library/). That way you can read the first of a series to decide if you like it before buying the rest. I’ve read several of the books Der Trish mentioned that way. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/31 "2008-10-01T01:12:15Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > That’s it off the top of my head, I’ll look through the bookcase when I get home and see what I’ve forgotten. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Diz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Diz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diz)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/32 "2008-10-01T05:19:36Z")
Nobody mentioned Arthur C. Clarke yet? I usually enjoy Gregory Benford and Stephen Baxter for some hard SF. How about _Neuromancer_ by William Gibson. Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy is worth a look. And looking at my bookshelf, a couple obvious recommendations that I haven’t seen yet: _Ender’s Game_ - Orson Scott Card _Dune_ - Frank Herbert ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/33 "2008-10-01T05:29:59Z")
Another vote for Heinlein–maybe an anthology of short stories, something from his “future history” series, _Time Enough for Love_, _Friday_, _Citizen of the Galaxy_, _Farnham’s Freehold_. Almost anything by Spider Robinson, especially the Callahan series except _Callahan’s Con_–he really phoned it in on that one. Also, _Lady Slings the Booze_ is good. Fred Saberhagen–Berzerker series. Also heard good things about the Swords series, but have not read them. On the fantasy side, check out the _Horesclans_ series. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/34 "2008-10-01T06:14:28Z")
> [@Diz](#): > > And looking at my bookshelf, a couple obvious recommendations that I haven’t seen yet: > _Ender’s Game_ - Orson Scott Card > _Dune_ - Frank Herbert I’ve read the full ender suite, and all the core dune and even some of the prequels. I knew my originjal list was missing some obv ones… ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/35 "2008-10-01T07:01:24Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Vernor Vinge, specifically _A Fire Upon The Deep_ and _A Deepness In The Sky_. Very engaging science fiction, with some fantastic concepts wrapped around decent plots. > > (Don’t let the prologue to _Fire_ dissuade you; it’s thick writing, but intentionally so, and the opacity clears up in the novel proper.) I’ve only disliked one Vernor Vinge novel, which was _Tatja Grimm’s World_, I believe. I have his massive collection of short stories, too, and it’s wonderful. I also vastly enjoy John Varley. He’s just plain fun to read, while making me think a bit. DEFINITELY give Heinlein another try. He wrote mostly hard SF, but he did venture into fantasy. I would suggest skipping “The Number of the Beast-” entirely. He is one of the pillars of SF. If he’d been able to continue his career in the Navy, I don’t think that American SF would be nearly as rich. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/36 "2008-10-01T07:56:58Z")
dont have the books handy and its to late to go surfing for authors but Elantris, its a fantasy story, sort of a trilogy but contained in just one book. not a bad read at all. the name of the wind (something like that) I just finished and liked that one a lot, waiting for the next in line. Lies of Locke Lamora, great book and the next is out, I just havent got to it yet. the Blade Itself and Before they are Hanged are decent, even good in a lot of ways, his writing style kind of throws me from giving a great recommendation but I really do like the story lines. thats all I got before bed ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/37 "2008-10-01T08:05:53Z")
Oh, Add Mercedes Lackey to the have read list also, someone is bound to suggest thoise at some point if I don’t head them off at the pass. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/38 "2008-10-01T09:30:32Z")
How about some Peter F. Hamilton? Either his “Gap” series or “Nights dawn trilogy” ---
**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:** [October 1, 2008, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/39 "2008-10-01T11:36:18Z")
Julian May’s Saga of the Exiles was quite enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847/40 "2008-10-01T13:24:01Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > … What about Piper for some SF? I liked [Little Fuzzy](http://www.amazon.com/Little-Fuzzy-H-Beam-Piper/dp/0843959118/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222795585&sr=1-10) and a couple of the other Fuzzy books, [Lord Kalvin of Otherwhen](http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Kalvan-Otherwhen-Ace-F-342/dp/044106342X/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222795662&sr=1-8) and [The Cosmic Computer](http://www.amazon.com/Cosmic-Computer-Henry-Beam-Piper/dp/1406866474/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222795766&sr=1-1). … Most of Piper’s work is public domain now and available at [Gutenberg](http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/p#a8301). How about three of the greatest short story writers; Theodore Sturgeon, Harlan Ellison and Fredric Brown? CMC +fnord! Nobody mentioned [Ursula K. Le Guin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_Le_Guin#Fiction) yet? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-f-recommendations/465847.md?page=3)