# Suggest Good Science-Fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414 "2011-08-28T20:40:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/21 "2011-08-29T04:40:26Z")
Begin [here](http://classics.jameswallaceharris.com/Essays/Classics_of_SF.html). Start at the top and work down. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/22 "2011-08-29T05:37:52Z")
> [@BuickGNX1987](#): > > The series I read as a kid was Animorphs (stop laughing)… Ah, but did you read ALL of the _Animorph_ books? I read them a decade ago (at bedtime to the kids when they were little)… and I went back and finished all 54 of them. And guess what? They held up as serious Science Fiction and they were SO much fun – big conflicts in the last couple of books, and lots of humor as the characterizations hold true til the end, and beyond. In fact, I’ve reread the last few books a couple of times. Come to think of it, I’ve also reread _Ender’s Game, The Hunger Games_, and _The Knife of Never Letting Go._ I guess the “Young Adult Fiction With A Sci-Fi Bent” that’s out now makes for the best narratives and characterizations. I’m not a huge SF fan (reading Dickens and Hemingway right now), but those “YA SF” classics are probably the only books I’ve read so far that I keep re-opening. Maybe I just like “A Fun Read”. Hope you find some good ones. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/23 "2011-08-29T09:39:30Z")
Go nostalgic–crack open Heinlein’s juveniles, or Andre Norton. ---
**Author:** ![BuickGNX1987](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@BuickGNX1987](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuickGNX1987)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/24 "2011-08-29T12:29:13Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ah, but did you read ALL of the Animorph books? I might have missed a couple in the middle of the series, but other than that, yes. Some of them more than once, especially the various \_\_\_\_\_ Chronicles that were part of the series. They were my brother’s and one day I was bored so I read one and got hooked. I do remember stuff starting to get pretty crazy towards the end of the series. I see that I have tons of suggestions and links to look into now. I’m a relatively fast reader, but I think I’ll be busy for quite some time. Thanks for your help everyone! ---
**Author:** ![downtown1441](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@downtown1441](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/downtown1441)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/25 "2011-08-29T12:34:34Z")
The _Foreigner_ series by CJ Cherryh is really really well done, and if you’re interested in geopolitics at all has a lot of parallels to modern diplomacy. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/26 "2011-08-29T15:25:08Z")
[Here](http://scifilists.sffjazz.com/) is another site of lists. There is a brief plot description for each book. I am using this list to round out my own reading, having read most of but not all. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/27 "2011-08-29T16:08:52Z")
A couple of anthologies that collect the “golden age” of science fiction: [Adventures in Time and Space](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_in_Time_and_Space) (Healy and McComas) and A Treasury of Great Science Fiction (Boucher) – 2-volume set You’ll get short stories, novellas, and novels from some of the greats–Heinlein, Kuttner (“Lewis Padgett”), Bester, van Vogt, Wyndham, Poul Anderson, Asimov, del Rey, de Camp, Campbell, Dick, Sturgeon, Bradbury, Clarke, etc. These are the collections that turned me on to SF–you can’t hardly do any better if you like classic SF. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/28 "2011-08-29T16:13:13Z")
My all-time favorite sf book is _Tuf Voyaging_ by George R.R. Martin, a collection of interrelated short stories about a guy who finds an ancient ecological-engineering starship and decides to cash in on it. Good dark-humored fun. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/29 "2011-08-29T17:35:37Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > Keith Laumer (Baen has reprinted a bunch of his stuff–there should be some available on the Baen Free Library) Anything on Hunter’s list is fantastic, but there should be a footnote with Laumer. He had a stroke in the late '70s and anything _before_ the stroke is going to be varying degrees of fantastic. Anything after the stroke is unreadable. > [@](#): > > James H. Schmitz (ditto re Baen) Heh–there was a huge, HUGE controversy when Baen reprinted Schmitz: Eric Flint (the editor) decided to update a few word choices (Schmitz used the term “newshen” for a female reporter, for instance and he took out a reference to someone smoking on an airplane…stuff like that). The usenet erupted into flames over Flint’s “butchery” of the work. Until a dozen or two authors (Bujold, S.M. Stirlling, etc) popped in and said: “Wait-they’ll reprint my back catalog, but they want to change a word or two? Fine with me.” which pretty much showed the writer’s perspective. Lemme add Kuttner to the list. [This is a kind of expensive collector’s edition, but it has many of his best stories](http://www.amazon.com/Detour-Otherness-Henry-Kuttner/dp/1893887189/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3). ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/30 "2011-08-30T07:35:10Z")
A couple more that I should have added: Stanley G. Weinbaum James White, specifically the “Sector General” series Murray Leinster (some of his stuff has also been reprinted by Baen) ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/31 "2011-08-30T10:44:00Z")
A relatively recent series that I rather liked, the _Vatta’s War_ series by Elizabeth Moon. About a young woman who is given command of a merchant ship in her family’s shipping company after she is drummed out of her planet’s military academy. No aliens, per se, but humans have a pretty wide variety in the setting of these books, both socially and physically. First book of the series is _Trading In Danger_. I would normally suggest the _Honor Harrington_ books by David Weber, but those are less “Wonders of the universe” sci-fi and more military fiction/political thrillers. Still interesting for the wide variety of human cultures (one of the major powers in the universe is mostly ethnically Chinese, but styled after the Prussians, with German as their official language. Another planet is run by the Mafia. And notorious for the strictest law enforcement in the galaxy. They’re with the good guys.). And of course, wandering off topic from books a bit, but sci-fi in general, you might like Mass Effect (video games, mostly), which has a very epic (in the “huge, grand, expansive” sense, not the “totally cool” sense) feel to it, and a very rich universe for the game to take place in. They kinda deluge you in little details here and there to give you the impression of a place that exists rather than just being a collection of maps and levels in a game. Why yes, I have been playing that lately, why do you ask? Oh, back to books, I’m reading _Hokas Pokas_, about a planet of very enthusiastic anthropomorphic teddy bears who fully embrace anything they read about, much to the chagrin of anyone who has to deal with them while trying to figure out what book they have found themselves living in today. It’s absolutely hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![BuickGNX1987](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@BuickGNX1987](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuickGNX1987)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/32 "2011-09-04T03:27:14Z")
Well, I finally got down to the bookstore today. I compiled my list based on these suggestions, which filled up both sides of the page, and headed out. As I walked up to the bookshelves in the sci-fi section, I reached into my back pocket for my handy-dandy list and found…nothing. :eek: Right away, I knew that I had left my carefully compiled list setting on my dresser. :smack: I remembered The Mote in God’s Eye and that was about it. Of course, they didn’t have it. “Well”, I figured, “I guess I can look around and see if anything rings a bell.” So up and down the aisles I went, mentally kicking myself for not remembering the list, even though I reminded myself as I put the list on the dresser, “Now don’t do something stupid like leave without this list.” :rolleyes: Then, like a smack to the face, there it was. Pandora’s Star by Peter F. Hamilton. Hell yeah! That was on the list! I picked it up, read the back to see what it was about, also saw that it was $9.00, and saw that this was very good. Off to the checkout counter I went; the disaster (and an unnecessary trip) was averted. Once again, thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I look forward to getting back into science fiction, and you all have saved me from the horrors of a terrible book and even worse, the horrors of wasting money! 😃 ---
**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:** [September 4, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/33 "2011-09-04T05:29:03Z")
> [@BuickGNX1987](#): > > Then, like a smack to the face, there it was. Pandora’s Star by Peter F. Hamilton. Hell yeah! That was on the list! I picked it up, read the back to see what it was about, also saw that it was $9.00, and saw that this was very good. Off to the checkout counter I went; the disaster (and an unnecessary trip) was averted. Hopefully, you realized I wasn’t kidding when I said Hamilton takes a thousand pages just to get a story started. _Pandora’s Star_ is the opening book in the Commonwealth series - and the series is 4384 pages long. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/34 "2011-09-04T13:00:26Z")
Anything by Iain M. Banks _(the M is important!)_. All his stuff is good but I just love, love, _love_ his books on The Culture. ---
**Author:** ![BuickGNX1987](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@BuickGNX1987](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuickGNX1987)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/35 "2011-09-04T13:38:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Hopefully, you realized I wasn’t kidding when I said Hamilton takes a thousand pages just to get a story started. _Pandora’s Star_ is the opening book in the Commonwealth series - and the series is 4384 pages long. Blast! I did not remember that. Oh well, all I can do is try to get into it and see what happens. I see that Judas Unchained, is a part of this series, am I missing another one? ETA: Nevermind, I see there is one called Misspent Youth, although it kind of looks like it isn’t necessary to be able to follow Pandora’s Star. J.U. was right next to the book I got, but I don’t remember seeing M.Y. there. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/36 "2011-09-04T16:05:34Z")
> [@BuickGNX1987](#): > > Blast! I did not remember that. Oh well, all I can do is try to get into it and see what happens. I see that Judas Unchained, is a part of this series, am I missing another one? > > ETA: Nevermind, I see there is one called Misspent Youth, although it kind of looks like it isn’t necessary to be able to follow Pandora’s Star. J.U. was right next to the book I got, but I don’t remember seeing M.Y. there. _Pandora’s Star_ and _Judas Unchained_ are definitely mean to be read in succession - they’re basically two halves of a single book. _Misspent Youth_ is sort of a prologue to the series. It’s set about 300 years before the events of _Pandora’s Star_ and _Judas Unchained_. It basically explains how the stuff we see in the later books got started. The Void trilogy - _The Dreaming Void_, _The Temporal Void_, and _The Evolutionary Void_ - is set about 1200 years after _Pandora’s Star_ and _Judas Unchained_. The trilogy’s story is distinct but many of the characters from the earlier books reappear. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/37 "2011-09-04T22:29:00Z")
Tell me what kind of science fiction movies are your favorites, and I might be able to offer some more narrowed suggestions for you. ---
**Author:** ![BuickGNX1987](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@BuickGNX1987](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuickGNX1987)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/38 "2011-09-05T03:03:56Z")
**cmyk** ,I haven’t seen very many. I like the Star Wars movies. I really liked the _Knights of the Old Republic_ games, mainly because of all the little facts about the Star Wars universe it gives. Most of that stuff seems to be glanced over in the movies. I saw this older one about a submarine and crew that get shrunk and injected into someone’s body. That was pretty cool. Terminator 1 and 2 were pretty cool, especially 1. I liked 2 better as a kid, but when I watch T1 now, I think it’s the better of the two just because of the mood it sets. I mean, how hopeless does it look for Sarah Connor after the Terminator single-handedly takes on that police station. Whatever uncertainty the viewer has about the effectiveness of small-arms fire on the T-800 pretty much evaporates after that. Plus Ahnuld is like the perfect actor for a emotionless killer cyborg. I’ve seen some newer ones, like _War of the Worlds_ (Tom Cruise version) and _The Day the Earth Stood Still_ (I think; it had Keanu Reeves). Those were OK I guess. I don’t know though, I don’t find very many movies interesting these days. _Avatar_ was pretty good I suppose. Other than that, not too many things are ringing a bell here. Sorry, I know that doesn’t help very much. **Little Nemo** , thanks for the info. If I like this one, I’ll know where to continue. I can deal with a slow developing story if the author is throwing enough interesting stuff out there. I like Stephen King’s books and they sometimes seem like they take awhile to develop. Generally, he keeps it interesting. There are exceptions though. There was one that I got about 60 pages or so into; just waiting for it to get going until finally I just couldn’t do it anymore. It was one of the very few books that I started, but did not finish. I think it was _Lisey’s Story_, but I could be wrong. (I guess I should be italicizing these titles huh? Not sure where I’m getting the underline from.) ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/39 "2011-09-05T03:15:07Z")
> [@BuickGNX1987](#): > > **cmyk** ,I haven’t seen very many. I like the Star Wars movies. I really liked the _Knights of the Old Republic_ games, mainly because of all the little facts about the Star Wars universe it gives. Most of that stuff seems to be glanced over in the movies. Oh, if you liked KotOR, you definitely want to play Mass Effect. Another sci-fi game series from the same people. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414/40 "2011-09-05T12:46:55Z")
> [@BuickGNX1987](#): > > **Little Nemo** , thanks for the info. If I like this one, I’ll know where to continue. I can deal with a slow developing story if the author is throwing enough interesting stuff out there. I like Stephen King’s books and they sometimes seem like they take awhile to develop. Generally, he keeps it interesting. There are exceptions though. There was one that I got about 60 pages or so into; just waiting for it to get going until finally I just couldn’t do it anymore. It was one of the very few books that I started, but did not finish. I think it was _Lisey’s Story_, but I could be wrong. I hope you enjoy Hamilton. He really is an excellent writer and he does keep the ideas coming. It’s just that his work can be overwhelming - I think _Pandora’s Star_ and _Judas Unchained_ have something like a hundred characters you need to keep track of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-good-science-fiction/594414.md?page=3)