Best Science Fiction Books You Haven't Read

[Matt Flynn]

My all-time favorite sci-fi book rec for anyone who enjoyed the first three Star Wars movies is the brilliant Timothy Zahn trilogy that picks up 5 years after the fall of Emperor Palpatine. Granted, there are many bad and many mediocre Star Wars books (trust me - I've read most of them), but these three nailed it. They introduce the greatest character in the Star Wars pantheon: Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Heir to the Empire
Dark Storm Rising
The Last Command


What's your favorite rec?

Matt

[Dynasty]

Those books were okay. But, I thought the Han Solo Trilogy by A.C. Crispin was better:

The Paradise Snare
The Hutt Gambit
Rebel Dawn

[wacki]

I wonder if they will ever turn these into movies.

[Dynasty]

There will be no Star Wars movies after Revenge of the Sith next May. However, there is supposed to be a Star Wars TV series starting in the fall of 2006. The specifics of the series isn't yet determined.

[cnfuzzd]

but i have read those...


peace

john nickle

[JPinAZ]

Anything by L. Neil Smigh www.lneilsmith.com (http://www.lneilsmith.com)
Kings of the High Frontier by Victor Koman
The *star (Firestar, Roguestar, etc.)series by Michael Flynn
Anything by Vernor Vinge
Anything by Spider Robinson

[MtnDave]

Ian Banks -
Against a Dark Background contains one of the greatest inventions in all of SciFi - the Lazy Gun
The Player of Games
Consider Phlebas
Excession
Use of Weapons
Feersum Endjinn

(The Bridge is totally different and very strange. Don't read it first.)

[Wahoo91]

Everyone has read it but Ender's Game and the parallel novels are the best science fiction I have ever read.

[La Brujita]

Obvious one:

Dune

A little less obvious:

The Left Hand of Darkness

[Dynasty]

bump

[lorinda]

Star Wars fans may really enjoy the bottom video on this (http://www.konnektedtwin.com/movievids.htm) page.

It's the Al Yankovic song, but with a great new video.

Edit: Any fan who hasn't heard the song MUST see this.

Lori

[scrub]

I'm surprised nobody's brought up Asimov or Heinlein.

The first of the Dune books was pretty fantastic.

scrub

[JimRivett]

If you are talking about books you haven't read then I just picked up a copy of Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, apparently it's volume one of "The Baroque Cycle". The LA Times had a book review of the third and final installment of the Baroque Cycle, I've forgotten its title, based upon their review I decided to pick up the first installment.

I haven't read anything by Neal Stephenson, so I'm lookig forward to reading this book. I do however, have a couple of books before it in the buffer.

Jim

[Neil Stevens]

The key to Dune is to stop reading at some point in the series, heh.

[Filip]

Anything by Peter F Hamilton - but espically the Night's Dawn Triology its a great story.

[JPinAZ]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm surprised nobody's brought up Asimov or Heinlein.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd say if you're an SF fan & haven't read anything by either of them, you've been living in a cave. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Dominic]

well, I've never read Stranger in a Strange Land....

and I'm a science fiction junkie....

[Neil Stevens]

Is Stranger in a Strange Land really all that much of a Science Fiction novel? I've read it and I don't think it is, once you get past the little bit of space travel talk at the beginning.

[lu_hawk]

I read that trilogy when I was probably around 12 years old and I thought they were some of the best books I've ever read. Then a couple years ago I picked up a newer Star Wars book that Zahn wrote(I can't remember the name) and it was garbage, I couldn't even get past the first 100 pages. I'm wondering if my tastes were simpler back when I was younger or if he just wrote a lousy book the second time around.

[wayabvpar]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are talking about books you haven't read then I just picked up a copy of Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, apparently it's volume one of "The Baroque Cycle". The LA Times had a book review of the third and final installment of the Baroque Cycle, I've forgotten its title, based upon their review I decided to pick up the first installment.

I haven't read anything by Neal Stephenson, so I'm lookig forward to reading this book. I do however, have a couple of books before it in the buffer.

Jim

[/ QUOTE ]

Haven't started the Baroque Cycle yet, but I have read Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash. Stephenson rocks.

[scrub]

I figured that a thread that was including Dune and Ender's Game had probably been pretty liberal with the "haven't."

scrub

[SomethingClever]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are talking about books you haven't read then I just picked up a copy of Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, apparently it's volume one of "The Baroque Cycle". The LA Times had a book review of the third and final installment of the Baroque Cycle, I've forgotten its title, based upon their review I decided to pick up the first installment.

I haven't read anything by Neal Stephenson, so I'm lookig forward to reading this book. I do however, have a couple of books before it in the buffer.

Jim

[/ QUOTE ]

Beh! Read Cryptonomicon instead. I'm a big Stephenson fan, having read Cryptonomicon, Zodiac, The Big U, Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, but I only made it about halfway through Quicksilver before giving up for the time being.

Cryptonomicon is great, though. After it gets its hooks into you, you won't be able to put it down.

[SomethingClever]

Also, the greatest sci fi books ever written, without question, are

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe, and Everything
So Long and Thanks for all the Fish
and
Mostly Harmless

It's not even close.

But seeing as how I've read each one of these at least a dozen times, I guess they're disqualified.

[natedogg]

Iain Banks - Consider Phlebus

It is a rollercoaster ride. Kind of a sci-fi version of Heart of Darkness. And every poker player will love the "Damage" game at the end of the world. A game of bluff and chance, which only takes place whenever a world is about to be destroyed, the star players come from all over the galaxy to gamble with human lives as chips. Especially nice touch goes to the big star of the game, who has had his face surgically replaced with a chrome mask to prevent tells.

natedogg

[natedogg]

I assume this thread was requesting under-rated or under-celebrated works of sci fi.

Have you heard of Dune? J/k

There's a new guy on the block with a great noir style tinged with ultraviolence and nihilism. The main character is unquestionably an anti-hero, which is always a plus for me. I HATE Luke Skywalker.

Richard K. Morgan is the author.
Altered Carbon
Broken Angels

Altered Carbon has been optioned for a movie.

I couldn't put either of them down.

natedogg

[Lawrence Ng]

I've been a fan of the ST: TNG novels and series.

[Six_of_One]

Jim,

Neal Stephenson is one of my favorites. As a couple other posters mentioned, you should really check out Cryptonomicon, it's a classic. Right now, I'm in the middle of the final volume of the Baroque cycle...you may find Quicksilver a bit slow in parts, but there are some great parts as well. The next book in the series, The Confusion, is simply amazing. I couldn't put it down, which got to be rather inconvenient considering it's 900 pages long. System of the World, the one I'm reading now, is going great so far.

Scott

[BonJoviJones]

[ QUOTE ]
Richard K. Morgan is the author.
Altered Carbon
Broken Angel

[/ QUOTE ]

Agree whole-heartedly. Altered Carbon was better, but BA is worth a read.

I'd like to submit "The Mote In God's Eye" as a profoundly interesting 'first-contact' book. Very smartly written. Can't recommend it enough.

[Legend27]

What does st tng mean?