KRISTEN'S BOARD
KB - a better class of pervert

tagjohnson · **on:** February 23, 2015, 05:35:02 AM

Been rereading some Ray Bradbury and Andre Norton, my two favorites growing up. I honestly don't think I would have lived if it weren't for them.

Elizabeth · **Reply #1 on:** April 10, 2015, 06:16:22 PM

Not just Ray Bradbury, but Edgar Rice Burroughs as well.
Don't forget Robert Heinlein, Arthur Clarke, Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time),
And one of my favorites....Marion Zimmer Bradley (Darkover Series).
But really the Science Fiction list is "HUGE".

Love,
Liz

tagjohnson · **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2015, 09:22:35 AM

Oh I know them well Elizabeth! Clarke's The Star is one of the two or three greatest science fiction short stories of all time. And I definitely loved the Tarzan books as a boy but then don't all American boys? PS I binge read the original Foundation in one long weekend when I was 18 back in 79.

Meatbot · **Reply #3 on:** June 18, 2015, 08:59:32 AM

With great sadness I noted the passing of Iain Banks a few years back. If you haven't read any of his stuff I urge you to. I grew up loving Norton (another recent passer) and all the old "masters" and sci-fi is still my genre of choice. Being a kid in the 60's, what with the moon shots and the rise of technology almost left you no choice. I'm shocked that some people still look down on sci-fi... I also don't think the movie industry has helped much, many people in my family think the recent "super-hero" shit is sci-fi. I suppose I should say "science fiction" instead of "sci-fi".

'bot

tagjohnson · **Reply #4 on:** July 01, 2015, 11:11:12 PM

Not familiar with Iain Banks. Thanks for the tip, I'll have to check him out.

violetta valery · **Reply #5 on:** July 06, 2015, 08:14:52 PM

Definitely my genre of choice! Well, okay, one of my top two genres of choice.

It varies from day to day whether SF or mysteries are my favorite.

Where do you all recommend starting with the Old Masters? I prefer to have one or two "starter books" that I recommend when I'm turning someone on to one of my favorite authors.

My Heinlein starter is "The Door into Summer," because it's a standalone, and it's also a really good illustration of his style. I've also been known to recommend "Job" as a starter, especially to friends I know to be of an irreverent bent.

With Bradbury, one can pretty much start anywhere. It's tougher with writers like Eddings or Jordan, though, who are primarily known for huge mass-ilogies.

Love to hear others' thoughts on what the Ideal Starter Book is for, say, Asimov or Clarke, or any one of the greats.

Elizabeth · **Reply #6 on:** July 06, 2015, 10:23:54 PM

For Bradbury start with one of two short works books:
R is for Rocket
S is for Space
I like Jordan, but stay away from him unless you want to get engrossed in the "Wheel Of Time".....something like +20 Volumes
Clarke.??....try a couple of old books:
Against The Fall of Night
The Sands Of Mars
Heinlein..?? try another old book:
Starman Jones
For an off the wall (hard to find author)
Rebecca Locksley and her novel "The Three Sisters".
Very good book by a relatively unknown author.
So.....Good Luck in your search.
Love,
Liz

violetta valery · **Reply #7 on:** July 06, 2015, 11:01:38 PM

Yeah, I got about eight books into the Waste of Time -- erhh, I mean, Wheel of Time, but I got so frustrated at his refusal to tie up loose threads that I couldn't take it any more.

I'm just always interested in knowing which books to recommend when someone I'm chatting with says, "Oh, I've always wanted to read so-and-so, but where do I start?" Someone always jumps into the conversation with, "Oh, the best book is (last book in the trilogy) so don't bother with the others," and it makes my poor OCD soul just cringe!

Thanks for the input!

IdleBoast · **Reply #8 on:** July 07, 2015, 12:10:43 AM

Good stuff I'd read again, that I haven't seen others mention:

China Meiville (Perdito Street Station, The Scar etc)

Anything by Niven & Pournelle

Dragon's Egg (Robert L Forward)

Long Earth series (Long Earth, Long Earth War, Long Mars, Long Utopia) (Pratchett & Baxter)

Elizabeth · **Reply #9 on:** July 07, 2015, 12:48:09 AM

Or go out on a limb............
Read Douglas Adams Books.
They are more comedy than science fiction, but they are good.
Start with:
The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy......
Then continue from there.

Love,
Liz

Meatbot · **Reply #10 on:** July 07, 2015, 12:56:17 AM

I gotta push my favorite... Iain M. Banks. "Consider "Phlebas" is my fave, and I recommend it to everyone. The scope of it is incredible. The guy knew no limits. Even his non-sci-fi "Iain Banks" stuff is pretty good.

'bot

violetta valery · **Reply #11 on:** July 07, 2015, 01:01:11 AM

Oh, I love Doug Adams! I know a lot of people didn't like his Dirk Gently stuff, but I actually really got into those, even more so than the Hitchhiker books.

If you like Adams, definitely try Tom Holt or Connie Willis. Tom Holt's "Expecting Someone Taller" makes me laugh myself sick every time I read it.

And while we're on recommendations... Spider Robinson. Brilliant, funny, and a diehard Heinlein fan!

'bot, I faithfully promise I will look into Iain Banks; he sounds awesome!

joe_and_michelle · **Reply #12 on:** July 07, 2015, 03:47:08 AM

No Robert Jordan bashing allowed! Happens again, I promise this'll get kicked to 1408 so fast it'll make your head spin.

Thank you!

My only issue with Jordan was that it was so long (in years) from beginning to end. 1990 to 2013. Just 7 days shy of 23 years. The friend that turned me on to Jordan went through 3 divorces in that time.

Speaking of taking a while to complete a series...Jean Auel is another of my favorite authors, though she writes Prehistoric Fiction. Started in 1980, finished in 2011. Michelle turned me on to it in 1995, shortly after we married, so I was on the 16 year plan. The first book was the best, IMO, I'm considering downloading it on Audible and catching it during my commute.

Terry Goodkind ranks as one of my top authors in his "Sword of Truth" series.

None of the above 3 can you just jump in midway, they're all start from the very beginning.

Bradbury, Banks, Adams, all phenomenal authors.

Elizabeth · **Reply #13 on:** July 07, 2015, 03:54:31 AM

Try Sara Douglass for a different read.
Her books are very good, and easy to read.
Take note: she died several years ago, but you can find her stuff (series) on Amazon.
Also my favorite Marion Zimmer Bradley.
The Darkover series is excellent (but very long).
The Avalon Series is already much acclaimed and needs no introduction.
Again Take Note: MZB is also dead.
____________________________________________________________________
Now for a change in direction: John Norman and his series of books "GOR".
The entire collection of out of print books is extremely expensive (1st edition paperback) but they can be found and I recommend only the first 5 books in the series to be read (they happen to be good, the rest is at best so-so).
___________________________________________________________________
Love,
Liz

RopeFiend · **Reply #14 on:** July 07, 2015, 06:42:36 AM

One of my all-time favorites:

Pellegrino and Zebrowski worked extremely well together as authors, and the science was all realistic. It's scary as hell. The basic premise is in the near future, and we've *just* started to colonize Mars and some of the bigger asteroids & moons. We have bare-assed outposts in several places. Our celestial neighbors have been receiving our radio & TV broadcasts since about the 1930s, including the ugly period of the the '40s through '60s that followed (WWII, Korean War and the Vietnam Debacle). Imagine their surprise!

If you're an old race, what odds are you comfortable with that some apparently violent and warlike neighbors (us!) AREN'T going to commit genocide on you once they get star travel. How much risk is acceptable to you (as a species), for the possible extinction of your species?

Elizabeth · **Reply #15 on:** July 07, 2015, 03:09:49 PM

Quote from: toeinh2o on July 07, 2015, 04:05:54 AM

George Stewart's "Earth Abides" (1949) is a masterpiece.

Earth Abides is considered a "Classic", and as Toe said a Masterpiece.
It IS well worth reading.
I have a copy of it as well.

Love,
Liz

Elizabeth · **Reply #16 on:** July 07, 2015, 04:15:11 PM

Also check out this little know author:

Alfred Bester
The Stars My Destination
The Demolished Man - His second novel and the very first book to be awarded a HUGO.

Love,
Liz

msslave · **Reply #17 on:** July 07, 2015, 06:16:29 PM

I loved the "Golden Age" authors, Asimov, Bradbury, etc. Spent much of my youth wasting time on SF instead of school work.

Still enjoy going back and revisiting many of those stories.

One "newer" author that grabbed me several years ago is Orson Scott Card. His "Ender's Game" while written as a book for teens, led into "Speaker For The Dead". He says that's the book he wanted to write, but had to do "Ender's Game" first.

I listen to audio books now and the producers of those used several voices. It's more of a radio drama as opposed to an audio book. The reader who voices the Hive Queen brought that alien to life. If you're interested in the books, I highly recommend getting the audio version.

fnord · **Reply #18 on:** July 10, 2015, 06:41:23 AM

I learned to read with scifi. "See Dick, See Jane" just wasn't cutting it, so my mom taught me to read with Skylark of Valeron, of all things. So, yeah, I still like E E "Doc" Smith after all these years, both Skylark and Lensmen series. In fact, I like all the old pulp scifi I can get hold of.

Let's see, what else?

Lovecraft basically set my standards for horror. You can have your zombies and vampires (but Lumley did what I thought was a nice Lovecraftian vampire series), I'll take the multi-tentacular extra-dimensional horrors every time.

I also like military scifi and fantasy: David Drake is a big one for me. Hammer's Slammers, Northworld, pretty much anything he's ever written. Elizabeth Moon (IIRC) has a good military fantasy series with Paksenarion.

My two favorite epic military fantasy series are Glen Cook's Black Company and Steven Erickson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. I started listening to the Malazan audiobooks in late March, as I recall, and just finished them on the 3rd of July. I listen while I drive, and I usually get at least 40 hours of drive time a week.

There's so much good scifi out there, I can't list it all.

And by the way, I know the "correct" term is science fiction, not scifi, but as far as I'm concerned, that's pointless snobbery.

ObiDongKenobi · **Reply #19 on:** August 10, 2015, 09:45:49 PM

An honourable mention of some of the early British greats has to be made.

Fred Hoyle, best known for "A for Andromeda", but "The Black Cloud" and "October the Thirteenth is Too Late" are well worth reading.

John Wyndham best known for "The Day of the Triffids" and "The Midwich Cuckoos" (filmed twice as Village of the Damned), but "The Chrysalids" is regarded by many as his best.

Nobody seems to have mentioned H G Wells and Brian Aldiss

My personal favourite of Arthur C Clarke's is "Childhood's End"

Science Fiction Fan

IdleBoast

joe_and_michelle