Best Books of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Classic Fiction

Submitted by baker on Sun, 01/23/2005 - 12:01
Tags: 
  • Delicious
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Technorati

  1. Fiction

  3. The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring / The Two Towers / The Return of the King; J.R.R. Tolkien)
    Greatest fantasy tale ever written.
  4. A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle Book 1, Ursula K. LeGuin)
    A very cool world of wizards and the power of names.
  5. Dune (Dune Chronicles Book 1, Frank Herbert)
    An entirely desert planet of giant sandworms and the prescience power of spice.
  6. Farenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
    A dystopian novel that hits frighteningly close to home. For anyone who loves to read.
  7. Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell)
    The classic dystopian novel. Big Brother is watching. A must read for anyone who values freedom.
  8. Brave New World (Alduous Huxley)
    Another fascinating dystopian novel, foretelling of genetic engineering, helicopters, television, and recreational drug use… written in the 1930s.
  9. Replay (Ken Grimwood)
    An absolutely incredible work that demonstrates why science fiction is not just about space ships and robots. If you've ever wondered how your life could have turned out differently, this is a must read.
  10. Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs Book 1, Richard K. Morgan)
    Cyberpunk science fiction at its finest. Near future world where people's minds exist digitally, allowing you to switch bodies.
  11. The Great Book of Amber (The Chronicles of Amber Books 1-10, Roger Zelazny)
    Epic science fiction fantasy blend set in modern times. Infinite dimensions exist and can be easily traveled by a select family.
  12. Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy)
    A beautiful 19th century novel of the human condition. For anyone who has felt the pangs of love or the agony of being an artist.
  13. The Hobbit (Prequel to The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien)
    An easy read that captures the imagination. A great starting point to get into the Fantasy genre.
  14. Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein)
    Don't see the movie. It doesn't even come close to this gritty Science Fiction masterpiece. A great read especially for those interested in the military.
  15. Ender's Game (Ender Wiggin Saga Book 1, Orson Scott Card)
    One of best Science Fiction novels ever. You can easily escape reality and lose yourself in this enthralling tale of an intelligent young boy that captures some real truths about being a kid.
  16. Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles Book 3, Frank Herbert)
    The only book in the Dune Chronicles I enjoyed as much as the first. A MILLION times better than Dune Messiah, so don't quit on book 2.
  17. The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle Book 3, Ursula K. LeGuin)
    A stunning wizard fantasy that builds from the first two books. The story depicts the universal foe of death, described with such powerful imagery.
  18. The Maltese Falcon (Dashiell Hammett)
    What a great detective novel! The perfect read if you're craving a trenchcoat and fedora 1920s mystery.
  19. Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
    The extremely popular novel of a young man trying to hold onto his individuality in a world of phony social constructs.
  20. Lady Chatterley's Lover (D.H. Lawrence)
    Possibly the best depiction of the human quest for true love in an imperfect world.
  21. For Us, The Living (Robert Heinlein)
    Utopia in 2082 characterized by no marriage, private vs. public sphere, monetary allowance for all citizens, print money economy, and minimal clothing
  22. The Forever War (Joe Haldeman)
    Time dilation due to near-speed-of-light space travel and its results on Earth while soldiers fight a distant alien enemy.
  23. Left Behind (Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins)
    A thrilling page turner about the sudden disappearance of half the world's populace.
  24. The Lords of Discipline (Pat Conroy)
    The best novel about life as a cadet, be it at The Citadel, VMI, or the Service Academies.
  25. Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt)
    A poignant tale of an impoverished Irish family that is ghastly in it's suffering, yet able to evoke laughter and hope from an innocent childhood perspective.
  26. Xenocide (Ender Wiggin Saga Book 3, Orson Scott Card)
    Outstanding return to form that makes the "Ender" series well worth the read.
  27. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
    Terribly slow and tedious at times, this book grows on you the further you read. By the end, you'll understand that Frankenstein is a true masterpiece undeserving of the campy stereotype image of the movies.
  28. The Naked and the Dead (Norman Mailer)
    Life in the military, especially in war, is too harsh to tolerate the superficialities of social norms. The only way to survive, to not go mad with fear, is to accept the fact that you are already dead. We are naked and vulnerable, despite our attempts at relevance with personal appearances and fleeting possessions.
  29. Lucifer's Hammer (Larry Niven & Pournelle)
    A massive asteroid crashes into the earth sending everyone into a panicked struggle for survival. A fascinating look at how people might cope with the crumbling of modern civilization.
  30. Gates of Fire (Steven Pressfield)
    Awesome fictional tale based on the true events of 300 elite Spartan soldiers slaying a million of the invading Persian hordes. Inspiring for people about to join the military.
  31. Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos Book 1, Dan Simmons)
    Who would think to build an intergalactic sci-fi epic around the works of one of the most impressive poets of the 19th century, John Keats? Seems like a ridiculous combination, yet it works through a character driven delivery in the vein of "The Canterbury Tales." A great testament that we may be done with the past, but the past is never done with us. WARNING: This book is only half of the story, with no semblance of an ending. You must read "Fall of Hyperion" immediately afterwards to get legitimate closure.
  32. Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos Book 2, Dan Simmons)
    Often times, we cringe at the prospect of hating the sequel to a book we liked. Sequels often fall short. In this case, the story gets far better. Definitely a must-read for science fiction fans.
  33. Lord of Light (Roger Zelazny)
    This book gets better with every chapter as we see the interactions between gods. Much like the Roman gods (Zeus, Ares, Hermes, Aphrodite, etc.) except in a Hindu version.
  34. The Iliad (Book 1, Homer)
    One of the oldest books ever written. The definitive war epic portraying the jealousies of kings and the unquenchable rage of Achilles. Just don't expect to find references to a Trojan Horse or Achilles' Heels.
  35. The Odyssey (Book 2, Homer)
    The grandfather of fantasy and imagination in literature. Be regaled by tales of the crafty Odysseus.
  36. Children of the Mind (Ender Wiggin Saga Book 4, Orson Scott Card)
    A thoroughly enjoyable finale to an awesome sci-fi series. Not to be missed.
  37. The Eye In the Pyramid (The Illuminatus! Part 1, Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson)
    A disjointed mindfrag of conspiracies and myths revealed. It's a detective story, a sci-fi novel, political commentary, and a rauchy romance novel all rolled into one.
  38. Elric of Melnibone (Michael Moorcock)
    What an intriguing beginning. Unfortunately, the fascination and excitement take a plunge as the second half of this book loses its focus.
  39. The Sword of Shannara (Terry Brooks)
    Classic meat and potatoes fantasy on par with "The Lord of the Rings," with an interesting twist.
  40. Flowers For Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
    A mentally handicapped man has brain surgery and becomes a genius. Great story about the drawbacks of intelligence and the horror of losing one's self-consciousness.
  41. The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle Book 2, Ursula K. LeGuin)
    The sequel to A Wizard of EarthSea a more subdued, localized adventure, yet still a very fun read definitely worth reading beyond the first book.
  42. Ringworld (Larry Niven)
    Fascinating artificially constructed world. The physics of how Ringworld exists is cool. The characters are of rather silly design, but it's a fun read good enough for serious sci-fi fans.
  43. Digital Fortress (Dan Brown)
    Captivating story about cryptology within the National Security Agency (NSA), the agency that spies on our emails.
  44. White Noise (Don DeLillo)
    Great book about how abnormal the average family really is. In our materialistic suburbia, there's no such thing as happily ever after.
  45. Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray)
    Life is hard. Survival is rarely easy. As in nature, there are the strong and the weak. The smart and the dumb. Natural selection. As in society, there are lambs and there are wolves. The weaker sex may not be as strong physically, but in society the mind and lips make for an unpredictable battleground.
  46. The Woodlanders (D.H. Lawrence)
    Masterful story about life and love in a rural English village, expertly contrasted by the backdrop of the harsh, unfeeling world of Nature.
  47. The Summons (John Grisham)
    About the complications of inheritance and what happens after a rich guy dies. Really good mystery that builds throughout.
  48. The Testament (John Grisham)
    A woman doctor helping poor natives in the Amazon jungle is suddenly the heiress to a massive fortune. Except no one has heard from her in years. Can the lawyer find her before time runs out and the money goes to the greedy relatives?
  49. Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert Heinlein)
    An outstanding look at love, sex, and marriage from a 1960s perspective with a science fiction bent.
  50. Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy)
    A fascinating western tale delving into the dark side of man. I'm not into westerns, generally, but this is an awesome story.
  51. The Invisible Man (H.G. Wells)
    It really would be cool to be invisible sometimes. But not all the time. That would probably suck.
  52. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Robert Heinlein)
    A futuristic laissez-faire moon colony with technical difficulties. A fascinating futuristic society.
  53. The Rainbow (D.H. Lawrence)
    Life goes on. There are highs and lows, but what art rarely captures is the repetitiveness, the endless transition of generations. This great book is a marathon in describing life, rather than a one sentence summary. Life is full of love and tragedy. It is unplanned, unrehearsed, awkward, unjust, and random. There are no perfect parallel storylines to tie together. There are no fairytale endings. Life simply goes on.
  54. American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
    There's God and then there's gods in the classic Greek & Roman sense. Just imagine these gods, who've been around for millenia, blending in with modern American culture, each with their own agenda.
  55. Taps (Willie Morris)
    A genuine tale of a young American boy growing up during the Korean war. Though far from the battlefields across the sea, the boy experiences the effects of death as he plays Taps on his trumpet at military funerals and gets a job working in a funeral home. Outstanding book about male youth as well as a critical perspective on the sad side of military service.
  56. The Broker (John Grisham)
    Another fun Grisham novel. Definitely worth reading if you like his other books.
  57. Broken Angels (Takeshi Kovacs Book 2, Richard K. Morgan)
    Not anywhere nearly as good as "Altered Carbon." However, a decent story if you simply must have more after "Altered Carbon."
  58. The Stars My Destination (Alfred Bester)
    A compelling tale of revenge. Also, a very intriguing future world in which people are just learning how to teleport themselves with their mind.
  59. Sons and Lovers (D.H. Lawrence)
    A masterful tale exploring the intricacies of emotions between family members. Love, romance, and jealousy depicted with tremendous insight.
  60. Heretics of Dune (Dune Chronicles Book 5, Frank Herbert)
    This is where the Dune series gets back to having lots of action instead of boring talking all the time. This is also where Frank Herbert realized that the giant sandworms are what made this series interesting in the first place.
  61. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
    Story of a young girl with a passion for books as she grows up in Brooklyn. Very worthwhile tale of youth from the female side.
  62. The King of Torts (John Grisham)
    The lawyer world of lawsuits is both fascinating and despicable in its excess.
  63. A Fire Upon The Deep (Vernor Virge)
    An excellent sci-fi epic in which the closer you get to the center of the universe, the more the strong gravitational fields slow space travel and hamper technology. At the universe's outer rim known as The Beyond, humankind mistakenly unleashes a cosmic monster bent on enslaving all civilizations.
  64. Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer - Part II: Lords of Destruction (James Silke)
    This is rated "R" barbarian fantasy for its gritty, gory, and sexual content. The Frazetta cover alone inspires powerful imagery throughout the book.
  65. Wieland, or The Transformation (Charles Brockden Brown)
  66. Homeport (Nora Roberts)
  67. The Giver (Lois Lowry)
  68. Bleak House (Charles Dickens)
  69. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
  70. Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
  71. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
  72. Tender is the Night (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
  73. The Jungle (John Sinclair)
  74. Call of the Wild (Jack London)
  75. A Princess of Mars (Edgar Rice Burroughs)
  76. Chapterhouse: Dune (Dune Chronicles Book 6, Frank Herbert)
  77. God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles Book 4, Frank Herbert)
  78. Speaker for the Dead (Ender Wiggin Saga Book 2, Orson Scott Card)
  79. The Once and Future King (T.H. White)
  80. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Phillip K. Dick)
  81. Dreamcatcher (Stephen King)
  82. The Chamber (John Grisham)
  83. The Batman Murders (Craig Shaw Gardner)
  84. House Made of Dawn (N. Scott Momaday)
  85. Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
  86. The Thin Red Line (James Jones)
  87. Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
  88. Moll Flanders (Daniel Dafoe)
  89. Shattered Chains (Magic: The Gathering) (Clayton Emery)
  90. Journey to the Center of the Earth (Jules Verne)
  91. The Lord of the Flies (William Gerald Golding)
  92. Utopia (Thomas More)
  93. Lord Foul's Bane (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever Book 1, Stephen R. Donaldson)
  94. Neuromancer (William Gibson)
    The birth of the Cyberpunk genre. Although it is a fascinating world, the characters didn't captivate me.
  95. The Mayor of Casterbridge (Thomas Hardy)
  96. The House of Mirth
  97. Foundation (Foundation Book 1, Isaac Asimov)
  98. Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy)
  99. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
  100. Far From the Madding Crowd (Thomas Hardy)
  101. A Day No Pigs Would Die (Robert Newton Peck)
  102. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou)
  103. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
  104. The Bretheren (John Grisham)
  105. My Teacher Is An Alien (Teacher Book 1, Bruce Coville)
  106. My Teacher Fried My Brains (Teacher Book 2, Bruce Coville)
  107. My Teacher Glows In the Dark (Teacher Book 3, Bruce Coville)
  108. My Teacher Flunked the Planet (Teacher Book 4, Bruce Coville)
  109. The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
  110. A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quartet Book 1, Madeleine L'Engle)
  111. A Wind in the Door (Time Quartet Book 2, Madeleine L'Engle)
  112. A Swiftly Tilting Planet (Time Quartet Book 3, Madeleine L'Engle)
  113. Many Waters (Time Quartet Book 4, Madeleine L'Engle)
  114. Anastasia Has the Answers (Anastasia Krupnik Book 6, Lois Lowry)
  115. The Silmarillion (Prequel to The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien)
  116. The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
  117. Across Five Aprils (Irene Hunt)
  118. The Other Wind (Earthsea Cycle Book 5, Ursula K. LeGuin)
  119. Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles Book 2, Frank Herbert)
  120. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
  121. Isaac Asimov's Robots in Time Book 1: Predator (William F. Wu)

  123. SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS:

  124. The Collected Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
  125. The Dubliners (James Joyce)
  126. Tales From Earthsea (Ursula K. LeGuin)
  127. The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre
  128. The Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury)
    What will the future be like once we achieve the technology to enable us to start colonizing Mars? Will we do better as a society with a chance to start over?
  129. Short Stories of John Cheever
  130. Short Stories of Edgar Allen Poe
  131. I, Robot (Isaac Asimov)
  132. Collected Robot Short Stories of Isaac Asimov Vol.I-II
  133. The Casualty (Heinrich Boll)
  134. Azazel (Isaac Asimov)
  135. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irving)

  137. SHORT STORIES:

  138. "The Dead" (James Joyce)
  139. "The Rule of Names" (Ursula K. Le Guin)
  140. "The Root and the Ring" (Wyman Guin)
  141. "Bird of Prey" (John Collier)
  142. "The Man Who Could Not See Devils" (Joanna Russ)
  143. "The Detective of Dreams" (Gene Wolfe)
  144. "Feathertop: A Moralized Legend" (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
  145. "The Green Magician" (L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt)
    Last installment of a fantasy series in which magic is a form of mathematical science. Main characters land in old Ireland and meet the legendary Cuchulainn.
  146. "The Magic Fishbone (Charles Dickens)
  147. "The Goddess on the Street Corner" (Margaret St. Clair)
  148. "Mi Li: A Chinese Fairy Tale"
  149. "The King and His Three Daughters"
  150. "Our Fair City" (Robert A. Heinlein)
    Story about a sentient mini-tornado that lives in the city and collects old newspapers.
  151. "A New Arabian Night's Entertainment"
  152. "The Dice-box: A Fairy Tale"
  153. "The Peach in the Brandy"
  154. "The Stonecutter" (wishes fulfilled)
  155. "The Grocer" (on a window sill)

  157. Non-Fiction

  158. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey)
  159. How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie)
  160. Economics for Dummies (Sean Masaki Flynn)
  161. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (Charles Wheelan)
  162. What Color Is Your Parachute? (Richard Nelson Bolles)
  163. The Goal (Elihyu Goldratt)
  164. End the Fed (Ron Paul)
  165. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families (Stephen Covey)
  166. Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott)
  167. The Revolution (Ron Paul)
  168. Marley and Me (John Grogan)
  169. The Ethics of War & Peach (Paul Christopher)
  170. The Tao of Pooh (Benjamin Hoff)
  171. Patriot Reign (Michael Holley)
  172. Candide (Voltaire)
  173. Eintstein's Dreams (Alan Lightman)
  174. Walden (Henry David Thoreau)
  175. Hiking & Backpacking in Big Sur
  176. Hiking in L.A.
  177. Operations Management (Jae K. Shim & Joel G. Siegel)

  179. Religion

  180. The Holy Bible Old Testament
  181. The Holy Bible New Testament
  182. The Book of Mormon
  183. The Purpose Driven Life (Rick Warren)
  184. The New Era
  185. The Kitabiaqdas
Author Comments: 

For this list, books that are part of a series are listed separately (still ranked based on overall quality), but notating which book of the series it is.

I also felt it was important to distinguish the short story books from the novels, as they are distinct entities in the world of literature.

When it comes to overall skill as an author, I feel these are the best because of high quality & quantity of their publications:
D.H. Lawrence
Robert Heinlein
Ursula K. LeGuin

professor01/24/2005

Is this a list of your own personal favourites which you have read ?
Check this out, &nbsp or &nbsp my own list of favourites.

baker01/25/2005

Yes, I've read all of these and recommend them to others in the order they are ranked. As you can tell, I'm a big fan of intelligent sci-fi/fantasy. I like books that have intriguing characters but that also make you think.

professor02/20/2005

This is a fantastic list.
From it I've read:

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Dune (Frank Herbert)
Farenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell)
Brave New World (Alduous Huxley)
Replay (Ken Grimwood)
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
The Iliad/The Odyssey (Homer)
Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy)
Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert Heinlein)
Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) - JUST FINISHED
The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)

SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS:
The Best of H.P. Lovecraft:
I, Robot (Isaac Asimov)

baker02/20/2005

Thanks a lot for the compliment. Based on the list you've read already I'd recommend these titles for you, specifically:
Altered Carbon (great sci-fi detective story)
Starship Troopers (classic military sci-fi)
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (utopia category)
Frankenstein (slow at first, but great deep read)
The Jungle (pretty bleak at times, but at the crux of humanity)
The Dubliners (Irish short stories with some real depth)
The Sword of Shannara (great Tolkien-like fantasy)

professor02/21/2005

I'm currently reading: Robert Heinlein - To Sail Beyond The Sunset

misscurly09/20/2005

I like the banner at the top. It's very.. amazon.

There's a lot of SF, which is nice because I'm always interested in reading good SF. There's an awful lot of garbage out there.

I've read this section:
Farenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell)
Brave New World (Alduous Huxley)
(all my favourites, too)
and randoms scattered without. I assume by groupiung them, that's what you meant, but it would be nice to see where you would place the divisions.

baker09/21/2005

Ha ha! Glad you like my list. I'm definitely big on literature, especially Sci-Fi. And I agree with you that there is a lot of terrible Sci-Fi novels out there. It's an awesome genre because the only limit is your imagination. Unfortunately, some authors' imaginations only stretch as far as a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings clone. I'd definitely recommend "Replay" by Ken Grimwood as the perfect example of less stereotypical Sci-Fi (Sci-Fi is NOT just about outer space and flying cars).

It's interesting that you should list Farenheit 451, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Brave New World as your favorites. I'm a huge fan of those books and their common genre: utopian literature. I actually wrote my undergrad thesis on the analysis of those very three novels. And it was a blast going back and comparing them.

I like your suggestion about breaking up some of the book series I have grouped. That way you can see which books are weak or strong that might stand out if you're not interested in reading all the books. I could still number each book separately, indicating the order of the series.

professor09/25/2005

Replay by Ken Grimwood is a great favourite of mine, &nbsp and I &nbsp plan to (re)read it in 2006.
Highly recommended.

misscurly10/07/2005

I think that would be a very interesting thesis to read!

I'm a super English nerd; I love reading interesting essays and such. Strangely enough, I'm actually studying biology. I figure that I should pursue my passion along its own meandering pathway, and learn something a little more rigid at school.

I will certainly check out that replay book.

baker10/07/2005

Maybe at some point I'll post my thesis, maybe get some responses of others similarly academically inclined.

I had the same idea of pursuing a more marketable major in college. I was completely bent on being a Civil Engineer. The problem was that I was lost-in-the-sauce when it came to my freshman math class ("Discrete Dynamical Systems"). And being at a military college, I had plenty of added pressure. Thus, I felt I would not be able to handle the stress of confusing academics in addition to the military stuff. So I decided I had to either choose a major that I really enjoyed or else to drop out. I really had a blast as an English Major (Literature focus), and I still had to minor in Electrical Engineering anyway. I was happy with my choice but the thing is that I had the luxury of having a guaranteed job immediately after college. Thus I wasn't worried about pursuing the humanities. If I went to Cornell University, I surely would have been an engineering geek, or would've died trying.

misscurly10/19/2005

Well, being at a civilian school I don't have the luxury of a guaranteed job. I considered RMC... but I doubt soldiering is for me.
I'm about to go pick up the book.. yay!

darktremor11/15/2005

Awesome list! Out of the books posted here, I've read:
The Lord of the Rings
A Wizard of Earthsea
Dune
Fahrenheit 451
1984
The Hobbit
All 4 Ender's Game books
Starship Troopers
Xenocide
The Sword of Shannara
Digital Fortress
(currently reading Ringworld)
Call of the Wild
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Lord Foul's Bane (I didn't actually like this series...)
The Giver
Of Mice and Men
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Lord of the Flies
The Silmarillion
Dreamcatcher

I highly recommend the "His Dark Materials" series to you. And John Varley's Steel Beach. (Oh, and check out anything by Robert J. Sawyer [with the exception of his early dinosaur books]: best contemporary sci-fi writer, by a longshot)

baker11/15/2005

Hey thanks for your comments. I especially appreciate your recommendations, I'll definitely check 'em out. That's funny that you didn't like the Thomas Covenant the Unbeleiver series because I totally agree with you. I read the first book and was really getting into it at the start, but then it just started going downhill and I really thought it was the most awful book I'd read in awhile. I didn't even bother reading any of the sequels, so I'm glad I didn't waste my time.

bertie11/16/2005

An absolutely essential collection of short stories for any reader is that of H.G. Wells. There are two substantially different editions:

The Short Stories of H.G. Wells was first published in 1927 by Ernest Benn, with many reprints since. It contains 63 stories.

The Complete Short Stories of H.G. Wells Editied by John Hammond, was first published in 1998 by J.M. Dent. It contains an additional 22 stories, including a revised version of "The Country of the Blind".

Of course the latter is to be preferred, but the former is well worth having. Every sf library should have at least one or the other.

baker11/16/2005

Sweet recommendation, dude. I'm definitely a big fan of "The Invisible Man" so I'll be sure to check out his short stories collection.

karan12911/10/2007

William Gibson - Neuromancer

I think it was the book responsible for the genesis of cyberpunk. It is very, very good, transports you into a whole new world. I read this after reading some heavy fantasy, so effect was even greater.

Some fantasy suggestions -
George Martin - The Song of Ice and Fire
Steven Errikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time

baker12/15/2007

Thanks so much for the recommendations. I'll check them out. I have read "Neuromancer", however. Although it had some very cool stuff in it, I was never really captivated by it. I guess it was too wordy and I never felt attached to the characters.

karan12912/25/2007

Yeah, Neuromancer is quite emotionless and dystopian in parts, there is that general feeling of decay permeating through his descriptions of Chiba and other cities, but I feel its an essential part of the atmosphere he lays down, since Gibson is aiming for an entirely different kind of sci-fi novel. He succeded in transporting me into a totally different world.

Though you have a good point, the characters are so different that they're difficult to identify with.

JohnnyW02/16/2008

This may be the single best synopsis of Vanity Fair ever! Good list...

Johnny Waco

baker02/23/2008

Thanks! Vanity Fair is a exceptional book. What did you think of Reese Witherspoon in the movie version? Of course the movie version is never as good as the book, but some are better than others.

karan12905/21/2009

I'd recommend the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. In my opinion, its about as good as Dune. Its intelligent science fiction, with well developed characters and is developed realistically. Not to mention its breathtaking.