Looking for some reading suggestions

[red5angel]

Gonna go browse the book store for a good science fiction book, but at the moment have no clue where to start. I've read all the books I know I wanted to read, so now I got to start looking for something new. Any suggestions?
I personally prefer science fiction to science fantasy, but if the science fantasy is good I can enjoy that as well. I also really enjoy either good "exploratory" books, like the Heechee Saga by Frederick Pol or Ring world by Niven.

[Radhnoti]

I remember enjoying a book called "Armor" quite a bit, by John Steakley. I like the Ender books by Orson Scott Card...which you've probably read.

Good luck.

[Ben Gash]

"Deathstalker" by Simon Green is REALLY good (way better than the title suggests). Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks is truly superb, and The Player of Games is good (and easier to read).I'm not a big SF guy myself, I prefer straight fantasy. From there I'd recommend Legend by David Gemmell as a good way in that may change your perspective.

[Chang Style Novice]

Change your pitch up. Do like I'm doing and start in on the classics. On the stack: Homage to Catalonia (Orwell), The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway), Frankenstein (Shelley), Portnoy's Complaint (Roth).

[MasterKiller]

Originally posted by Chang Style Novice
Change your pitch up. Do like I'm doing and start in on the classics. On the stack: Homage to Catalonia (Orwell), The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway), Frankenstein (Shelley), Portnoy's Complaint (Roth). Don't bother reading more than one Roth novel. He can't seem to get over the fact that he's Jewish and spends most of his time complaining to you about it.

[red5angel]

I actually went through a classics phase about a year and a half ago. From time to time I turn back to some of those, HG Wells being my favorite. I'm actually thinking of starting a Cthulu phase. Apparently not only did Lovecraft not build the Mythos on his own, but he swapped ideas with a couple of other guys, most notably Clark Ashton Smith, Frederich Von Junzt, E Howard and Fritz Leiber.

Radhnoti - I actually had to buy a second copy of Armor because I've read it about 15 times now, it's one of my favorites. If you enjoyed that one then Starship Troopers and Forever War are both must reads.

[Tak]

Dune series.
Endymion series.
Dark Tower series.

[red5angel]

Dark Tower series was good, just have to wait another 10 years for the next one :(

Dune, the first book = excellent, Dune, the series = sucks really bad.

Never heard of the other series.....

[Tak]

Final Dark Tower will be released Sept. 21, 2004.

[red5angel]

awesome! I was wondering about that, do you know what it's called?

[SanSoo Student]

Just read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. ****, nice easy book to read that has alot of depth in it. If your going into more classic books I would suggest "The Trial" by Franz Kafka.

[Li Kao]

My screen name is from a character in Barry Hugart's 3 related novels: Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen. It is a mix of humor, fantasy, and mystery, set in a period of "an ancient China that never was." The 2nd and 3rd book are out of print unfortunately, but "Bridge of Birds" is available at Borders/Barnes & Noble/Amazon and is a fantastic read -- very funny and fascinating at the same time.

[cerebus]

The Cthuluhu Mythos baby! Lovecraft, Bloch, Derleth, Smith, etc. That stuff rocks. There are even some really decent modern writers updating the Mythos & bringing it into the present (and even the future). "The New Lovecraft Circle" has some good stuff.

Also, I don't know if you're a horror/ mystery fan, but "Falling Angel" by William Hjortsberg is the book that the movie "Angel Heart" was based on.

Another departure (though Sci-Fi related) is "Sex and Rockets" by John Carter. It's the biography of Jack Parsons, one of the founders of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories (who even has a moon crater named after him). He was an early Sci-Fi fan and close (very close) friends with a young L. Ron Hubbard before Hubbard split with Parson's money, woman and yacht! Parsons was also a disciple of the famous black magician Aleister Crowley and conducted many magical ceremonies in his huge old mansion in Pasadena, CA. Interesting book about an interesting person.

I'm partial to anything by Robert E. Howard as well. Not just Conan, but his Cthulhu Mythos stories, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn and others.

[Vash]

Originally posted by red5angel
awesome! I was wondering about that, do you know what it's called?

The Dark Tower [The Dark Tower 7] (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1880418622/ref=ord_cart_shr/104-5201791-8315102?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance)

****, I need to get books five and six, too.

Dam sumamabich needs to slow down this whole writin' thing for us illiterate folks.

[Tak]

Heh, they were all several years apart each until last year. When he finished writing the last three and put them on a fixed release schedule. Tomorrow's the day.

[Ben Gash]

Just read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. ****, nice easy book to read
Are you high on glue? The weird psuedo religious flashback bits make it far from easy to read.It is very good however.

[red5angel]

Philip K **** is always a good read, I have most of his stuff already....BladeRunner, even though it's really nothng like the book, is my favorite movie of all time.


So what is the skinny on the Dark Tower series? Last I read was Wizard and Glass, and I'm in the book store yesterday browsing when all of a sudden there is the last book, and two more between the last and W&G!!! So King went from writing every 5 years or so to every year?!

[KC Elbows]

"The Lathe of Heaven" by Ursulla K. LeGuin is good, probably the last sci fi I had time to read. Her short stories are astounding as well.

Online, I read an awesome collection of short stories, very speculative stuff, but solid in their fantastical world crafting. It was a series, "My yappy dog is mean" by Red5angel, "My yappy dog is tough" by Red5angel, and the final masterpiece, where the sci fi gives way to hyperrealism, "please little children, don't hurt my yappy dog", by Red5angel. I don't have the link handy, but if you do a google search for "internet trolls" AND "canine rats", it should come right up.

[Li Kao]

I haven't read the novel yet for "Lathe of Heaven", but I did see the recent move remake in 2002 (I think the original movie was circa 1980) starring James Caan, Lukas Haas, and Lisa Bonet. Very interesting story -- I'm sure the book is much better (as is almost always the case)