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Recommend Some Sci-Fi Books!
Zeromus
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Registered User regular
So, on a note completely divergent from my recent H/A thread about sex headaches (or, perhaps, tangentially related once my girlfriend abandons me for want of a penis that doesn't halt during intercourse due to my skull imploding), I'm seeking some science fiction book recommendations.
I'm not overly familiar with the classic works of the genre. I'm probably looking for something with a healthy dash of action or adventure mixed in, but most preferably, some good ol' mindfuck psychedelia. I've recently consumed some Star Trek as well as Grant Morrison's New X-Men (which was surprisingly sci-fi influenced), and am probably looking for things in that vein. (Though I recently saw the film "A Scanner Darkly," based on Philip K. Dick's novel, and loved it up until the very, very end, as well as "Blade Runner"; both of these are the sort of juicy "mindfucks" I thirst for.) I've enjoyed the Ender's Game series in the past, as well as Ender's Shadow, if that helps give you an idea of the sort of thing I'm looking for.
Thanks, guys.
I'm not overly familiar with the classic works of the genre. I'm probably looking for something with a healthy dash of action or adventure mixed in, but most preferably, some good ol' mindfuck psychedelia. I've recently consumed some Star Trek as well as Grant Morrison's New X-Men (which was surprisingly sci-fi influenced), and am probably looking for things in that vein. (Though I recently saw the film "A Scanner Darkly," based on Philip K. Dick's novel, and loved it up until the very, very end, as well as "Blade Runner"; both of these are the sort of juicy "mindfucks" I thirst for.) I've enjoyed the Ender's Game series in the past, as well as Ender's Shadow, if that helps give you an idea of the sort of thing I'm looking for.
Thanks, guys.
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To start, I recommend World War Z by Max Brooks.
I agree that William Gibson's cyberpunk books sound like a good fit. I've only read Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, and that was cyberpunk with a lot more action. I liked Hyperion, but thought Endymion was a horrible, horrible book.
Stanislaw Lem's stories are pretty weird, but not many were translated into English.
You might try some SF short story collections. I've usually liked the Year's Best Science Fiction collections edited by Gardner Dozois.
Some of Kurt Vonnegut's stuff is pretty sci-fi (with time travel and aliens and whatnot). And Vonnegut is amazing
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Excellent suggestion. Start with The Man in the High Castle and go from there.
does anyone remember the title and name of the author by any chance?
Radio Free Albemuth, VALIS, and The Divine Invasion should immediately follow it
Dogmen, drug feathers, and mindfuckery abound.
'Vaccum Diagrams' is one of my favorite Sci Books. Heavy Sci-Fi and a good mind f_uck.
I also have some weird soft spot for Jack McDevitt and the 'Engines of God' series. A deep exploriation/discovery journey.
Another one of my favorite books is 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow' by Charles Sheffield. A heavy Sci-fi with an immense time spanning story line.
Does anyone know if A Scanner Darkly is worth reading? Is it better than the movie?
If you prefer science fiction to be more grandiose than Star Trek, here are a few options. Iain M. Banks culture series is very good. You might want to start with the The Player of Games or Consider Phlebas. The former is a adventure, in which Gurgeh, a bored master of countless games, is convinced by Special Circumstances, a secritive branch of the Culture which handles alien contact, espionage, and occasionally war, to compete in a tournament in an alien empire.
You should also consider A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernon Vinge. I think Vinge popularized the idea of a t technological singularity and he carefully portrays the idea that sufficiently advantaged technologically is indistinguishable from magic. In A Fire Upon the Deep, there are a series of increasingly paranoid arguments on the galactic internet about the best course of action to take against an incredibly advanced alien being that has begun to spread like a virus through known space.
I should have listed this first, because its not as well known and completely amazing: Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling. The novel is about a post-human war between the shapers and the mechanists. The former are masters of genetic modification and mental training and the latter rely on cybernetic and computer technologies.
Lastly, a more conservative choice. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. A tale of vengeance, The Stars My Destination, is really the ancestor of modern cyberpunk. It combines the strengths of the subgenre (interesting heroes, villians, speculation, danger) with what is often lacking: a satisfying resolution.
If you like Xmen and Startrek stuff you might also go for Peter F Hamilton. Good stock fantasy scifi stuff with aliens and laser beams. And you can beat a whale to death with the 1000 page books he pumps out.
Honestly, it's probably not worth reading just because the movie was such a straight adaption of it (doesn't it even play PKD's message about drug abuse as a text screen before the credits?)
Blade Runner, on the other hand, is completely different and much more thematic in the form of Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?
However, as a comic fan, you may be interested to know that BOOM! is doing a 24 issue version of Do Androids Dream... ?, full-text starting in a week or two. I forget who's doing the art, but I don't think they're a particularly big name.
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The Thrawn Trilogy (Star Wars) by Timothy Zahn is also fantastic. You can find these books for like $3 a piece at Half Price. Has the adventure/action you are looking for and is very well done. It started the entire EU and basically, in my mind, is what episodes 7,8,9 should have been if they ever made them.
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Dune is an awesome series with alot of great lore, but its a real heavy read, and its really really dense
and as mentioned before, hitchhikers guide is basicly required reading
If you like The Forever War, you'll probably like Armor too.
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Seconded, but I liked Count Zero better.
When you say "good ol' mindfuck psychedelia" the first author that comes to mind is Heinlein. I think that about halfway through all of his books he starts heavily using drugs and goes completely off the deep end.
For sci-fi action and adventure the Honor Harrington books by David Weber are pretty good. They're very popcorn sci-fi and fast reads.
Neuromancer is really good but you'll probably need to read it twice to pick up everything in it. Snow Crash is also good but both of those fall more into the Cyberpunk category, less the classic sci-fi sort.
That thread is pretty nifty. The other half of you post is not. Wolrd War Z is a poorly written piece of overrated fan fiction that has none of the qualities that the OP said he was looking for.
If you enjoyed Blade Runner's pacing, you'll probably enjoy much of William Gibson's catalogue. If you want a sample of his writing style, pick up Burning Chrome, and excellent collection of his short stories. If novels are more your thing, start with Neuromancer.
It's okay, but it hasn't stood the test of time very well. It was unique and somewhat prescient when it was written, but now it feels dated. It has a very 90's influenced view of the future.
Alternately, if you're looking for some serious heavy reading, Dune and The Book of the New Sun should have you covered.
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