Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Good Sci-Fi Collection?

  • 02-09-2014 10:46pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,063 ✭✭✭


    I'm looking to start reading a Sci-Fi collection. Can anyone recommend some if the best? What about the following:

    The Xeelee Sequence: Stephen Baxter

    The Culture Series: Iain M. Banks

    The Foundation Series: Isaac Asimov

    The Darkover Series: Marion Zimmer


    Cheers in advance.


Comments

  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,375 CMod ✭✭✭✭Nody


    The Foundation series is never a bad start and there's a lot more in that universe as well if you end up liking it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,063 ✭✭✭shuffles03


    Nody wrote: »
    The Foundation series is never a bad start and there's a lot more in that universe as well if you end up liking it.

    Cheers! I have a Kindle but unfortunately, not a lot is appearing there (only a few).

    I'd love the idea of a massive saga that involves mankind leaving earth in search of colonisation/search for extra terrestrial life etc.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭HivemindXX


    Olaf Stapledon's First and Last Men tells the story of humanity from our ancestors to our extremely distant descendants but it is one book and I suspect you want a huge series.

    That tends to be more of a fantasy thing although there are some examples in science fiction. You might look at Dune although most people feel that the quality went downhill at some point (some say after the first book, but personally I thought the first four were good).

    It's a blast from the past but EE Doc Smiths Lensman series goes from the distant past to the far future but the it is very pulpy (from what I remember).

    David Brins Uplift War series goes from the near future and quickly ramps up to galaxy spanning scale.

    If you only want to read series I think you are missing out. Some of the best books are stand alone novels.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,375 CMod ✭✭✭✭Nody


    HivemindXX wrote: »
    Olaf Stapledon's First and Last Men tells the story of humanity from our ancestors to our extremely distant descendants but it is one book and I suspect you want a huge series.

    That tends to be more of a fantasy thing although there are some examples in science fiction. You might look at Dune although most people feel that the quality went downhill at some point (some say after the first book, but personally I thought the first four were good).

    It's a blast from the past but EE Doc Smiths Lensman series goes from the distant past to the far future but the it is very pulpy (from what I remember).

    David Brins Uplift War series goes from the near future and quickly ramps up to galaxy spanning scale.

    If you only want to read series I think you are missing out. Some of the best books are stand alone novels.
    Dune held it all the way through to the final book he wrote if you don't expect a frenzied war book as Dune is (esp. if you dig deeper in the sources of symbolism used etc.); his son's efforts though turns were very simple and fell flat by comparison; esp. the final two books in the Dune series are atrocious with one sided characters etc. (though the House of X series did have some ok background filler for the main characters in the universe).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,061 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    HivemindXX wrote: »
    Olaf Stapledon's First and Last Men tells the story of humanity from our ancestors to our extremely distant descendants but it is one book and I suspect you want a huge series.
    Evolution by Stephen Baxter does the same thing and is more modern, First and Last Men is nearly a hundred years old now, just a standalone book not a series aswell though.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,063 ✭✭✭shuffles03


    Just Googled Stephen Baxter books. There's a lot. Where would I start....or is there a starting point?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,342 ✭✭✭seagull


    A few other names I'd throw in the mix

    Kurt Vonnegut
    Robert Heinlein
    C J Cherryh
    L E Modesitt


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,061 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    shuffles03 wrote: »
    Just Googled Stephen Baxter books. There's a lot. Where would I start....or is there a starting point?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Baxter

    has them in order, search Goodreads for the reviews, you can skip the novellas and short stories imo, not great.

    Xeelee Sequence, Flood/Ark, The Long Earth series and Manifold are all amazing imo, jealous you have them all ahead of you, he's one of the best ever sci-fi writers.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 132 ✭✭stuboy01


    Don't write off old old sf like van vogt. He's got some good stuff. Especially null-a books. They're good fun and some of them are really reminicent of early bw sci fi movies.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 420 ✭✭daUbiq


    I have to recommend this:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night%27s_Dawn_Trilogy

    One of my favourite series...

    Have to agree with the posters above, Stephen Baxter is amazing. The Culture series is great fun too.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,061 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Im always recommending Nights Dawn here and nobody ever seems to read it!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 420 ✭✭daUbiq


    Thargor wrote: »
    Im always recommending Nights Dawn here and nobody ever seems to read it!

    It's an awesome series, love most of that guys books.. they're very long so might be intimidating for some people! :)

    Have you read his last book?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_North_Road_%28book%29

    I enjoyed it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,061 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Yeah its discussed a few pages back, I like his stuff aswell but thats by far my least fav, he spent so long on the investigation and the convoy through the frozen forest that I just wanted it to be over by the end, that book is literally twice as long as it needed to be. Fallen Dragon is the best of his standalone works imo.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 420 ✭✭daUbiq


    Thargor wrote: »
    Yeah its discussed a few pages back, I like his stuff aswell but thats by far my least fav, he spent so long on the investigation and the convoy through the frozen forest that I just wanted it to be over by the end, that book is literally twice as long as it needed to be. Fallen Dragon is the best of his standalone works imo.

    It's definitely a bit long alright! I see you're a Malazan reader too... I'm on the final book now. Not usually a fantasy reader but loving this.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,980 ✭✭✭wyrn


    Thargor wrote: »
    Im always recommending Nights Dawn here and nobody ever seems to read it!
    A friend recommended The Reality Dysfunction to me years ago and I eventually bought it for the grand sum of €1.99 in Chapters.

    I still haven't started it


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,061 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    I found The Reality Dysfunction for a similar price years ago in the little 2nd hand bookshop between Charlie Byrnes and Eyre Square in Galway years ago, no internet back then so Id never heard of it and mostly was drawn to the size of it, couldn't believe it when I read it, instantly my favourite sci-fi ever, couldn't believe it again when I found out there were 2 more books after that...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,063 ✭✭✭shuffles03


    Cheers for all the replies. Loads of options. Think I'll start with Stephen Baxter first.


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 18,002 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    Thargor wrote: »
    Im always recommending Nights Dawn here and nobody ever seems to read it!
    Terrible ending to the trilogy really marred it for me. I think the Commonwealth Saga and the previous duology are much better series over all. Looking forward to the third series in the same universe.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68 ✭✭dimcoin


    Thargor wrote:
    Evolution by Stephen Baxter does the same thing and is more modern, First and Last Men is nearly a hundred years old now, just a standalone book not a series aswell though.


    Halfway through Evolution atm. Hope you did not ruin the ending!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68 ✭✭dimcoin


    Thargor wrote:
    Im always recommending Nights Dawn here and nobody ever seems to read it!


    What's it about??


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 420 ✭✭daUbiq




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,063 ✭✭✭shuffles03


    Going to try and pickup Xeelee Sequence tomorrow. I live in Delgany. Does anyone know if it's freely available in most bookshops? Heading off on holiday on Thurs so need to get it tomorrow. Cheers!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,061 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    You should get a couple of them in the sci-fi section of a big secondhand shop, cant say Ive seen them for sale new in a while, not in Dubrays anyway. There was always a few in Charlie Byrnes in Galway if thats any good to you...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 420 ✭✭daUbiq


    Thargor wrote: »
    You should get a couple of them in the sci-fi section of a big secondhand shop, cant say Ive seen them for sale new in a while, not in Dubrays anyway. There was always a few in Charlie Byrnes in Galway if thats any good to you...

    When I used to buy paperbacks I found lots of great sci fi on ebay cheap.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,061 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Well yeah but he wants to buy it in a shop by tomorrow.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,063 ✭✭✭shuffles03


    Need it by this afternoon. Nowhere seems to have it though. I've tried ringing Dun Laoghaire, Greystones and Blackrock bookshops.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,063 ✭✭✭shuffles03


    shuffles03 wrote: »
    Need it by this afternoon. Nowhere seems to have it though. I've tried ringing Dun Laoghaire, Greystones and Blackrock bookshops.

    Not even Hodges Figgis have it. Don't think I'll find it. I have a Kindle so can get it there for £1.99 but would have preferred a physical copy.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 369 ✭✭RichardoKhan


    Anything by Philip K Dick...............the guy was a genius.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 369 ✭✭RichardoKhan


    Also anything by Robert Heinlein, Ursula Le Guin & Gene Wolfe


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,116 ✭✭✭RDM_83 again


    Also anything by Robert Heinlein, Ursula Le Guin & Gene Wolfe

    Great writers and big ideas :)
    Le Guin- The Earthseas for Fantasy one of the few series I read as a child that doesn't seem childish to my eyes now, her Hainish cycle is more sci-fi, for a Sci-Fi collection if I had to pick one it would be The Left Hand of Darkness for the ideas but possibly not the best read.

    Heinlein - Personally Starship troopers for me over "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"

    My recommendations.

    For Cyberpunk: Neuromancer by William Gibson, remember its written Pre-internet!

    For Steampunk: Again Gibson with the Difference Engine (with Sterling), for an older Steampunk-ish work try Moorcocks Warlords of the Air

    For Hard Sci-Fi: Lots of ideas in the Blindsight by Watts that make you realise how easy a lot of writers make the idea of making contact with aliens as well as lots of ideas about consciousness, I found it a hard read but AFAIK since its available for free its definitely worth a try.
    Also The Forever War

    For quality Space Opera: Alaistar Reynolds 'Revelation Space' books, there isn't a problem with the suspension of disbelief in his works I have with a lot of other Space Opera (I'm looking at Peter F Hamilton and Ian M Banks here) since Space isn't made to seem small with "magical" FTL drives etc. Its also full of action and weird characters in case I'm making it sound too serious.

    Post-Apocalypic: Wool: H Howley was self-published on Amazon so should be pretty cheap to buy for your Kindle (also they might be making a film of it :) )

    Honorable mentions to check out: Kathleen Ann Goonan, Paul J McAuley, Bruce Steling (Schizmatrix is very very good), Michael Swanwick


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 420 ✭✭daUbiq


    I've just started Gregory Benford's Galactic Center Saga - Anyone here read it?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_Center_Saga


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,061 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Never heard of that either thanks.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71 ✭✭PADRAGON


    The Gap series
    By Stephen Donaldson
    One of my favourites


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71 ✭✭PADRAGON


    The Gap series
    By Stephen Donaldson
    One of my favourites


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,414 ✭✭✭✭Trojan


    There's a whole load listed by different people in this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056964743


  • Advertisement
Advertisement