Favorite Science Fiction Book or Series...

I'll leave the definition of SciFi up to you.

Maybe the most important science fiction you've read or that which affected you the most.

I'd have to say Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" (and to a lesser degree "Fear No Evil") really shifted my thinking on things.

Mike Resnick's "Santiago" always makes me happy and reminds me it's the fight and not the winning/losing that is most important.

Then there is the Dune Saga for sheer scope and the 'Gom jabbar'. That idea of what makes a person actually human. Big ideas here.

I'm digging "The Three Body Problem" by China's Liu Cixin (part of the Remeberance of Earth's Past Series) for it's new setting and fresh outook and look forward to the next books in the series.

What are your favorites ... and why...

a reply to: FyreByrd

I don't think this fits into classic sci-fi, but James Rollins' Sigma Force novels are awesome.

They blend cutting edge science and technology with ancient history and mysteries then wrap it up in fast paced special forces action.


Otherwise, Ray Bradbury's short stories are amazing.

a reply to: FyreByrd

Isaac Asimov
Michael Crichton
Arthur C Clarke

These are quickly off the top of my head. There are loads of good sci fi Authors out there!

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: FyreByrd

Isaac Asimov
Michael Crichton
Arthur C Clarke

These are quickly off the top of my head. There are loads of good sci fi Authors out there!

Why those author"s - which specific books?

a reply to: FyreByrd

Perry Rhodan and the Thrawn saga from Star Wars are pretty good books. My favorite is still It. The book introduced me to my love for Stephen KIng as a kid. It was f#cking scary but incredibly fascinating at the same time. Working as a temp in a library had its perks.

Not Sci-Fi but i love Clive Cussler and the Dirk Pitt saga. I read nearly every book but Shockwave was the only one so far that managed to bring me to tear up. It's a perfect book for me.

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: FyreByrd

I don't think this fits into classic sci-fi, but James Rollins' Sigma Force novels are awesome.

They blend cutting edge science and technology with ancient history and mysteries then wrap it up in fast paced special forces action.


Otherwise, Ray Bradbury's short stories are amazing.

Your definition... Do you know Dan Brown's work? My favorite is "Flight of the Old Dog" though not Science Fiction to my mind a great yarn non the less.

originally posted by: Perfectenemy
a reply to: FyreByrd

Perry Rhodan and the Thrawn saga from Star Wars are pretty good books. My favorite is still It. The book introduced me to my love for Stephen KIng as a kid. It was f#cking scary but incredibly fascinating at the same time. Working as a temp in a library had its perks.

A Star Wars book that is scary? I may have to love into it.

How did it introduce you to Stephen King?

originally posted by: FyreByrd

originally posted by: Perfectenemy
a reply to: FyreByrd

Perry Rhodan and the Thrawn saga from Star Wars are pretty good books. My favorite is still It. The book introduced me to my love for Stephen KIng as a kid. It was f#cking scary but incredibly fascinating at the same time. Working as a temp in a library had its perks.

A Star Wars book that is scary? I may have to love into it.

How did it introduce you to Stephen King?

No not the Star Wars book were scary. The book IT from Stephen King was pretty frightening at that time. Mind you i was a kid when i started to read his books.

(Cross-Time Engineer) book by Leo Frankowsk pulse the rest of thous books .
Vern - wells -
Two faces of tomorrow 'James P hogan ( pluse the rest by him )
Alan Dean Foster's eight-book Spell-singer series ( really not scifi .plus most of his others
darn near 150 books by Piers Anthony .
one called siege of earth short book ( wish I could get it again its old )
OO i could go one for hours I have read 1000s of them
Pamela Sargent ( a women btw ( earth seed series ) ( Wish I Could get that again .
Star bridge ( BY I FORGET WHO ( TWO OF TheM .
((( psss if anyone has info on the following please tell me .
WHEN I WAS A teen ( 51 now )
I read a book about aliens ( that evolved in water who came to earth ( as a last resort and hid in the oceans )
Kinda like a smart fish sportive thing anyway ( a ship had sank and some people were trapd in it under water for years and these aliens found tehm and well hopfully someone will see the sttorie as my wright sucks ) cant rember who wrote it . would l;ove to find it again.
Space angle - Robberts max and the second .
I have probly 1000 or so as ebooks now but still a few I havent been able to find .
This isnt nearly what i love .
Swan song ( kinda like the stand by steven king but better )
Dragons egg -
A book about a grizzly bears life Wish i knew teh name Yellow eyes ( abook about a cougar )
Snowie ( a book about a polar bear cub . The long trail home ( got to find it again ( a lassie kinda of book .
Lets not forget call of the wild and white fan .
Yea books my weakness I love books

The series Resnick Mike Galatic midway
A must read if you like old stuff

Asimov's Foundation Trilogy
Tuttledove's World War books.

Asimov's Foundation Trilogy man i havent got the currage to start reading them my word there must be 100 of them lol

originally posted by: midnightstar
Asimov's Foundation Trilogy man i havent got the currage to start reading them my word there must be 100 of them lol

Oh you should. Asimov's universe is built up of several different series but over the years, and in the end they all are woven into a remarkable whole.

I've been wanting to read again but am not sure quite where to start and I'm really not a big Foundation fan which is a central pillar to his universe.

a reply to: FyreByrd

It has been a very long time since I have read any of their books, but found them highly imaginative and they make you ponder things as sci-fi usually does. Books are a very individualized thing, we all have our different tastes. If a book draws me in quickly enough with the way it is written, the characters etc, chances are it will keep my attention.

With sci-fi, we enter new and fascinating worlds, some wonderful, some frightening. We get to explore and journey through a different time and place and lose ourselves within the pages. I am old school and prefer a real book in print on paper.

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: FyreByrd

It has been a very long time since I have read any of their books, but found them highly imaginative and they make you ponder things as sci-fi usually does. Books are a very individualized thing, we all have our different tastes. If a book draws me in quickly enough with the way it is written, the characters etc, chances are it will keep my attention.

With sci-fi, we enter new and fascinating worlds, some wonderful, some frightening. We get to explore and journey through a different time and place and lose ourselves within the pages. I am old school and prefer a real book in print on paper.

Ah - I remember now. Thank you.

a reply to: midnightstar

If you can't find it here, you won't find it anywhere. Well, maybe you will, but here you have a combination of second hand bookstores from all over the world all in one place. It is easy enough to find old books. I have never spent more than 4 or 5 bucks even for a hard cover in good condition including postage.

www.abebooks.com...

a reply to: FyreByrd

A Star Wars book that is scary?

For that, there are only two I can think of off the top of my head that may fit and they are both zombie books . . . 'Death Troopers' and 'Red Harvest'. And yes, I own every Star Wars book written . . . well at least all the ones written prior to Disney buying out Lucas and ruining the Star Wars universe.

But enough on that note, my favorite Sci-fi series:

1) The Star Wars Expanded Universe (all 200+ books together as a continuous series)
2) Orson Scott Card's Ender series
3) Stephen King's Dark Tower series

Runners Up:
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series
John Ringo's Hot Gate series
Harry Turtledove's Crosstime Traffic Series
Daniel Perkarek's Ultimate Adventure trilogy
Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide (all 5 books)
& H. Piper's Paratime stories

and many many more . . .

Best stand-alone Sci-Fi Novels:

1) Douglas Adams 'Shada' (A Doctor Who Novel)
2) John Ringo's 'The Last Centurian'
3) Steven Coont's 'Saucer'

ummm, well I kinda get sucked into series more than stand alones

originally posted by: FyreByrd

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: FyreByrd

I don't think this fits into classic sci-fi, but James Rollins' Sigma Force novels are awesome.

They blend cutting edge science and technology with ancient history and mysteries then wrap it up in fast paced special forces action.


Otherwise, Ray Bradbury's short stories are amazing.

Your definition... Do you know Dan Brown's work? My favorite is "Flight of the Old Dog" though not Science Fiction to my mind a great yarn non the less.

OMG, The Davinci Code by Dan Brown was amazing!!!!!! So many fascinating twists and turn! A real page turner!

Asimov's books are great. I haven't read all of them, though, but he had some pretty great series, especially his Foundation series.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is really funny and profound.

Douglas Adam's stuff is mostly harmless. Some of it's good, though.

There was another one, but I forgot what it was.

Arthur C. Clarke's "2001" series was great.

For some reason I really liked "Dragon's Egg" by Robert L. Forward. It's about a civilization that lived on the surface of a neutron star... heavy, man...

"Logan's Run" is OK, I guess. I read it when I was a kid. Seems like "Hunger Games" and that other one... ummmmm... that Mocking Jay series, whatever it is... they're pretty similar to Logan's Run, so if anyone out there likes those series and haven't read "Logan's Run," well... get to it.

I also loved Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet when I was younger. I'd probably still love it. I hear there's a film adaptation of "A Wrinkle in Time" coming out soon.

"Micromegas" by Voltaire, along with a bunch of other French titles and authors... "Planet of the Apes" was a French novel before it was a film series. The French! Masters of satire and doom jazz!

Man, I need some new books.

It's been years since I've read much fiction -- these days I'm really into historical books (WWII is my current obsession) and biographies, but I have never been able to shake the Stephen R. Donaldson "Chronicles" series and will probably re-read them someday when I'm retired and bored, heh heh...

I've always thought this series was a brilliant mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

The First Chronicles

Lord Foul's Bane (1977)
The Illearth War (1978)
The Power That Preserves (1979)

The Second Chronicles

The Wounded Land (1980)
The One Tree (1982)
White Gold Wielder (1983)

The Last Chronicles

The Runes of the Earth (2004)
Fatal Revenant (2007)
Against All Things Ending (2010)
The Last Dark (2013)

[I have not yet read the last two books in The Last Chronicles]