Newfound Sci-Fi Reader: Where to Start??

twiedenfeld · Post by **twiedenfeld** » 13 Jul 2008, 16:47

Dune by Frank Herbert

blue_doona32 · Post by **blue_doona32** » 23 Jul 2008, 12:32

Alright, I'm going to lay down some basics on some of these books.

If you want something more simple out of this list, go with The Giver. Its an awesome book and its easy to wrap your head around.

If you want laughs, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a MUST! Its hilarious and all the technological terms and whatnot will make your head spin (in a good way).

If you want classic adventure, I'd refer you to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (After all, its Doc Brown's favorite book

) Not only is this book a classic, but it makes you want to rent a fishing boat, and who doesn't want to do that!? just kidding. If you don't want to get wet, The Time Machine or Timeline will do you fine, also.

Lastly, If you want something scary, pick up 1984. Man, that book scared me! The thought of total mind control pretty much scares me more than Dracula or Frankenstein.

Also, I would have to agree with Wordsgood on David Eddings and Robert Jordan. They are somewhat similar to Tolkien (in my opinion) and contribute a new flavor to the fantasy genre.

Hope that helps in the slightest! Good luck with your reading list

Wordsgood · Post by **Wordsgood** » 23 Jul 2008, 22:48

Well folks, we've done been told! He he. Thank for doing that blue_doona32. It is sure to be helpful for those unfamiliar fantasy and sci-fi genres.

blue_doona32 · Post by **blue_doona32** » 25 Jul 2008, 20:39

Well, Wordsgood, I'm just here to help and get ideas for new books

anita blake · Post by **anita blake** » 26 Jul 2008, 12:43

If you want the quick and light way. I suggest Hitch hikers guide. Then try a bit of piers Anthony. A lot of the books mentioned are heavy going.

Wordsgood · Post by **Wordsgood** » 26 Jul 2008, 13:35

anita blake wrote:If you want the quick and light way. I suggest Hitch hikers guide. Then try a bit of piers Anthony. A lot of the books mentioned are heavy going.

Oh yes, I should have thought of Piers Anthony the first time I replied to this thread! His Sci-fi are good, but not overly-complicated and his biggest fantasy series - the Xanth novels - are a lot of fun.

Small disclaimer now: The Xanth series, contrary to popular misconception about this series, it is not written for children or teens, though they can certainly enjoy them as well. However, to fully grasp and appreciate the humour behind the endless puns he uses, one really does need to be an adult!

Also, Anthony puts out a new book in this series every few years. The great thing about it is each novels is a complete story, so you do not need to read them in order, or own even a part of the series to know what is going on.

Anita, you are doing quite well for someone who claims she has poor grammar and spelling skills! I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Biblioklept · Post by **Biblioklept** » 26 Jul 2008, 13:47

I am in the middle of collecting the remaing Xanth books that I no longer own. I think I want to have them all on hand for my girls.
I think Xanth is very much for young people...it's just that it can be enjoyed by adults as well.

anita blake · Post by **anita blake** » 26 Jul 2008, 14:45

Thank you Wordsgood. You are correct the Xanth series are not aimed at children, it is a misconception held by many people. In fact in his authors notes he tells of a letter he received from either a school or library saying they will no longer be stocking his Xanth novels as they are not books for children. He stated clearly that they are not nor ever were wrote for children. Maybe the bright covers and adult conspiracy confuse people.

Another great series PA wrote is Incarnations of Immortality. Mortals take up the office of each Incarnation God, Death, War, Mother nature and Time.

Wordsgood · Post by **Wordsgood** » 26 Jul 2008, 16:09

You're welcome! Hmm, I don't remember that series. I will look it up now and thanks for the recommendation!

anita blake · Post by **anita blake** » 27 Jul 2008, 12:22

On a Pale horse is the first book. It is about a man Zane who tries to commit suicide by shooting himself. Unfortunatley he misses and kills death instead. he then has to take the office of this Incarnation and take over the Grim Reapers duties.
To say Zane was thrown in at the deep end, is the understatement of the millenia

j2page1 · Post by **j2page1** » 05 Aug 2008, 22:57

I am a sci-fi/fantasy junkie and spend a good portion of my time searching for new series.

If you want a good start in the fantasy world I think David Eddings "Belgariad" is a great place to start because it's a great series without the thousands of pages that some of the other ones get into.

I don't know how you feel about some more of the more main-stream titles but I really liked the Eragon and Eldest books by Christopher Paolini.

The Sword of Truth Series (Terry Goodkind), Wheel of Time Series (Robert Jordan, last book put together by Brandon Sanderson), Dark Tower Series (Stephen King), Chronicles of the Unbeliever (Stephen Donaldson) are great books to get into but might be a bit long to start off with.

If you're looking for some shorter series Lon Tobyn Chronicles (David B. Coe), DragonLance Chronicles (Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman), The Chronicle of the Necromancer (Gail Z. Martin) are shorter.

For just a stand-alone The Magic of the Recluce (L.E. Modesitt Jr.) is another good one to pick up and read.

Hopefully that's a good variety of stand-alone books to long series, let me know if you want to know more about any one specifically!

anita blake · Post by **anita blake** » 07 Aug 2008, 11:16

j2page1 wrote: The Chronicle of the Necromancer (Gail Z. Martin) are shorter.

Hopefully that's a good variety of stand-alone books to long series, let me know if you want to know more about any one specifically!

Could you tell me a bit more about the series please.

blue_doona32 · Post by **blue_doona32** » 07 Aug 2008, 21:31

I don't know how you feel about some more of the more main-stream titles but I really liked the Eragon and Eldest books by Christopher Paolini.

The Sword of Truth Series (Terry Goodkind), Wheel of Time Series (Robert Jordan, last book put together by Brandon Sanderson), Dark Tower Series (Stephen King), Chronicles of the Unbeliever (Stephen Donaldson) are great books to get into but might be a bit long to start off with.

The Inheritance Trilogy rocks! well, at least the first two that are out... haha can't wait for the third one!!!

Erasmus_Folly · Post by **Erasmus_Folly** » 09 Aug 2008, 05:02

sweet talk wrote:Hi everyone! I recently found a blog post, "32 Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read," and I'd like to read all of them, ideally. However, I don't have that much time on my hands at the moment.. any ideas about which one I should read first?

Sorry, it won't let me post a link until I have 3 posts.. but if you Google the title it should be the first one up.

It might help to know that I'm 16 and I haven't been reading nearly as much as I should, so I'm a bit of a slow reader, and my attention span isn't up to par Please help! Thanks

A good question. I have been reading science fiction since the late 1950’s and I can’t quite agree with any of the suggestions so far for a number of reasons. Douglas Adams, while very good, is largely satirical and it would be nice to have an idea of what he is being satirical about. Fantasy is good for people who like it but it not science fiction.

Asimov and the masters of the golden age of sci-fi are good starting points, but then again they were writing in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s; and can appear somewhat antiquated, especially when they are writing about the canals of Mars or colonies on Venus.

The 1970’s was the beginning of the ‘new wave’ in sci-fi, when writers such as Michael Moorcock, Robert Silverberg and Ursula K LeGuinn began to drift away from ‘hard science’ an introduce contemporary issues of race, sexual identity, and complex themes of cultural interaction into what had previously been themes of action and thrills.

The mid-80’s saw the introduction Cyber-punk, (i.e. Neuromancer), technologically bleak and cynical worlds.

I would recommend that you ‘google’ Hugo awards or Nebula awards. These are awards given out yearly by fans (Hugos) and writers (Nebulas) of the very best in science fiction. Thumbnail sketches of what they are about should be easily available for you to choose something you like.

blue_doona32 · Post by **blue_doona32** » 09 Aug 2008, 16:37

I have been reading science fiction since the late 1950’s and I can’t quite agree with any of the suggestions so far for a number of reasons. Douglas Adams, while very good, is largely satirical and it would be nice to have an idea of what he is being satirical about.

But the satirical writing is one of the best parts haha and though you may not know exactly what he's talking about, that's where the imagination comes in.