Sci-Fi and Fantasy Recommendations

[Rest_In_Pieces]

Lovecraft wrote horror stories in the 20's and 30's, he influenced writers like Steven King, Robert Bloch and many others. My favorites of his are At The Mountains Of Madness, its a longer novella, The Hound, The Picture In The House, The Call Of Cuthulu, The Colour Out Of Space and The Dream-Quest For Unknown Kadath which he wrote but he died before he had a chance to polish it. Its still a good read, though. One of his best stories in my opinion is one he wrote while he was still in his teens. Its called The Street and it could relate to modern times. Its about middle eastern terroists who try to take over the US. For a first read I would suggest At The Mountains Of Madness. Most of his stories were a combination of sci-fi and horror, about aliens who were on earth before mankind appeared and were banished to a semi-death and are trying to come back in modern times. If you like the classic sci-fi and horror I think you will like Lovecraft. All of his stories are on project gutenberg in all formats.

I second that one. And H.G. Wells indeed is infinitely brilliant.

[English-specialist]

Hmm. It's a shame we can't attach a copyright free book to a post. Or have some box that we could put our free kindle address in and have the book we recommend sent direct. Well, give it a year or two.
My brother is buying his son a kindle as a) it's cheaper as he reads like a madman and b) so I can email good books to said nephew. (brother is not big on books) Said nephew has asked for his regular fantasy, but well, he might get sci-fi fantasy instead.

[Maud Fitch]

My brother is buying his son a Kindle as a) it's cheaper as he reads like a madman and b) so I can email good books to said nephew. (brother is not big on books) Said nephew has asked for his regular fantasy, but well, he might get sci-fi fantasy instead.

I don't know your nephew's age but author Jasper Fforde writes sci-fi fantasy with a twist (probably better known as his speculative fiction) and his Nursery Crime series "The Big Over Easy" and "The Fourth Bear" are suitable for teenagers and available on Kindle. It's easy to get absorbed into his mind-boggling alternative world plots.

[peatborg]

One author no-one has mentioned is Vernor Vinge - these books are excellent reads :

The Peace War
Marooned in Real Time

A Fire Upon the Deep
A Deepness in the Sky

[Geili001]

The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill.

[BookBuddy]

Just finished the farseer trilogy its amazing couldn't stop reading it! I highly recommend reading it.

[Davinci]

my father introduced me to sci-fi as a kid.
and then I discovered
The World of Null-A
The Players of Null-A
Slan: A Novel
by A. E. VanVogt (he was good for his time nad I loved his phylosophy)
I love also Michael Moorcock.
and A C Clarke with the Rama series

I`d love to find sci fi of that type

[Mimi S]

The Fever Series By Karen Marie Moning.
Written well and thought provoking with a lot of fun dark and sexy in between.
The 5th and final book is finally out in Paperback! Excited!

[FantasyThrill]

The book is published by Madness Books and is set to release in October 2011. I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of it and loved it! If you are into Japanese folklore and mythology, anime, fantasy and adventure, this book is for you! The synopsis of the book can be found on facebook public page titled 'Fox and the Peach' , along with regular updates on the book and the author. Also, you can read the prologue for free on Pyrta Journal (Fall Issue #5 under Prose section), which is online, and get a feel of the story and style. I hope you like it! Enjoy! I definitely did!

[Bighuey]

I might check that one out, it sounds like something I would like. It sounds something like Lafcadio Hearn's Japanese folklore stories which I have always liked.

[JennD]

I just read Poisoned Star by Josh Tremino. It's a great, great book. Lots of romance, some intense action. The characters are really creative. One of my favorite is a hive mind named Indigo. If you like sci-fi, check this one out.

[FantasyThrill]

@Bighuey - according to the website, it's coming out 1st of october on amazon.

[Bighuey]

Fantasythrill, Thanks. Ill check it out.

[Aiasminor]

Here is a great review for "Code Name Atlas"

Right from the very beginning Code Name Atlas grabs your attention and doesn't let up to the very end. A gritty and realistic feel blends with a minimal use of science fiction elements to create a rich, believable and contemporary story of one soldiers struggle to keep his family alive.

The characters in the book are both emotive and easy to relate to, the dialogue is both crisp and easy flowing with the story told from a first person perspective. There is a great sense of a small cog in a much larger machine here, much like HG Well's classic War of the Worlds or the recent film Cloverfield where the story is essentially told from the trenches and the bigger picture is occasionally hinted at until nearly the end of the book.

The quality of the descriptive narrative here is superb and really brings the story to life and the pace is spot on. It's just so easy to get hooked into the plot and swept away on the journey. The underplayed use of technology works very well and manages to aid the suspense while keeping the story very grounded in reality and when the reasons behind the destruction of the planet become known at the end of the novel it's all the more poignant.

Code Name Atlas is a very accomplished, spirited novel of depth and intelligence that grips you in a vice like hold from beginning to end. Highly recommended.

[Hannellene]

Hi, can anyone recommend any books that a big fan of Neal Stephenson (apart from Anathem) would like. I found both his early stuff, Big U and Zodiac to be wonderful, but the Cryptocommicon was my all-favourite. The historical ones were OK too. But prefered the cyberpunk/near future ones.