Any SciFi or Fantasy book suggestions?

[SpiralOut]

Thanks for the list, Viper.

I don't know if the question about 40k was directed at me but I'll answer. I enjoy the idea of a dark world, or universe, in which there is major conflict. Now, the problem with 40k is that that universe doesn't come with much more than constant war stories. There is very little character development...Part of the problem being that Space Marines really aren't the kind to have interesting personalities. I like the introduction of religion in the universe, but the problem there is that you don't really get much into the religion...rather, it's just "Kill for the Emperor!".

I've been a huge fan of the Warhammer 40k universe for quite awhile now. Obviously, it's going to be a problem when your books/lore are based on a tabletop game and your IP is set in a fixed moment of time where you can't extend the story any more past that point (end of the 41st millennium). However, there's a lot of great stuff to be found if you just pick/choose the right stuff.

For anyone that wants to explore that universe and not be bogged down in the same rote stuff over and over, just make sure to avoid the standard hack/slash books by unknown writers over subjects like the Imperial Guard, etc. Read everything by Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill, and Ben Counter. Stick to the books which make up over-arching storylines such as Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts and Eisenhorn/Ravenor work, McNeill's Ultramarines books, Counter's Daemon Hunters books, or new stuff like the Word Bearer's novels by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.

Oh, and most importantly? Read the novels in the Horus Heresy series. They cover the backstory about how the Imperium came into existence and the schism that happened when half of the Emperor's sons (genetically engineered superhumans) turned against him to take up the reins of Chaos.

Yes, there's a lot of hack and slash in Warhammer 40k. However, there's some good stuff to be found, too. Personally, I think (outside of the myriad aliens and evil daemons of Chaos) it's a rather realistic picture of what humanity might look like 40,000 years from now. It addresses stuff like shackling people and keeping them in line through religion, the dangers of unchecked technology, the issues of overcrowding/overpopulation/lack of resources/damaging the environment, etc. The people running the Black Library know their stuff isn't exactly respected in the literary community, but they've been trying really hard as it gains popularity to write deeper and more sophisticated stories.

SydneyCarton - I don't really know what you were expecting in regards to the Wheel of Time, but Robert Jordan always planned on writing 12 books. He just died before he was able to finish his series. Sanderson has taken over for him and found there was too much to write about to fit it all in one book, so he's doing a trilogy to finish it off. He's gotten two written already and they're fan-$#@!ing-tastic. Less women arguing amongst themselves and more Rand pew-pewing bad guys with saidin and even *gasp* the "True Power." It's worth it to finish them out.

[Sterling Archer]

If you felt the first book was vague at times you're not alone - by the time he gets into the 2nd and 3rd book (the 3rd sealed it for me) he settles into a style where I really felt connected with the characters (Croaker is the man). At this point the lightbulb went off over my head and I found myself going 'Ooooooh'. The self biting depreciation and sense of grim determination of the individuals in the Black Company (especially the wizards) carries over into all of the following on sets. By the time the whole storyline wraps up every detail makes sense and I closed the last book thinking to myself that I just read something completely new, creative and thoroughly enjoyable.

You basically just described how I felt about Gardens of the Moon from the Malazan series. Books 2 and 3 were much better than the first. For what it's worth the main series is now complete.

[milk_monitor]

I saw someone above recommend a recent book by Guy Gavriel Kay. I probably won't read it, as his writing style seems to have gotten more and more precious, but he has written one really tremendous book:

[crazyhornsfan]

I can post some Star Wars vs. Star Trek fan fiction I wrote for you to read...

[Bookman]

re: Dune.

Movies - Sci-Fi version is very good. The cast of the Lynch movie is stellar. If you are going to force yourself to watch the Lynch movie, find the extended cut with all the fremen $#@! they cut out of the theatrical release. I'm not sure if it's on the DVD versions but it's out there.

Books - God Emperor of Dune (4th book) is the best of the bunch. obviously you have to read Dune Messiah and Children of Dune to figure $#@! out. The books after that didn't grab me because Herbert kept jumping so far into the future that it seemed very removed from the first 4.

I didn't read any of the prequels and $#@!.

I agree with this. I'm in the middle of the fifth book and agree that the fourth book is the best one so far. Actually the fourth book was amazing.

But the fifth was hard to get into until I got about 120 pages in.

[MC Fresh Breath]

Anything by William Gibson, especially Neuromancer, as somebody already mentioned. Reread it a year or so ago, and it blew my mind away again. Heavy duty sci fi.

Yeah, the Sprawl Trilogy is awesome, and the Bridge Trilogy has pretty good moments.

Clarke and Asimov for the hardcore sci-fi, imo. Can't say much to fantasy, other than the usual suspects.

[rage-a-holic]

One series I forgot to add is The Runelords by David Farland. A great fantasy series, re-reading it right now.

[FCHorn]

The Thomas covenant books were good(as were the first 3 Shannara books) but I really loved the Michael moor$#@! books because they were pretty out there...

Read 6 or 7 of the dune books....god emperor was god awful but it got better....(sorry bookman!)

The Star War books kicked some major ass...just follow the series up through the 60 or 70 books...easy reading though but fun...

Still haven't read Enders game or GOT....

Loved the Isaac Asimov stuff...and of course any Ph. K $#@!...

[FCHorn]

I will add that Battlefield Earth and the 10 book Mother Earth(?) series were fun...

[Cluttered]

You need to go get Enders Game immediately.

[elguapo]

I started the Prince of Nothing trilogy by R. Scott Bakker based on CleverNickname's rec in this thread. I'm a few chapters into the 2nd book now and it's really $#@!ing good. Check it out if you're a fan of ASOIAF.

[Hellraiser97]

You need to go get Enders Game immediately.

I really found it to be 'meh'.

[NeverMarryAStripper]

If you want to get into Heinlein I highly recommend Glory Road. It's probably his most fantasy like novel. You really should read Stranger in a Strange Land.

A good fantasy series is Zelasny's Amber series.

[SydneyCarton]

I really found it to be 'meh'.

I loved the first half of Ender's Game, when he was training. The rest I found was "meh." Of course, I still read the next book or two.

[DrManik]

The Ender series and The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card are some of my favorite sci-fi books. I don't read a whole lot of sci-fi outside of those, though.

[Cluttered]

Ive been reading a free book from Amazon called Origins (Spinward) Fringe by Randolph Lalonde. It's almost set up like TV episodes with the book being three short stories about the same cast. It's pretty decent, especially for being free. The only issues I've run across are more spelling errors than normal.

[Hellraiser97]

My mom sent me a link to Lalonde's webpage. Apparently he has been unable to get it published so he's just giving it away for free.

Not sure if it has been mentioned or not, but there was a Firefly novel that you can get for free now called "My Own Kind of Freedom." Book was done and sent to the publisher when it got pulled since the movie didn't do real well. I read it a few months ago. The author captures the characters very well, IMO. It takes place between the end of the show and the beginning of the movie, so no Shepard or Inara, but still was a good read.

[LCHorn]

If you want to get into Heinlein I highly recommend Glory Road. It's probably his most fantasy like novel. You really should read Stranger in a Strange Land.

A good fantasy series is Zelasny's Amber series.

I have to admit to finding Heinlein a little creepy, particularly his later stuff. A little too much Lolita.

[LCHorn]

I'll mention three books I've read recently that are science fiction. All came to my attention because they had been optioned and there was talk they had a working script ready for shooting.

Forever War by Joe Halderman (rumored to be Ridley Scott's next before he began shooting Prometheus)--already mentioned by Mad Muthrat but I'll repeat here

(From Amazon) Mandella starts out as a foot soldier in man's thousand-year war against the Taurans and ends as a reluctant major. Spanning the stars at faster than light speeds, Mandella and his comrades age only months as the centuries zip by on an earth that becomes increasingly foreign. But few soldiers will return to the altered home planet; in battles fought with powered suits and other stranger weapons, the odds for survival approach zero. This war is the opposite of the one Heinlein glorified in Starship Troopers (1959) - bloody, cruel and meaningless. This is a splendid, thoughtful adventure.

Replay by Ken Grimwood (rumored that Paramount wanted Ben Afflect to star in and direct as a follow-up to The Town)

(From Amazon) In this intriguing fantasy adventure, Jeff Winston, a failing 43-year-old radio journalist, dies and wakes up in his 18-year-old body in 1963 with his memories of the next 25 years intact. He views the future from the perspective of naive 1963: "null-eyed punks in leather and chains . . . death-beams in orbit around the polluted, choking earth . . . his world sounded like the most nightmarish of science fiction." But Grimwood has transcended genre with this carefully observed, literate and original story. Jeff's knowledge soon becomes as much a curse as a blessing. After recovering from the shock (is the future a dream, or is it real life?), he plays out missed choices. In one life, for example, he falls in love with Pamela, a housewife who died nine minutes after Jeff; they try to warn the world of the disasters it faces, coming in conflict with the government and history. A third replayer turns out to be a serial killer, murdering the same people over and over. Jeff and Pamela are still searching for some missing part of their lives when they notice they are returning closer and closer to the time of their deaths, and realize that the replays and their times together may be coming to an end

The Passage by Justin Cronin (rights were optioned before publishing by Scott Free Productions)--its just went to paperback, too.

(From Amazon) Fans of vampire fiction who are bored by the endless hordes of sensitive, misunderstood Byronesque bloodsuckers will revel in Cronin's engrossingly horrific account of a post-apocalyptic America overrun by the gruesome reality behind the wish-fulfillment fantasies. When a secret project to create a super-soldier backfires, a virus leads to a plague of vampiric revenants that wipes out most of the population. One of the few bands of survivors is the Colony, a FEMA-established island of safety bunkered behind massive banks of lights that repel the virals, or dracs—but a small group realizes that the aging technological defenses will soon fail. When members of the Colony find a young girl, Amy, living outside their enclave, they realize that Amy shares the virals' agelessness, but not the virals' mindless hunger, and they embark on a search to find answers to her condition. PEN/Hemingway Award–winner Cronin (The Summer Guest) uses a number of tropes that may be overly familiar to genre fans, but he manages to engage the reader with a sweeping epic style. The first of a proposed trilogy, it's already under development by director Ripley Scott and the subject of much publicity buzz

[bamachine]

Once I get off my lazy ass and finish my series(and get lucky enough to have it published), I recommend you people buy massive quantities of them.

[Cluttered]

Once I get off my lazy ass and finish my series(and get lucky enough to have it published), I recommend you people buy massive quantities of them.

The Redneck Space Trilogy?

[scally]

Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger series is pretty good.

Ledger is a cop who basically gets recruited to lead an X-files type special forces team. the first book Patient Zero is fantastic. Middle East terrorists have created a virus that turns people into zombies and are about to unleash it and he must stop it.

the second book "The Dragon Factory" is how the team has to fight an eccentric and devilish family of geneticists who create mystical animals and also are interested in genocide.

he has a new book coming out next spring.

new Joe Ledger series book, "King of Plagues" is out. bout 100 pages in and I think it's very good.

[bamachine]

The Redneck Space Trilogy?

+rep but no, more like The White Trash Kingdom, it is fantasy not sci-fi.

[Texas Dan]

Had a lot of down time, waiting for Uncle Sam to tell us where to go. I always had a paperback handy in my rucksack.

Here are some that I have enjoyed. I love to read but, there are ALOT of books that I would never pick up again. The ones listed below are on the list that I would read again. (Yes, very boring day at work)

I make no excuses for my choices. Thought provoking stories are great but, some days a good mindless story is what’s called for.

Sci Fi
Fuzzy Papers – H. Beam Piper (Hell, read any of his stuff)
Armor – John Steakley (one of the best that I have ever read. If you like Forever War, read this.)
Vampires – John Steakley (Book good. Movie, not so much)
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott card
Ringworld – Larry niven
Well Of Souls – Jack L. Chalker
Heechee Saga – Frederick Pohl
Starship Troopers – Robert Heinlien
Lucifer’s Hammer – Larry Niven
Footfall – Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Mote In God’s Eye – Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Sea Of Time trilogy – S. M. Stirling
Sten series - Chris Bunch & Allan Cole
Helmsman – Bill Baldwin (Space Opera but very enjoyable)
Chanur series – C. J. Cherryh
Forever War – Jack Haldeman
Childe Cycle – Gordon R. $#@!son
Phule’s Company – Robert Asprin
Coldfire trilogy – C. S. Friedman
Dahak trilogy – David Weber
Starfire series – David Weber & Steve White
Empire Of Man series – David Weber
Miles Vorkosigan series - Lois McMaster Bujold
Chung Kuo series – David Wingrove (9 books? And very involved – be warned)
Lensmen series – E. E. Doc Smith (may be dated now but loved them as a teen)
The Disinherited trilogy – Steve White
1632 – Eric Flint (a town full of West Virginia hillbillies is transported to Europe in 1632, with guns and pickup trucks) I loved this series

Fantasy
Sunset Warrior trilogy – Eric Van Lustbader
Memory Of Sorrow And Thorn series – Tad Williams
Drenai Saga – David Gemmell (Druss and Waylander are two characters I could read about again and again)
Elric Of Melnibone – Michael Moor$#@!
Riftwar Saga – Raymond E. Feist
Talion Revenant - Michael A. Stackpole
Malazon Book Of The Fallen – Steven Erickson (Loved this series. Just gets better as the books go on)
Farside trilogy – John Dalmas
Myth series – Robert Asprin
Annals Of The Black Company – Glen Cook (Great read but enjoyed Dread Empire more)
Dread Empire – Glen Cook (In my top 5 in fantasy)
The Book Of The Gods series – Fred Saberhagen
Light & Shadows series - Janny Wurts
The Cycle Of Fire trilogy – Janny Wurts
The Legend Of Nightfall - Mickey Zucker Reichert

[Leander Horn]

Had a lot of down time, waiting for Uncle Sam to tell us where to go. I always had a paperback handy in my rucksack.

Here are some that I have enjoyed. I love to read but, there are ALOT of books that I would never pick up again. The ones listed below are on the list that I would read again. (Yes, very boring day at work)

I make no excuses for my choices. Thought provoking stories are great but, some days a good mindless story is what’s called for.

Sci Fi
Fuzzy Papers – H. Beam Piper (Hell, read any of his stuff)
Armor – John Steakley (one of the best that I have ever read. If you like Forever War, read this.)
Vampires – John Steakley (Book good. Movie, not so much)
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott card
Ringworld – Larry niven
Well Of Souls – Jack L. Chalker
Heechee Saga – Frederick Pohl
Starship Troopers – Robert Heinlien
Lucifer’s Hammer – Larry Niven
Footfall – Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Mote In God’s Eye – Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Sea Of Time trilogy – S. M. Stirling
Sten series - Chris Bunch & Allan Cole
Helmsman – Bill Baldwin (Space Opera but very enjoyable)
Chanur series – C. J. Cherryh
Forever War – Jack Haldeman
Childe Cycle – Gordon R. $#@!son
Phule’s Company – Robert Asprin
Coldfire trilogy – C. S. Friedman
Dahak trilogy – David Weber
Starfire series – David Weber & Steve White
Empire Of Man series – David Weber
Miles Vorkosigan series - Lois McMaster Bujold
Chung Kuo series – David Wingrove (9 books? And very involved – be warned)
Lensmen series – E. E. Doc Smith (may be dated now but loved them as a teen)
The Disinherited trilogy – Steve White
1632 – Eric Flint (a town full of West Virginia hillbillies is transported to Europe in 1632, with guns and pickup trucks) I loved this series

Fantasy
Sunset Warrior trilogy – Eric Van Lustbader
Memory Of Sorrow And Thorn series – Tad Williams
Drenai Saga – David Gemmell (Druss and Waylander are two characters I could read about again and again)
Elric Of Melnibone – Michael Moor$#@!
Riftwar Saga – Raymond E. Feist
Talion Revenant - Michael A. Stackpole
Malazon Book Of The Fallen – Steven Erickson (Loved this series. Just gets better as the books go on)
Farside trilogy – John Dalmas
Myth series – Robert Asprin
Annals Of The Black Company – Glen Cook (Great read but enjoyed Dread Empire more)
Dread Empire – Glen Cook (In my top 5 in fantasy)
The Book Of The Gods series – Fred Saberhagen
Light & Shadows series - Janny Wurts
The Cycle Of Fire trilogy – Janny Wurts
The Legend Of Nightfall - Mickey Zucker Reichert

If you liked "Sea Of Time trilogy – S. M. Stirling" read the "Dies the Fire" trilogy.

Basically the story of what happens to the rest of the world when Nantucket gets ripped into the past.

He's also continuing the "Dies the Fire" story with another series, "The Change" currently 4 books, with more to come.

[Cluttered]

I am in the middle of reading the first Hunger Games and it is fantastic. Hard to believe it is categorized as teen literature. Even despite reading the amazing reviews, that categorization made me hesitant. The author has a fantastic simple style to writing but really knows how to stir emotions in the reader.

[Saint Austin]

I am in the middle of reading the first Hunger Games and it is fantastic. Hard to believe it is categorized as teen literature. Even despite reading the amazing reviews, that categorization made me hesitant. The author has a fantastic simple style to writing but really knows how to stir emotions in the reader.

Just finished the first book. It's awesome. Picking up the second of three books today after work. There's also suppose to be a movie franchise starting next March. Hopefully they don't $#@! it up.

[Cluttered]

Finished it today. Man, what a great book. Very few books can I literally say "I couldn't put it down", but this one was one of those.

Spoiler!

I can't recall many moments in books where it's gotten dusty in my room during certain moments. When Rue is killed, it really pulls on the ole' heartstrings. Off the top of my head, the only other time I can remember getting emotional like I did when Rue died was when the dog dies in Legend.

Probably going to pick up the second book tonight.

[DrManik]

The Hunger Games was definitely a great trilogy. I read it sometime last Winter and couldn't put it down.

[FCHorn]

Nice list TexasDan...will have to look into some of those...I'm really behind on current sci fi...

[bularry]

I saw someone above recommend a recent book by Guy Gavriel Kay. I probably won't read it, as his writing style seems to have gotten more and more precious, but he has written one really tremendous book:

Tigana was excellent but I thought Lions of Al-Rassan and A Song for Arbonne were both better. Really loved all three of those novels and have read Arbonne probably 5 times.

[Cluttered]

The Hunger Games was definitely a great trilogy. I read it sometime last Winter and couldn't put it down.

Finished book two...Still loving it. Though, I noticed a dip in the overall review of the 3rd book. So, I jumped to look at the reviews and it would appear that I should expect a depressing ending to the trilogy and that didn't make some of the reviewers too happy.

[HOOK'EMHOOAH]

i cant believe it took 95 posts for the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. kudos and +rep Bamachine.

i will also throw in The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt and its subsequent sequels. i picked up the rest of the HHGTTG series today and the last book in theTEoG today at the dubai mall. cant buy $#@! in a-stan, so i got them while i can get them. im re-reading HHGTTG now so i can start fresh for the rest of the trilogy in four parts. i wanted to get the last book in it, but decided ill wait. i are on a budget.

[BrazilHorn]

Here goes:

Fantasy:
The Red Wolf Conspiracy
The Ruling Sea
The River of Shadows
(All by V.S. Recik)

The Way of Kings
Mistborn Series
(Brandon Sanderson)

The Name of the Wind
A Wise Man's Fear
(Patrick Rothfuss)

Before They Are Hanged
Best Served Cold
A Betrayal in Winter
The Blade Itself
(Joe Abercrombie)

The Born Queen
The Blood Knight
The Briar King
The Charnel Prince
(Greg Keyes)

The Lies of Locke Lamora
(Scott Lynch)

The Warded Man
(Peter Brett)

Wit'ch Series
(James Clemens)


Sci-Fi

Old Man's War
(John Scalzi)

Hyperion
(Dan Simmons)

Anything by Ian Chambers

Starship Troopers Rip-Off but easy reading
The Legion Series by Marshall S. Thomas

[Scooter]

I don't usually read novels written by women, but this was a captivating story.

In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question the meaning of being "human." When the lone survivor of the expedition, Emilio Sandoz, returns to Earth in 2059, he will try to explain what went wrong... Words like "provocative" and "compelling" will come to mind as you read this shocking novel about first contact with a race that creates music akin to both poetry and prayer.

[BrazilHorn]

another good fantasy series is:
Lamentation
Canticle
(there's a third as well)
by Ken Scholes

[bamachine]

Finally read American Gods and Neverwhere by Gaiman this past week, both were good. Also read the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara series by Brooks this week, pretty good. Just have the High Druid series left and I will have finished all the completed Shannara series(I know another is in the works).

[Michael Knight]

1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin

6. 1984, by George Orwell

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085...-fantasy-books

[bamachine]

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085...-fantasy-books

Have read all of that top 10(No 10 being the last one read)

[Michael Knight]

I've only read 6 of the top 10, tho only the 1st Dune book

[SydneyCarton]

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085...-fantasy-books

American Gods in any top 10 for science fiction/fantasy list is a joke. At best, it's just a good book. Top 10 of all time? Gotta say no. Higher than Nueromancer? Higher than Frankenstein? Higher than any of $#@!'s stuff, Dark Tower, The Stand, Snowcrash...gah every 3rd book on that list all the way down has a higher claim. It sure as $#@! shouldn't be $#@!ing higher than Sandman.

Also, for the record, and to steal a friend of mine's statements: I don't understand why the Cryptonomicon is always classified in Sci Fi. I mean, I get it, that's what people mostly associate with Stephenson, but there's literally NOTHING in that book that is related to Science Fiction. It's $#@!ing historical fiction 100%. Someone name ONE thing about that book that is science fiction, please?

Excuse me, I need to give myself a time out now.

[bamachine]

I finally looked at that entire top 100 list. I own 60 of those(series included) and have read 69(ohh yeah) of them.

[Yarp]

Really have enjoyed what I've read in the past year from Jim Butcher. He's got a noir detective/wizard/urban series taking place in modern day Chicago called The Dresden Files (also a short lived sci-fi series by the same name, books are way better). Fun reads, not too long (avg 250-250 pages), but a lot of books (just read the 13th). The man writes action VERY well. I've even been able to get my wife hooked on them. The author has a really good sense of humor, does a good job of breaking up some intense moments with humor. Fun reads, just the right amount of grit.

He also has a more traditional fantasy series called the Codex Alera. It has a (somewhat) unique magic system (everyone BUT the main character has some kind of magical ability) and is heavily Roman Empire influenced, which is a fun approach to take instead of traditional medieval fantasy. Again, no shortage of action, the epic battles are described in great detail. First half of the first book is kind of slow, but everything picks up from there, I highly recommend it.

Have also read Way of Kings by Sanderson and the Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss, if you haven't read them, you are doing yourself a disservice.

[kongHorn]

Fans of The Hunger Games should give Battle Royale a read
The Magicians and The Magician King by Lev Grossman are solid
The Vlad Taltos series by Stephen Brust are entertaining

[Prepuce of Doom]

Also, for the record, and to steal a friend of mine's statements: I don't understand why the Cryptonomicon is always classified in Sci Fi. I mean, I get it, that's what people mostly associate with Stephenson, but there's literally NOTHING in that book that is related to Science Fiction. It's $#@!ing historical fiction 100%. Someone name ONE thing about that book that is science fiction, please?

Computers, codes, coding, codebreaking, and a general appeal to nerds of many stripes?

Wikipedia agrees with your friend.

Cryptonomicon is closer to the genres of historical fiction and contemporary techno-thriller than to the science fiction of Stephenson's two previous novels, Snow Crash and Diamond Age. It features fictionalized characterizations of such historical figures as Alan Turing, Albert Einstein, Douglas MacArthur, Winston Churchill, Isoroku Yamamoto, Karl Dönitz, and Ronald Reagan, as well as some highly technical and detailed descriptions of modern cryptography and information security, with discussions of prime numbers, modular arithmetic, and Van Eck phreaking.

I'm reading Anathem by Neal Stephenson right now, and it's been dubbed "speculative fiction"--whatever in Sam's nine $#@!s that genre is supposed to comprise. Isn't the very definition of fiction somewhat speculative?

[SydneyCarton]

Computers, codes, coding, codebreaking, and a general appeal to nerds of many stripes?

Wikipedia agrees with your friend.



I'm reading Anathem by Neal Stephenson right now, and it's been dubbed "speculative fiction"--whatever in Sam's nine $#@!s that genre is supposed to comprise. Isn't the very definition of fiction somewhat speculative?

I think it's just lazy categorization. Because all of the computers, coding, etc and things of that ilk are all FACT. There's nothing Fictional about it. $#@!, more than half the damn book is the HISTORY of code breaking.

Didn't stop be from enjoying it however. Although I thought the part at the end where the crazy lawyer/anthropologist just shows up in obscure south east Asia on a rampage still wearing his expensive suit was a little too far fetched. Still a great book, however.

I've never heard of speculative fiction in my life, but it's hard to avoid the idea of someone using or coining that term seriously as anything other than a method to jerk off to their own cleverness.

[Hellraiser97]

I'm just now finishing the Death Gate Cycle by Margarette Weis and Tracy Hickman (of Dragonlance fame for those living under a rock). It's a series of 7 books. I didn't really like the first one, but at the end it started to peak my interest, after that, they get pretty good.

[SydneyCarton]

I'm just now finishing the Death Gate Cycle by Margarette Weis and Tracy Hickman (of Dragonlance fame for those living under a rock). It's a series of 7 books. I didn't really like the first one, but at the end it started to peak my interest, after that, they get pretty good.

Wow. There's a blast from my Junior High Past. I read all of those, and while I remember enjoying the 1st, 2nd, and 4th and a few of the rest ok, I never felt like I'd be interested in revisiting those. Although the Fizban/Zifnab crossover stuff was pretty damn fun.

[rage-a-holic]

I'm just now finishing the Death Gate Cycle by Margarette Weis and Tracy Hickman (of Dragonlance fame for those living under a rock). It's a series of 7 books. I didn't really like the first one, but at the end it started to peak my interest, after that, they get pretty good.

lol, I just started re-reading this series again Monday. One of their best efforts.

[jatrain]

Working on the series Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham. 2 books in out of 4, good, quick reads (around 250 pages on Nook, for comparison Dance for Dragons was around 800). A nice break after reading Martin (don't have to remember hundreds of characters but it is still well developed). I typically break up fantasy series with short nonfiction between each book (I can kinda burn out if I don't), but these I'm cruising through these.