Did you know that Frederik Pohl is still alive? He'll turn 89 in November.
Posted on 05/23/2008 10:02:34 AM PDT by GSWarrior
There must be a lot of SF fans here. Who are you favorite authors or books? What are you currently reading?
I enjoy SF books that focus on character development over hard scifi themes. Robert Silverberg, IMO, is about the best there is. I also enjoy Gardner Duzois' short stories--some gut-wrenching stuff. Jack Vance's are also very entertaining. Orson Scott Card is pretty good too.
I am currently reading Altered Carbon, by Richard Morgan...it's kind of slow and hard to follow. Not likely to read his other novels.
I have enjoyed some, but not all, of Niven and Pournelle's works.
Not big on SiFi, but fantasy I can’t pick one since I get a certain something from many.
Terry Goodkind
J.R.R. Tolkien
C.S. Lewis
Robert Jordan
Jack Whyte
George R.R. Martin
Colleen McCullough
L. Dean James
Ligotti, in real life, is probably clinically insane. Not psychotic - simply not in touch with reality.
The thing about Goodkind’s SoT series that I constantly was throwing the books across the room. The decision making of the main characters would just infuriate me!
Gene Wolfe rules. According to his bio he not only is an awesome writer, but helped invent the machine that makes Pringles, if you can believe it. His most famous books are the tales of Urth, which is earth millions of years from now, sorta like Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series.
He uses this literary device called the ‘the unreliable narrator’ in a lot of the books I have read from him, which makes his novels a lot of work, but very, very rewarding. He is also a Catholic convert who incorporates Catholic imagery into his work which I dig.
Sir Doyle wrote the Lost World, I think.
Freegards
In Martin’s Game of Thrones series. I have decide not to continue it. The part some supposedly dead noble is bringing the Starks back to life is just way underdeveloped that I can’t understand it. I don’t know, I may read the next one that just came out if nothing else just to find out what happen to Little Finger and the eldest Stark daughter. At least that thread is clear and interesting. Well that and John Snow(Stark).
Simmons is good. I drop by his website occassionally, and he posts excellent essays. I’m not sure of his political affiliation right now but he’s stated that he used to be a Democrat, and now he seems to be the only sf writer to have a clear bead on the Islamofascist threat. His short stories are good, too.
That’s a fair analysis. The interviews I’ve read with him show a guy who’s a bit strange, and insulated from the real world. It’s easy to think you’ve got it all figured out when you’re that isolated, with no one to question your assumptions.
Ever read George Macdonald? He was supposedly a considerable influence on both Lewis Carroll and C.S. Lewis.
Octavia E. Butler
He still occasionally publishes also....
My favorite sci-fi book.
My favorite fantasy book..
Or you could consider some girly fantasy by Gentle, Mary
Why has there been so little fantasy written from the viewpoint of the Orcs?
Yes. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is absolutely wonderful.
Agree. J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5 is a masterpiece.
some books were written in the same universe by others. The “during the series” books are so-so. But then there were 3 trilogies that are brilliant compliments to the Babylon 5.
The Psi Corps Trilogy written by J. Gregory Keyes.
The Centauri Trilogy written by Peter David.
The Technomage Trilogy written by Jeanne Cavelos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5_Novels,_novelizations,_short_stories,_and_comic_books
Not mentioned at all, I also liked A. Bertram Chandler's Rim World series (John Grimes).
-PJ
I wish that he had written more Riverworld books.
Late to the party (as usual), but here are my thoughts:
SCI FI:
“Starship Troopers” is a *must* read for any conservative Sci-Fi fan. I avoided Heinlein for years after reading “Stranger in a Strange Land,” but “Troopers” is great. Charles Sheffield is good for “hard” sci-fi. I like Orson Scott Card’s Ender work, but haven’t read anything else.
STAR TREK:
Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens are can’t miss, even the stuff they write with Shatner. I have a soft spot for Diane Duane, Vonda McIntyre, and Diane Carey. Peter David is the exception to my Uncle’s rule that “chicks can’t write Star Trek books,” although you have to watch out for cutesy in-jokes. Avoid Michael Jan Friedman at all costs.
STAR WARS:
Timothy Zahn is a can’t miss here. James Luceno is also pretty good. You have to watch out, though, for stuff that was written before Episodes I-III if you are a “continuity cop.”
FANTASY:
My brother says that the first two Dragonlance trilogies from Weis and Hickman rival Lord of the Rings. I’m not saying they’re that good, but they are close.
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