<p>Read all of Heinlein, loved Dune, read all of Bradbury, read an absolute TON of sci-fi books growing up but for some reason could never get through the Foundation trilogy. I know I should try again but don’t hold out much hope. I remember “Lucifer’s Hammer” and “The Mote in God’s Eye” as exceptional.</p>
<p>I think Dune may have been the first real sci fi book I read. It’s still one of my favorites. And I like both the Foundation series and the Robot books. Never cared much for Arthur C. Clarke. Rendezvous with Rama and… nothing happens! Ack! It was a cute idea, but I wasted hours of my life I’ll never have back!</p>
<p>My guilty admission is that I have never been able to read Philip K. Dick, but I like the movies made from his work!</p>
<p>I’ve read a lot of fantasy as well - favorite writers, Robin McKinley, Patricia McKillip, Ursula LeGuin. I like a lot of Barbara Hambley’s earlier books, I haven’t gotten into the vampire ones. Jim Butcher’s Dresden File books are fun. </p>
<p>I read the first 5 or 6 Honor Harrington books and then got sick of the politics the whining and all the military hardware. I just stopped caring about her or the world. My youngest still reads them, though secretly I think he agrees with me, except he always loved the military hardware descriptions.</p>
<p>How about Snowcrash? That was an amazing book when it came out.</p>
<p>I haven’t read The Darwin Elevator yet but bought it based on reviews. Anyone read it?</p>
<p>[Book</a> Review: ‘The Darwin Elevator’ : NPR](<a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=207457973]Book”>Book Review: 'The Darwin Elevator' : NPR)</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.analogsf.com/2013_09/reflib.shtml]Analog”>http://www.analogsf.com/2013_09/reflib.shtml]Analog</a> – The Reference Library<a href=“scroll%20down”>/url</a></p>
<p>Great thread, by the way.</p>
<p>Oh and for fantasy one of my favorites - on the gritty end - is Charles deLindt - urban “Newford” (somewhere in Canada), musicians and artists, Native American myths and Irish sprites all mixed up together. Some work better than others. Love the one about the painter whose imaginary people come to life. (Memory and Dream.)</p>
<p>D1 and I both really like Robin Hobb (which is actually a pen name). We started with Assassin’s Apprentice (which is pretty hard to get your hands on, there is ONE copy in our state’s interlibrary loan system). We’ve read the Farseer Trilogy, the Liveship Traders Trilogy, the Tawny Man Trilogy, and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. Neither of us cared for the first book in the Soldier Son Trilogy, so we bailed on that one.</p>
<p>Mathmom, I just got around to Snowcrash in the past couple of years and really liked it!</p>
<p>I like Juliet Marillier. She writes “historical fantasy” with a Celtic-Gaelic flavor.</p>
<p>I re-read Rendezvous with Rama aloud to D2, and we really liked it as a “read aloud”. It is a subtle book, IMHO, compared to a lot of these. Sort of the point is that they don’t get a lot of answers and there isn’t a direct contact climax. It just… goes away at the end.</p>
<p>Maybe I’ll try Rendezvous With Rama. I really like Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End and have re-read it a number of times.</p>
<p>I also love the original Dune.
I like this piece in the New Yorker.
[Why</a> Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ Still Matters : The New Yorker](<a href=“http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/07/dune-endures.html]Why”>“Dune” Endures | The New Yorker)</p>
<p>
Food for thought</p>
<p>I wish someone would make a good Dune movie (Peter Jackson, are you listening?). There was one made several years ago that was just so cheesy and horrible – D2 and I rented it, and only made it through about 15 minutes before quitting. Dune is one of those books with a “flavor” all its own…</p>
<p>I can’t WAIT to start reading Kingkiller Chronicles! </p>
<p>I am also planning to read Ender’s Game before the movie comes out. </p>
<p>I love The Last Question and Nightfall - two short stories by Isaac Asimov (note this is Nightfall, the short story, not the full book - I haven’t read the full book but heard it was not quite as good as the short story).</p>
<p>My son loves The Last Question, it’s somewhere on line, that’s where he showed it to me. It’s an edu. address so I hope it’s okay to link: [The</a> Last Question](<a href=“http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm]The”>http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm)</p>
<p>mathmom, the link is fine. Thanks for posting it! I will read it when I get time.</p>
<p>I’ve read and enjoyed Darwin’s Elevator but didn’t LOVE it. It struck me as having a good concept, great action but somehow not a ton of depth…it reminds me a bit of a military sf author like michaelson or Williamson or something …tons of grit but not emotionally connecting for me. I’d read book two.</p>
<p>Another cool space opera series is by mike Shepard…the Kris Longknife series.</p>
<p>Ok so who else picked up a SF book to read this weekend after talking last week about it?</p>
<p>I started a new book by Niven (I thought someone on here had mentioned it…that has all these numerous references to old scifi)…</p>
<p>DUNE. LOVE. Best sf book ever…I remember the first time I realized that half the terms were from the Iraq/Afganistan region…I was all “so Herbert didn’t make that up?”</p>
<p>Frank Herbert’s White Plague was pretty good…more of an sf environmental thriller…you know that whole NATURE GONE WILD</p>
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<p>Yeah, someone who’s read it and liked it at least. I don’t know when I’ll get to it, as I’m working on the CC Book Club choices at the moment - immersed in War of the Worlds.</p>
<p>One of my all time favorites is Clive Barker’s Imagica. </p>
<p>Love anything by Robin McKinley. David Brin’s Uplift series was really enjoyable until the end when it got a little deep. I have loved many of Marian Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover books. I confess to enjoying Anne McCaffrey’s books even though they are a little potboilerish. I don’t think anyone has mentioned Zenna Henderson yet.</p>
<p>I’m reading The War of the Worlds for the CC Bookclub and will reread Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow as soon as I am done. </p>
<p>I 've read at least some of the Henderson’s The People stories, though I am not sure how many, they were okay, but I didn’t really believe in her characters, if I remember correctly.</p>
<p>Growing up, I was a HUGE X-Files fan - I can easily say it’s my favorite show of all time.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking about it recently for no real reason, and then I found out that it was the show’s 20th anniversary. So, I loaded an X-Files book - Ruins - on my Kindle. I was not sure about it in the begging, but I have really gotten into it towards the end. Plus, it brings back all the great memories :)</p>
<p>Just found this thread. So many authors.
Heinlein was one of my first loves. I’m going to lead a book discussion on The Moon is a Harsh Mistress in August. Any suggestions you have for discussion questions are welcome.
I probably read more fantasy than sci fi these days. Love Rothfuss. Love Brandon Sanderson, though not quite as much as my son does. Honor Harrington by Weber was good, and reminded me so much of Horatio Hornblower that it can’t be accidental.
I adore Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and am next on the list at the library to get the new one. Just finished the first book in his Codex Alera series, and am liking it as well.
I remember fondly some of the titles mentioned above - The White Plague, Lucifer’s Hammer.
I went through a whole long romance with Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover series, and Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds. I still read/re-read from those, and enjoy them.</p>
<p>Rothfuss is coming to my local indie book store next month. Part of me can’t wait and part of me is like “DUDE! stay home and write for gods sake! I need book 3.”</p>
<p>I haven’t read it yet, but my younger son really liked The Martian by Andy Weir, it was originally self-published but then got sold to Crown for six figures. There may be a movie…</p>