Post your favourite science-fiction book, novel or collection of short stories.
Pic unrelated, because I haven't read enough to have a favourite yet.
Written by a Vietnam war veteran and an astrophysics major. The result is pretty damn good.
>>686768837
is it any near as good as hyperion? i'm hesitating to get it.
I'm saving every picture ITT, will enquire later to choose what to read.
Not usually recommended by Dick readers, but I found it quite a bunch of fun.
this is mine
>>686769234
One of the best I've read.
>dem feels
>>686769364
Interest piqued. Tell me more.
>>686769032
if you enjoyed hyperion you definitely have to read it, it's fucking great.
I personally liked endymion more because of the focus on less characters and the great romance subplot. and the ending is again fucking awesome.
I've read The Forever War from this volume; should I continue?
>>686768694
For Scifi, this book without a second thought. The Rama series is interesting though.
I haven't read it yet but I keep hearing about it.
This and Hellburner are probably my favourites
>>686770102
I've actually read it and it's not even a good book let alone something to base your life on.
>>686770102
>>686770293
FUCKING ATHEISTS!!!
>>686770392
Reading it was what made me an atheist.
Back on topic. This thread is great btw. Probably going to read all of these
If you have not read this I cannot recommend enough, currently waiting for the 2nd and 3rd to arrive from amazon.
Anathem by Neal Stephenson.
Don't both with REAMDE by him, that was a dud.
>>686770801
Don't *bother...
>>686770748
>sj watson
>sjw atson
no thank you
I haven't read too many sci fi books but this one is easily my favourite
>>686770748
When you're done, read Molly Fyde.
It starts out feeling like a kids series but then holy fuck.
last proper scifi book I read. an alien race finds a human spaceship. but I am unsure about reading the rest of the books in the series some oh them seem to take a weird direction with an alien race that looks just like humans but are assholes.
>>686771034
Fair, it didn't say that on my copy - thankfully.
>>686771267
Heh nice, I posted an ADF book further up, enjoyed most of his books.
>>686769318
I enjoyed it. Ended a bit flat though.
>>686771218
I'm more of an end of the world / dystopian sci fi lover, had a quick look and it doesn't seem to fit the bill, sorry.
Bonus entry, amazing book - nothing like the film.
Definitely worth, Asimov is a household name for a reason.
The Audiobook can be found on youtube; Around 4 hours long. It's some good shit.
>>686771612
>Household name
Yeah right.
Fine Structure by Sam Hughes
https://qntm.org/structure
The Safehold Series
>>686771717
My mom knows Asimov. Sure he's no Bradbury, but he's up there.
>>686771819
Good for your mum, that doesn't make him a household name - even if your mum is.
>>686771913
badum tss
>>686771913
Dude, anons right, everybody knows asimov, even if its just for the 3 robot laws
>>686771400
same universe too it seems. do they wreck those goddamn lizard assholes in any of his books you read? also I forgot I read the following book phylogenesis too (I liked it but not quite as much as nor crystal tears).
>>686772046
Perhaps amongst Btards (I knew him) but not amongst the general population.
Like the novella Who Goes There by Cambell/ aka The Thing if youve seen the movie. same style of book. really good.
>>686772207
Yeah most of his books are set in the universe he created, except Pip and Flinx(maybe), Spellsinger and the Aliens series, there might be others I can't remember. I would have read about them and I do remember the hyper agressive praying mantis dudes but I haven't read ADF except Prism for years, I need to go back through them, great author.
>>686772258
Seconding the Mars Trilogy suggestion
>>686772279
Man most btards are young as fuck, It's much more likely that the average population that reads is far more likely to know him than people on 4chan
>nobody posting pic related
>>686772258
Yeah, not a bad book
>>686771442
Warning: this is more about Gnosticism in California and Dick's own personal private life than proper sci-fi, so to speak. I enjoyed it but be warned.
>>686772552
Go to twitter, search his name.
>Full of normal people.
>>686772584
Dune was a grind man, as much political as scifi after the first book or so. I enjoyed it well enough but I'll never read it again and it doesn't rate in my top 10
>>686772697
>implying I want to use twitter
>>686772703
This, but as a series it was good. First few are hard work
>>686772757
Then shut up. Fucking hell.
>>686771714
If you liked that read, go look up "The Time Ships", it was a sanctioned "part 2" of the Time machine and a fantastic read.
>>686768991
ok I just read the description on wikipedia halfway (fucking bastards that wrote the description are spoiling way to hard). what the actual fuck. I have to fucking read this shit.
This if you're interested in God and aliens and are ready for a somewhat shitty, disappointing ending.
90% of the book is dialogue, really. If you can handle a sad caricature of murderous hillbillies attacking wise Canadians, then give it a try.
>>686768694
I've read this, its shit
Foundations and Dune
>>686768991
bought. thanks anon
>>686772857
So because I don't want to use twitter, suddenly the rest of the world forgets who asimov is?
>mfw
>>686772881
You'll have a blast. It's excellent. Lots of gruesome science in it, "hard science-fiction" as they say, since the author is an actual scientist and actual war vet.
Blindsight by Peter Watts. Hard sci-fi.
http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm
>>686771612
/thread
>>686772947
>I've read this, its shit
I'm interested in how a human being can read it and not like it. Would you be so kind as to elaborate on your opinion?
>>686772258
Awesome trilogy
The last question by Isaac Asimov, is my favourite I think.
The Moon is a harsh mistress is great too!
>>686768902
Made me like militarism
>>686768991
Made me like pacifism
What do?
>>686771612
Reading the last book now
>>686772584
On God-Emperor now
>>686768694
>>686773041
>showed you evidence that it was only btard like people who know him
>refused to see said evidence
>you can get fucked now.
http://bookzz.org you can find a lot of the books here if you want to make sure they are worth buying.
>>686768694
Altered Carbon and the sequels. I wish I could erase them from my brain so I could read them again for the first time.
They're making a series based on the books for Netflix I think.... I'm really looking forward to it
Jules Verne
>>686773256
>What do?
You take more time to assess the potential enemy. Once you know what's really up, you make peace or you fuck shit up.
I generally think of those two novels as a pair, because I read them in a short span of time.
>>686773066
that makes it even better, I always preffered hard scifi.
DOOOOOOOOOOON
>>686773419
>Stéphane Belleverge
>de la SF qui tend la bite
It's a fucking massive trilogy to get through
Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, and Ancillary Mercy make up a fantastic trilogy.
She won the hugo award in 2014 for the first book. Lots of people bitched about that because woman author but she's really fantastic.
Speaking of hugo awards, how has nobody mentioned Redshirts yet?
It's the best single book to win a hugo award since two thousand fucking two.
>>686773601
You'll love it, I'm sure. Hostile space and related gruesome accidents. The whole thing is good.
>>686773455
>thinks Asimov, an author famous before the internet was even readily available is somehow more famous on the internet, particularly on 4chan and twitter
>open same thread on /lit/
>get manchildren trying to sound smart
>open thread on /b/
>cool dudes abound
>/lit/, not even once
>>686773124
It was okayish, but the whole thing is WAYYY too long and all the ending is a bit pathetic.
>>686773083
looks interesting enough and hard scifi is always better. but the fuck the description says something about having a fucking vampire on the ship? is this going to be cringy in that regard or well enough explained? it just seems odd and out of place.
>>686770748
Yes, they're good. Verging on young adult fiction, but there's enough there to redeem them.
>>686771218
> Molly Fyde
> Mollified
> OK, thanks
>>686774120
>It was okayish, but the whole thing is WAYYY too long and all the ending is a bit pathetic.
Interesting. I agree that the novel is way more about psychology than SF per se, but I liked it for that.
I also loved the ending. I've often heard people dislike it, but I don't quite get why.
Is this what you disliked most? The psychological stuff? Because that's most of the book: dealing with having to impose force and violence on others and such.
I'm truly curious because I see so much hate for this novel that it never ceases to surprise me.
How come so many people who don't like it read it? How did you get to the book?
Also, what other SF books do you prefer? To give me a perspective, if you don't mind my many questions.
>>686774206
>young adult fiction,
I cringe whenever I hear the term. Can anyone give a serious definition of this shit?
Very good. Huge endeavour with a lot of creativity and some genuine horror.
>>686774203
The appendix cites *actual medical journals* regarding the physiology of the books vampires. It's great. No cringiness; we aren't talking shitty teen movie vampires.
>>686774531
means deep in a good way, but not pretentious shit that you need to pretend to like if you want to look like a real adult
>>686771717
You're a fucking ignoramus. Stick to /b/ - you'll be fine - but this really isn't the thread for you.
I didn't pick up another book for at least a month just because of that fucking chair!
>>686774203
>>686774785
>>Another deleterious cascade effect was the so-called "Crucifix Glitch"— a cross-wiring of normally-distinct receptor arrays in the visual cortex10, resulting in grand mal-like feedback siezures whenever the arrays processing vertical and horizontal stimuli fired simultaneously across a sufficiently large arc of the visual field. Since intersecting right angles are virtually nonexistent in nature, natural selection did not weed out the Glitch until H. sapiens sapiens developed Euclidean architecture; by then, the trait had become fixed across H. sapiens vampiris via genetic drift, and—suddenly denied access to its prey—the entire subspecies went extinct shortly after the dawn of recorded history.
>>686773750
Best epic Sci-Fi trilogy ever. Still reading everything he writes but this still can't be beaten.
>>686775438
>>686773750
>>686775564
Yeah seriously good books, probably rate as my second fav Scifi
>>686774120
I liked the psychology stuff.
I am very anti religious people and that ending was disappointing for me. Also all the "internal plots" endings are underwhelming, there is also no resolution to the whole thing.
I've read all of Asimov, and though about going through all the other writers of the same period, especially the larger SF cycles.
Kim Stanley Robinson and his Mars Cycle is at the top of the list for me.
Asimov's Foundation, still a bit of a lack of ending but I really loved it.
Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth saga, a bit "easy" but not too bad.
english titel is: The Two Faces of Tomorrow
really most books by Hogan I've read so far have been very interesting in their own ways.
>>686774203
The only cringy part for me was the people with split personality because of pic related.
I loved the vampire, being really different from humans and all.
>>686775438
john was always a zombie
>>686775545
wait so the "vampire" in the book gets seizures everytime he sees a cross? or did they fix the "glitch"? because it would be pretty hilarious if he gets seizures from random cross shaped objects. still I might check the book out.
Works by the Strugatzki brothers.
Especially "The Doomed City" and "Prisoners of Power/The Inhabited Island"
>>686775202
>means deep in a good way, but not pretentious shit that you need to pretend to like if you want to look like a real adult
That's an interesting definition of it. Personally, I don't think it should be used by anyone, and that only businessmen use it to market books.
When people automatically say they prefer Gene Wolfe over Card, I become suspicious and wonder if they are able to read something without being influenced by external factors.
>>686775377
>a culture novel
What?
>>686776303
The glitch is suppressed through medication; if the vampire were ever to try and rebel, they could withhold his medication, hole up in a locked room until it wore off, and then he'd be helpless against them.
aka the "Night's Dawn Trilogy". Read it.
also by the same author, Pandora's Star (first book of the Commonwealth Saga).
>>686775545
>siezures
Sure hope that your misspelling.
>>686776409
>>The Culture is a fictional interstellar anarchist utopian society created by the Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, which features in a number of his space opera novels and works of short fiction, collectively called the Culture series.
>>686776146
top kek @ pic
>>686776503
Ha. No, that was copypasted from the notes in the appendix
I remember reading a really old short story, i think it was from Clarke, where aliens visit an abandoned earth and find all of humanities knowledge written on punched cards. Old sci-fi is sometimes hilarious in that way. I love it all the more for it though.
And I really did not expect /b/ to have this good of a taste. Anyway here's another book I really liked.
>>686775992
>I am very anti religious people and that ending was disappointing for me. Also all the "internal plots" endings are underwhelming, there is also no resolution to the whole thing.
I can't agree with that, but don't want to spoil others.
Objectively, the problem gets solved, hard, no?
>>686768694
Rendezvous With Rama is actually a fantastic book. If you like mystery and a sense of exploration, then it's a great place to start.
I prefer "hard science fiction", which in theory is science fiction that fits within our knowledge of physics, though it does rely on technology that is only theory at this point.
The #1 answer is the Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds.
>>686776085
Meh. The split personality's pretty different from Tumblr and their headmates-- because in The Gang's case, she's not full of shit; her brain was physically partitioned to create separate personalities.
>>686775992
>Kim Stanley Robinson and his Mars Cycle is at the top of the list for me.
I often hear about that one. Is this some epic social story of colonisation?
Should I read Asimov's Foundation as my first Asimov? I've never read him.
A friend of mine loves Hamilton and even met him at some book convention where nobody was. I checked some of his books' blurbs and the idea of living ships put me off, but I'm willing to give him a try.
>>686776051
>English title is
>The Two Faces of Tomorrow
>Germans think that's too damn poetic and turn it to
>The Compute Satellite
Holy shit, Hans, you need a chill pill.
>>686777021
Go eat a dick.
Your localizations are just as terrible.
>>686776800
Yeah, I know and I'd like to enjoy it, but Tumblr has destroyed it for me.
>>686777021
Kraut here, sure its a shitty title but a direct translation wouldnt sound good either in that case.
>>686777021
it happens with almost everything, movie or book. they either add some really stupid sub title or turn it into utter shit. it makes me a little upset
>rendevouz with rama turns into rendevouz with 31/439
Can't find a good cover. My version is a blue hardcover volume and it rocks my balls.
Basis for The Thing, and a bunch of other short stories. Good stuff for sure.
Campbell is credited with starting the hard science fiction movement by kicking out authors who knew jack about science and were making, basically, fantasy using technology.
>>686776762
>Rendezvous With Rama is actually a fantastic book. If you like mystery and a sense of exploration, then it's a great place to start.
This exactly.
>>686774120
Apologies to you, I responded to you as if you had been talking about Ender's Game... My comment:
>>686774443
won't make sense about Rama... My bad.
>>686775992
>I am very anti religious people and that ending was disappointing for me. Also all the "internal plots" endings are underwhelming, there is also no resolution to the whole thing.
Now that I'm thinking about the right book, I understand, and agree. I can't recall a single character from this novel, for instance. It's mostly exploration. I still like it but I can see why it doesn't do much in certain areas.
I took the ending to be a humbling of ourselves.
>>686777227
>thinks I read translations
Hans, c'mon. I learn the language then read the book. Das ist wunderbar!
>>686770801
I thought remade was pretty great tbh
>>686777507
>Rendezvous with Rama
becomes
>Rendezvous with Ranma 1/2
>bisexual sex in outer space
>featuring Clarke's old dick and a bunch of his Indian gay lovers
>>686777618
>forgot pic
>>686768991
Hand down one of the best books ever written.
Also liked House of Suns because it's one of the few books without faster-than-light travel. To work around that is pretty fantastic.
Rendezvous With Rama
Childhood's End
Going to read some more Clarke - hes fucking great - any recommendations?
Contact - Carl Sagan
Neuromancer - comfy cyberpunk feels
>>686768694
The bible
Anon, write your own!
Even if you don't intend to write SF or F, pic-related is an insightful read and it gives you ideas about what to read too. Loved it. Short and sweet.
Card is truly a genius.
>>686778113
Komm, laber nicht.
Beide sprachen haben scheiss Ãœbersetzungen.
Tu also nicht so, als wenn deine ach so tolle englische Sprache so viel besser und poetischer wär.
>>686776930
>Is this some epic social story of colonisation?
yes
It starts off really good, slows down a lot, and then gets really good again at the end.
>Should I read Asimov's Foundation as my first Asimov?
No, this would be like telling someone just getting started on King to read The Dark Tower.
If you're just getting started on Asimov, I'd suggest one of the following, depending on your tastes:
Anthology of short stories - I, Robot
Mystery Novel - Caves of Steel
What the Fuck this is Awesome - The Gods Themselves
>>686778479
While I lost my faith to a large degree, I have to respond. The Bible is over 60 books in one volume, ranging from poetry to chronicles, to lyrics, to letters, to myths, in various languages across millennia.
The only bits that could work as SF would be those with Ezekiel and what he saw, provided you imagine God to be some alien overlord; same with the Ark of the Covenant, which does things that look very technical for a contemporary reader (big voice from the Ark, gives diseases, etc.)
Not sure that's what you meant.
>>686778364
Is this the one with the group of "shatterlings" and the kind of open end? That was great.
>>686772703
Makes for a good audio book.
>>686778667
>Komm, laber nicht.
>Beide sprachen haben scheiss Ãœbersetzungen.
>Tu also nicht so, als wenn deine ach so tolle englische Sprache so viel besser und poetischer wär.
My first language is French. I understood what you said but had to use a translator.
>>686778771
>What the Fuck this is Awesome - The Gods Themselves
>>686773256
God-Emperor is a bit tedious, but generally makes you think a lot, and the last two books are less philosophical again (although not as good as the first three).
Don't bother with the Brian Herbert Spin-offs.
>>686778771
>No, this would be like telling someone just getting started on King to read The Dark Tower.
i did this. i didn't like the dark tower at all or maybe i didn't like kings style of writing at all.
Have fun.
I have the whole SF masterworks collections as epubs, but most are broken in some way.
So I started converting them into plaintext, which displays perfectly fine on my eReader and is less of a hassle. So don't complain about the format.
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=71677513653081876893
I just talked with my dad and he reminded me of another great one ( actually a few) but we couldn't remember the name.
Bascially it was set in a Universe where one race had faster than light travel but kept the technology for themselves but allowed other races to travel on their ships. They also had deorbited their planet and it floated through space far from any sun. Illuminated by a bunch of small artifical suns.
Anyone know what I'm talking about?
>>686773041
Asimov is one of the big names, period.
ofc not "everyone" knows him, but then does everyone know who Heinlein is? I don't even get what he's are arguing about
>>686779348
Nvm I actually found it. At least I think this is it.
>>686779195
..dafuq
Guys, give some story on your books, it'll help with picking up something to read, thanks!
I'm curious about this one.
>>686768952
I read this and Stranger in a Strange Land, and I didn't like either of them. Couldn't stand Heinlein's patronizing tone.
Are his other books as bad? I don't really want to give up on him yet.
>>686773780
Recently read Redshirts, pretty good and entertaining but not what I consider mind-challenging sci-fi. Still deserves the Award
Only read Ancillary Sword, the set-up is amazing, but the story itself is meh... pretty boring at times.
>>686779251
When it comes to King, do exactly this:
>read his collections of short stories in chronological order
>see King's style (d)evolve into more and more trivia and filler, see whether you like that or not
>select novels you think you may like
>It
>The Stand
>any you like the sound of
But yeah, start with the short stories.
Ringworld.
>>686779462
If Asimov is on par with the other 2 of the "big three", Heinlein and Clarke, then he should be all right.
>>686779927
It's about a world with psychic cops where crime is impoossible because they will know what you're about to do, but this one rich guy starts planning a murder.
>>686779927
Makes sense, my bad.
>>686769760
Surveyor sent to a newly discovered planet where a study team has stopped reporting in, arrives in the best harsh environment suit available, soon realises that the fauna of the planet is silicon based and completely outside of his understanding and beyond what his suit was built to deal with. Has to survive on a planet where his soft carbony goodness is like a banquet for most of the flora/fauna.
>>686768694
star wars
>>686778791
yes, though I didn't care for the ending that much
>>686779237
Really? How come?
>>686779342
thanks man!
And because I saw it in the file: Roadsie picnic by Strugatzki brothers!
I didn't know it was the series at first, and it took around 50 pages to really kick in, but then, it's good. It's really good. Top notch execution and I love the conspiracies and political stuff in it. It's very well done.
Not sure I'll read the whole series but it's worth it.
>>686779936
Try Starship Trooper. So different in style and substance, you'll find it hard to believe the same guy wrote it.
Dis
>>686779936
>Couldn't stand Heinlein's patronizing tone.
I think it's more intended as comedy, but I could be wrong, depends what you have in mind.
I resent hippy ideology but enjoyed Stranger for other reasons. I don't think it was intended as "advice".
>man raised by aliens get to earth
>absolutely nobody seems to give a fuck that we found alien life
That was a glaring flaw in the book. It didn't take itself very seriously and I was annoyed by that.
>>686780104
I enjoyed Desperation.
King sure does like having all of his stuff connect, doesn't he?
Seriously, no Vonnegut?
I am disappoint.
>>686780307
>Surveyor sent to a newly discovered planet where a study team has stopped reporting in, arrives in the best harsh environment suit available, soon realises that the fauna of the planet is silicon based and completely outside of his understanding and beyond what his suit was built to deal with. Has to survive on a planet where his soft carbony goodness is like a banquet for most of the flora/fauna.
I like that.
>>686781062
>Sirens
dat ending
How the fuck come no one has mentioned a single book of Stanislaw Lem yet?
Especially The Invincible.
Although you should have no dislikes for russian old-style sci-fi... like a space ship having chart rooms and so on
Roadside Picnic
>pic related
someone started comic version of it
>>686781047
>King sure does like having all of his stuff connect, doesn't he?
Yeah, which he does by having everything happen in fucking Bangwhore, Main bitch. It becomes ridiculous rather than cool. How many supernatural occurences can a small town get?
Whenever an author does any kind of self-insert, I throw the book away, physically, and take a dump on it. And let it rot until someone else gets rid of the abomination.
>>686780735
sounds good, thanks
>>686781193
I liked The Invincible, but Lem writes really dry. Solaris for instance was just horrible.
>>686781274
Amazing book.
>>686781062
>Vonnegut didn't want the word "science-fiction" on any of his books, so people would still think of him as "literature"
It's that sort of mindset that makes me avoid him. That, and I expect his work to be satirical and ironic 100% of the time, though I could be wrong.
>>686780115
halo... stole this...
>>686768694
i listen to the audio books while i work. Hitchhiker's guide is also really good. im finally getting to finish the roundear prophecy.
>>686781193
Don't worry anon, any authors I read here who I don't know I'll have a look at.
>like a space ship having chart rooms and so on
Can't read scifi without suspension of disbelief, spoils the fun.
Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow are pretty fantastic, I haven't read Xenocide or Children of the Mind or the other Shadow series yet, but Speaker of the Dead was pretty neat. Not as good as Ender's Game, but still interesting.
>>686781367
>but Lem writes really dry. Solaris for instance was just horrible.
Friend, you've read translations. Polish doesn't work like English, and I can tell you, since my woman is Polish, that Lem is a genius author, but you might have read poor translations. Some of his work hasn't been translated until recently.
>>686769760
is reading the other books of this series a prerequisite?
>>686781367
>doesn't know that in Polish you can place words in any order you want because meaning derives from word endings
Bad translations happen.
>>686780841
Thanks, maybe I'll give it a try.
>>686781014
Maybe it's just not my kind on humor, I don't know. What bothered me was that the main characters in both books are such know-it-alls and I as the reader am supposed to take their opinions as facts.Well, that's what it felt like for me, anyway.
>>686772584
My nigga, was just about to post
>>686781330
For most of the book, it's half detective story, half spaceship shenanigans. It's like a noir et submarine combat.
>>686781552
>>686781609
how do you even know he's a pollac?
>>686781552
Well, I don't speak a word Polish.
Any good charts of must-read sci-fi one shot books or series?
>>686772709
Yes
Everything in Jack Chalker's well world series
>>686781796
read the fucking thread, you cunt.
>>686781743
>how do you even know he's a pollac?
The same way I know Dostoyevski was Russian. The same way you know any author's nationality.
Lem is uber famous, and I don't think there's any other non-American and non-British SF author that rivals him.
>>686781796
>asks for books to read
>can't spend 3 minutes reading the thread
I bet you're one of those audiobook faggots
>>686769446
It's a surreal dream like story about three people, the narrator, the girl, and "the warden." The world is threatened by this vague catastrophe that encases the world in deathly ice mountains, and the narrator is constantly trying to save this girl from the warden, chasing her around the world, and worrying about the inevitable ice apocalypse, but throughout the story the relationship roles and moral high ground is constantly questioned, and it can be seen as a story about how men and women are in a constant power struggle, although it's widely known that the author was an opiate addict and it's often considered an allegory for heroin addiction.
>>686782192
How is that science-fiction in any way?
I know you're trying to be a smartass, but don't insult me with low quality crap. Make a goddam effort.
Did you not notice the difference between
>fiction
>science-fiction
Is that it? You didn't digest the dank meme, John?
>>686782192
So you're saying that the quran is your favorite book?
so far it's the foundation series, enders game, starship troopers, rendezvous with rama, the diamond age was pretty cool too, and right now the mote in gods eye is shaping up to be up there too, but i'm only about 1/4 in.
>>686781552
I can't know for I've read everything of him in German, but the movie wasn't really better. Solaris was tiresome - on the other hand I really digged His Master Voice (and everything else by the way)
Still Lem is truly a genius in my eyes
true it's really dry but I read it in German but
>>686782344
>How is that science-fiction in any way?
top bait
>>686782164
kek, i thought you guys meant the anon you replied to to be polish. good thing this is anonymous
>>686781367
I dunno, I read both The Invincible and Solaris and they were good. Solaris is my favorite book btw
>>686781421
The underlying problem is that sf still isn't taken seriously as litterature, even books like Fahrenheit 451 and also Vonnegut's own Slaughterhouse 5. I think that if litterature is a mirror into the soul, then sf is like a funny mirror.
>>686782702
how's that bait? what about it is "science fiction" ?
>>686779251
I generally tell people to starts on Hearts in Atlantis or Eyes of the Dragon depending on what kind of shit they read.
>>686782722
Solaris went way overboard with the books inside a book descriptions of the planet.
>>686782477
Mein Schwarzafrikaner.
>>686782917
>what about it is "science fiction" ?
everything
>>686768694
Haven't seen the movie though. (Should I?)
>>686783078
that is right. planet description was indeed too extended, however Lem himself was pissed because people took Solaris as a kinda love story, while Lem's main point of the book according to him was showing everyone that aliens and extraterrestrial life are not only green humanoids but something exotic as well, like the whole fucking planet
>>686778412
I can really recommend this one!
>>686776524
In the middle of Surface Detail, after that only one book left.
I'm already dreading being "out" of Culture books. :(
>>686781434
Also, Iain Banks' 'Culture' series.
>>686771267
I second this -- great book.
>>686780392
Yeah I don't like open endings but was/am hoping for a sequel of sorts... Like he did with revelation space.
>>686771267
are there some interspecies sex scenes or what?
I had a guy in Vietnam give me a book with no cover for $2. Don't know the name but it was about every blade of grass earth turned out to be aliens and they woke up to kill us once. They almost wiped us out then the sand was also aliens and they helped push the grass aliens back. In the end the sand turned out to be the bad guys and killed all life on earth
The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. A Korean light novel.
>>686779342
>http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=71677513653081876893
thank you based anon
>>686782702
Fiction, sure, I can see the joke and yadda yadda, but science-fiction? How?
>>686771442
My nigger. I recommend Radio Free Albemuth as a companion piece.
>>686783078
kudos!
>>686782749
Readers who scorn SF tend to be less intelligent, that's really all. Anyone who cares about superficialities and labels this way are idiots at worst and women at best.
>>686784348
this actually sounds good. i would love to read it
>>686780735
its pretty good - but every time I had to read the detectives story I was instantly bored.
it was written by two writers and you can tell quite clearly who has more talent
are the next books better?
>>686785126
I have the same edition of Solaris in my bookshelf. Does yours also have the typo on the back, saying Planer instead of Planet?
>>686785075
>science-fiction? How?
there is a whole tale about some creature making a universe and people, and you are wondering how the fuck it's SCIENCE fiction?
>>686783304
>Quran is SF
>because Mohammad has a fucking jet pack from Allah
>jihad is raised with superior technology from Allah
The fuck are you on about? Where's the science part of the deal?
theses:
https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/Authors/Philip%20K%20Dick.page
>>686785321
>it was written by two writers and you can tell quite clearly who has more talent
Really? I thought it was fairly seamless. I don't know for a fact that one wrote the detective thing and the other one the ship stuff. I prefer the detective part personally, though the ship shit has amazing moments.
Overall, though, both plotines feels like they were written by the same person.
I haven't even finished the first book yet.
>>686785334
>there is a whole tale about some creature making a universe and people, and you are wondering how the fuck it's SCIENCE fiction?
How do you create a universe with science? Metaphysics is not science, friendo. Besides, the Quran doesn't have a creation myth, to my knowledge.
So, what are you on about?
>>686783304
I dont' remember there being spaceships in the qu'ran
>be me
>read PKD novel
>very intriguing beginnings
>two plotlines
>forgettable characters who have no personalities
>things get fucking weird
>desiretoknowmoreintensifies.jpg
>shit gets FUCKING WEIRD
>characters wake up in a room and remove their virtual reality suits
>IT WAS ALL JUST A DIGITAL DREAM TADAAAAA
>throw book out the fucking door
Happened twice that I can remember. Once, well, the other time, not so good.
>>686785325
>Der Planer Solaris ...
well I don't read those texts anyway
>>686785334
Guess that makes fantasy books with aspects of creation into scifi now too huh?
Made that whole universe with science!
>>686786020
>How do you create a universe with science
Are you retarded?
"Besides, the Quran doesn't have a creation myth, to my knowledge."
Yeah, get back to me after you research it then.
>>686786236
>I dont' remember there being spaceships in the qu'ran
Then you just need to interpret it a bit differently.
>>686786380
>Guess that makes fantasy books with aspects of creation into scifi now too huh?
they can be.
>>686786578
case in point
>>686786578
>>686786380
ah that brings to mind
<- this
short story though
>>686778364
his Revelation Space trilogy is my current favorite series. Best Hard Sci-Fi i can think of.
>>686771717
>>686771913
>>686772279
>>686772757
Everyone knows Asimov, he's probably one of the most famous science fiction writers of all time. Don't be ridiculous
>>686771568
My man
>>686787611
It's ok, hes gone, I think he was shocked that an author he saw on /b/ last week wasn't new to the world.
>>686772584
My favorite series as well.
2nd favorite is Hyperion series by Dan Simmons
>>686787574
Mass Effect basically stole the plot of this series, except in the book, humans had yet to meet other advanced sentient species.
>>686779342
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=71677513653081876893
bumping
>>686772279
yeah, my grandmother knows who asimov is. He was the Sagan of his era
>>686786504
>Are you retarded?
No, can you actually answer the damn question? Didn't think so.
And yeah, I don't remember a creation myth in the Quran, please enlighten me, if you can.
>>686770748
Yeah. This series is good. First book is quick and gets you hooked. You can buy them all on amazon kindle. Omnibus edition has all the books for the best value.
Just finished Ilium. It was amazing.
Thanks for all the ideas everyone.
>>686776930
Its made to feel realistic, it pulls you into this could-be-world and you end up having an opinion on the matter of red vs green mars.
Basicly and with no spoiler the books goes as :
Red Mars, Discovering Mars
Green Mars, Politics
Blue Mars, Psychology
>>686769387
Seconded.
>>686787611
>Everyone knows Asimov
I can think of a dozen people around me who don't. But yeah, for anyone into SF, those will all know him, even if they haven't read him, like myself.
>>686788724
So those dozen people haven't seen Bicentennial man or I robot?
>>686775377
Consider Plebis is another good one
>>686787574
the story to Sky's Edge told in Chasm City is pretty cool
>>686789048
I think Excision is my favorite Culture book, but that whole series is awesome
Just finishing this now, and while I do really like the main character and her characterization, i'm not sure if the actual plot is anything special, and the world building is pretty limited.
Armor by John Steakley
>>686785882
Yes, the other books are better.
>>686788275
start reading it online and stop bothering me? answered.
This book has some really interesting ideas about post Singularity trans-humanism
The Saga of Seven Suns by Kevin J. Anderson (and its follow-up series)
Pretty decent space opera.
>>686789048
>>686789211
Space-X named their landing platforms with ship names of his books and I never read one of his books? Shame! Shame!
On Silver Wings by Evan Currie
It's like Samus meets Predator.
>>686788541
awesome. i was kind of worried no one qould acknowledge the long series. its about parallel universes and occupying them. oh man i love thinking about it. i wish our universe were like that
>>686790595
I'm looking forward to reading it.
Bone Wires by Michael Shean
Cyberpunk noir — a little Blade Runner-esque, but otherwise good stuff.
>>686788567
this sounds a lot like the long series. youre supposed to be able to "step" west pr east into a parallel planet. they travel west on earth so far that it ends up being like mars, so they in turn travel to mars to try the same thing. there are other humanoids and some of them i feel are dumb but the others are cool.
i really cant say enough nice things about this series.
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Hardboiled cyberpunk. Its sequels are pretty good too, and range from cyberpunk to dystopian sci-fi.
>>686771612
i avoided it for a long time but now im just meeting the mule on the second half of the second book , its good!
>>686791294
Also should note that his works are heavily inspired by Gibson, and are just as entertaining. Also a little less dated than some of Gibson's early works.
>>686776488
Honestly couldn't get over the Sci-Fi, but with ghosts aspect of it and quit halfway through the first book. Are they ever rationally explained?
>>686789490
Culture universe is best universe. Loved those books, shame about the early death of the author.
>>686768694
That's my favorite, right there
either this shit right here or the zones of thought books.
>>686788897
Yes. My people have some taste.
>>686789861
>better.
Damn, I'm excited.
>>686790036
The Quran isn't a story, friend. Its sections are ordered by length. There's no creation myth in it.
Prove me wrong.
>>686789609
Read all three of these. It's funny, while I DID enjoy reading them, I totally despised the whole race and/or idea of the radchaai.
A culture I would love to conquer as, say, the Presger (who are cool as fuck). Their genderlessness (hello tumbler) did also not help.
If you're into military sci-fi (large fleets, etc.) try The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell (pen name of John G. Hemry) and its sequel series and spin-offs Beyond the Frontier and The Lost Stars.
It's a pretty interesting fun read, and gets better as it goes on. Does an excellent job of handling the physics of space battles and relativity. (Events that occur at great distances within the same solar system happened may have happened hours or days ago because of the time it takes for the light to travel, for example)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112292.Dauntless
H. Paul Honsinger's Man of War series is also decent.
At least, the first two books were pretty great. The last one not as much, but I'm expecting the fourth to be better.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18318651-to-honor-you-call-us
>>686789861
Really? The one on the far away shit planet was kinda boring and people behaved eratically. That last one with the split stories was better but also just "meh" (IMHO)
nobody?
>>686792234
>butthurt sandnigger still pressing the point
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_mythology
there, you are proven wrong. Now go sit on a dildo.
>>686768694
this one was also pretty good. started it in 2006 but never got around to finishing it. typical post apocalyptic story..guess i like that stuff. i enjoyed the movie, the road, too.
>>686792173
I don't want to spoil anything, but if the detective portions weren't your favorite, you won't have to worry about that so much. There are new characters that you'll probably fall in love with that are introduced in the sequels. And despite all the novels I've recommended above (Hidden Empire, On Silver Wings, Bone Wires, Altered Carbon, Lost Fleet, etc.) The Expanse saga remains my favorite sci-fi series of all of them.
I was pretty stoked when Syfy decided to make a television series out of it. They spent a lot of money making the show, and have done a fantastic job so far. The first twelve episodes cover the first half of Leviathan Wakes. I can't wait until they get further into the books, though I expect they'll diverge at some point GoT style, even if there's enough material so far for 5 to 6 seasons at the current pace.
The two authors are contemporaries of G.R.R Martin, though, having studied under him, and say what you want about Martin, but he did a fantastic job of teaching these guys how to build a deep world.
Surprised no one has posted this yet.