Hey, It's almost Christmas and I'm writing my list. I've decided I'd like some Sci-Fi books but I'd like something new, something I've neither heard or read. Please recommended your finest, Ta.
"Battlefield Earth" Forget that is was written by L Ron Hubbard, it was well before he went off on the Scientology craze. Forget that John Travolta totally trashed the movie attempt. The book is nothing remotely like the movie.
Actually, Scientology was founded in the 1950s, after Hubbard published his book Dianetics. The novel Battlefield Earth was published in the 1980s. I'll throw in Zelazny's Lord of Light, as an interesting one. Also, Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash. David Brin's Uplift books are also interesting. Joe Haldeman's Forever War is good. There are a bunch more I could name if you're more specific about what you're looking for.
My apologies, I should've put my preferences down but I was rather pressed for time. I'm pretty new to this genre. I've only read a few books, but only stories set on a dystopian Earth. I'd rather have a mix of choices. But thanks for your input already.
In that case I can saftely safetly safely recommend Alistair Reynold's Revelation Space trilogy - Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap. I think the final book is a little weaker than the others but it's by no means bad. There are also a couple of side-novels too, Chasm City and Diamond Dogs. I can also second the Joe Haldeman's Forever War. And its sequel, Forever Free, which gets a bit unorthodox towards the end to say the least.
"Fortunes Pawn" by Rachel Aaron, or Rachel Bach if they put it under her married name. It's brand new and she is an amazing author
Yeah, it doesn't figure into the story at all. I don't know that I've seen a lot of direction Scientology in Hubbard's works that I've read (which have only been a few). I know the church gets revenue from them, but I don't remember the stories themselves pushing it.
Light and Nova Swing by M. John Harrison are stonkingly good. I've not read the third in the series yet, Empty Space.
I tried to get through Battlefield Earth years ago and only managed about 300 pages in. I second Lord of Light by Zelazny, and maybe Creatures of Light and Darkness. If you like alien invasions, there's Turtledove's World War series (aliens invade during World War II). If you like action and high body counts of aliens and some humans, John Ringo's Posleen War series is pretty good. Armor by John Steakley is a top novel too. Finally, there's the Dune series by Frank Herbert.
Ender's Game by Scott Orson Card. It's popular but I only heard about it after the movie came out, so I thought I'd rec it here.
Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhosvky is really good. I'm a sucker for anything halo, so: Halo, the Cole Protocol Halo, Ghosts of Onyx Halo, Contact Harvest Halo, the Flood Prey by Micheal Crichton presents some neat ideas, as does his other book, Sphere.
I'll second Ender's Game. Possibly my favorite work of literature period. Also, Forever War which has been mentioned is quite good. As well as Dune. Classic book right there. I'd really recommend anything by Isaac Asimov too, especially his Foundation trilogy/series if you're just getting into sci-fi. Anything he writes is guaranteed to at the very least be thought provoking and incredibly interesting. Half the fun of reading him too is seeing just how influential he's been on modern sci-fi, and then being able to see his fingerprints everywhere you look in the genre. Nightfall by him and Robert Silverberg is another fascinating read.
I'll just second fmmarcy's recommendation of Isaac Asimov. He's most well known for his Foundation series, which I haven't actually read, but there are plenty of great other pieces he's made. His Short Stories collection and The End of Eternity are two of my favorites. Just don't be put off when you see "science" of the future which is already obsolete by our modern world.
Stephen Baxter is consistently interesting. I particularly enjoyed his books Flood and Ark, which lead on from one another, and tell the stories of various groups of people trying to escape from / survive a sudden and unstopable rise in sea level. I've also read and enjoyed the Ender books, and would highly recommend them.
I wouldn't personally start with Ender's Game (I think it's overrated), but Asimov's Foundation series is damn good. I would, however, strongly suggest reading the Foundation books in publication order and not chronological order (there's what, a 40 year gap between Foundation and Prelude to Foundation in real time). As for other suggestions: Neuromancer is an absolute must for any start into cyberpunk sci-fi, and I would also recommend the Avery Cates series by Scott Somers.
There is no Sci-fi but Greg Egan (seriously, just look at his online stuff). Ted Chiang and Vernor Vinge are also favorites of mine. If you're looking for something quick, then try Sam Hugh's blog fiction.
I second the recommendation for Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. A couple series that I'd recommend are the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi and The Horus Heresy, which are written by 3-4 different authors, one per book; my favorite is Dan Abnett. If you end up enjoying the Warhammer 40K universe and Abnett's writing I'd also recommend the Eisenhorn series.
I'm about halfway through Contact by Carl Sagan, and I'm really liking it so far. Sagan's writing is clear and engaging. You may already be familiar with Sagan because of all the science outreach programs he used to do. If you like his science books, you should give the novel a read.
