Help me discover some badass summer scifi reading

orphicblue

orphicblue

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I’ve really been looking for some good sci fi reading material but keep coming up unhappy with my selections, so I was hoping somebody here might be able to steer me in the right direction. You see, I’m looking for a rather specific feel to the book I want to read… here’s what I’m looking for:

-Clean, sterile futuristic feel of, say, Star Trek: TNG or even the Phantasy Star games (PSII in particular). Something with spaceships.

-Emphasis on character development and plot over scientific theory / philosophy / politics ie. Joss Whedon’s Firefly or Star Wars original trilogy

-Decent amounts of action and/or blasters being fired, somewhere between Star Wars and Starship Troopers I guess.

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Even manga, movies, anime, or video games that fit these criteria. I got a weird fiending...

Thanks y'all!

Orph
 
..... as much as I hate recommending it to anyone Enders Game seems like a good fit for you.

Otherwise there are tons and tons of star wars and star trek spinoff novels.
 
Have you read any Phillip K. Dick or William Gibson? Both authors have several good books that were termed "Cyberpunk". Basically dark scifi futures where corporations control everything...
 
[quote name='kjauburn']Have you read any Phillip K. Dick or William Gibson? Both authors have several good books that were termed "Cyberpunk". Basically dark scifi futures where corporations control everything...[/quote]

... he just said he wants clean, sterile, and spaceships. I don't think you can get any further from that, not that those aren't 2 of my favorite authors.
 
Yeah, although I'm not really in the mood for cyberpunk, I've heard those names dropped and I plan to delve into them at some point...

Never read Ender's game, but might have to. Ironically not really into Star Wars OR Star Trek per se.

Does anyone know about, like, Heinlein? Or Ursula LeGuin's scifi Utopian stuff?

Thanks for the feedback gang, keep em rolling. I appreciate it.
 
I tried to start reading LeGuin's "Left Hand of Darkness," but couldn't get very far in it.

A shame, she wrote a nice little short story we covered in my American Gothic Lit class. Don't remember it offhand but it was a brilliant little story. I'll look it up later.

I wouldn't know what to recommend, unless maybe you want to try Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Those'r fun.

Edit: Musta been Shroedinger's Cat. Odd little story.
 
[quote name='orphicblue']Yeah, although I'm not really in the mood for cyberpunk, I've heard those names dropped and I plan to delve into them at some point...

Never read Ender's game, but might have to. Ironically not really into Star Wars OR Star Trek per se.

Does anyone know about, like, Heinlein? Or Ursula LeGuin's scifi Utopian stuff?

Thanks for the feedback gang, keep em rolling. I appreciate it.[/quote]

Heinlein's freakin' awesome. I just hope you're comfortable with his writing style as he's quite fond of exposition. If you've never read his works, try out Stranger in a Strange Land. See if it suits you as that is probably one of his more mainstream stories around. If you can grok that, check out The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough for Love, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, I Shall Fear No Evil, For Us, The Living, The Number of the Beast and Methusaleh's Children. I'll warn you straight out, he's quite adept at challenging your notions of social norms so if you can't handle taboo topics such as incest, rape, genocide, transexuality, unconventional relationships, notions of masturbation, etc. look for a different author. Funnily enough, he wrote this stuff back in the more mundane 50s & 60s when this stuff was unheard of, let alone taboo.

[quote name='zionoverfire']..... as much as I hate recommending it to anyone Enders Game seems like a good fit for you.

Otherwise there are tons and tons of star wars and star trek spinoff novels.[/quote]

What's wrong with Ender's Game? :whistle2:s If anything, it's highly appropriate for people who are CAGs.
 
Through it's not one of sci-fi's best (though it is decent) Halo: The Fall of Reach was a book pretty clean book (in terms of staying away from whacy theories and such), full of character development, plenty of action, and even spaceships (had some good naval space battle stuff).
 
[quote name='zionoverfire']..... as much as I hate recommending it to anyone Enders Game seems like a good fit for you.[/quote]

I was going to say Ender's Game - what's wrong with it? I read it based on a recommendation from a CAG and loved it.
 
[quote name='Strell']I tried to start reading LeGuin's "Left Hand of Darkness," but couldn't get very far in it.[/quote]

Try "The Lathe of Heaven". It's a little easier to get into, and I used to like it better than "Left Hand of Darkness" but the last time I read them, my relative ranking of each flipped. "Lathe" is a very good read, though. From what I've read of LeGuin, she's more about societies and politics than spaceships.

For the OP, I would suggest Jack McDevitt's "Omega" and "Chindi". They're not really blaster-type action, but they're also not dull. "Omega" has a Star Trek feel to it, and "Chindi" would be Trek meets "The Abyss" (though nothing to do with being underwater). "Chindi" came first and there's a book I haven't read in between them, but order's not terribly critical.

Also, Asimov's Foundation series, though I haven't read them in years. I remember them being suitably galactic in scope.

Bester's "The Stars My Destination" isn't exactly what you want, but it's a favorite of mine, as is "The Demolished Man". The rest of my favorites (Melissa Scott, Octavia Butler, Mike Resnick) aren't even close to what you're looking for.

I respect Heinlein, but I don't enjoy reading him anymore. "Stranger in a Strange Land" is definitely worth a read, but Heinlein loves to lecture. If you agree with his politics, it might not be so bad. Otherwise, prepare for long segments where the characters and story vanish and Heinlein speechifies for what seems like forever.

If you haven't seen it, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles is really quite good. It combines the best parts of the movie and the book into something new. It's collected in a thinpack DVD set and I've seen it recently at Costco.

If you saw one of the movie versions of Dune and liked it, consider the book. But it's heavy on the politics and intrigue and light on spaceships.
 
Anyone else make the following comparison of covers?

endersgame.jpg
megaman1.jpg
 
Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous With Rama" is pretty cool, and there are sequels that are pretty good, too. I loved the whole concept of the book, although there were a couple things I remember being cheesy, but maybe I am thinking of something else.
 
[quote name='Duo_Maxwell']Through it's not one of sci-fi's best (though it is decent) Halo: The Fall of Reach was a book pretty clean book (in terms of staying away from whacy theories and such), full of character development, plenty of action, and even spaceships (had some good naval space battle stuff).[/QUOTE]
Agreed...Fall of Reach and First Strike were fun reads.
 
Heinlein is good if you can deal with all of the politics that he puts into books.

Asimov is one of my favorite writers, his short stories are absolutely fantastic and his longer novels tend not to waste words in the way that Herbert or Tolkein do.

Arthur C. Clarke is another great author, though he doesn't quite fit your description. If you're into Sci-Fi you should totally read Contact if you don't mind a book that's more about science than exciting battles and whatnot.
 
[quote name='zionoverfire']..... as much as I hate recommending it to anyone Enders Game seems like a good fit for you.

Otherwise there are tons and tons of star wars and star trek spinoff novels.[/QUOTE]

Whoa what I was just gonna suggest... WONDERFUL book but yeah prolly low on action of the type he wants.

Reading Card's Homecoming series now... interesting in a different way from Ender. Hey go read The Worthing Saga if ya liked Ender... damn good philosophical points in that sucker.
 
Read Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and Shadow of the Giant.

Ender's Game is the greatest science fiction book ever written and the bean shadow series are more true sequals to Ender's Game than the actual Ender's sequals. Awesome military sci-fi books. You will love them.

For a space action series, The Conqueror series by Timothy Zahn would fit that pretty good. Fun little books.
 
Some of my favorites:

Robert Heinlein - almost anything
Isaac Asimov - almost anything
Arthur C. Clarke - almost anything
Orson Scott Card - Ender series
Gregory Benford - Galactic Center series
David Brin - Uplift series
David Gerrold - War Against the Chtorr series
Daniel Keyes Moran - Emerald Eyes & The Long Run
Frank Herbert - Dune series

I can think of plenty more but I'll stop for now.
 
If you can find it, try marrow by robert reed. Kinda like the ranma stuff, but lots more action, and spanning a much much longer time frame. And again, the ranma stuff is great, also the side spinoffish sieries of ranma, bright messangers and double full moon night. are great once ya finish the ranma stuff.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']Heinlein's freakin' awesome....I'll warn you straight out, he's quite adept at challenging your notions of social norms so if you can't handle taboo topics such as incest, rape, genocide, transexuality, unconventional relationships, notions of masturbation, etc. look for a different author.[/quote]


Yeah, way controversial, I mean it's not like he wrote the US Navy reccomended reading Starship Troopers ;) ;)

I keed I keeed

Seriously tho - if you like clean then Starship Troopers is prolly up your alley.

I also second Enders game.

If you like REALLY sterile and scientific then Asimov (Foundation etc)

If you like humor then add Hitchhikers.
 
Suprised no one has mentioned William F Nolan's Logan's Run series or King's Running Man (better than the movie and the theme is very relivent in this day in age). There is Michael McBride's Species, its not a steril type sci-fi story but its a kick ass invasion book. The only thing though is that I would wait for the fall when the Chronicles of the Apocalypse: Species edition ir released as it contains the first book and the unreleased second book.
Here is some links for it:
Paperback- http://shocklines.stores.yahoo.net/chofapspbmim1.html
Hardcover- http://shocklines.stores.yahoo.net/chofapspbmim.html

I agree with the recomendations of Dick and Asimov. They are true pioneers of science fiction.
 
I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi, but I really liked Ender's Game. Also, Orson Scott Card is from Greensboro (where I go to school), and he includes Greensboro in the book. So that was pretty cool.
 
[quote name='fart_bubble']...I agree with the recomendations of Dick and Asimov. They are true pioneers of science fiction.[/quote]

Jules Verne is a true pioneer of science fiction.

IMO it's possible to name PK Dick as a pioneer in the cyber punk genre, but he really didn't invent or help found science fiction itself.
 
I second Dune and Ender's Game (though reluctantly, now that it turns out Card is a huge douche and I hate him.)
 
If you're looking for star wars books, the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn is great, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. They really stand above the rest of the star wars books written (and there are a lot).
 
[quote name='jho']If you're looking for star wars books, the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn is great, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. They really stand above the rest of the star wars books written (and there are a lot).[/QUOTE]

Zahn did a great job with that trilogy. He also did two more SW books called Spector of the Past and Vision of the Future which are good. I also recommend The Conqueror's trilogy by Zahn which is not SW related. He has another one out called Angel Mass I have not read yet.

Been sitting on Dune and Ender's Game for awhile now. Just not much time to read them. Another one that might be outside what your looking for - Battlefield Earth. It's awesome. To bad they really fucked up the movie.

Edit: Come to think of it, Zahn just did another SW book called Outbound Flight.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']
What's wrong with Ender's Game? :whistle2:s If anything, it's highly appropriate for people who are CAGs.[/quote]

I can't stand Orson Scott Card's writing style, but I do think it's a perfect match in this case so I mentioned it.


Henlien might work, although don't expect Starship Troopers to be the norm for his work, I think out of all his works you might enjoy The Moon is a Harsh Mistress the best.
 
If you ever feel like reading a more complex, incredibly long, but amazing series, check out Otherland by Tad Williams. Got a matrixy vibe to it with a digital world, but taken in a completely different direction then the matrix. Fantastic characters and two absolutely evil villians in really different ways.

Plus, honestly in a hundred years Yi figure the world will probably be functioning quite a bit like earth is in those books. Great series but it is long, 4 1000 page novels. And the first book is a touch slow, basically an 800 page prologue, introduction to the series that doesn't take off till the very end. But the series never stops till then.

looking at some of the other posts made me realize, you would probably really like anything Timothy Zahn has written. The best of the best of Star Wars novels, and some fun sci-fi books as well. You would really like the Conqueror's series, fits the bill for what you are looking for perfectly.

John Ringo wrote a pretty good military sci-fi series starting with A Hymn Before Battle that is really fun as well. Not to much starships, put they are fun books, with some great military scenes and humor in them. Plus the premise is just cool, how realisticly could earth ever hope to fight off an invasion of an alien race? Answer, a basically mentaly disabled conquering alien race and a bunch of brilliant pacifist aliens looking for help. If you like the idea of powersuits, you would love this series as well.
 
[quote name='Sulik2']If you ever feel like reading a more complex, incredibly long, but amazing series, check out Otherland by Tad Williams. Got a matrixy vibe to it with a digital world, but taken in a completely different direction then the matrix. Fantastic characters and two absolutely evil villians in really different ways. [/quote]

I'll second that, with two reservations.

The first is that while it is sci-fi, it reads more like fantasy since they're interacting with different virtual worlds. You never forget it is sci-fi, but the situations themselves are sort of like holodeck adventures. I don't have a problem with that, but it's not space opera. Another series that does this (sort of) is Dan Simmons' "Hyperion" and "The Fall of Hyperion". (There were two more books in that series, but I thought they were disappointments.) Both series are amazingly inventive, and I'd recommend them in a heartbeat, but I don't know if they're quite what the OP is looking for.

The second is that Otherland is overly long. The attention to detail is amazing, and it is a really well-thought through endeavor. But some of the virtual worlds go on much longer than I thought they should. I don't think the books need to be quite as hefty as they are, and I found it's good to take a break -- and read something else -- between them.
 
[quote name='zionoverfire']I can't stand Orson Scott Card's writing style, but I do think it's a perfect match in this case so I mentioned it.


Henlien might work, although don't expect Starship Troopers to be the norm for his work, I think out of all his works you might enjoy The Moon is a Harsh Mistress the best.[/quote]

I see what you're saying. For me it's dependent on the book. While the Bean series is interesting to me, the Speaker series seems convoluted & drawn out.

And yeah, Starship Troopers was probably one of Heinlein's poorer works which is why I didn't recommend it as a book selection.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']I see what you're saying. For me it's dependent on the book. While the Bean series is interesting to me, the Speaker series seems convoluted & drawn out.

And yeah, Starship Troopers was probably one of Heinlein's poorer works which is why I didn't recommend it as a book selection.[/quote]

I just don't like his style of writing period, not speaker, bean or his short stories. It's annoying how he always makes his characters ungodly smart and how their intelligence always applies directly to the problem at hand, it makes it feel like I'm reading a comic book.

I'd say Starship Troopers is one of Heinlein's best works, short and to the point. The worst would have to be Stranger in a Strange Land, reading the work grok every 10 seconds takes something away from what little point it had.
 
[quote name='blandstalker']I'll second that, with two reservations.

The first is that while it is sci-fi, it reads more like fantasy since they're interacting with different virtual worlds. You never forget it is sci-fi, but the situations themselves are sort of like holodeck adventures. I don't have a problem with that, but it's not space opera. Another series that does this (sort of) is Dan Simmons' "Hyperion" and "The Fall of Hyperion". (There were two more books in that series, but I thought they were disappointments.) Both series are amazingly inventive, and I'd recommend them in a heartbeat, but I don't know if they're quite what the OP is looking for.

The second is that Otherland is overly long. The attention to detail is amazing, and it is a really well-thought through endeavor. But some of the virtual worlds go on much longer than I thought they should. I don't think the books need to be quite as hefty as they are, and I found it's good to take a break -- and read something else -- between them.[/QUOTE]

Pretty excellent critique of the few flaws Otherland had there. I actually did take breaks between reading them as well, except for 2 and 3, read those back to back just couldn't put em down. As well as the fantasy thing, some of the worlds were like reading fantasy sections, one of the things I loved the most about those books. I've never met anyone else who has actually read that series, so very cool to finally find someone.

Yeah I know they weren't really the space opera he was talking about and tried to say that at the start of my post, but didn't succeed real well. If you just want a really good complex sci-fi series one day, check out Otherland, would have been much more clear.
 
All things Dune.

The original six by Frank Herbert:

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse Dune

Then the first prequel trilogy by his son, Brian Herbert, and renowned author Kevin J. Anderson:

House Atreides
House Harkonnen
House Corrino

And finally, the second trilogy prequel by the same authors as above:

The Butlerian Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin

The Dune series is the quintessential sci-fi series. It is to sci-fi what LotR is to fantasy. Read them. Now.
 
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