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Post by John on Aug 14, 2014 5:50:43 GMT
I tended to prefer Sci fi humour
Robert Sheckley
Fredrick Brown
Robert Anton Wilson
Mel Gilden
and of course Douglas Adams
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Post by ChrisB on Aug 14, 2014 6:12:36 GMT
Sci-fi bores me to tears! Apart from Douglas Adams though, I never considered that there might be such a thing as humourous sci-fi. Now that could be a bit more like it!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 6:14:28 GMT
My favourite SF authors are Frank Herbert, Iain Banks (his Culture series was epic), Alastair Reynolds (try Pushing Ice for far-reaching scope), Stephen Baxter (only some of them) and Jack Campbell (Lost Fleet and Lost Stars series). So much for similar tastes  I have tried three or four times to read Iain Banks and find him unreadable. Maybe it a function of my age but its still the classic sci fi that appeals most. Asimov, Clarke, Herbert, McCaffrey even Heinlein - Stranger in a strange land rates pretty near the top of my all time list - writers who create an alternative world and make me want to learn more about it, Dune, Pern, Ringworld, Middle Earth that sort of stuff. Love Douglas Adams of course but Pratchett leaves me cold. Julian May Milieu series is great. Funny stuff this 'taste' init?. |
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Post by John on Aug 14, 2014 6:16:06 GMT
Like you Chris found sci fi a bit hard going but enjoyed reading authors who could write with humour
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Post by MartinT on Aug 14, 2014 6:51:19 GMT
Douglas Adams could do no wrong. A wonderfully fertile and comic imagination.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 7:06:04 GMT
Douglas Adams could do no wrong. A wonderfully fertile and comic imagination. Of course he could do no wrong....... .......he wrote it all on an Apple MAC  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 7:47:03 GMT
For them as like lists...... my SciFi book authors. I used to like lists but they got a bit long so there might be one or two missing Adams. Douglas Aldiss, Brian Asimov, Isaac Clarke, Aurther C Dick, Philip Heinlein, Robert Herbert, Frank Howdersheldt, Ed Howell, G Hoyle, Fred Hubbard, Ron Hughart, Brian Hutchinson, Dave Huxley, Aldus Innes, Evan Isaak, Elaine Jensen, Jane Jones, DF Jones, Raymond F Kapp, Colin Karpyshyn, Drew King, Stephen Knight, Damon Koontz, Dean Kurtz, Katherine Landis, G Langelaan, G Langford, David Lazeravich, A Lee & Miller lee, Gentry Lee, Tanith LeGuin, Ursula leiber, Fritz Leinster, Murray Lem, Stanislaw Lerner, E Lewis, CS Lindskold,Jane Lovecraft, HP Lytton, E Mann, Jack Martin, George RR Marusek,David Maxwell, Ann May, Julian McCaffrey, Anne McCammon, Robert McCarthy,Cormac McCarthy, Will McCauley, Paul J McCullom, M McDevitt, J Merril, Judith Mesta, Gabriel Miller, Walter Moorcock, Michael Moore, C Moore, J Morgan, Alexis Morgan, Richard Morlan, AR Murphy, Pat (why in any list is there a Pat Murphy?) Myers, Howard Naylor, grant Niffeneggar, A Niven, larry Nye, Jody Lynn Orwell, George Panshin, Alexei Perry, Steve Perry, SD Piper, H Beam Poe, Edgar Allan Pohl, fred Pournelle, Jerry Pratchett, terry Preston, Doug Preuss, P Pullman, Phillip Rankin, Robert Reynolds, mack Rice Borroughs, Edgar Rice, Anne Robinson, Kim Stanley Rowling. JK Rusch, K Russel, EC Saberhagen, Fred Sagan, Karl Saundby, Kate Sawyer, RJ Scalzi, J Scarborough, EJ Scholtz, C Schroeder, K Sellars, MR Service, GP Shatner, William (hi Shat) Shaw, Bob Sheckley, Robert Sheffield, C Shinn, S Silverberg, R Simak, CD Sladek, J Smith, EE Doc Smith, GO Smith, MM Smith, Wilbur Sohl, G Sparhawk, B Springer, N Stableford, B Stanchfield, J Stapledon, Olaf Stark, Jim Sterling, Bruce Stith, J StJohn, DW Stotts, RA Stross, C Sturgeon, Theo Swanwick, M Tarr, J Tofte, A Tolkein, JRR Troop, A Tuttle, L Van Gogt, AE Vance, Jack verne, Jules Vonnegut, Kurt Wagner, KE Watson, I Warr-Evans, L Watts, P Weaver, Ben Webster, Bud Weinbaum, SG Wells, HG Wentworth, KD White, J White, TH Wilhelm, K Willett, E Williamson, Jack Willis, C Wilson, Colin Wilson, RA Wylde, J Wyndham, J Wynorski, J Zebrowski, G Zelaney, R Zindell, D |
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Post by MartinT on Aug 14, 2014 8:27:28 GMT
Without any narrative, that reads, err, just like an alpha-sorted list!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 8:37:47 GMT
Without any narrative, that reads, err, just like an alpha-sorted list! If I added the individual books too, it would take over the asylum. Seven thousand plus!! I never did list the classics. At one time I had just about everything I owned listed in Exell, books, tapes, records, CDs, you name it. Real life intruded and I sort of forgot about them all. They are still on the hard disk somewhere. What sort of narrative would you like? |
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Post by MartinT on Aug 14, 2014 8:48:52 GMT
I didn't mean a list of books, I meant narrative and ranking. The list would be better as your top five or top ten with reasons why.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 8:58:07 GMT
I didn't mean a list of books, I meant narrative and ranking. The list would be better as your top five or top ten with reasons why. Aha, that will take some thinking about rather than just cutting and pasting!!! I'll think about it  |
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Post by Dave on Aug 14, 2014 8:58:59 GMT
There are the classics which are mostly brilliant, and then one finds the odd gem buried in the pile which really strikes a chord such as Hothouse from Brian Aldiss and Strength Of Stones from Greg Bear, both of which are a little 'off piste' but excellent none the less  |
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Post by Dave on Aug 14, 2014 9:01:50 GMT
Forgot to mention, I am currently reading my way through Patrick Tilley's Amtrak Wars series for the umpteenth time, an author I rate highly.
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Post by MartinT on Aug 14, 2014 9:05:18 GMT
The little gems for me were Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss, Fade Out by Patrick Tilley, The Sentinel and Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke, Whipping Star by Frank Herbert and Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds. All highly recommended.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 9:11:18 GMT
The little gems for me were Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss, Fade Out by Patrick Tilley, The Sentinel and Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke, Whipping Star by Frank Herbert and Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds. All highly recommended. Now you are talking. I reckon Childhood's End is probably No1 on my list. Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckly. About a galactic sweepstake winner - by mistake. Says rather a lot about human society. Intervention by Julian May. Humans with developing mind powers meet aliens who have them already. Turns out the chief Alien is in fact one of the humans who went back in time to develop the mind powers in the first place!! So many. Too many to choose real favourites. |
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Post by Dave on Aug 14, 2014 9:16:38 GMT
Fade Out is excellent Martin, that's up next for me. Have you read Mission btw? A very poignant and often hilarious book.
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Post by MartinT on Aug 14, 2014 9:36:16 GMT
No I haven't, I'll look out for it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 12:04:26 GMT
Picking my top five authors would be difficult, however, in no particular order.
Frank Herbert. Constantly inventive and intelligent. He created the Dune universe. Nuff said.
Isaac Asimov. Non stop production but still managed The Foundation series which remains a towering achievement.
Anne McCaffrey. Lots of goodies but the Dragon series is still a favourite. Created a future that is a bit daft but totally believable because of class writing.
Arthur Clarke. Anyone who can write Childhood's End has to be in the top tier. The Sentinal/2001 series are brilliant.
Philip Dick. Not so productive as the others but very clever and witty. 'Do androids dream of electric sheep' is not just the best title ever coined but a great book and inspired a great film.
All these writers can make you suspend disbelief because of the power of the writing. Someone like Dickens is great because he draws pictures of what the world was actually like. This lot have to think about what it might be like and still draw the reader in and hold their interest.
My favourite book remains Lord of the Rings (tied with Our Mutual Friend by Dickens) but I don't regard that as sci-fi more swords and sorcery fantasy.
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Post by Dave on Aug 14, 2014 12:26:07 GMT
Julian May's Exiles series is an interesting twist on fantasy writing although it requires some dedication as the main characters cynical attitude can be a bit wearing at times.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 16:38:06 GMT
Julian May's Exiles series is an interesting twist on fantasy writing although it requires some dedication as the main characters cynical attitude can be a bit wearing at times. It helps if you read the Galcatic Milieu series first. It gives you an insight into the main characters reasons for being the way they are. Although the Exiles is set before the others, it is in fact after |
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