Sci-Fi Fans

Any sci-fi fans out there? I'm looking for a good book to read.

I tend to like series of books, three or four books following a storyline. I tend not to like wizards, dragons, elfs, and Merlin. I like books that explore other worlds, societies, people soaring through space encountering new worlds or chasing after some Holy Grail type thing that will save humanity. I've read a couple of Jack Chalker series and enjoyed them a lot.

I've been out of touch with the sci-fi book market for a while and I could use some tips.

Cheers,
Michael

I highly recommend The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, by Stephen R. Donaldson (SRD).
SRD is one of my favourite fantasy / sci-fi writers because he knows how to build a large world, all the while not going WAY too far in to details, unlike Tolkien.

There are three chronicles, consisting of 10 books:
#1
Lord Foul's Bane
The Illearth War ( Gilden Fire )
The Power That Preserves
#2
The Wounded Land
The One Tree
White Gold Wielder
#3
The Runes of the Earth
Fatal Revenant
Shall Pass Utterly
The Last Dark

You can get some details at: http://theland.antgear.com/
Also, you can find his books at all book stores, as well at WeeBookInn (second hand & trade) or similar.

the best going sf/fantasy series right now is the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. He's up to eleven with only one more to go.

I can hardly wait.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gaydemon

I did wonder about the Thomas Coevenant books - sounded good, will have give em a read!

---

here is me stating the obvious (sorry, hun): I recommend that you start with the first as it explains the reason for the chronicles, or series.

I do hope you enjoy them as much as I, and I hope you cry as much as I when one of (my favourite) the characters dies.
Not because I am a meanie, rather because it means you got sucked in as much as I.

The Covenant books aren't dungeons and dragons and elves kind of stuff, is it Paco?

Michael

Larry Niven's Ringworld leans more towards hard-science.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dzinerbear

The Covenant books aren't dungeons and dragons and elves kind of stuff, is it Paco?

---

Sorry, Michael - I honestly did read your post, it's just I loved them so much I wanted to share.
Yes, the story is in the same category as Tolkien's epic saga, but better. Guess I never realized how much I did not want it to be D&D.
(Not a big fan of their version.)


I apologize for trying to force my ways upon you.
:joker:

funny thing, paco. i love reading fantasy and have tried several times over a period of 20 years to get into the thomas covenant but i just didn't like the writing style. have you tried the sun sword series by michelle west or the song of fire and ice series by george r. r. martin?

Dzinerbear, wish i could help ya but even my scifi is littered with hints of fantasy. not elves but i used to read stuff like the dragon riders of pern series, which is actually 100% scifi but has people riding dragons (which turn out to be genetically altered lizards).

ever go to amazon and search through the scifi? you can read reader reviews, which has actually been very helpful for me.

The Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley. She masterfully created an entire "other" world of characters with various religious and social levels.

I also loved the Dragons of Pern series Patti! - and it isn't really about dragons in the way most write about medieval dragons at all Michael.

Also check out some excellent sci-fi classics like -- "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K.Leguin.

I'm a huge reader. I think I've read about 35 books this year. I read a lot more of fantasy than I do sci-fi, but I have picked up a couple sci-fi books this year.

Accelerando by Charles Stross - This one is about 3 generations of a family and how they survive in a very technologically advanced world that occupies more than one planet. The every day technology used by characters in this book are at the very edge of our technological theory.

Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton - This is a cool war story with many very convoluted character interactions. It's full of intrigue and involves one species in the universe warring with humans to make them extinct.

I'm a member of science fiction book club (sfbc.com) and I get a lot of ideas on what to read from them. I read too much to go to the book store LOL

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dzinerbear

I like books that explore other worlds, societies, people soaring through space encountering new worlds or chasing after some Holy Grail type thing that will save humanity.

---

Have I got a series for you! Riverworld by Philip José Farmer.

In the first book, To Your Scattered Bodies Go, "everyone who has ever lived (up to 1984) is resurrected on the banks of a million mile long river. Their bodily needs are taken care of and if you are killed you wake up the next morning somewhere else on the river. This book looks at Sir Richard Francis Burton, famed translator of the 1001 Arabian Nights and discoverer of the source of the Nile."

The following books deal with major figures from history mingeled with fictional characters all dealing with (after)life on the River. But Burton is not satisfied with simply existing in this proposed paradise, he is determined to find out what this place is, why they are all there and if it is all it seems to be. There are rumors of a mysterious tower at the mouth of the River so Burton sets out to find it.

There are many twists and turns along the way, and there is a lot in terms of sexuality which I'm sure was a bit shocking for the time in which the books were written. I actually read these when I was in high school because I was a huge fan of Lewis Carrol and his Alice books and one of the main characters is a grown up Allice Hargreaves, who was the real life little girl that inspired the Alice books.

An interesting plot synopsis appears here: http://www.geocities.com/simon750_1999/ but be fowarned, if you plan on reading the books I wouldn't go too deep into this site, I think there are some major spoilers.

BTW, if any of you caught the monstrosity of a movie adaptation on the Sci-Fi network, please do not judge these wonderful books on the basis of that drek. It was awful and took way too many liberties on the story.

Oh oh! I dont read that often - no time or patience, but one book I LOVED was Intensity by Dean Coontz. It's more of a thriller, but I'd semi classify it as sci-fi.
:huh:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dzinerbear

Any sci-fi fans out there? I'm looking for a good book to read.

I tend to like series of books, three or four books following a storyline. I tend not to like wizards, dragons, elfs, and Merlin. I like books that explore other worlds, societies, people soaring through space encountering new worlds or chasing after some Holy Grail type thing that will save humanity. I've read a couple of Jack Chalker series and enjoyed them a lot.

I've been out of touch with the sci-fi book market for a while and I could use some tips.

Cheers,
Michael

---

THE DEATH GATE CYCLE by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

DAMN good series. It's seven books.
Dragon Wing, Elven Star, Fire Sea, Serpent Mage, The Hand of Chaos, Into the Labrynth, The Seventh Gate

Take my advice. These books are amazing.

R

Don;t let the names fool you... they may seem sword and sorcery (and they are a little bit) but they follow the themes you described perfectly. You will not be disappointed... it is n not a medevial style series, by any means. It's actually a very smart and well pointed social commentary.

R