Science Fiction Recommendations

Chipz said:
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Uh, John Ringo has a really good trilogy if you're into aliens and sci-fi warfare: Live Free Or Die, Citadel, and The Hot Gate.
 
Epictetus said:
All of these are very fine science fiction, but let's not forget the granddaddy of them all: Herbert George Wells. Given his era, it's amazing that anyone could have anticipated so much. Where are the likes of H.G. Wells today? I think it's barely possible for one person to know/keep up with all the aspects of modern science well enough for such a genius to exist.

A few years back I read of the discovery of a previously unknown H.G. Wells novel, but haven't heard anything since. The hero lived in the distant future world of the 1960s :eek:. It was an impersonal world of over urbanization, monstrously tall buildings, prohibitively expensive self-propelled horseless carriages. The hero was a down and out 'poet' wandering bleakly through this brave new world. I tell you, the man was a prophet! (Does anyone have more info on this novel, please?)

Incidentally, below are photos of H.G. and his great grandson Simon Wells who directed the 2002 film The Time Machine It amazes me how much people resemble their ancestors. Even I, when I see photos of my ancestors from the 19th century, people I don't even know the names of, I think "Oh! Oh!" Somehow they are as familiar as my own brothers and sisters. It's amazing! But, I suppose to be expected.


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Hey. Sorry. I'm just quoting my own post again because I can't edit it anymore. It seems the copyright holders pulled the photo of Simon Wells that I had here so you could compare him to his great grandfather. No matter. If you look at this link, you can see what I mean:
http://www.superiorpics.com/simon_wells/
Um...now the image is back again. I don't get it..
 
Omega133 said:
Uh, John Ringo has a really good trilogy if you're into aliens and sci-fi warfare: Live Free Or Die, Citadel, and The Hot Gate.
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I just read that. It was entertaining. I wonder how feasible "ballooning" an asteroid really is?
 
I strongly suggest The Sparrow and its sequel Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. I would love for them to be made into movies, but it wouldn't do them justice
 
Carcano said:
I don't know how much is fiction vs. non-fiction...but the descriptions of alien worlds and culture by Lou Baldin is the most bizarre and thought provoking info I've ever encountered. Better than any sci-fi you will ever read.
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You can't be serious? I had a look at the PDF and it's absolute drivel. All I saw was the usual 'I was kidnapped by aliens' nonsense and drivel, drivel and more drivel. Also I think you're off the topic. The writer seems to believe his account is not fiction. This thread asks for science fiction recommendations Yes, good science fiction ought to be though provoking, and makes no pretension of being real even when it purports to predict. Let's stick with the topic please..
 
Epictetus said:
All I saw was the usual 'I was kidnapped by aliens' nonsense...
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You probably didnt read more than the intro...the rest is over 90 pages.

Theres another compilation of his narratives over 500 pages.

If Baldin is making it up he's definitely the most imaginative sci-fi writer of all time.
 
I scanned it from beginning to end. I couldn't read very far into any section because it was such hackneyed drivel, and obviously written by an uneducated person. He's not imaginative at all, just regurgitative.
 
Carcano said:
If Baldin is making it up he's definitely the most imaginative sci-fi writer of all time.
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Oh, I don't know... I thought it was a toss up between Ron L. Hubbard and George Lucas.
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One created iconic and very profitable movie making ventures but failed at religion. The other created an asinine and very profitable religion but failed at movie making.
 
"Spin" by Robert Charles Wilson is an excellent work of science fiction. He tends to live on the "hard" side of the genre, which I know is important for a lot of readers. It's actually the first in the trilogy, but the books get less interesting as they go. I'm reading "Vortex," which is the final book, and it's a real slog. But Spin is absolutely tremendous.
 
Does "Spin", as a stand-alone story, have a decent enough payoff - or do you need to work your way through the trilogy to actually get to a satisfactory conclusion, even if the journey is a slog?
 
Sarkus said:
Does "Spin", as a stand-alone story, have a decent enough payoff - or do you need to work your way through the trilogy to actually get to a satisfactory conclusion, even if the journey is a slog?
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Sorry it has taken so long to respond, I should have looked earlier. Because the human conflicts are all resolved by the end, Spin works perfectly well as a standalone novel. In fact, (mild spoiler ahead) you only encounter one character from Spin in the sequel, and only two from the sequel appear in the third. The series is really only connected by the central issue facing humanity.

It really is a tremendous book. Even if you don't plan on reading the rest, read that one. It has that sensawunda all great sci-fi stories need, and the kind of human drama you just don't find in genre fiction.
 
I finished reading "A Fire Upon the Deep." I would recommend it and I just wanted herbbread to know he had an inadvertent influence on my dog's name (Scriber Jaqueramaphan, a 7 month old border collie). Anyway, I also read "The Grand Design" which isn't science fiction but was interesting nonetheless.
 
Just finished "Vortex," and the second half of the book is much better than the first-half. The ending is particularly strong, leaving me to wonder where the hell his narrative voice was for the first 170 pages. I think maybe I'll give a try to "A Fire Upon the Deep" as ScribJellyDonut suggests above. Any other ideas?
 
The Shape of Water - it's just perfect. Sci fi + love story, but a really special love story, of selflessness and sacrifice.
 
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