Books

[Molach]

I'll give two recommendations I got as gifts last christmas-

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card.
Humans, aliens, space, war, kids growing up, and lots of games. Computer and real-life combat sim games.
Really liked that one, but probably not that much like star wars. I'd say different but better.
(Book stands well on it's own, but it did spawn a host of follow-up books)

Ready player one - Ernest Cline.
Just earth, but imp. cyber-space (so kinda off-planet-ish), lots and lots of computer games & 80's memorabilia.
A must for anyone who lived in the 80's and likes games.

[pling]

I'm about to start a project of reading my way through all the fiction I own, in part to get rid of books that haven't aged well and in part to re-read all the ones that are still good (and partly because they're there!). The number is on the order of 500, so it'll take a while Particularly as I've loads of non-fiction in my to-be-read pile & there'll be interesting things in the library, and some series I haven't bought all the books for yet so I should get them & read them in order etc, so it's a long term goal. However, back on topic, here's some of the books or authors I'm looking forward to getting to in the list that I've not seen mentioned so far:

"Ash: A Secret History" by Mary Gentle - 15th C. Europe, in an alternate universe, footnoted by & interspersed with correspondence with a modern (fictional) historian, the title character makes me think of Joan of Arc.

C.J. Cherryh's books - I only have half a dozen, mostly in her Alliance-Union universe, they're sci-fi set in a future where we've gone out to other planets, where trade is run by Merchanter ships whose crews are all family & live on the ship (it's their nation state, if you like), the colonies & Earth are split into two factions (Alliance & Union), and most of the stories are claustrophobic fast moving stories where people get caught up in events much bigger than themselves and normally have to do their best in situations where there aren't any right answers or even any good ones.

Elizabeth Bear's books - I only have a couple of series, my favourite is probably "Dust", "Chill" & "Grail" which are sci-fi set primarily in a lost generation ship (which has a lot of high fantasy tropes because of how the society evolved). Her books always feel "cleverer than me" but in a good way.

Barbara Hambly's been recommended already - I like "The Time of the Dark" & its sequels or "The Silent Tower" and its sequels best, because I'm a sucker for a well done portal fantasy.

Katherine Kerr's Deverry series - celtic fantasy (as I remember it feels like actual celts, not like romanticised pseudo-celts), with re-incarnation & stories that braid together across time - those who don't learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them life after life.

Elizabeth Moon's books, in particular the Paksenarrion series which is secondary world fantasy complete with paladins, magic, and mercenaries.

"The Domination" S.M. Stirling which is a trilogy collected as one book - alt-history with the jumping off point being what if when the American War of Independence was over the defeated loyalists went to South Africa, joined later by the more bigoted elements from the defeated Confederacy, and set about creating a society that makes the Nazis look tolerant and apartheid seem enlightened. Grim & dystopic, with a crushing sense of inevitability about the progress of Stirling's alternate history from the Second World War through to a much worse Cold War with Draka-conquered Europe (The Domination) facing off against a much less free than ours United States.

John Ringo's Posleen War books - the first four, anyway. I think of them as like Tom Clancy (whose books are also on my shelves) but with aliens and better editing.

[cabacon]

However, back on topic, here's some of the books or authors I'm looking forward to getting to in the list that I've not seen mentioned so far:

"Ash: A Secret History" by Mary Gentle - 15th C. Europe, in an alternate universe, footnoted by & interspersed with correspondence with a modern (fictional) historian, the title character makes me think of Joan of Arc.

I'm curious to hear what you think about these. I got them on a recommendation from rec.arts.sf.written way back when, and enjoyed them quite a bit. However, they have been a complete dud as far as recommending them to other people; everyone I tried them on hated them. I'm still not sure why! I followed up with some of her other work, but none of the other books I tried of hers got me quite the way this series did.

[pling]

However, back on topic, here's some of the books or authors I'm looking forward to getting to in the list that I've not seen mentioned so far:

"Ash: A Secret History" by Mary Gentle - 15th C. Europe, in an alternate universe, footnoted by & interspersed with correspondence with a modern (fictional) historian, the title character makes me think of Joan of Arc.

I'm curious to hear what you think about these. I got them on a recommendation from rec.arts.sf.written way back when, and enjoyed them quite a bit. However, they have been a complete dud as far as recommending them to other people; everyone I tried them on hated them. I'm still not sure why! I followed up with some of her other work, but none of the other books I tried of hers got me quite the way this series did.

Yeah, I've had the same experience - either people don't read it or they don't see what I liked about it. And while I've got 4 of her other books and I've enjoyed them, they're not as good. (I have Ash as a single monotlithic book, and I think at least one of the others I have is a republication of a set of stories as one book but it didn't gel as well).

I can't really tell you what I think of it now, coz it might've been as many as 10 years since I last read it, so I can't remember exactly why I liked it that much I'm doing my re-read in alphabetical order, so getting to Gentle will take me a while, I'll try & remember to come back to this in a year or so when I get there

[waterbat]

@BS - thanks for reminding me of 1491 - i started but didnt get all the way through it -- now just the simple task of finding it......

[cabacon]

And having participated in the thread, here are some recommendations:

The Iain M. Banks Culture series.
Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series.
Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series.
Verner Vinge's _A Fire Upon the Deep_
John C. Wright's Golden Age series.

[Brian Shanahan]

@BS - thanks for reminding me of 1491 - i started but didnt get all the way through it -- now just the simple task of finding it......

My copy was stolen.

[Bigger]

I don't read much science fiction, but read C.S. Lewis' the space trilogy earlier this year and loved it.
Of course I've become a C.S. Lewis nerd over the past couple of years, he is just amazing at getting your mind working.

[kjn]

I don't read much science fiction, but read C.S. Lewis' the space trilogy earlier this year and loved it.
Of course I've become a C.S. Lewis nerd over the past couple of years, he is just amazing at getting your mind working.

If you ever feel you want some antidote or contrapoint, pick up Philip Pullman's The Dark Materials.

[BRickAstley]

+1 CSLewis