Fantasy/Sci-Fi book recommendations.

[OmegaPunch's iconOmegaPunch]

Do you have any recommendations for some good Fantasy/Sci-Fi books and novels?

 

[Graw]

I like old sword and sorcery books like the Elric and Corum series by Michael Moorcock and the original Conan stories. I also really enjoyed Riverworld and the World of Tiers by Philip José Farmer. The Hyperion series was pretty good too but I found it kind of dragged at time. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the first two Red Dwarf books are really great comedy-sci-fi. When I was younger I really enjoyed Dave Duncan's Handful of Men and Man of His Word series. I reread the Lord of the Rings for the first time since I was a kid and read the Silmarillion for the first time and they're both really great. I never appreciated how good the Lord of the Rings books actually are when I was younger.

 

[JaguarGod6]

If you like Warhammer 40K, I recommend the Dark Imperium trilogy.

 

[RustySK]

If you don't mind franchise tie-in stuff, then the Warhammer Fantasy Gotrek & Felix books make for some really fun fantasy adventure fare.
First one's titled Trollslayer and is mostly an anthology of short stories but sets up the protagonists well (psychotic dwarf and human with intense imposter syndrome) and I don't think it really necessitates franchise knowledge, as it's pretty intuitive. The second one - Skavenslayer - is where the series got into its groove and established its continuity though.
Light reading, but surprisingly decent for what they are.

For a Warhammer 40K sci-fi analogue, I can also recommend the Ciaphas Cain books. Again, light reading and charming, comedic action fare. Fun stuff.

Aside from that... maybe the Dark Tower books? Again, light reading, but I found them interesting.
The books are more or less set in a meta universe mix of reality, wild west movies from the 50s and Steven King's writing, but the tone is completely disparate from his usual style... it's odd.
It's a long series, but I honestly think the first book almost works better as an open-ended standalone.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Do you have any recommendations for some good Fantasy/Sci-Fi books and novels?

Olivia E Butler's "Bloodchild," Nnedi Okorafor's "Binti", P Djeli Clark's "The Haunting of Tram Car 015," Akira, Ursula K Le Guin's "The Word for World is Forest," the Dreamhouse Kings sexology, Bone franchise

 

[LiberoVulpes]

The Hammer's Slammers series by David Drake.

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (don't read the sequels).

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

All You need is kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.

 

[RustySK]

Oh, thought of another! The Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett!

Mostly comedic fantasy fare with, again, a super unique feel. On the off-chance you haven't read them, I highly recommend them!
There's literally dozens of 'em and I only ever read the first couple, but most of those are pretty much standalone and well worth a read.

 

[DeeboDeebo's icon]

The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson is popular for good reason! It’ll draw u in from book 1 (which may still be my favorite)

 

[Bonkers225]

A Clockwork Orange

 

[Bakuma1997]

Sci-Fi: Ender's game, the twist at the end made me spit my soda
Fantasy: Discworld, being a fantastic (Hehe) comedy with lightheartness to take a break from serious high fantasy

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

If you haven't already,Frank Herbert's Cycle of Dune. Villeneuve's recent adaptation of the first book was fun to watch but the differences made me want to reread it, and I would say the continuation heavily inspired Warhammer40K.

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

Sci-fi seems a little harder to get into as opposed to fantasy or integrated RPG/Game mechanics seems. Maybe because i'm not a Trekkie fan or that there isn't enough of an explanation of how it works just doesn't work as well.

I'm finding that a lot of the books/stories anymore i want to read (if they aren't technical manuals) need to include some level of... smut... for downtime/post-major storybeat scenes. Isekai, LitRPG, Harem or other related main themes i'm more drawn to. So... probably quite a bit past young adult. Though i'm not sure i have much in the Sci-Fi to offer to recommend.

I suppose some Supers or FullDive books i partially read may be more up the alley, except when they start making super stupid decisions that doesn't seem right.

 

[mel]

I robot by Isaac Asimov. It's one of the best things I've ever read.

If you've seen the movie try not to think of it at all while reading. They have nothing to do with one another.

 

[miguk]

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.

Disagree. Heinlein's book led Paul Verhoeven, a survivor of WWII who experienced the war much more directly than Heinlein did (as Heinlein never even shipped out to the front), to adapt it to film as a satire of fascism because he thought Heinlein's "utopia" was promoting the very problem he lived under. I think if you want to get the more authentic experience, just watch the film.

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

I think if you want to get the more authentic experience, just watch the film.

I've heard from various sources, that one reason the writing of newer authors sucks is due to lack of experiences.

They say 'write what you know' and that's why so many Marvel comics and shows have people drinking lattes and complaining about relationships rather than fighting crime.

 

[Ikagura]

I think if you want to get the more authentic experience, just watch the film.

It's weird to talk about an adaption being more authentic.

But I've seen the movie and read the book to check the differences (which is always a plus).

Do you have any recommendations for some good Fantasy/Sci-Fi books and novels?

I've heard that the Three Body Problem was a nice modern sci-fi story.

 

[miguk]

It's weird to talk about an adaption being more authentic.

But I've seen the movie and read the book to check the differences (which is always a plus).

The thing is, Verhoeven actually saw the war up close that Heinlein claims to have participated in (as an engineer in a Pennsylvania base), but never actually went to. Heinlein brags about the glory of an activity that he never did and never saw outside of his own fantasies. He is only a vet on the technicality that he was working for the military during the war, but literally on the opposite side of the world from war front.

That doesn't discount Heinlein's effort towards serving his country, but it makes his claims about how great military service is on the war front itself sound dishonest. Verhoeven lived in the war front and couldn't just retreat to another continent, and thus has a more authentic view of what it is like.

So yes, it's odd that the adaptation is more authentic than the original, but if the person adapting the work understands the reality of the subject matter better than the original writer, then it is possible.

 

[pipolaplaya]

Blindsight by Peter Watts is a masterpiece of hard Sci-Fi.

 

[Ikagura]

The thing is, Verhoeven actually saw the war up close that Heinlein claims to have participated in (as an engineer in a Pennsylvania base), but never actually went to. Heinlein brags about the glory of an activity that he never did and never saw outside of his own fantasies. He is only a vet on the technicality that he was working for the military during the war, but literally on the opposite side of the world from war front.

That doesn't discount Heinlein's effort towards serving his country, but it makes his claims about how great military service is on the war front itself sound dishonest. Verhoeven lived in the war front and couldn't just retreat to another continent, and thus has a more authentic view of what it is like.

So yes, it's odd that the adaptation is more authentic than the original, but if the person adapting the work understands the reality of the subject matter better than the original writer, then it is possible.

Personally I think the book is still good for what it is.

I mean the Arachnids are not the "actual poor victims of the evil humans" but also are an empire that wants to expand themselves. It's not black and white.

I mean in the same way Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is not the same as P.K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and it's fine.

Adaptions are not meant to be 1:1 transcriptions from a medium to another.

And I'd also say that outside of the subtext the movie is still a damn good action sci-fi one akin to Aliens.

I think the issue I have with your comment is that you focus more on the author's life than the content of the book. I think it's a pretty good display of the Death of the Author and I don't want to take too much of that into account because what matters is the narration, story and overall content of the art than the artist's personal life and experience.


My example will be weird but it'd be like saying that if an actual restaurant cook did an hypothetical live action adaption of Ratatouille (by Disney obviously) it would be de facto more authentic than Pixar's. Yes, I used that movie but it was the first that came into mind when I wanted to think about cooking.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Wasn't Verhoeven inspired by another book? There's an old sci-fi book I read in my youth depicting space marines that was very gritty, but I cant remember the title. At some point the guy get shot in the limb and his spacesuite automatically drug him and amputate to seal and avoid depressurization. And they train on a planet with low gravity and low temperature and someone step on some frozen nitrogen and is sent flying. I think the guy and his love interest get sent to different missions at some point and the guy only comes back after 200 years or something.

I'm confused now, too many space warporn. Bad for your brain.

 

[fake-kun]

Slaughterhouse-Five. 5/5, really makes you feel like shit.

 

[Ikagura]

Wasn't Verhoeven inspired by another book? There's an old sci-fi book I read in my youth depicting space marines that was very gritty, but I cant remember the title. At some point the guy get shot in the limb and his spacesuite automatically drug him and amputate to seal and avoid depressurization. And they train on a planet with low gravity and low temperature and someone step on some frozen nitrogen and is sent flying. I think the guy and his love interest get sent to different missions at some point and the guy only comes back after 200 years or something.

I'm confused now, too many space warporn. Bad for your brain.

I'd read it if you find the title again.

Slaughterhouse-Five. 5/5, really makes you feel like shit.

The movie was a bit confusing but I need to rewatch it and get the book.


I really enjoy military sci-fi settings. I may get the Halo novels someday.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

I'd read it if you find the title again.


The movie was a bit confusing but I need to rewatch it and get the book.


I really enjoy military sci-fi settings. I may get the Halo novels someday.

I could find it back if I had the french cover in front of me, but I lost all my childhood books while changing places. Back in the days I would read anything that I found looked cool. Still got those two beauties, tho.

 

[Ikagura]

I could find it back if I had the french cover in front of me, but I lost all my childhood books while changing places. Back in the days I would read anything that I found looked cool. Still got those two beauties, tho.

Thank you. Rad covers as well.

 

[ThatOneLum]

I'd read it if you find the title again.


The movie was a bit confusing but I need to rewatch it and get the book.


I really enjoy military sci-fi settings. I may get the Halo novels someday.

The first 2, maybe 3, Halo novels are really solid work that I constantly re-read. They're some of the handful of militaristic sci fi books I really enjoy. Can't speak for the rest of the series though.

Solid works of SF I can recommend:

Golden Apples of the Sun - Ray Bradbury (in my experience people often talk about Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit more, but this is a fantastic story collection.

We - Yevgeny Zamyatin (the book that directly inspired 1984 and is very surreal in it's presentation due to the main characters warped perspectives)

A Stir if Echoes - Richard Matheson (not hard SF but very much Matheson in Twilight Zone mode. Strange but gripping story)

For some fantasy:

The books of Earthsea - Ursula K La Guin (an epic and unique take on fantasy that isn't just medieval Europe again. Also popularly used the 'boy goes to magic school' trope a decade before that other book.

The Old Kingdom - Garth Nix (This is a YA novel, unlike my other recs, but it's a top pick for me when I want something enjoyable and well-written but easy to pick up. Relies a lot on aboriginal death beliefs to inform the world-building)

Titus Groan - Mervyn Peake (the first novel in a series set in a huge complex castle filled with surreal, dark and slightly comic characters. This one was inspired by Peake growing up in China around a lot of old imperial palaces that became the inspiration for the huge sprawling tangle that was Castle Gormanghast)

Honourable Mention:
The Last Man - Mary Shelley (not technically fantasy or sci fi... maybe. It's the book that inspired Matheson to write I Am Legend and it's very weird. Starts out as a period piece about rich and influential people but the total should tell you that it doesn't stay that way. Its very dense though. Takes a good 2/3rds of the book before things start feeling all that interesting.)