Books Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Only Thread - Page 48

There is a great thread in the lounge about Books in general, but to be honest, all I really want to read is Sci-Fi (including post-apocalyptic), and Fantasy.

In this OP I will compile every poster's top 3 Fantasy/SciFi suggestions if they give me them. I will try to keep the posters in alphabetical order in case you want to find someone's suggestions easier.

CP POSTER SUGGESTIONS

Baby Lee
1. Fritz Lieber's Swords Against series.
2. George R.R. Martin's SoIaF series [no brainer that will probably make tons of other lists]
3. Umberto Eco, Foucalt's Pendulum [a little more obscure/forgotten to make up for GRRM]

Frosty
1.Raymond Feist - Riftwar Saga
2.Terry Brooks - Shannara series (starting with the Knight of the Word books)
3.Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

Huffmeister
(1) Dune - Frank Herbert
(2) The Stand - Stephen King (1000+ page unabridged)
(3) Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein (checkout the song by Yes, too. lots of great bass)

Jawshco
1. "Book of the Long Sun" by Gene Wolfe
2. "Paradise War" by Stephen R Lawhead
3. "The Dragonbone Chair" by Tad Williams

listopencil
1. Edgar Rice Burroughs, any series
2. Robert Heinlein, everything he has written in chronological order (but read Starship Troopers first)
3. Doc Smith's Lensman series

vailpass
1. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 1, 2A & 2B books are a gold mine for sampling the evolution of sci-fi. (below)
2.The Nebula Awards and Hugo Awards (selected yearly, pick a year)
3. Years Best SF Annual publication, pick any volume from 1 to the current volume 17
See Post 142
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Originally Posted by Frosty:
I took a break from The Expanse series to read The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One 1929-1964 after picking it up for Kindle for a couple of bucks. I'm on the second to last story ("Flowers For Algernon", which I last read in the 5th grade) and the stories have been pretty good. The only one I didn't care for and didn't finish, was "The Roads Must Roll" by Heinlein. There have been a few WTF? stories too, especially "The Country of the Kind," by Damon Knight but overall worth the read. I was worried that they would be really dated but that hasn't really been an issue.

That's the beauty of the golden age sci-fi stories, they stand the test of time. Long version of Algernon is so good, really moving. Glad to see you digging the HOF list.
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Originally Posted by Mennonite:
As I mentioned above, I recently read a collection of Fredric Brown's works. This is my favorite of his so far:

http://www.roma1.infn.it/~anzel/answer.html

It's only a page long.

And, coincidentally, I listened to a podcast of a Lewis Padget (aka Henry Kutner) weird tale called "The Graveyard Rats." It's been anthologized many times. He wrote a lot of Lovecraft inspired stuff.

Keep up the good work in here man.
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Originally Posted by Huffmeister:
I know it says sci-fi and fantasy books "only", but I'm looking for a good horror book. Something more creepy/spooky than gory. And not Stephen King (I've already read most of his).

Any suggestions?

Ever read Ghost Story by Peter Straub? It's pretty popular.

I haven't read that many horror books, but here are a few older short stories that are more spooky than gory that I like:

The Squaw by Bram Stoker
The Seed from the Sepulchre by Clark Ashton Smith
Pollock and the Porroh Man by H. G. Wells
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft
The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
The Tell-Tale Hear by Edgar Allan Poe
The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe
Hop-Frog by Edgar Allan Poe
It's a Good Life by Jerome Bixby
The Invaders by Terry Tapp
The Voice in the Night by William Hope Hodgson
The Playfellow by Lady Cynthia Asquith
Headlamps by Tony Richards
The Snake by Dennis Wheatley
Close Behind Him by John Wyndham
The Girl from Tomango by Rick Ferreira
The Tower by Marghanita Laski
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison is a great sci-fi story with a lot of horrific elements.

All of those are pretty old fashioned so caveat emptor.

Edit: For a more modern story, give "If You Take My Hand My Son" by Mort Castle is pretty good.
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My favorite non-King horror authors are Brian Keene, Dan Simmons and Robert McCammon. McCammon's "Swan Song" is similar (and better than, imo) "The Stand" and Simmons' "Summer of Night" is in the same vein as "It" as is McCammons' "Boy's Life", though it has less of the supernatural stuff.
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Originally Posted by Frosty:
My favorite non-King horror authors are Brian Keene, Dan Simmons and Robert McCammon. McCammon's "Swan Song" is similar (and better than, imo) "The Stand" and Simmons' "Summer of Night" is in the same vein as "It" as is McCammons' "Boy's Life", though it has less of the supernatural stuff.

Holy shit the used hardcover editions of Swan Song on Amazon start at over $300 and go over $700. I ordered a used paperback for $16. Thanks for the referral.
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Originally Posted by vailpass:
Holy shit the used hardcover editions of Swan Song on Amazon start at over $300 and go over $700. I ordered a used paperback for $16. Thanks for the referral.

Wow! It must be out of print now.

I take it you aren't a Kindle person? Swan Song is free with Amazon Prime on the Kindle. :-)
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Originally Posted by vailpass:
You're right. I don't Kindle. I like the feel of a book. Also like having shelves full of books for lending, re-reading,and general atmosphere.

I wasn't a Kindle fan at first. However, as I've gotten older, it is so much easier on my eyes that regular books that I much prefer it. I still have a massive amount of actual books to read and I'll sometimes get used books instead of e-books because the prices on some of the e-books are stupid but I'll go with the Kindle when possible.
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Originally Posted by Frosty:
I wasn't a Kindle fan at first. However, as I've gotten older, it is so much easier on my eyes that regular books that I much prefer it. I still have a massive amount of actual books to read and I'll sometimes get used books instead of e-books because the prices on some of the e-books are stupid but I'll go with the Kindle when possible.

That makes perfect sense and I'll likely get there some day. Thank goodness for an option our forefathers did not' have.
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I held out for a long time, but I finally bought a Kindle. I wish I had done so sooner because I love it. I bought mine for about 50 bucks, but it paid for itself within a month due to how much money I saved by being ebooks on sale.

It's lighter than a book, I don't have to have a lamp on to read at night, I can adjust the print size as needed, I can highlight passages without damaging the page, and I don't have to deal with boxes of books laying all over the house. Oh, and I can automatically get definitions of unfamiliar words, too. Not to mention not having to drive to a bookstore or wait weeks for Amazon to deliver a book. And I can use it as an internet browser, calculator, alarm clock, a little stereo for when I go walking, and it's great for audiobooks and old radio shows, too.
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Originally Posted by Mennonite:
I held out for a long time, but I finally bought a Kindle. I wish I had done so sooner because I love it. I bought mine for about 50 bucks, but it paid for itself within a month due to how much money I saved by being ebooks on sale.

It's lighter than a book, I don't have to have a lamp on to read at night, I can adjust the print size as needed, I can highlight passages without damaging the page, and I don't have to deal with boxes of books laying all over the house. Oh, and I can automatically get definitions of unfamiliar words, too. Not to mention not having to drive to a bookstore or wait weeks for Amazon to deliver a book. And I can use it as an internet browser, calculator, alarm clock, a little stereo for when I go walking, and it's great for audiobooks and old radio shows, too.

The previous message was brought to you by the Bezos foundation. Because too much money is never enough.

:-)
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