I need some Sci-Fi suggestions

[Lyric Suite]

Can anybody recommend some great sci-fi material, both in film and literature?

 

When i was kid i read tons of sci-fi, most of it from borrowed books or from some cheap series of science fiction novels you could buy where magazines were sold.

 

It's been a while since i read any of it, but now that i have a job, i was thinking about building a proper library, perhaps with a more discerning attitude as i no longer have the time (or patience) to squander on mediocre reading material.

 

So far i acquired a few books by Asimov and Phillips **** (mostly collections of short stories), as well as the first volume of Dune, but short of buying more stuff by those authors, i have no idea where to go from there.

 

As for films, i've seen pretty much almost all the 'sci-fi' stuff from the 80s ( Alien, Terminator, Tocal Recall), a lot of which are not even real science fiction and some of them fall short of being decent movies to begin with (Star Wars and derivates in particular).

Edited March 11, 2006 by Lyric Suite

[Oerwinde]

Well, for films I can suggest Firefly/Serenity of course. Also the Riddick movies aren't bad (Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick). Can't really think of much off the top of my head.

[213374U]

Some of Heinlein's works are pretty good. Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land, for instance.

 

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is a classic, too.

 

Ender's Game is a must have in any sci-fi library as well. The sequels aren't bad, but they aren't in the same vein.

 

I don't know if you'd consider 1984 as sci-fi, but it's a great book either way.

 

I should be able to come up with loads of this stuff, but my memory just sucks. I haven't slept much either, so I'll probably add some more later.

[Judge Hades]

Best Science Fiction series I have read: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/044660515...5Fencoding=UTF8

 

In my educated opinion (I do have a degree in literature by the way) Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy rocks and I would highly reccomend it. Also you should read some of the works of William Gibson. He is also a fine author if you are looking for material that is near future instead of far future.

 

As for movies/television series I reccomend:

Twelve Monkeys (best time traveling sci fi film ever)

Firefly/Serenity

Battlestar Galactica (the remake)

Chronicles of Riddick

Pitch Black

Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury

[WITHTEETH]

Books:

 

Enders Game Series

Starship Troopers

Do Andriods Dream of electric sheep

 

Movies:

 

The Day the earth stood still

starship troopers

bladerunner

[Moose]

No sci-fi library is complete without some H.G Wells books.

[SteveThaiBinh]

Off the top of my head, Arthur C. Clarke is a great writer of science fiction as opposed to science fantasy (if the distinction is important to you). John Wyndham was my favourite author growing up - The Kraken Wakes and The Chrysalids are particularly good.

 

A film I really liked would be Gattaca, from the late 90s I think.

[Baley]

Books: Philip K Dick's Ubik

 

Movies: Fran

Edited March 11, 2006 by Baley

[Gabrielle]

Phillip D ick a lot of his short stories are made into films like Total Recall, Blade Runner, MinorityReport.

 

Heinlein

Clarke

Wells

Edited March 11, 2006 by Gabrielle

[Hurlshort]

I'll second Firefly (the TV series) and Serenity (the movie.)

 

Bladerunner is my all-time favorite movie. Not really because of the story, but rather the world that Ridley Scott created on film.

 

For books, don't forget "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy." Actually the movie was decent as well, but you can't beat the book.

[Xard]

The new Battlestar Galactica.

 

It is awesome

[Chupacabra]

I would strongly recommend any books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I'm surprised nobody's mentioned him yet. His Martian, Venus, and Earth's Core series are all great sci-fi literature.

 

And no series would be complete without Jules Verne, either. I'd take a look at his books as well.

Edited March 11, 2006 by Chupacabra

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

Ring World

 

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/larry-niven/

 

site has a list of books recomended by the author which you may find useful.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I'd recommend William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy (Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive) and a short story compilation of his entitled Burning Chrome. Also, Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash.

[baby arm]

Besides Gibson, ****, and a few others mentioned, I would go for most anything by Stephen Baxter. He's excellent at portraying normal people dealing with strange ideas and the possibilities of the universe. Also, "Time After Time" by Charles Sheffield is amazing. The premise seems lame (man has himself frozen to be awakened when it would be possible to revive his dead wife), but the way it's handled is moving and exciting.

[Pidesco]

Books:

 

Asimov's Foundation series

 

 

Movies:

 

Cube

Cypher

Blade Runner

[metadigital]

Asimov used to put his name of annual SF anthologies: all the ones I've read have some cracking stories in them. I read one from the nineties that actually had the only real utopia I've ever heard of!

 

If you are busy and don't get time to read big novels, short stories are great. Philip K. Dιck wrote loads of short stories and I prefer them to his novels (just about all the films made from his work were from short stories). Clarke wrote loads of short stories, too, including Sentinel, which was the one that he used as a template for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[tarna]

Most anything by Heinlein, Asimov ( Foundation series is fantastic as well as fun ), Clarke, Frank Herbert ( Dune and many others ), Harry Harrison is a fun read ( Stainless Steel Rat series, Deathworld trilogy ), Niven ( a good read but his endings alway suck. Still worth reading ), Joe Haldeman ( the Forever War, Tools of the Trade ).

Fantasy - Marion Zimmer Bradley ( Darkover series ), David Eddings, Terry Brooks ( Shannara series ), Dave Duncan ( his books are a fun read ), Stephen Donaldson ( Chronicles of Thomas Covenant ), Fred Saberhagen ( Swords series, Lost Swords series ).

 

Those are some of the books I have within sight as I'm posting.

[Dark_Raven]

Even though he only wrote one sci-fi book, Edgar Rice Burroughs The Martian Tales Trilogy is a good book.

[metadigital]

Harry Harrison is a fun read ( Stainless Steel Rat series ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I knew I knew that name from somewhere!

 

Yes they can be fun to read in a "get me to work without noticing the smelly guy next to me" kind of way: a bit too frothy for my liking, but certainly worth a skim.

 

Has anyone mentioned Ray Bradbury? Obviously anything HG Wells ever even sneezed at. Flatland: A romance of many dimensions.

 

The Creature from the Black Lagoon is a good read (the film is only good for shlock value).

 

This link has some good ones:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/brows...0374817-2016106

Outer Limits and Twilight Zone (old and new series), X Files etc were all SF.

 

John Carpenter's The Thing (not sure what the book is like)

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Forbidden Planet

The Fly and sequel (I prefer the remakes, but the originals have Vincent Price!)

The Planet of the Apes (the original 1970s series of films, not the Tim Burton crap)

Clockwork Orange

This Island Earth (even better when seen as part of Mystery Science Theatre 3000)

Barberella is a must see ...

[Baley]

How about Escape from New York?

 

Oh, and Meta, the Squad, by that I mean me and the rats, weeps for you.

Edited March 12, 2006 by Baley

[Dark Moth]

Even though he only wrote one sci-fi book, Edgar Rice Burroughs The Martian Tales Trilogy is a good book.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Um, are you sure you have that right? Burroughs wrote an entire series of sci-fi books, most notably his Barsoom (Martian) and Venus series.

Edited March 12, 2006 by Mothman

[Moose]

Flatland: A romance of many dimensions

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Heh I've got a first print of that.

[Gromnir]

ok, you is gonna see lots of heinlein, assimov, herbert and clarke on a sci-fi recommendation list. also you gets a healthy dose of pkd. aldous huxley's "brave new world" almost always gets a nod or two. hg wells may get a mention. douglas adams is a geekling fave so he too almost always gets "mad props."

 

unfortunately, some folks we rarely see mentioned, but should be at top of list rather than afterthoughts.

 

kurt vonnegut: numerous sci-fi short stories as well as "the sirens of titan"

 

richard matheson: ever seen that terrible charlie heston film called "omega man," or some such? is based on a matheson novel called, "i am legend." "the shrinking man" is maybe even better. Gromnir ain't really a fan of horror, but matheson does a good job combining horror and sci-fi.

 

ursula k. leguin: am not sure why she ain't mentioned in same breath with heinlein and assimov and clarke. is clearly an oversight. at the very least, every sci-fi fan should give "the left hand of darkness," and "the lathe of heaven" a shot.

 

alfred bester: "the stars my destination" & " the demolished man" are both in Gromnir's top 20 sci-fi/fantasy books... evar.

 

walter m. miller jr.: "a canticle for leibowitz" is one of those rare sci-fi books that gets honest praise from mainstream critics and scholars. there is a sequel to canticle, but as we ain't read it we cannot recommend.

 

joe haldeman: tarna already mentioned, but we can only recommend "forever war" as we thought "forever peace" and "tools of the trade" were uninspired... but "forever war" is fantastic even so.

 

roger zelazny: yeah, we know that zelazny were a fantasy author, but we thinks his best novel were, "lord of light."

 

gene wolfe: anything and everything by gene wolfe. however, wolfe does challenge his readers and not all of us wanna be so challenged. if you not wanna have to reread a few pages on occasion to be making sure you understood wtf just happened, then wolfe may not be your cup o' tea. however, "knight" & "wizard" is fantasy books recently written by wolfe that is some of the most accessible works we ever read by wolfe.

 

 

one for the fringe

Edited March 12, 2006 by Gromnir

[metadigital]

unfortunately, some folks we rarely see mentioned, but should be at top of list rather than afterthoughts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is too true. I think the problem is like asking "What do you like to eat?" or some other open, broad-spectrum question.

 

I, for one, keep thinking of so many other books that I have forgotten I've read ..!

ursula k. leguin:  am not sure why she ain't mentioned in same breath with heinlein and assimov and clarke.  is clearly an oversight.  at the very least, every sci-fi fan should give "the left hand of darkness," and "the lathe of heaven" a shot.

 

alfred bester: "the stars my destination" & " the demolished man" are both in Gromnir's top 20 sci-fi/fantasy books... evar.

 

walter m. miller jr.: "a canticle for leibowitz" is one of those rare sci-fi books that gets honest praise from mainstream critics and scholars.  there is a sequel to canticle, but as we ain't read it we cannot recommend.

 

joe haldeman: tarna already mentioned, but we can only recommend "forever war" as we thought "forever peace" and "tools of the trade" were uninspired... but "forever war" is fantastic even so.

 

roger zelazny:  yeah, we know that zelazny were a fantasy author, but we thinks his best novel were, "lord of light." 

 

gene wolfe: anything and everything by gene wolfe.  however, wolfe does challenge his readers and not all of us wanna be so challenged.  if you not wanna have to reread a few pages on occasion to be making sure you understood wtf just happened, then wolfe may not be your cup o' tea.  however, "knight" & "wizard"  is fantasy books recently written by wolfe that is some of the most accessible works we ever read by wolfe. 

 

 

one for the fringe