Tale Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Seeing the official trailer for Edge of Tomorrow has put me in a mood. The mood for science fiction. Tried binging through TV Tropes for a new series to no avail, so now I need your recommendations. I want your hard science fiction, I want your soft, I want your space opera and science fantasy, I want your wagon trains to the stars, I want your cyber and steampunk, and I want your military science fiction. I don't really care for your post-apocalyptic, however. I want time travel with stable time loops and without, I want your aliens of both rubber forehead and starfish design, I want your ancient evils from beyond the galaxy, and your human aspirations for guided evolution. Movies, TV shows, anime, novels, just recommend them to me. I don't just want, I need. Or we could just discuss stuff. Like how the new Battlestar Galactica sucked after the first half of season 2 or how just how incredible Farscape is. Is the final season of Babylon 5 worth getting? And how is that Stein's Gate anime I keep hearing about? 1 "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarex Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 (edited) I recently finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. While the beginning is a little slow it picks up pretty fast. Also if you haven't read this. http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm Edited March 26, 2014 by Sarex 1 "because they filled mommy with enough mythic power to become a demi-god" - KP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoonDing Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Chäos;HEAd > Steins;Gate Though I do not know about the animes, I read the visual novels. 1 The ending of the words is ALMSIVI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aluminiumtrioxid Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Books to read: - Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. Probably the best SF I've ever read. It also has some follow-up novels, but they lack its elegance. - Ilium and Olympos are also quite enjoyable by him. - In the science fantasy category, you can't really get better than Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series. - I generally don't like cyberpunk, but if you haven't yet read the comic Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis, it's time to remedy that. Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is somewhat similar, but in a book form. - I've never read better space operas than the ones written by Iain M. Banks. Do yourself a favor and never, ever touch Consider Phlebas and Against a Dark Background. Use of Weapons is probably the best, but I've also enjoyed Excession, Look to Windward and The Player of Games. - M. John Harrison's Light was a pretty unique and quite enjoyable experience for me. A touch on the bleak side, maybe, but it's a fairly well-crafted story, and oh my god space battles finally ending in nanoseconds, how long have I been waiting for that? I'll update the list as soon as anything particularly interesting jumps to my mind. 5 "Lulz is not the highest aspiration of art and mankind, no matter what the Encyclopedia Dramatica says." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amentep Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 New Battlestar Galactica sucked during the original miniseries, IMO. Maybe not that bad, but I felt it obvious and manipulative in ways that made it unwatchable to me. Kind of hard to do a recommendations without knowing what you've already seen and liked/disliked. 1 I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raithe Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 The final season of Babylon 5 has it's ups and downs. Some bits are stretched out, some bits are crushed in , but it has some answers to questions that are hanging around, and frankly you have to watch the final episode. The cameo appearance of JMS as the mechanic literally turning the lights off on the station "20 years on" is a really nice touch. "Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Kind of hard to do a recommendations without knowing what you've already seen and liked/disliked.Then don't make it personal recommendations. Tell us your favorites and we can discuss them. The list would be too long. To give you an unordered top 10 of the top of my head: Farscape, Star Wars theatrical OT, Ender's Game novel series (but haven't read any of the interquels or Bean novels), Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Babylon 5, Wrath of Khan, Evangelion, first three Dune novels (I didn't care for four or read beyond), Alien & Aliens, Terminator 2. Edit: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fits in there somewhere, too. The 11th member of the unordered top 10. And how could I forget Blade Runner? Or Robocop? THIS IS WHY I HATE LISTS "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarex Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Then don't make it personal recommendations. Tell us your favorites and we can discuss them. The list would be too long. To give you an unordered top 10 of the top of my head: Farscape, Star Wars theatrical OT, Ender's Game novel series (but haven't read any of the interquels or Bean novels), Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Babylon 5, Wrath of Khan, Evangelion, first three Dune novels (I didn't care for four or read beyond), Alien & Aliens, Terminator 2 Did you watch Rebuild of Evangelion? "because they filled mommy with enough mythic power to become a demi-god" - KP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Have part 3 pre-ordered for when it releases. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarex Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 (edited) Ah then you're in for a treat...or not. The opinions are polar opposite on this one. Personally I'm waiting for part 4 before I make any judgements. Edited March 26, 2014 by Sarex "because they filled mommy with enough mythic power to become a demi-god" - KP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orogun01 Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I can recommend every Philip K. **** book, specially "The Man in the High Castle". 2 I'd say the answer to that question is kind of like the answer to "who's the sucker in this poker game?"* *If you can't tell, it's you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guard Dog Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I can recommend every Philip K. **** book, specially "The Man in the High Castle". That's not really Sci-Fi, but it is most excellent "While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before" Thomas Sowell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aluminiumtrioxid Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 (edited) I can recommend every Philip K. **** book, specially "The Man in the High Castle". Never particularly liked that specific novel, but yeah, ****'s good. Although I can't help but feel that his short stories work better than the novels. Edited March 26, 2014 by aluminiumtrioxid "Lulz is not the highest aspiration of art and mankind, no matter what the Encyclopedia Dramatica says." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tel Aviv Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I share your Sci-Fi itch, Tale - at first I thought it was gonorrhoea. If you're interested in Dune you might also be interested in Jodorowsky's Dune (released this year). I don't know about you but I have a lot of affection for the David Lynch version even if it was an absolute balls up. Have you also seen Moon? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raithe Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Okay.. let's see.. for the reading matter: Elizabeth Moon - Vatta's War (5 books) John Ringo - Troy Rising series (3 books so far) David Weber - In Fury Born (for the more space opera side) or Honor Harrington (if you want extensive series with a lot of technical detail and sort of doing French Revolution / Napoleonic War in Spaaaace) If you want a touch of humour with your sci-fi.. Robert Asprin's "Phule" series. If you like elegant language and banter, Steve Miller & Sharon Lee's Liaden Universe books (well-loved by Anne McCaffrey, and described as "Star Wars meets Pride & Prejudice") If you like the more philosophical and "deep" sci-fi types, look at L.E. Modesitt. Jr. He pretty much does as much fantasy as sci-fi, but can be quite engaging. 1 "Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjshae Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Personally I'm looking forward to seeing where they take "Transcendance". Hopefully it's not just another Hollywood trivialization of the "horrors of technology". "It has just been discovered that research causes cancer in rats." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonek Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 I liked the first book of Donaldson's Gap series, the rest were however...not to my taste. I liked certain portions of the Chung Kuo series of novel by Mr Wingrove, though that might be judged as Cyberpunk rather than Sci-Fi. Other than that the classics of the genre (Simmon's, ****) still hold their appeal. Some of Moorc0ck's works are strange bastardisations that could be judged as Sci-Fi, though with the nature of his multiverse and the Dancers at the End of Time one is never sure. 1 Quite an experience to live in misery isn't it? That's what it is to be married with children.I've seen things you people can't even imagine. Pearly Kings glittering on the Elephant and Castle, Morris Men dancing 'til the last light of midsummer. I watched Druid fires burning in the ruins of Stonehenge, and Yorkshiremen gurning for prizes. All these things will be lost in time, like alopecia on a skinhead. Time for tiffin. Tea for the teapot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guard Dog Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 You can try reading John Scalzi's Old Mans War series. It's not outstanding or anything but it's not terrible. It's like a ham sandwich. It's not exciting but sometimes you just want a ham sandwich. 1 "While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before" Thomas Sowell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orogun01 Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 I can recommend every Philip K. **** book, specially "The Man in the High Castle". That's not really Sci-Fi, but it is most excellent That depends on whether you believe that history is a science. I can also recommend RedShirts if you're looking for a lighthearted, sci fi comedy. I'd say the answer to that question is kind of like the answer to "who's the sucker in this poker game?"* *If you can't tell, it's you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcador Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 You can try reading John Scalzi's Old Mans War series. It's not outstanding or anything but it's not terrible. It's like a ham sandwich. It's not exciting but sometimes you just want a ham sandwich. Skip Zoe's Tale though. The Expanse trilogy by Corey (Leviathan Wakes, Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate) is nice. 1 Why has elegance found so little following? Elegance has the disadvantage that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it. - Edsger Wybe Dijkstra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serrano Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) Elizabeth Moon - Vatta's War (5 books) I cannot praise Elizabeth Moon enough. Her stories are always deep with well thought-out settings, characters and themes and feel incredibly authentic because of her very impressive and varied background which includes serving in the marines, being a paramedic and being in local government not to mention various hobbies that have obviously come in handy when writing like fencing and biology Aside from Vatta's War you ought to check out the Familias Regent books (The first one 'Hunting Party' is a bit slow but the series is worth sticking with) and if you're ever in the mood for fantasy 'The Deed of Paksenarrion' trilogy is a must have. Aside from Elizabeth Moon, have you ever heard of 'The Grimnoir Chronicles' by Larry Coreia? They're a bit of everything including steam punk, magic, super heroes, 1930's detective noir ect. You can listen to a sample of the first book here And lastly, the Partials trilogy by Dan Wells, in case you ever wondered what his work was like after listening to him on Writing Excuses. Edited March 27, 2014 by Serrano 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGX-17 Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Seeing the official trailer for Edge of Tomorrow has put me in a mood. The mood for science fiction. Tried binging through TV Tropes for a new series to no avail, so now I need your recommendations. I want your hard science fiction, I want your soft, I want your space opera and science fantasy, I want your wagon trains to the stars, I want your cyber and steampunk, and I want your military science fiction. I don't really care for your post-apocalyptic, however. I want time travel with stable time loops and without, I want your aliens of both rubber forehead and starfish design, I want your ancient evils from beyond the galaxy, and your human aspirations for guided evolution. Movies, TV shows, anime, novels, just recommend them to me. I don't just want, I need. Or we could just discuss stuff. Like how the new Battlestar Galactica sucked after the first half of season 2 or how just how incredible Farscape is. Is the final season of Babylon 5 worth getting? And how is that Stein's Gate anime I keep hearing about? Doesn't your local library have a sci-fi section? Even if you're not into "the readings" there's plenty of sci-fi out there. Personally, my go-to is Super Robot Wars, although it's not available in English. God doesn't exist and was provided/replaced by a mechanical goddess created by the lost tribes of Israel to protect the Earth from Lovecraftian horrors before they left the Earth to become the dominant galactic power? Works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oerwinde Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Seeing the official trailer for Edge of Tomorrow has put me in a mood. The mood for science fiction. Tried binging through TV Tropes for a new series to no avail, so now I need your recommendations. I want your hard science fiction, I want your soft, I want your space opera and science fantasy, I want your wagon trains to the stars, I want your cyber and steampunk, and I want your military science fiction. I don't really care for your post-apocalyptic, however. I want time travel with stable time loops and without, I want your aliens of both rubber forehead and starfish design, I want your ancient evils from beyond the galaxy, and your human aspirations for guided evolution. Movies, TV shows, anime, novels, just recommend them to me. I don't just want, I need. Or we could just discuss stuff. Like how the new Battlestar Galactica sucked after the first half of season 2 or how just how incredible Farscape is. Is the final season of Babylon 5 worth getting? And how is that Stein's Gate anime I keep hearing about? Continuum is good for a Time Travel fix. 3rd season just started and is laying down the rules for Time Travel. Eureka was one of my favorites if you want something lighter. Defiance should be starting up again soon(Technically post-apocalyptic, but with aliens and more of a western frontier feel), as will Orphan Black (Clones). Y The Last Man is a good comic series about all the men on earth dying except one dude and his monkey, and I highly recommend Transmetropolitan as well. About a smack talking journalist in a world where you can get cancer cures off the shelf at your local pharmacy and hipster's give themselves some animal DNA like they were getting a tattoo. The area between the balls and the butt is a hotbed of terrorist activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte Carlo Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 If you are up for some Heinlein-inspired Mil Sci-Fi then I really enjoyed Marko Kloos's first two novels... http://www.amazon.com/Marko-Kloos/e/B00BUVDP8M 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 Continuum is good for a Time Travel fix. 3rd season just started and is laying down the rules for Time Travel. Eureka was one of my favorites if you want something lighter. Defiance should be starting up again soon(Technically post-apocalyptic, but with aliens and more of a western frontier feel), as will Orphan Black (Clones).Fan of all those shows, though Continuum isn't starting in the states until next week. One of Defiance's creators was a guy behind Farscape, so I'm hoping it gets up to that level, despite the small scope it is starting with. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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