Tale needs science fiction badly

[Tale]

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?

[Sarex]

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

[HoonDing]

Chäos;HEAd > Steins;Gate

 

Though I do not know about the animes, I read the visual novels.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

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.

[Amentep]

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. 

[Raithe]

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.

[Tale]

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

[Sarex]

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?

[Tale]

Have part 3 pre-ordered for when it releases.

[Sarex]

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

[Orogun01]

I can recommend every Philip K. **** book, specially "The Man in the High Castle".

[Guard Dog]

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

[aluminiumtrioxid]

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

[Tel Aviv]

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?

[Raithe]

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.

[rjshae]

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing where they take "Transcendance". Hopefully it's not just another Hollywood trivialization of the "horrors of technology".

[Nonek]

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.

[Guard Dog]

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.

[Orogun01]

 

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.

[Malcador]

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.

[Serrano]

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

[AGX-17]

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.

[Oerwinde]

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.

[Monte Carlo]

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

[Tale]

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.