Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Discussion/Appreciation Anyone..??

[Mousie]

i don't understand!

i honestly find it hard to believe how anyone can prefer fantasy to sci-fi, someone please explain!

Why is it hard to believe? Some people prefer Romance, some horror ect. It's like anything in life - people have likes and dislikes. I just seem to prefer fantasy authors - Robin Hobb, Anne McCaffrey, Mary H Herbert, Robert Jordan to name a few (and I do consider them fantasy rather than sci fi).

[AvatarIII]

i guess you are right, i just find it hard to read fantasy because of the implausability of everything, like magic and stuff, whereas in sci fi they explain anything that could be seen as magic, with nanites or quantum mechanics or something. i just find sci-fi a lot harder to pick holes in.

[xfkirsten]

I think that's exactly why I tend to prefer fantasy to hard sci-fi - it's not so caught up with providing explanations for everything. It just is. It's a world so different from our own that it really makes my imagination go nuts.

[AvatarIII]

hmm, one of the things i really love about sci fi is trying to explain why things are the way they are, that makes MY imagination go nuts

[Mousie]

I think that's exactly why I tend to prefer fantasy to hard sci-fi - it's not so caught up with providing explanations for everything. It just is. It's a world so different from our own that it really makes my imagination go nuts.

Same here, I love magic and dragons and stuff - I like a good intense read as much as the next person but don't like getting bogged down in heavy scientific jargon.

[AvatarIII]

all those pics of carter in your sig and you cant handle a little technoJARGON!!

[MmmmMcKAy]

Neil Gaiman is my favourite author ever. I recommend all of his stuff- his children's book, his adult books, his graphic novels, his short story collections, his pictures books that he's done with Dave McKean, it's all fantastic, and he reads his own stuff for audio books as well (all that I've heard anyway) and it's absolutely wonderful to listen to.

And his book "Stardust" is coming out as a movie this summer, word is the movie is very good.

And he has a wonderful blog that he updates almost every day, though currently his daughter is a special guest blogger for a few weeks which is quite cute:
http://www.neilgaiman.com/

I love getting enthusiastic over an author, that was probably more than you wanted to hear.

Thanks for your very enthusiastic response, Trek_Girl. I think I'll have to give Gaiman a go for sure now. Is there any particular favorite of yours or should I just start with his oldest book.

I've heard about the movie version of Stardust(Claire Danes, right?) and looked at some photos on Rotten Tomatoes. I hope it's good. Movies usually can't live up to books or end up changing too much for my liking. But I haven't read the boook yet, so what do I care?

[Trek_Girl42]

Thanks for your very enthusiastic response, Trek_Girl. I think I'll have to give Gaiman a go for sure now. Is there any particular favorite of yours or should I just start with his oldest book.

I've heard about the movie version of Stardust(Claire Danes, right?) and looked at some photos on Rotten Tomatoes. I hope it's good. Movies usually can't live up to books or end up changing too much for my liking. But I haven't read the boook yet, so what do I care?

Stardust was the first book of his that I read- and he automatically became one of my favourite authors after that. I definitely recommend starting there or with Neverwhere, if you like something a bit darker, then American Gods is an amazing read.

[MmmmMcKAy]

Okay, thanks a lot, Trek_Girl. I'll take your advice(that is, if my library has Stardust). I'm all for the dark, so American Gods sounds wonderful.

[Wordsmit2]

The Sam Gunn stories by Ben Bova. If you're interested in our first serious moves into the solar system, these are a must-read.

[AvatarIII]

The Sam Gunn stories by Ben Bova. If you're interested in our first serious moves into the solar system, these are a must-read.

please tell me more, i'm intruiged

[AvatarIII]

has anyone read Kevin J. Andersons Saga of Seven Suns, Book 6 has just been released, and just wondering if anyone else is interested?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Metal-Swarm-...3739459&sr=8-1

[shippyangel]

Uuh. I've been reading for the 125487th time (LOL) 1984 - but then again is it considered scifi? Oo I guess so...
But my favorite one is A Brief History of Time - but that's science book, except when I don't reallt get what Mr. Stephen is saying, then it's scifi to me. HAHA
Nice topic guys!

[tauriprivatesoldier]

I love reading sci-fi and future fantasy. I've always loved the Xeelee Sequence and other obscure novels like I don't know. I forgotten them

[boxvic]

If you are a military sci-fi fan you have to read Starship Troopers, that is where it all started. John Steakley's Armor is also a great read, it plays on a lot of the same elements.

1984 is a good one too, not sure if it is really sci-fi, but it seems most dystopian stories are. I actually prefer Huxley's Brave New World to 1984 though. It is a more entertaining read, and it is both a utopia and a dystopia depending on your view point.

If you like Dune then the Dune prequels are worth a read. They get a bit long winded at times, but they are more than worth it. Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson can lay out action in a way Frank Herbert never would have tried.

The Two Moons by James Hogan is an extremely interesting book too. It starts out really slow, and doesn't have a lot of action, but the theories he lays out--while implausible--are very imaginative and interesting.

If you like quick action filled sci-fi then you should look into William Dietz's Legion of the Damned series. Each book is like a quick sci-fi action movie.

John Scalzi's Old Man's War was a really fun book too.

If I keep going on though I'm gonna end up covering my entire collection. lol

*Oh and everyone MUST read the Halo series, all four books. If you don't finish them faster than any book you've ever read and beg the authors for more than there is something wrong with you. And I don't like playing Halo the game.

[Iffy]

Currently readig Kushiel's Scion by Jaquleine Carey not her best one but still holding my attention.

[McClance]

Why is it hard to believe? Some people prefer Romance, some horror ect. It's like anything in life - people have likes and dislikes. I just seem to prefer fantasy authors - Robin Hobb, Anne McCaffrey, Mary H Herbert, Robert Jordan to name a few (and I do consider them fantasy rather than sci fi).

Anne McCaffrey is technically science fiction. She would say as much.

[xfkirsten]

John Scalzi's Old Man's War was a really fun book too.

Ah, I actually picked up a copy of that a few weeks ago, but haven't gotten a chance to read it yet!

[Xicer]

Reading Children of Dune right now. I was hooked after reading the first Dune book, and after that I read Dune Messiah. I'm definitely gonna try to finish reading all six of the originals.

[Wordsmit2]

The Sam Gunn stories by Ben Bova. If you're interested in our first serious moves into the solar system, these are a must-read.

please tell me more, i'm intruiged

At its most basic, Sam Gunn is an entrepreneur in the early days of our venturing into the solar system. Each story concerns another of his schemes. Off the top of my head, I remember stories about a bid to construct a shield for a space station, painting in the sky, and asteroid mining.

Most are short stories. They are humorous, though some have a darker undertone as well. The neat thing (for me, anyway) is not only are the stories plausible science fiction, they probably *will* come to pass in one way or another.

About fifteen years ago most of the stories were collected into a paperback called "Sam Gunn, Unlimited". An overarching story was added concerning a woman who is trying to make a documentary about him. Recently this book was repackaged with some novellas. "The Sam Gunn Omnibus", I think.