Science Fiction recommendations

[nmorin]

Until I started grad school in 1991, I read quite a bit of science fiction. My favorite was Philip K. Dick (I still find PKD incomparable and read him often). I liked a solid share of what the 'critical consensus' was (such as it is) for the greats of the 1930s to 1970s. The stuff I liked a lot from the 1980s included William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Greg Bear. The little ‘new’ science fiction I managed to read from the 1990s that I quite liked was Greg Egan and Jonathan Lethem.

Anyhow, two questions:

What sorts of books or authors from the last 15 years or so are generally considered to be the top shelf stuff?

What would you recommend?

[ejp626]

I suppose it partly depends on whether you want the future human society science fiction (Sterling and Gibson) or space opera with a bunch of alien races.

I'd say one of the better space operas is Kevin Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns.

I also like Ian McDonald and Alastair Reynolds. I think Stephen Baxter also has a good reputation, but I haven't read his Manifold Trilogy yet.

[Jazzmoose]

Hmm. Okay.

My favorites of recent vintage are Greg Bear (although he has some clunkers, his best is like Arthur C Clarke only even more out there) and Allen Steele. Ignore the "he's just like Heinlein" blurbs on the Steele books; he's not. He combines the hard SF of Clement (although pretty much only in human terms) with good characterization and subplots.

[BruceH]

Good to see you're into Greg Egan.

Got to recommend Iain M. Banks. His novels The Player of Games and Look To Windward are very good.

[Jim Alfredson]

Dan Simmons.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Yes, Dan Simmons - I like the Ilium books as well as the Endymion series.

Also Peter F Hamilton - kind of space opera, but so complex that they transcend those limitations.

And Harry Turtledove's alternative history books are a fascinating read.

MG

[Stefan Wood]

John Wright's The Golden Age Trilogy - One of the best future tales I have EVER read. Quite an imagination and innovative as well, even though the second volume is padded a bit.

Charles Stross' Accelerando

[Eloe Omoe]

John Kessel, who's mostly a short story writer, and a very interesting one.

luca

[nmorin]

Scanning the Hugo and Nebula winners and from what a couple of other folks have mentioned offline, names in addition to the ones you all suggested that I see come up from the 1990s to the present include

Lois McMaster Bujold

Kim Stanley Robinson

Robert Sawyer

Neal Stephenson

Venor Vinge

Connie Willis

Any opinions about these folks?

[Stefan Wood]

One more: John Scalzi, who has a small body of work but is being compared to Heinlein. Old Man's War is a fun read!

[relyles]

I have not read much science fiction, but I have enjoyed several books written by Octavia Butler. Octavia Butker - Wikipedia

[BruceH]

Scanning the Hugo and Nebula winners and from what a couple of other folks have mentioned offline, names in addition to the ones you all suggested that I see come up from the 1990s to the present include

Lois McMaster Bujold

Kim Stanley Robinson

Robert Sawyer

Neal Stephenson

Venor Vinge

Connie Willis

Any opinions about these folks?

I like Vinge and I like Bujold.

Actually, I really like "space opera" if it's well done. Which is to say, page-turning, a detailed future world, and not too many logical holes. Neal Asher can be good in low doses.

[ejp626]

Neal Stephenson

Any opinions about these folks?

I thought Stephenson's Snow Crash was good -- though basically a pretty typical cyberpunk novel. Diamond Age was ok but not that memorable to me. Personally I think he has gone off the rails since then, writing these 1000+ page books that seem more inspired by David Foster Wallace or Dave Eggers than in the SF tradition.

Now if you like cyberpunk and Snow Crash specifically, then I like this trilogy a fair bit though it isn't really recent:

George Alec Effinger

When Gravity Fails (1987)

A Fire in the Sun (1989)

The Exile Kiss (1991)

As an aside, in general, I do like Dan Simmons, though I wasn't particulary impressed by Phases of Gravity.

[Werf]

Pick up some copies of "Asimov's Science Fiction" and "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction." The latest "Asimov's" is their 30th Anniversary double special edition, with stories from Allen Steele, Lucius Shepard, Gene Wolfe, Liz Williams and others. Both magazines are publishing some of the finest SF short fiction, and fantasy. And both are losing circulation, so support 'em!

Some current SF favorite authors: I'm reading Neal Asher right now, and highly recommend him to those who like plenty of pyrotechnic action in their SF. "Gridlinked," "The Skinner," "Cowl," "Line of Polity," "Prador Moon," and "Brass Man" are the ones I've read, and loved. I started "The Voyage of the Sable Keech" yesterday, the sequel to "The Skinner."

Others: Rudy Rucker, Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds, China Mieville, Charles Stross, Nancy Kress, Kelly Link, Ian MacDonald, Jack Skillingstead, Paolo Bacigalupi, Lucius Shepard, and David Marusek.

[BruceH]

Pick up some copies of "Asimov's Science Fiction" and "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction." The latest "Asimov's" is their 30th Anniversary double special edition, with stories from Allen Steele, Lucius Shepard, Gene Wolfe, Liz Williams and others. Both magazines are publishing some of the finest SF short fiction, and fantasy. And both are losing circulation, so support 'em!

Some current SF favorite authors: I'm reading Neal Asher right now, and highly recommend him to those who like plenty of pyrotechnic action in their SF. "Gridlinked," "The Skinner," "Cowl," "Line of Polity," "Prador Moon," and "Brass Man" are the ones I've read, and loved. I started "The Voyage of the Sable Keech" yesterday, the sequel to "The Skinner."

Others: Rudy Rucker, Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds, China Mieville, Charles Stross, Nancy Kress, Kelly Link, Ian MacDonald, Jack Skillingstead, Paolo Bacigalupi, Lucius Shepard, and David Marusek.

What, no Banks?

I should get that 30th Anniversary edition of Asimov's. Trouble is, the store where I used to pick up occasional copies of Asimov's and F & SF doesn't carry them anymore! All of a sudden they only have Analog.

[Werf]

Pick up some copies of "Asimov's Science Fiction" and "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction." The latest "Asimov's" is their 30th Anniversary double special edition, with stories from Allen Steele, Lucius Shepard, Gene Wolfe, Liz Williams and others. Both magazines are publishing some of the finest SF short fiction, and fantasy. And both are losing circulation, so support 'em!

Some current SF favorite authors: I'm reading Neal Asher right now, and highly recommend him to those who like plenty of pyrotechnic action in their SF. "Gridlinked," "The Skinner," "Cowl," "Line of Polity," "Prador Moon," and "Brass Man" are the ones I've read, and loved. I started "The Voyage of the Sable Keech" yesterday, the sequel to "The Skinner."

Others: Rudy Rucker, Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds, China Mieville, Charles Stross, Nancy Kress, Kelly Link, Ian MacDonald, Jack Skillingstead, Paolo Bacigalupi, Lucius Shepard, and David Marusek.

What, no Banks?

I should get that 30th Anniversary edition of Asimov's. Trouble is, the store where I used to pick up occasional copies of Asimov's and F & SF doesn't carry them anymore! All of a sudden they only have Analog.

Banks is one of those guys I'm intending on reading, along with Ken MacLeod, Jeff VanderMeer, M.John Harrison, Steven Baxter, Jay Lake, etc. So many books, so little time.

[Bright Moments]

One more: John Scalzi, who has a small body of work but is being compared to Heinlein. Old Man's War is a fun read!

just finished old man's war. i second the recommendation!

[Jazzmoose]

...but is being compared to Heinlein.

...which is kind of SF's version of rock music's "the next Beatles"...

[Jim Alfredson]

So I finally finished the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons (Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, Rise of Endymion) about two weeks ago. The last book really messed me up for awhile. I thought about it almost constantly for about two days afterwards, and then a little less and a little less as the days went by. I took me these past two weeks to be ready to start another book.

I'm more than halfway thru Simmons' ILIUM now after starting yesterday at the airport. One thing about traveling across the country; you have plenty of time to read.

Anyway, it's really good; a bit more fast-paced than the Hyperion books. The four "old-style" human characters, with the exception of Daeman, feel a bit under-developed but otherwise it is extremely well-written and engaging. I've had to stop myself from reading it because it needs to last me through the weekend. I left the other book, Olympos, at home.

I don't know how Simmons manages to weave together such amazingly intricate story lines. But after finishing Rise of Endymion, I remembered one reason why I stopped reading him in high school: His endings are emotionally draining (Song of Kali, anyone?), but in a good, bittersweet, and essential way. Something tells me Ilium/Olympos won't be any different.

[ejp626]

I remembered one reason why I stopped reading him in high school: His endings are emotionally draining (Song of Kali, anyone?)

I'm either so jaded or I just read too much too quickly. I did read Song of Kali, but can't remember anything about it. I was frankly bored by his Phases of Gravity, and that's when I decided it really wasn't worth my time to read his epic-length novels.

Anyway, I mentioned Ian McDonald up-thread. They have just reprinted Desolation Road and there is a fairly recent sequel called Ares Express also being reprinted. I really enjoyed the first one way back when. I'll try to find time to reread it to see if it still grabs me, then plunge into Ares Express. Now his River of Gods material is very different -- it envisions a near-future world set in India in 2047. Artificial intelligence has really taken off, particularly in some of the sub-states of India, and America is barely in the picture, except as a distant bully trying to impose its moral code on the rest of the world, which in this context means no funding for artificial intelligence. The book is much more about shifting characters and their interactions, including interfacing with AI "genies"*, than the really sexy alien technology/alien encounter that is so common. Some find it boring, but this is a heck of a lot more plausible than most SF.

Somewhat more fantastic than River of Gods, but similarly set in a non-western future (Thailand) -- and awfully depressing as it is basically a post-carbon distopia -- is The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi and the short stories in Pump Six. I probably mentioned them elsewhere, but this is a very good read if you like darker SF with morally ambiguous characters and no guarantee that "good" (whatever that is) will triumph. Both McDonald and Bacigalupi are a step up from many (most?) SF writers in actually being able to write well, at least in my view.

* some slightly different term used in the book

Edited September 4, 2010 by ejp626

[ejp626]

It looks like there is some press (NESFA) doing fairly high quality SF compilations of short stories and related material. Alastair Reynolds gets this treatment here: http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/Reynolds-1.html and Roger Zelazny is up for a 6 volume collection of his short stories! First one here: http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/Zelazny-1.html They also are doing volumes of Hal Clement, Poul Anderson and Cordwainer Smith.

I have to admit I am awfully tempted by the Zelazny. I have a few of his novels still, but I really recall the old SFBC collections Last Defender of Camelot and Unicorn Variations. Of course, I gave them up long ago, prepping for a move across the country (can't even blame Mom!). Now I want them back, but maybe this is an even better option. I think I will hold off for the moment because of financial considerations and space limitations, even more so, but I will probably get these eventually.

This kind of reminds me of White Wolf Press going through most of Harlan Ellison's work and reprinting it. Edgeworks was supposed to run to 20 volumes, but I think they eventually ran out of steam at 5. However, it looks like all 6 of the Zelazny volumes are actually out -- and still in print, though who knows for how long...

Edited September 4, 2010 by ejp626

[Jim Alfredson]

I remembered one reason why I stopped reading him in high school: His endings are emotionally draining (Song of Kali, anyone?)

I'm either so jaded or I just read too much too quickly. I did read Song of Kali, but can't remember anything about it. I was frankly bored by his Phases of Gravity, and that's when I decided it really wasn't worth my time to read his epic-length novels.

I think I tried to read Phases of Gravity and couldn't get into it, either. But you're doing yourself a disservice by not approaching Hyperion or the Ilium books. almost done with Ilium and it's not disappointing me at all.

[jazzbo]

You mean they still write science fiction?

Thanks for those recommending here. One day I might start investigating some contemporary science fiction. I sort of stopped reading new science fiction when John Varley was writing at his best. I re-read Philip K. Dick and Cordwainer Smith, that's the SCHITTE for me. Just such amazing ideas and writing.

Oh, I guess the most contemporary science fiction I'm familiar with are the films of Richard Kelly.

[ejp626]

I remembered one reason why I stopped reading him in high school: His endings are emotionally draining (Song of Kali, anyone?)

I'm either so jaded or I just read too much too quickly. I did read Song of Kali, but can't remember anything about it. I was frankly bored by his Phases of Gravity, and that's when I decided it really wasn't worth my time to read his epic-length novels.

I think I tried to read Phases of Gravity and couldn't get into it, either. But you're doing yourself a disservice by not approaching Hyperion or the Ilium books. almost done with Ilium and it's not disappointing me at all.

Fair enough, but they're going to the bottom of a reallly long list.

Edited September 5, 2010 by ejp626

[GA Russell]

I should get that 30th Anniversary edition of Asimov's. Trouble is, the store where I used to pick up occasional copies of Asimov's and F & SF doesn't carry them anymore! All of a sudden they only have Analog.

Here's are links where you can subscribe to Asimov's and order past issues:

http://www.magazinep...erms=Asimov%27s

http://www.asimovs.com/info/faq.shtml

*****

PS - Here's Fantasy & Science Fiction:

http://www.magazinep...ience%20Fiction

http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/backish.htm

Edited September 5, 2010 by GA Russell