Jason, if you are in the mood for some decent hard sci-fi, take a look at Charles Stross. Nothing says singularity quite like he does. _Singularity Sky_ would be the place to start, though _Accelerando_ is fun too – a bit of a different look there. And if you want some fun CIA-type stuff with a healthy dose of Cthulhu, check out his _Atrocity Archives_

By Evan on 05.02.07 9:46 am

What about Dune? (frank herbert)

By Jordan on 05.02.07 10:02 am

I think I started reading it in 8th grade based on your recommendation and quit out of boredom. (Sorry.)

By Jason on 05.02.07 11:09 am

Lool. I can’t believe I read that in 8th grade. There’s alot of religion in politics in there that I probably didn’t understand.

By Jordan on 05.02.07 1:38 pm

You never finished Dune? That is unfortunate. Might want to give it another go around, as it is quite good.

By Evan on 05.02.07 2:38 pm

Stross isn’t bad; I saw him last year at the con I went to in Boston. He’s pretty funny.

I started reading the Merchant Princes series, which is good (more adventurey-oriented), though it started getting wicked confusing in the last book (parallel universes will do that to you). Haven’t read his hard stuff, but I presume it’s good too.

By Dan on 05.02.07 5:23 pm

Oh, and it’s a little more on the fantasy side of things (and western, and horror, and lots of genre-bending in general), but I highly recommend Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series.

By Dan on 05.02.07 5:24 pm

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Phillip K. Dick, though the stuff I’ve liked the most of his has all been turned in to crappy movies by now…

By Tony on 05.02.07 9:40 pm

Hm, haven’t read Stross, have read Dick, and I’ll give some thought to Herbert and King. I’m particularly interested in a neat “find” (someone I’d never even heard of before), which could indicate either my own under-a-rock residence, or (I hope) someone doing contemporary fiction who is just too awesome to become too popular…

By Jason on 05.03.07 9:18 am

Could look into Minister Faust. His first book, _Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad_ was a pretty entertaining romp. I just picked up his second book (which is very interesting – about a psychologist for superheroes – _From the Notebook of Dr. Brain_), but haven’t started reading it yet. Its not the most sci-fi, though.

By Evan on 05.03.07 9:51 am

If you’re into crazy shit, you might check out China Mieville. Perdido Street Station and The Scar were both fricking weird. Iron Council didn’t do much for me, and I haven’t read his most recent, which is set in an unrelated world.

By Dan on 05.03.07 10:01 am

I’ve always liked LeGuin’s “Wizard of Earthsea” series (especially the original three), and her short stories – try “The Wind’s Twelve Quarters.”

By Ned on 05.03.07 11:59 am

If you liked Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, try Doctrow’s most recent novel – Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves town. Much more of a “whole book” kind of feel to it.

I second Dan’s suggestion of China Mieville – PSS is really damn good and The Scar is freaking awesome. Skip Iron Council, as it’s not so good.

If you want a good “one shot” then try Memory, by Linda Nagata. Interesting and quick (candy!) not-too-hard scifi.

Finally, have you tried any Tad Williams? His Otherland series is a fairly massive undertaking, but well worth it. It’s a fairly impressive hybrid of Sci-fi, fantasy, literature, horror, mystery… and pretty much any other genre you can think of – but with an emphasis on the sci-fi/fantasy portions.

Right, shutting up. I don’t even know who you are and here I am rambling a novel about books to you!

By Lisa on 05.10.07 11:50 am

Wait wait, don’t shut up, you’re suggesting stuff I hadn’t heard of! Is good! I like people I don’t know!

Anyway … thanks to everyone who’s offered suggestions. I think I’ll start with Mieville and Nagata, as I like crazy stuff and easy stuff for bedtime reading.

By Jason on 05.12.07 11:49 pm

Hah, well be warned that Mieville might be a little intense for pre-bedtime. I was reading him extensively while traveling for work, and being all alone in a hotel room with his creepy ideas floating around in my head was pretty damn nerve-wracking ;P

Also, this deviates from the Sci-fi tilt, but have you read The Lies of Locke Lamora? It’s by Steve Lynch, his first novel. It’s kind of… a heist set against a fantasy backdrop. Totally awesome.

~Lisa, who knows Kai, who knows you?

By Lisa on 05.15.07 12:24 pm

[...] upon a time, I asked you goodly people to recommend some science-fiction books to me to read. And so you did! And there [...]

By doombot » Sigh-Fi: Seeking Less Boring Books on 03.16.09 3:32 pm