School holidays, I'm bored pt II "What is your favourite scifi/fantasy book series?

[PrincessBandit]

Tried a search for this too and couldn't find one so sorry if it's been done before.
Mine in order: 1. Thomas Covenant trilogies (3 sets of trilogies so far) by Stephen Donaldson
2. The Shannara series by Terry Brooks
3. The squillions of Dune books by the Herberts.

[xwhatsit]

Not a series, I'm afraid, but definitely check out Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.

[007XX]

Hehe, another sci fi reader, excellent...

I've just finished "The Word and The Void" by Terry Brooks, and it wasn't bad I got to admit :yes:

But all time favourites, that I can read more than once without yawning?

1- Lord Of the Rings Trilogy
2- Dune and all its subsequent tomes

Both were read in french however, so now I'll have the pleasure to read them again in english :woohoo:

That's if I can find some time to read again, now that the holidays are finished :rolleyes:

[jrandom]

Best SF series?

No contest.

<img src="http://i28.tinypic.com/23r27ev.jpg"/>

I agree with xerxesdaphat that Snow Crash is worth a mention, but Cryptonomicon is still my favourite Stephenson book. However, this thread is about trilogies and serieses and whatnot, not individual novels.

For what it's worth, IMHO, the Dune books are very uneven. Not really much chop when viewed as a complete series. 'Dune' itself is a great novel, of course.

Other than that, a very definite honourable SF mention must be made for Iain M. Banks and his Culture novels.

If it weren't for Mr Banks' uneven and occasionally turgid output, he'd have been installed as my official favourite author years ago. He has the rare ability of writing in a way that simply leaves one's spine tingling.

:yes:

<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/53/Banksphlebas.jpg/200px-Banksphlebas.jpg"/> <img src="http://i32.tinypic.com/hrmybt.jpg"/>

[warewolf]

Jack L. Chalker: Well World series (x3, but the first was the best.)

Heinlein is great but his series' are pretty loosely defined, although the 7 "Future History" books are right up there. Lots of inter-connecting storylines/characters across many books.

Asimov, yeah, reading his "The Complete Robot" at the moment. I'm more into his robots than the Foundation stuff, but enjoy both.

Iain M. Banks is a new find in recent years, quite good. "The Algebraist' is the best I've read of his.

If you are into space-opera then Lois McMaster Bujold has a fantastic series that has been written over 20 years, the Vorkosigan Saga. Has strong female characters which appeals to my wife.

Um, for humour, try L. Ron Hubbard's epic 10-volume work, "Mission Earth", 1.2 million words. "The Brentford Trilogy" (now 5 books) by Robert Rankin, plus his Armageddon series. And then there is "Good Omens", by Terry Pratchett (of Discworld fame) and Neil Gamain; this is one of the funniest books I had read at the time it came out. Yeah I know it's a single book, but it's a stunner and has a very similar feel to "The Brentford Trilogy".

Lastly, who can forget Harry Harrison? The Stainless Steel Rat series are a little simple (adolescent's books) but very funny. He's done quite a bit of interesting stuff.

More recently I've been enjoying collections of short stories more so than novels and series'. Most of the greats have released various such collections.

edit: We really need some more bookshelves!

[007XX]

Other than that, a very definite honourable SF mention must be made for Iain M. Banks and his Culture novels.

If it weren't for Mr Banks' uneven and occasionally turgid output, he'd have been installed as my official favourite author years ago. He has the rare ability of writing in a way that simply leaves one's spine tingling.



Hmmm...if you still have these, could I possibly borrow them at some point please?

And yes, I agree about the Dune series...I guess when I read it aged 14, it hardly seems to be an issue how random or uneven in quality they were (although admitedly, the last one lost me about half way through from memory).

[WRT]

KiwiBiker.

Take a browse through to find all the science fiction and fantasy threads you could ever dream of. Trouble is, most people on here seem to believe what they type (or read, for that matter) is actually real.

[Swoop]

"The wit and wisdom of the Labour Party".

I believe this falls under the fantasy category.:laugh:

[Grub]

Best SF series?

No contest. Asimov's Foundation

SNAP!!!!!

The Foundation 'Trilogy'
- Foundation ('51)
- Foundation & Empire ('52)
- Second Foundation ('53)

After 30 years, Asimov came back to tie up the loose ends with
- Foundation's Edge ('82)
- Foundation & Earth ('86)

Then he got the bug again and produced two Prequels ...
- Prelude to Foundation ('88)
- Forward the Foundation ('93)

Then he died :(

The Foundation Trilogy beat several other science fiction and fantasy series (including The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien) to receive a special Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series." It is still the only series so honored. Asimov himself wrote that he assumed the one-time award had been created in order to honor The Lord of the Rings, and he was amazed when his work won.

[jrandom]

Iain M. Banks is a new find in recent years, quite good. "The Algebraist' is the best I've read of his.

Really? I thought it was one of his weaker efforts. Could have benefited from the services of an editor. Then again, his non-Culture SF books have tended to go that way, with the exception of Feersum Endjinn, which was downright marvellous.

I've noticed that with a lot of authors, you know. Their work starts out tight and polished, and 15 years later they're publishing 700-page, unevenly-paced monsters. One can't help but suspect that they fall in love with the sound of their own fingers on a keyboard, and that a history of good sales gives them a little too much leverage over their publishers' better judgment.

[jrandom]

Hmmm...if you still have these, could I possibly borrow them at some point please?

Sure thing. I have most of Iain M. Banks' SF work and a good handful of his contemporary novels (written as Iain Banks) floating around. I shall pick you a starting selection of two or three and hand them over next time I see you.

[007XX]

Sure thing. I have most of Iain M. Banks' SF work and a good handful of his contemporary novels (written as Iain Banks) floating around. I shall pick you a starting selection of two or three and hand them over next time I see you.

Awesome! Cheers buddy...I promise to look after them properly.

In regards to authors of series and the likes, I was most taken aback by how very average the other books from Dan Brown were...I had such a blast reading the "Da Vinci Code", tearing through it in about 4 days...

Then got "Digital Fortress" and the other books from him and got thoroughly disappointed...what a let down! :(

[Steam]

These are my favourite three series'. The last one is Pandora's Star, by Peter F Hamilton. Definite themes there.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n13/n65083.jpghttp://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n24777.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/mdchitty/artwork/john_harris_pandoras_star.jpg

[jrandom]

Awesome! Cheers buddy...I promise to look after them properly.

Pfft. They're paperbacks. They're for sitting on, spilling coffee on, leaving in tankbags and getting rained on, and being read by as many people as possible before they disintegrate.

Books are not ornaments or family heirlooms. They are mechanisms for transmitting words from the mind of the author to the minds of readers. The reading of the words is the essence of the matter; the physical form of paper and cardboard and whether it's dog-eared or not is entirely incidental.

I'm not a big fan of re-reading fiction. In fact, LoTR and the Foundation novels are about all I can ever remember seriously re-reading, so I don't really mind if I lend novels out and they don't come back.

[pzkpfw]

Tried a search for this too and couldn't find one so sorry if it's been done before.
Mine in order: 1. Thomas Covenant trilogies (3 sets of trilogies so far) by Stephen Donaldson
2. The Shannara series by Terry Brooks
3. The squillions of Dune books by the Herberts.

Sorry, but I thought they were all blaa. Won't go into details, it's too hot to type that much.

My picks (from the top of my balding head...)

X: Larry Niven Known Space; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Known_Space
Y: And his collaboratons with Pournelle; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle

More recently:
Z: Greg Bear, The Forge of God series; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Bear

I don't read enough; way out of touch with today.

[warewolf]

Really? I thought it was one of his weaker efforts. Could have benefited from the services of an editor. Then again, his non-Culture SF books have tended to go that way, with the exception of Feersum Endjinn, which was downright marvellous.Swap those two; "Feersum Endjinn" I thought was a good try with some nice elements but comparatively a chore to read.

No accounting for taste, eh? :D

[pzkpfw]

{


We really need some more bookshelves!

Seriously, I've bought a few of those $15 kitset shelves from Warehouse for my Daughters and Sons books. I reckon they are great value for a quick tidy-up. Looks like you could stack a few up in that space where your books are.

It's not exactly "high quality" stuff but for $15...

}

[007XX]

Pfft. They're paperbacks. They're for sitting on, spilling coffee on, leaving in tankbags and getting rained on, and being read by as many people as possible before they disintegrate.

Books are not ornaments or family heirlooms. They are mechanisms for transmitting words from the mind of the author to the minds of readers. The reading of the words is the essence of the matter; the physical form of paper and cardboard and whether it's dog-eared or not is entirely incidental.

I'm not a big fan of re-reading fiction. In fact, LoTR and the Foundation novels are about all I can ever remember seriously re-reading, so I don't really mind if I lend novels out and they don't come back.

:zzzz:....Hmmm I'm sorry, what?

That was a pretty long tirade to say you don't give a crap! :laugh:

Anyway, much appreciated thank you...And I'm with you, I don't normally re read anything, as I remember it too well from the first time around.
But re reading it in a different language is all good!

[jrandom]

:zzzz:....Hmmm I'm sorry, what?

Sorry, my bad, I know, natural blonde, exceeded attention span, etc.

Here you go:

"I don't give a crap."

:niceone:

[PrincessBandit]

Best SF series?


For what it's worth, IMHO, the Dune books are very uneven. Not really much chop when viewed as a complete series. 'Dune' itself is a great novel, of course.



Yeah, agree actually. My favs of the Dune set were the original, of course, and the House Harkonnen, House Atreides etc. By the time it got to Chapter House I'd kind of lost my interest, think that was one of the worst.

[jrandom]

Swap those two; "Feersum Endjinn" I thought was a good try with some nice elements but comparatively a chore to read.

No accounting for taste, eh? :D

Mm, yes, indeed!

Like I said before, it's Iain Banks' uneven output and the fact that not every one of his books is a guaranteed winner with the hardened SF types that prevents him from achieving total awesomeness on my authors-to-recommend list.

[007XX]

Sorry, my bad, I know, natural blonde, exceeded attention span, etc.


:confused: were you peeping out my shower window again?:eek:

[Mental Trousers]

Not really Sci-Fi but an interesting take on the whole magic/vampires/werewolfs thing - Sergei Lukyanenko's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Lukyanenko) Night Watch Trilogy.

Most of Peter F Hamiltons stuff, but especially the Nights Dawn trilogy. Over 4800 pages. Also, the Greg Mandel trilogy are a worthy diversion. I'm currently waiting very impatiently for book 2 of the Void trilogy.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_f_hamilton
Peter F. Hamilton generally uses a clean, prosaic style. His space opera is characterised by the way it switches between several characters - often there are three or more main characters, whose paths begin separated but eventually cross. Common themes in his books are politics, religion, and armed conflict. Though far between, there are sex scenes in his books, and some of them quite explicit.

Critically, Hamilton is often grouped with Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter, Ken MacLeod, and other writers of new space opera in the United Kingdom.

[gijoe1313]

Harry Harrison and his Stainless Steel Rat series, along with Deathworld and all that ... loved it when it was illustrated in 2000AD by Carlos Ezquerria.

Starship Medic and Starship Troopers by Heinlein with Hammer's Slammers s'good too. And of course War of the Worlds by Wells hisself.

For ultra violence sci-fi you can't beat the Warhammer 40K novels (Dan Abnett et.al) ... eternal war in the dark future with evil gods of chaos.

[turtleman]

If you are into space-opera then Lois McMaster Bujold has a fantastic series that has been written over 20 years, the Vorkosigan Saga. Has strong female characters which appeals to my wife.



Hell yes - highly recommended! I've read a large number of these, but lost track of where I was up to.
Miles Vorkosigan cracks me up!

[Street Gerbil]

+1 for Harry Harrison,
Dune
Selected Ender books by OSC (Ender's Game, Ender 1.5(?), and Ender's Shadow)
And forgive my childishness, but Harry Potter books are actually quite strong towards the end.

[Aero165]

No question about it. The Halo series! Call me a nerd, geek. IDC! They are great books and I challenge anyone to read them and say otherwise:niceone:

[Mr Merde]

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlien

[deanohit]

Anything by Terry Brooks, lately Armageddons Children, his latest book tying the Word & the Void series into the Shanarra series.

Raymond E. Feist and his Riftwar series.

[Morcs]

Anything written by Clive Cussler. Specially ones starring Dirk Pitt.

[Kemet]

My Pics:

Fantasy:
David Eddings (good old fashioned good vs evil, "the end is nigh" and laughs)
Jennifer Fallon's "Harshini" sequence



SF:
David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series
Orson Scott Card's "Ender Wiggin" series

Combo of SF/Fantasy
C J Cherryh's "Attevi Sequence"
Marion Zimmer Bradleys's "Darkover" series

[xwhatsit]

Selected Ender books by OSC (Ender's Game, Ender 1.5(?), and Ender's Shadow).

Yep! The original Ender's Game short story is kicking around on the net somewhere, released for free. It's not exactly Asimov, but I like it.

I have a strong soft spot for Arthur C. Clarke, despite his occasional failings. Read 2001: A Space Odyssey before I knew the Kubrick film existed (although I knew the Strauss melody of course :laugh:); the film has got nothing on it. It's a sort of a series when you count the other books. His Rama series I really enjoyed too, but it's a long time since I read it.

His short story collections are well worth getting stuck into.

[Kemet]

Yep! The original Ender's Game short story is kicking around on the net somewhere, released for free. It's not exactly Asimov, but I like it.

I have a strong soft spot for Arthur C. Clarke, despite his occasional failings. Read 2001: A Space Odyssey before I knew the Kubrick film existed (although I knew the Strauss melody of course :laugh:); the film has got nothing on it. It's a sort of a series when you count the other books. His Rama series I really enjoyed too, but it's a long time since I read it.

His short story collections are well worth getting stuck into.

Have you read "Light of Other Days" by Clarke

Me also like Julian May esp the Remillard series

[325rocket]

robert jordan - wheel of time... well up to book 11 of 12 anyway as he has now passed away and left it all a bit open.

also anything from tad williams

[warewolf]

Arthur C. Clarke,
...
His short story collections are well worth getting stuck into."The Collected Stories" is great... big enough to be a series! Chalker's Well World saga parts 2 & 3 were considered to be too long so were split into 2 volumes each. All five combined are probably no bigger than this collection of Clarke's.

[Nasty]

kelly armstrong other wordly woman series ... extremly good.

[SixPackBack]

"The mote in God's eye".........
If you wanna laugh your tits off a semi sci-fi is the original "Red Dwarf" book.

[Bikernereid]

I love anything by Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land is the best.

As for series you can't beat Brian Lumley's Necroscope Saga books.


Tried a search for this too and couldn't find one so sorry if it's been done before.
Mine in order: 1. Thomas Covenant trilogies (3 sets of trilogies so far) by Stephen Donaldson
2. The Shannara series by Terry Brooks
3. The squillions of Dune books by the Herberts.

[buellbabe]

Mine in order: 1. Thomas Covenant trilogies (3 sets of trilogies so far) by Stephen Donaldson

1: Anything by Stephen Donaldson. Love the Covenant Chronicles...
Plus I also have the 'Gap' series which is more sci-fi than fantasy and Mordants Need (2 books) is also great.

2: Saga of the Exiles by Julian May
and also 'Intervention' and the 'Galactic Milieu'

3: 'Crystal Singer' series by Anne McCaffrey

When I was a kid I read alot of Ray Bradbury but these days I seem to prefer fantasy to sci-fi.

[Dave-]

the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

nuff said.

[Bren]

I started off with David Eddings back when was it....mid 80s...still love his stuff..Raymond Feist is great too...as mentioned Orson Scott Card great stuff...Marrion Zimmer Bradley is good too
Classics are always good.......
.......HG Wells fanfrikkin Tastic
.......John Wyndham The Triffards still gets me
.......John Christopher Tripods series (city of gold & Lead etc)

[PrincessBandit]

1: Anything by Stephen Donaldson. Love the Covenant Chronicles...
Plus I also have the 'Gap' series which is more sci-fi than fantasy and Mordants Need (2 books) is also great.



I really enjoyed the 2 Mordants Need books too. He has a collection of short stories too called "Daughter of Regals plus other short stories" or something like that.


p.s. someone asked me about the Thomas Covenant books in my rep. Please pm me if you want to know more about them. :wavey:

[Drunken Monkey]

+1 for Night Dawn's Trilogy, but Hamilton's other space operas don't rate so well with me.

++1 for the Stainless Steel Rat stories

-1 On Thomas Covenant. Read a couple around the same time as a couple of Hugh Cook novels, definately rate Hugh Cook - he definately writes with a different focus.

All time though, I really dig the father of 'Cyberpunk' William Gibson, especially the Sprawl Trilogy and the Blade Trilogy.

[buellbabe]

I really enjoyed the 2 Mordants Need books too. He has a collection of short stories too called "Daughter of Regals plus other short stories" or something like that.


Yep got Daughter of Regals as well. In fact I have always thought what a shame it is that he hadn't made a series out of that one particular short story.

[Mint Sauce]

For SF, Fantasy and Comedy all rolled up into one, for me it has to be Douglas Adams. Just finishing off 'The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy'; all five novels in one volume.

Other than that, Asimov Foundation series and pretty well all the other Asimov stuff. He was my start to SF at the age of 14; many, many moons ago.

[Krayy]

<snip>
Raymond E. Feist and his Riftwar series.
Hear, hear!!!

Also Timothy Zahn's "Cobra" series.

[riffer]

Shit we all like a lot of the same stuff don't we.

Put me down for Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat, Herbert's Dune Series and Donaldsons Gap Series too...

Used to read truckloads of Heinlein when I was a kid, but the Foundation series just left me cold sorry.

[vifferman]

Try J V Jones. :niceone:
"The Barbed Coil"
"The Sword of Shadows" series
"The Book of Words" series.

Unlike many fantasy writers, there's nothing "twee" about her stories - they're really gritty, and quite involving. She's really mean to her characters...

And Princess Bandit - if you want to read a really lovely novel, try "The Time-Traveller's Wife", by Audrey Niffenegger. I guess it's fantasy (seeing it's about time travel), but it's more of a love story.

[SlashWylde]

Great thread idea Princess.

Mine would be:
Stephen Donaldson's 'The Gap' cycle.
Lord of the Rings
Dave Duncan's 'A Handful of Men' series.

[PrincessBandit]

Try J V Jones. :niceone:
"The Barbed Coil"
"The Sword of Shadows" series
"The Book of Words" series.

Unlike many fantasy writers, there's nothing "twee" about her stories - they're really gritty, and quite involving. She's really mean to her characters...

And Princess Bandit - if you want to read a really lovely novel, try "The Time-Traveller's Wife", by Audrey Niffenegger. I guess it's fantasy (seeing it's about time travel), but it's more of a love story.

thanks vifferman, but i'm not so much into love stories as such (can't stand romance movies) but am happy to have a read!

[vifferman]

thanks vifferman, but i'm not so much into love stories as such (can't stand romance movies) but am happy to have a read!Well... it's not so much a love story, as about the difficulties of maintaining a relationship when your partner keeps spontaneously travelling back'n'forth through time.

[warewolf]

the difficulties of maintaining a relationship when your partner keeps spontaneously travelling back'n'forth through time.I *hate* it when that happens... :o

[Cajun]

Troy series by David Gemmell

1. Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow (2005)
2. Troy: Shield of Thunder (2006)
3. Troy: Fall of Kings (2007)

Rigante series by David Gemmell

1. Sword in the Storm (1999)
2. Midnight Falcon (2000)
3. Ravenheart (2001)
4. Stormrider (2002)
------

[Timaa]

the wheel of time by robert jordan. hands down no contest. its like a 13 book series thats just so intricate and brilliant.!!!
tim

[No FX]

Troy series by David Gemmell

1. Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow (2005)
2. Troy: Shield of Thunder (2006)
3. Troy: Fall of Kings (2007)

Rigante series by David Gemmell

1. Sword in the Storm (1999)
2. Midnight Falcon (2000)
3. Ravenheart (2001)
4. Stormrider (2002)
------


amen to that, the rigante books are fantastic. i and am currently reading the second of the troy books and dont want it to end(halfway through after 2 days:weep:).

--- all David Gemmell books
--- any series by David Eddings(Belgariad, Mallorean, Ellenium etc. etc.)
--- Robert Jordans Wheel of Time books
--- TERRY PRATCHETT!:2thumbsup:lol:
--- The Fencer Trilogy by K.J.Parker
--- Colin Wilsons Spider World trilogy (first books i read when i was a wee'un)

[buellbabe]

Really enjoying this thread :2thumbsup

I now have a long list of books to read!

'The Time Travellers Wife' sounds good. Definately gonna buy that.

[NighthawkNZ]

I can't read books... I don't have the attention span.... :doh: and I am a visual person so I wait till the movie comes out and then hear the... oh the book was so much better and my reply STFU watching movie

[Steam]

Mieville writes the most cutting-edge (or should I say rusting-edge) fantasy you have ever read.
The book cover below is a city made of tens of thousands of floating ships, barges, junk, all tied together to make a vast decaying, rusting, heaving metropolis.
Very dark, very cool. New London Fantasy.
http://www.discontent.com/~dm/images/misc/scar-mid.jpg