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

[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?

[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.

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

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

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]

....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."

[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?

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.

were you peeping out my shower window again?

[Mental Trousers]

Not really Sci-Fi but an interesting take on the whole magic/vampires/werewolfs thing - Sergei Lukyanenko's 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

[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.