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

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

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

[jrandom]

Best SF series?

No contest.



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.

[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.

[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.

[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.