Top Sci-Fi Books for a Summer Vacation: Recommendations and Suggestions

[MadScientist 1000]

I'm looking for any good Sci Fi books to read in my summer vacation. Here are a few suggestions for books for anyone else:

Ben Bova (benbova.com) is a good authoer whose books seem really good. I would recommend (I can't spell) Powersat to start off with though and then the other books.

Kip Robinson is also good a good author who wrote Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars. I'm about to start Green Mars.

Please post your suggestions below.

 

[imabug]

Anything by Robert Heinlein is good. He's always been one of my favourite SF authors.

 

[J77]

Alastair Reynolds is good, imo.

 

[Azael]

Best new sci-fi I have read is the books by Alastair Reynolds. Brilliant!

You can't go wrong with anything by peter hamilton and Stephen baxter either. Pic upp Hamiltons Nights Dawn triology and you got some reading to do, each book is well over 1000 pages. I prefer his 2 comonwealth books though.

You can't possibly go wrong with Asimov either.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

This Perfect Day, by Ira Levin.

 

[ray b]

Anything by Robert Heinlein is good. He's always been one of my favourite SF authors.

who has best followed his type
I like brin and niven and brunner
who do you guys like

gibson and Neal Stephenson for computer based si-fi

 

[meteor]

In the last 2 weeks I've read 3 sci fi books: Jurassic Park, The Lost World and Timeline. The three of them by Michael Crichton, and very entertaining indeed. Timeline is very recommendable, because it can also appeal to history buffs. Yes, is about time travel, and the characters travel to the fourteenth century, when there's a lot of battles and suspense and gore. The means to achieve time travel is questionable: in the book, the "many worlds" theory of Quantum Mechanics is found to be correct, so in theory there exists a multiverse formed by the zillion of worlds that have sprouted from the many events occurred during the history of the Universe. The book hypothesizes that you can travel to any of these universes, and some of these are still experiencing our past.

 

[Danger]

I recommend anything by Larry Niven, but most specifically the Ringworld series (Ringworld, The Ringworld Engineers, The Ringworld Throne, and Ringworld's Children). You'll be amazed at the engineering concepts he came up with. Also James P. Hogan's stuff is all great.

 

[Evo]

I grew up on the classics, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Poul Anderson. If you haven't read works by these authors, make the time to do so. Of course Heinlein was great. Asimov's Dr Urth stories were always a favorite.

I agree Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is a great book on cyberspace fiction, but I think MadScientist 1000 is a bit too young for it. I would say parts of it are definitely rated "R", but perhaps I'm just a prude. Ok, thinking back on parts of it, I'm not a prude.

Asimov has to take credit in my early interests in physics and space travel. Stories like "Marooned off Vesta" - Marooned Off Vesta tells the story of three men who survive the wreck of the spaceship Silver Queen in the asteroid belt and find themselves trapped in orbit around the asteroid Vesta. They have at their disposal three airtight rooms, one spacesuit, three days' worth of air, a week's supply of food, and a year's supply of water. With typically Asimovian courage and ingenuity, the trapped men manage to use the limited resources at their disposal to rescue themselves. The description of their rescue is heavy with accurate portrayals of the physics and experiences involved with being in space, a theme that often re-emerges in Asimov's later works.

His 4 Dr Urth stories, "The Key, using "platinum black" as a catalyst, I will always remember

 

[selfAdjoint]

I grew up on the classics, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Poul Anderson. If you haven't read works by these authors, make the time to do so. Of course Heinlein was great. Asimov's Dr Urth stories were always a favorite.

The late Poul Anderson had a long career writing wonderful sf and fantasy books. His characters were always gripping aand his backgrounds fascinating. Try Tau zero, a dramatization of the Lorentz Transforms, better than L. Ron Hubbard's take in To the Stars, though that's no slouch and good to see it back in print.

I'd also like to recommend C.J. Cherryh. Her Chanur series is swell for young people and her "Downbelow Station" universe holds a lot of stories, from romantic adventure to military sf to gritty "slice of life in a spaceship" stories. Her latest series, The "Foreigner" books is currently on the third triad of who knows how many it will eventually run? Unlike the famed 'Dune" series of Frank Herbert, it gets stronger rather than weaker as it goes along.

Oh, and speaking of series, what about Gene Wolfe and his three series, the "New Urth", "Long Sun" and "Short Sun" books.

 

[Evo]

I'd also like to recommend C.J. Cherryh. Her Chanur series is swell for young people and her "Downbelow Station" universe holds a lot of stories, from romantic adventure to military sf to gritty "slice of life in a spaceship" stories. Her latest series, The "Foreigner" books is currently on the third triad of who knows how many it will eventually run? Unlike the famed 'Dune" series of Frank Herbert, it gets stronger rather than weaker as it goes along.

Oh, and speaking of series, what about Gene Wolfe and his three series, the "New Urth", "Long Sun" and "Short Sun" books.

oooh, I know where I'm going . I need books to read in bed with the air conditioner on.

I used to own this book. "Asimov's Mysteries" http://www.answers.com/topic/asimov-s-mysteries

 

[Evo]

I found a link to one of my favorite Heinlein short stories _ "And he built a crooked house" A story of tesseracts, fourth dimensional hypercubes.

If you haven't read this one yet, it's fun.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/heinlein/heinlein1.html

 

[J77]

I also enjoyed Fallen Dragon by Peter F Hamilton.

He has a large number of very large books However, I think they follow each other so I haven't got round to beginning at the beginning yet

 

[arildno]

1. I wouldn't recommend Asimov as literature (he's more of an essayist/philosopher), but Bradbury certainly is that (he's brilliant, IMO).

2. Peter Hamilton is great.

3. Philip K. Dick is a wacky version of Asimov, quite interesting though.

4. If you can stand Heinlein's fasisctoid flirtings, go ahead. Ignore Simak (hate that guy)

5. And, just about anything by Sir Clarke is fantastic.

 

[Azael]

Dont forget the heechee books by Pohl, they are fantastic.

 

[selfAdjoint]

4. If you can stand Heinlein's fasisctoid flirtings, go ahead. Ignore Simak (hate that guy)

Interesting pair of opinions. Usually people who hate Heinlein for "fascism" like Simak the gentle populist.

 

[arildno]

Hmm..I just rambled down the names of two guys. It wasn't meant to insinuate that Simak had any fascist or otherwise unpalatable opinions.
"Hate" was a bit too strong a word, what I meant, was that I don't think his stories are any good at all.

 

[psyphi70]

Diaspora -- Greg Egan
Cats Cradle -- Kurt Vonnegut (old but still great)
nClone -- Dovin Melhee

 

[psyphi70]

I would add "nSpace" by Dovin Melhee.
A fun wild ride, lots of new ideas.
Completely out of the box.

https://www.amazon.com/dovin_melhee&tag=pfamazon01-20
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/nspace/7534554

 

[Dembadon]

In my opinion, you can't really go wrong with Isaac Asimov's "Foundation Series".

 

[Monocerotis]

It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

Although this quote never appeared in the book, which is AMAZING, probably one of the best sci fi novels of all time, I still love it.

 

[BigD]

My favorite sci-fi book is Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clark. I would recommend reading that if you haven't already.

 

[rolerbe]

Just read "Radio Free Fall" by new author Matthew Jarpe which I found very good.

I recommend almost anything by Roger Zelazny, and his short stories in particular without reservation. Some of the best "writing" in the genre (or any genre) IMHO.

Vernor Vinge for pure density of new ideas per page.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Has anyone read "Spin" by Robert Charles Wilson? I'm about half way through and think it's a real gem of a book!

 

[rolerbe]

I started Spin and got about halfway through it before dropping it. I know it won awards, etc., but I found it to be aimless and populated by cardboard cut out characters. Just my opinion. Hope you enjoy it. I couldn't finish it.

 

[Anamar]

Has anyone read Philip. K.Dick's "Now wait for the Last Year" ?

 

[lompocus]

The Foundation series, by Asimov, is incredible. Short stories are pretty good too as little bits of "snack reading," specifically anthologies like:
-Metatropolis
-Schismatrix (Bruce Sterling, there is a book on it now, called Schismatrix Plus)
-The New Space Opera

There's a wealth of material to read :D.

 

[Anamar]

Do anyone know the famous quotation by Robert A.Heinlein?
* A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
How great it is..!

 

[Anamar]

Do anyone know the famous quotation by Robert A.Heinlein?
* A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
How great it is..!

 

[harroxelas]

The Gods Themselves, by Isaac Asimov. Well, just get anything written by Asimov!

 

[ThomasEdison]

Some notables not mentioned :
Contemporary:
Neal Asher
Iain Banks
Peter Watts
David Marusek
Ian Mcdonald

Then for older stuff John Varley, Alan Dean Foster.

Oh yeah I forgot my favorite Sci-Fi book of all time: Battle Royal by Koushin Takami.

 

[hotvette]

I agree about Asimov's Foundation series (I have ~30 books by Asimov), but I have to say my all time favorite is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

 

[Integral]

Just finished Eon by Greg Bear. Good read, though the politics are a bit outdated.


I enjoyed Ender's Shadow by O.S. Card as much as I did Ender's Game.

 

[theJorge551]

I particularly enjoyed "The Player of Games" by Iain M. Banks. A bit of futuristic sci-fi, with an interestingly different path than some of the other's I've read recently.