Alternate Realities: A Scifi Book Club discussion

What is your all time favorite science fiction book?

Probably ENDER'S GAME. I enjoyed STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and UBIK quite a bit as well. Watt's STARFISH is also pretty dang good.

Does anybody know any good SciFi Horror books? I'm having difficulty locating them as a sub-genre. Disclosure: I'm an author and have written such a book that was recently published, but I'm having a difficult time trying to find comparable works when people ask me. Thanks for your help!

You might try Infected by Scott Sigler.

Infected

Thanks! Love Scott's other work and still haven't got to this one.

Budd wrote: "What is your all time favorite science fiction book?"

I guess...




...are all borderline sci-fi... so I'll go with...

...and..

Lucy wrote: "Budd wrote: "What is your all time favorite science fiction book?"

I guess...


[bookcover:The Stand..."

The Stand isn't borderline in my book. Great choice. not familiar with the others.

My favorite science fiction books are:

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Day of the Triffids
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
The War of the Worlds
Fahrenheit 451
The Illustrated Man

I also really like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but I realize this series is probably more in the fantasy genre than science fiction.

i know the thread is asking for your alltime but i will give my top 5, which im liable to change next week but here goes:

1. Ubik - one of PKD's masterpieces. Great book with one of my favourite endings. I still cant work out or agree what happened at the end.

2. The Chrysalids - very very hard to choose a JW book as they are all really good but it was between this and Trouble With Lichen

3. The Demolished Man - hard to choose between this and The Stars My Destination but TDM wins it

4. VALIS - i wouldnt recommend this to anyone but hardened PKD fans. Outrageous and personal acct of one mans madness.

5. Rendezvous with Rama - i love clarke and think maybe 2001 is better but ive only read it the once and still trying to recover my copy of the series from a mate.

As someone once said only mates steal books

Tough question. I really loved Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash and Jeff Vandermeer's Finch. I though Frank Herbert's Dune was incredible when I first read it, but that was over 30 years ago. And Larry Niven's Ringworld was the book that first got me into science fiction and he was my favourite sci-fi author for a long time afterwards.
So I'll say the first two with honourable mentions to the latter two for nostalgic reasons. Finch would edge out probably edge out Snow Crash if push came to shove. I just found the setting very evocative and the story really compelling.

Across Real Time by Vernor Vinge

I think Dune has to be my alltime favorite sci-fi book. Intriguing storyline and well paced its one of the few books that I have found that creates a story that goes beyond the characters (what I mean is Herbert can slowly blend to new main characters and the story is still compelling).
The hobbit was also great fun but probably more fantasy...

My all time favorites are (yeah I couldn't pick one)
The DispossessedThe Dispossessed
Biting the SunBiting the Sun
And Caves of Steel (or any in the Robot series of novels and short stories). The Caves of Steel

Enjoying "Enders Game." My favorite however is "War of the Worlds" by HG Wells.

Alex wrote: "Enjoying "Enders Game." My favorite however is "War of the Worlds" by HG Wells."

That's a good one. I like 20,000 leagues under the sea

For some reason I always think of those 2 books together even though they're completely different!

Adam wrote: "Alex wrote: "Enjoying "Enders Game." My favorite however is "War of the Worlds" by HG Wells."

That's a good one. I like 20,000 leagues under the sea"

Me too! I wish I'd been in the movie, but that was just before my career took off. Kirk Douglas was great in everything he did.

"Me too! I wish I'd been in the ..."

Dude, Airwolf was awesome! And it was pretty close to a genre show. I say it was, future tech and all that. But they got to be working on a remake of 20,000, put in a call to your agent, and get some new head shots.

HyperionEndymionThe Fall of HyperionThe Rise of Endymion

For my money, Simmons is one of the best hard science fiction writers out there, this series rocked my world when it came out, and I still reread it every 5 years or so. Simmons is one of those authors who can write stuff that is so creepy I have to put the book down and take a walk around the neighborhood for awhile.

Benjamin wrote: "Probably ENDER'S GAME. I enjoyed STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and UBIK quite a bit as well. Watt's STARFISH is also pretty dang good.

Does anybody know any good SciFi Horror books? I'm having diffic..."

Perdido Street Station
Try this one one for size. Steam punk, and I thought it was an incredible read.

I'm going to read Hyperion very soon! I've heard great things about it.

Oh my god, Hitchhiker's Guide is one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. I wish with all my heart that you could really fly by forgetting to fall.

Other favorites are anything by Ray Bradbury.

Keyzersoze wrote: "Benjamin wrote: "Probably ENDER'S GAME. I enjoyed STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and UBIK quite a bit as well. Watt's STARFISH is also pretty dang good.

Does anybody know any good SciFi Horror books? ..."d recommend Perdido, it fantastic and was the first steampunk book i read. I was hooked thereafter

Brett wrote: "Oh my god, Hitchhiker's Guide is one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. I wish with all my heart that you could really fly by forgetting to fall.

Other favorites are anything by Ray Brad..."

Hitchhiker's is very special. The movie struggled to connect with the humor but was decent. Zaphod is by far my favorite character! And who wouldn't want to get in a frictionless ship

nuff said :)

I forgot to mention Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl! It killed me when I finished it and found out that he hadn't written any other novels beyond some YA stuff!

hmmm...altered carbon (and the full takeshi kovacs trilogy) by Richard Morgan ranks up there..along with Nexus / Crux by Daniel Suarez, Mindstar rising by Peter F Hamilton...uhmm...i could go on and on..i find it so difficult to settle on just the 1 favourite..(or even the 10 favourites...lol)

Heinlein Starship Troopers, Haldeman Forever War and Peace, Simmons Hyperion , Clarks Rendezvous with Rama

Benjamin, check out Monster Hunter International. It's one of the more popular horror series among science fiction fans.

spikeINflorida wrote: "Heinlein Starship Troopers, Haldeman Forever War and Peace, Simmons Hyperion , Clarks Rendezvous with Rama"

I'm in the middle of the Hyperion stories and they are absolutely stellar!

Benjamin wrote: "Does anybody know any good SciFi Horror books? I'm having diffic..."

I would agree with Adam, Hyperion. Also, some of the old H. P. Lovecraft such as The Shadow Out of Time At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror or The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories. Also, Who Goes There?, I Am Legend, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.

Budd wrote: "What is your all time favorite science fiction book?"

I think I would have to say Dune, but it's really hard to narrow it down to just one.

Larissa wrote: "Budd wrote: "What is your all time favorite science fiction book?"

I think I would have to say Dune, but it's really hard to narrow it down to just one."

Dune is definitely awesome. Have you read any of Simmons's other books? If so, how do they compare to Hyperion?

Larissa wrote: "Budd wrote: "What is your all time favorite science fiction book?"

I think I would have to say Dune, but it's really hard to narrow it down to just one."

Hi Larissa,
Have you read any of the "Dune" sequels by Frank Herbert, such as "Dune Messiah" and "Children of Dune"?
Bob

Adam wrote: "Dune is definitely awesome. Have you read any of Simmons's other books? If so, how do they compare to Hyperion?"

I haven't read any of Simmons's other books as yet, but I will probably read The Fall of Hyperion eventually.

Bob wrote: "

Hi Larissa, Have you read any of the "Dune" sequels by Frank Herbert, such as "Dune Messiah" and "Children of Dune"?"

I haven't and I'm a little wary of them as the only people I know that have read further into the series haven't been overly impressed. I'm scared I might taint my memories of Dune if I read the sequels and they don't measure up. I did try to read Herbert's The White Plague but have left it sitting half read for about 3yrs now as I found it extremely tedious. That experience also hasn't given me much motivation to go beyond Dune.

Larissa wrote: "Bob wrote: "

Hi Larissa, Have you read any of the "Dune" sequels by Frank Herbert, such as "Dune Messiah" and "Children of Dune"?"

I haven't and I'm a little wary of them as the only people I kno..."

I thought Dune book 2 was on par with the first. The third one definitely got a little wearisome.
I finished Fall of Hyperion and I liked it a lot. I am excited for Endymion and book 4 and if I like those I will probably read Simmons's Ilium/Olympos.

Adam wrote: I thought Dune book 2 was on par with the first. The third one definitely got a little wearisome.
I finished Fall of Hyperion and I liked it a lot. I am excited for Endymion and book 4 and if I like those I will probably read Simmons's Ilium/Olympos."

I might try & give the 2nd Dune book a go at some stage then, it's on a bookshelf here currently being ignored. I have heard only good things about Fall of Hyperion, so it's definitely on the ever-growing list.

There are still so many I want to read but so far:

Oryx and Crake

The Time Machine

Still want to read some that other people mentioned ender's game, day of the triffids, dune, war of the worlds, the stars my destination, and the foundation

Ally wrote: "There are still so many I want to read but so far:

Oryx and Crake

The Time Machine

Still want to read some that other people mentioned ender's game, day of the triffids,..."

HG Wells is a great science fiction author. He definitely paved the way for many to come and his ideas are still relevant today!

oh I love his description of how time travel works. Whenever someone has some kind of debate or abstract conversation about time travel i always bring it up like it's fact cause it makes so much sense to me

I like time travel that is ambiguous from multiple perspectives. The whole you go back in time and kill your grandfather paradox explanations always fail for me unless there is an equilibrium where everything in the story is tethered 'in time'. What I mean is instead of seeing time as a linear progression the story moves like a circle or rings linked together so there is no definitive 'start' or 'end' but harmony throughout.

Wow some really great books here, a number of which I have not read. Two books that come to mind right away (so no real thought put into this) are Diamond Age (which now would read like everyday life almost more than sci-fi) and Forge of God.

adam i think i know what you mean, i think i read a series that follows that general theory. it was a YA series i started a long time ago and still never finished called the Withern Rise trilogy. i vaguely remember it having a non-linear time travel concept.

That all sounds fascinating. It makes me think of the line from David tennant's dr. Who where he says something like: "you should never cross over your own personal time line--except for cheap tricks." Maybe we can do a time travel month. What are the best time travel books? Personally I'm curious about the time machine now.

i honestly haven't read any other books with time travel than the time machine and the previously mentioned series. i would love to get into another one cause they are so ambiguous and leave you really thinking about it.

Wow, this is tough. I've never actually tried to rank my favourite sci-fi before.

I'm going to go for [i]Rendezvous With Rama[/i] by Clarke.

Others:
The Dark Tower Series
Cat's Cradle
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Alas, Babylon
Fahrenheit 451
Earth Abides
I Am Legend
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Stand

As you can see, I'm something of an apocalyptic nerd.

Harry, Rendezvous With Rama was a great story. I'm curious about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep because I never read it but believe it was the basis for the movie Bladerunner. Care to share how the story differed from the movie?

It really was. Rama was the first classic sci-fi novel I read, and it's really made a lasting impression. I'll never forget it.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is very different in tone and plot to Blade Runner. In fact, it'd be difficult to tell they had anything to do with one another if you didn't know the movie was based on the book. They share a few details, such as character names, and the nature of the Nexus 6 class's bafflement over their own sentience.
It's a great read, though. It can't really be compared directly, but the themes it deals with stuck in my mind.

I'd recommend it heartily.

Good to meet you, by the way, J.

J. wrote: "Harry, Rendezvous With Rama was a great story. I'm curious about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep because I never read it but believe it was the basis for the movie Bladerunner. Care to share ..."

he has a wife in the book but not one in the movie.