Colorado Nerdfighters discussion

I thought we might get things started in this group with a thread for book recommendations based on other stuff that we like.

One of my favorite books from the last decade or so is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Does anyone have any books that they would recommend after reading that? Or is anyone else looking for something good to read?

I am primarily a huge fan of Fantasy and Sci-Fi. Everything from High Fantasy (Tolkien, Jordan, Fiest) to Dark Fantasy (Martin)
And classic Sci-Fi (Herbert, Heinlein, Asimov)

Awesome! I've been reading a lot of sci-fi fantasy lately. Do you have any favorite modern sci-fi authors?

Honestly I haven't found many modern Sci-Fi Authors that I like as much as the classic "Greats" it seems to me that they worked with a different mind-set than most modern guys/gals. Heinlein was famous for disliking the term Science Fiction, he preferred "Speculative Fiction"

I finished a good amount of "Stranger in a Strange Land" before getting overwhelmed by life and putting it down. I enjoyed it but I've learned more about Heinlein's poltical views and been less interested in, say, Starship Troopers as a result.

I like some of Heinlein's short stories, but his novels were a bit too heavy handed for me. I tried to read Stranger in a Strange Land and I Will Fear No Evil. A lot of early science/speculative fiction seemed much more interested in the science/speculative part, and less interested in the fiction part, which doesn't really work for me, because when I want to read predictions about our technical future I read academic articles, not fiction. But that's just my personal preference. I have been finding lately that I do enjoy pre-Tolkien sword and sorcery/Weird Tales sorts of stuff.

Horns by Joe Hill is a book I recently read, and is a good book if you like philosophical ideas of religion and love, Stephen King-ish style, and a murder mystery. I really enjoyed this book. But if you are a sensitive and devoutly religious person, I don't think this would be the book for you, mostly because it challenges the ideas of good vs. evil and slightly satirizes christianity.