Does anyone know of a good Sci-Fi novel with well written space combat sequences?
@ house atreides: Thanks for the tip - I won't bother spending the time.
You always find what you're looking for.
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Your favorite sci-fi novel
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49 posts
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Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:08 am
this is always such a very difficult question. If i had to choose only one sf novel, it would be either Wells' War of the Worlds or William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land. However there are so many more. I don't think i could the topic any justice without mentioning Asimov's Foundation series which i devoured as a kid, or Larry Niven's Ringworld novels and the other tales of *Known Space* - in partcular Protector which I would rate as highly as either of my two top choices above. I also particularly enjoyed Lucifer's Hammer which formed the basis for the film Deep Impact. I must also mention Greg Bear's Eon series, despite its political outdatedness (US/Soviet conflict)
The Night Land may seem an odd choice to some, it's not exactly light-reading, but once you get past the atrociousness of its language and Hodgson's pointless page-filling, it's a deeply powerful and hypnotic novel full of dark mystical imagery. Certain aspects of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos tend to sf as much as they are part of the horror/macabre genre - after all, Lovecraft explicitly tells us that the Great Old Ones are actually aliens, not just mystical demons from some netherworld. This tendency has been enhanced upon by writers following Lovecraft, esp the moderns such as Robert Bloch.
I really don't like Heinlein, he's one of the most self-indulgent and perverse authors I know, but Starship Troopers was truly brilliant, for all it's neo-proto-fascism (which the film punned on quite satisfactorily!) On a similar them, Joe Haldemann's Forever War remains one of my favourites. Mustn't forget Philip K Dick, one of the most visionary writers ever.
many people include 1984 as an s/f novel but it really isn't; it's a political novel set in the future (past now but it's stilla s relevant as ever.) Similarly Brave New World is often classed as sf, again it isn't, it just has a futuristic setting. However I very much enjoyed the novel of Logan's Run, the cult of youth it proposes is chillingly predictive.
I can't think of a siungle John Wyndham novel i haven't enjoyed, although The Drowned World, Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes particularly stand out.
for me.
Walter Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz remains one of my favourite stories, you may recall in Babylon 5's final episode set a million years in the future, there was a flashback to the Rangers caring in secret for a devatstated Earth that was highly reminiscent of the Church's role in A Canticle for Leibowitz. i first caught in on the radio when I was a kid and I was enthralled by it.
Can't say i really go for film/tv tie-ins, i tried to read some of the Star Wars books, they just didn't stimulate me at all. The films are tedious enough without having to read pulp-fiction sub-versions with a host of unrecognisable characters.
As far as the crossovers to fantasy are concerned, well anything that's a sub-Tolkein pastiche doesn't work for, anything with a quest, a map of mountains, orcs, elves, and dwarven halls is a no-no and instantly gets tossed aside. However I was rather surpised by Jack Vance's Last of All Suns and Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series, which I thought I'd hate, but didn't. reminsicent of the days of darkening in The Night Land.
I'm so NOT an Ursula K leGuin fan, dragons and wizards? don't make me larf! but when she does some proper sf she's actually quite good, I really enjoyed City of Illusions and would rank it as one my favourite sf novels. As for Anne McAffrey, you do know that her precious *dragons* of Pern are actually her flippin' cats, don't you? the daft old hippie! I picked up that dam Dragonriders thinking it would be some decent sf and it was a load of girlie rubbish about her dam cats, what a gyp.
Fred Pohl's Gateway series, gotta mention that. i'd give my right arm for a bash at a Heechee ship that might take you *anywhere*
I'm not a Dune fan although I liked the first 3 novels, and the Dino de Laurentiis/David Lynch film was a hoot! not ime for them after that, anyway I much preferred the Dosadi Experiment and Whipping Star.
as far as modern sf writers are concerned, they just don't do it for me; I really tried with Iain Banks yet I just find him incredibly dull and ponderous. There were good ideas in Consider Phlebas but I just don't like the way he writes, however i thought the Wasp Factory was brilliant! He's never matched that initial peak imo.
An sf author who often gets overlooked is André Norton, who passed away a few years ago. It was her Witchwqorld novels and Murdoc Jern series that got me into sf in the first place when I was about 8 or 9, I still enjoy reading them now even if they are childrens/teenagers books. Her Murdoc Jern series reads like a much darker Star Wars, I wonder if Lucas might have been influenced by them. I always liked the way she could build up horror and tension, i was quite scred by hsome of her descriptionsas a kid and in later reading i fdound much that she might have an influence on, or and indeed might have influenced her, sometimes she's almost Lovecraftian. Anyone who was a kid in the 60s with an interest in sf almost certainly read an André Norton book, she was a regular fav in kids book clubs at school.
umm can't think of any more now.
oops forgot, how remiss of me! Pierre Boulle's Monkey Planet, the original Planet of the Apes.
Edited by - Tawakalna on 1/20/2006 4:36:10 AM
The Night Land may seem an odd choice to some, it's not exactly light-reading, but once you get past the atrociousness of its language and Hodgson's pointless page-filling, it's a deeply powerful and hypnotic novel full of dark mystical imagery. Certain aspects of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos tend to sf as much as they are part of the horror/macabre genre - after all, Lovecraft explicitly tells us that the Great Old Ones are actually aliens, not just mystical demons from some netherworld. This tendency has been enhanced upon by writers following Lovecraft, esp the moderns such as Robert Bloch.
I really don't like Heinlein, he's one of the most self-indulgent and perverse authors I know, but Starship Troopers was truly brilliant, for all it's neo-proto-fascism (which the film punned on quite satisfactorily!) On a similar them, Joe Haldemann's Forever War remains one of my favourites. Mustn't forget Philip K Dick, one of the most visionary writers ever.
many people include 1984 as an s/f novel but it really isn't; it's a political novel set in the future (past now but it's stilla s relevant as ever.) Similarly Brave New World is often classed as sf, again it isn't, it just has a futuristic setting. However I very much enjoyed the novel of Logan's Run, the cult of youth it proposes is chillingly predictive.
I can't think of a siungle John Wyndham novel i haven't enjoyed, although The Drowned World, Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes particularly stand out.
for me.
Walter Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz remains one of my favourite stories, you may recall in Babylon 5's final episode set a million years in the future, there was a flashback to the Rangers caring in secret for a devatstated Earth that was highly reminiscent of the Church's role in A Canticle for Leibowitz. i first caught in on the radio when I was a kid and I was enthralled by it.
Can't say i really go for film/tv tie-ins, i tried to read some of the Star Wars books, they just didn't stimulate me at all. The films are tedious enough without having to read pulp-fiction sub-versions with a host of unrecognisable characters.
As far as the crossovers to fantasy are concerned, well anything that's a sub-Tolkein pastiche doesn't work for, anything with a quest, a map of mountains, orcs, elves, and dwarven halls is a no-no and instantly gets tossed aside. However I was rather surpised by Jack Vance's Last of All Suns and Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series, which I thought I'd hate, but didn't. reminsicent of the days of darkening in The Night Land.
I'm so NOT an Ursula K leGuin fan, dragons and wizards? don't make me larf! but when she does some proper sf she's actually quite good, I really enjoyed City of Illusions and would rank it as one my favourite sf novels. As for Anne McAffrey, you do know that her precious *dragons* of Pern are actually her flippin' cats, don't you? the daft old hippie! I picked up that dam Dragonriders thinking it would be some decent sf and it was a load of girlie rubbish about her dam cats, what a gyp.
Fred Pohl's Gateway series, gotta mention that. i'd give my right arm for a bash at a Heechee ship that might take you *anywhere*
I'm not a Dune fan although I liked the first 3 novels, and the Dino de Laurentiis/David Lynch film was a hoot! not ime for them after that, anyway I much preferred the Dosadi Experiment and Whipping Star.
as far as modern sf writers are concerned, they just don't do it for me; I really tried with Iain Banks yet I just find him incredibly dull and ponderous. There were good ideas in Consider Phlebas but I just don't like the way he writes, however i thought the Wasp Factory was brilliant! He's never matched that initial peak imo.
An sf author who often gets overlooked is André Norton, who passed away a few years ago. It was her Witchwqorld novels and Murdoc Jern series that got me into sf in the first place when I was about 8 or 9, I still enjoy reading them now even if they are childrens/teenagers books. Her Murdoc Jern series reads like a much darker Star Wars, I wonder if Lucas might have been influenced by them. I always liked the way she could build up horror and tension, i was quite scred by hsome of her descriptionsas a kid and in later reading i fdound much that she might have an influence on, or and indeed might have influenced her, sometimes she's almost Lovecraftian. Anyone who was a kid in the 60s with an interest in sf almost certainly read an André Norton book, she was a regular fav in kids book clubs at school.
umm can't think of any more now.
oops forgot, how remiss of me! Pierre Boulle's Monkey Planet, the original Planet of the Apes.
Edited by - Tawakalna on 1/20/2006 4:36:10 AM
Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:42 pm
Starship Troopers is a very, very good book. Too short to be a true epic, but it's a timeless classic.
Dune series is boring. The first book is okay, but the rest needs serious editing and chopping. It's actually more science-fantasy instead of science fiction.
Currently, I'm hooked at the Honor Harrington series. @Doc: This is where you can find your good space battles. Eric Nylund's work on the Halo novels also contain very decent space battles, but they pale in comparison to David Weber's work. This man knows his physics, and writes truly amazing, yet believable space combats.
You can find the Honor Harrington novels here, downloadable legally for free. The latest book (hopefully not the last), At All Costs, is the best of them all. But I strongly suggest you read them in order. The other novels fluctuate in quality and pace, but they provided good background for the final showdown in At All Costs.
Oh, and try to get a copy of Iain M. Banks' Culture series. I've read only one of them, Excession, and one of his non-Culture books, The Algebraist. They were both fascinating and engaging, but a little padded. He's the most recent addition to my list of top writers.
Edited by - Fear Factor on 1/19/2006 8:50:52 PM
Dune series is boring. The first book is okay, but the rest needs serious editing and chopping. It's actually more science-fantasy instead of science fiction.
Currently, I'm hooked at the Honor Harrington series. @Doc: This is where you can find your good space battles. Eric Nylund's work on the Halo novels also contain very decent space battles, but they pale in comparison to David Weber's work. This man knows his physics, and writes truly amazing, yet believable space combats.
You can find the Honor Harrington novels here, downloadable legally for free. The latest book (hopefully not the last), At All Costs, is the best of them all. But I strongly suggest you read them in order. The other novels fluctuate in quality and pace, but they provided good background for the final showdown in At All Costs.
Oh, and try to get a copy of Iain M. Banks' Culture series. I've read only one of them, Excession, and one of his non-Culture books, The Algebraist. They were both fascinating and engaging, but a little padded. He's the most recent addition to my list of top writers.
Edited by - Fear Factor on 1/19/2006 8:50:52 PM
Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:40 pm
Agreed. The Dune books get progressively tedious, although I do not mean worse. They just need heavy-handed editing. Dune's popularity might have elevated Herbert to soon and scared off his publishing house's editors.
However, while I agree that post-Ender's Game enderverse books lack action (much like the way Dunes do), they inexplicably appealed to me. The idea of interstellarnet (ansible)-born sentient AI is very attractive.
However, while I agree that post-Ender's Game enderverse books lack action (much like the way Dunes do), they inexplicably appealed to me. The idea of interstellarnet (ansible)-born sentient AI is very attractive.
Fri Jan 20, 2006 6:59 pm
I tend to agree TG, however I did not find the two follow-up novels ('Spectre of the Past' and 'Vision of the Future') to be quite as good. The "X-Wing" series by Stackpole is also good in my opinion, and I find the characterisation to be quite effective over the course of the novels.
Fri Jan 20, 2006 10:49 pm
Most definently Allen Steele's Coyote Trilogy. I might also have put the book Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross (yes it's what I named one of the ships in my fanfic), but I haven't finished reading it. And best sci-fi game? (Not what was being asked, but...) Freelancer!
I am defcon pilot, watch me nuke!
Edited by - defcon pilot on 1/20/2006 10:50:14 PM
I am defcon pilot, watch me nuke!
Edited by - defcon pilot on 1/20/2006 10:50:14 PM
Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:36 am
@ defcon pilot- didnt know the third book in the 'coyote' series was out yet! thanks for the heads-up.
And has anyone read the 'prequels' to the classic Dune trilogy- House Atreides, House Harkonnen, and House Corrino? They're not too bad, imho.They tend to give a needed perspective to the following books. and the authors have tried to stay true to what Herbert had envisioned.
And has anyone read the 'prequels' to the classic Dune trilogy- House Atreides, House Harkonnen, and House Corrino? They're not too bad, imho.They tend to give a needed perspective to the following books. and the authors have tried to stay true to what Herbert had envisioned.
49 posts
• Page 2 of 4 • 1, 2, 3, 4