147 replies to this topic

[Angalin]

This thread is for recommending sf/f novels which are not at all famous or particularly well known, i.e., not books by authors such as Tolkien, Martin, Mieville, Wolfe, Bakker, Herbert, Abercrombie, Kay, Gaiman, Hobb, etc.  (If you don't know who those authors are, may I direct you to the Westeros Fantasy and Science Fiction Book List.)  Please limit your nominations and discussion to obscure books and series.  Thank you.

Edited by Angalin, 08 March 2012 - 01:08 PM.

[madking]

Riverworld by phillip jose farmer which comprises four books: To Your Scattered Bodies Go, The Fabulous Riverboat, The Dark Design, and The Magic Labrynth. Anyone else read these?

[nickg]

Would The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook count? I hardly ever see it mentioned. Or Passage at Arms for that matter. Both great books.

Edited by nickg, 03 March 2011 - 10:48 PM.

[Nine989]

I would recommend Johannes Cabal - Necormancer by Jonathan L. Howard. I don't know if it can be considered obscure, but you don't see it mentioned a lot.

Edited by Nine989, 05 March 2011 - 06:11 AM.

[Darkstar]

Anybody read The Seer King Trilogy by Chris Bunch. Its made up of The Seer King, The Warrior King and The Demon King. I read them after A Song of Ice and Fire and they were still good. Usually books I've read after ASOIAF seem crap by comparison.

[Horatz]

The Tales of the continuing time by Daniel Keys Moran.

Spoiler

First book contains scene that might be considered squicky by some

The wilderness of Four by Niel Hancock.

[murphy]

Fritz Leiber's Fafrd & Gray Mouser series.

Gordon R. Dickson's The Dragon and the George series (first book is, of course, The Dragon and the George.   Nine books in all

David Weber's Oath of Sword trilogy.

[Grack21]

I don't think some of you know what obscure means.

[Samalander]

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk

[Grack21]

Samalander, on 14 March 2011 - 02:50 AM, said:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk

Right. Most of these books aren't even a LITTLE bit obscure.

[Horatz]

Grack21, on 13 March 2011 - 09:33 PM, said:

I don't think some of you know what obscure means.

Weel, and I'M pretty sure you don't mean me.

[Crates of Thebes]

Since it has no real web presence and hardly gets mentiond in discussions, and no one I know IRL has heard of it/read it except my uncle who reads tons of boks, I'll toss in The Deed of Paksenarrion atrilgy, I think probably only availabe online as a single volume, but probably at libraries (possibly in YA, though I never understood why it was, at least at mine) , sinle volumes: Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, and Oath of Gold. I've read t at least twice.

There is a pair of prequel novels, but I haven't read them. I also discoveredjust now that a sequel was released in 2010, and another this year I can't wait to read the new ones. After a re-read of course!

[Eponine]

Grack21, on 13 March 2011 - 09:33 PM, said:

I don't think some of you know what obscure means.

I think that obscure is meant to be relative to the lit forum - if you've never seen it discussed and can't bring up more than 2-3 total posts about it, then it's clearly a recommendation that isn't going to be found simply by hanging out in the forum.

[Ealasaid]

Thorne Smith's Topper series, the Rain in the Doorway, and Nightlife of the Gods.

[Bartman]

I'm always going to thrift stores and come across a ton of no-name or out of print/old Sci/fi and fantasy.

Samuel R. Delany - Nova  (it's pretty good old school science fiction)
Poul Anderson - The Devil's Game (kind of like truth or dare with a twist)
D.T. Niane - Sundiata: Epic of Old Mali (pretty cool African Myth story)
      
              Some random Sci-fi / Fantasy I recently found at Salvation Army
Damon Knight - CV
Roger Zelazny - The Dream Master
Cherry Wilder- The Luck of Brin's Five
Michael G. Coney -Mirror Image
Ben Bova  - The Exiles trilogy          
Pat Frank - Alas, Babylon (classic Post-Apocalyptic)



If you are looking for things no one has heard of just go to your local Goodwill / Salvation Army. Browse the books and take a chance, you can't beat the price.

Edited by Bartman, 27 March 2011 - 03:17 PM.

[Grack21]

Bartman, on 27 March 2011 - 03:12 PM, said:

I'm always going to thrift stores and come across a ton of no-name or out of print/old Sci/fi and fantasy.

Samuel R. Delany - Nova  (it's pretty good old school science fiction)
Poul Anderson - The Devil's Game (kind of like truth or dare with a twist)
D.T. Niane - Sundiata: Epic of Old Mali (pretty cool African Myth story)
      
              Some random Sci-fi / Fantasy I recently found at Salvation Army
Damon Knight - CV
Roger Zelazny - The Dream Master
Cherry Wilder- The Luck of Brin's Five
Michael G. Coney -Mirror Image
Ben Bova  - The Exiles trilogy          
Pat Frank - Alas, Babylon (classic Post-Apocalyptic)



If you are looking for things no one has heard of just go to your local Goodwill / Salvation Army. Browse the books and take a chance, you can't beat the price.

Stuff like that always makes me wonder if any authors we all exult now will even be remembered 20 years from now. I lot of the time I find hardcovers filled with praise and from the author of on it, but for the life of me Ive never heard of the author and they've completely disappeared since. It's surreal.

Also as to not thread jack, Michael A Stackpole's new Revolutionary War Fantasy At The Queens Command seems to have completely slipped under peoples radar. I thought it was very good. Kind of Conan meets Sharpe. But in America.

[Bartman]

It really is crazy what books you find there. I recently got the Thomas Covenant first trilogy HB all first edition, for less than 2 dollars.

Also, more books.
Orson Scott Card is well known, but one of his under the radar books was Enchantment. It's a rethinking of the classic sleeping beauty tale, with a present day/ fantasy setting.

Also,
The White Mists of Power - Kristine Rusch (a fantasy about a Bard... not that original, but hey)
Gor Series - John Norman (the cover art, alone, is cliche enough to be brilliant)


Born to Exile - Phyllis Eisenstein
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco (before they knew the name of the Wind, there was the rose...)
Otherness - David Brin
One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovion - Alexander Solzhenitsen  (found this at a thrift store signed by the author with a note)


I have boxes full of titles most probably haven't heard of, at least in a long time. Sad thing is I can't really get to them. The mentioned titles are ones I remembered off the top of my head.

Edited by Bartman, 03 April 2011 - 10:09 AM.

[Grack21]

Don't read Gor. It's bad for your soul.

[murphy]

Grack21, on 28 March 2011 - 11:25 AM, said:

Don't read Gor. It's bad for your soul.

Agreed.

Wasn't Otherness written by David Zindel, not David Brin?

ETA:   No it wasn't.    My bad.

Edited by murphy, 28 March 2011 - 12:14 PM.

[Bartman]

thanks for the warning about Gor. I picked it up at a yard sale from this old guy who had about 13 of them. He sold them all for like a $1 to me, so who was I to refuse? I haven't touched them since but like to think reading them would be like watching a lot of bad sci-fi movies, which is great (when done in low quantities). Sometimes its fun just to read/watch junk to appreciate "not-junk".

I guess some books are lost to the mainstream for a reason.