Bronson Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 The Star Rover by Jack London, i's his only fantasy Novel, not a well known book but it is a terrific Read the book in its entirety can be found online More then human , The Dreaming Jewels both by Theodore Sturgeon House on The Borderland by William Hope Hodgeson The Rediscovery of Man , Norstrilliana both by Cordwainer Smith The Essential Ellison A 50 Year Retrospective by Harlan EllisonThe Ship of Ishtar by Abraham Merrit The Dark World by Henry Kuttner Black God's Kiss by C L MooreLest Darkness Fall by L Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter Conan Hour Of the Dragon by Robert E Howard City of The Signing Flame By Clark Ashton Smith ( all of his tories can be found online at the site The Eldritch Dark listed alphabetically) The Berserker, Empire of the East both by Fred Saberhagen The Dragon Lord by David Drake Bloodstone, Darkness Weaves, Dark Crusade, Death Angels Shadow, Night Winds all by Karl Edward Wagner The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, Tunnel in the Sky , Starship Troopers , The Puppeteers, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress all by Robert Heinlein Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Time and Again both by Jack Finney A Canticle for Leiberwitz by Walter Miller Earth Abides George R Stewart Jurgen by James Branch Cabell Bill The Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison Alas Babylon by Pat Frank Time Storm , The Dragon and the George both by Gordon R DickinsonSilverlock by Jon Myers Myers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awearyman the wanderer Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Alfred Bester is a great read. He reminds me of the Elmore Leonard of Sci Fi writers. One of my favorites is a book written by Robert Silverberg entitled Dying inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookWyrm Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 The Star Rover by Jack London, i's his only fantasy Novel, not a well known book but it is a terrific Read the book in its entirety can be found onlineThe Ship of Ishtar by Abraham MerritConan Hour Of the Dragon by Robert E HowardI'd recommend the Star Rover as well, but the other two books I can't get behind you on. The Conan stories and Merrit's book are obviously products of their times and apart from like, the Red Sonja, most of the women Conan meets are subjected to submissive sex slave status. I also think I remember racial bigotry being obvious in some Conan stories as well.Not saying that one shouldn't read these, or at least the Conan stories (Ishtar sucked imo), but not under the one condition of aging well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toshio.Keepiru Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Philip K. Dick as mentioned before.Stephen R. Donaldson for his Thomas Covenant series; the first and second ones.It's one of those series in which the main protagonist finds himself transported from the the mundane world to a Land were magic exists. His reaction is rather atypical of most sorts of fantasy with the hero transported to another world. He also commits a pretty heinous act shortly after arriving. I've talked to one person who couldn't get past that part of the book to finish the series. If you can get past the fact that the main protagonist can be at times the least likable character in the series it's a rewarding read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serious Callers Only Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 The stainless steel rat series.Demon Princes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alytha Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 Dying Inside - SilverbergDavid Selig, eh? ;)Philip K. Dick as mentioned before.Stephen R. Donaldson for his Thomas Covenant series; the first and second ones.It's one of those series in which the main protagonist finds himself transported from the the mundane world to a Land were magic exists. His reaction is rather atypical of most sorts of fantasy with the hero transported to another world. He also commits a pretty heinous act shortly after arriving. I've talked to one person who couldn't get past that part of the book to finish the series. If you can get past the fact that the main protagonist can be at times the least likable character in the series it's a rewarding read.I made the mistake of reading The Mirror of her Dreams, which was about the worst piece of crap I've ever come across, so I'm not touching Donaldson with a 10foot pole, sorry.Concerning Gene Wolfe, is he always a bit complicated, or is that just in the Latro books, because a book told from the perspective of an amnesiac just has to turn out confusing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serious Callers Only Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Not always. But avoid BotNS then, read island of doctor death or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papirolle Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 How about "The Anubis Gates"?I read it a few years ago and thought it was pretty good. It mostly takes place in the 1800s so there aren't any jarring technical aspects.Also, as others has mentioned, Childhood's End by Clarke. I read it for the first time last year and thought it was very good. It doesn't focus on technical aspects as many of his books do, but rather on the fate of humanity when aliens come for a visit. As always, Clarke's characterizations are almost non-existent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papirolle Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Demon Princes by Jack Vance is very good and has aged well.If you want to try something by Gene Wolfe, The Fifth Head of Cerberus is pretty good and short and not too confusing. I also think Sorcerer's House was very good. It was published just a few years ago and is his best book in a long time. Also, it is fairly easy to understand even if there are some really weird things going on. But then, it wouldn't be Gene Wolfe otherwise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 I read it a few years ago and thought it was pretty good. It mostly takes place in the 1800s so there aren't any jarring technical aspects.Also, as others has mentioned, Childhood's End by Clarke. I read it for the first time last year and thought it was very good. It doesn't focus on technical aspects as many of his books do, but rather on the fate of humanity when aliens come for a visit. As always, Clarke's characterizations are almost non-existent.Aw, come on. Jan plays the piano. How much more do you want, you hippie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinDonner Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 :lol: We have Conan recommended as a book whose gender issues have aged well, but no sign of Joanna Russ?The Female Man is a pretty good bit of feminist SF which may even have aged a bit too well. We Who Are About To is slower and less vituperative, but still worth a read.And don't write off Donaldson based off The Mirror of her Dreams, it's possibly his weakest series, the Gap cycle is awesome (though not quite old enough to be classic, alas).As for Lem, I found Solaris kinda dull, but his The Futurological Congress was a lot of fun, with all sorts of hallucinogen-based Matrix/Inception-type perception shit going on.And thirding or fourthing the Jack Vance recs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alytha Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 I think somebody mentioned Joanna Russ at the beginning. Unfortunately I don't think I've ever heard of her...Adore Jack Vance, I think I've got pretty much everything by him. The Lyonesse books are really really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toshio.Keepiru Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 David Selig, eh? ;)I made the mistake of reading The Mirror of her Dreams, which was about the worst piece of crap I've ever come across, so I'm not touching Donaldson with a 10foot pole, sorry.Your loss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronson Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 I'd recommend the Star Rover as well, but the other two books I can't get behind you on. The Conan stories and Merrit's book are obviously products of their times and apart from like, the Red Sonja, most of the women Conan meets are subjected to submissive sex slave status. I also think I remember racial bigotry being obvious in some Conan stories as well.Not saying that one shouldn't read these, or at least the Conan stories (Ishtar sucked imo), but not under the one condition of aging well.Robert E . Howards is one of the first writers to have gotten me interested in reading , Im aware of his short comings, but as story teller he's hard to beat , The same with Merritt. Both of the are important figures in modern Fantasy and science fiction They helped pave the way for everyone else that came after. What did you think of the other books on my list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 go true classic, aly--lucian's true history, the "snowy florimell" bits of the faerie queene, the second half of book III of paradise lost, frankenstein, dr jekyll & mr hyde, the island of dr. moreau, brave new world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookWyrm Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 Robert E . Howards is one of the first writers to have gotten me interested in reading , Im aware of his short comings, but as story teller he's hard to beat , The same with Merritt. Both of the are important figures in modern Fantasy and science fiction They helped pave the way for everyone else that came after. What did you think of the other books on my list? I agree that both of those guys are foundational and that Howard is great fun to read, my gripe was that I disagree that they've got a contemporary manner about them i.e. their treatment of women and black people. In a warts and all context I would say one should read Howard.As for the other books on the list (that I've read), I loved The Star Rover and have always wondered why the book seemed to be in such obscurity.Harlan Ellison is one of my favorite writers - I do have a lot/hate relationship with some of his stories in that the range of quality can be big but boy when he's on his A game he can write with the best of them.Clark Ashton Smith was an old favorite of mine, I had a phase when I read Howard, Smith and Lovecraft almost exclusively in high school but I haven't read that story. This might sound strange but I actually had all three of these books (the London, Ellison and Smith) recommended to me several times by a guy I came across in a suburb of Boston several times.I tried reading Bloodstone but Wagner just kind of bored me and dropped it. The same goes for The Dragon and the George.On the to-read list is Miller, Heinlen, Frank, Cabell, Hodgeson, Finney, Stewart, and Cordwainer Smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdyphillip Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 I think that I am the only Fredrick Pohl fan on this board. I wish some other people would read the Gateway series as it is probably my favorite Sci fi... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdyphillip Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 I think that I am the only Fredrick Pohl fan on this board. I wish some other people would read the Gateway series as it is probably my favorite Sci fi...I did mention it in my post. Admittedly, I've only read the first book so far, were the sequels as good as the first one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronson Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 I did mention it in my post. Admittedly, I've only read the first book so far, were the sequels as good as the first one?Read Gateway along time ago , Terrific book. :cool4: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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