Sci-Fi Suggestions
 

A friend was telling me how wonderful the short stories are that are by the author(can't remember the name) who wrote the story "Minority Report" is based after.

Can anyone remind me of his name and make more suggestions like that?

TY

Yep. It's based on a story by the same name that was written by Philip K. Dick.

There are those who will tell you (myself included) that Philip K. Dick (PKD) is the best science fiction writer who ever lived. PKD is all about the meaning of reality and the place of technology in our lives.

Books by PKD that you must read:

UBIK
The Man in the High Castle
A Scanner Darkly
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (this was the basis for Blade Runner)
VALIS

You simply can't go wrong with PKD. Go buy whatever your bookstore has on the shelf right now!

Hey, thanks alot; i will surely check those out.

Another thing I just thought of or moreover, forgot to add to the post before was this:

I am in the middle of Lord of the Rings and am very much enthralled in it and in that particular fantasy genre. Do you, Surf Monkey, or anyone else know what else is essential in the line of LOTR. I have been to the bookstore but there is way too much stuff in the fantasy section for a novice such as myself to choose from.

Thanks again.

Not to put off any further original postings to this thread, but there was much information on these two items in a couple of earlier threads:<ul><li><A HREF="http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=162188" target="_blank">[Finally bought] LOTR Book [inc. first timer's questions]</a><li><A HREF="http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=185870" target="_blank">Philip K. Dick</a></li></ul>

I agree with you guys that Philip K. Dick was a great writer. In addition to those already mentioned, I also recommend Martian Time-Slip and The Game Players of Titan. Also, if you really get interested in PKD, his biography Divine Invasions by Lawrence Sutin is pretty interesting.

Another sci-fi novel I just read is Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman, and I highly recommend it. It's not as good as his earlier book The Forever War (and it's not a sequel), but it's definitely worth reading. I believe both those novels won the Hugo award the year after they were released.

I know almost nothing about fantasy novels, but I did like the books about Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson. I don't know if they're still in print, though. I believe the first book in the series is called Lord Foul's Bane. Whenever I look in the "science fiction" sections of book stores, it always seems like fantasy novels outnumber science fiction by a margin of at least 10 to 1, so I'm sure a lot of people here can come up with some good recommendations.

As far as fantasy goes, I would suggest Robert Jordan who is the author of The Wheel of Time series. Its still a work in progress, and I don't know if you are looking to hook into one set of books for awhile - but its up to the 9th (??) book now and each one runs roughly 700-900 pages. I feel that the time is definitely not wasted though. A second series, that only has out 3 books at the moment, and one I (almost) believe transcends WoT, is called "A Song of Ice and Fire." George RR Martin is a great author, and definitely breaks away from the cliches of the fantasy genre. I would suggest this series before WoT, mainly for its power, but also because of its length. I think that these only run about 600 pages per book.

I very reluctantly suggest the first two books of "The Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind as well. The reason I'm so tentative about it is that the books after the first two are absolutely rotten. The story keeps on repeating itself, and it seems like Goodkind is really stretching out into some absurd plots. However, Wizard's First Rule and The Stone of Tears are both great reads.

I hope that I prove useful!

Other authors/books in the Philip K Dick mold:

Jeff Noon. "Vurt" and "Pollen"

Steven Aylett. "Slaughtermatic" and "Shamanspace"

Michael Moorcock. The "Cornelius Chronicles" and "Dancers at the End of Time" (4 Walls 8 Windows has a new edition of the four Jerry Cornelius books currently available under the title "Cornelius Quartet")

"Illuminatus! Trilogy" by Robert Anton Wilson.

I'd second the recomendation for The Forever War, but i would suggest skipping the sequel, Forever Free.

Of the stuff i've read recently, i'd recomend Neuromancer by Gibson,The Dune series and The Cassini Division by Mcleod (I think)

I also quite liked Blade of Tyshalle, it's a blend of sci-fi and fantasy and the sequel to Heroes Die, it was much better then i expected (or remembered the original to be).

That's all i can remember reading recently in sci-fi.

Otherland by Tad Williams. I've just started the final volume and can't put it down.

<small></small>I may have taken you too literally in my first reply :o:o:o

See also another useful thread: <A HREF="http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=127869" target="_blank">Recommend a great fantasy book series to me</a>