13 Oct, 2010, JohnnyStarr wrote in the 1st comment:
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I know a lot of you like Sci Fi on here, so I'm going to ask your advice on a new saga to begin.
I've read a lot by Bradbury, Herbert and Asimov. But I'm looking for something that has many books in it.
Let's call it the equivalent to Robert Jordan only not Fantasy.

Any suggestions would be great!
13 Oct, 2010, Scandum wrote in the 2nd comment:
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I like Larry Niven (known space & the state), Jack Vance (Durdane series), Roger Zelazny (Chronicles of Amber which is arguably hard fantasy), and recommend most anything they wrote. The Old Man's War series by John Scalzi is a more recent work that I liked. The gap series by Stephen Donaldson is good as well. There's also the Ender saga in case you somehow missed that one. Wikipedia has more info. Happy reading.
13 Oct, 2010, Dean wrote in the 3rd comment:
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I would suggest the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wor...
13 Oct, 2010, David Haley wrote in the 4th comment:
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I quite enjoyed David Brin's Uplift series. I don't think it has quite as many books as the Wheel of Time series, but it has enough to keep you busy for a while I guess. :smile:
13 Oct, 2010, Ssolvarain wrote in the 5th comment:
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Uplift was veeeery interesting. I've read The Uplift War so many times I think I've broken the spine. Haven't found any of the others at the library though.

I recommend:
the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons
There's quite a few Shadowrun novels that are just awesome, but by varying authors. Same for Warhammer 40k.
Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's "Trilogy"
Brain and Brawn Ship series by Ann McCaffrey
New and old Dune alike. But… don't go past Children of Dune in Frank Herbert's work if you want it to still be cool. The ending of it… er… well… yeah. It was just dumb. Everything else kicked huge amounts of ass.

That's all I have on my computer. I'm too lazy to go check my bookshelves.
13 Oct, 2010, Tyche wrote in the 6th comment:
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I can't recommend any saga/series, but I recommend anything by Philip K. Dick
13 Oct, 2010, JohnnyStarr wrote in the 7th comment:
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Wow, thanks for all the responses.
Tyche, I'm not sure if your link is a joke or not, but either way I'm afraid it was wasted on me (don't get it) :smile:

Anyway, I'm going to the library today, I'll see what they have.
13 Oct, 2010, KaVir wrote in the 8th comment:
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JohnnyStarr said:
Tyche, I'm not sure if your link is a joke or not, but either way I'm afraid it was wasted on me (don't get it) :smile:

Even if you've never heard of Philip K. Dick, I'm sure you've seen some of the film adaptations of his novels.
13 Oct, 2010, Oliver wrote in the 9th comment:
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Not a series, but Neal Stephenson. Anything Stephenson.
13 Oct, 2010, Idealiad wrote in the 10th comment:
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Philip K. Dick is excellent, I just finished The Man in the High Castle. Also second the recommendation for the Hyperion books. You might want to look at Iain M. Banks' Culture books, and M. John Harrison's Lightand Nova Swing (in the same universe) too.
13 Oct, 2010, Bobo the bee wrote in the 11th comment:
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So I understand that I might lose some "street-cred" or what-have-you for saying this, but part of me always has and probably will continue to enjoy the Star Wars books, especially the ones set after Episode VI. I see them mostly aimed at a, well, less intellectual level than most of what people have mentioned (I read my first Star Wars Novel around the fifth grade* or so, and generally understood it fine) and the characters are a bit static – though that's changed, to some degree, in more recent series – and the storylines are never too deep. But the characters are entertaining, especially to me being such a Star Wars fan, and some of the series are quite good - the X-Wing Series, for example. Star Wars, more than any other group of books I know, works with the same characters across a lot of different authors, which can bring about some interesting results as far as style goes. You might like 'em, and they are generally all over libraries around where I'm from.
13 Oct, 2010, David Haley wrote in the 12th comment:
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I liked the Star Wars books as well, although I stopped before they pulled in those super powerful aliens and … died (no spoilers!). I agree with your assessment regarding level of language etc.. I think they suffered from the problem of having to always up the ante after the last bad guy was defeated, and it ended up producing somewhat absurd bad guys eventually.
13 Oct, 2010, JohnnyStarr wrote in the 13th comment:
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Well Bobo, I agree that it is fun to read Star Wars books.
I've read the Thrawn trilogy and Jedi Academy. I don't see anything wrong with enjoying these books, however I also agree that they
are sort of shallow novels.

As far as Phillip K. Dick, I didn't get the D I C K part because of the filter, so I thought it was a joke ;)
I believe he wrote "Blade Runner"?
13 Oct, 2010, Bobo the bee wrote in the 14th comment:
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JohnnyStarr said:
I believe he wrote "Blade Runner"?


Indeedly he did, and .. what was it … a more recent sci-fi-ish movie … Wiki-lookup says Minority Report!

David Haley said:
I think they suffered from the problem of having to always up the ante after the last bad guy was defeated, and it ended up producing somewhat absurd bad guys eventually.


Yeah, for a time they really had that problem, especially with the Vong, who are one of the worst villians I've ever seen, though they did a half-decent job of coming up with (seemingly) some bull* way to explain the Vong away at the end of that series. One of the most recent series, the Legacy of the Force, does a pretty good job taking a character I loved and vilifying them, though now I think the books are also running into the problem of expanding much further outwards: they are running out ways to incorporate the main characters from the movies in believable ways, and it seems like only the best of the Star-Wars authors are able to do this with any success, now.
13 Oct, 2010, Bobo the bee wrote in the 15th comment:
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JohnnyStarr said:
Let's call it the equivalent to Robert Jordan only not Fantasy.


The best thing about the Wheel of Time series is that, once you're done reading it, you've forgotten most of what happened in Book 1 so you can just repeat the reading cycle indefinately. :wink:
13 Oct, 2010, Ssolvarain wrote in the 16th comment:
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Bobo the bee said:
JohnnyStarr said:
Let's call it the equivalent to Robert Jordan only not Fantasy.


The best thing about the Wheel of Time series is that, once you're done reading it, you've forgotten most of what happened in Book 1 so you can just repeat the reading cycle indefinately. :wink:


Very true. It's like a soap opera, kind of. But more awesome.
14 Oct, 2010, donky wrote in the 17th comment:
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JohnnyStarr said:
I know a lot of you like Sci Fi on here, so I'm going to ask your advice on a new saga to begin.
I've read a lot by Bradbury, Herbert and Asimov. But I'm looking for something that has many books in it.
Let's call it the equivalent to Robert Jordan only not Fantasy.

Any suggestions would be great!

If you want something imaginative, with numerous great ideas and a story that continues to be interesting.. I'd recommend two series by Jack L. Chalker. I'd love to play non-RPI muds that were based around these series if they were done right.

Saga of the Well of Souls + The Watchers at the Well (10 books).
The Soul Rider series (5 books).

If you want something more overly self indulgent and waffley, then I'd recommend this by Piers Anthony. A bit misogynistic, so that's a third quality it has in common with Wheel of Time. Basically follows the life of a poor orphan working his way up to dictator of the solar system.

Bio of a Space Tyrant (6 books).

Want a series that starts off interesting with real meat, and declines book by book each released slower than the last. Chances are this author will die before he finishes this series too. The first book in the series is one of the best sci-fi novels I have ever read. The author is David Gerrold.

The War Against the Chtorr (4 books.. so far).

Another older series which is quite good by Patrick Tilley. Long complete, with lots of good reading. Sci-fi with elements of fantasy.

The Amtrak Wars (6 books).

The final series I would recommend was written by a con man, one who started his own religion on a bet… Scientology. L. Ron. Hubbard. This would be what I would call the Wheel of Time of science fiction. Each book is thick, and it humourously follows the viewpoint of a sleazy and corrupt official who starts off in the bureacracy of an alien empire. I'd consider the first book in the series to be one of my favourite books ever.

Mission Earth (10 books).
14 Oct, 2010, David Haley wrote in the 18th comment:
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I also liked The Snow Queen, The Summer Queen, and World's End, all by Joan D. Vinge.
15 Oct, 2010, donky wrote in the 19th comment:
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David Haley said:
I also liked The Snow Queen, The Summer Queen, and World's End, all by Joan D. Vinge.

I would second these. I read them at least twice.
15 Oct, 2010, Grumny wrote in the 20th comment:
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I'm a fan of older SF, too.

I highly recommend Alfred Bester's The stars my destination.

Another good one is The Anarchistic Collosus by A E van Vogt.

Both of those are most likely out of print, so you'll have to browse the used book shops for them.

I also liked Verner Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky

I'll have to go look over my shelves for more. I have way too many books up there. My wife insists that I stop buying shelves. She wants me to start boxing the books. SACRILIGE!
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