Recommendations for Fantasy/Sci-fi Novels.

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Permalink Reply by LesYpersound on November 7, 2010 at 3:03pm

first and foremost--
octavia e. butler's parable of the sower

richard matheson's i am legend (very different from the will smith movie, very good ending)
patrick suskind's perfume: the story of a murderer (about a boy who has a "supernatural" sense of smell set in 18th century france)
cormac mccarthy's the road (really easy read, great for the fall, way better than the movie) AND blood meridian (kind of a more laborious read, but pretty interesting book and once you get wrapped in it really gets you).



...and if you haven't already
william gibson's sprawl series -- neuromancer, count zero, and mona lisa overdrive
and the works of philip k. dick, william s. burroughs, aaaaand j.g. ballard


also if you're way more into fantasy than scifi/speculative fiction... maybe check out--
philip pullman's his dark materials (i like it b/c of it's subversive nature... an answer to c.s. lewis)
frank herbert's dune series (i got through most of the first book of the series, but had better stuff to do. i definitely saw the appeal)
oh! and mervyn peake's gormenghast series is pretty memorable--basically it's a really warped and dusty and sometimes terrible alternate universe.

and all the books of Roald Dahl. :B

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Permalink Reply by AfroCuban on November 9, 2010 at 6:15am

I second these: "neuromancer, count zero, and mona lisa overdrive".
If you like "Cyber Punk"

Fantasy:
def. try The Raine Benares series: Magic Lost, Trouble Found, Armed and Magical, The Trouble with Demons, et al.
I just started the Sword of Truth series (worth it if you like series - there are 15-20 books in it!).

I hear the Wheel of Time is mind-blowing, it's on my list.

Old stuff: the Conan series and the Tarzan series. Maybe some Elric stories as they aren't the 'traditional' vampire stories about this Elf.

Sci-Fi:

the Man-Kzin Wars anthologies. Some good stories in some of the books.
some Star Trek books are good, with I had their names or copies to pass on. (and by Star Trek, I mean from any series).

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Permalink Reply by Aezin on December 11, 2010 at 3:03am

I love Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower!

 

The Green Rider by Kristen Britain; light on magic and set in a pre medieval like world.

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Permalink Reply by the outsider on December 30, 2010 at 3:29pm

Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams.  I read the first book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" quite a while ago and would like to read it again.

I haven't read it yet but I heard The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury is also pretty good.

 

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Permalink Reply by Tia on January 21, 2011 at 3:14pm

I have been reading the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey it's really good if you don't mind a fair amount of sex. The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson is beyond epic if you haven't read it already.

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