Good SciFi Book suggestions?

[demi]

Did we ever get a review of LIGHT from Billy Rygar?

[Great Rumbler]

just bought a kindle here last week. I'd love some good supertrashy scifi recommendations, anyone up for it?

Rama II by Gentry Lee - On top of being a pointless sequel, it's also quite supertrashy. Has some of the most UGH sex scenes I've read. Don't worry about it being a sequel.

Neuromancer - Delightfully trashy and also a genuinely great scifi book. Along the same line you might consider Rudy Rucker's 'Ware series or Snow Crash.

Just about anything by Piers Anthony, although specifically the Xanth series.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

my favorite "trashy" SF book is Gateway by Frederick Pohl - there's something about that book that just makes me reread it every 5 years

[Mandark]

I've read that the books are quite descriptive of even the most mundane details; does it become grating? I'm starting to believe this complaint/worry depends on an individual's perspective. Many people say ASOIAF is too descriptive of flags, feasts, the attire of a background character, etc; yet I've never found it over the top. And I've talked to people who dismiss the same criticism of their favorite fantasy series as well, whether its Wheel of Time or Malazan.

I wouldn't say GRR's "too descriptive" so much as he feels a need to recite them all, so that it's like reading a menu or a guest list rather than something that adds to the characters or the plot or my immersion in the book.

Jon tried to keep a stern mein, but secretly he marveled at the banners unfurled all around him for the landsmeet.  There were the familiar symbols of the most powerful nobles:  the three-headed red dragon of House Targaryen, the leaping trout of Riverrun, the gold lion of Lannister, the soaring falcon of Arryn against a white moon, and of course his own (unacknowledged) family's, the grey direwolf of House Stark.

But besides these were the angry stoat of House Symon, the mincing badger of Sunfall, the purple vole of House Kesper, the paradoxical frog of the Lower Hardlands, the preening sloth of Gilder, the yellow octopus grappling with a black cactus representing the Mudronnus clan, the engorged negro of House Bore, and many others.

I don't want to bring down anyone who enjoys the books or anything like that, but god damn did I want to yell "get on with it!" every hundred pages or so.

[Eric P]

I've read that the books are quite descriptive of even the most mundane details; does it become grating? I'm starting to believe this complaint/worry depends on an individual's perspective. Many people say ASOIAF is too descriptive of flags, feasts, the attire of a background character, etc; yet I've never found it over the top. And I've talked to people who dismiss the same criticism of their favorite fantasy series as well, whether its Wheel of Time or Malazan.

i don't find it boring, but then i am boring

[tiesto]

just bought a kindle here last week. I'd love some good supertrashy scifi recommendations, anyone up for it?

Rama II by Gentry Lee - On top of being a pointless sequel, it's also quite supertrashy. Has some of the most UGH sex scenes I've read. Don't worry about it being a sequel.

Neuromancer - Delightfully trashy and also a genuinely great scifi book. Along the same line you might consider Rudy Rucker's 'Ware series or Snow Crash.

Just about anything by Piers Anthony, although specifically the Xanth series.

I read nearly every one of the Xanth books as a kid...

[Great Rumbler]

just bought a kindle here last week. I'd love some good supertrashy scifi recommendations, anyone up for it?

Rama II by Gentry Lee - On top of being a pointless sequel, it's also quite supertrashy. Has some of the most UGH sex scenes I've read. Don't worry about it being a sequel.

Neuromancer - Delightfully trashy and also a genuinely great scifi book. Along the same line you might consider Rudy Rucker's 'Ware series or Snow Crash.

Just about anything by Piers Anthony, although specifically the Xanth series.

I read nearly every one of the Xanth books as a kid...

Well, you're in luck because he's written about twenty since then!

[chronovore]

I read nearly every one of the Xanth books as a kid...

Well, you're in luck because he's written about twenty since then!

Counting Xanth as fantasy is like counting the Six Flags amusement park caricaturist as art.

[chronovore]

Got anything similar to Neverwhere?

Try Emma Bull. There are heaps of recent urban fantasy stuff, but it looks from the summary to be mainly of the Twilight and Harry Potter ilk. Just pick up the White Wolf Changeling RPG worldbook and make your own stories.

 

I know I'm trolling fantasy genre but you didn't have to go THAT far. Okay?!

I'm actually not counting those two series, but rather the urban magic (usually "majick") stuff which borders on YA or romance genre crap.

[Phoenix Dark]

I've read that the books are quite descriptive of even the most mundane details; does it become grating? I'm starting to believe this complaint/worry depends on an individual's perspective. Many people say ASOIAF is too descriptive of flags, feasts, the attire of a background character, etc; yet I've never found it over the top. And I've talked to people who dismiss the same criticism of their favorite fantasy series as well, whether its Wheel of Time or Malazan.

I wouldn't say GRR's "too descriptive" so much as he feels a need to recite them all, so that it's like reading a menu or a guest list rather than something that adds to the characters or the plot or my immersion in the book.

Jon tried to keep a stern mein, but secretly he marveled at the banners unfurled all around him for the landsmeet.  There were the familiar symbols of the most powerful nobles:  the three-headed red dragon of House Targaryen, the leaping trout of Riverrun, the gold lion of Lannister, the soaring falcon of Arryn against a white moon, and of course his own (unacknowledged) family's, the grey direwolf of House Stark.

But besides these were the angry stoat of House Symon, the mincing badger of Sunfall, the purple vole of House Kesper, the paradoxical frog of the Lower Hardlands, the preening sloth of Gilder, the yellow octopus grappling with a black cactus representing the Mudronnus clan, the engorged negro of House Bore, and many others.

I don't want to bring down anyone who enjoys the books or anything like that, but god damn did I want to yell "get on with it!" every hundred pages or so.

Ah. I had no problem with those details, which fell in line with the book's take on medieval houses to me

[Mandark]

In all fairness to GRRM, it's common enough for authors who really get into their world-building.  Between Perdido Street Station and The Scar, China Mieville probalby wrote about 100 paragraphs which all boiled down to "this city/borough/neighborhood's history of immigration gave its markets/architecture/streets a very chaotic, heterogeneous feel."

Now that I think about it, Transmetropolitan does basically the same thing with its backgrounds.  Which is nice, because it doesn't require any break in the action.

[Phoenix Dark]

Agreed, it comes with the territory of certain types of fantasy and sci-fi.

[Cormacaroni]

In all fairness to GRRM, it's common enough for authors who really get into their world-building.  Between Perdido Street Station and The Scar, China Mieville probalby wrote about 100 paragraphs which all boiled down to "this city/borough/neighborhood's history of immigration gave its markets/architecture/streets a very chaotic, heterogeneous feel."

Now that I think about it, Transmetropolitan does basically the same thing with its backgrounds.  Which is nice, because it doesn't require any break in the action.

...and it gives the poor reader SOMETHING to look at other than shots of Spider talking to the camera furiously while smoking, or typing furiously, while smoking. 2000 AD (which Ellis of course grew up on) looks exactly the same, except it typically has some action going on in the foreground as well. I love Transmet but if he hadn't been able to go wild on the backgrounds, it would have been the dullest looking comic ever.

[Bocsius]

Anyone read "The Heritage Trilogy" novels by Ian Douglas? Semper Mars, Luna Marine, Europa Strike?