What is your favorite science fiction (SF) author? Isaac Asimov Of his books, what would you recommend? The Foundation Foundation and Empire Second Foundation The Caves of Steel The Naked Sun The Robots of Dawn Robots and Empire
I like Card better. It might be that I was a pre-teen when I went through the Foundation series, and in high school when I read Ender's Game. Does LeGuin's Earthsea count? Heinlein's also a favorite of many, though about 180 degrees out from what you'd expect from a Naval Academy grad.
I always favored the more tongue in cheek guys; Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Robert Aspirin. But I did like some of Heinlein's stuff too. For Sci-fi/fantasy hybrid, it was tough to top Michael Moorcock's sheer scope and imagination with his eternal champion stuff (the Oswald Bastable and Von Bek characters in particular were my favorites). Stephen King's Dark Tower novels are still something I dust off and re-read every couple of years too.
Joe Halderman's "The Forever War" and Arthur C Clarke's "Rendezvous With Rama" are two of the best science fiction novels ever. But neither author is my favorite. I think it'd have to be Isaac Asimov. The Foundation trilogy and the Robot books are exquisite, even if the dialogue is dated.
I'm reading the Foundation series right now, and so far I love it. Have you guys read the prequels to Foundation that Asimov wrote a few years before he died? My favorite Asimov book is The End of Eternity. Heinlein is great, and I also love Card. My favorite book of Card's is actually Ender's Shadow, not Ender's Game. I like the Shadow saga better than the Ender series, but I love them all. His Homecoming series is good too. Apparently it's a 'fictionalized' version of The Book of Mormon. Whatever that means. The Official Book Thread!
I'm 100% with you on the Shadow series being better. Though I haven't read the latest one about Bean and his kids, b/c those who have said it's worth being left hanging over what happens than to see what Card put down on paper.
Book of the New Sun series, Gene Wolfe. first read 27 years ago now lol. i'm old. also was really into Gregory Benford in the '80s. if you're including stuff that leans more towards fantasy 2nd fav would be the original 6 Thomas Covenant books, Steven R Donaldson. Haven't started the newest ones yet, waiting for the last one to come to bogart all 4 at once.
Oh man, those books are a TRIP! I loved the first book, but lost momentum about halfway through the second.
slightly off topic, what do genre do you guys label the books, movies, tv shows for the genre of Interview with the Vampire series, True Blood series, Twilight series, Walking Dead series. Traditionally it should be horror, but to me horror is Dawn of the Dead or Texas Chainsaw massacre.
Rice is gothic fantasy, haven't seen True Blood but I think it is erotic fantasy, Twilight is shit, Walking Dead is survival horror.
The classics were mentioned - and they are good, Terry Pratchett is of course great, but others that need to be mentioned: 1. Greg Bear. Fantastic hard-core sci-fi, Darwin's radio for example, is great. 2. Neil Gaiman - some of his books are very good fantasy work of art - American Gods comes to mind.
I just read American Gods and Neverwhere by Gaiman. They were fantastic, I felt completely immersed in the books.
Another excellent author. At the Mountains of Madness is one of my favorite Lovecraft stories! http://www.feedbooks.com/book/26/at-the-mountains-of-madness
I also started reading some of Clifford D. Simak's books. I finished Shakespeare's Planet and I'm now in the process of reading Cemetery World.
