Good Sci Fi Books - Page 8

Vorph · 05-18-2007, 10:00 AM

Speaking of Richard K. Morgan, his new book Black Man was released yesterday. Fucking Amazon has it listed as "ships in 4 to 6 weeks" and bn.com, etc. aren't being too helpful either. Seems like it's really only available in the UK at the moment.

It's not a Kovacs book, since sadly Morgan claims he's done with that series.

It sounds a lot better than Market Forces though--which wasn't even a bad book, I just hated almost all the characters and really didn't care what happened to them long before the end. The concept was cool, but there just wasn't anyone with the charisma of Kovacs to offset all the evil shit he does. Hopefully Black Man is a better return to form.

Edit: I knew I was forgetting something. The book is called Thirteen in the US and isn't out until 6/26.

Zarcath · 05-18-2007, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faille

I'm surprised no one has mentioned L Modesitt Jr in this thread, or even in this forum. He's a great fantasy author, wrote the Recluce series, but also has some great Sci Fi series, and books set within same universe. He tends to be fairly mature, and doesn't spell things out so sometimes you really need to think while reading to understand what's really happening.

His science is also pretty strong, usually revolves around specific scientific breakthrough, such as nanite technology, and uses that as a strong backdrop to the story. It results is a very believable world but doesn't beat you over the head with the fantastic science.

Modesitt Jr is my favorite author, though I'd largely consider him fantasy, whenever he does a Sci-Fi book it's always grade A imo. I know some people don't care for his reuse of characters but I like those anti-hero types.

Anyhow, I'm surprised no ones mentioned Walter Hunt or Elizabeth Moon.

Walter Hunt's "Dark Wing" series is a real space opera, enjoyable plot developments and storyline. The ships and battle action are well written and not too confusing without being overly simplified.

Elizabeth Moon's "Vatta's War" series is pretty action packed and an easy read. Though sometimes the book seems like its hardly moving along because she seems to cover one big event in each book for a good while.

Greyskye · 05-20-2007, 06:33 AM

This might have already been mentioned somewhere else, but if you like Star Wars at all I absolutely must recommend Timothy Zahn's 'Heir to the Empire', 'Dark Force Rising', and 'The Last Command.' Not that Lucas could have ever put together the orginal cast, but myself and some of my other Star War's geeky friends all agree that these three books basically blow Episode I-III out of the water for storyline content. If they ever made these books into movies they might approach the original episodes. Maybe. But it's probably moot since the actors are too old.

Also, while this is borderline Sci-Fi...more of a mix with fantasy, Robert Silverberg's 'Lord Valentine's Castle' series is good. And yeah, I'm just looking around the book shelves...lol.

Lusiphur · 05-21-2007, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vorph

Speaking of Richard K. Morgan, his new book Black Man was released yesterday. Fucking Amazon has it listed as "ships in 4 to 6 weeks" and bn.com, etc. aren't being too helpful either. Seems like it's really only available in the UK at the moment.

It's not a Kovacs book, since sadly Morgan claims he's done with that series.

It sounds a lot better than Market Forces though--which wasn't even a bad book, I just hated almost all the characters and really didn't care what happened to them long before the end. The concept was cool, but there just wasn't anyone with the charisma of Kovacs to offset all the evil shit he does. Hopefully Black Man is a better return to form.

Edit: I knew I was forgetting something. The book is called Thirteen in the US and isn't out until 6/26.

A friend of mine goes climbing with Morgan and tells me that the writing of Black Man was torturous for him. It was basically finished up under threat of Morgan having to repay the advance.

Morgan is however a blast to have a beer with (and boy can he drink

).

DoctorSpooge · 05-21-2007, 11:24 AM

I hadn't heard about the difficulty he had in writing Black Man. Nevertheless, word on the street is it's the best scifi book of the year so far, and isn't likely to be supplanted.

On a related note, I read Altered Carbon and Broken Angels and am now on Woken Furies. Can't recommend these books enougn.

05-18-2007, 10:00 AM	#106 (permalink)
Vorph Never Go Full Retard Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hell Posts: 5,297	Speaking of Richard K. Morgan, his new book Black Man was released yesterday. Fucking Amazon has it listed as "ships in 4 to 6 weeks" and bn.com, etc. aren't being too helpful either. Seems like it's really only available in the UK at the moment. It's not a Kovacs book, since sadly Morgan claims he's done with that series. It sounds a lot better than Market Forces though--which wasn't even a bad book, I just hated almost all the characters and really didn't care what happened to them long before the end. The concept was cool, but there just wasn't anyone with the charisma of Kovacs to offset all the evil shit he does. Hopefully Black Man is a better return to form. Edit: I knew I was forgetting something. The book is called Thirteen in the US and isn't out until 6/26. __________________ Last edited by Vorph : 05-18-2007 at 10:04 AM.

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05-20-2007, 06:33 AM	#108 (permalink)
Greyskye Legends of Kesmai refugee Join Date: May 2006 Location: Virginia Posts: 336 -1 Internets	This might have already been mentioned somewhere else, but if you like Star Wars at all I absolutely must recommend Timothy Zahn's 'Heir to the Empire', 'Dark Force Rising', and 'The Last Command.' Not that Lucas could have ever put together the orginal cast, but myself and some of my other Star War's geeky friends all agree that these three books basically blow Episode I-III out of the water for storyline content. If they ever made these books into movies they might approach the original episodes. Maybe. But it's probably moot since the actors are too old. Also, while this is borderline Sci-Fi...more of a mix with fantasy, Robert Silverberg's 'Lord Valentine's Castle' series is good. And yeah, I'm just looking around the book shelves...lol.

05-21-2007, 11:24 AM	#110 (permalink)
DoctorSpooge Cock Dentist Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 386 -2 Internets	I hadn't heard about the difficulty he had in writing Black Man. Nevertheless, word on the street is it's the best scifi book of the year so far, and isn't likely to be supplanted. On a related note, I read Altered Carbon and Broken Angels and am now on Woken Furies. Can't recommend these books enougn.