Evening Reading

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  Agree on your 1st choice. : terath
  • i second this agreement, amazing writer : Dravenport
  • oh wtf ... Revelation Space isn't available on Kindle? fail ... : homeboyJim
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  I'm enjoying this book Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton. The shack recommended him. It was really slow... : Goncyn
  • also I should probably read more of Alistair Reynolds's books. I read his first one. It was good, but I f... : Goncyn
  • I really liked Fallen Dragon. : MacemanInTW
  • Wait until you get through that and Judas Star and into the next Commonwealth trilogy. I think his writin... : EruditeCaveman
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    wait till you read the rest of them in that universe... damn good stuff.... i started reading his other u... : ssj4megaman
    • yes! The Night's Dawn trilogy is some good shit. : thechunder
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  richard k morgan is now writing for video games so yes, homoerotic fantasty : spiderfill
  • lead writer for Crysis 2?? I didn't know that. :D now i'm even more pumped for that : smax
• John Ringo David Weber Eric Flint Tad Williams C.S. Freidman : YerMothah
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  Ian MacDonald, hands down. Brasyl, River of Gods, and The Dervish House are three of my favourite books,... : duffman03
  • McDonald I mean. Fuck. : duffman03
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    Holy shit, have you read Terminal Cafe? It's fucking AWESOME. : Visceral Monkey
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      I haven't, but I've liked every McDonald book so far, I'm sure it's going to be awesome. Lucky for me Am... : duffman03
      • I love that book. I think of it every Nov 1'st for reasons in the book :) : Visceral Monkey
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  Has Vernor Vinge announced anything new? I have no idea how I'd rank my favourite sci-fi authors, but he... : gigaduck
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    A sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep is within a few months : smax
    • *expected : smax
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      That's awesome! I'll have to re-read it though because all I remember are the awesome aliens, not what w... : gigaduck
      • lol me too. Awesome aliens were indeed awesome though! : bolange
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  Neal Stephenson is my favorite; no idea who else I would rank up there. : sgtsanity
  • fuck i can't believe i forgot about NS. Anathem was my favorite book of the decade. : smax
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    I've never read any of his books. Where to start? : Dave-A
    • Snow Crash!! : smax
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      Snow Crash was his first one, and is pretty hilarious as an over-the-top version of cyberpunk that simult : sgtsanity
      • Thanks, good sir. I will indeed pick up the cryptonomiconadingdong. : Dave-A
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        Snow Crash isn't the best piece of literature ever, but it is definitely one of the most "fun" books I've... : smax
        • Yea. It's so crazy. The beginning will always be laughter inducing for me, when somebody brings it up,... : famine101
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      start and end with Cryptonomicon. : DonkeyPopsicle
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        do not end there. The Baroque Cycle trilogy and Anathem were great. I particularly liked Anathem. I read... : Cheeziologist
        • I quite reading The Baroque Cycle partway through the second books because Eliza is obnoxious and insuffe... : DonkeyPopsicle
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          The Baroque Cycle is great, but getting through it is a HUGE investment in time so be forewarned. : smax
          • Sounds like my kind of series. I've read all 21 Master and Commander books. I love me some epic shit. : riptyde
        • I loved Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash, but I couldn't stand Anathem. I couldn't even finish it. : riptyde
        • IMO Anathem was probably his most mature work so far. Very good stuff. : Hiro
    • Rainbow's End is a really well done near-future sci fi by Vinge. : thechunder
    • Snow Crash is his best. : thetangent
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    Richard K. Morgan's "Takeshi Kovacs" series (Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, Woken Furies), as well as Nea... : Ride-My-Rocket
    • I love the Kovacs series. Something about having protagonist that is a borderline-psychotic killing mach... : smax
  • Stephenson is so cheesy but i still read all of his books. : father_crown
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  I've been reading through these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos : MacemanInTW
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    first two were great, i lost interest partway into Endymion :( : smax
    • Im about half way though the second book. Really liking it so far. : MacemanInTW
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  book marking this as only some of those are on my lists already : sixfoot6
  • Same here. Been looking for some sweet new books to read. : Cliffzorz
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  I could never finish Absolution Gap. I really stopped caring about the fate of the characters. : DonkeyPopsicle
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    and you dont like Snow Crash. pretty sure you are broken :( : smax
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      I liked all of Reynolds's other novels up to that point. Chasm City was the best of the bunch. : DonkeyPopsicle
      • i also highly recommend his non-Revelation Space books. House of Suns is awesome, and I'm currently read : smax
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    Reynolds is a terrible writer. His concepts are great, but he just sucks at every aspect of executing a s... : thechunder
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      damn i almost made a post that certainly would have permabanned me. i will just say that you are wro... : smax
      • you are also wrong! mexican standoff. : thechunder
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        Exhibit A: Pushing Ice. You cannot defend that pile! : thechunder
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          never read it actually! but I've read everything else according to wikipedia. currently reading Te : smax
          • ill always give his shit a try because i'm a sucker for his type of hard sci fi. i just find his characte... : thechunder
        • Haha, seriously. The rivalry between the two main characters was such a clusterfuck. Terminal World wa... : Arceihn
• the shackwiki needs a books page : homeboyJim
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  Isaac Asimov? : daVinci1980
  • People should read Nemesis before they get all hopped up on the Alpha Centauri game : On the Brane
  • Yessssss! : Dontdrop
  • Yessssss! : Dontdrop
• 1) Robert Heinlein 2) Neal Stephenson 3) William Gibson 4) Isaac Asimov 5) Larry Niven : Cheeziologist
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  Peter Watts - Blindsight READ IT NOW http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm Iain M. Banks is cool A... : Odoyle
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    Second Peter Watts. He's a sadist though. : Rodeoclash
    • Plz explain. We're all sadists in the Sylvia Plath sense. : Odoyle
• It changes, but currently I'm interested in 1) Karl Schroeder 2) Iain M. Banks All time favorites... : Visceral Monkey
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  Fucking kids these days. No Clarke, Asimov, Herbert, Heinlein, Niven, Bradbury, Anderson, Pohl, Del Ra... : watcherxp
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    Niven is my all time favorite. : Visceral Monkey
    • yeah n-space is way up there on my all-time favourite reads : nem00
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    But we all know about those guys. I like when people do lists with current writers as half the time I'... : Vincent Grayson
    • Yeah, but for the newbs, we gotta make sure they hit the masters first. : watcherxp
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  Philip K Dick? COME ON! : Albemuth
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    Post + Username! Also, yeah, Dick is my fave. And Kim Stanley Robinson. : father_crown
    • Haha yes! Also lulz @ "dick is my fave" : Odoyle
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    Seconding this PKD vote. Radio Free Albemuth is actually my next book to read! : Lexicon_Leidun
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      It's good, but read VALIS as well. They are two halves of the same coin. In fact, VALIS is my favorite Di... : Albemuth
      • Yeah, I've read Valis, it was good, certainly interesting. : Lexicon_Leidun
• Now y'all know I'm still rooted in the old school stuff, but as far as new-ish books: Larry Niven & Jerry... : AxeMan808
• also, just a reminder that a new Culture novel just came out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Detail : smax
• Neal Stephenson : DarthStank
• you have good taste. Add Richard Morgan to the list. Elizabeth Bear is pretty good too in this same vein.... : steelsamurai
• A friend of mine introduced me to Greg Egan, who I really like. He's not the best at crafting story (thou... : Vincent Grayson
• #2191

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  By: mopic42 x Show Full Post

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  1) Heinlein. As weird as his later stuff got, MiaHM, ST, and SiaSL are foundational, and his short stories are even better. "The Man Who Sold the Moon" has inspired generations.
  2) Glen Cook. "Passage at Arms" is amazing, and while not really sci-fi, "The Black Company" is perhaps the finest series of fiction put to print.
  3) Niven & Pournelle. They had good stuff apart - I like Ringworld as much as anyone - but together they were a far better writer than they could be apart. The best example is "The Mote in God's Eye."
  4) Stephenson. Snow Crash, Young Lady's Primer are great, and though it's also not sci-fi, the Baroque Cycle is a must-read.
  5) Asimov, in his early days. The Foundation trilogy alone earns him a spt on any list like this, as well as the early robot books.
  

  Nov 02, 2010 9:35pm PDT
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  1) Heinlein. As weird as his later stuff got, MiaHM, ST, and SiaSL are foundational, and his short stori... : mopic42
  • The Baroque Cycle is more sci-fi than 99% of this fantasy in space ridiculousness. : sgtsanity
• L.E. Modesitt jr. : retardhumper
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  Peter F. Hamilton's epics really suit my taste. I'd give up a toe to see a epic trilogy set in the common... : thechunder
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    I tried to get into that series, but the whole thing with Al capone using his finger as a machine gun mad... : Visceral Monkey
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      thats the nights dawn trilogy. different universe. it definitely has some magic shit in it. commonwealth... : thechunder
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        Really? I read about 10 pages into "The Reality Dysfunction" and put it down. If I want Science Fantasy I... : locater16
        • ...that's still the Night's Dawn trilogy. Try his Greg Mandel books instead. : master_disaster_17
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  It is criminal that Iain M Banks is listed below Alastair Reynolds. I like Reynolds, but his books are no... : Arceihn
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    I dunno. Banks gives a "post scarcity" view of the galaxy. i don't think that means his fiction is mor... : smax
    • Why would his post-scarcity universe have anything to do with whether it was well-written? He's just bett... : Arceihn
    • The post scarcity is one thing I like about it to be honest. Also, while on the subject, I also view the ... : Visceral Monkey
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      Well, quite specifically, Banks has outright said he just makes shit up with the science etc., which I lo : node
      • Lastly, unlike many sci-fi writers (Stephenson and Reynolds especially), Banks has written some of the mo... : node
  • It's criminal that the most prolific scifi writer of all time, Isaac Asimov, is nowhere on the list. I... : daVinci1980
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  I can't believe there's no Stephen Baxter in this thread. : thetangent
  • His early stuff was so much like Niven that it was awesome. His later stuff is pretty much not so good. : Visceral Monkey
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    recommend any? : thechunder
    • RAFT http://www.amazon.com/Raft-Stephen-Baxter/dp/0586210911/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1288763120&sr=8-2 ... : Visceral Monkey
    • I'll second Raft. Ring I also really liked. The problem with Baxter is his characterisation is often p... : Arceihn
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      Everything from his Xeelee sequence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeelee_Sequence also, The Timeships : thetangent
      • Oh, and Vacuum Diagrams, which is a short story collection which is part of the Xeelee sequence. : thetangent
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  I really like John Scalzi. His Old Man's War trilogy is excellent, as is the stuff he's written outside t : coldfusioncs
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    second this Old man's war is a wonderful series : Gapyro
    • entertaining but not wonderful /monocle : smax
• have you read William Gibson's three most recent books? not dated at all! : CecilPhilpot
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  Any chance I could get you guys to recommend me something to read? my question is here: http://www.shackn... : MrBig0
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    Or specifically, I just need something that is not a really complex read for someone who doesn't have muc... : MrBig0
    • also, preferably something modern : MrBig0
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      Rainbow's End by Vinge is easy and fantastic. Actually, any of his books qualify. : Vantage
      • Thanks, I'll check it out! : MrBig0
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        Other must-reads: Ender's Game by Card Neverness by Zindell The Mote in God's Eye by Niven A Deepne... : Vantage
        • The Algebraist by Banks Adiamante by Modesitt Jr. Altered Carbon by Morgin The list goes on... : Vantage
        • good list! : smax
        • read these books and you will be a happy nerd : smax
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          Thanks, V Dawg. That list will keep me going for a while. : MrBig0
          • Deepness in the Sky is fantastically amazing. I've read over half the books on his list, and Deepness is ... : famine101
        • Dune is amazing but most people seem to be down on the sequels so I never read them Hyperion is quite po... : node
    • from the below recomendations Snow Crash, Adiamante, and Ender's Game meet your criteria. Good, but not c... : Old_Fart
    • If you want to go old school, Asimov's Caves of Steel is basically a normal detective story...with robots... : Conan
• Reynolds is brilliant, especially his crazy universe-threatening weapons and awesome pseudo-scientific de... : node
• New vote - Charles Stross. VERY, intentionally overtly British, but excellent fun as a result. Strange mi... : node