sci-fi/fantasy

[JediEmpressMel]

I actually take a certain pride in usually being the only girl in the Sci Fi section.
There is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about.

Neil Stephenson wrote Snowcrash, which is really good. So is Cryptonomicon.

Christopher Moore isn't sci fi, but his books are all really good too. They're somewhat satire filled though.

Star Wars novels are mostly what I read. They're really good.

If you haven't read the Mars Trilogy, I suggest doing so. They're really really well written. Kim stanley robinson is the author. There is Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars. Also by him is Anarctica.

Jack McDevitt is another author whose work I love. Omega, and the other books that go with it.

Pierce Anthony has good stuff too. The space tyrant bio series, the mode series. I'm currently reading the mode series.

I like the sci fi stuff because since it's on alternate planets/space, it doesn't have to be limited by what we can do now. It's more imaginative, and enjoyable to read to me than say, a romance novel. Those just don't interest me at all. But everyone likes different stuff, so it's cool.

[Ads]

[pixiebmm]

I used to think I didn't like fantasy books. That is not the case anymore. I tear ass through anything by Neil Gaiman, he wrote: Neverwhere, American Gods, Stardust, Coraline, Smoke and Mirriors, also some childrens books. And I'm so excited because he's coming to CO!!!! to do a reading from his new book Anansi Boys Yipee
I still can't decide if American Gods is my favorite or Neverwhere...

[styloplume]

I Have to second Neil Gaiman.

Also, check out Spider Robinson. He is heavily influenced by heilein (sp??), however, Spider likes women more than heinlein did, in fact, he has a deep respect for them. (at least, that's the problem I've had with the heinlein that I've read) Spider's novels are fairly optimistic sci-fi riddled with puns and musical references (when he figured out that he couldn't make a living as a folk musician, he turned to writing). Check out the Star Dance trilogy that he wrote with his wife, Jeanne.

Fantasy-wise, check out Terry Pratchett. He's just hilarious. Especially check out Good Omens Which he wrote with Neil Gaiman (swoon).

Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog is awesome. Time travel and Victorian England!

I need to check out more of her books, actually.

[tabularasa]

i must must must recommend samuel delany! he is by far my favorite writer of all time. his books are very thinky, but really enjoyable and interesting!

[quaisior]

JediEmpressMel, I also take pride in being the only female in the SF section.

styloplume, I had the same problems with Heinlein. I've heard that Robinson is much more female-friendly. I've seen the first Star Dancer book in the library sale rack, so I might pick it up next time I'm there.

[go-fish]

i am not into science fiction too much, but these are fantasy I like.

terry pratchett
philip pullman
john crowley's Little Big

[wooleyduck]

Terry Pratchett is probably my absolute favorite author ever. I'm slowly working my way through the Discworld novels from the first to the last. Good Omens was great.

I love Douglas Adams and I also like Gaiman. I actually have a book about Douglas Adams that was written by Neil Gaiman. Anyone else read that?

I have some books by other authors mentioned that I plan to read. Anyone read a book called Knight Life? It's about King Arthur coming back to life in modern day New York. I liked it. I've also got T.H. White's The Once and Future King which I haven't finished yet.

[HajiOnMe]

I also love Modesitt's books and the Deathgate cycle and the Wheel of Time series.

[mrs_stroozi]

I've been reading SF since I was a kid and my granddad gave me his paperbacks from the 50s.

Neil Gaiman is my latest crush. I love the books of his that I've read. (I haven't located any of his graphic novels, though.) I try to borrow from the library rather than buy books to save myself from a house built of fading paperbacks. I can hardly wait for Anansi Boys to come out in trade paperback! For me to say that I'll actually buy this one is a pretty high recomendation...

I also love Sheri Tepper and Ursula K. LeGuin. There is another woman writer -- I think her name is Kate or Kat Baker or Bakker -- who is writing a series about an uberpower Corporation which has the powers to make certain people immortal. Really fun, philosophical stuff.

We think Neal Stephenson is great in our house (although Zodiac was a waste of time, IMHO), but I haven't read the Baroque series. I hear that it can get quite convoluted, and I just don't have time for OCD authors in my life at the moment. If you like Stephenson, look for William Gibson, one of the first cyberpunk authors to smash into the mainstream. Bruce Sterling may be a good author to explore, but I haven't found as many of his works as entrancing as Gibson's.

An absolute favorite of mine is James Blaylock. He is sort of a local, So CA guy and writes the most wonderful, twisted fantasy/SF. "The Last Coin" blew me away! He always has a lost kid being found, and I like that, being surrounded most days by either my own or other people's kids.

Diane Duanne has a great series, "So You Want To Be A Wizard?," geared for YA, but I find them wonderful, too.

LOVED the Ender's Game series, especially the first volume, and the books about Ender's friends. I was turned off by the ultra machine covers, but was convinced by my 14YO son to try the first, and was hooked.

Is there anybody out there who can write as well as Ray Bradbury!?!

[pralala]

Everyone mentioned to date in this thread is excellent. I just started reading the Edge Chronicles series (its a YA/Kids series) - which is just really cute fantasy with amazing pictures. At first I resisted because I thought it was just another in a long line of Lemony Snicket knockoffs but decided to pick it up when I learned that they started publishing them in '98 or '99 in England. They're great.

Also, in the "historical fantasy" vein, Juliet Mauriller is excellent. Her newest series, The Briedei Chronicles has gotten off to a great start and her Sevenwaters trilogy is excellent.

And of course you can never go wrong in starting the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin.