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mud
Draconis Combine
Tai-sho
Joined: 23-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 1618
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 Posted: 02-May-2005 17:26 Post subject: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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I'm just opening this thread to encourage people to list good sci-fi books, TV shows, or movies, they may have enjoyed in the past and wish to recommend for the enjoyment of others. I'll start with a short list:
Neuromancer by William Gibson. The book that started the cyberpunk movement, according to most, and certainly Gibson's best book.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. One of the most original books I've ever read.
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Vagabond
Mercenary
Mr. Referee
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 5792
Location: United States
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| Posted: 02-May-2005 17:46 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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The Movie Gattaca.
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Nightmare
Lyran Alliance
Kommandant-General
Joined: 03-May-2002 00:00
Posts: 2214
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| Posted: 02-May-2005 20:59 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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David Brin: Startide Rising 
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WhizzbangThePowerSquig
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Master Sergeant
Joined: 21-Mar-2005 00:00
Posts: 345
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 02-May-2005 21:26 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.
Lord of the Rings, by Tolkien (I hope everyone here has read it)
early Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler (the others are good, but predictable)
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
and, if you want an awesome biography: If Chins Could Kill: The Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, by Bruce Campbell
(edited for clarity)
[ This Message was edited by: WhizzbangThePowerSquig on 2005-05-02 21:38 ]
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WhizzbangThePowerSquig
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Master Sergeant
Joined: 21-Mar-2005 00:00
Posts: 345
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 02-May-2005 21:35 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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I forgot some:
The Dig, by Alan Dean Foster
the Red Dwarf novels by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor
Transformers: All Fall Down and End of the Road, graphic novels of the end of the first Marvel run of the comics
Transformers: War and Peace, graphic novel by (the now defunct) Dreamwave
Transformers: City of Fear, graphic novel of some of the UK TF comics, involves zombies
Guant's Ghosts novels by Dan Abnett (i think), set in the Warhammer 40K universe, but good scifi war stories, there's almost a dozen books out now.
(edited for clarity)
[ This Message was edited by: WhizzbangThePowerSquig on 2005-05-02 21:40 ]
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"I've never seen anything this beautiful in the entire galaxy - okay, give me the bomb." - Ultra Magnus
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DarkAdder
Clan Star Adder
Star Commander
Joined: 10-Jan-2004 00:00
Posts: 604
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| Posted: 02-May-2005 21:49 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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A good TV show that was ended before its time: Space: Above and Beyond.
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Karagin
Imperial Karagin Army
Imperial General
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 4120
Location: United States
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| Posted: 02-May-2005 22:21 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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Some good books:
The Draka Series by SM Stirling
The General Series by David Drake and SM Stirling.
Both of the above are out in omnibus versions, the General books are in two omnibus hardbacks and the Draka is in it's own hardback version.
Then you have David Drake's
Hammer's Slammers
Lt. Lerary Commanding
Just to name a few...most of Drake's books are excellent.
Then you have
Rick Sherely and his Officer series as well as his other military scifi novels.
Heinline is excellent, with Starship Troopers being among the best.
Toss is in David Webber and Steve White and their fleet action novels:
Insurrection
Crusade (Hey the folks doing the Jihad plot should actually read this book BEFORE they do any more to get a better idea on how to do the whole Jihad thing)
On Death Ground
The Shive Option
All of this are excellent.
The Lensman series of books. Jerry Pournell's Falkenberg's Legion Series of books about the CoDominion as well as his other novels.
Larry Neviens is agood one to pick up as well.
Add in The American Empire Series of books Harry Turteldove is writting and you get some excllent alternate history.
Fanasty:
Anything by Robert E. Howard to include his short stories.
Same for Egdar Rice Bourroughs.
Doc Savage.
I need to look over my books some more...
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Karagin
Only the dead have seen the end of war. - Plato
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StarRaven
Federated Suns
Leftenant General
Joined: 01-Jun-2004 00:00
Posts: 1138
Location: United States
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| Posted: 03-May-2005 01:47 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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-Farscape
You won't find many better shows. Honestly, I don't think that you'll find any better shows, but some come close.
-Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
A companion to Ender's Game, which I somehow ended up reading first.
-On Basilisk Station by David Weber
Along with the rest of the Honor Harrington books. They're best in the beginning, though; I thought that War of Honor got a bit (a lot) too wordy for not enough happening.
-A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo
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Stinger
The Knights of Chaos
General
Joined: 30-Apr-2002 00:00
Posts: 1833
Location: United States
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| Posted: 03-May-2005 01:48 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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Book(s):
The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
Movie(s):
Undercover blues. (not sci fi/ fantasy but a great movie none the less.)
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If it's "creepy" to use the Internet, military satellites, and robot aircraft to find a house full of gorgeous young models so I can drop in on them unexpected, then FINE, I'm "creepy". Howard Wolowitz. BBT.
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Gunslinger Patch
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Major
Joined: 04-Mar-2002 00:00
Posts: 1611
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| Posted: 03-May-2005 06:50 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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Honor Harrington
C. J. Cherryh and the Company Wars Universe, including Downbelow Station, Merchanter's Luck, and Finity's End.
Anne McCaffery and the Dragonriders of Pern. The sci-fi book club trilogy hardcover was the first hardcover book I ever owned, still have what's left of it along with a new one for backup.
Michael Stackpole, Warrior Coup, Riposte, and En Guard.
Elizabeth Moon has some pretty good ones too, aside from writing the Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy.
L. Ron Hubbard, the original paperback of Battlefield Earth. The movie blows chunks but the book was both long and a very good read.
and did I mention Honor Harrington?
and most recently I read a very good military sf novel called Orphanage by Robert Buettner.
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SaberDance
Federated Suns
Colonel
Joined: 07-May-2004 00:00
Posts: 837
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| Posted: 03-May-2005 17:47 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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Ahh. Something I can sink my teeth into.
In category...
Escapism:
Star Wars. Books, movies, whatever.
Star Trek:TNG and later.
Lost Regiment series
Buck Rogers
Sand Wars series
Lensman series
Distopian:
Aldous Huxley
Ray Bradbury
Kurt Vonnegut
George Orwell (though I don't much like him)
Utopian:
HG Wells
Aurthur Clarke (particularly City and the Star)
Humanist:
Heinlein (Friday is my favorite, the Professor series is good)
Asimov (any of them)
Burgess (More to him than just Clockwork Orange)
Rodenberry (anything else on TV, I liked the Alien one, I forget what it was called)
JMS (B-5)
Kenneth Johnson (V, and Alien Nation)
Technocratic:
Clarke (Rama, 2001, and Childhoods End)
Existential:
Franz Kafka (The Trial, The Castle, The Penal Colony)
Misc:
C.S. Lewis: The Space Trilogy, Chronicles of Narnia
edited for clarity: getting everything on one line.
[ This Message was edited by: SaberDance on 2005-05-03 17:48 ]
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WhizzbangThePowerSquig
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Master Sergeant
Joined: 21-Mar-2005 00:00
Posts: 345
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 03-May-2005 19:54 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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Well, if we are mentioning movies and TV:
Movies:
Robot Jox
Bubba Hotep
Evil Dead trilogy (ED I, ED II, Army of Darkness)
Galaxy Quest
TV Shows (including miniseries):
Macross Plus (follow up on RoboTech, waaaaaay better animation and story)
RoboTech
old BattleTech cartoon
Transformers
new BattleStar Galactica
Alien Apocalypse (not out yet, but stars Bruce Campbell)
old Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy BBC series
Red Dwarf
Reboot
Beasties (known as Beast Wars in the US)
Transformers: Energon (surprisingly good, if you can ignore some ofthe more anoying Japanimation additions. God, I hate what they did to Ironhide)
I'm sure there are others.
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All fear Squiggy!
"I've never seen anything this beautiful in the entire galaxy - okay, give me the bomb." - Ultra Magnus
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Emmy
Clan Wolf
Star Commander
Joined: 20-Mar-2004 00:00
Posts: 167
Location: United States
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| Posted: 03-May-2005 22:31 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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The "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan
The "Kingdom for Sale" series by Terry Brooks
Anything by Sara Douglass
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Warhammer: 3025
Freelance
Captain, AFFC (Ret.)
Joined: 29-Jan-2005 00:00
Posts: 1856
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| Posted: 03-May-2005 22:56 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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My only recommendations are for Television shows, as all the Sci-Fi books I would've listed have already been pointed out.
First, Firefly. A very underrated show.
Second, Space: Above & Beyond, another show that I feel expired before its' time.
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Ya Rl'yeh!
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mud
Draconis Combine
Tai-sho
Joined: 23-Jul-2002 00:00
Posts: 1618
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| Posted: 04-May-2005 00:44 Post subject: RE: Good Science fiction/fantasy |
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A couple more books:
The Elric saga by Michael Moorcock. The source for the alignment system for AD&D, and one of the first "dark" fantasy stories.
Frank Herbert's Dune series. Definitely one of the most original alternate universes ever conceived, and among the most detailed too, rivaling Tolkien's middle earth in complexity. The movies I have mixed feelings about; I love the feel and look of David Lynch's version, but the script was really poor, and the movie simply was not long enough to tell the story. Some of the acting was subpar as well. The new Sci-Fi miniseries version doesn't look as good as Lynch's version, but the script is generally better and the acting is too. I particularly liked William Hurt's Duke Leto Atreides.
The Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends. Why they made that horrid D&D movie a couple of years ago instead of adapting the Chronicles I'll never know. They have the technology, and people would love to see it.
The Iliad by Homer. OK, so it's not exactly what most people consider fantasy or sci-fi, but it's a damn good story nevertheless.
Bruce Sterling's shaper/mechanist short stories.
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