SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
Members' Chat
>
Recommendations please
date
newest »
![Down arrow](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/down_arrow-1e1fa5642066c151f5e0136233fce98a.gif)
message 1:
by
Cassie
(new)
Dec 07, 2008 10:57AM
![Cassie (cassielo) | 35 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1266016088p1/1460829.jpg)
reply
|
flag
![Terence (spocksbro)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1555890512p1/1019174.jpg)
Just off the top of my head, I'd recommend Iain Banks. Most of his SF takes place in a galactic polity known as The Culture but they're all standalone novels and you don't have to start in any particular place or have read any previous ones.
My favorites are Consider Phlebas, the first published (as far as I know) and Player of Games.
Oh, and C.J. Cherryh's Union/Alliance books. They all take place in the same milieu but most are standalones or (at worst) trilogies. The place to start here is with Downbelow Station.
![Sandi (sandikal)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1404709147p1/811687.jpg)
You might try John Scalzi's Old Man's War and its sequels. Scalzi is one of the most comprehensible science fiction writers today.
![Cassie (cassielo) | 35 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1266016088p1/1460829.jpg)
![Danielle (queentess)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1417667677p1/1215194.jpg)
As far as compilations go, to get started I'd recommend Orson Scott Card's Masterpieces The Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century or any of The Road to Science Fiction collections edited by James Gunn. (I especially enjoyed book 3.)
Since you like Card's style, you might also check out Foundation by Asimov. Card says this series is what inspired him to write, and I haven't been steered wrong by Card yet.
![Jensownzoo | 200 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1256839468p1/1571381.jpg)
If you want straightforward, Earth-based novels, quite a few classics might work: The War of the Worlds, The Caves of Steel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Fahrenheit 451, to name a handful. If those are too easy, you might try Oryx and Crake or The City and the Stars.
![Nick (ndoerrabbott) | 55 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1545783280p1/993553.jpg)
![Eric Flynn (ericflynn) | 6 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1303922190p1/1112962.jpg)
Books mentioned in this topic
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964 (other topics)Empire of Ivory (other topics)
Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future (other topics)
The Silver Ship and the Sea (other topics)
The City and the Stars (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
James E. Gunn (other topics)Lois McMaster Bujold (other topics)
Catherine Asaro (other topics)