SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I'm looking for some books in settings that are not overly-complex. By overly-complex, I mean something like the Wheel of Time, which did overwhelm me when I started reading it (I've only barely started the first book and can't seem to really get further). I'd like some suggestions for science fiction, as I think I can get around the fantasy genre okay on my own. I've only really gotten into the Hitchhiker series and the Ender/Shadow series, so I need some variety. Thanks for any help.

C,

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.

The first book I thought of was Tobias Buckell's Crystal Rain. It's a stand-alone, but there are other books set in the same universe. It was one of the most fun science fiction novels I read this year.

You might try John Scalzi's Old Man's War and its sequels. Scalzi is one of the most comprehensible science fiction writers today.

Catherine Asaro has a good sci-fi space opera series, as does Lois McMaster Bujold

Thanks for all your suggestions, I will look into them. I don't have a problem with series, but I prefer settings that, at least in the beginning, are either from Earth or somewhat Earth-based, where I have something to relate to. Thanks again!

You might also check out some short stories to find out which authors you prefer. I've long abhorred short stories, preferring novels, but this past summer I needed more variety in my reading, so I picked up some sci-fi collections and loved them. I'm now a pretty big fan of short stories.

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.

You may look into some time travel or alternative history selections if you want a more Earth-based scifi novel. I don't particularly enjoy those sub-genres, so I don't have any suggestions but I know other people will!

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.

If you are looking for light, escapist, series reading, but still thoughtful and well written (avoiding what Haldeman described as the sub-genre of 'nurses tales'), the first I thought of was Brenda Cooper. She co-authored a novel with Larry Niven, and has since started a series that fits the above category. The first one is: The Silver Ship and the Sea

Two words: Harlan Ellison. No one better out there in the field.

Some of the earlier Mike Resnick books might fill the bill - Santiago, Ivory, that vintage.

To discover some more authors, I'd recommend some sci fi collections such as The Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1