Sci-Fi reading in the 21st century?

When I were younger, I liked a bit of Sci-Fi/Fantasy reading, but it's been positively years since I read any fiction at all. In fact, as I recall, the last books I read were by Stephen Donaldson, Harry Harrison, Julian May, Anne McCaffrey, Eric Van Lustbader, Heinlein, Asimov etc etc (Never liked Terry Pratchett).

So you get the feel for what I did read, and I'm feeling in the market now to get into the genre again & I'm looking to the Hexus masiv' for some suggestions & pointers as to what's hot in Sci-Fi/Fantasy reading these days. :undecided

SciFi:
Ian M Banks

Fantasy:
Robin Hobb
Fiona McIntosh
J.V. Jones

Sci Fi:
Neal Stephenson
Peter F Hamilton
Ian M Banks

Fantasy:
George R.R. Martin
Robin Hobb (who is this hobbs Funkstar mentions? :p)

If you don't mind books supposedly written for younger readers, then:
Philip Pullman,
Jonathan Stroud

Aslo Jasper Fforde is good, may not be your thing though. Also read a few Tom Holt books.

I bought a book called Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg that has several shorts by some current sci-fi fantasy authors. Might be worth a look. I haven't read any more from the authors (other than Terry Pratchett) but it was years ago I got it and I wasn't really into high fantasy at the time. keep meaning to re-read it and see what I like.

+1 for Iain M Banks. I am in the same boat at the OP, and Banks' stuff is all I've really followed. If anyone can recommend anyone similar, I'd be very happy :)

FYI - he also writes as Iain Banks without the 'M'. That's his more normal fiction stuff, still worth reading, but probably doesn't fit your criteria.

I like some of the books by the above but I would actually read Dan Simmons above any of them. Illium is a great book but he's done a good few worth reading :)

+1 again for anything written by Iain M Banks
+1 for Peter F Hamilton as long as not the Nights Dawn trilogy as I found the first one very long and a bit heavy, others by him such as Fallen Dragon and the Greg Mandel books are excellent.

Here's another author to throw into the mix. David Feintuch wrote a six book series about Nicholas Seafort which was very readable.

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Originally Posted by GaryRW

FYI - he also writes as Iain Banks without the 'M'. That's his more normal fiction stuff, still worth reading, but probably doesn't fit your criteria.

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Some of the material published under Ian Banks is fairly high fiction as well. It might not exactly be Sc-Fi (not like the Culture series of books, which are pretty awesome) but they can be a pretty demanding read, and very enjoyable too. Worth a look. The Bridge for instance is fantastic.

Probably only just in the Sci-fi genre, but John Wyndham's books are surprisingly relevant today, despite their age (Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos, Chocky, etc).

Also, +1 for Iain M Banks

micheal chricton is the master

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Originally Posted by jimbo90210us

+1 for Peter F Hamilton as long as not the Nights Dawn trilogy as I found the first one very long and a bit heavy, others by him such as Fallen Dragon and the Greg Mandel books are excellent.

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-1 You haven't read Science Fiction until you have read four thousand pages (in three books) worth of science fiction.

Don't forget the Commonwealth and Void series. The Void one is a new one, set a few hundred years after the Commonwealth. For best effect read these series, and the related book, Mispent Youth in the following order:

Mispent Youth --> Commonwealth --> Void.

It's funny to think that Sci-Fi will be a bit pointless a few thousand years in the future, when we have all the fantasy technology we read about in modern novels.

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Originally Posted by glutamate

It's funny to think that Sci-Fi will be a bit pointless a few thousand years in the future, when we have all the fantasy technology we read about in modern novels.

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They will still have Sci-Fi, and they will still treasure the classics. Take 1984 for example, we don't read it for a reflection of what 1984 was like, we read it for a reflection of what 1948 was like.

Big scifi and fantasy fan here, modern and classic. Some of the best I've read over the last few years has been published by the Black Library, they are the literary wing of games workshop. Dan Abnett is one of their best and well worth looking up. Other than those above I would look for

Scifi
Walter John Williams. Hardwired is an excellent cyberpunk novel, and the Praxis series one of the best modern scifi series i have stumbled acros.
William Gibson, start with Neuromancer.
Dune. I actually prfer the modern books over most of the original Frank Herbert ones, start with The Butlerian Jihad.

Fantasy
David Gemmell. Start with Waylander, one of teh best fantasy books around, his Troy series are also excellent, but I cant think of a sile book he wrote I didnt enjoy.
David Eddings. The Belgariad is a good series, along with the Malloreon and the elenium, think he lost his way after that.

have to repeat myself about the games workshop titles, many are excellent, and thats from somebody thats not in to the games. Currently have around 650 books on various shelves and for a group of books these get my vote. Horus Heresy is a good series to start with, or just grab a Dan Ablett title, Titanicus is a good stand alone.

Not a big fan of sci-fi but for fantasy I thoroughly recommend:
Peter Morwood - The Horse Lord, The Demon Lord, The Dragon Lord and The Warlord's Domain. Also His Prince Ivan series and his prequels to the first three, Greylady and Widowmaker.
Mary Gentle's Ash: A Secret History and 1610 Sundial in a Grave.
Kim Newman Anno Dracula, The Bloody Red Baron and Dracula Cha Cha Cha.
Bernard Cornwell's King Arthur series (The Winter King, Enemy of God and Exacalibur) are brilliant too. :)

another +1 for Iain M Banks (Inversions is an oddball as far as the Culture series goes though and Feersum Enjin is by far the hardest book I have ever read)

My personal all-time favorite author though is Brian Lumley....especially the (rather large) Necroscope series of books. It's both SciFi and fantasy, with a heathy dose of horror thrown in for good measure also :)

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Originally Posted by pollaxe

Peter Morwood - The Horse Lord, The Demon Lord, The Dragon Lord

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I remember reading these & thoroughly enjoying them :)

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Originally Posted by glutamate

It's funny to think that Sci-Fi will be a bit pointless a few thousand years in the future, when we have all the fantasy technology we read about in modern novels.

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Originally Posted by nightkhaos

They will still have Sci-Fi, and they will still treasure the classics. Take 1984 for example, we don't read it for a reflection of what 1984 was like, we read it for a reflection of what 1948 was like.

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Agreed -e.g. I think HG Wells is still worth reading (and that goes for the OP if you've never read any of his stuff). It's still good just to see what Wells came up with 100+ years ago, but also interesting for the historical element to it.

Another suggestion that has just occurred to me is the Red/Green/Blue Mars triology by Kim Stanley Robinson. They chart the future history of the colonization of Mars over the course of about 200 years. I read it/them ages ago, but it's always stuck in my mind. I've been meaning to pick up a copy to see if it's as good as I remember. (or whether it'll be like re-watching Spaceballs after many years...)

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Originally Posted by GaryRW

(or whether it'll be like re-watching Spaceballs after many years...)

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Argh... I did that a few months ago. I was very, very, very disapointed.

Greg Bear - Blood Music, Darwins Radio
Dan Simmons - Hyperion Trilogy, Illium
Iain Banks - Culture series

A few classics that have stood the test of time :

Mindswap By Robert Sheckley
Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M Miller
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr
Battlefield Earth by L Ron Hubbard (yes, the scientology chap - good sci fi writer though!)

also the recent 'The Time Traveller's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger, which has to be one of the most imaginative books I've ever read.
And another vote for Iain Banks - I particularly like 'The Wasp Factory'...

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Originally Posted by nightkhaos

-1 You haven't read Science Fiction until you have read four thousand pages (in three books) worth of science fiction.

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Another vote for Peter F Hamilton's The Nights Dawn Trilogy. Currently about a 3rd of the way through book 2. Bit mind bending on place's, but very good read so far, with each book going for 1250 pages, its not light reading.
Read a few Greg Bear, always enjoyed what he's done, currently he's working on the next Halo book :)
Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle. One of my favorite books, The Mote In Gods Eye, so good i had to buy it twice (that will teach me for lending it out)

Fantasy.
Raymond E Feist. Magician series, lots of Magic, Elves etc. Tend to read the series every 2 years or so.

Some very good suggestions listed here, will need to stop playing wow and catch up on some books instead.

Orson Scott Card - The Ender series.

I've been a Fantasy and Science Fiction nut ever since I was a kid; my mum got me the Hobbit to read and I saw Star Wars as my first trip to the cinema (that I remember at least). Over the years I've read just about anything I could get my hands on, and from my perspective overall quality has gone down. Thats not to say that there aren't some great writers out there as there are some I would stack up against the greats like Tolkien or Asimov, but there are less that are worth reading that are being published now.

As to why thats hard to say, but considering that when it comes to sales against asanine z-list autobiographies these genres seem to struggle, it may just be that publishers aren't that bothered. In Sci-Fi's heyday the americans were putting men on the moon so it captured the publics attention, plus with more of it now on TV the average person would probably rather watch that than read a book.

But as I said there are some really great authors out there, so those I would recommend are as follows;

Ian M Banks - though some of it is rather quirky
Neal Stephenson - Everything from cyberpunk (Snowcrash) to Historical Fantasy (Quicksilver), my personal favourite is Cryptonomicron (but I like maths:crazy:)
Richard Morgan - Altered Carbon and the subsequent books with Takeshi Kovacs are outstanding (going the route of looking at how technology affects us as humans)
Peter F Hamilton - I love his soace opera stuff like Lights Dawn, but you have to be prepared to read long books with lots of multiple threads and plots, his shorter works are good as well
George R R Martin - A Song of Fire and Ice trilogy is as good as Tolkien for high fantasy
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time is great to start off but starts to lose its way by about book six or seven

There are other books out there by authors who have been publishing for a while, but have trended to lose their way more recently. Best examples would be Raymond E Feist and David Gemmel, as I've read their early stuff countless times but their new stuff puts me to sleep.

As a one off book Cyteen by C J Cherryh is one of the most thoughtful books I've read in ages, I did hear that a sequel is coming out but I've not got round to checking it out.

Finally if you haven't read any of his books then Wiliam Gibson is a must starting with Neuromancer, he is the grandfather of cyberpunk and is recognised as the first man to envision Cyberspace :bowdown:

Lots of good stuff here to help my Amazon wish list grow. In case they haven't been mentioned, can I also suggest these authors:

• Bruce Sterling - and also "The Difference Engine" written with William Gibson
• Kim Stanley Robinson - particularly the trilogy Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars

Just spotted GaryRW recommending the Mars trilogy, but still +1 for that.

I also just finished Matter by Iain M Banks, which was very good but still hasn't topped Excession as my favourite of his.

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Originally Posted by Phage

Greg Bear - Blood Music, Darwins Radio
Dan Simmons - Hyperion Trilogy, Illium
Iain Banks - Culture series

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+1 for Darwin's Radio. Very much enjoyed the core idea of it (and the human reactions to it) even if some parts of the side story / dialogue were a bit weak.

I really enjoyed one of the (lesser known?) Arthur C Clarke collaborations - "The Trigger" by Clarke / Michael McDowell:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trigger-Arth...9337365&sr=1-4

Though it's worth noting there's no space faring or aliens in it as you might imagine for a Clarke book.

On a similar note I really liked "Time's Eye" - the first book in the Time Odyssey series though it has to be said I didn't think the 2nd and 3rd book lived up to it - and again on a similar note I really like the first Rama book (Rendezvous with Rama).

And if you haven't already read it Greg Bear's Eon is great - proper big idea stuff.

Peter F Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy is probably my favourite ever series of books, bar none. I am a voracious reader, and they'd probably be hard to keep track of if you read slowly, but I have found very few other books have the depth and interest to really capture me intellectually (sorry for sounding like a pompous ass...)

His other material rocks too!

Gah ! - Can't believe I forgot Eon and Eternity. Brilliant stuff.
Also +1 for Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle. Another great read is 'The Heart of the Comet'.

I do have the entire William Gibson collection. I think his last two are a return to form as well Idoru and Pattern Recognition.

And then there is my favourite book of all time from which I took my nom de web.
Metrophage by Richard Kadrey. It's not a serious book, but rather in the style of Snowcrash it takes recognisable themes and has fun with them.

Fantasy:
Mervin King, thou some of it is a bit far fetched for my liking, too much of the Darling influence.

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Originally Posted by Kata

Peter F Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy is probably my favourite ever series of books, bar none. I am a voracious reader, and they'd probably be hard to keep track of if you read slowly, but I have found very few other books have the depth and interest to really capture me intellectually (sorry for sounding like a pompous ass...)

His other material rocks too!

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also +1 for the nights dawn trilogy
superb books can be a little hard going at times doesn't quite have the fluency of frank herbert but very good books nonetheless,

if you have ever read the the original DUNE books you ahould pick up the more recent ones done by his son and kevin anderson not as good as the originals but still good nonetheless and theres a good few to read

Neil Gaiman and Terry Good kind, although I'm not sure whether you would put neil gaiman in fantasy or not, both good writers though. I love a bit of Terry Pratchett too, but I'm not sure whether you want humour with your fantasy!

I don't read much for pleasure myself, but my wife reads a lot, is very discerning, and has recently got into John Scalzi - I believe he's quite Heinlein-esque... and if my wife likes him, that's usually a good recommendation ;)

I'd personally look at the neuromancer by william gibson, its lighter then most to read and i personally quite enjoyed it, if you like his style you can also look at count zero and mona lisa smile which are also very good + the burning chrome series, basically a load of his short works that are nice easy reads.

If you after some seriously heavy reading look at the otherland series by tad williams, its 4 books at roughly 900-1000 pages each last time.

I can't believe no-one has mentioned Alastair Reynolds yet in this thread!

My two favourite Sci-Fi authors are Alastair Reynolds and Peter F Hamilton. Both absolutely superb... I don't think I could choose an overall favourite between them, despite their books/styles being quite different.

Oh, and another well-deserved mention is Richard Morgan. His first major book - Altered Carbon - is absolutely superb. The second and third books that follow on (the Kovacs series) are not quite as good in my opinion, but still worth reading.

+1 for Iain M Banks
+1 for John Wyndham
Also H.G Wells has written a great collection of short stories, definitely worth checking those out, not all sci-fi though

A thought just occured that if you haven't already get the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series, you won't regret it.

George R R Martin gets a +1 from me.