[QuickTidal]

Thirding Amph's recommendation for Scalzi and seconding Morgan. Yup yup!

[King Bear]

Thanks everyone

I've looked up most of your recommendations and have decided on these:

Revelation Space
Old Man's War
The Dread Empire's Fall
The Dragon Never Sleeps

I'll check out Watt online too.

I may not read all of the above, depending on when my space opera craving is satisfied.

Simmons, Cherryh, Webber, Vance and Bester I'm saving for my next foray into sci-fi.

Feels refreshing to get into a different genre after reading pretty much only fantasy for about 5 years.

[amphibian]

Bombur, on 30 March 2011 - 01:37 AM, said:

Feels refreshing to get into a different genre after reading pretty much only fantasy for about 5 years.

Like Irravel Veda chasing after her sleepers, the search for excellent books never ends. We're lucky that there's enough out there that it takes a good chunk of a lifetime to get to most of them.

(Alistair Reynolds fans, unite!)

[ansible]

Never read any Reynolds. Or most of the authors listed here, actually. I should take a look at them sometime...

I haven't read much space opera, but I would recommend Dune, Hyperion, and The Night's Dawn Trilogy. All excellent. I also enjoyed Foundation but it is a bit different (mostly due to the short story structure, as someone said).

EDIT: I see the OP has read most of my short list... Oh well.

This post has been edited by ansible: 30 March 2011 - 05:57 PM

[King Bear]

ansible, on 30 March 2011 - 05:56 PM, said:

Never read any Reynolds. Or most of the authors listed here, actually. I should take a look at them sometime...

I haven't read much space opera, but I would recommend Dune, Hyperion, and The Night's Dawn Trilogy. All excellent. I also enjoyed Foundation but it is a bit different (mostly due to the short story structure, as someone said).

EDIT: I see the OP has read most of my short list... Oh well.

lol thanks though. I plan to read Hyperion sometime since it seems to have pretty much universal love.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Illuyankas, on 29 March 2011 - 06:46 PM, said:

I read some of those. They are horrendous.

How so?
Albeit, I read them over 4 years ago, but I didn't think they were that bad.

[caladanbrood]

Finally got around to starting The Prefect - it's been staring at me for a while. It's the only paperback Reynolds I haven't read yet, so this thread has inspired me to read it before Terminal World is released in PB

[Use Of Weapons]

Also check out:

Octavia Butler: Xenogenesis Trilogy (aka Lilith's Brood)
Justina Robson: Natural History
Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle: The Mote In God's Eye and sequel The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye
Greg Bear: Eon and Eternity
Cordwainer Smith: The Instrumentality of Mankind; Norstrilia

[busy monster]

caladanbrood, on 29 March 2011 - 01:19 PM, said:

Chasm City is Reynold's best book. And fairly rare in the genre in that it is completely stand-alone, even if it is in the same universe as some of his others. That is definitely the author's strength, his best books are outside his Revelation Space series. House of Suns and Pushing Ice are my next two favourites after Chasm City, and all three are standalone. I can't wait until Terminal World is out in paperback in the next month or so, it looks awesome.

Chasm City is a seriously awesome book, one of my favorites in the genre.

I also can't suggest Glen Cook's Passage At Arms highly enough. It takes place within the Starfishers universe, but I THINK it takes place far before the events of the Starfishers Trilogy. It was another really good, really impressive book.

[King Bear]

busy monster, on 04 April 2011 - 03:19 PM, said:

caladanbrood, on 29 March 2011 - 01:19 PM, said:

Chasm City is Reynold's best book. And fairly rare in the genre in that it is completely stand-alone, even if it is in the same universe as some of his others. That is definitely the author's strength, his best books are outside his Revelation Space series. House of Suns and Pushing Ice are my next two favourites after Chasm City, and all three are standalone. I can't wait until Terminal World is out in paperback in the next month or so, it looks awesome.

Chasm City is a seriously awesome book, one of my favorites in the genre.

I also can't suggest Glen Cook's Passage At Arms highly enough. It takes place within the Starfishers universe, but I THINK it takes place far before the events of the Starfishers Trilogy. It was another really good, really impressive book.

All I've read of Cook is the Black Company. I enjoyed that and I'm looking forward to his sci-fi. I have The Dragon Never Sleeps on order.

[Pig Iron]

Passage At Arms is about submarines in space, good military sf.

[amphibian]

caladanbrood, on 29 March 2011 - 01:19 PM, said:

Chasm City is Reynold's best book. And fairly rare in the genre in that it is completely stand-alone, even if it is in the same universe as some of his others. That is definitely the author's strength, his best books are outside his Revelation Space series. House of Suns and Pushing Ice are my next two favourites after Chasm City, and all three are standalone. I can't wait until Terminal World is out in paperback in the next month or so, it looks awesome.

Terminal World - excellent. There's some elements similar to that of Mieville's Perdido Street Station and The Scar in terms of features and even plotting, but Reynolds makes it all his own and delivers a wonderful book.

[QuickTidal]

I'm looking fwd to Reynolds new trilogy start BLUE REMEMBERED EARTH.

My buddy returned GALACTIC NORTH to me two days ago and for shits I re-read the Galiana/Clavain/Felka short story THE GREAT WALL OF MARS and realized the absolute and sheer genius of it on the reread. Probably one of the most succinct and interesting things Reynolds has written in short fiction (if not THE best)

I have HOUSE OF SUNS, and ZERO BLUE awaiting me too, as I've not yet read them...and I want to get THE PREFECT.

[amphibian]

Zima Blue?

[McLovin]

Do they even make that anymore?

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 05 April 2011 - 08:12 PM, said:

Zima Blue?

Dammit! Yeah, duh...I meant Zima Blue...Thanks for the correction, my brain is not working properly today.

[caladanbrood]

QuickTidal, on 05 April 2011 - 04:39 PM, said:

I have HOUSE OF SUNS, and ZERO BLUE awaiting me too, as I've not yet read them...and I want to get THE PREFECT.

House of Suns is probably my second favourite Reynolds, after Chasm City. Recommend giving it a go as soon as you can.

Currently about 100 pages into The Prefect. I had heard some reviews that said it wasn't as good as earlier books, but I am finding it very enjoyable so far!

[Use Of Weapons]

It's been a while since I read it, but isn't House of Suns the first in a series, rather than a standalone?

[caladanbrood]

Not that I know of... though suddenly I hope so, it was awesome and I want more!!

[QuickTidal]

caladanbrood, on 06 April 2011 - 09:41 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 05 April 2011 - 04:39 PM, said:

I have HOUSE OF SUNS, and ZERO BLUE awaiting me too, as I've not yet read them...and I want to get THE PREFECT.

House of Suns is probably my second favourite Reynolds, after Chasm City. Recommend giving it a go as soon as you can.

Currently about 100 pages into The Prefect. I had heard some reviews that said it wasn't as good as earlier books, but I am finding it very enjoyable so far!

Cool, thanks for the endorsement.

Yeah, I read the first chapter of The Prefect in the store long before I'd read any other Reynolds and even though I only read that section to see if I liked his writing, I still really enjoyed it.