What is your favorite SF book?

[Reanok]

Jules verne Around the world in 80 days, 20,000 leagues under the sea, From the earth to the moon and it's sequeal. Susan Cooper the Prince of Ill luck series. Andre Norton's The Gryphon trilogy from the Witchworld series and alot of other books she wrote.Timothy Zahn's Star wars books.Mark Twain A Coneticut yankee in King Author's Court.Charles DeLint MoonHeart.Jody Lynn Nye's Mythology 101 series.Patricia Kennealy King Author Trilogy that's part of her Keltiad series.Diane Duane's non trek books.

[evcake]

I am a huge fan of Susan Cooper. I recently gave my Dark is Rising hardbacks to my niece. I'll probably regret that... I like the Witchworld books too, the early ones especially.

Nowadays, though, I don't have much patience with witches and wizards unless they inhabit the Discworld.

[Reanok]

Susan Cooper is a good author. I like Robert Asprin stories Myth Inc are funny fractured fairy tales. I haven't read Terry pratchet's books. But I've heard others say they're funny.I only like Norton's earlier Gryphon trilogy and her earlier books her stories became like a broken record in her later series.

[prisocisor]

Two of mine have been taken already?! :

Dune (ah gentle nostalgia) and,
A Connecticut Yankee in King Author's Court

Also:

The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin

And, for those who mistakenly consider Vonnegut Sci-Fi:

Anything by Kurt Vonnegut!

And I just LOVE to HATE all things Piers Anthony... So many wasted hours...

I also love much of Asimov's work...

I'll stop now...

I could go on...

and on...

[prisocisor]

Ekayak and I just LOVE Susan Cooper

[enterprikayak]

Though JK Rowling definitely has her own universe and style now, who agrees with me'n Prisocisor that Harry Potter #1 was just a big, huge combo of Roald Dahl and Susan Cooper?

[evcake]

You know, I never thought of it that way, but you may be right. Although Dahl's humor doesn't seem to be in evidence anywhere. Well, maybe just a little - earwax-flavored jelly beans. Harry and Matilda...yes, I can see that. I loved Matilda. Libraries have always been a big part of my life. I thought the film that was made of Matilda was wonderful.


Ursula Leguin - I wondered if she would turn up. I read most of the Hain cycle books. My favorite was City of Illusion, admittedly a much less complex book that the Dispossessed. But my heart belongs to Earthsea.

[JadziaKathryn]

Has anyone read anything by John G. Hemry? I've read two of his books that are more or less JAG in space, and they're good. I think all of you military types (you know who you are!) would like them because it's the US Navy in space. Hemry also wrote a series about war that I'm not so into getting my hands on, but I liked A Just Determination and Burden of Proof a lot.

[Hondafan]

I have a lot of favorites.
C.J.Cherryh- I stumbled across her books last summer and I think her characters are incredible.
Julian May- I started reading some of her stuff in highschool.
Kim Stanley Robinson- I read the Mars' series then I read The Years of Rice and Salt.
Anne Rice- Some of her new stuff isnt that great but the older stuff is pretty good. My favorite is Queen of the damned, then Blood and Gold.
Frank Herbert- Some of it is great and some is ughhhhh.
Tom Clancy- cause Im a sucker for a spy book.

[prisocisor]

Yay Evcake! : Ain't nothing wrong with Earthsea

How about The Handmaids Tale by Margret Atwood... Awesome book! Would you call this Sci-Fi? Future, yes... but far more socially driven than technologically... Still...

I also really like the Cat series by Joan D. Vinge... especially Cat's Paw...


Damn... I'll shut-up now.

[evcake]

I would call The Handmaid's Tale speculative fiction, so it's still SF.
I haven't read Joan D Vinge since Snow Queen. The Cat series looks promising - I just reserved them - our system has all three.

[Linda]

It is good to see Ursula Le Guin's name appear in this thread more than once. I like anything by her, but my absolute all-time favorite SF (and actually, any) novel is The Left Hand of Darkness. Its the mythical-poetic lover in me, I guess. And the wonder of the creation of a whole culture based on a type of physical imparative. In this case, hermaphrodite culture. And the very poignent loss of a friend near the end, where the friend does not live to realize the vindication of his trust in this alien Human who says he is from another world.

[enterprikayak]

I'm halfway thru the day of the triffids again. had to read it after I mentioned it.

The Cat series looks promising - I just reserved them - our system has all three

The first one is thin and almost for younger readers, then the second one is quite different...still a continuation of the same story, but a more regular novel-length and seemingly aimed at older readers. Then the 3rd one is entirely different again, in plot and almost genre. I'll be interested in what you think evcake!

[evcake]

the wonder of the creation of a whole culture based on a type of physical imparative
now, why does that sound familiar?

[Linda]

Familiar? Yeah, there is a theme running through me that I never quite am free of: the addiction to ST, especially Vulcans. I think this is true of a lot of us who frequent this board, right?

For instance, I am 'reading' this historical novel on book tape on the long bus ride to work called 'Pompeii' by Robert Harris. The protagonist is an engineer on the acqueduct system that supplies several towns including Pompeii. It is two days before the eruption of Vesuvius and there seems to be a break in the acqueduct; the water has stopped flowing into the fountains in several towns. It is also close to the day of celebration day of the god Vulcan.

Now that got my devious mind working...what if...a Vulcan ship has crashed in Italy and there is an alien witness to the fate of Pompeii? Could the alien visitor have done something to save some people? Or did he? What did he think of the mythology surrounding a god named Vulcan? Then jumping centuries ahead, did Trip Tucker study the great engineering projects of ancient Rome during his engineering training? Did he study whatever the Vulcans allowed about their own engineering systems in cities on their homeworld? Did Enterprise in its exploration phase come across a deserted planet with an intact city where Trip could study the heating, lighting, and water systems?

Sorry, folks, this is just the way my mind wanders off into fantasy while never straying far from my favorite alien culture! It is the duel curse/blessing of my nature!