need a reccommendation.. sci fi?

i read ALOT... problem with that is i run out of books often. I am scraping the bottom of the barrel for authors... need help with some recommendations.

currently on an audio book kick. so if it can be found on audible.com all the better.

favorite authors -

Heinlein - read everything he has written at least twice.
William R. Forstchen - the "Rally Cry" series was excellent... i recommend it if you havent read it.
Larry Niven - big fan of the beowulfs children books...
Larry Corriea - Just finished the mhi and grimnoir books - EXCELLENT... if there are more books in the mhi style from other authors please reccommend.
Jack Vance - classic.
ERB - who didnt want to be like John Carter growing up?
Preston & Child - think i have read all of these authors offerings as well.

That is a good starting point. Im looking for stuff with either monsters, aliens, firearms, humor and a good story with characters i can connect with. Not really interested in political overtones or too much seriousness.

anyone want to help out with some recs?

I'm not much of a sci-fi reader but I ran out of books on deployment and my buddy gave me these.

Armor by John Steakley
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

Vernor Vinge, all of his books that I have read are great.
William Gibson has a written a lot of good sci fi books.
Neal Stephenson is a great writer but has a very particular nerdy writing style that not everybody likes.

The Old Man's War series by John Scalzi- seriously, it's one of the best I've ever read.

Michael Z. Williamson

David Weber

John Ringo

Travis Taylor

Tom Kratman


ETA: Jack Campbell

Especially the Honor Harrington series by Weber.

The Hammer's Slammers series by David Drake is also entertaining.

i see the old man series on audible.. ill check that out.. seems interesting.

If you read like me, maintaining a constant supply of books is difficult.

Here's some suggestions

The Old Man's War series is excellent as is Scalzi's other books "The Androids Dream" and "Agent To the Stars".
In "The Androids Dream" aliens demand Earth hand over a rare blue sheep. There's a bit of a problem with just what the sheep really is. An Earth agent is assigned to work the issue. Aliens soon regret making demands.
In "Agent To the Stars" a Hollywood agent has the problem of introducing blob-like aliens to Earth without causing a panic. He earns his 10%.

"The Man Who Never Missed" series is great.
A former soldier decides to bring down an interstellar empire gone rogue. His weapons: Dart guns glued to the back of the hand that paralyze and a martial art known as "the 97 Steps".
Books in the series are,
The Man Who Never Missed.
Matadora
The Machiavelli Interface.
The Albino Knife.
Black Steel
Brother Death
The 97th Step
The Musashi Flex

For a good laugh, the "John Justin Mallory" books by Mike Resnick.
John Justin Mallory is a New York private eye who finds himself in a different New York where things are a little off this New York. It wouldn't be so bad if the street goblins were selling something you'd want to buy on your way down to the Vampire State building.
Books are "Stalking the Unicorn", "Stalking the Vampire", and "Stalking the Dragon".
Also his book "Ivory" is good. It concerns a far future hunt for the biggest elephant tusks that ever existed.

Tom Kratman's books are excellent. He's started a series about an earth-like planet in the far future that has some of the same problems we have today. Namely, Progressives and Islamics out to rule the world.
"A Desert Called Peace" and "Carnifex" are the first two and can be read as a two book series that stands alone.
In that future world, Islamics kill the wife and children of former soldier Patrick Hennessey in a very 9-11 attack.
The problem for the Islamics: Hennessey is very rich and just may not be entirely sane.
He fights his wars by a strict adherence to the formal Rules of War, which includes shooting news reporters as spies.

David Weber's "Safehold" series is about humanity defeated in a war with aliens and the small remainder that hide on a world by giving up all technology. They've come to live under a corrupt church.
A cyborg from the past is determined to free humanity to go back to the stars. To do so, he has to give forbidden technology to a world locked into a 17th century culture.
"Off Armageddon Reef", "By Schism Rent Asunder", "A Mighty Fortress", "By Heresies Distressed" and the forthcoming "How Firm A Foundation".

Eric Flint's "Belisarius" series is very good.
There are six books in the series, all now compiled into three books.
Far future "gods" send a cyborg into the past to alter mans history by enslaving them. To do this, they'll build an empire of Indian war lords that will defeat the world. Other forces send a mysterious crystal intelligence to stop them. The fight for the future takes place in a late Roman empire and is fought by Roman general Belisarius, who thinks at strange angles no one else can guess. Great battles, delightful flummoxing of the enemy.
"Thunder At Dawn", "Storm At Noontide", and "Flames At Sunset".

David Weber's "In Death Ground" and "The Shiva Option".
Mankind meets bug-like aliens. They consider us nothing but food. It's a brutal no-quarter war to the finish, and they're winning.

Totally forgot Steve Perry. Excellent books.

Yeah, I enjoyed those as well (although not as much as OMW!).

Have you read The God Engines? Very dark, but it's excellent. It's a short story.
His new one, Fuzzy Nation is pretty good too, certainly worth a read.

Huge +1 on Kratman, the third book is called the Lotus Eaters.....I highly recommend the trilogy.

Huge +1 on Belisarius as well.......Deadly with a blade is Belisarius......and Anastasius and Valentinian are pretty damn handy with them too.

I didn't know there were more books in the Safehold series......I loved Armageddon Reef. Looks like a trip to the library is in order.


I also have to add another recommendation for John Ringo....take your pick....either the Posleen War series (plenty of weapons and wisecracks to go around) or the Imperial Marines/Prince Roger series (different weapons, still plenty of wisecracks) and Michael Z. Williamson's Freehold series. Williamson is a member here. There's a little bit of politics in them, but I think you'll be refreshingly surprised at the slant.

ETA: You like Larry Correia, what about the Monster Hunter International books? or is that too present day?

Some of the best books ive read in awhile. I want to preorder "alpha" but im not sure where ill be when it comes out. ill probably pre order it anyways.

You know, I'm not really sure. It's about this guy who scouts out planets for this mining corporation and discovers this race of small sentient beings.

eBook is out now at webscriptions.

http://www.webscription.net/p-1416-monster-hunter-alpha.aspx

Besides some up above, have you read Joe Halderman's The Forever War? Or how about Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn Trilogy? The first one is more hard sci-fi while the second is more like a detective novel with all kinds of bizarre shit. It's set in the Warhammer 40k universe but is nowhere near as bad as most of their novels usually are.

woah your telling me you dont know about fuzzy sapiens? its the original. that book you recc'ed was a tribute book.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Fuzzy-H-Beam-Piper/dp/0441005810/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311035559&sr=1-1

there is the complete collection.. highest recommendation.. although i prefer the individual books to a complete collection.. easier to hold while reading. you can probably pick them up on amazon super cheap.

technically little fuzzy is the first book btw.

forever war was.. ok.

forever peace .. i think it was called that.. the sequel.. i couldnt get through.. it just was kinda bleh.

I liked "Forever War" but he just lost me after that.

Scalzi's "Little Fuzzy" is a hoot. Talk about legal gymnastics and courtroom trickery.
Scalzi's "God Engines" is actually a Novelia not a full book and it's DARK. It's about as far away from his other works as he can get. It's like having John Wayne suddenly turn up in a bloody vampire movie.

While Scalzi, Flint, Weber, Drake, Kratman and others are keeping Sci-Fi alive in a world that's being taken over by women authors doing vampire, werewolf, and assorted demon novels, there is some of the older work that still stands up that many people haven't found.
Here's some recommendations for some high-end works that I can more then recommend.

"Cobra" by Timothy Zahn. There are several book in the series and he's currently adding to the series with new books.
"Cobra" is by far the best and I've stopped reading the newer books. Cobra is about a group of cyborg soldiers enhanced with unbreakable bones, laser weapons in their hands and leg, various enhanced vision and hearing upgrades, a wide range of other internally carried weapons, and a computer grafted into their brains that runs it all.
They have super speed, super strength, and the training to use it all with terrifying effect.
They fight a successful war against an alien race, but there's a problem..... Once the wars over, how do you allow a soldier to go home with incredibly destructive weapons that can't be removed and a computer that can decide on it's own to attack if it feels there's a threat?

"The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester.
A classic about an almost animal like man left for dead in space like trash. He remakes himself and goes after whoever left him to die.

"Who?" by Algis Budrys.
A classic about a scientist working on a secret project near the Soviets. There's an explosion at the site and the Soviets "rescue" the scientist. Years later they give him back. Or do they?
What we get back is a man with a featureless steel head and a mechanical arm. There's no way to positively identify him, or to be sure he is who he says he is, and hasn't been brain washed. He's desperately needed for the project, but how can you trust something like this.

"Killer" by David Drake.
In ancient Rome an alien space craft crashes and an alien animal?? escapes. The Roman Emperor wants it for the arena and orders a Roman who traps animals for the arena to capture it. The animal isn't quite an animal and if it breeds, earth will be wiped out. In the mix, an alien who was transporting the animal illegally to HIS arena and wants it back.

"The I Inside" by Alan Dean Foster.
An ordinary man sees a woman passing by in a limo and for some reason he can't understand he's compelled to find her at all cost. Powerful forces try to stop him, and he discovers that he has super strength and other powers he didn't know he had.

"The Death World Trilogy" by Harry Harrison.
A gambler is hired to investigate why a world is deliberately trying to kill it's colonizers. They're heavy worlders with great strength and pistols worn on the forearm that snap into the hand with a thought, but the world is winning.

"Single Combat" "Systemic Shock", and "Wild Country" by Dean Ing.
In a post apocalyptic America an agent of the new government trouble shoots their problems. He does a very good job. He better, he has a bomb in his head to make sure he does.
It's quite a ride with assorted killers, guns that cut the finger off unauthorized users and a really giant and VERY smart boar hog ranging the Southwest.

"Way Station" by Clifford Simak.
A man fought in the Civil War, but now days he runs a secret transfer station for traveling aliens. Things are going well until a Federal agent, some violent Billy Bobs, a strange mentally handicapped girl, and an alien power struggle all come to his station.

"The Probability Broach" and "The Venus Belt" by L. Neil Smith.
A hilarious Libertarian romp. A burned out American Indian Denver cop is blown into another world. Things are kind of strange. He hasn't seen everyone including children wearing guns on the street before. That's nothing, the gorillas and chimps are carrying guns too.
With people like "Tricky Dick" Millhouse, Baron Manfred Von Richthofen, Clint Westwood, Marion Michael Morrison, and some evil Federalist trying to establish a powerful and anti-freedom government, the cop is glad he carries a S&W Model 57 in .41 Magnum.

The science fiction novels by F. Paul Wilson. He usually writes horror and the "Repairman Jack" novels but these are classics.
"Healer" An immortal man tries to survive living forever with an intelligent parasite named "Pard" in his head, and battles an alien force that drives people mad. For the showdown he arms himself with a Ibizan double barreled full-auto shotgun with number 8 end-over-end cylindrical shot.

"Wheels Within Wheels" A wealth mans son is dead on an alien planet under strange circumstances. He and his estranged daughter investigate and find a man who can kill with his mind.

"An Enemy of the State". What happens when a strict Libertarian planet has to defend itself from an expansionist big government planet. Some rather uncomfortable parallels with the current government in Washington.
Introduces the concept of "KYFHO"...Keep Your F***ing Hands Off. There are two forms. The planet Toliver's version is KYFHO...Or we'll move away.
The planet Flint's version is KYFHO.... or we'll KILL you.

All these are in separate books or compiled in the book "The LaNague Chronicles".

Guess not...I was only introduced to the Fuzzies through Scalzi...I only read Fuzzy Nation because I liked OMW so much. Guess I'll have to check it out, thanks!

Freehold by Michael Z Williamson.



Anything by Terry Goodkind


Through the Looking Glass by John Ringo also very good.

I just saw another of his books on the new release shelf at B&N. I was not impressed. Big company taking advantage of small guy (literally this time the small guy is a small alien).

But The Old Man's War is one I need to pick back that was excellent!

I think you're talking about Fuzzy Nation. Good read actually, not as good as OMW (but really, not much is!) but worth a read IMO.

im listening to the audio book of OMW now..

great so far.. im definitely interested.


thanks for all the rec's guys.. feel free to keep them coming, i still have alot of life left in me, plenty of time to read!

David Brin for hard core science

Frank Hurbert - Dune -

I'll name some more but need to get dinner ready for the kids.

Good rec, I totally forgot about David Brin. His short story collections are fantastic!

When you get a chance, will you recommend some of his full lenth novels?

The ring of fire series: a small town from west virginia is transported back to the year 1631 in the middle of war torn germany. A great series, with a bunch of books. Get it.

Jerry Pournelle had the Flakenberg Legion series and War World series.

David Drake's RCN series is probably my all time favorite. With the Lightnings is the first. The first two or three are available for free download on webscription.net

I also liked the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. I would start with The Warrior's Apprentice, which is also available for free download at webscription.net

Both of those series have quite a few novels, so they could keep you busy for a little while at least. I read 1-2 books a week and Bujold kept me occupied for months.

+1 on the Honor Harrington series. First two are available for free download.

It was 1632 btw.

I've enjoyed the works of Jack Campbell, E.E. Knight, the late David Gemmel and Mike Shepherd.

Don't forget the works of the late David Eddings. He is excellent!


Vulcan94

Copyright © 1996 - 2013 :: AR15.Com LLC :: All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.