Korean Job Discussion Forums

ernie · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Location: asdfghjk

no NEIL STEPHENSON fans?!
-snowcrash: possibly my all time favorite book
-diamond age
-the baroque cycle trilogy (not really sci-fi but a great read)
-cryptonomicon: takes a little getting into, but incredible, history not sci-fi
-he co-authored another book about political polling but i forget the name
-in the beginning was the command line (non-fiction history of operating systems)[/img]

The Bobster · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Okay, here's my list, at least until I think of someone I've forgotten, and then I'll have to decide who gets bumped to make room ...

William Gibson, The Neuromancer Trilogy, of course. Still remember the first sentence : "The sky was the color of television, tuned to an empty channel."

Kim Stanley Robinson, The Mars Trilogy.

Ursula K. Le Guin, either The Dispossessed or The Lathe of Heaven, with The Left Hand of Darkness a close third. She's somewhat influenced by Taoist thought, and motifs of circularity and duality abound in her best work.

Phillip K Dick, The Man In the High Castle. More Taoism here.

J G Ballard, for his short stories, though I also liked Crash.

Harlan Ellison, for short stories. I think he won some awards for his first-draft screenplay of I, Robot, which was totally scrapped before the movie got made.

Lucius Shepard, Life During Wartime. Americans using drug-enhanced psychic soldiers in a future Central American conflict. Wierd and cool.

Ray Bradbury, short stories, though I enjoyed Dandelion Wine as a kid.

Robert Charles Wilson, Spin.

Rudy Rucker, and his 'Bot Series : Software, Wetware, Freeware, Realware ...

Honorable Mentions (technically, not science fiction writers ... I guess):

Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle.

Chillin' Villain · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: Goo Row

Craven Moorehead · Joined: 14 Jan 2006

Ursula Leguin
H.G. Wells
Harlan Ellison
Asimov
Heinlein

JustJohn · Joined: 18 Oct 2007 Location: Your computer screen

Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury etc. of course...

Everyone's probably read Ender's Game, but if you haven't read Ender's Shadow, the first few chapters are great and worth reading reading even if you know Ender's Game by heart.

A couple awesome ones that are slightly less well known:

Vernor Vinge - Deepness in the Sky
Niven and Pournelle - Mote in God's Eye

Also, just read the first book by Scalzi, and while it's a little lighter than most of the sci-fi I read, it was quite entertaining so I'll say

Scalzi - Old Man's War

Troll_Bait · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:09 pm Post subject:

Czarjorge · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 2:06 am Post subject:

Has anyone read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It was great. And I suppose post apolyptic works as scifi.

ernie · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Location: asdfghjk

i'm reading that right now actually... a good read!

Cheonmunka · Joined: 04 Jun 2004

This is all very well, but how about some links to free online reading of them. Would be much appreciated.

The Bobster · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

skibum80 · Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Location: Austin

Douglas Adams - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

James Blish 'Cities in Flight' trilogy is pretty fantastic. I found the old, late sixties paperback editions collecting heaps of SF back in Canada.

The story is an antigravity device is invented. Earth at this time is low on resources and overpopulated. Cities are domed, sealed underneath, and antigravity devices enable them to lift off and maneuver across the universe, seeking resources and employment.

The Mayor and City Council now have the roles of starship captains. The story follows NewYork, now a flying dome. They sometimes set down on planets to take on resources. Or come across salvage mid-space. Or contract themselves out to perform manufacturing.

The story starts out with the future Mayor of New York, as a boy out walking the fields with his dog, watching a city tear off from its earthly moorings and lift into the sky, then disappear.

SuperHero · Joined: 10 Dec 2003 Location: Superhero Hideout

it's full of stars · Joined: 26 Dec 2007

I love sci-fi, Heinlein was a staple part of my diet, as was Harry Harrison for laughs.

Ian M. Banks, all of his stuff is amazing. But he also writes as Ian Banks and that is good, disturbing, psychological stuff.

William Gibson, I discovered about 6-7 years ago, spent many a happy day slacking to that.

One that I tried by accident was A.A.Attanasio, Radix, story of a fat, disaffected sociopath teenager set on an earth affected by solar radiation and his personal journey of discovery, redemption.

Funky Chunk · Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Location: Haebangchon, Seoul

Huxley's Brave New World has always been one of my favorites.

Though it's a children's novel, Lois Lowry's The Giver is also a great one.

The Shadow Children Sequence by Margaret Peterson Haddix also seems worthwhile. I snagged the first one out of the school library a few days ago. I got hooked and demanded that my boss hurry up and buy the sequel (after ripping apart the library to make sure it wasn't shelved in the wrong place).

For the person who mentioned preferring fantasy to Sci-fi, you may want to check out Piers Anthony. He has a few series that mix the two. While his "Apprentice Adept" series is pretty good, I think that his "Incarnations of Immortality" series is better. Both are 7 book series.