Sci-Fi Recommendations - for the unenlightened

[Shinya]

I've read Baxter's Xeelee and co-works with Clarke, and Hamilton's mindstar rising in Japanese translation, but recent stories I haven't known sounds like great hard SF.
Thanks: I'll try NASA Trilogy and Night's Dawn.

[Connavar]

I recommend Richard Morgan Takeshi Kovacs books. A great cyberpunk series.

[Shinya]

Originally Posted by Connavar of Rigante

I recommend Richard Morgan Takeshi Kovacs books. A great cyberpunk series.

Thanks, but...
I tried to read it in Japanese translation, but the name of protagonist reminded me a famous comedian and I couldn't be serious.
I'm very sorry, but I think the author should've checked carefully for the name. Most Japanese readers share this problem...

[Simian]

To the list of classics already mentioned in this thread, I would like to add From These Ashes - The Complete Short SF of Fredric Brown. A pretty definitive collection of stories by one of the greatest (and most criminally overlooked) practitioners of short form SF the genre has ever produced. Brown had the uncanny ability to go from funny to terrifying (and back again) in the space of a single sentence, and a knack for writing stories which stay in the mind long after you have finished reading them.

[FRANKTYM]

Originally Posted by knivesout

Eek. Sorry abt Wells - I sort of take the lad for granted. And Moreau is my favourite of his books, too. Come to think of it, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and some of EA Poe's stories probably ought to be considered part of a through SF reading program too. And it's all fun!!!

Personally I avoid SW/ST franchise fiction like the plague. Others are less fastidious.

Odd, read the book after seeing several of the Frankenstein movies. Surprised me how the book actually had me sympathizing with the Monster. Checked the mirror to see whether it was based on similarity in appearance.
Nope.
The Monster's much prettier.
Well, give or take a little.

[Zubi-Ondo]

Originally Posted by Shinya

I've read Baxter's Xeelee and co-works with Clarke, and Hamilton's mindstar rising in Japanese translation, but recent stories I haven't known sounds like great hard SF.
Thanks: I'll try NASA Trilogy and Night's Dawn.

You might also try: Stealing Light - Gary Gibson. A new British author.
Set in the future ~600 years, kind of an unlikely hero type story. I enjoyed it enough to give it 4 stars ****.

- Z.

[Connavar]

I highly recommend Kesrith by CJ Cherryh. She might be famous SF writer but i hear from her fans that Faded Sun isnt her best series, still i recommend the first book.

[Zubi-Ondo]

Originally Posted by Shinya

I especially appreciate If you could recommend short stories.
Thanks.

I just noticed that you asked about short stories. There are 3 big sources I know that are great for SF short story collections:

Gardner R Dozois...
The Year's Best Science Fiction ... - Google Book Search

David G. Hartwell...
Amazon.com: Year's Best SF 12 (Year's Best Sf): David G. Hartwell,Kathryn Cramer: Books

Short stories by individual authors...
Category:Science fiction short story collections - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hope those help!

- Z.

[The Procrastinator]

I don't think this one has been mentioned yet, though others of his have (but I can't resist mentioning this one as I love it so):

Arthur C. Clarke Rendezvous with Rama

Never fails to evoke a sense of wonder, awe and mystery for me.

Excellent list of recommendations, most of my faves are in there somewhere. A duo I read fairly recently that is worth checking out for the harder sci-fi types is Dan Simmons' Ilium and Olympos. Very inkeresting.

Others have done so but I must make mention of Iain M. Banks as I cannot help myself, he's my favourite "current" sci fi author. I can't choose a favourite book of his but his Culture series is fabulous (no need to read in order).

[Grimward]

Michael F. Flynn was mentioned before for Fallen Angels, but I'd like to add that his Firestar series was especially excellent. Constantly trotting out technologies that seemed right around the corner, or perhaps right there at the so-called "bleeding edge" of technology. Some of it was really in the works when the series was written (e.g., "spiders" crawling the internet), of course, but in general much of it seems plausible. The first 3 books, Firestar, RogueStar and LodeStar, are especially good and deal with the same set of characters over a span of decades. The last book, The Wreck of the River of Stars, is OK, but not as good as the earlier books in my opinion. You don't have to really already know much about any of the technology involved; Flynn has a way of introducing it quickly, moving off to another plot, then working the first technical subject back in with a gradual explanation at a later point in the book. It sounds flighty, but Flynn pulls it off.

[Jaqhama]

Tully Zetford's Ryder Hook series. 4 in English, a couple more in German.
Out of print but available from many used sci-fi book dealers online.

Laurence James' Simon Rack series, 5 books in all, same story re; availability as the Hook novels.

Both series set far in the future. Action/adventure orientated. Both series written third person past tense.

Cheers: Jaq.

[mellobiafra]

Wow, what a thread...

I'd have to go with:

Helliconia - Brian Aldiss
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller Jr
Books One and Two of the Cornelius Chronicles - Michael Moorcock
The Dragon in the Sea - Frank Herbert
The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World - Harlan Ellison
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
Perdidio Street Station - China Miéville

Apologies as some of these have already made an appearance, but these are the works I'd give the unbeliever...

[Connavar]

Can anyone recommend any good SF anthologies with newer SF stories and authors ?

Something like Mammoth but focused on more newer SF. There must some good ones. I saw one called New Science Fiction something focused on the last 20 years i think.

[murphy]

Originally Posted by Connavar

Can anyone recommend any good SF anthologies with newer SF stories and authors ?

Something like Mammoth but focused on more newer SF. There must some good ones. I saw one called New Science Fiction something focused on the last 20 years i think.

How about trying something by this man?

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by murphy

How about trying something by this man?

Thanks exactly what im looking for. He has many anthologies of the kind i wanted listed.

New SF and Year 's Best Science Fiction sounds interesting.