Guilty Pleasures - Fantasy and Science Fiction

[Bar Sinister]

I'm admitting to a little weakness. I love fantasy and science fiction. For three decades following my graduation from university I confined my reading to non-fiction - mostly history, archeology, and political science. But now that I no longer have to work for a living I have reverted to my pre-university reading pleasures. Currently I am working my way through David Weber's Honor Harrington series, if "working" is the right word. I have found each book a delightful read and I plan to expand my reading to other novels in the "Honorverse." However, there is still a lot out there to catch up on. Catherine Asaro keeps on adding to her superb Skolian Empire saga and I have a few series to finish off such as Katherine Kerr's incredible Deverry Epic.

I'm wondering if there are any other fantasy and SF fans out there in CC land with any recommendations of their own.

 

[GreenFish66]

Oh man ... I just can't Enough .Science/Theoretical Science/
Science Fiction
Sci-Fi/Fantasy ....
- Making Great Ideas/Ideals Real...( Or seem as real as possible , for now)

Good Book - Probably fits it in to all ...Sci - Categories..

-------------------------

New ( Or Old) BattleStar Galactica ...Fire Fly...Both Great seriesssesss'.

------------

Or

My New Book/Multi Media Extravaganza....!
Title ,Withheld( For Now) ..
Coming soon to a yet to be disclosed location ..Sometime in the Very near future...
It is Coming ...

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

Two books I'd recommend are by Stephen King written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman.

The books are: The Long Walk and The Running Man

If you've seen the movie (The Running Man) all I can say is read the book, it is nothing... and I mean nothing like that piece of crap starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Both books are set in the future.

The Gunslinger series is also a fantastic sci-fi fantasy read.

Although you might want to prep for reading six novels.

 

[wulfie68]

If you enjoyed Weber, some others I found in the same vein are John Ringo and David Drake. I also enjoy the whimsical nature of Eric Flint as well. Harry Turtledove and S.M. Stirling are some more favorites as well, just off the top of my head.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

I'm admitting to a little weakness. I love fantasy and science fiction.

That's not a weakness, it's a great strength, a sign of an open and questing mind, boundless curiosity, a seeker of new ideas and new ways of looking at old ideas, a serious mind interested in the big ideas yet not above finding a childlike delight in just having fun. F&SF is the fiction of all possible times and places and circumstances, all other genres of fiction are merely subsets of it.

Um... guess what I like to read...

 

[YukonJack]

Real science fiction died with the death of Isaac Asimov.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Real science fiction died with the death of Isaac Asimov.

I suspect I was reading Asimov before you were born. But somehow I don't think he was the be all and end all of SF. He certainly wasn't any better a writer than Arthur C. Clark or other contemporaries. I take your comment to mean that you haven't read any SF for the last 19 years.

If you enjoyed Weber, some others I found in the same vein are John Ringo and David Drake. I also enjoy the whimsical nature of Eric Flint as well. Harry Turtledove and S.M. Stirling are some more favorites as well, just off the top of my head.

I enjoyed Drake's Lord of the Isles fantasy series and found it very impressive. I haven't had time to get into any of his other works as yet. As for Ringo I have not read any of his works, but I will certainly take a look at them.

Two books I'd recommend are by Stephen King written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman.

The books are: The Long Walk and The Running Man

If you've seen the movie (The Running Man) all I can say is read the book, it is nothing... and I mean nothing like that piece of crap starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Both books are set in the future.

The Gunslinger series is also a fantastic sci-fi fantasy read.

Although you might want to prep for reading six novels.

I tend to read only completely finished series or series in which each book is self-contained so that won't be a problem. I'll try to get around to it, but with all of the other books I have lined up it might be a while.

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

I tend to read only completely finished series or series in which each book is self-contained so that won't be a problem. I'll try to get around to it, but with all of the other books I have lined up it might be a while.

On that I hear you, I have a bookshelf to knock down. To top that, I have a novel I'm prepping for publication in the summer and pondering writing another in the next year. I need a lotto win so that I can do away with the foolish work that gets in the way of that which I love to do.

Cheers.

PS IMO Clark is better reading than Asimov, but preferences of the reader vary..

 

[The Old Medic]

I love sci-fi, but I tend to prefer the old masters, like Robert A. Heinlein, Issac Azimov, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournell, etc.

I can't imagine reading only one genre of literature. I read an average of 3 books each week (I used to read a lot more, but as I age, my reading speed has slowed a bit.), and I mix them up. I love history (and historical novels), sci-fi and actual science, political science, biographies, mysteries, etc. I also re-read at least two additional books each week.

I get to combine reading, history, mysteries and writing in my primary hobby of Genealogy. (I have over 150,000 people in my database, all related by birth or marriage.)

A typical mystery book of say 200 pages will take about 1.5 hours to read.

Reading is like any other skill. The more you do it, the faster you can do it, and usually your comprehension also increases significantly.