Kevin's Watch

Thanks, Wayfriend! It's good to have the right idea on things.

The best SF that I've read...

The Gap Cycle - of course, or I wouldn't be in this forum!

Dune - the first 3 original books were fantastic...the subsequent 3 were still enjoyable, but not as good (got a little too weird, but it's been a long time now since I've read them).

Dune: Butlerian Jihad - perhaps the most exciting trilogy I've ever read (of any genre).

Ender's Game - Fluffy? A bit perhaps, but then the central character is just a kid. Only book I ever read cover-to-cover in one sitting.

The White Plague - One of Herbert's last published novels. A little more contemporary than sci-fi, but scary as hell considering we have that technology today.

And an honorable mention to...

The Eternity Artifact - a Modesitt stand-alone novel...very though-provoking.

Red/Green/Blue Mars trilogy - very interesting series by Kim Stanley Robinson...more pure Sci than just plain Sci-Fi (I originally thought he had just pulled those "nanotubes" out of his hat...turns out they're real!)

Whipping Star - One of Herbert's lesser-known novels (more of a novella, really). First time I read it, my reaction was, "WTF?!" I hardly understood a quarter of it. Then I re-read it, and managed to understand the majority of it. Then I re-read it again, and finally grasped the entire book...and found it quite funny. Then I re-read it yet again, and found myself laughing pretty much throughout. Mis-communication can be quite comical--especially when it isn't trying to be funny (and when you fully understand what they're trying to say).


Kalboyd

It's probably tied with David Feintuch's Seafort Saga, to which it has MANY similarities. For fans of the Gap series I can offer no stronger recommendation.

Is the Gap the best Sci-fi you've ever read? It mine...

Hell no. Man......

Allright. I can ask that question of the fantasy genre cause I've read three of the big four from last century (SRD, Tolkien, Lewis but not Eddison yet)...though that's truly it...

Dude, please read the following and then if you still feel that way, I'll say I'm sorry for being such a jerk here and I'll respect your opinion because there'll be some objectivity:

- Dune, Herbert
- Foundation Trilogy (minimum), Asimov
- Ender's Game & Speaker for the Dead (minimum), Card
- Hyperion, Simmons
- I could go on, but those'll do...two oldies, two noowbies...

Not sure best ever...but definitely competitive for it. I do think they would make the best SF films ever...especially 3,4&5.

I read the first two Dune books, the first Foundation novel, and the entire Ender series. I stand by my answer. Ender and Dune give it a run for its money, no question about that.

Vraith wrote:Not sure best ever...but definitely competitive for it. I do think they would make the best SF films ever...especially 3,4&5.

I read the first and half of the second years ago...just didn't hook me at all...

jacob Raver, sinTempter wrote: I read the first and half of the second years ago...just didn't hook me at all...

You ... uh, ... hang on... sorry (just picked myself up off the floor)... are you talking about the GAP series? Didn't .. get ... into... *deep breath*. Ok, I'm ok.

Ah well, each to their own I suppose.

Hey Mind...sorry, I was reacting to the very first post of this thread...edited

Yeh, that's what I said, it was boring...I don't like the way Series' are written...

But if Vraith thinks the third, fourth and fifth are worth making movies out of, then SRD probably did exactly what he did with Runes and Fatal, setup books...

pretty much. it gets violent, action packed, complicated, and intense...the plot lines don't just intertwine, they try to strangle each other. [on big and small scales]

The Gap - an exciting drama set in a sci-fi background.

Early Asimov - thoughtful detective stories set in a sci-fi background.

2001: A Space Odyssey - bootleg Eastern mysticism.


Then there is Greg Bear's Eon: hardcore science fiction that truly takes you places no reader has gone before, and all with plausible explanations. It did not teach me about despair or anything personal and psychological, it taught me about humanity's potential. And such optimism about the future what I think sci-fi as a genre is really trying to get at.

Greg Bear is one the best sci-fi authors around. Blood Music is a masterpiece. Oh, and so is Eon.

I've never read Bear, I think I started reading Eon years ago, something about an area that went on forever or something like that...didn't hook me though...

Loremaster wrote:Greg Bear is one the best sci-fi authors around. Blood Music is a masterpiece. Oh, and so is Eon.

I never read them but then The Gap is the first sci-fi book Im have ever tried to read but I will like have a go at Greg Bear work and also Dune.

TheWormoftheWorld'sEnd wrote: Then there is Greg Bear's Eon: hardcore science fiction that truly takes you places no reader has gone before, and all with plausible explanations. It did not teach me about despair or anything personal and psychological, it taught me about humanity's potential. And such optimism about the future what I think sci-fi as a genre is really trying to get at.

I remember liking this book a lot years ago...and I think I recall a sequel that wasn't too bad. Blood Music was damn good too.
Kind of middle ground between Bear and Donaldson was a W. Michael Gear series I thought quite good..Requiem for a Conquerer was 1st, Countermeasures last..don't recall middle title. [I can't handle his 'People of..' books, (co with his wife, I think)]

I loved Blood Music the short story, so I'll have to read the novel some time.

jacob Raver, sinTempter wrote:I've never read Bear, I think I started reading Eon years ago, something about an area that went on forever or something like that...didn't hook me though...

It was basically a "wormhole" inside of an asteroid.

Unlike popular television sci-fi, however, this wormhole had more credibility in its functioning. It didn't transport you across the universe in a split-second, but (going by memory here) it was an extension of the asteroid burrowing through space/time. Time was relevant of course, but all events were "local," while for non-credible wormholes events are always "non-local." And since time is a factor, the farther you travel along the wormhole the farther back in time you go.

Cool...plausible time-travel (somewhat)...I usually hate time-travel...maybe I'lll give 'er another go...

Oh wait, I did read Moving Mars...was pretty good, first half was somewhat boring though...

jacob Raver, sinTempter wrote:Cool...plausible time-travel (somewhat)...I usually hate time-travel...maybe I'lll give 'er another go...

Oh wait, I did read Moving Mars...was pretty good, first half was somewhat boring though...

Trying to keep you from being bored must be a full-time job. Eh? Eh eh?

I read, and quickly forgot, Moving Mars.

Yes, there is time-travel in Eon, but not the usual simplistic moving back and forth in time. Think about it this way: if you truly went back in time, the Earth which is always in motion would no longer be where you are standing.

Worm wrote:Trying to keep you from being bored must be a full-time job. Eh? Eh eh?

Well, after one reads the 1st Chrons...