Thursday, July 2, 2009

Sci-Fi Bleg...

Okay, so it's not that I'm getting sick of Heinlein or anything, but it's time to branch out a bit. I picked up my first novel from Terry Pratchett (Men at Arms), and realized that, holy crap, this dude has like a hundred bazillion novels to his credit. He comes highly recommended in the blogosphere, so he's the next author I want to explore.

The question is, of course, where do I start?

I learned my lesson with Heinlien and reading out-of-order - I tackled The Cat Who Walked Through Walls before reading Time Enough for Love or even Number of the Beast. It was a lot like taking Biochemistry II before Biochemistry I, only with the many lives and loves of Lazarus Long taking the place of the Krebs' Cycle... Before I tear into a new (to me) author with a penchant for building on stories, I figured it'd be a good idea to appeal to those "in the know" where to start.

So... What books should I read first?

The top 5 or 10 should be a good starter; I still have a couple Heinlein books to read and another couple left to finish re-reading (I'd also like to re-read Monster Hunter International before shipping it off to He-Who-Must-Not-Wear-Pants). Any and all pointers are appreciated; while I'm a pretty voracious reader, my reading time is quite limited and as such I'd prefer to begin at the beginning, so to speak.

That is all.

18 comments:

Mike W. said...

I think Brigid has a reading list on her site that's FULL of Terry Pratchett.

TheAxe said...

Congrats Jay, you're in for a whole lot of fun.

TheAxe said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TheAxe said...

The first one I read was The Last Hero because I was a kid and it had pictures, as for where to start I can't choose, but I'd say maybe Guards! Guards!.

Mikael said...

Good places to start to get to know some of the characters:
Guards guards!
The colour of magic.
Equal rites.
Mort.

After that... anything goes really, though it helps to read them in a rough old to new order, you'll get more references and recognize more characters.

Paladin said...

You might find this helpful. Its a PDF file of a chart that describes the "best" order to read the groups of Discworld novels in (death novels, watch novels, witch novels, etc.).

I didn't find the chart until after I started reading the novels, but as it turns out it pretty much the order in which I read them myself.

wolfwalker said...

One point you need to be aware of is that there really isn't just one Discworld series. There are three more-or-less independent series of stories, which all take place on the Discworld.

1) The Ankh-Morpork City Guard. First story in this series is is Guards! Guards!. Semi-serious (as serious as the Discworld ever gets) stories that follow Commander Vimes of the Night Watch and the assorted members of his squad, who belong to a variety of species and sexes.

2) Rincewind the Wizzard and his misadventures. First story in this series is The Colour of Magic. Pure slapstick comedy, lots of silly-bordering-on-stupid absurdities. Puns, double entendres, and silliness galore.

3) The Witches. First story in this series is Equal Rites. Somewhere in between the Vimes and Rincewind stories in tone, with A LOT of puns, doubletalk, and gentle mockery of 'mainstream' fantasy and mythology. Well, mostly gentle mockery. Sometimes it's not so gentle.

There's also a number of 'independent' Discworld novels, which don't fit any of the three series. Examples are Mort, Hogfather, and Reaper Man.

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Arthur said...

PLEASE post the order you read Pratchett in once you figure it out. I've been holding off simply because of the sheer volume.

In the meantime I've read World War Z, the main books of Ringo's Posleen War series, and some of Saberhagen's Berzerker short stories I had missed.

Sharon E. Dreyer said...

While you may be a gun nut in Massachusetts, you would be considered average in the great state of Texas! Just ask Ted Nugent. Can't give you a list, but I will share some of my favorite authors. Orson Scott Card's Phoole's Company and Phoole's Paradise are very good and funny to boot. The Chronicles of Amber are excellent. As a first time published author, I prefer Asimov to Heinlein. Check out my first and recently released novel, Long Journey to Rneadal. This exciting tale is a romantic action adventure in space and is more about the characters than the technology. Great web site will have to visit it again!

Bob S. said...

Sharon,

Minor correction, Card didn't write the Phule series- Robert Aspirin did.

Aspirin's Myth series is another great sequence of light fair. Small books easy to get through and plentiful in the used book stores.

David Weber's Honor Harrington series is another excellent choice. Space combat with some firearms thrown in....even an "ancient 1911".

John Ringo's The Legacy of the Aldenata, aka Posleen War Series isn't for everyone but the first 3 books or so were great.

What are you looking for? any genre in particular?

Popcorn said...

Read the Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix. Not long and The Boy will be old enough for them, too.

Old NFO said...

The color of Magic

Unknown said...

On Pratchett Wolfwalker said it. After a few the plot line gets predictable though

Other authors - Mostly older stuff

William Gibson - Neuromancer et al

Roger Zelazny - Creatures of Light and Darkness, Lord of Light and the Amber series

Larry Niven - what's not to love about Kzin? and much much more

Orson Scott Card - Ender series and others

Usula K Leguin - dated but Dispossessed and Left Hand of Darkness are great.

Neil Gaiman

Grayson said...

Congratulations, Jay. If I may offer a suggestion? Try the '3 Davids'... and you don't necessarally need to read them in chronological order to enjoy them; although it will help with:
1) David Weber. His main character, Lady Honor Stephanie Harrington, is argueably one of the greatest warrior-leaders in any fiction, much less Sci-Fic.

2) David Drake. Author of the 'Hammer's Slammers' series of stories and novels. You would probably make an outstanding recruit for the Slammers...assuming you could learn to follow orders (shooting straight and getting tough jobs done are probably your best qualifications, though). And finally..

3) David Gunn. New author, only 2 books published (so far). I purchased his first book, called 'Death's Head', at Chapters at about 9:30 PM and finished it at about 5 AM next morning. Gunn's main character is a soldier named Sven Tveskoeg (and if you can pronounce that name you're doing better than me. Or hysterically intoxicated) who you would definitly want covering YOUR back when the zombie apocalypse starts. I quote:
"Give me a gun and give me an enemy and I'll take it to the wire and beyond every time."
And if that isn't enough, he's got an A.I equipped sidearm with a SERIOUSLY BAD attitude.

Interested yet?

The Old Man said...

Riverworld saga by PJ Farmer. "To Your Scattered Bodies Go". You're in there...

Anonymous said...

Three recommendations:

1. David Drake's military sci-fi

2. Anything from the Bolo series (imagine a 300 ton air-cushioned, fusion powered, semi-intelligent tank)

3. Tales of Known Space and the corollary Kzin combat series

Unknown said...

Reading suggestions:

Heinlein's Moon is a Harsh Mistress if you haven't read it yet. And his Green Hills of Earth short stories.

Eric Flint's "1632"

C.J. Cherryh's "Pride of Chanur" series.

Harry Turtledove's "Misplaced Legion" (more fantasy, but with Romans)

Tad Williams "Tailchaser's Song" (fantasy)