Sci- Fi Books

Sci-Fi Books

= fantastic!
= not worth the time it took to read the damn thing.

Glory Season by David Brin. -I am madly in love with this book! It takes place WAY into the future, on a planet inhabited by the decendants of earth, and controlled by women. Cloning is also a central part of society. By the way, it's way easier to read than normal David Brin books.

The Dune Chronicles: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse Dune, by Frank Herbert. - These are pretty famous, but unlike a lot of things they deserve their notariety. Frank Herbert has created an entire galaxy, original and complete down to the last detail. They are definitly classics.

Integral Trees, by Larry Niven. -This was slow some of the time, but I swear its worth it just for the setting and the enviornment. Integral Trees is about a culture of evolved humans who live without real gravity in the gas torus that rotates around a neutron star.

Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. -I have been trying desperately to get my friends to read them, and no one has. They are so damn good. It's difficult to describe, but I will say it involves 7 adventurers from different worlds, a mysterious creature called the shrike, and many weird, sometimes deadly happenings on the surface of the incredible planet of Hyperion. You will read these books. You must. You'll love me for it.

Sardonyx Net and A Different Light, by Elizabeth A. Lynn. - I'm not sure which one comes first, but it doesn't matter. While they accompany eachother, each is stand alone. A Different Light is the story of Jimson who had wenty years to live if he stayed in space normal where is disease could be treated. One if he followed a Starcaptain into the Hype, the shimmering "not space". This is the story of that year. Sardonyx Net is about a far-future universe ruled with slavery and drugs, where a Starcaptain turned slave is bought by a couple of strange siblings. I would try to get used copies because the covers of the old ones look so much cooler (mine look nothing like these), although that may not matter to you.

The Man Who Used The Universe, by Alan Dean Foster. - This isn't a really great book, but it is good one. I enjoyed it. It's about an underworld criminal on a minor planet extremely driven by an unknown force, and its years before even he discovers what it is that drives him. His search for fulfillment will change several species and the galaxy they share forever.

The Gray Prince, by Jack Vance -With the guidance of the Gray Prince, the fierce Uldrans prepare to reclaim their rule over the planet Koryphon, seizing power from the hands of the aristocratic Outkers. It's a very cool sci-fi novel that just barely borders on fantasy.

Wyst: Alastor 1716, by Jack Vance -The trouble with Utopia is people. Arrabus is a beautiful city on the planet of Wyst, dedicated to self-indulgence, equality, and pleasure, and it's citizens need only do a few hours work a week. However, an unsuspecting visitor will soon discover the darker side of this most unusual place. This is a great book, with attention to detail, and no small amount of suspense.

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess - While the story sounds graphic, and in reality is, the book is not explicit. Part of this arises from the author's brilliant language system, nadsat, which is a combination of altered russian and odd bits of slang. While I think Stanly Kubrick did a fantastic job at translating the book into a movie, the book makes clearer the object of the narrative. The book is also more comphrensive and slightly different from the movie, and makes use of nadsat more often. Fantastic raskazz. See the sci-fi movie page for the plot.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson - Kindly, respected Dr. Henry Jeckyll is convinced that all men have two personalities lurking within them. He concocts a drug to separate one man into two personalities and test it on himself. Thats where Mr. Hyde comes in- Jeckyll's murderous alter ego, as deprived and vicious as Jeckyll is virtuous and kind.

1984, by George Orwell - 1984 is a terrifying glimps into the future where the populace is brainwashed and every aspect of life is controlled by the goverment in the form of the fictional Big Brother. Yet Winston Smith is one of the few who has managed to escape the mental prison of his peers, and commits the illegal act of doubting Big Brother and thinking for himself...

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card - The main charecter, Ender Wiggin, is being sent to a military program in space designed to prepare and train childeren as soldiers in the next invasion by the buggers, a feared race of aliens who have twice nearly brought humanity to the brink of destruction.

A Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne - Professor Hardwigg, his nephew Harry, and their Icelandic guide Hans embark on a quest down a volcano and toward the center of the earth. Guided by an ancient parchment filled with a mysterious Runic code, the three explorers encounter tumultous storms, fierce cavemen, pre-historic animals, and vast underground seas.

The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury - Here are nineteen startling visions of humankind's destiny, unfolding across a canvas of decorated skin. As night approaches the illustrated man's tattoos begin to change shape, and slowly start to move, telling tales of things to come.

The Pastel City by M. John Harrison- In the distant future, a medieval system rises from the ruins of a technology that destroyed itself. A brave quest leads a band of knights face to face with the awesome power of a complex, lethal techonology that has been erased from the face of earth- but lives on, underground.

	Glory Season by David Brin. -I am madly in love with this book! It takes place WAY into the future, on a planet inhabited by the decendants of earth, and controlled by women. Cloning is also a central part of society. By the way, it's way easier to read than normal David Brin books.
	The Dune Chronicles: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse Dune, by Frank Herbert. - These are pretty famous, but unlike a lot of things they deserve their notariety. Frank Herbert has created an entire galaxy, original and complete down to the last detail. They are definitly classics.
	Integral Trees, by Larry Niven. -This was slow some of the time, but I swear its worth it just for the setting and the enviornment. Integral Trees is about a culture of evolved humans who live without real gravity in the gas torus that rotates around a neutron star.

	Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. -I have been trying desperately to get my friends to read them, and no one has. They are so damn good. It's difficult to describe, but I will say it involves 7 adventurers from different worlds, a mysterious creature called the shrike, and many weird, sometimes deadly happenings on the surface of the incredible planet of Hyperion. You will read these books. You must. You'll love me for it.
	Sardonyx Net and A Different Light, by Elizabeth A. Lynn. - I'm not sure which one comes first, but it doesn't matter. While they accompany eachother, each is stand alone. A Different Light is the story of Jimson who had wenty years to live if he stayed in space normal where is disease could be treated. One if he followed a Starcaptain into the Hype, the shimmering "not space". This is the story of that year. Sardonyx Net is about a far-future universe ruled with slavery and drugs, where a Starcaptain turned slave is bought by a couple of strange siblings. I would try to get used copies because the covers of the old ones look so much cooler (mine look nothing like these), although that may not matter to you.

	The Man Who Used The Universe, by Alan Dean Foster. - This isn't a really great book, but it is good one. I enjoyed it. It's about an underworld criminal on a minor planet extremely driven by an unknown force, and its years before even he discovers what it is that drives him. His search for fulfillment will change several species and the galaxy they share forever.
	The Gray Prince, by Jack Vance -With the guidance of the Gray Prince, the fierce Uldrans prepare to reclaim their rule over the planet Koryphon, seizing power from the hands of the aristocratic Outkers. It's a very cool sci-fi novel that just barely borders on fantasy.
	Wyst: Alastor 1716, by Jack Vance -The trouble with Utopia is people. Arrabus is a beautiful city on the planet of Wyst, dedicated to self-indulgence, equality, and pleasure, and it's citizens need only do a few hours work a week. However, an unsuspecting visitor will soon discover the darker side of this most unusual place. This is a great book, with attention to detail, and no small amount of suspense.
	A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess - While the story sounds graphic, and in reality is, the book is not explicit. Part of this arises from the author's brilliant language system, nadsat, which is a combination of altered russian and odd bits of slang. While I think Stanly Kubrick did a fantastic job at translating the book into a movie, the book makes clearer the object of the narrative. The book is also more comphrensive and slightly different from the movie, and makes use of nadsat more often. Fantastic raskazz. See the sci-fi movie page for the plot.
	The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson - Kindly, respected Dr. Henry Jeckyll is convinced that all men have two personalities lurking within them. He concocts a drug to separate one man into two personalities and test it on himself. Thats where Mr. Hyde comes in- Jeckyll's murderous alter ego, as deprived and vicious as Jeckyll is virtuous and kind.
	1984, by George Orwell - 1984 is a terrifying glimps into the future where the populace is brainwashed and every aspect of life is controlled by the goverment in the form of the fictional Big Brother. Yet Winston Smith is one of the few who has managed to escape the mental prison of his peers, and commits the illegal act of doubting Big Brother and thinking for himself...
	Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card - The main charecter, Ender Wiggin, is being sent to a military program in space designed to prepare and train childeren as soldiers in the next invasion by the buggers, a feared race of aliens who have twice nearly brought humanity to the brink of destruction.
	A Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne - Professor Hardwigg, his nephew Harry, and their Icelandic guide Hans embark on a quest down a volcano and toward the center of the earth. Guided by an ancient parchment filled with a mysterious Runic code, the three explorers encounter tumultous storms, fierce cavemen, pre-historic animals, and vast underground seas.
	The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury - Here are nineteen startling visions of humankind's destiny, unfolding across a canvas of decorated skin. As night approaches the illustrated man's tattoos begin to change shape, and slowly start to move, telling tales of things to come.
	The Pastel City by M. John Harrison- In the distant future, a medieval system rises from the ruins of a technology that destroyed itself. A brave quest leads a band of knights face to face with the awesome power of a complex, lethal techonology that has been erased from the face of earth- but lives on, underground.