Sci-fi/Fantasy Book Recommendations

Hmm... A few random recommendations, authors and books/series:

China Mieville - A bit surreal for my tastes, but similar to Neil Gaiman in some ways, with very unusual concepts.

Terry Pratchett - Do not dismiss him as shallow or silly; his books always have bite beneath the surface, and if you haven't given him a try yet, he's worth visiting.

Tad Williams - His Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy (the first Osten Ard books) were inspirations for Martin's Game of Thrones, and are well worth the read.

Jonathan Stroud - Writes YA/MG, but I've yet to be disappointed in anything of his I've read. The djinn Bartimaeus is one of the best characters I've read.

A Darker Shade of Magic (V.E. Schwab, fantasy) - Three parallel Londons face a grave threat. This one has a bit of an anime vibe.

The Memoirs of Lady Trent (Marie Brennan, fantasy) - A well-realized world, and a determined (if imperfect) woman researching dragons in the wild.

Ink and Bone (Rachel Caine, YA Fantasy) - A dark alternate Earth, where the all-powerful Library controls the flow of knowledge.

The Expanse series (James S. A. Corey, SF): Humanity's interplanetary expansion through the solar system is disrupted by a discovery that could lead us to the stars, if it doesn't annihilate us utterly. Space opera that uses realistic physics and believable politics.

If you're terminally bored, you can click through the signature link for more stuff I've read; ignore the ratings and Reviews if you just want descriptions of the books (I try to keep the Descriptions parts neutral.)

Just off the top of my head...

Galactic Milieu Trilogy - Julian May

Liaden Universe - Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

The Snow Queen - Joan Vinge

Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold

Species imperative series - Julie Czerneda

petuh112 said:

I'm looking for any suggestions any Sci-fi/Fantasy books you guys like.

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Try Lois McMaster Bujold. She's won multiple Hugos and Nebulas, and writes sf (the Miles Vorkosigan series, which is long and wonderful, though it would be best to read the two novels about his parents--Shards of Honor and Barrayar--beforehand) and fantasy (the Five Gods world, which includes three fantasy novels (start with The Curse of Chalion) and a series of e-book novellas about the entertaining adventures of Penric and Desdemona (Penric's Demon, etc., but read the novel The Hallowed Hunt before starting those.)). She's also written another fantasy series (The Sharing Knife, et al), but I'd recommend trying the others first.

[FONT=Verdana,sans-serif]https://www.orderofbooks.com/authors/lois-mcmaster-bujold/

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Since no one has mentioned Guy Gavriel Kay yet, I'll add him to the pile. The Fionavar trilogy is some good old fashioned escapism with bigger themes. And then everything he's written after that has only gotten better, as far as I can tell. A Song for Arbonne and Tigana are personal faves.

Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood is the perfect combination of extensive and beautifully described world building with terrific character development. A modern and maturer series (it's three novels put together) that is science fiction at its best.

I love Neil Gaiman! I haven't read anything of his I didn't like yet. (Though there's a few I still haven't gotten to.)

I wasn't a fan of the Chalion series...you really had to get invested in the world, and it just never clicked with me. I stopped partway through Paladin of Souls. I think I have a harder time connecting with epic fantasy than I do urban fantasy.

(To each their own, of course! Only stating my personal preferences.)

In the urban fantasy genre, I love the Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter. I plowed through a dozen books in about six months, and now I have to wait until October for the next one. *sniff*

If you're open to YA, This Savage Song and Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab are a recent favorite of mine.

I'm currently reading The Merchant Princes series by Charles Stross. Enjoying that a lot, too.

To me, the characters are everything, and the setting is secondary. I tend towards very active protagonists, and I love to see characters with believable contradictions in their personality traits. I'm not much for world lore. The world only needs to be built up enough for me to believe it potentially could exist. If this sounds like it describes your preferences, you might like my suggestions. If not, that's cool, too.

When you say Neil Gaiman, I think short stories, which you didn't particularly mention, but in that vein I recommend some more recent writers, who remind me of him a lot: Kelly Barnhill (especially "Probably Still the Chosen One"), Caroline M. Yoachim, and Kathleen Kayembe.

Mary Robinette Kowal is good, though you may have heard of her if you're on this forum and like Brandon Sanderson. Elizabeth Bear, and N. K. Jemisin are all good. I like Terry Pratchett and Octavia Butler, mentioned above, and I liked Shards of Honor. I didn't care for Barrayar, though.

Other classic SF no one mentioned, Clifford Simak. He has a lot of great novels. Way Station is a favorite. Robin Hobb is an old favorite, especially the original Farseer trilogy.

I find even if I read similar books to what I've read before, it's still hit or miss whether I enjoy it or not.

I'm going to put in a plug for my crit pal here: Patrice Sarath has two books out The Sisters Mederos and Fog Season which have been described as Georgette Heyer with magic. No blood and Thunder epic battles but fantasy adventure in a secondary world based on Regency society

waylander said:

Georgette Heyer with magic.

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*swoon*

Second Clifford Simak's Way Station, which is a near perfect novel. If you're going the classic route, Robert Silverberg is also terrific.

tadamfletcher said:

When you say Neil Gaiman, I think short stories, which you didn't particularly mention, but in that vein I recommend some more recent writers, who remind me of him a lot: Kelly Barnhill (especially "Probably Still the Chosen One"), Caroline M. Yoachim, and Kathleen Kayembe.

Mary Robinette Kowal is good, though you may have heard of her if you're on this forum and like Brandon Sanderson. Elizabeth Bear, and N. K. Jemisin are all good. I like Terry Pratchett and Octavia Butler, mentioned above, and I liked Shards of Honor. I didn't care for Barrayar, though.

Other classic SF no one mentioned, Clifford Simak. He has a lot of great novels. Way Station is a favorite. Robin Hobb is an old favorite, especially the original Farseer trilogy.

I find even if I read similar books to what I've read before, it's still hit or miss whether I enjoy it or not.

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Here is a link to a fun site where you can browse and bookmark science fiction and fantasy. I especially like the author’s recommendation of their favorites. I can spend way too much time on there.

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/

petuh112 said:

I loved sci-fi and fantasy books when I was younger, especially that feeling of finding myself in a world that is both utterly unique and bizarre yet still completely believable. Now that I've finally gotten some more free time on my hands I've been trying to read more of the genre, but I haven't found any books that have really grabbed me yet. I've read the first two books of the Mistborn and Game of Thrones series, as well as Dune and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and while I enjoyed them I never got sucked in, so I'm looking for any suggestions any Sci-fi/Fantasy books you guys like.

For reference I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman, and Saga gives me warm, fuzzy feelings when I get into it. I also remember really liking Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom books when I was a kid, but that was a while ago so I am not sure if the writing is as good as I remember it.

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If you liked Nix's "Keys to the Kingdom", try his "Abhorsen" trilogy. One of my favorite fantasy works.

For fantasy, you might also give a go at

• 
  * Martha Wells' "Raksura" series. Very character-driven, fascinating world-building and often filled with bizarre creatures. I adore this series. (Have sampled her other works, and just didn't click with them as much.)
  
  * Phillip Pullman's "Dark Materials" trilogy. The recent-ish movie adaptation of "The Golden Compass" was awful, so if you saw that, don't let it put you off trying the novels.
  
  * Maybe Katherine Addison's "The Goblin Emperor". I'm aware that some find it tedious; I didn't.
  
  * I started a thread in this forum about Josiah Bancroft's "Books of Babel" series, which you might like for the outre world the author's built, and the bizarre characters & situations the protagonist finds himself in. Really love this series.
  
  * Joe Abercrombie's "First Law" trilogy is *THE* grim-dark fantasy series for me. Might not be your cup of tea, but it's meticulously plotted, and some of the characters will forever stay with me.

For SF, you might like:

• 
  * Vernor Vinge's classic "A Fire Upon the Deep". I re-read this every few years. In my top 10 list of SF/F novels. Space-opera like few others.
  
  * Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children of Time". It starts a bit clunkily -- some scenery-chewing by a cardboard villain -- but that quickly melts away into a fabulous world of intelligent giant spiders & ants that I really loved.
  
  * John Scalzi's "Old Man's War". Classic, full of humor, probably also in my top 10 list. (For my money, its first sequel is equally good, the others, not so much.)
  
  * Robin Sloane's "Sourdough". Intelligent yeast? Damn, this was fun. Really enjoyed it.
  
  * James L. Cambias' "A Darkling Sea". Great, great "first contact" novel. Dark-humored, and loved the ending.

Introversion said:

Maybe Katherine Addison's "The Goblin Emperor". I'm aware that some find it tedious; I didn't.​

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Love that book. I found it completely fascinating.

The Devil is a Part-Timer!

It's an inversion of the stereotypical fantasy narrative about a young man from Earth going to a fantasy land and becoming a mighty hero. In this, a demon warlord from a fantasy land flees to Earth and decides to conquer it the best way he can....

Working at McDonald's.

As he tries to climb the corporate ladder and lives with his former general turned penny-pinching househusband, he also has to avoid getting brutally murdered by his arch-nemesis, a heroine with a holy sword who also crossed over and now works at a call center to pay her bills.

On top of that, there's a sprawling, byzantine plot about church conspiracies, angelic bureaucracies, and demon factional politics that keep spilling over onto Earth, but it never loses its lighthearted fantasy feel.

The actual prose is so-so, I assume because it's a translation and the translator tried to keep the quirks of the original language, readability be damned. But if you're in the mood for a fun fantasy read, I highly recommend it.

As a side note, I'd recommend getting the Kindle version. The books are only about 50,000 words apiece, and $14 is waaay overpriced for that.

Asking a bunch of writers for recommendations is going to get a lot of responses. We love books!

Also, I suggest maybe looking at awards you'd like to win, someday, in some quantum reality linked to the now, and checking out the books on those ballots, and keeping up with them, in general. Reading the work of agents and editors you want to work with may be a bit much, but it can be done if you have a clear focus in mind for yourself professionally. That can be... I mean, most of us don't have quite that focused of a desired path. On the other hand, it's easier, though, to keep a list handy of what you read and liked, as you go, just so you don't have to work so hard when the time comes to submit things. Spreadsheets are my friend.

has anyone suggested The Poppy War? i started it and recommended it to a friend based on the writing and pacing but I had to set it aside, yet she (who reads tons) loved it and is eager for the next, which I think is now out.

I also recommended The Power (Naomi Alderman) to her, and she agreed it was thought provoking and clever.

I've been reading Matt Haig most recently and his stuff is just barely in the science fiction realm, like it could almost be contemporary, and to me that is perfect. i love his spare style and think-y undertones. Love his books so far.

I was flipping through something called Sip which is on my list to check out from the library. Sort of spooky--premise is that you can sip your shadow for some power, but the more you sip the more (bad thing happens).

Also on my list when I have more time: Anne Bishop's series.

(I devoured Sanderson's books several years back.)

I love all the suggestions! I'm making notes to add to my to-be-read pile

Fantasy

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I've only read this first book in the trilogy (which are followed by two more trilogies) but I'm thoroughly sold. Written in the first person and with complex characters, plot and politics without being convoluted. The protagonist is clever and talented but put in a tenuous position as a bastard whose existence causes some real problems for the royals. The characters and their interactions are maturely written (I mean mature, not compensating with excessive vulgarity), so if the sometimes juvenile themes and interactions of the genre put you off, this is your cure.

Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell. This was his first work and some elements of the plot weren't as smooth as the following three books in this series, but I found it very satisfying. The main character is a valorous idealist who inspires those around him but also leads him into rough circumstances. The technology level is gunpowder just starting to arrive and too expensive to be dominant and the magic is light. The heroes are disgraced magistrates who are Muskateer-like and trained to duel when necessary to defend with adjudications. But now the king is dead and they are on hard times. The dialogue is hilarious and the characters are dripping in interpersonal humanity.

Regarding Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series--you remember correctly, those books were fun and elegantly written.

Sci-fi

I'm second the Expanse series. I've only read the first two, but the first especially is masterfully written. It's an even mix of sci-fi/noir-like mystery/horror/action/thriller done better than you might think those can all go together.

Rise and Fall of DODO by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. This is the only time I have ever seen time travel make sense and not violate its own rules. The entire book is told in the form of writings by the characters--letters, emails, diaries, even a Powerpoint presentation (this last section is hilarious). It does have the Neal Stephenson habit of building an interesting, believable world and then poking fun at itself at some points. Part of the middle slows down, but the section did serve the overall plot well. I enjoyed it and I think the innovation gets extra points.

For science fiction, I’d recommend:

Peter Hamilton for space opera (The Night’s Dawn Trilogy – excellent world building and some truly original ideas)

Karin Traviss’ Wess’Har series was an intelligent analysis of ethics and environmentalism.

For fantasy:

Legend. David Gemmel’s first novel, and one of his best IMO (he had plenty of good ones). A lot of his work is a derivative of historical events but they read well enough without that context.

High Cook wrote a series of ten novel that mixed SF and fantasy. Each of them were stand-alone novels but were tied together by some common characters. A lot of fans of his writing agree that Book 4 (The Walrus and the Warwolf) was his best work and I’m happy for that verdict to stand.

Naomi Novik: Uprooted and her most recent, Spinning Silver.

And anything by Kate Elliott. She's written several fantasy series. And one sf (Jaran, et al), although that series is unfinished.

I have a few that I don't think have been mentioned yet.

Fantasy:

The Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch. Ocean's Eleven, only fantasy, basically.
The Black Company series by Glen Cook. Writing from the perspective of the evil empire's mercenaries.
The Erevis Cale series by Paul S. Kemp is a Forgotten Realms story about a former assassin priest who gets caught up in divine power plays.

Sci-Fi:

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is one of the first cyberpunk books and deals with the merging of viruses, thought, and religion in a corporate world.
Any of the Warhammer 40,000 books by Dan Abnett are usually good, as is the novel Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and the Commissar Yarrick stories by David Annandale. Military science fiction featuring Catholic Space Nazis against the scum of a universe where everything is trying to kill you.
Likewise, most Star Wars books by Timothy Zahn are good, particularly the Thrawn Trilogy, wherein the New Republic is on the back foot against a returned legendary admiral and desperate for a winning strategy.

That's what I've got. If you have the time to read any, I hope you enjoy them.

I just started reading NK Jemisin's Dreamblood Duology and was thinking about how much elements of it reminded me of the Garth Nix Old Kingdom series, but more targeted at adults. (Her Broken Earth trilogy is a masterpiece.)

I just read Mary Robinette Kowall's Lady Astronaut novels, set in the same world as her award-winning short story. It kept me turning the pages past my bedtime. It was meticulously researched for the most part, though I had a few questions, and at least one thread/question wasn't tied off to my satisfaction. No idea if she plans any more in that world.

I also liked her stand-alone novel Ghost Talkers.