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RE: What Is Your Favorite Science Fiction Novel?
If it can be a series I would say larry Nivens ring world. (3 books)
If It can be only one book ummmm, crap I cant pick just one. I just keep thinking of more and more. xD
A brave new world, anything George orwel, stranger in a strange land, dune, anything larry niven, fahrenhiet451, anything kurt Vonnegut, the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy. shit I don't think I can do one book I having trouble not adding to that list with every letter I type.
ok I guess the first ring world if it can be only one.
Im going to look up that book you mentioned, never heard of it before and sounds good. larry niven has a bunch of current addicts too. lol
I want to change my answer but I typed it so too late.
:P
Ring World is great. Louis Wu is one of the best characters. Have you ever read The integral trees?
The difficulty of picking one book was kind of the point. I was trying to think of an intriguing question.
I have the same problem with choosing. I can think of about 20, just off the top of my head, battling for the top spot. Every time I think of it my head is awash with authors and titles.
Stranger in a Strange land was really good. I ended up putting it off until it was one of the last Heinlein books I hadn't read, because it was his most famous. Probably, the one I like the best is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
Hitchhikers Guide stand alone. There is nothing else like it.
I think Niven calls them wireheads. Louis Wu was a wirehead.
Every time I read Orwell I end up like FTW, for about three weeks.
LOL
Yeah the integral trees is as good as ringworld imo. have you read the second book in that series, the smoke ring? I actually like the second book better then the first.
Yeah picking one book is crazy, I fell asleep thinking of other books and am still having my brain flodded with them when I woke up this morning. xD
Stranger in a strange land was the first from Heinlein I had read, it was a gift from my uncle like most my older scifi books so I was reading it before I even knew who Heinlein was or that there were other books. lol
Yeah wireheads, current addicts, hooked on the tasp, he has a lot of names for it. There is a book called gil the arm Hamilton by nieven that is all short stories and its like mystery style with the cop trying to figure out who did it, there is one with a wirehead that always stands out to me. I think nieven is the author I have read more books on then any other, could be because he has so many. He even does a bunch of books with other people. Anything known space is usualy good imo.
I think the only reason orwell doesn't effect me like that is I am already like FTW. lol
I looked up that book and found a pdf for it but was hoping for an audio book as I hate reading books o my phone/computer. There is something special to actually holding the book and flipping the pages. pdf files just don't have the same feeling to me. Ill prolly be looking into it more later today.
Smoke Ring is awesome. I kept kicking myself for not thinking of air wings when I read the Integral Trees.
Gil "the arm" Hamilton is one of the best characters, Beowulf Schaeffer too. There is a character in The Last Dancer that reminds me vaguely of Gil, Neil Corona, THE Neil Corona? yes, that one. He has no telekinetic arm though.
Some authors, I love to binge read. one time I read 6 Larry Niven books in a row. I was not happy when I ran out. Also good for this are, Heinlein, Philip K Dick, Orson Scott Card, Robert Anton Wilson, Charles Stross, Robert Silverberg, and some more i'm not thinking of at the moment. Others I like to savour. Neal Stephenson, Rudy Rucker, Vernor Vinge, these I like to take my time with. The worst thing is the one hit wonders. There are lots of these.
If you really want to read The Last Dancer, there are 3 books that come before it. The first two are ok, but not great. I'm happy I read them. The third book, The Long Run, is not to be missed. It is freaking fantastic and integral to the story in Dancer. I found The Last Dancer here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0553562495/ref=tmm_mmp_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=&sr=
four dollars isn't bad for one of the best books i've ever read. the same for The Long Run here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0553281445/ref=tmm_mmp_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1476727368&sr=1-5
for my favorites, I'm not a big fan of audiobooks. I like my Internal narrator better, and I think I get more out of actively reading them. Some sci-fi audio is terrible. Snowcrash is in my top 10 and the audio was garbage, the same with Neuromancer, even with Gibson reading his own book.
Yeah audio books are never as good as actually reading them. If I find one that is decent I enjoy listening to it while I fall asleep. I just hate reading books on my phone or computer that im willing to listen to audio book if I cant get my hands on the real thing.
$4 is cheap, Ima check the links out now.
Philip k dick I cant believe I forgot him. lol
oh an The Metamorphosis is another up there that could be the one book I would choose but forgot too.
One thing that always makes me laugh with audio books is when you have someone reading it that makes a different voice for each person. it always cracks me up and makes it so I cant really take it serious.
xD
Albert Camus is great.
Usually if I'm going to listen to audio, I find an educational podcast and listen to it at !.5 speed. Sci-fi I use for leisure.
There is one audiobook series that I have found that I love. It is The Aubrey, Machurin series by, Patrick O'brian. This series takes place at the end of the 1700's into the 1800's. It is centered on a ship's captain and his friend, who is a surgeon. If you are interested, make sure and get the version with Simon Vance narrating. This is the most fantastic series I have encountered outside of sci-fi. There are 21 books. It is the most fun thing ever. I've been thinking about doing a post about it, but I haven't found any that I can link to.
damn 21 books.
That's kind of intimidating.
I wish I could read more then one book at a time.
:D
Once it was over, I wished for 3 times more. I can always listen again. It never gets old. The vividness, the detail, is more intense than most movies I experience. It's like falling into another world. I made this into a post.
https://steemit.com/fiction/@lifeworship/the-best-audio-books-ever#@james83501/re-lifeworship-the-best-audio-books-ever-20161017t220217358z
Don't forget Niven's collaboration "Mote in God's Eye" ... a definite re-read worthy book. Also "A World Out of Time" was damned good.
all the Niven is so hard to choose from. Protector, Integral Trees, and i really like his short stories Neutron Star is my all time fav short story collection. "Mote" is incredible. he's like any 4 of the best scifi writers put together.
I have read Integral Trees, but many years ago and don't remember it. That is almost like finding a new Niven book! Another for the list.
BTW, your recommendation "Last Dancer" seems to be a middle book of a 4 part series. Should I assume they are all good and read them in order?
the first book is set in the same world, but not the same characters. books 2,3, and 4 are all excellent and 3 and 4 are the best. his writing develops a bit in the process. i usually don't worry about recommending the first book as many would be turned off and never get to the best part. from your list, it appears you are a seasoned scifi reader and would probably just fly through the first book. i read The Long Run first, i liked it so much that i hunted down all the other books and read them. i spent probably hundreds of hours in used book stores, before the internet, trying to find the damned things. i don't regret any of it. Moran also has some short stories online, and some other books. still, i think The Long Run and The Last Dancer are the best.