Top 10 New Sci-Fi/SF Authors?

Dukebytes asks: "I am looking for the new RAH/Piers Anthony/Roger Zelazny/Weis & Hickman etc..., of the world. I have read just about everything I could find on King Aurthur, all of the Dragon Lance stuff, and all or most of the 'old school' hardcore. I don't know, I have maybe 4000 books at home, most of them Scifi/SF. I am looking for some new stuff. I haven't bought any kind of book other than techie for more than 2 years. I just keep reading the ones that I have over and over and over. What are you guys reading? If it is a series, please list ALL of the books in it!"

Saturated?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have maybe 4000 books at home ...I just keep reading the ones that I have over and over and over.

If you've read that many books then maybe you've hit the saturation point for that particular genre. Perhaps you should consider branching out? There are plenty of other good books out there that don't fall into the Fantasy / Sci-Fi genre. Philosophy books can be a good read, if a bit wordy. Failing that, I'd suggest Neal Stephenson (but you've probably already read his books). Cryptonomicon is pure gold

Try New Genres

[tealover]

You remind me of a friend. The only books he ever read were fantasy books. That's it. He had no other books in his book shelves. As you can guess, he wasn't exactly the most open minded person in the world (not that I'm calling you close minded). He had the same thing with music. Only listened to heav metal. Wouldn't let anyone play any other type of music.

But I think you deny yourself some of life's pleasures by narrowly defining your interests. It's ok to like reading Sci-Fi books, but I can tell you that you are missing out on a lot if that's all you read. I don't consider Tech books to be "reading" books so I won't address that.

Try getting out of your genre

[Ars-Fartsica]

I used to dabble in scifi until I started hitting the general fiction/nonfiction shelves and found that in general, the quality of writing is much higher when there isn't a pixie or a dragon or a robot on the book's cover.

Whatgever genre, you can always hit the Amazon editor's picks list (avoid the topsellers lists, its filled with pedestrian crap) or the NY Times book reviews.

The first step to enlightenment is to be a book snob. Stay away from airport crap (John Grisham, Michael Crichton), and try batting out of your league a bit...you might just expand and learn something.

Define "new"

[gmuslera]

For me Orson Card, Terry Pratchett or Dan Simmons are "new" authors, even if the books I like from them have 10-20 years. You can even discover Isaac Asimov, and like their stuff, and being "new" for you.

Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact

[caesar-auf-nihil]

If you're looking for the best new SciFi authors, check out Analog. It's a paperback magazine, published monthly (www.analogsf.com), with lots of great SciFi and science fact articles. Sometimes its just a selection of short stores, but you'll also find novellas and serials, some of which have been turned into full published novels. Lots of new authors, as well as few older ones, publish great Science Fiction.

Vernor Vinge best

[msundman]

I have yet to find a better sci-fi author than Vernor Vinge. His novels and short stories are simply amazing.

Re:Terry Pratchet

[happyhippy]

He has almost 30 books. And there are better ones than the Thief of Time.

I wouldnt recommend which ones to read, as although most can be read without reading any previous ones, its better to read them in order of they were made. Theres some jokes that you will only get if you read them in a previous book first

Joseph Haldeman

[FortKnox]

Start with "The Forever War" and go from there. By far, my favorite book.

Re:Try New Genres

[tlayne]

Being well rounded is overrated. I say find what you like and read/listen to as much of it as you can. There are plenty of people who know a little bit about a lot of different things. There's also a place for specialists. Would the world be better off if Stephen Hawking decided he had spent too much time on Physics and took up literary criticism so that he could be more well rounded?

SF is not Fantasy

[Andy Social]

If you're using "SF" to refer to Science Fiction, which is the most common breakout, rather than Speculative Fiction, you're missing the boat entirely with the books you have mentioned. Sounds like you want FANTASY books.

If you are looking for unusual well-written fantasy, check out Storm Constantine. The Wraethu omnibus edition is usually available, and it's a stunning piece of gothic fantasy alternate-reality post-apocalyptic gender-bending writing. Can't get enough hyphens.

For science fiction work, of course there's Neal Stephenson, and the recently feted Cory Doctorow. You can't go wrong with the classics of Heinlein and Asimov, of course.

Beyond that, as others have said, try something outside the F&SF realm. Or, if you can't bring yourself to do that, subscribe to Analog, Asimov's or F&SF to get a taste of new authors. Short fiction is like the snack before you dig into a big meaty novel.

Crossroads of Twilight

[djohnsto]

I was introduced to WOT in the summer of '01 by a friend who happened to have the first 9 books. I ended up reading all of them in about 2 months; I just couldn't put them down! So, it was with great anticipation that I received Crossroads of Twilight. I finally get to find out what happens with about 3 plot lines that have been leading up to something great. Then, I read the book.

Damn Jordan to Hell! I read the book and ... NOTHING HAPPENS!!! He spends 700 pages going over a month or so time frame from 3-4 different plot lines and creeping them all just a little bit closer to where something will actually occur. I'm tempted to just forget this series. I've read that he plans 3 more books, but if they're exciting as Crossroads, I think I'll just pass.

Peter F. Hamilton

[Anonymous Coward]

There are the classics and well known but this name hasn't been mentionend yet so here goes :

Peter F. Hamilton
He's a brit but don't hold that against him you yanks :)
This is one of my favorite authors.
He's recent, good writing style, knows his science and knows his characters, good dialogue, etc.

I fell in love the first time he described a space battle in the Reality Dysfunction, he has this certain knack to combine cold hard science with the fiction part and the unbelievable withouth destroying the cold hard science :)

The only problem I have with his books is that it's imposible not to read them withouth ruining the other sf authors, Night's Dawn is a lot like tlotr, 3 big books with a lot of characters and a lot of background stuff and really well written

Here's his list of books with a short description

Greg Mandel Series (global warming has happend, some cool technology and Greg Mandel is an interisting guy with a past)
Mindstar Rising
A Quantum Murder
The Nano Flower (This one is my favorite, to tell you about it is to spoil it, must read)

Night's Dawn Trilogy (hmm, this is one of my favorites about 3k pages in total but even that isn't enough :), there is nano tech, freezing time is possible and faster than light is also there, so what is going to happen when the dead come back and start to poses the living ?)
The Reality Dysfunction (mostly takes place on a colony planet)
The Neutronium Alchemist (this one takes place all over the confederation, we get earth and other places too)
The Naked God (has a deus ex machina ending wich could be a disapointment for some but there is just too much to close it up cleanly)

also
A Second Chance at Eden (short stories based on the timeline of Night's Dawn)
The Confederation Handbook (tech information on Night's Dawn)
Fallen Dragon (really good book, a lot of people were disapointed because the future here is a lot more bleak (is this a word) but I liked it a lot)
Mispenth Youth (near future, gene tech is here and what would you do when you're made young again ?)

Sorry for the rambling :) but I lost my previous post due to stupidity on my part

K. Langley

Re:Try getting out of your genre

[ledgeerama]

I used to dabble in scifi until I started hitting the general fiction/nonfiction shelves and found that in general, the quality of writing is much higher when there isn't a pixie or a dragon or a robot on the book's cover.

Perhaps you have been reading the wrong authors. In genereal, I've found the quality of writing in all genres isn't that fantastic, but there are good authors everywhere. In Sci-Fi, Philip K Dick, Iain M Banks and Peter F Hamilton are examples of good writers.

Dragonlance isn't very good

[alen]

I remember I read them in 6th grade. Now that I'm a little older I realize that it's nothing more than a Tolkien rip off. At least JRR was educated in various mythologies, languages and Christianity. That is what gave LOTR it's staying power. Tolkien rewrote the essence of Christianity for the 20th century.

If you want something else to read you can always try autobiographies. Learn how people overcame challenges in their lives. I also like philosophy. Try John Milton's Paradise Lost, Dante's Divine Comedy, The Prince by Michiavelli or any thing else you can find other than sci fi.

Try something old instead

[rgmoore]

I'm not sure if you've read them, but you might try reading something really old instead. Pick up some Jules Verne or Edgar Allen Poe, or some old classics like Frankenstein or Dracula, both of which have been very badly treated by the movies. You could even go back to some much older stuff like Gulliver's Travels, Beowulf (supposedly there's going to be a newly discovered translation by Tolkein published soon), The Illiad, The Epic of Gilgamesh, or the like. Many of the ideas being used by modern writers were first expressed in those classics, and they're very worth a read.

Project Gutenburg

[Ugmo]

If you've read 4000 books then you've probably read everything SF/Fantasy that is out currently in Barnes and Nobles. Expand beyong SF/Fantasy to related classics, history and source material.

Go to Project Gutenburg (http://www.gutenberg.net/) and look up some Charles Dickens, Herman Melville.

Why them?

If you've read fantasy you must have read Gene Wolfe's Earth of the New Sun Series. (If you haven't then read them. NOT the books of the LONG Sun, I wasn't crazy about them.)

The first book has a lot of settings and some of the language taken from Dickens' Great Expectations. The scene where Severen meets Baldanders in the Inn is taken from Moby Dick, so read that too. There are of course elements of Frankenstein in the later books but I think that is from the movie versions more than the actual book (Mary Shelly).

The book Frankenstein is really not what you would expect. I didn't get into it. Dracula was pretty good. PG also has the Invisble Man, Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde etc.

You could also read Jules Verne's books,H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series, and Sherlock Holmes books there.

Related to King Arthur you can read Tennysons' "The Idylls of the King", Nennius's "History of the Britons" which is one of the earliest mentions of Arthur. Gildas "On The Ruin Of Britain (De Excidio Britanniae)". The last two historical documents written in the Dark Ages that mention King Arthur.

Not in PG but something you might not have read but would enjoy if you like Gene Wolfe, find a translation of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges. The originals are in Spanish but there are English collections. He writes little surreal stories and The New Sun Books take a lot of theme and atmosphere from them.

One of his stories is about an infinite library with every book ever written or could be written on the shelves. The first book is all the letter "A" written down. The second book would be all "a"'s and then at the end is a "b" and so on. Somewhere in the library a book with the story of your life in it and it was there before you were born. Borges writes stuff like that.

So:
Gene Wolfe
Jorge Luis Borges
Charles Dickens
Herman Melville
H.G. Wells
Jules Verne
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

New authors

[mrbill]

I've been reading lately:

by John Ringo (in order):
"A Hymn Before Battle"
"When the Devil Dances"
"Gust Front"

and by Kage Baker (again, in order):
"In the Garden of Iden"
"Sky Coyote"
"Mendoza in Hollywood"
(unfortunately, the fourth, "Graveyard Game", is
out of print; I'd kill for a copy!)

I'm also reading Cory Doctorow's stuff.

Last night, I read (online) "The Metamorphasis of
Prime Intellect", by Roger Williams. <a href="http://www.kuro5hin.org/prime-intellect/">yo u can find it here.</a>.

SciSemiFiction -- Sterling's Tomorrow Now

[fatcat1111]

Bruce Sterling, Tomorrow Now [amazon.com].

Is it fiction? Is it nonfiction? Is it all SWAG? You decide!

Also, I met Sterling last week and he listed Cory Doctorow as one of the two English SciFi writers he was reading right now. I haven't had the opportunity to read anything from him except 0wnz0red [salon.com] yet, but he certainly looks promising.

Umberto Eco - Philip K. Dick - William Gibson

[bladerunner009]

If you're into fiction then I would suggest you try some of Umberto Eco's novels. Focault's Pendulum, Name of the Rose, and Island of the Day Before....The writing is exceptionally good. At the very least these novels are quite verbose and you may need to have a dictionary near by. I guarantee reading these books will bump your mensa score up a few points... And I also want to throw my 2 cents in for William Gibson (Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive) and Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, also of the recent Minority Report movie fame)

Best new author

[Big Dave Diode]

Cory Doctorow comes to mind. And you can check out his latest novel for free [craphound.com]. I haven't been this excited about an author since I discovered Vernor Vinge or Neal Stephenson.

Too many goofs

[mangu]

In Cryptonomicon there's a point when someone lost at sea gets oriented by stars that weren't visible from the place where he was. That's something a true SF author would always check, *very* carefully, because it's the obvious thing to verify...

Re:Too obvious?

[rossifer]

"Zodiac", "Snow Crash" and "The Diamond Age" were well written, fun reads, but "Cryptonomicon" was a painful waste of money (I bought the hardback). I must be the only /. reader who doesn't like it though...

His exposition was painful and labored, trying to explain modern "hacker-ware" to the non-elite. Linux and PGP have never been more painful to hear about than in that book. And then on top of that the ending was such a total and complete non-event, I have never been so completely underwhelmed.

I like Stephenson, but "Cryptonomicon" simply sucked and I'm desperately hoping the next one is a return to the wonderful storytelling of his earlier works.

Regards,
Ross

Honorverse: Not deep, but very fun

[gottabeme]

I wouldn't call the Honor books deep, but they're very fun to read. If you buy the hardcover edition of the 10th book in the series, War of Honor, it includes a CD-ROM with all of the books in the series in HTML, RTF, MS Reader, etc. formats, plus artwork, covers, schematics, other books in other series, and some other stuff. The publishers, Baen Books, are so generous that it says right on the CD that the contents can be freely distributed but not sold. You can download the first three books of the series for free from their Web site, Baen Books [baen.com] . If you hunt around you can probably find all of the Honorverse books online somewhere for download.

Great moments in history

[Xtifr]

J. Random Passerby: "Gee, Mr. Sturgeon, you write scifi? I've read some of this scifi stuff, and honestly, most of it is crud!"

Ted Sturgeon: "Indeed, about 90% of all science fiction is crud, but then 90% of everything, roughly speaking, is crud."

And thus was born Sturgeon's Law [tuxedo.org].

I used to dabble in scifi

I used to "dabble" in mainstream fiction, and found that most of it was crap. And what do we learn from this? Sturgeon was right.

Actually, I would argue that today, the meta-category of "speculative fiction" has, overall, a higher percentage of good stuff because it simply give the author more scope. All of time and space, all the lands of the imagination, up to and including the real world here-and-now. How can someone who is truly creative and inventive resist this wider scope? I think this is a fairly minor factor, and is partially offset by the stigma of being a "genre author", but I nevertheless think it's a factor.

avoid the topsellers lists, its filled with pedestrian crap

Here I strongly disagree. Sure, 90% of the bestsellers are crap, but remember Sturgeon's law. Throughout history, most of the great writers have been popular writers, at least as far back as Shakespeare. If you're not writing to entertain, then why the hell are you writing? I'd much rather have a novel written by someone who has worked for years to learn how to write an entertaining, popular novel, than by someone who has spent years trying to prove to the world how much smarter he is than the average joe.

The first step to enlightenment is to be a book snob.

Yeah, I tried that back when I was a young student, a couple of decades ago. Now, looking back, I realize what a pretentious young idiot I was. Back then, I thought James Joyce was the height to which literature could and should aspire. Now I realize that it's simply an interesting side-branch of literature. Worth investigating, but no better in any absolute sense than the best of the popular best-selling authors.

As for learning something, I think that in general, you'll do better to read some non-fiction. I read fiction for entertainment, and thus, I expect it to be entertaining. If it isn't, it's probably just a waste of my time.

Re:Too many goofs

[Webmonger]

Why do you call that science fiction? Or has "modern" come to mean "not"? As in "Modern art", "Modern Jazz" etc?

Re:Reading List

[G-funk]

Jordan, Robert
Wheel of Time Series
Books: Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Shadows Rising, The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos, A Crown of Swords


I'm a huge fan of the WOT story and universe, but apart from the last few pages of winter's heart, the last 3 or so books have sucked. It's slow, and has diversified into too many different tales all at once... It's become a soap with magic. Kind of like Night's Dawn but not done as well. The next one is out in a few weeks I think, I hope it picks up the pace.

Re:Lois McMaster Bujold

[Animats]

Bujold is unique in that she sets stories of different genres in the same universe. "The Warrior's Apprentice" is space opera. "Ceteganda" is a detective novel. "A Civil Campaign" is a comedy of manners. "Barrayar" is a war novel. "Cordeila's Honor" is a romance.

Another must read (immediately) ....

[fferreres]

Simmons, Dan
Hyperion

Re:good hard sci-fi stuff

[jovlinger]

Nylund was more enjoyable than well written. Ie, the story is strong enough to overcome the sometimes stilted writing. If you buy those books, buy both (they are really one book published in two volumes), and force yourself to finish the first one (the second is significantly better written than the first -- with any luck his next books will be even better written with the same strong plots). But well worth the read, all in all.

I don't know Watts. What sort of writing is it?

On a completely different note, If you like the Asimov style SF, you may want to pick up some Charles Sheffield. Be somewhat careful about what you buy as the same book (or at least same plot) has been published under two different titles (forget which tho. Sorry). In particular, I recommend "The compleat McAndrew" for well done Engineer-as-hero shorts. His "The Web between Worlds" is remarkable for being accused of plagarising Clarke's space elevators (Sheffield's book takes the concept in a very different direction, and since Clarke had no problem with it, neither do I). I suspect that Baxter is a fan of this book, as "Manifold:Space"'s super-smart-squid and protagonist Malenfant have clear counterparts in Web.

Lastly, (and then I promise to stop), on the cyberpunk level, I'd recommend Alex Effinger's (RIP) Marid series. Arab cyberpunk kicks ass! Also (if only because I can't seem to find these books anywhere) Walter Jon Williams' "Hardwired" (strong recommend) was probably the first cyberpunk I'd ever read. "Days of Atonement" (recommend) is good Twilight-Zone-meets-detective , while "Aristoi" is almost Piers Anthonyesq (that's not a Good Thing, IMHO). A brief web search indicates that he's now writing Star Wars novellas, which I am having a hard time reconciling with the style of what I've read, but there you go.

Re:Not obvious

[Grab]

Hell, if you can start with something which the reader thinks is a cliche and then surprise the reader with something they really weren't expecting, isn't that the *definition* of good writing?

Grab.

Re:Iain Banks & The Culture

[mark2003]

Iain Banks is definiteley one of the best writers of his generation. The sci-fi stuff (under Iain M. Banks), particularly the culture novels are miles ahead of anyone else. Personally I like his unusual approach to sci-fi in that it is about characters, societies and plot rather than the usual rubbish of who has the biggest/most technically advanced weapons/spaceships. The technology is just used as a way to get the characters involved in more interesting and unusual situations. And as a bonus it has a sense of humour. Some of his non-sci-fi books are also extremely good, Complicity stands out for me.

Sigh! parody anyone?

[danro]

It's a parody, get it?
Kind of like spaceballs.
Stephenson is mocking the "cyberpunk"-genre by taking the already over-the-top jargon really over the top. Introducing things like the full-body personal airbag (good for jumping into a busy freeway from a low flying helicopter), the fusion-powered gauss-gattling gun (requiering a mid-sized lake to dip the heatsink in) mentioned in the parent post.
And, last, but not least, the pacemaker wired to your own personal nuclear warhead (for those of you that really, really crave the same respect for your person that people otherwise only give major soverign states).

Reread it as a parody and I can almost promise you you'll enjoy it.

I'm sure you'll listen to reason... ;-)