Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

I've hit a rather large slump of late with reading, and I figured it was time to venture into a new genre. I normally love reading Fantasy novels, but I've picked up several the last few months and I'll read a few chapters in, and then they become coffee table decoration, which then get covered with my wife's clutter, never to be seen again.

So to try and remedy this bleak bookless time, I picked up a couple of Dan Simmons books. Ilium, and Olympos. I've been blazing through Ilium, and can't seem to put it down.

I've seen that Hyperion seems to be a great center for discussion in this group, and I was curious if this is similar to Ilium, and just as good, and my second question would be if any of you had any other suggestions for books similar to Ilium, or maybe just some epic Sci-fi books in general.

I don't know Simmons...if you can find any "Best of the Year" collections, they are good for short stories...the ones ed. by Gardner Dozois are usually good, not hard to find

What type of science fiction books are you after? Space-based, near/far future, military sf, golden age, modern?

For a serious, epic sci fi series try Stephen Donaldson, The Gap series, one of my favorites. For something more light hearted and pulpy, try Jeff Somers' Avery Cates series which starts with The Electric Church :-)

For a classic series, try Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy.
For great military SF, David Weber, especially the Honor Harrington books. For harder-edged, Sgt. Rock sort of military SF, anything by David Drake, or any of the Bolo books.
I suggest going to Listopia, looking through likely lists, and investigating books that appeal to you.

Thanks for the responses! I'm looking for space type Sci-fi, and possibly any historical sci-fi, something along the lines of Burton and Swinburne type stories, if any of you have read those.

Space based sci-fi:

Peter F Hamilton - epic space opera. If you want standalone, go for Fallen Dragon or Great North Road. If you want sweeping multi-character multi-world series, then go for Night's Dawn Trilogy (first book The Reality Dysfunction) or the Confederation books starting with Pandora's Star.

Alastair Reynolds - also big space opera. Start with 'Revelation Space'.

Also lots of great classics from the likes of Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein.

Going more towards the military sci-fi, there's also the classic 'The Forever War' by Joe Haldeman, and new authors like John Scalzi (start with Old Man's War).

Historical sci-fi - A lot of Stephen Baxter's more recent books are sci-fi messing with history, like his Time's Tapestry series (Emperor, Conqueror, Navigator, Weaver), the early parts of his Destiny's Children series, as well as some of his standalone novels.

Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series has a lot of historical figures in, including Richard Burton.

It's more like fantasy, but if you haven't already read it 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell' by Susanna Clarke might be your cup of tea. That's set in Victorian England.

That's quite the list! Thanks again for all the recommendations. Time to start looking into all of these!

Hyperion is very good. Fall of Hyperion is also very good. Endymion and Rise of Endymion are good but not at the level of the first two in the tetralogy. If you liked Ilium, you will almost certainly like the Hyperion Cantos.

You can appreciate it more if you read some Keats, Bocaccio, and Chaucer first.

Bryce wrote: "Thanks for the responses! I'm looking for space type Sci-fi, and possibly any historical sci-fi, something along the lines of Burton and Swinburne type stories, if any of you have read those."

These are'nt exactly space sci-fi but the Burton/Swinburne was like a alternative steampunk story.. which i love. So id recommend:

Infernal Devices
Retribution Falls
Homunculus

I'll have to check those out as well! I loved the Burton and Swinburne books as well, and was pleasantly surprised by them! I don't think I've ever had to Google so many names before.

I'm a notorious cover shopper when it comes to books, and I remember the cover for Spring heeled Jack caught my attention, and I thought that I had to have the books just for their covers alone!

Bryce, they say you can't judge a book by its cover, yet i have yet to meet anyone who hasnt done so at least once (myself included)

Has anyone else read any of the sci-fi trilogy beginning with Gabriel's Redemption by Steve Umstead? It is not perfect, but I thought the author did an excellent job of world building. The science was believable and well thought out. You can usually find it for Kindle either free or for less than $4.

My Favorite SF is The Legacy of Heorot.

Anyone read "The Last Overseer"? It's a newly released novel with some really cool technology in it. The characters had some cool super-abilities too, a very dark, but also a very fun read.

The Last Overseer

I certainly haven't read it, but it sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out.

it really makes you think

I also recommend

Bryce, I'd recommend the Expanse series by James S. A. Corey. They've written three books so far and a couple of novellas in the series.

Oh, and I'd be curious to hear what you think of Olympus. I liked Ilium a lot but thought Olympus didn't come close to the same level of quality.

I thought Illium was great, I blazed through it in days. Olympos was pretty good, I had a harder time getting into it then Illium, and I think it was mostly due to how the book was paced, and split into parts. There were also some odd things put into it that I'm not really sure were necessary to the story as a whole.

That being said I still really enjoyed it, but I would have to agree that it wasn't as good as Illium.

I thought Illium was great, I blazed through it in days. Olympos was pretty good, I had a harder time getting into it then Illium, and I think it was mostly due to how the book was paced, and split into parts. There were also some odd things put into it that I'm not really sure were necessary to the story as a whole.

That being said I still really enjoyed it, but I would have to agree that it wasn't as good as Illium.

I can't suggest mine, but try my favorite author; Michael R. Hicks. Either the "In Her Name", which is very unique and gripping Sci-fi, or his terrifying "Harvest" series.