SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

So... I'm in the midst of playing through the Mass Effect franchise (just finished ME2 last night and started ME3 today, yay!) and it's really put me in the mood for some good old fashioned military science fiction / space opera.

Being an epic fantasy lover, I don't have an awful lot of experience with the genre, aside from a copious amount of David Weber's Honor Harrington series and a significant amount of Anne McCaffrey, along with a bout of Leviathan Wakes (which I loved.)

Any suggestions for a newbie? :)

I'd be interested on what you think when you're done playing. I played the first game when it came out five years ago and have played both 1&2 too many times to count. 1 more. Loved this series.
I've also wondered at the lack of space opera in the style of Mass Effect, Star Wars, Star Trek without going to media tie ins. I love hard science but sometimes I want popcorn.
Depending on what you're looking for, less military but more planet exploration and aliens, I'd recommend pre space program pulp. Burroughs. Leigh Brackett. CL Moore.
I don't know too much about military SciFi.
Btw, if you're liking Mass Effect and you love fantasy you should try the game Dragon Age. Same developer.

I've actually played through Dragon Age 1 and 2, and really enjoyed it, but I'm finding that I like Mass Effect much better. It's odd, since I was turned off of Mass Effect years ago when it first came out because of one of the darned quests back from when you were first on the Citadel, and I never went on with it. My loss.

I'm glad I've gotten the chance to play through the whole franchise as one long line; it means that I've gotten attached to my Shepard, and can see the results of my decisions rather immediately without forgetting why I chose what I did. The story line is, if you'll forgive me an overused term, epic.

Honestly, David Weber's Honor Harrington series really did ping the same epic sci fi theme that I wanted -- no aliens, just people and politics and warships in space -- and was easily readable. I have, however, read it far too often. I'm still poking my nose around for something different...I'm just too inexperienced with the genre to really know where to start. :/

I liked the first Honor book but haven't continued yet. I'm still looking for a SciFi adventure series with aliens that isn't Star Trek or Star Wars though. Lol.

I'm actually playing the first ME again now. I've never gone renegade. Finally doing that. Still have to play a male Shepard at some point too...

I just finished it last night, and it left me...thoughtful. It certainly wasn't a wham-bam-thank-ya-ma'am take back of the galaxy. I liked it, I think, but I certainly don't think there's enough difference between the myriad endings that I really feel like playing through the entire franchise again to get something different. So.. satisfying, yet unexpected.

There's a downloadable extra coming for the end of 3. It doesn't change the story but is supposed to give more detail on what happened. It's free.

It's not that I hate it...I just hate that ME decided to end that way. If that makes sense. I'm not confused. Mostly. I had dead characters show up at the end. Lol. It just left me kinda empty and unsatisfied. Glad you liked it though. :)

I dont think i want a downloadable extra. I get it... It just wasn't what i was expecting. Which doesn't me it bad, really.

Sorry, was typing on my phone. Like I said, I get what happened. It actually made sense, though I can really see why some people would think it was a cop-out. I don't think it was. It's just not the whack-we're-blowin-up-the-aliens sort of thing that video games normally deliver. I really thought the story was amazingly compelling, and I love the epic scope of it. My heart was in my throat at the end, hoping Tali and Garrus would be okay. I...really still want more stories like that, stories that grab you by the throat and yank you through to the very end where you're not sure what's going to happen, and sometimes, just sometimes, let you fall.

Yeah, I know. If it had been a book or a movie or even another game I think my opinion would've been different. But I played ME when it first came out five years ago and it was instant love. Played ME2 the first day and loved it. I just don't have that, omg that was amazing feeling I had before.

Sorry, can't comment on the video games, but for book suggestions for great space opera/military science fiction, I started a list in Listopia a while back. You're sure to find some great recs there:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/11...