Stephen Colbert’s Alpha Squad 7: Lady Nocturne: A Tek Jansen Adventure

By far the best mate.

The first chapter:

http://www.colbertnation.com/colbertnation/novel_1.jhtml

I deactivated my solivisor as I stepped through the autoslide doors of the Planetary Government and Social Protection Programs building's majestic lobby, the newly transparent fluxiglass lenses giving me a clear view of the lobby's central feature—a hologram of the New Geneva cityscape that couldn't help but call attention, I wryly thought to myself, to the fact that the PGSPP building was by far the tallest in the city, a result of the demolition order that was the first law passed when the new New Terran government, the Planetary Parliament, was formed by the merger of the European Regency Council and the East-West Oversight Alliance.

Lol.
Couldn't force myself to read past that first sentence ^_^

You do realise of course that it is a parody? :o

lol no, but that might explain the first sentence, thanks, i will read further :P

neuromancer

I'm definitely glad I read neuromancer:p [+], lol;p

neuromancer is way older than 10 years.
I recommend Snow Crash.

neuromancer is like 85. the author coined the term "cyberspace".

is that so captain obvious? and pray tell what relevance does a book published in 1985 have to do with a conversation regarding books from the last 8-10 years?

sorry, didn't know the author or this post had already read every great sci-fi book ever written up until 1996. my bad.

Arthur C Clarke's Rama books were awesome

http://www.iblist.com/series136.htm

i got them free with the game :x

I preferred Diamond Age to Snow Crash.

Dan Simmons' books are good too, though the Hyperion books ended fairly tediously.

My favourite is probably Iain Banks - The Player of Games, though I know a lot of people didn't like it. Excession is good too.

Pattern Recognition is by William Gibson, but isn't really sci fi. I think it's his best book by a mile though (yes, better than Neuromancer)

simmons's
thanks.

Not in English

yes, in English. *and no, it was not a joke.

* note: I started a sentence with a preposition. get used to it.

two boys' hats
two women's hats
two actresses' hats
two children's hats
the Changs' house
the Joneses' golf clubs
the Strauses' daughter
the Sanchezes' artwork
the Hastingses' appointment
the Leeses' books

So, you're posting to show you're wrong? I don't really get this.

Dan Simmons is two people? I don't really get this.

the grammar there is subjective.

uhh, in the original instance, yes, perhaps. some people think it's more aesthetically pleasing to not append the trailing 'ess,' but that does not make it syntactically correct, disputed as it may be. the convention, and widely so, is that of the way which was documented in the links I provided.
further, in this instance, it is not grammatically subject.
being that simmons is not plural, in its pairing [as a surname] with a first name, it is a singular, and thus, Dan Simmons's is technically correct.

a news paper headline would use the s'. id use the 's. but its not a huge deal.

a shitty newspaper would.

Was that a joke?

I bought Excession but couldn't get past the first chapter. I guess I'll try again some time.

I never finished Diamond Age :( but what I read of it was nice yes

congratulations.

I'd second Player of Games.

Since nobody seems to care about the 10yr- directive, I'll throw in my 2 cents worth:

God Emperor of Dune, F. Herbert

The depth of social, political and religious commentary in the whole Dune series is truly staggering.

You already know that I'm talking about FH's original six, not the complete tripe that BH and KJA spew out.

Yep, not so much embarassing teenage technical talk and virgin logic, and more complex ideas with broader perspective - that's what I liked about them.

Still, out of all the Dune books, the worm takes first place hands down :]

Yeah the rather telling difference, FH had a life before he wrote, the new ones are just typical nerdy sci-fo crap. Dune is more a way of making Arab issues or at least the atmosphere of the Middle east and Northern Africa accessible to people than pure sci-fi but the best sci-fi is more interested in the real and here and now. His lines in Dune about water sellers calling 'Souk-souk' is obviously based on real experiences.

L Ron Hubbard, I'm a big ginger moron.

Brian Lumley - Necroscope series
- Vampire world Series
- E-branch series
- Psychosphere trilogy

Ingo Swan - Starfire

Christopher Hienz - the Paratwa war trilogy

Frank herbert - the god makers

these next arent exactly Sci-fi but they rock never the less

Robin Hobb - farseer trilogy (assasins books 1-3)
- Golden Fool trilogy

Stephen Erikson - All of the books - tales of malazan the fallen (1-7)

frank herberts Dune prequel was fairly good!

Indeed i would have put the full prequel series except someone had already meantioned Dune

the houses prequels are so much fun as they give you better background into why house harkonnen (the good guys) and house Atredies (the bad guys) hate each other so much :)

i think you mixed up the good/bad guys there...

depends

hehe Read em and find out the truth about the houses (not wishing to spoil anything)

hmm, I read the first four books of the series (when i was much younger... I might have missed something...)
The Harkonnen are showed as the cruel guys in the first book if I remember correctly...
Is there something on the new ones?
edit: oh, you were talking about the sequels... nevermind me >_<

Didnt erikson only finish 6 books of that series? not 7
v nice books :) I wish i started reading when he was done with the entire serie.

Just finished reading book 7 (bonehunters) :) and the series looks to be carrying on :) next one is the epic battle : toblakai vs icarium (one to watch out for)..

Currently reading Charles Stross - The Atrocity Archives Doubt its the very best, but it's really fun and quite exciting.

China Mieville - Perdido Street Station
China Mieville - The Scar
China Mieville - Iron Council

Highly recommended, best writer I've seen in recent years, although it's hard to tell whether its sci-fi or fantasy, because it kinda blurs the lines, think fantasy cyber punk.

I quite like the Northern Lights books, but I haven't read all that much recently to compare it to others.

Yes, they were good. I'm not sure his other stuff is worth reading though

Yeah I thought those were pretty good too.

Hammer of Darkness by L.E. Modesitt Jr. is very good.

After finding out that he has unusual powers, he is banished from the planet Karnak. Martin is thrust into the tranquil world of Aurore, vacation paradise for the galaxy. There he finds that the reality of Aurore is much different from its serene veneer. The gods are wantonly cruel and indifferent to the chaos they cause: are they really gods or just men and woman with larger-than-life powers? Whatever the answer Martin Martel must challenge their supremacy to defend his life, love, and the fate of all mankind.

Kingdoms of the Wall by Robert Silverberg is as well.

Poilar Crookleg's dream becomes reality when he is designated leader of a group of 40 young men and women chosen by the village of Jespodar to participate in the yearly pilgrimage to the top of the mammouth mountain known as "The Wall," a journey from which no sane person has heretofore returned. Veteran sf author Silverberg is a consummate raconteur with a flair for metaphor. Like the ocean in his Face of the Waters ( LJ 9/15/91), the mountain in his latest work represents both a physical and a spiritual obstacle for the human spirit. Fans of epic adventure will not be disappointed.

And so is the Orion series by Ben Bova :) I have only read three of the five in this series, but they're good.

Not sure when these are from, but they're good.

The original Dune books are supposed to be pretty good also says the guy I borrowed those mentioned above from =) Waiting for an answer from him about the two best he's read, so I'll update then.

Not totally science fiction, but certainly one of the stories (its 6 short stories all inter-linked) in Cloud Atlas. Certainly the best bit of science fiction in short stories I have ever read and totally thought provocing.

The whole book is pretty incredible and I am certain you can relate some of it to real history, modern times and who knows perhaps a REAL peak into the future of this planet.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

hehe geeks

I read Phase Space once.. Compiled short stories.. Some of them are really awesome :)

http://www.sfsite.com/12b/ps166.htm

"...notably the ability to immerse a reader in an alien world for a brief period of time yet tell a cohesive story. To this, Baxter adds his ability for scientific extrapolation and explanation, making Phase Space an excellent collection for fans of hard science fiction."

The Bible....imo the best :]

I thought that was fantasy?

polish one is set in the future. (where they dont need condoms)

Julian May,http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/julian-may.
Philip Jose' Farmer,http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/philip-jose-farmer/
Raymond Feist,http://www.raymondfeistbooks.com.
all great writers although these are fanatasy and not real science fiction.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/julian-may/

Of course, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams (R.I.P.) ;) but that's a given ;)

If you want to move on from kiddy sci-fi (although there are a few exceptions in the lists like Dune) try Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Gravity's Rainbow and Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon are older than your suggested age limit but are much stronger surreal and sci-fi material than most of what is listed. A lot of the cyberpunk movement comes from ideas in Gravity's Rainbow.

I fell asleep reading David Foster Wallace's stuff. I guess I'm a kiddy

Calling most sci-fi kiddy stuff is not the same as saying you are a kid if you don't enjoy a particular author.

Surely it is: How can I take the piss otherwise?

My favourtie sci-fi books are...

Julian May:
- The Galactic Milieu Trilogy (series - 4 books <yep.. 4>)
- Saga of the Exiles (series - 4 books)

Stephen Donaldson
-The Gap Series (series - 5 books)

...Definately worth a look!

you guys are a huge help, thanks!

my thai food is here, some chilli duck stir fry.


il check up on the books when i get back and plus more people.

:x [+]

obviously, some of those are +10y old...
but they'll never age

c.j. cherryh -> downbelow station, cyteen
arthur c. clarke -> anything
frank herbert -> dune, at least the first 3
greg bear -> darwin's radio
dan simmons -> hyperion + 2nd part (1st part boggles your mind, 2nd illuminates you)
william gibson -> anything esp. neuromancer trilogy
Neal Stephenson -> anything, snow crash is a must
Asimov -> foundation cycle (no scifi list w/o this)
Stanislav Lem -> anything (pretty serious stuff)
Ben Bova-> mars
Kim Stanley Robinson - > mars trilogy (one of the best i read)

or just check out hugo/nebula awards, all nominees are worth a read
http://worldcon.org/hugos.html
http://dpsinfo.com/awardweb/nebulas/

EDIT:
Michael Marshall Smith -> spares (weird and fresh)

Got an answer now.

Dune of course, but already mentioned.

But also Enders Game by Orson Scott Card.

Some recently read are Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton.

just got though the first 6 chapters of enders game :)

pretty cool, sure it will get much better though

I haven't read it my self ;) but I will. I'm not a big reader ,but those books I have ready that are Sci-Fi are from suggestions from a friend of mine, and they've all been good really =)

true, the ender series is one of the big ones.
however, many ppl i know dislike the change of direction the series takes(read: after the 1st).

Yes it's very different, i still think they are pretty good though, but Ender's Game is set to be a classic, if it isn't already. Real genius that book.

actually i think the 1st one ist the "weakest" of the bunch.
well weak like "the hobbit" compared to LOTR. ;)

Subjective :P I love the feeling I had when reading the first, but I think the other books are alot deeper.

I found the Ender's Game book very embarassing (the first one, didn't even know it had sequels).

Why?

Naive logic, trying to play on weak reader's insecurities through a one-man-army heroic plot. I can't remember reading anything quite so pretentious and ostensibly manipulative. This could be sweet in a hilarious way if it were at least interestingly written (early 90's action movies YEAH BABY), which it's not. My verdict is stay away.

sci-fi...erm...

worth it

[+]

vernor vinge:
"A Deepness in the Sky"
"A Fire Upon the Deep"

Seconded very much, great books.

Also:

C.S Friedman, anything, start with In Conquest Born
Lois McMaster Bujold, start with Young Miles omnibus edition, or Cordelia's Honor omnibus.
Peter F Hamiltons The Night's Dawn trilogy if you want big, epic and fun books, a bit so so ending though.

Orson Scott Card, Enders Game and the following books.

Dan Simmons, Illium / Olympos or the Hyperion Cantos.

K Dick, Man In The High Castle etc etc ...

dragonball z

Richard Morgan


whats he like? saw a review of his book altered carbon sounds ok.

anyone read him?

star wars m8

good to see how many people reply purely off the title of the thread as opposed to ACTUALLY READING WHAT HE SAID

:P

lol well am all cute and ignored it.

gona own afew sci-fi books when am done with my 15th of may deadline, then spain in 3 weeks wit z grrl, gona own like 123144131 books in those 2 weeks. harrrrrrrrrr

random fact, i saw chuck palahniuk afew days ago, got him to sign a book for the grrl

"have a happy sex holiday in spain, from chuck"

yesh i rule <3