Recommend to me a sci-fi or fantasy book

[ergeheilalt]

I'm pretty much looking for some sci-fi or fantasy to read, although I would read some espionage stuff (read most of Tom Clancy and have given up on him).

I recommend Clive Cussler's books revolving around Dirk Pitt. A wee bit of espionage mixed in with Russian (later Chinesse) Comunist plots all revolving around various sea wrecks from the Titanic to Homer's Oddessy. I'd really recomend Raising the Titanic by Cussler. Great book with a sort of sci-fi twist to it.

If you're looking into Fantasy, I'd recommend Raymond E. Feist's books (a new one is coming out State's side this month!). I really liked Dragon Weather by Lawrence Watt-Evans. Feist's books are fairly decent, yet standard Fantasy canon material; while the Dragon Weather (and the rest of the books in the Obsidian Cronicles) tend to be a bit more non-standard, dealing with dragons and humanity and their interdependance.

Good luck in your search,
Erge

 

[mojo1701]

Something by Tomothy Zahn, which would be Sci-fi.

I'm still in the middle of reading the Thrawn Trilogy. Great books, they are.

 

[Richards]

For an excellent take on the Star Trek "red shirt syndrome," try James Alan Gardner's Expendable. It's the first of a series, but after having read that one you can read the others in just about any sequence. The other books in the same universe are:

Commitment Hour
Vigilant
Hunted
Trapped

I highly recommend them. They're well-written, full of interesting aliens and a fascinating "take" on a Federation-like organization. (Despite the Star Trek comment above, these are not set in the Star Trek universe. For one thing, the League of Peoples is much more interesting than the Federation!) The heroine of Expendable is Festiva Ramos, born with a wine-colored birthmark on her face, which makes her stand out amongst the "perfect" people of the future, and thus suited only as an Explorer: one of the poor schmucks who gets to go set foot on unexplored new planets to see if they're safe. (Through experience, humanity has discovered that people tend to feel bad when a good-looking individual is killed; it's bad for morale. However, when the Explorer happens to look "different" in some way - a birth defect, or a deformity, or whatever - they seem to "get over it" much quicker...)

Johnathan

 

[mmadsen]

I'm currently reading LotR again after about 10 years and I've noticed that my "to be read" pile isn't a pile anymore. It's just empty shelf space. I'm looking for some recommendations before I hit the book store again.

I think I can suggest a number of Classics of Fantasy:

Hobberdy Dick
The Hobbit
The Books of Wonder
Tales of Averoigne
The Book of Three Dragons
Watership Down
The Night Land
The Face in the Frost
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Worm Ouroboros
Bridge of Birds
A Voyage to Arcturus
Silverlock
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Collected Ghost Stories
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
The Well at the World's End

To give you an idea of my taste. Some of my favorite authors are David Gemmell, Simon Green and Jim Butcher. I've enjoyed stuff by Allen Steele, Jack McDevitt, Eddings, Brooks and Dennis McKiernan. Some authors I didn't care for were David Farland, Guy Gavriel Kay, Bruce Sterling and Janny Wurts.

If you enjoy David Gemmel, you owe it to yourself to pick up Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories, available again in The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian from Del Rey. David Gemmel is often described as Howard-esque. (Of course, I hated Gemmel, but that's another story...)

 

[Lady Mer]

The Phoenix Guards, by Steven Brust
Jherg, by Steven Brust
The Golden Chain, by Dave Duncan

 

[Dr. Talos]

Here is a list of some of my favorites and some that I have read lately.

Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe - Science Fantasy
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson - Alternate History
American Gods by Neil Gaiman - Modern Fantasy
Shadow by K.J. Parker - Fantasy
Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen - Science Fantasy
Fallen Dragon by Peter Hamilton (If you like Simon Green you'll like this)
Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling
Emporer: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden - Fictional History with a Fantasy feel.

 

[Welverin]

I'm still in the middle of reading the Thrawn Trilogy. Great books, they are.

Give some of his original books a try when you're done with that.

Also Survivor's Quest came out recently (looks to be a follow up to the Hand of Thrawn duology), there's also a related ebook.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Perdido Street Station was gritty Urban Arcana fun with some of the scariest monsters I've ever read - not scary-looking exactly, but scary for what they do to you...

 

[Sir Whiskers]

More Timothy Zahn recommendations (these are out-of-print, you'll have to find used copies):

Blackcollar
The Backlash Mission
Cascade Point
Time Bomb
Distant Friends

For sci-fi military, check out David Weber/Steve White:

Insurrection
Crusade
In Death Ground
The Shiva Option

Orson Scott Card:

Ender's Game
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets

Robert Forward:

Dragon's Egg

C.S. Friedman

In Conquest Born
The Madness Season

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

if you miss your favorite author: The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll

if you like satire/alternate viewpoints of known settings: Wicked by Gregory Maguire

if you like comedy: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

if you like your brain to be turned to mush (in a good way): Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban