Science Fiction Reading Suggestions

[drothgery]

Lois McMaster Bujold. I know you said "no military", but her Miles Vorkosigan books are "military" the way MASH or JAG are "military" rather than the way "Platoon" is military - that is, they're character-driven plots in a military background rather than a series of battles. Also check out Falling Free (same universe but not a Miles book), about the "quaddies" - humans gengineered for free-fall, with a second set of arms replacing the legs.

Seconded and thirded. Also, the last few Miles books (featuring Lord Auditor Vorkosigan rather than Lt. Vorkosigan or Admiral Naismith) are more about characters in a milaristic society, rather than the military per say.

 

[drnuncheon]

George Alec Effinger. When Gravity Fails, A Fire in the Sun, and I think there's a third book but I don't recall the title off-hand.

The Exile Kiss. There's also a book of short fiction out called Budayeen Nights. It's a damn shame that he'll never get to finish Word of Night or Helpless.

J

 

[ragboy]

I haven't seen Swanwick mentioned. I've only read one of his novels:

Stations in the Tide

But he's also in the Year's Best Science Fiction anthology almost every year.

Also, anything by Philip K. Dick, though these two are the most accessible to the uninitiated. He's an acquired taste for some people:

Scanner Darkly
The Man in the High Castle

 

[Mallus]

Its Stations of the Tide --like the Stations of the Cross-- and yeah, its a gorgeous book.

Its not SF, in fact, I'm not sure what it is, but Swanwicks' The Iron Dragons' Daughter deserves to be widely read. Try to look beyond the cyber-dragon on the cover.

As for PHD... I'd say Valis and Ubik are pretty accessible. Because I've read them.

 

[Tetsubo]

I recommend:

Moreau Omnibus: Forests of the Night/Emperors of the Twilight/Specters of the Dawn
by S. Andrew Swann. Three books in one volume and a good place to start in hos universe.