 July 2, 2008 - 7:39pm | Help! I need suggestions for really good science fiction novels to read/ listen to. I convert books from pdf to mp3 format, and listen while i drive/work/live, and I would appreciate suggestions from people as to what to listen to next. i have read: the honor harrington series the lensman series conrad starguard series foundation series 2001 series most of the drizzt du'urden series (i do SOME fantasy) ringworld series poslene series (john ringo) freehold series I also have a collection of programs to easily convert from pdf to mp3 if anyone wants them. i have access to about 14000 titles, so i'll probably have anything you suggest. thanks, copycat042 |
July 2, 2008 - 8:34pm | never mind, i found the reader's corner here: http://starfrontiers.us/node/2974 thanks anyway. |
 July 3, 2008 - 6:52pm | And here I was about to say I don't see Starship Troopers on that list. I've been working on the Lensman series myself. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
 July 4, 2008 - 8:22am | I would recommend the McClintock series and the Kris Longknife series. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
 July 6, 2008 - 12:05pm | All the Ringworld books are great. At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy...... |
July 8, 2008 - 4:39am | there's a lot ,not on the list, that i have read, including starship troopers. a scanner darkly, i liked the first ringworld, but not the second. I'm working on the first kris longknife now. I enjoy saberhagen's berserker stories. thanks, guys, keep 'em coming. copycat042 |
July 8, 2008 - 4:51am | I would recommend the McClintock series and the Kris Longknife series. what author/titles is/are this? (with enough slashes, you can save on punctuation  )
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July 9, 2008 - 1:10am | The Longknife series is Deserter, Muntineer, Defiant and Resolute, all by Mike Sheppherd. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
July 19, 2008 - 8:38pm | found the longknife series, working on deserter now. just finished the first of night's dawn trilogy and "mutineer" |
 July 19, 2008 - 11:16pm | Allan Cole & Chris Bunch, Sten (first book title, main character name, and series title) - military special ops space opera. Chris Bunch, Star Risk, LTD. - Bunch does space opera mercenaries. Series. Rob't Asprin, Phule's Company - while humorous, it is good rolicking space opera as well. Lois McMaster Bujold, The Warrior's Apprentice, the entry point to the vorKosiverse/Miles vorKosigan adventures. If you enjoy it, there are about 8 books in the series. |
July 20, 2008 - 1:11pm | I forgot to add, Sheppherd's come out with one more Longknife book, Audacious. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
July 20, 2008 - 1:14pm | Vorkosigan and Kris Longknife have a lot in common.... "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
 July 20, 2008 - 3:22pm | I would recommend the book The Battle at the Moons of Hell: Book One of Hellfort's War by Paul, Graham Sharp It presented a setting that in many ways reminded me of Star Frontiers. The author was an officer in the navy and his experience really shows through in his protrayal of life aboard a military vessel. I loved how he presented the use of stealthy surveilance ships and the real sweat and stress of large scale space conflicts. It's certainly not like Star Wars. I'm not to certain how closely space combat might fit along the Knight Hawks take on things; but some elements, like the scale of combat and the length of time between launching attacks and evading return fire seem relatively similar. Besides being a great story to read, the author works hard to reveal how politics in an enemy state can send a nation into an undesired, yet now inevitable, state of war. Again, I thought this to be a great book. |
 July 24, 2008 - 5:28am | I recently finished reading what has been published in the Lt. Leary series by David Drake. It is excellent. |
.gif "Axle's picture") July 28, 2008 - 9:12am | Chindi by Jack McDevitt is my favorite sci-fi novel. I, Mr. Axle, BOING, can do all for you. |
August 22, 2008 - 4:30am | just finished longknife 1-4 council war 1-4, sten 1-5, phule's company, working on solar queen 7. next is longknife 5, then phule 2. please keep the suggestions coming. |
August 22, 2008 - 7:57am | Sten 6-8 change the nature of the setting. Sten's a pivital character in his universe... ;) |
August 22, 2008 - 9:31am | And, soon Sheppherd's releasing Intrepid...I won't spoil the ending for Audacious, just picked that one up @Hastings. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
 September 18, 2008 - 10:47am | A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) by Vernor Vinge is very good with tech levels ranging all the way from god-tech to medeviel. A Deepness in the Sky (1999) by Vernor Vinge is set 20,000 years before 'A Fire Upon the Deep' and is supposed to be good, but I have not read it yet. The Skylark series by E. E. Smith is in some ways even LARGER in scale than his Lensman series, and is very good. The Empire from the Ashes series by Webber is very good. If you want space opera on a large scale, and in VERY great quantity, try the Perry Rhodan series. There are about 128 short novels published in English, and WAY over 2,000 in German and MANY other languages. It is very well known in most non-English speaking countries, but almost unknown in the USA. They are not the most literary of books, but are great fun and, as they have been continuously written and published since the 1960's, they cover almost all styles and subject matter, and like the old Star Trek, were VERY topical to the time in which they were written. The series starts in the 70's(if I remember correctly), with the discovery of a still inhabited alien spacecraft durning the first moon landing. The aliens are befriended by the humans, who then use the alien technology to avert a nuclear war on earth and start a new world government. As news of the existance of the Earth spreads, they actually end up faking the destruction of the Earth to protect it until we can build up our forces... Through the series, Earth gets taken over multiple times, has many changes of government, and has MAJOR technological advances, many gained from reverse engineering alien technology. MANY of the plot elements of Babylon 5 were taken from Perry Rhodan. And the composer of the music for B5 also has released an album of Perry Rhodan music. They have the Super advanced(beyond StarTrek 'Q' level) Order and Chaos factions messing around in everyone's business(to the extent of changing the hyperspace impedance to limit the power of the 'lesser races' so that their wars did not become too destructive). The standard combat robots of the Humans were packing 200 Gigaton warheads that they teleported on top of their targets to try and knock out their shields!  Ships were armed with MUCH stronger weaponry of course... Ground warfare was(obviously) not a common occurrence, with most planets surrendering immediately, the instant their space defences were down, and most ground actions occurring against guerilla groups. Robots were not very popular for these uses, as they sometimes misunderstood things like a child drawing on them with a crayon, as an attack, with unfortunate results, and VERY bad public relations. The Borg in Star Trek are also thought to have been 'inspired' by the Posbe of Perry Rhodan. The Posbe were a race of androids that were MUCH more advanced than most of the other races, ran around in cube shaped 'fragment ships', and... Well i will not spoil the fun... If you liked Starship Troopers, you should read the two other power armor books... The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, which was written as a sort of response to Starship Troopers, by someone that had just returned from the Vietnam war. Armor, by John Steakley is also very different in style. There are a lot more... Let me think a bit. |
 November 14, 2009 - 9:13pm | I know alot of you seen the gundam series, but how many actually read the book trilogy? They did a very good job translating it, though they did change the spelling of char's name to Sha but not Amuro's, and it goes into some very good details in the mechanics behind the mecha and space combat. Gundam by Yoshiyuki Tomino ( translated by Frederik L. Schodt ) published by Del Rey Gold is for the mistress-silver for the maid-copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.But Iron-Cold Iron- is master of them all |
 January 11, 2010 - 10:51am | I just read a couple of authors that really put me in a SF frame of mind - John Scalzi ("The Last Colony") and Allen Steele ("Galaxy Blues", "Coyote Frontier"). These are both writers who have created frontier colony settings, with aliens that are hostile, neutral or benevolent, as suits their needs. Both discuss at length the process and life of colonies, and interstellar relations. They even both feature FTL as an acceleration out of a gravity well, jump, then decceleration into a gravity well, much like SF's jump technology. Definitely worthy reading. Long live the Frontier! |
 March 22, 2010 - 7:07pm | Anything by Ian Douglas (A.K.A. William H. Keith Jr.) http://whkeith.com/ |
March 26, 2010 - 11:47am | I understand the Dirty Pair novels have been translated from Japanese as well. Now if only some one would translate the novels of Legend of Galactic Heroes, I would be in sci-fi heaven. I've been won over by the anime itself, that series is just freaking epic. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
 April 21, 2010 - 9:56am | Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh. She is, without doubt, my favourite author, this is one of her better books. Do yourself a favour - start reading anything by Peter F Hamilton, I promise you you'll want to find the rest of his books. He ranges from cyberpunkish in the Greg Mandel series (Mindstar rising, etc) to a bizarre twist on hard sci-fi in the Confederation series (Nights Dawn Trilogy). As far as fantasy goes - liked Orcs by Stan Nicholls and Grunts by Mary Gentle, both darn good reads and both, oddly enough, mainly from the orcs perspective. |
April 21, 2010 - 6:42pm | I tried to write an article on CJ Cherryh race but failed! They are soooooo alien and detailed. But I love 'em. :-) |
 July 7, 2010 - 6:12pm | The series of books in the setting called "Familias Regnant", by Elizabeth Moon. Surely she played Star Frontiers. The only differences are artificial gravity and no aliens. Otherwise all the tech and language reads exactly like Star Frontiers. Hunting Party Sporting Chance Winning Colors Once a Hero Rules of Engagement Change of Command Against the Odds View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
 July 14, 2010 - 5:34pm | The series of books in the setting called "Familias Regnant", by Elizabeth Moon. Surely she played Star Frontiers. The only differences are artificial gravity and no aliens. Otherwise all the tech and language reads exactly like Star Frontiers. Hunting Party Sporting Chance Winning Colors Once a Hero Rules of Engagement Change of Command Against the Odds I read 4-5 of those and Once a Hero was a stand out in my memory- Moon writes great characters and tension but I dont find her combat all that gripping- which is surprising since she was suppose to be a Marine officer, still she's a good writer. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 16, 2010 - 9:35am | She gets caught on the details in space combat BECAUSE she was a marine officer, I'd think, which makes it less exciting to the uninitiated. It might affect someone who has lived sea battle experiences a bit more than the average reader. She seems, however, to be more familiar with the accidents and tense moments before accidents that occur and the unexpected moments or surprising lack of expected effect for a disasterous accident. And she doesn't put the characters at the center of every accident or battle, but makes them both incidental and essential to their resolution in the long term, which is very real to me. What I like about all that, and her focus on character, is that she doesn't feel compelled to rely upon action, but upon potentials and realities of both the physical and emotional experiences of her characters, providing drama that holds your attention, thus no need for lots of action. She also doesn't write every detail of every action or environment. She writes only what's absolutely necessary to tell the story. So that even though a book is 500 pages, it reads like two 250 page novelettas merged seamlessly. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
August 2, 2010 - 1:40pm | I just finished "The Elite Clone". Not a must read but interesting you bunch of natural-born specks! |
 August 6, 2010 - 9:08pm | The series of books in the setting called "Familias Regnant", by Elizabeth Moon. Surely she played Star Frontiers. The only differences are artificial gravity and no aliens. Otherwise all the tech and language reads exactly like Star Frontiers. I've read some of Moon's work: my problem is that her hero(ine)s are always emotionally damaged in some way, and are often discharged from the service for Something Not Her Fault. It's hard to get into them, when the main characters are all the same, yet supposed to be different. I did like "Hunting Party", and at least one other of the Serrano novels. I will recommend "Trading in danger" and the novels following it. The heroine is booted from a space-naval academy (see?) and is given command of a freighter that belongs to her family's trading company. The ship is on its last mission: a few more cargoes to deliver on its way to the scrapper. She tries to figure out a way to buy the ship and strike out on her own, and stuff happens. I've long thought that would be a neat way to start out a trader-style campaign. |
August 7, 2010 - 3:31am | I've read some of Moon's work: my problem is that her hero(ine)s are always emotionally damaged in some way, and are often discharged from the service for Something Not Her Fault. It's hard to get into them, when the main characters are all the same, yet supposed to be different. I will recommend "Trading in danger" and the novels following it. The heroine is booted from a space-naval academy (see?) and is given command of a freighter that belongs to her family's trading company. huh- I didn't notice that, but its been awhile and I remember thinking that she lacked in space combat compared to David Weber. Wonder what it says about her military career since its such a big pattern in her writing. Still I seriously loved the Sheep Farmers Daughter (fantasy genre) which tracks a rural girl who joins a mercenary regiment but is destined to become something more. I never did run down the 2nd book but the 3rd book clues you in well enough to what happened in the 2nd. In the third she's damaged goods, mentally and emotionally, from what happened to her in the second and has to overcome that- agian the pattern you pointed out. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
