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    Iron Heart Fall/Winter 2025 Collection Preview - Now Live

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    • georgeelG
      georgeel
      Joined:

      I'm up to page 251.

      So?

      Worth reading. I swear on all my denim.

      IH-888S-142OD

      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • LuciferL
        Lucifer
        Joined:

        @hectic:

        Dude, post here: http://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=780.msg118626#msg118626

        I would happily discuss authors with you.

        😃

        Well, currently I'm reading up on Vernon Vinge, like him ok so far.

        When it comes to sci-fi I like Simmons, Banks, Hamilton, Reynolds and the rest of the classics, right now I'm looking for a large series, not necessarily the same storyline, but the same universe, like Reynolds or Banks. Suggestions?

        Seize the day and don't you cry.

        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • hecticH
          hectic
          Joined:

          Space opera? New weird? Something else?

          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • hecticH
            hectic
            Joined:

            Richard Morgan. He has a core character called Takeshi Kovacs who spans several books.

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            • hecticH
              hectic
              Joined:

              Neal Asher too but pulpy/very prolific. Hard scifi

              last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • LuciferL
                Lucifer
                Joined:

                Ah, I forgot to mention Morgan, have read the Angels-trilogy, his other sci-fi AND his fantasy books, so far I've only read "parasite" by asher (that is one of his, right?), any other of his books you would recommend?

                Seize the day and don't you cry.

                last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • hecticH
                  hectic
                  Joined:

                  Not really an Asher fan TBH. There's a whole series about a war with these naughty alien crab things. My mate rates them

                  last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • hecticH
                    hectic
                    Joined:

                    Check out Charles Stross too

                    last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • hecticH
                      hectic
                      Joined:

                      Greg Egan is awesome

                      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • LuciferL
                        Lucifer
                        Joined:

                        I read Diaspora, but found it to be a bit on the  math-heavy side, are his other books similar? The story was awesome though.

                        Seize the day and don't you cry.

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                        • hecticH
                          hectic
                          Joined:

                          Quarantine is killer. Quantum heavy tho

                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • michaeljcrM
                            michaeljcr
                            Raw and Unwashed
                            Joined:

                            @Lucifer:

                            @hectic:

                            Dude, post here: http://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=780.msg118626#msg118626

                            I would happily discuss authors with you.

                            😃

                            Well, currently I'm reading up on Vernon Vinge, like him ok so far.

                            When it comes to sci-fi I like Simmons, Banks, Hamilton, Reynolds and the rest of the classics, right now I'm looking for a large series, not necessarily the same storyline, but the same universe, like Reynolds or Banks. Suggestions?

                            It’s hard to beat Simmons, Vinge, Banks, Reynolds and Hamilton!

                            Try Neal Asher, he’s good fun and very Banks/Hamilton, if a bit pulpier. Gridlinked (book one) isn't bad, but perhaps not the best, although they get really good fun after that. You can read The Skinner first if you like the sound of it, it's excellent and set in the same reality but following a different set of characters.

                            Michael Cobley’s series is also pretty good, and well worth a look.

                            If you want something a bit more action/adventure try Richard Morgan's Kovacs novels (Altered Carbon is the first), or John Scalzi's Old Man's War and the follow-ons are great. If you like the sound of full-on military space opera, read Joe Haldeman's Forever War and Heinlein's Starship Troopers for a great pro/anti-war debate or, for something on the pulp line, try the recently released in the UK, out for ages in the USA, Jack Campbell Lost Fleet series, or something by David Weber.

                            If you want to go old school, read these few if you haven’t already:

                            Dune
                            Eon by Greg Bear
                            Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series
                            David Brin’s Uplift series (although the last one sucks, in my humble opinion, but the others are awesome).
                            Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead and Children of The Mind by Orson Scott Card
                            The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley
                            The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt
                            Demon Princes books by Jack Vance
                            Books of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
                            The Runestaff books by Michael Moorcock (a controversial choice perhaps, but more SF than Elric and well worth it).

                            If you want Near Future/cyberbunk/post-cyberpunk and bio-punk, read these:

                            Neuromancer by William Gibson
                            Virtual Light by Gibson
                            Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
                            Crypotnomicon by Stephenson
                            Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling
                            Distraction by Bruce Sterling
                            Fairyland by Paul J. McAuley
                            River of Gods by Ian McDonald

                            If you want New Weird, or just plain weird, read these:

                            Perdido Street Station by China Mievillie
                            Kraken by China Mieville
                            The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross

                            Oh, read some Philip K. Dick, but choose wisely…

                            That should keep you going for a while...

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                            • hecticH
                              hectic
                              Joined:

                              A pro post by a pro

                              last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • michaeljcrM
                                michaeljcr
                                Raw and Unwashed
                                Joined:

                                Ops, missed some replies there while I was typing!

                                Re: Neal Asher, I'd say read The Skinner, it's my favourite of his and you don't need to read the following books if you don't want to. He is a bit derivative, and pulpy, but then everything is these days. I'd say he's more space opera than hard SF.

                                Re: Greg Egan - great writer, scares me when he puts graphs in the books though! He's hard SF and then some!

                                Try John c Wright's Golden Age series (US import only), they're great fun. Accelerando by Charles Stross is interesting, but structurally weak as it's a fix up from shorter work, if I remember correctly. I enjoy his Lovecraftien weird Bond style thrillers more than his straight SF.

                                Chris Wooding's latest series is good fun. Pulp adventure, but really well done and entertaining.

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                                • michaeljcrM
                                  michaeljcr
                                  Raw and Unwashed
                                  Joined:

                                  @hectic:

                                  A pro post by a pro

                                  Ha! You're too kind, years of selling the stuff and sometimes, when you stop to think about it, you forget whole authors!

                                  If you don't already use the site, I heartily recommend fantasticfiction.co.uk if you want to do some research, it's a wealth on info on authors, series order, what people search for etc. and covers all the major fiction genres.

                                  M.

                                  last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • michaeljcrM
                                    michaeljcr
                                    Raw and Unwashed
                                    Joined:

                                    @hectic:

                                    Not really an Asher fan TBH. There's a whole series about a war with these naughty alien crab things. My mate rates them

                                    Very naughty crab-things. I like the Old Captains though (if that's what they're called?). And his monsters are very entertaining. He never did as well as you might have expected though.

                                    M

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                                    • hecticH
                                      hectic
                                      Joined:

                                      If you want a set of massive cubic books to last you a while, you could do worse than the Otherland series by Tad Williams

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                                      • hecticH
                                        hectic
                                        Joined:

                                        Thanks M

                                        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • michaeljcrM
                                          michaeljcr
                                          Raw and Unwashed
                                          Joined:

                                          You know, I never read the Otherland series. I did the fantasy books, then ran out of steam, but they are supposed to be excellent.

                                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • michaeljcrM
                                            michaeljcr
                                            Raw and Unwashed
                                            Joined:

                                            Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith - superb, bonkers and and very weird. Wonderful book, not sure if it's still available though. Spares is good as well.

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