Good Spacer Novel?

[Cheesegear]

So, long story short, in a few days to a week's time, I'll end up having nothing to do except read a book or four. I'm looking for a good novel set in Space.

I've read the following (and now you can too!);

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Awesomedams
The Unicorn Girl series by Anne McCaffery
The Deathstalker series by Simon R. Green
Any Dune* book worth reading (the ones by Frank Herbert)

Try not to suggest anything with Warhammer 40,000 on the front. There's a good chance that I've read it. And, if I haven't, I'm still looking for something 'new' anyway.
Don't bother suggesting anything from the Star Wars EU. Just don't.

*Although, hardly any of the Dune books are set in Space, a lot of the Brian Herbert (ew!) ones are. Whilst Dune is good, I'd prefer the books be about Space, not a futuristic planet.

[Yoren]

Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained by Peter Hamilton are pretty good books. I also liked The Dreaming Void and The Temporal Void (third book in the trilogy to be published next year).

The foundation series by Asimov is great and while not exactly set in space the Robot Trilogy (Caves of Steel, Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn) is also excellent.

[The_Snark]

I rather liked Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space and Chasm City; he has a few other books in the same series, but those two stand on their own quite well.

David Brin's Startide Rising is quite good. Despite what it may seem like, it isn't really a sequel, and it's where I'd start on his books. The one that follows it, The Uplift War, is also good. Like the last one I mentioned, there are other books in the series, but I didn't feel like they were as good; they're there if you really want to read more with the same characters and find out what ultimately happens, but they aren't essential.

I haven't read enough of Iain M. Banks to recommend anything specific, but I know several people who like him, so you might check that out.

Lastly, I'll recommend any short story collection by Isaac Asimov or Gene Wolfe.

[chiasaur11]

John Steakley's Armor is top notch and A1. Worth tracking down.

[Zevox]

I'd recommend the Conqueror's Trilogy (Conqueror's Pride, Conqueror's Heritage, and Conqueror's Legacy) plus The Icarus Hunt, all by Timothy Zahn. He may be best known for his Star Wars books, but I can vouch that all four of those are very good and have nothing to do with Star Wars in any way.

Zevox

[Krrth]

The Vorkosigan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkosigan_Saga) saga.

[Jade_Tarem]

I'll second The Icarus Hunt. It's a murder mystery and a race against time. IN SPACE. It starts out kinda wonky, but gets really good after chapter 1.

[Tavar]

David Weber's Honor Harington Series is primarily set in space, so that could work. Also, you might try his work with Eric Flint, specifically his Stars At War series(individually known as Crusade, In Death Ground, The Shiva Option, and Insurrection).

Just for curiosity's sake, why no EU?

[golentan]

I'm going to plug my absolute favorite book. The Golden Globe by John Varley. Accurate physics, a believable and fun world, adventure, mystery, travel, crime, politics, acting, interplanetary hobos, satanic mafia, an intelligent dog, and hilarious philosopher AIs who want autographs. A rip roaring adventure that switches between the dramatic and epic and the meaningless and humorous without ever hitting me with mood whiplash (somehow).

[warty goblin]

The Honor Harrington series is good. I'll recommend Heinlein, specifically Time Enough For Love because I do that to everyone interested in sci-fi, athough not much of that is set in space. There's quite a lot of accurate spacy physics in The Cat That Walks Through Walls by the same author though.

[Verruckt]

Heinlein and David Webber are both good as has been stated. I especially enjoyed On Basilisk Station, which I believe is the first Honor Harrington book. Iain M. Banks is good from what I've read so far, but he's another that's extremely prolific. If I had to recommend one book it would be Anathem by Neal Stephenson, it is a book that blows minds and causes laughter, which I think are the best things a book can do.

Really it depends on what sort of fiction you want, Heinlein and Stephenson both tend towards the harder end of the scale, while Webber and Banks are certainly a bit... mushier. That's not bad mind you, just depends on the mood.

You may also enjoy the Eclipse Phase sourcebook, which is not only awesome, but free.

[Fri]

seconding john varley's golden globe, one of my most favourite book.

And anything from the uplift series. One of my favourite setting ever.

What about the Culture series? Something like the exact opposite of Warhammer 40k, where in the future, mankind got this utopic high tech free space travelling society called 'The Culture" led by benevolent, godlike AIs. It's better than it sounds, really.

[Toastkart]

Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series has very well written space fleet battles and a lot of interesting plot developments. Very good read.

Christopher Anvil's Interstellar Patrol I and II, while good are only partially set in space, the rest is planet side.

That's about all I can think of that deals mostly with space.

[Cyrion]

The Shattered Sphere duology- Roger McBride Allan

Tau Zero- Poul Anderson

Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card

A Mote in God's Eye (novel) or Neutron Star (short stories)- Larry Niven

All of these except Ender's Game are "hard" science fiction. Ender's Game is just awesome.

[jlvm4]

The Vorkosigan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkosigan_Saga) saga.

I will second this. WONDERFUL series!

[Fan]

The "A Space Oddessy" books, especially "The Final Oddessy.".

Trust me, the movie was okay, but the book is a thousand times better.

[bosssmiley]

Steven Baxter - The Xeelee Sequence
Iaiaiaiaiaiaiaiain M. Banks - The Culture novels

[The_JJ]

Ditto on Banks.

However, you must I mean must go and buy Hyperion right now. It's Canterbury Tales IN SPACE, only better.

[Cheesegear]

So, headed to two bookshops yesterday, didn't buy anything. There was a substantial shortage of just about anything I could remember from this thread (I'm writing things down now). A couple of authors I saw who had heaps of stock of, which, either means that they're so popular that the shops get stock, or, that they suck so hard the shops can't sell them.

A bunch of books by Kevin J. Anderson. I already know not to touch him with a ten foot pole.
Alistair Reynolds, who I've never heard of.
Peter Hamilton, who I've also never of.

I also saw a book called The New Space Opera, which looked like something I kind of wanted to read. Since the Deathstalker (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Deathstalker) series is the most Space Operyist (or Hammiest, on your view) series I've ever read, and I loved it.

Saw Ender's Game, and Stranger in a Strange Land. I'm pretty sure I remember those from this thread. Might pick them up tomorrow. Yes?

[HamHam]

Peter Hamilton, who I've also never of.

Reality Dysfunction is quite good.


Saw Ender's Game, and Stranger in a Strange Land. I'm pretty sure I remember those from this thread. Might pick them up tomorrow. Yes?

Stranger in a Strange Land is terrible. Terrible. IMHO.

Ender's Game is great though.

[The_JJ]

Stranger in a Strange Land is terrible. Terrible. IMHO.


Also my HO. (Is that 'humble' or 'honest?' 'Cause if it's the first, weeeeell might just be my O)

[HamHam]

Also my HO. (Is that 'humble' or 'honest?' 'Cause if it's the first, weeeeell might just be my O)

I've heard it both ways.

[Lupy]

Ender's Game.

If you haven't read it, it's about a young prodigy used by the government to commit an absolutely horrible act. In SPAAAAACE!

[Brewdude]

NOT SPACE:
Anathem. Also stephenson's worst work, being as hard to get into as it is. Saying something too, because even his crap is crap because it's too high concept rather than bad work.

Stranger in a strange land. set on alternate earth.

David Brin's stuff, while it has space ships and aliens, is mostly planet bound stuff, though there are some space sequences here and there. But if you go there, then that opens up a lot, like Heinlein's Forever War.

On Basilisk Station is very spacey.

Good luck!

[thorgrim29]

I liked Old Man's war.... was wondering if the sequel is any good.

Basically, in the future, the human colonial government recruits only 75+ years old soldiers, repair them, and send them to fight. The book follows one such soldier for the first years or so of his career. Lots of fun.

[The Glyphstone]

+1 for David Weber and the Honor Harrington books. Accusations of MarySueity aside, Weber's best writing is the space combat scenes, both between individual ships and entire fleets - IMO, his writing gets weaker when his characters are surfacebound.

[sebsmith]

Unlike Snark seems to imply, I liked Sundiver by Brin, but it's a bit slow and might not have enough space for you. That happens since it's one of the stories which count as mystery and science fiction. On the other hand, you don't need it to enjoy Startide Rising or Uplift War, both of which are wonderful. However, most of the space adventure in that series comes at the end of the second trilogy.

I like all of Known Space stories that I've read by Larry Niven himself, but many of the other authors works should of remained on fanfiction.net. Protecter has significant time spent in space, as do the stories set in the belt. Ringworld is really just a cool giant world, so you might not enjoy it.

I think Peter Hamilton was good, but I don't remember anything he wrote.

Heinlein is okay once you get past the libertarianism and the vacuum tubes, but his two greatest works, stranger in a strange land and the moon is a harsh mistress have little time spent in space.

You might enjoy A fire upon the deep and A deepness in the sky, which do have significant time spent is space.

[Blaine.Bush]

I'm gonna second (third?) Ender's Game. And all of the other Ender books. They have spaceships. Also, aliens. Woo!