The Forever War, Joe Haldeman.

The author was in Vietnam, and when he came back, was not lauded as the hero he'd expected to be, but found that society despised him and what he stood for - he couldn't relate.

The Forever War takes that basic premise, adds aliens, FTL drives (that only seem that way to the passengers, everyone else experiences normal time), and a Earth-bound society that NEEDS the war to support the economy.

I've read it about three times over the last few years, and find it (still) almost un-put-downable. Not due to the author's technical skill. He isn't an author - he's a storyteller. The writing doesn't always work, and some passages just made me cringe. But that adds to the book - it makes it feel more like the quasi-diary that it is written as, as the protagonist (Mandella) is a genius level physicst, not a writer at all.

However, both sequels (thematic and actual) are lack-lustre. I managed to finish the actual sequel once, and the thematic was nice to read a single time, but I couldn't recommend either, apart from the poem (To Make Peace), which I fish the anthology out for every month or two.

Haldeman also wrote The Accidental Time Machine. Nothing special, but a little book I'd recommend a download of, or maybe a library visit for.

 

I've got to agree with most of those points. The first book was great, the sequel was...pretty bad, and the third one I couldn't be bothered to even finish. It wasn't a bad book, not really, but it just didn't capture my interest like the original did.

 

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

It takes place in an alternate version of China in the 8th century with some fantasy elements. The writing and the world building are great. I especially like that there is good or evil in the book just human actions and their consequences.

 

GGK is great - his Fionavar tapestry is one of the most amazing fantasy pieces I've read in recent times.

 

NPR had people vote to determine the top 100 Science Fiction Fantasy books of all time:

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/139248590/top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books
Top 10 is below:
1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin

6. 1984, by George Orwell

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

 

It's a good list. I've read, or at least attempted to read, 8 out of 10 of them.

A Song of Ice and Fire is on my to do list, and while I'm familiar with the plot and major characters of Brave New World [thank you, Wikipedia!], I've got no urge to actually read it.

Lord of the Rings is the only one I couldn't read. I tried, but it just wasn't entertaining for me.

 

Completely agree.

Also, Ender's Game, as you said, is awesome. Although I couldn't care less about any of the Dune books after the first one (actually, the Butlerian Jihad isn't too bad. Children of Dune sucks major ass)

 

It's embarrassing how few of the top 100 I've even started, let alone actually completed.

Is there a Top 100 or so of all time, regardless of genre? That sort of list would be even more subjective, but I'm sure I'd have read a lot more of them than in this category.

 

I've read all of the top 22, 43 of the top 50, 72 of the top 100.

Ender's Game doesn't belong on anyone's top ten list of all time science fiction/fantasy (else Card's ego will inflate to impossible levels). Cormac McCarthy's The Road didn't seem like much of a science fiction story.

 

From the top ten, I haven't read the Asimov books. I've read most of Song of Ice and Fire (not Dance with Dragons), and I've only read the first Dune.

Overall, I've read 33 of them, and started a few others. Really surprised to see Codex Alera in there but not Dresden.

 

Yeah, that was weird but Dresden wasn't even up in the voting part. Not sure why, maybe enough people didn't nominate it?

I've read about 15 of them total so I have a new reading list now.

 

I have to say, it's a bit sad that I've never even heard of three of these books. I've only read four of them. I need to go visit a bookstore, my library sucks.....

 

Having a one-track mind that tends to get stuck on one author at a time, I managed 30.

There you go. Top 100 books of all time, voted by 100 authors from 54 countries. Pretty disheartening for me.

For a while I've been munching through TIME's Top 100 list of English-language novels, every single book I picked up proved approachable and an excellent read.

 

I've read the entirety of the first 21, 46 out of 50 and can't be fucked to check the rest of the list, but I'm not a particular fan of a lot of them. Notable among the ones I disliked profoundly in the top 10 alone are: Ender's Game, most of Dune, a surprisingly large part of LoTR, and Brave New World. I'd have hoped Foundation to rank higher - it really surprises me that it's eighth.

EDIT: Wow, no Dresden? Really?

 

I like Dune and for me it is still the best Science Fiction series that I have ever read.And with series I mean the first 6 books, which were witten by Frank Herbert and not by his incompetent son.

I have read the first 7 of the list and maybe a third of the rest. I know a other third.

And how can you people hate LotR, I mean it is the bible of Fantasy.

 

You may not have noticed, but there are a few people who don't like the Bible either.

I do like LotR, as it happens, but still.

 

The Dresden Files apparently ended up in a different category, along with most Urban Fantasy - paranormal romance books. <shudder>

 

I personally felt this way about American Gods, and Gaiman in general, people hyped it enough for me to force myself to finish it and I should have trusted my first instinct.

Dune was good, and by Dune I mean the first two books. The rest just couldn't draw me.

The problem with these list is what exactly makes a story great? Impact?Depth? If so, LOTR deserves the top spot. Fucking amazing. Fuck all you haters. And fuck the people who call GRRM the "American Tolkein". GRRM may be a better writer but his style is so different that it's like comparing apples and oranges.

I rarely follow these lists nowadays. I tried it for sci-fi and found a few diamonds in the rough (like Dune and Foundation) but generally most of that shit is just dated.

 

This sentence alone is made of so much fail that I'm surprised my eyes aren't bleeding.

 

Sorry if this is the wrong thread to ask this but I don't where else to post so, Has anyone read the Demon trilogy,if you have is the second book worth the tome and money(time because finding a book here is...time consuming), I am hesitant because I read somewhere it centers more on Jadir and less on the painted man(Arlen).

Plus is Bartimaeus any good?