Best science fiction anthology books according to redditors
We found 221 Reddit comments discussing the best science fiction anthology books. We ranked the 129 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 221 Reddit comments discussing the best science fiction anthology books. We ranked the 129 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
source: The Storyboard (e621 | fA)
artist: Rick Griffin (twitter | tumblr | e621 tag)
characters: Ateri and Jakari from Hayven Celestia/Ten Thousand Miles Up (amazon listing). they're Geroo, a sci-fi kangaroo race made up by Rick, but they're tagged as just "kangaroo" on e621.
One, if you've read the big Tales from the Dying Earth omnibus with the original short stories, two Cugel novels and the Rhialto stuff, you've read all the Dying Earth stuff written. (And I'd be surprised if you didn't, because that's the only edition that's widely available for sale.
Two, magic in the original stories is basically based on magic in traditional fairy tales. Our hero goes on an adventure and meets three people who give him three very specific magic items and later on it just so happens the three seemingly impossible challenges can be solved by them. It's a structure that is kinda hard to replicate in a RPG, where the story isn't pre-written to neatly resolve like that...
Three - but the Dying Earth RPG, which, as you might surmise, is the RPG based on the series, tries. AFAIR, they just go "ok, you have X casting slots, you could have potentially memorized the following spells, when you want to cast something you just go 'oh I happened to memorize The Nipple Dissolving Whimsy earlier today' and mark off one slot'. (Although this might not be the case in every edition of the game?)
Anyway, in conclusion, read more Vance, he's fantastic. I recommend Demon Princes.
First books that come to mind:
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
or
Blindsight by Peter Watts
Depends on what sort of stuff you like, Blindsight is darker and pretty philosophical, focusing especially on consciousness and perception, while Pushing Ice is more classical sci-fi on a grander scale with a good helping of technical stuff and character drama/politics.
Yes, I admit I didn't retype the entire theme of Vance's work. It's too complicated for me to do justice to it by doing so. If you're interested, Amazon has the entire collection on Kindle! I really recommend it.
Yeah, I can vouch for it. The stories are very short, but the book is good quality. I follow that site pretty regularly, and being on their email list is unoffensive. You can also unsubscribe etc. if you want.
Here's the book you get on Amazon.
And here's another one this author group did if you want to check 'em out.
EDIT: typo/punctuation
There's already a book that does that
There's a wonderful piece by Hugh Howey called The Plagiarist about this very thing.
The guy descends into the simulated worlds and copies great works of art from them into our world. He has a girlfriend in one of the worlds that's getting too expensive to run, since they started running simulations in their world...
I second Alastair Reynolds. I'd say with most of his work, you're due for some seriously epic timespans. I recommend his tome Pushing Ice — from near-present to the vastly distant reaches of the end of time.
Yup, those are the pocket formats. Each book being 8€, the costs add up pretty fast... The translations were released by little volumes one by one like these, first in large formats, then in pocket, until new "integral" editions were eventually made (the latter currently have covers based on the series iirc).
The newest pocket edition is actually different as well now, with nicely stylized illustrations.
My recommendation would be: Exile's Return
Rick Griffin has also done a short or two.
If you want to go old school, Sholan Alliance series is a good choice
For free stuff, I would check out Sunset of Furmankind by Ted R. Blasingame If you dont mind simpler writing Blue Horizon is also worth a look at.
I could look though my physical books and likely come up with a few more, but there isn't a whole lot of scifi.
Edit: A few more:
Otters in space, it is a bit better then the title suggest.
John Van Stry used to write stuff. Not to fond of his current model, and hes not really targeting furs anymore.
On a little different note, its worth mentioning the deathless series when talking about Audio Books. Its not really targeted at furries, but its a post-apocalyptic tongue in cheek scifi/horror that starts out with "No such thing as werewolves"
I may read to much.
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds should fit the bill. http://www.amazon.com/Pushing-Ice-Alastair-Reynolds/dp/0575083115
I'm reading Karl Schroder's Lady of Mazes right now, and it has a lot to do with this idea. So far I'm really loving the book, about 2/3 through it now.
Finished Interspecies: The Inlari Sagas last night. It's about a depressing future where alien goat refugee's decide to move in, most of the world gets destroyed along the way, and all that's left is NZ and Aussie. The goat aliens hold NZ and all us people are slaves apparently.
I need to read something happy now.
It's not bad, I just don't know what possessed him to write it in French, though.
Schismatrix Plus. You'll thank me later.
It's a short story, but Mary Robinette Kowal's For Want of a Nail should fit the bill.
Also, it's free on her website! (Or you can pay for it here )
The book is by Karl Schroeder. Very underrated author, I would definitely recommend him to anyone who likes scifi.
Rather than the Revelation Space story itself, I actually prefer some of his "stand-alone" books. I quite liked Pushing Ice and The Prefect (which happens to take place in the Revelation Space universe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Technician_(book)
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http://www.gregegan.net/INCANDESCENCE/Incandescence.html
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon%27s_Egg
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OEB1GM2
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You probably ought to seek out Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling -- it's the wellspring of the New Space Opera (subsection: hard SF) and prefigures much of Al Reynolds work (and by a decade at that).
If I wasn't clear - I really am not agreeing with that, I'm saying those are things that everyone can agree are terrible.
One of my favorite authors is Mary Robinette Kowal, I certainly don't think that women can't write hard SF.
The Post-Human Series by David Simpson. 5 books in total, here's a link to the first one: https://smile.amazon.com/Sub-Human-Book-Post-Human-David-Simpson-ebook/dp/B008XS3BNY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481836876&sr=8-1&keywords=Subhuman
I too like books with anthro characters, but there is a lack of quality in what is available. Here is a short list of posted in an earlier thread:
I would recommend looking at the reviews on flayrah. Personally, I have not found much in the way of quality furry literature, but I have read a few.
The Sacred Book of The Werewolf by Victor Pelevin. There are two kinds of furry books: those writen by furries and those that are writen by non-furries. This is one of the latter. I do not have the time to give a full review, but if you like werewolves, kitsune, eastern philosophies, Russian culture (or at least curious about it) eastern and russian folklore, and supernatural romances, you might just like (I did). Furriness - 6, Quality - 10 [I want to add that this book has very mature scenes]
Ringworld by Larry Niven. This usually shows up somewhere on the top 100 sci fi novels. However, this is another book not written by a furry, and it shows since only one character could be classified as "furry". Furriness - 4, Quality - 10
Rise of the Wolf by Curtis Jobling. I have not read much of this so far, but from what I have seen it is high fantasy. So far, I have not been impressed with the writing, which is why I haven't finished it. Furriness >5, Quality <6
In Wilder Lands by Jim Galford. Another high fantasy novel, but this one was much better written. I will be buying the sequel when comes out, for whatever it is worth. It does have a few problems, namely that many characters and the world need to be fleshed out more. Furriness - 9, Quality - 7.
Spice and Wolf by Isuna Hasekura. Yes, I know it is not exactly furry, but OP may still like it. One of the main character is a wolf "god" who takes the form a young woman, and the other is a traveling merchant. The setting is largely inspired by post dark ages Europe and is not overwhelmed with fantasy brickabrack. Furriness - 2, Quality - 8
I am going to pick up Red Sails in the Fallout tomorrow for my kindle, since the sample is holding my interest. I might also pick up Argo and Ten Thousand Miles Up. These last two books are short stories not novels.
Edit: misspelled book
Get The Top of the Volcano. It's an omnibus short fiction collection from 2014 that includes many of the best stories of his career.
Silver Foxes (6 book series)
&#x200B;
The Dreamhealers (5 book series)
Argo
Neighbors
A Left-Handed Sword
What you're looking for is "Passages in the Void" by Roger Williams. It is exceptional in this regard. Also, the time scales it works on are mind bending, waaaaaay beyond anything in the Bobiverse. There's so very much more I want to say about it, but spoilers.
You can read it online here:
http://localroger.com/
Or buy it here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OEB1GM2
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds is a really good read, though it's a bit more "hard" sci fi than a lot of other sci fi out there. I'm a guy, so I can't speak to the accuracy of the motivations behind each female lead (there are 2!), but they both felt very strong and well characterized to me.
In fact, all of his novels tend to have very strong female characters, I can't think of a single book I've read of his that didn't have a a female co-lead (or villain!) at the very least.
The Plagiarist. He writes some amazing stories. I read Wool even though I'm not into apocalypse fiction and was hooked immediately but not prepared for the last two thirds of the book, and Shift and Dust in that trilogy were equally as awesome.
Nice guy, too.
https://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Thoughts-Milo-Yiannopoulos/dp/0994516347/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1487738011&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=dangerous+milo
A book with a forward by Milo. Came out in January.
Which is the plot to the very good sci-fi novel of Pushing Ice
Not a new book yet, but a new story was just released in this anthology. Just borrowed it for free as a Prime member, but I haven't read it. According to his blog, the story "In the Air" takes place in the Wool world.
Edit: just read it. Definitely in the Wool universe, and very good. It's short... Read it in about 15 minutes
You should read Wool I can't even describe how awesome this book is. Over 7,000 people have reviewed it and most of them loved it like I did. Everything by Hugh Howey that I've read I've loved. I'd like this book which is also a dytopia type book which is what Wool is. Thanks for the contest.
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
amazon.co.jp
amazon.fr
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
I just read "For want of a nail" by Mary Robinette Kowal. It's short, but it's only 99c on amazon. I though it was interesting.
You need to read the Cyberiad, by Stanislaw Lem. He writes like some bizarre mashup of Dr. Seuss, Isaac Asimov, and Jorge Luis Borges, and I have yet to find his equal for what he does.
Thanks for posting the link to the podcast, looks interesting and can't wait to give it a listen. You might enjoy Hugh Howey's story The Plagiarist https://www.amazon.com/Plagiarist-Hugh-Howey-ebook/dp/B004ZUZT5W which deals with the death of a virtual world. Well worth the $0.99!
The torture porn chapters at the beginning were so obnoxious I quit reading several times. Then I finally just skipped over them, and it turns out they had absolutely no bearing on the plot. Even after that, it was pretty mediocre. I don't recommend this book unless you're desperate for awful character writing with a couple of briefly touched on interesting ideas.
On the other hand, that same author's Mortal Passage series is much better and the AI is the main character. It's right up OP's alley.
https://www.amazon.com/Mortal-Passage-Trilogy-epic-stories-ebook/dp/B00OEB1GM2
If you like hard(ish) sci-fi, Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds has two strong female leads.
It's one of my favorite books and I probably read it once every year.
OK, here is the world at your feet, armies at your command, explosions at your discretion. Be careful how it ends, though (page 161).
Here's some fiction ones I really liked:
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams (Especially chapter 2 and 4. It's free to read online).
Post-Human series by David Simpson.
Singularity series by William Hertling.
All of them go through the transition from pre to post-singularity, which I really enjoyed. A lot of sci-fi authors seem reluctant to even attempt it.
UK link
Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson.
Visible Light by CJ Cherryh.
Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut.
The Top of the Volcano by Harlan Ellison.
Dangerous Visions, edited by Ellison.
Swan Song by Robert McCammon
Earth Abides by George Stewart
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Z for Zachariah Robert O'Brien
Deathlands series 116 books so far.
The Last Ranger by Craig Sargent. "Good" is debatable
The Road Cormac McCarthy
The Postman David Brin
The End is Nigh Ed. by John Joseph Adams. This just came out.
A friend lent me the novella The Plagerist by Hugh Howey on kindle and it was incredible. So tight and such a cool concept told in really wonderful language. It's not a full length novel but definitely worth a read! [http://www.amazon.com/The-Plagiarist-Hugh-Howey-ebook/dp/B004ZUZT5W]
The first link is only the first half of AGOT.
The second link is AGOT.
So go with the second one.
It will be available tommorow at http://www.google.com/logos/.
As for know, you can read sample of the book: http://www.amazon.com/Cyberiad-Stanislaw-Lem/dp/0156235501
I looked for this book at Amazon.com, and the closest thing it found was Mortal Engines by Lem. Is that the same thing/includes The Tales of the Robots in it? If not, would you recommend this one anyway, and where could I find The Tales of the Robots today?...
Stanislaw Lem is a great author for this. He has quite a few short stories on the topic as well. Try his short story compilation called "Mortal Engines." Make sure it's by Lem and not another author who has the same book name, haha:
http://www.amazon.com/Mortal-Engines-Stanislaw-Lem/dp/0156621614/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1421768885&amp;sr=1-4&amp;keywords=mortal+engines
I was kinda hoping this would be about AI, but I guess I'm just old.
Pushing Ice meets the most of your requirements.
Forever Peace was a good read.
And Steal Across the Sky was worth reading.
Let me start us off with 2 book gems and 2 important essays. Of course the whole point of this is to have a Red Pill Right discussion so the most important thing is /r/theredpill sidebar books and essays.
Books
Essays
Also what about Milo's books?
Forbidden Thoughts and SJW's Always lie
Couldn't find the post but apparently, the post inspired a book and I'm assuming it has at least some of the stories that were posted.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074N1R65F/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1
I'm still looking for the post but the title of the book is the same as the post. Humans Wanted