Science fiction

[Heirloom]

I haven't read much science fiction, but the few works i've read have all been absolutely gorgeous.

I'd say one favorite is C S Lewis "Out of the silent Planet" trilogy.

[DamageX]

Anything by Philip K. Dick really but I particularly enjoyed: Lies, Inc., A Scanner Darkly, Ubik, Flow My Tears the Policeman Said. My favorite is The Penultimate Truth.

Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination, The Demolished Man

Also, Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange and 1984 by George Orwell. You may have read those already though. :)

[Icarium]

Not into SF for years, but recently discovered and nicely surprised by "The Culture" series, from I.M. Banks : a fictional interstellar anarchic, socialist, and utopian society ...

Yup all his sci-fi stuff is awesome. Even his non culture stuff though player of games and excession and matter are exceptional.

Algebraist is a stand out of the non culture stuff. The sci-fi, the drama, the characters and more than anything else the wit displayed is $$ in Bank's work. I love the culture ship names. The enormity of what he can cram into his stories from the grotesque, to the sci-fi, to wonder, from epic to very human and connectable characters... all written with the most enjoyable urbane tone. Every book has something for everyone imo and I love that he can narrow and widen his scope from a singular story surrounding a single character's growth to a space opera from book to book. A master of his craft imo.

It's good stuff :)

[Icarium]

I read a lot of sci-fi and one of the most though provoking for me is Accelerando by Charles Stross.

I also enjoyed the novels about Takeshi Kovacs by Richard Morgan
- Altered Carbon
- Broken Angels
- Woken Furies

Hard boiled crime/semi-cyberpunk.

I love both authors as well. I'd recommend Chris Moriarity's Spin State too. It's like some of the Kovacs books but better. Her follow up to it wasn't nearly as good, but solid enough to be worth reading.

[Arkady]

The Stars my Destination and Demolished Man were already mentioned, but Psychoshop, the Deceivers and the Computer Connection by Alfred Bester are brilliant as well.

Time is the Simplest Thing by Clifford Simak (sp?) was interesting as far as I recall.

I enjoyed the Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin as well, but it's more of a political tract thinly veiled as science fiction.

[MASUGNEN]

Has anyone read Jack Vance's Dying Earth?

Any relationship to Cyrus Vance?

[blacktulip]

I have read The Dying Earth. Love it. But love The Book of the New Sun even more!

And no relation to Cyrus.