Sci-fi/Fantasy recommendations

[Sheilbh]

A fellow Brit, J.G. Ballard.

Ah, I love Ballard. I should've said he's probably the only sci-fi author I've read a lot.

Thanks for the recommendations. There's a few books on my list now, but I'm going to get some of these for the summer and see how I go

[Jacob]

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts once you've read a few of the books

[Sheilbh]

Okay.

I've just finished Lord of the Rings which I'd never managed to finish before, but for some reason, I really, really enjoyed it this time. Very good.

Also read Dune which I thought was pretty meh to be honest.

And I read Hyperion which I didn't like.

I haven't read the latest Game of Thrones (his writing is degenerating, or is that just me?) but I enjoyed the rest and will get to that shortly.

I'm just about to start the Hunger Games series (I don't mind young adult fiction, I'm the generation that got Harry Potter and His Dark Materials, so...), but then I think I'm going to give Guy Gavriel Kay and Brin a go after that. Maybe Ender's Game too. Cheers again for the recommendations, this thread is a resource

[Razgovory]

I don't get why Dune was consider all that good either.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Kay was awesome. 

[DontSayBanana]

I don't get why Dune was consider all that good either.

Dune's good, but (even though I've got all 5 of the original series) I never really got the spooge over them.  Actually, I can take that back- fans tend to go gaga over Children of Dune.  For my part, I probably enjoyed the last two (Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse: Dune) more than the others, though Children of Dune runs closely behind them.

For sci fi, I do tend to read some heavily serialized authors- Jack L. Chalker (Well of Souls), Lois McMaster Bujold (Miles Vorkosigan series), Timothy Zahn (Cobra; he's actually done pretty well outside of his Star Wars books).

[Darth Wagtaros]

took several tries before I finished Dune. Once I had I realized I had quite enjoyed it. Never read the rest of the books though. Never cared to.

For unserious silly stuff try the Amazon Kindle store. 

Or John Ringo's early works.

[Agelastus]

The trouble with "Dune" is that the first book is a cut above the rest.

"Dune Messiah" is short and forgettable (as I suspect has happened in the case of a certain poster only a few posts above me.)

"Children of Dune" suffers from "annoying brat" and "underused characters" syndrome

"God Emperor of Dune" is probably the second best book, but suffers from a degree of tonal dissonance compared to Dune. It's really hard to care for the characters in "God Emperor" which is not the case with "Dune".

"Heretics of Dune" and "Chapterhouse:Dune" show clear signs, unfortunately, of an author in decline, writing books from his most popular series because he was running out of ideas. Plus they form a pair of set-up books whose denouement was left to inferior hacks due to the death of the author.

[Gups]

I didn't think much of Dune either. Certainly not enough to want to read any more in the series.

On the verge of giving up trying to find any decent fantasy novels. I liked Abercrombie and Martin's earlier books in the series but nothing since has been any bettter than mediocre. Tigana by Kay was just about OK. Magician by Feist was so badly written I couldn't stomach more than 100 pages. Just started the mistborn series by Sanderson. Seems quite promising. The writing is servicable which is as about as much as you can hope for from a fantasy writer. 

[grumbler]

I thought Dune itself was great, and very innovative.  I never finished the sequel, due to its lack of originality (and, really, its being completely unnecessary) and never tried the subsequent novels in the series, nor was seriously tempted to do so.

I think of the Dune series like I think of the Martrix movie series:  the original would be remembered fondly if they hadn't attempted to exploit its popularity by adding dreck with an associated name.

[Queequeg]

Anyone else read Atwood's Oryx and Crake trilogy?

[garbon]

Anyone else read Atwood's Oryx and Crake trilogy?

I have the first 2 but I've yet to read them.

[Gups]

Oryx & Crake is excellent. Year of the Flood is quite good. Haven't read the last one.

[frunk]

Dune was quite good.  Dune Messiah suffered from being fairly plotless, serving as a setup for Children of Dune and further description of the Dune universe.  The final few pages of actual plot are the only really important bits.  Children of Dune was easily the second best book.  The "annoying brat" was at least understandably annoying, having a [spoiler]torrent of previous memories and the difficulty of being in a young boy's body[/spoiler].  God Emperor of Dune was way worse, with the [spoiler]"annoying brat" now a huge asshole jerking everyone else around for no good purpose[/spoiler].

Heretics and Chapterhouse are completely forgettable, non-elder Herbert Dune books should be expunged.

[Barrister]

I thought Dune itself was great, and very innovative.  I never finished the sequel, due to its lack of originality (and, really, its being completely unnecessary) and never tried the subsequent novels in the series, nor was seriously tempted to do so.

I think of the Dune series like I think of the Martrix movie series:  the original would be remembered fondly if they hadn't attempted to exploit its popularity by adding dreck with an associated name.

This.