Favourite Sci-Fi / Fantasy Books of all time... What's yours?

Andrew Swann's Moreau series. Mid-21st Century noire setting in which designer babies and petting zoo people, both initially created to be used as living weapons for WW3, now live as second-class citizens.

 

Here are a few that haven't been mentioned (or I missed them if they were)

The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
This is a series of ten relatively short books that starts with Nine Princes in Amber. It starts out in a contemporary setting, but takes a fantasy path shortly thereafter. I read the first five when I was a teenager and really enjoyed them. I read all ten some twenty five years later and they still held my interest from start to finish.

The Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia
This trilogy takes place in an alternate 1930s setting where people have powers. The books are not overly long and the story moves along at a reasonable pace. I enjoyed them quite a bit.

Magic 2.0 by Scott Meyer
This series is a fun take on the concept of the Matrix, but the Machine isn't out to get you. However, the others who have figured out that reality is just a computer program might be. It doesn't take its self too seriously and can be quite silly at times, but is fun all the same.

The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson
This series is a super heroes gone bad type story, but not just your usual "people are fundamentally bad and abuse their power" type gone bad.

Undying Mercenaries by B.V. Larson
This series is an interesting take on Post First Contact humanity and how alien technology shapes the present and future of the race.

And a few that have been mentioned previously:

Any Cosmere novel by Brandon Sanderson
While the Mistborn series and the Stormlight Archive series have been mentioned in this thread already and are superb examples of Sanderson's work, more must be said regarding what he is actually doing. Sanderson writes at a prodigious rate compared to many of his contemporaries. He has many series that at first glance are not related. However, many of his book series are related. For example, the Mistborn books (all seven so far) and the Stormlight archive (four books and two short stories) as well as a few others all take place in the same dwarf galaxy. As new books are released in each series the stories begin to intertwine in unexpected ways and certain characters crossover between series. If you like epic fantasy with hard ruled magic systems you can't go wrong with Mistborn or the Stormlight Archive.

Disc World series by Terry Pratchett
Star Wars (pre-Disney) Extended Universe books
Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
Tolkien (even the Silmarillion, if you can get past the first few sections which are really dry and somewhat confusing)

I could go on and on, but will stop now.

 

If you have any other FAVOURITES then please continue!

Sounds like a good selection so far!

 

Those are the favorites at this point.

 

IF you can find them, try Fred Saberhagen's Books of Swords. There's something like 9+ volumes in the series, but most of them are reasonably short for novels. Not the best writing, but an interesting premise for the series and kind of sets the flavor for a lot of fantasy novels that came out afterwards.

 

Very late to this thread, but here's my list:

All of Tolkien's Middle-Earth books. Yes, it's a typical answer but they're just that good and they had a major impact on me in my formative years. I would highly recommend that if you never have done so you at least read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I also really like The Silmarillion, but I can empathize with people who didn't get through it due to it being so different from not only modern writing, but Tolkien's other works as well.

The Chronicles of Narnia. The original isekai before it flooded the anime scene decades later But seriously, another amazing classic that had a major impact on me as a child. These were some of the first "big kid" books I read after learning to read, and I'm very glad that they were. Even if you're not a fan of the Christian allegory there's something universal about the moral lessons and themes presented in these books.

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques. There are a lot of them, and they can get a bit formulaic after a while, but that doesn't stop all but maybe the last couple he wrote from being interesting and enjoyable reads. Definitely my favorite "talking animal" books I've ever read, and really some of the best examples of straight-up good vs. evil children's books done right.

As a huge Star Wars fan, I loved Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. To me, those books will always be the real Episodes 7, 8 and 9. Funnily enough, I think Thrawn is overrated as a villain, but he's definitely cool. What I loved was seeing the heroes from the original trilogy continuing their adventures and character development, as well as seeing some interesting new characters, races, and other additions to the lore. While I understand Disney wanting to go their own direction with their take on the franchise, I will forever lament that we will never get to see characters like Mara Jade, the *real* admiral Thrawn and Talon Karrde on the big screen. As an aside, in those books Admiral Ackbar was considered by Thrawn to be the only military commander who had a chance of defeating him in battle, so much so that a big part of his initial plan was taking Ackbar out of action for as long as possible. Compare this to his offscreen death in the Disney movie so that admiral "Gender Studies" Holdo could take over just shows you the difference in respect for the source material showed by the majority of the EU writers compared to Disney.

I had a lot of fun reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Very witty and funny with how absurd and on the nose most of the satire is. Definitely good if you want to have a good smile and a laugh while reading.

The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead is one that I haven't read in a long time, so I don't remember it all that well, I just remember liking it and thinking it was an interesting take on a somewhat more "realistic" take on the character of Merlin, his origins, and the Arthurian legend.

Dragonlance. A classic for D&D fans and fantasy fans alike. Not the most memorable, but definitely a fun and interesting series.

The same goes for the Forgotten Realms series. There's a reason Drizzt clones are so common in RPGs, lol! And he's not even the most interesting character in that series

 

Not Fantasy or Sci-Fi but I’ve just started Catch-22 and it’s fantastic! Brilliant satire, and if you are into that sort of thing I can thoroughly recommend the Discworld series as well

 

There were a few repeating themes, so I haven't quoted everyone, but I'll add my bit on...

The Redwall series was one of mthose things me and my Brother both read and watched a bit of the show. Either I'm sentimental or I need medical help, but we both often scream "LOGALOGALOGALOGALOG". Clearly these books have been a good influence on my life.

I absolutely love the first two movies, I think tehy are incredibly well done and faithful to the books. They are something, like LOTR, that could not be made today, I believe. I love the books as well, though I haven't read them in years. I started rereading them a few months ago, but I've had a busy grade 12 year of Highschool, that's for sure.

I haven't read tooooo many, but Susan Sto Helit is on of my favourite characters in any medium of all time. I love The Thief of Time, Soul Music and Wee Free Men (we had a beautiful illustrated copy that I can picture so vividly in my mind) are my favourites.

I know it's sort of YA, but I'd argue a bit older than Rangers Apprentice and Percy Jackson, but the Throne of Glass series is probably my favourite book series of all time (or at least at the moment and it will always be one of them).

Spoiler: Explaination/Summary

I don't think many people here would like it as it is a teenaged girl protagonist and arguably less complex plot/world/lore than Tolkien and such (which everyone here is a big fan of), but it is surprisingly well put together, thought out and the world building is more than enough to keep me happy (and I'm veeeeery picky). This series is far far better than the Author's other Series 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' which is "more adult" but that just means character growth, convincing dialogue, functioning worldbuilding/Lore and compelling characters are replaced with sex. So that's nice

WAR OF THE WORLDS IS GREAT
So is the musical. Chuck is a listen.

Frankenstein
I know it's generic, but I found it really enjoyable and interesting to read. In grade 9, we were doing an english unit on Frankenstein, but to give us time to get through it and to remove some of the more horrible bits, we read a slightly altered play version. I wanted to go the extra mile and read the actual thing as well, but got stuck a few pages in. A year or so later I tried again 9as I had amassed a large collection of classics from opshops) and I loved it.

It's not fantasy, but maybe slightly sci-fi and just great anyway, but The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (the Millenium Trilogy)

I'm part of that generation that grew up reading the Warriors books. (The cat ones).

Spoiler: Explaination/Summary

Even though I hate cats (simply put) (may the cats vs dog poll continue in the right direction...), this series is great. or the first 4 series' are great. Essentially there are 6 books per arc/series each covering the next generation (bar series' 3 and 4 which have a smaller gap in between and follow to halves of the same arc pretty much). The first two series' are good, but the 3rd and 4th are like infinity war and endgame and bring together everything that's built over the last three generations and there's a final battle and it's great.
It's a biit tricky to get into as each series starts with the protagonist at a young age and they grow throughout the books, but the laws that these cats live by and the Warrior Code, their religion (Starclan) and the magic/weird stuff that combines them and runs their way of life is very well thought out and constructed.
Unfortunately the following series' land flat on their face and I haven't touched them, but this was probably teh first big book series I was really invested in. Would definitely recommend if you have kids or if you're not afraid to give them a go.

the Silverwing trilogy (Kenneth Oppel) the bat books. Does anyone remember these? A bit to young for me to deal with now, (maybe in a few years when nostalgia gets the better of me), but still very good and a big part of my childhood reading. Though they are ya/older kids books, man oh man was there some heavey/scarring stuff. Cannabalistic predatory giant bats, human bat sacrifices and the third book where they literally go to tell because the protagonists son gets suck through the ground into the underworld. YES there was a cartoon. Yes this is the one where bats aren't allowed to see the sun and the owls will kill them. YES this is where a lot of the Lustria I see in my mind comes from (the Jungle temples, the sacrifices and the whole vibe of where the cannibal bats come from). Again good if you're okay with a bit younger writing style or if you have kids.

Deltora Quest. Every Australian child please remember Deltora Quest (and the anime adaptation). This was the first series I read when I hated reading and mum told me I had to read. Yeah I didn't like it at the time, but in hindsight haha. The show's great (sort of)

 

I’m assuming you’re talking about the original book and the Jeff Wayne album? Because if so you have excellent taste dear lady

 

Just don't go around shouting "CRIVENS!!" People don't like that for some reason...

For all that it was written so long ago, Shelley's work is a very interesting read. While in college, I had a creative writing class that had us come up with a 'what comes next' chapter for that book. And Frankenstein is only "generic" because it was the basis for so much of what came later...

 

of course

Unfortunately I've turned into one of those "actually that's not what Frankenstein's monster was like at all" people...

But to anyone who is interested, those sort of fantastical/sci-fi books from the 1800s are just a really good subtle and effective vessel for concepts that are often over done and ruined in pop culture today. Alien invasions, wish granting pixies, etc., there are some really good stories (and short stories) that would be well worth the read.

 

Agreed. Classic sci-fi is worth the read. Settlements on Mars is a common theme. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote an interesting series on the idea, as did Ben Bova. Issac Asimov's writing is a little more technical, but still classic. H. G. Wells wrote more than just War of the Worlds. But my personal favorite would be Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles.

 

+1

Heinlein's Starship Troopers is also a really good one.

 

Finished reading Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve last night. Would thoroughly recommend to fans of Victorian Sci-Fi and post-apocalyptic fiction. The protagonist is easy to identify and sympathise with and there’s plenty of grimdarkness throughout.

 

Recently read Battle Mage by Peter Flannery. Was good, but pretty grimdark so should appeal to Warhammer players.

 

ii have recently discovered the Expanse and any lover of hard Sci fi owns it to them selves to check this out.

 

*Enters*

Letsee...

I've always been a fan of H.G.Wells (The Sleeper Awakes, The Time Machine, and of course War of the Worlds which remains my favourite childhood book, especially the Thunderchild.)

I will tentatively add Jerome K. Jerome as whilst his more known works (i.e Three Men in a Boat) are not really sci-fi/fantasy some of his short stories delve into those realms, especially his parody of the Sleeper Awakes (which iirc was actually written before Wells penned his own story. Although I fancy the two bounced a lot off of each other given how it seems fairly obvious Little Wars by Wells (arguably the father of miniature wargaming) was inspired by Wells and Jerome idly shooting tin soldier models with cannons.)

I've often enjoyed Isaac Asimov's work (although I found the later parts of Foundation to be a bit thin compared to the first book) especially his work on robots. His more fantasy work with the daemon Azazel was enjoyable though did get a little samey.

Whilst I really like Lord of the Rings, I always find myself preferring the Hobbit. I guess it helps it is less a world at stake plot and there feels a lot more grey morality with all of the characters.

Warhammer-wise it has to be the first few Gotrek and Felix, the first few Gaunt's Ghosts, i'm hoping to read Ciaphas Cain soon, the Vampire Wars trilogy was very good (as long as you didn't get too attached to characters), A lot of C. L. Werner's Skaven stuff has been very dark and gritty, and I found the comic strips of Helbrandt Grimm very inspiring.

Lastly Merlin and the Last Trump by Colin Webber I enjoyed greatly many years ago and probably was one of the driving forces in my style of writing (mixed with maybe a bit of Wells, Jerome, Kenneth Grahame, Joseph Heller, and Giovanni Guareschi.) It's a very dark, satirical and humourous story involving Merlin of all wizards attempting to stop the last trumpet call to signal the apocalypse and the destruction of mankind.

 

I'm gonna add a few more authours into the mix:

William Gibson:
His ability to extrapolate what shady people will do with new technology is just about unmatched, in my opinion

Lauren Beukes:
Really cool, often dark, takes on classic sci-fi thriller concepts. I highly recommend "The Shining Girls" which is about a time-travelling serial killer

 

Nice! I'll have to check these out at some point.