With the frequent mention of Stars Trek and Wars and recent mentions of Dune and Neal Stephenson, I was wondering what other sci-fi/fantasy properties MPU listeners enjoy.
My favorite book is Hyperion. It’s the one by which I judge all others. I had heard that there was a film or tv show in development, but I can only imagine it being a disappointment.
I encoutered Hyperion by accident. I bought the first book because it looked interesting and I had nothing to read
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Hyperion was excellent. I had a nightmare about cruciforms when I first brought my wife home to meet my parents.
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I’m not at home to look at my library but off the top of my head, I did enjoy
Bio of a Space Tyrant series is a six-book science-fiction series by Piers Anthony based within the Solar System. The series revolves around the character Hope Hubris and his family, and charts Hope's ascent from poor Hispanic refugee to Tyrant of Jupiter, a single person heading the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of the government. It is considerably more adult-themed than many of Anthony's earlier works.
The novels are set in a future several hundred years distant at a point wher...
The Gap Cycle (published 1991–1996 by Bantam Books and reprinted by Gollancz in 2008) is a science fiction story, told in a series of 5 books, written by Stephen R. Donaldson. It is an epic set in a future where humans have pushed far out into space in the name of commerce and follows two concurrent story arcs. The first concerns an ensign in the United Mining Companies Police (UMCP), Morn Hyland, who is attempting simply to stay alive after being captured by a marauder named Angus Thermopyle. No...
I’m partial to the 2004 version of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (BSG) is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore and executive produced by Moore and David Eick as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson. The pilot for the series first aired as a three-hour miniseries (comprising four broadcast hours in two parts) in December 2003 on the Sci-Fi Channel, which was then followed by four...
I am thoroughly enjoying The Expanse and I think I’ll tackle the books eventually…
The Expanse is an American science fiction television series developed by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, based on The Expanse novels by James S. A. Corey. The series is set in a future where humanity has colonized the Solar System and follows a disparate band of antiheroes – United Nations Security Council member Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), police detective Josephus Miller (Thomas Jane), ship's officer James Holden (Steven Strait) and his crew – as they unwittingly unravel and place t...
One of my favorite anime series is Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビバップ, Kaubōi Bibappu) is a Japanese animated science-fiction television series animated by Sunrise featuring a production team led by director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno. The twenty-six episodes ("sessions") of the series are set in the year 2071, and follow the lives of a bounty hunter crew traveling in their spaceship called the Bebop. Although it co The...
Netflix is working on a live action version of Cowboy Bebop so I’m looking forward to that!
…and a short-lived TV series that has a cult following:
Firefly is an American space Western drama television series which ran from 2002–2003, created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as an executive producer, along with Tim Minear. The series is set in the year 2517, after the arrival of humans in a new star system and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship. The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters who live on Serenity. Whedon pitched the ...
This TV series is a confusing at times but I still enjoyed the post-apocalyptic scenario envisioned in:
12 Monkeys is an American television series on Syfy created by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett. It is a science fiction mystery drama with a time traveling plot loosely adapting the 1995 film of the same name, which was written by David and Janet Peoples and directed by Terry Gilliam, itself being inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 featurette La Jetée; the series credits Marker and both Peoples for their original works.
In the series, Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull star as James Cole and Dr. C...
Legion also caught my eye recently:
Legion is an American cable television series created for FX by Noah Hawley, based on the Marvel Comics character David Haller / Legion. It is produced by FX Productions in association with Marvel Television. Hawley is the showrunner.
Dan Stevens stars as Haller, a "mutant" diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age. Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza, Bill Irwin, Jeremie Harris, Amber Midthunder, and Jean Smart also star, along with Katie Aselton during the first season; Navid Negahban, Jemaine Cleme...
A friend suggested Daniel Suarez and the 5 books he’s written so far. I enjoyed the audiobooks I bought from his bibliography.
Daniel Suarez (born December 21, 1964) is an American information technology consultant turned author. He initially published under the pseudonym Leinad Zeraus (his name spelled backwards).
His career as an author began with a pair of techno-thriller novels. The first novel, Daemon, was self-published under his own company, Verdugo Press, in late 2006. It was later picked up by the major publishing house Dutton and re-released on January 8, 2009. His follow-up book FreedomTM was released on Janu...
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The last novel I read that I got excited about is “Summerland,” by Hanno Rajamieni.
Hannu Rajaniemi
3.9 out of 5 stars,
ASIN: B0756K1Q8D,
Tor Books,
June 26, 2018,
$9.99
British and Soviet spies fight the Cold War in the afterlife in 1938 England, in an alternate history where scientists have discovered definitive proof of life after death, communication between the living and dead is routine, and for a spy, dying is just another career step. John Le Carre meets Philip K. Dick. A wonderful and weird novel.
I finished that in February or March. Tough year for fiction!
UPDATE: Rajaniemi. That is the closest I’ve come to spelling his name correctly.
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memex
December 10, 2019, 1:40pm
#6
Cowboy Bebop is pure genius
I found very interesting the Books set in the Revelation Space universe, by Alastair Reynolds.
The Revelation Space universe is a fictional universe which was created by Alastair Reynolds and used as the setting for a number of his novels and stories. Its fictional history follows the human species through various conflicts from the relatively near future (roughly 2200) to approximately 40,000 AD (all the novels to date are set between 2427 and 2727, although certain stories extend beyond this period). It takes its name from Revelation Space (2000), which was the first published novel set ...
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Other than Star Wars and Star Trek and Tolkien (of course!):
Harry Potter (books and movies), including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Firefly (TV)
Babylon 5 (TV)
Battlestar Galactica (TV — the more recent series, not the original)
Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series (books)
Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni series (books)
Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds of Valdemar series (books)
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series (books)
N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth series (books)
Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time series (books)
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series (books)
And I’d classify Arthurian stuff as fantasy, I guess, so:
T.H. White’s The Once and Future King
Mary Stewart’s Merlin series: The Crystal Cave , The Hollow Hills , The Last Enchantment , The Wicked Day
Gillian Bradshaw’s trilogy: Hawk of May , Kingdom of Summer , In Winter’s Shadow
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I bought all the other books in the serie within a week 