Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 wrecan Oct 02, 2009 21:50:37	My wife's book club has indicated that they might be interested in reading some sci fi.  I think this is great, but all the sci fi I know is from the 1950's to 1980's.  The book club would be looking for something published in the last 10 years, which is not part of a multi-book saga, and which raises interesting issues that would be appropriate for a book club discussion. Can anybody make some good recommendations?  Please note that they are looking for sci fi, not fantasy.  (If they like the sci fi, we can push for some fantasy later.)  Thanks in advance!
#2 EscherEnigma Oct 02, 2009 22:20:41	Stardoc by S.L. Viehl.  There's a series, but the first book is just fine as a standalone.
#3 bgibbons Oct 02, 2009 22:23:01	Can anybody make some good recommendations?  Please note that they are looking for sci fi, not fantasy. What kind of books do they usually read?  What kind of movies or television shows do they like? There's a lot of good books out there.  The key is to find the sub-genre or style that will make the transition easier.
#4 idhriniel Oct 03, 2009 5:09:06	There's one show on the beeb (the BBC to those who don't know British TV) called Doctor Who. The show originated in the '50s and went on to the '80s, I think. They recently brought it back in '04, though. And there are books based off of the newer TV series.
#5 bgibbons Oct 03, 2009 12:31:26	Some of this answer is going to depend on what they mean by "science fiction". Do they want literary fiction with a few SF elements?  If so, try books which have won mainstream awards: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (time travel) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (alternate history, but otherwise no SFnal elements) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (well, the author refuses to call it SF) or which are "near future SF": Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson This Is Not a Game by Walter Jon Williams If they're looking for something representative of SF as a whole, you want to go a bit deeper in the past (and some of these, while working on their own, are part of series): A Million Open Doors by John Barnes Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep? by Philip K. D*ck Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller The Sparrow by Mary Dora Russell Hyperion by Dan Simmons Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny Another way to go is to find out what sub-genres or themes they've liked in the past, and find SF books along those same lines.
#6 mynameisjake Oct 03, 2009 20:10:41	Don't forget The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It recevied some pretty high praise including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. For a book club, it also has the advantage of being adapted for the screen (starring Vigo Mortenson, to be released this fall, I think), so after reading/discussing the novel, a group trip to the cinema would be a nice endpoint. The whole Pulitzer Prize thing should at least get their attention and maybe challenge some of their preconceptions of what SF is and can be. On a related note, Margaret Atwood's work is quite good, btw, but personally I find it annoying that she and a few other 'mainstream' authors feel perfectly comfortable writing post-apocalyptic, time-travel, mutant infested 'future' novels, but are so snobbish as to refuse to admit that they are, in fact, writing SF. Instead of doing the literary world a service and trying to point out that speculative fiction is more than robots and rayguns, that it can in fact be actual literature, they promote the stereotype and are disrepectful of the very genre that they have chosen to work in. They seem to want the freedom of the endless horizons of SF, but still want to be able to look down on its fans. Oh, and The Road was also a Oprah Book Club pick in 2007.
#7 ellorin Oct 04, 2009 4:39:54	Alastair Reynolds' work, especially the Revelation Space novels. I'd recommend Dan Simmons' Hyperion Quartet too.
#8 pigknight Oct 04, 2009 8:37:21	World War Z.
#9 zombie_babies Oct 05, 2009 9:43:35	I'll second The Road.  I've read a few books in my day and this one is easily my favorite.  It's really an amazing read.  Plenty to discuss, too.  It's perfect for a book club.
#10 modern_iconoclast Oct 05, 2009 11:33:09	I would recommend David Brin, especially Earth (1990) ISBN 0-553-07064-9. Earth (Novel) Wikipedia Cheers!