11-04-2014, 03:10 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-04-2014, 03:21 AM by stevebowers.)
Hmm. Well, let's see here...
Books:
Most of my favorites run to hard SF that 'thinks big' (I know, what a surprise
), but not all. Favorite titles or settings include:
The Culture universe by Iain Banks - the vision of a largely mobile, supertechnological, civilization that makes such a point of being so nice but ends up kicking butt in a big way is fun. And the tech is simply awesome, even if not hard science.
The Algebraist - also by Banks, this is a standalone book. More hard science then the Culture novels by far and depicts a hugely complex civilization. Could almost be an alternative universe version of OA.
The Polity Universe - Another similar to OA, but different, with superhuman AIs running things, advanced tech, and lots of adventure. More violence and simpler themes than OA (at least so far), but lots of fun.
The Uplift Universe - books by David Brin - just a great story overall, although I like some books more than others.
Existence - also by Brin - lots of cool ideas, but ends to soon for my taste.
The Vorkosigan Saga by Loid McMaster Bujold - doesn't claim to be hard SF and the scope is much smaller than the other things listed here - but a fun read, particularly given that the main characters win the day by brains and force of personality, not a body count or sheer technological superiority.
The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons - especially the first three books.
Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick - a neat future where minds and personalities are rewritten on a routine basis and people modify themselves as casually as they change clothes.
The Quantum Thief books by Hannu Rajaniemi - another very complex future, although the science suffers a bit.
The Humanx Commonwealth books by Alan Dean Foster - I was introduced to this universe in junior HS and have been reading them ever since.
Rendezvous with Rama - the first (and best) of the Rama books by Arthur C. Clarke. Exploring a big alien starship with a sense of science and wonder rather than lurking nastiness.
Films:
I grew up with the original Star Wars movies and have always enjoyed them.
The Fifth Element - just a fun movie
2001 - I also didn't care for the movie ending - the book version does a much better job of explaining things.
It may be more Science Fantasy than Science Fiction, but I have been really enjoying the various Marvel Universe movies (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers) that have been coming out over the last 5ys or so.
The latest remake of Superman - Man of Steel - I like the re-envisioning they did with it. A harder edged and grittier vision, but I like it.
Godzilla movies - total science fantasy but I grew up on the original movies and still enjoy them sometimes. The latest incarnation was ok, but still cool.
TV
ST:TOS and TNG - I saw a lot of TOS as a small child (it was in reruns even then), and TNG brought my dorm to a halt every week when I was in college. I thought TOS was just fun, and TNG explored lots of neat ideas as well.
Babylon 5 - A series that took SF in some new directions and introduced (or reintroduced) the idea of TV SF with a story arc, not just the 'episode of the week' that was the norm before.
Andromeda - The early seasons also presented a new SF vision, and the series did a fair bit of stuff with AI, nanotech, gengineering of humans, etc.
Stargate SG1 - This started out slow IMHO, but eventually grew into one of the best TV SF series around. I liked the 'modern people with space opera' mix and some of the episodes played with some pretty neat ideas. I have the entire series on disk (an Xmas gift).
I think that about covers it for me. I've never been able to work up much interest for either anime or video games, although some of the settings themselves seem (from various ancillary materials I've run across) to be interesting in themselves.
Todd
Books:
Most of my favorites run to hard SF that 'thinks big' (I know, what a surprise
), but not all. Favorite titles or settings include:The Culture universe by Iain Banks - the vision of a largely mobile, supertechnological, civilization that makes such a point of being so nice but ends up kicking butt in a big way is fun. And the tech is simply awesome, even if not hard science.
The Algebraist - also by Banks, this is a standalone book. More hard science then the Culture novels by far and depicts a hugely complex civilization. Could almost be an alternative universe version of OA.
The Polity Universe - Another similar to OA, but different, with superhuman AIs running things, advanced tech, and lots of adventure. More violence and simpler themes than OA (at least so far), but lots of fun.
The Uplift Universe - books by David Brin - just a great story overall, although I like some books more than others.
Existence - also by Brin - lots of cool ideas, but ends to soon for my taste.
The Vorkosigan Saga by Loid McMaster Bujold - doesn't claim to be hard SF and the scope is much smaller than the other things listed here - but a fun read, particularly given that the main characters win the day by brains and force of personality, not a body count or sheer technological superiority.
The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons - especially the first three books.
Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick - a neat future where minds and personalities are rewritten on a routine basis and people modify themselves as casually as they change clothes.
The Quantum Thief books by Hannu Rajaniemi - another very complex future, although the science suffers a bit.
The Humanx Commonwealth books by Alan Dean Foster - I was introduced to this universe in junior HS and have been reading them ever since.
Rendezvous with Rama - the first (and best) of the Rama books by Arthur C. Clarke. Exploring a big alien starship with a sense of science and wonder rather than lurking nastiness.
Films:
I grew up with the original Star Wars movies and have always enjoyed them.
The Fifth Element - just a fun movie
2001 - I also didn't care for the movie ending - the book version does a much better job of explaining things.
It may be more Science Fantasy than Science Fiction, but I have been really enjoying the various Marvel Universe movies (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers) that have been coming out over the last 5ys or so.
The latest remake of Superman - Man of Steel - I like the re-envisioning they did with it. A harder edged and grittier vision, but I like it.
Godzilla movies - total science fantasy but I grew up on the original movies and still enjoy them sometimes. The latest incarnation was ok, but still cool.
TV
ST:TOS and TNG - I saw a lot of TOS as a small child (it was in reruns even then), and TNG brought my dorm to a halt every week when I was in college. I thought TOS was just fun, and TNG explored lots of neat ideas as well.
Babylon 5 - A series that took SF in some new directions and introduced (or reintroduced) the idea of TV SF with a story arc, not just the 'episode of the week' that was the norm before.
Andromeda - The early seasons also presented a new SF vision, and the series did a fair bit of stuff with AI, nanotech, gengineering of humans, etc.
Stargate SG1 - This started out slow IMHO, but eventually grew into one of the best TV SF series around. I liked the 'modern people with space opera' mix and some of the episodes played with some pretty neat ideas. I have the entire series on disk (an Xmas gift
).I think that about covers it for me. I've never been able to work up much interest for either anime or video games, although some of the settings themselves seem (from various ancillary materials I've run across) to be interesting in themselves.
Todd