S.KRAUSE

Fantasy and Sci-Fi

Around the 5th or 6th grade I became interested in fantasy and science fiction as genres, and since then they have made up a large portion of my reading material. Below are some authors and their works that I find worthwhile. On occasion, I've also been able to find further information on the Internet; links are provided when possible. Note that this list is neither exhaustive nor authoratative. I have also put together a short list of Fantasy and Sci-Fi Links.

• Anthony, Piers: The master of light fantasy. I read a Xanth book or two while growing up (my mom owned 3 or 4 of them), and in high school I grew attached to the "Incarnations of Immortality." All are well-told tales; revisiting them, though, I have to admit that the prose and dialogues are rather weak (to say the least). Anthony is always entertaining, and occasionally thought provoking. Firefly was fun, if a bit peculiar.
• Asimov, Isaac: The grandmaster of science fiction. I began with his Foundation novels in the 8th grade; I found the first a bit "dry" when I originally started it, but I went back to it later and enjoyed it a great deal. His prose style is unadorned and clear, and he does a good job of telling a story. I have posted the four-part Isaac Asimov FAQ from the alt.books.isaac-asimov newsgroup here: 1, 2, 3, 4. I recommend:
  • The Foundation novels
  • The Robot novels
  • His short-stories (collected)
  • Nemesis
  • His non-fiction
• Beagle, Peter S.: The Last Unicorn is an amazing work. Beagle has a magnificent command of language. I saw the animated movie when I was young, and loved it. I didn't know there was a book until college, when I randomly came across it in the library. I bought and read The Unicorn Sonata in January of 1999, and while it is rather different from The Last Unicorn, it, too, shows Beagle's poetic control of the English language. Most recently I read A Fine and Private Place, which was his first novel. It is a beautiful love story, and although the end drags a bit, I highly recommend it. I've also obtained most of his other works - I just have to read them!
• Brin, David: I've read Glory Season, which I found to be one of the better novels I've read, and Earth, which is very interesting and well-told. I also finished up The Postman, which, as everyone knows, Kevin Costner turned into a horrible flick. Don't let yourselves be turned off by that - the novel is rather good, and I recommend it. Brin has a talent for telling a long yet cohesive tale, and the concepts behind Glory Season are the stuff of good sci-fi.
• Brooks, Terry: I got the first two books of the Shannara series in the 5th grade at a book fair at our elementary school library. I found The Sword of Shannara a bit slow when I first approached it, but it grew on me; I still think it has too many parallels to Tolkien, though. The second, The Elfstones of Shannara, is one of my favorites of all time - definitely the best book Brooks has written. I also enjoyed the other Shannara books ("Wishshong" and "Heritage" series, and prequel) and the Landover novels (have only read the first three, though).
• Card, Orson Scott: Ender's Games is awesome, as everyone already knows. And, unfortunately, that's all I've read by him.
• Chalker, Jack: While on vacation in Oregon in the late 80s, we stopped at a bookstore in Bend (central Oregon). My mom saw the first 3 books in the "Soulrider" series as a boxed set, and she bought them for me. After finishing those, I quickly bought the others. I never see these books in stores anymore, which is too bad - I enjoy them a great deal and recommend them highly. That comes with the disclaimer that all the books are a bit "strange".
• Clarke, Arthur C.: Until just recently, I hadn't read anything by Clarke, even though I own a few of his works. I'll be reading more. If you like Asimov, they say, you might very well like Clarke. The Hammer of God is a quick but good read. I can't recommend anything else yet.
• Cooper, Susan: Some of the first "fantasy" novels I ever read were in Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" series. All books are great, and every elementary school student should read them.
• Donaldson, Stephen R.: My mom owned the First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. For a book report in the 7th grade I picked up the first book. It was dense, but I loved it. Strikingly original, human, and dark, the series is a masterful work of art. I also own the second chronicles, but I haven't read them yet. Very highly recommened.
• Feist, Raymond: For X-mas '97 I got the first two books of the Serpentwar Saga - this was the first time I'd heard of Feist. I found them well-written if not horribly "deep". I bought the two newest books shortly thereafter (as soon as they were available). An entertaining and compelling series. I have also read Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master - the first books of the Riftwar Saga, as well as the following books. They are quite entertaining, and I am interested in reading whatever he publishes next.
• Gardner, James Alan: On the train from Minneapolis to Spokane I read Expendable. It qualifies as one of the better science fiction novels I've read. It was quite well-written and structured. I recommend it.
• Greenwood, Ed: Another TSR hack in many regards. However, I enjoy many of the novels from TSR, and Greenwood's Spellfire is no exception. Indeed, it's one of my favorites. It's very "light", but the characters are fun and the humor flows freely. Nice hack and slash-type adventure.
• Haldeman, Joe: The Forever War is a classic. I read it only very recently, and I really liked it. Definitely worth reading.
• Heinlein, Robert A.: I'd never read any Heinlein until 1997; still, I first read Starship Troopers and Expanded Universe. I find Heinlein's style very approachable and his presentation clear. Since then I've read Friday, Job, Stranger in a Strange Land and The Cat who walks through Walls. I would like to get around to reading some of his other "classic" novels.
• Herbert, Frank: Dune is one of the most fascinating and expansive tales I've ever read. Although I'd heard of it years ago, I didn't read it until my semester abroad in Germany. It is highly complex and detailed; completely foreign yet realistic. I haven't tried the sequels.
• Le Guin, Ursula: An amazing author of my youth whose Earthsea series was very inspirational. I haven't read them in years (since middle school), but I wouldn't mind going back to them.
• Lewis, C.S.: "The Chronicles of Narnia" were given to me by my mother around the 3rd grade or so. Like Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" series, every child should read these books.
• Niven, Larry: I've read a collection of his short stories. Loved it. I just finished Lucifer's Hammer (1977), written with Jerry Pournelle, and I highly recommend it. Weighing in at just under 500 pages, it's not a light read, but it's a very thoughtful and complete story.
• Robinson, Spider: My friend Leena gave me Callahan's Crosstime Saloon our freshman year in college. I love puns, and so I loved Callahan's. Since then, I've collected most of the other Callahan's books, and I've read Mindkiller and Starseed (by Spider and Jeanne Robinson). The latter is a tad-bit "new age" in some regards, and at times Robinson gets a bit "preachy", but I find the works enjoyable nonetheless. The first Callahan's book is a must; all the rest is optional.
• Rosenberg, Joel: One of the fist fantasy series I ever read was Rosenberg's "Guardians of the Flame". The series is vivid; the characters are very memorable. The first book is my favorite, but I enjoy the others as well. Thank you, Dayn, for lending me these books...
• Salvatore, R.A.: The Crystal Shard is still one of my favorite books just to read for fun. It's light and insignificant, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. The later books are good, but can't match the first in terms of entertainment value.
• Simmons, Dan: Big wow! Hyperion is excellent - one of my favorite novels, period. The whole series is both epic and personal, well-told, well-structured, and very well-written. I read The Hollow Man this last summer (1999), and although I don't think it is as good s the Hyperion novels, it was still worth reading.
• Stephenson, Neal: While doing research in Transylvania a few years ago, a fellow traveler and I exchanged books we'd read. All I could give him was a cheap Star Trek novel; he gave me Snow Crash. I definitely got the better deal. When I was done with it, I left it at a youth hostel in Budapest for someone else to read. Over time, though, I wanted to read it again; I dropped a hint here and there, and got it for X-mas '96. Snow Crash is a fast-paced rollercoaster of a novel with vivid descriptions, memorable figures, fun "science", and good writing. I recommended it to a friend, who enjoyed it enough that he bought The Diamond Age, which he recommended to me. I dropped a few more hints, and got The Diamond Age X-mas '97. Again: great characters, great plot ideas; great sci-fi ideas; great writing. Stephenson's novels seem to suffer from a recurring problem, though: his plots start running out of steam towards the end. In Snow Crash it happened only towards the end, however, in The Diamond Age the whole second half is problematic - almost the antithesis of the first half. Still a great read, though, and both are very highly recommended.
• Tolkien, J.R.R.: No list of fantasy novels would be complete withouth mentioning Tolkien. No more needs to be said. I have posted a copy of the Middle-earth FAQ. I also recommend The Tolkien Sarcasm Page -- quite interesting.
• Weis, Margaret and Tracy Hickman: Okay, everyone has read the Dragonlance series. They're light, but they have memorable characters. I particularly like the Chronicles and the novellas from the first Tales. Stormblade and The Legend of Huma are probably my favorite novels in the later series (note, these latter two books are not by Weis and Hickman).