looking for scifi recs

[bluegreen17]

if anyone has any suggestions,i'm looking for recommendations of science fiction with the following criteria:

1. good prose.well,that's subjective,so some examples of writers whose prose i like are tolkein,mary shelley,alice walker,richard bach and kurt vonnegut. a mixed bunch,i know. i also like dickens,aside from his propensity to give his characters improbable names. i dislike almost everyone else. well,not really,but i'm pretty fussy. i detest danielle steel's writing (not to mention her editor's seemingly non-existent editing. how bitchy of me.)

2. leans towards optimism,rather than pessimism. i think philip k. dick's story ideas were intriguing,but i think he's depressing.

well,good luck to me,eh? ha. am i asking for too much?

Comments

[finnagain.livejournal.com]

Heinlein, Heinlein, Heinlein.

[bluegreen17]

have you read a lot of his stuff? i grok that you like 'stranger in a strange land' but what others? thanks for the pointer!

two words!

[gev.livejournal.com]

Babylon 5!
ok, one is a digit.
let's see.. oh yes.
David Brin's Uplift Saga (http://www.davidbrin.com/upliftbooks.html)
Heck, most of Brin's stuff is pretty optimistic, fiction or non-fiction.

Re: two words!

[bluegreen17]

david brin's website is great...interesting thinker. thanks! and i will check out his books. 'uplift'...very cool.

as for babylon 5,i assume you mean the tv show? i always thought the aliens looked rather goofy,but then again so do the daleks and i like doctor who. i've just started watching stargate and really like it. have you seen that? if so,how would you compare it with babylon 5?

thanks a bunch for your recommendations!

Re: two words!

[gev.livejournal.com]

Babylon 5 kicks Stargate's ass. :)
and there are books of B5 too.

Re: two words!

[bluegreen17]

really? cool! i love the fact that star trek has so many novels connected to it,as i love many of the star trek characters and that universe,so it's good to know there are books to go along with babylon 5 as well. oh,boy,between booktards,the scifi community,and my regular journal,i've gotten some great suggestions,so i'm primed to go shopping and enjoy some new stuff!

thanks again!

[solar-plexus.livejournal.com]

not sure if this is what you are looking for, but
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/048627263X/qid=1107842611/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-6555236-3263853?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
is pretty different. Its very short, but very good (I thought)

[bluegreen17]

i haven't read that,so i'll check it out. thanks for the recommendation!

coming across via ceilede

[acertaindoebear.livejournal.com]

There's a few of us out there, who know that writing cynical fiction is just so 5th Century -;)

You can tool about with these:

Spider Robinson (any of his Callahan stories to start with)

John Varley (for views of an exuberant future where ALL of the US has now joined the rest of the world in the World Celebration. Begin either with Steel Beach or Golden Globe)

Harlan Ellison--try "The Paladin of the Lost Hour"

Rudy Rucker's 'Ware series (Software, Wetware, Hardware etc)

Sandman by Neil Gaiman (or if you love fantasy, Stardust). Perhaps a good one to start out with would be Death, the High Cost of Living

Mark Twain

The Invisibles by Grant Morrison

Ursula K. LeGuin--try Always Coming Home

Corey Doctorow, "The Craphound" is a hoot

Robert Heinlein that master of humanist fiction. Gallavant with Glory Road or The Number of the Beast.

William Blake

Percey Bysshe Shelly

Colin Wilson's The Mind Parasites

Bone by Jeff Smith

Pogo by Walt Kelly

Castle Waiting by Linda Medley

Schroedinger's Cat Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson

Note that words within quotes are Stories, otherwise assume the titles are books

Enjoy in your search -:)

Re: coming across via ceilede

[bluegreen17]

so 5th century!
that really cracked me up,and laughing is one of my favorite hobbies,so thanks! and also thanks for the recommendations...i have amassed a wonderful list from this journal as well as posts on a couple of communities,so...yay!

[eosphorus.livejournal.com]

have you read mervyn peake's gormenghast trilogy? it's charmingly strange...

[eosphorus.livejournal.com]

ah, excuse me – somehow, the word 'science' managed to elude me (read: i cannot read :p). i still recommend it, though.