"When push comes to shove / we are only robots in love"

[larryhammer]

Since all knowledge is contained on the Internet ...

I'm looking to get my father, the man who introduced me to SF/F, some recent science fiction for $SEASONAL_HOLIDAY -- but there's a problem: to be honest, I don't read much adult science fiction these days. Fantasy, yes -- YA SF, yes -- but not adult SF. I think the last I read was Elizabeth Bear's Jenny Casey trilogy, which means I'm not up on what's come out in, say, the past five years. So rec me some good recent stuff.

Parameters: He'll read either, but prefers SF over F. While a complicated plot is fine, he doesn't have much patience these days for fragmented narratives without much connective tissue -- so, say, Gene Wolfe or C.J. Cherryh are probably out. OTOH, unreliable narrators are okay -- he enjoyed Fingersmith. Adventure yarns a plus, but not required. Works available in editions without tiny print a definite plus.

And that's all I can think of. Any ideas?

---L.

Comments

[kah-tea-uh.livejournal.com]

Maria Snyder's book Poison studies is the first in a series that I really like. It's got a likable and very strong-willed female protagonist and a nice blend of magic, politics, adventure and romance. One of my guy friends borrowed the first two books from me and really liked them, too. I definitely recommend the series. The second book is called Magic Study. It's definitely F rather than SF, but the plot is nice and straightforward, and very enjoyable.

In terms of SF, I don't read as much as I do F, but the Stardoc series by S.L. Viehl is really good. Also, anything by Robert J. Sawyer is probably good. I've read a couple of his books, Factoring Humanity and Starplex, and both were really great, and the plots were easy to follow.

Good luck finding books for your dad!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_twilight_/]

Tangent: I met Sawyer and his wife at a dinner and they were very nice. And the next day, I met his wife's hair doppleganger, who also looked like her but twenty-something, so I had an awkward "Thought you were someone else across the room" moment, until we started discussing Buffy. Because Buffy is awesome. :)

[larryhammer]

Hmm. Having read (and liked) Snyder's books, I don't think they'll be quite to his taste. But Sawyer is a good possibility.

---L.

[batwrangler.livejournal.com]

Charlie Stross (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=charles+stross&sprefix=charles+str), The Atrocity Archive (http://www.amazon.com/Atrocity-Archives-Charles-Stross/dp/0441013651/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b) and The Jennifer Morgue (http://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Morgue-Charles-Stross/dp/1930846452/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229388984&sr=1-5)
James D. Macdonald (http://www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-Door-James-D-Macdonald/dp/0312869886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229389134&sr=1-1), The Apocalypse Door ()

Also, you might look at John Scalzi (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=John%20Scalzi), Ken Macleod (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_7?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=ken+macleod&sprefix=ken+mac), or Cory Doctorow (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_5?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=cory+doctorow&sprefix=cory+).

The Dresden Files (http://www.amazon.com/gp/series/83652/ref=pd_serl_books?ie=UTF8&edition=mass%5Fmarket)

Cherie Priest (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=cherie+priest&sprefix=cherie+pr), Four and Twenty Blackbirds (http://www.amazon.com/Four-Twenty-Blackbirds-Cherie-Priest/dp/0765313081/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_c) or Fathom (http://www.amazon.com/Fathom-Cherie-Priest/dp/0765318407/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229389959&sr=1-1).

[larryhammer]

a) For the record, I like the hat. It looks remarkably stylish on a bat.

2) Scalzi and MacLeod sound like the sort of writers he'd like. Though Stross may surprise me -- I somehow can't think of him appreciating Singularity-based works, but it's not like he doesn't surprise me all the time.

---L.

[batwrangler.livejournal.com]

Thank you! (Seasonal icon was a gift from moon_custafer.)

Those two Stross books aren't Singularity based: they're from his Laundry series which posits that advanced Maths can open doorways between our dimension and Lovecraftian ones and the hero is a computer hacker who works for the paranormal version of MI5. :)

[larryhammer]

Ah -- somehow I'd gotten the idea they were in the Singularity Sky continuum. Sounds like something I want to read.

---L.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_twilight_/]

A magazine subscription. There's variety and you don't have to worry about buying him something he has.

[larryhammer]

He prefers novels to short stories -- "they end before you can really get into them," is pretty much a direct quote.

---L.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_twilight_/]

Hrm... in that case, what are some of his favorite authors/books? Is he more into the tech, the sociological angle, or both?

[malibrarian.livejournal.com]

I just finished Jack McDevitt's The Devil's Eye, which is the latest in his Alex Benedict series, a combination of sf/mystery/archeology. They're not profound, but fun. John Scalzi might also be of interest.

[larryhammer]

SF/mystery is the sort of cross-over he'd like, as that's the other genre he reads (though not as much as my mother). Possibly it's worth tracking down the first in the series ...

---L.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

Bear has three other SF books out, Carnival, Undertow and Dust, all of which are awesome.

Tobias Buckell has a great series of books, Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin and Sly Mongoose. Lots of action in Toby's books.

The Dresden files are fun books, but they are fantasy.

Other fantasy you may or may not know--Tombstone by Emma Bull. Doc Holiday among others.

And Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora--pirates

My mind is blanking on more. Revisions are eating my brain...

[larryhammer]

Territory is a possibility, as is Lynch. (Bear would be the sort of fragmented narrative that I suspect he no longer has the attention span for.) Thankee.

---L.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

This is why I should not make comments while contemplating how to phrase a revision, because, yes, the book is called Territory. I even went to the shelf and looked before I typed that. ::rolls eyes::

I'm not tired. Not me....

[larryhammer]

Of course you're not tired. It's the hat on the cat, distracting you.

---L.

[batwrangler.livejournal.com]

The Dresden Files are hard-boiled-detective fantasies, so I thought they might work in this instance. :)

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

Oh I know. I loved the Dresden Files, what I've read so far. I was so brain fried when I wrote that comment. What I meant was 'The Dresden Files are fun books, but they are fantasy and you asked for SF.'

But tired, revising the same novel for the agent for the second time in a month. I have no words left and little brain.

People should pat me on the head and ignore me until I recover. *g*

[larryhammer]

Sorry, but I can only comply with the first half of that request.

---L.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

And tall as you are, you'd have no problem patting me on the top of the head. *g*

[casacorona.livejournal.com]

Also, for hard SF, Mike Brotherton's two novels, Star Dragon and Spider Star.

[larryhammer]

Star Dragon is a definite possibility. I think he'd like that. (I haven't gotten to Spider Star -- is it a direct sequel?)

---L.

[casacorona.livejournal.com]

No, not a sequel at all. But Mike is all about the stars.

[galeni.livejournal.com]

Old man's war by john scalzi

[larryhammer]

That ... is a definite possibility. Indeed, yes. Thankee.

---L.

[jorrie-spencer.livejournal.com]

Iain M. Banks? Though I haven't read his latest, Matter.

[larryhammer]

He bounced off the one Banks I tried him on, which I think was Player of Games. Since that Banks at his most accessible, I suspect not alas. Otherwise ...

---L.

[jorrie-spencer.livejournal.com]

I agree Players of Games is one of the best to start with, so it's probably a no-go.

I haven't been reading much science fiction of late, I have to admit.

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

I suppose Tad Williams's Otherland books are out?

[larryhammer]

He's not much for heroic fantasy, no.

---L.

[octopedingenue]

Bree Sharp reference for the WIN! John Scalzi is hot these days, especially Old Man's War. I've had luck pimping The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness is action-y goodness on the Firefly-side of SF.

[larryhammer]

I've been hearing buzz for The Knife of Never Letting Go -- from your description, that may be exactly what I'm looking for.

Along with Old Man's War and, Janni suggested last night, the first Steerswoman books.

---L.

[stevendj.livejournal.com]

Mainspring by Jay Lake—theological s.f. in a Victorian world where the universe really is run by clockwork. And it's an adventure yarn.

[larryhammer]

I'll have to look that one up.

---L.