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Post by stormiel on Nov 5, 2012 16:56:37 GMT -5
Does anyone have any good Christian Science Fiction recommendations? I've read nearly all of Kathy Tyers' books and loved them. Some of Karen Hancock's books are good, I liked the Enclave and Arena. Secular SciFi is ok if its clean (that is the biggest problem I run into ).
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Post by Kessie on Nov 5, 2012 20:40:54 GMT -5
One book I just love and have read over and over is Starswarm by Jerry Pournelle. He wrote it as a tribute to Heinlein's juvie fiction. It's about a kid who lives in a colony on another planet with an AI in his head. Think Glados, only a good guy. There's no bed scenes or anything. Trying to think of other science fiction I liked. The Halo novels by Eric Nylund are exceptional. They've got AIs, a battle with invading aliens, supersoldiers, space battles, the works. You don't have to know anything about the games to enjoy them. Speaking of Eric Nylund, I hugely enjoyed his Signal to Noise/A Signal Shattered books. They were my introduction to cyberpunk. In the near future, most people have chips in their heads that let them operate inside virtual reality bubbles and turn their thoughts into physical metaphors. Except Jack is being watched by bad guys. He makes contact with an alien and they start doing business, and the technology this alien gives him only gets him deeper and deeper into trouble. There's a sort-of bedscene in book 2, but it's not too bad. Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones is lovely, but I think it's more of a fantasy than a sci fi. It's about the star Sirius being accused of murder and sentenced to become a dog on Earth until he can clear his name. I've also heard really good things about A Star Curiously Singing. I'm sure other folks can recommend other titles. :-) Edit: Oh, and Asylum by Ashley Bazer is pretty good. She's posted on here about it. It's sort of Firefly-y with the big bad government and the little renegade good guys. A guy's wife gets caught by the corporation and gets her personality wiped and overwritten. Her hubby gets caught and sent to an asylum ship, where she accidentally meets him. The conflict is absolutely delicious. www.amazon.com/Asylum-Circeae-Ashley-Hodges-Bazer/dp/1449762239/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352166126&sr=8-1&keywords=asylum+ashley
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Joel P.
Full Member
Vertavit on duch Firthos est, cas asheidux on duch shei est.
Posts: 103
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Post by Joel P. on Nov 7, 2012 12:52:49 GMT -5
The sad fact is, there really isn't a lot Christian Sci-Fi. A few oldies you may have missed:
CS Lewis' Space Trilogy
The Empyrion duology and 'Dream Thief' by Stephen R. Lawhead.
Probably the best secular Sci-Fi I can recommend is as follows:
Heinlein's 'Starship Troopers', but nothing else by him.
Madeline L'Engle's Time series (more science fantasy, but still good and semi-Christian)
Anything by Timothy Zahn, if you don't mind mild language.
Oh, I almost forgot. I've heard good things about Steve Rzasa's work (which is available through MLP); and though I haven't gotten around to reading his novels, I really liked his short story in Ether Ore.
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Post by Kessie on Nov 7, 2012 20:50:37 GMT -5
I read bits and pieces of Bradbury's Red Planet books (or was that Heinlein? I get all their juvie fiction mixed up). Who had it that the people ice skated on the water in the canals on Mars, and the aliens were these funky bug things that were mostly benign and didn't die, they sort of just lost synch with the proper timeline? I always wanted to read more about it. It was so interesting.
I don't read a lot of science fiction because I got so burned out on the humanistic, materialistic, evolutionary worldview. There was no hope in any of the books, other than getting off Earth with all its depleted resources. (Some book somewhere had us actually eliminating the mosquito and populating the currently unlivable areas on Earth, and solving world hunger that way. But it was the only one.) Definitely look up juvenile fiction from the Big Names. You get their wonderful aliens and world creation without any of the sex.
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel by Heinlein is very good, for instance. Also Starbeast and Tunnel in the Sky and the Rolling Stones (about a family, not the band).
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cdeb
Junior Member
Posts: 83
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Post by cdeb on Nov 10, 2012 6:43:48 GMT -5
Hi,
I have only just started reading Christian SF and Fantasy. I good starting point might be the collection of short stories by Jeff Gerke called Ether Ore. This has works by various Marcher Lord Press authors. You could find an author(s) you like and then try out their longer fiction.
Through this approach I bought A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Nietz, which I would recommend. I was reading the mainstream author, Peter F Hamilton's latest opus Great North Road, but despite Hamilton being a great plotter (one of the best in SF in IMHO), I put it down to finish reading Kerry's book. So here is another recommendation. As regards Christian SF the only name not mentioned above who is in mainstream SF Fantasy audience is Gene Wolfe, a Roman Catholic writer who is thought by many to be one of SF and Fantasy's finest authors. A starting point for reading him would be The Book of the New Sun, starting with "In the shadow of the torturer". Warning the central character is a torturer. Some have likened this series to some kind of Christian Allegory. But Wolfe himself has said that Severian the central character is not a "Christ figure" but the quartet is about achieving sainthood. Let me put it this way, the character has a very interesting story arc!
Hope this helps,
Chris
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Post by birdnerd on Nov 10, 2012 9:48:09 GMT -5
I'm rather partial to my own, Remnant in the Stars. If you don't mind juvenile SF, Jude Watson's Jedi Apprentice Series was pretty good. I wasn't a fan of the follow up one, though. The X-wing series was also good. That was written by Michael Stackpole and ... um ... what's the other guy's name... Aaron-something I think. That's all I can add to what's above.
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Post by tris on Nov 10, 2012 10:39:31 GMT -5
There is also a whole list of Christian sci fi and fantasy on this website. Jeff has taken the time to compile a great listing of quality books. Go to the main wherethemapends page, enter, then click on the booklist on the left. Also Splashdown books has a great listing of good Christian sci fi. The Xwing writer birdnerd is thinking of is Aaron Allston. Not Christian, but good clean fun with nothing objectionable in the series. MarcherLordPress also has some new titles out that are awesome, including Kerry Nietz's triology which begins with A Star Curiously Singing. Karina Fabian has a couple of good ones out: Live and Let Fly and Magic, Mensa and Mayhem
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Post by yoda47 on Nov 11, 2012 20:08:47 GMT -5
Remnant in the Stars is really good!
I, Jedi by Stackpole, while not Christian, is really good. It's all about the sanctity of marriage. (and being true to who you are)
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Post by Kessie on Nov 11, 2012 21:47:58 GMT -5
Aaron: I was holding off on recommending I, Jedi because it is Star Warsy. My husband actually made me read that Timothy Zhan trilogy before he'd let me read I, Jedi, because the books overlap. I read the whole Zhan trilogy going, "Ugh, this guy can't write. Ugh, this guy is a HACK. Ugh, I've read truckloads of fanfic better than this." So I vomited my way to the end and picked up I, Jedi, expecting more of the same. And it WASN'T. It was WELL-WRITTEN. I was totally blown away. We're hoping it gets picked to be made into a movie by Disney sometime. :-)
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Post by stormiel on Nov 16, 2012 3:50:07 GMT -5
Thanks for all the awesome recommendations! I think I will be coming back to this list for quite a while. I started reading Asylum and so far I love it (thanks Kessie )
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Post by stormiel on Nov 17, 2012 4:04:34 GMT -5
Reading more of Asylum. Now I realize how close it is to an idea I had not to long ago. Its weird how you can think you have something somewhat original then find out someone else has already explored the concept inside and out. Oh well. Back to the drawing board
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Post by Kessie on Nov 17, 2012 12:59:13 GMT -5
I did a similar concept in one of my fanfics once. There's a character who is half robot, and the robot half basically has Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics in him, except oriented toward his master. (You can never harm your master or through inaction allow harm to befall him, you must obey master's every command except where such a command would conflict with the first law, and you may defend yourself if doing so does not conflict with the other two laws.)
Then a villain comes along and figures out how to switch his master registration, making himself the master and commanding the character to attack and kill his old master. The robot half has to obey while the living half resists. It was tragic and yet riveting at the same time.
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Ginny
Junior Member
Posts: 53
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Post by Ginny on Nov 17, 2012 13:20:57 GMT -5
Zinovy's Journey, originally entered in the MLP contest in 2010, isn't strictly Sci-Fi, but has elements of both Sci-Fi and fantasy. Readers say: "Zinovy's Journey offers a little bit of just about everything: action, intrigue, suspense, a spacewalk, relationships, revenge, philosophy, end times, a whole new world, and surprises at every turn." "Ginny Jaques weaves an absorbing tale of a journey occurring on multiple levels -- a journey in an earth both familiar and strange, a journey in the mind and soul of a Russian cosmonaut/assassin. Ginny's envisioning of the world after destruction and renewal is enthralling and creative as we discover along with the characters how different everything has become. But no less riveting is Zinovy's transformation as his heart is reopened by all he experiences and by those on the journey with him." More information at www.zinovysjourney.com
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Post by metalikhan on Nov 19, 2012 11:41:57 GMT -5
Yes, Zinovy's Journey is an absorbing read! I don't normally like post-apocalyptic SFF, but this one grabbed and held my attention throughout. Creative and plausible imagining of the world after destruction and renewal. Great portrayal of humans who've become strangers in their own world. (Wishing for a like button!)
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Post by fluke on Nov 19, 2012 13:01:08 GMT -5
Kessie, you didn't like Zahn's trilogy? Oh, shocked! I enjoyed those 3 but not his later two (Hand of Thrawn). Zahn is a practicing Catholic and does write from that standpoint. His villains are selfish. Another writer who is Christian I recommend for sci-fi is David Weber. The Excalibur Alternative blew me away. Imagine an army of Angelo-Saxons from the 1300s abducted by aliens and forced to fight in their wars*. It's set in the same universe as Ranks of Bronze. It can be found for free here. *A law of their federation is that you can't invade a society if you are using technology sufficiently more advanced than theirs. The breakpoints are up to small arms gunpowder and laser/nukes. Meaning if you mean to trade with a group of iron age primitives, you may negotiate a trade or send in troops with arms up to but not including gunpowder. Roman legions, English knights, frog-like aliens who have mastered swords would all be options. This is from the wiki page. The rest would be a spoiler.
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