Adding to my library part 1- What new sci fi/fantasy book should I read next?

Question

I am going to the library and a couple of bookstores today. I am a pretty avid reader so I am really looking a book that was surprising and fresh and did not pick up the critical buzz you think it deserves. I just finished the new Charles Stross book Halting State and Stolen Child by Keith Donohue. What are two or three really good science fiction or fantasy books published in the past two years that you think were overlooked?

I need to get the 7th book of the Dark Tower series. I normally am not a King fan, but that series is a masterful.

I haven't read Clive Barker in years - Isn't Arrarat a world he used in other works? Imajica maybe. I'll give Nix a try sometime I don't read much on the YA table except when I read with my kids... even though I think a lot of it is really well written. I want to pick up China Mievilles UnLunDun.

I've read everything by Butler, including her final novel - she was something else. Bill Gibson is a classic. I haven't picked up his latest, but I'll get it sometime.

Neal Stephenson is one of my favorites- Cryptonomicon ranks in my top 10 list. Nedd to finish System of the World, but it is on the shelf already.

I will have to check out Wooding and Queen of the Summer Stars. Gaiman is great - I just saw Star Dust.

I remember Lawhead Pendragon Cycle-- is that what you meant?

I've read some of Butcher's other work- I'll try the Dresden files. Thanks.

Answer 1

I've just read Benighted--which is a book about a modern society where about 98% of the population is lycanthorpic. It was very good--gritty, dark, sweet. (Yes, all three.)

Also, I'd reccommend Queen of the Summer Stars, and the rest of the series. Yes, it is another retelling of Atuhur, but I found them freash, insightful and well-written.

If you haven't already, pick up American Gods. Amazing!

Also, an author that I really liked that hasn't gotten enough coverage: Chris Wooding. All his work is original, well-written, engrossing and peopled with very strong characters. I'd especially reccommend The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray.

Enjoy!

Answer 2

Want some thing one-of-a-kind? Try those: The Sharing Knife, via Lois McMaster Bujold Dragon and Thief, via Timothy Zahn Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, via James Patterson Dead Witch Walking, via Kim Harrison Daughter of the Empire, via Raymond Feist & Janny Wurts The Tar-Aiym Krang, via Alan Dean Foster I've learn over seven-hundred sf/f books. These have quality characters, motion, and a bit romance, and such a lot certainly are long-established and progressive and contemporary, even the final 2, written a even as in the past. They each and every even have the further competencies of being the primary e-book in a sequence, so when you like what you might have learn, there is extra. Enjoy!

Answer 3

I recently found Jim Butcher's series The Dresden Files and am really enjoying them. They're a light read, but interesting. They're about a wizard, named Harry Dresden who is a private investigator and all the paranormal events he faces.

Storm Front (book 1)
Fool Moon (book 2)
Grave Peril (book 3)
Summer Knight (book 4)
Death Masks (book 5)
Blood Rites (book 6)
Dead Beat (book 7)
Proven Guilty (book 8)
White Night (book 9)

Answer 4

An "avid reader" might go for something a little less contemporary? Try anything by Octavia Butler. She has won numerous awards (Nebula and Hugo included) for her scifi/fantasy work. The Xenogenesis series is awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler#Xenogenesis

Also, check out anything by William Gibson. He is credited as the creator of the sci-fi/cyber-punk genre. An is know as the man who coined the phrase "cyber space"

My favorites are Sprawl trilogy:
Neuromancer
Count Zero
Mona Lisa Overdrive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa_Overdrive

Answer 5

These weren't published in the last two years, but I LOVED them. Try "The Dark Tower" series by Stephen King. It's not what you think. There are seven books and it took him almost 30 years to complete the series. It's considered his magnum opus. It's such a great story and I still think about it in every day life.

Answer 6

Abarat & Abarat: Days of Magic NIghts of War

By: Clive Barker

Sabriel
Lireal
Abhorsen
by: Garth Nix

Answer 7

You want to try some sf that had an impact on the real life? Try "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson published in 1992. Second Life phenomenon (http://secondlife.com/) is inspired from the Metaverse presented in this book.
I also agree with tanam73's answer

Answer 8

I would say "Pendragon".