Good Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books?

Hey all! I'm at a loss here. I want to buy my fiance some books for Christmas and sci-fi/fantasy is his fav. I like them too, but I'm a little out of touch, I guess. Can anyone recommend some good ones too me? Here's what I know he's read....

- Dune (whole series)
- Ender's Game (whole series)
- Most anything Forgotten Realms
- Terry Brook's Shannara (whole series)
- Lord of the Rings
- Harry Potter (whole series)
- All of Alan Dean Foster's stuff
- All of Anne McCaffrey

We also have the following which he hasn't read yet:

- Wheel of Time
- Feast for Crows, etc.
- Dresden Files
- Terry Goodkind's series

Thanks in advance!!!! <3

R.A.Salvatore just came out with a new book! Get him that if he hasn't read it (The Pirate King, Forgotten Realms). But you might want to see if he has read the ones previous to it...

I am a huge LotR/HP/Forgotten Realms fan and a really AWESOME set of books that your fiance might like is by Stephen Lawhead. The trilogy is called The Song of Albion. In order they are: The Paradise War, The Silver Hand, The Endless Knot. It is about a modern day guy who gets trapped in Albion, a world steeped in Celtic mythology, and eventually he gets intertwined in an epic story etc. Excellent writing and great battle scenes..

You could find the Long Sun series by Gene Wolfe.  My husband loved it.  He also likes Charles Stross and China Mieville.

Or anything by Iain Banks.

Ian Irvine is very popular with my daughters.

You could also check out Suzanne Francis, but her stuff is only available on ebook.

Original Post by 4theloss:

R.A.Salvatore just came out with a new book! Get him that if he hasn't read it (The Pirate King, Forgotten Realms). But you might want to see if he has read the ones previous to it...

I am a huge LotR/HP/Forgotten Realms fan and a really AWESOME set of books that your fiance might like is by Stephen Lawhead. The trilogy is called The Song of Albion. In order they are: The Paradise War, The Silver Hand, The Endless Knot. It is about a modern day guy who gets trapped in Albion, a world steeped in Celtic mythology, and eventually he gets intertwined in an epic story etc. Excellent writing and great battle scenes..

I think he has like all of RA Salvator's stuff on pre-order because he always knows when it's coming out and he always has it 5 days later. =/

But this Lawhead sounds awesome! And I've NEVER heard of it! He is really into the battle scenes, so it seems like a good fit. Don't know about the "modern guy" motif, but I don't see that it should be a problem particularly if he read Harry Potter, lol.

Ditto Gene Wolfe, Charles Stross, and China Mieville. As a matter of fact, all of them. I definitely must be out of the loop.

I'm stoked! Please keep them coming 'cause I want to buy him a few. :D

I am currently reading the Ian Irvine series "The Three Worlds Cycle".  I have over 1000 fantasy and sci-fi books and these rate right up there! 

You need to get your hands on Lois McMaster Bujold.  (Well, her books, I mean; I doubt she'd appreciate a manhandling grope. xP)  Brilliant writer.  I utterly devoured her Vor books.  With your diverse and very cool palate, I'm surprised you haven't found her yet.

Start with Cordelia's Honor and just go from there. =)

Definitely Lois McMaster Bujold.  There's a new Orson Scott Card, Ender in Exile that just came out.

Artemis Fowl is a great series, a bit on the light side as it's written for teens, but it's a ton of fun.

Linnea Sinclair

Elizabeth Bear

Orson Scott Card has other series besides the Ender ones, but his quality varies immensely.

I would second Iain Banks (I've a massive crush on him!). If he's never read Banks before, I'd go for Consider Phlebas or Against a Dark Background, or his more recent SF ones (I'd steer clear of Feersum Endjinn, Excession and Use of Weapons: all mindblowingly good books, but maybe a bit too much for the uninitiated).

Dan Simmons is great too. If you get him Hyperion, you must also get Fall of Hyperion, 'cos the story ends a bit too abruptly in the first book. He has loads more stuff (horror as well as SF)

I went to a talk by China Mieville. I haven't yet read anything by him, but if he's as good writer as he is a speaker, he should be good.

My to be read pile is actually two bookcases. I want to take a year off work just to read!

No one's suggested my favorite series. :)

Jim Butcher's "Harry Dresden" Series. HIGHLY suggest it. :)

Also not GREAT Fantasy, but AMUSING Fantasy, Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" Series. :)

It's mighty fluffy reading, but I really enjoyed David Eddings stuff.  Not his most recent books, but the earlier stuff (The Belgariad series is a fantastic start).

Everyone has overlooked Asimov and Clarke.

A curse on all of you.

I could never overlook Asimov and Clarke. I cut my sci-fi teeth on them.

Don't forget Ringworld by Larry Nivens.

Original Post by dnrothx:

Everyone has overlooked Asimov and Clarke.

A curse on all of you.

I was just thinking that as well.

I've also noticed no mention of Robert Heinlein yet - for shame.

ARMOR by John Steakley

it should be on every book shelf in the world. we have 4 copies right now. when ever we see one in the used book store we buy it. whenever a friend says they've not read it we give them one.

Original Post by hkellick:

No one's suggested my favorite series. :)

Jim Butcher's "Harry Dresden" Series. HIGHLY suggest it. :)

Also not GREAT Fantasy, but AMUSING Fantasy, Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" Series. :)

It's in my OP. =) We own it, just haven't gotten around to reading it.

I also enjoy Pratchett. Don't know if he'd appreciate the humor, though I would!

Original Post by emer13:

It's mighty fluffy reading, but I really enjoyed David Eddings stuff.  Not his most recent books, but the earlier stuff (The Belgariad series is a fantastic start).

I totally forgot about him but it's someone I'd looked at buying him before! Thanks!! =)

Original Post by dnrothx:

Everyone has overlooked Asimov and Clarke.

A curse on all of you.

Sorry!! I always think of Asimov, but for some reason he intimidates me...? I always imagine him to be very extremely sci-fi, and I'm definitely more fantasy. (Granted, this isn't about me...)

Original Post by linden:

Orson Scott Card has other series besides the Ender ones, but his quality varies immensely.

Yeah, I think he got the new Ender one, but outside of that, I don't think he'll read any more Orson Scott Card. He found out some stuff about his personal life he doesn't like very much. (Which is why *I* never look into people's backgrounds, lol.)

I'll definitely look into the others. =)

Does Neil Gaiman count as fantasy?  Or is he too "mainstream?"

I am more of a sci-fi fan over fantasy...particularly short stories, and for my money it does not get any better than Robert Sheckley.  He's laregely overlooked, but you can almost always find one of his short story compilations at a used book store.  His stuff is pretty lighthearted, lots of robots and space travel...but super thought provoking!

Oh, and my husband's favourites are Asimov's robot books.

How about A. E. Van Vogt's Null-A series?  It is vintage science fiction but the story and characters are wonderful.

"Prelude to Foundation" by Isaac Asimov

"The Foundation Series" by Isaac Asimov

I just read these recently.  I found "Prelude to Foundation" to be more entertaining and engaging.

Wikipedia says:
"The premise of the series is that mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory, a concept devised by Asimov and his editor John W. Campbell. Using the law of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale; it is error-prone on a small scale."

-------

"Crown of Stars Series" by American author Alis A. Ramussen, under the pen-name Kate Elliott

This series was very engaging.  The author crafts an extremely believable world by using Historical Parallels in order to craft the different civilizations within.  It also has excellent character development.  The characters continue to develop and change over the course of the entire 7 books, rather than becoming stagnant and predictable.

The series is very original for a fantasy series, at least for the first 5 books.  Indeed it is one of the very few series of which I've read more than 2 before becoming bored.