What to read?

[Berniece McKee]

Hello everybody! I guess I'm not here for the original reason, I would really like to get advice on what to read. I would really like to read science fiction, something about the supernatural. I would appreciate that!

[hildea]

Science fiction with supernatural elements? I suggest All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders.

Patricia has magical powers, from an early age. When she tries to rescue a small bird with a broken wing, she discovers she can understand what the bird is saying—and she can talk to other creatures in the forest, as well. But becoming a fully-fledged witch is no easy process, and Patricia’s powers aren’t at all reliable. Once Patricia is a grown-up, she’s mastered her powers—but now she has to deal with the other witches, who worry that Patricia will break the one and only rule of magic.

Laurence is an engineering, math, and computer genius, who builds a time machine when he’s still a pretty young boy. As he grows up, Laurence builds a supercomputer in his bedroom closet. And when he’s a fully grown adult, Laurence joins a secret organization and devotes himself to the problem of Saving the World. But Laurence finds that Saving the World isn’t as easy as it sounds, and he may have to be more than an engineering genius to pull it off.

The relationship between Laurence and Patricia is at the heart of the book, and it’s all about being different. And about two very different ways of seeing the world. They meet up as kids, and they struggle to survive the horrors of middle school – everything from mean kids to a school guidance counselor with a deadly secret. And then 10 years later, they meet again, after Patricia has graduated from a magical school, and Laurence has become a genius engineer and “wunderkind.”

And then, Patricia and Laurence face the ultimate challenge: How to make sense of life, sex and the messiness of adulthood. (And it doesn’t help that they might be at the center of a conflict that could destroy the entire planet.) It’s a book about friendship, love, misunderstandings, and the power of whiskey and hot chocolate.

It's easier to make recommendations if you say a bit more about what you're interested in (spaceships + magic? horror? something else?) or mention a few books you like.

[Angst]

Acts of Caine series by Matthew Woodring Stover

Possibly the only plausible merging of fantasy and science fiction I've read. That said, I enjoyed the series.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Angst

Acts of Caine series by Matthew Woodring Stover

Possibly the only plausible merging of fantasy and science fiction I've read. That said, I enjoyed the series.

Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept series is a merging of science fiction and fantasy. It's a good series.

[Angst]

Originally Posted by Berniece McKee

Hello everybody! I guess I'm not here for the original reason, I would really like to get advice on what to read. I would really like to read science fiction, something about the supernatural. I would appreciate that!

It's not science fiction, but you might enjoy Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. It has elements of the supernatural, but not overwhelmingly so.

Charles Stross' The Laundry Files Series "mix the genres of Lovecraftian horror, spy thriller, science fiction, and workplace humour."

[timebug]

Maybe Ben Aaronovichs series of 'Rivers of London' books? A supernatural element certainly,with touches of sci-fi thrown in,wrapped in a quirky sense of the absurd.I enjoyed them purely for what they were,good tales that entertained me.

[JSWolf]

delete post

[JSWolf]

Here are some series/books that have supernatural elements. Not a single one is science fiction because you rarely get supernatural elements in science fiction.

The Harry Potter series by J. K.Rowling
The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher
The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness
The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
The Newsflesh series by Mira Grant
The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The October Daye series by Seanan McGuire
The Nightside series by Simon R. Green
The Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka
The Laundry Files seris by Charles Stross
The Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Dan Shamble, Zombie PI series by Kevin J. Anderson

[John F]

Maybe Middlegame by Seanan McGuire?

Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.

Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math.

Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet.

Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own.

Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained.

[rainerm]

If you're willing to broaden your definition of science fiction to include dystopian novels without a clear, overt treatment of science, you'd be able to find many more. Of course not all dystopian works count as sci-fi, but given that the former also typically deal with conceptions of morality and social order, it's not much of a stretch. Many of these works critique the notion that "the social" can only be adequately understood through a scientific approach. By extension, these works critique conceptions of civility as well. Gravity's Rainbow, one of the most brilliant works of the 20th century, defies attempts to pin down its genre. It is realistic (in the sense of social/historical realism), profane in its surrealism, and deals with govt-sanctioned explorations of pre-cog states. This would be one recommendation. A second would be Lord of the Flies, which is far less complicated than Gravity's Rainbow, but nonetheless features a critique of civility, barbarity, and morality given a dystopian setting.

[Dr. Drib]

Want to sit back and have a good time while you read?

Try The Witches of Karres, by James H. Schmidt.


Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/Witches-Karre...mes+H.+Schmitz

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Want to sit back and have a good time while you read?

Try The Witches of Karres, by James H. Schmidt.


Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/Witches-Karre...mes+H.+Schmitz

Second this and I will be rereading it in a few weeks,
Apache