Please recommend me some Science Fiction

[Slizaro]

Quick picks for "Showcasing the Dreams of Tomorrow":
Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale - Ivan Efremov (very interesting Soviet Scifi)
The Honor Harrington series (David Weber, first book - On Basilisk Station)
The Rama series (Arthur C. Clark, First Book - Rendezvous with Rama)
The Foundation series (Isaac Asimov, First book - Prelude to Foundation [debatable])

TV shows:
Farscape
Firefly
Star Trek (the older shows tend to be more 'dreams of tomorrow' than most Scifi anymore)

Books:
Lighter scifi/ military fiction:
The Honor Harrington series (David Weber, first book - On Basilisk Station)
The Empire of Man / March Upcountry series (David Weber and John Ringo, first book - March upcountry
Legacy of the Alldenata (John Ringo, First book - A Hymn Before Battle)
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

Scifi:
The original Dune series ( Frank Herbert, yes all 6 books, the latter works have a very different tone but I found very enjoyable)
The Rama series (Arthur C. Clark, First Book - Rendezvous with Rama)
The Light of Other Days (Arthur C. Clark and Stephen Baxter)
The Foundation series (Isaac Asimov, First book - Prelude to Foundation [debatable])


Cyberpunk:
Neuromancer (William Gibson)
Almost anything else by William Gibson
Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson)
The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson)

Denser / slower Scifi
The Manifold Trilogy (Stephen Baxter, First book - Manifold: Time)
Anathem (Neal Stephenson)
The Wreck of the River of Stars - Michael Flynn
The January Dancer - Michael Flynn
Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale - Ivan Efremov (very interesting Soviet Scifi)

 

[omega247]

Books: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (it's awesome and wasn't too heavy going either)
TV: New Battlestar Galactica

 

[Caligulove]

for TV shows:

Firefly (not hard sci-fi but a compelling universe)
Star Trek: Next Gen (its classic)

Books:
Childhood's End
Rendezvous With Rama
Ringworld
Riverworld
The Sirens of Titan
Ender's Game
Chasm City
Revelation Space
I Sing the Body Electric!

Anything by Arther C. Clarke, Larry Niven, Alastair Reynolds, Isaac Asimov, etc.

Childhood's End is one of my top 5 favorite books ever, as well

 

[WINDOWCLEAN2]

For steampunk/post apocalyptic/sci-fi i highly recommend the Mortal Engines series.

It has cities....on wheels.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Books: Time Machine by H.G. Wells and I, Robot by Isaac Asminov

Tv shows: Babylon 5 and Farscape

 

[iita]

The Hyperion series by Dan Simmons.
And obviously Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy but everyone else already mentioned it.

 

[bigsby]

Books:
the Dune series
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy ( except the fifth book, which i usually just pretend doesnt exist)

Films:
Blade Runner
Event Horizon
Dont know if it really qualifies as sci/fi, but: Brazil
The Fifth Element

Tv Series:
Firefly

 

[FinalDream]

TV

Firefly (and the following film Serenity)
Re-imagined Battlestar Galactica
Doctor Who
Stargate SG1/Stargate Atlantis/Stargate Universe

Movies

Blade Runner
Ghost in the Shell
Alien Trilogy
Star Wars Original Trilogy
Moon
District 9
2001 Space Odyssey

 

[Caurus]

TV
+Stargate universe is pretty cool but DONT watch Stargate Atlantis unless you like cheap sets and crap actors.
+Firefly is one of my guilty pleasures so I would check that out. It is sort of lame but its different and funny; so very entertaining.
+star trek next generation is the best...voyager is ok too and I have never been a fan of deepspace 9 but my boyfriends brother assures me it is good and more noir than the other series....I just thought it was crap lol.
+need I say Dr Who???

Movies
+Don't watch starship troopers
+Don't be afraid of 80's sci fi, it is surprisingly cool.
+Galaxy quest is an awesome film its a comedy not really that sci fi but what the heck.
+5th element is main stream stuff
+alien is a classic... think I like aliens(sequel) more though. Faster paced.


Good luck

 

[Instant K4rma]

Films:

District 9
Alien
Aliens
Predator


TV:

Doctor Who
Fringe

 

[Veylon]

Books:
A Mote in God's Eye / The Grasping Hand
Anything by Stephan Baxter or Arthur C. Clarke (or both together)
Ringworld Series
Dune Seris (At least the first couple)
Harry Turtledove's works (although he also writes fantasy and alternate history)

Movies:
2001: A Space Odyssey
5th Element

Oddly, it's hard to thing of Sci-Fi that shows the "dreams of tomorrow". Usually the characters are off fighting aliens or exploring new worlds or being chased by the dystopian government or surviving a post-apocalyptic future or something.

 

[rddj623]

Phillip K. Dick's work is excellent.

 

[K84]

Some of my fave's are:

- Mad Max (all three)
- Alien ( all four, though i tend to like 3 a lot)
- The Fifth Element
- Star Wars ( yeah, the whole package, even Ep. I, just for Natalie)
- Robocop 1
- Logan's Run
- Forbidden Planet ( i love this one too much...)

And my all time favorite scifi flick:

- Bladerunner

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Starship Troopers: Roughneck Chronicles

 

[bleh002]

Books:

Vernor Vinges - Fire upon the Deep, Deepness in the Sky, The Peace War, Marooned in Real time (I haven't read Rainbow's End yet, so I can't recommend it. I'm sure that will change after I've read it though)
Charles Stross - Glasshouse, Halting States
Robert J Sawyer - Calculating God, Frameshift, The Terminal Experiment, Starplex, Flashforward (the book that the tv show raped)
Greg Bear - Darwin's Radio, Darwin's Children
Ursula K LeGuin - Hainish Cycle series
Kim Stanley Robinson - Mars trilogy

TV Shows:
I haven't seen anything recent that I've enjoyed, but there used to be Farscape and Babylon 5 before that.

Movies:

Jason X. It takes place in the future in space, it is horribly cheesy, stupid and the acting is not always the best but it is also so much fun.

 

[kurupt87]

Iain M Banks Culture novels are awesome, some of my favourite reads in that universe.
My overall favourite sci fi author though is Peter F Hamilton, I can't believe no one else has put his name forward. The space opera series by these guys are of awesome quality and the stand alone books are just as good.
Specifically, The Nights Dawn trilogy and The Commonwealth Saga.

I won't put my TV and films up, they've already been said. I just posted to correct the injustice that was the lack of Peter F Hamilton love.

 

[Yureina]

Dune.

It's awesome.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

Pretty much anything anyone has already said (well except for that one dude who said Jason x (srsly, WTF??)) plus also Pitch Black and Back to the Future series, don't think either of those have been said.

Oh and avoid The Chronicles of Riddick for gods sake!

 

[bleh002]

Pretty much anything anyone has already said (well except for that one dude who said Jason x (srsly, WTF??)) plus also Pitch Black and Back to the Future series, don't think either of those have been said.

Oh and avoid The Chronicles of Riddick for gods sake!

So I guess you didn't read what I wrote about Jason X to explain why it's there? At least I explained why I suggested something questionable, unlike people who recommend novels based on video games, movies or other people D&D adventures.