Poll: what is your favorite piece of science fiction

[teh_gunslinger]

@MrCrun
I know. Just finished rereading Redemption Ark. I really like it. Just started on Absolution Gap yesterday. Even though Chasm City is not part of the series as such I sometimes think that its the best.
I find it brilliant that he manages (in Redemption Ark) to make a chase sequence taking place over several lightyears and I don't know how many objective years really exciting. That's quite a feat.
Next on the list will be the couple of books set in the same universe. Can't remember the names right now... Maybe The Prefect or something like it...

 

[the_carrot]

My favorite single piece of Sci-Fi ever in any medium was The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven.

Niven and Pournelle produced a good amount of really great science fiction between the two of them. I think the first "There will be war" compilation was one of my all time favorites.

 

[the_carrot]

Neuromancer, William Gibson
Ringworld (suck it Halo fanbois), Larry Niven
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Starship Troopers or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein

I really liked Neromancer, the whole worlds impression of the internet was colored by that novel. Really great work imo.

 

[rawlight]

@ the_carrot

Yeah, Neuromancer and Snow Crash are responsible for that whole slew of futurologists with their crazy ideas about a metaverse. They really put the cart before the horse for that one. I'd like to have the space dub though...

Also, speaking of Niven and Pournelle reminds me of probably my favorite book by those two, Lucifer's Hammer. That has got to be the best book about a giant rock hitting the Earth and it's aftermath ever.

 

[moromete]

For me Dune by Frank Herbert is the best piece of science fiction out there. On TV I would like to say Battlestar Galactica...

 

[Do4600]

Yeah I agree that the poll is limited, when I saw the title I immediately though of the Foundation series by Issac Asimov, or maybe Ender's Game or something like that. The poll has two tv shows and a series of movies (and all their assorted spin-off crap in the case of Trek and Wars). The poll should be expanded to include more real books. And before anybody mentions this, I consider star wars and star trek books to be about the same level as those romance novels you buy in the grocery store, in other words they're crap.

Also props to strayjay for mentioning Niven, he's one of my favorite authors.

Here's some ideas:

Foundation Series, Issac Asimov
Neuromancer, William Gibson
Ringworld (suck it Halo fanbois), Larry Niven
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Starship Troopers or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein


HARI SELDON PWNZ U BITCHEZ (he also knows exactly when/where it will happen)!

Agree!

 

[InsanityManifest]

DUNE

 

[broadband]

man im the only one who voted for star trek wow ifeel lonely, anyway,what do you think of the starcraft dark sci-fi universe, i just played the game but it looks like a nice dark universe where you could get good number of canon stories specially from the terrans because that could be considered like the race most divided in alot of factions and each one with decent firepower.

 

[DarkSaber]

Well out of those options (hi, first post btw!) I chose Star Wars, but to be honest I prefer to watch sci-fi like Alien/Aliens, Bladerunner and Total Recall! (Sneer if you want, but I likes what I like!) I'm not overly bothered about how true to space physics a sci-fi feature is, as long it can create a universe/environments that are interesting to look at and, moreso, use those environments to further the mood/atmosphere of the story (just like Star Wars, Bladerunner and Alien do!). I also like the 'used future' philosophy that films like Star Wars and Alien used (if this had (more than likely) been used elsewhere beforehand, than excuse my ignorance!) But I always felt that it's better to look at a future where the ships can be rusty, dirty and generally well used, instead of looking they have always come straight from the factory! But heck, if you put a gun to my head, I would have say my favorite sci-fi is Red Dwarf! Yes it's a 1980s-1990s BBC sit-com set in space, but in quite a few episodes they take real science theories and play them out as they are predicted (things such as an Earth with time running backwards, White Holes, Advanced Evolution, and even the birth of religion!) with hilarious results!

I don't read much hard sci-fi (I.E. Set in space way in the future) but a lot of my favorite books are more soft sci-fi (as in they are set in recent future, as in the next 10-20 years). I found a book called Incompetence by Rob Grant (one of the co-writers of Red Dwarf) was an amazing read, dealing with a United States of Europe, and an agent for an undisclosed agency (I assumed it was British intelligence, although this was never spelt out) trying to follow a serial killer and stop him amidst a society where no-one can be sacked for being incompetent at their job, leading to situations like a 70-year-old male Bunny Girl and a Police Chief with a serious (and I mean SERIOUS) anger management issue! I can highly recommend it for anyone looking for a funny, well thought out page-turner set in the maybe not-so-distant future!

 

[zardosbacon66]

The Aliens movie series. I watch it all about once a week. Don't know if there are any books over them though. I can lay out hive structure, slap out Alien castes and what each one does, nerdness reaching critical mass.

I've made the race into D&D/Palladium, and played most of the video games they are in. I'm crazy for Xenomorphs. The enormous Queen on my shelf is awesome.

Also, the Halo games and books. Love the story behind them.

 

[the_carrot]

@ the_carrot

Also, speaking of Niven and Pournelle reminds me of probably my favorite book by those two, Lucifer's Hammer. That has got to be the best book about a giant rock hitting the Earth and it's aftermath ever.

I agree, Lucifer's Hammer is a great book.

 

[Hey Joe]

Blade Runner. Call me a sucker for dysotopic neo-noirs that question the nature of humanity and mortality.

 

[Chis]

Can't answer this poll. If we include novels, I would put Dune (NOT the mini-series) up there with Firefly, Hitchhikers Guide AND Blake's 7 (yes I'm serious) all as equally good sci-fi. Blade Runner comes very close second... (if only for Rutger "tears in rain" Hauer)

(tongue in cheeck)
Star Wars is pantomime for children. Star Trek is full of endless plotholes, mixed acting, and dodgy science. Battlestar Galactica has imploded on itself with religious bullshit. Farscape had far too many filler episodes (tongue returns), but when it's good, it's real good fun.

Hold on, why has no-one mentioned Space: Above And Beyond yet? Why didn't I mention it earlier!? Okay, put that up there with Blade Runner...

Edit: Oh heck, there's Babylon 5 as well. Sod it, put Firefly at the top.

 

[Lara Crigger]

What, no Futurama?

I did really enjoy BSG in its heyday, as well as Babylon 5 (there's a special spot in my heart for Zapp Braniga--I mean, Commander Sinclair). But my favorite entry into the sci-fi genre has to be The Abyss. The acting is awesome, the science is sound, and the "candle in the dark" scene? Simply beautiful. Sometimes I think the sci-fi genre tends toward weapon-porn or aliens and spaceships for the sake of aliens and spaceships, but not The Abyss. The entire movie remains about the characters, and their humanity, and not the aliens. Love it.

 

[sathie]

Babylon 5 is my favourite TV Sci-fi (apart from the 5th season. When you use all your good material in the 4th thinking you'll not get a 5th... just refuse the 5th).

Dune is my favourite sci-fi book. It doesn't feel impossible like a lot of it can.

The new BSG is great, too. Really awesome in that episode where they play the old "bsg fanfare" during part of it. Nostalgia is the best.

 

[GloatingSwine]

Babylon 5 is my favourite TV Sci-fi (apart from the 5th season. When you use all your good material in the 4th thinking you'll not get a 5th... just refuse the 5th)..

Season 5 still had some good stuff in, but due to the Earth Civil War getting compressed into the 4th season (Season 4 was supposed to end at Intersections in Real Time), the first half of Season 5 was dragged out too long, and that meant too much of that smug twat Byron.

 

[Fire Daemon]

I would have to say 2001 a space Odyssey, or does that not count because its set in the past?