The Campaign Builder's Guild

We have so many favorite X threads, I'm surpized this hasn't been made yet.

What's your favorite in Sci-Fi and Fantasy? This could be settings, books, movies, video games, tv shows, whatever. Post your favorite, and discuss.

For me, my favorite (In no particular order)

Fantasy:
Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan - I know he drags things out later on, but the whole story and setting is amazingly well done. It's been a major challenge for me to not just flat out rip off some of the awesomeness contained in his works, from the whole concept of the Aes Sedia to the Senchan to more.

Sword of Truth, Terry Goodkind - same thing as Robert Jordan. The two series have a lot in common when it comes to plot, but when it comes to inidvidual aspcts of the setting, the difference here is noticable. I love the rules of wizardy, and the concept of (Name forgotten) the women with the pain-sticks is facinating. Another awesome sereies.

Eberron, Keith Baker - This may get some groans here, but I love the setting. I've always been a huge fan of magitech settings, and Eberron is beautifully done. Although I think the whole setting would have been better if it was just Humans, Changelings, Shifters, and Kalashtar, Mr, Baker did a beautiful job with the existing DnD races. Wonderful setting.

Harry Potter, JK Rowling - Probably going to get more groans than Eberron, but the series did something that had to happen - it made it cool to be the kid who reads a fantasy story in class, and overall made fantasy literature more socially acceptable. Plus, Ms. Rowling spins a great tale, and I've always been a fan of magic society hidden just behind the real world.

World of Darkness, White Wolf - Magic society hidden behind the real world? Check. Elements of victorian horror intersperces with a lovecraftian feel of the unknown? Check. The World of Darkness is a wonderful setting and brilliantly done, hands down. Overall, I'm more  a fan of the unknown, creepy feel of the new edition of WoD than the Impending Apocalypse feel of OldWoD, but both versions are still fantastic.

The Lioness Quartet (and the related series), Tamora Pierce. Obscure author of childrens fantasy for 800, Alex. Tamora Pierce weaves a beautiful mythology in her works, with an excellent setting and a facinating take on magical animals. Another author it's hard not to just rip off of, especially since she's so unknown.

Sci-Fi
Star Trek - It had to be said. the Star Trek series are all wonderful works, ahead of their time in plot, and very interesting. The Borg, who are best portrayed in The Next Generation, are easily the best villians in sci-fi, ever.

Star Wars - A classic, one that borders the line of fantasy with the Force. Althought I prefer the plots of Episodes 4-6, I think episodes 1-3 have redeeming value in their overall concepts, if not the plot behind them.

Snowcrash, Neal Stephenson - Cyberpunk dystopia at it's finest, Snowcrash combines anchient myths with intense action and an enthralling plot to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. Add to this some fantastic concepts, like the Metaverse, Mr. Stephenson's take on a virtual reality world, and Raven, a man who probably does win the title of ultimate badass (If you somehow manage to kill him, his motocycle explodes with a nuclear bomb), not to mention Kouriers. I love Kouriers.

the Matrix, the Wachowski brothers - I shouldn't need to explain this one. If you haven't seen it, get it, watch it, love it. The later two movies come no where near the glory of the first, but if you watch them as pure action movies and ignore the plot and cryptic statements, they are prefectly enjoyable.

More to come later, I'm probably going into way too much detail on these. Post your thoughts on these and others, I'd love to see what everyone thinks.

I'll post more ones later, but for now,

A Song of Ice and Fire by G.R.R. MArtin.
The best fantasy series ever in my opinion. If you haven't read it, go get it now. It's well worth the time and cost.

Blade Runner
What can i say? I love this world. The imagery and story are incredible.

The Enders game series (the whole thing, including the Shadow books - yes, i do meand all 8 novels)
HOLY CRAP! that's all i have to say. The sheer scope that these books cover. For almost childish fun sci-fi, to on-earth politcal analysis, to alien evolution and midsets, to the nature of self, identity, morality and the scientific location of the soul. Read these. :yumm:

Quote from: Dementia XSword of Truth, Terry Goodkind - same thing as Robert Jordan. The two series have a lot in common when it comes to plot, but when it comes to inidvidual aspcts of the setting, the difference here is noticable. I love the rules of wizardy, and the concept of (Name forgotten) the women with the pain-sticks is facinating. Another awesome sereies.

a'dam[/i] of the Seanchan, or the collar thingies of the Sisters of Light?  Anyhoo, that's just me ranting.

Fantasy:
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn - Tad Williams
In my oh-so-humble opinion, the most original and beautiful work of fantasy in modern times.  I have read and re-read this series several times, and each time, by the time I make it ten chapters into the first book, I can't put the series down until I'm done with it.

The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
It pisses me off how Jordan has used every single idea that I've ever wanted to use in a campaign setting or novel series, and now, if I used them, I would be pulling a Goodkind and "copying" him.  Other than that, I think it's a wonderful series, and though I wish he would hurry up and finish it, I know I'll be sad when he finally does.

The Dark Tower - Stephen King
SK may as well put down the horror books and pick up fantasy.  He nailed the genre's necessary clichés, while at the same time, pushed the series in directions never before seen in fantasy books.  I admit the ending was a bit weak, but up until the last 200 pages of the last book, it was a phenominal series.

The Belgariad - David Eddings
What can I say... this is the fantasy series that got me hooked on fantasy.  I know nowadays it has a bit of an immature feeling to it, as though it was written by someone not quite sure what he wanted to say, but I still have very fond memories of it.

The Various Stories of Vlad Taltos - Steven Brust
(I apologize if the series is actually named, that's all I could come up with.)  Mix fantasy and film noir, and this is what you come up with.  Brust has a way with words that most authors can only dream about, and a way of telling a fun story that makes you crave more.

Science Fiction
Star Trek: the Next Generation
This is really the only ST series I like.  Picard is the bomb, and every time Q shows up, the show kicks so much ass that I'm generally too fatigued to go to work the next day.

Firefly
Joss Whedon.  'Nuff said.


meh, that's all I can think of for the time being... I'm sure I'll remember more later.

As everyone else has said, Jordan. I hate how he created a magical 'system' just like mine, and how he uses ideas of the kind that you thought of JUST BEFORE you read the book.

The Riftware Trilogoy (Feist) and the Belgariad (Eddings) tuned me into Fantasy.  I've enjoyed a number of novels/short-stories since then, my recent favorites being:

Vellum: The Book of All Hours by Hal Duncan

The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Quote from: EladrisThe Riftware Trilogoy (Feist) and the Belgariad (Eddings) tuned me into Fantasy.  I've enjoyed a number of novels/short-stories since then, my recent favorites being:

I forgot about the Riftwar Saga.  Feist did a great job of making a kid-friendly series that's not too terribly sappy.  It, too, was one of my firsts.

Why hasn't Tolkien been mentioned? At least some of you must like him, right?
Túrin

I like Tolkien, and I greatly appreciate the fact that he brought us the beginnings of such an amazing genre, but I can't really read him too much.  That "Council of Elrond" chapter gets me every time...

screw fantasy. I've got no tolerance for bad fantasy. And that's like 90% of the genre.

I will read and love any sci fi that doesn't literally grow and arm and punch me in the face. (It's happened before.)

Favorite SciFi!
anything William Gibson ever wrote and ever will write. Neuromancer, Idoru, Johnny Neumonic, Johnny Neumonic: the screenplay, Pattern Recognition.

Isaac Aasimov. I haven't read anything by him since i was 15. This is because I RAN OUT. I may have missed a short story he wrote somewhere, but i doubt it. Other people cite Heinlien as the reason they got into Scifi, but for me it's Aasimov.

Accelerando. I forgot who wrote it. It's available for a free pdf. google it. get it. read it. It is science fiction.

I like Ken MacLeod. I read The Stone Canal a while back, and while it's kind of unsatisfying, it's a very interesting tale of revenge. It does not end ANYTHING LIKE other tales of revenge. ;)

This is not complete without Edgar Rice Burroughs, Princess of Mars. (for the young folks, he wrote the more well known Tarzan as well.) He's not my favorite, but hey: Martians. Ray guns? Alien princesses that must be rescued by heroic Earthlings! (i haven't finished Princess of Mars yet, but i'm listening to it in free audioformat available here:
http://librivox.org/a-princess-of-mars-by-edgar-rice-burroughs/

This isn't a book, but Area 51 for the Playstation 2 is a kickass game for the whole alien conspiracy sci-fi deal. All of the unlockable information tidbits and secret videos give me tons of ideas for gaming and campaign design.

Quote from: Dementia XHarry Potter, JK Rowling - Probably going to get more groans than Eberron, but the series did something that had to happen - it made it cool to be the kid who reads a fantasy story in class, and overall made fantasy literature more socially acceptable. Plus, Ms. Rowling spins a great tale, and I've always been a fan of magic society hidden just behind the real world.

Star Trek - It had to be said. the Star Trek series are all wonderful works, ahead of their time in plot, and very interesting. The Borg, who are best portrayed in The Next Generation, are easily the best villians in sci-fi, ever.

Star Wars - A classic, one that borders the line of fantasy with the Force. Althought I prefer the plots of Episodes 4-6, I think episodes 1-3 have redeeming value in their overall concepts, if not the plot behind them.

Love the Harry Potter books.  They're so addictive.
Borg are DEFINITELY the greatest villains in Sci-Fi!
Episode V is my favorite out of all of them.

Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien - The modern-day grandfather of the fantasy genre.  As long and complicated as they are, they're still great.  Definitely a classic.

Stargate SG-1 - One of the better Sci-Fi TV shows I've seen.  A good mix of serious Sci-Fi and light-hearted humor.

M.Y.T.H. Inc., Robert Asprin - A mix of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Humor.  Some dimensions have magic, some have technology, and a few have both or neither.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy", Douglas Adams - My favorite books of all time!  And definitely the funniest things I've ever read.  Of course, after the 3rd book (which is the best one) it goes slightly downhill.  But, they're still great.  Quite possibly the funniest Sci-Fi of all time.

Phule series, Robert Asprin - If the H2G2 books are the funniest Sci-Fi, then these are a solid second place.  There are currently 6, the most recent only co-authored by Asprin due to some legal problems.

Xanth series, Piers Anthony - A huge fantasy series, widely known for its hundreds, probably thousands, of puns.  There are currently 30 books in this series, I believe.  They're all connected, but only a few have the same main character more than once.

I'm sure I'll think of more later.  So when I do, I'll be back.

I never really got into SciFi, but of course I know and love Star Wars and the Matrix.

As for fantasy, favourites include:

Tolkien, Lord of the Rings

Jordan, Wheel of Time (that is, I've read it, but I'm still not sure whether I even like it)

Pratchett, Discworld (particularly book one through, say, five)

Túrin

Sci Fi

I don't think I'll ever have a favourite until I encounter a tale so whacked out my brain reals and never truly recovers.  I like my sci fi INSANE.  With a triple-capital 'I'.  Until then, I'll go with Half Life 2.  The Combine are pretty flash.

Fantasy

I do not like Tolkien.  Full stop.  And it's not due in most part to his faults as a writer (although truth be told, his style bores me to tears) but because after decades of replication I find it hard to appreciate his originality.  Besides which, for all his focus on individual characters, which is commendable, I never empathised with a single one of them.

Generally, as brainface already said,: no tolerance for bad fantasy.  I love good fantasy yarns, but they seem by and large the exceptions to the rule, which is a shame.  It makes me wonder just how discerning most fantasy readers are, that some pretty shithouse books can sell so well.  But maybe I'm picky.

Perdido Street Station, Iron Council and The Scar, all by China Mieville.  He kicks twelve flavours of ass with his crazy wierd fiction, and if you know anything about my setting design style, you'll know I love teh wierdnez.  His world is dark, gritty and for all of its alienness, very human, and has more in common with Lewis Carrol than Tolkien.

Speaking of whom... I've got the hots for The Jabberwocky.  Hey, it did give us the Vorpal Sword.  (And brillig, and galumphing)

Erm... the Tales of Redwall, by Brian Jacques.  It was a great introduction to fantasy, with mice fighting ferrets rather than men fighting orcs, but nevertheless a decidedly dark tone.  Fond memories.

And last but not least:

House of Leaves.  Now this is a strange book, and you'll be working that little gourd of yours to figure out just what the hell it all means.  His style alone is a wild ride, let alone the subsersively alien plot it contains.  If you haven't checked it out, you'd better do it.  SOON.

QuoteI don't think I'll ever have a favourite until I encounter a tale so whacked out my brain reals and never truly recovers. I like my sci fi INSANE.

like[/i] him.

QuoteChina Mieville

but[/i] the end I loved--the level of detail and grit in the world and characters is incredible.

I really tend to dislike tolkein for the same reasons you mentioned: people repeating tolkein make tolkein seem repititious, and i thought LotR was just "pretty good" when i first read it. Oddly enough, the Tolkenier-than-Tolkien silmarillion is one of my favorite fantasy books ever.

I think I find myself liking the movies a hella better than the books...

I'll confess that that's a shame.  While I too preferred the movies, Tolkien did have a great vision - a majesty that wasn't truly captured on film.  I didn't like his books, but I've got to give him that much credit.

QuoteThe House of Blue Leaves. Now this is a strange book, and you'll be working that little gourd of yours to figure out just what the hell it all means. His style alone is a wild ride, let alone the subsersively alien plot it contains. If you haven't checked it out, you'd better do it. SOON.

Did you mean "House of Leaves"? if so, i have, and i did. I'm at the part where it gets exciting and simultaneously crazy--where the expidition is lost and trying to run back inside(/outside?) Good stuff. Hard to follow. ;)

Oops.  Yeah, House of Leaves.  'Blue Leaves' is an entirely different thing altogether...

I read Tolkein back in middle school, when the only other fantasy I'd read was the Hobbit, and the only SciFi the White Mountains trilogy and Wrinkle in Time. Way back then I loved it. It still didn't beat the Hobbit or Wrinkle, but then (for whatever reason) nothing has.

Speaking of childhood faves, I'm surprised to see Herbert's Dune and Asimov's Foundation not making the list.

Well if you put them forward, they are on the list.

George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire
If you have not read this, you are cheating yourself. It is quite simply incredible. I have never before or since found myself so captivated by a story, or so emotionally invested in its characters. I cried. I smiled. I hurled small objects around the room in a blind rage. The series is incredible. Drive to the library or the bookstore right now and get it and read it.

Roger Zelazny - the Amber Chronicles
Totally different style, still marvelous. Zelazny has this way of description... he paints vivid pictures with remarkably few words. I want to learn how to do that. But the Amber books are a class all to themselves.

Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere, American Gods, etc.
How Gaiman manages to be both chillingly dark and enchantingly innocent at the same time-- that completely mystifies me. Reading Neverwhere made me feel like I was eight years old again-- there were terrifying monsters in the dark again, I could be king of the world again.

Interestingly enough, the House of Blue Leaves is the name of a play I was involved in, freshman year in college. It's about a washed-up and talentless piano songwriter, and I recorded the piano snippets used in the play and taught the cast the songs. Evil, catchy, horrible little songs. :yumm:

I keep getting told that I'm missing out with the whole "Song of Fire and Ice" thing, but quite frankly, I'm just not yet willing to start yet another series that has an indeterminable amout of time before it's done.

Quote from: IshmaylI keep getting told that I'm missing out with the whole "Song of Fire and Ice" thing, but quite frankly, I'm just not yet willing to start yet another series that has an indeterminable amout of time before it's done.

but this one is worth it

Quote from: beejazI'm surprised to see Herbert's Dune and Asimov's Foundation not making the list.

everything[/i] by Asimov. :)
I didn't like the second foundation i think. Where like, it's decided that all of humanity bond with the hive mind? I hate hive minds.

Dune... I thought the first book was pretty fun. I don't think i really enjoyed later ones. (preachy, maybe?--it's been a while.)

QuoteAasimov

can't i spell[/i]? :(

Terry Pratchett.  Hands down the Modern Master.  The Discworld characters are some of the most satisfying protagonists and antagonists in our literature.  
Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Tarzan has never been done justice, never even close, in film.  

Tolkien.  Considering the rhyme and reason behind writing the LOTR, the finished product stands out.  

Zelazny.  Amber I find annoying and unfulfilling. Isle of the Dead, To die in Italbar, Lord of Light, Night in the Lonesome October are so much more amazing.

Harry Harrison.  The Stainless Steel Rat rocks.

Star Trek.  The original only. And the movies 2-6.  Shatner is the franchise, all the others are just wannabes.

Farscape.  Well written, well acted.  Frelling freaky.  I still love it.

Venture Brothers.  I grew up in an era inundated with Johnny Quest, Mystery Inc., The Hardy Boys, ad nauseum.  The Venture Brothers not only spoof the lameness of such, but manages to distill out a unique feel.  Go Team Venture!

Doctor Who.  All of them.  Daleks, Yeti, Cybermen, Autons, more Daleks, the Master, the Rani, new Daleks, Sea-Devils, U.N.I.T.  All great cheesy sci-fi goodness!

Star Wars.  Great stuff.
Flash Gordon, Sam Jones version.

I read a lot of books, be it fantasy horror or science fiction.
But there is only one series i recomend when someone asks me what to read, and that is Dresden Files.

Other books i liked(except some obvous ones nearly everyone here mentioned) are
-Song of earth and power(fantasy)
-Brain Plague(Sci fi)
-Saga of the seven suns(sci fi)
-Tears of artamon(fantasy)
-Risen empire, Killing of Worlds(sci fi)
-Vampire earth(near future)
-The Shadow saga(near future)
-Broken Crescent , Wiz Biz (both treat magic as programing language, first is serious, secont is somewhat comic)
-Perdito street station(didn't realy like his other books)

From campaign settings i like Iron kingdoms

Well of the Unicorn
I heard of this book once, in an article on the realisticness of fantasy novels. No, it's not some boringly realistic novel, though it doesn't possess any non-human races either. I found it exceedingly useful for designing my own Campaign Settings with politics and geography in mind. If you know your history, you'll see a tantalizing corrolation between the events in the book and the events unfolding between the Holy Roman Empire, the Danish people and various kings that attempted to assert themselves over viking age denmark. Furthermore, it can be bought for ~$1 on Amazon. One thing, however, the regional accents can be confusing if you don't just go with the flow and go for just the gist of what they're saying. Oh, and the background legend can be a bit confusing as well, but that didn't stop me from loving it.

Dune
What can I say, it deserves mention even if it can be agonizing to read at times. Although, I must admit, I couldn't make it past the first few chapters of God Emperor before be bewildered and finding it took way too much effort to figure out what was going on.

Machiavelli's The Art of War and The Prince
Not exactly a novel, but these two books are still very interesting. The Art of War less so unless you're a fan of military history, but The Prince is a very intereting analysis of politics of renaissance italy, something that is similar to many campaign settings.

Game of Thrones
I've only read book 1, but it was great, and again, very intellectually stimulating for the geo-political makeup of your campaign setting. Do you see a trend in my books yet?

Robin Hobb: Everything I have read thus far

Tad Williams: The books with three swords (the translation was poor, so I never remember the names of those). Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. They were mentioned earlier.

Martin: Song of ice and fire is good.

Pratchett

Zelazny: Amber, especially the first half of books, where Merlin was not involved.

Gaiman: Especially Sandman

Katherine Kerr: The books that have something to do with Deverry and possibly silver daggers. It's been a while.

Rather than split it up between fantasy/sci-fi I'll just mix it up if that's okay.  And they're in no particular order.

Bladerunner - The greatest film ever.  With the plethora of 'dark future' films that came after it (Highlander II, for instance), its hard to really appreciate how original it was.  The odd plot which doesnt quite make sense (how many replicants) and the beautiful language and imagery.  Never bettered.  

Imagica by Clive Barker - IMHO Barker hasnt written a decent novel since this.  Its almost as if he blew all his creative energies on one book.  But what a book...both a map across five realities and a grand unifying mythology to boot.  Oppressive partriarchies, secret societies dedicated to destroying magic, transgender assassins, vengeful goddesses, clones and lots of gratuitous sex from all kinds of angles!  Also check out Weaveworld, his other decent novel.  

Star Wars - I love all the Star Wars except the Return of the Jedi, which is just a damp squib rehash of Episode IV. One day I'll have to sit down and watch all six movies in one sitting.  

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine - I liked the original series and ST:TNG, but this was by far the best series, perhaps because it focussed on other cultures and not just the Federation.  There was a great deal of moral ambiguity as well, which is rare for Star Trek.  Voyager was alright, but Enterprise seems to have sunk the franchise.  Best Star Trek movie is of course Wrath of Khan, but First Contact runs it a close second.  

The Riftwar Series - Riftwar probably worked because it felt like a Dungeons and Dragons novel, long before Dragonlance.  You have to be a dedicated reader as you quickly lose track of who's related to who.  Its also a pretty good representation of a feudal society.  I wasnt as impressed by the Serpentwar Saga however.

The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks - Banks writes space opera on an absolutely massive scale, set in the galaxy-spanning post-modern, materialistic, atheisitic Culture.  The Culture is genuinely alturistic, it just has a tendency to spread its ideals through co-opting questionable individuals via its Dirty Tricks department.  'Use of Weapons' is well-recommended, but my favourite is 'Consider Phlebas'.  Essentially it a wild rollercoaster of a story set against the backdrop of a galactic clash of cultures.  The whole novel hangs on one sentence, right at the end of the book, but that sentence transforms a routine romp into something almost unbearably sad and poignent.  The title of the book comes from the T. S. Eliot's poem 'Death by Water', and at the end of it - like the poem - we are left reflecting on someone who loses absolutely everything.      

Right, just as I am writing this a friend I havent seen for a year has just popped in to say hullo, so I think I'll continue this another time...    

Quote from: Wrexham3The Riftwar Series - Riftwar probably worked because it felt like a Dungeons and Dragons novel, long before Dragonlance.  You have to be a dedicated reader as you quickly lose track of who's related to who.  Its also a pretty good representation of a feudal society.  I wasnt as impressed by the Serpentwar Saga however.

everything[/i] Feist has written except for the Riftwar Saga.  All his sequels seem to be poor imitations of other stories; expecially those that focus on various expeditions to other kingdoms to help stem some brooding war (that's about 9 of them, I believe).

Well, I have to say my favorites are definately

Jonathan Strange and Mr.Norrel by Susannah Clark. Oh my god. This book is the best fantasy book I have ever read. It takes the old mythology and the current mythos and melds them beautifully. The characters are amazingly round and amusingly humorous. The best part is the copius foot notes, quoting made-up fairytales. Great stuff. And the Raven King is the coolest representation of a mage I have yet to see. And the King's Roads. Just awesome. Those made me have a nerdgasm.

Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay. This is another masterpiece. Honestly, I'm still not certain whether or not it is Sci Fi or Fantasy. It could be both, but I'm not entirely sure... The imagery is amazing, and it is possibly the craziest book I've ever read. When you start it seems kind of normal, but then you get to arcturus. Then it just gets beyond amazing. And when Crystalman is finally revealed, that is the most accurate description of a god that I'll ever read. Honestly, I think that he may have been having a few bad trips on LSD.

And the last one that hasn't been maentioned is Dark Lord of Derkholm. It is the best parody of DND ever. I mean ever.
 

Buttoned down due to my long-windedness.

[spoiler=The Stuff I Like]My current favorite unfinished series is War Against the Chtorr, by David Gerrold, the same guy who wrote the screenplay for the ST: TOS episode The Trouble With Tribbles.  In this series, the aliens are invading an Earth of the near future, but in a kind of inversion of Wells' War of the Worlds, the aliens are sending their ecology first.  First micro-organisms, then sopraphytes, then plants, invertebrate animals, then major animals - including a huge worm-like creature seemingly ecologically adapted for the explicit purpose of exterminating H. Sapiens.  It is narrated from the POV of one of the foot soldiers in this war, who slowly reveals himself to have an unusual insight into the alien mind - and who slowly discovers that humanity has almost as many secrets as the invader...

H. Beam Piper's Fuzzy Sapiens books.  Shut up, I like them.

Kieth Laumer's Bolo books, and most of his successors.  Tanks on future battlefields are entirely umnanned, controlled by awesomely powerful tactical computers, so powerful they qualify as fully sentient beings in their own right.  So how does humanity keep control of such hellishly armed sentiences?  Simple.  Give them an utterly unswerving sense of honor and nobility.  Meet the Paladin, v. 2.0...

Spider Robinson's Callahan series.  His other works aren't bad, but there's no question that his stories of a Time Traveller who comes back to the 20th century to save the world - by running a saloon.  And making puns.  And telling stories.  And sowing compassion.  Replace 'time traveller' with 'celestial', and you could just about transplant this series into any standard D&D setting.

E. E. 'Doc' Smith - Very nearly the inventor of space opera.  I have yet to hear of anyone reading his stuff without becoming captivated.  Heinlein was his student and successor.

And yes, I like Heinlein too.  Also Arthur C. Clarke.  His collaboration with Stephen Baxter, The Light of Other Days, is pure science fiction - take the ordinary world, and add a single wondrous twist, in this case an omniscience device.  

And speaking of Stephen Baxter, I haven't read much of his work but Evolution was spectacular.  The story of humanity from 65 million years ago to 500 million years into the future.  Of course in all that time the term 'humanity' must be interpreted rather loosely.

Regarding fantasy, Lovecraft's Dreamlands stories are wonderfully evocative, as is the previously mentioned Voyage to Arcturus.  Someone asked about the author, David Lindsey - to give you some idea, he died of an infection from his own rotten teeth.  Not a stable monkey, but his writing had wonderful esthetic depths.

Then there is C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce.  His Space Trilogy can't be neglected, and The Great Divorce is more of a parable than a true fantasy, but it's still worth the read.  I've gotten more of the flavor of my Upper Planes from him than I have from the D&D sources - the plot involves a group of damned souls taking a kind of vacation from Hell to the outskirts of Heaven, which looks an awful lot like my version of Elysium.

Gregory Maguire's Wicked deserves a mention.  It's a fascinating and intricate story with the same kind of mythic self-awareness as found in Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn.  Dated?  Not really - the movie is coming out next year.

I enjoy books that mingle fantasy with horror.  Stephen King's The Gunslinger and Clive Barker's Weaveworld both had their appeal for me.  

Recently, a writer named Tim Lebbon came out with a book entitled Berserk.  It's the story of a man who learned that his son might not have died in the military accident that was reported, so he goes to the site he was given by his cryptic source and starts to dig.  What he finds is a mass grave, bodies tangled in a horrible mass, and mingled with the bodies of the soldiers are the dessicated bodies of people with strange deformities.  And one of these, the body of a little girl, reaches up and grabs his arm...  For those interested in the WoD vampires/werewolves in the modern world, Lebbon's berserkers are a whole new plate of beef.  Rare, of course.

A movie I don't think the world should be without is Dark City.  Change some of the terminology, and the tropes work just as well for fantasy as for sci-fi, where it is usually classified.

Not comprehensive, but I think that represents my tastes.  Happy reading![/spoiler]

In no particular order:
I enjoy Robert Jordan's work, though it's long and that makes it hard to find enough time.
I read Tolkien really young and it got me into fantasy.  I respect it for its vision and achievement, though the Zoroastrian good/evil dichotomy is not something I usually try to emulate in my own work.  Usually.  I actually have read some of the less read stuff like the Silmarillion and a couple of his short stories.
I liked what I've seen of Dune and hope to get through the series eventually.
I read the first book in the Enders series and loved it.
Star Wars and Star Trek are pretty good.  I think I actually liked some of the new Star Wars movies as much as the old ones.  :gasp:
Excalibur (1981) was good.

I'm a huge fan of Babylon 5 which is really inspiring as a piece of writing.  J.M. Straczynski is one of my heroes.  Along with Amy Henning (Legacy of Kain).

Speaking of writing in games, Legacy of Kain, Xenosaga, and some of the final fantasies have had great plots.  A few other games are pretty good, too.

I thought Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel was both amazing and amazingly crap.  I read it about a third of the way through and thought "You know, I want to read this through, but to hell with this.  I can't afford to wait another page for something interesting to happen."  Oh sure, stuff happened, but to whom?  Those characters were colourfully hollow.

I love the new Battlestar Galactica, so long as I don't have to see any cylons.  Never have I seen a worse interpretation of the Killer Cyborg.  But the rest of the show is great, and under the right screen settings the space battles look absolutely beautiful.

Did any of you guys know they're making a movie of American McGee's Alice in Wonderland?  Should be fun...

Focusing on books only, I would have to say my favorites would be

Fantasy
Song of Fire and Ice - George RR Martin.
Meaty, surprising and very fulfilling, I found this collection to be one of the best fantasy written in the last 15 years.

Books of the Fallen (Malazan Empire) - Steven Erikson
Although his style can make it hard to keep track of who's who and where the new characters fit into the story, his dark, deadly and complex world is fantastic.

Dread Empire & Black Company - Both series by Glen Cook
If you enjoyed the tales of the Black Company, then try to get your hands on the Dread Empire series.  Less angst but more actions.

Other favorites include Tolkien, ER Burroughs (Tarzan and John Carter), RE Howard (Conan, Kull and Kane), David Gemmell (Druss, Waylander and so many more), Paul Kearney (Monarchies of the Gods) and finally Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series.

Sci Fi
Santiago - Mike Resnick
A fantastic tale of criminals, bounty hunters and the far future.

Continuing Time series - Daniel Keys Moran
If you can find The Long Run, you will fall in love with Trent the Uncatchable!

Almost anything by Asimov, Heinlien and William Gibson

Quote from: Machinegun PoliticsDid any of you guys know they're making a movie of American McGee's Alice in Wonderland?  Should be fun...

Hell yes.  They better do it right...

(Also, its just Alice for both the game and the movie.)

Erm...

Fantasy:

Ditto whoever mentionbed Redwall. It's been so long, I really need to look out some of those books again. I used to adore them when I was younger.

Also... Guy Gavriel Kay. One of my favourite authors, despite his annoying tendency to include sex scenes. Don't ask me why, but sex scenes in books always annoy the Hel out of me.
But yeah, he writes brilliantly.

R. E. Howard. Conan just owns. Everyone. Seriously. Plus he actually had some pretty good descriptive passages, albeit in that certain style (the old "mighty thews" and so forth)

David Gemmel. Very good writer. Plus his heroes (and quite a few other characters, too) can all wreak absolute havoc in battle. From Skilgannon the Damned through Decado the Ice Killer to Druss the Legend, they all own.

Also, Zelazny. I've only read one short story, The Bells of Shoredan, but I do absolutely love it, and re-read it on a regular basis. Maybe I should try and track down some of his other stuff.

Pratchett's work is brilliant. Humerous, well-written, good storylines, nicely realised characters... Once I pick up one of his books I can barely put it down until its finished.

Tolkein is good too.

Sci-Fi:

Iain M Banks. Just amazing. Nothing more really to add to that.

William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, just for cyberpunky goodness.

Oh, and I absolutely LOVE Ian M... oh wait... already said him :P

PS. About David Eddings... I kind of enjoyed the Elenium, in a silly kind of way, but really... His writing is pretty poor, the storylines repetative and... well, basically I'm not a fan.
Although strangely enough, I did end up reading three whole series' of his... so maybe he does have something. Definitely not up there with the greats, though.

Im a big fan of the top five list. But not of the movie High Fidelity.

Greatest stories ever told according to battleaxbaby:

5. Alice in Wonderland
4. Excalibur
3. The Hobbit
2. The Star Wars trilogy
1. The Sandman series

Ack. Im such a cliche.

QuoteAlso, Zelazny. I've only read one short story, The Bells of Shoredan, but I do absolutely love it, and re-read it on a regular basis. Maybe I should try and track down some of his other stuff.

Isle of the Deas.
To Die in Italbar.

His best stuff.  

Yeah, I forgot Battlestar Galactica (the new one).  And Farscape.

Quote from: Machinegun PoliticsDid any of you guys know they're making a movie of American McGee's Alice in Wonderland?  Should be fun...

Ever see "Alice" by Jan Svankmeyer? Visually this is one of my favorite films.

link to some clips:
http://www.awn.com/heaven_and_hell/svank/svank2.htm

Quote from: Phoenix KnightYeah, I forgot Battlestar Galactica (the new one).  And Farscape.

Both great shows.  

Currently reading Orcs, by Stan Nicholls. What does everyone think of that?

Túrin

Quote from: battleaxbabyEver see "Alice" by Jan Svankmeyer? Visually this is one of my favorite films.

link to some clips:
http://www.awn.com/heaven_and_hell/svank/svank2.htm

I saw this a million years ago, in the nineties.  Amazing film.  Didn't know what it was called, though, so thanks.  Maybe I can track it down now.

Odd... my signature is contained within the quote.

It really does seem like the nineties WERE a million years ago... Sigh, how I miss my old flannell and doc's. How could you do this to me Kurt? I LOVED you, I was just a girl...

My all time fantasy universe is Warhammer 40K.  It's some of the darkest sci-fi/fantasy in existence, and to superb effect.  I only wish there was an official 40K RPG.  Right now the closest thing to it is Inquisitor...

Yeah, I find it quite odd how 40K managed to spend most of its time just ripping things off and then somehow ended up being a really original setting anyway.

Confuses me...

Quote from: Call me AngelMy all time fantasy universe is Warhammer 40K.  It's some of the darkest sci-fi/fantasy in existence, and to superb effect.  I only wish there was an official 40K RPG.  Right now the closest thing to it is Inquisitor...

It would have made a wonderful roleplaying setting, but alas Games Workshop is more concerned with offloading minatures on impressionable teenagers at prices comparable to cocaine and hard crack. Luckily they've brought out the excellant WFRP:II out.  You could use that as the basis of a WH40K game although it would take a lot of conversion.  I still say your setting is better than the Warhammer universe - and that's not just me sucking up either, but a statement of fact.  

Statement of fact, eh?  More power to meeee!

And while I'm here:

POWER RANGERS (or, if you're of the region, Super Sentai!)

Quote from: Wrexham3

Quote from: Call me AngelMy all time fantasy universe is Warhammer 40K.  It's some of the darkest sci-fi/fantasy in existence, and to superb effect.  I only wish there was an official 40K RPG.  Right now the closest thing to it is Inquisitor...

It would have made a wonderful roleplaying setting, but alas Games Workshop is more concerned with offloading minatures on impressionable teenagers at prices comparable to cocaine and hard crack. Luckily they've brought out the excellant WFRP:II out.  You could use that as the basis of a WH40K game although it would take a lot of conversion.  I still say your setting is better than the Warhammer universe - and that's not just me sucking up either, but a statement of fact.  

I love the 40k world. but yes, they do just want to sell more miniatueres.
I have played for the last 10 years (since i was 9) and that stuff is addicted. In my gaming group at the store, we joke about it being "plastic crack".

Quote from: Call me AngelMy all time fantasy universe is Warhammer 40K.  It's some of the darkest sci-fi/fantasy in existence, and to superb effect.  I only wish there was an official 40K RPG.  Right now the closest thing to it is Inquisitor...

I hear the occasional internet rumor that Games Workshop is considering eventually turning 40K into an RPG using the same system as WHFRP 2nd edition, but the truth of those rumors will probably depend upon just how much money Games Workshop makes selling WHFRP over the next few years. But...

40K's awesomeness + WHFRP's game mechanical suckitude = ?

I wouldn't want to see it under WHFRP's rules, 1st or 2nd edition.  Don't think they really suit the 40K tone (besides which, they do suck).