Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
Good choices Yer Impishness! So noted! (scribbles em down fer later posting).
Best top 10 SCi-Fi for Traveller, & Why
- Thread starter Liam Devlin
- Start date
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
Here goes some of my faves:
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- CJ Cherryh - She has simply the best handle on portraying the inside thoughts of aliens ever. Look for anything Chanur for free traders/Aslan.</font>
- Heinlein - Starship Troopers is my favourite, the original battledress.</font>
- John Ringo - His A Hymn Before Battle (free at www.baen.com!), Gust Front and When The Devil Dances are great works for modern battledress ideas.</font>
- Walter Jon Williams - Best known for his cyberpunk and humourous sci-fi, his Voice of the Whirlwind is very nice for mercs/security in a high-tech corporate future. His Aristoi examines a future with abundant nano-tech and pervasive networking.</font>
- Orson Scott Card - His Ender's Game and following books are great, they are very character focussed, but nicely portray moral choices in the future world.</font>
- Poul Anderson - His Future History of the Polesotechnic League series is where exploratory free traders really come into their own. Where my handle "Falkayn" comes from!</font>
- Pournelle - Most of his stuff.</font>
- Niven - Same.</font>
- S, Andrew Swann - His Profiteer/Partisan/Revolutionary stuff is very dark and a good example of a future Solomani govt.</font>
- Alan Dean Foster - Lots of good stuff, nothing particularly stands out, but it'a sll pretty interesting.</font>
thirdmargrave
SOC-7
Hmmm...
Looks like I've accidentally revived a very worthwhile thread. For my part, here's a partial list of Traveller relevant authors and titles.
1. C.J. Cherryh's Alliance/Union universe, especially the Chanur novels. Probably a huge influence on the concept of the Aslan. The Atevi novels are further proof that Cherryh does the best aliens out there.
2. Gordon R. Dickson's Childe Cycle. The Dorsai are most of the reason for the publication of Book 4: Mercenary. It is interesting to note that the Imperium wargame that GDW was cooking in the early 70's included a Dorsai faction that was later dropped as a result of copyright issues.
3. H. Beam Piper's Federation and Empire stories. Top notch hard sci-fi penned by a master of history, economics and military science. In a lot of ways, reading Piper's stories evokes the same mood as reading Traveller background material. It's often far from a complete picture, but so compellingly believable as a result of its historical inspiration that you always want more.
Looks like I've accidentally revived a very worthwhile thread. For my part, here's a partial list of Traveller relevant authors and titles.
1. C.J. Cherryh's Alliance/Union universe, especially the Chanur novels. Probably a huge influence on the concept of the Aslan. The Atevi novels are further proof that Cherryh does the best aliens out there.
2. Gordon R. Dickson's Childe Cycle. The Dorsai are most of the reason for the publication of Book 4: Mercenary. It is interesting to note that the Imperium wargame that GDW was cooking in the early 70's included a Dorsai faction that was later dropped as a result of copyright issues.
3. H. Beam Piper's Federation and Empire stories. Top notch hard sci-fi penned by a master of history, economics and military science. In a lot of ways, reading Piper's stories evokes the same mood as reading Traveller background material. It's often far from a complete picture, but so compellingly believable as a result of its historical inspiration that you always want more.
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
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So Noted! Thank you Mysterion!
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
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#3, and #9 I'm gonna haveta look up and get, Thanks Angus!
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
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Why thank you ser!
I have no arguments with your favs...I see CJ tops yer list! Ye have good taste ser. Just re-read Rimrunners, Tripoint, and Cuckoo's Egg this weekend!
Slainte!
There's not much I can add, and I may have done so already. I will say that for me, Larry Niven is too dense to be readable.
Wait, a thought has finally occured: Paul Preuss's Venus Prime novels! They're a bit more "Transhuman Space" than Traveller, but they're readable and a font for ideas, albeit more on the investigative side of things.
Wait, a thought has finally occured: Paul Preuss's Venus Prime novels! They're a bit more "Transhuman Space" than Traveller, but they're readable and a font for ideas, albeit more on the investigative side of things.
I step away from conventional Sci-Fi a lot here to show some stories that can be adapted. But I love Asimov, Weber, and company too.
In no real order:
1. Ursula K. LeGuin: One of the best examples of the ambassador to the primitive world type stories.
2. Zahn's Conqueror's trilogy: Telling the story from both sides is great and the truth about the aliens in a great twist.
3.Michael Chrichton: Eaters of The Dead, put this one in the New Era on a regressed planet.
4.Stephen Baxter: Do not miss Voyage it gives a great glimpse into realistic space travel.
5.Dune and its prequels: They might not have the char development of the originals but the plot is very well thought out.
6.Dan Simmons: Hyperion is one of the best example of science fiction as literature.
7. Kim Stanely Robinson: The Mars series.
8.Yoshiyuki Tomino: The Gundam book series (3 volumes). These are very adult and much deeper than the cartoon series, little to no campiness involved in his presentation of the giant robot genre. Lots of political intrigue and a Campell like twisted family story to rival Star Wars.
9.Shakespeare: Take the Tempest replace the ships with spacecraft and the island with a space station or small moon. Trust me your players will love you for it.
10. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child: Read Riptide it is a great treasure recovery story. I lifted it almost totally intact and set in the future for a Shatterzone adventure once then twisted it for GURPS Trav for the same group and they never even noticed.
One extra: Tom Clancy, no one should even try a political story without reading Cardinal of the Kremlin, Rainbow Six is the perfect high tech PC team, and Red October on a spaceship would be a blast.
In no real order:
1. Ursula K. LeGuin: One of the best examples of the ambassador to the primitive world type stories.
2. Zahn's Conqueror's trilogy: Telling the story from both sides is great and the truth about the aliens in a great twist.
3.Michael Chrichton: Eaters of The Dead, put this one in the New Era on a regressed planet.
4.Stephen Baxter: Do not miss Voyage it gives a great glimpse into realistic space travel.
5.Dune and its prequels: They might not have the char development of the originals but the plot is very well thought out.
6.Dan Simmons: Hyperion is one of the best example of science fiction as literature.
7. Kim Stanely Robinson: The Mars series.
8.Yoshiyuki Tomino: The Gundam book series (3 volumes). These are very adult and much deeper than the cartoon series, little to no campiness involved in his presentation of the giant robot genre. Lots of political intrigue and a Campell like twisted family story to rival Star Wars.
9.Shakespeare: Take the Tempest replace the ships with spacecraft and the island with a space station or small moon. Trust me your players will love you for it.
10. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child: Read Riptide it is a great treasure recovery story. I lifted it almost totally intact and set in the future for a Shatterzone adventure once then twisted it for GURPS Trav for the same group and they never even noticed.
One extra: Tom Clancy, no one should even try a political story without reading Cardinal of the Kremlin, Rainbow Six is the perfect high tech PC team, and Red October on a spaceship would be a blast.
A quick scan of the thread reveals that nobody mentions Stephen Donaldson's " Gap " series and I'm very surprised at that. This series has it all, fantastic characters whom you believe in, starship travel that makes sense, politics, intrigue, assasinations, one of the most alien races ever ( the Amnion )and a plot that has so many twists and turns you can't stop reading, each and every time !
Seriously people go get 'em ! Start with " The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story " and then get the rest
Seriously people go get 'em ! Start with " The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story " and then get the rest
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
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Have used the Clancy Novels extenmsively for Intrigue/political stuff. Hunt for red october was made for a gas giant prowling ship, aye!
Stars fer you ser!*****
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Originally posted by Dienekes:
A quick scan of the thread reveals that nobody mentions Stephen Donaldson's " Gap " series and I'm very surprised at that. This series has it all, fantastic characters whom you believe in, starship travel that makes sense, politics, intrigue, assasinations, one of the most alien races ever ( the Amnion )and a plot that has so many twists and turns you can't stop reading, each and every time !
Seriously people go get 'em ! Start with " The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story " and then get the rest
Agreed Dienekes! Loved the Gap series. Donaldson's Heretic series/White Gold Wielder was a wee depressing, but well written. I liked this stuff better. STARS fer you too!
(Is that another Soleean Helm I see? Hmmm. PAX SOLEE!)
Its been done. Forbidden Planet with Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielson, and Ann Francis. I wouldn't mind a remake, with Helen Mirren as Dr. Morpheus instead of some male actor.
While doing a google search on bad movies I found a quiz for would be filmmakers. Having taken the quiz I must regretfully announce that there will be no film version of Friends In High Places.
http://www.uncia.com/lesbates/Traveller/No_Movie.html
Les
I'll have to check out Forbidden Planet...I think I may have seen it years ago...That robot that appeared in a bunch of movies was in it right?
While it is not fiction check out The Code Book by Simon Singh, I have used it to make decoding type puzzles for my group several times, it is full of really good ideas.
Also the setting doesnt fit too well but the reality checks of Philip K Dick can add good dimension too a plot.
While it is not fiction check out The Code Book by Simon Singh, I have used it to make decoding type puzzles for my group several times, it is full of really good ideas.
Also the setting doesnt fit too well but the reality checks of Philip K Dick can add good dimension too a plot.
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
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No, Mark B, I dinnae think anyone has. Good suggestions! The tech isnae so much as important as what the author can bring to a Traveller game in ideas- so plot/ intrigues work too!
A couple of books spring to my mind for inspiration:
I really enjoyed The Forever War by Joe Halderman
I'm reading A.C.Clarkes 2010, it seems to bring alive the close alien atmosphere inside a ship.
And i must be the millionth to second Dune
If you're really good you can read a magazine or any book for inspiration.
Star Wars books are cool too
I really enjoyed The Forever War by Joe Halderman
I'm reading A.C.Clarkes 2010, it seems to bring alive the close alien atmosphere inside a ship.
And i must be the millionth to second Dune
If you're really good you can read a magazine or any book for inspiration.
Star Wars books are cool too
One of my favourite books, and movies ("The 13th Warrior"). The Wendol are genuinely scary, and yet believeablly neolithic, Buliwyf is a great leader of men, and Herger the Joyous is, quite simply, a joy to behold!
I think this is what a D&D movie should have been like - it's also nice to see the civilized Arab having to deal with his barbarian Viking friends. Antonio Banderas looks genuinely lost next to the brilliant Norwegian actors - but then that is (for once) in character.