Are these good sci-fi books?

[Vaanish]

I want to get some new books to read because I'm bored of all the ones that I have got at the moment. I want to buy some new sci-fi ones and I want to know if they are good or not. I enjoyed 2001 and 2011 and on reading 2061 now and I also like some of Asimov's books. I want stuff that's not for babies like Harry Potter but not stupidly technical so that it is a horrible slog reading the text. I figured that there would be some sci-fi fans on these sort of forums so I decided to post here.

The Road -Cormac McCarthy
Day of the Triffids -John Wyndham
Roadside Picnic -Boris Strugatsky, Arkadi Strugatsky
Ubik -Philip K. ****
Gateway -Frederik Pohl
Cities In Flight -James Blish
Battle Royale -Koushun Takami
I Am Legend -Richard Matheson

HAHA I like the way that it filters out Philip K. ****.

Also, if you have got any suggestions please can you make sure they are half decent and not some **** that is totally ********.

 

[Toryn]

Day of the triffids is awesome.

Check out:
Chris Bunch - shadow warrior
Kevin J Anderson - Seven suns series (think thats the series name anyway)
Peter F Hamilton - Nights Dawn trilogy and "Fallen dragon"
Ian M Banks (player of games is a good one)
Alastair Reynolds

listed in terms of easiest read to hardest. Shadow warrior is a lot of action with an interesting but easy plot to follow as is Anderson's.

Hamiltons is just huge and so much happens in it its a fun read. Banks makes you think and a lot of its about right/wrong, abuse of power etc.

Reynolds... well reynolds creates a universe of where everything *might* be possible with our understanding of physics... then assumes you know it. So its hard to get into, he also creates a backstory, which you only understand and *get* when you've read them all.

 

[Trotter]

Sci fantasy is my gig. Check out the Amber series by Roger Zelazny. Read the first Chronicle first (starts with Nine Princes in Amber), as the second follows (duh!). It's old, but it is good. Makes me wish I could shadow-shift...

Can't go wrong with the original, Neuromancer.

If you like fantasy, check out the Guardians of the Flame series by Joel Rosenburg (hard to find, but worth it). A group of college students playing a RPG are transported to the world of the game, which exists. The first book is The Sleeping Dragon.

 

[Metal Chaos]

Check out The Witcher and Blood of Elves series by Andrzej Sapkowski. They aren't technically Sci-Fi but they are Fantasy and both have a huge group of followers.

 

[Merkwürdigeliebe]

Nothing really tops cyberpunk like William Gibson's Neuromancer. Good read, very fast-paced and well-written. Ahead of its time.

 

[yosa]

It would do more good to mention a few writers in my opinion; Paul Edwin Zimmer is a good choice, he wrote many fantasy novels, but also sci fi; fantasy wise Anne McCaffrey has done quite a bit, she has her share of futuristic novels.