Science Fiction Recommendations

MinibearRex

I have never read very much Science Fiction, unlike some of the people here on Less Wrong, and I think I would like to. At least, the few books I have read I enjoyed. I've read a couple of books from Asimov's Foundation Series, two Michael Crichton books, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, and an anthology of SciFi short stories (no really famous authors) that my dad owned.

That list looks very short. I just finished reading a fiction book, and am looking to start another. Recommendations? What are the two or three books I simply must read?

Are there reasons we (Less Wrong/SF fandom folks) are interested in torture beyond S/M and sexual gratification? Oh, and the reasons for watching horror movies, too, etc. That is, are there some explicitly geek reasons for being interested in torture?

I don't like horror or reading about torture. I don't have any explanation for why geeks may like it.

I don't like horror or reading about torture.

What about violence? It seems that humans demand violence: Total Recall - All The Deaths

0Multiheaded14y

(slightly edited my comment, I'm curious about torture alone here, as there are in fact lots of explanations for horror's popularity)

1Prismattic14y

I would tend to self-identify as a geek, and I love science fiction, but while I like actual horror (suspense) movies, I hate "horror" movies (i.e. the slasher films that have mostly supplanted actual horror films in the desire to take the lowest common denominator's money). To put it more concretely, an actual horror movie would be something like (the original version of) The Thing, for example. A "horror" movie would be crap like the Friday the 13th and Saw franchises.

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Science Fiction Recommendations

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Science Fiction Recommendations

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