A Sci-Fi Summer Reading List

It's coming up on summer now readers everywhere, and it's time to look out for things to read. I, myself, am an avid reader of Science-Fiction...I try to sample things from every aspect of the genre and here is a good list I've compiled of five books/series that you should consider picking up and adding to your list.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
This is quite literally the first book I suggest to everyone, at anytime. Ender's game is a wonderful book full of rich characters, an intriguing world and child abuse. Well...the last bit isn't so appealing, and Ender isn't beaten (except for his villainous elder brother Peter) but the book takes place at Battle School where little children are put through hell to be trained as officers in earth's defense.

The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell
I've just picked these up relatively recently, the Lost Fleet series is incredible. It asks a valid question throughout its pages. John Geary, the main character, is the first captain killed at the beginning of a vast interstellar war.

Except he wasn't killed, quite. He was preserved in a life pod for nearly a hundred years. At the beginning of the book he is woken up deep in enemy territory by his own Navy to find them changed. He must then lead them back on a path of tradition and honor in a desperate attempt to save the fleet.

One of the things I liked most about this series is that space combat was dealt with quite realistically with time delays built in to how they deal with combat, in addition to the main character having to combat his own legend that's been built up over the last hundred years he has to control a fleet that's changed dramatically since he's last seen it.

Honor Harrington Series by David Weber
Honor Harrington is quite possibly one of my favorite written characters of all time, and I'm so glad that David Weber wrote her. I suggest the Honor Harrington series to people that don't mind some fairly traditional military sci-fi that expresses a somewhat conservative political ethic.

Honor is a strong woman that won't let much of anything stand in the way of her duty and more importantly even than that, in doing what's right. Despite the conservative political ethic, which I don't personally espouse, one of the most profound pieces of the series is her journey to Grayson. An -extremely- conservative planet where women are home-makers only, not allowed professions, kept as possessions and polygamy is practiced.

She is involved over the course of the books in a social revolution of the planet. All in all I found the books to at some times be a bit hard to get through the science, however all in all the characters and worlds painted by David Weber are engaging and lovely.

Federations edited by John Joseph Adams

Maybe you don't have time to read through a whole novel this summer, that doesn't mean you can get some good Sci-Fi reading in though. Federations is a collection of short stories that I picked up on a whim. It has proved to be one of the most enjoyable whims that I've experienced.

The theme of the collection is wrapped up perfectly in the title. The collection is all about large intergalactic, interplanetary entities and the stories that take place among them. I didn't find a single story I hated, though one or two I didn't enjoy (purely an issue of taste not any issue with there quality). Some are funny, some dark but all around an easy and enjoyable read for a summer evening or afternoon.