I thought this would be a good counterpoint to the excellent series threads here:

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=60060

and here

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=61038

What are your favorite sci fi or fantasy books that aren't part of a series? Series have dominated sales for some time but there are a lot of great books that stand on their own. Some authors prefer to write single books, and others intermix series and individual books.

I've listed here some of my favorites and some comments.





American Gods - Neil Gaiman. The idea of this book is so great (various discarded gods end up living quietly in America after their worshippers have gone away) that it would be a good read in any case, but Gaiman makes it a masterpiece. Of course I'd really recommend any of his books. His book Stardust (recently made into a movie) is a pitch-perfect fairy tale.


Any book by Tim Powers. The guy never writes series, and most of his books are flat out fantastic, the kind that really blow your mind. Last Call, Expiration Date, The Stress of Her Regard, The Anubis Gates, The Drawing of the Dark. Please, if you're interested in some top notch writing, try one of his books.


A Canticle For Leibowitz - Walter Miller. A true classic, and is still an amazing read every time I pick it up. Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels--bring home for Emma.


Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson. I still rate this as possibly my favorite single science fiction book, though Stephenson has some other good ones. It blew my friend's mind so much that he bought the book for me. Incredible and interesting read.


The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell. Wow, this one really surprised me. A deeply spiritual book of science fiction, asking a lot of really interesting questions. Jesuits go out to meet the first alien race contacted, and what they find makes an extremely compelling book.


Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner. An amazingly lush and vibrant Renaissance world, with plenty of intrigue and duels being fought. Homosexual content may turn off some readers.


The Speed of Dark - Elizabeth Moon. Moon goes away from her usual fantasy stuff to write a truly amazing book. Obviously affected by her autistic child, she writes a book about adult autistics in the future, working, living their lives, and trying to understand the world. The amazing thing about this book is how she manages to portray an autistic's view of the world. This one will stay with you for a long time.


Ursula Leguin - The Left Hand of Darkness. In terms of posing interesting questions, it doesn't get better than this. Certainly one of the best selling sci-fi novels of all time. If you haven't read it, do so.


Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Is it fantasy? Is it sci-fi? Either way, it's possibly the funniest book I've EVER read. Hilarious send-up of the Omen by two of the best writers around.


The Princess Bride - William Goldman. Essential fantasy, and trust me, the book is even better than the movie.


Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke. This came out a few years back as a mainstream book but is just amazing as a historical fantasy novel. Good versus evil, Napoleonic fleet battles, and duelling magicians. It's really good.

Good question. As much as I read, I don't think I've ever read a standalone fantasy book. I've read some steven king books but that is probably as far as it goes.

Well, I read some of those single Forgotten Realms books. Like the Harpers. Each book is a tale of a Harper etc... But the writing isn't very good in them, but sometimes the stories are pretty cool.

Rendevous with Rama (Arthur C. Clarke) - I know, you are going to point at the sequals and what not, but I'm JUST going with the first one. The sense of wonder exploring the ship is just unmatched, IMO. When I read it a couple years back, I considerd it the greatest sci-fi book I've ever read. I'm not sure my opinion has changed on that matter.

Sorry to be echoing Peregrine for the next few, but:

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke) - Just a wonderful feat of literature. The writing is simply top notch and evocative. And the fake footnotes are some of the funniest things ever. Add in a great plot about magic coming back to the world during the Napoleonic era through the advent of the two only practical magicians in the world, an entirely new English history, with the Raven King, a new magical background world of Faery, and just the struggles between the two magicians who have vastly different views on said Raven King, who want to see their philosophy trumph over the other, leading to great animosity... it's got everything. My favorite fantasy book of all time.

Good Omens (Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman) - Hilarious, hilarious, hilarious. Just a wonderfully wierd view on the concepts of heaven and hell and the angels & demons who compete against each other on Earth. The idea of the Earth bound angels and demons being far more friendly than the bosses are to each other is deliciously wicked. I kind of considered the story of the anti-Christ to be somewhat secondary to all that.

A Canticle For Leibowitz (Walter Miller) - Just a brilliant work of classic sci-fi literature. Apocalyptic storytelling at its finest, with a religious theme. And the progression among the eras, with a circle of history is just chilling.

American Gods (Neil Gaiman) - The idea of ancient Gods actually existing, but far less powerful because they gain their power from belief is a great starting point, but Gaimain's storyline of Shadow and his role in Odin's grand plan, and how he breaks it, is just very well done. One of those great novels that allows for a better appreciation when you do some research on who the characters are supposed to be in ancient mythology and read it again with that in mind.

The Princess Bride (William Goldman) - Peregrine is right. The book is FAR more enjoyable than the movie, and I love the movie. It's much more funnier as it is far more satirical, especially in its explinations of an original Morganstern text (which it considers to be far more satirical) which is focused on the economics of Guilder and Florin. It also goes much farther into the backstories of the main characters involved. Fezzik's and Inigo's are very fascinating. As is what Wesley did for all that time.

Moving on from the repeats ;).

The Years of Rice and Salt (Kim Stanley Robinson) - A fascinating look at a "what if" the black death killed 2/3rds of Europe rather than 1/3rd. Islam dominates the former European continent and you have a showdown between Islam, the Chinese, and the Indians for supremacy. It is told in a reincarnationist manner, with the principal characters jumping from one era to another (in some respects similar to Canticle for Leibowitz, though in that book, it was different characters in each era) in a reincarnated form... staying in the same groupings, but with different power structures among the groups. Interesting to see how in Robinson's world, the new power structures interact with each other and, in between, the different ways of reincarnation.

Ooh, good spot on The Years of Rice and Salt! I bought that for vacation one year and was completely blown away by it! Just a fantastic, visionary book.

Echoed on A Canticle for Leibowitz, American Gods and Good Omens, definitely.

I'd also like to add in Anvil of the World by Kage Baker. A ridiculously good book and great read. Fantastic characters, a sufficiently weird world, and a neat story.

Much in the same vein is Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. A riff on immortality and Norse/Hindu myths with, again, really fantastic 3-dimensional characters.

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson. This isn't a book - its a tome. And yes, there's more science fiction than you can figure out at first glance (Root, anyone? :D)

Ship of Fools - one of the more haunting sci-fi books I've ever read. Just a masterpiece - sadly, none of Richard Paul Russo's other works seem as interesting

The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy - Yeah, this is just brilliant. Nothing more needed.

The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy - Yeah, this is just brilliant. Nothing more needed.

I enjoy all of the books of the "trilogy" and even if they aren't at the same quality of the original, I do consider "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" to be on the same level as "Hitchhiker's Guide", so I'd see it as more of a series, though YMMV.

Neuromancer by William Gibson. The book that coined "cyber punk"

Rhialto the Marvellous by Jack Vance. Magicians on the Dying Earth. Wonderfully funny and clever.

I'll also second Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon and the Princess Bride.

I abhorred American Gods. I found its premise that we should honor European gods contemptable. Like most Europeans, Gaiman doesn't get American history, in particular why we needed to get rid of all Europe gods, kings and other bullshit.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell


I liked the book, but it was really hard to get into at first.


I'll have to think about this topic more before making my picks.

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson. This isn't a book - its a tome. And yes, there's more science fiction than you can figure out at first glance (Root, anyone? :D)

Loved this. Funny that I can't get into the Quicksilver series though -- especially since I was so blown away by Cryptonomicon.

Agreed on Cryptonomicon.
Another Neal Stephenson book I love: Diamond Age (A young Lady's Illustrated Primer)