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Medieval Fantasy; although i find a lot of it horrible, the good ones are awesome.
I'm trying to find if there's any interesting sci-fi out there as i have exhausted my favorite genre at the moment.
where are the 10 book sci-fi series?
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GR00T: The question is rather skewed. Medieval Fantasy is just one subgenre of the fantasy genre in general, while sci-fi includes all genres of speculative fiction. The question should really be "Fantasy or Sci-fi?" A subtle, but imporatant, distinction, IMO. With that in mind...

I've read both since I first really got into reading. I love both, so it's really not something I can choose as an either/or. It's interesting that bookstores tend to group the two genres together (sometimes as one big category), and it's the area I gravitate to first when going to a bookstore or library.

I don't really care one way or the other. The important thing is the wirter: if the writer's good, then it doesn't matter to me if it's fantasy or sci-fi. If the writer is bad... the genre and setting isn't going to save it.
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nightcraw1er.488: I would agree, medieval is a spefic time period, you could have Nordic fantasy, Jurassic fantasy. Same with Sci-fi, could be with dinosaurs and teleporters. Bit hard to compartmentalise everything. Me I like what I like, be that Discworld or Star Trek its all fantasy.
What about the game Secret of Evermore, which contains areas based off of prehistory (with dinosaurs), ancient Greece/Rome, Renaissance-era Europe, and of course, one futuristic space station?

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dtgreene: SaGa 2 fixed the battle system (mostly) and is a much longer game, but I think the setting isn't as interesting.
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Firebrand9: Well, Final Fantasy Legend 2 (aka Saga 2) was a more varied game in terms of the environments. You had more environments but they were all smaller in scale, makign some really interesting and some less so. I really liked the underwater portions personally.

Incidentally, as it relates to this thread, the FFL2 in particular was a great example of Science-Fantasy, an interesting mix that I don't see done enough. You could have robot characters and things like lasers. The first one had some elements of this (especially with the chainsaw & using it on Creator; killing god!) in the form of machine guns and various other modern weapons and the last stretch was in a post-apocalyptic setting, but the the second really carried it to the next logical step.
Thing is, I think the environments in the first SaGa are more interesting, especially since there was more time to develop each world than in the sequel. Also, SaGa 1 had more vehicles; there are 3 vehicles that I can think of. SaGa 2 has only one vehicle which is restricted to a specific area unless you do something the developers clearly did not intend (and which is prevented in the DS version).

Also, SaGa 1 has many little optional side worlds which are quite interesting. There's one, in particular, that is quite disturbing. (One quote from that area: "This child looks dead...".) SaGa 2 doesn't have anything like this. (SaGa 2 does have a big mostly optional dungeon, but it has no dialogue and is focused solely on fighting enemies and opening treasure chests, or, in the DS version, one area where you need to do a lost woods type maze.)
Post edited May 06, 2016 by dtgreene
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dtgreene: ...snip
What about the game Secret of Evermore, which contains areas based off of prehistory (with dinosaurs), ancient Greece/Rome, Renaissance-era Europe, and of course, one futuristic space station?
...snip
Sounds like The Crystal Maze!
I like medieval fantasy in my games waay more, as I'm a bit infatuated with history.
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toxicTom: I can't really say I prefer either one. It all depends on the quality of the storytelling and the background/setting.

In general I'd say that SF seems to lend itself more to political comment and the exploration of philosophical ideas. Be it the "communist utopia" of Star Trek's federation or the dystopic corporation ruled mega cities of cyberpunk or crazy thought experiments like "the brain in the jar" -> Matrix.
Fantasy on the other hand seems to be more "entertainment" with less focus on actual examination of "the state of humankind". Although there are exceptions of course, Sapkowski's works for instance often take an ironic view on human behaviour, politics and so on and don't get me started with Pratchett...
I was going to bring up this same point. It seems to me that the vast majority of medieval fantasy stories take place in a world with a feudal monarchy system of government. There are the occasional dalliances with racism (humans vs elves) or class warfare (wizards vs everyone else who can't use magic) but otherwise it is the same basic setting. Sci-fi lends itself to explore the other "what-if" scenarios in a much more believable way. In Star Trek the use of matter replicators give people access to any goods they want, so the idea of money is obsolete. This comes out in some of the interpersonal relationships or sometimes when dealing with other races & cultures. Another example I always like to point out is the society in Starship Troopers, the book not the by a guy who just read the first chapter, thought it was boring then made it into a movie. The main crux of the book was the workings of a possible Earth society where everyone on the planet was a citizen, but only those who had served in the military were allowed to vote or hold office. Active military are not allowed to vote as they could simply vote in their own best interest over that of society as a whole. What this culture looks like and why people choose to enlist is a major theme, then it all gets turned on it's head when Earth is attacked by an alien race and the military is needed for fierce combat.
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zer00o: Medieval Fantasy; although i find a lot of it horrible, the good ones are awesome.
I'm trying to find if there's any interesting sci-fi out there as i have exhausted my favorite genre at the moment.
where are the 10 book sci-fi series?
Can't go wrong with Dune (although there are only six (please ignore the books published by Frank Herbert's son).

And of course Asimov's and [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_series_(Asimov)]Robot series.
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zer00o: Medieval Fantasy; although i find a lot of it horrible, the good ones are awesome.
I'm trying to find if there's any interesting sci-fi out there as i have exhausted my favorite genre at the moment.
where are the 10 book sci-fi series?
avatar
toxicTom: Can't go wrong with Dune (although there are only six (please ignore the books published by Frank Herbert's son).

And of course Asimov's and [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_series_(Asimov)]Robot series.
Hey, the books of the son are really not bad. At least, they are easier to understand and not inflated with all this mystical boolsheet.
And if you want serieses (is this the right word?) with 10 or more parts, try Perry Rhodan. Today I bought number 2855, so this is a huge saga!!
SF or fantasy?
I like those with a good story.
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zer00o: Medieval Fantasy; although i find a lot of it horrible, the good ones are awesome.
I'm trying to find if there's any interesting sci-fi out there as i have exhausted my favorite genre at the moment.
where are the 10 book sci-fi series?
Try David Weber. He has the Honor Harrington series, which spans 13 books and has other related books in the same 'Honorverse'.

He also has another series, the Safehold series, which is ongoing and has 8 books to date, with a new one due out this October.

Iain M. Banks is an excellent choice, and while he didn't write books as series, many of his sci-fi novels occur in his 'Culture' universe and are fabulous reads.

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books (not sure how many in the series, but it's at least a dozen) are fun reads as well.

For shorter series, there are tons to choose from, but one I always heartily recommend is C.J. Cherry's Chanur novels.

David Brin's Uplift books are pretty decent reads as well.
Post edited May 06, 2016 by GR00T
I really prefer medieval fantasy. I mean... I just played World of Warcraft & Lord of the Rings Online so much.....
when I was a kid I would have said scifi. in fact I didn't even like fantasy, I thought it was for nerds. then the LOTR movies happened, and now I'd hands-down say fantasy. I do prefer a high-fantasy and necessarily a more true-to-life fantasy like is represented in the Witcher if that's what you meant by medieval fantasy.
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Stevedog13: ...
Much ta for your input. I agree on a lot of it and would like to expand on it since this could become a very interesting discussion. I just can't right now for personal reasons, I'm sorry.
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zer00o: Medieval Fantasy; although i find a lot of it horrible, the good ones are awesome.
I'm trying to find if there's any interesting sci-fi out there as i have exhausted my favorite genre at the moment.
where are the 10 book sci-fi series?
avatar
toxicTom: Can't go wrong with Dune (although there are only six (please ignore the books published by Frank Herbert's son).

And of course Asimov's and [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_series_(Asimov)]Robot series.
i liked dune.
i read the Paul atreides's trilogy by the son too, he is not an awful writer, i think he should have started his own universe instead. every now and again i find myself curious about the new butlerian jihad trilogy too, but its just not the same.

i always thought Asimov books were too small, but i will try them too
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zer00o: Medieval Fantasy; although i find a lot of it horrible, the good ones are awesome.
I'm trying to find if there's any interesting sci-fi out there as i have exhausted my favorite genre at the moment.
where are the 10 book sci-fi series?
avatar
GR00T: Try David Weber. He has the Honor Harrington series, which spans 13 books and has other related books in the same 'Honorverse'.

He also has another series, the Safehold series, which is ongoing and has 8 books to date, with a new one due out this October.

Iain M. Banks is an excellent choice, and while he didn't write books as series, many of his sci-fi novels occur in his 'Culture' universe and are fabulous reads.

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books (not sure how many in the series, but it's at least a dozen) are fun reads as well.

For shorter series, there are tons to choose from, but one I always heartily recommend is C.J. Cherry's Chanur novels.

David Brin's Uplift books are pretty decent reads as well.
thanks, I'll look at them. i had actually never heard of this guy