I just finished reading the 'Andromeda Strain' by Michael Crichton and I'm starting to read another one of his books, 'Prey.' I was wondering if anyone could suggest books that are just as well thought out and researched as those. Preferably in the Techno/Thriller genres. Crichton did a wonderful thing by actually researching the topics he was talking about. His books usually have citations of the works he used. The 'Andromeda Strain' has several pages at the end where its nothing but lists of cited journals, published works by professors, White papers, and so on. Dan Brown, although a favorite on the mass market, is pretty bad at using science fact in his books. They contain numerous errors - hence I try to stay away from writers like him. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Bananas

Quote: Original post by bzroom
Bananas

Yeah. Great. Thanks.

Next!

Dune - By Frank Herbert.

I bought me a cheap copy from some second hand book fare. It's in good nick but has been sitting on my book shelf (unread) for a couple of weeks now.

I'm sure I'll get around to it but, so I hear, it’s a pretty DEEP book (the book has won numerous awards).

Not sure if you've read already, but if not, give it a whirl.

And heck, maybe convince me to read the damn book myself LOL!

Quote: Original post by RealMarkP
I'm starting to read another one of his books, 'Prey.'

I couldn't read through that one. I got halfway through it and stopped.

If you like Chrichton have you read the Jurassic Park books? Not exactly brain food but interesting.

On the topic of researched books though I read this book called War Day. It's from the 1980s. Lot of research in it. Some parts are kind of boring, but it paints an eerie picture of what would happen if the cold war went hot.

Cool, thanks for the suggestions. So far:

- Jurassic Park
- Dune
- War Day

Are any of Frank Herbert's other books as good as Dune? or other Dune supplements? I haven't read it myself yet, but am going to pick it up soon.

Quote: Original post by RealMarkP

Are any of Frank Herbert's other books as good as Dune?

YES

I've not read all of them yet.. still have Heretics and Chapterhouse to read.

Don't expect them to be exactly like Dune though. The first book has a more 'classic' narrative. Messiah and Children are still pretty good. I just recently read God Emperor, and it's my favorite so far tbh. But Herbert changed the 'style' for the last 3 books afaik. It's not as fast paced, and involves a ton of dialog, which is interesting. Also, the last 3 books are thousands of years after Children... but the first 3 (Dune, Messiah, Children) are all within a generation.

I've also not read the Destination Void series (also by Herbert), but I've heard nothing but good things.

I will also recommend Dune. I really enjoyed reading it.

If you read the rest of the books in the series, skip Heretics of Dune. It is extremely boring. Nothing really happens. From what I remember, it was just a lot of pointless talking, but it might make more sense after reading the previous books, but still I would not recommend it.

Another Crichton book that you might enjoy is Sphere. It might not be as deeply researched, but it is still pretty interesting.

[Edited by - Alatar on July 1, 2009 9:12:49 PM]

You might be interested in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.

I'm gitty like a little school girl. DUDE!!!!!
You've got to read "Childhoods End" By Arthur C Clark. I couldn't put the book down and it's got the makings for what I would consider one of the best cinematic scenes in Sci-fi History.