If you’re a fan of classic sci-fi, chances are you’ve already read novels like Frank Herbert’s Dune or Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. On the fantasy side, the same holds true for J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings and Robert Jordan’s equally epic The Wheel of Time.
But maybe there are other classics you haven’t heard much about, if at all. Here are a handful of those that I recommend checking out.
The Blackcollar series by Timothy Zahn.
The Blackcollar Series »
When I was a kid, my dad would sometimes let me pick a book off his shelf to read. One of those times, I ended up picking The Blackcollar by Timothy Zahn, which can best be summed up with two words: space ninjas. Oh yeah.
The story goes that, after decades of war with an alien race called the Ryqril, humanity was forced to surrender and submit to the warlike reptilian species’ loyalty-conditioned rule. During the war, humans had tried to resist by developing a guerilla force of enhanced martial artists known as blackcollars. Though they failed to fend off the Ryqril years ago, there are rumors that blackcollars still exist somewhere in hiding, biding their time. The book’s protagonist, Allen Caine, goes on an undercover mission to find a group of these secretive warriors.
As the first major novel in Zahn’s career, you can see the foundations of his future works — especially the thematically similar COBRA series — even if they’re a tad weaker than what he would later write. The “advanced” technology depicted in the book is also pretty dated by today’s standards. It’s still an entertaining read though, and come on, it’s space ninjas!
Get the first book of the series in these formats:
The Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony.
Apprentice Adept Series »
Piers Anthony is far more known for his long-running Xanth fantasy series than anything else he’s ever written — perhaps followed by his Incarnations of Immortality series — but I don’t think I’ve ever personally seen anyone mention his Apprentice Adept series, which blends both sci-fi and fantasy pretty…er, adeptly.
The idea here is that the twin planets Phaze and Proton share the same physical location, but exist in two different dimensions. Proton is a technological mining world where the citizenry is divided into two classes: the decadently wealthy Citizens who run everything, and the serfs, who are essentially servants to the Citizens. Both factions take part in a pasttime known simply as “The Game”, which has two opponents (of either class) compete against one another in any one of a vast variety of challenges.
Phaze, by contrast, is a lush, verdant world where magic is a part of daily life rather than technology, and it’s filled with fantasy-style tropes such as shapeshifting unicorns and supremely powerful wizards.
The protagonist, Stile, is a serf and master Gamesman on Proton who discovers that his alternate self on Phaze (one of those aforementioned wizards) has been murdered.
Get the first book of the series in these formats:
- Kindle ($3)
- iBooks ($3)
- Paperback ($8)
- Audible audiobook ($17)
- Audiobook (CD) ($15)
The Paratwa series by Christopher Hinz.
Paratwa Series »
Christopher Hinz’s Paratwa series isn’t exactly unknown in sci-fi circles, but you don’t hear a lot about them from anyone who’s not deeply nerdy about the genre. For everyone else, it’s a pretty good series about a post-apocalyptic near future where humanity has already abandoned the desolate Earth to live on orbital colonies.
In this future, there exist genetically engineered assassins called “Paratwa” that are a single consciousness existing in two different bodies (“tways”) at once, each capable of independent action but are even scarier when they work in concert, causing a third overarching personality to emerge between them. They had supposedly gone extinct or were at least put in stasis, but 200 years after war, someone has revived Reemul, the deadliest Paratwa of all.
There’s lots of awesome action mixed with political intrigue, with interesting weapon concepts and enough story twists to keep you engrossed.
Get the first book of the series in these formats:
- Kindle ($7)
- iBooks ($7)
- Paperback ($20)
- Audible audiobook ($30)
MYTH Adventures series by Robert Asprin.
MYTH Adventures Series »
If you like Douglas Adams’ comedy sci-fi series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you’ll enjoy its sort-of equivalent on the fantasy side, Robert Asprin’s MYTH Adventures series. These whimsical books are heavy on humorous puns and general silliness while still being full of adventure and interesting characters.
Through these books, you’ll follow the exploits of Skeeve, an inexperienced, bumbling-yet-well-meaning magician from the backwater dimension of Klah, whose interdimensional reputation somehow grows beyond his actual talents. He becomes apprenticed to a foul-tempered demon named Aahz, who hails from the dimension of “Perv” and lost his own magical abilities thanks to a prank by Skeeve’s now-deceased mentor, Garkin. Together, they travel through all sorts of wild dimensions as they seek wealth and fame, eventually offering their services for hire under the name M.Y.T.H. Inc.
Man, just typing that description out makes me want to go back and reread the whole series.
Get the first book of the series in these formats:
- Kindle ($6)
- iBooks ($6)
- Audible audiobook ($18)