Your Sci-Fi book recommendations? (1 Viewer)

[Danny R]

Speaking of Dune, I also quite enjoyed the following books by Herbert:

Destination: Void
The Jesus Incident
The Lazarus Effect
The Ascension Factor

 

[Samuel Des]

Quote:

Yes!!!!! I agree totally!!! We need someone -- something -- to help us understand what these technologies are doing to us in terms beyond SF's "traditional" fanboy wonder or random paranoia.

BTW - I personally don't feel that Jack is being curmudgeonly when he points his finger. There have been only a few prose stylists in the genre. Virtually all of them -- save for maybe Zelazny and Bester -- seem to get ignored. There seems to be little incentive for any potentially great or already great writer to stick around or join the game. Disch now writes horror pastiches; there's better moeny there. I keep worrying how much longer before Gene Wolfe jumps fence.

 

[Danny R]

It puzzles me that no one seems to question a test for humanity that involves inflicting pain (however "virtual" it may be). Doesn't this kind of ritual remind you of something?

You lost me here. What does it remind you of? One thing to remember is that these are the Bene Gesserit who are doing the testing, and they are doing it on people who are part of their breeding program. I wouldn't put it as the definitive test of humanity. Rather I saw it as a specific test for a trait they were looking for.

 

[Samuel Des]

One thing to remember is that these are the Bene Gesserit who are doing the testing, and they are doing it on people who are part of their breeding program. I wouldn't put it as the definitive test of humanity. Rather I saw it as a specific test for a trait they were looking for.

I guess it just troubled me. I didn't mean to make a big stink. No offense is intended to fans of the book.

 

[Max Leung]

There have been only a few prose stylists in the genre. Virtually all of them -- save for maybe Zelazny and Bester -- seem to get ignored.

Name some more? Already, you guys are ignoring Banks. His regular fiction is also praised by the snobbery elites, so if that is your criteria for "literary SF" then he fits the bill perfectly. Oh, I hear very good things about China Mieville's "Perdido Street Station", and is about to release a sequel, "The Scar", this year. It sounds like a fantasy/SF mesh.
Amazon links:
Perdido Street Station. Average rating 4.5/5, 72 reviews.
Iain M. Banks' "Use of Weapons". Average rating 4.5/5, 27 reviews.
Iain M. Banks' "Player of Games". Average rating 4.5/5, 42 reviews. A good introduction to "The Culture", an intergalactic utopian civilisation that meddles in the affairs of those less "fortunate" than they are. Of course, "Consider Phelbas" is his first Culture book (and I suspect the inspiration for the Xbox game, "Halo"), but "Player of Games" digs into the heart of what the Culture is all about.
Vernor Vinge's work is more Hard-SF, yet the man is a very good writer. I still remember the sand castle scene from "Marooned in Realtime" vividly, and it's been 8 years since I read that book.
Interesting how most of you have completely ignored the U.K. authors...I'm hoping it is out of complete ignorance instead of some "U.S.-centric" view. To be fair, most of the UK works don't make it to the US. Canadians have complete access to their works, but publishers seem to ignore the US market with respect to the best SF out there. A real shame.
Consider, you can't get most of Banks' works in the US, except used. And Ian Watson's work? Good luck. And Wingrove's work is reportedly hard to find in the US. Most SF afficiandos order from Canada or the UK.
Hell, I didn't vote on the Hugos, and I'm more up-to-date on SF than you old codgers.
To say that today's SF is not as good as the old stuff is just plain wrong.

 

[Samuel Des]

To say that today's SF is not as good as the old stuff is just plain wrong.

Don't remember saying that. I just meant that Star Wars books are more popular than "serious" SF books. Your pointing out the limited availability of your favourites may be proof of what I was trying to say. And that's really all I was trying to say. I think.

 

[Max Leung]

Heh, my previous post was directed more towards Jack, uh, I think.
Stephen Baxter seems to be closer to the "old school" SF. Very Asimov-like in writing style. And Robert Forward is a terrible author. Reminds me of the crap from the 50's, despite the hard SF in his work. Yecccch. I associate "old school" with bad writing, simple characters, but with spaceships and laser blasters.
Zelazny, Bester, and other authors with similar style can be matched today by Joan D. Vinge (particularly Snow Queen/Summer Queen), China Mieville (just a hunch...I have to get around to reading Perdido Street Station), Banks, and maybe even John Varley. Oh, and Peter F. Hamilton. I suspect Peter has plenty of homages to Bester.
What was the term for SF in the 60's? "New Age SF"? Zelazny's work seems so simple and naive compared to today's stuff. Good light reading.
Anyhow, I stumbled upon this:
Link Removed. British SF awards. Now you can't claim ignorance of work from over the pond.

 

[BrianW]

This is the greatest thread, ever.
Can this thread be eligible for archival even though it has nothing to do with Home Theater?
For all your great commentary and recommendations, here's a treat: To read a one-minute condensation of the collected works of Isaad Asimov, click here.
Enjoy!
(For extra credit, can anybody tell me what novel my signature quote comes from?)

 

[SteveGon]

Instead of dipping into the tried and true, now might be an excellent time for a truly interesting writer to establish her or himself. The field is ripe for exploitation.

Which is why I recommended the Murakami novel. It's true that people consider it "hip", but don't let that dissuade you from giving it a chance - Hard Boiled Wonderland is much more than a collection of pop culture references.

 

[Greg_Y]

Can this thread be eligible for archival even though it has nothing to do with Home Theater?

I've archived it myself. It is located here:
www.yurkovic.com/scifibooks/index.html
I archived the "printable" version so that all 3 pages are displayed at once. If the thread continues, I'll continue archiving it. Thanks.
Oh and I'm about 2/3 of the way done with Childhood's End ... and loving it.

 

[Samuel Des]

I have noticed that Dying Inside has been released by iBooks with a very attractive cover. John Clute has written an introduction. Anyone interested in a group read?

 

[Phil L]

Somebody recommended Gather Darkness by Fritz Leiber to me a while ago. It seems like kind of a hassle to get a copy. Is it worth the effort?


Phil

 

[Cees Alons]

All Fritz Leiber books are worth reading. And watch that spelling of his name.

Cees

 

[Phil L]

Thanks. I'll edit the name.

 

[Samuel Des]

Hey Cees -- Care to rank those Leiber recommendations? How is it pronounced? "Lee-bur" or "Lie-bur"? ps - is anyone interested in a group read? Alternatively, does anoyone know of a good discussion group for group reads?

 

[Jeff_HR]

Arthur C Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama (but don't bother with the sequels)

I beg to differ. As much as I like "Rendezvous with Rama", I actually prefer "Rama II" & the sequels. I love the character of Nicole des Jardins.

 

[AllanN]

Brave New World
Fahrenheit 451

 

[Steve Christou]

The internet is a great source for SF e-books, I recently downloaded Asimov's Foundation Trilogy and Clarke's Odyssey novels on pdf files, I already have the books but I wanted to read them again on my monitor, which sadly is how all future reading will be done, no more paper (sniffs), just electronic bloody books (wipes tears)...

 

[Steve Y]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Replay by Ken Grimwood, which admittedly is outside of the sci-fi mainstream (I believe Grimwood has only written one other novel?). It's about a man in mid-life who dies and
relives (over and over) his life from age eighteen & onward with complete memory of all that has happened in the world and in his "repeated lives".
My only criticism would be all the outdated pop culture references from the 1980s (the book was published in the late eighties). Nevertheless I highly recommend this book, very thought-provoking (especially if you are in mid-life or younger).
~Steve

 

[Max Leung]

Heads up for China Mieville fans...the followup book to his "Perdido Street Station", "The Scar" is now out.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg.../-/0345443020/