I am not sure Wyndham is forgotten. Quite a few Booktubers (YouTubers who post videos about books) seem to read his books.Quote:
Originally Posted by Calidore
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I am not sure Wyndham is forgotten. Quite a few Booktubers (YouTubers who post videos about books) seem to read his books.Quote:
Originally Posted by Calidore
I did try an Asimov once but found it incredibly boring and difficult to get into. Perhaps I didn't give it enough time.
Another trilogy I've tried is David Bryn's Uplift Trilogy. I've read 2 of them and I intend to complete the third at some point. He's described as hard science, but I didn't feel that this limited the imaginative scope of the novels. The second is set on a water planet with a spaceship that is piloted by genetically modified dolphins who have been uplifted by humans and share command and responsibility. There's a fair bit of space opera in there too. A great read.
Which asimov's work did you read, Paulclem?
I don't recall except that it was The Foundation or one of the Foundation series.Quote:
Originally Posted by luhsun
I started with foundation's edge..complicated and gaia was a disappointment (technological supremacy and mental supremacy defeated by hippy sai baba) , but i suppose he was trying to insert the robots by hook or by crook. Foundation (the first book) was the best book in the series, in my humble opinion.
I have been looking up some top 100 sci fi lists. They are quite interesting lists. Enders Game often appears near the top, which is a book I hadn't heard of before. It surprises me some of the books that are listed as science fiction, even excluding fantasy books like The Hobbit and the Disc World series, which I consider part of a separate genre. Watership Down is sometimes listed as a science fiction book - why? It's about rabbits leaving one warren to establish another. What's science fiction about that? To me, it is odd to see The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy listed as science fiction, as I regard it as a comedy. To be fair, it does have more science in it than many so-called science fiction books. For example, the infinite improbability drive was a joke on quantum mechanics. The dystopias seem more a separate genre too. I would only tenuously regard 1984 as science fiction.
Still, I am in the mood for reading a few more science fiction books, when I can find the time. On my mental list is The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin (shelved under G not L in the local bookshop) and The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Which Arthur C Clarke and Issac Asimov book would you recommend, as I do not want to read an entire series. Oh yes, and Frankenstein too.
I love science fiction, both on tv and in literature and most of the classics have already been mentioned so I am going to mention a book I guess not many if any here have read 'Lovestar' it's by an author from the ice: http://www.amazon.com/LoveStar-Novel...snaer+magnason
this is one of the islands best authors and this book is brilliant, also his children book 'The Blue Planet'
a brilliant work of sci-fi from the ice
Try Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. It fits all these categories, and is great fun. I read it as teenager and again recently (several decades later!) and was surprised how well it held up. Don't expect the depth of characterisation found in Atwood, it is pure SF after all :), but the story zings along. As fantasy escapism it works really well! If you like it, the sequel Dragonquest is up to the same standard, there's a bit of a falling off after that, so only continue if you *really* like those two and just have to read more.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Muse
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iain Sparrow
Here is a defence of those books.
He's been included in the Masters of Sci-fi series now, he might not be widely read but forgotten he is not.Quote:
Originally Posted by kev67
I am reading his Day of the Triffids. It seems strangely dated, but then it would.Quote:
Originally Posted by Poetaster
I'm really not surprised. I've actually not read it myself, but I've been tempted by it on more than one occasion. I've been tempted to read his Chrysalids too - so much to read, so little time.Quote:
Originally Posted by kev67
Started reading Ursula LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness. It's an odd thing with science fiction that it's a genre with strongly identifiable sub-genres or recurring themes. For example, Day of the Triffids was a post-apocalyptic story. It reminded me of a book I read a couple of years ago by Terry Nation called Survivors, which was alright. Small bands of survivors try to find a way of living without descending into barbarism. Triffids was better, although the plot was more unlikely. It had a strong cold war vibe about it. I am only three chapters into Left Hand of Darkness, but it reminds me of a book by Iain M Banks called Inversions. In both a visitor from a more advanced planet has arrived on a planet in which the civilization has reverted to feudalism. Inversions was a pretty good book.
An author you may not think of as sci-fi or as a sci-fi writer is Edgar Rice Burroughs - Barsoom series
You can try Alan Dean Foster - Pip and Flinx or some of his other books such as Alien, Cyborg, or Alien Nation (and if those sound like movies ... well he was the author)
Julian May - Pliocene Exiles and Galactic Milieu series
Audrey Niffenger - Time Traveller's Wife doesn't immediately say 'sci-fi' and yet it is.
Phillip Pullman (Dark Materials) skirts the border between sci-fi and fantasy.
Carl Sagan's Contact is a good read
Old but good authors are Clifford D. Simak and Robert Silverberg and L Modesitt Jnr
Any of Sherri S. Tepper's books will give you an excellent intro into the sub-genre of sci-fi dealing with feminist gender issues.
Just finished Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. That is a strange book. I recommend it though. It's a bit like science fiction meets John Le Carré meets queer literature.