The SF Book thread

[admiraldave]

I figured we needed a thread to discuss books. What have you read, what are you reading? What's good, what's bad, what novels should not be touched with a ten-foot pole and a vial of holy water? Also, let's try and avoid spoilers, those can always be put in other threads.

Anyway, to start off:

I haven't read SF in awhile, the last book I read was Neil Stephenson's, The Diamond Age. It was an interesting look at nanotech and the world was intriguing, but I thought the last quarter of the book was kinda weak.

I'm a big fan of David Weber's Honor Harrington series, but I'm getting more and more annoyed with each book. The last book, which takes place in the same universe but doesn't feature Honor, The Shadow of Saganami just bored me. Too many bland characters, too much exposition, I sometimes felt I wasn't reading a novel, but a textbook.

So, what've you been reading?

 

[GKarsEye]

I started exploring the world of Philip K Dick with Minority Report. Pretty cool. Next I plan on reading the Simulacra.
I've also been revisiting the B5 novels.

Non-sci fi books include East of Eden (gorgeous) and I have John Updike's Gertrude and Claudius next in the queue. I've never read Updike before, so figured I'd start with this Hamlet "prequel."

 

[Chilli]

When it comes to "real" written Sci-Fi, I've basically only gotten to reading the depressive future vision Sci-Fi .. 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 .. way too many books out there I want to read but just haven't gotten to

I know I'm being an ignorant here .. but Brave New World mostly bored me. Some great progressive viewing in it regarding many things and definitely not a "dumb" book .. I couldn't really learn to feel much at all about the Brave New World though. Just that they were weird :|

1984 and Fahrenheit 451 on the other hand I greatly enjoyed - OK, strange term for those books, especially the first one .. that was too long ago to remember details about though. Fahrenheit 451 on the other hand I just read two weeks ago .. I quite enjoyed it actually .. definitely a nice work regarding the concept of "knowledge is power"

 

[Sigma]

By far my favorite SF book series is Dan Simmons Hyperion tetralogy (Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, The Rise of Endymion).

Hyperion is Hugo winner; The Fall of Hyperion and The Rise of Endymion were nominated. Real masterpiece. Hard SF mixed with cyberpunk, very deep and multilayered. Brilliant writing - Simmons does a lot of research and knows what he is writing. I can't praise it enough.

 

[Vonbloodbath]

Iain M Banks is my main Scifi author of choice at the minute. Took me a bit to get into (I must have started Excession about 4 or 5 times) but once I did, it's just brilliant, gripping stuff.

Plus it's always good to go back to the classics; just reread The Time Machine recently, not to mention Frankenstein. (Also Dracula, though that's not really SF. )
VB

 

[Kribu]

Haven't had much time to read anything "proper" recently (mostly just Buffy and Angel books - have been mostly too wiped out by work to read stuff that actually requires some thinking), so .. hm .. the last real scifi books I read were The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination, both by Alfred Bester. Quite liked them both a lot.

Have been considering giving Dan Simmons a try, but just haven't got around to it. Probably will at some point though.

 

[Sigma]

Iain M Banks is my main Scifi author of choice at the minute. Took me a bit to get into (I must have started Excession about 4 or 5 times) but once I did, it's just brilliant, gripping stuff.

I'm not frequent SF reader, but after all the praise i have heard about Banks i read his "Use of Weapon" and didn't liked it. It wasn't complete waste of time, but it wasn't good either. I quess Banks in not my taste.

btw in my opinion Iain M. Banks words on the cover of The Rise of Endymion really sum up the Hyperion novels: "The density and complexity of ideas...is truly astonishing"

 

[Vonbloodbath]

Yeah he's a little odd. I really like...it's either "Consider Phlebas" or "look to Windward"...

it has this brilliant prologue describing a war being fought somewhere, you totally empathise with the characters.

Then the novel starts, and after a while you encounter one of those characters again; and that's when you realise that there was no physical description of the characters in the prologue. They are aliens, wildly non-human, but your preconceptions makes you see them as human.

Plus, that makes you empathise with in a way which, if they had been vividly described that early you might not have been able to.

Brilliant writing.

VB

 

[hypatia]

I also read "The Demolished Man" and that's probably my most recent "real" science fiction book lately. I did read a book of A.C. Clarke's short stories before that. I re-read "The Nine Billion Names of God" and for the first time read "The Star".

I have "The Stars My Destination" but haven't opened it yet. And might not for some months.

I hope soon-ish I can read the trilogy I recently bought of Phillip Pullman's, the Amber Spyglass, the Subtle Knife, and the Golden Compass.

I also look forward to "The Canticle of Leibowitz" one of these days. I might be in the mood for it before I am in the mood for the trilogy, actually. It sounds lighter.

I always appreciate threads like these. I get many new author ideas from them, even if I do forget to go back and post a "thank you" message usually.

 

[KoshFan]

Good to see Weber, Simmons, and Banks mentioned here. I'm a big fan of all three. (Pity to hear you think the Harrington series is going downhill, Admiraldave, I've always enjoyed it.)

I have three words for you all: Lois. McMaster. Bujold. Fantastic author. Lovely language. Utterly awesome characters. I don't think I've laughed harder on the first reading than over her "A Civil Campaign," but you newbies have to read the others first....

The last "sci-fi" I read, however, was Timothy Zahn's latest Star Wars novel. SW novels definitely have their ups and downs (Shatterpoint was amazing, but I'll never again touch Darksaber or Vector Prime with a ten-foot pole), but if it's Zahn I'm willing to take the risk. Not quite up to his usual standards, but I like the care he took to stand the usual preconceptions of SW on their heads. He builds his plots to cut the Jedi down to size and writes sympathetic Imperials very well.

I'm hoping to grab Simmons' Illium when it comes out in paperback; that'll probably be my next read.

 

[Sigma]

I'm hoping to grab Simmons' Illium when it comes out in paperback; that'll probably be my next read.

I read the Gollancz (England) paperback edition, damn that US hardcover artwork is very nice but price is 15$ higher.

It's not the Hyperion quality but i kind of liked it. Same old Simmons. First book i have read with 9/11 reference (or was it Iraq war, don't remember anymore). That's the main flaw of it, todays political situation clearly influenced this book.

 

[Tibbetts]

At the moment, i'm reading 1634: The Galileo Affair by Eric Flint/Andrew Dennis. Very good book. Next, i'll be reading Weapons of Choice by John Birmingham. "Weapons of Choice" is a new book that i just recieved. Looks good.

Tibbetts

 

[KoshFan]

Didn't know 1634 was out already. Although without David Weber coauthoring I'm less excited. The first book was a lot of fun, the second one slightly less so; I think it's starting to suffer from "huge story" complex where there's just too much going on to follow properly.

 

[RW7427]

I haven't read much sci-fi either lately except for the fact that I'm still working on book 2 of the Psi Corp trilogy. It takes me MONTHS to read a book.

 

[Pobman]

I am glad this thread for books exists, I will have to check out some of the recommendations. I have read Consider Phlebas by Ian M Banks and I didn't like it at all. This has put me off reading his other books.

One set of books that deserves a mention that no-one has talked about is the Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton. It has a very slow start, but I definitely think it is worth getting through to enjoy the rest of the story, which is delightfully complex.

 

[darth_librarian]

I'd ditto anything by Neal Stephenson, his Cryptonomicon, whilst not strict sci-fi is amazing, leagues ahead of anythind Dan Brown or Clancy could ever hope to right in terms of prose, detail and plotting.

Peter F Hamilton gets a little distracted, but his books generally rock.

Leibowitz is well worth the read.

I'd reccomend Alastair Reynolds. He is just great Start with his Revelation Space,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1857987489/ref=pd_sim_b_dp_3/026-7041552-5474830

Ken MacLeod is great, Newton's Wake his latest looks good.

Pobman, to get into Banks' sci-fi I reccomend Use of Weapons, one his best. Inversions is also very good.

 

[crofootski]

Anybody else read "Macroscope" by Piers Anthony? Or his trilogy: Omnivore, Orn, Ox? (Please don't bring up to me his fantasy novels; I tried some decades ago and quickly got sick of them.)

"Macroscope" grabbed me right away, and kept me reading almost non-stop. The trilogy is quite enjoyable and a quick read, considering they are fairly small novels.

 

[KoshFan]

I have a strange relationship with Piers Anthony books. Some of them are hilarious, but generally I feel they are a little weak. And he's got lots of his own weird take on the universe in them. His "Firefly" was bizarre and kind of twisted.

I also feel "Use of Weapons" is Banks' best, but "Excession" is a little more lighthearted. The only trouble is keeping track of the Mind names; I eventually broke down and made a list.

 

[fisheggs]

Anybody else read "Macroscope" by Piers Anthony? Or his trilogy: Omnivore, Orn, Ox? (Please don't bring up to me his fantasy novels; I tried some decades ago and quickly got sick of them.)

"Macroscope" grabbed me right away, and kept me reading almost non-stop. The trilogy is quite enjoyable and a quick read, considering they are fairly small novels.

I remember reading Macroscope a long, long time ago. I had the first paperback edition, as well as the trilogy, all long since lost , and reread them several times. Are they back in print? I've searched for Macroscope in the past but was always unsuccessful, so I kinda gave up looking and haven't thought it about it in years. Another "ancient" classic that is definitely available is Zelazny's "Lord of Light". A great read.
Curranly reading Dave Duncan's "The Jaguar Knights" an author I admire, next will be whatever catches my eye at the library.

 

[crofootski]

I remember reading Macroscope a long, long time ago. I had the first paperback edition, as well as the trilogy, all long since lost , and reread them several times. Are they back in print? I've searched for Macroscope in the past but was always unsuccessful, so I kinda gave up looking and haven't thought it about it in years.

I've seen them in some used book stores here in Colorado Springs and Denver. I managed to find a copy of the Macroscope paperback I used to have, with the neat cover of zodiac symbols clustered together. I've also managed to gather up the Omivore/Orn/Ox trilogy the same way.

Try www.abebooks.com, perhaps, or other book websites.