Nobody mentioned "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi yet. So there, I did. It's a hugely enjoyable read, like vintage Heinlein, has spawned several sequels and, you know, won the Hugo for best novel, and stuff like that.
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Sci-fi literature thread?
- Thread starter IconBasser
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The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton consists of The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, and The Naked God.
Shameless space opera type lit, but delivered very well.
And lots of hot scenes & zombies
I'm not good at writing in English, so I copied a part of Wiki introduction here.
The sprawling narrative deals with a far future where humanity struggles and wages war against past souls flooding back into the land of the living via possession (Al Capone and Fletcher Christian are among the returnees). Hamilton's future is expansive and primarily optimistic, with huge sentient space-cities that can closely resemble a natural Eden. He extrapolates on current trends concerning the blurring of technology with biology, and environmental devastation. But Hamilton pulls no punches on humanity's darker side. Poverty, sexual exploitation and cruelty still dog our civilizations in Night's Dawn, and the coalition opposing the Possessed are faced with a particularly cruel moral conundrum; they cannot destroy them without also killing their host bodies.
Shameless space opera type lit, but delivered very well.
And lots of hot scenes & zombies
I'm not good at writing in English, so I copied a part of Wiki introduction here.
The sprawling narrative deals with a far future where humanity struggles and wages war against past souls flooding back into the land of the living via possession (Al Capone and Fletcher Christian are among the returnees). Hamilton's future is expansive and primarily optimistic, with huge sentient space-cities that can closely resemble a natural Eden. He extrapolates on current trends concerning the blurring of technology with biology, and environmental devastation. But Hamilton pulls no punches on humanity's darker side. Poverty, sexual exploitation and cruelty still dog our civilizations in Night's Dawn, and the coalition opposing the Possessed are faced with a particularly cruel moral conundrum; they cannot destroy them without also killing their host bodies.
+1 to Scalzi. I enjoyed the books in the "Old Man's War" universe. He didn't win a Hugo for Best Novel though. He actually won the Hugo for Best Fan Writer in 2008. Whatever the heck that is.
Illini10 said:
I'm a huge Wheel of Time fan. If you're running toward fantasy I'd suggest David Eddings. Especially the Belgariad series and the Malloreon series, if you haven't read them.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to check him out. I'm finishing up book five of the WOT and I'm cursing my friends who suggested it to me! Not only are the books huge, they're almost impossible to put down!
slobake
resident ... something
If you like Heinlein and the older stuff check out Jack Vance, "The Grey Prince" is my favorite.
I agree about "Enders Game' I loved that book can't wait for the movie.
I tried to re-read the Lensman series as an adult they seemed almost fascist to me. Maybe it's just me.
Did anyone mention Robert Silverberg another great writer.
I agree about "Enders Game' I loved that book can't wait for the movie.
I tried to re-read the Lensman series as an adult they seemed almost fascist to me. Maybe it's just me.
Did anyone mention Robert Silverberg another great writer.
The Void Captain's Tale by Norman Spinrad
Tragic - or bizarre - love story between captain and pilot of future starship.
Here is excerpt from chapter 1
On the day that Void Captain Genro Kane Gupta assumed command of the Dragon Zephyr in orbit around Earth, he engaged in an unwholesome exchange of name tales on the sky ferry to the ship with the Void Pilot Dominique Alia Wu.
On the day of the first Jump, he conversed with her at unnatural length afterward.
After the third Jump, they performed a sexual act.
On the ninth Jump, Void Captain Genro Kane Gupta neglected to dump the vector coordinate overlay into the Jump Circuit Computer prior to activation of the Jump Circuit. The consciousness of Void Pilot Dominique Alia Wu left its material matrix and did not return, though the Dragon Zephyr somehow survived this Blind Jump.
The ship is now marooned about a score light-years from the nearest habited star, without a Pilot. This is the last Log entry I shall make before I call for volunteers.
You can read full text at [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Tragic - or bizarre - love story between captain and pilot of future starship.
Here is excerpt from chapter 1
On the day that Void Captain Genro Kane Gupta assumed command of the Dragon Zephyr in orbit around Earth, he engaged in an unwholesome exchange of name tales on the sky ferry to the ship with the Void Pilot Dominique Alia Wu.
On the day of the first Jump, he conversed with her at unnatural length afterward.
After the third Jump, they performed a sexual act.
On the ninth Jump, Void Captain Genro Kane Gupta neglected to dump the vector coordinate overlay into the Jump Circuit Computer prior to activation of the Jump Circuit. The consciousness of Void Pilot Dominique Alia Wu left its material matrix and did not return, though the Dragon Zephyr somehow survived this Blind Jump.
The ship is now marooned about a score light-years from the nearest habited star, without a Pilot. This is the last Log entry I shall make before I call for volunteers.
You can read full text at [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I've read 1/3rd of the prequels and loved them. They tied in some interesting things & some were rather surprising or maybe I should say they sneak up on you, LOL!
I've finally gotten around to reading the original Dune now & it's probably sacrilege to say it, but...
I prefer the son's & co-author's efforts from the prequels more
That won't stop me from reading the entire novel, but I might stop there & not bother with Children of Dune or Messiah.
TBH, I completely lost interest in the latter half of the Sci-Fi channel's mini-series, which would have been part of Messiah & CoD.
I'm going old school soon & reading up on some old forgotten Ray Bradbury stuff that I've collected.
starting with Fahrenheit 451
"The Mote in God's Eye" by Niven and Pournelle was awesome. The follow on"The Gripping Hand" is far less so, imho.
"The Mote in God's Eye" by Niven and Pournelle was awesome. The follow on"The Gripping Hand" is far less so, imho.
I agree! Time for a re-read of Mote, been too long.
I'm reading the final book of Stephen R. Donaldsons Gap Saga.
The series has been good. In typical Donaldson style the principal characters and the plot are complex.
For the first three books the pace has been good and the story well told. I like the character development as well. The protagonists ( there are many ) are interesting if somewhat cliche' in a few instances.
I think I can safely say Donaldson likes to use what I now call the Covenant card. A main character who is deeply flawed and hard to like if not impossible. He has trumped that in this series by handing us many such characters. Maybe too many. I am interested in what they will do and am interested in where the sub-plots are going but it's been a chore to keep up.
This last book that I am reading has been let down a bit by the interruption of pace for overly verbose descriptives of seemingly every nuance. I find myself skimming to actual dialog at times. I have very very rarely found myself doing that and try hard not to.
The books have been good, but they, like their characters, are flawed.
The series has been good. In typical Donaldson style the principal characters and the plot are complex.
For the first three books the pace has been good and the story well told. I like the character development as well. The protagonists ( there are many ) are interesting if somewhat cliche' in a few instances.
I think I can safely say Donaldson likes to use what I now call the Covenant card. A main character who is deeply flawed and hard to like if not impossible. He has trumped that in this series by handing us many such characters. Maybe too many. I am interested in what they will do and am interested in where the sub-plots are going but it's been a chore to keep up.
This last book that I am reading has been let down a bit by the interruption of pace for overly verbose descriptives of seemingly every nuance. I find myself skimming to actual dialog at times. I have very very rarely found myself doing that and try hard not to.
The books have been good, but they, like their characters, are flawed.
