Any Sci Fi fans here?
- Thread starter ShyGuy68
- Start date
kalalau
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2004
- Posts
- 714
Hello Everybody:
I never thought I'd be writing about science fiction on this bulletin board. I have been reading sci-fi since a was a kid, and it still is my favorite reading...I've read so much that picking out a few favorites is sort of difficult. How about some classics like the Foundation Trilogy and the Robot novels by Asimov, the Dune series by Frank Herbert, Dhalgren by Samuel Delany, the Majopoor Cycle by Robert Silverberg, and so many others.
(Etoile: I ordered the two books you mentioned...I've give you some feedback after I read them)
I never thought I'd be writing about science fiction on this bulletin board. I have been reading sci-fi since a was a kid, and it still is my favorite reading...I've read so much that picking out a few favorites is sort of difficult. How about some classics like the Foundation Trilogy and the Robot novels by Asimov, the Dune series by Frank Herbert, Dhalgren by Samuel Delany, the Majopoor Cycle by Robert Silverberg, and so many others.
(Etoile: I ordered the two books you mentioned...I've give you some feedback after I read them)
FungiUg
Waves at Cats
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Posts
- 10,242
ghosst_K&H said:
Hmmm... think so? The only one of his I enjoyed was the Roman Legion one.
I'm enjoying the David Drake, Eric Flint collaborative series around Bellasarious (start with An Oblique Approach.)
I also rather enjoyed S.M. Stirling's Island In The Sea Of Time, although I thought the last book had a weak ending. If you want a good "one off" (not a series) alternative history of his, try Conquistador. And if you like milatary SF, then go for his collaboration with David Drake called The General. The Forge is book one.
Other authors of note to look out for who are current (come on people -- the classics are, well, classic... but SF hasn't stood still!) are Neal Stevenson (although his latest series I couldn't get into), Elizabeth Moon, Steven Brust (although mostly he writes fantasy, also damned good. Taltos rocks!) David Weber (of course... his latest Honor Harrington, well, isn't... bugger)
Actually, a good spot is Baen's Bar: www.baen.com -- they have a lot of the latest SF there. As well as sneak previews and some online books and a discussion forum.
Carillon
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2004
- Posts
- 104
Okay, here's a question for all of you: where do you draw the line between science fiction and fantasy? Or do you? Personally, I'm a big fan of either one, but sometimes I have a hard time classifying a book as one or the other, or I'll look for something under sci-fi and find it as fantasy, etc.
Also, what were the first science fiction/fantasy books that you read (especially as a child)? Which ones got you hooked on the genre?
I remember reading "Eva" by Peter Dickinson, a lot of Madeleine L'Engle, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, and "Shade's Children" by Garth Nix (to name just a couple) by the time I was 9 or 10. Anyone else remember what they started with?
Also, what were the first science fiction/fantasy books that you read (especially as a child)? Which ones got you hooked on the genre?
I remember reading "Eva" by Peter Dickinson, a lot of Madeleine L'Engle, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, and "Shade's Children" by Garth Nix (to name just a couple) by the time I was 9 or 10. Anyone else remember what they started with?
FungiUg
Waves at Cats
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Posts
- 10,242
I know people who read one and not the other. Actually, there are a great deal of people who read Fantasy and NOT SF. My lover is a prime example. It can get a bit, er, tricky with cross-over stuff (my lover enjoyed some Sherri S. Tepper, which is technically SF, but reads like Fantasy.)
They are quite different. I have heard the Fantasy genre classed as part of SF, but I personally would put it the other way around. Basically, Fantasy introduced the element of magic -- the mechanism behind it could be some spiritual force or advanced technology.
On the other hand, "Scientifiction" has a long history of exploring very REAL possibilities. There it enters the realm of speculative fiction. It's only recently that I have read Fantasy that does the same.
A good example would be a very hard-to-read book by Steven Brust and Emma Bull called "Freedom & Necessity." Which I would rate as Fantasy. And yet, Neal Stevenson's "Quicksilver" (which I didn't really enjoy) is similar, but I would class as Science Fiction.
So... maybe it's just about the focus. One focuses on magic as distinct from simple technology, some element of the universe that responds directly to the human will. Whereas the other focusses on a more "real" universe that requires technology to respond to human will.
Anyway, books that blur the distinction make life hard. For a good example here, the excellent book by John Ringo "There Will Be Dragons." It's Science Fiction, and yet he uses the technology to recreate classic heroic fantasy! Go read, and you'll see what I mean.
So it's a bit of an artificial distinction... but you get that. A label is only descriptive, not defining.
They are quite different. I have heard the Fantasy genre classed as part of SF, but I personally would put it the other way around. Basically, Fantasy introduced the element of magic -- the mechanism behind it could be some spiritual force or advanced technology.
On the other hand, "Scientifiction" has a long history of exploring very REAL possibilities. There it enters the realm of speculative fiction. It's only recently that I have read Fantasy that does the same.
A good example would be a very hard-to-read book by Steven Brust and Emma Bull called "Freedom & Necessity." Which I would rate as Fantasy. And yet, Neal Stevenson's "Quicksilver" (which I didn't really enjoy) is similar, but I would class as Science Fiction.
So... maybe it's just about the focus. One focuses on magic as distinct from simple technology, some element of the universe that responds directly to the human will. Whereas the other focusses on a more "real" universe that requires technology to respond to human will.
Anyway, books that blur the distinction make life hard. For a good example here, the excellent book by John Ringo "There Will Be Dragons." It's Science Fiction, and yet he uses the technology to recreate classic heroic fantasy! Go read, and you'll see what I mean.
So it's a bit of an artificial distinction... but you get that. A label is only descriptive, not defining.
Etoile
Mod, 2003-2015
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2000
- Posts
- 17,049
Ooooh, Dhalgren. I haven't read that one in a couple of years; I will have to see if I can dig it up and read it again. (As if I didn't have enough stuff to read!)
Personally, I don't like fantasy books. Not in the Anne McCaffrey sense, anyway. I like my science fiction rougher, more dark, more cyberpunk. My favorite sci-fi genre is postapocalyptic. (Have you ever read LeVar Burton's Aftermath? Pretty darn good.) I like Tolkien, though.
Personally, I don't like fantasy books. Not in the Anne McCaffrey sense, anyway. I like my science fiction rougher, more dark, more cyberpunk. My favorite sci-fi genre is postapocalyptic. (Have you ever read LeVar Burton's Aftermath? Pretty darn good.) I like Tolkien, though.
FungiUg
Waves at Cats
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Posts
- 10,242
Oooh, a grudging admission of liking Tolkein!
I hate post-apocalyptic. Loathe and hate it. A Canticle for Lebowitz put me off. Dross.
Um... Dhalgren never grabbed me. I love Nova, but Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand is a damned hard read! Particularly when people would change gender depending on who was referring to them (gender in the language was used to indicated whether you were attracted to someone or not, rather than whether they were male or female.) Interesting, but not a book I recommend as a "good read".
I hate post-apocalyptic. Loathe and hate it. A Canticle for Lebowitz put me off. Dross.
Um... Dhalgren never grabbed me. I love Nova, but Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand is a damned hard read! Particularly when people would change gender depending on who was referring to them (gender in the language was used to indicated whether you were attracted to someone or not, rather than whether they were male or female.) Interesting, but not a book I recommend as a "good read".
I think you got the definitions right Fungi. That's about how I would classify the two. I read both Fantasy and SciFi, but they are different and I KNOW which it is that I'm reading. I'd put Neal Stepehenson's new series as sci-fi. It wasn't the easiest read, but I really got into both of the books I've read. I felt he did a really good job of capturing the flavor of something having been written in that period.
I like the postapocalyptic stuff. Liebowitz wasn't all that bad. I've definitely read a lot worse. The Jack Lovejoy trilogy "A Vision of Beasts" was dross. If you want a really messed up post-apocalyptic story pick up Iron Dreams by Norman Spinrad. It's a 1920's/1930's atomic horror story. He has the style down. HOWEVER the twist is that he wrote it as though he was Adolf Hitler writing it. So you basically end up with a atomic horror sci-fi version of Mein Kampf/WWII.
I like the postapocalyptic stuff. Liebowitz wasn't all that bad. I've definitely read a lot worse. The Jack Lovejoy trilogy "A Vision of Beasts" was dross. If you want a really messed up post-apocalyptic story pick up Iron Dreams by Norman Spinrad. It's a 1920's/1930's atomic horror story. He has the style down. HOWEVER the twist is that he wrote it as though he was Adolf Hitler writing it. So you basically end up with a atomic horror sci-fi version of Mein Kampf/WWII.
FungiUg
Waves at Cats
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Posts
- 10,242
kalalau said:
I was ready to take them as movie versions and not have them live up to my expectations. I mean, I've seen Dune (the movie and the mini-series)... so I know how bad a movie can be in comparison to a brilliant book.
But they lived up to the book, I feel. The painstaking care and quality and just breath-taking scope of the movies evokes the brilliance of the books so well. I love them!
And I am SOOO impatient waiting for the last of the extended DVDs to come out. Less than two weeks now, from memory!
G
Guest
Guest
FungiUg said:
Which brings to mind..Any votes for "The Left Hand Of Darkness"???
Movies though *sigh* I've just had to learn to appreciate the movie (if possible, the first Dune just sucked SO bad), and regard it as completely seperate from the book. Awkward sometimes.
FungiUg
Waves at Cats
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Posts
- 10,242
EKVITKAR said:
I pull it out every couple of years or so and re-read it. So I guess it counts as re-readable! I personally don't count it as so earth-shattering as other books. On the other hand, I have more than a passing fondness of Ursula Le Guin, as she was the author who dragged me into reading Fantasy. (A Wizard of Earthsea, etc.)
Wednesday'sRose
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2004
- Posts
- 124
EKVITKAR said:
Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!
*runs screaming from the book*
I had to read that for a class and I could do with not seeing it again.
Though I suppose to be fair, there were several people in the class that loved it.
G
Guest
Guest
Wednesday'sRose said:
Could be worse ....I didn't even come close to mentioning.
dum dum DUMMMMMMM
Chalker...
Travelintheways
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2004
- Posts
- 176
Yep, sci-fi/fantasy nerd here! I lean toward Sci-fi on TV/movies and fantasy in fiction, but that's not a hard and fast rule. A very brief list of favorites: Andromeda (pre S3), ST: DS9, Lexx, Red Dwarf, Lord of the Rings (movie and series), other Tolkien stuff, Robert Jordan, Robin McKinley, David Brin, George RR Martin, Anne MCaffery (sp?)... er... others I can't think of with my remnants of a hangover. My NaNo novel this year was fantasy-ish, too.
Travelintheways
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2004
- Posts
- 176
I found one of those books somewhere, and I loved it!! One of these days, I'm going to read more of the series.
I'm in agreement with the late Isaac Asimov; a good story is a good story. I like a lot of fantasy stuff, Tolkien of course, also Fritz Lieber and Jack Vance (both of whom write straight scifi as well).
An interesting recent read was The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick. He postulates that "Faerie" has evolved along with the human world, and so now dragons are the equivalent of high-tech AI stealth bombers, and the society is quite decadent.
Still indulging in the ritual of having Changelings, the main character is a young girl who's been kidnapped to serve as slave labor in an arms factory. Interesting take on old themes.
Poul Anderson wrote some good stuff too.
An interesting recent read was The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick. He postulates that "Faerie" has evolved along with the human world, and so now dragons are the equivalent of high-tech AI stealth bombers, and the society is quite decadent.
Still indulging in the ritual of having Changelings, the main character is a young girl who's been kidnapped to serve as slave labor in an arms factory. Interesting take on old themes.
Poul Anderson wrote some good stuff too.
Sir_Winston54
Assume the position!
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2004
- Posts
- 14,027
I think someone mentioned Ender's Game in this thread a while back, but I'm not going to look to see who it was 
but since my hardback copy seems to have disappeared in one of the 4 moves in the last 7 years, I picked up a paperback copy recently, and re-read it - for about the 10th time. Now I'm going to have to get Speaker and Xenocide, and re-read them. Ender always leaves me sad but hopeful.
but since my hardback copy seems to have disappeared in one of the 4 moves in the last 7 years, I picked up a paperback copy recently, and re-read it - for about the 10th time. Now I'm going to have to get Speaker and Xenocide, and re-read them. Ender always leaves me sad but hopeful.
