SciFi Books you've just read - Part II

[jmilsom]

(edit)<br /><br />A quick revised introduction:<br /><br />This thread replaces the old SciFi books you've just read Thread.<br /><br />The point of the thread is to jot down thoughts on books just after you've read them while they are fresh in your mind. This could be one line, i.e. 'I loved it - great book' or a slight longer review as I have done for the first two entries below. <br /><br />(edit)<br /><br />Hi Everyone, <br /><br />I am back after a 5-6 week absence. I see the original 'SciFi books you've just read thread' has made the archives HERE, which is great. There is a lot of great review material in that thread for all manner of SciFi books, which is a great resource for anyone coming to SDC and looking for info. Let me kick off Part II with my brief thoughts on an absolute classic of the genre.<br /><br />Title: Last and First Men <br />Author: Olaf Stapledon <br />First Published: 1930<br /><br />Wow! What can one say about Stapledon's 1930 classic that has not been said already? This is a book I had planned to read for a long time. I had expected it to be difficult to get through - more akin to reading an encyclopaedia - but that was not the case. I loved it. I found it a real page turner and it was indeed hard to put down. <br /><br />What an imagination! Tracking the rise and fall of 18 distinct human species over 1000 million years!Crossing just about every cultural and moral boundary from a dispassionate third person perspective - and doing this in 1930! Stapledon pushes and probes the english language to create new subtleties of meaning and thought. It is true what is said of this book. If you consider yourself a serious SciFi fan - it simp <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Just finished reading:<br /><br />Title: Nova<br />Author: Samuel Delaney <br />First Published: 1968<br /><br />It is a long time since I have read any Delaney. The last books of his I read were the Neveryon series, which I read more than 15 years ago. I do remember enjoying that series but being left put off Delaney because of the love scene with the beggar in the sewer. I have never been troubled by explorations of sexual diversity in SciFi when it is from a dispassionate standpoint, but that scene was like reading one of my mum's Harold Robbins books! Of all the SciFi and fantasy I have read it is perhaps only Delaney and Fritz Lieber where sexuality is tackled in such a personal manner by the author! Anyway, <i>Nova</i> has definitely restored my respect for Delaney as a writer.<br /><br /><i>Nova</i> is set in a futuristic space Federation, with three regions largely ruled by two great powers. This future is slowly revealed through the eyes of a motley group of characters on a quest to gain large quantities of the most precious energy source in the Galaxy - illyrion. The story is essentially a simple quest for treasure, but the way Delaney reveals the universe through memories, references to past literature and art is wonderful. The way it weaves together power politics at the highest level with the more mundane personal struggles of the crew is remarkable. This would be a useful book to read for any budding SciFi authors. Another thing that is absolutley astounding about this book is that Delaney wrote it when he was 26 years old - to have such maturity and depth as a writer at this age is amazing - he truly was a literary prodigy. I very much enjoyed this book and will have to tackle some of his other SciFi classics in the near future. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Just finished reading (and has no one else read much interesting SciFi lately?):<br /><br />Title: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch<br />Author: Philip K. Dick <br />First Published: 1964<br /><br />When it comes to PKDick, I guess I am like a Harry Potter fan. I am well over the halfway point in his body of literature and rueing the day when I will have read everything. This is a weird, but brilliant book and LOL funny in places. It is one of his most warped explorations of reality and illusion I have ever read. It is set about 100 years in the future and the UN is exporting humans from overcrowded Terra to Mars and other moons in the solar system. The hardship of colony life is endured through taking a drug Can-D, which allows users to share an illusory world (did PKDick predict MMORPGs through this? - there are certainly parallels!). This state of affairs is threatened when Palmer Eldritch, a powerful business magnate, returns mysteriously from a trip to the Proxima Centauri system, bearing a new drug Chew-Z - far more powerful and dangerous than the Can-D it is replacing. The powerful businessman who controls Can-D and also the sale of Perky Pat miniature layouts in which Can-D users find themselves - sets out to counter the threat that Chew-Z poses to his business empire. <br /><br />This book has so many layers it is hard to keep a level mind. The ordinary and extraordinary sit side by side and then seem to swap places. What starts out as a very amusing tale, without warning dumps the reader into deep philosophical, moral and religious meanderings and jumps back again in a way that may leave you stunned. This is simply put an amazing book, how Dick weaves so many ideas into one work is remarkable. This book is entertaining, thought-provoking, and absolutely original - it makes my top five favourite list of PKDick's works. It is one of those books that is really quite hard to explain and so, simply must be read! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[dragon04]

Just finished reading a Jack Vance short story/novella compilation.<br /><br />Just started the last book in the War of the Spider Queen series.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[johnsje]

2012: The War for Souls<br />a novel by Whitley Strieber <br />2007<br /><br /><br />Strieber's epic sequel to 2006's The Grays blends equal parts science fiction thriller, supernatural horror and provocative spiritual speculation. As struggling author Wylie Dale works on his latest novel, which revolves around an upcoming date when the earth crosses both the galactic equator and the solar ecliptic—a time that the Maya predicted would mark the cataclysmic end of this age—he begins to uncover evidence that what he's writing about is actually happening on a parallel earth. If nothing is done, on December 21, 2012, gateways will open into this world and reptilian invaders will not only enslave humanity but feast on their succulent souls as well. While Strieber's exploration into the existence and import of the soul isn't exactly profound, it is wildly entertaining. Fans of apocalyptic page-turners like King's The Stand and Niven and Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer will enjoy this ambitious—and audacious—tale as it invokes everything from rectal probes and Ann Coulter to the destruction of the Great Pyramid of Giza<br /><br />Pretty good read. A little out there at times, but I guess thats fine.

 

[synical]

Hmmm...<br /><br />Title: Pandoras Star<br />By: Peter F. Hamilton<br />Published: 2004<br /><br />Not quite finished it yet (1144 pages) but it is by far one of the best I've read in a while, can get a bit confusing at time because he follows the story of about 6 or 7 different people but the list of characters makes it easier to follow.<br /><br />Basically it starts about 40 years from now with the first manned mission to Mars, when they land a group of physics students from California step out of a small wormhole and offer them a hand setting up their equipment =P<br /><br />Skip ahead a couple of centuries, using this technology humans have conquered hundreds of worlds and encountered 2 alien species (Silfen and Raiel) both of which are friendly towards humans, and 'rejuvenation' technology allows humans with enough money to live forever.<br /><br />Not far into the book and Astronomer (eh eh?) witness's a star several thousand light years away vanish, seemingly enveloped by an enormous force field. <br /><br />Of course the main plot of the novel is the first faster-than-light ship being build and traveling to the star in question.<br /><br />A little tedious at times trying to remember who each character is but otherwise a great book and well worth a read!

 

[flynn]

Well I'll not spoil the end even if you're nearly there, I like Peter F. Hamilton but his sex scenes are embaressing!<br /><br />Enjoy Judas Unchained, it's not as good as Pandoras Star. Some of the charactors especially the Hippy Rasta and the UberCop get very very annoying. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

I've read both of those books and, while I was amazed at his previous "Reality Dysfunction" series, I am unenthusiastic about this new one. It's "OK" but not good enough to encourage me to continue buying them. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[fatal291]

mass effect <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" />

 

[flynn]

I probably will read the Dreaming void but I'm not in any rush to. <br /><br />It will not be when I'm in the mood for a great space opera (I'll use Alastair Reynolds for that) it'll be when I'm in the mood for Silly space trash. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[chyten]

"Pandora's Star" really needs to be read twice -- there are dozens of little details which make no sense without some information 100-200 pages further down. By the time you got to relevant info, you had forgotten the detail. That's not really true for "Judas Unchained".<br /><br />Judging by the reviews of "Dreaming Void" (half the book takes place in VR simulation of some pastoral fantasy?), I will wait until it is out in paperback.

 

[tom_hobbes]

<i>Cryptonomicon</i>. It's not really science fiction but it's by notable science fiction author Neil Stephenson so I can at least <i>claim</i> to be able to discuss it here!<br /><br />I'd have trouble doing justice to this exciting and wonderful novel except to say that it is everything you'd expect and more if you've ever read any of his books. A series of narrative threads unwinding from a huge cast of baroque characters and events in world war two which lead to an understanding of culture and history in the present day which <i>must</i> be Ãœber satisfying to the closet or self confessed nerd. A mammoth novel and an astonishingly vast canvas, irresistible and utterly enjoyable. 10 out of 10. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#339966"> I wish I could remember<br /> But my selective memory<br /> Won't let me</font><font size="2" color="#99cc00"> </font><font size="3" color="#339966"><font size="2">- </font></font><font size="1" color="#339966">Mark Oliver Everett</font></p><p> </p> </div>

 

[nimbus]

I'd initialy been disapointed Stephenson would get off futuristic SF, and didn't get further than a few pages into the Baroque era trilogy's first book.. I recently gave it another try, and halfway through it I don't regret it <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Really cool. The stuff he manages in these books is no less great than everything else I've read by him. It's a comfort to know he'll be around and (hopefuly) still writing for a while yet. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[etavaunt]

I got the "dreaming void" and it ROCKS, very interesting society in both "Halves" of the book. Initially you have to follow closely what is spoken of in the "Real" world to get clues as to the structure of the "Virtual" world, but then it begins to come clear.<br /><br />Some excellent ideas again from the fertile mind of Hamilton.<br /><br />I got "The Night Watch" by Sergei Lukyanenko , which is the novel of the recent movie. <br /><br />This book is a MUST for anyone who likes well written, beautifully prose'd detective supernaturals.<br />I can not express to you the pleasure that I got from his writing. Some lovely sentences with a "Johnny Foreigner" lilt in their voice to make it not just a pleasure to read for the pot points, but simply a pleasure to READ the words.<br /><br />And the characterisation and interplay is top class too.<br /><br />Such a great book!. And I never even saw the movie.(Tigger is a big scaredy cat)

 

[Mee_n_Mac]

<font color="yellow">My advice is to read the sequel, Judas Unchained, immediately after you finish Pandora's Star. I had a great deal of difficulty picking up the threads he started in the first book, after waiting more than a year for Judas Unchained to come out.</font><br /><br /><br />What ... had trouble keeping track of a dozen or so weaving story lines ? <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />I had to skim over PS just prior to reading JU so I could get re-spooled on the stories. Besides the sequel is just a continuation of the original story which didn't really having an ending IMO.<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>-----------------------------------------------------</p><p><font color="#ff0000">Ask not what your Forum Software can do do on you,</font></p><p><font color="#ff0000">Ask it to, please for the love of all that's Holy, <strong>STOP</strong> !</font></p> </div>

 

[5stone10]

I just read 'Blind Lake' by Robert Charles Wilson and at some point I will read 'Spin', but decided to begin with this book ----><br /><br />"Blind Lake ... a research facility ... in Minnesota ... that houses one of two "Bose-Einstein Condensate" quantum supercomputers. These machines ... pulled off the extraordinary feat of deriving images from a deep-space telescope array ... peering at a distant world surrounding 47 Ursa Majoris populated by sentient life ... enhanced by O/BEC computers ... to hone in on a single member of this species and follow his activities day to day." - from SF Review<br /><br />A definate "high concept" read.

 

[etavaunt]

I often wonder what we would make of a nature documentory broadcast from some other planet.<br /><br />Seti picking up by some fluke, their equivalent of Sir David Attenborough explaining the life cycle of the red-rock-hopper from the Bltttix argon oxide-slag fields.<br /><br />We might be able to get the visual signal, but their "Spoken" information might be something so weird that we couldn't work it out separately from the other signal. Maybe the "Speaker" on their TV was a pile of blocks that wriggled complexly, and the word content was the relation between the blocks' positions.<br /><br />So we would have video of a creature doing stuff.<br /><br />Would it be as explicable/strange as a cadddis fly life cycle?. <br /><br />It would be INTERESTING though. Aliens visiting could sell us their 90 year old nature TV programmes for the Fort Knoxx!.

 

[jsmoody]

Darwin's Radio - Greg Bear<br /><br />Old human genes thought to be "trash" genes suddenly start causing diseases. Then it's learned they are expressing themselves after a thousands of years in order to create a new species of human.<br /><br />Not a bad book. I like Greg Bear but it puts me off a little how when he introduces a character, the first thing he does is describe them in detail. Boring. I'd rather let their actions and dialog tell me about them.<br /><br />But still, not a bad book. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> No amount of belief makes something a fact" - James Randi </div>

 

[etavaunt]

Have you read Forge of God and Anvel of Stars by Greg Bear, mate?.<br /><br />Super good books. Really enjoyable to me. Just full up with good ideas and excellent charactrers.

 

[5stone10]

I just got Poul Anderson's 'Tau Zero' for xmas, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[yevaud]

I read that many, many years ago. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Title: Life During Wartime<br />Author: Lucius Shepard <br />First Published: 1987<br /><br />It is hard to know where to start with this book. I found elements of it brilliant, but the overall reading experience was a little tedious. <br /><br />This book follows the travails of an American soldier in a central American war who is found to be psychic and eventually decides to join a special PsiCorps unit. He meets a beautiful girl, who may be working for the enemy and is sent after her into the jungle. The book is a complex critique of power politics in the wars of this part of the world. This critique is very cleverly made through the changing opinions, perceptions and ideals of the two central characters who stumble through the war not always realising why and questioning always the basis of their actions.<br /><br />Shephard writes beautiful prose. His rich and lengthy descriptions of the verdant jungle and its warring inhabitants are often unexpected and marvellous. The problem is, he does it again and again until you are falling asleep. Each new writing section seems to start with a page and a half of such writing, and what started out as enjoyable, seems to be become repetitive method writing. <br /><br />This is essentially an anti-war book, and while on occasions, I was deeply moved by his analogies and insights, too often I found it all somewhat self-indulgant on the part of the author as if he were writing for himself rather than a wider audience. I found the very slow evolution of the central character somewhat frustrating, and reading so many sub-sections dealing with the character's personal fantasies and shallow philosophical meanderings, left me bored. <br /><br />A rich, interesting and highly acclaimed book. I do not think there is enough serious SciFi of this kind - so believe it is worth reading. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[johnsje]

Could not agree more. I am 3/4 of the way through and I find myself skimming the chapters that deal with the cop. I don't mind the hippy storyline to much as I think it will play into the overall story more than the other. Will have to see.<br /><br />Overall the book is very good. Looking forward to see how it ends.

 

[jmilsom]

I needed something a bit upbeat after my last book so re-read:<br /><br />Title: The Stars My Destination<br />Author: Alfred Bester<br />First Published: 1956<br /><br />What can one say about this book that hasn't already been said? It is a masterpiece and has been on top ten SciFi lists for the past 50 years for good reason! Bester's story of one man's pursuit of vengeance and ultimately redemption is a wonder to read. He writing style. His presentation of wild future technologies that are so convincingly portrayed that the reader quickly takes them for granted. His fantastic characterisation and incredible imagination combine to produce one of the greatest SciFi trips ever produced. A must read for any SciFi fan and don't forget to strap yourself in!!!! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[astralith]

Has anyone read Debatable Space by Philip Palmer? It's new. It's supposed to have some kind of interesting FTL system based on real world physics ('damn-it Jim! I'm an author not a physicist!'). I'd like to know what he came up with but I have little time to read a novel. Anyone?