what sci-fi/fantasy books are you reading?

[Dawg]

OK - Shiningstar, do not - I repeat, DO NOT jump from "Dune" to "Chapterhouse Dune". There's too much in the middle. With Herbert, take them in order: Dune, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, and so on. Each builds on the last. I've been reading them since before High School (and that was a long time ago). I understand his son's prequel books aren't as good, but not bad.

Ditto Lensmen. E.E. "Doc" Smith is one of my favorites. Don't jump around on those, either, take them in order. Hopelessly dated, yes, but still a fun read. And don't forget the stand alone "Vortex Blaster" (or "Masters of the Vortex"). There are sequel books I've read, but they're not nearly as good.

McCaffrey is a perennial favorite of mine - Pern (I've read them all, and many more than once), the shellpeople books (Ship Who Sang, City Who Fought, etc.), Crystal Singer series.

A super favorite of mine: Janet Kagan. She wrote the book called "Uhura's Song" in the book series for ST:TOS (and it's one of the better ones, I think - and I used to have them all). She also did a book called Miribile, which is a series of novellas set in the same time and place. My all-time favorite of hers, though (and one of my all time favorite books, period) is "Hellspark". I recommend it without reservation.

If you like pretty much formula space opera stuff, though, there's a newer author out named Mike Sheppard (sp?), who has a book out now called "Kris Longknife, Mutineer". It's the first of a trilogy (next book is due out soon). I read it because I've met the guy a couple of times, and it turned out pretty good.

My favorite Heinlien is "Stranger in a Strange Land". Very powerful.

I'm reading Arthur C. Clarke right now - the "2001 - A Space Odyssey" series.

There's no doubt more I could add to this, but I'm still at work (it's not even lunchtime yet) so that's enough for now.



I am
Dawg

[unowhoandwhy]

Hey Rowan, I definitely object to portrayal of women in scifi sometimes, too, but give Heinlein another chance. If you just remind yourself of when the books were written you will realize that he was actually ahead of his time in portraying strong women. You might try "The Number of the Beast" first as that has a lot of strong women in it, including a car named "Gay Deceiver".

[unowhoandwhy]

One of the fantasy books I loved in high school was "The Blue Sword" by Robin McKinley. Talk about a kicka$$ girl blasting stereotypes! I read it so many times that the cover disintegrated and the pages came loose and I had to buy the hardcover version. The sequel was also enjoyable, but didn't capture my imagination the way the first book did.

[bsg1fan1975]

Here's a suggestion. Read "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series. I read the first one as a junior in high school and loved it. Gonna get the entire series when I have the chance.

[Rowan]

Oh boy I can't wait for summer! so I can start reading for the pleasure of it again and not because I have to ...thank you unowhoandwhy, will check out your suggestions... I love this thread so many ideas from everyone. I'm a voracious reader, used to read a book a day in highschool, not that focused anymore though like to savour my worlds more now, make 'em last a little longer...althought I've read all of Crys's mini fan fic during this semester instead of reading nursig stuff , bad girl!

Dawg I forgot about the shell people I really liked those ones too although the crystal singer, doona, dinosaur, sassinack etc don't grab me as much.

shiningstar I completely agree with Dawg about Dune you have to read it in order you will never be able to appreciate/enjoy it if you don't and it will spoil the others.

[unowhoandwhy]

Loved the whole Hitchhiker series! So long and thanks for all the fish!

Originally Posted by Rowan

Well maybe I should give Heinlein another chance then... I tried to read him in my early 20's but I didn't like the way women were portrayed but I was a lot more militant back then , which one would you guys recomend I try knowing how I feel?

Not easy to answer. Heinlein was a very masculine writer, and very conservative. So much so that Paul Verhoeven felt it proper to portray the earth of Starship Troopers as fascist. I will never forgive him for ruining a potentially great movie by doing that, but I do sort of understand why some people would think that way.

However, Heinlein did consciously experiment with the female viewpoint by writing some books with female protagonists. "Podkayne of Mars" comes to mind. Later on, in his "dirty old man" stage late in life, he did some very free experimenting with sex roles, including one story with a man shifted into a woman's body. Never read it, don't remember the title, but I am pretty sure it was more titillating than educational.

His BEST books, IMHO, were Stranger in a Strange Land, and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. His most FUN books to read were his juvenile novels written in the 50's. His strength is he was a great storyteller. His great weakness is that sometimes he seemed to have no better idea how to end a story than you, the reader, did.

Check out a few from the library, and see if you can get interested. If not, try Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonrider" tales. My youngest daughter--now a college freshman--positively loves them.

If you like Doc Smith, the Lensman stories are OK, but his four Skylark of Space novels are even better, IMO. Skylark was written earlier, so there is more of a sense of discovery and development. Just plain more fun. But don't do what I did. Be sure to read them in proper order: Skylark of Space, Skylark III, Skylark of Valeron, and Skylark DuQuesne.

[Rowan]

Thanks Thomasbombadil

I appreciate that information, I would like to give an author that is liked by so many a good chance but if I land on a couple of the wrong books to start with then I'm likely to cement my opinion of him so I appreciate you giving me those suggestions! I think I've read just about *everything* that Anne has written, and the world of pern is definitely my favorite of her worlds!I have a passion for dragons!

[braxiss]

Originally Posted by unowhoandwhy

And I will carry the motion that anything by Robert Heinlein is the best. I still quote from "The Number of the Beast" and I haven't read it in 10 years.

number of the beast is one of my favorites, have you read job:a comedy of justice?

I don't mind Heinlein. Most of my friends believe he was a leader in the way he portrayed women. I don't. I think he got it wrong on many occasions. Having said that I have enjoyed his books particularly Stranger in a strange land.

[bsg1fan1975]

Originally Posted by unowhoandwhy

Loved the whole Hitchhiker series! So long and thanks for all the fish!

and remember the Earth is "Mostly Harmless" :laugh:

Originally Posted by kat

I don't mind Heinlein. Most of my friends believe he was a leader in the way he portrayed women. I don't. I think he got it wrong on many occasions. Having said that I have enjoyed his books particularly Stranger in a strange land.

It's been so long since I read "Podkayne" that I don't even remember it. Not having any real frame of reference at that time, I didn't know whether Heinlein succeeded in capturing a female viewpoint. I would be interested in knowing, from the ladies, whether he did an acceptable job (allowing for the fact that it was written 50 years ago.) Kat doesn't seem to think so. Why?

[Kester Pelagius]

Originally Posted by skippercollecto

P.S. Part of the reason I am asking is that I moderate a sci-fi fantasy book discussion group at the local Borders, and am always looking for suggestions for novels to read.

In that case, if you haven't already, I would suggest reading- and comparing notes on the similarities in premise- the following novels/series:

C.J. Cherryh: "Cloud's Rider", sequel is "Rider at the Gate"

vs.

Anne McCaffrey's: Dragonriders of Pern series of novels, or at least the first one in the series anyway.


Might make for an interesting discussion.

[unowhoandwhy]

Originally Posted by Thomasbombadil

If you like Doc Smith, the Lensman stories are OK, but his four Skylark of Space novels are even better, IMO.

Thanks, Thomas, I will check those out when I get a chance.

[Rowan]

My issue with male writers is not so much if they succeed in capturing the womans viewpoint , but how a woman is portrayed as in is she just there as eye candy or is she more substantive. Do the male characters leer at her feminin form all the time? is she physically described in voluptuous terms ? I'm trying to use polite language here. For instance I've read 4 or 5 of piers anthony and his way of talking about women really turns me off I can't enjoy the story it's that distracting for me!

[unowhoandwhy]

Originally Posted by braxiss

number of the beast is one of my favorites, have you read job:a comedy of justice?

Yes, but you'd have to refresh my memory if you wanted to talk plot points, it's been a while. I have read almost every Heinlein novel and most of his short stories.

Actually, when I was in high school I wrote a 27 page essay about Heinlein. It was only supposed to be 10-12 pages, but I got carried away.

OK, class, who can tell me what TANSTAAFL!! means and why did Heinlein like the expression so much?
:light:

[Rowan]

TANSTAAFL /tan'stah-fl/ [acronym, from Robert Heinlein's classic "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress".] "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch", often invoked when someone is balking at the prospect of using an unpleasantly heavyweight technique, or at the poor quality of some piece of software, or at the signal-to-noise ratio of unmoderated Usenet newsgroups. "What? Don't tell me I have to implement a database back end to get my address book program to work!" "Well, TANSTAAFL you know." This phrase owes some of its popularity to the high concentration of science-fiction fans and political libertarians in hackerdom (see Appendix B for discussion).

Very good, Miss Rowan. Now for the second part: why did Mister Heinlein, in particular, like the expression so much? Come, you hinted at the answer. Expound, please!

[Rowan]

Why thank you Sir, actually I have no idea I read only part of one of his books when I was about 24 and he turned me off of him with his attitude towards women so I've never read any more , I'm just good at using the net for info, thats all someone else is going to have to answer that

OK, would anybody else like to add something? There are reasons why Mr. Heinlein was so popular with many of his most devoted readers.

[braxiss]

Originally Posted by Thomasbombadil

OK, would anybody else like to add something? There are reasons why Mr. Heinlein was so popular with many of his most devoted readers.

heilein was a writer that could make his story's come alive.

no matter how outrageus the plot, he could make you belive,

he also made you think, i always stop and question his writings.

he is the best when it comes to sci-fi

[Dawg]

Didn't Heinlein do "Time Enough for Love"? Loved that book, and mostly for the combined sayings of Lazarus Long. "Always store beer in a dark place." Brilliant!

I am
Dawg

[Rowan]

I really loved Contact by Carl Sagan, read it out loud to each other (me and boyfriend) just before bed, many many years ago... then I saw the movie, and love that , then I read the book again and didn't like it half as much a s the movie . That would be a first for me!

Originally Posted by braxiss

heilein was a writer that could make his story's come alive.
no matter how outrageus the plot, he could make you belive,
he also made you think, i always stop and question his writings.
he is the best when it comes to sci-fi

Excellent answers! And when you add to his story-telling talents the fact that he was a PREACHER, well, then you have somebody who can lead a very vocal choir.

No, I don't mean a church preacher. I mean a guy who believed in individual freedom and responsibility so fervently that he would probably grump today that Rush Limbaugh is a weenie. He used his stories to preach what he believed. To him, TANSTAAFL (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) meant that nobody ever gets something for nothing. Every lunch is paid for by somebody. Don't ask somebody else to pay for the lunch that you eat.

He was a libertarian at heart. If you wanna do something, go ahead and do it so long as it doesn't hurt me. But if you exercise your freedom and do something really stupid, don't expect me to come along and bail you out. The moon is a harsh mistress, and if you don't treat her with respect, she will kill you and I am not going to try to stop her.

That's why people like Paul Verhoeven think that Heinlein was a fascist. He wasn't. He was a libertarian.

Originally Posted by Thomasbombadil

It's been so long since I read "Podkayne" that I don't even remember it. Not having any real frame of reference at that time, I didn't know whether Heinlein succeeded in capturing a female viewpoint. I would be interested in knowing, from the ladies, whether he did an acceptable job (allowing for the fact that it was written 50 years ago.) Kat doesn't seem to think so. Why?

He got the psychology wrong on some pretty key elements. I felt his potrayal of Friday was seriously flawed. He tried to tackle some major themes and at the time their was little discussion regarding anything sexual. I have had too many friends so enthrallled by Heilein that it mutes the discussion that his themes started. So its great that he tried, not so great that he was put on such a pedistal by some fans that it ended the discussion before it could really begin.

[braxiss]

Originally Posted by Dawg

Didn't Heinlein do "Time Enough for Love"? Loved that book, and mostly for the combined sayings of Lazarus Long. "Always store beer in a dark place." Brilliant!

I am
Dawg

time enough for love

just finished it a few months back, great book great charactors

[kitty]

Has anyone read Terry Pratchett's Disc world series?

[braxiss]

Originally Posted by kat

He got the psychology wrong on some pretty key elements. I felt his potrayal of Friday was seriously flawed. He tried to tackle some major themes and at the time their was little discussion regarding anything sexual. I have had too many friends so enthrallled by Heilein that it mutes the discussion that his themes started. So its great that he tried, not so great that he was put on such a pedistal by some fans that it ended the discussion before it could really begin.

heinlien is a geniuess and he should be credited for his writing's. the thing you have to understand is that he lived in a time when women weren't out in the work force, a time when women were "suppose to stay home and be molly homemaker". he did the best he know how to put women front and center and put them as thr hero's. yes he fell short in some places and no he's not perfect, but in his defence his writing's opened the door to the equality of men and women that we enjoy today in all aspects of media.