I haven't read Old Twentieth.
Haven't heard too many good things about later-period Haldeman, but his early stuff is great, especially The Forever War and Mindbridge, both of which are spectacular. Many of his early short stories are also great.
Started reading Dick's The Crack in Space. Really good so far. The political angle is interesting, and mirrors a lot of what is going on in American politics now. And as good as it is to be reading Dick again, it is also a little sad because there is now one less book left of his for me to read for the first time.
Quoting D_Davis (view post)
I really, really liked this one. I was surprised because of the reviews I've read, it seems to be considered lower-tier Dick.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I remember you liking it. So far, I'd place it mid-tier. It's reminding me a bit of Our Friends From Frolic 8, in that it seems to be more political in nature.
This is a little off-topic, but am I the only one who thinks Orson Scott Card is probably gay? It wouldn't be enough to assume that based only on his obvious homophobia in real life (various works of non-fiction he's written and his current position on the board of directors of the National Organization for Marriage), but he's let quite a few things slip into his fiction that makes me very suspicious. He's written several gay characters and they always end up getting married to a woman and having children. Obviously, he believes homosexuality is wrong, but he understands that some people are not attracted to the opposite sex. But to him, that's not important compared to the need for all human beings to reproduce, so even if you're gay, you should get married and have kids. It's such an obsession of his that I wonder if he's writing from experience. Obviously I don't know for sure, but my gaydar is going crazy when I read him.
I guess I shouldn't say I won't read him...
I have never read anything by him, and I probably won't. For a couple of reasons.
There are so many other authors and books out there that I want to read that I don't really feel the need to read Card. And because he is kind of an ass, it's easy for me to not really care. I just thing there are many other authors and books out there more worthy of my time.
"Ender's Game" is a masterpiece.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I find myself curiously drawn to Orson Scott Card, because I think he and I have many of the same interests, but our conclusions are pretty much polar opposites. Every time I read something of his, I just end up being annoyed.
I really dislike that most of his protagonists are godlike supermen.
I just ordered Sturgeon's More Than Human. I'm really excited to read this, especially after seeing some of the praise in this thread.
I also recently got:
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (which will be my first Heinlein)
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (my second PKD)
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (I enjoyed Gateway)
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (I only recently read Hitchhiker's Guide)
Such a good book, and Sturgeon is an amazing author. So good. He's got so much stuff to read, too, so if you dig him you'll be busy for a long, long time.
Some very cool purchases there, dude!
Hope you enjoy "More Than Human" as much as I did. It's a profound, brilliant piece of work. I am still thinking about it almost daily, and I read it like 3 months ago.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Just read The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.
Fucking awesome book. So twisted, yet so quiessential Dick.
Sure why not?
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Rian Johnson) - 9
STRONGER (David Gordon Green) - 6
THE DISASTER ARTIST (James Franco) - 7
THE FLORIDA PROJECT (Sean Baker) - 9
LADY BIRD (Greta Gerwig) - 8
"Hitchcock is really bad at suspense."
- Stay Puft
Ender's Game made me think that Orson Scott Card is attracted to males of the prepubescent variety in real life.
Yeah. I think it sums up the Phildickian elements better and more completely than any of his other books. It touches upon everything from the authenticity of human emotion, to the effects of drugs, and his fascination with religion.
There is a very good reason why I usually consider it my number one SF book.
Just finished Zamyatin's We. Loved it. I think I prefer the dystopian/political science fiction books to the harder sciencey stuff.
I've heard a ton of good stuff about this.
New Gene Wolfe book out! Just picked up a copy today from the library.
ritch:
"Modern weapons can defend freedom, civilization, and life only by annihilating them. Security in military language means the ability to do away with the Earth."
-Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society
Nice - hope it's good for you.New Gene Wolfe book out! Just picked up a copy today from the library.
I'm almost halfway through it. It's decent so far, but it feels a bit too much like his "An Evil Guest" for my taste. Too dialogue-heavy.
"Modern weapons can defend freedom, civilization, and life only by annihilating them. Security in military language means the ability to do away with the Earth."
-Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society
So Stranger in a Strange Land. Good, but not exactly greasing my gears. I was hoping the story would be more about Valentine Michael Smith, the man from Mars, less about Jubal Harshaw, the infallible old fountain of wisdom.
Man, Version 43 is totally wild. It is not, by any stretch, a great or sophisticated book, but it is immensely entertaining. Palmer takes bits and pieces from The Stainless Steel Rat and The Stars My Destination, and adds in some cyberpunk and noirpunk, and mixes it with a ton of ultra-violence, snappy dialog, sex, cursing, and general crassness to create something that is simultaneously juvenile and thought-provoking. There is some inventive use of creative typography to illustrate the inner-workings of a hive mind, and the book's laid out in a way that helps strengthen the narrative. You see, the main character is a cyborg cop who is constantly dieing and re-downloading his consciousness into a new body. The first section in the book is called The Cop: Version 43. And each subsequent cop section has a new version number. At about 1/2 finished I am a little worried that it will be too long; I am wondering how Palmer can keep up the series of ever-escalating escapades for another 250 pages, but I am enjoying the book a great deal.
At a little over 1/2 through Version 43, the plot and characters become extremely interesting and fascinating. Palmer continues to peal the layers of the onion-like conspiracy away to reveal something really cool. There are two major plot threads weaving their way throughout the novel, and I am very curious and excited to see how they collide, because collide they surely will. If I've learned anything it's that Palmer likes to play the escalation game - I'm sure things are going to wildly off the charts come the novel's conclusion.
This book has gone from pretty good and cool, to highly recommended. I will definitely be checking out his other work in the future.
For Davis.
A map of the history of science fiction.
...and the milk's in me.
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