Quoting D_Davis (view post)
Your preference lies with "City" though, right?
I have that one on my shelf too and I will definitely be reading it sometime this year, as well.
Your preference lies with "City" though, right?
I have that one on my shelf too and I will definitely be reading it sometime this year, as well.
Way Station blows City away. There are parts of City that are great, but the whole thing is not.
Way Station is a Simak's masterpiece by a huge margin.
As far as SF novels featuring dogs go, I greatly prefer Sirius over City; I also prefer Sirius over Way Station.
BTW, I picked up Penpal.
Next read is "The Last Days of Krypton" by Kevin J. Anderson.
It's supposed to be a pretty great epic sci-fi story.
I started reading "The Last Days of Krypton" last night, and I think I may give up on it pretty quickly.
It's almost entirely sci-fi techno babble, which I find incredibly uninteresting and, to be honest, pretty silly.
"He loads the galvanizer into the forward thrust magnetizer, turns the dial to 0.56243 and begins calibrating the quicksilver mega zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
I just can't get anything out of that kind of writing.
That sounds exactly like the kind of SF I don't like.
Officially gave up on it today. Read about 1/4 of it and I just don't have enough interest to keep going.
I hate giving up on a book, but I don't want to lose steam in my reading run.
Good for you. The little I read up on it sounded....less than time-worthy.
I typically stay away from expanded-universe franchise books, unless the author is outstanding - like Joe R. Lansdale's Batman novel.
I'm really digging The Cybernetic Brains. Over the years, Raymond F. Jones has become one of my favorite authors of classic SF. I've read one other novel, The Non-Statistical Man, and it, too, is very good. This is old school SF - the SF of big ideas. In The Cybernetic Brains, Jones creates a world in which people can volunteer to have their brains harvested upon death to be plugged into computers to control all manner of machines and devices for the living, thus making it possible for humanity to live without doing much work. But what only the top echelon of scientists and politicians know is that the brains aren't mindless things - they people they belong to go on living, trapped in a cyber-hell from which they cannot escape; they live out their tortured existences trapped in a constant state of slavery, without the benefit of their senses. All they can do is think. Kind of a creepy concept, and Jones expands upon it in his no-frills style; It's workman as can be, but also entirely compelling.
I picked up this book called "Blind Sight" that sounds fascinating.
I may take a mini-break from my horror run and read this next (when I'm done "My Work Is Not Yet Done").
The Cybernetic Brains, by Raymond F. Jones
Cool premise, solid execution. The only reason I don't rate it higher are its confused political and social messages. At first it seems like a right-winger book railing against the welfare state, but then it starts railing against corporations and capitalism. It never really takes a side, and loses its edge a bit. What could have been a good little piece of social-polical SF ends up being just a solid pot-boiling thriller. Nothing wrong with that, and Jones continues to impress me with his no nonsense style
****
Started Delany's Dhalgren, the second entry into my long and hard project.
About 30 pages in, and I'm loving it. Totally my kind of thing - it's weird, mysterious, ambiguous and mythological.
DD, not surprised you dig "Dhalgren." Need to get my hands on another copy. Read the first chapter-ish & loved it. Not sure if I have the stamina to get through a novel's worth of at that kind of prose, though.
Have you read Ted Chiang? "Story of Your Life & Others." A collection of shorts.
Also, any thoughts on Jeff Noon's "Vurt"? I don't usually go for early 90s cyberpunk, but this is pretty wild.
I am loving, I mean LOVING Dhalgren. A little over 1/2 finished, and at this point I'm completely in the "masterpiece" camp. It's speaking directly to my soul in a profound way; it's exactly the book I need to be reading at this exact moment in my life. It's easy to see why Theodore Sturgeon loved it so much, for it is a heart-felt story about humanity in all of our capacity to do good and evil, to love and to hate, and to create and destroy. For most of the book, the prose and style is very straightforward. It's one of the most vivid books I've ever read. And about once per chapter, Delany goes into this super hardcore, stream of conscious prose mode in which he throws down some of the most beautiful writing I've ever read.
I have Ted Chiang's first collection of short stories, but haven't read it yet - yes, that's the one.
Never read Jeff Noon - one of those guys who's books I always see, but never pick up. I've heard good things, though.
This "Dhalgren" novel you speak of sounds pretty damn cool. I've been in the mood to read some science fiction again -- got a bunch sitting on my shelf. Which ones would you recommend first guys?
Odd John/Sirius by Stapledon
Dr. Bloodmoney by PKD
Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
A Wizard of Earthsea by Le Guin
Damn! All of those are amazing!
In my order of preference:
Sirius
Dr. Bloodmoney
Earthsea
God
Read this one a couple of years ago and if I remember correctly, the author is also Canadian which is cool since I have yet to come across any talented science fiction writers from our home turf. Robert J. Sawyer comes to mind although I have only read Flashforward which is pretty decent. Getting back to Blind Sight, it is one of those hardcore SF novels that was a little difficult to get into at first with all of its technical jargon, physics, etc but the ideas presented were compelling enough to keep me interested. The author deals with a lot of complex philosophical concepts such as consciousness and morality but I found the story-telling weak with flat characters. He's a good writer but his prose is a little too clinical for my tastes.
Sweet, thanks Davis. I'll let you know what I think about "Sirius" whenever I get around to finishing it sometime this week.
I picked up an original print of Dr. Bloodmoney during its first publication (1965?) for $10 at a used book store a few years ago but have been afraid to take it out of the package ever since. It seemed like a rare find.
@DD - Had the same experience with Noon. Have seen his books around forever but never picked up a copy. Changed after I read this article about him in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/20...ife-in-writing
@Marley - Haven't read all those, but I'd recommend "Bloodmoney" at some point if that's what you have on hand.
I think I will too, especially with how much more I'm enjoying experimental fiction these days.
Bloodmoney might actually be PKD's secret masterpiece. It is one of the most unique books he wrote; it has a very different atmosphere than many of his other books, and also contains his largest and most varied cast of characters. It really is something else.
Almost finished China Mieville's Embassytown. It is awesome. Clear influence of Delaney's Babel-17, D_Davis: Asian female protagonist, central focus on language issues between humans and Alien races. Mieville is fantastic: thematically dense, unpredictably plotted genre works with impeccable prose. What more could you want?
I own Dhalgren, the same copy you posted up thread. Should read it at some point.
Winston, have you read anything else from Mievelle? Always wanted to check him out, especially "City and the City." Heard some things that his books are less about plot & more about ideas. Confirm/ deny?
The City and the City is incredible and expertly plotted. Not sure where that criticism comes from.
I've been meaning to give China another chance. I tried Perdidio Street Station many years ago, and it didn't click with me. I'm sure I'd get along a lot more with him now, especially since he and I like so many of the same authors and novels.
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