Kernos's comments (member since Aug 17, 2009)

Kernos's comments from the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group.

For me the experiences are different. I have trouble with audio books and really do not like them. I like to see the words, especially weird names and languages. I do not like someone else to decide how they should be pronounced for me. Similarly, I do not like others deciding how a sentence should be read, which words emphasized, what tone is used etc. And, the Gods forbid they add music to force my emotions.

I have enjoyed listening to Lord of the Rings while driving on a trip, but I had read it multiple times before, so had already formed my impressions.

I have used 'audiobooks' to good effect. This dates me, but when in college I took a semester of Shakespeare and we did a play a week, IIRC. I would check out an album of LPs and would read the plays while listening to a performance. For someone new to Shakespeare this made my understanding of the reading a play much better. Of course today you could do the same by watching some DVD, but it would be more difficult (I think) to read along without distractions.

I too like Mistborn, but I think I enjoyed Sanderson's Elantris and it's Aons even more. There is a lot more to tell of that world.

I also thought Peter V. Brett's The Warded Man provided a fascinating exposition on the concept of wards. And its sequel The Desert Spear can now be pre-ordered. Let's have a discussion in preparation for the sequel!

Ria, my 9 y/o grand daughter loves to read. And, joy!, loves getting books for Christmas. She has read all of Harry Potter and I have started her on Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but would like to introduce her to A Science Fiction series. In my day I read Tom Corbett and Tom Swift books, but think these are dated and are written for boys.

Does anyone have suggestions for a SF book series for a 9 to 11 y/o, advanced reader for age.

I was also thinking of getting her a Kindle, but being old fashioned, re books, wonder if that is a good idea for kids. Do you think Kindle's are a good idea for a 9 y/o and are there lots of kids books available for the Kindle (I have never seen one)?

TIA,

Bill

I have been a continuous member since the mid-1950's when my parents let me join.

I agree, the offerings have degraded from my point of view. There is way too much fantasy and vampire romances (aka penny dreadfuls, dime novels... ) should be banned from SFBC. And can the comics or put them in a supplement.

That said, I buy the occasional omnibus or novels that cannot be gotten in hardcover anywhere else. I also use them as a research tool for new stuff I have not heard of. I no longer have to buy anything or opt-out, so this is all no problem.

I do understand that they need a broader appeal to survive. I have tried to find the early history of the SFBC, when it broke off from BOMC, its 1st selections etc, but have failed.

It is really more like "V" the miniseries than WOW.

@Ben The fact that the Martians invaded Britain, a tiny island nation, doesn't make much sense

But it was not a "tiny island nation", in Well's time it was the world's preëminent Empire upon which the Sun never set.

WOW took place largely in Well's neighborhood when he wrote the book. Writing about what one is familiar is a reasonable and familiar technique. Also at the time the book was written (1897), the British Empire, while showing many signs of collapse was The Big Power in the world, certainly to Britons. I think it quite understandable that most of the action took place in Britain. It is not a problem to me. If I were a Martian, I would take out The Big Power 1st.

Invasion literature was a popular genre in Britain at the time, so one cannot really argue against the 'metaphor'. But personally, I, like Tolkien dislike metaphor or allegory, and take this work as it is presented. It is a lot more fun than thinking I am reading everyday or historical politics. Get me away from reality :-)

I think the movies made in '53 and this century answer your last question in part. NY and LA are invaded (of course). In '53 the canals were still on Mars, so invading Martians were a possibility. Today the canals have disappeared: no water, no Martians. The term 'Martians' has become synonymous to 'extraterrestrials' to many people, so we can forgive its use today. I also think a lot of people today would argue against WOW because it is not 'hard' SF.

When reading such fiction, one must place oneself in the mindset and cultural context of the time the work was written. It takes practice and some research, but makes for a better experience, IMO.

Thanks Jon.

I am in the middle of the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson and then will start the Colossus trilogy by D. F. Jones

The 3rd book of the latter, Colossus and the Crab, I could only find in a mass market PB version. I could only find a HC omnibus edition, unavailable on my online, used book sources. I have 2 nice, used HC's in mylar and a dumpy PB to read. I hate that! :-(

PS, Jon. How do you get the book image link into these comments?

I use BookFinder.com to search for used books if I cannot find a good deal on Amazon; then lastly. eBay. BookFinder includes AbeBooks, Alibris, Amajon and many others.

My big rant about used hardcover booksellers is so many don't mention the dust jacket.

Does anyone know of other used book meta-search engines, besides BookFinder?

I am a Physician and a card carrying Libertarian, like Wilson. Despite these, I am a strong supporter of a single payor health care system. How would Wilson revamp the outrageous US health care system?

I still have every book I have ever owned since I was 1st given a SF book in the 5th grade, Stand By For Mars a Tom Corbett Space Cadet novel by Carey Rockwell in the 4th grade. It was a hardback and new on the shelves then. (I'm going to have to put on my Librarian hat and add the original Hardcovers of this series to goodreads...)

A couple of years later I joined the Science Fiction Book Club and have been a member ever since. I have many boxes of books I have not seen in many years, but am now building a library at home to hold them all. Nearly all are hardcovers, except for some series (like Star Trek which are mostly only paperback). I now have trouble reading mass market PBs, so only buy hardcovers.

Amazon has been a joy for me, and I signed on at its inception. I now buy used Hardcovers and generally pick an author and read all their work in order. The used hard covers are often cheaper than a new MMPB, even with shipping. I go for ex-library in good-very good condition with mylar covers. I only get new HC as pre-orders of series I must read.

I will spend some money for favorite books in 1st or near 1st editions with DJ's if I can find one. I am not a condition freak. I just love to be surround by shelves and stacks of books.

I do not know how many books I have. I only put things I have read in the last 6 years that were in my home database on Goodreads and these primarily fiction. My to be read books now take 2 - 5 shelve book cases which will be added as I read them. I have many hobby and avocation books and a collection of old medical books too. I am not sure if Goodreads is a good place for these?

Chris wrote: "I'll agree with Brooke that all the anti-heroes don't really fit this category. They're more their own category. I see Kvothe, Thomas Covenant, Jimmy the Hand, and Fafhrd & the Mouser as anti-heroe..."

I dont agree, which is probably related to definitions. So, how would you differentiate a protagonist as villain and anti-hero?

And, while I am at it, I'll 2nd The Word for World is Forest, if only because it is on my To Be Read list and Ursula Le Guin never disappoints. [Though I consider her works SF, I would not quibble)

I was attracted to Jimmy the Hand who wast introduced in the 1st book of Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga, 1st trilogy: Magician.

Also attractive is Kvothe, villain and hero of -Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind Day 1 of The Kingkiller Chronicle.

And, the incomparable tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, the 1st being Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber

Then there is Livak from Juliet McKenna's First Tale of Einarinn, The Thief's Gamble

I like both. Shorter stand-a-lone novels that are well written with great stories and at least 1 well developed character.

But I also love large book series, including one story written in multiple volumes, though I would rather have one 900 page book, than three 300 page books, and long series like Dune, Cherryh's Foreigner series or Company wars series. Pern is a good exanple for Fantasy of what I like. There are many others. Some series, some trilogies. A real favorite is reading all the Pip and Flinx books as a single book.

I think the trilogy effect is more prominent in Fantasy than SF. What I do not like are common derivative series and what I call the Robt Jordan effect. Numerous volumes, not going anywhere, written only as money makers without regard to art.

Another thing is the number of books. I have 177 Star Wars books in my database, not including comics and graphic novels by 30+ authors published over 30+ plus years and counting. And with the new The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia in hand, the next time I do a complete read thru of all novels, I am going to annotate the series for myself.

My spouse collects Star Trek novels and I have 570 novels in my database so far. I have only read those available in hardcover, about 42, so do not have a sense at all if the Star Trek universe has been more tightly controlled regarding canon than Star Wars. Also I have no idea of how to organize the reading of all these books. Does anyone have a sense of this?

I will finish up Multireal tonight, wishing that book 3 of the trilogy was written.

And then a treat! I finally found an affordable hardcover copy of When Worlds Collide / After Worlds Collide, this an omnibus edition of these 2 classics.

After that, I am not sure. I need to reorganize my physical to be read bookshelves to see what I have. I'm in the mood for something long and complex.

Kevis,

It is just personal preference, I think. I too was there in '77 for opening day and have been escaping to their galaxy ever since. When I read a novel I'm there then and dont look forward or back. Just fun, not serious literature.

@Kevis

I have just read all of the Star Wars books including the juvies (not comics or other ephemera) in timeline order (not publication order) and I totally disagree. I have been surprised that overall the books have been able to maintain consistency.

I will not quibble over minutia. I find re-visiting the Star Wars universe a joy and just wish they could write new ones faster!