Ben's comments
(member since Dec 05, 2007)
Ben's comments from the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group.
(showing 1-20 of 255)
*** Potential Spoilers here ***Though not blatantly SF, I think it is safe to call it SF. There are toxin-eating bio-engineered germs that end up getting out of control. I think that's enough for me.
Anathem is incredible. I can't imagine it not winning the Hugo this year. Remember to be patient with it as the first 120 or so pages are difficult.
Winners just announced (finalists here)Science Fiction Novel: Anathem, Neal Stephenson (Atlantic UK, Morrow)
Fantasy Novel: Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt)
First Novel: Singularity’s Ring, Paul Melko (Tor)
Young-Adult Book: The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins, Bloomsbury)
Novella: “Pretty Monsters”, Kelly Link (Pretty Monsters)
Novelette: “Pump Six”, Paolo Bacigalupi (Pump Six and Other Stories)
Short Story: “Exhalation”, Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
Anthology: The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s)
Collection: Pump Six and Other Stories, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books)
Non-Fiction/Art Book: P. Craig Russell, Coraline: The Graphic Novel, Neil Gaiman, adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell (HarperCollins)
Editor: Ellen Datlow
Artist: Michael Whelan
Magazine: F&SF
Publisher: Tor
Here's an article I read a while back that hits on the heart of this theme - authors who write science fiction but are not "science fiction" authors. It also has a few good suggestions.http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblo...
Lots of good ones to choose from, but here's mine:
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
This book is one of the ones mentioned in the above article. While not immediately identifiable as science fiction, several science fiction tropes play big roles.
Jeff wrote: "I've never thought that science and "religion" had to be mutually exclusive"No, but they don't exactly mesh well together. People deal with the descrepencies in a lot of different ways. Some just ignore the science or say it is wrong or some try to bend the two into something that makes sense in their head. Some people, like me, aren't able to make the two paradigms coexist.
No one has mentioned dinosaurs? Of course, my personal time machine would have stealth mode so I wouldn't have to worry about being eaten.
I think I can buy it a bit more than you guys. She's basically a naïve little girl who meets a strange extraordinary guy that can travel through time. I think that influence would be pretty great.
I really enjoyed The Time Machine and (to a lesser degree) the "sequel" The Time Ships. I was also quite surprised at how much I enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife.And of course, there's my all time favorite book, Slaughterhouse-Five.
I recently listened to the audio book and thought it was a really fun book. Nothing really new or great but enjoyable. I really liked the far-future stuff. Sort of a lighter version of Time Ships by Stephen Baxter.
That's good news. Too bad that was the worst of the three so far.
Seinfeld wouldn't have made it in today's TV. It basically had two seasons of bad ratings and reworkings before it caught on.
Still liking it after the 2nd show but the ratings were way down so I expect it to not last long. I'll keep watching until the end.I'm not caring for the tech guy yet. Seems he is supposed to be the Xander or Wash of the crew but he isn't pulling it off.
I'd love to see Joss get a chance to do something on HBO or Showtime. It'll never happen, though.
I've now read two of McCarthy's novels since The Road.All the Pretty Horses was quite enjoyable but still mostly in the same style. Kind of like a Hemingway western. Pretty brutal but nothing like The Road.
Blood Meridian is the most disturbing book I could ever imagine. It is mostly about the Glanton Gang, which was a real gang of pre-civil war scalphunters. Killing and maiming and guts and every type of violence you could imagine. I think I enjoyed reading about the book more than I did the book itself. Add in that McCarthy has really never done an interview or answered questions about the book so there are some really interesting discussions on different interpretations.
Started off slow but I liked it by the end. It did not do well in the ratings and the general opinion appears to be pretty negative so the chances of it lasting more than a few weeks are pretty slim :(
I liked the end of chapter text. I think it was a very clever and entertaining method of providing background information on the world.The pirate comic annoyed me a bit at first. I think I skimmed it until I realized that it was going to keep going. I'm sure you can make many connections with it and the real storyline.
I've not watched it but I did watch the British version which I really liked. If anyone's seen both, I'd be interested in hearing how the new one compares.
I think it has more in common with Lucifer's Hammer. The Road could almost be a first person account within that book, but probably a lot later on since everything has already died off.
Cool, just got my other four. Thanks Nick.
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