Jeff's comments (member since Feb 22, 2008)

Jeff's comments from the Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library group.

Try The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison.

Lori, I felt the same way about Stephen King before I read some of his books. The Stand is really great and there are some others that I would not put in the category of horror- they are more Fantasy or SCI-FI:The Talisman, Black House,(These two are co-authored with Peter Straub, The Dark Tower series, The Eyes of The Dragon, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile series. I'm like you -I don't really like blood & gore-type horror!

Here are a few things you miht like to know about Clarke:

In 1945, a UK periodical magazine “Wireless World” published his landmark technical paper "Extra-terrestrial Relays" in which he first set out the principles of satellite communication with satellites in geostationary orbits - a speculation realized 25 years later. During the evolution of his discovery, he worked with scientists and engineers in the USA in the development of spacecraft and launch systems, and addressed the United Nations during their deliberations on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Clarke's work, which led to the global satellite systems in use today, brought him numerous honors including the 1982 Marconi International Fellowship, a gold medal of the Franklin Institute, the Vikram Sarabhai Professorship of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, the Lindbergh Award and a Fellowship of King's College, London. Today, the geostationary orbit at 36,000 kilometers above the equator is named The Clarke Orbit by the International Astronomical Union.

These are from The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation web site.

Aaron- Might I suggest Stephen R. Donaldson's 6 novels about Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever?
Lord Foul's Bane - The Illearth War - The Power That Preserves - The Wounded Land - The One Tree - White Gold Welder. These books are similar in some aspects to The Lord of The Rings, but are very different too. You might try E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros.You will be rewarded by going past the first few difficult pages.

Clarke is one of my icons when I was reading Sci-Fi at an early age. I guess you could say i worshipped him until I started to see elements of homosexuality in his books. I know, how could I be so intolerant, but tose elements really turned me off, so I hardly read anything of his for a long time. Still, he is one of the greats of the genre.

You could try " Mission of Gravity" or "Half-Life" by Hal Clement. Some call him the dean of hard sci-fi. I love both these books!