Sci-Fi Group Book Club discussion
What sci-fi book(s) are you reading currently?
I was only supposed to read C J Cherryh's Kesrith but I got so involved that I followed straight on with Shon'jir,and have now started the last of the trilogy, Kutath,which has totally disrupted the reading schedule! lol
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Unless such a book is gripping, I totally agree with you!
I am now20% into Clarke's first published novel,The Sands of Mars. I am ready to start Marissa Meyer's Winter which is unexpectedly over 700 pages,easily double the other books in the series.Also going to start Kate Griffin's The Midnight Mayor #2 in the Matthew Swift series.
Outside the SF/F genres I am reading Margery Allingham's Death of a Ghost and Lindsay Davis's Graveyard of the Hesperides
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At the moment, I'm just writing. I did put a novella on free this week if anyone likes scifi-superhero stuff.https://www.amazon.com/Child-Pink-Moo...
Hiya! I just read Dune #1 and I'm also reading So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish (Hitchhiker's Guide, #4). Just trying to read all the classics that I never got around to reading.
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https://www.amazon.com/Child-Pink-Moo..."
Thanks for providing that link to your book, Floyd! You can also propose your books as group reads. A topic for the June group read will go up shortly.
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I read Dune way back when I was 16 and loved it at the time! All that court intrigue set in the far future and with all that zany technology! Oddly, I never got into the series. Did you ever see David Lynch's movie adaptation of Dune?
Greg wrote: "I read Dune way back when I was 16 and loved it at the time! All that court intrigue set in the far future and with all that zany technology! Oddly, I never got into the series."I'm thinking of reading what Herbert wrote himself, but I'm not sure if I'll read the two additional trilogies his son wrote after his death.
Greg wrote: "Did you ever see David Lynch's movie adaptation of Dune?"
No I haven't! Did you like it? Do you recommend it?
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I'm ..."
I haven't read anything by Herbert's son (yet) so I don't know if his style or storytelling ability is much different from his father's.
I suspect that Lynch's film may be a little dated now - it's over 30 years old - but I think its somewhat baroque sets, costumery, weird characters and a vision of a future galactic empire make it worth watching. Some good performances too.
Another Herbert book I enjoyed reading was The Santaroga Barrier, but this sci-fi novel is set in contemporary America. It's a very different kind of story than the Dune series.
Catching up:Classic wrote: "It must be becoming apparent to all that my major pet peeve about modern SF is that it is just too long!." Indeed....case in point, I offer one of my most favorite SF authors, Peter F. Hamilton. Ditto, Neal Stephenson, and Kim Stanley Robinson.
But sometimes the length is worth it.:)
Arthur C. Clarke: I've only read 2001: A Space Odyssey; it was mind-boggling, of course. Wasn't too long ago, and my imagination is still stretched. I am encouraged to read further.
Ditto the Herberts, Pere and Fils: I think I read some of Dune decades ago, but no others, and i've read none of Brian's. Hello, TBR.:)
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LOL My TBR shelf is creaking under the weight!
Almost finished Kate Griffin's The Midnight Mayor . Still have almost 650 pages of Marissa Meyer's Winter to read. After that I will be reading Andre Norton's The Stars Are Ours! ,but I may not finish that before the end of the month.
I'm reading, for review, the fascinating MOTORMAN by Robert Dunn, who wrote the also excellent RED HIGHWAY.
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Just finished this month's "Seveneves" and "Children of Time". Both fall under the "space ark" subgenre. Will post my in-depth thoughts later on each if their respective discussion forums in our group. :-) By the way Greg, when is the call for nomination for the books to be read this July? :-)
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I've been mindful of not having set up a thread for that yet. Will do so in a few mins. :) Will look forward to seeing your reviews of Seveneves and Children of Time - good work on reading both the June novels!
I'm working through Randolph Lalonde's Spinward Fringe series: Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins.Just started What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi.
Also checked out Anathem from the library, after finishing Neal Stephenson's Seveneves. Would love discussion on that - while I found it fascinating, I experienced fatigue from Neal Stephenson's exhaustive detail.
Just started reading The Draco Tavern by Larry Niven. Been on my list for awhile, last book I read was Engines of War by George Mann in the Doctor Who series.
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Welcome to the group, John! The Draco Tavern looks like an interesting anthology (although the book's database description leaves a little to be desired). How's it going so far?
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Just started What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi.
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Feel free to propose Anathem in the group read nominations for July, Elizabeth!
Anathem is another outstanding Stephenson novel! It's actually the first novel from him that I've read and I've been a Stephenson fan ever since!
Greg wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I'm working through Randolph Lalonde's Spinward Fringe series: Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins.Just started What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by..."
Good idea!
Greetings to the Group. I try to rotate my physical reading from one fiction to one non-fiction book. I've joined here just after I started Captive City : The Startling Truth about Chicago and the Mafia which is anything but SF.However, I do normally have an audio book going at the same time, for something to listen to while working out, and have just started Brother Odd, the 3rd of the series in the Odd Thomas series...once again not really something that you would consider serious SF, but it could be out on the very fringes if you look at it with a really open mind (Main character sees and communicates with the dead). I highly recommend the series if you are looking for a light read. Koontz sets a good pace and keeps the story lighthearted enough with the comic jabs to bring a chuckle now and again.
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Welcome to the group PSXtreme! I've only read one of the Odd Thomas graphic novels so far (Odd Is on Our Side) but I suspect that the textual books are better reads. I picked up a copy of Brother Odd a few years ago but I'll have to hold off on reading it till I get my hands on the two previous books in the series.
Greg wrote: I picked up a copy of Brother Odd a few years ago but I'll have to hold off on reading it till I get my hands on the two previous books in the series. "TY for the welcome.
You definitely need to go through them in order. Not something to just pick up in the middle of the series. Koontz does quickly refresh the reader about the past experiences of Odd, but he just does it without much depth or detail and expects his reader to know what has happened previously.
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TY for the welcome.
You defin..."
That makes a lot of sense. That said, I read the second graphic novel without having read the first one, but I don't think I missed anything significantly by doing so because it was such a light read. However, I assume that would be different with the textual novels because they are comparatively much meatier! At the time I bought it, it was the only copy that the local bookshop had and I wanted to see what the Odd Thomas graphic novels were like. But I'm happy to wait till I get a copy of the first book in the textual series before delving further in Odd matters.
was in forbidden planet in london recently so working my way through a ton of new stuff !! zero point book 2 of neal ashers the owner series - book one was brilliant! and some graphic novels we3 by grant morrison, judfe anderson collection and a judge dredd collection and a graphic novel about addiction to virtual tech tokyo ghost! i need more eyes
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LOL And more time?
We3's not bad - hope you like it! Since I'm enjoying Gridlinked at the moment I'll be interested in checking out The Owners series.
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Read that for the first time a couple of years ago. It wasn't bad even though I don't like the author much.
Greg wrote: "Read that for the first time a couple of years ago. It wasn't bad even though I don't like the author much."I love the plot twist at the end. I still haven't read the whole series, and now that Orson Scott Card has thrown books in the middle I'm going to have to acquire them before moving on to Speaker for the Dead.
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I love the plot twist at the end. I still haven't read the whole series, a..."
I haven't read any other books in the series yet either. I wonder do they hold up as well as the first one?
I've read Speaker for the Dead many, many, many years ago and found it enjoyable, but it was so many years ago, and I'm now such a sourpussed-old coot now, I may have a different opinion on it now.
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That's one reason I tend not to re-read books that I enjoyed so much in the past - just in case I might find it disappointing now!
I read books like I watch movies. Some I use once and never touch it again...others get broken out and revisited like old friends often. It does crimp my pace as I attempt to knock out my backlog, but a good book is worth the delay.
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When the story is good and I'm in the mood to read, I can knock out a medium-sized book in no time at all. I finished This Perfect Day in a day and a half on its 1st read. What I really find enjoyable is listening to the audio book version of a title AFTER I've already read the written form (of course, not right away). Then it's like watching the replay of the original movie in my mind at 1/2 the time.
Just started the audio book of The Chessmen of Mars Book #5 of the John Carter Barsoom Series. I'll be done by tomorrow sometime.... I just love the classics :)
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An uncle of mine was a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs when he was young and gave me an old (1953) copy of The Gods of Mars (the picture used for GR's entry is of my copy). Although I've seen the movie, John Carter of Mars, I haven't read any of the Barsoom books yet. Must rectify that at some point.
I've only gotten the first 5 on audio, but there are 12 volumes total in the series. They are a tad bit dated and probably don't relate well to the current generation. They aren't written for a "questioning" generation. In the first book, Edgar Rice Burroughs wanted to transport John Carter to Mars...so he falls asleep on Earth and WHOOSH...he wakes up on Mars...problem solved. Nobody jumped up screaming "FAKE!!! FAKE!!!"...they just believed and went on with the tale.
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LOL Handy that! It would be interesting to read reviews of the books from the time they were published.
John Carter failed at the theaters for the same reason Flash Gordon did back in the 80s...the topic/character was from two generations prior without any refreshment into the standard pop culture common knowledge. Not many of the movie-going generation were familiar with the history of the backstory, so there wasn't any nostalgic desire for it.
PSXtreme wrote: "John Carter failed at the theaters for the same reason Flash Gordon did back in the 80s...the topic/character was from two generations prior without any refreshment into the standard pop culture co..."I think it was also just flat poorly marketed. As a story it was plenty good enough to get people to come to theaters w/o any appeal to nostalgia. I thought it was well-made, too. But push the wrong angle like Disney did and anything will fail.
It's #SciFiSunday on Twitter! If you're a Tweep, visit the site and search that hashtag...lots and lots of interesting stuff being posted so many chances to make a discovery.
Marketing to a point may have been responsible...however, product identifiability plays more of a part to acceptance. You say "Star Wars" and people flock to the theater without any real need for marketing...the same effect won't work if there was a "Foundation" movie.Look at the reception the "Dune" movie of the 80s received even though the actual story is levels above that of Luke & Vadar...but where "Star Wars" is simple and easy to grasp, "Dune" was too complex for the non-reader to grasp on the fly without the complex backstory.
Another example is the Will Smith movie of "I, Robot." Probably less than half of the people who saw it had any idea it was part of Asimov's grand Foundation/Robot saga...they went to see it because it had Will Smith and guns and shooting and big giant future cars filled with killer robots all looking to murderdeathkill the hero...Asimov's name was hardly mentioned...mostly because society had already moved away from print into the new immediate gratification of the cinema/tv. Ray Bradbury must be constantly rolling over in his grave...there was no need to burn the books...society abandoned them freely. :(
I've just started the Culture Series. I'm upto the 4th Dune book but I have to take a bit of time after each of those to digest it.
I got Alfie through the post too, its not scfi-fi but the first few pages are quite funny.
I got Alfie through the post too, its not scfi-fi but the first few pages are quite funny.
Just started 172 Hours on the Moon... Per the cover;"In this chilling adventure set in the most brutal landscape known to man, highly acclaimed Norwegian novelist Johan Harstad creates a vivid and frightening world of possibilities we can only hope never come true."
Sci-Fi Group Book Club
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I've only read Red Mars so far,andthough it is known as a classic, I have to admit I wasnt too keen. As ever like so many books about colonies,we had the same old story of political machinations which frankly bore me!Indeed there were plot features here that seemed hardly credible.I always hope for stuff on terraforming and the struggles to pioneer and transform a whole new world, but as ever that stuff was scarce.Add the fact that I had little empathy for the majority of the characters,and the we saw a main character killed off in the first section,and then spent huge sections of the book in flashback and waiting for him to be killed off,all in all I was not a fan.The best bit for me was the descriptions of the landscape as the buggy traversed vast deserts. It was several years ago and I have had no urge to read the follow up books of the trilogy.I am however methodically reading the Hugo award winners,and eventually will have to read Green Mars .
That will be a while away though,as after Joan D Vinge's Snow Queen,my Hugo in progress now, I have Connie Willis's Doomsday Book and then Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep to be read. And they are HUUUUGE.
It must be becoming apparent to all that my major pet peeve about modern SF is that it is just too long!.lol.