The Sword and Laser discussion
What Else Are You Reading?
>
Going "home" for July - help me pick books to bring
date
newest »
newest »
Ishmael is a very interesting book. It's not that I agree with everything in it, it just challenges the thinking of "mother culture" in some provoking ways. I've read it twice, and a couple of the sequels.It's hard to go wrong with Borges.
Lord of Light is fantastic. My brother bought it for me for Christmas a number of years ago. Zelazny presents a great science fiction story, then adds a great mythic layer based on Hinduism.
I haven't read them, but the two Weird anthologies have been on my list, and ever since last year's Hugos, I've been gaining a lot of respect for Nancy Kress.
Forgot to mention Cryptonomicon. I loved the story, though it's pretty dense (I get the impression from other fans that he tends to write that way). I find myself thinking back to it over the years since I've read it, both in relation to the cryptography and the elements relating to the Pacific theater in WWII.
Great list; I've only read 3 of them though (Otherland #1, Cryptonomicon, Lord of Light). I didn't love Otherland - I read the first book and kept reading for a while to find out what happens but quit either after the second or third book.I ended up enjoying Cryptonomicon very much but it's such a big brick of a book that I felt like it took a 100 pages before I could tell whether I was going to like it.
I love Lord of Light unreservedly. I don't want to overpraise it so instead here's the opening lines:
"His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, however, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god. But then, he never claimed not to be a god. Circumstances being what they were, neither admission could be of any benefit. Silence, though, could.
Therefore, there was mystery about him."
If that opening grabs you at all, the rest of the book lives up to it.
I very much enjoyed Cryptonomicon. However, since you didn't like The Baroque Cycle, I'm not sure that you're going to enjoy Cryptonomicon. There actually end up being some ties between it and The Baroque Cycle, though the story is structured differently.I didn't like the only METAtropolis book that I read/tried to listen to. I don't know if that's the same one that's in your queue, though my experience with books written that way (basically, one author per chapter) is that they really can suffer from odd combinations of styles. I actually lemmed that book before I knew what lem'ing was. ;)
I haven't read any of the others there but Lord of Light and City of Golden Shadow are high on my "to get to" list.
Mod
I really like the Otherland series as a whole, but I admit book 2 and 3 are mostly people wandering around confused with little bits of plot and tiny clues being gathered before book 4 winds everything up pretty well. I think he got too carried away with the imagination - though the descriptions are very interesting, they take up way too many pages. Still, the overall story is good, if you don't mind a huge cast of characters.The other books on your list I haven't read yet.
Thanks everyone, this is very helpful. Clearly I need to bring Lord of Light along. I'm torn on Cryptonomicon only because I'm in the middle of reading War and Peace, and probably can only juggle one mighty tome at a time.Eric - thanks for the ideas, but I was trying to keep to what I already owned!
I loved Cryptonomicon, but I'm a programmer so maybe that makes a difference. But it definitely is dense.That said, Lord of Light was incredible. You really can't go wrong with Zelazny, but this is one of his best. I also loved his Amber series, and his standalones and anthologies are really good too. When you get through his stuff, move on to Dan Simmons.
I haven't read any of the others, either, but Crystal Rain, Night Watch, and City of Golden Shadow are on my bookshelf/reader. Also Beggars in Spain, so I'll need to add the other two Kress books to my list.
Best wishes to your mom, you and your family.
Given the situation, I would just take light reading that isn't going to be totally engrossing and soak up all the time. To that end I wouldn't recommend Cryptonomicon or the first Otherland book.
AndrewP wrote: "Given the situation, I would just take light reading that isn't going to be totally engrossing and soak up all the time. To that end I wouldn't recommend Cryptonomicon or the first Otherland book."It's a good thought but what if I need to escape into a book? :)
My parents have walls of books too, it's just that I read most of them as a child. I never did make it through The Great Books of the Western World, and that might be another fun project. Heh.
Scott wrote: "When you get through his stuff, move on to Dan Simmons...."You know, I really do need to try Simmons someday! One of the student workers here said he is his favorite author.
"Best wishes to your mom, you and your family."
Thank you. :)
Oh, Nancy Kress, I really like her concepts, and on that basis I did overall enjoy Beggars in Spain, but there's just something souless about her delivery. I can't quite put my finger on it. If you've already read The Sparrow, then I would normally highly recommend finishing the story with Children of God. But I found some parts to be very emotional, which might not be what you need right now.
I've been struggling with cancer my own self for about three years now. It's good that your mom has you to help.
Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Thanks everyone, this is very helpful. Clearly I need to bring Lord of Light along. I'm torn on Cryptonomicon only because I'm in the middle of reading War and Peace, and probably can only juggle..."If money's an issue - those books are all available for free from Doctorow's site in ebook form. For every type of ebook reader.
Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Scott wrote: "When you get through his stuff, move on to Dan Simmons...."You know, I really do need to try Simmons someday! One of the student workers here said he is his favorite author.
Simmons is my favorite author as well, hands down. Start with Phases of Gravity - that was the first one I read. It was a Bantam Spectra special edition back in the day. It's about an astronaut trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life after he had been on the moon. Think Siddhartha as written by Steinbeck or Hemingway. But you really can't go wrong with anything of his, and he writes in a ton of genres.
I'm so sorry for the nature of this trip, Jenny. Thinking of you.
Quick answers to your query:Spin is a treat. A fast read.
City of Saints and Madmen: a nice world to sink into. I dimly recall the story being interestingly fragmented.
New Weird has fine range, and is useful. I enjoyed much of it, but some of the stories might be too horrific for your taste.
Borges: mandatory reading for all life forms.
Each story is a deep mind trip, so it'll soak up time. You will also want to reread.
Bryan wrote: "Borges: mandatory reading for all life forms.Each story is a deep mind trip, so it'll soak up time. You will also want to reread. "
This one has gotten a few votes and may go in the box!
Tamahome wrote: "I would just read Nova for Delany."
Yeah technically I've read one Delany already this year and I don't own any, so I'll wait on that one for fall.
Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Bryan wrote: "Borges: mandatory reading for all life forms.Each story is a deep mind trip, so it'll soak up time. You will also want to reread. "
This one has gotten a few votes and may go in the ..."
Some of these stories might be familiar, like "Library of Babel" or "Garden of Forking Paths."
So this is the pile I'm shipping to myself. Thanks for the feedback! I decided not to go with any of my mighty tomes after all (the Weird, Flannery, Faulkner, Cryptonomicon, etc) because I'm still reading War and Peace.
The Sword and Laser
Books mentioned in this topic
Nova (other topics)Nova (other topics)
Nova (other topics)
Phases Of Gravity (other topics)
Siddhartha (other topics)
More...
Take a look at my list of science fiction or fantasy books that I want to read AND I already own.
Some of my reading goals this year include Zelazny, Delany, M. John Harrison, but I don't feel I need to limit just to them. I'll get to them eventually. Any book on the list that is other than #1 in a series or trilogy, I have read #1 already.
(ETA: The link didn't work outside of Firefox so if you only end up with one shelf, you can skim through the 215 books I own, they just won't all be unread or sword/laser.