Hyp: So what is your next read to remove the bad taste from Hyperion??

[Anne]

I've never read SLAN. This seems like a good time to download it to my Kindle.

[terpkristin]

SLAN?

I like Hyperion but am not sure I'll join into the next S&L read, not a fan of any of the options. I'll make my final decision closer to June, though.

[P. Aaron]

This doesn't seem to really belong in this sub-forum. There is one for 'what else are you reading' which might be what you were looking for.

[Tamahome]

SLAN?

[Nick]

P. Aaron wrote: "This doesn't seem to really belong in this sub-forum. There is one for 'what else are you reading' which might be what you were looking for."

ROFL .. I sort of disagree but I understand where you are coming from. Basically she is asking who was disappointed by Hyperion. The OP was just trying to do so passively aggressively.

[Anne]

SLAN... by A. E. Van Vogt

Wiki says:
The novel was originally serialized in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction (September - December 1940). It was subsequently published in hardcover in 1946 by Arkham House, in an edition of 4,051 copies

...In science fiction fandom a slogan quickly developed, "Fans are slans",

As part of my rehab from Simmons I'm also watching the British "Children of the stones" for the first time. It was next in my queue from Netflix. Parts are dated but it holds up pretty well.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

To remove the "bad taste" I am planning on reading.
The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion

;-)

[Rik]

I've read all four books in the Hyperion Cantos five or six times now and was happy to read them again since it was the book of the month here. I may end up skipping the June pick in order to finish the series again. Its easily my favorite series of all time.

[David Sven]

Tassie Dave wrote: "To remove the "bad taste" I am planning on reading.
The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion

;-)"

Ha ha. Hear hear!

And Anne, I have a suspicion that you may not have liked this book. So much so you have invested considerable amount of time in the Hyperion section going Jihadi on it - lol.

[Anne]

I write fast. :)

[Nate]

I'm going back to the greywalker series

[Tim]

Battle Royale, for some peace and quiet...

[Micah]

I'm going to finish Inheritance which Hyperion so rudely interrupted. I also took up Star Gate: Atlantis on Netflix again.

[Anne]

Ah Paolini, that handsome young fellow who does art, timelines and detailed records of characters, races, etc. Fascinating. I have one of his books in my stack to read also.

[AndrewP]

I am probably going to pick something from other peoples suggestions. For me these always seem to be way better than what finally gets picked. Case in point, I found both Old Man's War and On Basilisk Station much more enjoyable reads than Hyperion.

[Noel]

Anne wrote: "I've never read SLAN. This seems like a good time to download it to my Kindle."

Anne,
Glad you mentioned Slan which is one of the classics written by A.E. Van Vogt, one the the greats of the golden age and he used to be required reading by all Science Fiction readers when I was a boy. He wrote many great SF novels and my favourite SF short story of all time. It would be great if he got more recognition today. I think it was the 100th anniversary of his birth last week.

[Anne]

I hope somewhere there was a huge cake to celebrate Van Vogt's hundredth.

Ben Franklin's 300th was mostly ignored whereas lesser lights and downright buzzards get full fireworks and media coverage.

Both men are underappreciated and poorly understood.

[Noel]

Anne wrote: "I hope somewhere there was a huge cake to celebrate Van Vogt's hundredth.

Ben Franklin's 300th was mostly ignored whereas lesser lights and downright buzzards get full fireworks and media covera..."

Very well said. If you haven't read his short story ' resurrection ' please try it, it's brilliant.

[Joe]

I really enjoyed Hyperion so I immediately jumped into Fall of Hyperion and, to my surprise I'm enjoying it even more. It has more action (What you might expect with a war going on) and truly starts resolving those loose ends from the first book. Like I said earlier, since both of these books were truly one originally I can't see stopping in the middle of the story.

Slan is recommended for those who've not read it, along with many other Van Vogt stories. I bought Slan Hunter by Kevin J Anderson (whom I've always enjoyed) who continues the Slan storyline some time back. Haven't read it yet but will soon.

[Aloha]

Anne, if you think Hyperion is bad, can you imagine my rage at being fooled into reading A Canticle for Leibowitz. My SciFi forum was buzzing how great it was. It was a piece of crap basically saying how the Catholic church was saving the world while the ignorant masses were blowing themselves up, and the soulless intellectual elite was going to make the human race blow itself up again. The writing was bloodless, also. Dry and uninteresting. The author should have done us a favor and sequestered himself in a monastery instead of releasing a book and fooling SciFi aficionados into reading it.

[Joe]

This raises an interesting question. Do you prefer to read only that which speaks to your own preconceived notions? Would you neglect a classic simply because it's not part of your belief, or non-belief system?

[Aloha]

I think we all like or not like a book depending on how brilliant or idiotic we think the premise of the book is. I'm interested in SciFi mainly for the ideas, because often, IMO, SciFi writers are not terrific writers compared to writers of other genres. They're usually more focused on their ideas than trying to draw the reader into the plot. Thus, when I read a SciFi, I often excuse lackluster or confusing writing if the idea is mind blowing. Neuromancer comes to mind. But when the the idea also stinks, such as in Leibowitz, and even insulting to intellectuals and non-Catholics, I feel like having a book burning.

[Joe]

Admittedly, it's probably been 40 years since I read Canticle for Leibowitz but it sure didn't strike me that way. If I remember correctly it was a nuclear post apocalyptic story and I think much of what remained of western civilization and knowledge was protected in a monastery, sort of like what happened in Europe after the fall of Rome. It was recently issued by Audible and I planned to give it a listen again because I really don't remember much of the details, but I do remember I liked it then. Though admittedly, much of what I used to think was awesome is not as awesome 40 years later. Now I'm curious. I think I'll make tha my next book after I finish Fall of Hyperion.

[Joe]

BTW, I liked Neuromancer as well but not nearly as much as many who seemingly went bonkers over it when it came out.

[Cassandra]

Personally I'm not looking forward to the next book i read having to live up to Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. That poor next book just has an unfair disadvantage.

[Aloha]

Let me know what you think after you listened to it, Joe. Books are a product of the times that they were written. Some classics are worth reading because the ideas were brilliant and new for its time. Some classics contain limited thinking regarding race, religion and other societal mores, but the whole body of work is creatively influential. Some books reflect the limited thinking of its time, like Leibowitz in the fear of the nuclear holocaust, etc., but not really worth reading for learning purposes or inspiration. Unless you're Catholic, of course.

[terpkristin]

I'm not sure I'll join in on the next pick, which is funny because I'm definitely more sword than laser.

I may listen to The Fall of Hyperion and read Blue Remembered Earth which has been on my nightstand for awhile. Or I may listen to something different. Gotta look and see what's in the queue.

[Joe]

Aloha wrote: "Let me know what you think after you listened to it, Joe. Books are a product of the times that they were written. Some classics are worth reading because the ideas were brilliant and new for its..."

Very well put. I wish I'd said the same thing as eloquently. I try to alternate something new with a re-read of some science fiction classic. Often fond memories do not hold up well, but that's not always the case. Some of my original favorites remain excellent today, such as Alfred Besters The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination. Still love those two.

[Jessica]

I follow the Vaginal Fantasy book club as well so I'll be moving onto some hot space action with Gabriel's Ghost

[Aloha]

Joe, it seems that A Canticle for Leibowitz was highly influenced by the history of Benedict of Nursia. I think it's more interesting to read the history over reading the book. The characters in the book were one-dimensional and definitely skewed in characterization towards the author's bias. It's a book with a particular belief that is geared towards people with similar belief, such as Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. The Da Vinci code is full of fallacies regarding relics and got over blown as facts. This is a book that played on people's beliefs and ignorance to contribute to the author's fame.

I'm lowering my opinion of Hyperion. I read it not knowing about The Canterbury Tales resemblance. As literature, I thought it wasn't that interestingly written. The part I found the most interesting about it was what I thought was the original arrangement of the multiple perspectives. And now I found out that was taken from The Canterbury Tales. I will have to read that to find out how much.

The Alfred Besters books will be my next SciFis. I heard great things about them from people whose tastes are closer to mine. I won't be following the SciFi recommendations from people who recommended Leibowitz to me. LOL.

[Aloha]

The moderator of the Horror Afficionados forum I belong to started a thread about the Vaginal Fantasy book club. We had a great time jesting about it. I even posted faux naked pictures using heads of the men in the forum. It was a hoot! Somehow, I can't imagine doing that to guys in the S&L forum. I think of them as words instead of bodies. Well, they are words. LOL.

Jessica wrote: "I follow the Vaginal Fantasy book club as well so I'll be moving onto some hot space action with Gabriel's Ghost"

[Aloha]

The book is fascinating when you consider that the novel was written in 1984, and you see where the invention of the web has taken us. Now, close friends overseas are like next door via the internet, or web phone. For less than $10 and the usual cost of a cell phone, I can have unlimited international calls to my favorite destination. I can also have video phoning. Work can be done from the home, files transmitted via the web, etc. I'm constantly connected even when I'm on the beach.

Joe wrote: "BTW, I liked Neuromancer as well but not nearly as much as many who seemingly went bonkers over it when it came out."

[Joe]

Aloha wrote: "Joe, it seems that A Canticle for Leibowitz was highly influenced by the history of Benedict of Nursia. I think it's more interesting to read the history over reading the book. The characters in ..."

I'll have to look up Benedict of Nursia, I'm not familiar with it at all. The Besters books are low risk because they are short so even if your unimpressed you won't have wasted much time.