Science Fiction
Discussion
StuH said:
Sway said:
I'm waiting for the full set before I read it - got massively annoyed at not being able to read the Void trilogy back to back.
How does it compare to his other work so far? No spoilers please!
Very wise! I was shouting 'nooooo!' at the final page it was such a cliffhanger! How does it compare to his other work so far? No spoilers please!
Loved it - but I definitely think reading the other commonwealth and void books first allow you to get more out of this story.
I would definitely agree that reading the previous books, especially the void trilogy first, is wise.
All I want to do is read more but i'm trying to ration myself. I'm going to get really annoyed that I can't read the next one straight away, I can see that coming.
I'm re-reading the Void Trilogy. For some reason, whilst I enjoyed it at the time, I haven't picked it up again (unlike the Commonwealth Trilogy and especially the Night's Dawn Trilogy).
Nearly through the first, and am loving it. Fairly sure the better half has ignored my requests and bought the new one for me for Christmas - my willpower isn't strong enough to leave it on the shelf...
chunkymonkey71 said:
I really want to read Encounter with Tiber now, but if its a genuine Buzz Aldrin signature then I'm not daring to damage it.
Just trying to find out how to get the signature verified.
Did you ever find out?Just trying to find out how to get the signature verified.
I love the Michael Crighton books
I'll echo these
peterperkins said:
John Wyndham
The Day of the Triffids (1951)
The Kraken Wakes (1953)
The Midwich Cuckoos (1957)
Great Books
I concur with the Arthur C Clarke 'Rendezvous with Rama' first book which is excellent.
I'll add Flood & Ark by Stephen BaxterThe Day of the Triffids (1951)
The Kraken Wakes (1953)
The Midwich Cuckoos (1957)
Great Books
I concur with the Arthur C Clarke 'Rendezvous with Rama' first book which is excellent.
I always want to like Peter F Hamilton more than I do - but I find his novels/trilogies frustrating as there are too many bit-part and instantly forgettable characters. At the end of the the Void trilogy, I had to do some googling to figure out what was going on as I had read each of the books when they were first published and had forgotten some of the detail of the earlier ones.
Iain M Banks - fantastic. David Brin - excellent. Clarke, Asimov, etc - love them all.
Ones I don't think have been mentioned so far are Jeff Noon (Vurt, Pollen, Nymphomation) and Michael Marshall Smith (Only Forward, Spares). I'd read them all again and I wouldn't say that about many authors. Near future rather than space opera stuff.
Iain M Banks - fantastic. David Brin - excellent. Clarke, Asimov, etc - love them all.
Ones I don't think have been mentioned so far are Jeff Noon (Vurt, Pollen, Nymphomation) and Michael Marshall Smith (Only Forward, Spares). I'd read them all again and I wouldn't say that about many authors. Near future rather than space opera stuff.
Zigster said:
I always want to like Peter F Hamilton more than I do - but I find his novels/trilogies frustrating as there are too many bit-part and instantly forgettable characters. At the end of the the Void trilogy, I had to do some googling to figure out what was going on as I had read each of the books when they were first published and had forgotten some of the detail of the earlier ones.
I'm 2/3rds of the way (p.757) into "The Reality Dysfunction" and often can't remember what was going on earlier in the book, never mind getting to the end. And he's now just introduced a whole new set of characters and locations, FFS!Hamilton's books cover such a span it's difficult to remember everything the first read through.
I loved the Night's Dawn Trilogy, and struggled with the Void trilogy for the same reason as you - I read them as they came out. His character development is simply superb, if spread over a couple of thousand pages!
Just finished re-reading them, and they're possibly better than ND. This time round I found it far easier to track the 'two universes' and what was happening in each. Won't be making the same mistake with the new one.
Banks is still the master though. Was chuffed when I realised I'd missed Excession. Great book to discover last.
I loved the Night's Dawn Trilogy, and struggled with the Void trilogy for the same reason as you - I read them as they came out. His character development is simply superb, if spread over a couple of thousand pages!
Just finished re-reading them, and they're possibly better than ND. This time round I found it far easier to track the 'two universes' and what was happening in each. Won't be making the same mistake with the new one.
Banks is still the master though. Was chuffed when I realised I'd missed Excession. Great book to discover last.
Zigster said:
David Brin - excellent.
I remember David Brin's Earth being remarkably prescient (the wikipedia article for it lists what he got right). I sometimes wonder whether to revisit it or whether it might feel dated now. John Barnes books "Mother of Storms" and "A Million Open Doors" are very good too. I should really look out for some of his newer books.
As you can probably guess, I haven't really kept up to date with science fiction, and my knowledge of it is about 10 or 15 years out of date now. Apart from Iain M Banks - I bought everything he wrote right up to the last one.
funkyrobot said:
Guvernator said:
What did you guys think of the Algebraist? I think it's one of Banks best work but strangely enough he doesn't seem to be too interested in revisiting that universe.
Unfortunately, he won't be revisiting anything more.
Hmm - yes it was a brilliant book, but you know he's dead though right ?
Guvernator said:
Ooops sorry yes I did know that but somehow it skipped my mind! I'll revise that to shame he didn't get a change to revisit it then. 
Actually I had always assumed it was in the Culture Universe but just at an earlier point in time - right at the end the main protagonist is talking to a drone and says something like 'One day HG we will all be free' which I assumed was hinting at Culture values. DibblyDobbler said:
Guvernator said:
Ooops sorry yes I did know that but somehow it skipped my mind! I'll revise that to shame he didn't get a change to revisit it then.
Actually I had always assumed it was in the Culture Universe but just at an earlier point in time - right at the end the main protagonist is talking to a drone and says something like 'One day HG we will all be free' which I assumed was hinting at Culture values. 
ds).Halmyre said:
DibblyDobbler said:
Guvernator said:
Ooops sorry yes I did know that but somehow it skipped my mind! I'll revise that to shame he didn't get a change to revisit it then.
Actually I had always assumed it was in the Culture Universe but just at an earlier point in time - right at the end the main protagonist is talking to a drone and says something like 'One day HG we will all be free' which I assumed was hinting at Culture values. ds).Gassing Station | Books and Literature | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff