Science Fiction
Discussion
DibblyDobbler said:
DibblyDobbler said:
Guvernator said:
Seconded on Agent Cormac, they are brilliant IMO. Read them all several times. Think of them as James Bond set in the future. Not as serious as some sci-fi but what it lacks in deep theorising, it more than makes up for in the action stakes.
Thanks - that's what I went for 
Now on to the Polity series - Book 1, Prador Moon
I am glad I have just found this thread! I have been struggling for new things to read, and I have added quite a few of them in here to my list.
Picked up Pandora's Star for 99p, seems like a great deal.
I have just finished the Black Fleet trilogy by Joshua Dalzelle and I quite enjoyed it. Not a classic, and some parts felt a bit flat but it was a good read overall.
I've also recently read Constitution, by Nick Webb (part 1 of a trilogy, the rest are not out yet unfortunately), and again, I thought it was a good read.
Question though - I've read the first 3 books of the Uplift saga by David Brin. I found them a bit hard going in places, but ultimately not bad. The first book was definitely the best, in my opinion. Is the 2nd omnibus (Exiles - Uplift Storm) worth picking up?
Picked up Pandora's Star for 99p, seems like a great deal.
I have just finished the Black Fleet trilogy by Joshua Dalzelle and I quite enjoyed it. Not a classic, and some parts felt a bit flat but it was a good read overall.
I've also recently read Constitution, by Nick Webb (part 1 of a trilogy, the rest are not out yet unfortunately), and again, I thought it was a good read.
Question though - I've read the first 3 books of the Uplift saga by David Brin. I found them a bit hard going in places, but ultimately not bad. The first book was definitely the best, in my opinion. Is the 2nd omnibus (Exiles - Uplift Storm) worth picking up?
For something that may be an acquired taste, can I recommend Cordwainer Smith (Paul Linebarger).
He wrote lots of short stories and a couple of novels in the 50s and 60s, set in a far distant future, animals sculptured to human shape and intelligence but not legally people, robots "thinking" with laminated mouse brains, wildly imaginative and well written, but a bit strange for hard sci-fi fans.
Linebarger was a fascinating man himself, diplomat psycological warfare expert, godson to Sun Yat Sen, among other things.
Here is a link to "The game of Rat and Dragon" one of his short stories on Project Guttenberg.
He wrote lots of short stories and a couple of novels in the 50s and 60s, set in a far distant future, animals sculptured to human shape and intelligence but not legally people, robots "thinking" with laminated mouse brains, wildly imaginative and well written, but a bit strange for hard sci-fi fans.
Linebarger was a fascinating man himself, diplomat psycological warfare expert, godson to Sun Yat Sen, among other things.
Here is a link to "The game of Rat and Dragon" one of his short stories on Project Guttenberg.
russ_a said:
cherie171 said:
I've just read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, and really liked them both. But now I can't decide whether to leap straight into Endymion, or have a break.
Just finished all three recently. Have to admit I skipped some of the poetry though!cherie171 said:
I've just read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, and really liked them both. But now I can't decide whether to leap straight into Endymion, or have a break.
Go for it I say!I thoroughly enjoyed both sets and it was good to see how it panned out in the end.
Anyone else think Neal Asher and others must of read Hyperion and were influenced ref gateways and gates?
deanobeano said:
cherie171 said:
I've just read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, and really liked them both. But now I can't decide whether to leap straight into Endymion, or have a break.
Go for it I say!I thoroughly enjoyed both sets and it was good to see how it panned out in the end.
Anyone else think Neal Asher and others must of read Hyperion and were influenced ref gateways and gates?
t at them!Gates and portals of varying descriptions have been a mainstay for Sci-Fi & Fantasy for donkey's years. Narnia, Wonderland etc...
I read the first two Hyperion novels as a result of recommendations on here and thoroughly enjoyed them. I haven't had time to pick up a book since, but will ask for the next one in the series for Christmas. As the previous poster said, it's hard to find a scifi book that doesn't have gates / portals / whatever in it, but I loved the idea of a giant house with rooms on multiple planets linked by gates. A great example of a novelist thinking "What if money and science were no object?" and coming up with something fantastical.
Not suggesting it's a classic by any measure, but does anyone on here recall a scifi novel, probably form the 1970s, about the "traffic police" who supervised multilane highways with cars that could do 600+mph on them? I bought it second-hand about twenty years ago, I remember really enjoying it but must have lost or binned it. I can't remember title or author, or anything to give google much of a clue.
Not suggesting it's a classic by any measure, but does anyone on here recall a scifi novel, probably form the 1970s, about the "traffic police" who supervised multilane highways with cars that could do 600+mph on them? I bought it second-hand about twenty years ago, I remember really enjoying it but must have lost or binned it. I can't remember title or author, or anything to give google much of a clue.
deanobeano said:
Go for it I say!
I thoroughly enjoyed both sets and it was good to see how it panned out in the end.
Anyone else think Neal Asher and others must of read Hyperion and were influenced ref gateways and gates?
well on the portals connecting multi-verses, this guy was a year or so earlier than Hyperion....I thoroughly enjoyed both sets and it was good to see how it panned out in the end.
Anyone else think Neal Asher and others must of read Hyperion and were influenced ref gateways and gates?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Perilous_(ser...
irocfan said:
deanobeano said:
Go for it I say!
I thoroughly enjoyed both sets and it was good to see how it panned out in the end.
Anyone else think Neal Asher and others must of read Hyperion and were influenced ref gateways and gates?
well on the portals connecting multi-verses, this guy was a year or so earlier than Hyperion....I thoroughly enjoyed both sets and it was good to see how it panned out in the end.
Anyone else think Neal Asher and others must of read Hyperion and were influenced ref gateways and gates?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Perilous_(ser...
aww999 said:
Not suggesting it's a classic by any measure, but does anyone on here recall a scifi novel, probably form the 1970s, about the "traffic police" who supervised multilane highways with cars that could do 600+mph on them? I bought it second-hand about twenty years ago, I remember really enjoying it but must have lost or binned it. I can't remember title or author, or anything to give google much of a clue.
The only thing that comes to mind is Fahrenheit 451. Is not about that, but it is mentioned...cherie171 said:
aww999 said:
Not suggesting it's a classic by any measure, but does anyone on here recall a scifi novel, probably form the 1970s, about the "traffic police" who supervised multilane highways with cars that could do 600+mph on them? I bought it second-hand about twenty years ago, I remember really enjoying it but must have lost or binned it. I can't remember title or author, or anything to give google much of a clue.
The only thing that comes to mind is Fahrenheit 451. Is not about that, but it is mentioned...Just finished 'The Peripheral' by William Gibson. Full of interesting ideas and continues the development of his writing style. If you liked Pattern Recognition and Count Zero you might well like this one.
Also just wondered if there is any love for Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius Quartet.
I read The English Assassin when I was twelve and it changed my idea of what science fiction was about. I still have the same copy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cornelius_Quarte...
Also just wondered if there is any love for Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius Quartet.
I read The English Assassin when I was twelve and it changed my idea of what science fiction was about. I still have the same copy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cornelius_Quarte...
OldandGrumpy said:
Just finished 'The Peripheral' by William Gibson. Full of interesting ideas and continues the development of his writing style. If you liked Pattern Recognition and Count Zero you might well like this one.
Also just wondered if there is any love for Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius Quartet.
I read The English Assassin when I was twelve and it changed my idea of what science fiction was about. I still have the same copy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cornelius_Quarte...
Big fan of Moorcock but he isn't really a Scinece Fiction author. Stuff like Cornelius and The Dancers at the End Of Time are Science Fantasy rather than SciFi. The Elric and other Eternal Champion books are either fantasy or science Fantasy. Also just wondered if there is any love for Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius Quartet.
I read The English Assassin when I was twelve and it changed my idea of what science fiction was about. I still have the same copy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cornelius_Quarte...
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