Science Fiction
Discussion
jmorgan said:
XM5ER said:
Suffice to say, don't go there unless you really need a fix of Dune, and even then, reconsider your position.
Tried a book Then the final ones that are supposed to be after Chapter House, aparantly scribbled up from notes left by frank Herbert?Bad. Very bad, I wanted to see where it went, persevered but by god it was hard going. They just do not have it in them to follow Frank Herbert in his style and vision. No more from them ever.
JonChalk said:
Currently just started the third of Alex Lamb's Roboteer series.
http://alexlamb.com
Pretty good really.
In many ways, the polar opposite of "Seveneves";
techy, but not too much, enough stretching of physics to make the story work, but with elements of far-future;
entertaining, without going on for hours;
characters with a bit of depth, but plenty of them
Basically little believability, but doesn't care, doesn't take it massively seriously. Think Star Trek / Star Wars type thing.
Just started Roboteer, liking it so far.http://alexlamb.com
Pretty good really.
In many ways, the polar opposite of "Seveneves";
techy, but not too much, enough stretching of physics to make the story work, but with elements of far-future;
entertaining, without going on for hours;
characters with a bit of depth, but plenty of them
Basically little believability, but doesn't care, doesn't take it massively seriously. Think Star Trek / Star Wars type thing.
I read 'Six Wakes' by Mur Lafferty whilst on holiday last week (Along with a few others, holidays are the best time to read 
)
Bit of a 'murder mystery' set on a spaceship heading to a new Earth, with cloning (which is used to extend life if one chooses) as the main element - 'mindmaps' are downloaded by the 'alive' person, which are subsequently uploaded into their new 20 year old clone body upon death, essentially just extending the life of the person but missing the childhood part to avoid... issues, I suppose.
A small crew of people who are clones pilot this ship as it travels through space, carrying a couple thousand humans in cryosleep who aren't clones in order to repopulate this 'new earth'. The crew all wake up in their new bodies at the same time, meaning all their old bodies died, and there's a clear scene of murder. Whodunit.
That's the best way I feel I can sell it to anyone without giving much away. It's a good read, the characters are developed a little slowly but I guess that's part of the game the author is trying to play. Personally I felt it became a little too obvious who did it at approximately 65% the way through, but it didn't retract from my enjoyment of the story - There's still a few decent revelations to keep you invested. Not overly technical - Although after reading 'Seven Eves' last year, most sci-fi's fall under the 'Not overly technical' category - but enough to keep it interesting, another one of those books to really make us think how future science might change politics, religion, crime and lifestyle (But only in a subtle way, none of this jumps off the page and only adds to help develop the characters).
Not a particularly long book either, so worth putting it on whatever list you may have!
)Bit of a 'murder mystery' set on a spaceship heading to a new Earth, with cloning (which is used to extend life if one chooses) as the main element - 'mindmaps' are downloaded by the 'alive' person, which are subsequently uploaded into their new 20 year old clone body upon death, essentially just extending the life of the person but missing the childhood part to avoid... issues, I suppose.
A small crew of people who are clones pilot this ship as it travels through space, carrying a couple thousand humans in cryosleep who aren't clones in order to repopulate this 'new earth'. The crew all wake up in their new bodies at the same time, meaning all their old bodies died, and there's a clear scene of murder. Whodunit.
That's the best way I feel I can sell it to anyone without giving much away. It's a good read, the characters are developed a little slowly but I guess that's part of the game the author is trying to play. Personally I felt it became a little too obvious who did it at approximately 65% the way through, but it didn't retract from my enjoyment of the story - There's still a few decent revelations to keep you invested. Not overly technical - Although after reading 'Seven Eves' last year, most sci-fi's fall under the 'Not overly technical' category - but enough to keep it interesting, another one of those books to really make us think how future science might change politics, religion, crime and lifestyle (But only in a subtle way, none of this jumps off the page and only adds to help develop the characters).
Not a particularly long book either, so worth putting it on whatever list you may have!
ClockworkCupcake said:
So, after "Friday" I read "Stranger in a Strange Land".
Once I'd finished that, the Kindle app suggested that I might like Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I read the sample chapter and then bought it for a very reasonable £1.89
Superb book - really enjoyed it. Once I'd finished that, the Kindle app suggested that I might like Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I read the sample chapter and then bought it for a very reasonable £1.89
Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Tuesday 19th September 13:35
b14 said:
Superb book - really enjoyed it.
Yes, me too. In many ways it was everything that Seven Eves should have been. Instead of arm-wavey "5000 years later" you got a real sense of time passing and it hung together very cohesively. The humans surviving for all that length of time was presented feasibly and plausibly, as opposed to Seven Eves' total implausibility. It was still stretching it a little that an isolated system would survive as long as that, but it was a whole lot more plausible. The ending was very much "how is the author going to resolve this?" until you suddenly realised that the solution had already been presented earlier in the book. I thought that was a very nice touch.
Overall, it was one of the most enjoyable reads I've had recently, and I'll be looking out for more of his work.
Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Monday 23 October 14:09
mko9 said:
I have read a fair amount of Robert Heinlein's books, but Number of the Beast was unreadable.
Also, vaguely similar to Starship Troopers and I have not seen mentioned - Armor by John Steakley. His other good book is Vampires, which is completely different but uses the same main character names.
Yet for me Number of the Beast was the first Heinlein that I read and I enjoyed it so much I spent money seeking out his other works. I still re-read it now and again and enjoy it.Also, vaguely similar to Starship Troopers and I have not seen mentioned - Armor by John Steakley. His other good book is Vampires, which is completely different but uses the same main character names.
MKnight702 said:
Yet for me Number of the Beast was the first Heinlein that I read and I enjoyed it so much I spent money seeking out his other works. I still re-read it now and again and enjoy it.
Heinlen hooked me on sci fi when I was in single figures age wise. I think it was "have space suit, will travel" that was the first. Followed by Starship Troopers. I worked my way through everything by him that was available from my local library (remember those). Thankfully the library was run by a sci fi fan so I could always ask for a recommendation. Have all Heinlein's stuff on Kindle now so will have a read again.irocfan said:
jmorgan said:
Into the fourth book by Craig Alanson in his Expeditionary Force series. With Skipp the Magnificent, an AI the size of a beer can.
oh most excellent - skippy is a bit of an asshole though 
On a roll at the moment, Roboteer sequels as well, very good. And the Spiral Wars series by Joel shepherd.
ClockworkCupcake said:
Baron Greenback said:
Half way through Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky! Took a put on new writer as it was Arthur C Clark award. Throughly enjoying it!
Is this down to my recommendation a few posts ago, or entirely unrelated?As it was going cheap on Kindle I picked up the first of Marko Kloos' "Frontlines" series. Starts off feeling like a bit of a rip off of Starship Troopers but the storyline's not bad and by the time I was half way through I went back to the kindle store to pick up the next 4 books while they were on special. Probably not going to win awards but an enjoyable read, probably a similar standard to Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" series. My only real complaint his somewhat shaky grasp of astrophysics when writing about space ships 
First 5 of the 6 book series still at 99p on Kindle and well worth a punt IMO.
First 5 of the 6 book series still at 99p on Kindle and well worth a punt IMO.
cherie171 said:
After finding out the other day that Julian May had passed away, I thought it would be a good time to reread Intervention. I've lost count of how many times I've read the Saga of the Exiles over the years, but this will be the first time revisiting this one.
That's a shame - likewise, her Pliocene books were a staple at school and have been reread several times.Gassing Station | Books and Literature | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff