Science Fiction
Discussion
Looks like Skippy The Magnificent and his merry band of pirates is back...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DG2TVWQ/ref...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DG2TVWQ/ref...
Just been on a long trip and listened to Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion on route.
Pretty bloody wonderful. Like many others I'm a Banksie and Culture nut, especially Use of Weapons, and while I would say that the Culture stuff is still my favourite series Hyperion was probably a better story than any of them.
The first book in audio form was really good because they have 6 different readers giving it the feeling of a play.
The books seem to go off on so many tracks I thought it could never all come together but by he end of the second book everything slots in. You wouldn't think one human lifespan would be enough to concoct such a complex plot.
What's next, Endymion?
Pretty bloody wonderful. Like many others I'm a Banksie and Culture nut, especially Use of Weapons, and while I would say that the Culture stuff is still my favourite series Hyperion was probably a better story than any of them.
The first book in audio form was really good because they have 6 different readers giving it the feeling of a play.
The books seem to go off on so many tracks I thought it could never all come together but by he end of the second book everything slots in. You wouldn't think one human lifespan would be enough to concoct such a complex plot.
What's next, Endymion?
irocfan said:
Looks like Skippy The Magnificent and his merry band of pirates is back...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DG2TVWQ/ref...
Monkey fun......https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DG2TVWQ/ref...
br d said:
Just been on a long trip and listened to Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion on route.
Pretty bloody wonderful. Like many others I'm a Banksie and Culture nut, especially Use of Weapons, and while I would say that the Culture stuff is still my favourite series Hyperion was probably a better story than any of them.
The first book in audio form was really good because they have 6 different readers giving it the feeling of a play.
The books seem to go off on so many tracks I thought it could never all come together but by he end of the second book everything slots in. You wouldn't think one human lifespan would be enough to concoct such a complex plot.
What's next, Endymion?
Agreed - brilliant books Pretty bloody wonderful. Like many others I'm a Banksie and Culture nut, especially Use of Weapons, and while I would say that the Culture stuff is still my favourite series Hyperion was probably a better story than any of them.
The first book in audio form was really good because they have 6 different readers giving it the feeling of a play.
The books seem to go off on so many tracks I thought it could never all come together but by he end of the second book everything slots in. You wouldn't think one human lifespan would be enough to concoct such a complex plot.
What's next, Endymion?
Yes - Endymion next... also good if not quite at the level of the first book iirc.
br d said:
Just been on a long trip and listened to Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion on route.
Pretty bloody wonderful. Like many others I'm a Banksie and Culture nut, especially Use of Weapons, and while I would say that the Culture stuff is still my favourite series Hyperion was probably a better story than any of them.
The first book in audio form was really good because they have 6 different readers giving it the feeling of a play.
The books seem to go off on so many tracks I thought it could never all come together but by he end of the second book everything slots in. You wouldn't think one human lifespan would be enough to concoct such a complex plot.
What's next, Endymion?
Might give these a whirl, sounds good as another culture fan.Pretty bloody wonderful. Like many others I'm a Banksie and Culture nut, especially Use of Weapons, and while I would say that the Culture stuff is still my favourite series Hyperion was probably a better story than any of them.
The first book in audio form was really good because they have 6 different readers giving it the feeling of a play.
The books seem to go off on so many tracks I thought it could never all come together but by he end of the second book everything slots in. You wouldn't think one human lifespan would be enough to concoct such a complex plot.
What's next, Endymion?
Is anyone still reading The Expanse? Ploughing through the most recent one, not a patch on the earlier ones. It's all turgid Earth vs Mars vs Belt, a load of asinine "politics" crammed in when they are far better at writing action, and there are NO aliens!
It may have already been mentioned on here, but I really enjoyed "Sea of Rust" - post AI apocalypse, told from the robots' point of view.
It may have already been mentioned on here, but I really enjoyed "Sea of Rust" - post AI apocalypse, told from the robots' point of view.
jmorgan said:
irocfan said:
Looks like Skippy The Magnificent and his merry band of pirates is back...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DG2TVWQ/ref...
Monkey fun......https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DG2TVWQ/ref...
Finished Banks`s "Player of games" the other day. I'll be reading more of the Culture series.
cherie171 said:
I loved the Hyperion Cantos, and I do want to read more by Simmons, particularly Ilium and Olympos as well as his non science fiction works. However, at the same time, I'm loathe to try as I don't want to be disappointed if they aren't as good.
Ilium and Olympos are epic! Absolutely bonkers but epic - highly recommended Hi Folks
I love reading sci fi but have a habit of reading things very fast & not always remembering them (means I can read books numerous times which my wife finds very odd!)
Anyway I read a book or possibly a series based around warfare between beings that were able to control various natural elements. I think there was possibly a human element to it to & as each race arrived they would cause huge devastation as usually the opposition had no answer to the type of weaponry. I particularly remember spacecraft almost made from fire.
There may have been some kind of sentient trees too!
Has anybody got any idea what I'm talking about or have I been out in the sun for too long? I appreciate this is much worse than the "what car is this" threads!
I love reading sci fi but have a habit of reading things very fast & not always remembering them (means I can read books numerous times which my wife finds very odd!)
Anyway I read a book or possibly a series based around warfare between beings that were able to control various natural elements. I think there was possibly a human element to it to & as each race arrived they would cause huge devastation as usually the opposition had no answer to the type of weaponry. I particularly remember spacecraft almost made from fire.
There may have been some kind of sentient trees too!
Has anybody got any idea what I'm talking about or have I been out in the sun for too long? I appreciate this is much worse than the "what car is this" threads!
Hi Folks
I love reading sci fi but have a habit of reading things very fast & not always remembering them (means I can read books numerous times which my wife finds very odd!)
Anyway I read a book or possibly a series based around warfare between beings that were able to control various natural elements. I think there was possibly a human element to it to & as each race arrived they would cause huge devastation as usually the opposition had no answer to the type of weaponry. I particularly remember spacecraft almost made from fire.
There may have been some kind of sentient trees too!
Has anybody got any idea what I'm talking about or have I been out in the sun for too long? I appreciate this is much worse than the "what car is this" threads!
I love reading sci fi but have a habit of reading things very fast & not always remembering them (means I can read books numerous times which my wife finds very odd!)
Anyway I read a book or possibly a series based around warfare between beings that were able to control various natural elements. I think there was possibly a human element to it to & as each race arrived they would cause huge devastation as usually the opposition had no answer to the type of weaponry. I particularly remember spacecraft almost made from fire.
There may have been some kind of sentient trees too!
Has anybody got any idea what I'm talking about or have I been out in the sun for too long? I appreciate this is much worse than the "what car is this" threads!
Jammez said:
Hi Folks
I love reading sci fi but have a habit of reading things very fast & not always remembering them (means I can read books numerous times which my wife finds very odd!)
This is me... I get at least two read throughs of any single book (unless it's a crap book), double the VFM from each book.I love reading sci fi but have a habit of reading things very fast & not always remembering them (means I can read books numerous times which my wife finds very odd!)
Jammez said:
Anyway I read a book or possibly a series based around warfare between beings that were able to control various natural elements. I think there was possibly a human element to it to & as each race arrived they would cause huge devastation as usually the opposition had no answer to the type of weaponry. I particularly remember spacecraft almost made from fire.
There may have been some kind of sentient trees too!
Has anybody got any idea what I'm talking about or have I been out in the sun for too long? I appreciate this is much worse than the "what car is this" threads!
Wasn't Kevin J Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns was it?There may have been some kind of sentient trees too!
Has anybody got any idea what I'm talking about or have I been out in the sun for too long? I appreciate this is much worse than the "what car is this" threads!
Gizmodo recently published a list of "29 New Scifi and Fantasy Books"
It's heavy on fantasy, and light on Sci-Fi, but I thought it worth mentioning because they mention a new book by Adrian Tchaikovsky (who wrote Children of Time which many of us here on this thread have read):
Sadly, despite devoting several lines of text to each book on the list, their description of this one is very terse and simply says:
The Expert System’s Brother by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Arthur C. Clarke Award winner (for Children of Time) presents his latest, about a man who suffers an accident that sends him meandering aimlessly through the world until he finds help in a most unexpected place. (17 July)
Not much to go on, I know.
It's heavy on fantasy, and light on Sci-Fi, but I thought it worth mentioning because they mention a new book by Adrian Tchaikovsky (who wrote Children of Time which many of us here on this thread have read):
Sadly, despite devoting several lines of text to each book on the list, their description of this one is very terse and simply says:
The Expert System’s Brother by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Arthur C. Clarke Award winner (for Children of Time) presents his latest, about a man who suffers an accident that sends him meandering aimlessly through the world until he finds help in a most unexpected place. (17 July)
Not much to go on, I know.
Edited by Clockwork Cupcake on Thursday 12th July 14:53
Jammez said:
I love reading sci fi but have a habit of reading things very fast & not always remembering them (means I can read books numerous times which my wife finds very odd!)
Sadly I am the complete opposite. I can pick up a book that I last read 20 years ago, read the summary on the back cover, and am then able to recall so much about the book that there is little point in reading it again. 
Having said that, some books are worth reading again to savour, though. I recently re-read a few Discworld books and whilst I recalled all the main plot points, they were still enjoyable.
Kindle. Usually loads of decent stuff for <£5 and a lot of things crop up on the 99p deals if you keep an eye out.
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Having said that, some books are worth reading again to savour, though. I recently re-read a few Discworld books and whilst I recalled all the main plot points, they were still enjoyable.
I've reread all the Discworld books several times, and still if I run out of new stuff to read can happily pick one up and read it again.Gassing Station | Books and Literature | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff