Cassie - Sci Fi Reading list please

Foundation is well worth the read. Most Asimov is as far as I can work out.

Cloud Atlas is good, but a lot of it went over my head I am afraid. I enjoyed some tales more than others.

I'm short on books so re reading "Consider Phlebas" by Iain M Banks. It's actually quite good as it is a book where the protagonist is anti culture, rather than pro. This differs from most of the other books where the Culture are the good guys. It's an easy space opera read however...
 
How's Foundation, Wacky? It's something I'd like to read one day but sounds really daunting.

I have my dad Consider Phlebas for his bday and he kept saying how good it was, so it's on my list as well.

I'm up to the first part of the power station story in Cloud Atlas. All the stories are interesting in their own way, though, at least at this stage, there isn't much sense of what it's all for.
 
MAYBE THAT'S THE POINT...

(I haven't read much of Foundation yet, but I'm sure it'll be good. I really liked the robot stories maybe you could read them.)
 
So I finished reading Cloud Atlas. Loved it. The ebook version I bought* included video interviews with David Mitchell, and the cast and crew of the movie. In it he revealed as I expected that he had researched the first and last chapter by reading a lot of Melville, including Typee and Moby Dick.

ANYWAY, I enjoyed all the stories one way or another, but I think the Louisa Rey and Frobisher segments were my favourites. Rey for the story itself, and Frobisher for his pithy putdowns. The Sonmi story was great as well, but I've seen enough dystopian future movies that it felt quite familiar territory, though David Mitchell did introduce some novel elements. The Orison of Sonmi looked like it was going to be hell to read at first with that really dense slang, but after a few pages you pick up the flow of it and it's actually quite fun to read. I think it must help a lot that I already talk quite similar to that, though. My least favourite story was the sailing ship one. At the beginning it was because, as I say, I'd just finished reading two books that had a similar setting and plot, and then in the return to it in the last chapter I felt a bit let down that there wasn't some kind of grand unveiling of why the connected characters remembered parts of eachothers lives (it seemed to go beyond everyday deja vu) or why they were crossing paths. I suppose I wanted a solid full stop at the end, when I should've known better from a book that was all about endlessness. Ultimately I'm glad you were left to just have a think about it yourself as any definitive answers would most likely have been unsatisfactory anyway.

Looking forward to seeing the movie now.

*Which was £1 less than the book on its own, so people who payed more were doing so so they would be able to download a smaller file with less content. Bit of a reversal of the norm.
 
Did you know that the movie happened because Natalie Portman gave the Wachowskis a copy of the book while they were filming V For Vendetta? WELL YOU DO NOW.
 
No I didn't, though Hugo Weaving did mention that they'd all read it on the set of V for Vendetta, but he didn't expect a movie to come of it.
 
I'm enjoying the Foundation series (on the second book now.) I wish I had read every science fiction novel (well every good one) in publication order so that I knew just who came up with each concept and who influenced who. Foundation has a whole planet that's one big city that serves as the capital of a galactic empire, so I'm fairly sure Lucas ripped that off. The psychohistory stuff and the Seldon Plan reminds me quite a bit of the Golden Plan and all the prescience stuff in Dune (wouldn't call Dune a rip-off though as it has its own identity.)
 
The Foundation early stories were (I think) between the wars (or just after WW2) so very early in the history of popular science fiction. This might be why they influenced so much. Above all, they are very human stories. The Foundation is an allegory for the Roman empire (I read that somewhere I think) so it makes the track of history much more approachable. Very different approach to the chaos of Cyberpunk novels. Arthur C Clarke also tells human stories in this way.

I can still very clearly remember Hari Seldon and many other characters. Brilliant books.
 
I would imagine Frank Herbert was influenced by Isaac Asimov. He influenced lots of writers who came after him.
 
headvoid said:
The Foundation early stories were (I think) between the wars (or just after WW2) so very early in the history of popular science fiction. This might be why they influenced so much. Above all, they are very human stories. The Foundation is an allegory for the Roman empire (I read that somewhere I think) so it makes the track of history much more approachable. Very different approach to the chaos of Cyberpunk novels. Arthur C Clarke also tells human stories in this way.

I can still very clearly remember Hari Seldon and many other characters. Brilliant books.
Click to expand...

One of the major character is a "mutant" and I guess they were all the rage after the atomic bombs.

I like Ebling Mis and the way he and the mayor keep abusing each other.
 
I can definitely recommend the Foundation novels. I got into Asimov and Heinlein when I was 14 (8 years ago already? Man, I feel fuckin' old!), and I immediately saw the influence they had on later sci-fi.

I would also suggest "Pushing Ice", by Alastair Reynolds. Great mix of societal and "hard" sci-fi.

As for Dune, well, sorry Cassie, but I have EXTREMELY mixed feelings about Dune. On the one hand, Herbert did a great job at fleshing out his universe. On the other hand, the characters leave much to be desired. Most of them seem more like footnotes than actual characters, and when the Baron is discussing his plans with Piter, Feyd-Ruatha, and what's-his-face, he comes off seeming like Mojo Jojo, especially when he says - basically - "Is it not a wonderful plan, that I, the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, have come up with?" Then there's the fact that it drags on and on.... and on.... and on... AND ON!!!

I mean, seriously, the characters show all the emotion and depth as they do in this video:
[video=youtube;1YIGhYi9V1o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YIGhYi9V1o[/video]
 
I don't know why you are apologizing to me for not liking Dune. I didn't write it.
 
Oh, I just knew you were a big fan, that's all. And apologizing for not liking something when someone I know is a fan is just a force of habit for me. Unless I know that person and hate their guts.
 
Foundation And Empire was really great. I mean...

I did predict that Magnifico would end up being the Mule.

...but the way it was revealed was awesome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top