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Cassie - Sci Fi Reading list please

was in the library and on impulse checked out John Whyndham's The Chrysalids yes, it's old school and simple but I havent read it in years & felt like a trip down memory lane and oh lets face it I still love it.
 
Cassie, you'll be delighted to hear that today I was in a bookstore and picked up Dune. :) So I just have to get through the rest of Green Mars and the final book in that trilogy and then I'll start on Dune!
 
OMG, I am so happy for you!

I've been rereading the series, and I'm about half through Chapterhouse. I HOPE YOU LOVE IT.
 
It was really cheap as well. Only about £3. I never checked inside. Maybe all the pages are blank?

I'll have that bookseller's water if they are!

(I also got Stranger in a Strange Land, which is way thicker than I would've expected, but I always wanted to read Heinlein so I'm not too put off by it)
 
I read a bunch of Heinlein when i was in high school. I loved all his weird incesty stuff.
 
I couldn't remember what the consensus was on that one (one of these days I'll get a smart phone so I can read reviews of things while in shops), but it was really cheap, so if I hate it, it's no real loss.
 
I think it was just because one of the characters kept going on these really long speeches which were obviously just the writer trying to get all his views out and the sex stuff didn't do anything for me and wasn't shocking because I wasn't reading in 1961. But sometimes I don't like things and I'm sure it's supposed to be a classic!
 
The last time I tried to read Heinlein I kept noticing all the cold war stuff. He's really good, but his books do seem a little dated now.

ALSO, I am finding Chapterhouse Dune a little tedious this time. It's definitely my least favorite in the series. It's got plenty of interesting THINGS in it, but it drags a bit. I could read the first four novels and forget about the last two and be perfectly happy. Although, I do like Miles Teg a lot, so that's a good reason to read Heretics.
 
About time I revived this thread.

Wacky – after your post I went back and looked at Peter Hamilton and you are right – the Void Trilogy was good and Pandora’s Star was also good – any other recommends?

Cassie – I tried to read Riddley Walker and I finished Book of Dave. I didn’t like them very much if I am honest. Riddley was hard to get into and Book of Dave was just a bit dull IMO. Critics, due to their complicated use of language, loved them.

I recently read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which is more fantasy than Sci Fi but just brilliant book. It’s massive BTW – but well worth it.

As Neil Gaiman states
unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last 70 years

Anyway – my next plan is to take a picture of all the Sci Fi Library I now have that has been inspired by this thread and post it with reviews.

In the meantime I am open to more Sci Fi Reading thoughts!
 
About time I revived this thread.

Wacky – after your post I went back and looked at Peter Hamilton and you are right – the Void Trilogy was good and Pandora’s Star was also good – any other recommends?

Cassie – I tried to read Riddley Walker and I finished Book of Dave. I didn’t like them very much if I am honest. Riddley was hard to get into and Book of Dave was just a bit dull IMO. Critics, due to their complicated use of language, loved them.

I recently read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which is more fantasy than Sci Fi but just brilliant book. It’s massive BTW – but well worth it.

As Neil Gaiman states
unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last 70 years

Anyway – my next plan is to take a picture of all the Sci Fi Library I now have that has been inspired by this thread and post it with reviews.

In the meantime I am open to more Sci Fi Reading thoughts!
 
Never trust the critics! Well, if you didn't care for Riddley Walker, then I probably wouldn't either. I don't like complicated just for the sake of complicated.
 
About time I revived this thread.

Wacky – after your post I went back and looked at Peter Hamilton and you are right – the Void Trilogy was good and Pandora’s Star was also good – any other recommends?

To be honest I always confuse him and Alastair Reynolds as I read loads of books by them at the same time...I assume you read the sequel to Pandora's Star...he also did the Greg Mandel books which I liked I think (they're not space opera though, they're sci-fi detective books.)

I'm currently planning to read every Isaac Asimov book. I've read Caves Of Steel, The Naked Sun, Robots Of Dawn and am just finishing Robots And Empire. I'll then read the Empire books and finally the Foundation books as I understand they're all in the same continuitty.
 
Asimov is excellent. Here is my top shelf A to C Not showing off I hope, it's just interesting.
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I read Foundation series early on due to my quest to read every Hugo winner. However I also read iRobot and The Gods Themselves. I haven't read the Robots sequence but I will reinvestigate Asimov.

My List
Douglas Adams - naturally!
Brian Aldiss - Hothouse was good, although more dystopian than Sci Fi. Non Stop was also good but his stuff is early and I got into Space Opera.
Poul Anderson - Tau Zero was a hard sci fi concept book that I really loved. quite dark really.
Asimov - as stated - The Foundation series is truly a must read.
JG Ballard - not really a Sci Fi Writer but this is good. Human relationships and odd throughout.
Iain M Banks - As you can see I did really like him but it is easy reading compared to some more challenging Sci Fi. Good for travelling!
Greg Bear - Really liked all these books and had a "bear" phase. Eon is the best, followed by blood music I think.
Gregory Benford - Forgot this one!
Alfred Bester - GET ALL HIS BOOKS, I NEED TO READ MORE
Ray Bradbury - Just a classic book I think deserves to sit here.
Orson Scott Card - Meh
Michael Chabon - not really a Sci Fi book - more alternate history. I quite enjoyed this but wouldn't rush to recommend it in this context. Kavalier & Clay by him is MUCH better.

Another shelf soon - CASSIE MADE ME SPEND MONEY ON THIS.
 
At least your books are all neatly placed on a shelf. There are stacks of books on one of my dressers that I'm afraid to move because I'M SURE THERE ARE SPIDERS LIVING IN THERE.
 
Middle Shelf:
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Arthur C Clarke - If you haven't read Rendezvous with Rama then do it immediately!
Samuel Delaney - Babel 17 - intelligent book about language as a weapon.
Philip K Dick - read loads of PKD now including loads from the library. I loved Flow My Tears in particular.
William Gibson - Neuromancer - Great book, and I continued with the rest of the Sprawl trilogy. It all goes a bit "BLACK MIRROR" at times but he started it all so fair nuff.
Ursula Le Guin - THANK YOU CASSIE. I think this woman is one of my favourite authors and I am a raving sexist.
Neil Gaiman - THANK YOU MINEFIELD. Can't remember which of you got me into him but he is excellent value.
Joe Haldeman - The Forever War - another cracker, I think I read a few more of his as well.
Peter Hamilton - Take it all back Wacky - he is good. I think I was confusing him with others.
Robert Heinlein - Everyone raves about him and I bought a few books. Time enough for Love was shite though, I mean really shite.
Frank Herbert - a bit shit (HAHHAHAHAHA not really Cassie)

That's it for now.
 
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