📚 The book lovers thread
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OK, so I've not read his stuff but always heard good things. Can someone here point out what would be a few good ones to try?
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a few good ones to try?
Just about any of them. I can't possibly say what my favourite Pratchett book is.I whole-heartedly recommend the Discworld series, but if I tried to pick one or two specific books I'd just be plucking them from thin air. I recommend not starting with the most recent ones though, I found them to be missing his usual spark. The Colour of magic is the first one written, if you want to start that way.
Or you might want to try one of the arcs focussing on a certain set of characters. There's not really an overall sequence to the books but there are sets that follow on from each other. The Watch series is good, that starts with Guards! Guards! Or the Rincewind arc, which begins with the first two mentioned above.
Good Omens (by Pratchett and Neil Gaiman jointly) is very good as well. Most of his other non-Discworld stuff is aimed at kids and teens (I refuse to use the term Young Adult for books aimed at older children), though I personally love The Carpet People.
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Hear hear.
Avoid 'the dark side of the sun' and 'strata' to begin with though.
Later on, you may want to read strata to see some of the discworld features being evolved, but other than that I found it to be rather drab.
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[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31858156]Terry Pratchett died today[/url]
well then.....
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Avoid 'the dark side of the sun' and 'strata' to begin with though.
Somehow I managed to forget about those two. Actually I like them, but that's just me.
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i enjoyed strata, but i do consider it...... parallel universe to the dis[ck]world series. i son't consider the disk they find in strata to be the dis[ck]world...
but that's just me.
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They are absolutely not related to discworld in any way. It's just that in strata you can see a lot of the terminology and physics related to a flat world evolve. It is, after all, early works, and some of his efforts are being reused later on in the discworld series.
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i don't consider the disk they find in strata to be the dis[ck]world...
It never occurred to me anyone would. It's our world. Or it isn't, but our world is [spoiler]the planet replica of it they built to resettle the doomed Disc's inhabitants[/spoiler].
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dis[ck]world
It's Discworld. He never used a K in it
<inB4 someone pointing out some obscure quote when he did use a K
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old geek regex joke.....
sorry....
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dickworld?
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Dick York, or Dick Sargent?
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Yes
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http://imgur.com/gallery/lt4n1
Imgur gallery with 10 sci-fi book recommendations.
My punditry follows.
1. Wool (2011) ~ Hugh Howey
http://i.imgur.com/PNRUCaD.jpg
Series of post-apocalyptic stories and novellas, combined into a novel. Pretty damn good.
Unfortunately, by the end of my run with it (Wool 5, Shift 1, Shift 2), I got that familiar feel of an author who's trying to outrun his own loose threads and plot-holes. I still haven't read the remainder of the series. I HOPE he ties it together in a meaningful way, but I'm not sure he'll manage it.
6. Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas (2012)
http://i.imgur.com/AgvVydQ.jpg
Starts as an intriguing page-turner. Pretty fun throughout, great idea and mystery. Unfortunately, once it was time to dish out explanations, it unraveled for me.
8. The Martian (2011) ~ Adam Weir
http://i.imgur.com/8hqR17C.jpg
Pretty famous by now, with the movie and everything. So what's more to say? If you like hard-sf, this is an excellent example of it.
9. 1984 (1949) ~ George Orwell
http://i.imgur.com/ZaNUJ5K.jpg
This is a strange pick. More towards the "literature classic" than other picks. Of course, it's fantastic.
Honorable Mention: Seveneves (2015) ~ Neal Stephenson
http://i.imgur.com/HwlwbKz.jpg
Also hard sci-fi. On the TODO list. If someone has read it, drop me a thumbs up/down rating.
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excellent example of it.
- 1984 (1949) ~ George Orwell
This is a strange pick. More towards the "literature classic" than other picks. Of course, it's fantastic.
Want to especially like the graphic... graphic does not appear.
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for graphic
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Coldfire trilogy is the best sci-fi, the best fantasy, and the best sci-fi/fantasy I ever read.
Basic premise is that a colony ship lands on a planet with midichlorians on it (they call them fae but whatever), except the fae doesn't know how to handle the human mind, ends up responding to a lot of people's subconscious thoughts, havoc breaks out. Eventually somebody realizes you can use rituals and what not to control the fae (or to control the effects it can have, at least) and things start to stabilize.
The book is set eight hundred years after landfall, and the world still has a decidedly medieval feel to it: it's impractical to make technology with parts smaller than the eye can see; too easy for a stray thought to fuck things up, and besides who needs technology when you've got magic? Anyway, the magic system in this story is really brilliant. The fact that it's got flows and ebbs and different types of fae with different characteristics really make it come alive, and the way it interacts with the human psyche really allows a lot in terms of storytelling—which gets taken full advantage of, of course.
And that's what really sets this series apart, how all of the different elements of the story work together to make something that just feels incredibly well put together. There are twists and turns all the way through, but none of them feel unnecessary or gimmicky, everything makes sense in context, to the characters. I just don't have enough good words to say about these books.
Last thing is, if you take a look at this text from the cover of the first book, see how they've got four casters: do these guys really know how to put together an adventuring party, or what?
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Interesting. On the list.
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indeed. onto the list it goes. ;-)
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I know there are a few Pratchett fans on here, how many have read the Long Earth books, in collaboration with Stephen Baxter?
The basic premise is that the secret to "stepping" into parallel worlds, previously only known to a few people who could naturally do it, has been released to the public, causing migration across the alternative worlds of the Long Earth, There are a lot of ideas recycled from both authors' earlier works, e.g. a society of intelligent crabs like in the Science of Discworld; and the Next - a generation of super intelligent children which is apparently how Baxter thinks evolution works.
The first three books kind of felt like they were more interested in setting up the world than actually telling a story, but in the Long Utopia it seems like they're over that. It's 30 odd years since "step day", and the pioneers' settlements have mostly given up on farming, realising that it's easier to just step across worlds to find easy food rather than working at growing it yourself.
There's space for a lot of stories now the world is fleshed out, but I wonder if Baxter will carry on now PTerry is gone.
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It's 30 odd years since "step day", and the pioneers' settlements have mostly given up on farming, realising that it's easier to just step across worlds to find easy food rather than working at growing it yourself.
That reminds me of Dilbert where he invents a time machine in order to send garbage to the future, when recycling methods will have improved.
http://dilbert.com/strip/1993-12-19
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I just finished reading Seveneves.
SPOILER FREE:
A few decades into the future, something hits the Moon and breaks it apart. Humanity scrambles to get people into space, to deal with the situation. What follows is a lot of hard sci-fi orbital mechanics, and then increasingly politics.
The ideas are the best part. Very interesting plot and big picture stuff.
Science stuff is also interesting for a sci-fi nerd like me. Unfortunately, it's a bit tedious to read. This guy doesn't have that talent to explain things like Arthur Clarke had, for example.
Characters are the weak point. They are barely serviceable. The book's POV is aloof and doesn't usually get too deep into peoples' thought process.
There's also a lot of politics, which is a crutch hard sci-fi authors often reach when they think they need to add drama to the story. Things become a bit more tolerable on this front later on, when you see where things are going. But then you realize what seemed like a stupid drama whoring is actually a forced setup for the situation author wanted to create. I just don't buy the decision some characters made in the pivotal point of the book.
The same can be said for the ending, where new developments stretch and then break my suspension of belief in an otherwise pretty scientifically rigorous book.
Overall, I agree with the reviews. 4/5 for space nerds, 3/5 for everyone else. Read it for the big ideas and science. Missed opportunity in many other ways.
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I read the first, but was disappointed. Don't know what P's contribution to the project was.
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Have you read Moonfall, by Jack McDevitt? I'd be interested to see how you think the two compare. Though in Moonfall the first key issue is getting people off the recently completed Moonbase before the Moon gets whacked (the second is dealing with potentially catastrophic impacts on Earth from pieces of the Moon).
Moonfall also has some of the same weaknesses, although in this case I didn't have a problem with the decision making in the pivotal moments, just with the unrealistic too-happy ending.
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I didn't read that one.
I did read a few other McDevitt books. The annoying thing about him is he's constantly manipulating the situation to cause the greatest amount of drama possible. It becomes old pretty fast. Like, all I want is to learn more about the mystery behind the plot, but no, here comes another "exciting" disaster sequence.
Sigh. I wish hard SF authors would have greater confidence in the ideas behind their stories, instead of feeling constant pressure to shove in traditional story elements. Kind of how movies feel obligated to include romance, even when that makes no sense.
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Have you read any of Greg Egan? He's pretty good at the idea-driven story. The first two books of his I read were Permutation City and Diaspora, which I took out over a weekend, and Diaspora in particular instantly put him at the top of my "favourite authors" list1, which was a bit of a shock to the system. Even now, my two favourite books are Diaspora and his more recent Schild's Ladder.
Currently re-reading Baxter's Xeelee Sequence. One of my favourite quotes comes from Timelike Infinity: "We're assaulting a mile-wide sentient warship from the future. Or don't you remember the plan?"
1 Sorry, Isaac.
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Egan's stuff is pretty good, although I've only read Permutation City and Distress.
Also, oh god, W-k-p-d-- is whoring for money again. Because I remember the last time, I feel the need to show people what I saw the first time I went there--the second time, the ad was MUCH smaller, so I reopened the page in IE:
The second time:
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Have you read any of Greg Egan?
Oh man, I love Egan!
Right now I'm (finally getting around to) reading Phillip K Dick. I've finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and am now reading something called (checks title) Flow My Tears, The policeman because it was free. So far so good :)
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Dick is very hit and miss IMO <inb4
The Man In The High Castle is good, A Scanner Darkly is very weird and difficult to follow, but worth the effort (personally, I preferred the film). Some of his others are just paranoid rambling though
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I realized after the first one that I shouldn't expect them to have a point or conclusion or really any sense of catharsis, but should just enjoy them the way I do weird drug-induced dreams when I'm on painkillers. That seems to be helping with the second :)
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Also, oh god, W-k-p-d-- is whoring for money again.
TRWTF: paying $3 for a cup of coffee. Suckers.
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And yet again no acknowledgement of the massive amounts of money Wikipedia Foundation wastes on bullshit every year.
If I could guarantee 100% of my donation would go to hosting and bandwidth costs, I'd actually consider it.
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I've never read any Tom Wolfe, but I keep reading things about him and how good his stuff is. So I picked up I Am Charlotte Simmons. I probably have about 100 pages or so to go and it's excellent. I'm sure I'll be reading more by him in the future.
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Cool. I have recommendation for that book from a source very far removed from the tech community... so probably should up its priority on my list.
From Our House to Bauhaus is an excellent book as well - Wolfe has the credentials to hoist the artiste-class by its own petard.
And even if that doesn't delight you, the book seems to explain a lot about Culture
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Yeah, the book itself is about the modern college experience. It's about 10 years old, but still very relevant.
And even if that doesn't delight you, the book seems to explain a lot about Culture
Yeah, he's often described as being great at capturing stuff like that about modern life. And the writing is very good.
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That approach will also be helpful if you decide to read Valis and The Divine Invasion.
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Have you read any of Greg Egan? He's pretty good at the idea-driven story. The first two books of his I read were Permutation City and Diaspora, which I took out over a weekend, and Diaspora in particular instantly put him at the top of my "favourite authors" list1, which was a bit of a shock to the system. Even now, my two favourite books are Diaspora and his more recent Schild's Ladder.
Never got into Egan. On the TODO list since forever.
Currently re-reading Baxter's Xeelee Sequence. One of my favourite quotes comes from Timelike Infinity: "We're assaulting a mile-wide sentient warship from the future. Or don't you remember the plan?"
Read the first Xeelee book. Pretty nice.
Spoiler alert for every Baxter book - the world end in a disaster, everything is ruined.
Right now I'm (finally getting around to) reading Phillip K Dick. I've finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and am now reading something called (checks title) Flow My Tears, The policeman because it was free. So far so good
Dick's novels are crap. It's like he can't maintain focus for the duration.
His short stories are much better IMO, that format is just the right length for him.
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Dick's novels are crap. It's like he can't maintain focus for the duration.
I thought The Man In The High Castle was very good without deviating off in the middle.
There is a collection of his short stories 'I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon' that is just excellent cover to cover. The titular story makes me extremely uncomfortable.
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Filed under: Where is the existential dread emoticon?
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I thought The Man In The High Castle was very good without deviating off in the middle.
But it's just drags on and on and on. It's unreadable to me.
Dick needs constraints of a short story to prevent him from rambling and move the plot along.Wikipedia spoiled 'I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon' for me, but I might look into the collection. His short stuff is really good.
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The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is worth a go as well, but does suffer from the Dick rambling to a certain extent.
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Wikipedia spoiled 'I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon' for me, but I might look into the collection. His short stuff is really good.
I think you'll get a lot out of it even spoilered. The other stand-out one in that collection is "Chains of Air, Web of Aether" which is, again, disturbing (that might be redundant when talking about PKD...) .
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@Yamikuronue said:
Right now I'm (finally getting around to) reading Phillip K Dick.
Dick is very hit and miss IMO
With PKD I'd definitely recommend starting with a collection of short stories over his novels.
Edit:
'd by 13 hrs
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SemyzKgaUU
Adam Savage interviews Andy Weir, author of "the Martian". I love this guy.
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Status: reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie ,Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (second book of the Dresden Series) and I'm slowly making progress with Don Quijote de La Mancha by Cervantes.
Additionally , if comic books count, I'm also reading Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison.
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I'm slowly making progress with Don Quijote de La Mancha by Cervantes
Good luck with that.
Maybe it was the translation or the guy reading on my CD-Book version, but that was the dullest, slowest thing.... 20-some disks for PART ONE.
TLDR;Somehow missed the Christie one though - I'll have to look specifically for it at the library.
